www.vancouver21.com

On March 19, 2013, the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Earth Hour City Challenge awarded the City of Vancouver as the Global Champion and the recipient of the People’s Choice Award. Five other cities in India, Italy, the U.S., Sweden, and Norway chosen from 66 city entrants were in competition with Vancouver as the most innovative city taking action on climate change. In the end Vancouver prevailed as the winner.

The people of Vancouver joined millions others in Canada and many more around the world in participation of the global Earth Hour on Mar 23, 2013 by turning off building lights resulting in an impressive 22% reduction in energy consumption at City Hall as measured by Pulse Energy.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a statement, “Being named the WWF’s Global Earth Hour Capital is an exceptional honor for Vancouver and more international validation of our comprehensive efforts to be the world’s greenest city.”

The mayor spearheaded an effort to drive the city of Vancouver to become the World’s Greenest City by 2020 by implementing many sustainability and carbon reduction initiatives such as the 2040 Transportation strategy to “dramatically reduce vehicle travel in Vancouver” said Mr. Robertson.

Video was shot during Hour Earth 2011 at the lighted fountain of the Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. The Bloedel Conservatory lights inside the dome where tropical plants resided in a greenhouse were turned off as scheduled but the outdoor fountain lights and jet-streams remained on. [A video by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]

Ray Van Eng is an award-winning Photographer/Videographer, Screenwriter and Movie & TV Producer. One of his videos is currently on view at the Hava Nagila Exhibit, Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Manhattan, New York, NY. from Sep 2012 to May 2013.

Bloedel Conservatory, 4600 Cambie St. Vancouver BC

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January 03, 2013

Dear Mayor Robertson,

Re: NYE Bash for Vancouver for 2014

Vancouver needs a public, outdoor, open-to-all New Year’s Eve (NYE) Party. Not only for all citizens to celebrate the new year but also a perfect opportunity to remind the world of our unique heritage and formidable capabilities in hosting global events like the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Expo 86 and so on.

New Year’s Eve is the single most recognized event in the world among all cultures. That is why all major cities around the globe put on an elaborate show and are competing for attention. Not only should Vancouver be among them, we should shine in our own special way to claim our position as the crown jewel of the Pacific Northwest. Please do not hand Seattle that honor. To not participate in the NYE party tradition and be in tune with the rest of the world is to miss out on one of the best times of the year to promote our city.

Yes, there is a mini-NYE celebration at Robson Square for 2013, but the skating ring area is simply too small to host such a premiere event. Jack Poole Plaza is the right place to do it. We have the Christmas tree there with the Vancouver Convention Center and Canada Place nearby, two buildings that have connections to the city’s glorious past as host to a winter Olympic and world exposition as we look forward to build even better future.

We could further reinforce our international image as a city that is committed to sustainability principles and reducing carbon footprint by only re-lighting the Olympic Cauldron at the moment of count-down. This would be even better than a simple ball-drop to serve notice to the world of our serious intention to become the Greenest City in the World by 2020, a vision of yours, Mr. Mayor, that many of us wholeheartedly support and feel have a role to play in the implementation of the Greenest City 2020 plan.

Vancouver is not only a world-class city but one that many others look upon with admiration and even envy. To be without a NYE bash for a city like ours is like running a global business without an impressionable web site these days. It is not even an option. People won’t take you seriously.

Please Mr. Mayor, allow me to urge City Hall and Council to take action to start the new year right for 2014 and plan a NYE bash for those of us who live here and use that opportunity to tell the world of our many attractive attributes as a global destination for tourists, innovative hub for leading businesses and great place to live.

Thank you very much. My very best wishes to you and your council and have a wonderful 2013!

Sincerely,

Ray Van Eng
Media Professional

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To the readers of this blog –

If you believe in having a public outdoor NYE Bash in Vancouver that all can enjoy, please join me in sending a request to Mayor Gregor Robertson at this City of Vancouver Facebook address – https://www.facebook.com/CityofVancouver?fref=ts

Vancouver 2012 Christmas Tree with 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Cauldron [Photo by Ray Van Eng]

Ray Van Eng is a long-time Vancouver media professional, screenwriter and movie & TV producer. One of his videos is currently on view at the Hava Nagila Exhibit, Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. from Sep 2012 to May 2013.

Vancouver Convention Center & Jack Poole Plaza

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Rocking Christmas Songs Dancing Lights Show


The VanDusen Festival of Lights is a Christmas event that many nature-lovers have been waiting for to start the holiday season.

One of the guiding principles of the VanDusen Garden has always been to connect people to plants and the natural environment. Year-round, visitors have come here to appreciate and learn about conservation, gardening, plant lives and stories, nutrition, pollination, adopt a tree, birding in the garden and many more.

The VanDusen Garden is also a popular spot for wedding couples getting hitched.

Although there are more than 100 events happening all year, don’t think that during winter the garden would be in hibernation. No, December happens to be the busiest time of the year.

To celebrate Christmas and the Yuletide season, the garden comes alive with more than a million light bulbs illuminating all vegetation and the surrounding enclave. 1.4 million lights to be exact.

Nancy Wong, VanDusen Garden’s Public Relations Director, proudly pointed out that volunteers counted each light bulb every year and made sure they were working before putting them on.

The Festival of Lights is an extremely popular event. Families come in droves.

On the first day of the festival (Dec 02), there was a long lineup of people wanting in before the garden officially opened at 4:30 PM. In fact, visitors were advised to purchase tickets in advance at Tickets Tonight or in person at the Garden Shop at VanDusen Garden as early as Nov 1st.

Once visitors entered the garden, many of them seek out the popular Dancing Lights at Livingstone Lake in which a continuous series of strobe lights was synchronized to rock versions of familiar Christmas songs that reverberated with the audience, adults and kids alike.

Music is the universal language, no loss in translation there. It signifies the joyous season and everyone is excited to be there. Dancing Lights plays every half-hour and it has become one of the main attractions of the Festival of Lights experience.

After the light show, visitors began to explore different areas of the garden and there were plenty for them to see and enjoy – Santa’s Living Room, Gingerbread Wood, Make-a-Wish Candle Shrine, Sparkling Spruce in the center court, Candy Cane Express model train etc.

Roaming along the brightly-illuminated Candy Cane Lane, you would likely hear a singing choir that draws you nearer or encounter two Christmas Gnomes, Svend and Jens eager to entertain.

Svend joked often in a heavy Swedish accent while Jens played his quiet and abiding partner. Their routine worked out very well I must say.

It’s the Winter Light season (not Lights, in honor of director Ingmar Bergman) and with Svend and Jens close by, you are reminded of the Swedish filmmaker’s world-famous troupe of actors including Liv Ulman, Max Von Sydow, Gunnel Lindblom and others. Ja!

After an hour or two, you just might feel hungry and it is a perfect time to have dinner at the garden. Both light fare and full meals are available at the VanDusen Garden. Dinner is also served every night at the Shaughnessy Restaurant during the Festival of Lights. Reservations are recommended.

Ho-Ho-Ho, Santa’s rocking in his chair!

[Photos & Video by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]

































________________________________________________

Ray Van Eng is an award-winning photographer, journalist, online publisher, screenwriter and movie & TV producer. One of his videos is currently on view at the Hava Nagila Exhibit, Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. from Sep 2012 to May 2013.

________________________________________________
5251 Oak Street Vancouver, BC

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As one of the featured designers of the Vancouver ECO Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 (SS2013) or Season 5 (EFW05), Kim Cathers’s 68 Pound Challenge is certainly unique. The collection is so named because the garments were made entirely from 68 pounds of recycled, thrift clothing and fabric.

After completing a fashion design program at the Blanche Macdonald Centre, Kim choose to work mostly with recycled or natural material for her sustainable women’s wear and accessories which she called her kdon clothing line. She also made leather goods and restyling vintage clothes and enjoyed traveling to music festivals and farmers markets to sell her ware as well.

The soundtrack used for her catwalk runway show at the ECO Fashion Week SS2013 was overwhelmingly country music e.g. Jolene by Dolly Parton, Circle Be Unbroken by John & June Carter Cash, On The Road Again by Willie Nelson, Tennessee Flat-top Box by Roseanne cash among others.

Her fashion designs had drawn praise from around the country and were featured in Project Runway Canada season 2.

[A Video by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]

Robson Square – 800 Robson Street, Vancouver BC

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ECO Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 (Oct 16-19, 2012) – ADHESIF by Melissa Ferreira featuring green sustainable clothing design at Robson Square in Vancouver Canada

Vancouver-based green eco-conscious fashion designer Melissa Ferreira’s Adhesif Clothing Company uses new and recycled fabrics to create noticeable and original one-of-a-kind garments. Every garment retains its very own personality. ECO Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 (SS2013) Sustainable and environmentally-friendly clothing design catwalk runway show at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver on Oct 18, 2012. (Music by Alex Beroza, Emerge in Love)

[A Video by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]

Robson Square – 800 Robson Street, Vancouver BC

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ECO Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 Sustainable Green Clothing Design show in Vancouver @ Robson Square (Oct 16-19, 2012) adheres to a Environmentally-Friendly and Totally No-Waste Principle

The ECO Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 (SS2013) line-up of sustainable, earth-loving and environmentally-friendly fashion designers includes Nicole Bridger, Standing Arm, Rise, Mala Imports, Voyou, Ressac, Respecterre, C5H8 and others. Value Village continues to support the event featuring designs by Nicolette Lang-Andersen, Mimi Lauzon and Tony Vu. Kim Cathers offers her unique brand of 68 Pound Challenge with Adhesif Clothing b y Melissa Ferreira closes the runway show on Thursday.

On Friday (Oct 19), the last day of the ECO Fashion Week SS2013 is a series of seminars covering a range of industry subjects such as labor, manufacturing, trends, upcycling, consumer awareness etc. with ECO Fashion Week CEO & Founder Myriam Laroche and other industry experts like Martin Hojsik (Greenpeace), Tara Sawatsky (Canopy) and others.

Eco fashion designers mostly use recycled, reclaimed and vintage fabrics for their clothing creation. As a result, a lot of the clothing designs are one-of-a-kind, or as designer Myco Anna describes hers, ‘every piece is unique in the way it combines new and recycled fabrics and fibers like a kaleidoscope.’ Some designers also give away scrap or surplus fabrics to other textile artists to utilize and work with, adhering to a totally no-waste and everything-recycled principle.

[Photos by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]

































Robson Square, 800 Robson Street, Vancouver BC

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The Vancouver Home and Design Show 2012 was a four day-event from October 11-14, 2012 and held at the BC Place Stadium, Home of The Vancouver Whitecaps, under a newly-installed retractable roof which is the largest cable-supported roof of its kind in the world.

More than 300 exhibitors filled the entire floor space that is usually reserved for soccer matches, concert staging, trade show exhibits and other large convention events.

There are the usual carpet-cleaning demos, home appliances, furniture display etc. This year’s exhibition also featured plenty of energy efficient green home technology and products. Ways to improve your personal space, renewable furniture and big ideas for small-space living and innovative renovation are also among the most popular topics that attract fair-goers at every turn. There is no shortage of DIY home improvement ideas that you can do-it-yourself.

However, one of the most popular draws is Kuerig Brewing System that is constantly serving a long lineup of tradeshow guests eagerly waiting for a free cup of single-serve gourmet coffee of over 200 varieties. A number of booths with whirlpool Jacuzzi hot tubs filled with warm water are magnets for both adults and children.

Special live shows included celebrity guest-hosted events such as The Bachelorette and Extreme Makeover star Jillian Harris’s ‘Customize Your Style, Gemini-award winning host of HGTV fame Bryan Baeumler’s Get Your Home Improvement Priorities Straight, Samsung Passion for Fresh Cooking Challenge among many others.

[Photos by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]




































BC Place Stadium – 777 Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver, BC

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One of the highlights of Vancouver’s Aboriginal Tourism (AtBC) Klahowya Village is a miniature train ride on the Spirit Catcher Train. The 18-minute train ride around the Douglas tree-lined forest features the telling of a popular Coast Salish First Nations story – Raven Steals The Sun. Aided by an onboard voice-over, live actor performances, native songs and aboriginal props along the way, this ancient tale ignites the senses and sparks the imagination of the of the children and parents who enjoyed the locomotive ride. A perfect way for a whole family to spend a perfect summer afternoon in the city’s world-famous Stanley Park.

The Klahowya Village at Stanley Park will stay open until Sep. 11, 2011. Tickets for the Spirit Catcher Train Ride are Adult $10, Senior/Child $8 and free for children under 2 and include Gate Admission to the ground which otherwise would be Adult $5 and Senior/Child $3.

VIDEO – Spirit Catcher Train at Klahowya Village in Stanley Park

Klahowya Village, 1000 Pipeline Road, Vancouver BC

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The Richmond Maritime Festival 2011 was held at the Britannia Heritage Shipyard on August 05-07, 2011. During this weekend, people from the Greater Vancouver area and beyond, many with their entire family, came to Steveston, Richmond BC to visit the cannery row, First Nations Bunkhouse, Murakami Boatworks, Chinese Bunkhouse, BC heritage boat the S.S. Master, the Canadian Navy boats, tugboats, model boats, sailors, Fleetwood the 1930s rumrunner etc. They also explored Britannia Shipyard and the carpentry, engine and machine shop that serviced the fishing fleet of the Anglo British Columbia Packing Company and enjoyed musical performances by local artists, colorful characters in costumes and listened to sea shanty tales.

Steveston is at the south arm of the Fraser River which is one of the world’s richest salmon resources. Each year, millions of Pacific salmon of all species including Sockeye, Pink, Chum, Chinook, Coho and Steelhead make a long journey home from the ocean and swim through here and up the Fraser River to spawn and complete their habitat cycle.

Naturally, Steveston BC has a long history of salmon fishing and cannery row that reach back into the later half of the 19th century. Of course before the European and Asian settlers, the aboriginals of the Coast Salish tribes have been catching salmons for food for at least hundreds of years.

A Japanese boat, Mukai, is now fully refurbished and sat just outside of the Richmond Boat Builders building waiting to be re-launched back to the Fraser River and beyond where it once tread.

Of particular interest to many Asian visitors is the Chinese Bunkhouse which housed an interior that showed how the Chinese cannery workers had lived in the 1900s while working for the Anglo British Columbia Packing Company in Steveston, BC. These artifacts exemplified why these early Chinese settlers were also pioneers of Canada.







































5180 Westwater Drive, Steveston, BC

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Just for fun, for the fans, we slapped together this quickie movie trailer for Life For Mile. Hope you guys like it!

Life For Mile is a Historic Drama/Western/Kung Fu/Mystery/Action/Comedy movie. It is based on the true-life story of the Chinese and Indian (First Nations) laborers who worked together in the construction of the transcontinental railway that united Canada as a nation in the 1880s.

Cultural content-wise, the movie is 50% Chinese and 50% First Nations. Western genre movies are often about cowboys or cowboys and Indians, but Life For Mile is different. This movie is about the true-life accounts of the Chinese and indians (First Nations) railroad workers who united together to go against their railway cowboy masters and ultimately restored some degree of dignities for themselves. Life For Mile is executive produced by Hollywood actor Stephen Chang. [Music by Kevin MacLeod.]

Life For Mile Facebook Fan Page

VIDEO – FOR FANS ONLY Life For Mile Movie Trailer

Shell Road, Richmond, BC

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