Intro

Thanks for visiting Long Beach Radio. Clicking on the orange bits above will give you more information about the station. Scroll down for weather forecasts and other useful stuff. The Blog below is intended as a compliment to our regular programming. Some of the items posted there may have been because they weren't appropriate for broadcast. (Web) Surfer discretion is advised.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Canada Day Long Weekend in Tofino and Ucluelet, 2012

It's that time of year again.... summer time.  The Long Beach region may not seem like you typical Canadian community in some ways... what with very little snow, no skating rink (for now) and of course world class surfing.  We do, however, have a local brewery, a lot of canoes and kayaks, gobs of natural country-side and we are serious about our Canada Day!!  So before we get down to business would you please remove your hats and rise for the Canadian National Anthem;

You may be seated.
If you live here you know, if you're coming out this weekend for Canada Day here's a few things to keep in mind;

-Great news is the weather seems to know exactly what's happening this weekend and is planning accordingly, here's the long weekend weather forecast as of Thursday morning;

-The Tuff City Skate Park hosts a skate competition on Canada Day, call the District of Tofino at 250 725 3229 ext.23 for more info or show up early with $10 and a helmet to register.

-Both village greens (Tofino and Ucluelet) will be hopping with music, and other entertainment for all ages on Sunday afternoon, Tofino has a beverage garden from 4-8pm and fireworks starting at 10 in the harbour. 


-For Canada Day Long Beach Radio will be running nearly 100% Canadian music all day so do your patriotic duty and tune in
-July 1st marks both Canada Day and the start of the Pacific Rim Summer Festival. Here's the shedule of events running through the first 2 weeks of July

-There's fun stuff all weekend long, Jack's in Tofino's Marina West Motel has local band Prester John's Gone and Dirt Country on Friday Night.... Here's some audio from a visit with them Friday morning!!

Also playing Friday night at a place in Tofino known as Humanity and also visiting us this Friday morning was The Crooked Brothers who joined us for The Friday Funky Food Hour. Here's the whole show if you're interested... follow that is a short video of one of the tunes they played.


Friday night at Ucluelet's Black Rock Resort you can catch Mark Crissinger, he'll also be playing Jack's in Tofino on Saturday and Sunday... Mark's been in the studio a bunch of times, here's a particularly memorable visit

Saturday, a local author Adrienne Mason has presentation going on at The Wickaninnish Inn's Salal Room regarding hern new book Long Beach Wild. Here's an interview about the book and a similar presentation a couple months back;
Saturday night you can also catch DJ action with Matt The Alien and guests at The Tofino Legion

Finally, have fun this weekend, party safe and don't drink and drive.
Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio.  -Geoff

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Last Week's FFFH and This Weekend's National Holiday

Just a short post to get last week's Friday Funky Food Hour up on the website and a reminder to tune in on Canada Day when we'll be blasting almost %100 Canadian music! Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio. -Geoff

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Long Beach Radio Hosts' Side Projects

Radio is fun but I'm sure being in a hugely famous, super talented rock band is too and those guys have "side projects" to keep them stimulated. That's how it is here at Long Beach Radio... though sometimes we refer to our side projects as "day jobs".... for example; DJ Triple D plays World of Warcraft, Emre kayaks and Joe Bob raises a family. Cam makes movies, some of which we can actually talk about in polite conversation.  He left for a couple weeks yesterday to film something called Artists for an Oil Free Coast. Here's a chat with him from just before he left yesterday;

Have fun Cam, don't drop your camera out of a helicopter.

Remember at the start of this post when I said being in a hugely famous, super talented rock band was probably pretty fun?  Turns out I know what I'm talking about because, together with Tofitian Chester Mann I have formed what is almost certainly the 4th or 5th best band in Tofino and Ucluelet right now. Catch Ballistic Pig rocking a bunch of cover tunes at Jack's (formerly the Weigh West) this Friday and Saturday.  Like a pig lauched out of a cannon it may not be entirely graceful but it will definitely be entertaining (speaking of graceless entertainment related to flying pigs)......


Or you could watch Triple D play WoW....


Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio.  -Geoff

Friday, June 15, 2012

Tall Tree Ticket Winner, Friday Funky Food Hour, Fun Kayak Trips, Surf Shop BBQs, The Tofino Bike Park and Golf Tourney Postponement

This blog post is gonna be sort of like a mullet, business in the front, party in the rear. So, down to business!!

First off, congratulations to Joni Kwiatkowski, winner of our Tall Tree Music Festival tickets and camping giveaway. We've sent you a Facebook message with details for collecting your prize. If you didn't win, don't worry, we're giving away tickets to a bunch of other music festivals this summer click HERE for more info.

Second off (?), The West Coast Shootout charity golf tournament schedules for tomorrow (June 16, 2012) has been postponed until next Saturday (June 23, 2012) due to expected heavy rain.

I think that's most of the serious business, here's the audio from this week's Friday Funky Food Hour;


If you need some ideas for cooking on your next camping trip many of these answers were posted on our Facebook page; www.facebook.com/longbeachradio or our Twitter profile www.twitter.com/longbeachradio
We mention a few fine things during the show including a chance to win a really cool kayak day-trip from Tofino Sea Kayaking, the details are on their Facebook page HERE

Also this weekend our friends at The Long Beach Surf Shop are having a big sale/ BBQ at their Ukee location 10-6, Saturday and Sunday

Another great thing that will be happening on the weekend is the grand opening of the Tofino Bike Park on Saturday 11-2.... hopefully it isn't TOOOOO muddy. Here's some info on the Facebook event page

And finally, speaking of mullets;


Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio.  -Geoff

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Frog Talk with Wetland Stewards Barb Beasley and Tanya Dowdall

This morning I had a visit from two local women who spend a lot of time worrying about amphibians.  There are more than a half dozen native amphibian species in our region and some of them are "at risk". Barb Beasley explains that one of the biggest potential threats to their well being is the possibility of another amphibian species moving this way.  Here's the audio, including frog calls, toad licking advice (don't lick toads) and info about the amphibain underpass on highway 4.


In case that got you wanting to hear the Gene Autry tune, I guess you'll just have to buy it.. I couldn't find a streamable version anywhere :(   I DID find this though!


But, I digress.We mention a few websites and such in the interview and I've made convenient links to them below;

The Splat Frog Tunnel Blog

UVic's Bullfrog Project

and the Wetland Steward email address for reporting sightings or asking questions: wetlandstewards@gmail.com

I couldn't find a decent embeddable version of the Simpsons' "Toad Licking" scene but I did find this!

PS. Don't lick wild animals

Finally, here's what the bullfrogs in question look and sound like.... if you see or hear one, get in touch with the Wetland Steward folks at wetlandstewards@gmail.com


Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio and look out for bullfrogs!! -Geoff

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Tofino Saltwater Classic Interview with Brendan Morrison

You wouldn't think a veteran NHL player who held a ton of team records for the Vancouver Canucks would have a not-so-secret obsession with salmon fishing but Brendan Morrison certainly does.  For the last couple summers he's hosted the Tofino Salt Water Classic charity fishing derby.  He called yesterday afternoon to chat about this year's derby and I roped him into a little hockey chat too, here it is;

Here are a few highlights from past Salt Water Classics


The awards from last year's derby


A little walk around of the Friday night event at last year's derby (also Brendan turning over the ball to a local kid in a floor hockey game)


2 interviews with Brendan from the previous SWCs


Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio and be sure to tune in on the weekend of the derby for some real time highlights from the scale, the Jack's pub patio and maybe even from the boats.  -Geoff

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Chatting With The Mayor

Before I get down the to actual "Chatting with The Mayor" portion of this post, a quick message from the Vancouver Island Health Authority;

"A reduction of service at Tofino General Hospital in effect 8am today, to 8pm today due to a reduction in the number of Registered Nurses or other medical staff during this time frame.  Please attend the hospital emergency room only if you have a life, limb or organ-threatening condition.

If you are unsure what service you require, call the BC Nurse Line at 811.  Regular operations begin at 8pm tonight." -dated June 12, 2012


There's the public safety portion of our blog post now on to business.  Thanks to Tofino Mayor Perry Schmunk for dropping in today to shed a little light on some of the challenges Tofino is facing and providing some info on the step that are being taken to remedy them... here's the audio. (Topics include; Water, sewage, 4th and Campbell intersection, RMI funding, communication infrastructure, tsunami debris and The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline)


Thanks for dropping in, Perry.

Tomorrow, if all goes well, we'll have Brendan Morrison (yup, THAT Brendan Morrison) in to talk fishing .... and maybe a little hockey. If you want to cheat go to www.tofinosaltwaterclassic.com and get a head start on what we'll be talking about.

Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio.  -Geoff

Monday, June 11, 2012

Locals Top The Rip Curl Pro and Edge 2 Edge Marathon

A big congratulations from Long Beach Radio to the competitors and organisers of The Edge To Edge Marathon and Rip Curl Pro Search. I wasn't able to take in much of the surfing but it seems everyone had a blast despite some tough conditions.  Here's a short short of the E2E getting underway Sunday morning


Big ups to Jim Gardner of Tofino who had the quickest full-marathon time in the E2E and Tofino's Pete DeVries who scored the top spot in the men's competition at The Rip Curl Pro.  Here's a little vid of Jimmer crossing the finish line, he wanted to finish in under 3 hours... he did it (with 45 seconds to spare)

video

Also, Tofino Mayor Perry Schmunk ran the finishing leg for his relay team, here are his thoughts on the run
video

Speaking of Mayor Schmunk, he'll be in tomorrow morning around 9am for a little council update, tune in!

For complete results in the Edge to Edge Marathon follow the appropriate link

Full
http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2012/run/EdgetoEdgeMarOA.html

Half
http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2012/run/Footstock2012Half.html

Relay

http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2012/run/EdgetoEdgeMarRE.html



For the surf competition I still haven't been able to find complete results... check the Rip Curl Pro Search website I guess...  that's all I have for now, sorry.


Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio. -Geoff

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Last Week's FFFH, an Interview About Tall Tree Music Festival and Tetris!!

Just a few things to catch up on really.... First, a very important birthday to Tetris! first sent out to infect our minds with Russian classical music on this day in 1984.


Arcade Games

Push play on the video below while you're playing for the complete experience


To read the geekiest thing in the world check out the Tetris entry at Wikipedia

Now, back to what we're really here to do... Last week we had a special episode of The Friday Funky Food Hour with Heidi Noble of Joie Farm Winery AND a woman who should be showered with praise for all she does to make the Tofino Food and Wine Festival happen, Kira Rogers... Give it a listen here;

I also chatted with Mike Roma, one of many behind the upcoming Tall Tree Music Festival in Port Renfrew, here's that audio if you missed it on the show this morning

That's it for now, just a little house keeping.. I'll have another update by the weekend talking about the RipCurl Pro Search Surf Competition and Edge 2 Edge Marathon

Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio. -Geoff

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Edge 2 Edge Marathon 2012 This Weekend is Seeking Volunteers

The 2012 Edge 2 Edge Marathon is this weekend and they are still looking for a few volunteers to help out. Here's an excerpt from an email I received the other day from one of the organizers;

"we are still looking for volunteers for traffic along the route - most of the areas needed are in Tofino - so it will be fairly short shifts ... please call Haley at the UCOC office 250-726-4641 or email info@uclueletinfo.com

We are in critical need of an RN nurse at the finish line to help Dr. King.  This primarily involves looking after blisters and such, but we would like at least one RN that can put in an IV - just in case." 

So, if you've got some time on Sunday to help out a great local event get in touch. Of you need more info on the marathon itself you can find it here www.edgetoedgemarathon.com

Finally, if you can't make it down to the finish line fun in Ucluelet tune in Sunday afternoon for periodic timing updates and maybe some other highlights and interviews from the finish line between noon and 3 or so.

Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio. -Geoff