“We’ll have to hurry, the train is here.” My friend Tony frantically loaded up a brand new Tap card for me at a Sunset Metro station last week. “It’s ok, we’ll just take the next one,” my traveling companion Keira replied. Tony finished the steps and my card, loaded with a one-way fare, dropped from the ticket dispenser. In the distance, beyond the fare gates, we heard the train pull away. “Well, now we have to wait 27 minutes for the next one,” Tony shrugged. Keira and I looked at each other in disbelief. It was 7:00pm on a Tuesday night Los Angeles and the trains ran that infrequently? The experience sure made us appreciate our SkyTrain!
I Love Transit Week
If you love our local Metro Vancouver transit, you’re in luck. There’s an entire week dedicated to it, coming up August 29th to September 2nd!
I Love Transit Week is a week dedicated to all of the things that we love about transit – like that time Jarred and Nina tied the knot on the bus or when Annie and Mike got married on the 351 Crescent Beach.
I Love Transit Kids Camp is back for its third straight year during I Love Transit Week. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for kids between the ages of 8 and 12 to get a behind the scenes look at TransLink operating companies’ facilities.
Kids will learn about how transit works and have some fun at the same time! Check out all the fun that was had in 2014 & 2015. This year’s camp is taking place on Thursday September 1st.
The plan
Meet at Gilmore Station for 9:00am then hop on a bus and ride to Burnaby Transit Centre (“BTC”). BTC is home to little known transit operations such as fleet overhaul, where they fix and update almost everything on a bus, including the painting of buses and reupholstering of seats. Participants will get a tour of the bus yard with articulated and 40-foot buses.
After that, there will be lunch before leaving the BTC, then you’ll hop on SkyTrain and head to Edmonds Station and walk down to where SkyTrain Operations and Maintenance Centre (“OMC”) lives.
At OMC, campers will get a behind the scenes look at the facility where SkyTrains are maintained and cleaned as well as visit SkyTrain Control. They will also get a chance to use the SkyTrain simulator, ask questions of SkyTrain staff. The day ends with a visit with Transit Police and Transit Security. The day will wrap up around 4:00pm.
How to Participate
Due to safety concerns for both OMC and BTC, TransLink only able to take a maximum of 20 people in the camp. That means 10 kids (ages 8-12) and their guardians will be able to participate in the camp.
Interested in a fun day on transit? If you’d like to participate, tell TransLink (in 50 words or less) what you love about transit by emailing [email protected] with “I Love Transit Camp Kids” in the subject line.
You can also mail in your entry TheBuzzer, 400 – 287 Nelson’s Court, New Westminster, BC, V3L 0E7.
Be sure to include the following:
Name
Age
Where you heard about the camp
The phone number and name of the guardian you wish to bring with you
If you like, you can also submit a photo and/or a video as part of your entry. Before you or your little one starts typing or writing, you’ll want to read the participation guidelines.
The deadline for submissions is August 22. If you are selected, participation forms are due before August 26, 2016.
Sirius XM’s Top Comic is a nation-wide competition that will crown Canada’s next big name in comedy. This year’s pack has been narrowed down to 18 semi-finalists, with 6 from Vancouver. Each of these comics advanced past the audition phase last month, where 72 comics from across Canada competed in half a dozen auditions held in Vancouver and Toronto.
Sirius XM’s Top Comic
This year’s winner will receive the largest grand prize to date – $25,000 and a guaranteed spot at three of Canada’s biggest comedy festivals in 2017: JFL42 (Toronto), JFL NorthWest (Vancouver), and the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, including JFL: All Access, airing on The Comedy Network.
Semi-Finalist Sophie Buddle
I had the chance to chat with semi-finalist Sophie Buddle, after catching her on stage at Pemberton Festival this year. “It was a huge stage,” she laughed. “With about 20 people in the audience.” I assured her that at least 5 people were in my group, and we were all laughing from our patch of grass at the music festival grounds. Her comedy is well-written, sharp, and she offers a refreshing female perspective on life, love, and the love of shoes.
At just 21 years old, Sophie has already opened for Moshe Kasher at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, and done shows in LA including Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail and the Hot Tub Show with Kurt and Kristen. She has also been featured in JFL Northwest (formerly northwest comedy fest) the past 3 years.
“Scare crows just dress like people from Vancouver. Big hats, flannel, ripped jeans… and a stick up your a**” Sophie at Comedy Mix 2015
Originally from Ottawa, she moved to the West Coast at 18. She says that Vancouver is her favourite city in which to do comedy, even if it does get labeled as being too politically correct or uptight at times.
“I like the comedy scene so much, there’s lots of shows — good shows — and people come out to them. But it’s still a small enough scene that the pros will do shows still, and it brings up the quality for everyone.”
With the potential boost of the Sirius XM title, Sophie would plan on traveling to New York, doing stand-up, and writing. “I’d like any kind of writing job. Getting paid to write is cool, it’s fun!”
Watch her Twitter feed this week for a few more creative clips and info about how she just might spend the prize money too.
“This is the first competition I’ve been in where I have to ask for votes, so you’re always worried that you’re annoying people online.” If successfully through to the next round, Sophie and the other finalists will be flown to Toronto for a showcase. She joins five other Vancouver semi-finalists: Chris Gaskin, Christopher Griffin, Graham Clark, John Beuhler, and Kevin Banner in the quest for the title.
While Sophie’s currently in the thick of the competition, she provided some advice for those just starting out in comedy. “Just do it. Just start doing it. The best time to start is as soon as you feel the motivation.”
Until August 22nd, all Canadians will have the chance vote online for their favourite semi–finalist. The 8 semi-finalists with the most votes will advance to the Sirius XM’s Top Comic finale in Toronto on September 29th.
The Vancouver International Film Festival (“VIFF”) is one of the top five largest film festivals in North America, both in terms of admissions and the number of films screened. Screening films from more than 70 countries on 9 screens around the city for 16 days, welcoming over 144,000 audience members is a gigantic feat and it wouldn’t be possible without dedicated volunteers.
VIFF is powered by 1,300 volunteers and a hand full of staff members, and with the festival coming up at the end of next month, they’re putting the call out for more film-lovers to participate.
Volunteer for VIFF
During VIFF, hundreds of films from around the world will play throughout the city, showcasing unique genres and content. Plus: dozens of directors, writers and actors will be on hand for insightful—and occasionally provocative—post-screening Q&A sessions.
Volunteers are an essential and valued part of the Vancouver International Film Festival. They help to create successful world class events year-after-year. They are looking for volunteers to help fill their diverse teams and lead volunteer positions this year. If you love movies, the arts and being a part of an amazing community, then they have a spot for you!
VIFF this year: September 29th to October 14th
Volunteer Position Times: August 15th to October 14th
Posting run time: ASAP to September 5th
Location: Vancouver, various venues. Centralized at Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour)
Fitz and The Tantrums will play the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver on August 24th, continuing their summer tour in honour of their new self-titled album. The group first splashed onto the music scene in 2010 with their soulful R&B-revival and hit single “Moneygrabber”. In 2013, they tore up the charts again with gold-certified hits “The Walker” and “Out of My League.”
Fitz and the Tantrums then set out on a two-year touring odyssey, which enabled the Los Angeles-based sextet — known for its explosive, no-holds barred live shows — to cement themselves as one of the country’s hottest live acts.
The band’s self-titled album came out June 10th of this year and the first single, HandClap, was #1 most added at Alternative radio for 3 weeks in a row, was in the Top 5 of Spotifys US viral chart and is already in a FIAT ad! Fitz and The Tantrums has celebrated the album’s release with a North American headline tour that kicked off on June 11 at the Keloorah Festival in Brooklyn, MI and included a June 21 show at New York City’s Terminal 5.
Fitz and The Tantrums’ natural exuberance permeates their new self-titled album, which celebrates walking to the beat of your own drum. Lead singer, Michael Fitzpatrick, says of new record, “We’ve always tried to push ourselves at every turn. For our third album, we continued to challenge ourselves, taking care not to write the same record again.” “Turn It Up,” Fitz exhorts at the top of album opener and first single “HandClap.”
The horn-and-beats fueled track captures the exhilarating sense of promise – and danger – that a night out and a new romance hold. The staccato “Complicated” paints a relationship that’s packed with both chemistry and conflict and bursts into an unexpected cheer. Echo and otherworldly keyboards make “Tricky” an intoxicating dance-floor anthem and a warning to any future lover, while “A Place For Us,” the album closer, encapsulates the band’s belief that there is a place in the world for each of us to belong, regardless of our differences.
Fitz and The Tantrums are: Fitz (vocals), Noelle Scaggs (vocals/tambourine), James King (saxophone), Jeremy Ruzumna (keyboards), John Wicks (drums) and Joseph Karnes (bass).
Fitz and The Tantrums at The Vogue
Where: The Vogue (918 Granville St, Vancouver) When: Wednesday, August 24, 2016 doors @ 7:00pm Tickets:On sale now, all ages.
Win Tickets to Fitz and The Tantrums
If you would like to attend this energetic show, I have a pair of tickets to give away to a Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
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I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. Follow Fitz and The Tantrums on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more information.
The Sharing Farm’s 8th annual Metro Vancouver Garlic Festival will offer up over 1,000lbs of fresh garlic for sale this Sunday, combined with a celebration of “the stinking rose” that includes workshops and cooking demos.
Metro Vancouver Garlic Festival
When: Sunday, August 21, 2016 10:00am to 3:00pm Admission: By donation. Free parking available. Where: The Sharing Farm (Terra Nova Rural Park, 2771 Westminster Hwy, Richmond)
Over 5,000 people a year have enjoyed the family-friendly garlic festival, learning about how food grows, the benefits of healthy eating, and how families can live and grow through a sustainable lifestyle.
Highlights for festival goers include live entertainment, an expanded farmer’s market, cooking demonstrations, and a children’s area. The festival takes place at The Sharing Farm located in the beautiful award winning Terra Nova Rural Park. Food and drink tickets are available for sale online in advance (and onsite).
For 7 years, The Sharing Farm’s signature annual fundraiser, The Garlic Festival, has supported their food-dignity mandate to grow fresh local organic produce for low-income families. From their simple beginnings collecting surplus fruit to give to the Richmond Food Bank, through small-scale vegetable farming on donated land, The Sharing Farm Society now cultivates 3 acres at Terra Nova Rural Park.
Follow The Sharing Farm on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
If you love our local Metro Vancouver transit, you’re in luck. There’s an entire week dedicated to it, coming up August 29th to September 2nd! 
