Colourful Community for ABC Wednesday

I am jumping in at the letter "C" for this round of ABC Wednesday.  Perhaps, Colourful Community will also apply to a few fences at the beginning of the post that I include as my Contribution to TexWisGirl's Good Fences meme.  Many thanks to her and to the Chipper ABC volunteers for their, Consistently Conscientious Comments that encourage us to participate.

The blue fence behind this busker at Granville Island is not a spectacular one, but it sure has seen some fine acts in its day.  I didn't have time to set up for this shot.  It was a surprise.  Just part of his warm-up, though his show had to do with very different talents than the flip he nonchalently threw in here.

 This suitcase wasn't a big deal either.  It Comprised only about 2 minutes of his act, but I loved..

 the way he made the suitcase appear to be in Control.

 It seemed as though it moved independently of anything the busker did.

 I also loved the Countenances of the people in the audience.

 I've learned that there is Colour and Character in every Community.  Watch long enough and it is sure to Come out.  Five balls in the air here.  Wow!

Lots of Comedy too.  Here, he led the two men chosen from the audience to think he was going to leap onto their Connected hands.  Instead, he Clambered up the back of the fellow on the right, Clumsily turned himself about so that the fellow's face was in a fairly Compromised position.  When he turned his head away, the busker turned it back as though turning a key.  Then he waved as if to say, "Oh no you don't.  Here I am, big as life and pretty funny too.  Check out the audience.  They loved this part of the act!

This is another non-spectacular fence at Olympic Village.  Black Jack liked it, though.  No telling what one Can Catch in that view. 

 Perhaps we Could Call that perfect "O" in her tail a "C" just for this post.

Last Sunday, we sat in a lovely garden on Burrard Street.  

 Bill was especially impressed with the deeper Colour of the little buds amid..

 the pink flowers.  I loved the reflection in the fence behind the flowers.

This purpose of this next fence is a bit of a Conundrum.  It is at the bottom of a fountain at Stanley Park, but with the recent drought, many of the fountains have been drained dry.  Not much colour here, but I love the play of light and shadow.

 I'm not sure if you could call this a fence.  It is also at the bottom of the waterless fountain and I thought it quite fascinating.

This is part of the Stanley Park seawall.  I've shown it many times, but with that colourful beach umbrella, i thought it made a rather fun photo.  Just behind the fence is a swimming pool.  People have the choice of fresh water in the pool..

or salt water in the ocean.  I had to smile at the fellow doing his Core exercises on the other side of the pool.  It was a hot day.  You could say he was Committed :)

That Concludes the fence portion of the post, but the letter "C" portion continues.

Two new words Caught my eye at the Phronistery site.  "Caballine" pertains to anything horse-related, so I guess riding in the wagon behind that team of horses that we saw at Stanley Park yesterday could be described as Caballine entertainment.  

"Calque" is a word-for-word translation from one language to another.  For example, Chien Chaud, is literally translated from the English word, Hot Dog. In Quebec, where I was born, we were taught "Chien Chaud" in French class, but no self-respecting Quebecer would have used that word.  I think it would have been commonly used in France.  "Le Hot Dog" worked just fine for Francophones in my day.  You can find lots more information about Calques, as well as about Cognates and Loanwords at this site.  I was looking for a good photo to go along with this portion of the post and though I absolutely loved the 3rd one on this site, I knew it would be wrong to steal it.  So, here's Black Jack's best attempt at looking like a Hot Dog.

She loves to pose for the camera but thought it time for lunch in this last photo.

But to get back to our ride to Stanley Park and walk through the rose gardens, it was comforting to see that there is still Colour in Vancouver, in spite of several months of low rainfall.

I spotted an orange butterfly so Bill entertained Black Jack while I ran around..

the rose bushes, hoping to get a photo. In the end, the butterfly disappeared, but that was okay. Butterflies are good but Bill and Black Jack are even Cooler :)

It was Bill who spotted this eagle.  We heard a Calamitous Cry,

and followed it to the top of a tall tree.

The eagle couldn't Circumvent the annoying..

buzzes of a seagull that probably had a bone or two to pick with the eagle.  I've seen eagle/seagull Confrontations from both viewpoints, so didn't take sides.  Just hope they both were eventually able to find some peace in their day.

Bill remarked on the electrifying green in that tree at the right.  It seemed to..

make the colours around it all the more Commoving (new word for me, meaning "emotionally exciting or galvanizing").

Bill spotted this Colourful Critter.  What a beauty!

I don't think my photo does justice to the stunning Colours around us that day, but here's an attempt to give you the bigger picture.

On Monday, July 27th, we admired the Cranes and the splashes of Colour that..

they brought to the blue sky.  Both Bill and I have talked about the Combination of talents necessary for workers at a site like this.  Often, I think we underestimate their Creativity and the huge responsibility they accept to keep everyone safe.

That same day, walking up a City side street, the splashes of Colour were truly..

spectacular, though the street itself is a nondescript one.  These passion flowers..

absolutely made my day!

And that evening, we had the great pleasure of seeing a theatrical production of Godspell at Granville Island.  If ever Vancouverites were tempted to believe this Community is without Character, it would be dispelled forever after watching that production.  I'm short of time, so will just introduce you to the musical director..

of the production.  His name is Danny Balkwill (but to keep the "C" theme going he plays the Cop in the show).  Here he does an amazing performance with an 11-year-old girl.  She wasn't in the show but I believe she is one of his students.  If you have time for this, I do believe you will be Chuffed.  Many thanks, as always, for stopping by.  Have a wonderful rest of your Friday!

Blue Monday

I haven't posted photos highlighting the colour blue for a while, but several came up in our recent excursions, and I thought of Smiling Sally's Blue Monday meme.

ArtStarts, as described in my last post, and viewed on July 18th, links professional artists with elementary and high school students, with the goal of helping them to express their dreams for, and impressions of, their worlds. 

These beautiful clay bowls with subtle blues in each one..

raised over a $1000, some of which went to a food bank in Chemainus, B.C.,

and some that helped build a school the students are supporting in Africa.

As explained below, that project grew from reading the folk tale, Stone Soup.

There's my dear Bill and Black Jack sitting in the beautiful space where we were privileged to view quite a variety of spectacular art by young people.

That evening, as the sun set, my camera caught the last remnants of blue in the sky over the Granville Bridge.

The next day, July 19th, we were in Olympic Village Park and I loved the wispy clouds over the stadium.

I think it was the day after that, that we saw these wonderful hydrangeas in Stanley Park.  I know Smiling Sally's father grew hydrangeas;  I always think..

of her and her father when I see some particularly lovely ones.

And, yesterday, Sunday, July 26th, was a wonderful day for smiles and for some blue hues too.  This painting, Tuscany, by H.M.Saffer, was at Harrison Galleries, where we did a crossword and enjoyed some treats before heading to..

the Jazz Vespers concert at St. Andrew's Wesley.  On the way, we were excited to see that the Keys2Streets program has been reinstated in Vancouver.  There was no time to play much of a tune but Bill did his Jerry Lee Louis imitation most convincingly, I thought.

The pianos have been painted by local artists.  Isn't this one lovely?

You can read a little about that program here.

Just as we were putting the rain cover back, this gentleman with a blue shirt came along.  So good to see the piano being enjoyed.

 The Jazz Vespers concert featured Maria Ho.  She sang some wonderful songs,

 including "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin, John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons.  Here, she points out the upward motion required to form a smile.

 Everyone, including her very fine back-up musicians, was smiling by the end.

 Blue is featured quite a bit at St. Andrew's..

 and one more smile that makes my day!

 When we left the church, the sun had come out after the morning rain, and..

 reflections in the buildings across from the church were impossible to ignore.

 We stopped on the way home to admire some talented skateboarders in a local park.  Note this fellow's blue shoes and the smiling baby behind him.

There was a blue streak :) in this fellow's skateboard.  Really nice fellows!  They had no problem at all with my taking photos. 

Here's Judy Garland singing "Smile" just in case you have the time to listen.  In the mean time, many thanks to Smiling Sally for her wonderful meme.  I hope each one of you has found a few smiles on this Blue Monday.  :)