On January 1st the legendary Fenway Park in will be home to an open-air hockey game that will see the Boston Bruins take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Bridgestone Winter Classic.
I won’t be in Boston however I will be in Iowa (where I was for last year’s Winter Classic) and I’ll be sure to bring along my Bruin’s jersey for the occasion. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
I’m looking for a love song about Vancouver. It can be punk, rock, alternative, folky and yeah, I guess I’ll even accept country. I’ve been hearing Empire State of Mind so much lately and I have come to realize that there are so many songs about how wonderful California and New York are but what about Vancouver?
I’m not comparing all of them side by side at all but you’d think there would be some representation of Vancouver Love in the music sphere. I know people like Vancouver, it’s a pretty nice place to be and you can’t beat the scenery. Even Tom Cochrane sings about “Vancouver’s lights” in Life is a Highway.
So here I am, looking for a fantastic song to get me pumped about my beloved city on a grey, gloomy, drenched December afternoon. Maybe in the same way I can listen to Augustana’s Boston “I think I need a sunrise, I’m tired of the sunsets” and get psyched for the East Coast, who knows. I put the call out on Twitter and received quite a bit of feedback, here are a few messages: Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
For 2010, Antigone Magazine has released a special calendar with a certain Olympic flare.
“Twelve world-class female athletes from Canada and the U.S. have joined in creating the 2010 Dreams for Women Calendar, an inspiring calendar promoting women’s equality. These athletes, many of whom will be competing in the 2010 Olympic Games, have contributed their own “dreams for women” with personally designed art and words addressing issues as diverse as violence against women, the sexualization of female athletes, and the exclusion of women ski jumpers from Olympic competition.”
Contributions include:
The calendar contains postcards by each of the contributors along with their photos and words, presented in a personal, handwritten manner. Each month is also highlighted with important dates in women’s history.
The calendars are $20 and available to order online or by emailing antigonemagazine [at] hotmail.com. There are also a few stores in Vancouver and Toronto that carry the calendar including Bookmark at the Vancouver Public Library.
The Antigone Foundation is an organization that seeks to encourage young women aged 10-35 to become politically and civically engaged. The Foundation also seeks to found a magazine written by and for young women aged 10-15, as well as, an outreach program to educate and inspire young girls to become active and involved in politics and issues that affect them. You can follow them on Twitter @AntigoneBlog.
Related: Hope in Shadows Calendar for 2010
The legacy of Peter Pantages will live on New Years Day as Vancouver hosts its 90th annual Polar Bear Swim in English Bay.
This is one of Vancouver’s oldest traditions. Quick tidbit: “In 1928, on January 1st, 16-year-old Ivy Granstrom made her first entry into the chilly waters of English Bay in the Polar Bear Swim. Ms. Granstrom, blind from birth, will go on to appear at 77 consecutive Polar Bear events.” – VancouverHistory.ca Granstrom’s last dip was in 2004.
Registration takes place in front of the English Bay Bathhouse from 12:30pm – 2:30pm on January 1st. To be a Polar Bear Club member, you must register before the swim. Your free membership includes a commemorative button after you take the plunge. Prizes will be drawn from the entry forms filled out or turned in from the Province newspaper at the Swim registration table.
Costumes are very welcome and there is also the Peter Pantages Memorial 100 yard swim race to get your heart racing in the icy Pacific. Check out the Flickr stream of John Goldsmith (aka WaxyPoetic) for some amazing photos following the 2010 event.
This afternoon I headed over to GE Plaza (at Robson Square) for an interview with a news agency. While the reporter and I were standing next to the rink watching the ice get resurfaced, Santa moseyed on by and his helper asked if we wanted to get our pictures taken.
Once the interview was complete, I snapped photos of the rink and the lunchtime skaters then made my way over to Santa’s tent which is located at the base of the stairs between the rink and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Santa’s helper, Jean, was a lovely woman who inquired about my interview so then I got to tell her all about Miss604.com. She was very sweet and introduced me to Santa as “media”. I got my photo taken with the jolly old man and explored the rest of the tent to see the other activities being offered.
A volunteer made me a delicious gingerbread cookie while I scoped out the craft supplies and custom letters to Santa himself that were there for children to complete. From the sparkles and Christmas decorations to the instant photos with Santa, every single thing in the tent is free and available to the public.
The entire setup is presented by the province of British Columbia and they have a full line up of even more activities over the coming weeks including a childrens’ New Years Eve event.
The times for visiting Santa and the activity tent are posted outside and all in all it perfectly compliments the adjacent skating rink this holiday season. If you have your own skates, you can spend hours at this one location doing many events, being serenaded by a brass band playing Christmas tunes, and it won’t cost you a penny.
