Peggy and I hit up the traveling tour of Evil Dead: The Musical tonight at the Vogue Theatre. We missed the original production of this show when it was played in New York when I lived there, so we were all sorts of excited when it was announced the show was coming to Vancouver.
Intrigued. Inspired. Impressed.
This was the collective feeling of the Emily Carr University of Art & Design students on Tuesday, when Edel Rodriguez stopped by to give a presentation of his art work.
So what the heck is up with Edel Rodriguez visiting Vancouver Opera, other than the fact that he’s the artist who designed the 2009/10 golden anniversary season’s artwork, and therefore, why not?
Well, we can let the cat out of the bag now…
A small clearing up ahead. There, shrouded amongst the long block of trees. Just off the sidewalk. A high fence that we had to climb over. On the other side, a steep and wooded hill. It was our one and only chance.
We took it.
And found ourselves at the Vandusen Botanical Gardens.
Having a good girls night out probably ranks pretty high up there on the “things that rock” list. Especially when you haven’t seen your best friend in what seems like eons. Yeah, that “work and school schtuff” sure gets in the way. Everyone I know are at that stage in our careers where we toil long ass hours with huge effort for not too spectacular a pay. Welcome to the 30s!
Which is why Peggy and I made a promise Saturday night over a trio of dessert samplers: key lime pie, banana and chocolate bread pudding and chocolate pecan pie.
A promise that sure, we’ll work our asses off now, but we better be in a position that when we hit 50 (good god, did I just say 5-0?!?), that we’ll have not only financial stability and security, but be as high up there on the food chain, so that if we want to take off on a whim from work when travel beckons, WE CAN DO IT. And more importantly, we can AFFORD it.
So this is our oath that I put forth to the universe.
Last Sunday, Sean and I got to indulge the child within each of us at Meadow Maze in Pitt Meadows. We were city mice transformed into country mice for the afternoon.
And how could we not be?
It’s pretty frickin’ fantastic when you find out that people are writing nice things about you and your work. More so when you weren’t even aware that they watching you in the first place. It’s kinda like finding out you’re being stalked in a good way.
This week, we stumbled on 3 websites that showed VO some love regarding our use of social media.
“I was surprised and very pleased to read the front page of the business section of todays Times Colonist newspaper based out of Victoria British Columbia. The title “Social networking boosts bottom line” brought a smile to my face. The subtitle “Blogs pay off by enhancing websites and communicating with customers” just made me more excited. It’s great to know that old media is recognizing the upside to new media. More and more these days the two are coming together and people are embracing the web and all it has to offer. The days of segregated media companies are over.
Victoria Times Colonist columnist Cara Wilson follows Ling Chan who is running the Vancouver opera’s social networking campaign. Chan recently presented at Social Media Marketing in Action: Using Social Media to Build a Brand and Generate Leads here in Victoria BC.”
Stikky Media
“I was reading an article in the Edmonton Journal yesterday and I couldn’t help but smile. The story was about how the Vancouver Opera is using its blog to make the opera “more accessible to people, educate them, increase awareness and make connections“. Wow! If the opera, renown for their tradition and history can turn to social media to spread the word, what’s stopping other industries? I know… that may be a bit too trivial, but you really have to hand it to the Vancouver Opera for enhancing their traditional marketing and communications vehicles with social media.
The Vancouver Opera also uses Twitter to pass along exclusive offers to their followers; another great idea. Kudos to Ling Chan, the individual at the Opera that is responsible for these initiatives; she deserves much credit for her outside-of-the-box thinking. The Vancouver Opera also deserves a tremendous amount of credit for trying something new and, some may say, risky. This case is yet another example of how social media is helping build strong brands and create dialogue with new and existing audiences.”
Communications Reloaded
“Many of the big performing arts groups in town are making good use of Twitter, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and The Arts Club. But the leader of the pack may be Ling Chan at Vancouver Opera, who has been doing a bang-up job of extending the opera company’s reach beyond the usual classical-music suspects. The opera’s Twitter feed features fun & interesting opera news, as well as exclusive offers for Vancouver Opera fans. In related social media news, the organization has been reaching out to bloggers as well, through their innovative Blogger Night at the Opera.”
Raised Eyebrow
Going into this, I never expected to pop up on anyone’s radar. I do what I do because I love it. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this professional validation from outside the company doesn’t make me walk just a little bit taller.
Photo courtesy of Tris Hussey
It’s no secret that zombies scared the crap out of me when I was little girl.
So I guess it would be smacking your fear in the face therapy that I went down to Zombiewalk 2009 on Saturday. Zombies big and small made their way to Vancouver Art Gallery to start the annual walk. And as the brain-eating force arrived, I made sure to get all up in their flesh decayed faces to snap their photos.
To cap off our weekend, Sean and I met my brother in Seattle to go to… the Depeche Mode Tour of the Universe concert at the Key Arena!
The show was incredible. Dave Gahan STILL got it. He’s always been hot, but now he’s even hotter, because the man underwent surgery this past May to remove a cancerous tumour from his bladder (while on tour), and after a brief rest is continuing with the world tour. Troo-per.
What does one do after waking up in the land of Twin Peaks? Why, go have breakfast at the Double R, that’s what. So we checked out and drove to Twede’s Cafe on North Bend Way and Taylor Avenue.