I’ve been to the River Rock only once since it’s been a casino, but several times when its tower was a clock for the Riverport Market, which was not dissimilar to the Lonsdale Quay.
It was for my birthday and we gambled, had drinks, and scarfed down mounds of prime rib at the buffet – other than that, I don’t remember much else. Now they’ve got a fancy shmancy hotel and will have a Canada Line station there as well. As I was doing a lot of periodical reading the other day, I came across an ad for the River Rock in the Georgia Straight.
Upcoming acts at their theatre include:
Boys II Men – December 29th and 31st
Patti Labelle – January 11th
Lionel Ritchie – January 18th
Amanda Marshall – January 19th
Even more interesting acts include:
Chippendales Revue- February 1st
Air Supply – February 7th and 8th
Dame Edna – February 14th and 15th
Bellydance Superstars – March 21st and 22nd
The B-52s – March 28th
While this post shouldn’t fall into my “cheap things to do” category, we should be reminded that there are some acts for all tastes that come to Metro Vancouver who don’t perform downtown. Also, seeing as how I rarely, if ever, blog about Richmond, I thought it would be worth noting. Seriously though we would actually consider going to see Brent Butt on January 25th or especiallyLewis Black on February 29th (and March 1st).
**warning: coarse language is used in the following video**
Tickets for all shows at the River Rock are available through Ticketmaster. If we do end up going to see Mr. Black, I’ll be sure to write about our experience.
I picked up a copy of LouLou Magazine while I was getting my hair done at Envy the other day. Geez, look at me, reading fashion magazines and sitting in a salon for the second time in as many weeks. It was the first time I’d ever glanced at LouLou and the one-page green shopping guide caught my eye. It featured a laptop bag made from recycled seatbelts, a Cargo PlantLove lipstick case made of corn, and a purse that consisted of an old skateboard deck fashioned with a clasp. Admittedly, the skater clutch caught my attention the most and with the url “BeckyCity.com” posted at the end of the page, I knew I’d remember to look it up when I got home.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in New York City, Beck(y) is a shrewdly designed collection of handcrafted, one-of-a-kind bags and accessories constructed with recycled skateboards and plush, high-end fabrics. [Beck(y) Bags]
The Sk8bag handbags look pretty awesome and come in square and curved mini-tote clutches, but Beck(y) also makes two styles of unisex messenger bags, belts, buckles, money clips and even an iPod case.
My neat-meter peaked when I also found out that whenever anyone donates a used deck to be made into a handbag, Beck shares a slice of the profits with skateboarding-related charities.
Beck established the Boards 4 Bowls program. For every used board she receives Beck donates $3 to a variety of non-profit organizations dedicated to building and maintaining public skateparks across the country. Beck currently works with the Tony Hawk Foundation, Jeff Anderson Memorial Fund and Elemental Awareness. [Beck(y) Bags]
On the Beck(y) website it says the Sk8bags should be available in Vancouver at Lark 8th Ave. I may just have to take a trip to Lark (which also has a blog) so I can hopefully spend the rest of my happyfrog funds on something eco-nifty… although I may only be able to afford the money clip, still – it’s worth checking out.
Update: D’oh! I might not be able to count this as a happyfrog purchase cause they’re not made in BC or by a BC company… will be on the lookout for more goodies to share!
The latest craze in new mommyhood is not a trendy Italian stroller or the hottest infant-sized outfit, in fact it really has nothing to do with the baby at all. It’s something called a ‘Push Present‘. When I first caught wind of this fad it was on some American morning TV show while I was dressing for work, refereeing an argument, packing backpacks for school and ensuring everyone was wearing ‘weather appropriate clothing’, so I didn’t’ give it much thought at the time. The next day while in the car I heard Buzz on Crave discussing it with a female co-host I started to think more carefully about what this actually meant.
For those who don’t know what a ‘Push Present’ is (men may want to pay careful attention if their s.o. is expecting) it’s a carefully thought out marketing ploy to make people believe that if you give birth someone (your man) should buy you something sparkly, like a diamond necklace or gold bracelet or anything to show off to your girlfriends really. Essentially, it is a gift for having pushed out a baby. Now, considering that I am about to do this for my fourth time since 2000 I would think I am somewhat of an expert on the subject. Also keeping in mind that fact that the combined weight of my first 3 children was a whopping 31 pounds 7 ounces and that they were all born the ‘traditional’ way I have quite the opinion on birthin’ babies.
I am not opposed to gifts in anyway, I love giving them and appreciate it greatly when I receive them. What I am opposed to is this corporate guilt placed on individuals to spend exorbitant amounts of cash for baubles and trinkets because social pressure now leads you to believe that if you love your woman this is what you will do.
Of course men should show their love towards their wives or girlfriends but I personally find that diamonds and such are the least romantic way to do it. It’s so cliche and it’s almost like cheating because it takes no effort to walk into a store, pull out your credit card and have some pushy sales person tell you what your woman will love to have.
The main problem I have with this whole concept however is the idea that women need some kind of reward for having given birth. Oh, I know as well as anyone else what it takes to have a baby, don’t let anyone ever tell you it is easy because it’s not. But what about the fact that you have in your possession the most precious little being in the world? The gift you have been waiting and longing for for 9 long months? Not to sound too cheesy, but is there any greater gift? I honestly hope this is a passing faze because really, the only thing any women needs to show off to her girlfriends after having a baby is… you guessed it, the baby itself. And men, if you feel the need to buy something to show your appreciation for your partner’s hard work, flowers or a well deserved massage or pedicure are the way to go in my opinion. But really, waking up in the night to change diapers and playing with the baby while mom takes a long bath are much more valued.
This autumn I introduced the Best of 604, in response to a local newspaper’s Best of Vancouver. Sure, my categories weren’t as diverse but I’m pretty free to build upon the Best of 604 at any time, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Reading Morning Brew this morning, I saw a link to the 24 Hours’ “24 ways to avoid your family“, which ended up being a list of “Vancouver’s best time-wasting web sites”.
They included the Katkam, which is a given, Urban Vancouver – a really great compilation on which anyone can write and Translink’s i-move.ca (that if you Google, my site comes up second, with Darren’s first).
A couple of the suggested reads made me chuckle to myself so I figured the best thing for me to do would be to make my own list.
Best of 604: Local Website Edition
Best Webcam that isn’t the Katkam: Numinous
Best Traffic Webcams and route info: GVRD directory
Best Site to get Surrey News: Surrey Leader
Best Site to get Burnaby News: A Burnaby blogger needs to Contact me.
Best Site to get New Westminster News: Royal City Record
Best Independent Daily News Source: The Tyee
Best New Tech Blog: Techvibes
Best New Eco-Friendly Directory: happyfrog
Best New Restaurant Directory: Urbanspoon
Best New Blog (to me, in 2007) – Commuting: Paul Hillsdon
Best New Blog (to me, in 2007) – Shopping: The Style Spy
Best New Blog (to me, in 2007) – Restaurant Reviews: Raul’s “Dining out”
Most inspirational: Derek Miller and his wife Airdrie. Derek’s living with stage 4 metastatic cancer and blogging every step of the way.
If you disagree with any of my choices, please make your own list (pass it on!), leave a comment below, or send links my way either on my contact form or via del.icio.us (tag your link as “for:miss604”).
As a proud Canadian girl I was overwhelmed when I received new ice skates this Christmas. Truth be told, I’ve never owned a pair of my own before and these are pretty spectacular. Within 24 hours of receiving them I was getting them sharpened at the West End Community Centre and stepping on the ice. With the blades still warm, I was gliding over the blue line as smooth as butter while trying to catch up to John who kept taking off on me every time I paused to practice my “hockey stop”.
For under $20 today John and I were able to get him a rental, pay for the both of us to skate, and get my new blades sharpened. If that isn’t a good enough deal for you, the West End Community Centre ice rink was actually open on Christmas Day for a FREE family skate, and they’re doing it again on December 29th. I’ll definitely be practicing my ice girl moves a lot more this season.
This autumn I introduced the 
