The First Weekend Club is a non-profit organization and cross-Canada movie club that is dedicated to promoting and raising awareness for great Canadian films. I am pleased to announce that I have signed on as a partner with the First Weekend Club and will post monthly features about their screening series along with other special offers and events.
This month’s Canada Screens feature is the documentary, Last Train Home which will be shown tomorrow night at the District 319 theatre.
The film then opens March 5th in Vancouver (The Ridge), Richmond (SilverCity Richmond Hill), and The Varsity (Toronto). This screening is currently sold out but First Weekend Club tickets are normally available each month in advance through their Canada Screens website.
A few months ago I was asked to emcee an event put on by L’Arche, an international organization that supports those with developmental disabilities. I gladly accepted and The Art of Being Together will take place this Saturday in Burnaby.
The Art of Being Together
Saturday March 6, 2010 from 1:00-5:00pm
6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby, BC
From the Finalists Gallery: Meditations on Integration by Rocio Graham
For the last 35 years, the people in the L’Arche Greater Vancouver community have experienced each other’s joy, pain and the challenges of walking together every day. We need to be together to build mutual relationships and maintain them. There is an art in living together in L’Arche and this art can be a model to the wider community. We acknowledge that we need each other and that together we are stronger.
Last weekend judges selected eight finalists from the contributed pieces that will be showcased and auctioned off. The public will also be able to vote on their favourite piece for a “People’s Choice” award. During the event everyone is invited to create their own painting that will be donated to South Burnaby Neighbourhood House as well. Artwork has been contributed by those living with and without developmental disabilities and it will be up for sale alongside silent auction items.
Please feel free to join us on Saturday. Admission is only $5 and there will be some great works showcased and available for purchase all befitting a wonderful cause.
The 2010 Winter Paralympic Games are coming to Vancouver, March 12th until the 21st, as our city hosts the world once again celebrating athletes who are the very best in their sport. In case you were wondering just what exactly the Paralympics entail, I thought I would put together this quick reference guide.
Paralympic History
“In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving World War II veterans with a spinal cord injury in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born. Olympic style games for athletes with a disability were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960, now called Paralympics.
In Toronto in 1976, other disability groups were added and the idea of merging together different disability groups for international sport competitions was born. In the same year, the first Paralympic Winter Games took place in Sweden.” – International Paralympic Committee
Events
The Cultural Olympiad is still going strong as well, presenting performances until March 21st. Nightly medals ceremony concerts in Whistler are listed here.
Transportation
The following routes will continue to have “no stopping” regulations through March 21, 2010
Hastings St between Main St and Burrard
Smithe St between Expo St and Howe St
Nelson St between Thurlow St and Beatty St
King Edward Ave between Oak St and Sophia St
Cambie St between King Edward Ave and 37th Ave
2nd/6th Ave between Hemlock St to Main St
Main St from 2nd Ave to Terminal Ave
There is a full Paralympics transportation plan available from the City of Vancouver.
Tickets
Event tickets start at around $15 or $20 so if you didn’t have the chance to go to an Olympic sporting event, this may be your chance to get in on some world-class athletic competition.
Torch Relay
The Paralympic Torch Relay will begin March 3, 2010 and conclude at the Opening Ceremony March 12th in Vancouver.
Ottawa, Ontario — Lighting Ceremony on March 3, 2010
Quebec City, Quebec — March 4, 2010
Toronto, Ontario — March 5, 2010
Esquimalt/Victoria, British Columbia — March 6, 2010
Squamish, British Columbia — March 7, 2010
Whistler, British Columbia — March 8, 2010
Lytton, British Columbia — March 9, 2010
Hope, British Columbia — March 9, 2010
Vancouver Paralympic Centre, British Columbia — March 10, 2010
Maple Ridge, British Columbia — March 10, 2010
UBC Thunderbird Arena, British Columbia — March 11, 2010
Vancouver (downtown), British Columbia — A 24-hour event will start around Robson Square in downtown Vancouver as the Paralympic Flame is continuously carried and passed between torchbearers — March 11, 2010
Vancouver (downtown), British Columbia — The 24-hour event continues and concludes around Robson Square, prior to the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games at BC Place — March 12, 2010
Torchbearers
CBC’s Rick Mercer will represent the province of British Columbia as a torchbearer in the 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay Lighting Ceremony on March 3 in Ottawa. There will be other recognizable names along the way which you can look up online.
Coverage
The Opening Ceremony will not be aired live Friday night on CTV. According to their website: “The opening ceremonies will not be broadcast live. Instead, they’ll be tape-delayed by CTV until Saturday, and packaged with Canada’s first sledge-hockey match.”
“The good news is that social media and the internet are picking up where traditional media is failing. Paralympic Sport TV — the Internet TV channel of the International Paralympic Committee — will offer free live broadcasts worldwide via Internet.” – Via Glenda Watson-Hyatt.
Update There are some reports that the Opening Ceremony will air live only in BC. This is yet to be confirmed by CTV however News1130 has spoken with them. They have been assured that the Opening Ceremony will air live, locally.
I have not been accredited to cover the Paralympics, due to late application, however this event will be a part of our city over the next month and anything that keeps the Olympic spirit alive is worth documenting and promoting in my books.
Update: VANOC has approved my accreditation, so it looks like I’ll be able to cover this even more. Thanks for all the support!
The Olympic flame will be lit again for the Paralympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler starting March 12, 2010 which means the party isn’t over yet. You will have time to check out some of the pavilions once again and many acts will be hitting stages during the Paralympic medal ceremonies.
From March 19 to 21, Whistler event medals will also be awarded in-venue so the plaza can prepare for the Closing Ceremony. The concerts will be free, Whistler Medals Plaza gates will open at 5:30pm daily, and the venue can accommodate 5,000 spectators. More information is available on the Vancouver2010 website.
Hearts for Haiti: An evening of Art and Jazz is an upcoming event that involves an art auction in support of the Canadian Red Cross‘ relief efforts in Haiti.
Over 50 pieces of art will be available for auction at the Pacific Palisade Hotels on Robson, including paintings, sculptures and ceramics.
Marla Guloien, a local jazz artist, will entertain throughout the night as well. The fundraiser takes place March 6th, 2010 with doors at 7:30pm. Tickets are $25 and they include a drink and appetizers.
