Canucks & Beyond
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Meeting Canucks Celebs, Acting Inappropriately
by Alanah McGinley on 09/24/08 at 10:42 PM ET
Comments (8)
Prepare yourself—I’ve got a pile of Canucks news accompanied by a serious overdose of photos.
To start with, Wednesday was the Raise-a-Reader campaign in Vancouver. From the Vancouver Canucks:
Raise-a-Reader started in Vancouver in 1997 and has since raised over $4.2 million dollars in support of children and family literacy in British Columbia alone. The Raise-a-Reader program went national in 2002, with twenty eight other Canadian cities hosting Raise-a-Reader Day this year. The Vancouver Raise-a-Reader campaign continuously leads the rest of the country in annual fundraising.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, the set-up was simple and fun: Just donate a buck or two for a Vancouver Sun then walk around the various street corners of downtown Vancouver during the early rush-hour where various Canucks - current players and alumni as well as a few team executives—willingly allow you to accost them on the street.
Much fun. I’ve taken to calling it “Canucks Fans Streetwalking for Literacy.”
So this morning, my husband Jeff Downie and I walked around the downtown along with Rebecca & John Bollwitt (also fellow members of The Crazy Canucks), where we took a pile of photos and shook a lot of hands. Courtesy of John’s camera (and his overburdened Flickr account) here are a few…
The night before the streetwalking exercise, we also got together for an evening in one of the new luxury suites at GM Place, courtesy of the Canucks and along with an impressive collection of bloggers, podcasters & webmasters. A unique environment to watch the Canucks beat the Oilers, that’s for sure.
The podcast crew also recorded an episode after the first period (John, Rebecca, J.J., Dave and myself). That show should be online soon, but meanwhile here are a couple photos from that.
I also noticed the guys from the Anton Sledgehammer agency filming some of the show, so I imagine that video will be turning up somewhere online as well. For more TCC stuff, you can check out the Fan Zone page they created for us at Canucks.com.
One of the people I had the honor of meeting Tuesday night was Brian of Canucks Corner fame. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of him, but I wanted to mention that Brian’s was the first fan site I ever came across back in 2003 which inspired me to set up my own first hockey blog that same year. It was the civility and informative nature of his site and its members that first persuaded me that the internet was a great place to meet other hockey fans.
Brian’s overhauling the site right now but Vancouver fans should check back. Canucks Corner has been around some 10 years and going strong.
All right, I’m finished. Oh, except one more thing…
The Canucks new advertising campaign to launch the 2008-09 season is being unveiled next week, and scarily enough, myself and the rest of the podcast crew play a part in that.
I believe I heard something along the lines of “your faces” and “on the side of Vancouver city busses...”
Sweet geezus—how nuts is that?
Be afraid, Vancouver…
________________________________
*John’s Flickr set for Raise a Reader and his other photos from our time at Tuesday’s game. The Pettinger photo is from Miss 604’s Flickr.
Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: mike+gillis, orland+kurtenbach, raise-a-reader, ryan+kesler, stan+smyl, vancouver+canucks,
Comments
I believe I heard something along the lines of “your faces” and “on the side of a Vancouver city busses...”
Dear God, it’s “Sex and the City” all over again. So all I want to know is who’s Alanah’s “Mr. Big.”
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/24/08 at 10:18 PM ET
DaveO - If you get a chance, be sure to put a mustache on my face and take a photo of yourself next to your handiwork. I think that just might be freakin’ cool.
OlderThanChelios - Just call me the Canadian Carrie Bradshaw!
I guess my Mr. Big must be that guy in the photos with Kurtenbach and Smyl. (But I might be willing to negotiate something with Kesler sometime...) 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 09/24/08 at 11:23 PM ET
Great pic of the 5 of you up the top there - looks like you had a really exciting time, I’m mega jealous But you deserve it for all the good work you put in here at KK - always my first visit when I go Canucks blog hopping
and I hope the bus campaign is still running next time I make it over the pond to Vancouver
(as for Kesler - I bagsied him a couple of seasons ago when he was still zitty and finding his skates - so, sorry, he’s spoken for I was always good at spotting potential )
Posted by Sarah from England on 09/25/08 at 04:32 AM ET
Oh my gosh, I pictured you looking totally different, Alanah! For some reason I imagined you as having dark straight hair & being sort of Latina - looking! lol, I have no idea why. However, you still look great 
That’s such a cool story & I know you all had a wonderful time.
Posted by Sunny from Raleigh, NC on 09/25/08 at 11:04 AM ET
I wonder if Orland Kurtenbach reads the Kurtenblog?
Posted by the sieve from the bovine city on 09/25/08 at 12:05 PM ET
Sarah -- Thanks! (But I’m taking Kesler...!)
Tapeleg -- I do indeed. Very, very well.
Sunny -- “Alanah McGinley: The Irish Latina”. Between that and the Carrie Bradshaw thing, I could end up with an identity crisis.
the sieve -- You know, I’m betting he has. He seemed very interested in new media, the stuff we told him we’re involved in. Regardless, he was a really, really nice man.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 09/25/08 at 01:24 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
Email:
Alanah’s Twitter: Not really hockey-ish. [LINK]
Other Canucks Blogs
The Steeeeeaaamer! Jeff is stoked. Awesome evening and morning of Canuck-ing for sure. I’ll be sure to deface the first bus ad i see with our mugshots on it - have Sharpie in pocket on standby.
Posted by DaveO from North Vancouver on 09/24/08 at 10:01 PM ET