I’ve received a bunch of cool, free things because of blogging; from my cell phone(s) to movie passes, and this is definitely one thing I’m glad to add to the collection.

As you may have noticed from my “iPod home repair guides” that my mini is pretty much on its last legs. Leave it to the viral marketing campaigners at Matchstick to offer and send me a brand spanking new mp3 player.

Here’s what I received:

Taken with my Nokia 6682 I received from Matchstick a year ago.

Features:

The marketing company, Matchstick, is truly interested in feedback for their client so they’ve even created a Facebook group where everyone can post their links and reviews.

I’ve been pretty good with posting about my Nokia I got last year and we even did some video podcasts around Vancouver with it, which honestly aren’t the best quality.

My true test will be getting it to work with my MacBook because apparently it’s suited for Windows Media Player and not iTunes. I’m looking forward to using the FM tuner though and stay tuned for more updates. This product was again FREE however I am at liberty to be completely honest with my opinions in any of my posts.

Others participating (and by that I mean they got all the awesome swag too) are Keira and Raymi. If you have also received the T10, please leave comment below and feel free to link your post – thanks!

Update: Umm… my MacBook isn’t recognizing it as a drive and it comes with PC-only software… not too much success so far, can’t even put songs on it yet. Also, it’s not discoverable as a Bluetooth device.

When I head out the door to make my trek to work these days I immediately take in the fresh fall air then exhale, making ghosts with my breath. It’s November – ALREADY and nothing says “winter activity” like hitting the local ice rink.

Due to the recent civic strike that spanned summer and parts of fall, rinks haven’t been opened on time but they’re gradually getting back up to speed and I personally cannot wait til the Twonie Skate at the WECC kicks off.

Here’s a list of Vancouver Parks Board-operated ice rinks:

Skating times can be referenced on this PDF.

Ice skating is definitely a low-dough activity with public skate times available at all hours during the week and on weekends. If you check the schedule there are also a few FREE sessions throughout December, including free skating at the WECC on Christmas Day.

Not sure when the Robson Square Ice Rink will reopen, although it’s slated to prior to the 2010 Olympics. There’s also the pond on Grouse Mountain (albeit not in Vancouver), which is now open and has some excellent views of the city.

Update 2010 Trout Lake Rink is open and you can find a full schedule online. View all current 2010-2011 schedules here.

It’s been almost a year since I wrote a blog post about an fire in the home of J Stuart from The Cloud Room – a Brooklyn-based band I had been listening to a lot in the fall.

The band was working on their new tunes in J’s apartment, so all of their gear was destroyed, along with the Mac computer that contained the recordings. Amps, guitars, new tracks, plus all of J’s personal items and clothes went up in smoke. Oh yeah, and yesterday just happened to be his birthday. [The Tripwire]

After writing the blog post I decided to get in touch with J via email and see if I could conduct an interview. I asked, and he obliged. The band even posted a link to my entry on their news page, from which I still get several hits every month. [Miss604, Dec 8, 2006].

Through the aftermath of the ‘officially devastating’ fire, The Cloud Room have managed to produce the EP, Please Don’t Almost Kill Me. Once I heard that it was released, I contacted J yet again to find out how I could get my paws on a copy. One email reply and about 2 weeks later and I now have a copy of the EP in my possession. But that’s not the best part….

Upon opening the parcel this evening I smelled something reminiscent of emerging from my tent at a Cultus Lake campground at 6am: smoldering ash. Sure enough, from the envelope comes a crusty CD jewel case and a “nice n’ CLEAN” wet nap, followed by a letter:

Maybe it’s because I grew up buying records and CDs rather than downloading MP3s, but while sifting through my melted music collection (after my house burned down last fall), I found myself unable to throw anything away. So here we are, with 483 melted jewel cases recycled into a Limited Edition of our new EP, Please Don’t Almost Kill Me… – J Stuart, The Cloud Room

This is fantastic. Looking at the case (which isn’t from a Cloud Room album), it is definitely burnt up somethin’ fierce and the first thing that caught my attention was the “Made in Canada” sticker on the front.

Thanks so much to the guys in the band: Dave Horowitz, Steve Milton, Jon Petrow, Jason Pharr and J Stuart, for sending this over. It will get priority podcast play on the next RadioZoom and here’s hoping a tour brings them by Vancouver in the near future.

Check out The Cloud Room‘s website and MySpace for more info.

Sometimes I can be cranky. I know, it’s hard to believe, but I can. Today I have been in a pretty crummy mood. It’s come in waves but man, it can be unbearable sometimes. Luckily for me, John will never hesitate to let me know when I’m being completely unreasonable and intolerable. In the same way, he can make me do a 180 and totally cheer me up. His ability to bring me back down to reality works so well that I ended up doing dishes today AND mopping the floors, just because he suggested we clean up a little. We then went for a walk, to the store to try on shoes together, got smoothies, then came home and sat on the couch side by side to geek out with our laptops in tow. Have I mentioned how lucky I am?

For the last few hours we’ve been talking, blogging, developing sites, and I just spent a good while browsing The Office clips on YouTube.

I love the parts of ‘office life’ to which I can relate, the silliness of the characters, the awkwardness, the pop culture references, and the dynamic they all have with each other. Honestly? I (heart) Jim Halpert. I totally just said it. I don’t mind the quirky cutesy glances at the screen, the wittiness at inappropriate times and the jerkface-d-ness. It works, it’s awesome. So in honor of a) my husband who is Twittering about how he loves watching me giggle til I cry and b) Jim Halpert… here are some clips.

I may have started out the day pretty cranky but I’m sitting next to my best friend, chilling out and laughing my ass off with him. Sweet.

Update: You can vote more than once, check back every 24 hrs.

Inspired by Duane’s post and a Twitter I saw somewhere somehow…. you should go vote for Raymi – here’s why I did.

When I started blogging four years ago there were few influences around. The biggest to me personally being Matt – the next couple of course were Tony and Raymi – as they’ve been doing this fantastically for far longer than I have.

Photo credit: duane storey on Flickr

Although I’ve never personally interacted with Raymi (except in a few comments) I believe she and John passed a couple notes back and forth in regards to healthy dinner party foods, which was still pretty rad, and most recently she discovered how fun my buddy Duane is, which is again, pretty awesome.

She’s got a completely unique style of blogging, and has had it for the last decade. It’s often copied, and rarely duplicated in its honesty, reality and blunt ability to tell it like it is. It’s Raymi and Raymi’s style – this is what this entire genre of blogging has become, why she’s up for this award, and why you should vote for her as Best Canadian Blog.

She didn’t ask anyone to do this, really, but she is offering bribes. Sweet.