RickRoll Flash Mob in London Today

Comments 2 by Rebecca Bollwitt

One week ago I wrote about a RickRoll flash mob taking place on April 11th in Liverpool St Station at 6:00pm. Seeing as how that’s 8 hours ahead of us here on the Pacific coast of Canada I’d say things should be getting underway fairly soon.

Bring a camera, bring a detachable quiff, bring the lyrics so you don’t have to embarrass yourself or the dedicated Rickrollers by humming through the verses and only singing out loud when the song gets to the chorus… Get down there and share the love: it’s not rock and roll, it’s Rickroll. [Londonist]

If you’d like to check out the live action I’ve been linked off a site that lists someone’s QIK video stream, and they hope to catch some of the hilarity that is bound to ensue.

They only last a minute and a half but here’s a video of today’s Rickmob in London courtesy of Jamie Coomber’s Qik Stream.

DemoCampVancouver06 Live Blog

Comments 8 by Guest Author

Unfortunately Rebecca is unable to attend DemoCamp’s Gaming Edition this evening so Nancy Zimmerman has been kind enough to take on the liveblog – thanks Nancy!

What: DemoCampVancouver06 – Gaming Edition [wiki][Facebook event]
Where: Workspace in Gastown
Presentations Include:

Bleeding Edge iPhone Development
Parveen Kaler, Smartful Studios
Self-Publishing Games Direct-to-Consumers
Dustin Sacks, Sillysoft Games

Starting out with a panel about gaming in general.

How many people have a gaming console? About 15.

How many people think of themselves as gamers? [oops – missed this response – typing!]
Will discuss business aspects of gaming tonight.
Panelists:
Dustin Sucks – owns Sillisoft games. Develops strategy games. Will talk about indie gaming.
Jamie Change – has done retail, online, currently doing purely online pc, free to play. Will talk about economics of Xbox dev’t.
Parveen Kaler – [oops – missed – will try to fill in]

Q: Is indie gaming like indie films?

P: Halo is summer blockbuster; but all games are ‘games’ – doesn’t like the term ‘casual’ games.
D: Name ‘casual’ means it takes less up front to get into them. Not such a steep learning curve. More accessible.

Q from audience: Do any of you try to bridge online/console/etc?

J: hasn’t seen it work yet (eg. Majestic).
P: benefit of iPhone is it has it all. May be more options.

Q: Is gaming mainstream? eg. Halo Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Car Free Day in Vancouver Summer 2008

Comments 11 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Last year I didn’t get out to every festival, parade, or community event however the ones I did attend like the West End’s Block Party were pretty darn fun. Over on Commercial Drive they’ve been closing off the road and celebrating the community on foot (for a single day without vehicles) for several years.

In 2005, the Commercial Drive Festival launched the first community- driven Car-Free Festival in Vancouver. The Festival was wholly volunteer-organized and presented, involving over 30 core organizers and 300 volunteers. It was an enormous success, bringing over 25,000 people out to celebrate the community and party in the street. Since then, the Festival happened in 2006 and twice in the summer of 2007, snowballing in popularity and attracting up to 40,000 people per day. [Car Free Day – About]

For a personal account, check out DaveO’s podcast from Commercial Drive last year.


Photo credit: Stephanie Vacher on Flickr

The Commercial Drive event has been such a success that they’ve expanded to several other neighbourhoods across the city for 2008:

Cambie Street, Kitsilano, Main Street, Marpole, and the West End.

Although the city-wide festival is months away, organizing committees for each neighbourhood are currently meeting. You can get involved by attending a meetup for your block, hosting your own party in one of the neighbourhoods, or if your part of town isn’t covered check out the block party toolkit.

RadioZoom Episode #145 – New Music West

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt

It’s been a while since we’ve done a regular episode but when I recently got the chance to speak with New Music West‘s own Jory Groberman about the upcoming festival, I thought what better way to capture it than on RadioZoom.

New Music West is… “The largest and most influential new music event in Western North America… The only annual public new music showcase in Western Canada… Operating since 1990… Showcases over 200 bands to the public and industry… Takes place in 30 venues across Vancouver… $30 “All You Can Hear” wristbands… Conference, networking events and educational workshops.” [New Music West]

Episode run time is 13:36, listen online, subscribe or grab the audio file.

Trevor Linden Street Naming Petition and the CBC's Early Edition

Comments 12 by Rebecca Bollwitt
Raise a Reader Day - Trevor & Me
My moment with Trev in 2006

Yesterday the CBC contacted Gary because he’s responsible for an online petition to get a street renamed after Trevor Linden. Unfortunately Gary wasn’t available to go into the CBC ‘bunker’ this morning so I was his stand-in. I was basically asked, “why name a street after Linden?” and after I initially froze after the first question (cause I get nervous like that) I think the rest of the interview with Rick Cluff went okay. You can listen online sometime today or tomorrow on the Early Edition’s website.

When trying to find the Facebook group dedicated to the same street-naming cause, I came across over 130 other groups all in support of Linden. Here are a few examples:

  • Linden for Mayor
  • Linden for Premier
  • Linden for Prime Minister
  • Linden for Coach
  • Make a Linden Statue
  • “Linden is my homeboy”
  • “I want Linden to be my baby’s daddy”
  • Linden for Jesus
  • … just to name a few.

    It’s no surprise that this city is crazy about him. Like many have echoed, he personifies the Canucks in this hockey-crazy town that hasn’t even won a Stanley Cup since the beginning of last century. He’s represented Canada on the world stage at the Olympics, and in the World tournament, he’s been an All Star, a record-breaker, award-winner, and is also currently up for the Masterton Trophy for 2008.

    We’ve got Joe Sakic Way in Burnaby and Griffiths Way downtown, both represent a tradition of hockey in this region and I think that a similar dedication to Linden is definitely in order – especially with his commitment off-ice to various charitable organizations for sick children.

    Sign the petition, join the Facebook group, and let me know your thoughts below in this week’s Miss604 Poll.

    poll closed

    Trevor Linden will be in the Early Edition studios tomorrow morning, check back to get his thoughts on the season, and maybe even this campaign (the CBC is 690 on your am dial).

    Update: I was also quoted in The Province.

    Sunday Province, Page A6