A recent Twitter from John Biehler about how “FAIL” seems to be one of the most popular words at SXSW reminded me of the following.
When poking around the new Metroblogging Vancouver website, powered by the lovely and capable WordPress MU, I came across a “coming soon” page. Instead of a “whoops! page not found” note, it had an image of a dog with the caption, “FAIL”. Turns out it came from FailDogs, are these pups the new lolcatz?
From:
FailDogs – Original Source Credited on FailDogs
From:
FailDogs – Original Source Credited on FailDogs
From:
FailDogs – Original Source Credited on FailDogs
Sure, they don’t have snappy captions like the lolcatz (I mean geez it’s such an empire they even re-did the bible in lolcatz-speak), but FailDogs say it all with just one word. It’s puppies and silliness, and a great navel-gazer of a website that helps pass the time or put a smile on an otherwise frowny face. So now who’s coming up with the “FTW” site?
Checking in this evening on some local non-profits, I found out about the following event coming up this month that will help raise funds for the Surrey Food Bank:
Universal Cultural Society of Canada is hosting their second annual Holi Festival of Colours to Eliminate Racism. “Celebrating the colours of life for the elimination of racial discrimination”. Saturday, March 22, 2008 from 4pm – 10pm at the Pearl Banquet Hall, 201-13030 76 Avenue, Surrey.
Quick reminder that the Surrey Food Bank does not fall under the Greater Vancouver Food Bank realm so if you’d like to donate make sure to visit their headquarters or website.
However, speaking of the GVFB, Bruce Springsteen is known as an avid contributor to local food banks around the world and his stop in Vancouver will be no exception. The Greater Vancouver Food Bank has been given two prize packs to auction off for his upcoming concert, March 31st. If you’d like to place a bid you can call 604-876-3601 and ask for Cindy. The bidding ends March 26th.
One more non-Food Bank related event is the Surrey Museum’s Easter Fair, taking place Saturday March 22nd from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Bonnet making, egg hunting and snuggles from all sorts of rescue animals will be taking place.
I sometimes find that my fingers go faster on he keyboard than my brain can spew out thoughts. I’m often auto-completing words that begin the same as a frequently typed word I’m thinking about, but in the end – they end up as typos. Example: Chick Flick becomes Chick Flickr, Dance becomes Duane. Such a thing could make for an amusing post, if left unaltered.
On a similar note, I sat down at my mother’s PC the other day and realized that over the last year my fingers had been completely retrained to use Macs. I would normally place them a certain way to open another tab in Firefox, however my left ring finger now had to extend a little further to press the CTRL button, with the “T” following it. If this isn’t the proper finger positioning per grade school keyboarding, I have no excuse aside from the fact that I taught myself to type expediently before such a class was taken.
Indulge my geekiness here while I share my top five basic/fave keyboard shortcuts that are conducive to speedy computing:
Command (open Apple) + T: Opens a new browsing tab in Firefox or Safari
Command + 2: Automatically inserts the “@” when replying to someone on Twitter, using Twitterific
Ctrl + A: When composing a blog post in WordPress it pops up the link box for easy pasting of a link (not working with F3B3)
Command + Shift + T: Re-opens a recently closed browser tab (thanks to Tod for showing me this at BarCamp)
Command + C or X or V: Copy, Cut or Paste. It may seem simple but man, it makes life easier
Command + Z: Undo. Need I say more about the importance of Undo?
Function + Delete: Backspace… in reverse
Okay, that was more than five, but feel free to share if you have any of your own – for Mac or PC.
Being one of the best new blogs around, Paul’s Civic Surrey has been capturing and detailing several new development and construction projects in the city. One post that recently caught my attention was the major overhaul and facelift for Guildford Town Centre:
The Mall is going to get a 414,100 sq. ft. retail expansion – 212,000 sq. ft. of which will be a new Wal-Mart Supercentre. There will be rooftop parking above the Wal-Mart, along with two new parkades featuring 5,870 parking stalls.
The other 212,000 sq. ft. of expansion will be in the south end of the mall, home to a new food court and high-end retail tenants (just like the Metrotown refurb!!). [CivicSurrey]
The Metrotown comparison seems pretty spot on, but toss in the outdoor eliments of Alderwood and you get the overall idea.
The mall has had the same hideous brown tiles and dark glass pyramid ceilings since before I was born. There really hasn’t been much change since the cascading waterfall that was removed to make room for a children’s play zone, and an Old Navy was introduced on the East wing. Wolco is now Wal-Mart (and it still has that flat, incline escalator) and Santa’s Castle is always right outside The Bay (which used to be Woodwards), except for that year the styrofoam in the castle caught fire overnight and they had to keep the mall closed for several hours.
The new plans include a “village”, a “terrace”, polished stone and bistro cafes, wowsa! Guildford is definitely in need of an overhaul and honestly, I’m pretty excited about the new plans. Also, from the looks of the sketches Paul’s posted one image in particular stands out:
Note the Apple iPod posted on the left. It could be a tease, but perhaps it’s a sign of the type of stores they expect to attract at the new mall.
High end retail, promenades and who knows maybe even a Cheesecake Factory or PF Chang’s China Bistro. Whatever it is, I’m glad they’re using their existing mall land/parking space and not taking over some salmon habitat as seems to be the norm with developments in Surrey these days.
I’ve never been a girlie girl by any means. I know designers, what’s “trendy” etc. but mostly due to my own personal style, attitude and honestly – budget – I’ve never been on the cutting edge. Over the last few years that best I could do was learn to dress for my body type. It’s like what Stacy and Clinton say – ignore the size numbers and get things that fit your body. I’ve also been able to find things that shape the top of my torso without ballooning out and way from my waist, making me look as though I’m in my second trimester. Long story short, I’m far from being an authority on fashion like the women who contribute to The Style Spy — who just so happen to be hosting an event this Friday.
The Style Spy is a group blog where you can find cosmetic tips, trends, latest looks, and enter contests. Last week I received an email notifying me of the Fabulous Life Event, which upon first inspection wouldn’t normally be my scene, but when I saw that it was taking place at The Bay downtown – I was sold.
What: The Style Spy’s Fabulous Life Event – Lounge, Red Carpet, Hollywood Snapshots, Cocktails & Appies, Perfume Bar, Jewelery Bar, Door Prizes, Swag Bags & sketches.
When: Friday March 14, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Where: The Bay Downtown, 674 Granville Street, Vancouver
More Info: The Style Spy
The Bay is definitely where I find the best clothing and everything is usually discounted when you get to the till, which is always a treat. (Latest purchase: Pink, silk, Nine West tunic for $29).
Aside from the location, I thought it would a great opportunity to meet Erica, founder of The Style Spy, with whom I’ve shared the occasional blogosphere correspondence.
I also knew someone who would immediately appreciate an event like this would be Keira-Anne so I enlisted her as my date. Through the magic of Facebook I discovered another blogger with a keen sense of what’s chic will be attending so it will be nice to meet her as well.
If you’d like to attend sign up to be a Style Spy member by visiting the site, then be sure to RSVP by emailing party [at] thestylespy.com and who knows, maybe I’ll learn a thing or two.
