Wednesday night I met up with Raul for a bite to eat and then headed over to Shenanigans for this month’s Vancouver Blogger Meetup.

My goal was to meet new bloggers, and I believe I was successful. There were tech bloggers, marketers, and even a match-maker. Jan Karlsberg was the unofficial scribe so he took some notes and made sure to get everyone’s website address:

Please check out Jan’s post for all of the details, topics, and discussions.

Following the meetup we moved to the back of the room for some karaoke where Raul, Karen, Airdrie and others entertained the place with delightful tunes (and dancing). Combining #VanTechKaraoke that evening made forp robably one of my most enjoyable experiences at a blogger meetup.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to stop by and you can check out the latest events on the Vancouver Blogger Meetup site.

This week it was announced that in the spring of 2010 they will begin the construction of fare gates at all SkyTrain stations.

Photo credit: Oran Viriyincy on Flickr

Premier Gordon Campbell says these devices will help create a safer environment for users, and he admits this should have been done decades ago. TransLink adds this will be an advantage to transit officers who won’t have to spend their time dealing with fare evaders and instead can concentrate on safety.

TransLink also says smartcards will generate ridership information that will help future service planning, plus the ability to structure fares to match the service being provided. TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast says the timing of fare gates and smart cards with major Expo Line station renovations is more financially efficient as well. [News1130]

I wrote about possible turnstiles in SkyTrain stations back in November of 2007 and also linked back to where I mentioned that a smartcard system would be ideal (the comments on both posts are great). These are not new ideas by any means as the people of greater Vancouver have definitely had their sights on a system like this for decades.

I’m curious to see what the fare gates will look like and how they’ll fit into the current stations. I don’t think I have a personal issue with this hands-off fare enforcement — it’s better to have a turnstile or gate tell you that you can’t ride the train than a duo of tazer-toting SkyTrain police.

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Update July 2011: Translink has started fare gate construction.

I’ve been able to experience the humour of Patrick Maliha and Art Factora weekly during my appearances on Talk14010am’s Afternoon Buzz so I’m happy to promote a show in which they are both performing tonight… for the sake of the kids!

What: Flip N Comedy Show Against Gang Violence
Where: Lafflines Comedy Club (26-4th Street, New Westminster, BC)

Photo credit: jmv on Flickr

When: Tonight – April 9, 2009 @ 8:15pm
Tickets: $10 (advance), $12 (door), reservations (604) 525-2262, or email flipncomedy[at]gmail[dot]com
More Info: Check out the Facebook event
Performers: Patrick Maliha, Gabriel Rutledge, Toby Hargraves, Sunee Dhaliwal, Reza Peyk, Nisha Khare, and Art Factora

Proceeds will benefit The Boys & Girls Club of Vancouver and they’ll be giving away some fun prizes like tickets to the Jay Mohr show at the River Rock.

The other day we were taking our recyclables down to the bins and noticed the garbage dumpster was overflowing (at least 3 feet above the rim). When we got closer I noticed that one of the top layers of waste was milk and orange juice cartons – about a dozen of them. With six recycle bins within meters of this dumpster I found this waste unnecessary, which is why I’m happy to promote some of Metro Vancouver‘s latest initiatives that will hopefully inform and educate.

“Metro Vancouver Recycles is a directory of over 1,300 locations in Metro Vancouver to donate, recycle or appropriately dispose of unwanted items such as computers, clothing, toys, building materials, furniture and much more. It also lists places to find used items,” said Greg Valou of Metro Vancouver in an email. You can check out the directory listing, plus interactive Google Map, on the Metro Vancouver website where it aims to answer the question, “where can I take this?”

Another initiative is the Zero Waste Challenge and you can find information online about reducing, reusing, and recycling at home or at the office. They even have scheduled meetings and public consultations that will help keep your group of family informed, while providing you with all of the information you need to make eco-conscious decisions in your daily life. You can learn about banned & restricted materials, SmartSteps, BuildSmart, take-back programs, RCBC (604-RECYCLE), composting food waste, blue box recycling in your area, paper recycling, used oil recycling (just to name a few ways you can play your part).

Metro Vancouver Waste System

Currently, residents of Metro Vancouver only recycle half of their garbage and solid waste each year. “As you may know, our region faces the question of how to effectively manage the waste produced by our ever-growing population,” noted Valou. “We can all play our part in the Zero Waste Challenge by consciously reducing the amount of waste we each produce.”

Getting to “Zero Waste” actually does seem like quite the challenge, but the region is up for it. They’ve even expanded the “3Rs” to the “5Rs” – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Residuals.

Metro Vancouver is comprised of the following: Belcarra, Bowen Island, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta, Langley Township, Langley City, Lions Bay, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, West Vancouver, White Rock.

During my adventure in Richmond yesterday I noticed the name “Brighouse” a few times in public places and thought I would uncover a bit more about this familiar name.

Samuel Brighouse was one of the earliest European settlers on Burrard Inlet (he was one of the Three Greenhorns) and in later years also had a farm on Lulu Island in Richmond.

Samuel Brighouse

After the West End/”Greenhorn” deal, pioneer Samuel Brighouse bought up 697 acres of Richmond land in 1864 and raised horses and cattle. In 1883 he petitioned for the incorporation of Richmond as a municipality and in 1887 he ran in Vancouver’s civic election and helped obtain the City’s charter. He returned to England in 1911 and passed away two years later, though his legacy lived on.

Minoru Chapel – Photo credit: Matzuda on Flickr

During the first World War the Minoru Park Racetrack was closed but re-opened as Brighouse Park in 1920. In 1941, with another war and the opening of Hastings Park, Brighouse Park closed. Side note: “Minoru” was the name of a race horse.

Most municipal and well-known structures in Richmond were built on Brighouse land, from City Hall, to Minoru Park, and Richmond Centre.

The area is full of history, including being the site of Canada’s first-ever parachute jump in 1912 [VancouverHistory], the first cross-Canada flight touched down in Minoru Park in 1920, and even the lacrosse box in Brighouse Park has stood there for nearly 100 years.

Photo credit: Stephen Rees on Flickr

To this day, the “downtown” area of Richmond is referred to as Brighouse and the new Canada Line station that was to be “Richmond City Centre” will now be called “Richmond-Brighouse”.