To kick off this tour de Force, Science World invites you to join us for an out-of-this-world evening, in a science centre that’s not so far away. The event will feature the actual Lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker in Episode V, The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! feature exhibition and a series of costume contests, plus appearances by Vancouver’s 501st Legion and other local organizations.
The Original Lightsaber® Event Schedule:
7:00pm – Doors Open
8:00pm – Rebel Costume Contest
8:30pm – Empire Costume Contest
9:00pm – Other Costume Contest
9:30pm – Costume Contest Finals
Please note, this is a 19+ event. Refreshments will be available for purchase. Triple O’s will be open for dinner service until 9:00pm. For everyone’s safety, there will be a weapons check at the door. Any Nerf®-related weapons cannot be functional.
Follow Science World on Twitter and Facebook for the latest event information.
You can visit Vancouver’s only ecology centre, right in the West End on the edge of Lost Lagoon. From street level, just off Alberni and Chilco, the top of the old boathouse at Lost Lagoon is a nice lookout platform, with views of Grouse Mountain poking through Stanley Park’s evergreen peaks. Down below, accessed either by a flight of stairs beside the structure or from a fork along the Lost Lagoon trail, there are exhibits, information, and tools for exploration at the Stanley Park Nature House.
Stanley Park Nature House
Stanley Park Nature House on Lost Lagoon is Stanley Park Ecology Society’s presence in the park and it’s the meeting place for their public programs. It’s where volunteers develop valuable skills on community action.
Admission is FREE to the public and hours are 10:00am to 4:00pm (weekends only September to June), and 10:00am to 5:00pm (Tuesdays through Sundays in July and August).
The ACT Arts Centre and The Ridge Film Studios, with the support of the City of Maple Ridge, are thrilled to present the second edition of the Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film. Highlighting films created in beautiful British Columbia, the festival is scheduled to take place at The ACT Arts Centre during the last weekend of March.
Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film
When: Friday, March 23 to Sunday, March 25, 2018 Where: The ACT Arts Centre (11944 Haney Place, Maple Ridge) Tickets:Available online, by phone at (604) 476-2787, or in person at The ACT Arts Centre (11944 Haney Place, Maple Ridge). Ticket prices range from $10 for single film tickets to $20 for opening night (opening night films + reception) and $50 for a Festival Pass (all films throughout the 3 days + opening night reception).
Primary
The Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film kicks off with an Opening Reception on Friday, March 23 at 6:30pm and features a total of six shorts, four feature films, and one documentary over the course of three days.
Film Lineup
FRIDAY, MARCH 23 at 8:00pm Feature Film: The Prodigal Dad
2017 | Comedy/Drama | Filmed in Vancouver & Squamish
Director: Robert Wenzek | Starring: Brad Dryborough, Krystyna Kozlowski, Ryan Cashin, Allie Pev, Andrea Bang, Mackenzie Gray, Jacqueline Samuda, David Lewis, Fred Ewanuick, & Beverley Elliott
Synopsis: After losing his wife, George arrives uninvited at his daughter Lily’s shared college house, but she is less than thrilled. Surprisingly, Lily’s roommates embrace George and he soon becomes the life of the party – and the instigator of mayhem.
Short Film: No Reservations
2017 | Comedy | Filmed in Maple Ridge
Director: Trevor Carroll | Starring: Lorne Cardinal, Bradley Duffy, & Denise Jones
Synopsis: When Peter and Marilyn Whiteman’s peaceful existence is uprooted by an unforgiving yet jovial corporation, they take matters into their own hands to stop the disruptive installation of a pipeline underneath their house.
SATURDAY, MARCH 24 at 5:00pm Feature Film: Primary
2014 | Thriller | Filmed in Vancouver
Director: Ross Ferguson| Starring: Dustin Milligan, Michael Eklund, & Katharine Isabelle
Synopsis: An insurance executive, seen simultaneously in the future and in the present, is betrayed and left penniless, and then must battle his closest friends to try to gain back his life.
Short Film: The Prince
2017 | Drama | Filmed in Vancouver
Director: Kyra Zagorsky | Starring: Lee Majdoub, Ashé Sabongui, Bodhi Sabongui, Brendan Taylor, Kim Villagante, Scott McGrath, Jennifer Copping, & J. Alex Brinson
Synopsis: Young tap dancer Olivia and her uncle Amir, an actor, struggle with what it means to be Middle-Eastern Canadian in today’s racially divided world. When Amir books a role on a film, Olivia uses her dance routine as a way of expressing her true feelings.
SATURDAY, MARCH 24 at 7:30pm Feature Film: Drone
2017 | Drama/Thriller | Filmed in West Vancouver, Langley, & Mumbai
Director: Jason Borque | Starring: Sean Bean, Patrick Sabongui, Mary McCormack, & Maxwell Haynes
Synopsis: Ideologies collide with fatal results when a military drone contractor meets an enigmatic Pakistani businessman.
Short Film: Cypher
2017 | Drama | Filmed in Burnaby & Vancouver
Director: Lawrence Le Lam | Starring: Jerome Yoo, Alex Barima, James R. Baylis, & Angela Palmer
Synopsis: Tensions still linger in 1997 LA between the Korean-American and the African-American communities after the riots of 1992. After an incident in his father’s restaurant, Jay, a Korean-American high school student, finds himself pulled into LA’s underground hip hop scene where the two worlds collide.
SUNDAY, MARCH 25 at 5:00pm Feature Film: Hello Destroyer
2017 | Drama | Filmed in Prince George & Vancouver
Director: Kevan Funk | Starring: Sara Canning, Ian Tracey, & Jared Abrahamson
Synopsis: A young junior hockey player’s life is shattered by an in-game act of violence. In an instant, his life is abruptly turned upside down; torn from the fraternity of the team and the coinciding position of prominence, he is cast as a pariah and ostracized from the community. As he struggles with the repercussions of the event, desperate to find a means of reconciliation and a sense of identity, his personal journey ends up illuminating troubling systemic issues around violence.
Short Film: The United Guys Network
2016 | Comedy | Filmed in Vancouver
Director: Tabatha Golat | Starring: Georgie Daburas, David Mackenzie, Meghan Hemingway, Dustin Finerty, John Kerrigan, & Tara Webster
Synopsis: Loving newlywed husband, Paul Seger, is making the other guys in the neighbourhood look bad. Time for the United Guys Network to step in and teach him how to be a “real” husband.
SUNDAY, MARCH 25 at 7:30pm Documentary: Primeval: Enter the Incomappleux
2016| Documentary | Filmed in the Selkirk Mountains
Director: Damien Gillis | Starring: Craig Pettitt & Toby Spribille
Synopsis: From award-winning documentary filmmaker Damien Gillis (Fractured Land, Oil in Eden) and Valhalla Wilderness Society, Primeval: Enter the Incomappleux is the story of the majesty, magic, and endurance of one of the world’s last truly ancient inland temperate rainforests – the incomparable Incomappleux.
Short Film: Send Us Smokes
2017 | Fantasy | Filmed in New Westminster & Mission
Director: Michelle Kee | Starring: Sara Canning, Matthew MacCaull, & Ada Jones-Kuranko
Synopsis: When 7-year-old Adelaide finds that the care package of cigarettes she prepared for her father won’t be delivered to him, as he serves on the front lines of World War I, she decides to embark on a fantastic adventure to take it to him herself.
Short Film: Scattered
2017 | Comedy | Filmed in North Vancouver
Director: Ellie Harvie | Starring: Kalyn Miles & Debra Sears
Synopsis: Two women venture into the woods to scatter their friend’s ashes and fumble for a way to say goodbye.
Win Passes
I have a pair of passes to give away ($100 value) that will give one lucky winner at their guest access to all films throughout the 3 day festival, plus the opening reception. Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Click below to post an entry on Twitter
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a pair of passes to the Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film at @mapleridgeact http://ow.ly/6yry30iCO7H” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, March 2, 2018.
In search of long line, fresh powder, friendly locals, and epic Instagram-worthy sights and scenes? Then you need to #SkiNorthBC!
Videographer Chris Wheeler (@ApresWheeler) set out for Northern BC with SnowSeekers’ #SkiNorthBC expedition this winter and captured some amazing footage. He’s also filled out the latest #SkiNorthBC Q&A featuring Powder King.
Powder King Reigns in Northern BC
Making Prince George your home base, you can get to Powder King within 2 hours to start exploring all it has to offer.
Q1: What were your first impressions Powder King? Chris: The powder lasts all day. You can do fresh pow laps right next to your own ski tracks from the run before. That’s rare so I loved it!
Q2: Who was your best local resource for info? Chris: The locals you meet right on the chair and Tbar. Every time I have visited Powder King I have met different locals that share their powder stashes with me.
Q3: What did you find most surprising/unexpected about Powder King? Chris: That there are no crowds so you get this feeling of having the mountain to yourself. That really lets you ski the powder without having to worry about always beating someone to an area. Instead of saying “no friends on a powder day” it felt more like “Friends on a Powder day” as Powder King does not get skied out on greasy snow days.
Q4: What was the most Instagram-worthy moment or location at Powder King? Chris:When the clouds clear the top of the Tbar has amazing views. When it’s snowing in the trees as you will get those powder face shots!
Q5: What would make you go back again and again? Chris: The Powder and the People. Hard to beat at Powder King!
SnowSeekers has partnered with National Car rental to secure you a SnowSeekers’ preferred rate. Make a reservation online, or with an agent and in the Contract field enter XVC4SNO for a savings that could cover your ski pass cost every day.
Get inspired and learn more to what BC has in store for you this winter, search #ExploreBC on social media. For more on skiing in Northern BC, set a bookmark to check out the #SkiNorthBC expedition page on a regular basis. More stories and videos will be coming out all season long.
When the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games ended, and the cauldron was extinguished, we felt a sadness. There was so much excellence in sport, so much heart, so much excitement and friendliness even just on the streets of Vancouver – and then it was gone. Little did we know that within just a few days we’d have all of that back, ten fold.
The Paralympic Games that follow reignite that fire, with their amazing athletes and spirit that will leave you in awe. From March 9-18, 2018, I highly encourage you to tune into the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games and continue to cheer on Team Canada.
Canadian Paralympic Team for PyeongChang 2018
Approximately 670 athletes from around the world will compete in a total of 80 medal events. 55 athletes have been named to Canadian Paralympic Team for PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. This includes the largest contingent is in Para ice hockey with 17 athletes, and 25 athletes will be making their Paralympic debut. 18 members of the team already have Paralympic medals on their resume and the team will be led by Chef de Mission Todd Nicholson, a three-time Paralympic medallist in Para ice hockey.
Canada will be represented in all 5 sports on the Paralympic Winter Games docket: Para alpine, Para ice hockey, Para nordic (cross-country and biathlon), Para snowboard, and wheelchair curling.
PARA ALPINE
Kirk Schornstein
Erin Latimer
Braydon Luscombe
Mac Marcoux
Kurt Oatway
Frederique Turgeon
Alana Ramsay
Alexis Guimond
Alex Cairns
Mel Pemble
Mollie Jepsen
Jack Leitch
PARA SNOWBOARD
John Leslie
Michelle Salt
Alex Massie
Andrew Genge
Curt Minard
Sandrine Hamel
Colton Liddle
PARA NORDIC
Brian McKeever
Cindy Ouellet
Mark Arendz
Sebastien Fortier
Yves Bourque
Chris Klebl
Brittany Hudak
Collin Cameron
Ethan Hess
Natalie Wilkie
Emily Young
Derek Zaplotinsky
Russell Kennedy
Graham Nishikawa
WHEELCHAIR CURLING
Ina Forrest
Mark Ideson
Dennis Thiessen
James Anseeuw
Marie Wright
PARA ICE HOCKEY
Brad Bowden
Billy Bridges
Greg Westlake
Steve Arsenault
Adam Dixon
James Gemmell
Corbin Watson
Ben Delaney
Dominic Larocque
Tyler McGregor
Liam Hickey
Tyrone Henry
Rob Armstrong
Dominic Cozzolino
James Dunn
Bryan Sholomicki
Corbyn Smith
The most experienced Paralympian is hockey player Brad Bowden with 5 previous Games appearances to his name (four Winter, one Summer). Para nordic skier Brian McKeever holds the most Paralympic medals on the team with 13, including 10 gold, two silver and one bronze, from four Paralympic Games. The oldest athlete on the team is James Anseeuw from wheelchair curling at 58 years old. The youngest athlete on the team is Para ice hockey’s James Dunn who turned 17 years old on in November.
Team Canada Sledge Team practices before the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. Photo: Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Ontario is home to the most members of the Canadian Paralympic Team with 19 athletes hailing from the province. Following behind is Alberta with 10, British Columbia with 9, Quebec with 7, Manitoba with three, Saskatchewan with 3, and Prince Edward Island with 2. Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador each have 1 athlete.
Three athletes have also competed in summer sports at the Paralympic Games: Brad Bowden, Cindy Ouellet, and Liam Hickey (all in wheelchair basketball). Ouellet and Hickey will be making their Winter Games debuts. The roster includes three guides: Jack Leitch (guide for Mac Marcoux) and Graham Nishikawa and Russell Kennedy (guides for Brian McKeever).
PyeongChang 9/3/2018 – Flag bearer Brian McKeever leads Team Canada into the Paralympic Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, Korea. Photo: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Canadians will be able to connect more than ever to the nation’s Paralympic athletes, as every minute of the Games will be broadcast via the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s media consortium, which will include coverage on Canada’s Paralympic Network CBC and Radio-Canada, Sportsnet, AMI, Facebook, and Twitter.
