The Great Outdoors

Week 32: Vancouver, B.C.

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.


--Henry David Thoreau

That is just about the definition of "adventure," is it not? So much of what I experience on this tour comes from acting spontaneously and feeling each place intuitively. Vancouver certainly appeals to the naturalist in me.
This week started with a low key day off, which began with a visit to Lynn Canyon, a beautiful park and ecology center with a rain forest, a 30 foot pool, waterfalls and a suspension bridge rising 20 stories above Lynn Creek. With the glorious weather we have been having, the fresh air and the magnificent natural setting, I had such a pleasurable time with Bree and TJ. TJ works wardrobe on the show and is a singer/songwriter among many other things. That's her dog Acon. We sat under the trees and ate cherries bought at a roadside stand. Find your bliss. Find your bliss.





I have taken to riding the seawall route in Stanley Park almost every day. Finding a beautiful vantage point facing the sea to sit and journal. The local yoga studio in Yaletown had a special deal for two weeks unlimited classes and I have been seriously challenging myself in these hot yoga classes. Of course nothing could have prepared me for our fantastic kayaking trip this week at Deep Cove. Twenty members of the cast, crew and extended "Spamily," went kayaking together on a sparkling Tuesday afternoon. The natural beauty of trees, crags and mountains spectacular. A small handful of us decided to push our limits and really get out there in the cove and so we set a goal to reach a vantage point far out where there was a view of a snow capped mountain peak. So we went for it and have pictures to prove it. The "final five:" me, Ryan, Brian, David and Bree then had to paddle our way BACK. This was a greater challenge as we were moving into the wind and the water had gotten quite choppy. I thought, all I can do is go for it, so I really threw my back into it and moved at quite a clip. It was exhausting and exhilarating and I was proud to be the first of the fearless "five" to make it back to harbor. In all, our little posse kayaked seven miles. Kickass!







This week I had a lovely moment when I was stopped on the street by a fan. I was riding home on my bike, with my yoga mat on my back and heard a girl call out to me. I stopped and she walked up and asked me, "Are you James Beaman?" I was so surprised because people rarely recognize me out of my Robin gear, and I was quite delighted by her enthusiasm for the show (she has seen it twice and plans to come once more before we leave) and of course her appreciation for my work. Thanks so much, Meghan!

A Few Canadian Quirks


Canada loves coins. Instead of one and two dollar bills, they have one and two dollar coins, called respectively, a "loonie" and a "toonie." Being a New Yorker, I empty my pockets of all change every evening into a bowl. I looked in my bowl this week and I had over $20 in there. I guess the coins are a carry over from the British heritage.

Speaking of British, the Canadians do use certain English spellings of things like 'flavour' and 'harbour" and 'centre.' The accent is distinctly American sounding here but with certain oddities. 'About' becomes 'a-boat,' and 'out' becomes 'oat.' And you would never say you were 'sorry,' you'd say you were 'sore-y.' And no matter how my sophisticated new Canadian friends protest that they never say it--they do indeed say "eh."

Cocktails in Canada SUCK. The government regulates everything having to do with alcohol sales and consumption and so bars are only permitted to put one regulated shot of booze into every drink. Add ice and a whole lot of mixer and you have a $7 or $8 weak drink with a thimble full of liquor in it. It's terribly sad. I have seen martinis here so meager they didn't manage to submerge even one of the three olives standing in them, withering from dehydration.





We had a visit from our general manager who brought with him news of many exciting and interesting changes in the tour and some really terrific new territory opening up for "Spamalot." With the Las Vegas company now closed, the tour is able to perform finally in California among other West Coast states. So next summer, you will be able to see "Spamalot" in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Great developments and a nice future for the production!