Photo credit: Karma Teachers/Puresouls

Earlier this year I participated in a quintessential Vancouver activity: I took part in a yoga challenge. It was January, I was feeling inspired and motivated because it was resolution time again. A certain famous yoga wear retailer started urging global yogis to take part in a 40-day yoga challenge. So I heeded the call.

“A 40-day yoga challenge? I can do this. Piece of flourless chocolate cake,” I thought digging out my dusty yoga mat and stretchy pants. At just over a month, the challenge would be difficult but not too difficult and a short time commitment. My exercise-routine-commitment-phobe-self could sign on to this one.

But, being a contrarian, budget-minded Taurus, I decided to do a modified version of the Lululemon challenge. I would attempt to practice yoga daily while exploring as many different venues around Vancouver offering free or almost-free yoga. I’ve always been non-committal when it comes to yoga – locking myself into a three, six or 12 month contract scares the heck out because of finances and indecision. 

Enter the concept of karma yoga. Many studios in Vancouver offer free or by-donation yoga classes. The purpose of these classes is two-fold: to offer teaching opportunities to less experienced yoga instructors and to build on the ethos of ‘selfless or altruistic service through yoga.’ Translated from Sanskrit yoga means union and karma means ‘to do’, so the term karma yoga translates roughly to ‘union through action’.

According to Khundalini yoga guru Yogi Bhajan, “the attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga.” As I visited different karma yoga sessions throughout my 40-day yoga challenge, I experienced gratitude in many forms: smiles, group ohms, modest donations, in-store yogi discounts.

Whether you love fluid vinyasa or sweaty moksha or quiet hatha, there’s a karma yoga class for you in Vancouver. If you’re looking to explore a variety of yoga traditions on a budget, check out the list below. 

Retailer yoga – beware of kicking those racks of tempting, colourful clothes. British Columbia’s very own Sitka and Lululemon locations offer free yoga classes once a week. The Hatha flow class at Sitka Wednesdays nights are must-do for yogis hoping to work out those mid-week stresses.

Studio karma classes –many yoga studios offer karma classes to give newly minted yogis an opportunity to teach. East Van’s Unity Yoga offers a Sunday afternoon class by donation. Stick around for a replenishing cup of fair-trade tea afterwards. Yoga Cara studios offer a ‘Pay it Forward’ yoga class where the studio donates three dollars per student to a local charity. Since 2008 Yoga Cara has donated $3,287 to local charities and over 2000 food items to Vancouver food banks. Looking to get hot for not a lot?  Moksha Yoga offers Moksha karma for five dollars. All Moksha karma donations go to a charity of the month.

Photo credit: Semperviva Yoga Kits Beach studio

Outdoor yoga – Breathe the fresh ocean air and soak in the spectacular view. For the last few summers Semperviva Yoga Kits Beach has hosted free yoga en plein air on the lawn near the Kitsilano Showboat. This summer the class runs from July 7 through August 25 each Sunday from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Karma Teachers – “We’re open 365 days a year. Just in case someone needs yoga, we’re there,” says Karma Teachers founder Emerson Lim. About 15 months ago Lin and 10 yoga teacher friends decided to give back to their community by teaching karma yoga classes at a studio in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. Karma teachers offers a number of by-donation classes each day at their exposed brick, hardwood floored studio next to Save on Meats. Emerson’s passion for karma yoga is contagious and sweet. “If someone can’t pay, we ask them to just smile at everyone for the rest of the day. Pay it forward, show people how yoga is changing your life by smiling.”

Office or living room yoga – Rodney Yee once said, “the most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind.” Add an internet connection to that statement. If you can’t catch yoga classes live then download a podcast or free video. Search for surfer/yogi/father/blissologist Eoin Finn on iTunes and download one of his free 20 minute yoga + blissology podcasts to practice in the office. Or roll out the mat in your living room or at a local park to follow along one of the dozens of free videos by Vancouver and Victoria-based instructors from DoYogawithMe.com. 

**Bonus tips: if the class is by donation then bring cash, call ahead to book a spot in class as they do fill up, be on time, breathe and most importantly, smile.**

Any karma yoga recommendations? What kind of yoga do you practice? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Photo credit: kandyjaxx | Flickr

Once upon a time, city tours highlighted all that was picture perfect about Vancouver: parks and beaches, bustling streets and vibrant shopping, museums and more.

But it turns out that showing off the city’s bad side can be just as fun.

Over the last few years, a bevy of tours have cropped up that focus on exploring Vancouver’s dark and often tawdry past.  For anyone interested in learning a bit about the city’s dirty laundry, these five tours are wicked good fun:

Lost Souls of Gastown: This tour from Forbidden Vancouver harkens back to the late 1800s, when Vancouver was still a violent frontier town.  Guests walk Vancouver’s oldest streets while trained actors in historical dress evoke the chaos of the early city, plagued by cataclysmic fires, smallpox outbreaks, filthy brothels and thuggish gold prospectors.  Learn more. 

Vice, Dice and Opium Pipes:  Accompanied by a guide, guests troll the mean streets of Gastown and Chinatown, exploring the one-time opium dens and brothels of Shanghai Alley, learning about daylight murders and uncovering the police corruption scandals of the 1920s.  (This tour is the second coming of the Vancouver Police Museum‘s Sins of the City, which started the “bad” tour craze years ago.)  Learn more. 

Prohibition City Tour: On this tour, guests are pressed into service as undercover newspaper reporters in  prohibition-era Vancouver.  When the province officially went dry back in 1917, organized crime and corruption exploded.  While peeking into some of the city’s iconic heritage buildings, visitors are called upon to track down Vancouver’s most infamous mayor, most exotic showgirl and most prolific rum-runner.  Learn more.

Secrets of the Penthouse: Ready to venture inside of one of Vancouver’s oldest and most notorious gentlemen’s clubs?  Forbidden Vancouver takes visitors backstage at the Penthouse to hear stories from the club’s longtime owner and even sit in on a live burlesque show.  Since 1947, the club has seen more than its share of drama – from murders and robberies to fires, police raids and even a few visits from Frank Sinatra.  Learn more.  

Gastown Craft Beer ‘n Bites Tour: OK, this last tour isn’t quite as dark and sinister as the rest, but it’s still pretty decadent.  In the company of a “passionate beer educator” from Vancouver Food Tours, guests pop into three of Gastown’s finest pubs for samplings of craft beers from Vancouver and beyond.  Drinks are paired with modern gastropub snacks and ample attention is given to the lurid secrets of craft brewing.  Learn more. 

Did I miss any other sinful tours of Vancouver? Let me know below. 

For more updates on Vancouver and beyond, follow me on Twitter @RemyScalza.  

604 Neighbourhoods is a weekly series appearing on the Inside Vancouver blog that will feature photos, history, and information about some of the city’s most distinct communities. Today’s feature is Kitsilano (“Kits”), which was the first community I lived in when I moved to into Vancouver proper in the summer of 2005. My apartment there was right above a restaurant and coffee shop, on a bus route, a few blocks from the beach, across from a park, and within walking distance of a local market. When you mix that convenience with Kits’ easy-going family-friendly West Coast lifestyle, you get one of the city’s most popular neighbourhoods.

Neighbourhood Overview

As with many neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Kitsilano is bordered by water. Its boundaries are Burrard Street to the east, 16th Avenue to the south, Alma to the west, and Burrard Inlet to the north. Kitsilano Beach on the western side leads into residential waterfront properties as you head east and over toward Jericho Beach Park (wich then becomes the neighbourhood of West Point Grey).

The first Vancouver-centric neighbourhood blog I found back in 2005 was Kitsilano.ca, founded by Rob Lewis. “I really started Kitsilano.ca on a whim. As a long time Kits resident I was active in the community and felt that I had my finger in the pulse of the ‘hood.” Rob told me by email, referencing the blog that is still thriving today. “At the time blogging was pretty novel but traffic to the site quickly grew as I shared my unique insights on the neighbourhood. Unlike other communities in Vancouver, Kitsilano is a very defined area, which made it easier to carve out a niche with residents that are proud to call Kits home.”

A unique characteristic of Kitsilano is that from Burrard to MacDonald most of the streets are named after trees (Yew, Pine, Balsam, Arbutus) then from Larch to Alma they are named after famous battles (Trafalgar, Balaclava, Waterloo, Blenheim, Cornwall) a decision that was made in 1907.

History

August Jack Khatsahlano is the namesake of Kitsilano. August Jack became known for working with Vancouver’s early settlers and for recording his peoples’ oral history.

He was born in the village of Xwayxway, which is Stanley Park today. However, in a book by Major J.S. Matthews (Founder of the Vancouver Archives) it says that Squamish Chief August Jack Khatsahlano was born near the site of Burrard Bridge at the village of Snauq along False Creek (according to baptism records). He was the son of Khaytulk “Supple Jack” of Chaytoos and grandson of Chief Khahtsahlanogh.

Major Matthews would chat with August Jack many times over the years and the book “Conversations with Khatsahlano, 1932-1954″ was published with his records. The two discussed everything from area history, legends, and traditions like the Potlatch, to food preparations and plants for medicine.

1927 – Vancouver Public Library #86724

Many of Kitsilano’s open spaces remain for public use thanks to a few key players in the city’s history that include philanthropist Harvey Hadden and settler Sam Greer (Kitsilano Beach used to be known as Greer Beach).

By the 1960s Kitsilano became an inexpensive place to live as it was close enough to downtown but far enough on the outskirts of the growing metropolis, helping hippie culture thrive. At that time the ever-popular Naam Cafe (located on West 4th at MacDonald) was founded and it’s still a favourite vegetarian and vegan hangout today (their miso gravy is a must-try). Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver with its first office on West 4th, the Green Party of BC and subsequently the Green Party of Canada also had their first offices in Kits. Popular yoga and lifestyle apparel brand Lululemon was also first based in Kitsilano.

Dining

There are 240 businesses along West 4th alone, many of which are restaurants, then there is West Broadway and West 10th. Las Margaritas, The Oakwood Canadian Bistro, Bimini Public House, Abigail’s Party, Q4, and Grammercy Grill, and award-winning Maenam are just a small sampling of the variety of dining options.

Shopping

There are no big box stores in Kitsilano, just boutiques spot the landscape between coffee shops and dentists’ offices and a few familiar brand-name suppliers and outlets. If you’re going to shop in Kits though, you need to Shop West 4th. This retail avenue consists of clusters of like-minded shops and restaurants throughout its Kitsilano stretch. Health-minded stores, then a group of salons and beauty-based boutiques, outdoor gear in another few blocks followed by home decor.

The Georgia Straight interviewed retail consultant Richard Wozny, Principal of Site Economics Ltd. last year for an article called: “Kitsilano rises as Vancouver retail hot spot” in 2012: “One of the prime attractions of West 4th Avenue, [Wozny] says, is convenience. The area around Vine and Yew streets includes Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart, coffee and tea shops, and bread, produce, and meat stores.”

Getting Around

While there is no rapid transit, there are plenty of bus options to get you out to Kitsilano from downtown hubs, the Broadway/Commercial SkyTrain line, and South Vancouver. Kitsilano is the northern route students and staff take to get to the University of British Columbia so buses are frequent and incude the 99 B-Line express. Beaches are accessed along Cornwall Ave with buses #2, #22, #32 and West 4th’s famous shops are along bus routes #4 and #7. Broadway has the #9, #14, and the #99 B-Line.

My favourite way to get over to Kitsilano from our home in the West End is with the False Creek Ferry, which departs from the Aquatic Centre on the downtown side of the Burrard Bridge and takes you over to the Vancouver Maritime Museum at Hadden Park on Kits Point. There are also many marked bike routes throughout the residential streets.

Attractions

I never expect any Kitsilano resident to ever utter the words “there’s nothing to do here” because it has so many museums, festivals, and parks. Summer is a very busy time for festivals like Bard on the Beach, Greek Day, Car Free Day, Khatsahlano Festival, and more.

You’ll also find the Museum of Vancouver, the City of Vancouver Archives, the Vancouver Maritime Museum, and the HR MacMillan Space Centre all within walking distance between Vanier Park and Kits Point.

On top of the seasonal events and farmers markets, there’s always the community ice rink, the beach-side pool, a number of parks and off-leash dog areas, and seaside vantage points to take in views of the North Shore and the sparkling city of Vancouver.

Tap & Barrel

The longing for cocktails on a sunny patio is always there, even when the weather isn’t. Do you know where you’re going to plant your backside when there’s sunshine in Vancouver?

The perfect restaurant patio provides an interesting view and an irresistible menu. Good company helps; that’s your responsibility. Which new Vancouver restaurant patios have got what it takes to be the best patio in spring/summer 2013?

I’ll get the list started by mentioning some of the relative newcomers to Vancouver patio season 2013.

Cactus Club Coal Harbour

New Vancouver Patio Restaurants 2013

Cactus Club Coal Harbour
Cactus Club Coal Harbour opened doors in March 2013. Find it in Jack Poole Plaza across from the Olympic Cauldron and the Vancouver Convention Centre (1085 Canada Place). This is the largest restaurant to date from the Vancouver king of casual fine dining. The  restaurant boasts a “sea-to-sky” terrace with a retractable glass wall for open-air dining and killer panoramic views of the North Shore Mountains and Stanley Park.  Chef Feenie’s menu is full of tempting fusion dishes featuring OceanWise BC seafood. The signature cocktails–the margarita is the most popular–are the drinks to order.

The Roof at Black + Blue
If you’re into beef, particularly steak, the Roof (1032 Alberni Street) is your destination. Many have asserted Black + Blue does Vancouver’s best modern steakhouse menu. As for the roof, which opened in April 2013, it’s a one-of-a-kind, 120-seat restaurant within a restaurant on the third floor of Black + Blue. Because there’s a $20,000 Wood Stone Josper Charcoal Broiler Oven up there, the waitstaff don’t have to scurry up and down. Your steak arrives piping hot within minutes of ordering. Your view will consist of the posh decor and the city skyline. The socializing heats up at night when they light the cozy fireplace.

Tap & Barrel
This massive craft beer and BC wine joint celebrated their opening with 1,000 guests in October 2012. In May 2013, the restaurant (1 Athletes Way) is still hopping like opening day nearly every day. Situated in Olympic Village on False Creek, the two-story 14,000 sq. foot space boasts water views as well as a stunning look at downtown Vancouver and the North Shore mountains. The menu is modern pub food; it goes without saying they use local inputs and make it from scratch. But it’s the 25 rotating craft BC microbrew beers on tap, as well as 14 BC wines on tap that keep locals parked on the two patios. If you arrive and see a line, don’t be discouraged. With 300 seats, it will be your turn soon enough.

The Fish Shack
Glowbal Group moved from sleek to rustic with this BC seafood-focused restaurant that feels more like a Seattle harbour-front chain than a (1026) Granville Street destination. Whether or not you like the faux fisherman decor, there’s no denying the freshness or the quality of the seafood menu (oyster bar, gluten-free fish and chips, the simple and generous Fisherman’s Catch – crab, mussels, prawns, calamari, crayfish, potatoes, corn, chorizo cooked in a net.) The 15-seat patio offers a peek at people strolling on bustling Granville.

Pop-Up Patio at the Westin Grand
The rooftop, poolside terrace of The Westin Grand (433 Robson Street) sits above the busy intersection of Homer and Robson Streets. Starting May 30, 2013, this space will be transformed into the #PopUpPatio, an urban oasis and patio lounge open Thursday and Friday evenings from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. Guests can unwind after a hard day of work in this chill atmosphere with soft seating, green gardens and a DJ. Chef Chris Savino has designed a light menu served from a BBQ action station including items like cashew chicken satays, shrimp ceviche, and chicken fatoush salad.  Refreshing and creative cocktails will be served, like the signature pop-up popsicle: a gewurztraminer, raspberry and vanilla popsicle dunked in a mix of vodka, soda, and ginger simple syrup.

What’s your favourite Vancouver restaurant patio? Help out by commenting below.

Want more updates on Vancouver fun? Follow me on Twitter @TJerven

Celtic Woman in Atlanta, Georgia.
Photo credit: Jason Forbert

In the mood for some Celtic music? The Irish version of the Spice Girls is coming to town.

Brought to us by producers of Riverdance, Celtic Woman combines traditional music with original compositions and contemporary pop standards by Irish artists like Clannad and Enya. The group has been named Billboard Magazine’s #1 World Music Artist, and has been featured in multiple episodes of the CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful. 

Much as the Spice Girls (and other boy and girl groups) was born as a concept first, Celtic Woman was originally the brainchild of Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show Riverdance. The group has undergone lineup changes since forming in 2004, with original members Chloë Agnew and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt now joined by vocalists Lisa Lambe and Susan McFadden.

Nevertheless, Celtic Woman has gone on to enjoy immense popularity worldwide. The group has appeared in PBS specials (including a broadcast of their Slane Castle show) and has sold more than seven million copies of its CDs and DVDs. Last year, the quartet released the Believe CD/DVD and Home for Christmas, their second Christmas CD. Both products debuted at #1 on Billboard‘s World Music chart, marking eight consecutive chart-topping albums for the group.

Celtic Woman has also sold nearly 3 million concert tickets worldwide.

Celtic Woman performs at Queen Elizabeth Theatre (649 Cambie St) Sunday June 2 at 7 p.m.  For completed tour schedule and ticket information, visit www.celticwoman.com.

 
Here is our favourite photo from those submitted to the Inside Vancouver Flickr photo pool . Keep submitting your photos – we love showcasing our city through the eyes of our readers.

Photo credit: Squirmelia | Flickr

It may seem strange to call Cloud 9 a hidden gem.  The restaurant – a giant, UFO-shaped disc – sits atop the Empire Landmark Hotel in downtown Vancouver.  It’s 42 storeys up and visible from just about everywhere in the city.

But I’ve never met anyone who’s actually been inside.

Cloud 9 is, of course, no ordinary restaurant: It’s a (drumroll, please) revolving restaurant.  As you eat, the entire dining room ever so slowly spins around.  Back when the hotel first opened in 1973, this was no doubt the kind of futuristic thing – like Space Needles and TV dinners – that was all the rage.  Vancouverites would have lined up to experience fine dining on a giant merry-go-round 400 feet above Robson Street.

With time, however, the novelty must have faded.  Today, Cloud 9 remains popular among hotel guests and visiting out-of-towners.  But for a whole generation of Vancouverites like me, it has been nearly completely forgotten.

All of which is a shame because it still has possibly the best view in all of Vancouver.  I took the Empire Landmark elevator up to the 42nd floor on a recent weekend night and was amazed.  The restaurant’s outer wall is made entirely of six-metre-tall windows opening to the kind of gorgeous city views that you rarely see – even on postcards.

Look in one direction and there’s the Lions Gate Bridge, framed by the North Shore mountains.  Look in another direction and English Bay opens up, glittering with giant container ships anchored for the night.  You can stare out to Coal Harbour and deep into Burrard Inlet or peer down into the cityscapes of Gastown and Yaletown or study the distant, glittering lights of Burnaby and Richmond.   I think it’s probably safe to say that there’s nowhere else in Vancouver where you take in this much in one gaze.

And the restaurant isn’t bad either.  I took a window seat in the lounge, which even after all these years still has a futuristic vibe – kind of a cross between the bridge of the Starship Enterprise and a nice hotel lobby.  You’ll get hit with a bit of a premium on the drinks, but it’s a small price to pay for the views.

As I sipped away, the restaurant revolved at a leisurely pace of .04 kilometres per hour – barely fast enough to be noticed.  But every so often, I’d look up to discover a brand new perspective on the city.  Even trippier is the fact that while the dining area revolves, the central core of the restaurant remains in the same fixed position.  So you may get up and discover that the washroom is in an entirely different place from where you left it (which can be hazardous after a few drinks).

All told, it takes about 80 minutes for the restaurant to complete one revolution. (For the trivia buffs: The entire revolving floor is powered by only two 1/2-horsepower motors, about the same size as the motors on a household washing machine).  It also goes without saying that Cloud 9 still makes for a great date night: Prix fixe 3-course dinners start at $32.95.

Anyone else a fan of Cloud 9′s forgotten charms? Let us know below. 

For more updates on Vancouver and beyond, follow me on Twitter @RemyScalza.

Khatsahlano! 2012

Khatsahlano! Music & Arts Festival, which takes place every summer in the beachfront Kitsilano neighbourhood, is a hotly-anticipated Vancouver summer event. Why? It’s a big free street party with live music all day.

This year, Khatsahlano! takes place Saturday, July 13. Kitsilano’s main shopping drag (West 4th Avenue between Burrard and MacDonald) will close to car traffic and 50 local bands will get on stage and do their thing. The 80,000+ spectators who camp out will be reminded of the Kitsilano of yore; in the 1960s Kitsilano was Vancouver’s hip, counterculture enclave and the go-to spot for concerts.

Khatsahlano! organizers have just announced the 2013 band line-up. If you’re into the Vancouver music scene, you’ll want to check out the well-curated list before you make summer travel plans. If you’re visiting town in July, this is a must-attend event.

Grant McDonagh, owner of Zulu Records, Kitsilano’s premier destination for music and concert tickets, has joined forces with the Waldorf Productions crew Arrival Agency and brand.LIVE to produce the musical component of the festival. And it’s going to be good.

Folks are particularly excited about hot Vancouver bands including Gold & Youth, No Sinner, Brasstronaut and The Pack A.D.  Find the full list after the jump.

The crowd at Khatsahlano! 2012

Khatsahlano Music & Arts 2013 Festival Band Line-Up

The Pack A.D. / Brasstronaut / Gold & Youth/ Rich Hope & His Blue Rich Rangers / No Sinner / Cyclist / Longwalkshortdock / Evy Jane / The Vicious Cycles / Portage & Main / The Peak Performance Project Top Twenty / Christopher Smith / Koban / Village / Johnny De Courcy / The Gay Nineties / The Bonitos / Twin River / Gal Gracen / Rococode / War Baby / Sabota James / Younger / La Chinga / Sunshine / Chapel Sound / Blind Horses / The Katy Kurdyak Band / Cowards / Lié Needs / Bre Mcdaniel / Victoria / Corban / Skye Wallace / Killing Time / Jess Cullen

On June 11, Khatsahlano! organizers will announce 20 more bands: the Top 20 finalists from the 2013 Peak Performance Project.

Khatsahlano! takes place Saturday, July 13 from 11am to 9pm on West 4th Avenue between Burrard and MacDonald, In addition to 50 bands, expect food carts. shopping and other street performances. Entry and live music are free.

The annual Drum + Light Festival returns to the Roundhouse May 24. Photo courtesy Drum + Light Festival.

Percussion, light and video combine for a multi-media event May 24 at the Roundhouse Performance Centre.

This high-energy dance event features Drum + Light Orchestra, a 14-piece groove ensemble. There’s a whole lot more, too, that makes this five-year-old annual Vancouver tradition a feast for eyes, ears and feet.

Musicians with the Drum + Light Orchestra, led by John Korsrud, include some of Vancouver’s hottest percussionists, such as the beat-keepers for the bands Soulstream and Mother Mother, as well as keyboardist Chris Gestrin, guitarist Russ Klyne and programmer Stefan Smulovitz. Mychal Heidro is producing the light show and some of Vancouver’s hottest dancers will get the party started. The Roundhouse’s Locomotive Room will be transformed into a chill room.

The annual Drum + Light Festival returns to the Roundhouse May 24. Photo courtesy Drum + Light Festival.

Hard Rubber New Music has a history of producing large-scale, multi-media events such as the award-winning Enter/Exit, a mix of original compositions and visual projections, as well as The Ice Age ice shows (2000, 2010), featuring the talents of hockey players, curlers and figure skaters. Other productions include White Hot Core, a collaboration with Kokoro Dance, and The Elvis Cantata.

Drum + Light at the Roundhouse Performance Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews). Doors 8 p.m., show 9.

Tickets: $25 General • $15 Students & Seniors • $15 Groups (5+) at brownpapertickets.com. Cash only at the door

A staple of summer and one of the funnest places to spend your nights for delicious food, great deals, and a late night out with friends. Nightlife Host Christina Meng heads to the Richmond Night Market to take in the sights, sounds, and tastes of this exciting night spot.

Richmond Night Market Opened May 17, 2013

About 24/604

24/604 is the New Vancouver Lifestyle Show that will take you on a journey to introduce you to some of the Gems of our City! From Active Activities, to Amazing Places to Eat, and the Best Spots for a Night Out, we will be your Vancouver Video Tour Guide.

For more information Like us on Facebook at fb.com/24604 and Follow us on Twitter at @24604tv