Duane and Me
Blogathon 2008
Last summer I initiated Blogathon Vancouver, based on the original Blogathon in which I’ve participated for the last few years. During my campaign in the summer of 2008, which sees a blogger write a post every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight in support of a cause, I received some support from a friend that had an international impact.
Took place: July 26, 2008
Hours: 24
Blog posts: 48
Vancouver bloggers who came on board: 12
Total raised for my cause of choice (Union Gospel Mission): $7,000
Total raised by all Vancouver bloggers (who each blogged on their own site for the causes of choice): Over $10,000
Duane, who was participating and also chose the UGM, was arranging to offer up a signed CD from our friend Matthew Good to the person with the highest personal donation.
My theme last summer (since Blogathon is usually a bit easier if you give yourself a theme for all 48 posts) was the ABC’s of Vancouver and the first person to comment on my post “M is for Matthew Good” was Matt himself saying that he wanted to offer more in order to raise more funds. “You know Becky, given the cause a signed CD just doesn’t seem like enough. We should do something more attractive, like offer a private listening session of the demos for the next record or something to someone for pledging the most amount of money.”
Which is exactly what we did. The result was a generous donation of $4,000 by Jane Smith and since she is from the UK it took some planning to arrange her trip out here but she made it this week. Along with Jane, Kevan (from the UGM), and Duane, I headed to the recording studio to meet up with Matt and close the book on Blogathon 2008.
Thanks to this group of people, we were able to set a new fundraising record for the UGM during Blogathon Vancouver 2008 (and I’m pretty sure Jane had a fantastic time as well).
Even though my plate is full, Blogathon is something I will continue to support so make sure if you’d like to put in the effort for the cause of your choice this summer, keep 24 hours in July open and please join me for Blogathon Vancouver 2009.
To celebrate jumping on to the FM dial (88.1), the CBC is on location at O’Douls today to enjoy some piano music (note the theme… 88 keys… 88 on the dial). The topics today will focus on the West End; from rent-o-victions to St. Paul’s and I’ll be adding my own notes, history tidbits and insights on living in this great neighbourhood.
From 3:00 until 6:00pm if you have any questions, comments or concerns about Vancouver’s West End life, please feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll try to work it into one of my spots on the show.
Update: I just did my first hit at 3:19 and was able to introduce my blog, what I write about, what I like about the West End etc. I got to sit next to the charming woman who runs programs at Roedde House, Janet Bingham.
Update: If you’re listening in on the radio or online, the lovely music you’ll hear throughout the is provided by: The Shannon Thue Trio, singer Melody Diachun and her trio and the Ross Taggart Trio with special guest Mike Allen on saxophone.
Update: There is now a panel of three residents of the West End who have all lived here for various time spans, from decades to months. “You can be who you want to be,” said Jim from Little Sisters. While Naomi, who is an international student, said it’s just simply “convenient.” One woman has worked at St. Paul’s and said she was just walking by apartments and found her place to live. Actually, that’s how I found an apartment for John and I too — I was just out walking around and taking down phone numbers until I found a building I liked that had a vacancy.
The panel is asked about what is changing in the neighbourhood, which is already known for its wonderful diversity and open community. However there are issues, as with the rest of the downtown core, from drugs to incidents of gay-bashing, safety, security and affordable housing.
Update: Jackie Wong from the Westender is now on tap, and she notes that the biggest issue in this part of town is rental housing. She also notes that the provincial riding has changed for this part of town as we are no longer “Vancouver Burrard” we are now “Vancouver West End” removing Yaletown and focusing directly on the West End.
Update: I was just on again sharing some comments from the liveblog and Twitter. I also got the chance to talk about City Reflections, which you can purchase online or at several locations throughout the city.
Update: Spencer Herbert, MLA for Vancouver Burrard is up next. He talks about the rental situation, which how there are several cases of landlords cranking up the rent to cover ‘renovations’ that don’t appear to be that much work or evictions so they can renovate and jack up the prices for those who move in after. The second pressing topic he mentions is homelessness.
Update: After a musical interlude we now have Brent Granby on the mic who is the president of the West End Residents Association as well as a member of the Save St. Paul’s coalition.
Update: The next guest is WERA member Christine Ackermann, who mentions that she personally knows two people who have gone through these types of evictions and are now living in Stanley Park.
Update: Jane just arrived so I’m going to wrap up my liveblogging (I don’t think I’m doing any more live hits). She was the one who contributed the stellar amount of $4,000 to my Blogathon campaign last summer so we’re going to head to the studio this evening and hang out with Matt Good (who offered up the prize for highest donation at the time).
About a hundred and fifty years ago cows were being raised at the north end of Burrard Street in Vancouver’s downtown. It was a farm bought by three Englishmen, who came to be known as “The Three Greenhorns”, that purchased most of what we know today as the West End, spending $1.01 for each of the 550 acres.
The Three Greenhorns
October 1862 – A Yorkshire potter named John Morton saw a chunk of Burrard Inlet coal on display in a New Westminster shop window and wondered if near that coal there might be fine clay suitable for pottery. There was clay, but of a quality suitable only for bricks.
Morton and two associates (his cousin Sam Brighouse and William Hailstone) bought the land hoping to become brickmakers however they spent so much on this venture that one newspaper dubbed them “three greenhorn Englishmen” and the nickname has stuck through history. [VancouverHistory]
Until today I was unaware that there was a sculpture in place, honouring the Greenhorns. At the entrance to English Bay, just past where Denman meets Davie Street, there is the George Cunningham Memorial Sundial.
The George Cunningham Memorial Sun Dial was created by sculptor Gerhard Class. The bronze and granite memorial, near the foot of Denman Street at English Bay, was commissioned by Cunningham Drug Stores. It commemorates the “Three Greenhorns” who settled in the West End around 1867, as well as the first drugstore built in the area in 1911. [VancouverHistory]
I took a stroll down there this morning (in honor of the CBC’s On The Coast event today at 3:00pm) to snap a few photos of this piece that commemorates some of the first settlers and businesses in the West End.
I’m all about supporting a good cause, especially fun events that in turn also support causes. Next Thursday (February 5th) the Flip N Asian Comedy Show will be at Lafflines Comedy Club.
Photo credit:
puja on Flickr
Art Factora, one of the comedians, describes it as “a stand up comedy show that myself and another Filipino comic have put together with other Asian comics in town to raise money for the Easter Seals 24 hour relay.”
Headliner: Paul Bae
Emcee: Sunee Dhaliwal
Other Comics: Art Factora, Elliot Chan, David Dimapilis, Tom Shiboaka, Dennis Litonjua, and a Special “Honorary Asian” Comic.
The last Flip N Asian show was in November, 2008 and benefited the Greater Vancouver Food Bank [News Leader]
Anyone and everyone is welcome to check this out at Lafflines Comedy Club in New Westminster on Thursday February 5, 2009, doors at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10 in advance ($12 at the door) and can be booked by emailing flipncomedy [at] gmail [dot] com or by calling (604) 828-8007.
In addition to the comedy event, The Standard night club has also donated VIP tickets to anyone who attends the show.
I can see it now, young impressionable girls pasting posters in their lockers and giving gleeful, longing looks at Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham while applying layer after layer of lip gloss. They can sing, they can dance, and the Altar Boyz have even got Jesus calling ’em up on their cell phones.
Charles MacEachern, Vincent Tong, Jeremy Crittenden,
David Hurwitz, Geoff Stevens – Photo by David Cooper
Altar Boyz is an irreverent (but never mean-spirited) musical comedy about an aspiring Christian boy band (with one nice Jewish boy) on its Raise the Praise tour. Matthew (the leader), Mark (the sensitive one), Luke (the bad boy), Juan (the Latin lover) and Abraham (the gefilte fish out of water) are all-singing, all-dancing heartthrobs who praise the Lord with funk and rhyme. [City of Surrey]
It’s been a big year for me and the Arts Club. I’ve attended five shows now and each one continues to shine in its own way by being thought-provoking, whimsical, or simply classic. However, it wasn’t until tonight that two things happened that I thought simply impossible…
The first was hearing the words “West Whalley Ring Road” in the dialog of an Arts Club play, and the second was when ‘Matthew’ (the leader of the Altar Boyz) took my hand and pulled me up out of the audience. I was then guided up onto the stage at the Surrey Arts Centre with the Boyz and — well I don’t want to divulge too much, you’ll have to see the show for yourself to get the juicy details or visit their Flickr stream to get an idea.
The entire show is basically a stop on the concert tour for the Altar Boyz, who resemble Backstreet meets *NSync combined with a little Take That and Boys II Men soul all in one. I haven’t left a show giggling and humming tunes in my head since I saw High School Musical with my niece, and although the Altar Boyz are just as pure and innocent, the facetious and cheeky undertones had the audience roaring with laughter several occasions with few pauses in between.
Photo by David Cooper
The choreography is perfection, right down to the Boyz doing the ‘hold your belt buckle and swing your legs out to the side a la New Kids on the Block in ‘The Right Stuff’ video‘ or the ‘pretend to be knocking on a door while hopping in one place like in the ‘Bye Bye Bye’ video from *NSync‘. Yes, actually these are the technical names for the dance moves (in my books, anyway).
This is also the third time I’ve seen Vincent Tong (who plays Juan) in an Arts Club show this year as he was also in History Boys and Beauty and the Beast. His singing is great, presence and humour undeniable, and man has he got some moves. Each cast member lights up the stage, especially Jeremy Crittenden (as Matthew) while he looked at me with sparkling eyes and sang ever so sweetly those few precious words, “Girl, you make me want to wait.”
Directed by Bill Millerd, the Altar Boyz experience is flat out entertaining and will make you smile, chuckle, groan, and maybe… just maybe feel a little naughty (and in need of a good confession).
You can catch them on tour over the next few weeks, which is a fabulous idea since it not only plays to the whole ‘concert tour’ theme, it also gives audiences around the Lower Mainland, and the interior, a chance to check out their local theatre.
Jan 16-31, 2009 – Surrey @ Surrey Arts Centre
Feb 2, 2009 – West Vancouver @ Kay Meek Centre (Sold out)
Feb 3, 2009 – Mission @ Clarke Theatre
Feb 4-5, 2009 – Burnaby @ Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Feb 10-14, 2009 – Coquitlam @ Evergreen Cultural Centre
Feb 17, 2009 – Vernon @ Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre
Feb 19, 2009 – Cranbrook @ Key City Theatre
Feb 21, 2009 – Nelson @ Capitol Theatre
June 18 – August 1, 2009 – Vancouver @ Granville Island Stage
You can read their tour blog (fully in character) or follow the Boyz on Twitter. I don’t say this often, but I would probably go see this show again (although I would prefer to stay in my seat the whole way through the next time around).
