Studio Radiant

I came across this little guy on our walk this morning. Thanks to SPCA for taking my call and picking the little gaffer up.

One of the Cut-Throat Trout in Coco’s waterhole died a couple of weeks ago. Sad but another trout moved in almost overnight.

Last night we saw a guy fly-fishing there. I hope he was of the catch-and-release kind.

Like many other Burnaby residents, this Boxing Day has been a rare opportunity to enjoy a few quiet moments away from work, away from traffic. I took Coco for her morning walk at 9:00 into a world of white: frost on the ground, roofs and trees; low fog below a bright sky. As we passed her favourite waterhole, a coyote crossed the road 30 metres ahead of us. We stopped to watch, but it was more concerned with something of interest in the ditch next to the parking lot. I decided a fearless coyote is good for no one and chased it back into the woods, careful not to let go of Coco’s leash. It tried a couple times to hold some ground but I kept coming. Once I was satisfied the coyote was on his way home, Coco and I continued our stroll. On the way back I was curious to learn what interested the coyote about that ditch. Expecting to find some evidence of rodent activity, instead we were met by the coyote again. Coco dropped a stick she had found and I picked it up and threw it at the coyote. My presence earlier was not enough to send it running but the frozen stick shattering a metre away really spooked him. He turned tail and ran back into the woods. Coco and I looked for critters in the ditch then went home for breakfast.

My tales of animals in the city have been met with so much incredulity that I have decided to investigate them further. So, Coco and I walked along the trails near Still Creek to look for signs of a beaver. One was sighted last week by 2 women who regularly check on the ducklings by the BCIT sports centre. It appeared below the dam there, so it either came over the dam along Guichon Creek in which case it would have a hard time getting back. Or, it came up the sewer system that goes under BCIT and presumably the Trans Canads highway from Still Creek.
We began our search by joining the trails near Gilmore Road and walked east until we reached Douglas Road. Within 5 minutes we saw a gnawed, fallen tree by the creek side and a jumble of branches blocking the waterway. Confirmed! The BCIT beaver must have travelled hundreds of metres underground to reach the dam. One enterprising animal.

Almost every night my wife and I like to walk our dog over the bridge near BCIT to check on the ducklings and gosling in the pond below. Last night while counting the broods, one of the adult geese started hissing and then charged at something in the tall grass at the side of the pond. Within seconds a dark, winding shape emerged from the foliage and approached the ducklings who had gathered below us under the bridge. My first assumption was it must be the same beaver that was sighted just 24 hours earlier in the same area. But, the creature was sleak and had a body less than 12 inches long. Also, it lacked the distinctive wide, flat tail of a beaver. As it passed by the ducklings, it crossed to the opposite bank of the pond then disappeared under some driftwood.

My second assumption was it must be a muskrat. In my mind, muskrats are the only other aquatic rodent besides beavers. But, on further google and wikipedia research, I now think it must have been a mink. Why? Because its tail was not nearly as long as its body and that tail was covered with thick fur. It was mostly black but had a little white area near its mouth.

Wendy and I have been wondering what might have been preying on the ducklings. Of the 3 broods there this summer all have had their numbers dwindled. The first litter started with 10 and is now down to 8. The second began with about 8 and is now down to 5. Finally, the third family started with 6 and is now down to 4. There are many predators in the neighbourhood: dogs, cats, coyotes, owls, hawks, eagles, crows and humans, in no particular order. Now, we have have another suspect.

This past weekend I was invited but Ted Allen of M&M Performace in Kelowna to test drive 2 new Victory motorcycles. The weather was supposed to be perfect so I jumped at the chance. Late Saturday afternoon I drove a Victory Kingpin from Penticton to Kelowna along highway 97. I was a little unsure of my steering and clutch abilities because it had been so long since I drove a motorcycle. But the Kingpin was remarkably easy to drive despite its weight and I never stalled the engine thanks to the high torque of its 100 cubic inch V-twin. With fenders that extend only inches from the road and a lowish saddle it reminded me of a Harley Davidson police cruiser.

The next day, after a 4 hour journey down highway 33 through Rock Creek and Beaverdell to Osoyoos, I gathered the courage to try the Victory Jackpot. How would it and I handle cracks in the road with only a narrow 90mm front tire? How would it and I handle the corners with a 250mm back tire? I was warned the bike wanted to stand up going around corners and when accelerating. I found that even when I turned the handle bars and leaned into a turn, I still had to push down on the inside handle bar to get it into and around a corner. Not very reassuring when you are traveling at 100 kph on a 700 lb machine down an unfamiliar road. But, I learned to accept it. And the machine’s unruliness only added to its mystique. Along a straight track the bike almost drives itself and so what if it takes more effort to turn than a sport bike or classic cruiser – it is an intimidating machine to drive and behold. Like an addiction I wanted to try the same bike but with even more rake on the front end and more power cranking the rear wheel. But wait, it wasn’t my toy… Time to go home and stop dreaming.

The Vermeer / Rembrandt exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery is a lesson on the Golden Age of Dutch painting. Besides the usual exhibit-ware of timelines and audio-visual displays, the one I found most intriguing was the Camera Obscura. I have seen Camera Obscuras before but never noticed that they render an image just like a Dutch still-life. The contrast is heightened, the background blurred and darkened. A powerful effect, but if it was used by artists, capturing fine detail would be extremely difficult due to the the low light and inverted image. Some portraits also seem Cameresque.

A common Dutch still-life from the Golden Age was known as a vanitas. Artists such as Pieter Claesz would paint sumptuous banquet scenes complete with ornamental glassware, tropical fruits, flowers and game. Maybe talent and riches are things to be celebrated but a vanitas of a skull reminds us how fleeting and insignificant life really is.

The rich symbolism found in this collection makes me wonder if modern Western culture lacks a “language” of symbols, or is it just different: have colours, shapes and celebrities replaced myths, gestures and allegories.

I found myself leaning close to many paintings to get a better look at the artist’s techniques. The Rembrandt / Vermeer show is a panorama of the Dutch Golden Age. Now, I want a close-up of Vermeer’s, and  Ter Borch’s works.

This may be your last chance to see 1 of only 30 extant Vermeer’s. The New Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will reopen in 2013.

Thank you WordPress for updating the iPhone app. Honestly, Version 1.2.1 shouldn’t have been released. I kept getting XML warnings if I tried to upload a photo, categories weren’t accessible, Preview didn’t work and the settings were incomplete and buggy. Finally, we have a version worthy of a version number. How does 1.21.1 sound? I think it is a 2.

Climbed Grouse mountain yesterday just ahead of its closure. Took about an hour. Folks ahead of me pushed some large rocks down a neighbouring ravine to remove a dangerous feature.

Saw a dead fish at least 8 inches long at the bottom of the water hole.