When will it end?

This could be just the end of the beginning. We very well could be three years into a ten-year, 30s-style depression, looking at the way employment has plummeted and the stock market has faltered. The worst could be still to come.

When you consider fees, stumbling stocks and poor interest rates: putting money into the bank seems less and less like a good idea. The six grand you tuck away for your kids each year in RESPs quickly becomes five and change while the cost of tuition continues to rise.

Companies are going bankrupt. The global financial market is teetering on the brink. Our money is tied to a standard that is closer to air than gold. So what should people do with their money?

The old adage is you hide it underneath your mattress. But take it from a mattress company, despite the preposterous state of the world right now, this is never a good idea, and here’s why.

1. With inflation now in double digits on food (11%), rent (10%), gas (10%) and practically everything else. That money quickly becomes worth less and less with each passing year. You’d be better off spending it.
2. People tend to throw away mattresses at the most inopportune times. Here’s a story about a lady who mistakenly threw out her aging mother’s sagging mattress and $1 million along with it: Mattress disasters.
3. It makes for an awfully uncomfortable sleep. It’s one thing to have a pea under your bed, but a stack of cash? You’d probably sleep better with your money in the bank, or at least spent on happy memories.

Beyond the 100-year-old Louis the 13th cognac and Kobe beef seared in olive and truffle oil, other ingredients include fresh lobster and a special picante sauce.

So if you want to try the hot dog of kings, you’re in the right place.

DougieDoug is located at

1011 Granville Street  Vancouver, BC, Canada

(604) 468-3647

If you start at Oak and Broadway (where Simmons mattress gallery is located – the North side) and walk down Broadway, you will see no less than 3 mattress stores in one direction – all within three blocks. And about three mattress stores in the other direction, between Oak and Main, anyway.

It’s like the markets of a foreign country. With all the products of a certain type crowded into one area to fight amongst themselves. You’ll see all the knock-off shoes in one place, all the liquor in another, and all the baskets of snakes and birds and fish and lizards in another. It makes it easy to find, I suppose, but the competition is fierce.

Same goes for Vancouver mattress store row. Broadway and Main to about Broadway and Granville is crazy for mattress stores.

Simmons Mattress Gallery is right in the middle of the action. We also offer free parking and prices that can’t be beat.

So make it the middle stop in your Vancouver mattress shopping excursion, but also your last.

You just can’t beat Beautyrest Queens for $898 or other twin beds from $149.

So when you’re taking a stroll down mattress row, keep going until you hit the Simmons Mattress Gallery – we’re right in the middle.

Last week, Simmons Mattress Gallery replaced all the light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. This might not sound like much, but then you haven’t seen our showroom. The place is huge. And there are literally hundreds of light bulbs in there.

Using the traditional lights, Simmons was burning through 32,000 kw/hr. You can see our cheeks burning too. That’s a lot of power. So we decided to switch it up with new-fangled energy saving bulbs. Now, it’s estimated that Simmons Mattress Gallery will only use 12,000 kw/hr. That’s nearly one third of what we were using before.

The new bulbs are expected to last for ten years. And the store will recycle the old bulbs – in another store that is. Reusing is a better strategy than recycling the whole lot.

There’s a great ad from the One Show back in the day about Churchill’s famous mattress. It was a winner. It rings as true today as it did in 1982. The headline went something like: “Churchill sent hundreds of thousands to their death on the beaches of Normandy. How did he sleep at night?”* Answer – the Simmons Beautyrest.

One of Winston Churchill’s famous quotes was: “We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

Or… maybe it was the Beautyrest.

*I’m not a WWII historian, nor do I have the ad in front of me, so don’t hold me to the particulars.

A 2 for 1 special?

There is no miracle to losing weight. It is just a matter of diet and exercise, just like everyone has been telling you since you were a kid. Despite all the mumbo jumbo on the newsstands and far-fangled fads, the body boils down to simple calorie conversion machine. It’s an equation:

Calories In – Calories Out =Excess Calories/1600 = Pounds gained or lost

Everyone has an ‘ideal weight’ or ‘resting weight.’ It’s when all the stars are aligning, you’re eating your vegetables, getting your 30 min of intense exercise a day and sleeping 7-8 hours a night*. This weight might be 180 lb for some people, 100 lb for others. It comes down to your body shape.

Are you an exomorph (big boned and heavy-set), an ectomorph (thin-boned and slight) or a mesomorph (athletic)?

You can’t change your genes. So the best you can do is figure out where a suitable resting weight is for your body structure, and then work around that. Don’t shoot for 100 lb and look at pictures of Kate Moss if you have wrists like Kate Winslet. You’re wasting your time. Look for a picture of a mesomorph at her prime, and then build towards that. Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson have mesomorphic bodies (which explains the wide selection of dress sizes).

In general, Islanders are exomorphic, Asians are ectomorphic and Americans are mesophorphic. In the same way you can’t trade in your ethnicity, you can’t just swap the foundation of a resting body type. Know what you are and work around it.

*Sleep? Did we mention sleep? As much as exercise is important to maintaining a shape, sleep is integral to restoring the body after it shuts down for the day. Getting proper sleep will actually help you lose weight as well. More on sleeping yourself thin in this article.

Here are a few of the deals we have this week at Year-End Clearance prices.

$149 Simmons mattresses

$798 Beautyrest Queens – he usual price is $2798 (that’s $2000 off!)

Simmons Mattress Gallery can be found on the corner of Broadway and Oak as well as on Schoolhouse Street (next to the Cactus Club) in Coquitlam.

To make the most of the Year End Clearance Sale – come see us this week and we’ll help you find the bed that’s right for you.

Empires have grown, and crumbled, from the trusting exchange between king and queen, husband and wife and their mistresses and concubines.

We imagine Cleopatra must have been the master of pillow talk.

Her ability to manipulate the afterglow brought her to the status of queen amongst queens. Perhaps she was sleeping on a queen. If she had a bed today, it would be a Beautryrest Queen – for certain.

To win the heart of your lover, cuddle and bask on a soft, comfortable bed. It’s sure to help them relax and speak the language of the pillows.

With housing prices through the roof in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, most renters have opted to stay put as opposed to pay the astronomical rent prices around the city that go hand in hand with the bubble.

Five years ago, you could get a decent two-bedroom apartment close to the city for $1000/month. Now you’d be lucky to get one for less than $1800. That’s almost double what people are accustomed to.

Salaries have not increased significantly in that time. But the price of everything from gas to groceries has seen double digit growth.

For those who do not own homes in Vancouver, the best option is to cocoon until all the post-Olympic mania fades away and prices stabilize.

If you’re going to be in the same place for a while might as well get a good bed.

This week, Simmons Mattress Gallery is selling Simmons mattresses for as low as $149. Beautyrest Queens are going for $798. That’s a full $2000 less than the usual asking price.

For renters who are waiting out the storm until buying (or moving to a new place) what better place to wait than a comfortable queen sized. You may not be able to live like a millionaire, but you can certainly sleep like one.

Luckily this year, the water was a pleasant 7 degrees Celcius.

Taking the Polar Plunge on the 1^st of January is a distinctively Canadian tradition. Vancouver’s is the biggest and oldest in Canada – going back to 1920.

Personally, we’d rather stay in our warm beds.

New Year’s resolutions is a tradition that is more often broken than kept. But it’s a nice idea that we will make some significant changes in our health and lifestyle.

Some of the most common resolutions include getting in shape, losing weight, and quitting smoking.

But what about sleeping better? One of the fastest ways to improve your health is by getting a decent sleep. If it’s been a few years since you’ve had a new mattress – you might be surprised at how much more restful your six-hour slumber is on a brand-new bed.

What were your resolutions this year?

Mattresses are brutal on landfills, so this is a good way to help the earth, help the less fortunate and help your back at the same time.

To find out more about this program, read this article: mattress recycling in Vancouver.

Beautyrest Queens from $798.

That’s $2000 off.

Mattresses from $149.

Only Vancouver mattress store Simmons Mattress Gallery has mattress sales like this.

And it’s only for one more day.

Sale ends Dec 31, 2011.

Eating disorders can be traced back to parents rewarding or punishing their children with food. Comfort eating. Binge eating. Overeating. Culminating in our society’s latest battle with obesity.

The same can be said for sleeping disorders.

Think of when you were a child. How were you punished?

Were you sent to your room early? Was going to bed at night a punishment that you hated. A way that your parents cut you off from their world?

Many kids go to bed kicking and screaming. They hate the process of being tucked in. Thousands of songs, lullabies and stories have been written by exasperated poets and parents over the years in hopes of coaxing fussy children into peaceful slumber.

Then there is the fateful Time Out. Separation from one’s peers and parents in the wake of bad behaviour. Isn’t this often in the bedroom as well? Stuck in a barred crib? Or  locked in a solitary room with nothing but a bed.

It’s little wonder that so many people today have trouble falling to sleep at night. Insomnia plagues millions of North Americans each year. These disorders could very well stem from our early attitudes towards sleep as one of punishment.

What is the solution?

If you are a parent of young children, don’t associate the bedroom with Time Outs. However, when it comes to the nightly battle, there’s not much more you can do that just hope they’re tired.

There are as many shapes and sizes of pillows as there are kinds of heads. Some are as thin as a folded T-shirt, while other tend to crank the neck at 90 degrees sideways like some kind of zombie in an elevator shaft.

Some pillows sink. Some are made of foam. Some have memories better than your own. There are pillows made of down. Did you know down’s a common allergen. Some are made of synthetic fibres that can’t breathe.

If you’re tossing and turning in bed every night, it might be the mattress, but it might be the pillow. Try a couch pillow, your partner’s pillow, even no pillow at all. It might be what’s driving you crazy.

Simmons Mattress Gallery is giving away free pillows with every new King-sized Beautyrest. If you’re necks bugging you, the bed will help, and the pillow might make it even better.

On the topic of pillows: Here’s a fun Facebook page devoted to that thing we all love – the cold side of the pillow. It already has 84,741 fans!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cold-Side-of-the-Pillow/70923189265

Beautyrest Queens for $798.

Regular Price $2798.

That’s $2000 off the asking price!

That’s not all. Simmons will also have beds for as low as $149.

These prices cannot be beat.

Get in on the Boxing Week Blitz at Simmons Mattress Gallery and save today.

Vancouver – on the corner of Broadway and Oak.

Coquitlam – on Schoolhouse St. off the Loughheed Highway

The sale runs only to December 31^st, so don’t delay.

The Van Dusen Garden’s Festival of Lights is a whimsical celebration of Christmas cheer. It features over a million elegant lights of all colours and sizes, along with choirs and choruses and wandering gnomes.

It’s the perfect evening outing for a romantic couple to journey below the stars amidst a sea of swirling colour. And a chance to warm the spirits of the whole family, no matter what age the tykes may be. There’s plenty of room to run about, and even the most skeptical teens will reach for their iPhone cameras to feature it on their Facebook.

To find out more, visit this website.

http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/vandusen/website/events/fol.htm

Suddenly our relationships with friends and family become quantified into money spent.

Gifts are analyzed to death by relatives wondering what hidden messages they contain beyond ‘I need to get your name off my list.’

Our value as hosts is put under the microscope as endless streams of guests parade through our homes running secret fingers for dust.

The measure of how well you have your life together is judged by the number Christmas cards you get out the door, and how current your family picture is.

Commitment to community is questioned by endless jingling bells and sorrowful messages scribbled on brown cardboard.

In the malls, shoppers scramble, madly sliding and pressing buttons on Visa machines. Line ups form. Cookies burn. Turkeys shrivel. Panic ensues. Liquor flows. Tempers flare. And people go off their lovely handles.

And all in the name of peace on earth, goodwill to man.

The holidays should be about friends and family. That’s it. Take out all the stress and measurement and comparisons and forget the rest. They are supposed to be fun!

So, in the name of putting an end to holiday stress, get the sleep you need. Nothing takes your mind off a hectic schedule like a good night’s sleep.

11 Ways To Treat Back Pain

The Healing Power of Sleep

The Impact Of Insomnia

Extending the Longevity of Your Mattress

Getting Some Sleep With A Newborn – Through Apps

The Best Times To Buy A New Mattress

Poor Sleep Leads To Poor Choices

Sleeping With Your Newborn

This is for all you elbow-throwers, and midnight kickers. Noctural thrashers and snoring starfish. Think of your loved ones. And get a good bed for them as well.

They need an undisturbed sleep as much as you do.

Beautyrest mattresses will eliminate motion transfer from one sleeping partner to another.

Once you’ve had a new, comfortable, king-sized bed from a premium brand like Simmons Beautyrest- there is no going back.

Treat yourself right now, and you’ll even find beds at Year-End Clearance prices of up to 60% off.

I know it’s been said many times, many ways, but:

It’s nice to have a good bed.

Having a black bear wander around the downtown core on Monday certainly reinforces that stereotype.

The big guy jumped into a dump truck on Tuesday and went for a little ride around the city. It took city workers by surprise, but luckily no one was harmed as a result of the little joyride.

The bear was returned to the wild on Wednesday.

The thing that everyone needs: A good night’s sleep.

If your partner has been sleeping on the same old mattress for years, maybe it’s time to start the New Year with something new. Instead of buying a bunch of unnecessary nicknacks that they might not even want, you can get them something they’re guaranteed to love – a comfortable new mattress.

Why leave your Christmas shopping to the last minute? Take your partner for a stroll through Simmons Mattress Gallery and find out what bed he or she likes best.

Keep it casual, “Okay, hon, let’s go do some more Chistmas shopping,” knowing full well that the bed they liked best has been noted.

To help you find the perfect mattress Vancouver’s Simmons Mattress Gallery is currently offering 60% off selected models for their Year-End Clearance mattress sale.

If could be the perfect time to get the Christmas present they’ll (and hopefully you as well) will enjoy for years to come.

A shining jewel in the Simmons crown, the Beautyrest Black is the showpiece to which all other luxury beds are compared. You will find it unparalleled in comfort, refinement and reputation for excellence.

The distinction was well earned. Every bed is a triumph in meticulous craftsmanship and exceptional materials.

The rarity of a Black can only be matched by its partners in refinement and uncompromising comfort. These would include 300-thread count sheets and the finest down blankets.

To complete the picture of opulent perfection, one would need only the matching drawer bases.

However, black drawer bases sized to a king-sized Beautyrest Black are as elusive as they are practical.

They can only be found in one place, and under one circumstance.

Only Simmons Mattress Gallery has the matching black drawer bases you need to complete your Beautyrest Black. And to make these hidden treasures even more rare, they are only available with the purchase of a Beautyrest Black.

Simmons Mattress Gallery has won the Consumer Choice Award for “Best Mattress Store.” It is the ninth time in a row the Vancouver mattress store has received the honour.

The award are determined gathering thousands of opinions, expectations and responses of consumers across Canada and then evaluating them with the help of a third party research team.

“The research method determines all service providers, ultimately selects the top ranked companies, and establishes the winner within each industry.”

Simmons Mattress Gallery is Vancouver’s mattress professionals. The stores are immaculate and the staff is motivated to provide the best customer experience possible.

Great value, service and business integrity have swung the Consumers Choice Award spotlight toward this Vancouver mattress store once again. Drop in to either the Broadway or Schoolhouse St. locations (in Coquitlam) to see for yourself why Simmons Mattress Gallery is selected as the Best Mattress Store in Vancouver year after year.

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

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.

The bugs were found in a book borrowed from the Mount Pleasant Library.

Since the incident, the library has done a thorough search of their stacks. Their work has turned up no evidence of further infestation. It may have only been the one book, stored near an infected mattress or couch that acted as a temporary home for the critters – unlucky for the library.

The fact that the bugs were found in an item other than furniture or clothing illustrates how prolific the problem is in our city. Bed bugs are everywhere, but those infected are keeping their mouths zipped.

Unlike a public library, homeowners can silently try to deal with bed bug issues without the prying eye of the public. Victims call a pest control service, they move to a hotel for a few days or go on a ‘vacation’, they buy all new mattresses and when they get back, the Taylors will ‘still’ be sending little Jenny over for play dates. A convenient solution with little-to-no public humiliation.

Until there is a strategy to wipeout the bugs for good, private pest control will be the public’s best option.

Bug Problems

It’s the end of 2011 so it’s out with the old and in with the new. Make a pre-New Years resolution to get yourself a new bed and rest better for all of 2012.

Simmons mattresses are now on sale for up to 60% off.

Come on down to our Broadway and Oak or Coquitlam stores to get yourself a quality bed at Year-End Clearance prices.

Our 60% off Vancouver mattress sale is only once a year, and it only runs until the New Year, so don’t miss out.

It’s the latest thing. Follow along for the latest mattress and sleep tips, updates on things to do in Vancouver, as well as our latest sales and promotions.

Add us to your Google+ Circle at:

https://plus.google.com/114425622481922012390/posts

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

This weekend hosts a number of Christmas craft fairs around the city. Simmons Mattress Gallery suggests the following sales:

Friday, November 25th

-9th Annual Chilliwack Christmas Craft Crawl

Various times and locations in Chilliwack

-North Delta Potter’s Guild Christmas Pottery Sale

Artspace Studio (11425 84th Avenue)

-Richmond Potter’s Club Christmas Sale

Richmond Cultural Centre (7700 Minoru Place)

Saturday, November 26th

-Dunbar Community Centre’s Annual Craft Fair

10am – 5pm (4747 Dunbar Street)

-Renfrew Community Centre’s Craft Fair

10am – 3pm (Eastt 22nd and Renfrew)

-Strathcona Community Centre’s Winter Craft Fair

601 Keefer Street, Vancouver

-Urban Artists’ Craft Fair

10am – 5pm Roundhouse Community Centre

-Woodside Gallery Christmas Arts and Craft Show

10am – 5pm (2226 Lougheed Highway)

Homemade Christmas Gifts

This year, the ‘Lights of Hope’ display intends to raise $1.9 million in corporate and private donations. The St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation has already raised a total of $16 million since the conception of the light show.

The set-up for the lights began on November 5th, when a 100 volunteers helped erect the carefully planned display. It is estimated that the lights would span 10 kms, if attached as a single line. That would be quite the sight.

If you would like to donate, visit the charity’s website: http://www.helpstpauls.com The site suggest many creative ways to give, from security stock, to a mention in the will, to a monthly donation. Whatever you can afford to give, they’ll use.

The projects that the hospital wishes to fund are: the purchase of a new CT scanner, two 3D-capable echocardiography machines, bronchoscopy equipment, for the detection of lung disease and the completion of the Diagnostic Treatment Unit.

The official opening of this year’s Lights of Hope display will be on Thursday, November 24th.

Light Up the Stars Tonight

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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

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.

The Wooden Prison – Your crib provided you with a confined space to for those short periods of sleep between epic crying bouts. The upside: you never had to get up to go to the washroom in the middle of the night. The downside: lack of freedom.

The Layer Cake – All of your friends were envious of your bunk bed, but sharing a bedroom with your older brother quickly lost its novelty. You dreamed of the top bunk, but sadly were forced to settle for the lower class bottom bunk for eight long years.

Puberty Plank – Pimples, emerging hair and voice crackles were manageable, but your Grade Ten growth spurt put your feet off the end of your twin mattress; it left you with 3/4’s of a comfortable night’s rest.

College Daze – If your dorm room mattresses could speak, we’re sure it would utter something along the lines of Kurtz’s final words; “The horror….the horror.”

Young Professional - Independent enough to buy your first bed – too poor to shop anywhere but IKEA.

Marriage Bed – She insisted on going to a proper mattress store. Together, you picked out a Beautyrest. Everything up to that point was…history.

Bunk Beds: Family Caste System

We’re not 100% sure of the science, but we do know a good laugh is a great way to relieve anxiety. Forget the scented candles and bubble bath, grab a friend and find a local comedy club or check the events calendar for local comics coming to town. Then take a night-off from work/kids/bridge and laugh your way back to health.

This month, Paul F. Tompkins will be visiting the city and performing at the Rio Theatre, only a few km’s from our Broadway location. Tompkins’ humour is a little quirky, but if you have ever listened to his podcast or his appearances on Comedy Bang Bang, you wouldn’t miss this night for your Grandmother’s funeral. Tompkins will be taking to the stage on November 30th. For a little taste of his style, listen to the audio clip below:

http://audioboo.fm/boos/510900-new-dads-paul-f-tompkins

Never been to the Rio Theater? You are in for a treat. Be forewarned, this is an adults only show and as a result, beer will be served. And yes, you may take your cans of PBR into the Theatre.

Another great venue for traveling comedians, as opposed to the community kind, is the River Rock Theatre. Last year, legendary comics Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld performed at the Rock.

If a smaller, more casual setting is more to your taste, check out the Comedy Mix in the Century Plaza Hotel downtown.

Out in the burbs? Try LaffLines in New Westminster. Tracy MacDonold, a fine Canadian comic, will be performing on November 4th and 5th.

Get out there and get your laugh on!

Paul F. Tompkins

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/

The annual scare factory has moved locations, due to the increased volume of visitors that the house has received over the past seven years. The new location is 8934 Shaughnessy St., near the Marine and Cambie Canada Line station.

The house has now become a community project, taking almost four months to create.

With props, live actors, dramatic settings and an animated soundtrack, the walking tour is a theatrical buffet of scaredom.

This year’s theme is “Barbaric British Columbia.” The word from the crypt is the house will showcase a number of iconic images from BC history and culture – possible frights include the undead crew of the S.S. Beaver, the resurrection of Bill Vander Zalm’s Fantasy Garden and the impenetrable Tim Thomas.

The haunted house opened for business on Oct 14th and will close its doors at midnight on Halloween.

Entry costs $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. All proceeds are distributed between the B.C. Fire Fighter’s Burn Fund, the Christmas Bureau and the Vancouver Police Union Charity Foundation.

For younger visitors, the house offers a reduced rate, performerless walk through on Saturdays and Sundays, between 11am and 7pm. At 7pm, the actors take their place to offer the true, spine-tingling spectacle.

We’ll see you there… if you dare.

Spooky Family Fun

The sleep-inducing track beat out offerings by Coldplay, Enya and Mozart.

Marconi Union produce ambient electronica. For “Weightless,” the group worked with a number of sound therapists to construct a song that soothed the listener through specifically chosen harmonic intervals.

The Telegraph, which reported the story last week, commented that the “carefully arranged harmonies, rhythms and bass lines help to slow the heart rate, reduce the blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.”

The eight-minute track is so effective, that drivers have been warned not to listen to the track while behind the wheel.

The study published the list of the top ten songs for inducing sleep like qualities. “Weightless” was number one. Coming in at number eight, was Adele’s current chart topper, “Someone Like You.”

When compared with other relaxation methods, “Weightless” trumped massage, walking and drinking tea.

It’s a shame they didn’t match it against a Simmons Beautyrest mattress – but that wouldn’t be fair.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Here are a few facts about Simmons mattresses that you might not know.

1. The Simmons mattresses sold at Simmons Mattress Gallery are locally built right here in Vancouver, on Anacis Island to be exact.
2. If you are in the local area, Simmons Mattress Gallery offers free delivery (and even bed frame setup for its customers). If you’ve ever tried to move a king-sized bed on the roof of your car, you know how useful this is. Also, if you’ve ever had the maddening experience of trying to set up a bed frame on your own without the right tools – you’ll realize what a boon this actually is.
3. Simmons Mattress Gallery has been voted the Best Mattress Store In Vancouver for eight years in a row by the Consumers’ Choice Awards. Eight years of professional service! That’s nothing to sneeze at.
4. The sales people at Simmons Mattress Gallery are multi-talented. Just ask Mike to play a song, any song, on guitar and prepare to be amazed. Bruce knows this province like no other, and Neil is a talented cartoonist and art director in his own right.
5. Simmons Mattress Gallery recycles. If you bring in your old bed, they will trade it in and trade it up to a new one, and properly recycle the old one for you.
6. It’s more than just mattresses! Simmons Mattress Gallery in Coquitlam, BC also sells excellent cribs, bedding, pillows, and recliner beds.

To have your own tour of Simmons Mattress Gallery, drop in at:

Simmons Mattress Gallery

101 Schoolhouse Road, Unit 220

Coquitlam, BC

V3K 4X8

604-733-5161 ‎

There are the usual routes – cash, cheque, credit card. But we also offer financing options from the banks. The approval process for them is a bit slower, but it can be a good way to get your house outfitted now, and not having to pay for 6 months.

Another funding option that’s available to our customers is a Vancouver second mortgage. Mind you, this is for large scale purchases (like if you were planning to put a bed in every bedroom) but it’s still an option if the banks can’t help you with the funding you need.

It’s another option. To find out more about how homeowners can make use of a Vancouver second mortgage to finance their big ticket purchases based on the value of their home, just click one of these links.

You wouldn’t hit the trail in a pair of hiking boots you just bought. Not without expecting some blisters anyway.

They need to be broken in first. The leather needs to soften with a bit of use. Their shape needs to mould to familiar feet.

Same goes for mattresses.

You’ll notice a slight difference between the bed you selected in our showroom and the bed you have delivered.

That’s because the mattresses in the showroom have been broken over time – from the testing of shoppers like yourself.

Your bed will feel that way, eventually, just not right away. Don’t worry. Just give it time.

We usually suggest that our customers give their new beds a month or so to feel right. The bed will soften and get more comfortable to you over time.

You have 90 days to return. So wait until 2-3 month mark. The first month is still an adjustment period.

If you have any further questions about breaking in your new Simmons mattress, please do not hesitate to call us at: 604-733-5161 ‎

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.

Inventors, artists, musicians and thinkers throughout history have reported that some of their biggest breakthroughs were the products of dream world experiences. Rene Descartes came up with the concept for the scientific method after something he experienced in a dream. Paul McCartney has said he heard the tune for the famous song, “Yesterday,” in a dream. Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” was inspired by a dream. Elias Howe got the idea to invent the sewing machine in a dream.

Dreams can be a great source of inspiration, but only if you remember them when you wake up. To increase the chances that your next great invention doesn’t slip away into your subconscious, it’s a good idea to write down what you remember about your dreams as soon as you wake up. Keep a notebook by the bed and jot down anything you remember, even incomplete images, occurrences or thoughts that don’t seem to make sense. Some people believe it’s easier to remember dreams that occur during the daytime while napping, although this idea is impossible to prove.

The quality of your sleep can increase the quality of your dreams. And the quality of your bed can increase the quality of your sleep. That means you might want to invest in a new bed. Visit Vancouver Mattress Store Simmons Mattress Gallery to check out the best brands at the best prices. Start dreaming up your next great idea tonight.

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.

However, there are a few events coming up in Vancouver this fall that can hopefully cheer you up.

Cinema – On September 28^th there is the Vancouver International Film Festival. Prepare your eyes for some of the most cutting-edge and avant-garde cinema this side of the pond, as they screen films from 80 countries on 10 screens – it’s not to be missed.

Concerts – October is bringing a few fantastic bands to the city. Keep your eyes peeled and credit card handy for the likes of Flogging Molly, Kathy Griffin, Selena Gomez, Said The Whale, Bachman Turner and more.

Events – “I am Vancouver” is a presentation at  the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Learn about the history of the city and how Captain George found his way here in the first place. It ends this October, so it could be your last chance to check it out.

Want to get the most restful sleep possible during the night?

Well, there’s an app for that.

It turns out that it’s not so much about how long you lay in bed. What is more important is when you wake from your slumber.

Researchers have discovered that those who wake during the lightest phase of their sleep cycle feel the most rested the next day.

So taking this knowledge, they’ve created an iPhone app that measures the amount you are moving at any given time during the night, and when nocturnal motions are at a minimum – it triggers the alarm clock to wake you up!

The technology is made possible by the accelerometer in the iPhone.

The app has seen resounding success, already climbing to the top of the App Store in Germany, Japan  and Russia.

To try it for yourself , simply download the Sleep Cycle App in the App Store for less than a dollar!

Read more about the Sleep Cycle App here.

The advantage of Google+ is that it allows you to filter your friends into a few different groups or ‘circles’.

You can keep your messages and posts to your friends and family distinct from the ones you are sending out to your workmates or clients.

So, for instance, our account is under Neil Wurst. The owner of Simmons Mattress Gallery in Vancouver and Coquitlam.

If Neil wants to send pictures of his latest fishing trips to just his family – he can do so. Without his business associates sharing the photos.

Simmons will be sending out promotions not available to people except through Google+ Plus. On some days, we may throw in free pillows with any Beautyrest. On others we might have a one-time Twin mattress sale of $147. You will need to be involved on Google+ to get these specials.

If you would like to join us, click this link. If you don’t already have an account, talk to us and we can set you up.

Mattress Vancouver Google+

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.

The University has nursing programs, trade opportunities and one of the most respected Ed programs in the province.

But unfortunately, unlike many European countries, education comes at a price. This month scores of students will be looking for ways to pay their tuition, textbook and living expenses.

If you have a child who will be attending VIU or if you are planning to return to school, you may need to look beyond the usual student loan option. A Nanaimo second mortgage can aid you in your quest to come up with the funds.

A Nanaimo mortgage financing package is a viable option for paying for education costs. All that is needed for the loan is home equity.

If you own your home outright or have a current mortgage package, a Nanaimo mortgage credit loan can be yours with a quick five-minute application.

Visit our website for more details on your Nanaimo second mortgage.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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

“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.

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!

The Beautyrest Exceptionale series is the jewel in the Beautyrest line. It is designed to offer the most comfortable sleep imaginable. No other mattress comes close to the pampering offered by an Exceptionale mattress.

The stack begins with two layers of four-inch coils; that’s a full eight inches of support. The foam layer adds another three inches of cushioning. And the pillow top is half an inch. The total sum: eleven and a half inches of mattress heaven.

Add a Triton foundation, and your bed is suddenly a tower of clouds so soft and supportive, an angel would be envious.

If you feel you deserve the best mattress possible, select the Beautyrest Exceptionale mattress. It is comfort taken to the highest level.

Beautyrest Exceptionale - You Deserve It!

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

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

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

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 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

Finding an appropriate book, that won’t be a waste of time, can sometimes be a task. To aid you in this process, Simmons Mattress Gallery has two suggestions for summer reads.

1. Various Positions

Dance positions…

This is a novel by a Canadian author living in Toronto. With similarities to last years Oscar darling, Black Swan, Various Positions, explores the physical pressures and suppressed sexuality of the ballet world. Like Swan, the protagonist is a young girl striving to make an impression on the artistic stage. She falls in love with the artistic director, but decides to hide her feelings and focus on her craft – the one thing she can control.

2. The Help

Almost every book club in North America has added this title to their list. The Help is set in the 1960s, in Mississippi. It revolves around a young female writer who returns to her hometown around the time a law is set in place forbidding black workers (the help) from using the bathrooms of their employers. Skeeter, the protagonist, exposes the absurdity of this bill by writing a novel about the many essential services provided by the black women who raise the children of white families. The movie will be out on August 12th.

Read It Before You See It

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.

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.

-Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon was a man of infinite energy who made alliances with those he needed and crushed those he didn’t. The ‘Little Corporal’ was a terrier when it came to diplomacy, constantly hustling, solidifying his power in the name of Revolutionary France. His battle strategies are still being studied in military academies around the world for the innovation.

But where did all this energy come from? The answer: naps.

Napoleon could fall asleep anywhere, in any condition; some attribute this ability to be linked to his over the top self-confidence. A quick catnap and the pint-sized leader could be up and ordering troops within minutes. During battle, his naps allowed him to go days without a full night’s sleep. At the end of a siege, Napoleon could sleep up to eighteen hours to bring himself back up to speed.

Would this be considered a healthy lifestyle? No. But it does illustrate the power of a quick bit of shut-eye.

In our modern world, napping is a curious topic. We often partake in naps to make-up for the sleep we missed the night before. A short nap can give us the energy we need to finish our day’s work. A longer nap can cause us to be anxious and interfere with our regular sleep schedule.

Using naps to the degree Napoleon did is ill advised. Using a nap instead of an afternoon coffee, is much more reasonable.

The Napping Emperor

A new study, produced by Christopher Barnes of Virginia Tech. University and published in the Harvard Business Review, suggests that individuals who have their sleep reduced by thirty minutes or more a night are more likely to cheat on work related issues.

The study was conducted with a control group and a sleep deprived set. The study asked volunteers to report their scores on different tests they were given. The higher test scores were rewarded a larger monetary prize than the lower ones. The incentive to cheat was there, but the number of individuals who actually fudged their numbers to increase their financial advantage was much higher from the sleep-deprived set.

The study defends a theory that managers who push their employees to work overtime may be doing their company a disservice.

The best thing you could do for your staff is to help them keep their working hours to an eight-hour day. Showing them more effective ways to work is much more productive than having them work increased hours.

If it is imperative you push them, why not offer a new mattress as a perk at the end of the month. They deserve it.

Simmons Mattress Gallery has your employee bonus beds in stock.

Let Your Employees Sleep At Home, Not On Their Desks.

Are answer always starts with a question: “What kind of mattress are you sleeping on?” After suggesting a switch to an ultra-comfortable Beautyrest, we widen our advice to include a few tips that have been passed down to us from our many satisfied customers.

One tip is specifically formulated for those nights when you have an important business meeting or presentation the following day.

Our anxious nature occasionally inhibits our mind from slipping into a state of unconsciousness. For those nights when we are consumed by the pressure of our work, we offer this tip:

• Don’t lie in bed trying in vain to fall asleep. Get off your mattress, go to your desk or kitchen table and take out a pen and paper. Do not work on the computer; that will just add more distractions. Write out everything you will be doing the following day. Include all the details you can think of. If need be, include a timeline.
• With that done, return to bed and switch your brain from logical functioning to creative. Imagine a picture or scene and place yourself in it. Let your mind relax and drift away.

You’re welcome.

Write It Down

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

Since writing that article, Simmons Mattress Gallery has received a number of emails about other famous insomniacs.

One story that stood out from the others was the story of Peter Tripp. Tripp was a disc jockey, who in 1959, stayed awake for 201 hours as part of a promotional stunt for a New York radio station. The stunt took place in a glass booth in Times Square.

Unlike Gardner, Tripp used pharmaceutical stimulants to stay awake. Doctors, who should have known better, supplied these.

By the fifth day of the stunt, witnesses claim Tripp took on a crazed look. He began to hallucinate, claiming to see kittens and mice scurrying around the makeshift studio. He also became spooked when a man in a trench coat visited. Tripp believed the man to be an undertaker and ran out into the street in fear. He was dragged back to his turntables.

The stunt was successful in raising money for the March of Dimes, a charity whose mission is to promote the health of young infants. Tripp’s health, however, declined after the stunt. Years later, he would complain of recurring headaches and emotional instability.

We think a car wash would have been a much healthier fundraiser.

Peter Tripp Trying to Keep His Eyes Open

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

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

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).

If you’re not an insomniac, Guinness record holder enthusiast or sleep analyst, they probably don’t mean much. But 264 is the number of consecutive hours Randy Gardner stayed awake in 1964. His tally still holds the world record, although, a few individuals have since claimed to have broken it.

Gardner was seventeen at the time of his ill-advised experiment. He attempted the feat as part of a science fair experiment. Two of his fellow students kept him awake with activities from television to basketball.

Dr. William C. Dement, a scientist from Stanford University, who was intrigued by the young man’s experiment, supervised Gardner’s record. Dement claimed that Gardner only suffered moodiness and a slight loss of concentration.

Dement’s findings, however, are contrary to the behaviour documented by Gardner’s health monitor, Lt. Cmdr. John J. Ross. Ross maintains that Gardner suffered multiple hallucinations, symptoms of paranoia, and short-term memory loss.

In one experiment, Gardner was asked to subtract seven repeatedly, starting with 100. Gardner got to 65 and promptly forgot what the task was. This was on the fourth day.

Other standout incidents include hallucinating that a signpost was a person, believing that he was a college football pro and forgetting how to speak.

Our advice, stick with at least seven hours a night. Trouble reaching that number? Consider investing in a new mattress. Simmons Mattress Gallery has the perfect bed for you, don’t lose anymore sleep. Stop by our Coquitlam mattress store or our Broadway location.

Try not to talk to any signposts on your way over.

Randy and Friends

The music will be the big draw of the weekend, with The New Pornographers, Said the Whale and Mother Mother sharing a stage. Local singer songwriter, Dan Mangan, will also play, along with the collective sound of Vancouver’s Symphony Orchestra.

Admission is free and the organizers promise that the event will be family friendly.

Party in the Park

The city chose Stanley Park as the site of the festival because of its beautiful setting, picnic capacity and its history with Vancouver’s city council.

Fact: The area of land now known as Stanley Park was delegated park space at the first Vancouver city council meeting in 1886.

There will also be a sports day like atmosphere, with hilarious relay races.

So don’t plan any getaways during the second weekend in July. You’ll want to stay home and enjoy this one with the rest of your fellow Vancouverites.

Stomach Illness Takes Down Brock

Fans of the UFC might be sad to learn that Brock Lesnar has pulled out of the main-event fight for UFC 131 in Vancouver. Lesnar was set to battle Junior Dos Santos, but the heavyweight star has fallen ill, due to a digestive disease known as diverticulitis.

This is the second time the disease has sidelined the big man. In 2009, Lesnar was scheduled to fight Shane Carwin at UFC 106, but pulled out. It was later explained that the heavyweight star was suffering from the above-mentioned intestinal disorder.

Lesnar was quoted as saying: “There isn’t a fight in this world that’s more important than my health.” Lesnar is considering surgery for a second time to deal with the illness.

With his health in limbo, one thing is certain – Lesnar will not be flying to Canada for his medical treatment. Lesnar has openly-criticized Canada’s health care system after receiving emergency treatment at a hospital in rural Manitoba.

Vancouver MMA fans will still be treated to a show on June 11^th. Dana White has now booked Shane Carwin to fight Dos Santos at Rogers Arena.

Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.

The Queen of pop, Rihanna, has released a brand new video on a subject close to our hearts. Rihanna’s new single, “California King Bed,” details the relationship between two lovers who, even though they share a bed, are separated by an emotional distance.

The red-haired singer laments, “It feels like more than distance between us / In this California king bed / We’re 10,000 miles apart.”

In the video, directed by Anthony Mandler, Rihanna is seen lying in bed with a muscular model. As the song progresses, the bed widens and a physical separation appears between the couple.

Ironically, a California King, the largest mattress in the Simmons Beautyrest line, is four inches longer, not wider, than a regular king size mattress. Our Simmons’ mattress professionals recommend this mattress for individuals taller than 6’’.

The Barbados pop star measures in at 5′9”, a height that probably does not require the extra four inches in length. Our suggestion for Rihanna, go with a Queen size. It will bring you and your significant other closer and still allow for extended, after-hours play.

We understand her choice though, as ‘California king’ works more effectively as a symbol for her conflict and her lover.

The official video was released on Monday, May 9th. The single, we’re sure, will be the radio hit of the summer, adding to the list of hits that Rhianna’s Loud album has already generated.

Vancouverites will be able to see the singer live when she performs two sold out shows in June. We already have our tickets. Fingers crossed she encores with “California King Bed.”

For the Vancouver Canucks, that support is the tireless playoff performance of Ryan Kesler. Bloodied and bruised, number seventeen is currently leading the NHL in playoff points, but most nights it is his work away from the net that is earning him respect around the league.

Killing penalties, winning faceoff’s and banging the boards, Kesler is giving it all this post-season. He is supporting a team whose top players (Daniel and Henrik) have mysteriously disappeared. He has stitches across his lip from an errant puck in Game Five; when asked if he wanted anesthesia for the wound, he refused it, saying it would only slow him down.

His fearless play and defensive stamina earned him over twenty-one minutes of ice time in Game Six against the Nashville Predators. Setting up both goals, Kesler earned the praises of Predator Coach Barry Trotz: “As I said when I was going by him, if he doesn’t play that way we’re probably going to Game 7 and we might win the series, but he played to a level that few people can reach in a series.”

Kesler, in a post-game interview with Scott Oake of the CBC, claimed that Trotz’s comments were humbling.

Now the assistant captain is carrying the Canucks into the Western Conference Finals, a feat managed only three times by the franchise.

Without him, the Canucks might be counting the clubs in their golf bag. With him they are the most powerful team in the NHL, destined to play for a chance at the Stanley Cup.

Lead on Kesler. You have a whole city on your shoulders.

Here are five firm reasons to secure at least seven hours a night.

1. Falling asleep at work could cost you your job. If your boss happens to catch you taking a power nap, you better have your desk cleaned out by the end of the day. Drool is also terrible for keyboards.
2. Falling asleep at the wheel could cost you your life. 17% of fatal car accidents involve a sleepy driver. Turning up the radio or opening the window won’t help. If you are consistently experiencing drowsy conditions on your daily commute, it’s time to put aside more hours for sleep.
3. Your health. Simmons Mattress Gallery has written numerous articles on the negative health effects of limited rest. From diabetes, to heart failure, to lower life expectancy, there is a long list of sleep related health problems that occur with individuals who neglect their downtime.
4. Your mood sours dramatically when you haven’t gotten enough shut-eye. People who are sleep deprived often are quick to lose their temper and are less able to deal with pressure situations. Their mood often sours their relationships at work and at home.
5. Our brains need a break. Even if your other organs could handle continuous nights of less than three hours of sleep, our brains would eventually slow down to a crawl. Each night when we doze off, our brain reverts to an energy-saving mode. Different areas are called upon to fuel our subconscious, but the area we count on for our most intense processing is given a break. Run anything for 21 hours a day and it will eventually self-destruct.

"Wake up!!!!"

What is a ‘good morning’? Is it a greeting, a statement of fact or a question?

Well if the Viagra commercials are to be believed, it is a state of being; a post-performance glow. It has gentlemen in suits leaping over hedges, bounding down sidewalks and freely swinging their briefcases.

According to The Beatles it is a mundane rundown of your average day, mixed with a flirty skirt and a barnyard serenade.

Here at Simmons Mattress Gallery, we believe a ‘good morning’ is the product of a peaceful night’s sleep on our superior, non-flip pocket coil mattress. Nothing prepares your mind, body and soul for taking on the new day than an undisturbed rest. And quite simply, that is what a Simmons mattress provides. Our Beautyrest line will provide more spring than any blue pill will.

Try a Simmons today and you will never look back. You will greet your staff with a boastful ‘How was your sleep last night? Mine was amazing!’ That is how to start the day. Leave the chickens and the pill popping to the ill informed.

"Now look to your right..."

This week, our city hosts the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival. For three nights, international stars will join the performers of Vancouver’s growing burlesque scene on two different stages.

On May 5th and 6th the show will take place at the Rickshaw theatre. There will be three performances each night, with single and ensemble acts.

On May 7th, the action moves to the Vogue Theatre. This night will include a long line-up of stars that will perform from 8:00 on.

If you are curious about the burlesque artistry and would like to get involved as a participant, there are workshops being offered on Saturday May 7th at the Chicken Coop at 2280 East Hastings. Tickets are $20 per class. There are three classes being offered at this location along with a make-up class at the Prophouse Café.

General Admission seats for the nightly performances are $20. There is also the option to purchase tickets at fourteen VIP tables.

So pull out your fans and your fishnets and take in some sultry theatre at the 6th Annual Vancouver International Burlesque Festival.

Surprise them with an anniversary gift they will cherish through their golden years. Buy them a Beautyrest mattress from Simmons Mattress Gallery, Vancouver’s mattress store.

They deserve it. They’ve been through a lot, but they stuck together and always supported you. Now is your chance to repay them.

You will look like the golden child. Those memories of when you wrote-off the family car will be magically erased. In its place will blossom years of ‘thank you’s’.

You can purchase their new mattress at our Broadway location in Vancouver or at our Schoolhouse store in Coquitlam.

Not sure what mattress to choose. Make an event out of the gift. Tell them you need their help picking out a new hardwood floor. Drive them to either of our locations and have them spend an afternoon trying out our beds.

We guarantee they will leave with a smile and a spring in their step.

This year, Simmons is introducing Smart Response Technology to their traditional pocket coil mattress. This revolution in design took the existing Beautyrest model that customers have appreciated for years and improved on it.

The Smart Response functions like two springs balanced on top of each other. The top half of the single spring is tapered to conform to the sleeper’s shape. The lower half of the spring is more rotund, offering support and the traditional motion separation that Simmons’ customers have come to appreciate. The new shape provides consumers with an undisturbed rest and a durable bed that will last for years.

These new springs can be found in Simmons’ new line of the Beautyrest NxG mattresses and our Beautyrest Elite collection.

Come in and try one this week. Your upgrade to Smart Response technology will affect your night’s sleep immediately.

Simmons Beautyrest – Improving with age!

Horizontal History

But we aren’t the only ones with a Simmons moniker. There are three individuals in the entertainment industry that share our famous surname.

• There is Russell Simmons; a legend in the hip-hop community for his co-founding of Def Jam records. Russell is also the brother of legendary hip-hop star ‘Run’ Simmons, from Run-D.M.C.
• There is Gene Simmons; the mighty tongue from Kiss and failed Celebrity Apprentice star. Gene may have seen a lot of different beds in his lifetime, but we highly doubt he had any hand in creating them.
• And of course there is Richard Simmons; the pint sized personal trainer with a fondness for AM radio favourites. See the video below for one of the funniest TV moments ever recorded.

Richard Simmons on \”Whose Line Is It Anyways\”

Simmons Mattress Gallery is proud to share our name with these three men and we feel honoured that many of you think of mattresses first whenever you hear the Simmons name.

The Demon

You can rock’n'roll all night, but eventually you’ll gladly return to your Simmons pocket coils.