fun fun fun! it's my annual trip to the pne and it was sooooOOOOoooo much fun. i brought my camera along and left with the most annoying thing in the world. pictures will follow...but let's just say that we went through the marketplace but of course, we sat through the eukanaba dog show, and we toured the grand prize home. we ate corn dogs and i went for my traditional chinese takeout always! and then we hit the stands selling oodles and oodles of things! but of course! this is the pne! yippee!!!

the only downside was that i need to learn a thing or two about self control. guess who lost fifty moolah at the betting stands?

in every sense of the word, i feel so tremendously lucky to be in the company of such a life-loving couple! each set has their remarkable stories to tell and i feel so blessed to be able to share their stories with you, those who are interested in jeanie in a nutshell.

but enough about me! how about them! the moment i talked with james and serena, i knew that they would be such a fun loving couple to photograph. and they were in every sense of the word. both had a little devil sitting on their shoulder whispering pranks and mischief into their ears; they were laughing at each other's idiosyncracies and eccentricities that they often had me doubling over as well! it is no wonder my shots turned out so great, was i holding my camera right at all? all i can say is - i can't wait until their wedding day!

it was the beginning of a three-day wedding celebration and we were prepared to work hard and play harder. in truth, we were prepared in every sense of the word but in hindsight, we couldn't have been more prepared for what we were so lucky and honoured to be a part of.

when the reem and ali stepped out onto the torch-lit pathway, guiding beautifully their entrance into the pavilion, it struck me again how beautiful the both of them were and so, how could we not end up with the beautiful images that we did? check it out:



the three-day celebration included everything from samba dancers to croning singers. at one point, the bridal couple were guided in by a sashaying belly dancer complete with a dazzling smile and an infectious wink of an eye. jeff and i shot so much, we're going to kick ourselves silly in the processing room. but it would be worth every shot. this wedding was worth every shot.

we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! well, we did...to a certain extent. the steel ziplines suspended high above the breathtaking white-water river dividing whistler and blackcomb mountains was exactly what i had envisioned in my head, but the walk we had to make off the steps in order to get the zip going was something else! it was akin to walking off the plank, and the experience was exhilarating! amidst the trials and trebulations, complaints and nervousness, cat, lisa, robi and myself zipped through five incredible lines, one spanning over eleven hundred feet in the tree canopy of the mountains!

along the way, we were educated by our guides, experienced in the knowledge of the unique rainforest environment in the whistler/blackcomb mountain region. did you know that, in the midst of douglas firs, western hemlocks, western red cedars, amabilis firs and sitka spruces that can be as old as hundreds of years old, witches' hair, also known as alectoria sarmentosa grow only a few millimetres a year? wow! and here i am, complaining about the rate of growth of my hair - a few inches a year!

all in all, folks, i can only say this. if you hadn't zipped before, zip now! what are you waiting for? it's a fabulous experience giving you exclusive access to areas of rare and untouched ancient coastal temperate rainforest. rain or shine, summer or winter, the excitement is as much as you'd imagine and will never fade. the only worry you'll have is that you'll leave wanting more and more!

celebrating its 30th anniversary year, the powell street festival is the largest japanese canadian festival and the longest running community celebration in vancouver! there are always so many fun filled traditional and contemporary japanese canadian performances, and this year was no exception. because the festival celebrates 30 years in the making, they have brought in a very special guest. rick shiomi, who was one of the original festival coordinators, waaaaay back in the 1970s, came with his taiko group from minnesota, mu-daiko. this year's taiko drummers included the festival's special minnesota guests as well as local groups such as sawagi taiko, katari taiko and chibi taiko. sumo wrestling and martial arts demos took over the ring, and the annual kokoro dance wowed us again this year with a special collaboration introducing their son, joe hirabayashi and his band life without water. what a fantastic band! check them out at www.lifewithoutwater.com



of course, the festival is never complete without tanko bushi, a traditional coal miners' tune and dance, and omikoshi, an incredibly elaborate structure of carved black and red lacquered and gilded wood which is the residence of the local kami, the local gods. the omikoshi hefted on the shoulders of carriers from the community and jogged through the festival grounds. not to forget are samples of alternative pop/rock/urban music, showings of visual arts, screenings of film and video, as well as a fantastic array of japanese food, crafts & displays. as i wandered through the booths of so many talented artists and craftspeople, i couldn't help but feel a tinge of nostalgia for my friend candice, whom i introduced to the powell street festival last year. candice is away, teaching english in korea, so she's not around to walk around with me, but her spirit is there with me in every corn that i chew into and every cool craft that i pick up. i hope that she'll be back next year for the 31st anniversary of powell street festival!

today, we bid adieu to becky. technically, she won't be leaving until august 28th, but who knows when we'll be together again. amazingly enough, after we have all ventured into our career field post-graduation at capilano college, we have managed to stay in touch and even amazingly enough, met up once every few months to catch up, inspire and encourage each other in our endeavours to stay happy, young and full of life in a field that drains all of your life away from your very being...but that's another story for another posting...

oh becky! how we are going to miss your wonderful smile and your positive nature! nova scotia is going to benefit from your kind-heartedness and ever-inspiring energetic personality. amidst drinks and giggles, fries and laughter, we gave becky a necklace to remind her of b.c., and sent her on her way with promises to circulate a really really old picture taken during our college year together. a promise to keep in touch, a hug to remind each other how much we care for each other, and a wave goodbye to send each of us on our way to the life ahead of us.