Al Zylstra

Today was the second time in two trips to Central Amsterdam that we got lost! *sigh*

I cannot seem to grasp the concept of North, South, East and West in Europe. Each time I think I have it figured out, I am wrong… much to the chagrin of Alex… But, eventually we found our way back from the centre of Amsterdam intact…

What a beautiful city and so insanely busy! People flying every which direction with little to no regard for pesky things like cars, buses, trucks, bicycles and other pedestrians. Still, we managed.

Alex has been jones-ing to check out the flower markets that we saw (briefly) on our last trip. So, this time around, we made that our primary mission…. to find the rare, the unusual and exotic bulbs and seeds that we could bring home to Canada.

Rather than drive to downtown Amsterdam – the thought of that sends me into a low-grade panic mode – we took the tram. We parked our rental at a parking lot close to the tram station and headed downtown Amsterdam. Within 20 minutes, we were downtown and making our way to the flower market.

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities but, it can be dirty. We saw a lot of the downtown core and it certainly is a place everyone should visit at least once.

Today, we visited with another group of cousins in Friesland.

The top two handsome gentlemen are my cousins. Wout, the one on the right is a bit of a family historian. He has taken it upon himself to research our paternal grandfather and paternal great grandparents. He has found some fascinating stuff which I will share in another post.

Suffice to say, it was great hanging out with the three of them (one of the cousins, I neglected to get a photo of – my bad).

Our trip has started off with a visit to my cousin Nan and her daughter, Tjalline. Great visit

With a couple of stressful moments ( I promised Alex I wouldn’t spill the beans), we are waiting patiently for our flight to Amsterdam. Lots of pictures and posts are coming…

I am very excited to be Stage Managing this amazing play: MEN EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS

Men Express Their Feelings is a comedy about hockey, culture and relationships. Two dads and their sons are sequestered to a hockey rink dressing room to sort out a critical situation. Amidst a series of wild misunderstandings and ridiculous antics, these guys get to know each other and themselves a whole lot better, while redefining what it means to WIN.

This play deals with non-traditional relationship issues and contains explicit scenes and dialogue.

We are auditioning FOUR roles:

RAJ: (able to play) a 17 years old. South Asian Canadian (born in Canada). The goaltender.

BRAD: (able to play) a 17 years old. Caucasian Canadian (born in Canada). The Captain.

MR SHARMA: (able to play) a 42 years old. Moved to Canada from India in his early 20s. Class privileged North

Indian accent, sounding somewhat British. Lawyer turned driving instructor.

MR BACON: (able to play) a 44 years old. Caucasian Canadian (born in Canada). Cell phone kiosk manager.

If you know of anyone who is interested in auditioning for these roles, Contact Philip Roaf at 778 385 7187 for more information.

Soak in the sun on the shores of the Fraser- the FreshCo Richmond Dragon Boat Festival returns to Steveston on August 19!
BC’s third largest race returns to Imperial Landing, with FreshCo and the Province of British Columbia supporting the Festival’s largest ever programming lineup- and the most teams ever!

The Festival is free to attend and open to the public.
80 teams representing more than 2,000 racers are set to take to the water, with races coming down the Fraser River every 11 minutes running from 8:30 AM to approximately 5:30 PM. The Festival is the largest race in BC outside of Vancouver, with participating teams attending from around BC and the US.
On top of the racing, the Festival is hosting an entirely local cultural program lineup for the community to enjoy on the main stage, including: Indigenous soul pop artist Hayley Wallis and the Bright Futures; the Sun Moon Lake trio experimenting with modern and traditional Chinese instruments; Coastal Wolf Pack presenting Musqueam protocol; and Hon Hsing Athletic Club bringing lion dances to the community.

I am stage managing a great local line up of talent.

Starting with Coastal Wolf Pack at 11:00 am

The Hon Hsing Athletic Club will be making their way through the Festival Grounds with their Chinese Dragon Dances

At 2:00 pm is the amazing Ginalina – Sun Moon Lake Trio

At 3:00 pm, we will have the pleasure of seeing and hearing Rachel Carino from the Sarah McLachlan School of Music

At 4:00, we will get to experience the amazingly talented Hayley Wallis and the Bright Futures

Closing out the day will be another great talent: Luc Lemans at 5:00 pm

The site will be a huge party and I hope you can make it down to see everything.

Alex and I have started a tradition – an annual block party – which is held on the long weekend in July or the one in August. We had a great event this year with over 30 people in attendance. Phantom and Beau were in their glory!

Everyone who came to the party had to meet the gatekeepers and offer them a bribe to allow safe passage to the event – bribes were gleefully accepted.