Posted by Jenn Lowther

Vancouver’s first annual blogathon for charity is set to start 10 pm Friday, July 26 and will finish 9 pm Sunday, July 28.  There are three shifts that blogs could sign up for and Invoke - memelabs parent company - has signed up for the Sunshine Shift - 10 pm Friday to 10 pm Saturday. This may be the first Vancouver specific blogathon, but it flows from a long tradition of blogathons.  When the people who organized the previous blogathons could not organize it this year, Rebecca - Miss604 - stepped in and organized this years event.

Last year, Vancouver was represented by Rebecca and Raul, but Vancouver has really stepped up to the plate this year and as of the time I wrote this post, there are 13 Vancouver bloggers signed up - check out the list.  There is still a week to sign up and I highly encourage all the Vancouver bloggers that haven’t signed up yet to do so.

A blogathon is a 24-hour period when you write a blog post every 30 minutes for a good cause.  Yes, you read that right - we will be posting 48 blog posts!  I’ve put the word out here and our team members have really stepped up to the plate - yes 48 posts from me may have gotten a bit boring.  Thus far, Nadia Nascimento, David Tedman, Dario Meli, Ryan Holmes, Andre Liem, Murat Ayfer, James Wilson, and our very own bacon chocolate chip cookie baking Zuri Scrivens have volunteered to write at least one post.  This list will most likely grow as the actual date grows closer.

Invoke has set a fund raising goal of $3000 for the blogathon.  If you would like to support our efforts - which we would greatly appreciate - you can make a donation to the cause here (the page will be going live later today).  Invoke has chosen a charity that is very close to our hearts The Lochmaddy Foundation.  Invoke is connected to this charity through Dario Meli and David Tedman who sit on the board. Through the Lochmaddy Foundation, all donations will be directed to a community in Mali, West Africa. Families in N’Gouraba are working hard to improve their lives and the lives of their children through a special agricultural project. Your donation will empower and enable them to realize increased crops, more family income with new opportunities and a brighter future.

We are collecting donations through Plan Canada who are our partner on the ground there.  I would like to thank them and specifically Heather for all of their hard work in helping Invoke bring this all together.

An early treat for the video of the week. How he managed to eat it all and not get sick is beyond me. Enjoy but watch at your own risk - I think I gained 5 lbs just watching this. Read the whole post about the burger here

Memelabs is proud to announce our partnership with Apathy is Boring. As a great supporter of their initiatives and goals, we have launched a new video contest to all Canadians who believe that Apathy IS Boring.

We know the statistics. Youth aren’t voting and they aren’t opting into the traditional political system. Apathy is Boring isn’t waiting for an election to turn that around. Apathy is Boring wants young Canadians to grab their cell phone or video cameras and tell us their vision for the next 250 years of Democracy in Canada. On the 250^th anniversary of the birth of parliamentary democracy in our country, Apathy is Boring is encouraging young Canadians to look forward towards our next 250 years and articulate their vision of Canada and the world.

Starting in July and running through the month of September, the contest will culminate with the grand prize: a trip to Halifax for the winner to attend and showcase their video during a Youth Dialogue hosted by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, on September 20^th. More information on the Governor General’s Youth Dialogues is available at Citizen Voices. The winner will also receive backstage passes to the Apathy is Boring Concert featuring artists ill Scarlett.

Posted by Jenn Lowther and Nadia Nascimento

If you spend any time at all on the internet, you’ve come across an internet meme or viral. We’ve had Rickroll, LOLcats, D*ck in a Box, I Like Turtles, and who could forget the infamous Peanut Butter Jelly Time. Well I’ve noticed a new trend popping up everywhere - bacon!

First we had Kevin Bacon and then the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon game.  Well the internet has decided to get serious - drop the Kevin and get down to what’s important - BACON.

Yes, that bacon…the artery clogging, tasty and delicious breakfast staple. The one your Mom would only let you have two slices of growing up. Well we’ve grown up now and Mom is no longer there to limit our bacon consumption. So we’ve gone on a bacon rampage - much to our hearts displeasure.

One of the major necessities of a strong meme is in its flexibility. Bacon has been a keen illustrator of that very quality. And without further ado, I present you bacon in all of its bacony goodness.

The Double Baconator - People have been on a mission as of late to photoshop the best baconator that they can think of:

Crazy Bacon Inspired Cooking:

Bacon on a Stick Covered in French Fries

* Meat on a stick is almost as good as bacon, so when you combine bacon and sticks, you get the ultimate snacking pleasure!

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Dipped Bacon Sprinkled with Pop Rocks

**I read this on a blog yesterday and it came complete with pictures and everything.  For the life of me though, I can’t find it today.  grrr.  If you happen to come along it, please send it this way and we will be eternally grateful in full bacony glory!

Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger

Candied Bacon Ice Cream

Random Stuff Floating Around the Internet:

• Bacon subreddit at reddit
• Bacon and Sex
• What should I eat flow chart
• XKCD Comic

Could this new trend be speaking to the fact that we love things bad for us? I can’t say for a fact that indulging in lightning bolt lightning bolt was anything more than a guilty pleasure, but in all honesty, neither is fantasizing about what chocolate dipped bacon topped in pop rocks would taste like.

Now I know I missed tons of bacon yumminess, so give us links to your favourite bacon treats in the comments.

Ahh, summer. A time of vacations, beaches, watermelon, fireworks, and … reruns. While we languish through a long, dry summer in TV-land, our characters are off doing, well, what exactly? When we reconnect with them for the season premiere, everyone on TV is looking a bit better, starting another school year and wearing scarves while romping through the foliage – just like us. Which leaves us with only one big question – what the %&*! did these characters do all summer??

Is Blair’s plane really heading to Tuscany, or is she discretely jetting off for a visit to Brazil’s best rhinoplastic surgeon (xo, xo)? Is McSteamy looking for love as the lucky bachelor of a popular reality TV show? And is time on the island going backwards, forwards, or standing still?

Now’s your chance to fill in the gaps and create some tribute TV. How are your favorite TV characters – past or present – spending this summer? Gather fellow fans, pull out the creative stops and get making some clips. Who knows, maybe your video will inspire the writer’s room of your favorite show, or convince executives to bring back a series for another season!

Send us your ideas via video, in three minutes or less, and encourage your friends to vote for you. The most voted video will be named “Fan Favorite Video”; a second grand prize will be awarded “Judge’s Favorite Video” by a jury of your TV peers - industry experts who share your passion for all things television.

For the winners, FanTrust will pay your cable bill – meaning you can stay on top of all of next season’s best television.