Mattress Vancouver

Attention Foreign Students Studying in Vancouver.

Before you move into a furnished home there are three things you should consider about the mattress you will be sleeping on for the next three to twelve months:

1. Its Condition – What is the age of the mattress? Are the springs in good condition? Does the mattress have a disturbing odour? When you remove the sheets, are there stains covering the surface?

2. Mattress Size – When you lie down on the bed, are your feet sticking out over the end? Is there enough room to stretch out? Is the bed an appropriate size for the room it’s in?

3. Bed Bugs – Is the mattress currently in a building that is on record with the Vancouver Bed Bug Registry? Did the mattress come from another location that may have had a bed bug issue? Is their evidence of bed bugs along the seams of the mattress?

If any of these questions cause you concern, discuss them with your landlord, home-stay parent or placement supervisor. If you need to buy a new bed, a Simmons Mattress Gallery professional can help recommend the perfect mattress for your Canadian lodging.

Your time abroad should be spent in comfortable setting. Consider a new mattress.

Vancouver Language School

As a consumer in a capitalistic society, you have choices for what you buy and where you buy it. There is no one warehouse for shampoo or light fixtures and fortunately we all don’t have to buy the same ugly trainers. We are free to spend our money on any product we deem economically superior.

The consumer’s responsibility is product comparison. Finding the lowest price and best terms is a demanding second job. Fortunately, some companies are making it easier for the consumer. Their prices and the quality of their products places their item or service on a level far above their competition.

Simmons Mattress Gallery is one of these companies.

SMG is currently offering up to 60% off on beds in their warehouse. That is a massive markdown that can’t be beat.

They are also offering free delivery. Customers don’t have to lift a hair.

SMG will also remove and recycle your old mattress, an environmental benefit that will help you sleep even more soundly at night.

Save money, buy a quality product and have it delivered. Simmons Mattress Gallery has it all covered.

We have just over a month to go till Christmas. Are you ready?

The Starbucks cups were out on the 1st, St. Paul’s Lights of Hope turns on next Thursday and the Christmas Train starts up on December 2nd, Each unique event reminds us of how close we are coming to the family holiday.

And there’s so much to do…

The cleaning is what stresses us out. Vacuuming, scrubbing, dusting, polishing – it all must be done before the family arrives.

Then there are the lights to be hung, the tree to buy and the sweets to be baked.

Finding time to rest over the holidays can be a chore in itself. To improve your horizontal hours, purchase a Simmons Beautyrest mattress from Vancouver’s mattress store. It will be a gift that you can enjoy every day of the year. You can’t say that about the Rudolph-themed slippers you received from Uncle Rob.

So treat yourself to a new bed and counteract the Christmas sleep withdrawal.

Asleep At The Switch

It helps to have connected friends, especially friends who speak your language. Anthea Poon, Vancouver’s Top Multi-Lingual Realtor, is a valued friend of Simmons Mattress Gallery. We recommend her work for any potential buyer or seller actively looking for a Vancouver realtor – especially if they speak Mandarin or Cantonese.

Anthea’s main focus of work is Vancouver’s West End, but she also services the Greater Vancouver area. She has built her own West End database for potential buyers. This is a invaluable resource for potential condo owners.

You may recognize her face from her prominent bus advertisements that have been circling the city. With a B.A. in marketing, Anthea knows how to get your listing in front of the eyes of potential buyers.

Selling or buying a home can be the most important decision you make. Let Anthea aid the process.

To enlist the service of her real estate team, call or email her company. She will gladly reply in English, Mandarin, Cantonese or French. That’s the benefit of talented friends.

The historic Yale Hotel and Blues Bar is closing its doors after 130 years of operation. One of Vancouver’s finest small-act musical venues, The Yale will close for twelve months to undergo a much needed renovation plan. November 21st will be the final show day.

Opened in the 1880s, The Yale was one of only a handful of buildings to survive the 1886 fire. It became a musical frontier in the early 1900s and has been supporting emerging and established blues, jazz, R&B and soul acts ever since.

The renovations will help The Yale take on Vancouver Heritage status. The renos will also improve the facilities in the club. Planned improvements include an upgraded sound system, a hardwood dance floor and a raised roof above the stage area.

The final five nights will feature 5 genres of top-end local and imported talent.

Wednesday, November 16th

-The Best of Boogie Woogie

Featuring Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne

Thursday, November 17th

-The Best of Country and Classic Rock

Featuring Chilliwack

Friday, November 18th

-The Best of Electric Blues Guitar

Featuring David Gogo

Saturday, November 19th

-The Best of Rockin’ Soul Blues

Featuring the All-Star Blues Revue

Sunday, November 20th (Afternoon)

-Big Band Blues

Featuring Dal Richards

Sunday, November 20th (Evening)

-The Best of R&B, Soul and Blues

Featuring Brickhouse and special guests

The Yale: Vancouver's Only Rhythm and Blues Bar

Random Fact: From 1889 to 1911 the Yale was renamed The Colonial,

before returning to its original handle.

Warning: A deadly virus is finding its way into homes across Vancouver. Families are being warned to educate their loved ones before the viral outbreak reaches epidemic levels.

The symptoms are tired springs, midnight sag and motion distrubance. These three manifestations have caused many citizens to lose a full night’s rest. Sufferers may appear bag-eyed, lethargic and irritable. Any person displaying these signs should not be approached.

The outbreak is thought to be contagious, with many homes having two or more affected beds.

Luckily, Simmons Mattress Gallery has found a cure.

The Beautyrest mattress line can rejuvenate the energy depleted by the infected beds. With the purchase of a Beautyrest mattress, sufferers can return to their regular sleeping schedules overnight.  Patented non-flip pocket coils will support the weight of the inflicted patient, offering a comfortable layer of cushion. The coils’ individual nature limits motion transfer between sleeping partners. Beautyrest’s quality design will prevent sagging over time, keeping the virus at pay.

Prescriptions can be filled at the Simmons Mattress Gallery on Broadway in Vancouver and on Schoolhouse Road in Coquitlam.

The Virus Is Not Yet Airborne. No Need For Radiation Suits.

Old beds should be discarded immediatley. Simmons Mattress Gallery suggests using one of Vancouver’s four mattress-recycling companies. 

It’s the night before your company presentation and all you want is a few hours of undisturbed sleep.

You have been working tirelessly for three months in preparation. There have been late nights in the office, when the only people in the building have been you, the security guard and the cleaning staff. There have been hour-long Skype sessions with the tech department in Toronto and countless meetings with your team in Vancouver.

You saw your idea evolve from a boardroom discussion to a tangible product. Over thirty employees put their time and resources into its development. Now it is time to sell it to the company brass.

No pressure.

Lying on your bed, staring at the ceiling, you run through the presentation in your head. You have done all you can.

The only thing left to do is receive the seven hours of sleep you need to stay alert and focused.

You roll over on to another lump and openly curse your twelve-year-old mattress.

Give Your Mind a Rest

Innovation starts and ends with the sleep you receive. Purchase a Beautyrest mattress at one of the two Simmons Mattress Galleries in the Lower Mainland. Your productivity is resting on it.

Simmons Mattress Gallery is not usually a forum for gossip speculation, but the recent split of newlyweds Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries has us a little concerned.

The marriage lasted a total of 72 days. They didn’t even complete a financial quarter. Imagine what all the guests who attended that wedding are feeling. I bet a few of them are wishing they didn’t spend so much on their gift.

But the real question is: Why are so many celebrity couples calling it quits?

Is it the pressures of being in the spotlight? The legions of fans who bolster their egos? Is it that they were never in love to begin with? Are all these marriages simply grandiose publicity stunts?

No. Most probably started with love, but somewhere along the way, the fire died.

Sleeping apart from your partner can have that effect. We firmly believe the couple that sleeps together, stays together. Often celebrity couples are forced apart by the demands of their jobs. Without a permanent mattress to share, the individuals start to feel less like a union and more like two private enterprises.

Thankfully, most couples that buy our mattresses are able to enjoy the comfort they offer together. With non-flip pocket coils, designed to eliminate motion transfer, both partners can rise in the morning refreshed from an undisturbed sleep. When both parties in a relationship are rested, there is less chance of minor issues blowing up into major ones. There is also more energy for the other endeavors that mattresses provide.

Don’t model your life on the fleeting bond of two distant stars. Stay grounded on a mattress that supports the weight of a committed relationship.

Kim Kardashian

When watching a film, our gaze is directed at a subject that has been chosen for us. We give the director free reign to control our sight line. This exchange encourages new experiences, some of which are cultural.

This week, the Vancouver Asian Film Festival hopes to direct our eyes towards the North American Asian experience.

In their 15th year of operation, the VAFF is intent on providing a cultural bridge between Asian and non-Asian communities. The Festival will run from November 3rd to November 6th, with all shows screening at Cineplex Odeon International Village, near Roger’s Arena.

The films range in subjects from cross-cultural love for the Vancouver Canucks, to a historical documentary on the migration of asian settlers to North America.

Also included in this year’s festival, as a part of Vancouver’s 125th celebration, is an encore presentation of “Love Letters,” the photo and video campaign shown last June. Love Letters was an open call for Vancouver citizens to submit digital records of images and video that conveyed their love for our fair city. VAFF will show Joanna Wong’s entry on the festival’s opening night.

Tickets for all the shows may be purchased online at the Festival site or the day of at the Festival box office. Passes are also available for the true film buffs.

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is an area of the city that many of us choose to avoid. The poverty level scares us, the open drug market makes us nervous and the prostitution reminds us of the dangerous hold of addiction. So we divert our travel routes, choose alternative venues and leave the issues for the community to deal with on their own. It’s a coping mechanism that most of us subscribe to.

One thing we can’t forget, even if we choose to turn our backs, is that the DES is full of people. People who have a past, present and future. People who value the community they live in. People who are artistic, creative and passionate.

As a part of Vancouver’s 125th Anniversary Celebration, the DES community will be celebrating the ‘Heart of the City Festival.’ The festival will showcase the talents of many of the area’s current citizens, as well as document some of the rich stories from the neighbourhood’s past.

Events are running all week. For more details check the festival website:

http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com/

Do the people who abandon mattresses on the streets think they are helping the homeless? Do they believe there is a magic mattress collector that trolls the alleys at night looking for soggy discarded beds? One would wonder…

With the recent ban on mattresses at city transfer stations, beds are being illegally abandoned all over the city.

Last year 1,500 mattresses were discarded illegally on city streets. This year, with the $20 surcharge in effect, frugal, lazy citizens have dumped over 5,000 mattresses.

The city has used taxpayer money to send out special vehicles to collect the unwanted beds. It has been a massive resource drain on the collection department’s budget. All this because people did not want to properly deal with their waste.

It’s a shame.

The good news is that more beds then ever are being properly recycled. Thanks to the new ban, over 47,000 mattresses were given to Lower Mainland recycling agencies in the first half of this year.

If you are looking to properly dispose of your old mattress and do not want to pay the $20 fee, consider one of the three mattress recycling companies operating in and around Vancouver.

Here is a list of the companies and their minimum charge:

Canadian Mattress Recycling - If dropped off, CMR will charge $12 per item. This is the cheapest option. They also have pick-up options starting at $72.00.

Mattressrecycling.ca - This company charges $12.50 per dropped off item. With a professional website and David Suzuki’s endorsement, this company appears to be the most respectable operation in the Vancouver area. We have also featured this company in an earlier post on mattress recycling.

Recyc-Mattress - This is the most expensive option. Recyc-Mattress charges $15 per item.

A mattress dumped in a landfill takes decades to decompose. Do your part and recycle your bed properly.

Mattress Abandonment

In the spirit of the Writers and Readers Festival, here is a short ode on a subject dear to the heart of Simmons Mattress Gallery:

Ode to a mattress

Where would we be, without our coiled invention,

Damp on a straw mat, constricted with tension?

Some might give credit, to the mighty steam engine,

But the steam locomotive, is a hot-aired distraction.

Some might say soap, brought us new sanitation,

But it also helped Tyler, fund the club we won’t mention.

Some might praise books, and the print of a German,

But one needs a bed, to relax and read fiction.

No, praise the mattress, don’t fall for deception,

You deserve the best, a Simmons sensation.

Our rhyme scheme might stray, but our love for the mattress is unwavering. Come visit one of our two locations in the Lower Mainland to sample the large selection of Simmons mattresses on hand.

Language is a toolbox from which we borrow implements to cut, shape and model our thoughts. From Facebook posts, to journal entries, to private poems, our soul is portrayed through the words we connect together.

This month, writers and readers from around the province will have a chance to celebrate the expressive power of writing. The 24th Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival will be held on Granville Island from Tuesday, October 18th to Sunday, October 23rd. It begins with an interactive session with the children’s author, Paulette Bourgeois. Bourgeois is the creator of the ‘Franklin’ series that adults and their children have enjoyed since 1986. The discussion is aimed at young readers. Primary teachers and encouraged to bring their classes down for this midmorning discussion.

The final event of the festival is the Governor General’s Award Party, where four previous recipients of Canada’s highest literary achievement will discuss the award and it’s social merit.  The four writers, Nino Ricci, John Pass, Joan MacLeod and John Vaillant, will each read a short passage from their decorated work.

In between these bookends, will be a number of author seminars, publishing and writing workshops, poetry slams and literary debates.

The Vancouver festival will also host a short story and poetry contest for emerging writers. Deadline for submissions is October 23rd.

For more details on the contest and the festival events, visit http://www.writersfest.bc.ca.

Share Your Words

But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. -Lord Byron

Tired of taco night and boring pasta dishes? Want to rekindle your culinary passions? Looking for things to do around Vancouver that don’t involve a mattress?

The Arts Club Theatre Company is hosting celebrity cooking classes for Vancouverites to learn and indulge in the fine art of food preparation. Head chefs, from a variety of restaurants around the Lower Mainland, are teaching the classes. The lessons include a full meal, wine tasting and a hands-on learning experience.

Hosted at private homes, the lessons are an opportunity to learn cooking techniques in a casual environment, where the product can be enjoyed in the setting it was intended for.

The experience is also a fundraising opportunity for the Arts Club Theatre program.

Tickets are $125 per person. There are five planned events being offered before the New Year. Each class is unique and specific to the chef who is hosting.

Your PVR recordings of Hell’s Kitchen can only take you so far. Learn how to cook extravagant meals without Gordon Ramsey telling you where to stick it.

For more information, visit the Arts Club Theatre website.

Culinary Theatre

The new moon has a special significance in October (and no, it has nothing to do with Vampires). It marks the date of the cultural festival known as Diwali. Observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, Diwali is a fall festival that celebrates ‘good over evil.’

In traditional celebrations, the triumph of good is portrayed through the lightening of lamps and candles.

The new moon is the darkest day of the month. In a natural setting, void of electrical lights, the candles represent a defeat of the darkness that exists during the absence of the moon.

Like Thanksgiving, Diwali is traditionally a family occasion, with activities organized around the family unit.  But it is also celebrated with community events and decorations.

The slogan for Vancouver’s publicly organized Diwali celebrations is “Light your Spirit.” There are five major events put on by Vancouver Celebrates Diwali. They run from October 15th to the 23rd. Here is a brief summary of the planned festivities:

October 16

“Dance All Sorts Diwali Style” (2:00 pm)

-The festival will begin with a performance by Bageshree Vaze, a contemporary kathak dancer, who will preform at the Roundhouse Theatre in Yaletown. Tickets at the door.

October 18

“Diwali Bright Lights” (4:30 pm)

-This night is dedicated to emerging South Asian artists in the Vancouver community. It will include classical Indian music and a variety of dance groups, including the ever-popular Bollywood style. The event will take place at the Heritage Hall on Main Street. This is a free event.

“Chai House on Main Street”

-This is an upscaled version of the earlier event. The headline performer will be Grammy winner Chin Injeti. Tickets are $10.

October 23

“Diwali Downtown” (12:00 pm)

This is a family event to close out the public festival. It runs from noon till 6:00 pm at the Roundhouse in Yaletown. There will be a variety of musical acts, dance teams, craft workshops and traditional Indian food. Tickets for this final event are by donation.

Festival of Lights

How often do you wake up minutes before your alarm goes off?

With the right sleep conditions, our bodies naturally wake up at a similar hour each day. If you are sleeping on a Simmons Beautyrest, this event is probably a common occurrence.

Until recently, scientists had trouble determining the cause of this natural phenomenon. The scientific community was roughly aware of the mechanism that prepared us for sleep, but little was known about the way we wake-up.

Now researchers at the Salt Lake Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla California have located the gene that triggers our body to wake-up at a given time.

Researcher, Satchidananda Panda, claims, “the body is essentially a collection of clocks.” These clocks subconsciously trigger our brain and other organs to carry out involuntary actions. Our body’s natural drop in temperature before we fall asleep is one example.

With the ‘wake-up’ gene located, sleep scientists can now expand their study of sleep disorders. There is also hope that the discovery can aid research into chronic illness and aging.

Shah Rukh Khan is one of the biggest movie stars on the planet. Appearing in over 70 Hindi films, Khan is considered by many to be the King of Bollywood.

With his new science fiction film, “Ra.One,” premiering on October 26th, the world media is obsessed with everything Kahn.

This week, an article in “Harper’s Bazaar” published some interesting facts about Kahn’s sleeping rituals.

Kahn was asked by Mala Sekhri to describe his bed attire. The middle-aged star, often referred to by his acronym SRK, revealed that he prefers to ‘dress up for bed.’

“I like to wear clean, really nice pair of clothes, so like my Dolce and Gabbana shorts, I will sometime . . . wear my Lululemon track pants and I’ll wear a nice, crisp white T-shirt.”

Kahn also went on to comment that he enjoys putting cologne on before crawling beneath the covers.

Cologne? Dress shirts? DG boxers? The ‘King’ knows how to push the boundaries of extravagant living. And a little shout-out to a local company.

We only hope his mattress is on par with his sweet-smelling wardrobe.

SRK

One of the greatest festivals in Vancouver is the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, coming up this winter from January 15 through February 5, 2012. The festival presents innovative works in live performing arts over the course of three weeks. The festival aims to expose audiences to shows that are thought provoking, blend genres, and startle viewers.

The shows exhibited at the PuSh festival are meant to encourage dialogue and induce transformative experiences among attendees. Since its launch in 2003, as a joint venture of Rumble Productions and Touchstone Theatre, PuSh has become one of the most highly anticipated events for Vancouver audiences, artists and media. Initially a modest series of theatre presentations curated by Norman Armour and Katrina Dunn, the Festival took on a new life as a stand-alone entity in June 2005, with charitable status and its own administrative operations.

January 2009 marked the 5th installment of the PuSh Festival. There were 19 works in the main program and the launch of Club PuSh—a unique multi-disciplinary platform at Granville Island’s Performance Works that put the spotlight on indie bands and other cutting-edge performing artists of the Cascadia region. There were a total of 136 performances, involving 16 venues across the city. More than 24,000 people attended that year. For more information, visit the festival’s website at www.pushfestival.ca.

While you’re in Vancouver, stop by Vancouver mattress store Simmons Mattress Gallery to check out a huge inventory of high-quality mattresses and accessories.

For visitors and locals alike, a scenic flight over Vancouver offers a new and extraordinary way to view British Columbia’s breathtaking landscape. These scenic flight are fun and affordable. They offer a different vantage point and a fun alternative to the same old tourist attractions in the city.

Several different companies in the province offer scenic tours of varying lengths and flight paths. Glacier Air offers a selection of flights ranging from a 25-minute flight over Squamish Valley that circles Tantalus Falls to a 60-minute tour that will whisk you up the Squamish Ashlu Divide, over the awesome expanse of the Pemberton Icefield, the site of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Whistler and Cloudburst Mountain. See the extraordinary landscape and glaciers that BC is famous for.

There are many other companies that offer similar flights. The tour companies often have special deals if you book online. For more information about Glacier Air, visit their website at www.glacierair.com.

While you’re in Vancouver, check out Vancouver mattress store Simmons Mattress Gallery.

Summer is winding to a close and fall is starting to show on the leaves. This is great news for corn lovers in B.C. as the fields are filled with this year’s crop. It’s also the time of year when farmers with an entrepreneurial artistic side, can turn their land from simple fields of corn into complex harvest labyrinths.

One of the largest mazes in the Pacific Northwest is located in Pitt Meadows. Appropriately titled the ‘Meadow Maze,’ this year’s design boasts 6.3 kms of pathways. The theme is the Vancouver Zoo. Previous themes include: the PNE, the Golden Ears Bridge and ‘eat local.’

The corn maze design begins on a computer, where a designer creates an image and then maps out the pathways. The maze is then cut when the corn is a foot high using a tractor with GPS compatibility. Before the cut, there are nearly 1 million plants in the field.

Visitors to the maze are encouraged to bring water and a hat. The Pitt Meadows location occasionally closes when the temperature is too high. The average walker takes about 1 1/2 hours to complete the maze. The fastest time for this years design is 35 minutes.

The Meadow Maze also boasts a full concession and market area, plus a petting zoo and hay rides.

Pitt Meadows Maze

*From Experience: Do not watch “Children of the Corn” before a trip to the Pitt Meadows maze.

Amateur and pro cycling enthusiasts around the Lower Mainland have been training, tuning and timing for months in preparation for this weekend’s Gran Fondo ride from Vancouver to Whistler. The ride is 120 km, along one of the most beautiful highways on the planet. Take part or encourage a friend or family member as they climb towards Whistler Village.

This is the second year of the mass cycling event in Canada, a phenomenon that was born in Europe and given the Italian name of Gran Fondo – roughly translated as ‘Big Ride.’ The event is not a race, but awards are given to the top finishers. It features riders from a variety of skill levels and backgrounds. This year’s amateur category is sold out, but the pro category still has room for last minute entries.

The race will start at Thurlow and West Georgia at 7:00 am, with amateur riders staggered back to Seymour Street. The race will finish in Whistler Village, with the finish line closing at 4:00 pm. There will also be a celebration event afterwards, featuring the music of 54-40.

Vancouver is blessed to have so many diverse ethnicities infused into its kaleidoscope culture. Celebrating specific regions of origin helps Vancouverites appreciate the richness of our multicultural society.

This weekend, the city is proud to host Taiwanfest. With a variety of events planned around the city, Taiwanfest hopes to offer a sampling of the entertainment, food and art from the island of Taiwan and Mainland China.

Free musical performances will be held all weekend around the Vancouver Art Gallery. One of the anticipated highlights of the Labour Day weekend will be the Musou Girls. Starting at 8pm on Saturday, the Musou girls will play a mix of modern and traditional Chinese instruments. The music is composed by the founder of the group, Mr. Xue Xuan Liu.

For a deeper look into the Taiwanese culture, checkout the four documentaries that will be showing around town. Simmons Mattress Gallery suggests “Faces of Taiwan.” This film is made up of five mini docs that focus on overcoming adversity.

On the edible menu will be Vancouver’s first street banquet. This event is being sponsored by the city as part of Vancouver’s 125th celebrations.

Taiwanese ceramics will be on display at the Roundhouse theatre from September 3rd to the 10th.

Enjoy the festivities!

For a more detailed schedule of events click here.

Vancouver is a haven for public art. From “The Birds” at the Olympic Plaza in the Athletes Village complex, to the “A-maze-ing Laughter” men at English Bay, to the “Equestrian Monument” at the Yaletown Roundhouse Skytrain Station, art surrounds us.

Now BC Hydro is adding its own touch to the public art scene in our city. Hydro boxes are now being decorated with vegetation scenes, children’s art work and graphic design pieces. ‘Function’ is giving ‘design’ an opportunity to paint on its metal canvas.

Instead of random tags and garish graffiti, the boxes now display images that are more reflective of the community they are located in.

Often commissioned, public art is a way for large corporations and city planners to probe the imagination of commuters, homeowners and travelers. The installations encourage an interaction between the observer and the artist. They make us value our streets.

So lift your head from your smart phone browsing and take in the installations that pepper our city streets. They may inspire a response that could change your day.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea

In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some money, and plenty of money,

Wrapped up in a five pound note.

This quirky little nonsense poem by Edward Lear inspired a Bill Manhoff’s Broadway hit that is now showing at the PAL Studio Theatre in Coal Harbour.

The play revolves around an odd relationship between a bookish writer, Felix, and a flirtatious actress, Doris. Through the course of the “Owl and the Pussycat,” the audience discovers the reasons why these two aspiring artists are failing to succeed at their dream professions. The work looks at identity and self-awareness.

Barbara Streisand played the role of Doris in the film adaptation, shot in 1970.

If you have never been to the PAL Theatre, the price of admission is worth the venue visit. Built on the 8th Floor of a residential tower on the North end of Cardero Street, the PAL theatre is an intimate setting that features a 120 seats, a floor to ceiling window of Lost Lagoon, a rooftop patio, and hardwood floor stage.

The show will run until September 3rd. Tickets may be purchased online for $20.

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

Owl and the Pussycat

The Pacific National Exhibition is back to close out summer with a bang. The fun started Saturday and continues until Monday, September 5th.

Poke around the agricultural exhibits, take in the hilarious and amazing antics of the Superdogs and watch the night sky light up with Pop City’s nightly pyro celebration. With tons of activities for families during the day, including family theatre, the nights belong to the musicians. The Summer Night Concerts series will host a different performer every night until the final show on Labour Day. This year’s big draw is Kenny Rogers on Monday, August 29th, the Annual Evening with Elvis on the 31st, hosted by the immortal Red Robinson and the “Pretty Woman” soundtrack makers, Wilson Phillips, on September 1st.

General admission is $20, but all children under 13 are free. VanCity (the bank) is also offering $5 admission for there customers on Wednesday, August 24th. Another way to save on admission costs is to come on August 27th. If you are the holder of a Whitecaps ticket, you will receive free entry into the fairgrounds.

For more information on the Pacific National Exhibition, visit their website or check out their smart phone daily schedule.

SUPERDOGS!

You wouldn’t think the airport would be a weekend destination spot, but YVR has other plans. This summer, experience ‘Take-Off Fridays’ at the Vancouver International Airport for games, family events a live DJ and multicultural mingling.

The final Friday event is August 27th. The fun starts around eight in the morning and wraps up around four at night. The festivities are spread out over both the domestic and international terminals.

Activities include face painting, dancing, food specials and the ‘money machine.’ The latter offers each contestant a chance to grab as many YVR bucks as they can. The catch: you need to grab them while standing in a closed wind cylinder. Each ‘buck’ you grab can be used towards purchasing items at stores around the airport.

The backdrop to this event are the finely carved and crafted First Nation artifacts that routinely offer travelers a glimpse at the beautiful history of the first West Coast peoples.

Come and enjoy the richness of YVR with the whole family. Your kids will love it and you will be reminded of how lucky we are to have such an amazing airport to welcome and bid farewell to travelers from all over the world.

Zimbabwe is a country with deep political problems. It’s economy has been suffering for more than a decade and personal freedoms have been being steadily reduced as its president for the last twenty years, Robert Mugabe, struggles to retain control. It is far from a safe region to visit.

This is a tragedy for art lovers around the world, as Zimbabwe is home to Africa’s finest stone sculptors. The word Zimbabwe actually means, ‘Great House of Stone’ in the Shona language.

Fortunately, many of the stone pieces being produced in the country are now part of a traveling exhibition that will be visiting Vancouver for the next month. The works are being shown at the VanDusen gardens. It is the only Canadian stop on the world tour.

The pieces are strategically displayed around the gardens amongst the beautiful flora that Vancouverites have come to love.

Two of the artists behind the works, Passmore Mupindiko and Patrick Sephani, are giving daily lessons on stone art. The two artists are currently traveling with the stones and the exhibitions two curators, Vivienne and Joseph Croissette.

There is no extra cost to see the sculptures or to attend the daily stone workshops.

Zimsculpt

The Vancouver Art Gallery is currently hosting “The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art.” The exhibition began in May and will run until September 25th. Simmons Mattress Gallery encourages you to inspire your own dreams by witnessing the amazing works on display at the VAG.

Surrealism was a reaction to Sigmund Freud’s investigation into the meaning of dreams. André Breton wrote the manifesto of the movement in 1924 and encouraged artists to create works that focused on the unconscious mind over perceived reality.

Part of the exhibition highlights the connection between Pacific Northwest First Nations art and the Surrealist movement. Apparently, many of the contributing artists looked to First Nations art for inspiration.

Kwakwaka’wakw Headdress from Alert Bay

Another theme of the exhibition is the influence of cinema. Still a relatively new medium in the early half of the 1900s, film was able to put images in motion and create a fluid canvas on which perspective could be manipulated. From avant-garde films to Charlie Chaplin, to Betty Boop, cinema created a fictional world that the surrealists saw as similar to their own artistic ambitions.

Artists on display include: Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Alberto Giacometti and many more.

Looking for an educational activity for the family this weekend. All Discovery Walks is offering a interactive tour of one Stanley Parks secret bogs. The tour begins at Lost Lagoon at 1:30 and ends around 3:30.

Vancouver Community College Science Instructor, Maria Morlin will be hosting the walk that will focus on the role of bogs and wetlands in forest ecology.

This is an excellent opportunity to subtly get your children back into an academic setting. You may want to research the topic of bogs beforehand with your family, to get them thinking about the subject matter. While on the trail, encourage questioning by modeling. Maria will be happy to answer any questions you or children bring to light.

Educators might also want to take part, specifically those working with students in Grades 3 and 4. ‘Habitats and Communities’ is a big part of the Science curriculum for these grades. Maria’s tour may inspire you to organize your own forest walk in the fall.

If you do plan on attending, you may want to wear appropriate footwear. We suggest boots.

Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the start of the tour.

Beaver Lake

The fireworks have come and gone, but there are still a number of free public events being offered around the city. The most popular are the Fresh Air Cinema screenings being shown around the Lower Mainland.

“Jaws” aired on Tuesday in Stanley park. Word has it there was more laughs then screams. Still a classic that everyone enjoys. The defining line: “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

This Tuesday the classic urban Cinderella story comes to Stanley park with the screening of “Pretty Women.” We’ve never really been big Julia Roberts fans, but when Richard Gere snaps that jewelry box shut and Julia flashes those pearly whites, just for a moment we can see how she rose to fame. What a smile!

"Snap!"

The film we are dying to see airs on August 30th. “Stand By Me,” the quintessential end of summer/innocence film will closeout the summer series at Stanley Park. From “Chopper sick balls,” to the ‘barfarama,’ to the rail-tie sing-a-longs, “Stand By Me” has it all; even a few tears. Bring the family or a date and relive your youth in the open air of Stanley Park.

Acute illness is usually connected with the winter months, when our bodies react to the change in temperature. The common cold usually strikes us somewhere between the months of October and early December, when our immune system is weakened due to the seasonal climate change.

But the summer months can be just as deadly on our immune system. During summer, we often treat our bodies with less care. We indulge in greasy food, we neglect the gym and we also sleep less. Reducing our sleeping hours is the major cause of summer immune deficiency.

The temptation to sleep less is high in July and August because of our activity loaded days and nights. A fireworks show, two barbecues, a staff party and a wedding can run a hefty sleep debt. It is important to make time, even when the weather is nice, for a few early nights.

A consistent eight hours of sleep can keep our bodies running at maximum capacity. This may mean going home a little early from the party or declining the odd invitation for dinner, but it could also mean not getting sick.

Do your body a favour and make time for sleep this summer.

Summer Sickness? Get More Sleep!

On Friday, August 28th, the Malkin Bowl Summer Concert Series welcomes Ben Harper to Stanley Park. This is one of the most anticipated outdoor shows of the season. Tickets went on sale in May, but there are still some being sold online. If you see one show this summer, catch Ben Harper’s set in the park.

Harper is touring on his most recent album, Give Till it’s Gone. Like most of his previous works, the album contains a strong message of hope, mixed with the pain of life. Always spiritual, Harper’s tracks reverberate with healing and religious conviction. But even with their strong Christian message, Harper’s words attract a strong secular audience that can relate with the pain and joy of love’s handiwork.

If you have never heard Harper’s music, download Live from Mars. Standout tracks include “Please Bleed,” “Women in You” and the quintessential mix-tape track “Walk Away.”

Harper will be playing between the cedars and beneath the stars at the beautiful Malkin clearing. Bring a blanket and some friends and let the one-man choir receive your heart.

Ben Harper Playing the Slide Guitar

Before you come into shop for a new mattress at Simmons Mattress Gallery, it’s a good idea to compile a few notes on the specifics of what you will be looking for in your new bed. This will help the Simmons professionals suggest the perfect mattress for your needs.

Here is a list of questions you should consider:

1. What sort of sleeping position do you prefer? Do you sleep on your back, your side or on your stomach? Some mattresses are specifically designed for certain sleeping positions, so knowing which one you prefer helps with selection.

2. Do you have chronic back pain? Memory foam is an excellent addition for those suffering neck or back pain.

3. Do you and or your partner move around in your sleep? All of the Beautyrest models are made with non-flip pocket coils that help reduce motion transfer, but some are more sensitive than others.

4. What firmness do you prefer? Think about the most comfortable sleep you’ve had. Was the mattress extra firm or was it the softness that made it so cozy?

5. How much room do you have in your bedroom for your new mattress? You don’t want to buy a king size mattress if it will not fit in your room. Use a tape measure and record the dimensions you will need.

6. How much are you willing to spend? Figure out a budget beforehand. Knowing this number will help the mattress professional suggest mattresses within your price range.

Bring all these facts in with you when you visit one of our two locations. Make sure to sleep test at least five different mattresses in our showroom. Again, this will help you decide on what qualities you prefer.

Wake Up on Your New Simmons Mattress

A new baby can turn your sleeping schedule upside down. Finding ways to help your infant fall asleep at times that are suitable for you is a challenge. New research is showing that one of the best aids you can use is soothing noise. This calms the baby and encourages sleep.

The makers of baby related products have reacted to this research and have started producing high-end white noise machines. These little items might make great shower gifts, but for those mothers who don’t receive one, the cost can be a little excessive. Babies are an expensive enterprise and finding ways to cut down on costs is a necessity for new parents.

Good news! A new app for your android phone called Relax and Sleep Plus can play soothing sounds through the speaker in your phone for a fraction of what it would cost to buy a white noise machine. The app costs $2 and is available at the Android Marketplace.

The app lets you set how long you want the ambient noise to run. It also has a number of various sounds to choose from. You can mix them together, or have them play one after another. Examples of available sounds are: acoustic guitar, aquarium sounds, ocean and rainforest. There are also animal noises such as frogs and birds. The most bizarre option is the sound of wolves howling, for those Farley Mowat fans.

Consumer guides suggest setting the volume at a low level and keeping the phone well away from the sleeping infants head; the debate on cell phones and stimulating brain cancer is ongoing.

Another tip is to set your phone on airplane mode. You don’t want your infant interrupted by one of your friends calling or texting.

Unfortunately for iPhone users, this app is not currently available on Apple products. We’re sure they will make something similar in the coming months.

Down for at Least a Few Hours

This Saturday, the sky will once again be lit by exploding pyrotechnics, as the Celebration of Light returns to English Bay. This will be the twenty-first year Vancouver will host the event. It has become one of the must-see spectacles of the summer and major draw for tourist booking their Vancouver holiday.

The organizers of this year’s event are hoping to make a little more revenue by selling grandstand, V.I.P. seating at English Bay. The tickets are $45. The early bird seats have already sold, but Tickets Tonight is still selling.

Other changes include a shorter program. Instead of the standard four nights of explosions, this year’s festival will have only three; July 30, August 3rd and August 6th. Canada will perform on the final night.

A panel of judges chosen from the events corporate sponsors will evaluate the competing countries.

For more information on the Celebration of Light, check out their website. There is a really interesting section on the history of fireworks. There is also a full explanation of how the barge is loaded and prepped for each night of action. Apparently it takes a crew of 16 people, three days to prepare the show. There may be 2,000 to 4,500 bombs (that’s what they call them) used in one night’s performance. That’s a lot of gunpowder.

And just remember, if you are coming down to watch the fireworks downtown or at any of the beaches around English Bay, leave the alcohol at home. This is a family event and we want to keep it going for years to come. Enjoy Vancouver.

The Lights of Summer

The Canadian Open returns to Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club this weekend. Some of the best in the game have already arrived in Vancouver and sampled Shaughnessy’s grueling fairways.

The talk surrounding the course is that the rough is extremely thick. Many in the field believe the difficulty of the course will level the playing field.

“I would say this is probably one of the toughest or the toughest course I have ever played,” said Anthony Kim, former U.S. Open champion. “I don’t think it’s so much the golf course length or the way it’s strategically laid out, it’s just that the rough is six or seven inches deep and we’re hacking out sideways.”

The world’s No. 1-ranked golfer, Luke Donald will be trying to return to form, after missing the cut at last week’s British Open. Donald played the course on Wednesday and commented that the rough was an issue, but the length was the more daunting feature. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had that many yardages of 200 and over into a lot of these holes and the ball is going short.”

Whatever their gripe, the men will need all their clubs this weekend, not just their low irons and wedges.

The tournament concludes on Sunday at 3:00pm. Global, TSN and the Golf Chanel will be sharing the coverage.

The 11th

At home, the only people who have to deal with your nocturnal noises are your family and or your roommates. But what happens when you travel? Do the rest of the guests have to suffer through your snoring bouts, as the nasal noise reverberates around your room and out into the hall?

The Crowne Plaza hotel chain has created a room to minimize the effects of your snoring, so both you and your partner can enjoy a sound sleep. Anti-snoring pillows and white noise encourages your body to sleep quietly. With sound proofing on both the walls and headboards, noise that is made, is contained so that other patrons are unaffected.

Other popular hotel chains are implementing measures to identify and deter noisy sleepers. More than ten hotel chains in Europe and the Middle East are hiring night watchmen to act as snore patrollers. These men and women walk the halls and check for noise disruptions. When they find a culprit, they bang lightly on the door to wake the snorer, pulling him or her out of their slumber and temporarily relieving the noise.

The watchmen keep track of which patrons are being unintentionally disruptive. Like a medical annotation, your sleeping history follows you. After three disturbances, hotel staff can suggest an area of the hotel where noise is permitted.

Back home, on your Vancouver mattress, you can be as loud as you like; or as loud as your partner permits.

Mattresses are one of those things you only need to shop for every five or six years. They are dependable to a point and then it is in your best interest to replace them. When your current mattress reaches that mark, look to Simmons Mattress Gallery to supply you with a new bed.

Simmons has been making beds for the last 130 years. Our beds are leading the industry in mattress innovation; they are also leading to repeat customers.

A Simmons owner knows that their new bed will offer them an undisturbed sleep every night of the week. They have experienced the comfort of a well-crafted product and their choice to buy another Simmons is an easy one.

An easier choice is where to buy their Simmons. With seven consecutive years of being named ‘Best Mattress Store‘ by the Consumers’ Choice Awards, Simmons Mattress Gallery is the number one Vancouver mattress store.

The mattress professionals at Simmons Mattress Gallery can help recommend the perfect bed for your lifestyle. Explain your sleeping preferences, test-lie a few beds and walk away with your favourite.

We won’t see you for a few years, but we will be here when it’s time for another new one.

When plumbing problems occur, it’s often not the pipes or the plumbing work itself that is costly; it’s the collateral damage.

If the pipes to your kitchen, after years of use, suddenly burst while you are at work, it could be hours before you are alerted to the problem and shutoff the main water line. During that time, your hardwood floor could undergo irreparable injury.

With water gushing freely, gravity could lead a stream out of your kitchen and down your stairs. You could arrive home to an unanticipated indoor pool in your rec room.

The expense to take care of these problems will be far greater than the cost of the plumbing bill. You will also have to deal personally with the cleanup.

A better solution is to have your pipes routinely checked and serviced by a Vancouver plumber.

Hiring a Campbell Care professional will help ensure you never return home to a burst water line. Their upfront pricing will show exactly what you are paying for. All our work is 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

With a consistent maintenance package, you will never have to pay the ridiculous fees that come with collateral damage.

Save on costs. Have your pipes inspected by a Vancouver plumbing professional.

Flood Warning

In a province where you can ski the slopes in the morning, golf in the afternoon and spend the evenings on the beach, BC residents know that a comfortable mattress is an essential element to a busy day of west coast fun-and-play.

With the variety of activities that fill our waking hours, it is nice to have a consistent reliable mattress to collapse on when the sun finally sets.

That is why BCers continually choose Simmons Mattress Gallery as their BC mattress store.

Simmons Mattress Gallery has been providing BC residents with quality beds and exceptional service for years. In the last seven, we have distinguished ourselves from the competition by achieving the Consumer Choice Award for mattress store.

We are proud to carry all the top models from the Simmons Beautyrest line, a mattress series defined by the revolutionary non-flip pocket coil.

For an undisturbed sleep that will leave you rested for all BC has to offer, go with a Simmons mattress. You can find the entire series at our Coquitlam mattress store and our Vancouver mattress store. Try one today.

English Bay Sunsets

“Sleep is a necessity, not a luxury.”

These are the profound words offered by James Maas, Ph.D., coauthor of Sleep for Success! Like eating right and getting adequate exercise, the hours you spend asleep are critical for the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle.

When we are behind on our sleep, we often neglect our healthy habits. We start making poor choices due to our fatigue.

These poor choices could include missing various appointments for physical activity. This can have a snowball effect and before we know it, two months have passed since we’ve made a trip to the gym.

With a lack of sleep comes a lack of energy to prepare nutritious food. Instead of making a stir-fry and a summer salad, we hit A&W for a double teen burger and onion rings. Poor choices…

We also suddenly crave quick hits of caffeine to keep our mental activity alert. Again, this has a compounding effect. The crash is inevitable.

To avoid this dangerous cycle, make time for at least seven hours a night. The necessity, not the luxury.

Luxury - Clearly Not a Necessity

British Columbia issued license plates for the Olympic year with the slogan, “Best Place on Earth.” Many Easterners saw this as another west coast hyperbole that proved the level of our conceitedness.

But for those of us who call BC home, the phrase holds more truth than the sharp-tongued retorts of the critics.

BC is one of the most diverse provinces in the country. It has the mildest winter weather and the least humid summers. It is is home to the country’s most beautiful city, Vancouver, and It is also the proud parent of the Vancouver Canucks, the only Canadian team to get past the opening round of the 2011 NHL playoffs.

Our province has some of the lushest parks in the country, the most epic skiing conditions and one of the only stretches of shoreline worth surfing in Canada.

We showed the world we could host a party in 1986 and we did it again in 2010.  The BC acronym is synonymous with a higher level of living that folks from all over the world recognize.

Part of that living experience is the proximity to the most elite mattress store in the country, Simmons Mattress Gallery. The BC mattress store, offers the top Simmons Beautyrest beds at prices that are worth the drive from St. Johns.

If you’ve never slept on a Simmons, you’ve never experienced the west coast. Come see why this truly is the best place on earth. We’ll be waiting with a mattress, two free pillows and some of the BC’s finest (mattress professionals).