Our all. Our honour.

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“We are all committed to giving our all.

This is your team, and it’s our honour to represent you.”

Yesterday I went to my first MLS game and it was amazing. I honestly didn’t think I would like it that much, but I did. How much do I know about football? Almost nothing, other than my dad’s incessant explanations every time he’s watching soccer on TV. He’s a huge fan and I never got into it. But he gave me a quick run-down on how the sport worked before the game yesterday and I headed off to experience the Vancouver Whitecaps vs Seattle Sounders game. He covered quite a lot in very little time and that was impressive.

The game was all sold out and my friend and I had been trying to get tickets for weeks. It wasn’t until 2 days before the game that we finally managed to snag a pair of tickets—and really good ones at that! Look at our sweet view!

2nd row! And this angle was pretty sweet.

2nd row! And this angle was really good imo.

What made the game for me? Firstly, we realized that the Whitecaps are actually pretty good. I guess that would explain why the game that we went to was the 7th sold out game they had this season. Secondly, the Southsiders. For those of you who don’t know, the Southsiders are a group of Whitecaps fans. Honestly if I had to describe them I’d call them a group that jumped straight out of Tumblr (where crazy dedicated fans live). They have a whole section to themselves during games and I can see why.

Southsiders whipping out Vision Vancouver's rainbow flag at the beginning of the game.

Southsiders whipping out Vision Vancouver’s rainbow flag at the beginning of the game.

 

They have synchronized cheering and dancing, as well as lots of props (flags etc.) that they whip out to applaud on the Whitecaps. Watching the Southsiders was half the fun! We got seats that were pretty close to them and would constantly peek over to see what new antics they had going on. They kept spirits and the mood up the entire game. That’s two hours of jumping, cheering, and shouting!

This was how close we were to the Southsiders!

This was how close we were to the Southsiders!

If you’re going I’d definitely recommending finding a spot where you can see them. But if you’re a new fan I’d recommend you take some time before you get tickets to seat in the Southsider’s section. You won’t be able to add to their cheering and will look out of place. Also sitting in the Southsiders section means that you’re not sitting at all. You’re standing the whole game. Families with small children will have to beware!

The game itself was lots of fun. It was a match for the Cascadia Cup, which is fought between Seattle, Portland and Vancouver. There were so many intense moments I was literally on the edge of my seat with my fingers tugging at my hair. It was great fun to shout at the referees with the rest of the crowd (the refs basically gave the Sounders a point…) and people were friendly overall. The game ended in a tie 2-2. Now my friend and I are hoping to get tickets for upcoming games… decent pairs of seats for the July 5th game are already sold out. So if anyone has price-friendly tickets in a good spot give me a shout!

– Karen

 

 

Working away… and it’s actually not bad!

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Hey guys,

So summer has started for everyone and that means I’ve started my co-op position. And you know what? Working ain’t half bad! Well mainly because I had set myself up for the worse and then realized it’s actually a really cool place to work. I’m currently working as an assistant coordinator for consumer engagement at TrojanOne— and before you ask because everyone else does, no, it’s not the condom company. It’s a marketing agency that focuses on brand activation in unique ways.

trojanone

Several reasons why I really like about my job/company:

1) They let me write a blog post on the Oculus Rift, gaming, and Game of Thrones 

2) You want a coffee break? You got a coffee break.

3) Random outings to the nearby Farmer’s Market!

4) Working in Yaletown ❤

5) Potluck Fridays!

6) Also boozy Fridays.

In which drinking on the job is actually okay :')

In which drinking on the job is actually okay :’)

7) Our CEO Mark Harrison’s blog (one of the main reasons why I applied to the company in the first place. I found his blog so funny and real.)

All that being said, TrojanOne is honestly a great place for me to officially start off in the world of marketing. Although our Vancouver office is nestled in Yaletown among lots of start-up companies (and eateries), TrojanOne is not a start up. In fact, this year it’s our 20th anniversary! The company started off doing marketing for sports related initiatives but have since branched off. Under my managers, I’m currently working on projects for BMO and ParticipACTION! Of course, the head office is in Toronto and that is where the bulk of the employees are. It has been quite an experience getting training though conference calls and Skype and I could not help but realize that I finally understand what this video is all about:

Awkward…

Anyway, sure of course I miss having summers to do nothing. But really, this ain’t half bad 🙂

– Karen

Let the holidays begin?

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Hey guys,

One main issue of ending exams early: no one else is free to hang out because they’re all studying.

Because this term I took quite a few courses that did not require a final exam, it meant that I was let off early during finals season. But don’t get me wrong, I worked my butt off during the term with papers every week!

Anyway, I will be starting my co-op position in May, meaning this latter part of April will be my only summer holiday that I’ll be experiencing! Super excited to start working (some of you seasoned job goers will probably be laughing, but let me enjoy this feeling before it gets old) but at the same time a little torn because it will be the first summer in which I’m not just lounging around. I suppose last year I was also interning in Hong Kong, but being in a different city feels different than doing co-op in your home city. But then again, I’m working in Yaletown! Such a beautiful part of the city that I rarely go to!

I’ve been doing everything that I did not have time for during the term, as well as being on the lookout for events that people can actually go to. This included Fan Expo Vancouver! Tom Felton finally graced us with his presence after cancelling on the convention two years in a row. I also got to see Billy Boyd and Michael Rosenbaum, and although I was never really well acquainted with their work (sure I’ve seen Lord of the Rings, but that doesn’t make me an expert on Billy’s works. Never seen Smallville, but I do know Lollipop Chainsaw in which Michael was the main male voice actor), but they were so witty and good at controlling the audience. Hats off to them! Was a pleasure to be at their panel!

 

I also got to go to EXP Bar for the first time! Always wanted to go, but somehow never found the right group of people to go with. They serve HUGE bowls of popcorn and their food ain’t half bad! Loved the clever names on the menu. If you’re into anything geeky, nerdy, gaming related—go. I personally couldn’t have alcohol that night because I had to drive, but they have a large selection with equally clever game/pop-culture inspired names. They show streams of League of Legends games there, as well as other things (RWBY’s Black trailer was played while I was there, and Jessica Nigri, who happened to be several tables over, requested they play an episode of Reboot). We went on a day that was really busy so our wait for a table was about 1 hour.

I also did archery. That was… harder than expected. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Photo 4-20-2014, 11 25 16 AM

I wonder what I’ll be blogging about this summer amidst working? I guess we’ll see 🙂

– Karen

Black Desert character customization

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Hey guys,

I recently heard about Black Desert. My mind is blown. The character customization in that game is crazy. I remember several weeks ago when I thought ESO had great customization options… this really is sometime else. You want a tattoo on a specific spot on your character’s left thigh? You got it. You want your hair to sway slightly to the right? Sure. You want that glint in your eye to suggest that light is coming from above? Okay.

Give it a watch. It usually takes me a good while before I am ready for my character to exist in its virtual reality. I mean, think about it this way: for the next 50 hours, this is what my character is going to look like while I play. I have a friend who told me he spends at least three hours customizing his characters. Gosh knows how long it would take him in Black Desert. I am also pretty sure there will be people who just buys the game for its character customization screen. Avid machinima makers are probably drooling as we speak.

Black Desert‘s site is currently down because they are catching on fire with the world wide web. However, snooping around their Facebook page revealed that they are a Korean game. They have not yet selected an English client publisher, although a client is in development.

So I’m sure everyone’s question is: How slow will the game move since every. single. person’s. character is so uniquely different? It is basically like living in the real world where every face is different from one another! The developer Pearl Abyss has stated that they will be using their own “Black Desert” engine that is made for handling the fast rendering required for the game. The game will be free to play and is still currently in Beta. And since you and I are most likely reading this off a computer, the game will be released on Microsoft Windows.

It’s almost scary how much control you have over your own character.

-Karen

 

Sources (x) (x)

 

 

Game of Thrones night at Storm Crow

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Hey guys!

So tonight I went to Storm Crow Tavern for a Game of Thrones season 2 premiere thingy they were doing! I did a post about Storm Crow a while back, but I haven’t been back for quite a while. They’ve upped their game in terms of decor, and the board game selection tripled/quadrupled in size! If you’re into geeky stuff, definitely go check them out. They’ve probably got something on the wall catering to any fandom (I know there’s a Doctor Who wall, Game of Thrones stuff scattered throughout, Star Wars, and today I saw a Minecraft pickaxe). Even if you’re not particularly into a certain game or TV show, it’s still great to admire the effort they’ve put into curating and decorating their walls! Also, they’ve got the best selection of board games in Vancouver (there are about five sets of Cards Against Humanity, and plenty of Settlers of Catan amongst many others). Beware that certain games are missing parts to them such as their instruction booklet or game pieces.

Their menu also grew quite a bit. I remember when it was just a one page piece of paper, and you had a choice between four main dishes. Now you’ve got pages of food to cater to all your cravings. Their drinks menu has seen a similar growth.

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The Romulan Ale we ordered.

Now on to Game of Thrones night. They will be hosting a Game of Thrones episode showing every Sunday for the next while. Today, we had some games such as trivia, and a quick contest. Prizes such as tickets to a Game of Thrones improv show and $25 gift cards to Storm Crow were given out.

Season two!

Season two!

Here’s some tips on what you should do in order to actually get seats at the pub. My friend and I met at 5:00PM and then got to Storm Crow at 5:30PM. They put out a sign saying that the 6:00PM showing was full and that we could put down our name to see that 8:00PM showing. So we did that. We were told to come back at around 7, but it took a good half hour for the first showing’s patrons to exit the establishment. People tried to wait in line outside, but soon realized that they were only letting in people who were on the reservation list. Keep in mind that they did not take reservations before their first showing filled up, so I’m not sure how the future Game of Thrones showings will be like! As we were part of the later 8:00PM show, we were allowed to stay afterwards. The earlier people had to clear out as soon as their showing was done. Nonetheless, it was fun to watch the premiere with a group of other people who were into the show! The first episode did a great job to re-establish the character’s stories after our break from them!

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CAH with friendly strangers 🙂

After the episode ended, we moved on to playing board games. We ended up asking two other groups of people to play with us. We settled on Cards Against Humanity! All in all, it was a fun night! It’s quite a bit of hassle to secure a spot at the pub, but I’d definitely do it again some time in the future. Hopefully for the season finale?

– Karen