It spun me back into Grade 11 English Lit mode but it was one fun ride. The Road to Canterbury is a modern twist on Chaucer’s Tales that takes place all across Queen Elizabeth Park this month.
The play follows a small cast of Chaucer’s original gang including The Knight’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Pardoner’s Tale, and The Prioress’ Tale. All of which are splashed with current-day scenarios and humour.
Not only do you get to experience this comedic romp in the open air, but you’ll also get a nice tour of the amazing gardens at Queen Elizabeth Park while you’re at it. The show is over 90 minute long so be sure to wear sensible shoes and feel free to bring a picnic blanket to rest during some of the acts.
The Road to Canterbury is presented by ITSAZOO Productions and will run until August 21st. Evening walks begin at 7:00pm (matinees at 2:00pm) and tickets can be purchased on site near the entrance to the Bloedel Conservatory or reserved by calling (604) 221-6604.
Please note, the show is not suitable for children under 10 years of age.
Online contests are a great way to boost community engagement on your website, blog, or general online presence. I’m noticing photo and video contests are on the rise lately however they’re pretty much all over the place.
The current options are email a photo (but what about file size limit), or submit a Facebook photo (but what about account privacy setting limits), or add photos to a Flickr group (but what about those without accounts). I understand that content creators should be able to maintain the rights to their images etc. so I’m all in favour of Flickr photo contests, however if you’re going to go big, seek out participants, voters, and run a really cool contest in general, you should be using Strutta.
It takes about 10 minutes (maximum) to setup a Strutta contest page. Using their platform you can choose a template for your contest site, host it off your own site or theirs, upload rules, and setup voting basics such as star-ratings or judge profiles. The best part is that it’s FREE. Yes, totally free but with bonus options you can add on as you like, for various fees.
I used Strutta in February for the Vancouver Twestival video competition and that was before it even had all the bells and whistles available today. They also have a handful of other contests running right now that you can check out.
Now, I’ve been friends with the folks at Strutta for years and they probably have no idea I’m writing this blog post. I just absolutely felt there was a need to inform companies and individuals that services like this do exist. They’re local, they’re a great group of people, and it won’t cost you all that much (if anything) to run an awesome photo or video contest with them.
When people ask me how I started blogging, I first mention my lifelong obsession with technology, and then I list my influences. At the top of the list is Tony Pierce who is currently celebrating the eight anniversary of his busblog.
Tony shares on his blog, he gives advice, talks about the Cubs, literally wrote the book on blogging, and he’s currently in charge of all blogs over at the LA Times. On top of that, he’s a really fun guy who was one of the first additions to my blogroll in 2004, and probably John’s in 2003 as well.
If you’ve ever seen me do a “Blogging 101” talk, you’ll also recognize him from slides 22-24.
I first met Tony in person in Las Vegas, although the story doesn’t get much more exciting than it should after an introduction like that. However this one time he mailed Keira some chocolate chips and as a result, she invited me to share an evening of sugary cookie-baking debauchery with her. Those were good times. He even made it up to Vancouver a few summers ago and we all watched the fireworks together in English Bay. Again, very good times.
Tony is the ultimate “blogfather” to hundreds if not thousands of bloggers across the globe. It’s his continuous frank, straight-up, and charming writing style that keeps us coming back to the busblog even though I once heard nothing in there is true.
Last year I was introduced to ZipCar during National Digital Media Day and I’ve enjoyed my casual car options ever since.
This summer ZipCar has taken 15 participants from each of their operating cities in North America and challenged them to a “Low Car Diet”. The Low-Car Dieters vowed to walk, bike, skate and Zip but not drive their personal car for one month. August 13th is their 30th day without using their own vehicle and so ZipCar is celebrating with a party at Yaggers downtown (for Vancouverites). You can read blog posts by all participants in every city online as well.
ZipCar is basically a short-term car rental service where you have a membership, book cars (from 1 hour to all day) and pick up/drop off at any of the dozens of parking stalls in your area where they reside. It’s a great system with awesome key-less technology and for a couple like us who do not own a car but sometimes find ourselves in situations where having a trunk or a set of wheels would be really handy, it’s ideal.
The Low Car Diet finale party will take place at Yaggers on Pender Street from 7:00-9:00pm on Thursday August 13th. All ZipCard holders and their friends will get a complimentary drink courtesy of Yaggers, and there will be appetizers served as well. They will also be running their “Refer A Friend” offer ($50 driving credit for each of you, after they sign up for ZipCar for $30).
With an expanded fleet of hybrids available as ZipCars and a two-way text alert system, it might be a good time to give it a try.
Today I crossed the Capilano Suspension Bridge for the first time in my life. When I was growing up in the area we never really did the “tourist in your hometown” thing especially when it came to downtown or North Shore attractions. Sure we explored beaches, parks, and forest trails in the Valley (and I wouldn’t change a thing) although I have always been curious about these points of interest that are so heavily marketed to the visitor-centric crowd. Truth is, they’re pretty much just as fun for locals, if not more so if you head out with the right crowd.
I assembled the best team possible to explore this treetop adventure with me, which included my sister and four of her young ones (the littlest guy stayed home). We grew up absolutely loving the rain (especially walks in the rain) and this has been passed on to my niece and nephews. This trait was key as we were pretty much pelted with rain pouring down on us all morning, either out in the open or under the Cedar canopy. We also failed to pick up our biodegradable ponchos since it wasn’t raining very hard when we first started out but our group was not troubled by this.
The Capilano Suspension Bridge entrance is just along Capilano Road in North Vancouver and the parking lot has a flat fee of $5 for the day. Adult rates for the Capilano Suspension Bridge area are $29.95 although if you are a resident of BC you can purchase an annual pass for $20.10. That will include your initial visit and every following visit throughout the year. Family passes begin at $58.20 although they’re based on a family of four, which I didn’t think would be useful for my sister and her family of seven. However, kids 6 and under do get in free.
The kids got a map that highlighted special points of interest where they can visit and get a stamp (like a passport). Seeing as how the maps got really soggy, really quickly, we stamped them at the first stop and hid them in my purse for the rest of the journey. Would the weather have been a bit brighter this is something they would have really enjoyed completing.
The first area of interest once you pass the main gates is the Story Centre. This interpretive area shares a bit of the area’s (logging) history before you head over to a First Nations exhibit that consists of a variety of totem poles. You’ll then hit the cafe, and the gift shop before you take the plunge and head across the suspension bridge.
Quick fact: Originally constructed of hemp rope and cedar planks in 1889, the Capilano Suspension Bridge is 450 feet long, and 230 feet high. Today’s bridge is constructed of reinforced steel, that is anchored in 22 tons of concrete on either side.
Once across the bridge, a whole world of forest fun awaits. We headed off to the Treetops Adventure where the kids could travel along elevated wood and rope bridges from tree to tree. Having just watched Return of the Jedi this weekend I had fun pretending to be an Ewok.
When we came back down, we took the Cliffhanger Boardwalk around the hillside and right under the suspension bridge. The kids loved the ponds, the rushing waterfalls, and the birds found at Raptors Ridge. The trees around us were massive, most over 300 years old and some with friendly names like “Big Doug”.
We would have liked to check out the Kids Rainforest Explorer area however by that time we were thoroughly soaked with rain dripping down our Gore-Tex exteriors.
Even though we didn’t get to see all of the attractions, shopping, entertainment, or take any tours, it was still a fantastic morning with the kids. We piled back into the car and in harmony I was treated to a resounding, “Thank you Auntie Becky!” That in itself is enough to make anyone’s day, really.
You can follow @CapSuspBridge on Twitter for updates, features, photos, and the latest news about fun North Shore adventures.
