Taste of Summer in a Scoop

A generous scoop of roasted strawberry

I went to The Park Theatre to watch the documentary, Steal This Story, Please! and I was a bit early so I walked around the area and saw Rain or Shine Ice Cream on the next block!

Perhaps I was one of the last people in Vancouver to realise that the ice cream brand had opened a shop here, and despite having finished lunch I wanted to squeeze in some dessert.

I sat outside and watched people go in and then emerge a few moments later with ice cream cones or scoops in cups. One woman told her golden retriever to sit patiently outside as she went in and then she came back outside. A staff member gave her a pint of ice cream and a pup cup for her dog!

Needless to say he lapped it up very quickly before they went on their way.

Inside it's fun to see a cow's head with a unicorn horn on its head, and there are several staff members busy with either making waffle cones, making ice cream or serving customers wearing different ice cream-related aprons.

The latest flavours were posted outside to get taste buds excited: lemon raspberry swirl, blackberry iced tea sorbet, blueberry lemon curd, brownie chocolate cherry, and roasted strawberry.

Customers can try two flavours before deciding and I tried the blueberry lemon curd which is made with local blueberries and is on the tart side, but the roasted strawberry blew me away. It was definitely the taste of summer in a cone.

You can have a choice of a sugar cone, waffle cone, or cup, and the kid's size scoop or adult-sized.

I should have opted for the former, but felt I deserved the indulgence, and received quite a large scoop!

The roasted strawberry flavour is made from the strawberries at Mandair Farms. These local berries are slowly roasted with a bit of balsamic vinegar to intensify the flavour. This is no ordinary strawberry flavour!

Rain or Shine Ice Cream

3382 Cambie Street

Real Fruit Slurpee

Watermelon and strawberry sorbet

On July 11 the convenience store chain 7-Eleven offers free slurpees -- well small ones -- all day.

It also happens to be 7-Eleven's 60th anniversary this year. Who knew it was that old?!

My nephew had to get one and it had such intense artificial flavouring that it left your tongue an abnormal bright red.

We decided to figure out a way to make a slurpee out of fruits and found one using watermelon.

First chop up three cups of seedless watermelon into chunks and then freeze them for a few hours.

When you're ready to make it, in a blender combine the frozen watermelon with a generous cup of frozen strawberries, a cup of plant-based milk, like almond or oat, and a tablespoon or two of honey.

Slowly raise the speed of the blender until everything is mixed and a slurpee-like consistency.

And boy is it refreshing!

To make it like a sorbet, freeze the watermelon overnight and follow the same instructions as above. The end result will be thicker, a cross between a sorbet and granita.

Either way it's a great way to beat the heat in a healthier way!

Review: Steal This Story, Please!

Goodman's life and work is profiled

Amy Goodman is a journalist, broadcaster, columnist, investigative reporter and author. 

But most of all, she's fearless.

Yesterday I watched the documentary Steal This Story, Please!, profiling Goodman, 69, in her personal life and journalism career where she relentlessly asks questions and if there is something going on that isn't widely reported, you can be sure she makes sure you hear about it.

She is a relentless journalist

She is the co-founder, host and executive producer of Democracy Now! an independent news outlet that relies on the donations of viewers, and is not beholden to corporations.

During her career, Goodman has broken many stories, such as the Santa Cruz massacre, when some 250 demonstrators were killed by Indonesian soldiers using American weapons. She and her colleague Allan Nairn witnessed the incident and Nairn was physically assaulted.

Another was exposing Chevron transporting the Nigerian navy and police to quell protests, which led to the killing of two protestors and injuring 11 others. A Chevron spokesperson admitted transporting the troops on the record.

When President Bill Clinton called the station as a public service announcement to get people to vote, Goodman kept him on the air for 28 minutes, talking about a range of subjects in a combative interview. While the White House communications department accused her of violating rules when interviewing the President, Goodman replied that he continued talking -- he could have hung up at anytime.

She was also broadcasting around the clock on September 11 when two planes hit the twin towers, only blocks away from the studio. Goodman and her team also revealed how the dust from the area caused major health issues for New Yorkers even though the mayor and other health officials claimed the air quality was fine.

From a young age, Goodman was encouraged by her maternal grandfather, an Orthodox rabbi, to ask questions. When she was a child, her brother David started a self-published family paper and she collected subscription money, and wrote letters to the editor.

She covers stories mainstream media don't

She later edited the school paper and as Goodman tells it, she held the principal to account for his actions. 

In the documentary she explains after graduating from university she was obsessed with working on The Phil Donahue Show. She thought it was refreshing to watch people being frank and discussing issues on television.

Eventually the show contacted her, asking her to be there the next day -- to be a panellist about unemployed young people.

She took that as a sign to create her own work, and started working for a community radio station in the mid to late 80s.

In 1996 she started the program Democracy Now!, trained several people to be journalists, and the transition from radio to video.

We also see her visit her 106-year-old grandmother, who, despite hearing problems, insists Goodman must comb her hair. Goodman goes to Rivne in Ukraine (before the 2022 war) and pays her respects to her ancestors who didn't leave before the pogroms began.

Steal This Story, Please! is a collection of archival footage of Goodman, and it's quite impressive to see so much of it, especially in her early days of radio. When I worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the radio current affairs department, we never filmed anything, except perhaps the odd celebrity interview or if the prime minister came by.

Her scoops reveal over and over again how mainstream media were completely unaware of what was going on, and had to use her footage because she had drawn so much attention to the story. 

Some accused her of being an activist-journalist, but to her these are stories that are worthy of attention, that no one is lesser; this is particularly the case of the plight of the Palestinians, and this was over 10 years ago. 

Goodman says the duty of journalists is to ask questions, and that can lead you closer to the truth.

Inspiring and yes, fearless.

Steal This Story, Please!

Directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessen

98 minutes

Vancouverites Priced Out of Oakridge Park

Oakridge Park is bright an airy, but also very expensive

Oakridge Park has partially opened in Vancouver, and after years of watching it being built, many residents were curious to see how the old shopping mall was replaced.

Gone was the large street level parking lot and in its place is a huge upscale mall, parking in the basement, and luxury condos in the towers above. The prices for these units were apparently so expensive that only the uber rich could afford them, and even then there were stories going around that there was valet parking which deterred some prospective buyers.

Lots of luxury brands and a champagne bar

In a bid to showcase Oakridge Park and get some customers in, a section of the mall featuring Time Out Market, the gourmet food hall was opened first in late May.

There was a lot of hype about Time Out Market, and in the first few days there were mobs of people trying to get to this area on the second floor; one report was that it was an hour wait just to get in, and almost as long to get food.

People were enticed to come thanks to a huge social media push that invited influencers to film themselves trying the food. For example, there's Iron Chef winner and celebrity chef Rob Feenie come and offer his Feenie burgers, Lunch Lady has a condensed version of its pho offerings, Top Chef Canada winner Chanthy Yen presenting Mee, a Cambodian menu of rice or noodle bowls, and Beaucoup Bakery and Mello with their pastries and doughnuts respectively.

Nevertheless, the food court is popular because there's a giant screen showing the World Cup games, like when we went the other day.

Cambodian noodles from Mee Bar

I ordered a bowl of noodles from Mee Bar, with slices of braised pork, rice noodles, two prawns, half a soft-boiled egg and bean sprouts with a slightly sour and spicy sauce for $26. Sadly it did not fill me up, and I wasn't about to buy something else in the food hall.

Security also seems overly hyper vigilant. We walked in with a cup of water and a security guard told us no outside drinks allowed. We explained it was just water and at first she refused to let us bring it into the food hall and suggested we use the water dispenser which made no sense -- we already had water! She finally let us go. It was a bit much.

As one can surmise, most of the food offerings are Asian, to target a certain crowd, as evidenced by the retail stores.

The shopping mall itself looks like one that could be found in China or Hong Kong, though Oakridge Park seems to be even grander with the stores all spread out thanks to the wide berth between them.

And yes all the shops are on the high end: Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Alexander Wang, Chow Tai Fook, Rolex, Prada and Dior to name a few.

The mix of stores is very high end and empty

Meanwhile the only cheapest option is Sephora to buy lipstick or a Korean beauty mask until supermarket Safeway opens. There are no toy stores or bookstores, or a range of stores offering various price points.

Some people who have visited Oakridge Park describe it as soulless, similar to an airport mall, full of greed and excess, and makes them feel poor. 

I have to agree... Oakridge Park was planned when there seemed to be a never-ending tap of Chinese money flowing to Vancouver, but the spigot has been turned off and now there are too many condos and not enough buyers to afford them.

Unfortunately we're left with what could soon become a white elephant...

Grouse Grind the 2026 Edition

The start of the Grouse Grind

The Grouse Grind is considered a very Vancouver thing to do, and with relatives visiting, we did the trek this morning in overcast conditions which was perfect temperature-wise.

As we drove up Capilano Road, we saw people running with race bibs up towards Grouse Mountain and supporters ringing cow bells. The racers went to the BCMC Trail, while the rest of us went on the Grouse Grind. I can't imagine running uphill and then racing up the mountain too!

It really is "Mother Nature's Stairmaster"

We started just after 9:40am and there were already several people lingering at the start waiting for others, or commencing the hike. 

It's a 2.5km hike up the face of Grouse Mountain, and the Grind is nicknamed "Mother Nature's Stairmaster". And you'll realise it soon enough.

The path is practically a natural staircase that winds around, over giant tree roots, rocks and some wooden staircases, thanks to Don McPherson and Phil Severy, who built the path in the early 1980s.

It's now maintained by outside workers of Metro Vancouver, though they are currently on strike, demanding improved health and safety protection, and retention of workers.

The first section of the grind is tough -- it's a shock to your system having to climb up so many stairs in a relatively narrow path and keeping steady breathing is the key, as well as hydrating and taking breaks.

Lots of heavy breathing from everyone hiking

The hike is divided into 40 sections, and periodically there will be posts marking how far you've gone.

For example at around the 10/40 sign indicates you've completed one-quarter of the hike. And there's a sign celebrating your achievement, but with a warning.

"Congratulations! You've made it to the 1/4 mark," it reads.

"That was the easy section. Now comes the hard part. The trail gets steeper and narrower from here.

"So, do an honest check in: feeling tired already? Used up all your water? Light-headed or dizzy?

"This is the best place to turn around. Beyond this point, downhill travel is not allowed."

Beautiful views along the way

Before we reached this point, we saw several people making their way down. They were obviously frightened by the sign and gave up. It's a decent enough warning as it's good to have a lot of water and snacks to stay hydrated and have enough energy to make it up to the top.

I just tried to keep going, even if it was slow, and take breaks to catch my breath and drink some water. Many people passed me along the way, some were seasoned hikers, going up with a small bottle of water, or even none at all! One man who passed us was already on his second trip up the Grind!

There are "Grinders" who do this hike once a week or more, and like to boast their times. The record is 25 minutes! Most people finish in about an hour and a half to two hours.

Last stretch is a scramble up rocks

At around the one hour mark, I overheard one young man tell his friend that he forgot to pay for parking! I tried to help him by opening my parking app to get the code number of the parking lot, but I hardly had an internet connection.

Eventually I passed the 1/2 way mark, and then it was such a relief to see the 3/4 mark to know the end was near. We could hear the hum of the electricity of the gondolas nearby going up and down, and in the distance the clearing in the trees. 

But it would be a ways before finishing, as the path veered to the right, and then finally swung back to the left. I had to use the hand railings made from tree branches, or wooden posts to help me up.

The last part was literally a scramble up some rocks before finally making it to the top of the mountain. What an ordeal but also what a workout! Completed at around 1:39.

We had a quick snack, drinks and washroom break before getting a lift ticket to go down. And it's quite the sight looking down and realising how far you've hiked up.

Gondolas taking passengers down the mountain

It took us around 38 minutes to drive to Grouse, but double that to get home thanks to single-lane traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge and traffic jams downtown.

When we got home, we took a shower and then had to lie horizontal for a while...

Remembering Bonnie Tyler

My 1980s playlist included Bonnie Tyler

This morning I was gutted to hear on the news that singer Bonnie Tyler had died yesterday in a hospital in Portugal. She was 75 years old.

She was most famous for Total Eclipse of the Heart, which has been described as a song that starts of soft and vulnerable, and builds into a crescendo full of emotion and power.

And that gravelly voice! It made her sound human and gave meaning to every word she sang. Tyler was also known for other hits like It's a Heartache, and Holding Out for a Hero.

Tyler was born in Wales

I didn't know she was from Wales, and that her real name was Gaynor Hopkins. She changed her name to Bonnie Tyler in the 1970s to avoid being confused with another Welsh singer, Mary Hopkin.

Tyler had a husky voice after she had surgery in 1975 to remove nodules on her vocal cords. 

I was 14 years old when my family made our first trip to Sydney to see my father's side of the family. His older sister lived there with her four children. 

The eldest was old enough to drive and he drove us kids around and we were subjected to his cassette mixed tapes. Up until that point all I knew of music was almost exclusively classical thanks to piano lessons and my father insisting on listening to classical music in the car.

Here was my older cousin who introduced me to pop and rock music, and Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart was one of the songs we listened to over and over again.

A few weeks ago he visited us and again I heard his now digital playlist in the rental car and it brought back memories of the 1980s and our first visit to Australia, driving wheel on the right side, kangaroos, Australian accents, and that Mackers was slang for McDonald's.

Tyler's singing was so unforgettable, and many of us during that time remember the lyrics to Total Eclipse of the Heart:

Tyler died yesterday at the age of 75

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit lonely

And you never coming ′round

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit tired

Of listening to the sound of my tears

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit nervous

That the best of all the years have gone by

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit terrified

And then I see the look in your eyes

Turn around, bright eyes

Every now and then I fall apart

Turn around, bright eyes

Every now and then I fall apart

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit restless

And I dream of something wild

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit helpless

And I'm lying like a child in your arms

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit angry

And I know I′ve got to get out and cry

(Turn around)

Every now and then I get a little bit terrified

But then I see the look in your eyes

Turn around, bright eyes

Every now and then I fall apart

Turn around, bright eyes

Every now and then I fall apart

chorus

And I need you now tonight

And I need you more than ever

And if you only hold me tight

We'll be holding on forever

And we'll only be making it right

′Cause we′ll never be wrong

Together we can take it to the end of the line

Our love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)

I don't know what to do, and I′m always in the dark

We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks

I really need you tonight

Forever′s gonna start tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time, I was falling in love

Now I′m only falling apart

There's nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time

But now there's only love in the dark

Nothing I can say

A total eclipse of the heart

verse

Turn around, bright eyes

Turn around, bright eyes

((Turn around))

Every now and then, I know you′ll never be the boy

You always wanted to be

((Turn around))

But every now and then, I know you′ll always be the only boy

Who wanted me the way that I am

((Turn around))

Every now and then, I know there's no one in the universe

As magical and wondrous as you

((Turn around))

Every now and then, I know there′s nothing any better

There's nothing that I just wouldn′t do

(Turn around, bright eyes)

Every now and then, I fall apart

(Turn around, bright eyes)

Every now and then, I fall apart

chorus

And I need you now tonight (and I need you)

And I need you more than ever

And if you only hold me tight (if you love me)

We'll be holding on forever

And we′ll only be making it right (and we'll never)

'Cause we′ll never be wrong

Together we can take it to the end of the line

Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)

I don′t know what to do, I'm always in the dark

We′re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks

I really need you tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight

(Forever′s gonna start tonight)

Once upon a time, I was falling in love

But now I'm only falling apart

Nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time, there was light in my life

But now there′s only love in the dark

Nothing I can say

A total eclipse of the heart

A total eclipse of the heart

A total eclipse of the heart

outro

Turn around, bright eyes

Turn around, bright eyes

(Turn around)

Ooh-ooh

Ah-ha, ah-ha

Ah-ha, ah-ha

Ooh-ooh