James Shearer

On Friday we said goodbye to the view and made the move to our new apartment.

Although we are in the same building, we are now living a little bit higher up and have quite a bit more space. We desperately needed the space and love living in the West End where people look and laugh if you ask for a spacious apartment. However, we found one. We managed to stay in the area we love, a building we enjoy living in and still maintaining a modern interior but surrendering the view.

I think it is worth it.

All we need to do now is get our stuff moved in and tell people where we live So if you are going to send something to either me or Vanessa, then you need our new address.

It’s been a long time in the making but it is finally online - JT Music website has landed

May the internet make way. Other websites will be envious, bloggers shall rejoice, search engines will lick their lips and people from across the globe will take a look, double take then bite right in and may they savour the sweet, sweet taste as jtmusicshop.com is here to stay.

And stay it must, for this is no ordinary website… oh no, this website is filled with evidence of burnings, mucus, excessive party going, strings and things, and experimental rocking like there has never been.

Monkey can switch off, lean back and breathe a sigh of relief. Tiger can get some Tiger and Monkey time while the Mighty Thurstons mightiness grows mighter with their sudden and loud landing in cyberspace.

Watch out world. The local shop is not just for local people now, oh no…. No longer will people have to use the road to bring their strange accents and funny money to buy. Now the road of cables and computers links the local shop to the rest of the world. The local music shop is local to us all.

There is no excuse, they put in the effort, now you go check it out because if you don’t, they will know. They might be rocking, but they are watching….

JTMusic - Fort William, Scotland
“The coolest, friendliest and over-rocked music shop”

Today I was going through my old emails and I came across some rather interesting photographs (not mine!).

They are of an artist and his work on city streets. The art is all made using chalk and the 3 dimensions is a complete illusion apart from the occasional prop or the artist posing himself!

Despite all the interesting sights, unusual smells and fascinating goings on along Davie street there are regularly occurances which still surprise me.

Last night at the corner of Davie Street and Burrard as I walked past the Celebrities Nightclub I overheard a group of 25 year old men. One turned to the group as they were heading in the opposite direction and remarked,
“that Pantene Pro V makes my hair feel so good”.

The sound of mumbled agreement then followed.

hmmmm…

I came across a great little flash video by an interesting British band - Nizlopi. The video is about a five year old boy going for a drive with his dad in his dad’s JCB.

Check out the JCB song video

Life in Vancouver is great. But not for everybody.

The city’s lack of low-cost housing and housing for the homeless causes some serious concerns for all of the residents of Vancouver.

The downtown eastside of Vancouver, around the Main Street and East Hastings Street has sunk into such a slum it can best be described as a Canadian ghetto.

I’ve taken some photographs of this area of the city and will update them from time to time.

Photographs of Vancouver’s downtown eastside.

I have finally managed to put all my Canadian wildlife photographs online.

At the same time, I wrote up some information on each of main species of animals found in Canada and some tips about where to see them and how to safely and responsibly watch animals in the wild.

Some of my favourite animals to watch and photograph include Grizzly Bears and Raccoons. Some of the more difficult to photograph are, despite the ease in which to find them - Squirrels and Birds. The reason why is because of their fast movements and small size - this can lead to out of focused shots and also missed poses.

The photographs are online now for everyone to enjoy.

There is a lot going on in Vancouver during the summer and I’ve been in the thick of it. When a festival comes to town, or an event is taking place - I’m not too far away - snapping photos for Trail Canada and joining in on the fun.

Recently there have been a few major festivals centered around English Bay and the West End. This is great for me because I live right there!

Fireworks are on at the moment. For 4 days there are 25 minute shows by Canada, Sweden and China as they compete in the world’s largest fireworks competition. This is all part of the HSBC Celebration of Light.
Photos of Fireworks in English Bay

Pride week in Vancouver just came to a close with the Vancouver Pride Parade. For 2 hours hundreds of performers, floats and entertainers made their way down Denman Street and along Beach Avenue.
Photos of Vancouver Pride Parade

The Sea Vancouver festival was also on a few weeks ago. Lots of tall ships from all over the world came to Vancouver. Events took place in English Bay and all along False Creek.
Photos coming soon!