On Friday, September 26th all area residents and visitors can join Chris Cummings and the Life on Your Terms team for the official worldwide release of Chris’s latest music video Welcome Back!.
This is a free public celebration at Harbour Station – no tickets are required at this general admission event. Doors open at 6:30, showtime at 7:00, and the schedule features entertainment from local talent, the unveiling of the video and a concert from Chris.
We’ll also be announcing details of a contest where you can win an evening with Chris at a Sea Dogs game, in a private box with all the trimmings!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Hockey Home Opener
My partner and I were invited by some friends to the home opener game for the Saint John Sea Dogs this Saturday. We started the evening at the Church Street Steakhouse (a.k.a. Churchill's Pub) for an early dinner, and once again I was impressed to learn that if we had not made a reservation that night we would never have found a table.
For those of you not familiar with Saint John, this is important to point out because it's indicative of the energy and growth happening in our "sleepy little city", that's not so sleepy anymore. It's the first year in the nine I've spent here where reservations were not only a good idea but really necessary!
And as proof positive of this sentiment the hockey game itself was a sell out crowd. Of course the Sea Dogs trounced ValD’or (6-0), so much so that I was genuinely feeling bad for the guys by the end of the game!
For those of you not familiar with Saint John, this is important to point out because it's indicative of the energy and growth happening in our "sleepy little city", that's not so sleepy anymore. It's the first year in the nine I've spent here where reservations were not only a good idea but really necessary!
And as proof positive of this sentiment the hockey game itself was a sell out crowd. Of course the Sea Dogs trounced ValD’or (6-0), so much so that I was genuinely feeling bad for the guys by the end of the game!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Hip Heritage in Saint John
Last night we staged a photo shoot outside Happinez, the “little bar with lots of wine”… the shoot was for a print ad promoting the Saint John Life on Your Terms brand, which we’ll be placing in a UK publication promoting relocation to Canada. The basic concept was a casual, impromptu street party that featured a contemporary activity (i.e. dance party with spinner) juxtaposed against the historic backdrop of the Brodie Building.
To stage and execute something this complex is not only difficult, but typically extremely costly. Since I hardly have that kind of money in my budget we were being very creative in how we could pull this off, namely by asking friends to volunteer their modeling services and loan props and equipment.
True to form you answered our call Saint John, thank you! Dozens of you showed up to fill up the space in a way I wasn’t even hoping for. You were all patient with us, particularly given the steep temperature drop once the sun went down. And those of you who were innocently going about your evening and were yanked off the street into the mix were very good humoured about the interruption!
Thanks to you we’ll have an ad piece that will showcase our community in such a unique way. And thanks to you, I and many others had a fun evening out on the town!
To stage and execute something this complex is not only difficult, but typically extremely costly. Since I hardly have that kind of money in my budget we were being very creative in how we could pull this off, namely by asking friends to volunteer their modeling services and loan props and equipment.
True to form you answered our call Saint John, thank you! Dozens of you showed up to fill up the space in a way I wasn’t even hoping for. You were all patient with us, particularly given the steep temperature drop once the sun went down. And those of you who were innocently going about your evening and were yanked off the street into the mix were very good humoured about the interruption!
Thanks to you we’ll have an ad piece that will showcase our community in such a unique way. And thanks to you, I and many others had a fun evening out on the town!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Who says you can’t get There from Here?
This comment – that you “can’t get there from here” – is a bit of an on-going joke in my family. Essentially it refers to the numerous times on family vacations we’ve become lost, asked for directions, and received that response in one form or another (yes, some people actually have said that). What does this have to do with Saint John? Well I’ve been in communication with a few people who are thinking of moving to the east coast and they have this common characteristic where they think that transportation in our region is really limited – a “you can’t get there from here” misconception that I’d like to clear up.
Take for example my brief excursion to Nova Scotia last week for a change of scenery and some camping. We were bringing our eleven year old somewhat-arthritic dog with us, who refuses to sit or lie down in the car, so the scenic four hour drive around the Bay of Fundy was not an option. But not to worry, a quick jump over the Harbour Bridge to west Saint John and we hopped the Princess of Acadia ferry for a very comfy three hour ride across the Bay to Digby, NS. Easy on the dog, easy on the car (almost as old and even more rickety than the dog), easy on our backs (wander around on deck in the sun, eat a meal in the cafeteria, stretch out and sleep in the lounge, whatever)… a little pricey on the wallet though since driving our 4 cylinder would have been a bit cheaper. But the point is that we had choice in how we wanted to travel, and oh by the way you can get there from here quite easily!
Another example – my best friend from childhood visited from Saskatoon over the long weekend, and flew into the Moncton airport. She thought that WestJet doesn’t fly into Saint John… wrong. In fact, SunWing provides many direct flights to southern vacation destinations from our Airport, along with AirCanada, Westjet and a handful of charter services.
And for you commuters out there who wonder about public transit – check out the Comex (short for Community Express) service for the bedroom communities of Grand Bay-Westfield, Rothesay, Quispamsis and Hampton. Only one year old and these services (express commuter services to the city – leave your car at home, save on gas and no parking worries) are so popular that Saint John Transit is adding additional bus runs to accommodate the uptake. I imagine that as soon as we get our first snow fall their ridership will see another increase – why shovel if you don’t have to?
Or if the “forty foot limo” isn’t your style, the Saint John Parking Commission provides the Share your Ride service – an online matching service for carpoolers. Just hop on the website, fill out the brief form and you’ll be matched with others from your area who need to carpool at the same time and to the same neighbourhood as you.
And if your method of travel is a little greener than most (i.e. you bike, walk, scoot, etc.) I think you’ll find that Saint John is pretty friendly. I walk myself, so I can attest to how peaceful your walk to work can be in this community – although if you’re friendly and open to meeting new people plan extra time to get to work, everybody wants to chat! I hear the biking situation can depend on your neighbourhood – some are more bike friendly than others but almost all have some type of trail system you can take advantage of. And scooters and Smartcars are very popular here – they certainly make parking in the historical Uptown a lot easier!
Take for example my brief excursion to Nova Scotia last week for a change of scenery and some camping. We were bringing our eleven year old somewhat-arthritic dog with us, who refuses to sit or lie down in the car, so the scenic four hour drive around the Bay of Fundy was not an option. But not to worry, a quick jump over the Harbour Bridge to west Saint John and we hopped the Princess of Acadia ferry for a very comfy three hour ride across the Bay to Digby, NS. Easy on the dog, easy on the car (almost as old and even more rickety than the dog), easy on our backs (wander around on deck in the sun, eat a meal in the cafeteria, stretch out and sleep in the lounge, whatever)… a little pricey on the wallet though since driving our 4 cylinder would have been a bit cheaper. But the point is that we had choice in how we wanted to travel, and oh by the way you can get there from here quite easily!Another example – my best friend from childhood visited from Saskatoon over the long weekend, and flew into the Moncton airport. She thought that WestJet doesn’t fly into Saint John… wrong. In fact, SunWing provides many direct flights to southern vacation destinations from our Airport, along with AirCanada, Westjet and a handful of charter services.
And for you commuters out there who wonder about public transit – check out the Comex (short for Community Express) service for the bedroom communities of Grand Bay-Westfield, Rothesay, Quispamsis and Hampton. Only one year old and these services (express commuter services to the city – leave your car at home, save on gas and no parking worries) are so popular that Saint John Transit is adding additional bus runs to accommodate the uptake. I imagine that as soon as we get our first snow fall their ridership will see another increase – why shovel if you don’t have to?
Or if the “forty foot limo” isn’t your style, the Saint John Parking Commission provides the Share your Ride service – an online matching service for carpoolers. Just hop on the website, fill out the brief form and you’ll be matched with others from your area who need to carpool at the same time and to the same neighbourhood as you.
And if your method of travel is a little greener than most (i.e. you bike, walk, scoot, etc.) I think you’ll find that Saint John is pretty friendly. I walk myself, so I can attest to how peaceful your walk to work can be in this community – although if you’re friendly and open to meeting new people plan extra time to get to work, everybody wants to chat! I hear the biking situation can depend on your neighbourhood – some are more bike friendly than others but almost all have some type of trail system you can take advantage of. And scooters and Smartcars are very popular here – they certainly make parking in the historical Uptown a lot easier!
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