After 11 years of bringing you local reporting, the team behind the Vancouver Observer has moved on to Canada's National Observer. You can follow Vancouver culture reporting over there from now on. Thank you for all your support over the years!

Stephanie Orford

Stephanie just graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience. She went to work in Iceland for three months, just in time for the volcanic eruption.  

Books as building material

The LYNNsteven Boutique in Gastown, opened early this year, challenges the definition of a well-rounded book collection.

People in grass houses

On my recent visit to Scandinavia, I observed several examples of homes with grass rooftops.

Would Gregor Robertson do this?

So, Reykjavík elected a joke party to city council and wound up with a mayor, Jón Gnarr, who is a famous comedian in Iceland. By most accounts, the Besti flokkurinn (the Best Party) won as a big f-...

The Vogue returns, refurbished and revitalized

After remaining largely dark over the past couple of years, the Vogue Theatre on Granville Street in Downtown Vancouver is making its way back into the limelight.

Volcanic eruptions don't freak Icelanders out

But a volatile economy and weird banking practices do. Read more about Icelandic culture, community, and the ongoing relationship between the people and the Eyjafjallajökull eruption---the nation's l

Still Not Over The Rainbow Chair

I would give up the pot of gold if I could keep the rainbow. That is, the Rainbow Chair.

Volcanic disruptions come home to Iceland

As airline disruptions come home to Iceland, VO blogger Stephanie Orford gets stranded in a small town, along with a pack of rumpled air travelers. But at least there're hot dogs, Orford reports. And

Doomsday remains at bay while volcanic ash spreads across world and an uneasy calm falls over Iceland

The news shows farmers herding their animals into barns. Sheep that were once wooly white look like they were born gray. Wild birds are flying into homes and barns, apparently also trying to take refu

Fox News says volcanic eruption a sign of doomsday; Icelanders laugh

In Iceland, people are pretty chuffed about their volcanic eruption. Maybe it's kind of equivalent to Vancouverites' attitude toward the rain, except with molten lava and ash.

A Vancouvrite in Iceland reports excitement amongst the population about the novelty of a volcanic eruption

The volcano, called Eyjafjallajokull, began erupting early Wednesday morning, beneath a glacier in southern Iceland, and is already causing major flooding in surrounding areas. In areas surrounding...