Keira-anne.com

So much to write, so little time. Let’s get started, shall we?

Just in case you didn’t catch it the first time or heard about it through Becky, here’s your reminder that tonight is the first night of free ridin’ at Mount Seymour for all the lovely ladies. Simply pick up your voucher (as Amy and I already have) at any of the participating locations, strap on your board and shred!

Guys’ Night Out, in support of breast cancer research with the BC Cancer Foundation, is happening Monday nights through to March 24, 2008. Visit Mount Seymour’s website for more details.

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A little while back, I made mention about my new-found love for easy listening radio. My station of choice is 104.9 Clear FM, and with that switch to a new radio station, I found myself falling for the music of Michael Bublé. You can imagine my excitement when I found out he was playing at GM Place in January. You can imagine my disappointment when I found out that all the tickets were gone before I’d even heard of the show.

Photo courtesy of Moadh on Flickr

It wasn’t long, however, before Clear FM announced that they’d have a few tickets for the show to give away. Since converting Amy into both a Clear FM listener and a solid Bublé fan, her and I both decided to use our tens of thousands of Clear Rewards points to purchase entries in the contest for tickets.

The winners were announced today.

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Looking for something a little saucy to entertain you this weekend? It’s once again time for ‘Taboo: The Naughty But Nice Sex Show‘ at Canada Place in Vancouver. Now that the Christmas trees and twinkling lights are packed away, vendors from all over haul out their stashes of condoms, oils, lubes, toys, harnesses and more obscure things than you can shake a…stick at.

Photo courtesy of Magalie L’Abbé on Flickr

Running from January 10 - 13, 2008 in Convention Halls A, B and C, a one-day ticket will set you back $15.00, while a weekend pass runs for $30.00. My opinion is that it’s worth going once, but it’s pretty much the same fanfare each and every year. (19+ only)

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And lastly, while I am on the subject of snowboarding this fine afternoon in downtown Vancouver, it’s time to fill you all in on my little adventure planned for February 1. My vixen-in-crime, the divine Rebecca Bollwitt, is accompanying me to Vancouver Island on the eve before. This is huge for me because I never, ever bring people back to the Island with me. This time I’ll let it slide…

Friday, February 1 is the second annual ‘Kokanee Day For Dudes‘ at Mount Washington Alpine Resort. Being that snowboarding at Mt. Washington is my first love, beer my second and men my third, could such an event be any more spectacular? True, the event is geared towards the endowed species, but the eye candy alone will be worth the price of the lift ticket. For $59, men can enjoy a lift ticket, afternoon lesson and Kokanee-sponsored aprés.

Need another reason to go? How about gorgeous powder and a base just shy of 400cm? Check this out, but try not to drool too much.

Yes, I finally got to enjoy my first day of the snowboard season at Mount Washington Alpine Resort today. It’s amazing how much I missed it and even more amazing at how seamlessly my body picked it up again. The pivots and the rudder and the toe edge and the heel edge and the carving. I didn’t bail much, but I had one on-my-ass incident on Linton’s Loop near the end of the day. It was one of those hits that causes your brain to feel as though it’s being physically rattled around inside your skull. I know you know the feeling I’m talking about. Two thumbs up for concussions!

The day started out a little crazy, being that a power outage only left two lifts running. However, by mid-morning the juice was back, the sun was out and the frigid cold had lifted. Amy and I had a fantastic time, and now I am even more excited to bring Becky over for a girls’ weekend. Check out some of my photos below (the rest in my Flickr set).

“im surprised none of the boys pushed you over and humped you in the snow” - Sonny I. LaVista, after viewing my Flickr set

I’m flattered.

Photo courtesy of Mount Washington Alpine Resort

That exciting day is only 13 sleeps away! Mount Washington Alpine Resort is set to open on December 6, 2007, so pray to the snow gods, keep your fingers crossed,and your board waxed! Life on the slopes gets better and better each year at Mount Washington, now with expanded night skiing, 1,200 acres of all skill levels of terrain, snow tubing and, of course, a wide selection of beer in Fat Teddy’s at the lodge.

For more information on operating times, location, lift tickets and anything else your brain requires, visit Mount Washington’s website.

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Photo courtesy of spectruss on Flickr

Last night Vancouver’s local news reported that Canadians use approximately 55,000,000 plastic bags every single week across our country. Re-using your bags is always a great idea, but these will all ultimately end up in landfill. I know many of you are already on board with cloth shopping bags, but lately using these satchels to carry your stash has become much more trendy. If you’re not itchin’ to grab some (which are usually about .99 cents at your neighbourhood grocery store) from Safeway or Superstore, check out BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag.

Developed in 2005 by two Vancouver-area women, BYOB actually designs seasonal cloth bag collections with delicate motifs and tongue-in-cheek slogans. Personally, I’m a fan of the “F*@k Plastic” tote.

Before you call me crazy, let me point out that a handful of West End balconies are already adorned with colouful lights, and my neighbour directly across the street keeps a Christmas tree up and decorated 365 days a year.

Michael Bublé’s holiday record, “Let It Snow,” was released in stores today, and my combined love for both Bublé and Christmas equated to a necessary purchase. My dinner is in the oven and while preparing said dinner, I broke my cardinal Christmas music rule by listening to the EP. Normally I don’t allow myself to break out holiday tunes until Starbucks has done the same in their stores, but I couldn’t very well let the cellophane go unwrapped for another three weeks. I will say that the 6 songs contained on the disc (which is available for only $6.99 plus tax at HMV) is a blissful 20 minutes and well worth breaking rules for.

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“Let It Snow” has rather appropriately been released today to coincide with the fact that the first traces of snow were seen falling on Mt. Washington this afternoon! As a lover of the outdoors and snowboarding, I can’t tell you how much this excites me! It’s hard to believe that the days of longjohns, lunchtime beer in the lodge, cool and crisp afternoons in the sunshine and the swooshing sound of my board slicing through powder are almost here.

Webcam photo courtesy of Mount Washington Alpine Resort
Need to keep an eye on things for yourself? Head over to Mt. Washington’s website to view the 24/7 webcam. As well, a variety of day passes, season passes and specific passes are available through the website and at various locations across Vancouver Island. The ever-popular 6IXPAK is yours for the taking starting November 1st, so click here for more details. I’ll see you on the hill.

The area is surrounded by tourist attractions, natural wonders and many, many goats. We made our way to the Coombs Old Country Market (which features some really fantastic kids’ toys) and picked up some candied salmon, cheese, fresh bread and Island Farms’ deeeelicious chocolate milk and headed to Qualicum Falls for a photo walk/hike/picnic. It’s nice to be in the area when it isn’t the height of tourist season because the park was almost entirely our own. A few hours later, we decided to get in a second round of mini golf (a round that I won, if you must know - two holes-in-one!) before a magical evening - quite literally. “World renowned” illusionist and magician, Ryan Joyce, was performing at the Parksville Community Centre, and we scored a couple tickets from Toni’s uncle.

The show was a little bit corny, a little bit cheesy and a little bit of fun. His jokes were some of the worst I’ve ever heard but there was something slightly charming about his stage presence. It was neat to finally see famous acts like sawing a girl in half in person, and like anything, if you go into it with the right attitude, it’s fun! When it was all over, the Ranger headed north again through the rain and dark night, “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” playing on the radio, and now I write to you from the comfort of my jogging pants and, once again, the recliner.

Links worth visiting:

City of Parksville
Paradise Fun Park
Coombs Old Country Market
Qualicum Falls
Ryan Joyce

Do this.

I’ve only been on the Island for 24 hours and it’s easily been awesome so far. I spent the day with Charley doing mostly nothing, but we did spend a sunshiney afternoon with my beautiful friend Bethany and her babygirl, Ruthie. It’s nice to just breathe.

If you’re on the Island too and looking for something to do, here are a couple options that guarantee fun…

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The snow hasn’t started to fall, but the Comox Valley’s alpine destination is kicking things off. From October 5-8, celebrate your love of all things beer and Bavarian at Mt. Washington. Fat Teddy’s Bar and Grill, located in the lodge at the bottom of the Eagle chair, is featuring various Oktoberfest brews and live entertainment with The Beer Barrel Band. I can’t vouch for the quality of music with a name like that, but go with the right attitude and you’ll have a great time. As an added bonus, a couple of Warren Miller’s adrenaline-soaked films will be screened on Sunday and Monday. Visit the Mt. Washington website for more details.

While you’re up there, get ready for the winter with pre-season deals in the Mtn Tek and Altitude Gift & Sport shops. New gear is also in stock, and you can save anywhere from 30-70% on last year’s equipment. For those of you that are local to the Valley, time is running out to pick up your season’s pass at early bird prices. This year they’ve also added a Night Pass, so be sure to check that out as a money-saving alternative.

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Slope not your style? There’s always mini golf. Paradise Fun Park, on the old highway in one of my favourite little towns - Parksville, is always a barrel of monkeys. The links are only open for another week or two since operations shut down in mid-October, so get your last few swings in while you can. Of course, this is just a shameless plug for my friend Toni since his family owns the park. As a matter of fact, you’ll find me hittin’ around neon balls and kicking ass at pinball tomorrow afternoon. Actually, to be more specific, I’ll be kicking Toni’s ass at pinball.

Photo courtesy of jdgemm on Flickr

If mini golf isn’t enough of a challenge for you, try the arcade, bumper boats or tasty ice cream instead. For more information, visit Paradise Fun Park’s website.

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I’ll hopefully be able to give you another update tomorrow evening, as well as post new pictures of Charley. I can’t even begin to tell you all how much she’s grown over the last month. When she was first adopted, she weighed in at 4.5 pounds, and now she’s pushing 8. I swear with every pound, she gets even cuter.

The always exquisite Mt. Washington was the place to be this long weekend for all mountain bike enthusiasts on Vancouver Island. The second annual Bearclaw Invitational was held on what’s known as the “Green Chair” slope over August 2, 3 and 4.

Twenty riders were invited to compete on intense terrain for all to see.

Kokanee, along with several other sponsors, was out in full force with a beer garden and jam band to keep the crowd grooving and stumbling.

Unfortunately, I went this one solo so I was a little bit, ahem, bored. I would’ve loved to run into some people I know up there and relax in the beer garden, but that didn’t happen. However, for those that are completely into the mountain bike scene, the Bearclaw Invitational did not disappoint. Check out the video below and also my Flickr for a few more pictures (give the video a minute to pick up speed).

On the web:

Mt. Washington
Bearclaw Invitational