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Keep
it Real
In
Perfect Dark Zero, secret agent Joanna Dark communicates through
her Samsung PDA device. In Splinter Cell Sam Fisher carries a Sony
Ericsson PDA. Monkeys collect Dole bananas in Super Monkey Ball,
while Pikmini players search for intergalactic treasures that include
Dr. Pepper bottle caps and Duracell batteries. Thus is the world
of in-game advertising where a branded communications device is
a permanent part of game play
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Hitting
the Western Slopes
“Just
don’t look down, Mom,” yelled Megan, 13, as she sped off,
dangling from a steel zipline. “See you on the other side,”
screamed Matthew, 10, as he followed his sister down a cable the
length of the Eiffel Tower. Soon I was hurtling
15-storeys above a whitewater river to a treehouse wrapped
above the top of a Douglas fir
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Rescued Heritage
It’s the last day of class at the preschool on the Musqueam
Reserve in Vancouver, and I’m watching the kids perform
“Head and shoulders, knees and toes.” At least the
tune is
familiar, but otherwise it’s impossible to tell, because
the
children are singing in Hun’qumi’num, a dialect of
the
Musqueam band that lives in the area
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Get me Rewrite!
I looked out of my home office Monday to see Global news
interviewing my neighbor Jeff in front of what’s left of
a
basketball hoop. There’s only a post now, but my neighbor
Jane had added a sign with the words “gone but not
forgotten” and two basketballs were propped at the
bottom next to a bunch of blue and pink hydrangeas. As
the rain poured down, other neighbours huddled under a
tree watching how news is made
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Dynamic
Duo
It’s 9 a.m. at Coast Mountain Productions and I suspect
Chris Staples and the Rethink team have already been here awhile.
They’re engrossed in the final edit of A&W restaurant
television spots and they are expecting the client in an hour.
There’s no sign of Staples the manic, pacing creative director.
This morning his lanky frame is folded up into a leather couch
and he’s taking an advisory role, throwing out the odd
comment here and there
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Spin!
Loop! Roll!
After an afternoon piloting his Piper PA140 Cherokee, Trevor
Skillen made his final approach to Vancouver’s Boundary
Bay Airport. At an altitude of just 800 feet, the plane hit
wind sheer without warning and suddenly plunged 100 feet. “It
scared the hell out of me,” he says. “It took me another
month to get back in the air”
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1-800
Got Junk
Every morning, at 10:55, dozens of employees gather on the
second floor of 1-800-got-Junk in Vancouver, for the daily
five minute huddle. It’s a little disarming for a visitor—one
minute you’re in an empty space, the next a football flies
above your head, and the next, a mass of people in blue hats
and jackets crowd together
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Eastside
Smarts
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is a warehouse for the desperate:
filled with crackheads, hookers, chronic alcoholics and the
mentally unhinged. There are drug addicts shooting up in the
alleys, pawn shops, skuzzy hotels and myriad agencies trying
to unravel the mess. Do you want to buy a condo here?
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Home Histories
When Bill Richardson bought his dilapidated 1895 east Vancouver
home three years ago, he knew he was in for years of renovations.
What the CBC broadcaster didn’t know was he would become
part of the story of the house. Friends hired a researcher to
detail the social history of the former worker’s cottage,
and through it Richardson learned about the Inhabitants who had
once lived in his house
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Digging
up the Past at Home
Since researching the history of his house in east Vancouver
several years ago, James Johnstone has spun his passion
for uncovering the lives of past homeowners into a small business.
Through his Home History Research Services, he scours city archives,
census records, directories and cemeteries to provide clients
with a detailed social history of their home
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Has
Lloyd Craig Flipped His Lid?
Wander into the spanking new Pitt Meadows branch of Coast Capital
Savings and your attention is immediately drawn to a blue wall with
the words "How Can We Help You?" written in huge, childlike
white letters. A concierge greets you at the circular "help desk"
and directs you to a "help tower" where a customer services
rep will join you at a desk. Got kids? They're still in sight, but
have already scampered into a room full of educational toys, comfortable
chairs and video games.
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