- commodore theatre, vancouver, bc
Oh man. Franz Ferdinand. Oh man. These guys just don’t quit. They rock. They rock hard.

This was the finale to their show last night at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. People were jumping, clapping, and just rocking out to “This Fire”. Such a good show, and if you doubt it for two seconds, just watch the video.

The meaning of Pride

This Sunday is the 2012 Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival. With all the recent BS in the news about a certain American fast food chain and their bigoted views on non-hetrosexual relationships, it gets you thinking about what pride really means.

So I was riding the bus home from the gym today, and it was just another lovely Vancouver morning. I noticed a mother with her two kids, a pair of elderly ladies with walkers, and a large variance of people of different ages, skin tones, and personality types. I move to the rear of the bus, and grab a seat across from these two large burly guys. They were your typical looking, thirty-something large muscly dudes. Didn’t think twice about them. They were muttering something about what they were gonna have for dinner that night. Then, one of the guys grabbed the other one’s hand and gave him this really long look. My heart proceeded to melt, because they were just so adorable.

That’s what pride means to me. The ability for everyone to love and be happy, without judgement. Well, with the same adorable-ness factor judgement that any couple would get.

So to all my friends, gay, straight, or otherwise, have a happy and safe long weekend!

Über time

So I had my first experience with a new service called “Uber” last night. For those who haven’t heard (they’re still *really* underground in Vancouver), Uber is a taxi service, except it’s a lot more. They contract with local drivers of luxury cars, and provide a fast simple way to get around town. Without the need for cash or anything.

They have an iPhone app, so all I had to do to call the driver was drop a pin on a map, and hit the “request driver” button. It gave us a running estimate in minutes how long it would take as it tracked the driver’s position. We then got picked up at my regular watering hole of St. Augustine’s Craft Brew House by my personal driver Zahid. He was a total professional, greeting us with a handshake and a “Hello, Christoph?”. He knew exactly where we were going, and took a DIRECT, STRAIGHT route there. He cracked a few jokes with us, and answered every question we had about the service. Then dropped us off quickly with just a handshake. No cash, credit card, signing, tips, anything. It just got charged right to my Uber account (which is linked with my credit card), gratuity included.

Then a receipt for it shows up in my inbox. It breaks down the distance, the time. They even have a “discount” called rounding down. “Oh hey, there was an extra 53 cents on your bill, but whatever screw it. We’ll just charge you an even number.” SERIOUSLY? Why would anyone ever take a damn cab again. Then I do the math based on the statistics they gave me. Yeah. Only $4 more than a damn cab.

Great business model. Will never go back to cabs.

Want to try it for yourself? Use promo code “ubertoph” to get a $10 credit towards your first trip.

It’s the most wonderful time.. of the year!

No, I’m not talking about Christmas or Thanksgiving.. I’m talking about Election Day!

November 19, 2011 is Civic Elections Day in British Columbia. All municipalities in BC are required to elect or re-elect their Mayors, City Councillors, Parks Board Members, School Board Trustees, and any other civil referendum questions.

It’s important that EVERYBODY takes 10 minutes, researches their candidates, and votes. Especially in Vancouver.

In my beautiful city, we have two very different directions that our leading mayoral candidates are taking. We need to send them a clear message of what we want.

Vote. Shape your world.

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