Contests | Being Emme

Last Chance to Enter to be @VisitEngland’s Fan in a Van

April 8, 2012 By Emme 3 Comments

Having lived in an Olympic Town my advice to the residents, take the time off work to fully enjoy the experience and start planning now to make the most out of the experience. I can’t say that living in an Olympic Town is all a bed of roses. We are still paying for it in Vancouver and the Games Committee can certainly make things trying for the residents leading up to the Games. While a few local businesses benefit, many can suffer during the Games. You can dwell on these negatives, or you can recognise that it is happening and turn it into a fun once in a lifetime experience for you. You don’t even have to be into sports, because, as I discovered, the Games brings with it this lovely thing called the Cultural Olympiad, where you get to experience cultural flavours from around the World in the form of food, beverages, theatre, music, and art, and much of this is free. It really is a lovely way to get a taste for World travel without leaving home (or at least your hometown). In fact, it was this that I needed to finally bring Roamancing to life.

Watching a few of the Russian Figure Skaters Train

So speaking of making the most of it, one thing I wish I’d done (had I stopped being annoyed by the Games Committee sooner), was apply for experiences to take part in the Games. I mention this as Tourism England (aka. Visit England / Enjoy England) has a pretty gosh, darn cool opportunity for a UK digital storyteller leading up to London 2012, in the form of the Fan in a Van Search.

Tourism England's search for the Fan in a Van is on. Will this be you?

Basically they are putting one lucky budding digital storyteller with a passionate love for England in an iconic Anglomobile, decked out with everything they need to get started on a 70-day, all-expenses-paid trip around their green and pleasant land, following the Olympic Torch. In return, the fans job is to entertain England with videos, photos, tales of adventure and lots of fun.

If this is something that sounds like fun to you, then it’s time to put down the crumpet, pour a fresh cup of tea, roll up the sleeves and get writing as the deadline for Round 1 of this competition is April 9th at midnight, UK time. That’s tomorrow!

To be entered into Round 1, you need to send them 100 words on your favourite place in England and why you love it, accompanied by a picture you’ve taken to go with it.

Depending on how you fair on Round 1, there will be 2 more rounds:

Round 2: A 60 second video clip telling them why you love where you live.
Round 3: Meet the team at VisitEngland HQ and tell them why you’re the best person for the role.

Here is where to go for those that wish to apply.

Wishing those of you that decide to apply, good luck and have fun with this!

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Contests, England, Events, Olympics, Travel Tagged With: 2012 Games, cultural olympiad, england, Enjoy England, fan in a van, London 2012, making the Games fun, Olympic Torch Relay, Olympics, Tourism England, VisitEngland

Win a Perfect Vancouver Date Night at Victor Victoria at the Metro Theatre

March 12, 2012 By Emme 10 Comments

One of the downfalls of having been on the road these past few months has been having to turn down all of the lovely Vancouver Theatre tickets. Fortunately Alyzee Lakhani has been able to attend in my stead and I’ve been able to experience all the great theatre I’ve been missing through her prose, or at least I was until she hit the road too (she’s in Mozambique, so stay tuned for her tales from there on Roamancing). Our loss, however, is your gain, as we’ve asked that our tickets be given to a lucky reader here and on Roamancing. And a loss it is for us, as this next musical would have very much tickled my fancies.

So what is the musical you ask? Victor Victoria at the Metro Theatre, based on the 1982 musical comedy film by Blake Edwards (adapted from the 1933 script of a German film by Reinhold Schünzel), which I am sure there are a few in Vancouver’s Arts Community that could relate to the premise behind this story. You see Victoria (played by Sylvia Zaradic) is a struggling performer looking for her big break. On the advice of Toddy, a middle-aged gay performer, Victoria takes on the real life role of Count Victor Grazinski, a gay Polish female impersonator. Why you ask (or at least so you asked in my head)? To get an agent and her big break, of course, and that is exactly what she does. Only, as I am sure you can imagine, it is not all that smooth sailing playing the part of a man, when you become the bed ‘fellow’ of a known gangster. Bring on the conundrums, misunderstandings and delightfully ridiculous!

Sylvia Zaradic and Jeff Hyslop, as Victoria / Victor and Toddy

Now, if this hasn’t perked your curiosity, just wait until you hear who is playing Toddy! None other than Jeff Hyslop, the quintessential Phantom of the Opera from the traveling Canadian Production! Also known, by those of you close in age to me, as Jeff the mannequin in the children’s show Today’s Special. The Metro Theatre puts on great musicals, but with Jeff Hyslop in the cast, this is one musical not to miss.

So how do you win the tickets? We have a pair of tickets to giveaway here and a pair to giveaway on Roamancing (stay tuned for that giveaway in a day or two) with your choice of Wednesday March 28 or April 4th. To enter:

Comment below with something crazy you have or would do for your dream job;
The Deadline to enter is Sunday March 18th, 2012 at midnight PST.

To be entered a second, third and fourth time:

Tweet this post with me, @EmmeRogers, @MetroTheatre and #VancouverTheatre somewhere in the tweet, so I see the tweet;
Share this post on facebook and include @Roamancing in the text when you post it (this should link Roamancing’s facebook page, so I’ll see the post); and/or
Share this post on G+ and include @Emme Rogers in the text when you post it (this should alert me on G+ of your post).

I shall pull the name of one lucky winner from commenters, tweeters, facebookers and G+ers, and announce the winner on Monday March 19th. Very much looking forward to making somebody happy!

Oh, and if sadly you don’t win, the play is running at the Metro Theatre in Vancouver from March 17^th – April 7, 2012, with performances on Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8pm and two Sunday Matinees on March 25 & April 1 at 2pm. Tickets can be purchased here.

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

Filed Under: All the Gossip, BC, Canada, Contests, Events, Perfect Dates, relationships, Theatre, Travel, Vancouver Events Tagged With: alyzee lakhani, Blake Edwards, contest, Jeff Hyslop, metro theatre, perfect dates, Phantom of the Opera, Reinhold Schünzel, roamancing, Sylvia Zaradic, theatre, ticket giveaway, Today's Special, Vancouver, Vancouver theatre, vancouver theatre ticket giveaway, Victor Victoria

A Great End to a Great Week!

February 5, 2012 By Emme 1 Comment

Jesse Roper playing at the IBC Canadian Showcase

As far as week’s go, this past week has been pretty damn fantastic ~ enjoying my first music pilgrimage into the history of Rock & Roll and the Blues in Memphis, discovering some bloody fantastic Blues talent at the International Blues Challenge, cheering Canadian Ross Neilsen on in the Semi-Finals of the International Blues Challenge, and coming home to discover some simply beautiful music that Chris Blake has written for Roamancing. Now to top it all off, I went to pull the name of a winner for Studio 58‘s Julius Caesar tickets and was thrilled to pull Kelly Lui’s name, who interned with Ahimsa Media this past summer. To make this especially fantastic, I went to congratulate Kelly and discovered it was her birthday! Happy Birthday Kelly!

For those that entered, but didn’t win, we are entering you for a second chance at the tickets on Roamancing’s site. For anyone unaware of the contest, that wishes they’d entered, you can still do that on Roamancing’s site until midnight. Just drop us a comment with which Shakespeare play you would most love to see as a gender bender (ie. with men and women playing opposite gender role). Here’s a little of what you can expect from the play:

Catch this gender bender of a Julius Caesar at Studio 58 in Vancouver, February 2nd – 26th, Tuesdays – Saturdays at 8 pm and Saturdays & Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets can be purchased here.

Filed Under: All the Gossip, BC, Canada, Contests, Events, Music Scene, The Tube, Theatre, Travel, US, Vancouver Events Tagged With: blues, Chris Blake, contest, ibc, international blues challenge, julius caesar, Langara College, memphis, roamancing, ross neilsen, studio 58, Tennessee, theatre, theatre giveaway, Vancouver

Vancouver Theatre Giveaway: Julius Caesar at Studio 58

January 27, 2012 By Emme 9 Comments

For those of you that have been reading here for awhile, you’ll know that we have a huge love of the theatre, and that when I’m not attending the latest piece of theatre in Vancouver, Alyzee Lakhani is. One of our favourite ways to spend an evening! Well, for the last week, we’ve been regrettably having to turn down all of those lovely theatre invites, with Alyzee in Mozambique and me (hopefully) road tripping to Savannah, Georgia.

The upswing of Alyzee and I missing out is that Langara College’s Studio 58 has decided to extend our two tickets to you delightful people in a little theater giveaway for their latest play. I’ll get to that in a minute, as first I’ll fill you in on the play.

Photographer: David Cooper

The play is Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, but Julius Caesar with a twist, a Julius Caesar gender bender. You see, when casting for the play, Director Scott Bellis decided to break with tradition and offer the parts of Caesar, Brutus, Cassius and Octavius to women. I must say this very much tickles my fancies, as traditionally the parts of women in Shakespeare’s play would have been played by men.

For those of you not familiar with Julius Caesar, it is Shakespeare’s masterpiece of political power-play and manipulation, examining the conflict between one person’s ambition and the good of the state, all set in a life-and-death struggle for control of Rome. As Director Scott Bellis puts it, this is very much a tale involving traditional male roles and a story of ‘honourable men’. “In this alternate telling, we are discovering what it means for a male Mark Antony to avenge a female Caesar; what a same-sex marriage looks like in the house of Brutus; and how being a ‘man’ can say more about your social status than your gender in this very different vision of Rome.” Sounds fascinating! Would love to see how all of this unfolds.

And if you are curious about Studio 58, you can read of Alyzee Lakhani’s most recent experience there with The 13th Chair.

So the Giveaway. We have a pair of tickets to giveaway here and a pair to giveaway on Roamancing (stay tuned for that giveaway in a day or two) with your choice of Wednesday February 8th at 8 pm, Thursday February 9th at 8 pm or Saturday February 11th at 3 pm. For the giveaway here, to enter:

Comment below with which Shakespeare character, of the opposite sex from you, you would love to play;
Deadline Thursday February 2nd at midnight PST.

To be entered a second, third and fourth time:

Tweet this post with me, @EmmeRogers and #VancouverTheatre somewhere in the tweet, so I see the tweet;
Share this post on facebook and include @Roamancing in the text when you post it (this should link Roamancing’s facebook page, so I’ll see the post); and/or
Share this post on G+ and include @Emme Rogers in the text when you post it (this should alert me on G+ of your post).

I shall pull the name of one lucky winner from commenters, tweeters, facebookers and G+ers, and announce the winner on Friday February 3rd. Very much looking forward to making somebody happy!

Oh, and if sadly you don’t win, the play is running at Studio 58 February 2nd – 26th, Tuesdays – Saturdays at 8 pm and Saturdays & Sundays at 3 pm, and tickets can be purchased here.

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

Filed Under: All the Gossip, BC, Canada, Contests, Events, Perfect Dates, Theatre, Travel, Vancouver Events Tagged With: Director Scott Bellis, gender bender, giveaway, Julius Casaer, Langara College, Langara College's Studio 58, roamancing, Scott Bellis, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Julius Casaer, studio 58, theatre giveaway, Vancouver, vancouver giveaway, Vancouver theatre

Still Time for the Whistler Sabbatical

January 12, 2012 By Emme Leave a Comment

With setting up our Roamancing calendar for the year, I keep eyeing up the Whistler Sabbatical and thinking “DAMN! That really would be cool.” Not just for the storytelling, but also for the adventure, exercise, mountain air and a bit of r&r.

If you’ve yet to hear of the Whistler Sabbatical, Roamancing covers the What? and the How to Enter? here.

So what are my chances? Well, I have entered almost every week, just need to catch the last couple and to get caught up on a few missed weeks over the Holidays. And then there is tackling the question of who to take? Maybe it’s time to find a lover, as the idea of a roaring fire and hot chocolate, snuggled up with a cuddly creature really is rather appealing as a part of my Whistler Sabbatical.

Although they may already have me covered for that man issue: