Update: There’s a blog on Test the Nation talking about the Blogger Team members who are blogging. Sweet. Oh and Samantha Bee *is* our assigned celebrity.
On Saturday I fly out to Toronto for a trivia quiz along with about a hundred other contestants from various careers and walks of life to participate in Test the Nation on the CBC. Those watching at home on Sunday January 20th at 8:00pm will be able to play along with the television show, or even online. There are several teams (cab drivers, bloggers, backpackers, celebrity impersonators, chefs, and flight attendants) and we’ll all be put to the test with some 21st century trivia.
From the first Test the Nation.
They’ll want bloggers to wear outfits that they’re used to blogging in… so I guess message t-shirts and pajama pants covered in food stains from eating in the darkness of our parents’ basement, eh
We’ll be asigned a celebrity to represent us as a whole as well, and there’s a badge up on the Test the Nation site where you can vote for which team you think is going to win – so far flight attendants are ahead of us in the polls.
As a bit of a preview and to pump up my team a little, here are your west coast bloggers that are flying out to represent Vancouver and BC: Buzz Bishop, Ryan Cousineau, Kate, Lainey, Kerry Anne, and Tod Maffin – let me know if I missed anyone. I don’t have time to showcase everyone else on the team but be sure to check out the list and click to some pretty interesting reads.
Those of you who use the popular instant status updating, feed-publishing, messaging, window-into-your-soul web application, Twitter may have noticed over the last few weeks that some of your contacts or those you’re “following” have changed their avatars to include peas.
The peas represent frozen peas, actually, and they’ve morphed into this entire support network that has begun to raise money for cancer research. But what the heck do frozen peas have to do with cancer – let alone boobies? Well one of my follwer/followees Glenda Watson Hyatt explains:
In early December, Susan Reynolds discovered she had breast cancer, and openly shared in her tweets and new blog Boobs on Ice her journey from diagnosis to biopsy to surgery. She shared how a bag of frozen peas was more soothing on her battered chest than a brick-like ice pack. Overnight green peas began appearing in tweeters’ avatars in support of Susan… …A Frozen Pea Fund was then launched to raise money for cancer research. [Do It Myself Blog]
This all unfolded on Twitter a few weeks before the city of Vancouver started bustling about local rock queen Bif Naked’s announcement on the Strombo show about her personal journey and being diagnosed with breast cancer. I listened to that segment as it aired on CFOX and one thing Bif noted was how it was a self-exam that initiated going in and getting a mammogram. She stressed the importance of checking yourself, as it takes no time at all to do so.
Recently a reader also passed along a link to a website – for educational purposes – where women are encouraged to photograph and upload their breasts.
There are a lot of breasts on the internet, but there’s nothing like this. In support of Rethink Breast Cancer, Schick Quattro for Women today launched the Booby Wall, a virtual, interactive exhibit of breasts designed to educate Canadian women about early breast cancer detection by encouraging them to show their breasts some TLC.
The Booby Wall was created to bring Rethink’s Touch. Look. Check. (TLC) early detection program to life. Women across Canada are encouraged to touch and look at their breasts and then take a picture of their breasts to upload to the Booby Wall. [CNW]
Even though the flash-based website is really tough to navigate (I have to expand my browser and remove my toolbars to even view to the scroll bar) and some may use all the images of naked breasts for ‘evil’ instead of good – the thought is encouraging.
It’s not about scare tactics or asking you to pledge more money in support of a cause (although you’re quite welcome to). This is pretty much a public service announcement encouraging women to do self-exams. If you don’t know how, there are man resources including a few guides right on the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation website.
Yesterday John and I ventured over to the convention centre for that show that’s been going on for the last four days… you know the one.
I signed up for all kinds of vacation contests and prizes at various booths so I know I’m probably going to have a ton of bacn in the coming months. I also entered the draw for a pair of blue suede rollerskates at the Terminal City Rollergirls booth. I stuck around long enough to gather that they a) had really great stickers that I was able to pick up after making a donation to the team b) they’re currently looking for players.
The Terminal City Rollergirls are Vancouver’s first female roller derby league. Created in January 2006, the team is composed of local women who have discovered a great new way to combine athleticism and creativity. We are a new brand of sports team in Vancouver; one that is fun, fast, fierce, and entertaining!
But just what is a roller derby aside from old school skates, pigtails and knee pads?
Roller derbies take place on a circuit track. The two teams playing send five players each onto the track — three blockers (defense), one pivot (last line of defense) and one jammer (scorer). Helmet covers are used to display the players’ positions: a striped cover is used for pivots, a cover with two stars is used for jammers, and no cover is used for blockers. [wiki]
Once you can figure out just how a roller derby works, it seems pretty neat especially seeing the camaraderie between the girls. Not only can you see them competing at a local arena or curling club, but they’re also out in the community – from Canada Day to the Pride Parade and taking part in various events around Vancouver.
The Terminal City Rollergirls play by rules set by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. For more information about upcoming bouts, check out their site or MySpace.
It’s not what you think, we went home well before the doors to Tonic and Caprice opened up and line ups grew around the corner (although there were only 10 people inside). This evening after work some folks headed out to Wings for happy hour and a couple well-deserved brews. Five people, five pounds of wings and two pitchers for under $45 – you can’t go wrong.
Since John was working tonight, Keira, Duane and I decided to continue along Granville and just explore.
My first activity of choice was Commodore Lanes ($35/hour for your group including shoe rental), then Keira’s pick was the Movieland Arcade. You know you’ve seen the neons signs for both and have never gone in. It was a short night as we headed home by the end of the Canucks game but here’s a quick recap of our evening in Flickr photo form. Good times.
The Yale (also formerly known as “The Colonial Hotel”) was once a bunkhouse for CPR employees but later this century it became a hotbed of live music and blues activity. It’s welcomed acts like Colin James, Jimmy Page, Jim Belushi, Buddy Miles, and is a staple venue for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Yesterday plans were announced surrounding its renovation.
1944 – Photographer: Jack Lindsay – ITEM #: CVA 1184-624
…44 single room accommodation, or SRA, units in the building are being renovated, people living there will be displaced, at least temporarily.” [News1130].
It got me thinking about our “historic” buildings in town since things around here aren’t that old compared to an East Coast metropolis or anywhere across the Atlantic or Pacific. Our “old” and historic landmarks date back to 1910 or the 1920s, even though we knew folks were in Vancouver well before then and it was a booming port and logging town. So what happened to old Vancouver? It burned.
“In 20 minutes, Vancouver had been wiped off the earth. In 12 hours, it was rising again.” – [Chuck Davis on Discover Vancouver]
In February 1886 the CPR started clearing the townsite area north and east of what would be Burrard and Drake Streets. The clearing resulted in logs and deadfalls being left piled high for months. On a hot Sunday, June 13, 1886 a fire got away from crews clearing land around the site of the Roundhouse and this was the start of the Great Fire that destroyed the new city. The fire burned ferociously and the city was destroyed in less than an hour. 880 buildings were burned, 22 people died. A new city bylaw directed that buildings were now to be of brick or stone only. [Vancouver History]
You may notice the abundance of brick buildings in the older neighbourhoods – like Yaletown and Gastown – for this very reason. The Great Fire reshaped the community that was in its formative years and few buildings or structures survived. Even “Gassy” Jack Deighton’s hotel was reduced to ashes.
Yaletown was rebuilt and soon The Yale, that was spared by the fire due to bush separating it and the rest of downtown, became a main player in the swinging, rowdy days of Yaletown.
Hopefully the current residents of The Yale aren’t displaced for too long, and as for the Cecil Hotel next door which developers would like to replace with a 20-storey see-through teal condo tower, that’s another story about Vancouver’s vanishing buildings – that doesn’t involve a fire.
