Spouting Off - Launching N'eau

This is what we woke up to this morning ...



It does seem to be warming up though.

Last night was the 5th Annual Spout Off held in conjunction with the Pacific Rim Whale Festival. There was a full house at Darwin's Cafe to hear members of the Clayoquot Writers Group and others read their work.

[David Floody reading.]

The theme was water, although it was okay to interpret that loosely. Seven of the writers had crafted some very witty labels for "brands" of water. They bottled these ideas, both literally as labels on bottles of water and also in a small chapbook, N'eau: A brief exploration into dubious virtues of marketing. [The Cosmic Springs label on the bottle shown here was written by Greg Blanchette.]



The lovely Joanna Streetly was the water sprite of the evening (the strapless gown, sparkly shawl, and striped knee high socks looked particularly fetching together) and tried to sell her watery wares to the attendees.





There are still copies of N'eau available. It's a limited edition of 50 so if you are interested, just leave a comment here or email me for more information. All proceeds to the Writers' Group.

[Greg Blanchette reading.]

[Janice Lore reading.]

[Joanna Streetly reading.]

In Season: Red-Flowering Currant

Ooh, I am feeling for those little hummingbirds we started to see a few weeks ago. It's been "slushing" on an off all day. Brrrr. Along with salmonberries, hummingbirds do love red-flowering currant — the other shocking pink harbinger of spring. Theses bushes are bursting out all over, pretty in pink. Later on in the year, they will produce a blue-black berry, that are, apparently, edible, "but insipid." Insipid. Great word, that.

[They do look nice in my garden, but not bad on my desk, either.]

Whale Fest - Spout Off!

For those of you in Tofino and area, don't forget this evening's 5th Annual WhaleFest Literary Spout Off! This year, the Clayoquot Writers' Group will be reading on the theme of water and I know for a fact there are some fun, quirky, thought-provoking readings in store for those who attend. Open mic to follow.

Tofino, Long Beach & Area in...You Gotta Be Here

If you watched the Olympics you probably saw the ads with Sarah McLachlan, Steve Nash, Kim Cattrall, Michael J. Fox talking about their "home." Poor grammar aside (Gotta?), it was quite a beautiful pan through the province with the west coast very well represented — it begins on Flores Island and ends at Long Beach, with shots of Chesterman Beach (with Sarah as well as the Wickaninnish Inn), Long Beach, Cox Bay and the Broken Group Islands. I'll embed the video below but this link gives a second-by-second break down of where the shots are from.

My New Baby

Nope, not that kind. Those days are done. But this week was the official "birth" of a new enterprise — Postelsia Press. This is a venture about five years in gestation co-conspired with my friend Marion Syme.



Under this brand spanking new press we'll be producing a small selection of books that relate specifically to the west coast. (The west west coast.) There will be champagne and prizes when our web site is officially launched in a few weeks, but for now here is a look at our first product — an activity book for children (and maybe their parents, too). Watch for them in local shops and on our web site soon. (Sorry, no link to the site yet.)

Tofino Through Spencer Brawn's Lens

It's always nice to see Tofino and area through someone else's lens. Here are some beauties from photographer Spencer Brawn. Please check out his blog here.





Thanks for sharing, Shawn.

For those of you in town, remember that the Pacific Rim Whale Fest kicks off this Saturday. There are no shortage of events to choose from, but here are a few that I might just take in over the next few days.

It's going to be a toss-up between the grand opening of the Ukee Aquarium or the "Parade of Whales and Wonders" in Tofino at 10 am on Saturday. And for photographers, there is the Winter Wave Showdown from 7 to 9 Saturday evening at the Black Rock in Ucluelet. On Sunday, also at Black Rock, I'm going to try to get down and see Elin Kelsey read from her book, Watching Giants: The Secret Lives of Whales. See you there?

(You might have other interests, so check out the full list here or look for the March issue of Tofino Time.)

Dress Rehearsal: The Great Tofino Tsunami

I was already up at a far-too-early hour yesterday when a call for the FH came in. He was slated to work already, but after the massive earthquake in Chile — which was about 8.8 on the Richter Scale (MASSIVE) — there were concerns about tsunamis in the Pacific and he had to get in earlier to start closing beaches.

Although the tsunami never came, one day it will. And so will an earthquake of significant magnitude. Both already have in the past. It does get to be a bit of a joke around here when we get tsunami warnings — people notoriously brush them off — but I'd like to make a public thanks to all of those people who spent yesterday closing beaches, putting out warnings, essentially working out the kinks in an emergency response system that is needed here — and will be one day in a big way — whether we like to think it or not.

Remember these signs? I'll bet people were giving them a second look yesterday.

Tofino Spring is Busting Out All Over

So it seems that while I was down here...



(with my shorts and sandals sitting lonely and untouched at the bottom of my suitcase I might add) spring was arriving with a vengeance on the west coast — warm, sunny days resulted in a frenzy of blossoming on the west coast.





My friend Joanna saw her first hummingbird on February 21, feeding on the salmonberry bush we'd seen in bloom January 31.

Yesterday, when we walked down to Tonquin we noticed the carnage in the ditches from where all the bushes (i.e., salmonberry for the most part) had been hacked away by the village. Now I realize there are lots of salmonberry around, but it's still bad timing. Please don't start dredging the ditches now either. Amphibian eggs are soon to appear.

Surfing Capital of North America?

The people who've been surfing on the west coast since the late 1960s must be cringing with the news: Outside Magazine has named Tofino the surfing capital of North America. This, of course, is not necessarily good news in everyone's opinion. I am not a surfer, but I know enough of them — especially some of the older ones — to know this might just seem like the final nail in the coffin rather than "great news." I know, I know, surfing has done a lot for our economy and image (and it's great for our kids, too) but there's a good reason surfers like to keep their breaks out of magazines. I realize the secret was out years ago, but I still suspect a lot of the people who began surfing when you had to drive to California to get your gear would wish that most people would keep their surfing experiences to the virtual kind, something more akin to this...



Here's a blurb on the announcement from the venerable As It Happens, which you can listen to here.

TOFINO SURF TOWN
Since fewer Canadians than expected seem to be owning the podium, it might be time for more of us to consider owning a surfboard. And we don't even have to leave the country.

Outside Magazine -- a magazine devoted to outdoorsiness -- has named the village of Tofino, British Columbia the continent's surfing capital. As the magazine puts it, "The best surf town in North America is in Canada. Who knew?'

Well, among many others, Peter Devries knew. Last fall, the Tofino resident beat out a hundred-and-forty international competitors to win the O'Neill Cold Water Classic in front of his hometown fans. It was the first time a professional surfing competition was held in Canada -- and Mr. Devries became the first Canadian to win a professional surfing event.

Since then, the popularity of Tofino as a Canadian surfing destination has snowballed. According to a Tofino tourism website the growth of surf culture there can be attributed to a number of essential factors, including: surfing is fun; surfing is cool, and everyone looks better in a wetsuit. To which we respond: who knew? Besides Stockwell Day.

Whatever the reasons, we are thrilled that Tofino B.C. is riding the wave of surfing. Once the current influx of tourists are through watching Olympic officials hanging medals on athletes, we strongly encourage them to stop by Tofino and try hanging ten. After some lessons and a wetsuit-fitting that is. We are also thrilled to have an excuse to play some surfing music. Here's Dick Dale with "Miserlou".

I'm curious. What do you think of the news?

[Update: I was curious to see exactly what was written in Outside. Wow, what a lot of press came of these 15 words: "Tofino, Vancouver Island. The best surf town in North America is in Canada. Who knew?" (That's the "article" in its entirety as part of the Editors' Choice Awards)

Two Weeks Until Whale Fest

I'm about 1500 miles south of Tofino and, brrrr, it is colder here than it is at home apparently. Things are looking mighty fine through the lens of the web cam at Cox Bay. Daughter P's class was barefoot and jacket-less on the beach at Ahous Bay yesterday.

It's two weeks until the Whale Fest and here are more details in two versions, for the streaker or the studier. (Actually, I can't seem to link up the longer version. Will try later, but I've got to run.)