Ainsworth is located on the East end of Granville Island (map) and is a great spot to start your shopping adventure. They have an abundance of nifty little gadgets and locally made gems.

  

There are so many awesome places on the Granvile Island to shop so just head down and explore! Hopefully this post gave you some inspiration and direction – MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hubbard Pumpkin

Now, I decided to add a bit of a twist to roasting my Hubbard pumpkin. Why not roast it in a pool of Granville Island Pumpkin Ale?! This is another fabulous thing about October and since it’s half way over, you had better make sure you scoop up a few bottles of this delicious seasonal sensation before it is completely sold out.

There are 4 key parts to making this – Pumpkin, Chicken, Veggies & Buckwheat Noodles

Get the pumpkin in first since it takes about an hour to roast. Cut it into pieces, smother in coconut oil, pour on some Granville Island Pumpkin Ale and sprinkle with yellow curry powder.

While this is roasting you can prep your veggies & throw in a wok.

In this dish I used:

Shallots

Mushrooms

Zucchini

Carrots (julienned)

Broccoli

Roasted Garlic

Just steam in the wok with a few splashes of water – after about 8 mins and the water is evaporated add a can of coconut milk – a few chili flakes – 1/2 a stick of cream cheese & yellow curry powder to your desired spiciness.

Cut up the pumpkin when roasted and add to the wok with some of the juices from the roaster. Add cubes of chicken, mix it all together and then scoop onto a bed of noodles, quinoa or rice. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

This is a pic of Glenda I took when she won runner up in the Granville Island pie baking competition this year. Be sure to find her at the farmers market she has the most delicious selection of produce from her farm, she grows without any sprays or pesticides. The Granville Island farmers market is in the Triangle Square every Thursday from 9am – 3pm.

Not that I assume you, gentle reader, lack a sense of humour, but it’s important to understand the effects of improvisational comedy, and why you should see the Vancouver International Improv Festival (VIIF) at Performance Works on Granville Island.

Improv is more than your Whose Line is it’s Anyway B-listers trying to crack wise in order to get a group of middle-age couch potatoes to laugh.  It’s performers dealing with unexpected or absurd situations.   It’s about the struggle that an improviser has with his fellow performers.  In many ways, it’s about how playing with  the idea of trying to be funny is funny.

“Every large city now has a healthy improv scene”, says Kaitlin Fontana, one of the show’s Directors.  She notes how improv is blossoming and increasing in profile, especially in North America.

VIIF itself is on its twelfth year.  While Festival Director Alistair Cook originated it as more of a tournament, eventually the Festival transformed into an event based on collaboration more than competition, and now it acts as a showcase some of North America’s best improv troupes.

Local heavyweights like Sunday Service sit along Canadian stars such as Picnicface (whose show just premiered on the Comedy Network) and American powerhouses such as ImprovBoston.  Each troupe brings their own unique take and spontaneous creativity towards improv.

In many ways the design of the festival seems to reflect this unpredictability. “We like to be surprised with the performers we choose,” Kaitlin notes, who herself is a noted improviser, as well as a respected journalist.  She notes that each year’s festival is not planned in advance particularly systematically – the variety and unpredictability of the performers are what is attractive to the festival’s organizers.

Two shows – 7:30 and 9:30 – will run every day until October 1^st, so you still have some time to head down to Granville Island and enjoy some side-splitting humour, which is actually a needlessly gruesome way to describe the festival as tremendously funny.

Note that while ticket pre-sales are finished, there are still tickets available at the door.  For more information, be sure to check out the festival site here.

So take some initiative, PVR your TV shows, and go laugh at some real comedians.

dockmaster Sarah & festival organizer Jan in the Ocean Artworks

I had the pleasure yesterday of wandering around Granville Island with Jan and Sarah, who are responsible for making the spectacular Wooden Boat Festival happen every year.

My tour of the festival started over in the Picnic Pavillion (behind Cat’s Social House) where amongst the enthusiastic banging I was introduced to Granville Island veteran David Bradford. David runs the artists and artisans association and also has a boat building company on Granville Island called Alder Bay Boat Company. He spends approximately 25 hours cutting all of the hulls (the main body of the boat) for the kids and then monitors the ‘organized chaos’ and lends a hand when needed. To build a boat it is free for kids with a recommended donation of $2 and $15 for the over zealous parents   The whole concept is to present the materials and let the kids creativity take over.

David also teaches the Family Boatbuilding activities where families build their own 12 foot dinghy (Bevin’s skiff) over the course of the 4 day festival. These activities have taken a 1 year hiatus but will be back next year. You get to launch your boat and go for a row before taking it home! If you are interested write a short essay describing why your family should be chosen. Deadline is July 15, 2012 and cost is $400 per family, email jan@pragmaltd.com.

On our way over to the triangle we bumped into some of the festival musicians who gave me an impromptu performance in the parking lot. They are with the The Jerhico Folk Performers and will be singing loud lusty sailor songs around the market all weekend. Click here for a schedule of events.

In the triangle, which is the area between Liberty Wines and La Baguette, there are gorgeously crafted smaller boats and canoes.

Hilmark Boats

The big boats are strung along the north side of the island and are all judged on 13 varing categories such as oldest boat, best traditional construction, best modern construction, best sailboat, best small boat etc.

'cheesing the line'

The Rhinegold is over 100 years old!

The Scandinavian in me was drawn to ‘Munin’, a 40ft 1/2 scale replica of the 9th century Norwegian Viking ship, Gokstad. You can actually reserve seats for a two hour outing in the Heritage Harbour. Email vikingship.ca@gmail.com or call the Scandinavian Community Centre for more info.

Munin

John Hammond creates exquisite woodwork detailing along the sides of Munin.

John Hammond Fine Art & Woodwork

Make your way down to take part in the festivities and even vote for your favorite boat until August 28th. Set Sail, me matey!

More pictures on our facebook page

He started out by learning how to juggle at a theatre program in East Vancouver, then gained confidence performing for audiences on Granville Island and in English Bay over seventeen years ago. Beginning with a saxophone/juggling hybrid of a show, Bertram eventually composed a skit combining hilarious jokes, jaw-dropping fire juggling stunts and a seemingly impossible straitjacket escape. When asked the big question ‘why street theatre’ Bertram responded, ”I love gathering people together, there is just something oldschool and communal about it”. He is genuine and engaging with an inherent gift for thinking on his toes and making people laugh.

Bertram does have a general structure to his show but he changes it up every time and doesn’t stick to set a script. His talent for comedy truly compliments his street theatre and he plans on inventing more comedy sketches in the future. Some of his existing sketches and stand-up can be found on youtube, check ‘em out for a good chuckle.

It’s a bit tricky to plan for Bertram’s Granville Island show since the buskers do a draw at 10:00am every morning to find out when and where they will be performing. To stay in the loop like him on facebook and follow him on twitter.

Certainly, it’s a close knit community.  People care, and so it’s unsurprising that that they’ve made their community official in the Granville Island Business and Community Association.  And while the Association proved beneficial, it later seemed that something more was needed in the wake of the attention the Olympics brought upon Vancouver and the individual communities comprising it.

Enter the creative, socially conscious team at Zenhouse Media, a marketing and new media firm based in Vancouver. With the Granville Island Business and Community Association looking for a new project to put their community on a map, Zenhouse showed up on the scene and presented the idea for new initiative: Granville Island Works.

“We fell in love with the mythology of the island, the community and passion and ingenuity that created the ‘Island Oasis’ and we began to see that helping to support the community in keeping that spirit alive was the most important goal of Granville Island Works.” says Zenhouse Art Director Cloe Aigner.

Zenhouse Media doing their Abbey Road

It was with 90,000 editions of the Granville Island Works newspaper that the initiative burst onto the scene.  Since, then Zenhouse Media and Granville Island Works have worked to develop media events, merchandise, storytelling contests and tours of Granville Island.

The scope and mandate of that Granville Island Works is surely one of noble origin – one that we like to think is similar to that of Gigazette .  So be sure to keep a close on eye on our friends at www.granvilleislandworks.com for all kinds of new events, and insider info.  They also have a great map of the Island, if you’re looking for somewhere in particular.  And if you’re into history like me, you’ll love this historical overview of Granville Island the website offers.

And plans for the future?  Indeed! “Stay tuned for the announcement of a new initiative,” says Cloe “winter 2011/2012!”

-Vik

This Recipe puts a lively Granville Island twist on the mundane tuna melt!

Ingredients:

Thick cut rye bread – La Baguette

Avocado & Chives – Four Seasons Farms

Crab Cakes – Longliner Seafoods 

Sharp White Cheddar Cheese – Benton Brothers

Pop in the oven until the cheese is melted then top with some of PJ’s AMAZING hand chopped Mango Chutney.

Easy as pie and so delicious!

One such exhibition is currently displayed at Granville Island.  The care and extent of the Art of Recycling’s work is immediately awing.  Not just small trinkets made from tin cans, these fully developed, complex pieces’ intricacy and beauty are at once inspiring and evocative.

“Art from recycled objects is a fabulous platform to get people to rethink and rework our consumer society – and work to repurpose, reuse and recycle” says Janet Lee, one of the founders of ReVision – The Art of Recycling.  Indeed, looking at each of the pieces, it is easy to forget that they originate from what is essentially garbage.  A reblown glass bottle is turned into an angler fish, with an actual flashing lure.  Used brass instruments wind and twist to form a fountain resembling musical notation.

Launi Lucas describing a piece she purchased.

After four years of running shows privately Janet Lee, Carl Anderson, and Launi Lucas formed ReVision as a Non Profit Society in 2011.  The show at the Creekhouse Building is their largest yet, with over 100 works of art and many unique features in the “open air” part of the gallery. Response to the show has been so overwhelming, they have been asked to extend their exhibition to July 24.

Janet, Carl and Launi are all artists, and after seeing recycled art festivals throughout North America, were inspired to create their own.  While their previous year’s exhibition was at the Granville Island Hotel, this year they required more room.  ”We chose Granville Island as our home due to its recycled past,”  Janet says, noting the space’s former role as an industrial sector.

Fore more information on the festival, please visit www.revision-theartofrecycling.com.  Be sure to check out the exhibition in and around the Creekhouse Building on Johnston Street before July 24 to check out all the cool pieces.  To learn more about the founders of ReVision – the Art of Recycling, please visit their websites:

Launi – www.launilucas.com/Launi

Janet –www.janetplanet.ca

Carl – www.HotStartEnterprises.com

Wondering if Summer will ever arrive in Vancouver? Well perhaps the solution to our rainy blues is a trip to the hot, sunny Okanagan. I was born and raised in this beautiful valley peppered with wineries; however, it seemed as though my true enthusiasm and attention for wine didn’t blossom until about a year before I left for Vancouver. Luckily, I was able to develop my knowledge over the years working at Gotham Steakhouse, picking the brains of the most knowledgeable wine alficionados in the City. I have also made a habit out of visiting several wineries when I venture home for a visit. Last summer one of my favorites was 8th Generation Vineyard. It’s a small family-owned and run winery situated on the Southern tip of Summerland just across the lake from the famous Naramata Bench. I was fortunate enough to meet Stefanie who is the one of the owners; she was absolutely charming and had a great sense of humor.

8th Generation Vineyard - Summerland BC

The stainless steel room we entered with simple tree slab countertops contained a fresh and intoxicating oak barrel smell, and was a refreshing departure from the Okanagan heat wave.  I thoroughly enjoyed all the wines in the tasting and loved the european artisanal cheeses they had in as a feature for the day – best stilton I’ve ever had!

8th Generation Tasting - Okanagan Wineries BC

If you are visiting Vancouver for the summer or it is your home base, you can still find plenty of 8th Generation’s delicious wines at specialty wine stores and even in two fabulous spots on Granville Island: Liberty Wine Merchants & by the glass at Edible Canada’s new bistro.

Edible Canada Bistro Granville Island

At the Edible Bistro, I was mesmerized by the tiny little bubbles of 8th Generation Confidence, that joyfully zipped up the middle of the flute, begging me to relish in one juicy sip after another.

Liberty Wines Granville Island - 29.99 for a bottle of 8th Generation Confidence

8th Generation - Confidence

Confidence *Frizzante style displays charming, delicate creamy bubbles with an aroma of crabapple and a fresh palate of strawberry and raspberry. It is the perfect patio sipper!

This is no more true than through Ken Claude Lambert, whose Jewellery is available at Circle Craft on Granville Island.

His passion for jewellery comes from a singular event he can indeed recall, but the desire – the need – to create art through jewellery is elusive to nail down – “Just my need to express myself,” he says.

During a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum when he was a teenager, Ken was immediately struck by a medieval armour and weapon exhibit.  The patterns, he felt, though practical, were also strikingly beautiful, yet simple enough in their elegance. “I can do this” he said to himself.  He went home and began putting together chain mail, and, remembering the patterns he saw in the exhibit, began his first foray into metal design.

For the next decade and half, Ken followed his passion, but only on the side, developing jewellery in his free time, the rest filled with travel, work in the entertainment industry, and a kaleidoscope of other activities.  Finally, in the past year, Ken has devoted his full time to his passion.

His work spans a variety of styles and themes, emanating from places he can’t always predict – “I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with a design idea”, he says.  Combining traditional designs with fashionable designs, he suggests his work is for people with “fashionably refined tastes”.

Ken’s favourite gemstones are blue sapphire and red garnets, but he also feels a need to stretch his creative muscle through the development of custom pieces.  In fact, he’s developed individual pieces for people all over the world, from Mexico to New Zealand.

Indeed Ken’s desire to express himself through jewellery seems limitless.   When asked where he sees his future in jewellery Ken laughs, “No boundaries”, he says.

To learn more about Ken’s works, please visit kenclaudelambert.com or visit Circle Craft works, located on Granville Island.