The Horrific Home of Beatrice Stainsbury is a truly unique theatrical Halloween experience in the form of a house party tour taking place on October 31st.

Although calmly nestled in a quiet, unsuspecting Commercial Dr. neighborhood, no one has dared set foot in the Horrific Home of Beatrice Stainsbury since the early 1900s… until now. On one night only, this house of ill-repute will open its doors to worlds previously unheard of and unexperienced in any haunted house you may have visited. Your senses will tingle with fear, laughter, repulsion, sadness and curiosity, as the macabre, the terrifying and the outrageous join up with moments of heart-wrenching beauty, soul-stirring sadness and unavoidable mirth.

From 6:40pm until 9:40pm a tour will leave the rendez-vous point every 20 minutes and you will be guided throughout the horrific house. “The Stray Cats” cast will entertain as you make stops throughout the household to hear the performers’ stories. There are only a few slots left as each tour group must only be a maximum of 11 people. Tickets can be purchased online in advance for $28. Thanks to @ChrisWalts for the heads up about this event.

My History Tidbits series has contained everything from Fountains, Trails, and Mansions but today I thought I would play the Name Game once again.

Every day I wonder where a street, building, or bridge in Metro Vancouver got its name. I’d have to say my favourite so far is the history of Mr Duff Pattullo but there are others I wanted to discover and share.

Alfred Graham Ferguson
He was the first chair of the Vancouver Parks Board and Ferguson Point, near the Tea Hour, between Second and Third beaches, is named after him. He also built Ferguson Block in the Downtown Eastside although the wooden buildings burnt in the Great Fire of 1886. He then rebuilt the block with brick as it stands today on Powell Street. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Tourism Vancouver and BC Hydro have teamed up for a special dining opportunity happening tomorrow around Vancouver.

On Wednesday October 28th the Candlelight Conservation Dinner will see over 30 restaurants around town dimming their dining room lights to promote saving energy during the last week of Power Smart Month.

The Candlelight Conservation Dinner is designed to bring attention to electricity conservation. The BC Energy Plan calls for B.C. electricity self-sufficiency by 2016 and for conservation to reduce, by 50%, the expected growth in overall electricity demand in the province by 2020.

If you go to BC Hydro’s website and sign up for Team Power Smart they also have some deals* that you can redeem at some of these participating restaurants:

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This is your chance to check out places from the Prospect Point Cafe over to West or (the rumoured to be haunted) Old Spaghetti Factory as it should be a unique dining experience with plenty of ambiance.

In the spring of 2009 BCIT hosted the inaugural 3 Blog Nights and they’ve brought it back again this year for 72 straight hours of content and contests.

The goal is to get the word out about BCIT, raise some buzz through social media, share video interviews and do an ultimate giveaway two ultimate giveaways of $1,000 worth of tuition credits. The event began yesterday at the main Burnaby campus and will be going until Wednesday. They have an entire crew working 8-hour shifts each to keep the educational information flowing.

You can keep up to date on all of their interviews (including one I recorded with Kemp Edmonds today) and happenings online via Twitter @3BlogNights, and the 3 Blog Nights blog.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 27th) they will also be hosting a tweetup at Malone’s downtown, near their Vancouver campus. It will run from 5:30pm onwards and is listed on the official Vancouver Tweetup directory.

The crew at BCIT (Kemp, Dave, Randy et al) have been doing a tremendous job in using social media — from individual Twitter accounts to YouTube videos that profile programs and life on the BCIT campus. If you have the chance, stop by the 3 Blog Nights booth at the Burnaby campus (inside SE2) or check them out online. I know what it’s like to do a Blogathon so kudos to them for making this campaign an annual event.

Update: My interview video is now online.

The National Film Board of Canada (the NFB) has released its own application for the iPhone which includes hundreds of films, animated shorts, history vignettes, and classics all free of charge. My sister put this on my radar when she posted about it on Twitter so I thought I would check it out.

When I went to the iTunes App Store on my phone to get it I noticed that it was the “app of the week” since the NFB icon is the current main icon for the entire “entertainment” category. Upon downloading the app I discovered why it’s being showcased and has already received top reviews from sites like Gizmodo.

Some features I enjoy are the search and the ability to “favourite” videos. This allowed me to find The Cat Came Back and The Logdriver’s Waltz, save them, and play them back for my American husband. You can play clips on demand or click to have them download for future viewing.

I must have spent about 45 minutes sifting through all the amazing content and using specific keywords to find either documentaries I remembered or content I haven’t yet seen. How to Make an Igloo is an oldie but a goodie and I could spend about 4 hours going through the entire “History” section. You can also download and view a 57 minute documentary about the Greatest Canada, Tommy Douglas, made in 1986 — all for free and on-demand.

The app is clean, sleek, and having that search option or capability to see the Most Popular is a great way to bring back memories or introduce classics to new users. If you do not have an iPhone, much if not all of this content is available through their website as well where they even featured the first version of their iPhone app… circa 1980.

Links: iTunes App Store download link, NFB blog post outlining the features of the app.