Between card games and rounds of turkey it was next to impossible to live blog DemoCampVancouver04. That, and I was thousands of miles away in America’s midwest. Fortunately, there has been some nice coverage of the event by attendees and participants.
The Techvibes blog has a few recap posts about Nethook, Adhack and the super-entertaining Battledecks.
John Biehler has some photos up on Flickr.
Quick recap from my co-worker, Trevor.
More presenter and participant links can be found on the DemoCampVancouver04 wiki.
As for Third Tuesday, it happened on the eve of the big Raincity/Bryght announcement.
Recap blog post by the presenter, 76Design.
This week should be pretty tame in the realm of social media happenings but it picks up again on December 5th with Launch Party with a Twiist. This “fun-filled tech mixer”, brought to us by the fine folks at Strutta, is highly anticipated and will feature networking, demos and maybe just a few drinks.
Update: There’s also TransitCamp on Dec. 8th and the Vancouver Blogger Meetup on Dec. 12.
This past week I heard nothing but “Girlfriend” remix by Avril Lavigne blaring from the back room at my in-law’s house. The two nieces were rehearsing a dance for the family, which they performed after Thanksgiving dinner.
Their dance was really sweet and thoughtfully choreographed but once the final show had ended pretty much everyone agreed that they’d be happy to never hear that song ever again.
Thanks to a contact form tip from Nick, I found out that Avril Lavigne will be playing a free concert in Burnaby within the next month.
After news broke that her Spring of 2008 tour is not selling well, she’s resorted to this. Avril Lavigne is playing a free concert, y’all! But not just any free concert! She’s performing at the opening of a Best Buy in Canada!!! For real! [Perez Hilton]
I know that’s an unprecedented link to Perez Hilton so here’s the official news release:
Celebrate good times! Best Buy, Canada’s fastest growing retailer and e-tailer of consumer electronics and entertainment products, celebrates the Grand Opening of its brand new Burnaby location across from Metrotown with a free, live musical performance by Avril Lavigne.
This celebrated Canadian musician takes the stage at the Main Stage in Swangard Stadium on Sunday, December 2nd at 1 p.m., for a free performance presented by Best Buy. The first 350 people in-line at any of Best Buy’s stores in the Lower Mainland on Wednesday, November 28th and Thursday, November 29th before noon will receive a pair of tickets for Avril Lavigne’s live outdoor performance on Sunday, December 2nd. [CNW Group]
It’s not quite as bad as playing at a Best Buy, since she will be giving the outdoor performance at the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps, but Avril does have a thing for playing strange venues in Metro Vancouver.
In April of 2004 she performed for free at Metrotown, BC’s largest shopping centre. If I recall correctly there were rumors that she wasn’t very well received, though some video evidence and archived blog posts prove otherwise.
Regardless, if you’re an Avril fan I suppose this is great news. Check out Buzz’s interview with her from earlier this month and even the supposed “revenge” website PerezLavigne.com for kicks.
Update: John came across some die-hard Avril fans this morning:
Update: Apparently things didn’t go so well at the concert.
Update: Thanks for reporting back guys! It’s nice to see the fans were happy. Here’s a link to a couple of the vids on YouTube [When You’re Gone][Don’t Tell Me][Don’t Tell Me][Girlfriend]
We have 4 hours to sleep, 3 hours to drive, 3 airplanes to connect, 1 piece of luggage to check that hopefully doesn’t end up in Dallas and a total of 6 hours to fly before we touch down in the Pacific Northwest tomorrow afternoon.
It’s been too short, time has flied, and we’re really wishing we could have taken two weeks off instead of one. John’s up playing Madden on PS2 with his nephew so I thought I’d finish writing this out.
Today we walked around ‘downtown’ for a bit. I got a tour of John’s parents’ business, the community centre that had Christmas trees all setup by local businesses, took a walk to Riverside Gardens, and got to spend the entire day hanging out with my Bollwitt family – which included losing terribly at a card game.
I got to taste a different type of Thanksgiving meal, with corn casserole, Josie’s famous green beans and sweet potatoes and finished nicely with pecan and chocolate silk pies from Perkins – rounding out the meal, and probably my waist line.
John’s family is starting to feel more and more like my family and I’m continually amazed at how strong they are, together and as individuals. I also know they’re probably all reading this right now so I’ll try not to butter them up too much, even though we won’t be seeing them again for a while… and we owe them all a lot more than a sappy mention on a blog post. We’re really hoping to get some of them up to Vancouver, I know in particular John misses his nieces and nephews dearly. He talks about them often and schemes almost every week, plotting to “steal” one of them away to Canada for a visit.
We’re leaving the house in about 5 hours so I best get to bed, maybe I’ll post an update for the road but we’ll be napping every chance we get. Might check in again when we reach SeaTac as we have a bit of a layover until we get the flight home. We’ll take that time to see if we can make sure our luggage made it to the coast with us, and to hit up one of those fine brew pubs we spotted in the airport when we left. Bye bye Iowa.
Now that the Grouse Grind is closed for the season, you can head up North Vancouver’s natural lookout for ice skating and more festive activities.
Enjoy Christmas carols, movies, sleigh rides, learn about Santa’s reindeer and get your pic taken with the man himself, all in a beautiful snow-dusted evergreen setting.
What: Grouse Mountain – The Peak of Christmas
Where: Grouse Mountain
How Much: The cost of a lift ticket, varying by age (from free to $39)
More Info: Check the schedule for exact times for each event.
There is also ‘Breakfast with Santa’ from December 15-24, 9am to 11am, call in advance for tickets.
I must admit, I’ve never ever been up Grouse, not even for the grind or the sky ride, so I’m hoping to change that at some point this year. However due to family interests I think I’ll do most of my boarding at Seymour this year, which will include teaching John how to become a knuckle dragger.
I had a pretty tumultuous start to the day, health-wise but I’m feeling a little better. We spent the night in Iowa City last night and are back in John’s hometown – what I like to refer to as “Anytown, USA”.
(from Seinfeld)
George: What-what are you doing?
Kramer: Oh, I’m putting up Frank’s screen door. This beauty’s got a little life in her yet.
Jerry: What do you need it for?
Kramer: (Closing door) The cool evening breezes of Anytown, USA. Let’s see how this baby closes. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Patty: (Surveying Kramer’s hall patio ) What is this?
Jerry: (Knocking on Kramer’s door) Anytown, U.S.A. Hello? Is Kramer home? Oh, hey.
Kramer: (Spraying his flowers) Hello, neighbor.
Jerry: Boy, those azaleas are really coming in nicely.
Kramer: Oh, you gotta mulch. You’ve got to.
Jerry: You barbecuing tonight?
Kramer: (Ringing his wind chimes) Right after the fireworks.
Those who know me, know that I have a thing for small towns even though I’ve never lived in one. People from small towns on the other hand, might think I’m a little crazy for longing for a slower pace, sipping lemonade on the front porch and being on a first name basis with the woman at the post office. John and I had our wedding photo in the local paper so I’m pretty sure walking around “downtown” tomorrow some people might recognize us, or at least John… maybe even as that Bollwitt boy that moved to Canada.
This evening it started snowing, dropping down to 2 celcius, which is quite the departure from the 25 degrees two days ago. It’s supposed to clear by tomorrow afternoon and here’s hoping roads are clear for our 2 hour drive to the airport on Friday. I wish we had more time here, it makes me sad to think about leaving already. With John’s new job he won’t have vacation time again until next year so maybe we’ll be back for Thanksgiving 2008. Honestly, it can’t come soon enough.
