Alanis Morissette at The Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver

Comments 75 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Alanis Morissette will be taking to the stage at the Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver this week on her Guardian Angel Tour in support of her latest album Havoc and Bright Lights.


Photo courtesy of Live Nation Canada

Alanis has 12 Juno Awards, 7 Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe nomination and has sold over 60 millions album worldwide. She has been a Canadian and international favourite since Jagged Little Pill exploded onto the scene in 1995. As a girl in high school at the time, it was the CD that you could most likely find in every second locker and it was an unofficial anthem for our volleyball team — although we were probably all too young at that point to have experienced the emotion that radiated from her powerful lyrics.

Tickets for her Vancouver show on Thursday, October 4, 2012 (doors at 6:00pm, show at 7:00pm) are still available for $39.00, $69.50, and $99.50 by calling 1-855-985-5000 or ordering through Ticketmaster Outlets and the Rogers Wireless Box Office. This is an all-ages show with reserved seating.

If you would like to attend, I have a pair of tickets to give away as well. Here’s how you can enter to win:

  • Leave a comment naming your favourite Alanis Morissette song (1 entry)
  • Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
    RT to enter to win tix to Alanis Morissette live in Vancouver from @LiveNationWest & @Miss604 http://ow.ly/e8CT6

    I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012.

    Update The winner is @burnabylife!

Haunted Vancouver Garden: Judge Dee and the Chinese Garden Murders

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt

There are haunted houses, tours, and theatrical zombie events in Vancouver this season and the interactive experience at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is sure to add to the terror. Judge Dee and the Chinese Garden Murders is billed as a “haunted house like no other in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown”.

In a distant Chinese town, you are hot on the heels of a cold blooded killer. You make your way through the narrow streets as chaos erupts among the frightened citizens. Barbarians outside the walls wait for the signal to attack as dead ghosts of a massacred army roam the night. Will you spot the clues? Can you solve the crime before it’s too late? Are you brave enough to make it out alive?

Join us again this Halloween as Seven Tyrants Theatre transforms the Garden into a terrifying haunted house. Featuring nearly 30 actors, dancers and musicians, this one-of-a-kind experience is inspired by Robert van Gulik’s Judge Dee murder mysteries. Brave the Garden’s haunted pathways, uncover clues, then warm your bones at the old Tea House as you piece together the crime.

Judge Dee and the Chinese Garden Murders runs October 24th to October 31st, 2012 from 7:00pm to 10:00pm with entry every 10 minutes. It is not recommended for children. Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for students for the 30-minute long program.

Follow @Seven_Tyrants or @VanGarden on Twitter for more information.

October Events in Metro Vancouver 2012

Comments 2 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The clouds arrived on cue as autumn hit last weekend in Vancouver. The air cooled, leaves began to drop, and flip flops have been traded in for boots. With Thanksgiving and Halloween this month, we have a long weekend and plenty of fun activities to look forward too, like Fall & Halloween Tours, Corn Mazes, or Battling Zombies.

Stanley Park Photowalk

Here are just a few things you can get up to with family and friends this month:

Monday, October 1, 2012
Stack the Rack for QMUNITY
Meet Author Anita Rau Badami at Surrey City Centre Library
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Opening at Winsor Gallery: Patrick Hughes, Perspectivariations
Leading Moms Event
‘Documenting Occupy’ – A CounterCulture Speaker Series Event
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Comox-Helmcken Greenway open house at the West End Community Centre
Big Sisters Gala
Museum of Anthropology Presents Luminescence: The Silver of Peru (Until December)
Friday, October 5, 2012
Stanley Park Ghost Train
Saturday, October 6, 2012
A Golf Tournament of Hope and Recovery
Walk for the Bu
An Improv Anywhere FlashMob
Savour at Lonsdale Market. Free Cooking Demos, Activities
Stanley Park Ghost Train
Vancouver Mega Comic-Con
Vancouver Art/Book Fair
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Stanley Park Ghost Train
Vancouver Mega Comic-Con
VSO Kids’ Koncerts: Peter and the Wolf Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Blogger Profile: Melissa Carr

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Over the years I have profiled bloggers from the Northwest Territories to the Fraser Valley, anyone that interests me and that I hope will interest you as well. A few years ago I started asking a standard set of questions and I’ve sent these out to a few local bloggers for this week’s series. Click, share, explore, and enjoy.

Melissa Carr

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Photo courtesy of Melissa Carr

Blog: TheThirtiesGrind
Twitter: @meliss604
Facebook: /TheThirtiesGrind
Pinterest: meliss604

How long has your blog been around?
I started my blog in March 2012.

What is your role?
All of the above. It takes up a lot of my time but I LOVE it!

What does your site do/what is it about
My site is all about life in your thirties, particularly in Vancouver. The tagline for The Thirties Grind is “Get up. Go to work. Raise kids. Pay bills. Sleep. Repeat.” Sometimes I feel like this stage in life is kind of like the movie “Groundhog Day”… and I know many people my age feel the same way. We’re all balancing careers, relationships, homes, debt etc. It’s a crazy, crazy time…

One of the most popular subjects I’ve written about is Vancouver real estate. My feature, the “Absurd Vancouver Property of the Week” went viral on the second or third week I posted it. People in Vancouver love to gripe about real estate… it’s an important issue, but we can still have a sense of humour about it!

What can people see, read, and do when visiting your site?
Read and discuss topical issues (particularly those that affect women and children), enter contests, and read about amazing REAL Vancouver women. In my feature “The REAL Real Housewives of Vancouver”, I pose questions, taken from the application form for the reality series, to everyday Vancouver women…we have incredibly diverse and talented women in this city, and I wanted to highlight that.

Why do you blog?
For a long time, I was a writer who didn’t write. I finally decided that I needed an outlet for the many thoughts and opinions I had banging about in my head. I wanted to write about things my friends and I talk about when we’re sitting in my kitchen having a glass of wine…things I’m certain other people talk about and have opinions on, also. The response I have had to my blog is incredible and I love the dialogue and debate that come out of conversations I spark.

What is the ultimate goal for your site, how would you like to see it grow?
Who wouldn’t love to be able to make a living by doing what you love? That is my ultimate goal. I’m still so new to this whole scene, however, and am learning as I go. I’ve been fortunate to make some wonderful connections and have received amazing advice and insight. Time will tell what the future of TheThirtiesGrind holds, but I am confident that this is an avenue I want to continue to pursue.

Follow Melissa on her blog TheThirtiesGrind, Twitter, Pinterest and on Facebook.

Read all entries in my Blogger Profile series and feel free to suggest a blogger for possible feature in the comments of this post.

VIFF 2012: Win Film Tickets

Comments 30 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The Vancouver International Film Festival is in full swing for its 31st year of celebrating international, national, and local productions. Last night the festival officially opened with a screening of Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children which was followed up by the opening gala at the Salt Building in the Village on False Creek.

VIFF 2012 Gala

VIFF 2012 Gala VIFF 2012 Gala

VIFF 2012 Gala
Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr for Miss604.com

Honda Canada (the official vehicle of VIFF) has partnered with me to offer up two pairs of vouchers to see any VIFF film this year*. The winner of the contest can choose from any film in each of the following series: Canadian Images, Cinema of Our Time, Dragons & Tigers, Garden in the Sea, International Shorts, Nonfiction Features of 2012, Nonfiction Features: Arts and Letters, and the Spotlight on France.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

  • Leave a comment with the name of a Canadian film (1 entry)
  • Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
RT to enter to win two tickets to @VIFFest from @HondaCanada & @Miss604 http://ow.ly/e4OqV

I will draw two winners (who will each receive a pair of tickets along with VIFF memberships) at random from all entries at 5:00pm on Sunday, September 30, 2012. The Vancouver International Film Festival is on now until October 12, 2012. The closing gala will be a screening of Holy Motors from director Leos Carax.

* Valid for screenings that take place after the close of this contest. Vouchers will need to be traded in for tickets at the box office so it is recommended that the winner pick up their tickets well in advance to arrange a spot at their film of choice. Excludes galas and live performances.

Update The winners are Amy & @lyndszy!