A few of LPV2's Sexy Cats as taken by Phillip Jeffrey

I cheekily call Launch Party ‘Van City’s Digital Coming Out Party’, because for me it was just that.  Way back at the first ever Launch Party, which involved more than a few beverages, dancing the night away, some sexy new technologies, and even sexier tech geeks (one of whom shall remain unnamed offered to buy me a house at LPV1 – I told him I could buy my own house), I had my own coming out tech style. Yep, even though I was not one of the technologies on exhibition, that party was my launch into the digital sphere and many of the sexy geeks in the room that night helped to launch me to where I am today.  How?  Well, you’ll have to bribe them with alcohol and see if they’ll tell you. So what’s Launch Party to me?  It’s my Homecoming, where I go to celebrate all those sexy techies who helped make me who I am, and a place to check out and help launch the latest in sexy technologies, many of which end up aiding me in my storytelling.

Shenanigans at LPV2 as taken by Mike Macadaan

What’s Launch Party to others?

A lively mixer for the city’s brightest entrepreneurs, tech junkies, and bloggers, who are doing it, have done it or want to make their ideas happen here. The goal of the event is to connect BC’s growing community of Internet and new media leaders with investors and other trailblazers across Canada and abroad.

A few locals will tell you right here what Launch Party is to them, through their favourite Launch Party moments:

Now, thanks to Launch Party, I have a pair of tickets to give away to LPV10 this coming Wednesday.  All you have to do is drop me a line in the comments and tell me why you want to attend LPV10 – whether it’s to check out the latest technologies, flirt with geeks or mix and mingle with some cool cats, I don’t care, as long as you have a reason.  Then at 9 pm on Saturday November 27th, I will stick the names of all of the commenters in a hat and draw the name of one lucky winner of the pair of tickets..

Look forward to seeing you at LPV10!

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

What are the tickets for you ask?

For a Fighting Chance Productions, rendition of Forbidden Broadway!  If you’re not familiar with this show, it is Gerard Alessandri’s spoof of musical theatre, taking a poke or two at a number of much loved Broadway Productions, including Wicked, Mamma Mia, Annie, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and Hairspray.

I for one am greatly looking forward to a few chuckles to ring in the New Year. Also looking forward to being entertained by some Van City talent, including Andrea Bailey, Natalee Fera, Aaron Lau, David Nicks and Cathy Wilmot.

So how do you win?

I have a pair of tickets to give away to this Thursday night’s performance.  To enter to win, check out a Fighting Chance Productions site and comment below with the name of one other production that they are putting on in 2010, by midnight tonight PST.

It’s as simple as that.  I will stick the names of everyone who answered correctly in a hat and draw a name at random for the pair of tickets. The winner will be announced on my blog first thing Tuesday morning.

Just make sure if you enter, that you and your guest can be at Pal Theatre (581 Cardero St, Vancouver) no later than 7:30 pm on Thursday night, January 7th.

If you don’t win, don’t fret. This is not the only performance. The show continues until January 16th and I will be posting a review on my site after I see it. Tickets are available here.

Happy Monday!

Emme

Kris Krug was on the set of Always A Bridesmaid yesterday and got this great little interview with one of the producers, Colette Aubin, that tells you more:

If you want in on the deals and the testing, check out their Facebook testing ground or watch @splrg on twitter.  The next deals a doozie – FREE admission into Portobello West Market (at Rocky Mountaineer Station, 1755 Cottrell Street, just off Terminal Ave.)  this Sunday, July 26th to check out over 100 local artists and designers!  Always been meaning to check this out.

Hope to see some of you there! Just say Splrg sent you.

Emme  xoxo

The moral of this story: Move to Chilliwack

Photo by Sarah Azavezza

Depression is a very normal thing.  It is not something to hide or be embarrassed about – whether with yourself or in your family.  In fact to overcome depression and better understand it, it is so important to talk about it.  It is not all in your head and is not part of your imagination.  It is a very real condition that all of us struggle with to one degree or another at some point in our life’s.  It is for this reason that I am so pleased and proud of my friends Raul Pacheco and Isabella Mori for organizing the first ever Mental Health Camp.

What? A conference about the intersection of social media and mental health.

When? 9 am – 6 pm  Saturday April 25, 2009

Where? Workspace:  #400 – 21 Water Street in Gastown, Vancouver

Who? Anyone who suffers from depression or has a family member or close friend who suffers from depression.

A couple of things I have learned from living with depression my whole life and with the odd bout with it myself:

• Get Regular Exercise
• Eat Well & Healthily
• Get Fresh Air & Sunshine
• Take a Break & Get Out
• Talk About It
• Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help

Photo by Lola May

I had a scary little bout of depression a few years back that terrified me, because I knew what was wrong, but I didn’t know how to escape from it.  Finally my Dad said to me, “I think your depressed”, at which point I burst into tears and said I was.  He saved me that day as it didn’t take him long to find the source of the problem – I hadn’t taken a proper day off in over two months.

Recently, even though I haven’t had any depression, I have been getting a little extra help.  I’ve been seeing personal coach, Jennifer Priest.  This is the first time I’ve ever seen or talked to a professional and I wish I’d done it years ago.  I’m loving it!  She encourages me to speak and work through my thoughts aloud and be more introspective. I feel more relaxed, happier and focussed.  We talk about everything from work to relationships to living with depression.

My one piece of advice, if you have depression in your life, don’t sweep it under the rug, talk about it.

Thanks Raul, Isabella and Jennifer for starting the conversation!

Besides which, just check out the man on the poster – need I say more:

Here’s one of the trailers:

Now, I know Mr. Firefighter says fire doesn’t sleep, but my question is does he sleep or at least will he sleep with me?

Okay now, I’ve gone from pushy diva to just plain crass, so thinking it’s time to sign off before I get any worse, if thats possible.

Kisses,

Emme  xoxo

For those of you that are thinking that aren’t I the high maintenance pre-Madona this morning – well no.  Just insanely jealous of Tyler as the boy just won a Fujifilm FinePix S100fs digital camera worth $699.99 in the F List Scavenger Hunt. The camera in question features an all-in-one lens (1cm to 400mm telephoto), bracketing functions, titing LCD and the ability to shoot movies.  Would have been perfect for some of the photo shoots that Lola, Kittyn and I had planned for the New Year. Damn Tyler!

No worries, though there are still two more of the camera in question up for grab in the F Lists Scavenger Hunts – one in Vancouver and one in Toronto.  I only mention this to you, as I’m currently in Toronto, so figure I’ll go after that one (and based on the weather outside, I have a bit of time to decipher the clues) and I want one of the rest of you to find the second camera before that darn Tyler gets his hot little hands on both of them.

So here’s the dirt on how to outsmart Tyler – go to the F List Scavenger Hunt, sign-up for the F List (don’t worry this is quick & painless & nobody seems to be sending me any unwanted junk mail from it), and get the clues.  Finally, and here is the easy part, beat Tyler to the punch on the finding the last Van City hidden camera.  Just remember, the Toronto camera is mine, so if you know what’s good for you steer clear.  I do after all bite and hard (Tyler be warned).

Emme

PS Just got a special login for you from the Get on the F List campaign that gives you a secret code that makes you eligible to win their Fujifilm Finepix J100 camera instantly, if used when signing up for the F List, so best to sign-up this way.

The First Van Sexy Winner of a 2008 Canadian Blog Award:

• 3rd Place for Best Science & Tech Blog – DeSmogBlog

The results from all other categories are still pending.

And the winners from last night’s 2008 Best of 604 Awards:

Best site for Sports:
1. BC Soccer Web
2. Canucks Hockey Blog
3. Outdoor Vancouver

Best Podcast (audio or video):
1. Lipgloss and Laptops
2. Choogle On
3. TikiBar TV

Best site for Events:
1. Beyond Robson
2. From Blown Speakers
3. Vancity Buzz

Best Multi-Author site:
1. The Tyee
2. Beyond Robson
3. Vancouver is Awesome

Best New Blog of 2008:
1. Modern Mix Vancouver
2. 3 Degrees West
3.Tiny Bites

Best site for Tech:
1. Buzz Networker
2. Techvibes
3. iPhone in Canada

Best site for News:
1. The Tyee
2. CBC
3.News 1130

Best site for Politics:
1. The Tyee
2. Matthew Good
3. Jonathon Narvey

Best site for Humor:
1. The Province Live @ 5
2. CondoHype
3. Your Dose of Lunacy

Best Company blog:
1. Raincity Studios
2. BuildDirect
3. 3 Degrees West

Best site for Food (directory or blog):
1. The Well-Tempered Chocolatier
2. Farmstead Wines
3. Chow Times

Best site for Photos:
1. Waxy Photography
2. Marc L’Esperance
3. Blue Olive Photography

Best site for Fashion or Style:
1. Demicouture
2. The Style Spy
3. The Conveyor Belt

Best Personal site:
1. John Chow
2. Gus Greeper
3. Delicious Juice

Congratulations to all the winners!  Especially big congratulations to The Tyee and my pal, Mark Leiren-Young – way to go – three wins!  And an enormous congratulations to Rebecca Bollwitt, Miss 604, for organizing all of this and for putting on what I heard was THE PARTY last night in Van City. Only wish I could have been there to celebrate with all of you sexy cats!

Kisses,

Emme

PS Sizzingly sweet dress, by the way, Rebecca!!!

Well that’s all been thrown out of the window now! Seeing as every which way I turn the raw primal nature of Spring keeps smacking me upside the head – that God damn Darwinistic adaptation of nature designed for survival of the species – SEX!!!!!! Bloody flowers flaunting all of their sexy bits for all the world to see.

Photo by Noah Bulgaria

Now being a single gal this shouldn’t really be a problem as why shouldn’t I be able to enjoy my sexuality and have a bit of a spring fling of my own. Well you see it is just not that simple -

1) Because I have only ever slept with people I care about and for me sex is totally mental, so it has to be with someone I care about.

2) I don’t want to fuck some guy up in the head that really cares about me, because I have a bit of spring fever. (And I have done this before – on more than one occasion – and I do seem to fuck them up)

3) Most of the men in my life I work with and I never want people think I achieved anything by “sleeping with a guy” and this is just so cliche of my industry. I was horrified on one occasion to actually have a not so gentlemanly fellow try the “old casting couch routine” on me, as he suggested of all things that he had a starring role for me in his documentary. All I can say is he’d better have been talking about the role of the host.

4) I work in the most gossipy industry and even though I don’t think I am anybody in it, I can’t even go to a screening with a guy without it being all around town the next day. No joke – this actually happened – got calls the next day from people that weren’t there asking who the “hunk” was that I’d been spotted on a date with. The “hunk” in question was just a friend – a happily married friend – so I had to do some quick clean-up on that one. And I am finding it increasingly difficult to go out anywhere in Van City without running into people I know. Goodness only knows what the rumors will be after I am spotted at the opera for a second time in one week with one of my male business colleagues.

5) Oh and to top it all off, a friend recently told me that he believes every time you sleep with someone new you leave a bit of your soul behind with them!!! And I can’t get that bloody thought out of my head. Lovely thought for someone who has been happily married since their early 20s, but what about the rest of us. Horrible suggestion as it suggests we should remain celibate or turn into soulless shadows.

So what is a girl to do!?! Substitute – chocolate and exercise – and lots of it!!!

Photo by Kit

Yours frustratedly,

Emme