Archive for October 1st, 2008

Divine Brown is in town for a private performance and dropped by the studio this afternoon for a little sing and chat. I’ll be airing the interview tomorrow, but I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at what happened by cutting directly to the best part - the live performance!

Check out Divine and her crew laying down Meet Me at the Roxy.

Wicked.

Divine’s new CD, The Love Chronicles has some serious old school vibes on it. Delicious funky grooves and dripping with soul.

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

Be sure to check out the complete Vancouver Wedding on a Budget series of posts.

We’re trying to do this wedding on a budget, I’ve explained that already.

$7 000 is what we have to spend for the whole day, so when I started my search for a Wedding Photographer, I wasn’t thrilled to see most packages starting at $2500 and moving up rapidly from there.

Most photographers we have seen offer very nice packages. Engagement photos, proof books, prints, montages, hard bound books etc.

We don’t want that.

We’d like to pay a photographer for their time to come and shoot our wedding, say 5 hrs, then retouch a couple dozen images that we’d like to get printed (on our own) and then hand us a cd of all images taken on the day with a Creative Commons license attached to them. Our wedding pictures will be for personal, non commercial use. I have no problem signing an agreement to that effect.

This is 2008. I don’t need to pay a premium to a photographer to get the prints done for me. I can create my own scrapbooks with iPhoto on my MacBook or through a variety of websites. We’ll be using the pictures for thank you cards, creating brag books for the parents and printing off a couple of small photos for our living room. That’s it. We don’t need to be tied into any Silver Deluxe Honeymoon Couple’s Package of 8×10s, 16×20s and more.

Photographers are very skilled people, I get that. But I’m only looking to pay for their time shooting images and retouching the ones we like the most. All the extras are nice, but they’re really unnecessary and just part of the inflation that happens to any price tag when the word “wedding” gets attached.

My budget for a photographer is considerably less than the rates I’m seeing quoted, but Jen and I will be considerably less effort. Take some pictures, touch them up and hand us a cd with full res quality of all 500 images you took that day, cash the cheque and done.

Am I out of touch with what I’m looking for?

Maybe you know someone who fits that bill and is available July 4, 2009 in the afternoon?

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

Canadians officially go to the polls October 14, but early voting booths open this weekend so you have greater flexibility to do your civic duty.

Advance polls are available Friday, Saturday and Monday.

You should have received your Voter Registration Card in the mail by now, it will detail your polling place for Election Day, as well as the Advance Poll.

Bring it with you when you vote. If you have recently moved, or did not receive a Voter Registration Card, you have 3 options to prove your identity and cast a vote.

1. Provide one piece of original government issued id showing your photo and address (driver’s license).

2. Provide two original pieces of identification. Both must contain your name, one must contain your address (health card and hydro bill).

3. Swear an oath and be vouched for by an elector.
[elections canada]

I have already made up my mind, so I will be voting in the Advance Poll this weekend to avoid the rush on October 14. By law, your employer must give you 3 consecutive hours to allow you to cast your ballot on election day, so don’t use “I have to work” as an excuse … VOTE!

Full information is available from Elections Canada