Things That Make You Go Hmmm: CHB Tweetup Edition

[Inspired by Arsenio Hall’s “Things That Make You Go Hmmm…”, Clayton Imoo talks about Canucks-related things that make him go hmmm… You can follow Clay on Twitter at (@canuckclay) or on his website, Clay’s Canucks Commentary.]

There are many reasons why you should eagerly anticipate the Canucks Hockey Blog tweetup at the Hog Shack in beautiful Steveston in Richmond taking place this Saturday afternoon:  a good game (hopefully) between the Canucks and the Sharks, good food, contests, and of course, great company.  As I look ahead to Saturday, there are a few tweetup-specific Things That Make Me Go Hmmm:

1.  Do you remember your first time? If this is your first-ever tweetup, we welcome you with open arms!  It promises to be a lot of fun and as they say, you always remember your first time.  My first tweetup was back on May 22, 2011 at Guildford’s Boston Pizza when the Canucks beat the same Sharks 4-2 to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Finals.  At this official Vancouver Canucks tweetup, I met JJ and Chris of CHB for the very first time, and they immediately put me to work making me film this.  We had a great time chatting and filming and we even roped the Game Day Guys (Andrew, Chris and Reigan) in for a few thoughts.  Thankfully, the first impressions were decent enough both ways as they are still letting me contribute to the site.  Other highlights of the day included meeting Nicole Van Zanten (Social Media Coordinator of the Canucks) and devouring my Hawaiian pizza.

2.  Putting a face to the handle. A cool thing about tweetups is meeting people in-person who you might only know via their handle or picture on Twitter.  It’s even better when you can actually recall or quote a recent tweet from someone you are meeting (but only quote one or else you’ll look like a stalker).  At a recent tweetup in Richmond, people recognized me from my musical collaboration with Marie Hui.  Actually come to think of it, they complimented Marie for her talent and good looks, whereas the only compliments I got were for having a talented and beautiful friend.  But I digress.

Also, it’s neat to discover just how close someone’s Twitter persona is to their actual personality.  For example, you can find out this Saturday if JJ truly looks like Jon Gosselin or why we call Matt Lee the “Asian James Duthie”. Is Chris Golden as punny as he seems?  Is Lizz Moffat truly bad at math?  Is Caylie King always talking about the future?  And if you’re lucky enough, Katie Maximick might rant all over you.

3.  Are you ready for the Flatline Burger? The menu at the Hog Shack says it all: “Our signature HEART STOPPER, double burger patty between 2 grilled sandwiches.  It’s to die for!”  Well, they mean that figuratively and not literally as we would like to keep our record of no fatalities at CHB tweetups.  However, the next line is the kicker: “FINISH THE WHOLE PLATE IN 5 MINS OR LESS…IT’S FREE!”  Yes, it’s all in CAPS.  I’ve had the (mis)pleasure of seeing CHB contributor Richard Loat conquer the Flatline Burger in an impressive time of 4 minutes and 20 seconds.  So it’s certainly doable, although Richard is built like a truck (in a good way).  Hopefully we’ll see a few successful attempts this Saturday.  Just don’t die trying, despite what the menu says.

Add it all up and it promises to be a memorable afternoon.  The last time the Canucks played early on a Saturday (just 2 weeks ago), they beat the Bruins in an exciting game.  I’ll be arriving late (from work) but staying late so I hope to meet many of you there.  And best of all…it’s only 5 minutes from my house.  Because I’d hate to have to drive home after downing my plethora of pop.  Hmmm…