Worst Service Ever @ Original Joe's

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Our friend Patrick had a 30th birthday party at Original Joe's on Friday night. Original Joe's is an American-style sports bar and restaurant across the Cambie Street Bridge from downtown Vancouver. It's kind of generic but unpretenious and I think it's a chain, but it's the only location around Vancouver that I know of. Think pool tables and Spike TV's "1000 Ways to Die" on big screen TV. It's loud. Portions are huge. It's a guy kind of place.

Now, we've been to Original Joe's before, again, for one of Patrick's events back in June 2009, but it was fine then. I think it's because we didn't have to rely on table service. He had rented all the pool tables for us for a pre-wedding get together and we had that entire section of the restaurant closed off for ourselves. It was a nice social mingler for his friends and out-of-town family members.

But my second visit to Original Joe's? It relied on table service entirely. The service was so bad, it was almost comical.

Here's the story:

We arrive and get seated at a makeshift table of 12, 4 tables placed side by side. We look through the menus and it takes a long time before our waitress visits us. When she does, she is your typical Vancouver server: a young waifish doe-eyed model no older than 22. However, unlike the typical overly eager "Hi my name is Jessica and I'll be your server!" types that we expect at such establishments, she doesn't really say anything except just stand there looking lobotomized. We order our drinks from her and she disappears. She returns much later with our drinks balanced on a tray. She takes a handful of coasters with one arm and throws them haphazardly on the table. She then awkardly reaches her arm between the full pints of beer for a drink on the other side of her tray. According to Patrick's wife Amy, she narrowly missed knocking them over.

Throughout all this it doesn't even occur to her that we might like to order food, until somebody mentions that we're ready. It had only been about 20 minutes since her previous visit. She disappears.

A while later I notice that she stands at the far end of the table and begins to take the orders. We're talking away waiting for her to eventually make her way over to our side. It isn't until I get nudged that I realize that, for reasons unknown, our waitress is taking the entire table's orders from way over there, 4 tables over, about 20 feet away in a loud and noisy environment. I am baffled. I look at the people around me in disbelief. She's looking at me and when I look at her puzzled. She looks at me, eyes kind of glazed over. Instead of screaming,

"I'll have the chicken quesadillas!"

... I decide to lean in over the table and meekly say:

"chicken quesadillas"

She repeats what I order but I can't hear her and I repeat what I said by mouthing the words silently. She writes my order down and moves on to the next person's order by - get this - simply looking at them, again, from 20 feet away. They are in mid conversation with the person across the table. They don't notice her. In fact, nobody really notices her. But instead of even attempting to get anyone's attention, she stands there silently like a deer in the headlights. She doesn't get it. We all nudge our friends until they, one at a time, look up and realize the waitress is standing at the far side of the table gazing off into a distant corner of the universe. Patrick laughs and looks at me and says, "ummm... why doesn't she just come over here?" Indeed.

Patrick then hollars down the table,

"I'll have the Prawn Carbonara!!!"

"What?"

"PRAWN CARBONARA!"

It's like a bad skit.

After taking the orders, she finally walks around to all 4 tables to pick up the menus. Remember, this is a loud sports pub on a Friday night. It's loud. People are talking. Some people are leaning on the table, menus pinned down underneath their elbows, oblivious that she's coming around to pick them up. When she gets to those people, instead of saying "excuse me", she simply tugs and yanks on the menus until they're released. One of them hits Josh in the face. No apology. Nothing.

And that was just part of the night.

It kept getting better.

For example, well after we finished our first drinks, it would take a while before anybody visited the table to see if we'd like another drink. Empty glasses kept piling up. This is unheard of at a bar. And when they finally did come by to check up, they just removed the empty glasses!

!!!

We had to call out to say, "some of us here would like to order another drink". So she took one order, and then the next, and while the rest of the table was looking up at her eagerly awaiting to order theirs next, she just aloofly walked away. We had to yell at her to come back and tell her that many other people at the table would also like to order a drink.

We always waited a seriously long time between drinks. Sometimes the drinks were ordered incorrectly. Other times they were served to the wrong people.

Patrick's friend Nigel dropped by later on in the evening and sat next to Patrick who was finishing his prawn carbonara dinner. By that time a new collection of empty glasses had accumulated all over the table. Patrick explained to Nigel, "It's so funny... they don't want to make money tonight. Look, nobody comes by to see if we want drinks. They don't even come by to see if we want anything. It's weird!" And sure enough, a waitress came by and took all our empties, but didn't even communicate with us. Nigel laughed, "Yeah, that IS weird!"

When our waitress finally came back to the table, she looked at Nigel and asked him if he was finished his food. Nigel looked up. "That's not my food. I haven't ordered anything yet". Nigel looked at Patrick in disbelief. Patrick laughed. It was just one of those nights. A night where the service was so unbelievably incompetent that we were so amused, we started to hypothesize how much worse it could get. Fortunately, it didn't get worse, but it didn't get any better.

Unfortunately for our waitress, we didn't tip her very well that night. As Josh said, "If we had, it would have been an insult to all the servers in Vancouver".

Free concerts during the Olympics

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David Lam Park, the beloved grassy field along Yaletown's False Creek waterfront (as seen above in happier days), has been turned into a collection of pavillions and tents. I've been watching them construct this for weeks. It's in preparation for LiveCityVancouver: a series of free concerts that will be happening during the Olympics.

The list of performers actually looks like something compiled right out of CBC Radio 3's playlists - a little CanCon, a little ethnic, a little folk, a little indie, and a little blues.

I'm interested in seeing a few shows: Blue Rodeo, Jill Barber, deadmau5, Wilco, Delhi2Dublin, Jim Byrnes, Malajube, and Matisyahu. Heck, the Olympics would probably be a good time to finally see Dal Richards. But there are also bands I'm really not interested in seeing whatsoever, like Default or Alexisonfire. Although even if I stay at home, I'm still right across the street so will be exposed to these shows whether I want to be or not!

What about you?

Any performers that stand out for you?

Any recommendations?

Here's the list of official performers so far for LiveCity Yaletown (aka: David Lam Park):

13-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Bollywood Olympics with En Karma
6:15pm - 7:15pm Default
7:30pm - 8:30pm Califone!
9:00pm - 10:45pm Wilco

14-Feb-10
5:00pm - 5:30pm Lion Dancers
6:00pm - 7:30pm Silk Road
8:00pm - 9:00pm Mother Mother
9:30pm - 10:45pm Daniel Wesley

15-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm DJ Spooky and DBR
6:30pm - 7:30pm Grand Dérangement
8:00pm - 9:00pm Malajube
9:30pm - 10:45pm Matisyahu

16-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm TBC
6:30pm - 7:30pm Kevin Parent with Pornflakes
8:00pm - 9:00pm Vulgaires Machins
9:30pm - 10:45pm Alexisonfire

17-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:30pm DRUM!
6:30pm - 7:30pm Alpha Yaya Diallo
8:00pm - 9:00pm Allez Ouest
9:30pm - 10:45pm Corb Lund

18-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Radio Radio
6:30pm - 7:30pm Zuco 103
8:00pm - 9:00pm Keisha Chante
9:30pm - 10:45pm Marianas Trench

19-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Andrée Watters
6:30pm - 7:30pm Lennie Gallant
8:00pm - 9:00pm Les Breastfeeders
9:30pm - 10:45pm Deadmau5

20-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Vishten
6:30pm - 7:30pm The Arkells
8:00pm - 9:00pm Coeur de Pirate
9:30pm - 10:45pm Sam Roberts Band

21-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm DanceSport Snowball Classic
6:30pm - 7:30pm Dal Richards Band
8:00pm - 9:00pm Lazare Halk
9:30pm - 10:45pm Jully Black

22-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Zapata Negro
6:30pm - 7:30pm Dustin Bentall with guest Barney Bentall
8:00pm - 9:00pm Jill Barber
9:30pm - 10:45pm Colin James

23-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Tigerstyle
6:30pm - 7:30pm Bitterly Divine
8:00pm - 9:00pm Constantines
9:30pm - 10:45pm Wintersleep

24-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Eagle and Hawk
6:30pm - 7:30pm Tambora Rasa
8:00pm - 9:00pm Chocolat
9:30pm - 10:45pm Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley

25-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Ache Brasil
6:30pm - 7:30pm illScarlett
8:00pm - 9:00pm Crystal Shawanda
9:30pm - 10:45pm Johnny Reid

26-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Polyjesters
6:30pm - 7:30pm Tracey Bone
8:00pm - 9:00pm TBC
9:30pm - 10:45pm TBC

27-Feb-10
5:00pm - 6:00pm Bollywood Olympics with Delhi2Dublin
6:30pm - 7:30pm Matt Mays
8:00pm - 9:00pm Chic Gamine
9:30pm - 10:45pm Blue Rodeo
11:00am - 12:15pm Jim Byrnes, Steve Dawson and The Sojourners

In addition to David Lam Park (aka: LiveCity Yaletown), there's also LiveCity Downtown at the corner of Georgia and Cambie which will have these following performers:

13-Feb-10
8:30pm - 9:30pm TBC
10:00pm - 11:30pm Jessie Farrell

14-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm TBC
9:30pm - 11:00pm Elliot Brood

15-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm TBC
9:30pm - 10:30pm Jets Overhead

16-Feb-10
7:30pm - 9:00pm TBC
9:30pm - 11:00pm Buck 65

17-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm Romy Mayes
9:30pm - 10:30pm TBC

18-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm House Of Doc
9:30pm - 11:00pm Rumba Calzada

19-Feb-10
9:30pm - 10:30pm Town Pants

20-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm Billy Joe Green
9:30pm - 10:30pm Sherman Downey

21-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm John Reischman and The Jaybirds
9:30pm -10:30pm In Flight Safety

22-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm TBC

22-Feb-10
9:30pm - 11:00pm Alpha Yaya Diallo

23-Feb-10
8:00pm - 9:00pm Julie Doiron

24-Feb-10
11:30pm - 12:30am Quinzy

25-Feb-10
11:30mpm - 12:30pm Inward Eye

26-Feb-10
11:00pm - 12:00am TBC

27-Feb-10
11:00pm - 12:30am Soulstream

Vancouver under fog

Vancouver under fog, originally uploaded by John Biehler.

Oh blog, I've neglected you so! It's because it's December. It's because I'm working against the clock at work on some major projects (with tight deadlines) and when I get home I'm exhausted or I'm out at some Christmas function or roaming Robson Street or Richmond Centre Christmas shopping. Or I'm at Section 3 or at an all-nighter Guitar Hero party with friends. Usually it's a combination of all 6.

Regardless, I had to share John Biehler's photo of the fog over Vancouver this morning. It was taken from my favourite Vancouver lookout at Cypress Mountain. Just drive your car half way up along Cypress Bowl Rd...

... or live vicariously through Google Street View!


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Eastside Cultural Crawl 2009

Today starts the beginning of one of my favourite art events in Vancouver:



That's right!

3 days to see 300 artists!

That's 300 artists opening up their studios around East Vancouver's Strathcona and Commercial Drive neighbourhoods to the public! It begins today on Friday, November 20th at 5pm (until 10pm) and then continues on to Saturday November 21st and Sunday November 22nd from 11am until 6pm.

I went last year with my sister and we had such an inspirtational eye-opening time exploring Strathcona on foot and seeing all these amazing little studios that we had no idea existed. It's really a unique yet misunderstood neighbourhood - one of the oldest residential communities in Vancouver proper, located on the edge of Chinatown and home to a thriving arts community.

Just take a stroll around Strathcona on Google Street View to get a sense of the place. It's really cool!


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I highly, highly encourage you to attend the Eastside Cultural Crawl if you're in town - umbrella in hand, of course.

Oh, and if you can fit in a Ukrainian perogy lunch at the Ukrainain Community Centre at 805 E. Pender, you're really in for a treat!

Check out the official website for the event's history, maps, and artist profiles: http://www.eastsideculturecrawl.com/

And the snow season begins!

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Just yesterday afternoon I was admiring the fresh snow on the local mountains, so it should be no surprise to me that two of Vancouver's North Shore mountains will open for the ski season today! It's only November 13th (a Friday the 13th at that), so it means early ski season conditions, but what fantastic news for winter sports fans!

Cypress Mountain's Easy-Rider Chair (accessing Runway) and their cross-country runs are open from 9am until 4pm.

From there you could head on to Grouse Mountain which opens at 4pm until night. Grouse currently has Paradise Bowl and Greenway Chair open, in addition to their outdoor skating pond.

Mount Seymour (my personal fav for snowshoeing) opens next week on November 20th.

For real-time stats on snow conditions, ski or skate rentals, admission fees, and hours of operation, visit the official websites of each mountain:

Cypress Mountain: www.cypressmountain.com
Grouse Mountain: www.grousemountain.com
Mount Seymour: www.mountseymour.com

Fire @ Main & Broadway

Sad news for Vancouver today.


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A fire broke out this morning on the corner of Main & Broadway in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. Apparently it started at Kishu Island Japanese restaurant but quickly spread to connecting businesses such as Slickity Jim's Chat & Chew, Zocalo, and Lugz Coffee.

These were key businesses in the Mount Pleasant community and they'll definitely be missed. Slickity Jim's in particular was a local favourite for brunch if not for its eccentric mish mash of kitsch.

I just looked at these photos posted on the Vancouver Sun website, and the whole block looks like one big charcoal mess.

Blah!

Vancouver gets Google Street View

Today Google Street View has gone live in Canada. That means that for most Canadian cities, you can use Google Maps to zoom down to street level and experience a virtual "walk through" of the city. It's a fantastic way to get a feel for a city, especially if you've never been there before.

For example, here's Yaletown on what looks like a weekday in early May, maybe 10am-ish:


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Virtual walk throughs have, of course, been around for a while now, but Google has taken that medium and has incorporated it into the functionality of Google Maps. For a former geography/GIS student like myself, it's truly exciting!

Saying that, over ten years ago an acquaintance of mine created a virtual walk through of downtown Vancouver all on his own. He must have spent weeks doing this, but he effectively had a precursor to Google's Street View. It's still online at VirtuallyVancouver.com and I encourage you to check it out. I find it quite fascinating to go through and walk through Vancouver circa late 90's because so much has changed around the city since then, it's really like going back in time.