High tech streaming system brings Kootenay curling into digital age

Curling has existed in BC for more than 120 years, with the Kootenays being home to some of the first clubs. A lot has changed over that time, including the way people watch the sport. In January 2016 I spoke to Cranbrook’s Chris Medford about his efforts to link curlers with a neat tool on their smart device.

Cranbrook’s curling club might not be the centre of the universe, but it has suddenly found itself with a powerful tool that allows it to reach a national or even international audience.Read More »High tech streaming system brings Kootenay curling into digital age

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Crimes against coffee and tea

International Coffee Day (October 1) is upon us – and I am marking it by occasionally looking longingly at pictures of frothy cappuccinos in exotic locations. The photogenic drinks are transporting me back to a time when I sat down and enjoyed a cup at the right temperature at my own pace.

But sadly, I probably won’t consume any coffee on its special day.Read More »Crimes against coffee and tea

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I really don’t know what I’m doing

I joined the strange and confusing world of parenthood late last year.

bea with beeMany a cliché can be said about the moment your first child is born – but these two rang true for me: A) you suddenly know your life will never be the same and B) you are filled with joy and wonder because you have somehow MADE A PERSON.

For me, it was an emotional roller coaster with incredible highs and some surprisingly dark and lonely lows.

Most people will understand the highs, so it’s those lonely moments that I want to write about.

I’ll be honest. I’ve never been much of a baby person. I used to enjoy seeing babies and seeing photos of other people’s babies but felt nervous if someone placed one in my arms.Read More »I really don’t know what I’m doing

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Summer Games athletes deserve support

When I worked for the Nanaimo Daily News, I was lucky enough to get to produce a column. I enjoyed writing the following piece on the Olympics. In it, I predicted that Canada wouldn’t get a bucket-load of gold medals, but argued that these athletes deserve our admiration even more than some of the gold-medal winning Winter Olympians.

Tommy Gossland dives into the UBC Aquatic centre pool. Picture Copyright Geoff Lister/The Ubyssey.

Tommy Gossland dives into the UBC Aquatic centre pool. Picture Copyright Geoff Lister/The Ubyssey.

Canadians need to start embracing the Summer Olympic Games like they embrace the Winter Olympics.

For a nation that professes to love sport, we are too often prone to ignore some of our best and brightest athletes.Read More »Summer Games athletes deserve support

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A brutal fight to save the okapi

In one of my recent posts, I revealed my fascination with the okapi, a giraffe-like creature that I first saw at London Zoo. Because of this fascination with okapi, I became interested in the work of the Okapi Conservation Project.

Okapi

Okapi at Marwell Wildlife Park.
Picture copyright David Connop Price.

Sadly, the project has been in the news this week for all the wrong reasons. Six people and 13 okapi were massacred by mai mai rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to reports from staff from the Institute in the Congo for Conservation of Nature (ICCN) headquarters and Okapi Conservation Project base, located in the Ituri Forest, these rebels attacked their complex, killing two of the rangers that patrol the area to prevent poaching.

The rebels, who are thought to be a a group of elephant poachers and illegal miners, also killed the wife of one of the rangers, an immigration worker, and two residents of Epulu, a nearby village. The gunmen also destroyed and looted the buildings on the site. Villagers and ICCN staff had to flee for their lives into the forest, or walk to the nearest city, Mambassa.

Read More »A brutal fight to save the okapi

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Canada feels… kind of foreign

I have recently moved back to Canada after more than seven years in the UK. It means I have spent more of my adult life abroad than I have in my home country.

ANYONE who has lived abroad or travelled abroad for long periods of time will probably remember what it feels like to come back to Canada.

The sense of openness and the friendliness of the people is one of the first things that will hit you. But it’s the small things that you took for granted when you lived here that seem to really stand out and seem a bit … foreign.

A friend’s Facebook status update is a case in point. On return to Canada from a lengthy tour of Europe, she wrote: “OK, why is there so much water in the toilets here?” (Fresh water is a scarce resource in Europe, so toilets are designed to flush using much less water. In comparison, many Canadian toilets use what seems like buckets of water). It’s hard not to think it’s a big waste.

Read More »Canada feels… kind of foreign

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