Granville Street and a ride

Today I had to do a favour for a friend which involved getting a ride downtown to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Ticket Centre in Robson Square. As it is difficult to obtain parking downtown and Vancouver is NOT motorcycle friendly, and this is the last weekend for shopping before Christmas I decided to ask a friend to drop me off and I would walk back to Kitsilano, where I parked my car.

While technically, this photo is out of order I needed something to grab your attention. (Jack . . . are you listening?)



Lower Granville Street used to be our Duval Avenue (of Key West). It was a seedy part of town where you would not venture after dark. Now it is in a state of reconstruction with new and old side by side



This was an area of $1. pizza joints, run down greasy spoons and pawn shops. I used to do the pawn shop circuit and have spent many weekends poking around the insides of these shops in the past. Now they are vacant due to police crackdown with stolen goods and there is little evidence of the questionable folk that used to hang around these streets.

I started out in fashionable Robson Square/Art Gallery area



Eatons Centre used to be the foremost department store in Vancouver, until they went bankrupt a few years ago and replaced by Sears. There are two levels of underground shopping below, not that we get a lot of ice nor snow, but because we need to be protected from the heat of the sun and need air conditioned comfort. Just as they do in southern Key West, we are able to wear shorts, sandals and other flimsy attire while doing our shopping.



Granville is a street of contrasts, of old and new as evidenced by this old Commodore dancehall with the new construction behind.



Even the walls of this old theatre undergoing reconstruction has figures pressed into their walls



Back in the 60's Granville was a street bustling with excitment. All the theatres had line-ups and we used to drive our cars up and down the strip to show off our loud mufflers with our reverb radios blasting out music in HI FI mono AM . It was a place to see and be seen, until the city thought it wise to turn the street into a pedestrian mall and prohibit cars. The drug trade and undesirables/street people moved in and took over. The area went into decay until now . . .



The Orpheum Theatre was the best in town. While they did play some movies, this was were you came to hear the Vancouver Symphony orchestra or other live performances. Do to a lot of lobbying, the Orpheum has undergone major renovation and is back to its original glory.



As a local I do notice the transformation and it is getting better with new tenants moving in



There are not many adult shops operating so you had better hurry up and come down here if that is your desire



This looks a little displaced. With the name Two Parrots it would seem better located in a more southern environment somewhere near Ramrod Key.



The Yale is renoun for its excellent Jazz musicians



This is the view you see as you enter the main downtown area from the Granville Street Bridge, an area that will be vigrant and exciting again, given time

Vancouver is not quite an island but it is surrounded by water on 3 sides and most often you have to cross a bridge to access the main business district. The Granville Bridge is one of three bridges which span False creek.



You are not allowed to stop on any of our bridges and the sidewalk is elevated from the roadway making it impossible to lift a 550 lb bike over a height of over 12" .



It is a long bridge by Vancouver standards and elevated with several exit ramps



From the bridge, you have an excellent vantage point overlooking Granville Island below



and some of our marinas



That's the Burrard Bridge in the background



Where have all the tourists gone ? That is the main Granville island area below, usually bustling with crowds on a weekend Saturday. I suppose they have all gone Christmas shopping on the last shopping weekend before Christmas



I went home to get my bike and visited my friendly insurance agent who also rides a Kawasaki Concours


(Wee & Connie, making eyes at each other)

It felt nice to be able to enjoy the freedom of a ride without ice and snow. I don't know what I would do if I lived in Calgary, or West Chester, PA, or Witchita, KS, or Chicago or anywhere else that had severe winters that dragged on for months. And thankfully we don't have to put up with Hurricanes nor live in stilted houses



I hope many of you also had a chance to get out for a ride.



Enjoy the video . . .

Seattle Motorcycle Show: December, 2009

A couple of months ago Trobairitz posted on her blog her desire to spend a weekend in Seattle to attend the Seattle Cycle World Motorcycle Show. She probably gave Troubador a few jabs and he relented so they booked a room at the Doubletree, Arctic Club on 3rd Avenue. As soon as I noticed the post I clicked on all their links and was mulling things over in my mind. If I ever have a chance to meet people, then I do go out of my way to do so. Because of all the ice and snow I waited until the last minute to make my arrangements and when the weekend arrived the weather co-operated and the rest is history . We arrived at Qwest Field and I noticed my first photo op



Our plan was to meet at the Vespa booth at 3pm, but there was no Vespa this year but luckily we had previously arranged to meet via "text messaging".



We got our first view of the floor when I received my first text message from Troubador (Brad). He indicated that he had just entered the building so I looked around to try to identify him. I found out later that there are two entrances and he arrived one floor below



Near the entrance on the mezzanine there was a static display of sought after or unusual bikes



I noticed David Hough, author of Proficient Motorcycle was there autographing his books



I met Mr Hough last year in Stevenson, Wa at the Rally in the Gorge. We had sandwiches for lunch and he is a very elequent speaker and gave a talk on traction. He rode his Beemer with sidecar from the Olympic Peninsula where he resides.


(Chuck & Brad at the Gerbing booth trying on heated garments)

Here is a Darth Vader mask made of Aluminum checkerplate



There was even a Triumph Tiger with luggage



I didn't realize that a T-rex had such a large trunk



At the Honda booth I noticed their new 700 sport tourer on display



I think even Chuck was thinking of trading in his new Vespa 400-mp3 for this Honda Silverwing



There was even a display of an Ace car powered by a V-twin, front wheel drive



and a Ducati something or other vintage bike



Even Twisted Throttle was there. If you shop on-line you have probably been to their website.



I think this is a rare Beemer



I'm not sure if this was modified or not as it looks very unusual



We had a great time, and while all of us have never met before we were comfortable with each other and it felt that we had known each other for years. I know we will be getting together again, hopefully as soon as the new season starts.


(Brad, Bob, Brandy & Rick)

Sounds and action are sometimes better than mere words and static photos, here is a short video to make you feel that you were there with us . . .

Port Renfrew Loop: Revisited

As many of you know, a couple of months ago Chuck, One A day - Mostly Seattle (<-- click link) accompanied me to Vancouver Island for a couple of days to ride the "Port Renfrew Loop". He on his new Vespa 400-MP3 and myself on my then new Suzuki V-strom DL650. We met up with another V-stromer, Ian whom I met from the Stromtrooper.com forum who lives in Brentwood Bay. I won't rehash the details as I have posted this information before and also on my Ride Report which was posted on the Stromtrooper.com forum (below is the link)

http://www.stromtrooper.com/showthread.php?t=44747

This past weekend I had to opportunity to actually meet Brad (<-- click link) and Mrs "B" (<-- click link) and their friend Rick while down in Seattle for the motorcycle show. I had previously arranged to meet up with Chuck for dinner somewhere and it turned out to be at a very nice restaurant named, Cafe Revo (<-- click link). This has been a busy week for me and I have not yet found time to actually post anything about the Seattle Motorcycle Show, but will get to it soon.

The three of us spent a few hours socializing and discussing this and that and the topic came up about the video I took the weekend that we spent together. So tonight I spent a few hours putting a few clips together and here it is.

I just wanted to mention that the camcorder I was using is enclosed in a waterproof case, is shock resistant & uses flash memory. It is mounted on the right mirror stem with a U-mount and arms from Ram-mounts. The camera is not mounted behind any protective windscreen and is complete exposed to the elements, whether it be sand or water. I did not realize that I should be wiping the front glass to keep it clear so as a result much of the video is focused sharply on the water droplets rather than Chuck, whom was sandwiched between us on his MP3

I decided that I would "film" the portion loading onto the ferry so you can visualize just how big our BC Ferries are. There are two car decks and some shopping on board with a combination of 3 eateries. The larger ferries have a full buffet, self serve cafeteria and a coffee shop with sandwiches. You are also able to rent staterooms for the short 1-1/2 hr crossing.

Pike Place Market: Addendum

I had wanted to include the following video on my previous post but I was having problems editing the clip. Dave, Travels with a Honda Transalp (<-- click link) was also working on his video but he has censorship problems with YouTube being blocked from view in Turkey. He has resorted to using Vimeo and double posting. It's all about the quality and Dave has purchased copies of all the video editing programs know to mankind and locked himself in his closet until he figures it out. I was previously a Windows Movie Maker user but have now gravited to Adobe Premiere Elements and stuck with it even though the import presets don't always seem to work.
During the past year or two I had been using a Panasonic SDR-SW20 Flash camcorder which produced .MOD files. I recently upgraded to a Canon FS200 and to my surprise it produces files in the same format so my work flow remains unchanged, even though my video quality has greatly improved. We are talking about Standard DVD quality 480p resolution. One thing that I had not considered was my minute Canon SD780is pocket camera which has 720p resolution. During the past weekend I decided to do some test clips in movie mode. The Canon produces .MOV files which I gather is a sort of modified Quicktime H.264 structure. I had some problems with jerkey playback using PREL even though the video played perfectly smooth using VLC media player or WMP. I had spent a few hours trying to sort it out and even converted the .MOD files using an .AVI converter, ALAS, nothing worked. I was stuck with jerky playback. I presumed that it was something to do with frame rate conversion as the video had not yet been rendered.

I did some further investigation today (Google is your friend) and discovered that perhaps I did not have enough resources on my old laptop to be able to render these videos. On the Canon forum others have had similar problems with editing with jerky video but when they had rendered the final product it played smoothly. Tonight I decided to follow their example and ignore the jerkiness and continue onward.

This video was output to mpeg1, layer 2 1280x720p 30F. I have resized the Youtube player to display in 16:9 aspect ratio. While the video is only 1:47 the file was originally 255 Mb and took nearly 45 minutes to upload. I am nearly finished with my testing. I mentioned to Dave that he should just concentrate on ONE editing program and my suggestion was to stick with PREL (Premiere Elements). It has good reviews and my reasoning that I could help him in a pinch.

The Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA. A good place to walk around and absorb the sounds. Source video was produced by a Canon SD780is in full HD 1280x720p



(Raw Corn, Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA) "I want to Hold your Hand"
*** Make sure to click the HD button ***

Sounds of Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA

This past weekend I had the opportunity to actually meet Troubador on a Triumph (Brad) & Trobairitz' Tablet (Brad's significant squeeze) and meet up again with One a day - Mostly Seattle (Chuck) while attending the 2009 Seattle Motorcycle Show.

Saturday morning brought us to Seattle much earlier than we need to be so we headed down to Pike Place Market for a quick lunch and wander around.



I don't have to tell you that this is a very colourful place with lots of character, and many characters such as the "clown" above. Blowing up balloons is a very tiring occupation .

Recently there was discussion about the merits of still images versus moving images (Video) or talking pictures as they used to say back in the old days. Each medium has its place and it is up to the "artist" (Photographer) to convey the image by whatever appropriate method they have at their disposal, whether it be a colour image, Black & White (greyscale), panorama or "talking pictures."


(Raw Corn, Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA)

Don't they look like they're having a lot of fun, moving around playing music and entertaining the many visitors of the market. It's difficult to convey the emotion unless you lower your shutter speed to blurr the image to help with the feeling of movement.

Farther down the street there was this excellent Quartet with a large crowd gathered around.


(Slim Pickins, Pike Place Market, site of the original Starbucks, Seattle, WA)

Again you are left wondering what all the fuss is about. Silent images left to your imagination. I think you will agree that these two groups of entertainers are putting on a great (Free, donations accepted) show. If you ever get a chance to visit Seattle, you have to go down to the Pike Place Market to spend some time poking around and getting entertained.



We had a great time meeting up with Troubador, Trobairitz and Chuck with all of us going to the 2009 Seattle Motorcycle Show on Saturday. Too bad we missed Lance and Irondad, but we did meet Rick (Brad's friend) who also came on the Amtrak from Portland/Corvallis. More pictures to follow, but not today, I'm tired

Amateur Video for dummies

Video is a logical progression from still images. Sometimes the actions and words of your subjects are more striking than an image frozen in time. I have had many "movie" cameras over the years back in the days of 8mm where you had to wind up your spring motor and turn your film over half way. Then came super 8 which was in a cartridge. It was very expensive for a young person starting out in life, around $10, per 3 minute roll, without benefit of sound. Then you had to purchase a projector, screen and those expensive projection bulbs. When camcorders appeared they were called digital "8", then came Hi-8. The resolution of VHS tape was around 220 lines and Hi-8 increased that to over 400 lines (per something). Most amateurs don't really edit their movies, they somehow just transfer them to another medium for display. I remember when I had my digital 8 I had to analogue the signal over to a VHS video recorder to transfer over the "raw" unedited clips in real time. Editing was performed by cueing the recorder at various points to basically eliminate the unwanted sections. I have had more than one mini-DV tape camcorder which didn't really get a lot of use as editing was a very daunting task to undertake with no one to show you. The best I could do was to transfer the Raw clips over to a DVD through my DVD recorder using a Firewire cable. No titles, no transitions, nothing.

About a year ago I decided that I wanted to mount a camera on my bike for some "rolling" video. I was lucky to have found a waterproof, shock resistant model which used "flash" memory (SDHC). Because of vibration I thought that it would not be prudent to get anything that had a mechanism for recording. This eliminated Hard Drive or DVD models.

Here is a video which I took last year on my return trip from Kelowna on my Suzuki SV650nK4. It was taken with a Panasonic SDR-SW20 on SP (around 6 Mbps). With a 16 Gig SDHC card it can record up to 7-1/2hrs of modified Mpeg4, sort of a modified H.264. It produces .MOD files which require conversion before it can be imported into Windows Movie Maker (WMM)



There are not a lot of options when using WMM. Your video has to be .AVI to import and edit and when you export to YouTube it converts your file to .FLV (Flash video). Also when saving to your computer it automatically downsizes the resolution from 640x480p to 360x240p, then upsizes it to 425x344p which further degrades the video experience. Everything is working against you to produce a sharp video image. In the player (above), I resized the window back to 360x240p to "help" the resolution, smaller appears sharper

I had a goal to use all the freeware/shareware I could muster on the internet to do my videos. Then there was the matter of finding all the codecs necessary for Windows Media Player (WMP) to play them. I notice that FREE codecs are now available, but 2 years ago I had to pay US$30. to purchase a .MOD to .AVI converter. For some reason VLC plays virtually everything and can also recognize 16:9 ratio . I have been working with Dave: Travels with a Honda Transalp to get his camera working and he has produced some excellent video using WMM. I don't know what make of Chinese Camera he has but the video is smooth and sharp which puts mine to shame.

I have changed software. For the past 2 years I have used all the free stuff I could find and was a WMM user but I just got tired of having that "freeze" up all the time. You can't complain to anyone because it came free with your operating system but they are also not upgrading it, nor providing support. I notice from the forums that everyone is having problems with it freezing up. My work around for this is to frequently save. Then when it freezes up all you have to do is to shutdown your computer by holding the power button until it stops, then restart, load WMM and re-open your project. I also found that if you rebooted your computer before starting any project and didn't go back and forth on your timeline too often it worked better. Earlier this year I actually purchased Adobe Premiere Elements 7 but couldn't get it to work, so I just put it on the shelf and forgot about it. When Dave started posting up his beautiful video I got the package out re-installed it and managed to get it working.

WMM has no project settings. You just import an .AVI file and it works. You are limited in your output/sharing options. With Adobe Premiere Elements (PREL) there are presets for every project dependant upon the format of your source video. I locked myself up with my computer for the past 3-4 days and experimented with each preset and found out what makes this program tick. I think there is a problem with importing .MOD files into PREL . I get poor results using the correct presets, and also get poor results saving to .FLV which YouTube prefers.

I also notice a lot of problems with resizing the video. I thought that if I started out with a 640x480p and downsampled to 360x240p that the results would be sharper, but they are much, much worse. I have experimented with most settings and by trial and error discovered which one is the least worse. Notice that I didn't say best.

All of my test videos were taken with my new Canon FS200 in SP which is 6 Mbps. I did one test at XP which is 9 Mbps which I think is test#3. I was trying to economize with storage capacities and don't think they will make much difference as I am setting the streaming output to 2.5 Mbps anyway. All source resolution is 640x480p. Here is the first test clip resized to 360x240p



Forget what the title says, it was set at 360x240p and streaming at 1.5 Mbps . I reduced the player to match the resolution of the output. Whenever you resize anything, .jpg or .avi or .mov you are throwing away original pixels. You have NO control over which pixels are being discarded. They could be adjacent pixels or pixels which affect sharpness. The general rule is to shoot close to the resolution required for the purpose so that if you have to resize down (or up) it would have minimum effect as to your finished project. I got a much better result keeping the output the same as the input (source), but changed the bit rate to reduce file size. Here is test#2



This time I kept the output at 640x480p and increased the player to the same size. It doesn't seem to make any difference but I selected 4:3 ratio this time and the video is streaming at 2.5 Mbps . I think that PREL is having trouble detecting the correct aspect ratio on .MOD files. When I select the wide screen option when starting a project the video is very muddy and barely viewable.

I'm not sure if you are aware but compressed video formats such as H.264 or derivatives have a key frame, and the following frame(s) only contain "changed" information until there is a scene change, in which case there will be another Key frame. If you happen to delete a key frame, then all subsequent frames related to that scene are removed too.

Here is test clip #3. the only difference here is the source video was taken at 9 Mbps and I made a custom preset to output at 4:3 ratio even though the video specs were recognized at 16:9 . The video is streaming at 2.5 Mbps



I love video and the fact that you can experience the thrill of being there. I also think that videos are much better than panoramas as you are more able to view the environment and surroundings. Try it and you make like it too.

By the water

It was a great day today. Heavy frost in the morning but by noon it had burned off and it was time to roll the Wee out for a ride. A cold front had moved into our area from the Arctic. I think Alberta got the brunt of the storm with heavy snow falls. I headed down to False Creek to survey the views of the water.


(The Wee at Science World)

Science World is at the Eastern End of False creek. This "Dome" was constructed for Expo '86 and originally was a 6 story high Imax Theatre. The Imax is still there but the downstairs area has been converted into a Science Centre.

For the last few posts I have travelled down here to do some night photography. Today I came in the bright sunshine so that you would be able to see what it looks like during the daytime

I don't know if you have noticed but I have been rotating my image makers (cameras). On one blog entry all of my photos were taken with my Samsung Omnia i910 smart phone. On the Cambie Village segment I used my Canon G10 exclusively for the accompanying photos. Today I used my Canon SD780is (sacrificial lamb) P&S camera. There are NO manual modes which makes it an unlikely candidate for night shots, but it is very small and works automatically when there is enough light. It also has 720p HD video mode, but you cannot zoom while "filming" (or is that "videoing ? ")


(click on image for full panorama)

This is a stitched panorama using only 2 images from my SD780is, using Autostitch as the camera does not have panorama assist mode = PAM. On my G10 and other higher models there is a PAM which lets you overlap images to form the image. It also keeps all the settings THE SAME to help with colour balancing. With the SD780is, the camera would choose a different setting for each photo as the light changes with every segment. With Autostitch you don't have to worry as it "blends" each image and balances all the light levels for you so any camera you have can "shoot" Panoramic images. If you wish to make very large photos you have to navigate the "edit" tab and understand what all the boxes mean. This program is very good to have if you have a SMALL megapixel camera as it can accumulate more pixels as you merge more images.

The inspiration for the following set of photos comes from Mr Conchscooter (Key West Diary). . They are undertaking a 200 million sewer upgrade down in the Keys (Florida) and he has posted pictures of pilons and other road signs. I noticed that we have some of those signs here too



Dismount and walk on the sidewalk is easier said than done. I find it very difficult to push a 550 lb top heavy Wee very far on the sidewalk. The Wee was designed for gravel roads, I wonder if I should just roll on the gravel ?



If you were to ride around Vancouver you would find a lot of road improvement projects in process. If only we had the funds to pay for them. The city is cash strapped being $65M overbudget for the next fiscal year.



We are at 10th & Cambie a mere 6 blocks north of Cambie Village and one more block north will find you at a major intersection of Broadway & Cambie. Broadway is actually 9th Avenue. You can see the Downtown Area in the distance which is down the hill and over the Cambie Street Bridge. The new Skytrain Station at Broadway is on the right, still doing the finishing touches to the sidewalk.



Here's a closer view looking towards downtown using the 3x zoom of my Canon SD780is.


(Intersection: Broadway & Cambie Streets, Vancouver, BC)

I leave you today with one more image taken with the SD780is


(False Creek, Vancouver, BC) click on image for full panorama

All images today were taken with a Canon SD780is P&S camera. The last image was created from 2 images using Autostich software, which is FREE. (just Google for it)

Cambie Village, Vancouver, BC

Vancouver is a city of numerous communities spread apart which resemble little towns that you would find in the middle of nowhere. There would be a hub of businesses separated by homes. Some are larger than others and would have a multicultural flare with restaurants from all over the world.


(Cambie Street at 19th Avenue)

Such it is with Cambie Village, not really a village which used to be called upper cambie to the locals. Here you find a variety of food ranging from exotic to American



Tonight I am walking about with my Manfrotto tripod breathing in the refreshing cool air. One thing about taking timed exposures is that the buildings stay still enough but the pedestrians look like ghosts scurrying to the other side. Yes, that is a Starbucks on the other side. Although we are 150 miles away from Seattle they proliferate on many street corners.


(The Park Theatre)

The Park Theatre has been a fixture in this area for decades and is one of the few remaining independants left having only ONE screen. It is surrounded by eateries of many varieties as you will notice the Chinese Restaurant to the right.


(Key West style pedal mobiles)

As I walked a little farther north, I notice the Barking Dog. I thought it was a shop for the 4 legged variety



but as I walked closer I noticed that it was a video rental store. I activate the zoom on my Canon G10 to capture the buildings across the street, a mixture of old and new. This area is being rediscovered with modern development grabbing hold



The building on the corner used to be a TD Bank, but now it is a bakery with a steel vault where they store their cakes. On the left of that newer building there are more restaurants. The head/tail lights of the moving cars make patterns on my digital sensor.

It is a very compact community. If you planned it right you could have your nails done, have a greek meal then move next store to see a movie



DUDE, Beer ?



All of our spirits are sold through the BCLB: British Columbia Liquor Board who operate all the liquor stores in the Province of BC, with the exception of a few specialty wine & beer stores.

Here's a place that looks like an upscale dining establishment with its rich wood panelling


(Pied-a-Terre)

Then we come to an Artist who creates gourmet cakes . . . An Artisian Cake creator



Creations to put in your stomach, not on the wall


(Cambie Cycles)

Cambie Cycles specialize in recumbent bikes, those ones where you sit at the back, put your legs directly in front of you as you more or less lie on your back. It seems like such an awkward position but they say pedalling is more efficient that way

Nest to the bike shop there are two more restaurants


(Thai away home & Stellas)

Here's another view from across the street looking back. If you wanted to sit outside in this freezing weather then you would have your choice of tables tonight



I would imagine if you asked them very nicely, they would light some of those propane heaters



I think the red lights make you hungrier

As I headed back to my starting point I noticed that devouring gourmet pizza also creates a sleeping effect as it has done to this patron who is silently passing time



Now I've come full circle back to Cambie & 19th. This small area of Cambie Village spans a mere 3 blocks from 16th to 19th Avenues, and there is also a spattering of restaurants north of 16th down to Broadway which is one of Vancouver's major intersections. From here by bike it is a mere 5 minutes to the heart of Downtown Vancouver.



While I was busy snapping photos I noticed the full moon overhead so I zoomed my trusty Canon G10 to full telephoto for you . . .


(The moon, tonight as viewed from Vancouver, BC)

All of the photos tonight were taken with a Canon G10 mounted on a Manfrotto professional tripod with shutter speeds from 1"sec to 7"sec, and aperature values from F5.6- F8. Did not use the self timer but gently sqeeeeeezed the shutter while putting my full weight upon the tripod