EWolfe Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 Wednesday they will announce if Vancouver gets the 2010 Winter Olympics! That would be so awesome! Here's hoping! Quote
thelawgoddess Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 yeah, so much for skiing at whistler that year. probably gonna affect the climbing, too. Quote
Dru Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 and the gold medal for synchronized spraying goes to.... whoever bribed the judge! Quote
iain Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 ski the bobsled run like in that bond flick where those motorcycles with spiked tires chase him with machineguns (followed shortly thereafter by a hockey fight, a hot chick buying a crossbow, and rock climbing to save the world) Quote
Dru Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 i know of one guy who ice skated down the luge run in calgary with an ice axe for self arrest which didn't work! Quote
allthumbs Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 check the post count at the entrance, carry on Quote
iain Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 trask is within striking distance of Dru. 800 posts? that's like 1/2 day's work for trask. Quote
Dru Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 iain said: trask is within striking distance of Dru. 800 posts? that's like 1/2 day's work for trask. I've been 800 posts up on him for the last 3 months!!! Quote
allthumbs Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 but, you will soon go climbing for a couple, three days and I'll getcha Quote
allthumbs Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 I had snickerdoodles for breakfast with my beave....oops, coffee. Quote
Dru Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 A Nelson teacher says she has been overwhelmed by the response to an appeal for dead mice. Jeanette Dungan turns mice pelts into rugs for miniature houses she makes. She said since her appeal a week ago she had received numerous calls from strangers all around the country offering to donate the next rodent they caught. A Palmerston North leather industry scientist sent instructions on how to soften the skins. Mrs Dungan has also been asked to attend a miniaturist retreat in Wellington next month with samples of her rugs. The response has been reassuring, she said. "I was worried that there might be some crank who would think I was sick." Quote
Dru Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 Veggie lovers expose their appeal Proof that you can never be too careful who you go out with, a Web site is dedicated to making matches between people who wouldn't dream of eating dead animals Katherine Dedyna Times Colonist Monday, June 30, 2003 STEVE UROW: Veggie views Here in the bloodless beating heart of Canadian vegetarianism, the dating game gets played by dietary rules. Singles in the meat-eating majority may bemoan the uphill pursuit of partnership but it's tougher than over-done steak for some local vegetarians. And that's even with VeggieDate.com -- a Web site dedicated to matching up people who wouldn't dream of eating dead animals for dinner. It's a high-minded sort of site -- not the kind focusing on the pleasures of the flesh -- and it has attracted about 11,000 members looking for everything from matrimony to casual coffees. Victoria vegan Jessica Forbes, 25, is one subscriber. She won't wear leather shoes or even silk clothes because the silkworms get crushed along the way, never mind keep meat in her fridge. Does she find it hard to meet vegan guys? "Oh, God yes,'' says the women's centre worker. "I don't actually expect to meet a vegan.'' Like about 60 other locals, Forbes signed up with VeggieDate.com to meet more like-minded people of either gender, not because she's desperate to date. Most of her contacts come from outside B.C. and she chats on-line daily. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently identified Victoria as the second most veggie-friendly city in Canada and a vegan paradise. But they were talking organic food and veggie restaurants -- not romance. Forbes finds guys more interesting when they ask her a lot of questions about veganism. "I'm not turned off the second I find he's a meat eater.'' But there's "not a chance'' she would get seriously involved with a committed omnivore. They wouldn't see eye to eye in life and she couldn't possibly stomach a meal in the presence of a pork chop. She hopes to meet a guy who will consider giving up meat after hearing her out and finds it "totally huge" that her ex-boyfriend went the distance. Victoria mental health worker Steve Chisholm's commitment to vegetarianism makes meeting women he wants to be with "a lot tougher'' because a vegetarian philosophy informs an entire life. "The majority of women I meet are not in the same place I am -- not that I'm any better,'' muses the 31-year-old. "We don't share the same values. People really crave authentic relationships and are trying to find ways to share our values.'' Asking them about dating meat eaters is a bit like asking committed Christians looking to connect with true believers about the appeal of militant atheists or run-of-the-mill agnostics. They've got their religion and even if they don't go around madly slagging the unexamined belief systems of others, they know what isn't for them. So a gorgeous woman chowing down on rare steak wouldn't tempt Jayson Biggins for long. "I'm not going to run out of the restaurant but do I want to kiss this person in the next 30 seconds? Probably not.'' Biggins, a 31-year-old Fairfield para-glider, has been vegan since his teens. A single dad recently on his own, he says "a lot of women I've been out with became vegetarian -- not out of sense of me hounding them,'' he says. He put himself out on VeggieDate and just left it there for the sake of connecting with people here and far away, not as a way to meet 'the one.' "It's a nice little resource.'' He had a long-distance, then a short-distance relationship with a woman he met on VeggieDate, but in general doesn't think vegetarianism hampers his romantic life. "I'm pretty picky, regardless of vegetarianism. It's something I'm working on.'' Other vegetarians are not so picky. Oak Bay nurse Michelle Stevenson, 31, recently separated from her meat-eating husband of six years, although cuisine wasn't the issue. She regularly cooked meat for him during their marriage. He knew the rules: Expect no kisses on his "meat mouth" unless he brushed his teeth immediately after indulging. "I got him just trained perfectly and now I'm going to have to start all over again,'' she groans. Stevenson admits she could fall in love with another carnivore. "Maybe there is a vegetarian man out there but it's not high on my list. Now, if they're a big hunter, that's a different story altogether.'' That would never work. Some vegetarians hungering for a relationship head for Green Cuisine Vegetarian Restaurant. "We do get a lot of people dating on a casual basis,'' says manager Martine Darby. "There's a lot of people who come here to eat by themselves. You can sit by yourself and it doesn't feel awkward at all.'' And the Vancouver Island Vegetarian Association would hold singles events if the interest is expressed or publicize events sponsored by others. Its events co-ordinator Dave Shishkoff, 27, says there are so many vegetarians in town it's "pretty easy" for them to find each other. But these days he's married to his guitar. David Miller, 37, who runs a group home, has met women at Green Cuisine, through friends and mostly at parties. He doesn't have anything against the meat-eating population, but it's a romantic turnoff. The most shocking event in Miller's recent dating history was the "hypocrisy" of going out with a woman who lied. "I'm a vegetarian,'' she told him. Then came the moment of truth: she ordered chicken. "It's very trendy to be a vegetarian but a lot of people still like their meat,'' Miller laments. He didn't tell her off, though: "A lot of vegetarians are quite self-righteous and I try not to be. I think there's a certain sensitivity that goes with vegetarians and passes on from what we consume to the way we treat fellow humans.'' He's mellowed about meat eaters over the years: "I don't get grossed out the way I used to at the idea of anybody eating flesh.'' Vegan film student Duane Farquhar, 35, of Sooke advances an interesting theory about the battle of the sexes when it comes to vegetarianism. Some vegetarian women would accept the "manly man" aspect of guys eating meat, but men prefer women to fit with their vegetarian choice. For him, a woman who is vegetarian purely for health reasons instead of concern for animal welfare isn't much more appealing that a meat eater. But there's an exception he's willing to make: "I would not throw away true love after it hit me, but I like to believe it would be with a woman who was vegetarian.'' WEB SITE FOUNDER HELPS PEOPLE MEET OTHERS IN THE FLESH VeggieDate.com site founder Steve Urow may not be the pickiest eater in North America, but he's up there. He knows that finding a soul mate, or even a date who shares a taste for borderline vegan, organic, kosher food is not a piece of carob cake. He's moving from Santa Monica to Manhattan to try and meet that special vegetarian someone in the flesh. Vegetarianism encompasses far more than culinary style -- it's a lifestyle, says the 37-year-old, noting that vegetarians tend to be more environmentally aware and into animal rights and less into religion, watching TV, mainstream culture and driving SUVs. People who eat meat lack compassion in his view. "They can't understand factory farming is cruel and that by eating meat, they're encouraging that.'' And while his Web site is all about bringing together people with a veggie worldview, vegetarian guys would probably like to kiss a cute omnivore. "It's hard to overcome that,'' he says. Urow reveals one of the pitfalls of dating a meat eater. While dining out, he twice checked with the waiter to make sure the soup was meat-free. Enjoying a mouthful, he caught his teeth on some sinew. Ugh. He lost his cool and raised his voice in protest, only to have his date walk out of the restaurant, angry that he had created a scene. VeggieDate offers menus of vegetarian levels to choose from, from almost vegetarian, through vegan and macrobiotic. Members can specify body type, ethnicity, religion, smoking, children and whether they want casual dates, a serious relationship or friendship. Urow says it's one of the fastest growing and least expensive vegetarian sites around (a free two-week trial, then $14.95 US per year), with up to 30 sign-ons every day. There are some 11,000 people registered, with major veggie patches in California and New York, with 625 members in Canada. © Copyright Quote
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