One of the things that many people have asked me is why my blog has transformed itself and sometimes I don’t post as much about what I’ve been up to. To be quite honest, sometimes I do so many things it’s kind of hard to really summarize what I’ve been up to.
For those of you who like the personal diarist angle of my blog, here is a very brief summary of what I’ve been up to in the past few days. If you are not tired by the time you’ve finished reading, I’ll congratulate you 🙂
– Attended 5 events on Wednesday – Capone’s Wine Wine Launch for the month of April, attended my very first hockey gathering NHL Tweetup, caught the tail end of Launch It, went briefly to Green Drinks, and swung by the Startupreneurs Meetup. Survived, somehow.
– Went to the Meet and Tweet event where Rebecca was presenting. Frankly, I enjoyed it enormously. I saw Gary, Lisa, Rainer, Kimm, Rachael, Ryan and a number of other friends. Gary kindly sponsored my drinks for the evening (I was the Designated Drinker). I managed to sober up on the way back. Luckily, Rebecca was driving. It was a very pleasant evening, and a good chance to have a good chat with Rebecca on the drive there and back. Lesson learned? Never drive eastbound on Highway 1 during rush hour.
– Spoke at an event organized by Amuse Consulting on my empirical and theoretical findings on how people use social networking sites (marketing by social media). It was fun, and had a chance to see many new faces.
– I went to the HOPE International Fundraiser Dinner, with many thanks to Jet Takaoka for inviting me, to Doug Van Spronsen and Jered Love for passing the invite from Jet and to my +1 that evening for making it so much fun (we went for drinks after the dinner). I am very touched by the amazing work done by HOPE International and look forward to ways in which I’ll be able to provide them with some exposure. Also, I plan to highlight Run for Water too. Lovely bunch of people sitting at my table too. Wardrobe malfunction prevented me from wearing my black blazer. So. Annoyed.
– Went to Degan’s birthday party, which was super mega fun (and also thanks to Travis and Susie who were wonderful hosts). I ate so much meat I think I’m done for 2009 in regards to meat consumption. Seriously.
– Met with Shawn Smith (Global Agents of Change and Education Generation) for breakfast at The Nice Cafe. I could not believe how much similarity our lives have in regards to how busy we are. Wonderful work, I’ll be profiling GAC and EdGen soon on my blog). After that, I met with Gus to go over Cover It Live. Gus and Russ have been amazing to me, and these past few days in particular.
– Sunday I felt really ill, but I managed to drag myself out of bed and meet with Matt, Maktaaq, David and Pam for brunch at The Wallflower. I came home after a lovely brunch with these friends of mine that I rarely see now, to be met with my beautiful couch. Then proceeded to take as many naps as my body required. I had to cancel on my lovely friend AF but I was feeling sick. Right now I’m sort of ok.
So that’s what I did last week, on top of research, consulting, writing and submitting applications. What did YOU do last week?
I had the pleasure of attending Strutta’s “Beers on the Couch” last Friday to talk about “Fashion for Geeks”. You’ll be able to see the taped show here once it is processed. I am truly honored that Jordan Behan thinks I’m fashionable enough, and also very happy that Erica Lam (The Style Spy) and Miranda Sam (Style By Fire) think so too. Quite frankly, I think I do have my own sense of style (also, having modeled before does help).
I am thinking of putting together a “Social Media and Fashion” Tweetup, simply because as the organizer of the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup, I am the guy who is supposed to know every single blogger in this fair city, and I happen to actually know lots of excellent local Vancouver bloggers.
Here is a little quiz I found on BlogThings. I have to say, I am not surprised. I do think I’m stylish 🙂
You Are Super Stylish
You’ve got style, no doubt about it. You always look your best.
You are on top of trends, and you carefully pick what works for you.
You dress for the occasion, and you never wear anything inappropriate.
You only own the best clothing and accessories. You know how to make an impression.
I swear that there is something in my karmic balance that always manages to screw up my social calendar. I wonder if it is my relative inability to say “no”. I want to show up at all events, help everyone, give a bit of myself to everyone, and that’s just impossible. In the end, trade-offs need to be made and I need to choose one event over the other. There are some excellent local events that have happened all the time when I can’t make it. This frustrates me to no end. This has been the case with the Vancouver Opera Blogger Nights.
Despite 3 previous invites, I had never had a chance to attend one of the Blogger Nights organized by the Vancouver Opera. Nevertheless, I have previously written reviews for Rigoletto (JT took me to this show). Moreover, Tris and I did an exclusive video-report of Carmen’s dress rehearsal for Sexy in VanCity. I don’t see any of my reviews linked to the Vancouver Opera blog/site yet, but I am sure they’ll put them up eventually.
Finally, I have managed to clear my schedule for the upcoming Vancouver Opera opening night for Salome, the opera based on the Oscar Wilde play. You need to know from the get-go that I’m the son of a trained soprano. My Mom loves opera, my brother S also loves it and I am more than happy to share in the love for the bel canto. Thus, I have both an appreciation and an understanding of opera. And I’m really delighted that the Vancouver Opera office kept me in mind and kept inviting me despite my crazy schedule. This time, I’m IN!
I’ll be live-blogging along with a few of my blogging friends (I have high hopes that Vancouver Opera will keep our cocktail/wine glasses refilled, as we will be generating substantial amounts of content and I can assure you that at least, I will need the energy booster!). The incredibly nice element of having several bloggers offering their own perspective is that we all have our own views and background and experiences with the opera.
Personally and for the 2009-2010 season, I would like to see a rotation of bloggers (i.e. just as you will see Monique, Tris, Rebecca, Tanya, Kimli and myself on Saturday May 3rd, you might see a completely different roster of bloggers the next show). I think it would add an element of freshness. Although, I can also see how having the same bloggers repeat every show creates a history. Any way VanOpera decides to go, I’m fine with it.
To read all the blog posts from the Vancouver Opera on Salome, you can click here. And for my liveblog of Salome, well, tune in on Saturday May 2nd, 2009 around 7pm. If you need information on where to park (although I seriously encourage you to come by transit) here are some instructions I was given by the VO office. For the record, it takes 5 minutes to walk from Stadium/Chinatown Skytrain station to the Queen Elizabeth Park.
We won’t be able to live-tweet the performance, but I am pretty sure we’ll be live-tweeting before the performance starts. I would suggest to my fellow bloggers that we use the hashtag #vanopera (I already checked Summize and it works, nobody else has used it).
I am always amazed by how incredibly welcoming the social media community in British Columbia has been to me. Recently, I volunteered myself (only half-jokingly) to be the speaker at the Social Media Club gathering in Victoria (British Columbia). Catherine Novak (WordSpring) took my offer to heart and now it is official. On May 26th, 2009, I will be crossing the pond and going over to the capital of beautiful British Columbia to speak about “Using Social Media for Social Change: Towards an Action-Based Agenda“. I am incredibly honored because I have had the pleasure of meeting Chris Heuer (Chairman, Co-Founder of Social Media Club). I am also honored because Colleen Coplick invited me to be part of SMC 604.
Basically, the abstract of my talk will be the following:
The fact that we live in a networked society where the boundaries between public and private have blurred is no mystery to anyone. I have been interested in the behavior of networks for almost a decade. Recently, I have begun an action-focused research agenda trying to understand how we can use social marketing AND social media at the intersection of public policy issues, environmental affairs and more recently, de-stigmatization of mental health.
In this presentation, I want to push the social media for social change agenda further. I’d like to challenge the participants to join me in a brainstorming session to delineate what the future of social networking, social media and social marketing is and how all these elements interact with each other and strengthen our capabilities to effect social change in the world. We need to stop ‘thinking’ so much and start ‘acting’ much more. I will challenge my audience to join me in this movement towards an action-based agenda for social media for social change.
Lorraine Murphy, Skookumchuk of Raincoaster Media, invited me a few months ago to be a guest lecturer in her courses. I have now risen in the ranks and currently am a Teaching Associate for RCM. Her next course, Blogging for Beginners, takes place on Saturday May 2nd, 2009 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. You can check the outline here.
In the near future, I will be teaching two modules:
– Google Tools (which includes Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Scholar and GMail/GTalk)
– Twitter Tools (which includes TweetDeck, HootSuite, Twhirl).
Alex Barker and Mark Kenna contacted me recently in regards to having lost their business (Obsessions) during the Canada Line construction. I am sharing their story as told through an email they sent me, and am happy to share their contact information should you be interested.
After being put through three years of hell, we find ourselves in foreclosure of our home and we are desperately looking for somewhere to rent with our two 9 year old retrievers. We are finding this very difficult indeed as most rentals downtown are not pet friendly. We’ve been through enough, The thought of having to lose our dogs is unthinkable – they are from the same litter and have never been apart their entire lives. They are completely house trained, good-as-gold and quiet.
We are a mature gay couple of 16 years, highly professional and extremely respectable home owners. We would offer any Landlord complete piece-of-mind and would be model tenants. We will be homeless by July 1st when we have to leave our home.
I asked Susan Hayes of Hazel & Co if she could contact her friends and ask if anyone is looking to rent their 1 or 2 bed condo and would be ok with the dogs. Downtown or Westend is preferred as we both work there and have lived here for over 12 years. Bonnie contacted us after hearing from Susan and she thinks your blog or twitter may be able to help us?
We would be SO grateful if you can help us. The stress and worry is making us both quite ill at this time. We are beside ourselves…
Kind regards
Alex Barker
Mark Kenna
If you can help Alex and Mark and offer an affordable place for them to rent, please either drop a comment here or send me an email and I’ll forward it to them.
At the beginning of the planning stages of Mental Health Camp, both Isabella and I knew that we would need to deal with members of the mainstream media who would be interested in learning more about MHC and its objectives. Little did we know that we would be blessed with the PR wizardry of Cathy Browne, who just recently relocated to Vancouver from California.
Armed with 20 years of PR experience, Cathy wrote our press release, coordinated the release efforts with NewsWire, liaised with each and every one of our media outlets (including The Georgia Straight, The Vancouver Sun and the CBC) and managed to assuage any concerns of MHC participants in regards to how they could deal with media, should any reporters approach participants. She ensured that Isabella and I would be prepared to deal with tough questions from the media and coached us on how to best broach thorny subjects. As Cathy mentions in her blog post, her career began in non-profits, and her 20 years of experience showed very clearly. Cathy very happily supported Isabella and myself throughout the organizational process, thereby becoming our very own Media Liaison and Public Relations Concierge.
We can’t thank Cathy enough for all the time she devoted to Mental Health Camp, for free. As I’ve mentioned before, each and every hour that every person who volunteered their time for MHC’09 was an hour that they could have otherwise billed (or enjoyed a relaxing and leisurely day). If you have PR and media liaison needs, trust me – Cathy knows her stuff inside and out. Her LinkedIn profile can be found here, and she is on Twitter as @cathybrowne.
Mental Health Camp would have not been such a success if we had not had the strong support of WorkSpace. Not only did they donate their space for the entire day (thereby foregoing potential revenue from renting the space for the day), they also donated their time, which also costs money (both Dane Brown and Greg Andrews were there, helping at every single step along the way). They even promoted the event on Twitter and on their blog!
I have always believed in the WorkSpace philosophy and concept, and have always enjoyed a great friendship with everyone there, but I am just going to say it again – THANK YOU. You guys rocked and both Isabella and I are very grateful for your sponsorship and all your help. MHC’09 ran smoothly because you guys gave us a platform, a space and all the logistical help we needed. We are very much in your debt.
Recently, I was able to listen to Tris Hussey‘s excellent talk at Third Tuesday. While at the event, we discussed the widely publicized case of Raymond Lam having to resign after having photos of him leaked from his personal Facebook account. We discussed the fact that the boundaries between the private and the public are highly blurred now, and that we need to talk about etiquette in social media. I wanted to just use this post to announce that we (and by we I mean, Shane Gibson, Lorraine Murphy and myself) will have this discussion at the next Vancouver Bloggers Meetup. We are hoping to have Colleen Coplick moderate the roundtable.
Yes, everyone, it’s true. I am hijacking my own Meetup in order to continue with a much needed discussion on the rules and etiquette of social media. Here is the abstract of our panel.
Rules, Norms and Web 2.0: Etiquette in an Era of Evolutionary Social [Dis]Organization
Etiquette is frequently seen as a constraining set of behavioral rules, delineating what behaviors are appropriate within a certain social arena and which are not. But in a context of online multiverses, each with its own culture and demographic, what is truly the “right” thing, and how can we know it? Culture clashes and rapid evolution of social norms are ubiquitous in social media: why? What is appropriate etiquette? Is it portable across platforms? What are the ‘right’ kind of rules and norms in an unruly arena such as the online social media world? The participants in this panel will engage in a conversation about what constitutes etiquette, whether or not it relates to a moral imperative, whether it emerges as self-appointed leaders create specific sets of norms and discuss the evolution of etiquette in emergent social media. The implications for codes of behavior and etiquette in Web 2.0 are also discussed.
I’ll announce it on the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup site and on Twitter once I have firmed up a location (which most likely will be the Regis Room at the St. Regis Hotel, downtown, right beside the Granville Street Skytrain station exit on Dunsmuir).
Anthony Nicalo invited me to come and participate in the second session of the FarmFed series: Provenance: You are What You Eat. Part 2/6 “Understanding the Provenance of Seafood”
Monday, April 27, 6pm
For me it was important to come by as I have conducted research on eco-labels. Moreover, it was a good opportunity for me to further my understanding of sustainable seafood production and consumption, eco-labels. And it wasn’t technically a social media gathering, so I’m delighted to be here. Obviously, geek as I am, I offered to liveblog!
From the FarmFed website you can read the description of this session I’m attending.
Mike McDermid, Program Manager of Ocean Wise and Chef Robert Clark of [C] Restaurant will join us for this evening’s discussion of the provenance of seafood. The importance of understanding where seafood is caught and harvested and overall impacts on our oceans will be discussed. Enjoy sustainable seafood hors d’oeuvres prepared by Chef Robert Clark and fish-friendly wines.
Tonight’s discussion will help guests make mindful choices when shopping for seafood and they leave with a copy of “Sea Sick: The Global Ocean Crisis” by Alanna Mitchell.
Given the kind of work I do in the social media world, I should be attending the upcoming Vancouver Net Tuesday, which is organized by Elijah van der Giessen of the David Suzuki Foundation on the topic “Mini Social Media Camp for Nonprofits & Other Do Gooders!”. This promises to be a wonderful event and I wish I had the energy and momentum to attend. I’ve been a very strong supporter of Net Tuesday, speaking at the most recent one and live-blogging (media sponsoring) a few others.
You’d think that given the work I’ve done recently (co-organizing Mental Health Camp with the multi-talented, lovely and amazing Isabella Mori) you would think that our project would be a prime candidate to be showcased in this event. I am not sure if Isabella is going to Net Tuesday, but I’m going to openly say that I am not going. I feel obligated to explain that I will not be able to attend not only because 3 events are happening on the same evening (BC Healthy Living Alliance walk, Chip is Not Dead Yet fundraiser and Net Tuesday) but also because I have decided to take this week all to myself. I am not attending any social media events this week, come hell or high water. I need to recover from a really rewarding but exhausting MHC’09.
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Shawn Smith (who is the force behind Global Agents for Change and Education Generation) for brunch at The Nice Cafe a few days ago. Shawn was kind enough to share with me a few insights into the whole concept behind Global AFC and EdGen. While I completely forgot to bring my Flip camera and film Shawn, I would like to share just a little bit of the insights I gained through our conversation.
Education Generation is a non-profit organization that provides help in the form of grants to students in need in developing countries. In their own words:
We bridge the gap between supporters and students in need using technology. We eliminate the high overhead of child sponsorship, partnering with existing not for profit organizations that understand the communities they work in, and have a track record of success.
This allows you to directly help motivated students, with 100% of your money (after paypal processing fees) supporting their studies. We bring communities of people together with contributions as low as $20, to collectively support individual students. These are real youth with real dreams and unlimited potential. You can unleash this potential and help bring these dreams to reality.
As a researcher and educator, and somebody who is very passionate about enabling disenfranchised people to do amazing stuff, I am really excited with the work of EdGen. I offered Shawn that I would be happy to help co-organize a fundraiser, because I strongly believe that if you are going to fund a student, you should provide a bursary/scholarship, not a loan. I am not a fan of the Kiva model for education. Yes, I think loans are important, but under no circumstance would I consider a loan for education as a best-practices model. While I can see the various sides of the equation, I wouldn’t want students who have carried on debt to have to carry it forward for years to come.
You can follow the amazing work of EdGen on their website and their Twitter account.
Thanks to the good folks at The First Weekend Club (Canada Screens Vancouver), I got a pair (2) tickets to the premiere of “Mothers & Daughters” on April 29th at District 319 (319 Main Street), with a Q&A with director Carl Bessai & cast following screening, so I decided to give them away through a contest. To enter the contest, simply drop a comment. I’ll draw the lucky winner tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday April 28th) at noon (12:00pm)
The movie synopsis is provided on the FWC.
This multi-award winning and nominated gem of a film is Carl Bessai’s exploration of the hilarious and ridiculously complicated mother/daughter bond. Entertaining with a truthful and touching spirit, Bessai’s film visits the dynamics of three unique and beguiling mother/daughter pairs, which offer a diverse glimpse into the needs, denials, and the inescapable love that these women feel towards each other.
The schedule is as follows: 6 PM: Pre show celebration and wine reception (complimentary glass of wine), with music by Rachael Chatoor. By the way, Rachael is a good friend and a great musician so should be AWESOME. 7 PM: Film screening with prize giveaways followed by a Q&A with the director & cast and a post-screening party
For tickets, you can call 604-983-5373 or email – paul@firstweekendclub.ca. Tickets are a very reasonable $12 via PayPal, and given that this is a private event, you must buy your tickets in advance. You can check the trailer by clicking this link.
Via the always adorable Grace Carter (Invoke Media) I heard about the CNDY Fundraiser, which luckily is also taking place the same evening as a Canucks game, so you’ll have a chance to win tickets to one of the playoffs games! From my good friend Rob Lewis’ Kitsilano blog post about the event:
Join the Chip’s Not Dead Yet team Tuesday, April 28th at the Coppertank Pub in Kitsilano for a pre-race party. Pub night starts at 7pm so RSVP today for a night of live music, drinks, and great prizes including Canucks playoff hockey tickets, a signed Canucks jersey and more.
Tickets are $10 at the door and include a free Russell beer and appies. Proceeds go towards BC Children’s Hospital. RSVP today. Come out and show your support for a great cause and enjoy some free beer and food!
You should check out the details for the Chips Not Dead Yet race at www.chipsnotdeadyet.com, and register today! All participants will receive a custom Lululemon race jersey.
Also, if you must know, I have offered that I’ll run in my underwear (Superman-themed and yes, with a cape!) if I am able to raise $ 5,000. So, start sponsoring me, will you please?
Via the always lovely Monica Hamburg I learned that on Tuesday April 28th, the BC Healthy Living Alliance is hosting an invite only walk to highlight issues of healthy living. I was invited along with a number of fellow bloggers but unfortunately can’t attend.
The walk is next Tuesday, April 28th, we will meet at Waves Coffee on the corner of West Broadway and Spruce Street at 6:30pm. Though the walk won’t be too intensive, there will be some mildly-steep hills so wear comfortable shoes.
So you may ask yourself – what is the BCHLA?
Formed in February 2003, the BC Healthy Living Alliance (BCHLA) is a group of organizations that have come together with a mission to improve the health of British Columbians through leadership that enhances collaborative action to promote physical activity, healthy eating and living smoke-free.
I am, unfortunately, unable to attend but I have inquired if the event is open to the public, so if you are interested, please contact Rita at rkoutfodimos@bchealthyliving.ca and she will let you know about the capacity of the event. I am sure it will be a good event. It is important for people to understand what factors can affect our quality of life and how we can change behavioral patterns that may be unhealthy. You may want to check the Facebook event page or follow @BCHealthyLiving on Twitter.
I strongly believe in the work of the BC Healthy Living Alliance and look forward to hearing how the walk goes.
I was thinking a few days ago, if I had to choose two posts that really depicted who I am, which ones would I use? I am particularly proud of this one and also of this one. If you are interested in learning more about me, I suggest reading those posts.
The past few weeks have been intense, and I’ve been working very hard. Therefore, I have decided to cancel on everything that is coming up this week. That means, unless it involves 1 or 2 very close friends (at the most), I’m canceling on whatever I had previously committed. I need to take care of myself and this is the only way. Sorry.
I am SO honored, SO proud and SO delighted at the amazing response we had from the community at large in regards to Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2009! Last night, Isabella and I were talking on the phone checking last minute details about MHC ’09. We were meticulously going over every detail, and at some point, we just were amazed at the fact that exactly two months ago, we had just finished the panel “Coping Digitally” at Northern Voice ’09.
Many people have asked me how did we come up with the idea of Mental Health Camp. If my memory serves me right, Isabella and I were passing each other “paper tweets” and discussing the possibility of creating a MHC. After all, we both were Organizers of the Vancouver Blogger Meetup (I’m the current one and Isabella is my predecesor). We both were well-known and connected in the community. Isabella is an expert on mental health issues. I am a fairly decent event organizer and social media person. And we loved the idea of collaborating on a project together. We both felt incredibly inspired by the early work of Sparkling Amber who organized the panel, and by each and every one of the participants of Coping Digitally.
Two months, countless tweets, emails, phone calls and many hours spent organizing, negotiating details of catering (thanks to BC Mental Health Foundation for their amazing support and a huge THANK YOU to LunchBox for their very generous gift/discount -the food was extraordinary!), Isabella and I met at 7:50am this morning just outside WorkSpace. The first phrase we said was “ok! the day is finally here! we ARE in business! Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2009 is happening, really happening!”
To my volunteers, especially Caroline, Air, John, Erica, Adrienne, Jennifer and Gus – love you guys SO much! You made my and Isabella’s lives SO much easier.
To Cathy Browne, the official Media Liaison and Public Relations Concierge of Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2009, thank you SO much! Twenty years of experience in the PR field are definitely noticeable. Without you, we couldn’t have handled media relations and PR, and your wisdom was incredibly helpful. Also, you kept both Isabella and myself sane! Smart PR firms in Vancouver should feel excited to have you work for them in the PR field!
To WorkSpace, words are not enough to thank you, Dane and Greg. You rocked our world. Your generosity and friendship is truly valued.
In addition to the great support of the BC Mental Health Foundation for their generous donation towards lunch, I have to give a huge shout-out to LunchBox, the official caterers of Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2009. The food was amazing, and we are incredibly grateful for the generous discount gift you gave us. Thank you!
To the amazing participants and presenters we had, thanks SO much for sharing, for keeping an open mind, for discussing ideas in such a thoughtful and kind and loving way.
And with that, I bid you good night. It was a wonderful day! And yes, you guessed right. There WILL be a Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2010!
I don’t have much time because I am going to have to sleep at some point and get up early to be at WorkSpace for 8:00am for the very first Mental Health Camp, organized in Vancouver by Isabella Mori (MoriTherapy) and yours truly. MentalHealthCamp takes place on Saturday April 25th, 2009 from 8:00am to 6:30pm at WorkSpace. We are truly thankful to everyone who has been involved. Thanks to BC Mental Health Foundation and to LunchBox. Thanks to Patterson Brands. Thanks to my volunteers.
Yes, I do have a message to those who did support me in my efforts. I will remember this. You have renewed my faith in humanity. Thank you to my volunteers, thank you to Isabella and thank you to everyone who has made possible MHC09. I am truly honored, grateful and overall really touched. You rock.
Once upon a time, my site was the top-ranked blog on UrbanSpoon. For a while there, I cherished being at the top. But as I told David, Pam, Matt and Maktaaq, I really no longer care to be the top ranked blogger on UrbanSpoon. To be quite frank, I don’t care to be the top-ranked anything.
Have I gained anything substantial from being the top-ranked (or one of the top-ranked, now currently sitting at #4) blogger on UrbanSpoon? No, not really. I have a very cool t-shirt that Ethan (from UrbanSpoon), and I’ve been invited to several events, but other than that? Nothing much, really. I enjoy a very positive communication with UrbanSpoon. But I don’t get any special privileges.
There are foodies whose palates I trust and are not even ranked on UrbanSpoon or are ranked below the top 5. My friend Degan is an example. David himself is another foodie I trust. Other friends of mine whose palates are outstanding (Karen, Eagranie) are ranked below the top 10 on UrbanSpoon. I’ve decided to just not care anymore about my ranking, on Urban Spoon, on Twitter Elite, on anything.
Quite frankly, I would prefer my brother to write this concert review, simply because I think that he has WAY more to say. He has a fabulous musical taste, and a really broad range of preferences in regards to what he likes, and I thoroughly enjoy attending live concerts with him. I feel comfortable enough to share a live show of, say, Delhi 2 Dublin, just the same as the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
Overall, my first impression of having Thievery Corporation at The Orpheum (and HZ agrees with me) was – WRONG LOCATION. Sorry, folks. The Orpheum for Natalie McMaster? Sure. The Orpheum for a classical music concert? Absolutely. The Orpheum for Thievery Corporation? Oh. So. Wrong. On. So. Many. Levels. Then, a one-hour delay. After we ate dinner really fast, walked CS really quickly to her bus stop (as she needed to go home and take a leisurely night), and then walked fast to The Orpheum. And we got delayed one hour. NOT. Cool.
Then Thievery Corporation started its show (after a one-hour delay that was filled with super awesome deep-house music, so I’m not going to complain). I missed Degan and Patricia (whom I knew were going to the concert), but it was ok. We all were going to the concert with different +1’s. You may ask yourself… what is Thievery Corporation’s music like and why do you like it? Easy to answer the second question: I love TC because they add some of the sounds that I enjoy – deep house, some electronica, some down tempo. From the Wikipedia entry about TC:
Their music style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, Indian classical and Brazilian (such as bossa nova) with a lounge aesthetic.
Bear in mind – I am not a reggae kind of guy. I get antsy with high-pitched, high, intense beat music. So, admittedly, I don’t like EVERYTHING that TC plays. But what do I like? I love many of their songs, and I love the fact that they bring in guest artists (the TC duo is really a couple of DJs and the rest of the ensemble is pretty much, guests).
Admittedly, I also like their political manifesto approach to lyrics. El Pueblo, Unido, Jamas Sera Vencido (the people, united, will never be defeated) is a phrase frequently repeated throughout one of the songs that TC plays (and that we listened to). Of course, at some points we had to stand up and dance, because, well, it’s TC! One guy whom I would have NOT guessed would have good dance moves was dancing a couple of seats in front of me. It was fun to watch.
Someone put up a video with the music from Shaolin Satellite (one of my favorite TC tunes) so I encourage you to listen to it and judge for yourself. And, if you need to know what I think of the concert… well, after 2 hours of great music, HZ and I left The Orpheum slightly disappointed by the choice of closing tunes, but overall, we enjoyed the show. I’ll wait to hear if he posts a review and then link to his review, as he is a much better concert reviewer than me.
I’ve been to Stepho’s before, but quite frankly I never got around writing a review. With my brother’s recent birthday, his fiancee thought that it would be a good idea to treat us to dinner and a concert. Both my brother and I love Thievery Corporation, so she got us tickets and all three of us went out for dinner. What could be better than spend your birthday with two of the people who love you the most in the world, right? I am really grateful that CS invited me to be part of HZ’s celebration, as both of them mean a lot to me.
On to Stepho’s. Agreed. It’s an experience you *have* to have if you are a true Vancouverite. Yes, the food is great. Yes, the portions are really abundant. We ordered hummus and melitzano (2 dips we all love). We had already eaten Greek food for dinner all together (Bouzyos), and really, it’s hard to go wrong with Greek cuisine.
We arrived at 5.45pm (I arrived slightly late, due to transit problems) and that was the only element that I didn’t like: Stepho’s won’t seat you unless all your party members are there. Fine. Toshi’s on 16th and Main does the same thing, and I kind of understand. It was a bit stressful for me, as I knew that we had to eat dinner relatively fast in order to get to the concert. The waitress was slightly stand-off-ish, but then I think one of the managers took over and we had a really great experience.
I ordered a chicken souvlakia, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to finish all that food if I ordered a large portion. After sharing the hummus and melitzano and enjoying each one of our dinners, I *knew* none of us would be hungry but still, we managed to split some dessert. Overall, I would say – yes, Stepho’s is one of those traditional Vancouver restaurants you *have* to try at some point. It’s inexpensive, the portions are big. On a normal week night, or on a weekend, I wouldn’t go out of my way to come to Stepho’s. I’ve had dinner at Takis Taverna and Characters (who are all within 20 metres of Stepho’s) and I’ve had a good time. Bouzyos on Commercial Drive and Alexis on Cambie Street are also good options for Greek food. But for me, the best part wasn’t the food – it was being with CS and HZ. That’s what made it all worth it.
I am always amazed at survey designs. Most of the time, I find surveys between horrible and absolutely disgustingly designed. Bear in mind, I did a PhD under the supervision of a professor who is an extremely rigorous researcher. Therefore, I became really analytical (well, I was analytical before but I turned out to be even pickier).
The latest survey I took asked me what kind of activities I do to keep myself entertained. One of the reasons why I always flaunt that I’m a very good date is that I actually love doing A LOT of things, so it’s kind of hard to be bored with me. Not being self-absorbed, it’s just the truth.
As you can see in the graph below, I enjoy A LOT of activities for leisure. So, if you are into anything of the stuff shown below, you will know who to call to hang out. Except… well, my schedule is pretty darn packed. But that should not prevent you from asking! I always try to make time for my friends.
I am brewing a contest to celebrate (and thanks to Gary Jones from BlueFur for stepping up to the plate and sponsoring), but with MHC coming up, I am just overwhelmed. Small factoids you might want to consider:
– When I started blogging, I used Blogger (Blogspot). I now use a self-hosted install of WordPress.
– I moved from Blogger to WP.com to WP.org. I would recommend to just stay with a self-hosted install of WP. It’s so much more convenient.
– I am geeky enough now that I do all my HTML coding by hand. I even know how to tweak a thing or two in my CSS.
– I upload my own plugins and some of them I can manipulate the settings. I know, this isn’t a big deal for many people, but hey I don’t work in the tech industry, so it *is* a big deal for me.
– My readership grew 3,000 times from the day I started to today. Yes, sir, that’s right.
– While WP reports only 1580 posts, I’ve written many, many more. This blog has received 3,472 comments in the period since I moved to WP.com (March 2008).
– I have Blogathoned twice (2007 and 2008).
– I started using Twitter a year ago (April 2008). My readership has increased as my use of Twitter has increased.
– I’ve presented at 1 blogging conference (Northern Voice 2009), helped organize two other conferences associated with social media and am now the co-organizer of Mental Health Camp.
– I have tested the social media tools and now have a research blog as well.
More importantly, I still find blogging cathartic, fun and relaxing. And remember, while I love the fact that you find my musings fun to read, or interesting, I blog for myself. That will NEVER change.
Via Thomas Goddall (Fresh Start Recycling) I found out that this weekend is Earth Weekend with the Vancouver Aquarium (April 25th and 26th). See the invite below, they are offering free recycling of your electronics when you participate in this super cool event. Cheers to Fresh Start for partnering with the Vancouver Aquarium on Earth Day!
