This is what happens when you celebrate community, volunteers, fans, and those active in hockey: HockeyStars.com is a new social networking portal focused on all of these important people when it comes to local minor hockey players in BC, the real stars of the game.

HockeyStars is devoted to the real stars of the game. It’s a social networking site for minor hockey players, coaches, parents and volunteers that will officially launch to the public in time for the 2008-09 hockey season.

To kick off in style, they’re looking for your photo or video, on or off the ice, of your personal best hockey moment for the My Best Hockey Highlight contest.

All you need to do is head to the site from May 5 to June 9, 2008, upload your content along with a brief story (250 words max) that depicts your Best Hockey Highlight and you could win an XBox 360 or a $1000 Citizens Bank gift card Visa. Also, if you head to the site and place votes on the content that’s up there you could also win a “voters” prize pack including a Sony DVD Camcorder.

As a super cool added bonus gift, if you drop a comment on THIS blog post by midnight on Monday May 19th, you’ll be entered to win these two hockey books authographed by the author, Jason Farris:

Hockey Play by Play with Jim Robson (legendary Canucks broadcaster) and Hail Cesare (tribute to Cesare Maniago).

So let’s recap shall we?

Step One: Check out the My Best Hockey Highlight contest on HockeyStars.com. If you have some content to share (and are 13 years old and up), upload your photos or videos for your chance to win a $1000 Citizens Bank gift card or XBox 360. If you don’t have content to share, vote on other submissions to win the “voters” prize.

Step Two: Just for checking out the HockeyStars site, leave a comment on this blog post to have a chance at winning the two great hockey books mentioned above.

I’ll draw the winner of the books on Tuesday May 20th, pulling a name at random from all the comments below. A huge hat tip to Nancy Zimmerman for making this possible and for being the best social media for banking evangelist around. Good luck everyone!

In less than 24 hours John and I will be running and driving through the streets of Vancouver during the first Amazing Hunt of 2008.

The Amazing Hunt is an urban adventure racing series modeled after popular reality television shows. You will get to set out as teams of two to embark on an exhilarating quest.

We have checked the blog to find out our starting point will be the Pacific Coliseum at 8:45am. From there, who knows where the race will take us. There are 11 teams this time around so that should provide for some good competition. If you are out and about tomorrow and spot teams of two looking lost, anxious, or showing some strange food in their mouth in record time, it’s probably our crew.

I’m going to miss my usual teammate (Sis604) but she’ll be back for a race later this year.

I’ll have a recap up later in the weekend on this post, which will hopefully be a triumphant victory speech although with The Amazing Hunt, all the fun comes from simply participating.

Last year my sister and I participated twice in The Amazing Hunt, once in a foot race Granville Island and the other in Surrey (with car travel). Fashioned after the popular CBS and Emmy-winning reality show The Amazing Race, this hyper-local adventure challenge tests your brains and brawn with tasks that take place in a handful of cities across Metro Vancouver.

Since September 2004, The Amazing Hunt introduces this new racing style which provides an opportunity for you to discover a city’s hidden treasure… its culture, landmarks, and history. Our goal is to create a positive and healthy lifestyle in your community while promoting local tourism, business, and charity. [The Amazing Hunt]

2008 Race Dates and Locations:

Bill Lin and his team also create special one-off events and races, which are ideal for company team building exercises.

This morning John and I signed up for the Vancouver edition on May 3rd so we’ll be checking in on the blog closer to the date to find out our exact starting point in the city.

Do you think you know Vancouver better than us? Do you think you can outrun John? Do you think you can eat more buckwheat honey by the spoonful in a single sitting than me? Sign up your team of two for any of The Amazing Hunt races this season and I guarantee you’ll have a blast!

I think it was Boston that first managed to turn my disgust for baseball into a tolerance, however it wasn’t until I met John and his passion for the Cubs that I started to appreciate the game.

Sitting out at Nat Bailey Stadium with Queen Elizabeth Park as the luscious green backdrop on a sunny afternoon, eating and hot dog and having a beer overlooking the city and cheering for the home team has now become a staple of the Bollwitt summer experience.

I happened to get my hands on some Mariners tickets for this evening but despite the fact that we don’t have car and we’re saving up for our trip to Osoyoos in just a few weekends, things just aren’t going to work out for us. So here’s where my faithful readers come in:

- Do you want to go to Seattle tonight @ 7:10pm?
- Are you able to go to Seattle tonight?
- You want to see the Mariners play?
- Would you like two “Terrace Club” seats?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions leave a comment below and include ONE line (any line) from Take Me Out to the Ballgame…. well except that line - any other line in the song. The first person to successfully do so will have the tickets. No draw, no wait, you want ‘em - you got ‘em.

Update: Christina would be the winner of the tickets but she’s unable to pick them up - yes, they’re actual hard copies, sorry folks! The contest is still on…

As we gear up for concert season, our dance card is getting pretty full. Luckily a lot of great bands tend to make their way over to our fair city to treat us with some excellent live shows - which are always a good time. It just so happens that through the magic of my contact form, and the band’s management, I have two tickets to give away for upcoming concert at The Plaza Club featuring The Submarines.

Source: Spin Magazine

Side note: In 2006 The Submarines made the component tracks for their song “Peace & Hate” available for remix under a by nc-sa Creative Commons license (same as the license on Miss604.com) on the Jamglue online mixing site as a contest.

From what I’ve heard so far, The Submarines seem to have the 1 man, 1 women element of Mates of State, plus the softer melodies of Stars. You can visit their Facebook page, sample a few songs on their MySpace, and here’s a little something from YouTube:

If you’d like to go to the concert, simply leave a comment below and as usual with my contests, I’ll draw the winners name. The deadline to enter is March 24th, 2008 - Good luck!

UPDATE: Winner Announced!

UPDATE: The winner could not attend the Giants game so I have re-drawn for the tickets (only the tickets). (more…)

UPDATE:The winner has been announced - thanks to all that entered!

It’s contest time again! This time you won’t have to stand on one foot, pat your head and rub your belly at the same time.

This is the no-linking required contest that couldn’t be more simple to enter (but I mean hey, if you want to link…). This is purely out of reader appreciation, cause you all rock. (more…)

The results of the Canadian Blog Awards are in… *drumroll*… and Miss604.com has been ranked the 3rd best local blog in the country.

Considering that the bulk of Canadians voters are (as usual) back East, and that I was the only blog from BC nominated in this category, I find this a great feat and extend my sincerest thanks to everyone who voted for me!

Huge congratulations go to WindsorEats, who placed first, International Metropolis who came in second, and also BlogTO and Spacing Toronto.

Thanks again to everyone who voted, Saskboy and his team for producing on the awards, and also to Paul Hillsdon who I believe originally nominated me. I hope I can continue to serve, inform, and represent Vancouverites (or at least chicks who come from Surrey) in the coming year and beyond.