To see how well you paid attention to what we covered Vancouver Is Awesome this year, we've got some questions for you. 20 of them, to be precise.
The answers to all of these come from stories V.I.A. published in 2021, so if you've been reading you may recall most - if not all - of these.
To answer a question just click your answer; if you're correct you'll be taken to the story that has the answer. If you're wrong, we'll make sure you know. Best of luck.
1. There was a sight in downtown Vancouver earlier this year that one witness described as "this is so f*cking Canadian." What was it?
A) People were being too polite at a vending machine
B) A beaver was wandering around
C) A street hockey game broke out
D) A Timbits food fight erupted
2. An ad was posted on Craigslist for a $680/month micro-studio. What was odd about it?
A) It had no walls
B) It was a bed in a bathroom
C) It was an NFT
D) It was on a barge
3. There was a house available to rent for $6,200 in Vancouver. What was notable about it?
A) It looks like a hobbit house
B) It has no sinks
C) It looks like a beehive
D) It's made using a 3d printer
4. A world-famous invention was created by a North Vancouver woman in 1947, inspired by the Ojibwe. What was it?
A) Telescoping fishing poles
B) Egg cups
C) The Jolly Jumper
D) Tents for cars
5. While pregnant, a woman in Vancouver came up with a drink in the 90s now sold around the world. What was it?
A) The London Fog
B) The Arnold Palmer
C) Limeade
D) Screamers
6. When Vancouver's Ryan Reynolds (yes, we're claiming ownership) received a Governor General's award, who sang a song to him?
A) Steven Page (formerly of the Barenaked Ladies)
B) Blake Lively (Reynold's wife)
C) Nathan Fillion (fellow Canadian and 2 Guys and a Girl co-star)
D) Michael Bublé (Michael Bublé)
7. Aside from being one of the biggest celebrities from Canada, Vancouver's Ryan Reynolds held a few jobs. What HASN'T he done?
A) Forklift driver
B) Soccer team owner
C) Police officer
D) Gin salesman
8. We're also claiming Seth Rogen. What did he invent this year?
A) His own type of laugh
B) A waterless bong
C) A specialized tray for rolling joints
D) Post-it notes that can be used as rolling paper
9. Speaking of celebrities, early 2000s icon and R&B star Ashanti was in Vancouver this year for a film. What's the film based on?
A) The invention of the London Fog
B) The WNBA
C) The life and times of Jake Paul
D) Build-a-Bear stores
10. A Vancouver man has a huge collection of items related to murders and murderers. What's included in his collection?
A) Paintings by Ted Bundy
B) The glove from the OJ trial
C) The original mugshots of Al Capone
D) A signed photo of Charles Manson
11. A different Vancouver man has a very different, drinking-related collection. What is it?
A) Old and significant corkscrews
B) Unusual bottle caps
C) Cocktail menus from old ocean liners
D) The world's biggest Mike's Hard Lemonade collection
12. What was ultimately the reason the sky glowed pink this fall?
A) A complex natural phenomenon involving rhododendrons and bog gas
B) Aliens
C) Weather balloons
D) A greenhouse was trying to grow the ‘world’s most flavourful strawberry’
13. Someone erected a slide in the Lower Mainland that looked like a massive penis and vagina. Why?
A) As part of a guerrilla art project
B) Aliens, again
C) For a film
D) As part of a political statement on gender politics
14. We wrote about a law many people didn't realize was in effect. What was it?
A) You can't be naked in your home if you can be seen from a public space
B) You can't drink vodka in your home if you can be smelled by the public
C) You may only high-five with your right hand
D) You may not bowl in alleyways
15. People often have to walk through swarms of midges in the spring. What are the midges doing?
A) It's midge Christmas
B) The males are dancing for the females
C) They're hunting in groups for large prey like humans
D) Loitering is their favourite pastime
16. Every day someone reloads the 9 O'clock gun. What's their job title?
A) Gun guy
B) Canon keeper
C) Boom operator
D) Powder master
17. Customers raised more than $21,000 to help keep a restaurant open. What was it?
A) A Starbucks
B) Downlow Chicken
C) Moose's Down Under
D) The Patty Shack
18. Instagram accounts of all sorts have popped up, including ones covering:
A) Vancouver's abandoned mattresses
B) Vancouver's nicest dumpsters
C) Vancouverites' signs telling dogs not to poop there
D) All of the above
19. What's the furthest anything big leftover from Expo 86 travelled?
A) A roller coaster is in St Louis now
B) The H2O UFO was reclaimed by aliens
C) The monorail made its way to England
D) Science World was actually taken on a global tour before returning to Vancouver
20. What famous 90s TV set was recreated on a Vancouver street corner?
A) The playground from Recess
B) The bridge from Star Trek: The Next Generation
C) The diner table from Seinfeld
D) The coffee shop couch from Friends
21. A Vancouver woman befriended something unusual; what was it?
A) A talking duck
B) A wingless bumblebee
C) An injured raccoon
D) A Stanley Park coyote
22. What unexpected animal can you catch in Vancouver?
A) Flightless seagulls
B) Huge otters
C) Little sharks
D) Quokkas
23. Someone updated the earliest film of Vancouver with colour and sound. What year was it originally made?
A) 1899
B) 1907
C) 1915
D) 1923
Congrats on making it to the end of the quiz.
How'd you do?
00-05 — Did you just move here from Ontario?
06-10 — Did you just move here from somewhere slightly closer, like Alberta?
11-15 — You think Michael Bublé is from Vancouver and don't understand why people from Burnaby hate you.
16-20 —You enjoy watching the seagulls hunt for snacks at Granville Island
21-23 — You've debated who the better icon is for Vancouver: the Chinatown Otter, Canuck the Crow or the English Bay Barge.
