They’re BACK! I’m pretty excited to know that I can soon go ice skating on Thursday afternoons for the Twonie skate at the West End CC. Although it will take a while to get the ice rinks setup, various community centres around the city are offering specials, after being closed for several months due to a labour dispute.
Vision Vancouver wants to know just how much money the city saved during the civic strike. It will ask staff to account for every penny that wasn’t spent. Vancouver’s parks manager is now inviting people back to community centres. [News1130]
Here are just a few of the offers and information for the WECC:
You will receive your 100% refund in the mail for registered programs which were interrupted or cancelled by the strike.
All drop-in fees will be waived until November 1.
The Fitness Centre is offering a Welcome Back Special: Until October 31, admission for adults is $2 and for youth and seniors $1.
Fees will be waived until November 1 – West End Kids Care
Fees will be waived until November 1 – Little Sprout Preschool
Fees will be waived until November 1 – Childminding
After leaving many scrambling to reschedule, rearrange and re-plan their lives over the few months, community centres around Vancouver are offering services, deals, and refunds like those mentioned above. Check the community centre directory for more details about the centre in your neighbourhood.
As for the ice rinks? They are being prepared now and should be up and running in November. I’m stoked.
Side Note: The Stanley Park Ecology Society’s AGM is taking place at the WECC tomorrow night. It’s free, there will be presentations and it begins at 6:30pm. Since I’ve been keeping a very close eye on the restoration effort of the Park over the last 10 months or so, I’ll try to be there so I can educate myself a bit more on all the other projects on the go.
Update: Another way the City is trying to win back your love is FREE rides on the Stanley Park train this Saturday between 11:00am and 4:00pm – there will also be free hot chocolate (source: News1130)
Continuing my mini-series on cool people, Vancouver bloggers, bloggers and internet heroes, I had to contact Meg Fowler. She was nice enough to answer the questions provided, use the word “muffin”, create a brand new word, and make me giggle simply by reading her replies.
Who are you?:
megfowler.com
not just a website but a
girl who likes haiku
Where do you blog (which sites)?: Just at the .com for now, though I’ve done “guest posts” elsewhere. They never ask me back, though, because I always spill something.
Why do you blog?: I think the reasons change from post to post. To shake loose ideas out of my brain? To stretch some writing muscles? To take the paperweight off of my soul (oooh, that sounded emo)? To make people laugh? To indulge my OCD need to make lists?
Mostly, I blog because my mom will phone me to make sure I’m not dead if I don’t post at least once a day.
What’s your favourite thing to write about?: I love making random lists, and rehashing the near-death experiences I have while performing mundane tasks like washing my hair or riding on the bus.
What is the BEST part of blogging?: I love the community and connection with my readers, and all the great voices I’ve discovered out there. And people make me laugh so hard in my comments that I’ve had coffee in my sinuses more than once.
Do you write for yourself, your readers or for Google?: Myself and my readers most of all, although Google leads some pretty entertaining searchers to my door. Just today: “smart boobs”.
And they are. It’s true.
Would you ever censor yourself?: I would, and I do. I don’t write about work, I don’t write about private family information, I don’t write about most past (and all present!) romantic entanglements, and I don’t abuse other bloggers, ever.
People from every facet of my life read my blog, from my boss to my aunts to my former campers to my freelancing clients, and that makes me consider my posts pretty carefully. Not that I write them carefully. That I do as shoddily as possible. Is “shoddily” a word?
I don’t regret being honest and vulnerable about some of the toughest times in my life. I just set the lines that work for me, and stick with them.
PC, Mac or Speak n’ Spell: Mac. I drank the Kool-Aid. And mmm, I love me some Kool-Aid. Though if I could blog on a Commodore Vic 20, I SO would:
10 WRITE BLOG
20 GOTO 10
RUN
How long have you been a hockey fan and which team do you cheer for?: I’ve loved hockey all my life, though I only started loving hockey PLAYERS when my hormones kicked in.
My dad and my grandfather played and reffed for a long time, so I spent more than one late night in an arena in my pajamas, wrapped in a wooly blanket and my dad’s coat. My dad was actually the head of officiating for the league in Nipawin, SK when I was born. Let me tell you… that’s a heady responsibility.
I cheer for the Canucks, and the Canucks alone. And swear sometimes, too. But only with love.
Blog recommendations: My Sweet Reads list holds all my friends, lovers and obsessions. Narrowing it down beyond that always seems very Sophie’s Choice.
But I will say this: Darren Barefoot sets the bar for bloggers in our fair city, and the very witty Buzz lets me tell muffin jokes on the radio until my laugh is only audible to dogs.
And of course, one of my dearest friends, Eric, has a great blog that he hasn’t written in for… six months? But if you go back in his archives, you’ll love him.
I can’t believe this has been kept off my radar this long but in preparation for BC’s 150th birthday, the government is initiating projects and activities all over the province in celebration of this milestone.
BC150 Years celebrates the adventures, struggles, people, events and achievements that have shaped our provincial identity. It’s a celebration with a focus on five strong pillars: Heritage, Communities, Multiculturalism, Aboriginals, Arts & Culture. [About – BC150]
Spirit Squares have become a large part of the legacy of this festive milestone, and no they have nothing to do with cheerleading (as far as I know).
B.C. Spirit Squares are gathering places for our communities, created to help celebrate BC150 Years – next year’s 150th anniversary of the founding of the Crown Colony of British Columbia – as well as many other festivities and milestones in the future…
…Spirit Squares will reflect the unique character, diversity, cultural and First Nations heritage and history of our communities, sharing that richness with residents and visitors alike. [Spirit Squares]
Since these announcement were made at the beginning of 2007, all communities who have been granted funds to build Spirit Squares have already been named. This includes: Revelstoke, Maple Ridge, Merritt, Williams Lake, West Vancouver, Langley (Township), Lytton, Quesnel, Castlegar, Coquitlam, Village of Cumberland, Sechelt, Campbell River, and Victoria… just to name a few. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Update: The Official Live Blog Will Begin at 5:30pm, October 23rd, 2007 over on this post.
It’s one of the top sites in the nation and anyone who is not on it yet (who had held out this long) deserves a medal.
Facebook has exploded in popularity since opening its doors to the general public last winter and along with profiles, gifts, fun walls and zombies, there are those who develop and design applications specifically for this highly-addictive monster of a site.
Join us for Vancouver’s first Facebook Developer (& Designer) Garage – a place for you to explore, get gritty, tinker, experiment, and test out your ideas for new Facebook apps.
When: Tuesday October 23, 2007 from 5:30 to 9:00pm
Where: The Vancouver Film School (VFS), Digital Design Campus [Google Map].
What: The Facebook Garage is an ad-hoc unconference-style meetup for anyone interested in connecting with Facebookers in and around Vancouver to discuss, share and extend your knowledge on how to design, develop and market Facebook services and apps.
Who: FacebookCampVancouver is presented by the Vancouver Facebook Developers Group (on Facebook) or (website) , the Vancouver Ajax & Web 2.0 Developers Group and the Vancouver User Experience Group
Unconferences are a relaxed and steady flow of presentations by attendees (see BarCamp or DemoCamp). Come on our if you are a developer, Ajax enthusiast, Facebook lover, Facebook App developer or promoter, Facebook geek or Vancouver geek in general. You’ll be able to network with other developers and application creators, demo your new idea for an app, show off and promote what you’ve already made, and have a great time.
Anyone/everyone else is welcome to sign up via the Facebook event.
You can tune into my site on Tuesday, October 23rd for the Official Live Blog, sponsored by Communicate.com. Big thanks also goes to Techvibes for being the media sponsor (including Flickr shots that I will use in my live blog) and Vancouver Film School as the Venue Sponsor. Of course we cannot forget Facebook, who has officially sponsored this event as well.
Facebook apps developed and designed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia include:
Dabble Do (Social To-Do List) Built By Dabble DB
MyBus (Translink Bus Schedule) Built By Handi Mobility
I’m Reading (Book List w/ Ratings and Reviews) Built By Garth Shoemaker
Up4 (Social Planning Helper) Built By ActiveState
Are You Normal Built By Kinzin
NHL Box Scores Built By Kick In The Nuts Media
Yoga Built By Kick In The Nuts Media
Urban Dictionary Built By Kick In The Nuts Media
The Far Side Built By Kick In The Nuts Media
Demotivator Built By Kick In The Nuts Media
Comic Strip Built By Kick In The Nuts Media
Scratch and Win Built By Backstage Technologies
ClassTalk Built By PeerGlobe
Scheduled Demos at the Garage:
Kinzin’s Are You Normal App Released October 3rd.
NoteMix – Create courses and collaborate on notes with other course members. By Colin Kierans
MyBus – Keep track of favourite Vancouver / Calgary / Toronto bus routes on your FB profile!
Hockey Pool by Ben Nevile
Opus Music Player and Social Playlists by Donat Group
Mixx Q & A with Jeremy Lim (Project Opus)
Green Gifts by Social Signal/BC Hydro
Scratch and Win by Backstage Technologies
ClassTalk by PeerGlobe
Open Social Networks? Q&A with OpenID Lead Johnny Bufu (Sxip Identity)
Scheduled Lightning Talks:
Monetizing Your Facebook Application(s) – A quick overview of ways developers are using their applications to generate cold hard cash!
The Future of Facebook Q&A lead by Boris Mann and Johnny Bufu of Sxip.
If you’re like me, when you check your feeds, Morning Brew is at the top of the heap. This is a daily feature provided by Sean Orr on the popular Vancouver group blog, Beyond Robson. After discovering he had many more projects on the go, and that he could get my Red Dwarf references, I decided to touch base with Sean and do another Blogger Profile.
Who are you?: Somebody who doesn’t know who he is, and perhaps realizes that its alright not to know. But for the sake of posterity and because we live in a digital world and whatnot, I’m Sean Orr, I was born in Surrey, I work at Budgies, I play in a band called Taxes, I take lots of photographs, I once ran for the Green Party.
Where do you write?: I write for Tooth and Dagger, and I blog. I write for Beyond Robson, a little column called Morning Brew and I write more international Digg type stuff at Chalked Up.com.
Favourite thing to write about?: I like writing about how absurd The Province editorials are. They are so blatant. Its almost too easy.
What’s the BEST part of blogging?: The best part of blogging is being able to be ultra sarcastic and parody the news in a sort of super Canadian tradition, and actually have people follow it.
Do you write for yourself, your readers or for Google?: I’d say I’d be writing letters to editors anyway if I wasn’t blogging so I’d say I write for myself, the readers are a total bonus. I also love starting up shit and the endless comments that hopefully follow.
What makes you the most interesting author on BR?: I wouldn’t say I’m the most interesting, I think you can’t really go wrong with Vancouver politics. The Only were doing it before me and Terminal City before them and I am influenced by those guys, same with you guys and the already well established blogging scene with The Vancouverite and whatnot.
Would you ever censor yourself?: I sometimes stop myself from saying really horrible things, but I wouldn’t really censor myself. I might remove a comment if i acted too hastily and wanted to rely in a calmer fashion.
PC, Mac or Speak n’ Spell: I use a Mac. Although I’m not like all in love with them or anything. I don’t really care.
Blogs you read or would recommend: I love looking at all the art on Poppy Talk, same with the fashion at The Commodified. From Blown Speakers and Streethawk for music. The Tyee is really good for the Reported Elsewhere newsfeed and they talk about stuff that isn’t mentioned in any of our major media. Livable Blog, CondoHype, Pacific Metropolis, Meg Fowler, PriceTags, and Public Eye are all great too.
