I’m becoming better with taking weekends off but being ‘connected’ is a part of who John and I are as a family, really. As such, we went for a walk yesterday down to the new convention centre (since John hasn’t seen the site in month) which turned into a photowalk. I decided to take a few different photos than last time and he as able to grab some great shots as well.
Although the sea walk is still a work in progress, be sure to stop and read the placards that are placed all along the railing. At first I was surprised that they didn’t say anything about the current scenery e.g. The Lions, however they share much more about BC history as a whole and contain some pretty neat history tidbits – from Billy Barker, to Jean “Cataline” Caux.
Last night John and I were able to get our first tastes of the new Brockton IPA from Granville Island Brewing at their media launch event.
I recently became a fan of the GIB Winter Ale, which I compare to drinking vanilla and pine trees (but in the most tasty sense possible, I assure you). John’s a fan of their Hefeweizen as well so when I asked if he would join me at the brewery after work, he happily obliged.
At the event Brewmaster Vern Lambourne said that the Brockton IPA (a celebration of the brewery’s 25th anniversary) is brewed in the style of a Pacific Northwest India Pale Ale.
I’ve been a fan of IPA’s before and I have to say this was definitely smooth. We were also remarking that it’s a clever choice of labels for this new product — using a palette that matches the Canucks official team colours to a tee. That, combined with the fact that it’s named after Brockton Oval in Stanley Park so they pretty much won me over within the first few sips.
Granville Island Brewing was Canada’s first microbrewery and they adhere to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, where they only use barley, malt, hops, yeast, and water to make their beer. The also make English Bay Pale Ale, Cypress Honey Lager, Lions Winter Ale, Gastown Amber Ale, Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale, and Robson Street Hefeweizen.
The brewery is located on Granville Island, and have a taproom for tastings, a retail store, and you can go on tours. I’m thinking this may have to be a stop on Duane’s “100 Mile Beer Diet” as well.
You can follow @ItsGoodToBeHere on Twitter for GIB news and updates.
The event was really fun (and the food pairings were delicious). I’m a fan of local microbrews and also companies that brew locally. I think it’s great that Vancouver is being put on the brewmasters’ map by all of these ventures – giving the community something else to call their own and share with the world.
Before anyone jumps to any conclusions about there being a “Baby604” I must clearly state, I am not a “mummy” nor do I plan to be at any point in the foreseeable future. However, there are a ton of yummy mummies in Vancouver and they came out for a Tweetup at Calhoun’s this week with Erica Ehm.
Erica, a pioneer of the music television days, is now the CEO of YummyMummyClub.ca – a gathering place online and social networking resource for mothers across the country.
A superwoman who fits into her size 6 jeans three weeks after giving birth (by scheduled C-section of course)? A sexy mama who shops for groceries in heels, closing deals on her cell phone while waggling finger puppets to stimulate her baby’s growing cerebellum? Give me a break! Yummy is a state of mind.
A true Yummy Mummy struggles to find the impossible balance between the single sexpot she used to be, the woman she’s become, the professional she works hard to be, the wife she aspires to be and the mother she has to be. Basically, she’s confused and exhausted. Forget CEO. THIS is the toughest job in the world. Why didn’t anyone warn us? Can you relate? Then Welcome to the Yummy Mummy Club.
I stopped by the Tweetup at the request of my friend Rachael (who truly is a yummy mummy) and to meet Erica, who is also one of my Twitter contacts. I ended up meeting several interesting, inspiring, and enterprising mothers as well.
Feedback I heard from the ladies was that it was so nice to have a meetup mid-day and one that was also kid-friendly. I had a nice time meeting the mummies and learning more about networks and businesses online that go beyond blogs and tech.
Erica also informed us of DolphinSecure, a system for secure web browsing if you have kids in the house that use the family computer. This was information I could pass on to my sister since she is a mother of five with three computer savvy-kids in elementary school.
Rachael took some video of the meetup (above) and you can read her recap over on her blog. Check out the YummyMummyClub and I have a feeling they might be doing more tweetups in the future.
The goal is to address and discuss such questions as:
How can blogging help decrease the stigma of mental health?
How does someone with a mental illness navigate the waters of anonymity in the transparent world of social media?
How is the journaling that happens in blogging similar to or different from journaling for healing?
How can social media participants with mental health issues help each other?
“We strongly hope that the Mental Health Camp model will be replicated in many cities in the world,” said organizer Raul Pacheco. “As one of our speakers said, we aim to squash stigma about mental health one blog and tweet at a time.”
A “Camp” in the social media world is a basically a conference that has a loose schedule where attendees can have a say in which sessions they would like to see take place. Recently it’s also been the term used for a gathering or meeting, organized in the same online / social media sphere. Mental Health Camp was created by Raul Pacheco along with Isabella Mori of Change Therapy – both have also been organizers of the monthly Vancouver Blogger Meetup.
Topics scheduled for discussion include, “Anonymity and pseudonymity: Freedoms, dangers and responsibilities”, “Social Networking, Visibility, and the Therapeutic Alliance”, and “ADHD – Busting the Myths, Breaking the Stigma, Showing Reality, One Post and Tweet at a Time”.
Having driven across the city all day in a hybrid vehicle I can just imagine how smooth it would be to cruise around in a 100% electric vehicle and amazingly enough over the last few years students at Emily Carr University have come up with some prototype models for just that.
Fuse Studio is announcing a community forum EV.ent for their proposed electric vehicle design on April 24th, 2009. The EV.ent launch is also a public forum to discuss Electric Vehicle design and the construction of a community network for alternative personal transportation options in Vancouver. Since fall 2008, the students of Fuse Studio have been designing and developing a scale model of their region-specific electric vehicle design that will be on display during the EV.ent. [Fuse Studio]
This Friday at Emily Carr there they will reveal the design in order to get community feedback and to fundraise to purchase the chassis for the vehicle.
Where Emily Carr University of Art + Design, in Room 301 When Friday April 24th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm
“The EV.ent launch gives members of our community the opportunity to work creatively and co-design with students on an ecologically friendly project,” said Project Coordinator Stephanie Vacher. If you’re interested in attending just stop on by this Friday or email info [at] howdowegetthere.ca for more information.
