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David Halberstam is dead

Prolific writer and journalist David Halberstam, whom I had the pleasure of hearing speak two weeks ago at Poetry and Creative Mind, died today near San Francisco.

In one of my fav quotes, the famed Halberstam once said, "Memory is often less about the truth than about what we want it to be."

New York Times obituary

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / April 23, 2007 /

More jock evidence

More proof of my fledgling athleticism...yesterday in Central Park, I ran the Adidas Run for the Parks with my friends Kirstin and Sean. We kicked ass (well, Sean did). I survived the race, at 31:34 for the four miles. No puking was had, so by all accounts it was a success.

Posted by Sebastian / Sports / April 23, 2007 /

The Downtown Eastside and the 'Olympics' greatest legacy'

As someone who started college as an urban studies major, the Downtown Eastside is fascinating to me. The other morning I was wandering around the neighbourhood -- the poorest in Canada; the HIV and injection-drug capital of the continent, and a place seething with sadness -- and continued to be struck by the contrasts it exposes in Vancouver society.

There is hope that some day, things will be better here: The housing stock in the DES has long been dominated by the infamous single-room occupancy hotel, or SRO. The city had planned to snatch up a whole slew of them, one by one for the next ten years, evict the rats and roaches, and turn them into social housing. Then in a bold move, three weeks ago they decided to buy ten SROs this year alone, providing 1,200 units of housing for the poor and homeless. It'll cost $80 million and was described by the Globe and Mail as "the single biggest initiative to deal with the homeless crisis in Canada."

Globe columnist Gary Mason hits the nail on the head with his assessment of this surprise move: "This is all about the Olympics. Sad, but true. If the Olympic Games weren't coming, along with tens of thousands of visitors from around the world, there would not be the impetus to deal with the homeless problem in the city. The last thing Mr. Campbell [premier of B.C.] wants is for his guests to be tripping over some guy in a sleeping bag when they walk out of their hotel in the morning. If it took the Olympics to get politicians focused on the issue, so be it. At least something is being done, and it will be the Olympics' greatest legacy in B.C."

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / April 19, 2007 /

Bereft of BlackBerrys, the Untethered Make Do

"Where were you when the BlackBerrys went out?" asks the New York Times today. I was getting ready for bed when mine went out, and I didn't even realize there was an outage until the next morning when my brother checked up on me -- he knew I couldn't go long without my Berry.

"The BlackBerry blackout was grueling to many — and revealed just how professionally and emotionally dependent so many people had become on their pocket-size electronic lifelines."

One user told the paper, “I started freaking out,” he said. “I started taking it apart. Turning it off. Turning it on. I took the battery out and cleaned it on my shirt. I was running around my hotel like a freak. It’s very sad. I love this thing.”

The Globe and Mail quoted a Bay Street broker as saying, "It was like a bunch of guys hanging around a narcotics anonymous meeting, completely cut off from their information."

Posted by Sebastian / BlackBerry / April 19, 2007 /

Phoebe Dog!

My friend Mike sent me this fabulous shot of his personality-filled dog, whom he incorrectly spells Pheobie, at the finish line of today's rainy Boston Marathon. She looks cuter than my friend John probably did when he crossed the finish line after a speedy four-hour run today. Congrats, John, for doing something I would never dare to do. (Because I am sane.)

Posted by Sebastian / Sports / Boston / April 16, 2007 /

Life imitating art

They say art imitates life, but sometimes it's the other way around. Case in point: this morning I was biking through Stanley Park when I came upon this fallen tree. It is, of course, one of the victims of December's terrific storm, which destroyed much of Vancouver's crown jewel.

While the memorializing of fallen trees seems to have subsided in the local press, a few weeks ago, Maisonneuve Mediascout did report on an interesting extrapolation: "Vancouver’s pristine, evergreen urban wilderness, Stanley Park, is not a victim of global warming—it’s a victim of Asia’s economic boom. This is the finding of a study, published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that says industrial pollution in the rapidly-developing Chinese and Indian economies is responsible for freakish weather over the Pacific Ocean."

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / April 16, 2007 /

Sun Run survived

This year's Sun Run was amazing! It turned out to the be the largest race in Canadian history, boasting 54,000 participants. The winner clocked in at just under 30 minutes; I did 50:57, which surprised me! That put me in 4,626th place. I didn't win my age bracket, but if I was a 70-75 year old woman, I would have won.

I was astounded at how easy the race felt. It coursed westward through downtown Vancouver to Stanley Park before ricocheting back east, over the Burrard Bridge, back over the Cambie Street Bridge before finishing up at BC Place (read: home of the Olympic opening ceremonies in 2010!).

I started off under in the 10-20,000 numbered participant wave, which passed through the start line on West Georgia Street a good 30 minutes after the first runners started -- after the winner had already won. Running this race was a lot easier than those I typically do in New York, which usually only attract 5,000 people, because in New York they restrict runners to one lane of traffic whereas in Vancouver we were spread out over as many as six lanes (shown above on West Georgia). The road did not feel overrun with runners, and there was an incredible energy along the route with bands and screamers the entire distance. Can't wait for next year's!

Posted by Sebastian / Sports / Vancouver / April 15, 2007 /

Spring Storm?

So I hear there's going to be a really bad storm in New York? Sucks. Glad I'm here wearing shorts, getting some sun, and being outdoorsy. Good luck, suckers.

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Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / April 14, 2007 /

Poets Gala

Last night I attended Poetry and the Creative Mind at Lincoln Center, the excellent annual benefit for the Academy of American Poets. Last year's event was great, but this year was even better thanks to a truly stellar reading by Lauren Bacall -- who didn't look a day under 120 -- of Dorothy Parker's "Just A Little One," a hilarious satire on romance. Though she broke the rules of the American poet-only event by reading what is more like a short story, her delivery was truly amazing. I left in awe of her.

Well, I don't know Fred – what are you going to have?
Then I guess I’ll have a highball, too; please, just a little one.
Is it really real Scotch?
Well that will be a new experience for me.
You ought to see the Scotch I’ve got home in my cupboard.
At least it was in the cupboard this
morning – it’s probably eaten its way out by now.

Glen Close and Ethan Hawke were among the other celebrity readers, but Patrick Wilson (right) definitely was the most jaw-dropping eye candy of the night.

Posted by Sebastian / NYC / April 12, 2007 /

Orlando

I haven't been to Orlando in about two years, and with all the changes the city has undergone, I hardly recognize the place.

Everyone knows my aversion to the state of Florida, but I've had a good time out and about here with my hot local friend Phil. We hit up a couple neat places like Eola Wine Company in a downtown that is quickly becoming hemmed in by new luxury condo towers, like the cool Star Tower, pictured here. The hardest part about coming to Orlando is the flight. It's not that it's long, but that's it's full of a lot of excited kids headed to Disney!

Posted by Sebastian / Florida / April 10, 2007 /

Fleet feet

We're now just a week away from two of the most eagerly anticipated races of the year:

• My friend John will be running the Boston Marathon on April 16. He has pledged to raise a few thousand dollars for the Pine Street Inn, an important shelter in Boston. Help him up and make your pledge!

• I'll be running the 10K Vancouver Sun Run next Sunday. I am not running for any good cause. I'm just running to see if I can actually finish. While not as famous as the Boston Marathon, the Sun Run is one of the 10 biggest races in the world. Last year it drew 50,000 runners!

Posted by Sebastian / Sports / April 7, 2007 /

'Who knew Vancouver was such a mess?'

Vancouver is, above all, a city of contrasts. Stroll west to east down just about any downtown thoroughfare and you can see the problems mount. In this past Saturday's Globe and Mail, Gary Mason wrote an excellent piece on efforts by the city to stamp out some of the seediness that mars my fav city.

He writes: "Who knew this city was such a mess? It's a wonder those who annually rate Vancouver one of the most livable places in the world have missed all the people urinating and defecating in the streets. But apparently they're out there and are among the targets of Mayor Sam Sullivan's Project Civil City campaign."

"Project Civil City was officially launched Jan. 1. In announcing the initiative, the mayor said a survey by his office showed 85 per cent of city residents believed public disorder had become worse in the past five years. And 81 per cent believed this disorder was hurting our reputation internationally. And yet somehow Vancouver continues to be rated among the top two or three best cities in the world in which to live."

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / April 4, 2007 /

Jon McLaughlin

I'm thrilled that my new fav singer, Jon McLaughlin, will be performing here in NYC twice in the next couple days (Gramercy Theatre on Saturday, and The Living Room in the Lower East Side on Monday), and I'll be seeing him at least once. If not twice. His rockin' song "Beautiful Disaster" is this week's free download on iTunes.

Posted by Sebastian / Music / April 3, 2007 /