I met Wesley a few weeks ago by way of Echo when we all got together for drinks in Yaletown. Wes and I clicked instantly when we both learned about our love for the Pet Shop Boys and of 80s music as a whole. When he told me that he went to see the PSB in concert last year at The Centre and an extra ticket to which he couldn’t find anyone to go with, my jaw dropped and eyes widened in disbelief and jealousy. I SO wanted to go as well but couldn’t find anyone else to go with. I waited too long to purchase a ticket for myself that when the time came, seats were all sold out.
Anyway, we met up a few days later at Yaletown Brewery for a big dinner gathering of friends when he invited me to come out to his Hallowe’en party he was throwing at his house. He called it the Pajama Jam Party where you had to come dressed in a Hallowe’en costume or in pajamas. I came dressed as a bedside table with a lamp shade on my head, complete with a chain link light switch hanging down from my forehead. In other word, I was “The One Night Stand”.
The party was lively with a DJ mixing tunes to keep the energy flowing on the dance floor. Strobe lights were installed and very big speakers were mounted at several corners for big sound. He even had a video projector projecting videos on the wall and ran an open bar in the kitchen. At one point throughout the night, there must have been around forty people dressed in pj’s and costumes mingling with other vampires and jack-the-rippers. Then there was “Slutty Alice”, just like Alice from Alice in Wonderland, only sluttier. And those were her words. I joked about her falling down the wrong hole which cracked all of us up.
I made myself a White Russian at the kitchen bar to let loose and loose my inhibitions and then moved on to the dance floor for a series of free-flowing moves that just came to me with the music. I was doing this in my One Night Stand costume for a while until I got really hot inside and took it off. I wasn’t looking for attention, but people started noticing and girls kept coming up to be complimenting me on my sultry moves. I was even more lively whenever I heard the Pet Shop Boys!
The fact that I was there well past four in the morning is testament to how much I’d enjoyed the party. Wow Wesley. You sure know how to put on a house party!
Oct 29, 2010
Oct 20, 2010
Vision Vancouver Pub Night.
Apart from the surrounding natural environment this beautiful city of Vancouver is well known for, there are many other facets that make this city incomparable to any other on Earth. From the formation of the Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board in 1949 to the subsequent creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), the pioneer planners of Vancouver laid down the foundation to pave the way towards a livable region we Vancouverites are blessed with living in today. City planners from around the world come to Vancouver in flocks to see how it all comes together here: mixed-use development of residential and commercial properties, central nodes and arterials creating unique communities, and a functional mass transit system as an alternative to the automobile. Unlike most other metropolitan cities in North America, we have no freeways cutting into or through the downtown core like a knife through the heart of the city.
Transportation was the theme when Vancouver hosted Expo ‘86, which gave birth to the world’s longest automated light metro system we call, SkyTrain, manufactured by Canadian-made Bombardier Inc. Together with a growing network of bike lanes, Vancouver has earned the distinction of, among others, one of the world’s most livable cities and being the greenest city in North America. This livable and sustainable model is what people around the world is calling Vancouverism.
If this city isn’t paradise, it’s the closest thing there is to it.
But we’re not done, nor are we resting on our laurels.
In support of Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision Vancouver team, I went to the Vision Vancouver Pub Night which was held at The Charles, a new venue at the Woodwards building development. In addition to making the Burrard bridge bike lane permanent, literally clearing the way for a separated bike lane along Dunsmuir, and most recently along Hornby street, Robertson, an avid cyclist himself, is leading by action and creating a city I’m proud to call home to. I wore my “BIKE LANES MAKE ME HORNBY” t-shirt with PRIDE.
Transportation was the theme when Vancouver hosted Expo ‘86, which gave birth to the world’s longest automated light metro system we call, SkyTrain, manufactured by Canadian-made Bombardier Inc. Together with a growing network of bike lanes, Vancouver has earned the distinction of, among others, one of the world’s most livable cities and being the greenest city in North America. This livable and sustainable model is what people around the world is calling Vancouverism.
If this city isn’t paradise, it’s the closest thing there is to it.
But we’re not done, nor are we resting on our laurels.
In support of Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision Vancouver team, I went to the Vision Vancouver Pub Night which was held at The Charles, a new venue at the Woodwards building development. In addition to making the Burrard bridge bike lane permanent, literally clearing the way for a separated bike lane along Dunsmuir, and most recently along Hornby street, Robertson, an avid cyclist himself, is leading by action and creating a city I’m proud to call home to. I wore my “BIKE LANES MAKE ME HORNBY” t-shirt with PRIDE.
Oct 12, 2010
CBC Massey Lecture with Douglas Coupland.
Just one week after meeting Douglas Coupland at CBC studios, here we were again, this time at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC for this year’s CBC Massey Lecture where Coupland takes to the stage.
Player One: What Is to Become of Us is divided into five hours (chapters/sections) and the Massey Lecture will be touring across Canada in five cities, with the last chapter reading in Toronto. Chapter One, appropriately, was read in its entirety here at the Chan Centre in Vancouver.
A broadcast of this series can be heard on Ideas with Paul Kennedy from November 8 - 12, and as a podcast thereafter.
Ieda finally got her copy of Player One here and queued in line for her own signed book. It was a delightful evening.
Player One: What Is to Become of Us is divided into five hours (chapters/sections) and the Massey Lecture will be touring across Canada in five cities, with the last chapter reading in Toronto. Chapter One, appropriately, was read in its entirety here at the Chan Centre in Vancouver.
A broadcast of this series can be heard on Ideas with Paul Kennedy from November 8 - 12, and as a podcast thereafter.
Ieda finally got her copy of Player One here and queued in line for her own signed book. It was a delightful evening.
Oct 5, 2010
CBC Radio One Book Club with Douglas Coupland.
A few weeks ago, I’d stumbled upon the CBC evening news crew doing a live broadcast from Central City Square, right across from work. Everyone from Gloria Makarenko, Tony Parsons, Claire Martin and Shane Foxman to the A/V technical team was there. The CBC was doing a travelling roadshow bringing the newsroom from 700 Hamilton to different communities in the lower mainland. Surrey’s mayor, Dianne Watts came out to do an interview and the SFU band played a few notes in the background during takes.
In my conversation with a crew at the CBC tent, I dropped Douglas Coupland’s name, out of which I had learned that he was coming to the CBC Radio One Book Club next month. I was pleasantly elated.
I went online to www.cbc.ca/books/bookclub and found out that the only way to attend this reading and live recording was to write, in 200 words or less, why I wanted to go. My first draft surpassed the 200 word limit two-fold. Here’s what I sent after my revision in exactly 200 words:
I just want to be in the same room with Douglas Coupland.
I missed out on an intimate evening with Mr. Coupland last year at Writers Fest where he discussed his new book, Generation A. It wasn't long before that I began reading his books, starting with JPod, a book I couldn't put down. I then got my hands on Generation X, Girlfriend in a Coma, Microserfs, and The Gum Thief. Currently, I'm reading Life After God.
Douglas Coupland plays a vital role in the fabric of this great nation, just like the CBC to which I am also an avid viewer and listener to. It was when I was conversing with a CBC crew member that I learned about Coupland at the Studio One Book Club.
To be in a room of literary fans and be able to experience the same level of energy shown when Jian Ghomeshi came to do a taping of ‘Q’ last year would be a delight.
According to Doug's Law, "Most of us have only a dozen or so genuinely interesting moments in our lives; the rest is filler." Meeting Coupland will certainly be an interesting moment in my life. I hope I win.
And I did win. Two tickets, actually; one for me and a guest. And naturally, I brought Ieda with me.
This studio recording of North by Northwest hosted by Sheryl MacKay interviewed Canada’s celebrated author, Douglas Coupland, on his new book of fiction titled Player One: What Is to Become of Us, a book he’d written specifically for the CBC Massey Lecture. Coupland read excerpts from Player One and answered many interesting questions from the hosts and audience, drawing upon personal experiences while answering them. And because he grew up in Vancouver and still calls Vancouver home, there’s a more personal level to his engagement with the audience and readers of his books who also reside or grew up in Vancouver.
I bought my copy of Player One here and had him sign it. While sitting down with him for a brief one-on-one interview with questions of my own, he also wrote down a short recommended reading list he thought I might enjoy by other authors.
I love books.
In my conversation with a crew at the CBC tent, I dropped Douglas Coupland’s name, out of which I had learned that he was coming to the CBC Radio One Book Club next month. I was pleasantly elated.
I went online to www.cbc.ca/books/bookclub and found out that the only way to attend this reading and live recording was to write, in 200 words or less, why I wanted to go. My first draft surpassed the 200 word limit two-fold. Here’s what I sent after my revision in exactly 200 words:
I just want to be in the same room with Douglas Coupland.
I missed out on an intimate evening with Mr. Coupland last year at Writers Fest where he discussed his new book, Generation A. It wasn't long before that I began reading his books, starting with JPod, a book I couldn't put down. I then got my hands on Generation X, Girlfriend in a Coma, Microserfs, and The Gum Thief. Currently, I'm reading Life After God.
Douglas Coupland plays a vital role in the fabric of this great nation, just like the CBC to which I am also an avid viewer and listener to. It was when I was conversing with a CBC crew member that I learned about Coupland at the Studio One Book Club.
To be in a room of literary fans and be able to experience the same level of energy shown when Jian Ghomeshi came to do a taping of ‘Q’ last year would be a delight.
According to Doug's Law, "Most of us have only a dozen or so genuinely interesting moments in our lives; the rest is filler." Meeting Coupland will certainly be an interesting moment in my life. I hope I win.
And I did win. Two tickets, actually; one for me and a guest. And naturally, I brought Ieda with me.
This studio recording of North by Northwest hosted by Sheryl MacKay interviewed Canada’s celebrated author, Douglas Coupland, on his new book of fiction titled Player One: What Is to Become of Us, a book he’d written specifically for the CBC Massey Lecture. Coupland read excerpts from Player One and answered many interesting questions from the hosts and audience, drawing upon personal experiences while answering them. And because he grew up in Vancouver and still calls Vancouver home, there’s a more personal level to his engagement with the audience and readers of his books who also reside or grew up in Vancouver.
I bought my copy of Player One here and had him sign it. While sitting down with him for a brief one-on-one interview with questions of my own, he also wrote down a short recommended reading list he thought I might enjoy by other authors.
I love books.
Oct 3, 2010
Goupon Day.
I’ve been told by many friends that I’m Groupon crazy. Perhaps they’re right. Looking at my collection of unused Groupons I’d purchased this year so far, it would seem that I’m buying more Groupons at a rate far in excess of the rate I’m redeeming them!
So I did something about it. Recognising that I do have a mild addiction (acknowledging this fact is step one to recovery), I forbade myself to purchase any more Groupons until I’ve used up the ones I have that are expiring soon. And what better way to do that than to devote an entire day going out with friends doing only the things I have Groupons for!
Timela, Tracy, Ieda and I got together for a hearty brunch at Deacon’s Corner and to kickstart our Groupon day, we went to the Vancouver Police Museum where I had five Groupons to redeem. It was sure to be An Arresting Experience™. And it actually was! I didn’t even know about this museum until Groupon featured it earlier this year. I learned a little about forensics, the history of the Vancouver Police, read about the many police dogs who died in the line of duty, the flags and uniforms over the years, unsolved murder mysteries and case files, and had a tour of the old morgue; a wall of stainless steel filing cabinets for bodies, one of which had the name “Obi Wan Kenobi”. Then there was the collection of hand guns seized by the police, and the autopsy table with real specimens of organic matter in glass jars. It was morbidly awesome.
After meeting up with a craigslister for the City of Glass book by Douglas Coupland, we were off to Mr. Pickwicks for some fish and chips and popcorn chicken down at the Marpole location. We had plenty to eat out on the patio table after redeeming my four Groupons.
In the evening, we were off to the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre to learn about astronomy and recognise some of the constellations in the night sky. I have a personal connection to this place. It’s been many years since I was here last, and to relive my childhood memories of coming here on a school field-trip was a trip down memory lane. Inside the Planetarium Star Theatre, Harrold, the projector in the middle of the dome, displayed a 360ยบ celestial view of the night sky as seen above several metropolitan cities around the world including London and what we may see when we look up under different seasons. It was like being on the Holodeck. Hahaha!
Night had fallen upon us when we left the domed theatre to walk out to the Gordon MacMillan Southam Observatory for an actual look at the stars above us now through the high-powered telescope controlled by a computer. Entering coordinates or cropping to the area we wanted to focus on on the 2D map on screen caused the whole roof of the observatory to move with the giant telescope to point toward the area in focus. This really excited the child within me all over again.
While I’d managed to use up a lot of Groupons today, I have many more Groupons to use. I can’t wait to organise another Groupon Day! Thanks Groupon, and thanks Tim for driving us around!
So I did something about it. Recognising that I do have a mild addiction (acknowledging this fact is step one to recovery), I forbade myself to purchase any more Groupons until I’ve used up the ones I have that are expiring soon. And what better way to do that than to devote an entire day going out with friends doing only the things I have Groupons for!
Timela, Tracy, Ieda and I got together for a hearty brunch at Deacon’s Corner and to kickstart our Groupon day, we went to the Vancouver Police Museum where I had five Groupons to redeem. It was sure to be An Arresting Experience™. And it actually was! I didn’t even know about this museum until Groupon featured it earlier this year. I learned a little about forensics, the history of the Vancouver Police, read about the many police dogs who died in the line of duty, the flags and uniforms over the years, unsolved murder mysteries and case files, and had a tour of the old morgue; a wall of stainless steel filing cabinets for bodies, one of which had the name “Obi Wan Kenobi”. Then there was the collection of hand guns seized by the police, and the autopsy table with real specimens of organic matter in glass jars. It was morbidly awesome.
After meeting up with a craigslister for the City of Glass book by Douglas Coupland, we were off to Mr. Pickwicks for some fish and chips and popcorn chicken down at the Marpole location. We had plenty to eat out on the patio table after redeeming my four Groupons.
In the evening, we were off to the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre to learn about astronomy and recognise some of the constellations in the night sky. I have a personal connection to this place. It’s been many years since I was here last, and to relive my childhood memories of coming here on a school field-trip was a trip down memory lane. Inside the Planetarium Star Theatre, Harrold, the projector in the middle of the dome, displayed a 360ยบ celestial view of the night sky as seen above several metropolitan cities around the world including London and what we may see when we look up under different seasons. It was like being on the Holodeck. Hahaha!
Night had fallen upon us when we left the domed theatre to walk out to the Gordon MacMillan Southam Observatory for an actual look at the stars above us now through the high-powered telescope controlled by a computer. Entering coordinates or cropping to the area we wanted to focus on on the 2D map on screen caused the whole roof of the observatory to move with the giant telescope to point toward the area in focus. This really excited the child within me all over again.
While I’d managed to use up a lot of Groupons today, I have many more Groupons to use. I can’t wait to organise another Groupon Day! Thanks Groupon, and thanks Tim for driving us around!
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