There has been a lot of controversy with the build of the the new line. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I have driven down Cambie street as the construction makes it almost impossible to park or travel more then 10km/h! It was nice seeing foot traffic again. I decided to try out the new Kodak Zi6, here is a dance performance by A Star Studio.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad had a little booth with a build your own Geek Squad Bug. Of course Norm and I had to compete to see who could build theirs the fastest.

Today’s the day! Head to your local Denny’s between 6am – 2pm and grab a free breakfast! Denny’s is offering their legendary Grand Slam in Canada and the US for the awesome price of $0! Yes that’s right, FREE!  What are you waiting for?!

Looking for something to do this weekend? The Taboo Sex Show is rolling into the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre this weekend starting on Thursday, January 15th – 18th. The Show is an upscale consumer trade show dedicated to romance and self-improvement – most of all, it’s a lot of fun! The show’s primary objective is to bring the industry together with prospective buyers in a comfortable, sophisticated and non-threatening environment.

I have 2 tickets to give away ($40 value), if you are interested leave a comment or send me a tweet on Twitter, and I’ll draw a lucky winner on Wednesday @ 12PM

We arrived to Molson’s own bar buzzing with bloggers mingling and Neil Harnett providing the tunes.

Photo credit: Ianiv & Arieanna

The atmosphere was electric! I was a little overwhelmed at first trying to figure out what was going on, but we got our bearings and bee-lined it to the bar where we picked up our first beer. Who would’ve thought that we would be served Rickard’s Red by Gord Rickards himself!

Elisa & Brewmaster Gord Rickards

Bringing a sense of history to the occasion, Molson Brewery founder John Molson’s great-great-great-great-grandson, Geoff Molson, started the evening with a few words and history of the brewery and family.

Geoff Molson at Brew 2.0 Vancouver

The group was then treated to various food and beer pairings by Blair Rasmussen, Executive Chef at the Vancouver Convention Centre and Kerry Scarsbrook, Brewmaster.

Rickard’s Honey Brown Ale- Braised Bison Mini Sandwiches

Molson Brew 2.0 Menu

Scallop and Papaya Ceviche Crostini
paired with Rickard’s White

Grilled Vegetable and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
paired with Coor’s Light

Smoked Wild Salmon on Wild Rice and Beer Blini, Fennel Salad
paired with Molson Canadian

Prawn Quesadillas, Fresh Guacamole, Salsa Fresca
paired with Corona

Chorizo Empanadas
paired with Old Style Pilsner

Rickard’s Honey Brown Ale- Braised Bison Mini Sandwiches
paired with Rickard’s Red

Cheeseboard with Aged Cheddars, Brie and Gorgonzola
Walnut Baguette, Flat Bread and Crackers
Blair’s Addictive Beer Nuts
paired with Heineken

After the mouth watering treats we split up into 2 groups lead by Brewmasters Gord Rickards and Kerry Scarsbrook for a crash course in Beer 101 and tour of the brewery. After sampling different hops we ventured down to the line  where a 24/7 operation is run. Thousands of cans of Rickard’s Red zipped by at a dizzying pace! Here an engineer snatched fresh cans off the line like a skilled ninja.  I wouldn’t dare try it for the sake of stopping the line. A highlight of the tour was a sampling of the cans we received at the line which were timestamped at less then 2 minutes old making it the freshest beer I will ever taste. These cans were at the perfect tempature of -1°C.

Rickard's Red Line

We were then led back to the bar where we were treated to an exclusive brew of Rickard’s Gold by Gord Rickards made exlusively for Molson’s Vancouver 50th Anniversay and Brew 2.0, which will not be sold to the public!

Elisa, Geoff Molson, and me!

I had a lot of fun at the event and met some great people like Adam and Tonia from Molson’s social media team, Geoff Molson, 7th generation Molson, Meghan from Hill & Knowlton and of course all the Vancouver Social Media bloggers!

Leaving the event we were given taxi vouchers and some Molson parting gifts: 50th Anniversary glass and a 1GB thumbdrive with promo material from the event.

The next day I was called out to reception for a package which turned out to be a Rickard’s sample pack!

I did not have an obligation to blog about the event, but Molson did this event right! I had such a good time, met some awesome people and felt honestly special to be invited to the event. They could’ve brought us to a room and have us sample the beer and go home, but no! They wined (beered?) and dined us, had an actually Molson interacting with everyone, and Mr. Rickard’s himself serving beer at the tap! How awesome is that?

Brewmaster in Training

Check out some other photo sets of the event via Flickr by Danny, Molson, Karen, Raul, Rebecca, Duane, and Ianiv. I’ll add more when I find them, or leave a comment and let me know of yours!

Update:Tonia Hammer’s blog post about the evening.

A couple highlights I am looking forward to:

• -Meeting Kerry Scarsbrook & Gord Rickards, creator of Rickard’s Red.
• -Meeting Molson Brewery founder John Molson’s great-great-great-great-grandson, Geoff Molson, who will also be sharing some family stories
• -Blair Rasmussen, Executive Chef at the Pan Pacific, will be lining up a menu crafted specifically for beer-pairing.
• -Meeting other local bloggers, ping me if you are going!

It looks like Molson knows a thing or two about social media. You can bet you’ll see this event talked about on several blogs and tons of photos on Flickr even though we’re not obliged to. Who can turn down a night of free beer and good times?

When Rockers Fall

Today I took my dad and sister out to this years Red Bull Soapbox Race in Kitsilano not knowing what to expect. Walking up Burrard street towards West 4th ave, you can hear and feel the energy/excitement. Once we turned the corner and looked up 4th all you can see up and down the street and roof tops were people!

Soapbox racing in Kits has been a long time tradition but had difficulty finding volunteers and participants. So for the first time in 17 years The Kitsilano Chamber of Commerce has step aside and let Red Bull run it. This has not come without its controversy as no kids under 19 can participate!

You can tell Red Bull brought their money. Everything from speakers lining the street to a 2 huge video screens, film crews, and DJs! All the teams had hilarious video introductions to dance routines. All teams had uniforms or costumes. There were some lavish soapboxes to hideously slow crawlers. I didn’t expect to see any crashes, but boy when they do crash, it sure looks painful!

Red Bull hosted a great free event to help bring Vancouver summer to an end. If they decide to host next year, who knows, you may see me flying down 4th in a cape! Who was your favourite team?