Bike Polo demonstration at Grandview Park today

Bike polo. It’s popular in many big cities and now my neighbourhood is home to the first bike polo court in the world.

“After years of playing in the old tennis courts, the bike polo players worked with park board in the redesign of Grandview Park on Commercial drive and came up with this spankin’ new multi use court,” reads the Vancouver Is Awesome blog.

At the demo today, I enjoyed a piece of cake the Parks Board offered for this celebratory event. I had a good chat with Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Sarah Blyth, who seemed happy to be part of this collaboration between the city and park users. I told her I’d like to see a memorial for Curtis Brick in the renovated park, and she said I should write to the parks board about it. Curtis died in the park on July 29, 2009 on the hottest day on record in Vancouver, after he lay there in the sun for more than eight hours.

What’s up with the park?

According to the City of Vancouver website: “The .89 hectare (2.2 acre) Grandview Park, the site of the sport court, is receiving $2 million in upgrades including playground, water spray park, benches, picnic tables, field house and cenotaph plaza. The park is still under construction, but the Park Board has committed to the community to providing a phased opening for the park as its various components are completed. The cenotaph plaza along Commercial Drive will open in June and the playground and field house in July.”

“A grand opening for the entire park will be held this summer.” Cool!

Imp is also a graffiti artist - photo credit: Break of Dawn/Dustin Ames on Flickr

This is the name used by a woman I follow on Twitter. The Imp. It’s what she calls her son online to protect his privacy.

I am taking a challenge to write a post titled “Imp” – and so I will discuss this situation I’ve encountered online. This same lady also refers to her “very private” husband as HWSNBN – he who shall not be named.

Kudos to this lady for keeping the privacy of her family and still being able to speak prolifically on Twitter about her family life. Many other parents speak openly about their kids, using names, myself included. But I am careful about what I share, keeping mostly to “us as social events” or “out in public.” Quite a few share details on their feelings about their ex/father of their children, but personally I wouldn’t go there (til years later, with identities protected).

It’s a tough call. How much should I share about my kid online? Some folks did a talk on this at Northern Voice last year, and there may be something similar this year, I’ve heard.

Thanks to The Imp for inspiring me on this topic that I got from a writing prompt exercise. Best wishes to the cute little dude, who I met only once, in his baby buggy as I passed his cool mom downtown.

Peaceful games FTW! Skate 2 and Skate 3 were among our Boxing Day purchases at EB Games in Vancouver at Pacific Centre

I am officially on vacation – and enjoying lots of offline family time. This year Santa brought my son a PlayStation 3 and we cleared out a spot in our little townhouse now known as “The PS3 Lounge.”

It’s so great to have this new area set up for my son to entertain his young guests and I look forward to hosting them more often. I’ll be ready with juice boxes and snacks, but I’m being a real stickler about the violent games – especially ones that include degrading treatment of women.

I took away Red Dead Redemption, which allows players to hire prostitutes and includes a rape scene in a saloon. He had it for a while on Christmas Day and took it to my parents’ to play after dinner. One of the other guests Googled the game and told me how harsh it is. Holy crap! Whatever happened to Asteroids and PacMan!?

I’m not sure if the gift-giver realized the content was so extreme, and I haven’t said anything about it yet – but for now the game will stay on the shelf in my office. As open-minded as I may be, it’s not something I want a 10-year-old playing!

My plan is to encourage my son and his guests towards fun, harmless games like Skate 2, Skate 3, Shaun White Snowboarding, Gran Turismo, and Little Big Planet.

I just don’t know what to make of all the violence and exploitation in today’s games. What effects does it have on a growing person’s view of the world? Does it de-sensitize? Or am I just being uptight, over-protective and behind-the-times?

I’m interested in all opinions – so please do tell me what you think. In the meantime, here’s a little photo essay of our trip to Pacific Centre on Boxing Day. We got in and out of there as quickly as possible!

Boxing Day madness! We took the Skytrain downtown, got off at Granville Station, and entered Pacific Centre through The Bay

How's consumer spending in 2010? Looks like they're out in full force at Pacific Centre on Boxing Day - with line-ups outside some clothing stores.

At EB Games, there are deals to be had - but it's a bit embarrassing when mom starts taking pictures with her iPhone.

The sign says it all "Must have games" .

Photo credit: Urban Mixer on Flickr

A contact asked me to support an online publication in Vancouver called Granville Online. I checked it out, to see if it was something I’d want to recommend to my readers – and indeed it is very cool, featuring many Vancouver restaurants that I love.

“From Japanese and Indian to Chinese and West Coast fusion, the Vancouver food scene boasts the best of international cuisines in Canada, offering plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options as well,” reads GO’s food/dining section.

It’s true. We have so many great restaurants here, and I love going out to them during the holiday season. And at any time of year, even when I’m trying to be frugal and eat at home every day!

We’ve entered a time of food. I have two big food-related house parties coming up on Saturday. I love food at restaurants and food at house parties – mmm! I’m feeling festive and excited for treats. Then, in the New Year, I’ll start doing all those healthy things like riding my spinning bike in my home office while watching documentaries and listening to podcasts. I will lift weights, eat less treats, drink more water and less coffee… oh my!

Larry demonstrates his head lock on my son Toby

It’s all caught on surveillance camera and talked about in different languages around the world.

A guy from my neighbourhood – Larry Skopnik – stopped a would-be robber from assaulting a store clerk on Commercial Drive.

The fact that he did this from his wheelchair has made the story extra big news and when I searched “Larry Skopnik” in Google News, I saw stories printed in English, French, German, and Spanish.

For full details and video, check out this CBC story: Wheelchair hero tackles angry customer.

Here’s what I saw on the raw video footage online. A man enters the cash area, lunging towards the store clerk. Larry rushes towards the assailant, opens a swinging door to the cashier area, and hauls the the guy out, away from the store clerk. Larry gets him in a headlock, which pulls him out of his wheelchair. Then, from the floor, Larry keeps the man in a headlock. CBC reports that two other men came and together they kept him until police arrived.

Toby is no match for Larry's arm bar.

Our pal from the neighbourhood

My son and I have chatted with Larry many times outside JJ Bean during the past seven or so years.

Recently Larry overheard my son whining for a new PlayStation3 as we walked by. Larry gave him some tips on how to be convincing – how to make a good case to me re: why I would purchase a PS3. What features is mom likely to enjoy? (And I am planning to get him one for the holiday season.)

Overall Larry is one of my favourite “regulars” on Commercial Drive (and Facebook friend) and it’s been such a pleasure to see him honoured for his heroic actions. He’s such a cool guy and totally deserves it, and I hope he gets beer and football tickets and a few other things that make life sweeter.

Thanks to Larry for taking care of the people in our neighbourhood! Yay East Van pride.

Watching the 2010 Rembrance Day ceremonies on the TV at Fets on Commercial

It saddens me deeply to think of how many people are dying in wars right now as we observe Remembrance Day – both military personnel and civilians around the world. Here in our country, we’ve lost 152 Canadian soldiers since our troops went to Afghanistan in 2002 – a new generation to mourn, for a war that has many people confused.

It’s with these thoughts in mind that I walk down to the Remembrance Day ceremony on Commercial Drive with my 10-year-old son.

Yesterday my son played the new, much-anticipated “Call of Duty – Black Ops” war video game at a friend’s place – released right before Remembrance Day. In general, I’m a pacifist, and I don’t want this game in my house, but I’m not going to stop him from playing it when he’s at his friend’s.

“I find it funny that Call of Duty – Black Ops was released two days ago and now it’s Remembrance Day,” my son exclaimed this morning.

“They should have launched it today! A super-violent war game on Remembrance Day?! That would be hilarious!”

Ouch. I tell him we are going to see people who were really in the war. We’re going down Commercial Drive to the usual memorial site. I point out there are less old guys in the processions every year.

Fenced off memorial in Grandview Park on Remembrance Day 2010.

But the memorial is fenced off this year while Grandview Park is under construction. Outside the fence, on the sidewalk are two flags, a platform, and an empty chair. An elderly lady with a walker looks around. Passersby tell us the ceremony is two blocks further down.

Watching the ceremony on Fets TV

Across the street at Fets Restaurant, a crowd is gathered around outside, looking at two big screens inside the restaurant. The procession is still a few blocks away, so we join the crowd and watch the TVs.

Every gun salute on screen evokes excitement from the younger set. A little toddler is so excited by the boom that he starts running around squealing. His parents look embarrassed and try to hush him, then he cries loudly when they pick him up and move him away from the TV.

Crowd outside Fets on Rembrance Day 2010, watching the ceremony on their TVs.

My son whispers to me: “I probably shouldn’t say this, but those explosions are sooooo cool!”

The procession begins as four cops on motorcycles lead the way up Commercial Drive. At the front are the actual veterans. Everyone claps as they pass.

“There are less of them this year!” says my son, quietly.

One old veteran is standing by the flags on the sidewalk, in his military colours, frozen in a salute. He stands for the entire procession, then lowers his hand from his brow and steps off the podium. The old man is crying. I point this out to my son.

“How do you think he feels about war?” I ask. “Does that give you a different viewpoint on those video games you play?”

In all the commotion, we didn’t finish the conversation, but his expression looked very solemn for a moment – til he rushed off to follow the procession down the middle of the road.

East 2nd Avenue & Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Sept. 11, 2010

The new skate park at Kensington Park at Knight and 37th in Vancouver. The Rasta red, gold, and green are part of the memorial to Don Hartley - also known as Don the Mad Carver RIP.

That’s an opinion I heard today from someone who wrote in to the Province newspaper about how upset she was to see the paper’s story and photos of people at the new park skating without helmets.

“What disrespect to Hartley!” said Rochelle Hepworth of Port Coquitlam. “So I’m back to asking — how much more than a death will it take for some skateboarders to protect their brains?”

That’s a tricky one. I wonder if the helmet-less guys feel like they are disrespecting The Mad Carver. What are their reasons for not wearing one?

Personally I would wear a helmet and I would make my kid wear one too. He would choose to wear one on his own, anyways. I would advise others to wear one, but ultimately it’s a personal choice. In my opinion, not wearing a helmet is a bad idea.

But is it disrespectful to Don Hartley? I don’t know. What do you think?

Don Hartley memorial at the new Kensington Community Centre skate park on Knight and 37th in East Vancouver

Don Hartley was a famous local skate boarder known in skater circles since the 1970s. He died a year ago, at 52 after a collision at a Canada Day skate competition at Seylynn Park in North Vancouver. He was not wearing a helmet, though he usually did. He wore a helmet during the competition, but had taken it off on his way out of the skate park. I learned the info about what happened – along with a mass of condolences to his sons and family – from the Wall of the Rest In Peace Donald Hartley Facebook Page

Our first visit to the new skate park

It was glorious. The sun was blazing and people of all ages were riding in the bowls. Toby circled the edge of the park on his BMX – not finding a lot of opportunity to go into the bowls with so many skaters there.

I asked one of the skaters about the etiquette of riding a BMX in a skateboard park. He was taking a break, on the grass, near where I sat on my lawn chair. He said the skaters didn’t mind, as long as the BMXers watched out for the skaters, who get the worst of it in collisions with bikes

In any case, I’ve been scanning great reviews of the park and its retro-California style. More reports to come…

The new skate park opens officially on Saturday, July 17, will officially open from 11am to 1pm.

“The event will include a ribbon cutting, cake, skateboard demonstrations by local skaters and a helmet giveaway. The Vancouver Skateboard Coalition and Concrete Powder skateboard magazine will also be hand. The park is located at 37th Avenue at Knight Street, east of the Kensington Community Centre,” reads a press release from the Vancouver Parks Board.