sebastian white online :: blog archives

About Me

Photos | Writing

Search | Home

I love running!

Just kidding. Today I ran the Poland Springs Marathon Kickoff 5-miler in Central Park with a couple friends and we kicked some serious you-know-what, despite running on little sleep and the after-effects of 2 a.m. tequila slammers in the Meatpacking District...despite it all, we all beat our personal bests on the course by about four minutes. Even if I did ~~throw up~~ feel awful on the finish line.

Central Park looked amazing in the colors of autumn. After the race I snapped this shot near Fifth Avenue. It almost looks like a summer day -- but it was 42 degrees.

Posted by Sebastian / New York / October 29, 2006 /

Kelowna tops in Canadian real estate

Not too surprising -- "The small B.C. city of Kelowna has become the second most expensive place to buy a home in the country, behind Vancouver," CBC reports.

Kelowna, which is located a few hours east of Vancouver, is hot in every way possible. "A ReMax Canada survey suggests the average house price in the Okanagan city has jumped to $422,000 this year, up from $355,000 last year -- moving it ahead of Victoria, Toronto and Calgary."

One agent told CBC, "Every single property on the lake is going to be over a million dollars. We're selling land on the lake. An old knockdown, and it's over a million dollars. Let's face it. We're a lifestyle destination."

Posted by Sebastian / Kelowna / Real Estate / October 26, 2006 /

Runners we love

I've been talked into running the Poland Springs Marathon Kickoff 5-miler in Central Park this Sunday with my friends Kirstin and Donny (pictured here on a flight we took to Chicago today). If I don't keel over and die, I'll let you know how it went.

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / October 26, 2006 /

Panama

Our BFF, Jeffrey Kofman, has a fun report on efforts to expand the Panama Canal.

Posted by Sebastian / TV / October 25, 2006 /

Maine

I headed to Maine this weekend with a couple friends, and we had a blast! Of course we flew JetBlue, and were in Portland only 35 minutes after we left New York! Our first stop: LL Bean, and outlets of Freeport, and then it was back to Portland for a stroll through the Old Port.

We popped into one of my fav stores in town, the Old Port Candy Co. on Fore Street, for some purple Swedish Fish (it's one of the only places in the country I've seen it sold). Sadly, we were informed that the Canadian company that produces Swedish Fish has discontinued the purple line. I was crushed. So we headed next door to Gritty McDuff's for some local brew until it was time to head home.

Portland just keeps getting better. It is truly a cosmopolitan city with a lot of neat surprises for visitors. In fact, I recently learned that after San Francisco, Portland has the most restaurants per capita in the country.

The NYT reports, "Visitors who've been away from Portland for the last decade marvel at all the new hotels and freshly tidied streets. But it's the array of new food choices that startle most. Downtown strollers come upon greengrocers, bakers, fishmongers and enough intriguing restaurants to enable a two-week dining binge. And Saturday night? Today it smells like microbrews and artisinal breads and freshly caught seafood sizzling on a wood-fired grill."

Posted by Sebastian / Maine / October 22, 2006 /

Montreal

Nous aimons Montreal. The New York Times does, too, in today's 36 Hours feature. While my heart is in Vancouver, let's face it: Montreal is far more exciting (and god strike me down) and more fun, too.

"Make no mistake: visiting Montreal is not like going to Paris. True, the brooding facades and crooked streets of Old Montreal feel distinctly European, and yes, the locals take their French seriously. But don’t confuse this cosmopolitan Canadian port city for a fusty, Old World wannabe. Freshened up by a wave of trendy new hotels, shops and restaurants, Montreal sings its own tune -- and it sounds more like Arcade Fire, the homegrown indie band, than La Marseillaise. With the city’s debilitating 1990’s recession behind it--and the specter of Quebecois secession all but forgotten --a lively patchwork of gleaming skyscrapers, bohemian enclaves and high-gloss hideaways now outshines the city’s gritty industrial past."

sebsnaps.com: Montreal

Posted by Sebastian / Montreal / October 22, 2006 /

Quotable

Last night Vancouver won Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards for best city in the Americas. Shocker!

Why Vancouver?

"We are ethnic-embracing, gay-loving, godless commies," says Guy Saddy, a columnist for the Globe and Mail, on Vancouverites. It may have started out as a lumber town, but with tourism, yoga gear, and new construction of glass condominium towers as its other major industries, it's clear that the city where both Greenpeace and the radical culture magazine Adbusters were founded has a default liberal streak. Despite the abundance of natural beauty, wide-open-minded views on hemp cultivation that have earned the city the nickname Vansterdam, and a seal of fashion approval from hordes of visiting style-obsessed Tokyo twentysomethings, locals view their hometown as a cultural also-ran, forever comparing it unfavorably with Toronto, Montreal, or nearby Seattle. Much like the rain that falls intermittently on the city, it's a charming bit of bluster that eventually passes--an inferiority complex as transparent as the glass-and-steel skyline."

"Almost anywhere you go in Vancouver, one unifying quality emerges: it is an uncommonly functional and versatile place, just large enough to satisfy the curiosity of even the most jaded travelers. It's a big city that nonetheless feels friendly and intimate. That friendliness comes from its sociable, socially progressive populace, many of whom came to stake a claim in the global lifestyle of this 21st-century town. 'It's the terminus of the nation,' Saddy explains. 'People come here to remake or reinvent themselves.'" More

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / October 16, 2006 /

Brooke Astor's fate

The long-running public drama over the care of New York society doyenne Brooke Astor has reached another milestone. Astor's son Anthony has been ordered to return $1.3 million that a court ordered he took improperly from his mother's accounts, and cede decision-making control over his 104-year-old mother's life to her friend Annette de la Renta, pictured here, herself no slouch on the New York society scene. (BTW, we know Annette looks more fabulous than this photo would indicate.)

Earlier this summer, Astor's son had been accused of "failing to fill her prescriptions, stripping her apartment of artwork, reducing her staff, confining her dogs, and generally darkening her final years." Another report claimed that, "Astor had been reduced to sleeping in a ragged gown on the filthy, smelly, urine-soaked couch and was subsisting on pureed peas and oatmeal."

Meanwhile, Astor's daughter-in law Charlene earlier this year dismissed the allegations against her husband, noting "Not everyone has a Park Avenue apartment, not everyone has eight servants." The most salacious part of this whole ordeal is Charlene. She was the rector's wife in Northeast Harbor, Maine, where the Astors have summered for years. Reports allege that she made herself very visible to the Astors, walking by their summer home daily. She ultimately left her rector-husband and married Astor's son.

New York Daily News: Battle of the New York Blue Bloods

Posted by Sebastian / New York / October 14, 2006 /

Buffalo snow!

I had big plans to head to Buffalo today but a little something called two feet of snow is getting in my way. Here's a shot of Buffalo's West Side courtesy of my trapped friend Jay. Yesterday was the snowiest October day in 137 years.

Posted by Sebastian / Buffalo / October 13, 2006 /

Where did fall go?

It snowed today in Buffalo, one month earlier than usual. I was in disbelief when my poor friend Jay camera-phoned me a picture of his shiny new BMW buried in snow--just two weeks after we had cruised around in it, enjoying Buffalo on one of those warm, sunny days that are so incredible there. Meanwhile, 300 miles away in lower Manhattan, where it was 35 degrees warmer, I snapped this shot on a rooftop on Canal Street...then went for ice cream. In shorts.

Posted by Sebastian / NYC / October 12, 2006 /

More lessons from the sun

It seems odd that mid-October should be here already. Tonight I took one last look back on all the indulgences and excesses of summer; as I mentioned last week, mine was spent basking in a little too much sun. Without sunscreen. I thought the massive sunburns I endured were bad enough, but then while looking over some photos tonight I realized that I have the biggest crow's feet I've ever seen. People claim they only appear when I smile or laugh, but I don't believe them: just look at this photo with my friend James, on Coal Harbour in Vancouver. (Before the comments begin to appear about my vanity, please note: I've got a blog, so I've got that covered). That said, I'm going to Miami in two weeks and desperately need a tan.

Posted by Sebastian / SFGW / October 12, 2006 /

Toronto ferry ride from hell

Having living on an island for ten years I've experienced my fair share of ferry rides from hell. Toronto politicians and business people got their own sort of hellish ride yesterday at the launch of a new ferry connecting downtown with the controversial Island Airport.

CBC reports, "Shortly after leaving the mainland docks Wednesday, the ferry spun around in the harbour several times before smashing into the shore's breakwall after the captain had an anxiety attack."

Father David Mulholland, the reverend who blessed the ship before its launched noted, "Blessings don't guarantee success. But it's a good and proper thing to say a prayer for a ship." The Star reports that "as far as [Mulholland] knows, never has a boat crashed after his blessing. Then Mulholland, wearing a navy wool cap, got ready to board what would have to be one of the strangest maiden voyages he's ever taken, one on which the captain would need medical attention and a four-piece old-time band would play a few bars from the Titanic movie theme song, 'My Heart Will Go On.'"

Posted by Sebastian / Toronto / October 12, 2006 /

Calgary's housing boom misses many

Calgary may be experiencing the strongest economic growth in all of North America right now, but the rapidly rising housing costs are locking out many people.

CBC reports, "A community activist in Calgary has started a large-scale e-mail campaign warning workers coming to the city that they might not be able to find a place to live. Rev. Susan Brandt has sent e-mails to about a thousand people across the country, telling recipients: 'Do not come to Calgary. There is nowhere to live.'"

Posted by Sebastian / Calgary / October 12, 2006 /

PFLAG

I was fortunate to be able to spend tonight at PFLAG's annual awards dinner in the company of the very hot Brenda Strong from "Desperate Housewives" (if only you could see her legs in this shot). She is super-tall, stunning, and incredibly charming. Her voice, which shapes so much of the tone of the show, was auctioned off: the lucky winner gets to have her voice on his voicemail.

One of the best quotes from the night came from star of stage and (little screen), Barbara Cook. The honoree, who was featured in PFLAG's "Stay Close" ad campaign with her gay son, said, "It seems strange to be up here getting an award for loving my son. It's almost impossible for me to believe that's not true for every parent."

Posted by Sebastian / TV / October 9, 2006 /

Where the hell is the border?

While George Bush prepares to pump billions of dollars into protecting the Southern border with Mexico, it turns out that the International Boundary Commission, a binational organization responsible for maintaining the U.S.-Canada border, gets just $1.3 million per year from Washington. Now the U.S. wants to install motion detectors on the northern border, but first there's a bigger problem: no one can find the border, especially as it courses its way between Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Quebec and New Brunswick.

The papers today report that, "After years of neglect and under funding by Washington and Ottawa, the International Boundary Commission admits it can no longer identify large swaths of the Canada-U.S. border, particularly in heavily forested areas overrun by dense shrubbery and sprouting trees."

"You have to have this corridor clear if you are going to detect movement across it. If you are taking pictures of trees, you are not really protecting the boundary," says Dennis Schornack, the U.S. commissioner for the boundary agency. "I like to refer to it as the moron test. Any person of average or below-average intelligence who can walk out into the corridor should immediately be able to know there is a boundary there."

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / October 8, 2006 /

Kelowna - Napa of the North

Finally I have a reason to post one of my fav Kelowna photos. Today's New York Times features the British Columbia city in its travel section, with a piece about the region's burgeoning wine industry. Kelowna's a 4-5 hour drive east of Vancouver and has just about the mildest climate in the country and the real estate prices to boot (it's the fifth most expensive market in Canada behind Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria).

From the piece: "When I met my friend Anna at the airport in Kelowna, the region’s gateway city (population 100,000), a friendly woman at the information desk asked us where we were from. When we answered, she said 'New York?' and put her hand to her chest. 'Oh my, that’s so far! We don’t get many of you around here.' That may be temporary. The word is getting out about the Okanagan Valley."

RELATED:
Tourism Kelowna

Posted by Sebastian / Kelowna / October 8, 2006 /

Point Roberts

The U.S.-Canada border follows a straight line all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific. That works out just fine as the border slices through prairies and mountains, but when it reaches the ocean just south of Vancouver, it leaves Point Roberts, Washington, hanging. Literally. The small town dangles at the end of a peninsula; to get to the U.S., residents must cross into Canada, then drive 25 miles to the U.S. border crossing. (Image below from National Geographic)

Point Roberts is so close to Vancouver that a suburban school district has offered to take the town's pupils in their schools; right now kids endure two border crossings and that 25-mile drive before they reach a school in the mainland of Washington state.

A couple weeks ago I was flying into Vancouver, and pointed out the town to the woman sitting next to me (you can see the peninsula off the left side of the plane upon landing in Vancouver--the airport is in the upper-left corner of this image). She thought I was making the story up. But there are many other towns like Point Roberts, especially along the Maine-New Brunswick border.

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / October 8, 2006 /

Brison campaign faltering

Despite my best efforts to promote the Scott Brison campaign on the streets of Vancouver and New York with my Gay Boys for Brison t-shirt, it doesn't look the gay pol from Nova Scotia is going to be the next leader of Canada's Liberal Party (and possibly, by extension, the next prime minister).

Controversial carpetbagger Michael Ignatieff, the long-time Boston resident who caused a furor when he claimed to also be a Toronto resident -- at the same time -- is now in the front of the pack.

Nine months ago the Boston Globe had this to say: "Ignatieff's political future is far from assured. The 58-year-old has been labeled a carpetbagger by some for seeking office in a country where he has not lived for decades." Few thought he would get this far.

This is the same Ignatieff whose resume had "Ottawa" misspelled in every reference until I pointed it out to his staff (thank you very much).

This weekend Liberal Party members have been selecting delegates to attend the party's leadership convention (not unlike the U.S.'s Democratic National Convention) in Montreal in November. The delegates will pick the next party leader, and so far, the allegiance of delegates is leaning in Igantieff's direction. While it appears Igatieff has the support of one-third of voters, our little Scotty has less than 6% supporting his bid. It's too bad, because Scott really won us over when he told a consitutent to "kiss my ass."

Posted by Sebastian / Scott Brison / October 2, 2006 /