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Being that I didn’t get back to Vancouver until after 10pm and because I filled my entire memory card, it’s safe to say that I won’t be wading through all my pictures from this summer’s The Big Time Out until Monday evening. Until then, a teaser.

I arrived just in time to catch Delhi 2 Dublin‘s set. Their energy and entirely unique sound got the whole crowd jumping – literally.

Video: tempest_kat on Flickr

The festival’s headliner and cherry on the sundae was none other than Sam Roberts Band. Excuse the poor video quality, but it’s clear to hear that Sam and his band kick some serious ass on stage. The show was unreal.

I can promise you that the photos are of much better quality than the videos. Look for those tomorrow morning!

How much more badass would Ghostbusters have been if the Beastie Boys weren’t still cookin’ up License To Ill in their basement?

This is how…

What girl in her right mind would say “no” to attending an event solely dedicated to wine? Not this one, that is for certain. Oddly enough, neither is my sister-in-law Laura, so the two of us headed out for a ladies’ night with lots of wining and not so much dining.

This past weekend, Mount Washington Alpine Resort hosted its 11th Annual Alpine Wine Festival at the gorgeously inviting Raven Lodge. Nearly two dozen wineries were represented with more bottles of fine wines than I had the time – or capacity – to sample.

The Comox Valley’s own Natural Pastures Cheese Company was on hand, offering tastes of their many varieties of soft and hard cheeses. When I inquired about whether any of the products in their range contained rennet, the head cheese-maker told me that none contain rennet simply because, as he put it, “to do so in cheese-making is a barbaric practice.” One more reason to love them…

I am both a self-professed pinot noir “snob” and nine times out of ten will always buy a BC-produced wine. Not only did the wine festival provide me with the opportunity to try wines from various regions around the globe, it also expanded my palate into a number of varietals. Though that said, the brand new pinot noir from Two Oceans, out of South Africa, gets my vote for best wine at the festival.

I have never, ever found a shiraz that I enjoyed, but did find the 2007 Three Winds Syrah to be incredibly delicious. You may find it interesting to know that shiraz and syrah are essentially the same wine and developed from the same grape but that syrah originated in France, whereas Australians and South Africans prefer to refer to their wines as a shiraz.

After hearing much raving about Vancouver Island’s Sea Cider from both John and Rebecca, I believe the hype! Nothing beats the crisp and refreshing taste of local apples combined with belly-warming sensations.

No wine festival would be complete without a selection of ports and dessert wines. While there were a few offerings vying for our favour, both Laura and I agreed that the 2008 Framboise from Elephant Island Orchard Wines was the hands-down favourite for us. Sweet raspberries dancing with 16% alcohol makes for quite the party in one’s mouth.

While I’d be hard-pressed to choose a wine I didn’t enjoy, some noteworthy highlights for me include:

What may impress you the most about all of the wines featured at the festival is that every bottle sampled is a completely affordable wine. None were over $30 and most were priced well under $20. Whoever said you had to spend a lot to enjoy a fine night in clearly hasn’t tried the right wines.

It goes without saying that I’ll be lining up for next year’s festival. In the meantime, it’s hard to believe that it’s only a matter of a few short months before the snow starts falling once again.

For now, check out Mount Washington online for a full list of summer events still to come – including how you can purchase an early bird winter season pass and win some great prizes. The mountain is also on Twitter, so be sure to follow them.

While the residents of Vancouver are sharply divided on the upcoming 2010 Olympic Winter Games, related constructions projects are starting to wrap up across the Greater Vancouver area. Rising above the waters of False Creek one will find the Olympic Athletes Village, designed to hold nearly 2,000 competitors. However, it’s the large influx of tourism that is going to really impact Vancouver’s population, driving it from just over 2 million to just under 3 million.

With a desperate need to house Vancouver’s less fortunate and those that will be visiting the City, a project has emerged that I can finally throw my support behind. Home For The Games is non-profit group uniting homeowners and tourists for a great cause in an effort to meet critical needs in Vancouver.

Photo: John Bollwitt on Flickr

Local homeowners that are renting out spaces to Olympic spectators can register with Home For The Games and see their rental income put to good use. While homeowners maintain 50% profit, the other 50% is divided between Streetohome and Covenant House.

Some of Streetohome’s current initiatives “include funding and facilitating the creation of housing for people who are homeless, including supportive housing for homeless mothers and babies.” Funds donated to Covenant House will support “young people who often have no on else—people between the ages of 16 and 24 who have fled physical, emotional or sexual abuse or have been forced from their homes.”

It is hoped that some $750,000 will be raised for these two fantastic charities.

For more information, to volunteer or to register with Home For The Games, please visit their website.

For two years I’ve been meaning to watching Waitress, but somehow our paths never collided until very recently. It’s a precious and venerable treat of a film that tells the tale of Jenna, a young woman from the south who finds herself unwillingly pregnant by a man that thoroughly disgusts her – her husband.

Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Waitress was the first time I’d seen Keri Russell in action, and her portrayal of Jenna is endearing, full of grace and a little bit of cheeky humour. Trying to find balance between pleasing her obnoxiously jealous husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto), and serving up smiles at Joe’s Pie Diner, Jenna is more than just a pretty waitress with a knack for creating scrumptious pies. Waitress also features a delightful performance by Andy Griffith as well as a bit of rugged charm by way of Canadian actor, Nathan Fillion. I always found him rather cute in Firefly, but this film solidified his babe status in my books.

Filming and production wrapped shortly before writer, director and co-star Adrienne Shelly was found murdered in the West Village apartment she shared with her husband and daughter. While her death truly saddened me at the time, Waitress is a beautiful and inspiring film – a legacy that Shelly’s family should undoubtedly be proud of.

Even re-watching the trailer makes me a little misty-eyed. It’s true… I really am that silly.

Sometimes a girl needs a film just like this to offer a little bit of sugar-coated, heart-warming encouragement in life and love. And by the end, I even thought to myself that maybe someday it wouldn’t be so bad to have a baby. Maybe. Someday. Just maybe. MAYBE.

There are enough elements, places to discover and activities around Tofino and the surrounding region to fill a year’s worth of Island Profile posts. However, as it’s my first day back from holidays, I thought it would instead be nice to view the seaside village through my eyes.

To view all the photos I snapped on the wet coast, please visit my Tofino Set on Flickr.

This was a pleasant camp under big trees against a hill, with good water and close by, a nearly dry water hole where sand grouse flighted in the mornings.

“Would you like me to read?” she asked. She was sitting on a canvas chair beside his cot. “There’s a breeze coming up.”

“No thanks.”

This was the way it ended in a bickering over a drink.

…

“I wish we’d never come,” the woman said. She was looking at him holding the glass and biting her lip.

…

“Listen,” he said. “Do you think that it is fun to do this? I don’t know why I’m doing it. It’s trying to kill to keep yourself alive, I imagine. I was all right when we started talking. I didn’t mean to start this, and now I’m … being as cruel to you as I can be. Don’t pay any attention, darling, to what I say. I love you, really. You know I love you. I’ve never loved any one else the way I love you.”

He slipped into the familiar lie he made his bread and butter by.

(Excerpted from The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway, 1927 Charles Scribner’s Sons)

Raymi did this and tagged me. And since I’m on holidays, I clearly have nothing better to do. Also, because there’s no Island Profile this week (remember? I’m on holidays), I’ve thrown in a few pictures from this weekend’s Filberg Festival (and other stuff) just for fun.

1. What time did you get up this morning?

8:30 a.m. – it’s the latest Jordy’s let me sleep in on our holidays so far.

2. How do you like your steak?

Alive and not on any plate, thank you.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

The Hangover. I may have seen it three times. Can you blame me?

4. What are your favorite TV shows?

OZ, Deadwood, Law & Order: SVU, Sex and the City, Alias

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

I’m gonna be super cliché and say either New York City or some small town in Southern California. I like the sound of Toluca Lake.

6. What did you have for breakfast?

I haven’t eaten breakfast yet today. I’m getting through my second cup of coffee with International Delight fat-free hazelnut cream. Sacrilege, I know.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?

Mexican

8. What foods do you dislike?

Meat, Thai, meat, Vietnamese, meat.

9. Favorite Place to Eat?

I probably couldn’t be less inventive but I’m in love with Milestones right now because of their California summer salad and crushed raspberry mojitos. But I also really love Boneta, Atlas Cafe and Avenue.

10. Favorite dressing?

Usually just some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Simple, so good.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?

I don’t.

12. What are your favorite clothes?

My wool DvF dress, jeans and a cardigan and my super short cut-offs.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?

If you read my blog, you know.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?

1/2 full.

15. Where would you want to retire?

Comox Valley

16. Favorite time of day?

Wine time, bath time, park time with Jordy, Gossip Hour with Auntie Raymi and pretty much any time I get to eat.

17. Where were you born?

Here.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?

I hate watching sports.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?

22. Bird watcher?

Uh, nah.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Both.

24. Do you have any pets?

I’m kind of obsessed with my pet.

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?

I’m not fond of sharing.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?

A figure skater or a cheerleader. I had a lot of ambition, I know.

27. What is your best childhood memory?

Going on wilderness walks with my Opa in the forest behind his house. We’d try to spot deer or bunnies or birds and then we’d sit in an “eagle’s nest” and he’d tell me stories. He was so rad.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?

Dog, dog, dog, dog, dog!

29. Are you married?

Barf.

30. Always wear your seat belt?

Oui.

31. Been in a car accident?

Nope.

32. Any pet peeves?

People who drive while talking on their cell phones, people who can’t spell or use bad grammar, people who pop their collars, people who talk through movies, people who are chronic liars, people who overdramatize everything, people who need constant reassurance, people who disrespect animals. Also, the motorcycles that rev up my street, hearing a little bit of bass through the wall from my neighbour (I tattle on him all the time), LOL and that tongue emoticon, Olympic brouhaha and when I paint my fingernails and chip a tip the next morning.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?

Mushrooms, lots of cheese, onion.

34. Favorite Flower?

White tulips.

35. Favorite ice cream?

Are you seriously asking me this? Obviously banana fudge, chocolate chip mint and Moose Tracks from Island Farms.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?

Taco Time. Okay and I did eat a vegetarian sandwich from KFC the other day and it was soooo freaking good.

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?

I failed my Class 5 the first time but when I got my short bus license, I passed with flying colours the first time.

38. From whom did you get your last email?

Andrea.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?

Neiman Marcus, Book Warehouse, Target. Except, for the record, I’d never choose to max out my credit card.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?

I’m so routine and I love it.

41. Like your job?

Actually, yes, I do.

42. Broccoli?

Sometimes.

43. What was your favorite vacation?

I wish I’ve been on a vacation. Soon, very soon.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?

With Andrea to Milestones. Surprising? No.

45. What are you listening to right now?

Nothing – it’s super quiet at my mom’s. The baby is sleeping, the dogs are sleeping.

46. What are your favorite colors?

Purple, green, blue, white, black, brown. Also yellow.

47. How many tattoos do you have?

None yet, but I’m cookin’ something up.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?

49. What time did you finish this quiz?

10:01 a.m.

50. Coffee Drinker?

See question six, please.

Photo: Matteo.Mazzoni on Flickr

I’m going to Tofino first-thing tomorrow morning, so this place is going to get a little bit cobwebby.