Sent this letter last night to Sally Challoner and Tim Pemberton at BBC Bristol, I look forward to posting the response:
Hi Sally and Tim,
I recently attended the "Meet the BBC" event at the Pierian Centre back in May. I was representing my professional workplace but I was particularly interested as a co-ordinator of Bristol Feminist Network.
Over time, BFN has had some rough handling from the BBC, particularly the radio arm of the network. Your colleagues seemed keen to encourage community groups to get in touch with stories, explaining what sort of things you were looking for, and the best way to make contact. It all seemed very positive, with BBC Bristol appearing to want to make a real effort to engage with local community groups.
However, I was particularly disappointed by the events of last week. My colleague, Sian Norris, was asked to go on to a radio show to discuss the uniform of the female beach volleyball players, following an article by Julie Bindel in the Guardian about the subject.
Sian gave her point of view about the representation of women in sport as an invited guest on the show, and the host even remarked that she was "very diplomatic". We had assumed this was the end of the contact on this point.
You can imagine our dismay when we were pointed towards this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14502888
I feel the article misrepresents what took place - that Sian was asked specifically to speak to BBC Bristol radio about the uniforms, with the clear intent that she would criticise them. Sian had not approached the BBC with this story. Other speakers were given the opportunity to air their views and it took the form of a "phone in show". Secondly, Sian was not told that anything she said would be placed on the web arm of the BBC. The phrasing of the headline implies that Sian was criticising the women, when in fact she was careful to discuss the wider issues around the representation of women in sport, an issue that is important to BFN. As a result of the online article, Sian has received a couple of aggressive emails that focus on one of the quotes in the article - a quote that was out of context when not heard alongside the rest of what she said during the phone-in interview.
I would ask that the BBC reassesses their contact with BFN. The event in May seemed to be asking community groups to contact the BBC with stories, and that the organisation was keen to represent a range of local activity and events. Do you not think that we communicate with other community groups? Do you not think that when we are misrepresented in this way, and our words taken out of context and used against us, this will disincline other groups to contact you with their stories?
I hope you will take on board some of my comments and I would willingly engage in conversation with you about how we can improve this relationship.
Best regards
Anna Brown
BFN co-ordinator
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Wednesday 3 August 2011
The Chief
We got a car:
So now we can drive ourselves up to the front of the hotel:
And drive to mountains.
We decided to walk/hike/climb up the Stawamus Chief, known as The Chief. Research told us there were three peaks, the first was pretty easy, the second a bit harder and the third - nails.
Off we set, happy as happy people.
There was a waterfall:
There were also many many steps and stairs to climb. I was very impressed that the BC parks people had gone to such an effort to make the mountain accessible, it's great. But by bloody hell, it was hard work, stepping up and up and up, seemingly endlessly. Who needs a stairmaster when you can walk up a mountain?
See the stairs. They were huge!
I had to do lots of stopping and huffing and puffing.
At first, as you ascend, you're in your own little bubble but then, as the going gets tough, you enter a strange camaraderie with everyone else on the mountain. We came across Etil (evil taskmaster lady) who was with her kids and trying to inspire them up by saying "Chop chop!" a lot. She also had a stick so I decided to try to stay ahead of her. But we kept overtaking each other and said hi every time. It was nice.
Near the peak/summit, the mountain just becomes rock and they've put ladders and chains in to help you. It was a bit scary, but Rob was really helpful and we just did it. Here is an example:
So, we did that, and walked up the granite and got to the top of peak one. Hurrah!
Here's Rob:
Here's me & Rob:
I think this is me on the way on #1, not sure. Looks good though:
(am small yellow speck, bottom left).
So, we chatted with Etil a little and her family and then went down. There was a fork from #1 peak to #2 so we decided to go for #2. Whoo hoo!
This felt a bit easier going up, although still pretty tough, and the climbing/scrambling sections were definitely a lot more scary, as you will see. I was quite slow so we had to let a few people past, including a man with a dog in a bag.
We got to the top and looked down on #1 peak, in the middle ground of this picture:
Snowy the dog had made it in her bag:
Us:
And we chatted to the Canadians a bit, who were very lovely:
Then we had to go down. Bloody hell, bits of it were scary! On one occasion I just said, "I don't know how to do this!" particularly as granite is quite slidey after several thousand people have walked on it. I'm so glad it was a dry day!
Here's me negotiating a gully. This looks like a massive pose, but I was actually going down it like this. Slow progress!
But we made it back down, all the steps and steps and steps. I was a bit tired by this point, and after all the squatting, stepping, twisting and bending I broke a bit. It took me AGES to do the last couple of hundred metres. Other people were more or less just running past us, but I was properly tired and my legs and feet HURT.
I eventually got down and got back and then we went out for dinner, where I treated myself to a beautiful chocolate cheesecake. It was amazing. And we met someone in the restaurant whose mother was from Fishponds. Small world.
Today I am properly broken, I can hardly walk! We were going to do a zip wire thing across the Whistler Valley, but I couldn't manage the "trek" part of that so we just pootled round Whistler for a bit and then came back to Squamish where I bought some wood carvings. I am now surrounded by Canadian souvenirs and have NO IDEA how to pack them in my case which seems to have shrunk. Wish me luck. Home tomorrow.
So now we can drive ourselves up to the front of the hotel:
And drive to mountains.
We decided to walk/hike/climb up the Stawamus Chief, known as The Chief. Research told us there were three peaks, the first was pretty easy, the second a bit harder and the third - nails.
Off we set, happy as happy people.
There was a waterfall:
There were also many many steps and stairs to climb. I was very impressed that the BC parks people had gone to such an effort to make the mountain accessible, it's great. But by bloody hell, it was hard work, stepping up and up and up, seemingly endlessly. Who needs a stairmaster when you can walk up a mountain?
See the stairs. They were huge!
I had to do lots of stopping and huffing and puffing.
At first, as you ascend, you're in your own little bubble but then, as the going gets tough, you enter a strange camaraderie with everyone else on the mountain. We came across Etil (evil taskmaster lady) who was with her kids and trying to inspire them up by saying "Chop chop!" a lot. She also had a stick so I decided to try to stay ahead of her. But we kept overtaking each other and said hi every time. It was nice.
Near the peak/summit, the mountain just becomes rock and they've put ladders and chains in to help you. It was a bit scary, but Rob was really helpful and we just did it. Here is an example:
So, we did that, and walked up the granite and got to the top of peak one. Hurrah!
Here's Rob:
Here's me & Rob:
I think this is me on the way on #1, not sure. Looks good though:
(am small yellow speck, bottom left).
So, we chatted with Etil a little and her family and then went down. There was a fork from #1 peak to #2 so we decided to go for #2. Whoo hoo!
This felt a bit easier going up, although still pretty tough, and the climbing/scrambling sections were definitely a lot more scary, as you will see. I was quite slow so we had to let a few people past, including a man with a dog in a bag.
We got to the top and looked down on #1 peak, in the middle ground of this picture:
Snowy the dog had made it in her bag:
Us:
And we chatted to the Canadians a bit, who were very lovely:
Then we had to go down. Bloody hell, bits of it were scary! On one occasion I just said, "I don't know how to do this!" particularly as granite is quite slidey after several thousand people have walked on it. I'm so glad it was a dry day!
Here's me negotiating a gully. This looks like a massive pose, but I was actually going down it like this. Slow progress!
But we made it back down, all the steps and steps and steps. I was a bit tired by this point, and after all the squatting, stepping, twisting and bending I broke a bit. It took me AGES to do the last couple of hundred metres. Other people were more or less just running past us, but I was properly tired and my legs and feet HURT.
I eventually got down and got back and then we went out for dinner, where I treated myself to a beautiful chocolate cheesecake. It was amazing. And we met someone in the restaurant whose mother was from Fishponds. Small world.
Today I am properly broken, I can hardly walk! We were going to do a zip wire thing across the Whistler Valley, but I couldn't manage the "trek" part of that so we just pootled round Whistler for a bit and then came back to Squamish where I bought some wood carvings. I am now surrounded by Canadian souvenirs and have NO IDEA how to pack them in my case which seems to have shrunk. Wish me luck. Home tomorrow.
Monday 1 August 2011
Mountains, lakes and the ocean
Some observations about Canada:
- It is very very big. You knew that, I knew that, but still. It's big.
- It is VERY EXPENSIVE here. Like, a tub of butter/spread costs about $3.50. For reals. And the exchange rate isn't *that* good, although I am useless at working stuff like that out. Unless stuff has got seriously expensive in the week I have been away, it's really quite pricey out here.
- It is a new place. We're on the West Coast, so obviously the most recent place to be "settled" but still. You don't find yourself falling over old churches like you do at home. Or anything old, really. Quite a contrast to Rome, where we were earlier in the year (I wish I was as jet-setting as I sound!)
- Tax is not added. So, you see something that costs $2.50 and you take it to the till. But it doesn't cost that much, because they add the tax at the till. It's about 12%, so not loads, but still enough that getting the correct change out is a bit complicated if you don't have good maths brain like me. And it's just annoying - it doesn't cost $2.50, so don't say it does!
So, after the wedding on Saturday, and some mooching on Friday, we had to travel to Squamish, which is between Whistler and Vancouver going North up the coast.
We looked into renting/hiring a car but it was extremely expensive, so we naively thought we'd be OK. Ha. Ha. Ha. HAHAHAHAH.
Still, we were innocent at this stage in proceedings. So Sunday morning we battled across Vancover with our baggages and got to the Greyhound station and queued up and got on the bus. I'm sure the journey was very beautiful but I was mainly concentrating on not vomiting everywhere as the road twisted and turned, the bus shook from side to side and the air conditioning was blowing a gale against my ankles. Did I mention I get car/coachsick? It was was HORRIBLE. When we arrived I sat down on a bench and Rob went to explore a bit.
It is very beautiful here, surrounded by mountains, some of them snow-capped. But I felt a bit weird, sitting outside a drugstore with two cases and rucksacks, reading a book, as people passed by to do their shopping.
Rob came back with a map to the hotel. We walked. We could not find the hotel. I'm not sure what happened next, but we went to a cafe where I had a fruit and brie salad (YUMMY! *and* healthy!) and they called us a taxi.
The hotel was up the freeway/highway and really rather far away. This is when we realised a car would be somewhat handy. Oops. But it was so expensive!
Squamish is developing as a town, or should I say *was* as the money has run out. Outside our hotel is a big pile of rubble where two restaurants were meant to be. But they never got built. The taxi driver was very nice and optimistic, while my heart sank into my boots. The hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere. Walmart is sort of over the road, but that's not exactly a destination!
We checked in, drank some tea and went to Walmart. Which is basically Asda without any fresh food. Very strange. We got some fake Leibniz biscuits, which turned into dinner. I did some internet research which turned up a local car hire and some stuff to do, so I felt a bit better, although a bit nervous as today is a bank holiday (BC day).
So, today, up we got, had breakfast and got a taxi to the Adventure centre, which is a like an awesome tourist information office with a cafe, gift shop and people who will let you hire bikes. Hurrah! We had a moment's trouble with a cash point that wouldn't give either of us money, but we paid by card and off we went. I asked one of the workers there about crossing the freeway/highway and he was like, "Eh it's no big deal!" but as far as I was concerned, it was like crossing a motorway! There were traffic lights and it was fine. Hurrah, we were off!
Then Rob fell off his bike at a junction changing gear. But he was back on and off! Hurrah! We rode around a bit, and down to the "beach" where some dogs were playing which was cute, and we got this picture of Shannon Falls, the third largest waterfall in British Columbia, doncha know? ;)
Then we went into the town and Rob got some cash, hurrah!
We had lunch at cafe called Zephyr which was full of hippies and served things like raw lasagna. We had falafel wraps which were thankfully warm and served with nacho crisps.
Back on the bikes for a pootle around town and then we decided to go to the Spit which the taxi driver had told us about. The trail started off as asphalt, then turned into hard earth, and then turned in more or less shale, which kicked off a hell of a lot of dust when cars went past.
We stopped off at a little section of the path to look at the view:
I was worrying about the bike tyres, but they survived and we got there. There wasn't much there, really, I was expecting something structural beyond portaloos, but the view was amazing:
We stopped there for a few minutes, watching the people, but it was seriously windy so we came back. The Spit is a man-made structure out in to Howe Sound, I think especially for aquatic stuff. It must be great if you do that stuff.
Ride back was ok, and much quicker than the ride down there. Here's me on my bike:
We had a drink at a place called Howe Sound brewery, returned the bike, got some gifts and taxi-d back to the hotel. I think we are going to Wendys for dinner. Wish us luck.
And wish us luck for hiring a car tomorrow, we'll be a little bit limited without one!!
- It is very very big. You knew that, I knew that, but still. It's big.
- It is VERY EXPENSIVE here. Like, a tub of butter/spread costs about $3.50. For reals. And the exchange rate isn't *that* good, although I am useless at working stuff like that out. Unless stuff has got seriously expensive in the week I have been away, it's really quite pricey out here.
- It is a new place. We're on the West Coast, so obviously the most recent place to be "settled" but still. You don't find yourself falling over old churches like you do at home. Or anything old, really. Quite a contrast to Rome, where we were earlier in the year (I wish I was as jet-setting as I sound!)
- Tax is not added. So, you see something that costs $2.50 and you take it to the till. But it doesn't cost that much, because they add the tax at the till. It's about 12%, so not loads, but still enough that getting the correct change out is a bit complicated if you don't have good maths brain like me. And it's just annoying - it doesn't cost $2.50, so don't say it does!
So, after the wedding on Saturday, and some mooching on Friday, we had to travel to Squamish, which is between Whistler and Vancouver going North up the coast.
We looked into renting/hiring a car but it was extremely expensive, so we naively thought we'd be OK. Ha. Ha. Ha. HAHAHAHAH.
Still, we were innocent at this stage in proceedings. So Sunday morning we battled across Vancover with our baggages and got to the Greyhound station and queued up and got on the bus. I'm sure the journey was very beautiful but I was mainly concentrating on not vomiting everywhere as the road twisted and turned, the bus shook from side to side and the air conditioning was blowing a gale against my ankles. Did I mention I get car/coachsick? It was was HORRIBLE. When we arrived I sat down on a bench and Rob went to explore a bit.
It is very beautiful here, surrounded by mountains, some of them snow-capped. But I felt a bit weird, sitting outside a drugstore with two cases and rucksacks, reading a book, as people passed by to do their shopping.
Rob came back with a map to the hotel. We walked. We could not find the hotel. I'm not sure what happened next, but we went to a cafe where I had a fruit and brie salad (YUMMY! *and* healthy!) and they called us a taxi.
The hotel was up the freeway/highway and really rather far away. This is when we realised a car would be somewhat handy. Oops. But it was so expensive!
Squamish is developing as a town, or should I say *was* as the money has run out. Outside our hotel is a big pile of rubble where two restaurants were meant to be. But they never got built. The taxi driver was very nice and optimistic, while my heart sank into my boots. The hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere. Walmart is sort of over the road, but that's not exactly a destination!
We checked in, drank some tea and went to Walmart. Which is basically Asda without any fresh food. Very strange. We got some fake Leibniz biscuits, which turned into dinner. I did some internet research which turned up a local car hire and some stuff to do, so I felt a bit better, although a bit nervous as today is a bank holiday (BC day).
So, today, up we got, had breakfast and got a taxi to the Adventure centre, which is a like an awesome tourist information office with a cafe, gift shop and people who will let you hire bikes. Hurrah! We had a moment's trouble with a cash point that wouldn't give either of us money, but we paid by card and off we went. I asked one of the workers there about crossing the freeway/highway and he was like, "Eh it's no big deal!" but as far as I was concerned, it was like crossing a motorway! There were traffic lights and it was fine. Hurrah, we were off!
Then Rob fell off his bike at a junction changing gear. But he was back on and off! Hurrah! We rode around a bit, and down to the "beach" where some dogs were playing which was cute, and we got this picture of Shannon Falls, the third largest waterfall in British Columbia, doncha know? ;)
Then we went into the town and Rob got some cash, hurrah!
We had lunch at cafe called Zephyr which was full of hippies and served things like raw lasagna. We had falafel wraps which were thankfully warm and served with nacho crisps.
Back on the bikes for a pootle around town and then we decided to go to the Spit which the taxi driver had told us about. The trail started off as asphalt, then turned into hard earth, and then turned in more or less shale, which kicked off a hell of a lot of dust when cars went past.
We stopped off at a little section of the path to look at the view:
I was worrying about the bike tyres, but they survived and we got there. There wasn't much there, really, I was expecting something structural beyond portaloos, but the view was amazing:
We stopped there for a few minutes, watching the people, but it was seriously windy so we came back. The Spit is a man-made structure out in to Howe Sound, I think especially for aquatic stuff. It must be great if you do that stuff.
Ride back was ok, and much quicker than the ride down there. Here's me on my bike:
We had a drink at a place called Howe Sound brewery, returned the bike, got some gifts and taxi-d back to the hotel. I think we are going to Wendys for dinner. Wish us luck.
And wish us luck for hiring a car tomorrow, we'll be a little bit limited without one!!
Thursday 28 July 2011
Holiday
Posting here as my usual blogger is borked. Effing DDOS.
Hey y'all, hope this week has treated you kindly. What a pain in the butt about the DDOS.
So, before I forget everything, here is an update of what I've been doing the past few days, for myself, but of course if you're interested, you are more than welcome to read.
So, Saturday afternoon we go to the bus station to Gatwick. Bus journey ok and we check into the Gatwick Hilton as our flight necessitated an early start, and hey the holiday always starts the night before, right?
Had dinner and tried to get an early night but completely failed. Hilarious in light of recent bed times.
The check-in desk was pretending to be another airline which was annoying, but we got the bags checked in, and went to departures to eat breakfast and hang round. I also managed to buy two pairs of shoes at this point as, the holiday starts at the airport, right?
Plane journey was ok, and we had the seats by the emergency door. Hello leg stretching! The guy next to us said he had to pay extra for the seat but we were just nice to the man on the desk, and checked in straight after him. Hurrah! I didn't watch any films, but read my book and dozed. It was 9.5 hours which is way long but we eventually arrived in CANADA.
And..OMG! The airport!!! There are jellyfish on the way to the immigration desk. Everyone was walking past it being all, "I am immigrating to Canada, I must not look at trivialities like jellyfish!" But I was like "CANADA IS AMAZEBALLS! Jellyfish! In the airport!!" So I stopped to look. And there are waterfalls, and trees and all sorts of random amazing shit in there. I could quite happily have stayed at the airport! Long queue to be asked weird questions about what work we do ("Er, physicist and equalities officer" I bet that meant a lot to her) but I did see Ginnifer Goodwin in the queue, being all loud.
So, Skytrain into town and then we went straight to the first eatery we saw which was a microbrewey and I had my first enormo-Canadian meal:
That's a Canadian there, behind me. A real one.
Rob's friend Dave who is getting married on SATURDAY came to join us and was very nice and told us where to go and we chatted for a bit and I was a bit tired and intense. But he hailed us a taxi to our hotel and off we went.
Our hotel was just around the corner really, but my bag was a bit too heavy to pull and it was hot. The hotel is AMAZEBALLS and has a nice double bed, and bathroom and kitchenette and FREE WIFI (hence this post). At 5pm I lay down and aimed to have a nap. Rob went exploring and had a nap also. We woke up at about 3am, had a chat and went back to sleep.
Woke up again at about 6.30 and went to breakfast about 7.30. Very strange indeed, considering what a slug-a-bed I usually am. But jetlag does very strange things to you!
So, Monday. We walked north to Stanley Park along the seawall and there were lots of fit people jogging and walking their dogs at 8.50 which confused us. But a world where people are jogging at this time and not going to work is a good one in my book. Stanley Park is this massive forest with an aquarium in it, so we walked around that and saw lots of little squirrel things that look like chipmunks. Then we went to the aquarium. Somehow we forgot about queues and screaming kids, particularly as the park was empty. But the aquarium was PACKED! Here are some pictures:
These are beluga whales. I do think it is cruel to keep them here in captivity, but they are quite rare and they did a little husbandry show which was cute and there was a lot of screaming. Well, the whole aquarium visit was overlaid with screaming, kids banging on the glass and generally acting like amazing contraceptives. I generally like children, but it was so busy, there was no respite!
Then we saw the Amazon section, with a sloth, which made me think of my friend Nina.
It's at the top of the shot with it's head in it's food. Parakeet below. Then we saw otters:
They seemed a bit weird and depressed, doing repetitive behaviours, but they are also rare. Bigger cage needed there I think. Then we went to see a bird show and they had a turkey vulture and Harris Hawks and a bald eagle. Awesomes!
We came back to our hotel for a bit then went to see Rob's friends Alex and Heather. Heather very kindly picked us up and I sat in the back with their 6 month old daughter Madilynn who is GORGEOUS. We made friends, but then she got all weirded out and cried for about 20 minutes. Oops. They were really lovely and it was just a casual evening and both Rob & I were very taken with the baby. We had to go home about 8pm as we were falling asleep, and that is what I did as soon as we got back at about 9pm. I did brush my teeth this time.
Tuesday
Got up about 7 again and went to Gastown, which is where the city was born and has lots of tourist tat shops. Anna-heaven! I got some magnets and key rings for people, and also a babygrow for my future niece/nephew with Canada on it. Oh, and Canada pyjamas. I had to stop then. But it's all so AWESOME!!!
Anyways, I had, in the background, been having hair traumas as it was in badly need of a wash. I mentioned this to Barbara and she said to stop any black woman with nice hair and ask where where she got it done. Except, weirdly, there are VERY VERY VERY few black people here. Lots of Chinese people, and Asian people, no black people. I did not want to be going to a wedding with bad barnet, believe me. So, toddling round Gastown there's a huge Aveda salon and through the door I spy a black woman, actually working there. We walked on a bit more then back past so in a pop, screwing up my courage...and ended up getting a blowdry. They had students who needed practice so a very nice man called Johnathan from Hawaii washed and dried my hair. PHEW! It wasn't perfect (not enough grease on it) but I got a head massage and at the end the blokey put makeup on me. Oh, and it took TWO HOURS, poor Rob, but my hair is sorted. Phew!
Then we had lunch and went to Rob's friend Dave's flat, which was surprisingly small. Then he took us on a walk round the sea, ending up in Granville Island, which is becoming one my new favourite places!
Look at the amazing fruit and veg in the background.
We had a poke around and then a drink at the microbrewery and got an Aquabus home and into bed by 9pm. Jetlag, man. Kicks your butt.
Wednesday
We got up a bit later today, had a really good lie-in, although you're only allowed to take 20 minutes at breakfast as the room is quite small for the size of the hotel and they ran out of bagels. SADFACE. So we agreed to be a bit earlier. We were meant to go to an art gallery but we hung around in our room a bit and emailed friends who were arriving this day. Then we went shopping and got Rob some jumpers and I got a Canandian skirt and a couple of tops for work which match my airport shoes perfectly. It all comes together.
We met our friends at their hotel and took them to Granville island on the aquabus where we had lunch and a pootle around. Then we went back to our respective hotels before reconvening at a pub for dinner. We stayed on Granville a bit longer, and I bought a hat for the wedding. It was quite expensive, but hey, I'm on holidays! This is a terrible picture of me, but shows the hat:
And on the Aquabus. Bloody loved the aquabus - check out the background too:
It was a bit sunny.
So all the people going to the wedding mostly arrived on this day and met up at a pub for dinner/sort of stag for Dave. When we went in, we explained we were with a party who were already there...no, we didn't know where they were sitting. But it was a big group of English people...She immediately knew where we would be. Ha! I had a salad and it was the biggest bloody thing you've ever seen! It was the size of a salad I'd put on the table for a four person dinner! It was very yummy but I couldn't finish it and wasn't really the type of thing you'd take home to eat again. Not good value for money. Everyone was very tired but we left at 10pm and walked down the main street as it had all lights. It was a bit rough thought. Bed at 11pm, latest since we got here. Feels like a weird badge of honour!!
Thursday
Today!
I got up about 8am to get going to the Museum of Anthropology but Rob was wasting time so I went to breakfast on my own (he had blueberries from the market on Granville Island and was happy for me to go, I wasn't being evil) and that was fine.
This is our street, Hornby:
We eventually got going, taking a train then a bus out to the university of British Columbia where the museum is situated. We took a bit of a walk round the campus which has amazing views across the bay and this lovely rose garden:
Sorry about the two uggers ruining the view:
When we got there we couldn't figure out the money to pay which made the man laugh. It's like toy money!!
Then we joined a tour and learned about the different tribes, and their art and saw loads of totem poles and boxes, blankets. It's such amazing stuff, I really love it and it's everywhere here. They call the indigneous people First Nations, which is nice. So we learned a lot there and had a look around the rest of the museum. The most famous artist is Bill Reid and there's some of his stuff there, including a massive sculpture which I took some photos off. I can't get the photos off my camera to post here, so you'll have to wait.
Edit: Finally home, so pictures:
House posts
VERY famous sculpture by the VERY famous Haida artist, Bill Reid.
This relates to a story a bit like Noah & the whale.
And the outside of the museum, which I assume was designed to look like a traditional First Nations house, there were totem poles out here too:
But here are the gifts I got for myself - a hummingbird brooch and frog fridge magnet. Good examples of the First Nations art. I thought the frog was funny for our fridge, considering how many have ended up in our house! And a hummingbird in purple and green seemed way to auspicious not to buy (purple and green are the colours of women's suffrage, and my trade union, hummingbirds are the national bird of Jamaica and in First Nations lore bring good luck. I will wear it on my first day back at work - maybe it will make me invisible!)
We had lunch there and then got a bus to Kitsilano beach, which was AMAZING. There's a huge public swimming pool and the sea and mountains. See:
God, this place is amazing! I doubt anyone said that about the Tropicana at Weston (RIP Tropicana). We were already a bit pooped, but we walked round the coast for about an hour, through Vanier Park which had this sculpture in it (plus Canada geese)
and back to Granville Island for a late lunch and a bit of a mosey round the shops again. I bloody love Granville Island!!
I bought these chocolates today, it's Pride week this week, and we've been on the Aquabus about five times.
Back at our hotel now and the plan tomorrow is to go to Capilano Park where there is a massive suspension bridge that my parents went over 40 years ago! And a Go Ape type thing, so it should be a bit of a challenge and something different. Then a BBQ pre-wedding and wedding on Saturday. We are going to Squamish, which is up near Whistler on Sunday so that will be a lot more country and quite different again. I just love being here, being away from all nasty work and just experiencing something different. I feel very lucky and just love it!!
ETA: So here's a couple of pictures from Capilano. Frankly, we were not overwhelmed by Capilano and as it was $32 to get in, we determined to make the most of it. I think there was a bit of a missed opportunity, really, as there's a treetop walk which contains next to no information about what's there, and I'd be happy to learn about the different types of trees and shiz like that.
View from the bridge:
They had this cliffwalk thing so we went on that. It wasn't as scary as it looks, although the bits with glass for flooring were a bit trippy:
And if you read all that, well done!!
Hey y'all, hope this week has treated you kindly. What a pain in the butt about the DDOS.
So, before I forget everything, here is an update of what I've been doing the past few days, for myself, but of course if you're interested, you are more than welcome to read.
So, Saturday afternoon we go to the bus station to Gatwick. Bus journey ok and we check into the Gatwick Hilton as our flight necessitated an early start, and hey the holiday always starts the night before, right?
Had dinner and tried to get an early night but completely failed. Hilarious in light of recent bed times.
The check-in desk was pretending to be another airline which was annoying, but we got the bags checked in, and went to departures to eat breakfast and hang round. I also managed to buy two pairs of shoes at this point as, the holiday starts at the airport, right?
Plane journey was ok, and we had the seats by the emergency door. Hello leg stretching! The guy next to us said he had to pay extra for the seat but we were just nice to the man on the desk, and checked in straight after him. Hurrah! I didn't watch any films, but read my book and dozed. It was 9.5 hours which is way long but we eventually arrived in CANADA.
And..OMG! The airport!!! There are jellyfish on the way to the immigration desk. Everyone was walking past it being all, "I am immigrating to Canada, I must not look at trivialities like jellyfish!" But I was like "CANADA IS AMAZEBALLS! Jellyfish! In the airport!!" So I stopped to look. And there are waterfalls, and trees and all sorts of random amazing shit in there. I could quite happily have stayed at the airport! Long queue to be asked weird questions about what work we do ("Er, physicist and equalities officer" I bet that meant a lot to her) but I did see Ginnifer Goodwin in the queue, being all loud.
So, Skytrain into town and then we went straight to the first eatery we saw which was a microbrewey and I had my first enormo-Canadian meal:
That's a Canadian there, behind me. A real one.
Rob's friend Dave who is getting married on SATURDAY came to join us and was very nice and told us where to go and we chatted for a bit and I was a bit tired and intense. But he hailed us a taxi to our hotel and off we went.
Our hotel was just around the corner really, but my bag was a bit too heavy to pull and it was hot. The hotel is AMAZEBALLS and has a nice double bed, and bathroom and kitchenette and FREE WIFI (hence this post). At 5pm I lay down and aimed to have a nap. Rob went exploring and had a nap also. We woke up at about 3am, had a chat and went back to sleep.
Woke up again at about 6.30 and went to breakfast about 7.30. Very strange indeed, considering what a slug-a-bed I usually am. But jetlag does very strange things to you!
So, Monday. We walked north to Stanley Park along the seawall and there were lots of fit people jogging and walking their dogs at 8.50 which confused us. But a world where people are jogging at this time and not going to work is a good one in my book. Stanley Park is this massive forest with an aquarium in it, so we walked around that and saw lots of little squirrel things that look like chipmunks. Then we went to the aquarium. Somehow we forgot about queues and screaming kids, particularly as the park was empty. But the aquarium was PACKED! Here are some pictures:
These are beluga whales. I do think it is cruel to keep them here in captivity, but they are quite rare and they did a little husbandry show which was cute and there was a lot of screaming. Well, the whole aquarium visit was overlaid with screaming, kids banging on the glass and generally acting like amazing contraceptives. I generally like children, but it was so busy, there was no respite!
Then we saw the Amazon section, with a sloth, which made me think of my friend Nina.
It's at the top of the shot with it's head in it's food. Parakeet below. Then we saw otters:
They seemed a bit weird and depressed, doing repetitive behaviours, but they are also rare. Bigger cage needed there I think. Then we went to see a bird show and they had a turkey vulture and Harris Hawks and a bald eagle. Awesomes!
We came back to our hotel for a bit then went to see Rob's friends Alex and Heather. Heather very kindly picked us up and I sat in the back with their 6 month old daughter Madilynn who is GORGEOUS. We made friends, but then she got all weirded out and cried for about 20 minutes. Oops. They were really lovely and it was just a casual evening and both Rob & I were very taken with the baby. We had to go home about 8pm as we were falling asleep, and that is what I did as soon as we got back at about 9pm. I did brush my teeth this time.
Tuesday
Got up about 7 again and went to Gastown, which is where the city was born and has lots of tourist tat shops. Anna-heaven! I got some magnets and key rings for people, and also a babygrow for my future niece/nephew with Canada on it. Oh, and Canada pyjamas. I had to stop then. But it's all so AWESOME!!!
Anyways, I had, in the background, been having hair traumas as it was in badly need of a wash. I mentioned this to Barbara and she said to stop any black woman with nice hair and ask where where she got it done. Except, weirdly, there are VERY VERY VERY few black people here. Lots of Chinese people, and Asian people, no black people. I did not want to be going to a wedding with bad barnet, believe me. So, toddling round Gastown there's a huge Aveda salon and through the door I spy a black woman, actually working there. We walked on a bit more then back past so in a pop, screwing up my courage...and ended up getting a blowdry. They had students who needed practice so a very nice man called Johnathan from Hawaii washed and dried my hair. PHEW! It wasn't perfect (not enough grease on it) but I got a head massage and at the end the blokey put makeup on me. Oh, and it took TWO HOURS, poor Rob, but my hair is sorted. Phew!
Then we had lunch and went to Rob's friend Dave's flat, which was surprisingly small. Then he took us on a walk round the sea, ending up in Granville Island, which is becoming one my new favourite places!
Look at the amazing fruit and veg in the background.
We had a poke around and then a drink at the microbrewery and got an Aquabus home and into bed by 9pm. Jetlag, man. Kicks your butt.
Wednesday
We got up a bit later today, had a really good lie-in, although you're only allowed to take 20 minutes at breakfast as the room is quite small for the size of the hotel and they ran out of bagels. SADFACE. So we agreed to be a bit earlier. We were meant to go to an art gallery but we hung around in our room a bit and emailed friends who were arriving this day. Then we went shopping and got Rob some jumpers and I got a Canandian skirt and a couple of tops for work which match my airport shoes perfectly. It all comes together.
We met our friends at their hotel and took them to Granville island on the aquabus where we had lunch and a pootle around. Then we went back to our respective hotels before reconvening at a pub for dinner. We stayed on Granville a bit longer, and I bought a hat for the wedding. It was quite expensive, but hey, I'm on holidays! This is a terrible picture of me, but shows the hat:
And on the Aquabus. Bloody loved the aquabus - check out the background too:
It was a bit sunny.
So all the people going to the wedding mostly arrived on this day and met up at a pub for dinner/sort of stag for Dave. When we went in, we explained we were with a party who were already there...no, we didn't know where they were sitting. But it was a big group of English people...She immediately knew where we would be. Ha! I had a salad and it was the biggest bloody thing you've ever seen! It was the size of a salad I'd put on the table for a four person dinner! It was very yummy but I couldn't finish it and wasn't really the type of thing you'd take home to eat again. Not good value for money. Everyone was very tired but we left at 10pm and walked down the main street as it had all lights. It was a bit rough thought. Bed at 11pm, latest since we got here. Feels like a weird badge of honour!!
Thursday
Today!
I got up about 8am to get going to the Museum of Anthropology but Rob was wasting time so I went to breakfast on my own (he had blueberries from the market on Granville Island and was happy for me to go, I wasn't being evil) and that was fine.
This is our street, Hornby:
We eventually got going, taking a train then a bus out to the university of British Columbia where the museum is situated. We took a bit of a walk round the campus which has amazing views across the bay and this lovely rose garden:
Sorry about the two uggers ruining the view:
When we got there we couldn't figure out the money to pay which made the man laugh. It's like toy money!!
Then we joined a tour and learned about the different tribes, and their art and saw loads of totem poles and boxes, blankets. It's such amazing stuff, I really love it and it's everywhere here. They call the indigneous people First Nations, which is nice. So we learned a lot there and had a look around the rest of the museum. The most famous artist is Bill Reid and there's some of his stuff there, including a massive sculpture which I took some photos off. I can't get the photos off my camera to post here, so you'll have to wait.
Edit: Finally home, so pictures:
House posts
VERY famous sculpture by the VERY famous Haida artist, Bill Reid.
This relates to a story a bit like Noah & the whale.
And the outside of the museum, which I assume was designed to look like a traditional First Nations house, there were totem poles out here too:
But here are the gifts I got for myself - a hummingbird brooch and frog fridge magnet. Good examples of the First Nations art. I thought the frog was funny for our fridge, considering how many have ended up in our house! And a hummingbird in purple and green seemed way to auspicious not to buy (purple and green are the colours of women's suffrage, and my trade union, hummingbirds are the national bird of Jamaica and in First Nations lore bring good luck. I will wear it on my first day back at work - maybe it will make me invisible!)
We had lunch there and then got a bus to Kitsilano beach, which was AMAZING. There's a huge public swimming pool and the sea and mountains. See:
God, this place is amazing! I doubt anyone said that about the Tropicana at Weston (RIP Tropicana). We were already a bit pooped, but we walked round the coast for about an hour, through Vanier Park which had this sculpture in it (plus Canada geese)
and back to Granville Island for a late lunch and a bit of a mosey round the shops again. I bloody love Granville Island!!
I bought these chocolates today, it's Pride week this week, and we've been on the Aquabus about five times.
Back at our hotel now and the plan tomorrow is to go to Capilano Park where there is a massive suspension bridge that my parents went over 40 years ago! And a Go Ape type thing, so it should be a bit of a challenge and something different. Then a BBQ pre-wedding and wedding on Saturday. We are going to Squamish, which is up near Whistler on Sunday so that will be a lot more country and quite different again. I just love being here, being away from all nasty work and just experiencing something different. I feel very lucky and just love it!!
ETA: So here's a couple of pictures from Capilano. Frankly, we were not overwhelmed by Capilano and as it was $32 to get in, we determined to make the most of it. I think there was a bit of a missed opportunity, really, as there's a treetop walk which contains next to no information about what's there, and I'd be happy to learn about the different types of trees and shiz like that.
View from the bridge:
They had this cliffwalk thing so we went on that. It wasn't as scary as it looks, although the bits with glass for flooring were a bit trippy:
And if you read all that, well done!!
Friday 15 July 2011
Cycling
I really enjoy cycling to and from work, or to get from A to B to C. It feels like a strange physical expression of my feminism, particularly late at night after meetings when I'm banging along dual carriageways and "owning" the road. I generally tend to prefer cycling late at night, when there's not much traffic and today there was a perfect demonstration of why that might be.
I was heading to Asda East Street and had just made it across the river and was coming back around to head down Coronation Road. I pulled over quite far to the left to let a bus past as buses (sp?) kill cyclists. As I was coming back round from the kerb, a male cyclist passed my on the right, quite fast and quite close. I don't usually like people getting too close to me but he was so quick I didn't yell. There was a steady flow of traffic as it was about 5pm.
As the cyclist pulled past me on my right, he clearly came too far over for a car driver's preference and said driver honked his horn. The cyclist shook his fist or similar and by now both car and bike were a couple of metres ahead of me. What happened next really shocked me. The car was pulling past the cyclist and swerved towards him in such a way that if the cyclist had been near the car he would've been knocked off. There was absolutely no reason for the driver to pull over to the left and back again on straight road, with no hazards. He simply did it on purpose to "teach the cyclist" a lesson. It was terrifying.
I'm a driver as well as a cyclist, and I used to be really scared of overtaking cyclists, knocking them off and sometimes just frustrated by how bloody slow they seemed to be. But do you know what? Who cares? If you're in a car, you're going to be getting where you're going far more quickly than the cyclist, particularly in Bristol where you never seem to be more than five minutes from a bloody hill. Give cyclists space, hang back, overtake where you can. Your journey is not the priority. We're all trying to get where we're going, on overcrowded and busy roads. Some of us would like to arrive without being injured.
I was heading to Asda East Street and had just made it across the river and was coming back around to head down Coronation Road. I pulled over quite far to the left to let a bus past as buses (sp?) kill cyclists. As I was coming back round from the kerb, a male cyclist passed my on the right, quite fast and quite close. I don't usually like people getting too close to me but he was so quick I didn't yell. There was a steady flow of traffic as it was about 5pm.
As the cyclist pulled past me on my right, he clearly came too far over for a car driver's preference and said driver honked his horn. The cyclist shook his fist or similar and by now both car and bike were a couple of metres ahead of me. What happened next really shocked me. The car was pulling past the cyclist and swerved towards him in such a way that if the cyclist had been near the car he would've been knocked off. There was absolutely no reason for the driver to pull over to the left and back again on straight road, with no hazards. He simply did it on purpose to "teach the cyclist" a lesson. It was terrifying.
I'm a driver as well as a cyclist, and I used to be really scared of overtaking cyclists, knocking them off and sometimes just frustrated by how bloody slow they seemed to be. But do you know what? Who cares? If you're in a car, you're going to be getting where you're going far more quickly than the cyclist, particularly in Bristol where you never seem to be more than five minutes from a bloody hill. Give cyclists space, hang back, overtake where you can. Your journey is not the priority. We're all trying to get where we're going, on overcrowded and busy roads. Some of us would like to arrive without being injured.
Sunday 10 April 2011
Formalising a relationship
There's a post somewhere in me about why I do not want to get married. The thing about not wanting to get married, is that married people seem to feel that it's a criticism of their choice, and feathers become ruffled. Marriage is not for me, but I understand and respect that it is for other people. My choice to remain unmarried is in no way a criticism of another person's choice to get married, but a lot of people don't see it that way.
So this is not that post.
This is a post about what marriage means to other people, specifically within a family. I have been with my partner for five years, we have bought a house together and adopted two cats. We're reasonably serious about each other. But marriage it seems, is the thing that seals your relationship, and tells everyone else that you're *really* together.
Now, I do understand this, of course I do. Standing up in front of everyone you know and promising to stay together forever is a major big deal! That relationship is serious, that relationship is for keeps. Those two just living together, no one really knowing what it's all about, whether they'll still be together next week, or for the next ten years. You have to be wary of those cohabitees, don't you?
But married people? That's for keeps. You can build a relationship with married people. You know where you stand and you know what's what. They are in for the long haul. They've made their promises and they are going to stick to them. It's serious.
But surely, that's crap? We've all heard about the celebrities who've got married, and then had affairs. Or had affairs, got married and carried on having affairs. That happens in real life too, and I don't think that relationship breakdown discriminates between married and unmarried people, whatever the stats say. Divorce exists, after all. And I'm glad it does. But what that means, to me, is that all relationships have a sense of impermanance, that has nothing to do with whether people are married or not. I recently heard about a couple who'd been married for 12 months splitting up because one partner wanted to go to the pub, and the other was a recovering alcoholic and couldn't do that. For serious!
I can't imagine many of us, married or otherwise, throwing our relationship away on such a triviality, and of course there must've been deeper issues at the heart of the issue. But this is the point - marriage isn't a special glue that keeps people together "properly".
And so to the heart of the piece. Because if you're married, you become a husband and a wife and your relationship has a status that everyone understands. A wedding means that you are "properly" related to your spouse's family, not just some piece of ass he/she is deigning to hang around for as long as you look good.
Of course, I am speaking from my own, bitter experience. I feel it's a real shame that people choose to maintain these unnecessary divisions in family life. What, really, would change my relationship with my partner, and in the eyes of those around us should we spend 90 seconds saying some words, and then signing a piece of paper?
Apparently, plenty.
So this is not that post.
This is a post about what marriage means to other people, specifically within a family. I have been with my partner for five years, we have bought a house together and adopted two cats. We're reasonably serious about each other. But marriage it seems, is the thing that seals your relationship, and tells everyone else that you're *really* together.
Now, I do understand this, of course I do. Standing up in front of everyone you know and promising to stay together forever is a major big deal! That relationship is serious, that relationship is for keeps. Those two just living together, no one really knowing what it's all about, whether they'll still be together next week, or for the next ten years. You have to be wary of those cohabitees, don't you?
But married people? That's for keeps. You can build a relationship with married people. You know where you stand and you know what's what. They are in for the long haul. They've made their promises and they are going to stick to them. It's serious.
But surely, that's crap? We've all heard about the celebrities who've got married, and then had affairs. Or had affairs, got married and carried on having affairs. That happens in real life too, and I don't think that relationship breakdown discriminates between married and unmarried people, whatever the stats say. Divorce exists, after all. And I'm glad it does. But what that means, to me, is that all relationships have a sense of impermanance, that has nothing to do with whether people are married or not. I recently heard about a couple who'd been married for 12 months splitting up because one partner wanted to go to the pub, and the other was a recovering alcoholic and couldn't do that. For serious!
I can't imagine many of us, married or otherwise, throwing our relationship away on such a triviality, and of course there must've been deeper issues at the heart of the issue. But this is the point - marriage isn't a special glue that keeps people together "properly".
And so to the heart of the piece. Because if you're married, you become a husband and a wife and your relationship has a status that everyone understands. A wedding means that you are "properly" related to your spouse's family, not just some piece of ass he/she is deigning to hang around for as long as you look good.
Of course, I am speaking from my own, bitter experience. I feel it's a real shame that people choose to maintain these unnecessary divisions in family life. What, really, would change my relationship with my partner, and in the eyes of those around us should we spend 90 seconds saying some words, and then signing a piece of paper?
Apparently, plenty.
Friday 1 April 2011
Lent
I am not Christian, and would probably describe myself as agnostic when talking about religion or belief. But, I decided to give up meat during Lent. In an ideal world, where I am an organised person, I would like to be vegan, but the amount of preparation I'd have to do each day is not realistic for me. So giving up meat, seems like the next best option. I liked the idea of doing it during Lent, as it's a discrete amount of time and the never-ending-ness of some enterprises renders them impossible for me.
What am I learning? For the way I live, it would be very difficult to be vegan. I am eating a lot more cheese than I ever have, and worry that I'm not getting enough protein. That's my problem of course - I should try harder with foods I know have high protein, and that's something to work on next week.
There's something there for me, which forms part of my choice to give up meat, about the provenance of my food. Of course, I still have to wonder where my food has come from, who has potentially suffered for me to have it, and bear in mind the fact that I can walk into a shop and buy food. An option not available to most of the world. I am glad I'm not perpetuating the negative aspects of the food industry, at the moment. It's far less likely than an animal or person has suffered for me to eat the food or had a poor life. If and when I start eating meat again, and I will try much harder to ensure I know where it has come from.
What am I learning? For the way I live, it would be very difficult to be vegan. I am eating a lot more cheese than I ever have, and worry that I'm not getting enough protein. That's my problem of course - I should try harder with foods I know have high protein, and that's something to work on next week.
There's something there for me, which forms part of my choice to give up meat, about the provenance of my food. Of course, I still have to wonder where my food has come from, who has potentially suffered for me to have it, and bear in mind the fact that I can walk into a shop and buy food. An option not available to most of the world. I am glad I'm not perpetuating the negative aspects of the food industry, at the moment. It's far less likely than an animal or person has suffered for me to eat the food or had a poor life. If and when I start eating meat again, and I will try much harder to ensure I know where it has come from.
Saturday 12 March 2011
Where I come from
I just blurted this out over on the F word in response to Amelia's blog about ethnic identity. I don't know anything about blog etiquette, so sorry if this is bad form:
Firstly, I'd like to say how much I liked your post on "Where are you from?" it really spoke to my experience.
Obviously, we are coming from quite different angles, as I am dual heritage - Black Caribbean and White English.
I have to pull you up on the use of the term "Afro-Caribbean". Black people, in your terms, come from more places than Africa or the Caribbean and using "Afro" invalidates the African experience and the African heritage of a large majority of Caribbean people. A lot of Caribbean I know are proud to have an African heritage and choose to describe themselves as African Caribbean.
The term "Black" with a capital B is seen as a political statement used by those of us who have experienced oppression due to the colour of our skin. My trade union has a Black members section which is an umbrella term used in preference to Black and Minority Ethnic or any other term to show our solidarity with each other and the stand we make against racism.
I'm curious to know how you know that the colour of your skin has not affected your life chances or opportunities, I'd be really interested to know how you have reached that conclusion. Of course, class and money come it into it, and I expect we may have similar backgrounds, yet I know I have been disadvantaged and treated differently due to the colour of my skin in the workplace, socially and in day-to-day life. Being followed round shops, turned away from restaurants and treated as if I am uneducated are not new experiences.
Finally, I choose not to use the term "race". My nationality is English, my ethnicity is dual heritage, as I mentioned above, and I am happy to identify as Black. Being dual heritage has been a long hard road for me to walk, and ethnically, I do identify more as White English than Black Caribbean due to how I was brought up. But there's no way to "show" that to the people who ask "where are you from?" and I have chosen to stand with my Black brothers and sisters as that is where the world places me, and there's nothing I can do about that.
Firstly, I'd like to say how much I liked your post on "Where are you from?" it really spoke to my experience.
Obviously, we are coming from quite different angles, as I am dual heritage - Black Caribbean and White English.
I have to pull you up on the use of the term "Afro-Caribbean". Black people, in your terms, come from more places than Africa or the Caribbean and using "Afro" invalidates the African experience and the African heritage of a large majority of Caribbean people. A lot of Caribbean I know are proud to have an African heritage and choose to describe themselves as African Caribbean.
The term "Black" with a capital B is seen as a political statement used by those of us who have experienced oppression due to the colour of our skin. My trade union has a Black members section which is an umbrella term used in preference to Black and Minority Ethnic or any other term to show our solidarity with each other and the stand we make against racism.
I'm curious to know how you know that the colour of your skin has not affected your life chances or opportunities, I'd be really interested to know how you have reached that conclusion. Of course, class and money come it into it, and I expect we may have similar backgrounds, yet I know I have been disadvantaged and treated differently due to the colour of my skin in the workplace, socially and in day-to-day life. Being followed round shops, turned away from restaurants and treated as if I am uneducated are not new experiences.
Finally, I choose not to use the term "race". My nationality is English, my ethnicity is dual heritage, as I mentioned above, and I am happy to identify as Black. Being dual heritage has been a long hard road for me to walk, and ethnically, I do identify more as White English than Black Caribbean due to how I was brought up. But there's no way to "show" that to the people who ask "where are you from?" and I have chosen to stand with my Black brothers and sisters as that is where the world places me, and there's nothing I can do about that.
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