Before I had even heard of this “fresh fruit and frozen yogurt” phenomenon I received an email from the owners of Froyoswirl on Homer Street, inviting me to come and try their frozen yogurt creations. I didn’t have the chance to head in until today, and in the meantime I totally jumped on board with the frozen yogurt bandwagon thanks to the good folks at Qoola.
I know that seeing a post with the word “Yaletown” included in my “Cheap Things to Do” category may seem a bit out of the ordinary to some but next weekend’s Illuminate Yaletown proves that the days of Vancouver’s free family-friendly events for all are not quite a thing of the past.
On February 21st from 5:29pm until 9:29pm in Yaletown’s heritage district (Hamilton and Mainland between Davie and Nelson) everyone is welcome to enjoy light installations, music, colour-changing helium orbs, light graffiti, fire breathing and many other dazzling displays.
As the only outdoor event to take place in Vancouver at this time of year, this event will bring light to a gloomy night. Featuring light installations developed by artists and architects, cutting edge music and interactive activities, illuminate yaletown will allow attendees to see Vancouver as it has never been experienced before. [Yaletown]
The city’s first ever light-as-art show will kick off outside the Hamilton Street Grill (1009 Hamilton) last for one night only. As the Canada Line nears completion this is also a good time to check out local restaurants, shops, and businesses, access to which may have been obstructed during the construction period. Organizers also hope this will turn into an annual event.
A VIP reception will be held at the Opus Hotel and there is also a “Fire and Ice” cocktail party ($25) at the Hamilton Street Grill.
You can also submit your photos from the event to the Illuminate Yaletown Flickr group for your chance to win up to $500 in prizes.
Update: Check out reviews of this event at YatterMatters, and Gus Digital.
I’m always hesitant to grant permission to aggregator sites to redistribute my content, I mean I license my entire site under a Creative Commons License although sometimes those “attribution” or “non-commercial” bits get lost in the shuffle.
One thing I never did was republish my content on Facebook as well, knowing that they would probably somehow determine they have the right to whatever I post so I thought it best to avoid that mess. Turns out with the newly updated Facebook Terms of Service this month, it was a wise decision on my part — but does it even matter?
Facebook’s terms of service (TOS) used to say that when you closed an account on their network, any rights they claimed to the original content you uploaded would expire. Not anymore.
Now, anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later. Want to close your account? Good for you, but Facebook still has the right to do whatever it wants with your old content. They can even sublicense it if they want. [Consumerist] — [see also: Slashdot]
Thing is, you can still delete content before you close your account (should you choose to do so) but it’s still a pretty sticky situation for many.
Some may argue that Google republishes and spreads content ie. through image searches but the main thing is that I’m linked, credited, and remain the owner — no matter how far out into the webosphere things may fly.
It’s been said before but I think everyone should pretty much know by now that once you upload something to the internet, it can travel around the world millions of times (getting saved and redistributed along the way) before you even wake up and wonder why the heck you took that photo last night.
Update: From the Facebook blog…
In reality, we wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work. Our goal is to build great products and to communicate clearly to help people share more information in this trusted environment.
We still have work to do to communicate more clearly about these issues, and our terms are one example of this. Our philosophy that people own their information and control who they share it with has remained constant. A lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective of the rights we need to provide this service to you. Over time we will continue to clarify our positions and make the terms simpler…
… “There is no system today that enables me to share my email address with you and then simultaneously lets me control who you share it with and also lets you control what services you share it with.” – CEO, Mark Suckerberg [Read more]
Update Feb 17, 2009: Due to the outcry, they have reverted to the previous TOS.
I receive updates regularly from the Vancity International Film Centre and often they get me pretty pumped to go out and catch a flick at the lovely Vancity Theatre (currently playing The Godfather II). I just received word of their Hockey Nights in Film and I definitely think any of these movies are worth viewing during the series that will happen this March.
Slap Shot
(March 9, 14 & 20 @ 7:00pm)
The Chiefs
(March 9 @ 9:15 pm)
Perfectly Normal
(March 10 @ 7:00pm & March 16 @ 8:45pm)
Paperback Hero
(March 10 @ 9:00pm & March 16 @ 7:00pm)
Gross Misconduct
(March 11 @ 7:00pm & March 19 @ 8:30pm)
Cowards Bend the Knee
(March 11 @ 8:45pm & March 19 @ 7:00pm)
Home Game
(March 12 @ 7:00pm & March 17 @ 8:45pm)
Junior
(March 12 @ 8:45pm & March 17 @ 7:00pm)
Sudden Death
(March 13 @ 8:45pm & March 15 @ 7:00pm & March 20 @ 9:15pm)
Happy Gilmore
(March 13 @ 7:00pm & March 15 @ 9:15pm)
The Rocket
(March 14 @ 9:15pm)
There are some fun films listed above (including Happy Gilmore wherein the Surrey Minor Hockey logo is featured) and I’d love to see The Rocket on the big screen — it’s a great film. Roy Dupuis is great as Maurice Richard and you’ll even catch Vincent Lecavalier as Jean Béliveau. Cowards Bend the Knee will also be preceded by the National Film Board classic, The Sweater.
Adult tickets are only $9.50 ($12 for a double bill), student/senior tickets are $7.50 (with a $10 double bill) and all matinees are $7.50. Hockey Nights in Film is a part of this season’s Cultural Olympiad.
Update: You can win tickets to this event by heading over to Julie’s blog here.
As a part Countdown Week (to the 2010 Games) there will be free public skates at ice rinks around the city over the next few days.
Public will receive free admission and a skate rental.
You can also win prizes by bringing a non-perishable Food Bank donation, and there will be appearances by athletes at the mascots at some locations.
To find a rink near you, which is always a great inexpensive way to spend time with the family, check out my guide to Vancouver skating rinks.
