Boulevard Magazine - March 2012 Issue by Boulevard Magazine

MARCH 2012

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Volkswagen News

26 million and counting...

he Volkswagen Golf gained global popularity through five generations and now, more than 26 million cars have been sold. The latest Volkswagen generation will once again try to win over the North American market, as American and Canadian buyers are more and more oriented towards buying more cost-effective cars.

out of Europe, but today, the Volkswagen Golf has taken over the hearts and minds of drivers all around the world. Why you ask? There are many reasons but the answer is simple. While the exterior of the car is manageable in the tightest parking spots, the interior is so spacious that even on a long drive, four adults and their luggage will fit comfortably.

Available in nimble 3-door and handy 5-door models, the 2012 Golf is designed to drive you happy. With its finely crafted interior, class-leading comfort and slick look, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no wonder the Volkswagen Golf is one of the most desirable cars in its class. The extensive range of models, including the hatchback, wagon and the Golf GTI with fuel-efficient diesel and high performance turbo engines, offers something for every budget. The Golf also includes a GTI sport model that competes with the likes of Audi, BMW and the Subaru WRX.

Comfort is a priority for the Golf, and with it being as quiet as a luxury car, that raises it beyond its rivals for outright comfort. From the entry S models right up to the rapid GTI range toppers, the quality of the build is top-notch. Along with that, it has the crisp handling of a European sports hatch while still setting the comfort benchmark in its class. It is seen by many as the car of the people and isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that what Volkswagen stands for?

The Volkswagen Golf is currently the third best selling car of all time. In the past, sales came mostly

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CONTENTS

March 2012 Issue 3, Volume XXII

FEATURES 14

CamAs Gardens Where the homeless find roots By Deborah Wilson

Fostering Hits David Foster is back in town By Anne Mullens

Mad for Miltoniopsis Orchid-lovers’ passionate pursuits By Linda Wilkinson

creative Economy Victoria clicks as a new media hub By David Black

trip Book Primer Sketch, paste, paint travel memories By April Caverhill

COLUMNS 18

HAWTHORN Reporting on you, me and the TC By Tom Hawthorn

STATE OF THE ARTS Future writers, start your pencils By Alisa Gordaneer

DEPARTMENTS 8

CONTRIBUTORS New names and faces

EDITOR’S LETTER Famously ours

SOCIAL CAPITAL Plenty of playgrounds By Alex Van Tol

COWICHAN Saving a piece of natural history By Keith Norbury

TECHNOLOGIA Find the answer on a forum By Darryl Gittins

CREATIVE MINDS A brewmaster’s sudsy art By Glenn Lindsey

TRAVEL NEAR Bellingham: more than malls By Laura Shinn

HOT PROPERTIES Retreat on French Beach By Carolyn Heiman

TRAVEL FAR NYC’s newest lures By Margie Goldsmith

FOOD & WINE Beer in recipes? Get pouring! By Maryanne Carmack

WRY EYE My Grandma, one tough cookie By Shannon Moneo

SECRETS & LIVES Abracadabra, it’s Murray Hatfield! By Shannon Moneo

FRONT ROW LINES Ballet; The Marowitz Hamlet; Gallery Frolics; and much more By Robert Moyes

DESIGN MATTERS A trio of building finds By Sarah MacNeill

BOULEVARD BOOK CLUB The Secret Daughter charms this club By Adrienne Dyer

HEALTH & Wellness Catching Cyberchondria By Anna Kemp

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR What about Canadian films?

On our cover: Brewmaster Andrew Tessier of Swans Buckerfields Brewery. Photo by Dean Azim.

lIFE AT ITS FINEST

President John Simmons Vice President & Publisher Peter Baillie Managing Editor Anne Mullens Associate Editor Vivian Smith Acting Art Director Sarah Reid Business Manager Janet Dessureault Production Assistant Melissa Cross Administrative Coordinator Kayleigh von Wittgenstein

who pens this month’s feature on Victoria’s new media, writes and comments frequently on media and culture. His interest in creative cities arises from a decade living amid artists, poets and musicians in Victoria. He is also a faculty member in the School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads University.

DAVID BLACK,

is a Victoria-based illustrator/artist whose work is published and exhibited internationally. This month she shows Boulevard readers how to create artistic and creative travel diaries. To view her art and be informed of upcoming shows and events, please visit her website: aprilcaverhill.wordpress.com.

APRIL CAVERHILL

(Photo: Deanna Billo)

Editorial Intern Karolina Karas Printing Central Web Advertising Peter Baillie, Pat Montgomery-Brindle, Geoff Wilcox Contributing Writers Maryanne Carmack, Adrienne Dyer, Rick Gibbs, Darryl Gittins, Alisa Gordaneer, Tom Hawthorn, Carolyn Heiman, Sarah MacNeill, Sharon McLean, Shannon Moneo, Robert Moyes, Alex Van Tol Contributing Photographers Vince Klassen, Gary McKinstry

has travelled to 118 countries and is a contributing writer for Elite Traveler, blogs about travel for Huffington Post, and is travel editor of Women’s Running. She contributes to Robb Report, American Way, travelandleisure.com, Wine Enthusiast, Islands, National Geographic Traveler, ForbesLife, Sierra and others. The New York native loves writing about her home town and this month tells Boulevard readers about 10 new sites or activities that are hot in New York. She says in her next life, however, she’s coming back as a Canadian.

MARGIE GOLDSMITH

this month becomes Boulevard’s acting art director, replacing Beth Campbell, who is on maternity leave. Reid has a degree in graphic design for marketing from Kwantlen Polytechnic University and most recently was working in Vancouver for the Canadian Red Cross, co-ordinating, designing and producing print and electronic publications. As a music nut, theatre-goer, bike rider and wine lover, Reid is looking forward to exploring Victoria. We welcome her to our pages.

SARAH REID

(Photo: Mathew Smith/Creative Mornings Vancouver)

ISSN 1196-6807

From

Spring Fashions

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In my 30 years as a journalist, I have interviewed a lot of celebrities. Some have been lovely experiences. But sometimes, the star, on some publicity round, was so tired of the media parade that a lowly scribe like me was treated with condescension, indifference or outright disdain. Not much fun on the receiving end. So when I was assigned three years ago by Readers’ Digest to do a profile of David Foster in Las Vegas while he rehearsed a PBS special, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As I detail in this month’s profile of him, for three days I witnessed a consummate professional bringing together a crowd-pleasing concert. Foster was too busy then to have a sit-down interview, but I interviewed most of the line-up of stars, like Josh Groban and Michael Bublé, who had nothing but good to say of the man who has shaped their careers. Bublé called himself a fortunate “Foster child.” The face-to-face interview came six weeks later, during my family vacation, so I brought my teenage daughter along to L.A. She sun-tanned on Santa Monica Beach, while across the street, I interviewed Foster in his then-studio, a ground-floor luxury apartment. Foster favours ground floors due to 25 years of elevator phobia that arose after being trapped twice in two days in New York. The tenor Pavarotti once tried to cure him in his private elevator by holding Foster as he serenaded him with ‘O Sole Mio. “It didn’t do a damn bit of good!” Foster told me. He has at times walked up 95 floors to avoid an elevator. In our interview back then Foster frequently turned the focus off himself, asking me, “What do you think?” or “Have you experienced that?” in a true conversation. And when he learned my daughter was on the beach, he insisted: “Bring her in!” So we spent the afternoon watching as he worked with his sound technician on instrumental tracks for an album with Seal. It was a fascinating experience. He made us feel special. We’re looking forward to his fundraising concert this May 26. You will find lots to read this month, including stories about brewmaster Andrew Tessier, cooking with beer, and an inspiring story about Camas Gardens, a housing development for the homeless that is turning lives around. Writer David Black explores how Victoria’s creative class experiments with new media, while Tom Hawthorn celebrates the importance of more established media, like the daily newspaper. In all, we hope that you’re happy to be on Boulevard’s receiving end. VB Anne Mullens, Managing Editor

Inspires ... or is that respires? Love your elegant magazine. Dazzling design, crisp editing, content that breathes rather than blethers. Looking at and savouring such a treat shifts the shadows from my aging peepers. Keep up the good work. Mike McRanor

Not bad in a reading pinch I had certainly heard of Boulevard and had seen it around but never gave it a read. I was recently without reading materials early in January (hint to wife for next Christmas) and picked up the December issue that was on our coffee table. I enjoyed the wide variety of intelligent articles, attractive ads and eye-catching layout so much that I found and read the January issue the very next night. I will let you know if your story about the Stone Soup Inn from the December issue was accurate: after reading the article we will be making a point of visiting soon. Many thanks for the entertaining read. Patrick Czyz

Hello! What about Canadian content? I cannot believe your three film “experts” did not mention one Canadian film in their top 10 picks. What about Victoria’s own Atom Egoyan’s Next of Kin or The Sweet Hereafter? Or Denys Arcand’s Jesus of Montreal or The Decline of the American Empire? Or Cronenberg’s latest beauty A Dangerous Method, Sandy Wilson’s seminal My American Cousin or Claude Jutra’s Mon Oncle Antoine? To not mention the adaptations of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz or the poignant Barney’s Version seems crazy. And what about C.R.A.Z.Y. or My Winnipeg, Goin’ Down the Road and Atanarjuat? I think their lists show a complete lack of respect and interest in Canadian cinema. Lynne Milne

Munro: Ford Agency is holding on line two Munro is a very handsome “coverdog.” Kudos on the article Love Unleashed by Tess Van Straaten. Pauline Dueck I laughed my head off at Boulevard’s February cover. And then laughed harder at the centrefold — canine equivalent of the Blue Steel pose? Jude Isabella I am not sure that tie goes with that coat. David McPhee We welcome your letters: editor@victoriaboulevard.com 11

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Manon Williams became homeless after a mental health crisis a decade ago, but now is thriving at Camas Gardens.

One year on, Camas Gardens

are fitting in on Humboldt By Deborah Wilson photography by justin Eckersall

f you happen to pass by 950 Humboldt Street, you might assume yet another luxury condo development has arisen on the edge of downtown. The striking, modern structure in brown brick and richly stained wood wraps around a landscaped courtyard. Through the ample front windows a concierge desk is visible, along with a comfortable lounge with a flickering fireplace and TV. Nothing about it says “low-income housing.” Except, perhaps, the lack of any resident parking beyond a couple of bike racks. This is just as Karyn French imagined it when the building, named Camas Gardens, opened a year ago. “I want people to see it and think, ‘I want to live there,’” the executive director of Pacifica Housing said at the time, “and ask if there are any condos for sale or apartments for rent.” People do ask, but there are no condos or ordinary rentals at Camas Gardens. The 44-unit building is home for people with addictions or mental illness who have been chronically homeless for more than a year. BC Housing owns the building and non-profit Pacifica Housing was chosen to develop and operate it. (Accurately counting the number of local “unhoused” people is difficult, but the Greater Victoria coalition to End Homelessness says the number is around 1,100.) Camas Gardens is low-barrier housing, which means residents with addictions can be accepted even if they’re still using drugs or alcohol. The “housing first” philosophy means they don’t even have to be thinking about quitting. Low-barrier housing, however, doesn’t mean the building is jammed full of needle drug users or crack smokers. “You need to balance who has greater needs and lighter needs,” French says. As well, not all the residents are straight off the street. Some moved to Camas Gardens from other supportive housing, bringing a measure of stability and knowledge of house rules. Kat Jessup, 58, spent a year living on the street, then at several buildings operated by the local health authority, before moving into Camas Gardens. She’s not a drinker or drug user. But the deaths of her parents triggered a crisis that landed her in the hospital. She lost her VW van when it was towed with all her possessions inside, and she couldn’t pay the bill. “I slept on the Whale Wall, Bastion Square, near the Boom Boom Room, under the bush near Sandy Merriman House,” says Jessup, who adds she was kicked out of homeless shelters and beaten by other women on the street. Her face, framed by short silvery curls, has a healthy glow. People sometimes tell the one-time art student that she looks like Emily Carr. Her blue eyes are highlighted by pretty blue eyeglass frames; the only hint of feminine adornment, in contrast to her tan workmen’s shirt. Jessup’s small apartment is identical in layout to the other studio suites, but residents make their places their own. Hers features her baseball-cap collection and some of her paintings, including coastal landscapes in sunset colours. A low table next to the bed holds a small aquarium with her betta fish, named 15

A happier and healthier Kat Jessup no longer wears the heavy boots she wore on the street. At right, the Humboldt Street complex looks like a luxury condo development.

Beauty. When Beauty flares its fins and darts around the tank, it flashes the same colours as Jessup’s blue glasses. “I’ve done a lot of healing here,” Jessup says. She’s reconnected by email with a sister and niece in Alberta. After years focused on her own survival, she’s imagining the possibility of a romantic relationship. Pacifica Housing operates nearly 800 units of low-income housing on the Island, mostly for families. Elements of the Camas Gardens formula (community meals, art groups, a work program in which residents do maintenance duties in exchange for food vouchers from local grocers) are employed in several other buildings already operated by Pacifica. It has been chosen to build and operate a project in Nanaimo that will be modeled closely on Camas Gardens. 16

The cost to house residents here is $13,000 to $16,000 a year, compared to the per-person cost of homelessness (police time, emergency room visits, shelter costs, etc), which a recent Simon Fraser University study estimates at about $55,000 a year. Camas Gardens was Pacifica’s first development from the ground up. They asked staff and residents for input into the plans. Some suggestions were far-fetched, such as a swimming pool, or separate entrances for drug users and alcoholics. But on key practical details, residents and staff agreed. One was creating a front desk that would monitor comings and goings, with 24-hour staffing instead of an intercom. French says the biggest problems are often outsiders who prey on vulnerable residents, buzzing different apartments, demanding access. French points out other lessons applied here, such as indestructible industrial-grade flooring, a bedbug “sauna” that zaps items before they’re brought inside. A large kitchen is used for teaching cooking skills, and a common dining area for gatherings. An inspiring work of First Nations art covers the main wall of the dining room, but the room is also clad in extra-strength drywall “in case there’s a little fight,” she says. The building’s director is trained in “verbal judo” to help defuse problems, and if that doesn’t work, staff can call 9-1-1. Cora Jacobs, the manager of Beaconsfield Inn next door, says Camas Gardens and its residents haven’t caused problems. “It seems fine to us,” she says.

The owner of an apartment building on Fairfield Road, behind Camas Gardens, is more critical. Roger Kerr was one of a few people who expressed concerns when the plan came to Victoria City Hall for approval. He remains critical. “It’s not the building, it’s the residents, quite possibly the supervision of the residents,” he says now. Scavengers go through the bins at the back of his building, leaving trash strewn in the parking lot, where the crows pick it over. “It’s not as bad as I suspected, but it has not been that good.” Manon Williams says residents have been approached on the street by neighbours who think their type doesn’t belong in such an attractive “If you raise the bar,” says location or building. Karyn French, “people “I grew up in Oak Bay,” Williams says. She would will try to reach it.” not look out of place on “the Avenue.” She’s elegant in a flowing top and tailored pants, her burgundy-tinted hair pulled back loosely. The clothes are donated, but they are a measure of how much has changed in her life since she arrived, with little to wear and no interest in appearances. Williams shares a light-filled studio with her friendly tabby, Poco. The room reflects the same care and taste she gives to her wardrobe: co-ordinated colours, well-tended houseplants, and a display of fairy figurines in a corner cabinet. “They make me feel peaceful and happy when I look at them.” Williams became homeless about a decade ago, when mental illness suddenly plunged her world into chaos. She was in her early 30s and overwhelmed with persistent suicidal thoughts. In the turmoil her live-in relationship ended and she ended up sleeping on a succession of friends’ couches. Two years of electroconvulsive therapy extinguished her suicidal urges, but damaged her long-term memory. She was eventually housed in another Pacifica-run building, but was afraid to leave her apartment because of drug dealing at the building. “I didn’t feel safe there at all. I felt like a recluse. I was a wreck.” Williams says she feels safe now in a building that’s monitored and where staff are available to handle trouble at any time. She enjoys long walks daily with her new partner. For a treat they will stop for coffee in Cook Street Village. She has lost more than 60 pounds, dramatically reduced the medications that keep her stable, and now works as a janitor at Our Place. She is contemplating a return to school, perhaps to become a counsellor. From her top-floor window, Williams looks out on the treetop canopy and the activity of squirrels instead of drug dealers. From the outside, it might look like luxury living, but to French, residents have earned an opportunity to live with simple dignity, without a time limit or expectation to move on. This is their home. “If you raise the bar,” French says, “people will try to reach it.” VB 17

photo by vince klassen

hawthorn By Tom Hawthorn

we need a local daily like the TC to stay strong, Why

and you do, too.

The newspaper’s title is displayed in Old English letters cast from metal set above the entranceway on Douglas Street. Between the venerable names Times and Colonist can be found the impressive crest that appears daily on the front page, featuring a lion, unicorn, crown, and the words Dieu et mon droit, the monarch’s motto since the 15th century. The crest states here is a most serious journal, which traces its lineage to the colonial days of 1858. Dressed in a suit and tie, I was in Victoria for a job interview. On the way up Douglas Street from the bus terminal, I’d been stopped by a panhandler. He got $5 for his troubles. I figured a dash of karma would go with my résumé. Parading smartly beneath the impressive entrance, bounding up the stairs, I strode confidently to the front counter, asking: “On what floor would I find editorial?” This query earned a bemused smile. Big-city newspapers house reporters and editors on different floors than, say, the brash lot who sell advertising. The Times Colonist was a modest operation, where all departments fit on one floor. The interview went swell, the job was mine, and, at the end of the school year, the rest of the family moved across the strait from Vancouver. The first parent-teacher meeting at the children’s school was instructive. The teacher, a no-nonsense figure of decided opinions, asked my partner where she 18

worked. Oh, CBC Radio! How the teacher loved it, citing hosts by name as though they were old friends, recalling ancient broadcasts and forgotten personalities. And, you, she said, at last turning her attention to me, where do you work? Why, the Times Colonist was a lousy, no-good, tabloid supermarket rag filled with typos and non sequiturs. I should have lied and said I sold tobacco to children. I might have had a better response. The city’s antipathy to the paper surprised me then, as it does now. Right-wingers refer to the TC as the Times Communist. Left-wingers complain about a bias, too, yet in my almost four years on staff a decade ago, I’d found the reporters to be diligent and dedicated. For the most part the The TC does paper’s problems — yes, too many admirable work with its small staff. typos and some stories were not reported as fully as they might have been — stemmed not from incompetence by editors and reporters, but from previous owners’ cost-cutting. The size of the staff shrank steadily over the years. I began work in a 10-person sports department; it is half that size now. The paper has remained profitable, but that money has funded other projects. (Hello, National Post.) Decades of bloodletting has left the paper looking anemic. Last fall, Glacier Media Group bought the TC from PostMedia Network Inc. As of the new year, the change in ownership has not altered what is delivered on the doorstep. So far, so good. The paper had been owned previously by Canwest Global Communications Corp., Southam Inc., Thomson Newspapers Ltd., and FP Publications Ltd. The latest sale is the first time a Victoria daily has been owned by BC interests since 1950. The TC does much admirable work with its small staff. Last year, it exposed disgraceful cutbacks, waiting lists and service problems at the government agency responsible for caring for the disabled. The TC has done this kind of enterprise reporting countless times. These are tough days for newspapers. Morale is down, as is circulation. No one is even certain whether a daily print product will be produced a decade from now. Three paid newspapers are delivered to my door — the TC, The Globe and Mail, and the Sunday edition of the The New York Times. I know I’m an exception. On recycling day, the blue boxes hold fewer newspapers than they once did. I hope the neighbours are at least getting their news online. Whether we get our news from blipping pixels on a computer screen or from old-fashioned ink on dead trees, we need it. We need people with the skills to ferret information from reluctant authorities and from government agencies. Just ask the families of the disabled how much better their lives are today thanks to the newspaper’s intervention. That’s why I support a local media outlet like the Times Colonist. I’m on the 100-mile news diet. VB 19

photo by gary McKinstry

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This writing school

gives new meaning to the term “kid lit”

Victoria is as packed with literary luminaries as it is with daffodils in spring, so it makes sense this city would be a breeding ground for the next generation of authors and readers — even if those authors and readers are still in the single-digit age group. For Paisley Aiken, the mom of three kids aged 4, 6 and 8 and an MBA grad from the University of Victoria, this potential created an obvious niche for a business that gets writers going before they’re barely old enough to hold a pen. This spring, Aiken is launching Story Studio (storystudio.ca), a new writing school in Oak Bay for kids aged three to teens. The idea, says Aiken, is to have “a place where kids can write without feeling self-conscious and evaluated on content and writing conventions, and that offers a space that inspires creativity.” It’s a smart idea, and reminds me of Christianne’s Lyceum of Literature and Art, a kids’ writing school that’s operated for half a decade in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. There, kids and their well-heeled parents can enroll in ever-popular writing workshops, book clubs, summer camps and more. Here, Aiken explains that the studio is meant to encourage

kids of all skill, development and confidence levels to get deeper into writing, whether they aim to become the next J.K. Rowling, have yet to try writing, or hate the very thought. “Really, the goal of the studio is to have kids leave believing that they can write and be excited over the possibilities that exist with it,” she says. “We read a tremendous amount as a family and my kids have always been really enchanted by the concept that they may one day be real authors, and make real books.” Aiken brings more than just a passion for reading, writing and teaching to her program. A former bookstore owner who’s also completed a certificate Only time will tell if in publishing from Simon Fraser University, Aiken recognizes the this business turns into a success story value of developing an audience, and therefore a market, for books. or just another “I felt that Victoria, as a literary fantasy. community arts-oriented city, was the perfect venue to experiment with social enterprise, which means that our success is measured by the value we add to our community, not by the profit alone,” says Aiken. “By being engaged in a literary world, children (and adults) develop their confidence, self-identity, problem-solving skills, ability to communicate, imagination, desire to learn and explore, and even gain tools to navigate their own emotional development.” Aiken has invited a number of local writers to work as teachers and coaches at Story Studio. Those include fiction writer Laura Trunkey, poet Jody Carrow and author Julie Paul. “I am excited to be a part of this new venture as one of the writing coaches for the teen writers,” says Paul, who has been a guest instructor at a few high school English and writing classes recently. “I have heard some wonderful work. I really see this as an excellent venue for those young writers, and I look forward to supporting their passion for writing.” Parents can sign their kids up for age-grouped home-school or after-school programs, typically costing $130 for six onehour sessions. While there are still spaces in the preschool and tween/teen classes, the first session of after-school classes for five-to-nine-year-olds is already full. Class size is small, no more than six to eight students, which Aiken says allows for encouragement and individualized coaching. Plus, unlike school, there are no marks. “The idea is that every participant is in control of their content,” says Aiken. “We want parents to understand that they may not always love what their kids write, but that we are really encouraging kids to make their own choices.” As such, the program’s goal is to help kids identify the stories they want to tell, and to sustain interest and enthusiasm while getting those stories down on paper. As a writer, I can tell you that is much harder than it sounds. Only time will tell if this business turns into a success story or just another literary fantasy. VB 21

star-maker, performer and music executive nurtures his Victoria connection by anne mullens

avid Foster’s condo on the Victoria waterfront is an all-white haven with wrap-around views of the Inner Harbour, Sooke Hills and Ogden Point. His black C7 Yamaha concert grand piano dominates the main room, family pictures and a bust of Beethoven on its lid. Huge reproductions of Beethoven manuscripts line the entrance hall. Decorated by his fourth wife, Yolanda Hadid, a modelturned-interior-designer whom he married this past November, the apartment is calming, luxurious and sophisticated. Wellsuited, it seems, to one of the world’s most successful record producers, with 16 Grammies, three Oscar nominations and

multiple platinum records, as well as Orders of BC and Canada, earned over his 40-year career. In size and esthetics, it is a long way from the small house on Ascot Drive, near Cedar Hill Golf Course, where Foster, now 62, grew up in the 1950s and 60s with his six sisters — three older and three younger — and parents Maurice (Morry), a musically talented maintenance worker with the Saanich municipality, and Eleanor, a homemaker. Foster, as the only boy, got his own room — a utility closet with a cot. But both places tie him emotionally to this city. “I just love Victoria. I feel a very strong connection here. The foundation of growing up here — my parents and my sisters, my upbringing, and the street I lived on — have all given me an

L-R: With fourth wife Yolanda Hadid at their November 2011 wedding; with Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand in 1997; working with Andrea Bocelli on the best-selling My Christmas album and PBS show in 2009.

edge, I think. And now I have a beautiful place to come back to. So I come back as often as I can,” says Foster, who spoke to Boulevard in a phone interview from his Malibu home. Foster ranks with Steve Nash and Nelly Furtado as perhaps the most luminous of those who left Victoria to make their mark in the wider world. And when he comes back — as he does every summer to boat in the Gulf Islands or Desolation Sound, or as part of his charity work through the David Foster Foundation, headquartered here — there is often a celebration of sorts around the talented son’s return. He’ll be back this May for his David Foster & Friends Miracle Concert on May 26 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Timed to coincide with the opening of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, the concert is a fundraiser for his charity, which supports the non-medical costs of families whose children are undergoing organ donation. Foster gives about $750,000 a year to the cause, which has helped some 750 families in 25 years. The line-up of performers is hush-hush: “I like the element of surprise,” he says. He compares creating a memorable concert to making an album or writing a hit song. “There has to be an arc. I like the ‘wow’ factor. It is my job to make sure it is a spectacular night.” He has been putting on these concerts all over the world for years, including 10 concerts in Asia this past fall and upcoming concerts in the Middle East. The format is always the same. Foster sits at a C7 Yamaha (the only grand piano he will play) commanding centre stage, playing his piano and conducting an orchestra, bantering with the audience, while one after another, stars he has either found or “fostered” walk onto the stage to sing a few hits. The audience will gasp when out walk stars like Michael Bublé, Jackie Evancho, Andrea Bocelli or Josh Groban. When the star is a name from the past like Peter Cetera of Chicago, or Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind and Fire, singing a hit from the 80s, the audience reaction is, “Wow, did Foster do that song, too?” The concerts always have a mix of both. Three years ago, Reader’s Digest sent me to profile Foster, watching him as he put together a Las Vegas show for a PBS special. For three days I hung around the entourage, attending the rehearsals in the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Event Center. Foster, in blue jeans and an untucked, denim shirt, was at his piano almost the whole time. No matter the star or the ego, Foster was firmly but professionally in charge. “Let’s try it this way,” he said repeatedly. He would compose arrangements on the spot, writing notes with his left hand on the piano top, while playing it with his right. “We are doing this now in key of E,” he would yell out to the orchestra as runners grabbed

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his new arrangement and reproduced it on a computer to distribute to the musicians. His way always sounded better. “What David does with every artist is allow their unique voice to shine as beautifully as possible,” Groban, who was in the sold-out show, told me. His collaboration with Foster has produced four platinum-selling albums. “He has the most phenomenal ear in the business,” said April Gislason, a Victoria singer who met Foster in the late 1970s in Los Angeles and worked with him this past fall as a singer in the Mount Doug Reunion Concert at UVic. “He can hear a single note out of tune in an orchestra of 50.” That ear has taken him far. He was four when his parents realized he “What David does with every artist is had perfect pitch — the ability to allow their unique name and reproduce any note he hears. They put him in piano lessons. voice to shine as His father would sing harmony with beautifully as him as a bedtime ritual and bang out possible.” tunes on the piano that Foster could -Josh Groban immediately replay. By 13 he was leading a small Victoria dance band, making more on a gig than his father made in a week. By 17 he had left Victoria for England, where he briefly backed Chuck Berry. He played keyboards for Ronnie Hawkins for about a year, but was fired for being too stiff and skinny. (“You look like a cadaver up there,” the Hawk told him about his stage presence.) His band Skylark had a hit single Wildflower in 1972. When the band broke up he became a session player in the L.A. music scene, at first playing for as little as $5 an hour. Record producing soon followed, making comeback hits for Chicago, discovering Celine Dion, creating 24

The entrance to his Victoria condo features reproductions of Beethoven manuscripts. photo by gary mckinstry

hit movie sound tracks like The Bodyguard. By the mid80s, his reputation as the behind-the-scenes genius in the recording studio was set. Now he is off on new tasks. Last December, Foster, the father of five daughters and the grandfather of six, was named chairman of Verve Decca Music Group, an executive position that will have him spending less time in the studio and more time leading creative operations, with a focus on developing new talent in the adult-popular genre. “The finding talent thing — that is what they are betting the store on,” says Foster. “The truth of the matter is that talent finds me, I don’t really find it. The big trick is making sure you recognize it.” Then he confesses, in what I’ve learned is typical Foster self-deprecation, that he sometimes doubts his abilities. It is UK singer Adele, who has sold 18 million records, who has him second guessing. “I’ve been thinking how Adele has just exploded off the charts. She is really good, don’t get me wrong — but if 10 singer-songwriters like her were paraded in front of me, would I have picked Adele out and said, ‘this one is going to sell more than 15 million?’ And it scares me because I don’t think I would have.” His track record would suggest he has little to fear. In fact the recognition of his contribution to music just keeps coming. He recently learned he has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And, happily, for a kid who heard She Loves You at age 12 and ditched his classical studies, the star will be right beside Buddy Holly and the Beatles. “That is about as good as it gets for me,” sighs Foster. “They are my idols.” Not bad for a Victoria boy who grew up sleeping in a utility closet. VB 25

SOCIAL CAPITAL Beacon Hill Park What would an article on Victoria parks be without the mention of Beacon Hill? The playground is one of the largest and best-designed in the city, with slides, climbing walls, bridges, chimes and swings. In summer, a water spray park cools overheated tots, while the goats, turkeys and donkeys of the allseason petting farm are just a stroll past the duck pond. by Alex Van Tol illustration by sarah reid Across the street from the washrooms, Beacon Hill Park boasts one of the most climbable trees in the city. (Look closely: it’s actually a If you’ve got kids or grandkids, nieces or nephews, or if gigantic old laurel bush.) you just like the happy energy they emit (when they’re not busy emitting other things), then you’ll want to check out Quimper Park Boulevard’s top playground picks for this spring. Hold on tight Located down by the Chinese cemetery, Gonzales’ for our roundabout of the region’s best-loved places to play. Quimper Park is a hidden gem, renowned for its toy graveyard. Kids can bring their over-loved toys and leave West shore’s Rotary Park them here for others to enjoy. Quimper’s sand bed boasts Just behind the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre on the Old diggers, dumpers, buckets and the odd UFO (and two Island Highway, you’ll find the fabulous West Shore Rotary foosball tables near the bathrooms). It’s a great place to Park. The Rotary playground, more commonly known as the make a trade; pay it forward by ensuring your offering is in dinosaur park, is a playground with a little something for better condition than your takeaway. With Quimper’s soccer every age. There’s a climbing wall, tunnels, bouncy dinosaurs, field, well-equipped playground and proximity to Gonzales diggers and slides galore, all on a soft bed of wood chips. beach, it’s easy to while away an entire afternoon. (Note: wood chip beds are fabulous for falls, but splinters can drill directly through the soles of Crocs and Holey Soles.) Playfair Park The standard baby and big-kid swings are augmented by a Tucked away between Quadra and Blenkinsop is Playfair therapeutic swing that’s big enough for adults to cuddle with Park, a florally-endowed chunk of Saanich that many say a little one. Ample parking is available; washrooms are in the rivals Butchart Gardens. Many of Playfair’s rhodos, azaleas rec centre. and camellias were planted over 50 years ago as part of a now-dormant project to create Canada’s first arboretum, Banfield Park and were donated by locally recognizable names like Ed Located behind the Vic West Y on Craigflower Road, Lohbrunner and Richard Layritz. Accessible from Rock Banfield Park sits on the edge of the Gorge waterway. Many Street off Quadra, Playfair boasts washrooms and a mixedtrails run through Banfield Park, and kids can explore plenty materials playground on sand, including swings, a tunnel, a of places near the quiet waterway. The playground itself is on slide and plenty of posts to clamber over and bars to hang wood chips and is well laid-out for older and younger kids. from. Once the kids have had their fill, there’s bedrock to Little people will love the wiggly steps leading up to the shipscramble around on and a maze-like path to follow through shaped slide. There is lots of wild space to run around in, as the flowering trees. Picnic tables and benches dot the park. well as some little grassy knolls for tiny rollers to take on. Just Interpretive signs detail the park’s history as well as the across the street, Vic West’s legendary Spiral Café awaits your ongoing Garry Oak restoration project. hungry troupe once playtime wraps up.

WE HAVE PLAY PLACES GALORE

Gyro Park Everybody knows about Gyro Park. Home of the legendary Cadborosaurus and its colourful, climbable replica, Gyro combines beach and playground into one happy way to spend the day. Washrooms, picnic tables and plenty of grass for running make this a perfect set-up for birthday parties and gatherings. An old-school slide, a giant red octopus, a pirate ship and swings with the longest chains in the city (I know: I’ve tried them all) will keep the kids entertained for hours, as will the sand and driftwood. You don’t have to pack a lunch, because Olive Olio’s and Pepper’s Grocery are a mere stroll away, in Cadboro Bay Village. Because of its exposure to the water, Gyro always seems chilly, so bring your warms. Vantreight Park Maybe I’m biased by the brooding mystique of Gordon Head’s wild trees, but Vantreight Park is a shimmering diamond tucked away in Saanich’s silent depths. Accessible from Vantreight Drive off Ferndale, Vantreight’s gravel-bed playground is brand new, and attached to a limitless expanse of grass for chasing balls. Long grass and a variety of trees make for fun exploring, as does the little forested trail just across Vantreight Drive. A short walk from the playground, at the west end of Leyns Road, take the metal cliffside stairs down to Margaret Bay’s rocky, tree-lined beach. At low tide, the kids can scramble along the bedrock while you moon dreamily at the waterfront homes. Make this protected, east-facing beach your first stop on a morning play-date before heading over to the park. Tulista Park If you like taking the odd day trip to Sidney to browse the bookstores and nosh on turnovers from the town’s oldschool bakery, then you’ll want to budget some time for a stop at Tulista Park. Perched on the edge of Sidney’s stunning waterfront stroll just south of the Anacortes ferry terminal, Tulista promises safe and fun playing for all ages. Safe because the entire playground is fenced and gated with a low chain-link; fun because there’s no shortage of climbing, swinging, sliding and hiding. An adjacent washroom and picnic shelter mean you can park it here for a few hours. When the kids tire of the playground, the seawall and beaches are just steps away. Now you’re set for some springtime fun at our area playgrounds. All that’s left to do is hope for sun. VB NOTE: If you bring along the family dog, heed the signs regarding pets at the playground, or check online for restrictions. In Saanich, for instance, dogs must be leashed within a 10-metre radius (about 33 feet) of any playground equipment in a municipal or regional park. Check the Saanich Parks website regarding special dog restrictions at Gyro after May 1st.

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COWICHAN

A wealth of knowledge is preserved in this

By Keith Norbury

Almost daily for 40 years, Barb Stone passed a beautiful meadow of Garry oaks overlooking Quamichan Lake near Duncan as she drove to and from her job teaching school. Then one day in 1997, she noticed surveyor’s tape on many of those trees. What a great loss if it is made into another residential subdivision, she thought. Her epiphany set in motion an ambitious campaign to save the trees and meadow that culminated in the Nature Conservancy of Canada acquiring the property in 1999 and establishing the Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve. “Barb Stone led the charge,” says Tim Ennis, director of land stewardship for the Nature Conservancy’s BC region. Instead of surveyor’s tape, the property is now dotted here and there with playing-card-sized orange and yellow flags denoting the locations of native plants. Enclosures of about eight square metres jury-rigged with garden mesh, PVC pipe, scrap wood and duct tape surround clusters of these flags. These mark “treatment areas,” where researchers from half a dozen universities across Canada are studying such effects as fire burning and sheep grazing on the often-rare fauna. “A lot of research happens on this property,” Ennis says. University of Guelph biology professor Andrew MacDougall, for example, is looking at the effects of exotic grasses, such as knotty clumps of orchard grass, on native species like camas. “We need to try to get rid of this orchard grass,” Ennis explains. “But at the same time, you can see, all around it are a whole 28

bunch of native plants.” Above: The 500-acre What attracts the researchers is preserve outside that much of the property is as it Duncan includes a was when the pioneer Elkington 117-year-old heritage family settled here late in the home. (Photo: Nature 19th century. That makes it one Conservancy of Canada) of the few remaining valley bottom Garry oak meadows, a situation Ennis attributes to the property’s unique history. Most of southern Vancouver Island’s remaining Garry oak meadows cling to rocky outcroppings, such as near Mill Hill in Langford. That’s because the meadows that formed in the deep soils of Island valley bottoms proved irresistible to European settlers in search of fertile farmland. However, William Howard Elkington, who first visited the Cowichan Valley in 1883, wasn’t a typical peasant farmer. He was a grandson of George Richards Elkington, who patented a process for electroplating silver. It made Elkington and his heirs very wealthy. As a result, when William Elkington acquired 500 acres along the east shore of Quamichan Lake in the late 1880s, he could afford to preserve a tract of it as “Oak Park” rather than raze the oaks and create another hay field. “Back in the 1850s, there was a form of art that was very popular called landscape picturesque art,” Ennis explains. “It depicted these private hunting grounds of lords and barons in England, of rolling green fields with oaks. That landscape was

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highly desirable but unattainable to the average person.” The picturesque Cowichan Garry oak meadow resembled that prized English landscape, although not quite. Trees had to be cleared to form an allée (French for alley) to afford a view from the farmhouse to the lake. And orchard and other exotic grasses were planted to replicate the English countryside. “They probably seeded this area over and over again to get it to this state,” Ennis says. “Now that it’s here, it’s hard to get rid of, but it’s not so likely to spread across the property.” Other species, such as a Scotch broom, which Capt. Walter Colquhoun Grant introduced to the Island in the 1850s, do spread rapidly. So the preserve holds regular broom bashes. Volunteers also come out often to weed the beds in the preserve’s native plant nursery. The raised beds look like a commercial nursery, except they are crammed with native species like white fawn lily, fool’s onion, spring gold, and shooting star. The native stars are two species of camas, common and great, staples of the First Nations’ diet. “The camas is a bulb that can stay in the ground for many, many years,” says Irvin Banman, the preserve’s site manager. He and his partner, Dorthea Siegler, and their children live in the 117-year-old house that William Elkington built in 1894. In 1999, the Nature Conservancy negotiated a sale with Gerald Elkington. Then 99 years old, he continued to live in the house until his death there in 2004 at age 105. Some of the surviving Elkington descendants were unhappy with the terms of the sale, feeling it deprived them of their full inheritance and it contributed to the heritage home falling into desrepair. The Nature Conservancy is working with heritage consultants to apply for grants from heritage funding sources to restore the old farmhouse, but it plays backup to the Garry oaks, some older than 400 years, and the native plants. The latter erupt in a frenzy of yellows, pinks and blues in late April and early May. Coinciding with that, the preserve hosts “In Bloom,” where it opens its gate to the public on a spring Saturday for a tour of the grounds. The rest of the year, tours can be arranged by appointment. Visitors who show up unannounced will be greeted, however, by a locked gate. Much of the work at the reserve involves restoring the camas meadows to pre-contact state. First Nations regularly burned the meadows. The fires, however, annoyed the colonists, who soon prohibited them, Ennis says. And without the fires, the snowberry underbrush would thrive and eventually the Douglas firs would take over. Kate Proctor, a University of Victoria master’s student, has been researching the effects of harvesting and fire on the camas populations. “I think it’s a great opportunity to use a place like that as a classroom for people to come out and see what was done on this land,” she says. Without the efforts of former teacher Barb Stone, though, that living classroom might never have materialized. VB

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EMPHATICALLY BALLET San Francisco-based Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet made a notable debut here three years ago and returns with a program featuring two new works, in what continues to be an impressive 15th season from Dance Victoria. After dancing for Alvin Ailey, the innovative King formed his own dance company in 1982 and has remained dedicated to contemporary ballet. “Alonzo really works with his dancers, going on a journey of discovery to help them find their own personal reasons for dancing,” explains Stephen White, longtime producer of Dance Victoria. “As a result, every moment of dancing on stage is full.” According to White, King’s dancers have the long, sinewy muscles appropriate for the line and extension of classical ballet, but have torsos that are more fluid and expressive. “The dancing from LINES Ballet is emphatic, dynamic, very physical and fast, but with attention to line and detail,” says White. “And with King, the dance is always married to the music in a wonderful way.” LINES Ballet’s Caroline Rocher

March

dances in Scheherazade. Photo by RJ Muna.

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15-24

17-31

30-31

LINES Ballet

The Marowitz Hamlet

Gallery Frolicks

AGGV

Metro Studio

Winchester Galleries

Joey Smith Quintet

Channeling Tom Waits

Broadway Medleys

Royal Theatre

Phoenix Theatre

Royal Theatre

For this program, Resin is animated by exotic tunes drawn from the Sephardic tradition dating after Jewish people were expelled from Spain in 1492, while lyrical Scheherazade features a soundtrack by tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain. White, who recently saw the world premiere of Resin in San Francisco, was wowed: “It was remarkably beautiful... I was on the edge of tears the whole time.” Appearing March 9-10, 7:30 pm, at the Royal Theatre. For tickets, call 250-386-6121.

Music in March!

CIRQUE DE TOM WAITS Known — and sometimes feared — for his gruff growl of a voice and eccentric take on the blues (as well as jazz and even vaudeville), Tom Waits remains an uncategorizable music original. Although he hasn’t played here for decades, his musical style is putting in a kind-of appearance courtesy of Quebec City’s L’Orchestre d’Hommes-Orchestres, a nine-piece ensemble that takes Waits’s music into uncharted realms. “It’s a concert, it’s a tribute, but mostly it’s a crazy, crazy circus,” enthuses Janet Munsil, producer of Intrepid Theatre. “Visually there’s a seedy carnival feel — it’s definitely a theatrical experience and not just purely musical.” The guys play conventional instruments unconventionally, for instance, strumming a guitar with a gun; or they’ll “play” whiskey bottles by blowing into them … then drink out of them to alter the pitch. “It’s in keeping with the sound of Tom Waits, but is also a visual expression of the style of his music. It’s a brilliant combination,” says Munsil, who says that they were the knockout group when she was at a performers’ tradeshow in Montreal that had acts from all over the world. “It’s like the Tom Waits experience, only multiplied.” Several years ago Intrepid sold out a Tom Waits opera named Black Rider; if you don’t want to end up crying in your beer outside the theatre, get those tickets early! Appearing March 25 at Metro Studio, 1411 Quadra. Call 250-590-6291 or see ticketrocket.org.

Kuerti, Kuerti & Beethoven march 12 royal theatre Julian Kuerti, conductor Anton Kuerti, piano

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THE DANE, RECONSIDERED Not many people would dare to radically adapt a play by William Shakespeare, but Charles Marowitz had the nerve — and, more important, the credentials — to do it, not once but seven times. A renowned playwright, director, critic, and author of over two dozen books, Marowitz came of age nearly a half-century ago at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he collaborated with the legendary Peter Brook. It was during this period of 1960s experimentalism that he began his provocative reappraisal of the Bard’s canon. His first salvo was The Marowitz Hamlet, a one-hour version that used only Shakespeare’s original language, but transformed the text into a condensed and rearranged collage that was still coherent but also commented on the play itself, often to witty or insightful effect. He recently toured a remounted version of his Hamlet, and Marowitz matter-of-factly admits that some critics used words like “horror” and “sacrilege” in their reviews. “But most of the audience followed it and liked it,” he adds. Marowitz, whose 32

Costume illustrations for The Marowitz Hamlet, a 90-minute version at UVic ‘s Phoenix Theatre, March 15 to 24. (Illustrations by Michelle Lo.) Below: Charles Marowitz with UVic students Michelle Lo and Bryan Kenney.

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work has often graced stages in New York and London, will be at UVic working with a student cast for this revised version of a play that is now 90 minutes long. “I love and admire Shakespeare’s play, but am passionately negative about the character of Hamlet,” explains Marowitz. “He’s like the classic armchair liberal who has opinions about everything and talks a good game but never dirties his hands by actually doing something.” Running March 15-24 at UVic’s Phoenix Theatre. For tickets, call 250-721-8000. 33

Will Millar’s nostalgic images of Ireland include, right: Donegal Fishing Boats: oil on canvas, 20 x 24; below, Daytrippers, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in.

MEMORIES OF IRELAND Will Millar is best known for

GETTING JAZZED AT THE GALLERY Although hard-

the 30 years he led The Irish Rovers in songs about unicorns and drunken sailors, but he’s had an artistic double life ever since his mom gave him watercolours when he was 10. An asthmatic child who was home from school a lot, Millar fell into painting in a big way. Years later, it was a way of keeping sane while the Rovers endlessly toured the globe. “After I stopped chasing the girls I found myself in hotel rooms and was happy just to be painting,” chuckles Millar in his softly lilting brogue. Eventually the touring got to be too crazy and about six years ago Millar dropped music in favour of painting professionally. “I’m painting my childhood from the ’50s; it’s an Ireland that doesn’t exist anymore,” says Millar. Working both from memory and a huge box of photographs he took as a kid, Millar depicts pub musicians, gypsy caravans, cows, fishermen, and labourers at the shipyard that built the ill-fated Titanic. These are charming, richly detailed representational pieces with a vivid sense of time and place. “I’m a nostalgia merchant, if you will,” says Millar. “But I never paint expecting to sell. I can only paint what’s in my heart.” A longtime Island resident, Millar lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse outside Duncan, where he paints nearly every day in the attached studio. He is getting his first Victoria show at the downtown location of Winchester Galleries, and the opening is planned, very propitiously, for St. Patrick’s Day. “I’ll be playing some music … and there may be a drop of beer,” says the ebullient Millar. “It’ll still be an art gallery, but without the intimidation factor.” Gallery Frolicks shows from March 17-31 at Winchester Galleries, 796 Humboldt St. For information, call 250-382-7750.

working über-bassist Joey Smith seems inseparable from his 100-year-old stand-up, the guitar was his first instrument, and that’s what he’ll be playing when he’s the headliner at this month’s Jazz at the Gallery, at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Smith will perform with bassist Anita Bonkowski, drummer Don Leppard, trumpeter Bruce Hurn and sax player Tom Ackerman. “I love that quintet sound of the ’60s, and we’ll be playing tunes by guys like Horace Silver and Art Blakey,” explains Smith. “There’ll be lots of good, no-nonsense swinging … I’m not an ‘outside’ player, I like it right down the middle.” Smith uses his fingers instead of a pick when he plays his vintage Gibson Archtop, and hews closely to a smooth, Wes Montgomery sound. In short, classy music from a classy guy. Playing March 25, 2-4 pm at the AGGV. Best to buy tickets in advance, from the AGGV office.

Joey Smith plays at the AGGV this month Photo credit: Diana Bentley-Ramsden

EN ROUTE TO BROADWAY Fans of Broadway musicals who can’t afford the airfare to Manhattan should book seats for the latest extravaganza being put on by the students of the Canadian College of the Performing Arts. One of only three dedicated performing arts colleges in Canada, the Victoria-based CCPA has, for 14 years, been remarkably successful at graduating students who go on to careers in theatre, film, and TV. “We have an incredible 90 percent success rate with our students getting work in their field,” says CCPA artistic director Darold Roles. “And we consistently get great feedback from artistic directors about how talented and hard-working they are.” Recent grads have found work either close by at the Belfry and Bard on the Beach, or else at Stratford and even Broadway itself (one talented guy is currently on the Great White Way playing “Bert,” the Dick Van Dyke role from Mary Poppins). Others perform in revues on posh cruise ships, or get conscripted for big-city productions of crowd-pleasers like Chicago and Jersey Boys. Every second year the CCPA combines forces with the Victoria Symphony for a pull-out-all-the-stops performance, and this year’s gala comprises three separate sets of medleys drawn from the musicals Footloose, South Pacific, and Ragtime. “The show is designed to be a real crowd pleaser,” says Roles. “Expect to be thrilled.” Appearing March 30 and 31 at 8 pm and April 1 at 2 pm, at the Royal Theatre. For tickets, call 250-386-6121.

Canadian College of the Performing Arts’ students join the Victoria Symphony for a show of Broadway medleys. 36

CREATIVE MINDS

A young brewmaster

into the craft of beer-making By Glenn Lindsey

photography by dean azim

On a chilly night, under the glow of a full moon, Andrew Tessier pilots his orange 1976 Volkswagen van, containing four (empty) kegs, across Victoria’s Johnson Street bridge toward town. He needs 800 double shots of hot espresso, but not for a caffeine bender. Tessier, brewmaster at Swans Buckerfields Brewery on Pandora Avenue, needs so much coffee that he goes to three cafés to find enough to create a new beer, which the 34-year-old brewmaster hopes will become another in his long line of award-winning brews. At the final café, the Caffè Fantastico on Humboldt, young baristas frenetically pull shot after shot of espresso made from Sumatran beans. With a worried look, Tessier wrenches his Android phone from his pocket and calculates how many shots he still needs. He has 550 from the first two cafés; he is short 250. Ryan Taylor, the café owner, greets Tessier. The two, both thirsty for success, had met at an industry gathering and 38

instantly liked each other. A year before tonight, Tessier came up with the idea of hand-pulling hot espresso and blending it with his beer, and shared the thought with Taylor. “When I approached him about it, he was really stoked,” says Tessier. The baristas pull the last shot at about 10 pm. Tessier loads the (full) kegs into the van, and drives to the brewery, where he quickly blends the espresso into a stainless-steel containment vessel half-full of beer. This is the first batch of another seasonal Buckerfields’ brew, the Double Shot Porter, or DSP, one of a number of smallbatch beers that are unpasteurized, unfiltered, and naturally carbonated. This one has a dark, chocolate colour and a distinctly “hoppy” taste; but when I sip the foam, I really taste the espresso. Since starting at Buckerfields in 2003, Tessier has won two dozen awards for efforts such as this. A Coconut Porter won a Canadian Brewing Association Gold Medal in 2010. His craft beers, when poured from the taps at Swans Brewpub next door,

Andrew Tessier tests a recent brew at the Swans Buckerfields Brewery on Pandora.

sit in the pints with a nice, hazy colour. Their alcohol content ranges from 4 to 11 per cent, with the DSP at the lighter (5.5 per cent) end. Stronger brews, like a recent one called The Beast (9.2 per cent), are served in half-pints. Tessier has a reputation for encyclopaedic ingredient knowledge and attention to detail. “Just like a good chef is an artist, he’s a very good [brewing] artist,” says Ken Healy, owner of Askim’s Beer and Wine Emporium on Haultain Road. Not surprising, perhaps, given that Tessier has been brewing beer for half his life. Born into a military family on the East Coast in Annapolis Royal, he started in his parents’ basement on Foul Bay Road while attending Oak Bay Secondary School. His basement brew room was also his bedroom. While other teen-aged guys were playing road hockey or chasing skirts, he was brewing beer and listening to Led Zeppelin. His passion for crafting beer was ignited when he read a coffee-table book on the subject. “It held beer in the light of an artist. [There were] old 39

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pictures of happy, fat brewers and big, frothy beer mugs, and everyone’s laughing in the black and white photos,” he recalls. Captivated by those old prints and the stories of beer-making in far-off countries like Belgium, England, and Germany, he decided that he wanted to learn to craft his own beers with their own special colours and tastes. Every budding brewmaster needs to start somewhere, and Tessier started at Askim’s. He walked in one day to buy supplies, but Healy, the store’s moustachioed owner, peered dubiously at the then 17-year-old. He kindly declined to sell him the needed yeast, barley and hops. Tessier had a têtea-tête with his father, Marcel. He was happy his son had an interesting hobby and was not out smoking dope, so bought the supplies for his son. Tessier later joined a home-brewing club called the Raging Grainies. They shared recipes, collected dues, and tasted their creations: some good, some not. Tessier’s early efforts, like his Peg Leg Pale Ale, were brewed using home-made equipment, including fermenters made out of oak half-barrels, and an old refrigerator with taps fitted to pipes drilled through the door. One evening, he pitched too much yeast into the fermenters at the end of his bed before turning out the lights. Tessier was sleeping soundly when he was awakened “by a loud POP, then a gushing sound: yeast and fermenting beer were dripping off the ceiling down onto my bed. It was epic.” At 19, Tessier met the brewmaster at Buckerfields. “One day I want to do that,” he remembers thinking at that time. He had learned to love the sensuality of crafting beer: the many colours and smells, the bubbling sounds, and the wonderful tastes. He took a job as a brewer at R&B Brewing in Vancouver, where he stayed for 18 months. During that time he also took courses in microbiology and quality control at Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Technology, the oldest brewery school in the United States. “We were impressed with him, and we were sad when he left: we kind of figured he would do well for himself, and he certainly has,” says Rick Dellow, R&B’s owner. Tessier spent another 18 months at Propeller Brewery in Halifax. Then six years ago, he learned in a midnight call from a close contact at Swans Hotel that Buckerfields was looking for a new brewmaster. The timing was perfect because Tessier had his heart set on making beer at a small craft brewery and his skills had been growing. So he returned to Victoria, where he is now brewmaster, as well as a single dad to a five-year-old son. “Boy, did Andrew ever change in his abilities to make beer: he makes some of the finest beer I’ve ever tasted,” says Healy. And unlike beer itself, the thrill of making it never goes flat for Tessier. “When I come up with a new recipe which works out perfectly, when I had dreamed about the flavour in my head, when it’s exactly like I planned, it’s kind of magical.” Some day this passion may also be passed along to his son, who can occasionally be seen in coveralls at the brewery, alongside his dad. VB

SEVEN WEST COAST CONTEMPORARY VIEW HOMES IN VICTORIA B.C.

FIVE

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By Linda Wilkinson photography by GARY MCKINSTRY

If you can imagine a double-car garage exploding with the colour and fragrance of exotic orchid blooms, you have an idea of what Poul Hansen’s Victoria greenhouse looks like. Most of Hansen’s orchids are from the genus Miltoniopsis, which have a pansy-like appearance, but he also takes joy in growing species such as Phragmipedium, which look like a lady’s slipper, and the frilly Cattleya, which boasts brilliant hues of purple, yellow and white with deep purple centres. It was, in fact, a huge purple Cattleya at a church bazaar that got Hansen, 69, hooked on orchids over 40 years ago. The retired carpenter humbly admits that his collection of 2,000 to 3,000 orchids is likely the largest on the Island. With some 20 American Orchid Society awards, Hansen is passionate about these fascinating plants, but putting that passion into words is 42

tough. “I’ve always found them exotic,” he chuckles. He enjoys all flowers, but he especially loves orchids, which have more than 30,000 inter-related species. Much of his pleasure comes from growing and hybridizing Miltoniopsis from seed pods in his flasking room, where he uses gloves and sterile procedures to start the seedlings. He works in the greenhouse for two or three hours daily and waits patiently for up to four years — 10 for some species — before he is rewarded with a bloom. Hansen can barely contain his excitement when that happens. “Want something to drool over?” he asks as he points to the delicate, soft-pink, round-petalled Lycaste skinneri, Guatemala’s national flower. He sweeps his hand over the rows of Miltoniopsis orchids, still just a mass of bluish-green leaves. “In May, it’s going to be wild. Brilliant! Over

Left: Poul Hansen’s 3,000 orchids include a Paphiopedalum delenatii from Vietnam. Right: Hansen in his greenhouse devoted to orchids.

the top,” he crows. Other local orchid lovers are just as passionate, although they have smaller collections. Coreen Kempling, a 52-year-old registered nurse, bought a greenhouse just for orchids. She has a cheery yellow, five-petalled Dendrobiun hainanensis from China; the tiny, coral-striped Masdevallia from Ecuador; and the showy, mauve-speckled Ascocenda from south Asia. Her purple and white Rhynchostylis gigantea (fox tail orchid) produces exquisite blooms while the roots are fully exposed. Kempling’s love for orchids began in an Oahu greenhouse in December, 2000. It was a breathtaking sight; rows and rows of Dendrobiums with splashes of eye-popping greens, yellows, reds, pinks, purples, blues and petals with strips, spots and streaks. She wrote in her holiday photo album: “Someday I’ll

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grow some just like these!” Now, 11 years later, Kempling has not only grown Dendrobiums, but has a collection of approximately 200 orchids. The flowers lift her spirits and leave her with a sense of peace and accomplishment and confirm her individuality: not everyone can grow so many varieties. “I’m surprised more people don’t grow orchids because they do well eight to nine months of the year. The flowers last a long time. You can have upwards of one dozen flowers at a time,” says Kempling, an avid gardener since she was a toddler. Hansen and Kempling are among the 90 members of the Victoria Orchid Society, which meets monthly to talk about orchids, plan shows, bring plants to sell, and, most importantly, show off their most prized orchid. After members “ooh” and “ah” over plants, they vote for their favourite. Judges such as president Ingrid Ostrander go into detail describing the “exquisite” and “stunning” blooms (see for yourself at victoriaorchidsociety.com/newsletters.html). Orchid growers are as passionate about their orchids as many dog and cat owners are about their pets. But what motivates them? “Like most of our members, I became smitten with a particular flower and then another and then another and before I knew it I was addicted to the beauty and the challenge of growing these gems,” explains Kempling. Novices might find orchids intimidating, but Kempling says it’s just a matter of doing your homework. “Find out how it grows in nature and mimic that,” she advises. For example, “some orchids like low light, some like mottled light and some do like bright light, but they don’t like the direct sun shining on them.” The rule for watering any orchid is to water “weakly weekly,” which means using ¼-strength, 20-20-20 fertilizer (one teaspoon of fertilizer to four litres of water). “You just have to watch your plant and if it looks wilted, give it water. If you lift up the pot and it feels heavy, there is enough water in there. You get to know. That is why we are forever looking at [the orchids],” says Kempling. The society, in operation since 1971, has shows twice a year. The fall show, usually at the Hillside Mall, displays orchids in bloom and provides information about orchids and the society. In March, the group has its show and sale, which is the major fundraising event, this year shared with the Victoria Hospital Foundation. It gives the public an opportunity to see orchids in bloom from not only the local society but also from visiting societies. Canadian and American vendors will sell plants and orchid-related products, and at competitive events, judges will give awards based on colour, size, shape, substance and how flowers are borne on the stem. They consider sharpness and clarity of stripes, spots or markings and plant health, such as ensuring no bugs. The public can admire them all on March 3 and 4 at the Orchid Show and Sale in the Student Union Building at the University of Victoria. For more information visit victoriaorchidsociety.com. VB 45

BY david black photo by gary McKinstry

live’s Classic Lounge is an unconventional spot to practice journalism. Decadently appointed with a white marble bar, dark wood trim, and a painting of the hotelier Clive Piercy, this is not your average grey, cubicled newsroom. Yet, at this popular establishment at the Chateau Victoria Hotel, Leanne Allen and Philip Pierce produce their Clive’s Notes weekly video updates on arts and cultural events for their multimedia site, CVV Magazine (culturevulturevictoria.com). The example of two people talking on camera about a film premiere or gallery opening while standing in a lounge is more than just a charming spectacle. It illustrates an increasingly important aspect of media: creativity is strongly and perhaps surprisingly attached to place, especially in a relatively isolated but culturally dynamic place like Victoria. 46

“Nobody was trying to break down the barriers between the arts community and the audience, and get them seeing each other and working together,” says Pierce, speaking of CVV’s efforts to bring different local interests together around the cause of “culture.” “That’s what we noticed in the beginning — that we were bridging the gaps between these groups — and creating a voice and a community that was bigger than the individual segments.” Place matters, even in a globalizing world. Our mobility today means that where we live has become a more deliberate choice than before, as important as what we do for a living or whom we love in predicting success and happiness. And some places — like Victoria — are better than others at fostering ideas and opportunities. “You know that when you walk downtown in Victoria, you’re going to see someone,” CVV’s Allen says. “That

Left: Philip Pierce and Leanne Allen create weekly video updates on culture from a lounge at the Chateau Victoria.

naturally lends itself to collaboration and projects and ideas percolating.” Victoria is a good example of the kind of place that Richard Florida, a University of Toronto professor and best-selling author of The Rise of the Creative Class and Who’s Your City?, sees as having a strong “clustering force.” That force is defined as the capacity to attract capital, ideas, and people. It goes beyond good schools or tax breaks to include subtle conditions, such as social tolerance, human diversity, and political non-conformity that liberate creativity by freeing minds and stimulating debate. These conditions appeal to the creative class, who, Florida writes, do “a wide variety of work in a wide variety of industries, from technology to entertainment, journalism to finance, high-end manufacturing to the arts.” In a 21st-century, post-industrial service economy, one where ideas are the most valuable commodity, the creative class is as vital to a community’s economic success as it is to civic leadership and cultural vibrancy. Victoria’s arts, media and cultural professionals make up its distinct stream of the creative class. Greater Victoria is only one of seven Canadian regions (the others being Moncton, Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal) to see recent population gains in this group. Below, in bold, are examples of people like Pierce and Allen who are turning this city into a laboratory of cultural innovation. They’re rethinking everything relating to how we connect people through media, ranging from journalism to philanthropy to storytelling for companies, and more. At B Channel News (bchannelnews.tv), a not-for-profit media collective specializing in local news and issues, news editor Lisa Nickol Karoway says the presence of the Legislature translates into a climate and appetite for political reportage. “There is always an abundance of story ideas here,” said Karoway. “We’re not waiting for a cat to get stuck in a tree.” B Channel’s format allows for deeper coverage than mainstream media of controversial stories, like homeless camping on the 900 block of Pandora. Tomas Ernst is a partner in Donate 2 Play (donate2Play.com), an IT firm specializing in developing online multiplayer “social” games that offer non-profits an alternative fundraising outlet, such as their “Wordraiser” game for the Ancient Forest Alliance. He says the city’s promotion of itself as an “entrepreneurial Tectoria” encouraged him to rethink the nature of philanthropy. Social games — imagine Facebook’s FarmVille, but with a conscience — address the need to enlarge the donor pool and make it younger. Only 23 per cent of Canadians declared charitable donations on their 2010 tax returns, and the average donor is 53 years old. “Donate 2 Play wants to minimize the begging approach to

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giving. That is a disempowering act,” Ernst said. “What we say is, ‘hey, there is a new fundraising channel here.’” Margaret Doyle (margaretdoyle@wordpress.com) is a specialist in a fresh media form called transmedia, which she defines as “storytelling across multiple platforms” and contrasts with the more common practice of “re-purposing” the same content in different media. Originating with Hollywood blockbuster films like Batman and Harry Potter, transmedia distributes elements of a single story widely, drawing on the resources of each medium — the character development in a comic book, the immersive “You know That when character of a game, the you walk downtown in dynamic appeal of short webbased videos — to contribute Victoria, you’re going to that narrative’s complex to see someone,” CVV’s Leanne Allen says. “That whole. The essential storyline may be provided in a movie or naturally lends itself book, but additional elements to collaboration and — the origin of a secondary projects and ideas character, or a separate percolating.” adventure for the hero — are developed in other media as part of the story’s overall architecture. The story in its entirety, as it engages different audiences and invites their direct participation in the narrative, is called a “storyworld.” Local organizations like the Robert Bateman Centre at Royal Roads University and BC Transit have welcomed proposals from Doyle that consider transmedia principles for their education and public relations campaigns. She describes the city as being a story-rich environment, a kind of threedimensional storyworld inspiring to her work. “We have very defined neighbourhoods like Fernwood or Oak Bay, and you could say those are like the characters in a story. Without good characters, there’s no story.” John Pollard is president of another Victoria media experiment, CHEK (cheknews.ca), Canada’s largest independent and employee-owned TV station. Even as the trend in TV is toward a customizable, mobile, “anytime, anywhere” approach to programming, CHEK goes its own way by accenting the local with Victoria-produced programs such as Flavours of the West Coast and Nice Fish. “Television has to engage the people. If you have all the money in the world, and buy every top show in the United States, and you don’t care how much money you lose, that’s fine,” said Pollard. “But for television to survive, it has to say ‘what is it that our community wants?’” Ultimately, islands like ours can be places of isolation, apart from the mainland. But they are also places of concentration, in which people and ideas are brought into constructive proximity. Richard Florida’s argument about the creative class, and these local examples of his thesis at work, allow us to put on their rhinestone-studded spectacles and, by seeing the city differently, re-locate ourselves here. VB 48

HOT PROPERTIES

FRENCH BEACH

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Outside, ruggedly handsome. Inside, sensuous curves. Total effect? Stunning. By Carolyn Heiman photography by gary mckinstry

Oh la la. Floor to ceiling glass ensures an uninterrupted view across the Juan de Fuca Strait. The cross bars across the windows add architectural interest and earthquake assurances for this cliffside home. 50

f a house can be a woman, David Burnette’s ocean-side home is the Kate Winslet of architectural abodes. Inside, sumptuous curves define alluring interiors, enticing the eye to wander longingly from room to room. Arches are everywhere. Granite is cut in a wavy configuration for the fireplace mantel. A partially dropped ceiling undulates through kitchen and living room, contouring the open space, which otherwise might seem cavernous and sterile. The kitchen bar’s rounded edges mirror the flowing line created from the intersection of granite and slate flooring and walnut areas in the rest of the home. Near French Beach and looking out to the rugged Olympic range, the house is “a feminine home in a masculine setting,” says Burnette, who uses it as a retreat from his busy life as a US radiologist. Many aspects of the home are built from dreams, aspirations and even childhood memories. It was among the last few designed by Jim Merrill before he died in 2008 and bears many of his trademark West Coast touches, including textually-rich exposed raw log posts, in this Many aspects of case coming from rare yew trees, the home are built which have been symbolically from dreams, aspirations and even linked to life and death since the childhood memories. time of Druids. Burnette bought the property in 1999 after looking at hundreds of waterfront properties around the world, including Ireland and Scotland, and “burning through two to three real estate agents” in the process. The West Virginian has lived all over the world, including Hawaii, but Canada always calls him back. “I love Canada and have from the time I looked at a National Geographic that had a story on Banff and I said, ‘That’s where I’m going to go.’” He moved to Edmonton in 1969, completing medicine at the University of Alberta, followed by working stints in Terrace and Kitimat. While he eventually returned to work in the US, he keeps a few stakes in the land of the Maple Leaf with both the French Beach vacation home and another cottage on an idyllic island nestled in a Manitoba provincial park. Also pulling him back to Canadian soil is his adult son, Chris, who lives in Vancouver and leads a band called The Burnettes with his wife, Cora. They like to use the French Beach residence to record folk-rock music. All those curves have created a space with natural parabolic acoustical properties. Burnette is a natural story-teller and originally hoped to use the home as a writing muse while tapping into the digital world to read X-rays and MRIs remotely. (The globalized economy has narrowed that option for radiologists, as increased off-shoring of the work to China and India has made it more competitive, while new regulations forbidding it in some jurisdictions has made the practice more restrictive.) He uses his story-telling gift to weave a lovely narrative for the home that took three years to complete while closely

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collaborating with Merrill, who created residential and commercial designs in the region for over 40 years. Burnette’s father was a talented mechanical engineer, inventor, sculptor, painter, dreamer of big ideas, and lover of sensual art. Creating scale models of objects was a bit of a side passion and one such model was a “dream house” he hoped to build for Burnette’s mother. It never happened. “If my father had one fatal flaw it was that his ideas never did get to completion. It was almost as if he would get so close and then lose interest.” But the memories of that dream home carefully studied by a seven-year-old Burnette stayed with him and were an inspirational force when describing to Merrill what he wanted for the property. “Jim was an architectural genius,” says Burnette, demonstrating with a sweep of his arms how the designer, using a broom handle, sculpted lines in the construction dust to guide workmen on where and how to create the home’s curves, whether they were part of the ceiling or along the

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floor, where granite and wood join. Cheryl DeMerchant, Merrill’s wife and business partner, said “working with Jim made you see things differently and gave me a greater architectural sense of design. It was Jim’s vision to put the home right on the edge of the cliff,” and inside, Merrill contemplated the location of each room from the perspective of the views it would have. “A lot of times people will put a kitchen where they think it works well in the house but they don’t think about where they are standing all the time and what they will see,” she said. DeMerchant worked with Merrill on many of the design elements. No expense was spared on the bird’s-eye maple kitchen cabinetry that includes a few walnut drawers for interest’s sake and resulted in the Vancouver Island Canadian Home Builders’ Association 2007 CARE award for best kitchen in the 175- to 250-square-foot size category. The same year the home took the silver awards for best master suite over 600 square feet and best single family detached custom home in the 4,000- to 6,000-square-foot category. While Merrill had his own creative arsenal to deploy on the setting, Burnette brought specific views about some features.

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As a result windows got swapped out for larger versions and at one point an enclosed roof was opened up and functional beams wrapped in drywall to create an expansive skylight that floods the entry with light and keeps the owner’s Seasonal Affective Disorder at bay. “The home is filled with light even in the gloomiest of rainy days,” says Burnette. The light sweeps into the second-floor loft dominated by the master bedroom that encompasses a bathing area and working nook. The shapely railing in the loft again picks up that feminine theme. Downstairs, a high-ceiling in-law suite gives this 4,400-square-foot home some additional functionality. So as not to make it too predictable, driftwood and rocks are randomly piled up in a couple of places and permanently installed in sculptural floor arrangements. It’s quirky but a complete homage to the home’s natural setting. Standing on the deck, which curves around the front of the home, Burnette looks across the gently rolling grey-blue ocean and says “I can never wait to get back here. You can’t imagine a more opposite place than West Virginia.” VB Carolyn Heiman explores beautiful Island homes each month for Boulevard. If you know of a gorgeous home worth profiling she can be contacted at cheiman@shaw.ca. Professional, Suppliers and Trades: Contractor/Builder: JR Merrill and Associates; Interior Designer: Cheryl DeMerchant Designs; Cabinetry Design: Cheryl DeMerchant Designs; Millwork: Paul Hoogeveen Construction; Master Finishing Carpentry: Woodhaven Enterprises (Nigel MacMillan); Counters: Matrix Marble & Stone; Flooring: Pacific Coast Floor Coverings Inc.; Appliances: Home Hardware, Sooke; Plumbing Fixtures: Victoria Speciality Hardware; Lighting: Illuminations Lighting Solutions Ltd.; Art: Winchester Galleries Ltd.; Furnishing Accessories: Bespoke Design Ltd.

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DESIGN MATTERS

Wood, earth and steel: A trio of sustainable materials createS lasting structures by Sarah MacNeill

As a designer with a commitment to using innovative, functional materials, I keep track of interesting products and building techniques that have unique features for use in home or commercial properties. This month I have chosen three architectural materials that vary considerably in their esthetics and applications, but to me all have a common denominator: sustainability. They are gaining green ground for distinctive reasons and are the paper, rock and scissors of our built environment: wood, earth and steel. PinkWood Treated wood, to stave off the ravages of insects, rot, and fire, has been around for some 2,000 years. The Romans were the first to brush their wood with tar to prevent rot and the practice has continued in various forms ever since. Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) treated wood was phased out for use in residential buildings by Health Canada in 2003 because its chemical preservatives were discovered to be hazardous but now an Alberta-based company called PinkWood is being hailed for its high-performance lumber that provides resistance to fire, moisture and mold without consequences to human health or the environment. PinkWood shipped its first order in September of 2010, and just over a year later, they have engaged dealers throughout western Canada, seen their products used in the rebuilding of forest fire-ravaged Slave Lake, and won the Western Retail Lumber Association award for best new Canadian building product. (Plus they’ve donated more than $21,000 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, roughly $20 for every new home built in Western Canada using PinkWood.) This is no run of the mill lumber. Its innovative non-toxic topical coating called PinkShield is a factory-applied, water-based paint with moisture and mold resistant properties. Unlike CCA, it is not a preservative,

pesticide or treatment and all of its chemical additives comply with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. During a fire, the paint reacts at a certain temperature and forms a protective char barrier that shields the wood from the flame and reduces heat transfer, says Martin Dettbarn of Cano Coatings, the PinkWood-owned company that applies the colourful coating to the wood. PinkWood’s premier home-building products are pink I-Joists, though they have expanded the line to include trusses and a structural fire-rated sheathing. PinkJoists are available exclusively (in British Columbia) at Pacific Homes in Cobble Hill and the company is actively searching for other potential dealers in British Columbia, as well as developing a plan to station a coating plant in our province within the coming year. Rammed earth Rammed earth is a building method using materials found in limitless quantities beneath our feet. The construction process has remained almost unchanged for millennia and was even used in parts of The Great Wall of China. Fortunately we don’t have to travel that far to find an impressive example of this ancient building method. West Vancouver architect Alfred Waugh incorporated rammed earth walls in the design of the University of Victoria’s First Peoples House. Located in the heart of the campus, the building design incorporates several culturally traditional and lowimpact construction techniques in addition to the rammed earth walls, such as natural ventilation and the use of Western Red Cedar salvaged from First Nations beaches. Rammed earth walls are constructed using a carefully designed mixture of locally sourced sand, gravel and cement. “We also include insulation at the core of the wall to make the walls viable in colder climates,” says Peter Jones, owner of Rammed Earth Victoria Builders. 65

The damp mixture is poured into formwork in layers that are then pneumatically rammed and compacted into a dense, solid structure. The formwork is removed and the rammed earth wall is left to cure. The longer it cures, the stronger the wall. The end result showcases organic, rhythmic layers of earth. If the colour has been customized to include reddish tones, it can create a stunning visual effect similar to the surface of Jupiter. In the case of the First Peoples House, Rammed Earth Victoria used neutral tones in the walls to complement the natural wood used elsewhere in the building. Rammed earth is a Rammed earth walls can be building method using curved or straight, interior or materials found in exterior, and require practically limitless quantities no maintenance. In addition to beneath our feet. its strength and visual qualities, this material is virtually sound-proof and fire-proof. Rammed earth also helps to achieve an efficiently heated space because it serves as a thermal mass that naturally regulates the internal temperature of a building, thus reducing the need for air conditioning and heating. Furthermore, the natural materials that make up a rammed earth wall do not need to be engineered or manufactured and are abundantly available. The time and craftsmanship involved is reflected in the cost. A 10-foot-high by 20-foot-long wall, 20-24 inches thick, would come with a price tag upwards of $20,000. However, earthen walls are worth considering if you are keen to invest in both a beautiful and planet-friendly element in your home, with durability and longevity.

Stainless Steel Wire Mesh This final product builds upon that notion of longevity, or the life cycle of a material. How long something lasts is a critical measurement of sustainability. Stainless Steel Wire Cloth, developed by W.S. Tyler Canada Ltd., is a versatile product with endless applications that include exterior building facades, interior wall cladding, sun shades, ceilings, railings and acoustics. The product is machine-woven on an industrial loom and the diameter of the wire can range from thinner than a strand of hair to as thick as a thumb and have a round or flat profile. The mesh can be totally rigid, or as slack and fluid as fabric. The open area of the mesh can be customized as well, and the larger the opening, the more light and air flow through. It was used for the guardrail at Athlete’s Village in Vancouver and could be used on a smaller scale as an unexpected stair or deck guardrail in a contemporary home. Stainless steel is famous for its durability and easy maintenance. While this product can be painted, it is just as impressive in its untreated state. Mesh patterns start at $14 per square foot, available through Muralis Architectural, a North Vancouver supplier. Each of these materials brings advantageous qualities to the ever-evolving practice of sustainable building. It’s not a “bestout-of-three” scenario — in this case wood, earth and steel all come up winners. VB L to R: The rammed earth wall at UVic’s First People’s House; a new house being framed in PinkWood; and stainless steel wire mesh used in a stairway in a Vancouver home.

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BOOK CLUB

Are gender and culture destiny? The Secret Daughter whispers some answers By Adrienne Dyer

THE CLUB: I love being invited to dinner. Especially when dinner turns out to be an Indian potluck feast including scratch-brewed chai, aloo gobhi (cauliflower potato curry with cilantro) and gulab jamun for dessert (like donut balls soaked in sweet syrup). The Untitled Book Club was founded 16 years ago by two lawyers taking bar exams together and has grown to 10 members. They meet about every six weeks, often holding potlucks themed according to the book up for discussion. THE AUTHOR: After spending a summer volunteering in an Indian orphanage in 1991, Gowda was inspired to write her bestselling first novel. Gowda says her book’s underlying themes can be traced back to her experience and awareness of the inequalities women face in India, and the widespread practice of selective abortion in favour of male babies, which has resulted in India’s gender imbalance. Gowda ponders: “How much of our life is destined for us — by our gender, our economic class, or the culture we’re born into? How much is within our power to change?” Born and raised in Toronto by immigrant parents from Mumbai, the author now lives with her family in California. THE PLOT: When impoverished Kavita gives birth to a daughter in rural India she’s certain the baby won’t survive because of her gender. Kavita takes her newborn daughter to an orphanage, where two medical doctors from California, who have never been able to have a baby of their own, adopt the little girl. The story spans 20 years from the alternating perspectives of 68

Kavita, her grown daughter, and the adoptive parents as they struggle with cultural identity, family loyalty and the universal joys and woes of motherhood. DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS: This book club enjoyed Gowda’s rich depiction of life in India, and thought the author realistically portrayed the stark contrast between the slums of Mumbai and the lives of the rich as she wove the parallel stories together. “I liked the technique of using different points of view that you know are going to intersect somewhere,” said one club member. They talked about the strength of community in the slums, and how, though they may not own the land or have any legal power, the mothers there have a strong influence on their children. Conversation focused on how men fade into the background in this book; development of any male characters is lacking. Is this a weakness in Gowda’s book? Or a deliberate focus on female characters to highlight her message about the value of women? The novel does fall a little flat if you analyze its characters, said the members, thinking she could have done more with the daughter, Asha, who does travel to India to discover her roots but never fully develops as the book progresses. All loved Asha’s Indian grandmother for her strength, family influence and progressive thinking. Many didn’t care for Somer, Asha’s adoptive mother, finding her selfish and insensitive to the needs of her husband and daughter. “She did have problems relating to her daughter’s need to find her origins,” said one member in Somer’s defence, “but I think her lack of understanding was a manifestation of fear.” Fear that she might lose her daughter to a culture and a country that Somer disliked. “As a global person with a global

The Book: Secret Daughter, Fiction Author: Shilpi Somaya Gowda Publisher: William Morrow, March 2010 Length: 352 pages This Issue’s Book Club: The Untitled Book Club

heart,” said one woman, “why wouldn’t Somer accept her husband’s culture?” They found it odd that Somer and her husband never travelled to India until their daughter was grown. “As the parent of an only child, I could relate to the development of the couple’s relationship with each other and with their daughter over the years,” said one member, who loves happy endings and was glad the book’s central couple was able to reconnect after growing distant from each other over the years. The group wondered what would have happened to Asha had her mother not given her up for adoption. Would she have survived, or would she have met the same fate as her sister born before her? And how could Kavita forgive her husband for snatching her first-born away at birth? “It was a sacrifice to give up Asha for adoption, but she knew she had to do it,” said one woman, shuddering at the thought of how many baby girls go missing in India each year, either at birth or through abortion. “In Kavita’s husband’s defence, he was wracked with guilt over what happened to his first baby,” one member pointed out. “And he does meet the expectations of his culture by providing for his family.” All agreed that in the end, the couple found a way to make the best of their lives. CLUB VERDICT: Most members enjoyed the unexpected depth of this book and highly recommend it. VB Questions or comments? Want your book club featured in the magazine? Please email me at adyer@telus.net,or connect with me on Boulevard’s Facebook page. 69

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Does bringing online research to the doctor’s office help or hinder care? By Anna Kemp

Doctors and nurses across the country are grappling with a serious new medical condition. The afflicted arrive grasping stacks of computer print-outs, reciting lists of symptoms and convinced they suffer from some serious illness. Their diagnosis? Cyberchondria. Cyberchondria results from researching medical information online and diagnosing oneself with something frightful, usually before consulting with a professional. Symptoms may include feelings of anxiety, scepticism of doctors’ opinions and exaggeration or even misrepresentation of ailments. “Once people are freaked out it can be difficult to talk to them and get an unbiased history of what is actually happening,” says Dr. David Warnock, a local GP with a busy Cook Street Village practice. Finding information with which to really scare yourself is simple. Type in a symptom or condition and literally thousands of sites pop up, inundating you with information, advice, opinions and product recommendations, a process often referred to as “asking Dr. Google.” Consulting Dr. Google, many of Warnock’s patients have not only diagnosed themselves, but weighed their treatment options and decided how they want to proceed. “Sometimes I don’t even know what the symptoms are and they are already speaking in medical terms,” says Warnock. With the perspective of 20 years in practice, Warnock says some patients have always obsessed about their health and imagine the worst. But what about those who take a more circumspect approach? Is access to online medical information helping people become better informed about their health? Warnock says the majority of his patients research online before seeing him, but he avoids generalizing about whether this helps or hinders his diagnosis. “It really depends on the patient, the doctor and the specific situation. Some people get it right on. Some know more about their condition than I do and that can save time. “It’s important to realize that the Internet reduces medicine to a list of symptoms, but effective diagnosis relies on more than lists. Doctors take a history of the symptoms and examine the patient to get an impression of the person and how their symptoms affect them. We base our diagnosis on

the scaffolding of our clinical experience.” According to Canada’s 2010 Canadian Internet Use Survey, half of Canadians surveyed accessed the web for medical information. However, according to University of Victoria professor Dr. Irving Rootman, many of those searchers cannot effectively assess and use that information. Rootman, co-chair of the Canadian Public Health Association’s Expert Panel on Health Literacy, describes health literacy as the extent to which people are able to understand, evaluate and communicate health information over the course of their lives. According to the panel, about 55 per cent of Canadians aged 16-65 have less than adequate health literacy skills. After 65 years, that number jumps to 88 per cent. Many factors contribute to health literacy. Some barriers, such as education and language, people bring with them, and some are inherent in the materials and the delivery system. For example, research shows that reading level required by many sites is too high for most readers. “The Internet has tremendous potential in changing people’s relationship to their own health,” says Rootman. “It is a fantastic tool, but we need to pay attention to these issues if we want people to use it to its best advantage.” Fortunately, says Rootman, improvement is on the horizon, some of it inspired by the panel’s findings. Examples include the development of online curriculum to help doctors improve their health literacy communication, created by ImpactBC (impactBC.ca), a Vancouver-based non-profit organization. HealthLinkBC, the government’s health advice site (healthlinkbc.ca) has improved its site’s readability, developed 75

materials in different languages and offers translation services. Dr. Ellen Balka, Simon Fraser University communications professor, has been studying the computerization of the health sector for 13 years. Balka says that many obstacles to effective online health research arise from the nature of the web. For example, as the Internet grows and changes, distinguishing between commercial and non-commercial interests becomes increasingly difficult. “Making this distinction is tricky, particularly in the area of social networking,” says Balka. “No clear lines exist between commercial promotion and citizen promotion of a product or site. We often can’t tell whether they are tweeting for pay.” She also discusses how permanence, the idea that nothing online ever goes away, means that “bad science” and disproved ideas circulate long after being rejected by the medical community. For example, a link between autism and vaccination, originally published 12 years ago, has now been shown to be biased by commercial interests. In print, this story would have been refuted and simply disappeared: online, it has a life of its own. When researching any subject online, checking and evaluating sources is fundamental. For people looking to improve their skills, or for help with specific health queries, public libraries are excellent resources. Librarians are trained researchers who can provide one-on-one research support. The Greater Victoria Public Library website not only offers information about their print collection but also links to reputable health sites and provides access to a comprehensive medical health database. Here are some more tips for good online health searches: • Don’t use Google as a starting point for unbiased research. Try medical sites such as the Mayo Clinic or the HealthLinkBC first. • Avoid sites trying to sell you something. • While personal sites or blogs can be very helpful, be wary of sites so biased towards the author’s own experience they do not reflect the full range of the condition. • Be skeptical of sites that are “anti” any one thing (i.e. anti-drug company or anti-mainstream medicine). They tend to push their own agenda. • Beware of pseudoscience, or claims of scientific proof without producing any evidence, or sites with an agenda. • Don’t scare yourself. A headache doesn’t mean you have a brain tumour. Don’t fixate on the worst outcome.

For Warnock, the Internet has not changed the doctorpatient relationship, but he now comes directly to the underlying questions, “What do you want out of this visit? What are your concerns? What do you think is wrong?” Keeping these basic questions in mind will help the discussions stay focused and effective, even with Dr. Google in the room. Once we find those skills, we are on our way to becoming engaged partners in our own health. VB 77

A few supplies and the will to doodle are all you need to create your own By APRIL CAVERHILL

I sit on a still, icy hillside outside of the town of Akureyri, Iceland, watching the moon rise in a pink and indigo lateNovember sky. My butt is as numb as my fingers and toes but I linger, absorbing the scene before me: a glacial, bluegreen ocean ringed by ancient, snowy mountains that look for all the world like slumbering polar bears. The most logical thing to do would be to snap a photograph. But being an artist, and a stubborn, illogical one at that, I instead hike back to my studio in the heart of Akureyri’s old town to draw and paint what I’ve seen, as I have done each day of this three-week artist’s residency. At the end of my trip, I’ll have created a visual and written document of all I’ve seen and done in Iceland in an illustrated travel journal. Constructing travel journals, or “trip books,” is something I’ve done for years. My first books were haphazard affairs, created when I attended the Ontario College of Art (now Art and Design) in Toronto. Cheap tuition and generous student bursaries allowed me to hoard away enough cash for several “Europe on a shoestring” adventures. As I trundled wide-eyed through country after country, my sketchbook was my constant companion, the drawings accompanied by heartfelt 20-something musings … drama! angst! passion! As I grew older and art became my career, vacations became a rare chance to take time away from 78

Photo by gary mckinstry

pencil and paper. Then my romance with illustrated journals was rekindled when I understood that my journals were genuinely interesting to friends and family in a way that my photographs and, God forbid, slide shows could never be. A hand-made book bursting at the seams with diagrams, collages, paintings, snippets of writing and the occasional tea stain or banana smear is like a little cupboard of treasures. People eagerly turn the pages, wondering what they’ll find next. I like to encourage people to create their own trip book, wherever their travelling shoes may take them. You definitely do not have to be an artist to enjoy making (and reading for years) a trip book: whatever emerges will be your own. First, buy a sketchbook, something compact and reasonably priced, with paper that will stand up to the rigours of paint and spilled espresso, and a hard cover that will help it survive being jostled. Then choose your art supplies. Bring a bare minimum of tools so you can easily carry everything. My kit consists of two fine-tipped Staedtler black permanent markers; a ballpoint pen (wrap markers and pen in a dry cloth and then place them in a sealable plastic bag when flying, as changes in cabin pressure may cause them to leak); a couple of HB pencils, a pencil sharpener, a kneaded

eraser and a glue stick; two or three small paint brushes; and an inexpensive children’s paint set, the kind that opens up to reveal 10 or 12 little rounds of tempera paint. Any well-stocked art supply store will carry all these items, including the sketchbook. Once you’ve reached your coral beach or mountaintop hideaway, write and doodle anything you want. This is your journal and no-one is going to spank you if you’d rather paint a ladybug than draw the Eiffel tower. Write about the meal you ate, the old man who gave you figs from his garden, the cat that sunned itself on your doorstep. My journals have contained opinions on weird British food (ox-flavoured potato chips, anyone?) and musings about Scandinavian salmon skin miniskirts. Profound? Nope. Fascinating? Absolutely. Dive in joyfully, embracing the guiding principle of When you’ve returned the illustrated travel home, your journal will journal, which is, Have a probably look just like Great Time Doing This! you: slightly scuffed, Your pens, pencils and a bit grubby, full of markers can function authenticity and charm. as your primary writing implements but don’t hesitate to use your brushes to create bold calligraphy. I once made a handsome collage using labels pried from empty tins of Portuguese sardines. Splash on paint, experiment with typefaces, use dabs of glue sprinkled with beach sand for texture. Tidiness be damned! Create when the spirit moves you, whether it’s in the alleyway of a bustling Italian village or while waiting for your pretty, perfect waitress to bring you a $20 cup of tea in Tokyo. The interminable gaps between flights can turn into an opportunity to pen a page of prose. Allow your imagination to roam unfettered across your pages. When you’ve returned home, your journal will probably look just like you: slightly scuffed, a bit grubby, full of authenticity and charm. My books tend to resemble overstuffed panini sandwiches, and I love them for that. If you want to make copies of your travel journal to share with family and friends, you can scan and print your pages and slide each one into a portfolio-style binder with plastic sleeves. A warning: if you’re going to present a copy to someone who shared your trip, you may want to edit out anything unflattering you’ve written about them. They may not find your cathartic rant about their snoring as amusing as you do! As I write this, I feel the familiar up-swelling of wanderlust. I’m not sure where I’ll travel next. Estonia beckons. I dream of visiting the Sami of northern Finland, and of working on an organic farm in Poland. One thing I know is that when next I head for the airport, my faded backpack will contain my holy trinity: passport, wallet and most importantly, a simple, black sketchbook ready to take in the experiences that await me. VB

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TECHNOLOGIA

Got a problem or consumer question? Consult Internet forums By Darryl Gittins

The side door on our Honda Odyssey stopped working. The mechanic said the motor was likely burned out (about $800). I was booked to drop off it off for repair when on a whim, I scanned the Honda Odyssey discussion forums for clues. I discovered a little-known fix for the issue: pull the fuse for the dome light, and then replace it while the doors are open. The forum likely saved me a bundle. Forums are a marvel. They are websites where knowledgeable and helpful people will answer questions about their area of expertise. It can be hard to find good help for technology problems. Customer support desks continue to get worse. Google can answer many questions, but forums let you ask specific questions about any topic. And chances are, your question has already been asked, and the answer is waiting to be found. Forums are also terrific consumer research tools. We read extensive discussions on various food-related forums before deciding on a BlueStar gas range, which cost more than most cars I’ve owned. We love the range, and we know it was the right choice for us — thanks to the forums. An enormous wealth of information is available on the forums, but you need to know how to tap into them effectively. Finding the right forum Google is your friend. Search for “forum” and the topic or brand of whatever you what to know about. For example, search for Honda Odyssey Forum and you’ll find the Odyclub. com forum I used. Here are a few suggestions for useful forums: • Microsoft: social.microsoft.com/forums • Apple: discussions.apple.com • Photography: thephotoforum.com • Home and garden: gardenweb.com/forums • Victoria: vibrantvictoria.ca/forum Searching for the right answer Before you post a question, search the forum to see if the issue has already been discussed. The forums usually provide a search box. It can be tricky to narrow down the results though. A few search tips (these work in Google also): 81

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• Enclose specific phrases (such as a specific error message) inside quotation marks. • Avoid using common words like “a,” “my,” or “the” in the search. (Google actually ignores these but the forum search engines may not). • Include specifics. Instead of searching for dogs, include the breed of the dog. • A clever trick: use the negative symbol (-) to exclude specific results. For example, searching for Dogs -Husky will exclude Huskies from your dog search.

Jim loved to coach, not just because soccer, but because he believed spor teach important lessons. To continue lessons, Jim placed a bequest to fun scholarships in his will.

Asking the right question If you want to post a question to a forum, you need to register on the forum. They won’t share your email address but you will need to provide one to verify that you are real. It can be a bit of a task to type all the registration information, though I find that Password Managers like Roboform and Last Jim loved to coach, not just because he loved Pass will do this for you. After you are logged in, look for a soccer, but because he believed sports could teach important lessons. To continue those “New Topic” link to ask a question, and then add succinct to coach, not just because he loved Jim loved to coach, not just becauseJim heloved loved lessons, Jim placed a bequest to fund camp details about your issue, including: soccer, but because he believed sports could soccer, but because he believed sports could scholarships will. those • Model of the thing you’re asking about. important lessons. in To his continue teach important lessons. To continueteach those lessons, placed not a bequest to fund he camp • Specific details such as the exact text of any message. Jim lovedJim to coach, just because loved lessons, Jim placed a bequest to fund camp Thanks to Coach Bindley, few more kids will scholarships in his will. • Step-by-step procedure of what causes the issue. soccer, but because he believed sports acould

Thanks to Coach Bindley, a few more reach their goals. Include your favorit in your will or estate plan. Contact a c organization, lawyer, financial adviso LEAVE A LEGACY™ program to le

scholarships in his will.

reachlessons. their goals. Include those your favorite cause teach important To continue Thanks to in Coach Bindley, aestate few more kids will a charitable your will or plan. Contact lessons, Jimgoals. placed a bequest to fund cause camp reach their Include your favorite Thanks to Coach Bindley, a few more kids will organization, lawyer, financial advisor or local scholarships in estate his will. There’s typically a “Subject” line for the forum posting. That in your will or plan. Contact a charitable reach their goals. Include your favorite cause LEAVE A LEGACY™ organization, lawyer, financial advisorprogram or local to learn how. may be the most important part. You need to catch the in your will or estate plan. Contact a charitable Thanks to Coach Bindley, a few more kids will LEAVE A LEGACY™ program to learn how. attention of the people reviewing the posts and they typically reach their goals. Include your favorite cause organization, lawyer, financial advisor or local just scan the Subject lines for something that interests them. in yourhow. will or estate plan. Contact a charitable LEAVE A LEGACY™ program to learn Make the Subject line as clear as possible to link to the issue. organization, lawyer, financial advisor or local Subject lines that just say “Please help” get ignored. LEAVE A LEGACY™ program to learn how. • Steps you’ve already tried.

Keep notes Make a Difference in the Lives that It’s a good idea to keep notes about what you’ve posted and Make ainDifference in Follow the Lives that Follow Make a Difference the Lives that where. I keep a document containing details including the forum’s URL and what I’ve posted. It’s also a good place to keep track of the logon credentials and passwords that you Make a Difference in the Lives that Follow used when you registered for the forum (though a password Make a Difference in the Lives that Follow manager like Last Pass will do this for you). That way you can easily go back to see if your question is answered, although there’s typically an option on the forum to email you when an answer to your question is posted. For more information about leaving a gift in your will to your favourite charities, call Joy Spencer-Barry For more information about leavingata gift in your w Watch for the trolls under the bridge 250-415-6089, or Natasha Benn at 250-721-6001, or to your favourite charities, call Joy Spencer-Barry Unfortunately, as with everything, there are good and bad in visit www.leavealegacy.ca/vi. 250-415-6089, or Natasha Benn at 250-721-6001, the forums. While most people will be helpful and courteous, visit www.leavealegacy.ca/vi. For more information about leaving a gift in your will For more abuse information about in your will some bad apples seem to enjoy heaping on others. The leaving atogift your favourite charities, call Joy Spencer-Barry at usual advice is to ignore themto —your Don’tfavourite feed the trolls. charities, call Joy Spencer-Barry 250-415-6089, oratNatasha Benn at 250-721-6001, or

For more information about leaving a gif to your favourite charities, call Joy Spen 250-415-6089, or Natasha Benn at 250250-415-6089, or Natasha Benn at 250-721-6001, or visit www.leavealegacy.ca/vi. Quid pro quo visit www.leavealegacy.ca/vi. visit www.leavealegacy.ca/v Last, if you find an answer, post the answer on any forum where you posted the question. That way, you help others. And remember to say thanks to the person who helped you! VB 83

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TRAVEL NEAR

Not just a mall Mecca,

offers hands-on museums, public art and great food text and photos by Lora Shinn

hen we think of Bellingham, discount shopping often springs to mind. The town’s malls lie within just 20 minutes of the Canada-US border, and attract a flood of international visitors over the weekends. But Bellingham offers far more than sterile shopping centres and sale bins. That’s because Bellingham Bay is shaped like an ear — and the town’s artists and academics, musicians and markets, give those waters plenty to eavesdrop upon. At the ear’s curved top sits Bellingham proper, with more than 35 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Near the bay’s earlobe, you’ll find the compact, village-like town of Fairhaven and the start of Chuckanut Drive, which winds through the Chuckanut Mountains. Bellingham’s public art may be the first thing the visitor notices, from the murals that depict turn-of-the-century Bellingham to giant seabird sculptures. Even downtown benches provide good-humoured fun, such as a mod-art sit by Jane Burns, resembling a trumpet-like musical instrument. More traditional venues are on offer as well. Whatcom Museum’s (whatcommuseum.org) collection is divided between two campuses — the Victorian cupola-bedecked Old City Hall, which houses historic paintings and vintage oddities (like pioneer woodworking tools), and the Lightcatcher building, featuring contemporary art, a family gallery and a translucent wall that spectacularly captures the sun. At the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention (sparkmuseum.org), which evolved out of a Bellingham man’s life-long interest in radios, employees fire up a towering, three-metre-tall Tesla engine, which electrifies the darkened room with purple bolts of lightning. Inside the museum, the shelves play homage to three centuries of electrical innovation: vacuum tubes and sinewy sensors, prototype batteries and spinning-dial payphones, a bare-wire 1909 toaster.

Head out the door, Far left: Outside the Whatcom turn right, and follow Museum of History and Art. your nose toward the buttery smell. Right top: Early lightbulbs at the You’ll end up in the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention. Pickford Film Center Right bottom: Relaxing at Marine (pickfordcinema.org), Park in Fairhaven. a non-profit showing independent cinema 365 days a year. Art and science play nicely together, and even spawn wholly new treats, at Mindport Exhibits (mindport.org). Visitors are encouraged to get hands-on with the displays. Create celestial music, explore gravity and gears with smooth-hewn wooden creations, or dam up the water feature, then send boats flying down a miniature river. For lunch, D’Anna’s Café Italiano (dannascafeitaliano.com) ensures that you’re dining with Fellini; vintage movie posters watch over your meal of house-made fresh pasta. Choose a shape, then select a sauce. The ruby-red marinara tastes like tomatoes and basil plucked straight from the garden, and the creamy alfredo contains enough sweet garlic to scare off a legion of vampires (or suitors, as the case may be). If you’re in the mood for pub food, the family-style Boundary Bay Brewery (bbaybrewery.com) serves up fresh-brewed ales alongside a stick-to-your-ribs menu. In the afternoon, explore downtown Bellingham’s indie shops, all filled with items you just won’t find at the nearby mall. Ideal (anidealshop.com) and Digs (digsshowroom.com) leave you with a lighter wallet, but you’ll go home with clever 85

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new pillows, kitchenware and wall art. Artisans Northwest Art, Crafts and Eats presents jewellery, pottery, fabric and furniture from local creators; or pick up locally made goods at the Bellingham Farmers’ Market (bellinghamfarmers.org). Tacos, tamales and pollo asado are on the menu at Taco Lobo (tacolobowa.com), along with a salsa bar, where you can opt for either mild, kick-up-your-heels or tongue-searing sauces. Or follow the locals and head into Temple Bar (templebarbellingham.com), a speakeasy-like joint. Evening entertainment options abound. National acts appear at the restored Mt. Baker Theatre (mountbakertheatre. com). Former Vancouver resident and comedian Ryan Stiles owns The Upfront Theater (theupfront.com), a venue for improvisational comedy. If your evening tastes run toward the nerdy (my hand’s raised here, too), spend an evening browsing the two-storey haven of new and used titles at Village Books (villagebooks. com), where you’ll also find bookworm gifts and even a petite Mac store selling tablets. At the Chrysalis Hotel and Spa (thechrysalisinn.com) — nearby in boutique-lined Fairhaven — sleek rooms offer window nooks (stocked with blankets) that practically plead for a mid-morning book and a nap. A fireplace warms your view of Bellingham Bay. Trains rumble by in the evening, a noise you may find either slumber-inducing or troublesome; if the latter, get a room on the third floor, away from the tracks. Mount Bakery-Creperie (mountbakery.com) mounts a breakfast assault of light crepes, authentic Belgian waffles (the owner is Belgian), and egg bennies. For a quick carb rush, head into Rocket Donuts (rocketdonuts.com), a sci-fi enlivened shop where you can nosh on crullers and sip fair-trade coffee. From Bellingham, you can make a side-winding journey south, down Chuckanut Drive, which pours through the Chuckanut Mountains. En route, ferns raise tendriled swords toward the road and firs darken the sky. Larrabee State Park offers a prime picnic spot, with its vast shoreline on the Samish Bay. Or stop by the Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive (theoysterbar.net), perched on a cliff like one of the bald eagles that also frequent the area. But you may fight for parking — only a few slots await visitors. Chuckanut Drive isn’t a road for the rushed. Cars share the road with clusters of slow-moving cyclists. Thankfully, pullouts arrive regularly and dependably, and you’ll find many inspiring peekaboo views through Douglas firs of Samish Bay’s mounded islands. Hop out of the car for photos of where the sky meets mountains and sea, far from the freeways, big-box stores and outlet malls. The authentic Bellingham displays art of the natural and man-made kind — and deserves a detour, whether for just a few hours or a whole weekend. VB For more information about Bellingham and the surrounding area, from maps and border crossing information to food, accommodation and activities, go to Bellingham.org.

MA GAZINE Visit victoriaboulevard.com to find the nearest pickup location or to read online. facebook.com/BoulevardMagazine twitter.com/BoulevardMag

TRAVEL FAR

by Margie Goldsmith

ast year, 50 million visitors came to New York City. Of the overseas visitors, 65 per cent had been to America before, averaging 4.1 trips over the past five years. It’s no wonder they keep returning to New York, “the city that never sleeps.” There are thousands of different types of restaurants of every price level and ethnicity, hundreds of theatrical performances, concerts, and museums, and shopping for every budget. Whether you are planning your first visit to New York City or you know The Big Apple like the back of your hand, there’s always something new, including these 10 recent attractions:

1. High Line Located 30 feet above the Meatpacking District, this former elevated freight rail line is now a public aerial park, the only one of its kind in America. This first section opened to the public in 2009. A new and even more spectacular section has been added from West 20th to West 30th Street. From here, you have perfect views of the Hudson River and Statue of Liberty. Pick up a picnic lunch and eat on a bench while watching the unending parade of people. (thehighline.org) 2. Eataly A 50,000-square-foot extravaganza, Eataly has opened in the trendy Flat Iron district, the brainchild of three culinary superstars including Mario Batali. This sprawling foodie paradise has a pasticceria, gelateria, café with fresh pastries, cooking school, and a market where you can buy everything from Italian housewares, baked goods and fresh produce, to fine Italian wines and prosciutto di Parma. The 10 restaurants include an Italian raw bar, fresh pasta and pizza, deli, cheese tastings, and family style feasts. (eatalyny.com) 3. Times Square Pedestrian Plaza Head to Times Square and join the Broadway TKTS line or stroll down the car-free, pedestrian-friendly, open-air plaza with al fresco chairs and tables for visitors. Four new gourmet food concessions have recently opened reflecting NYC’s diversity: Asian salads and dumplings, Argentinean empanadas, authentic Italian panini, and American gourmet hot dogs and bagels. Try free yoga, watch innovative performance art taking place throughout the year, and check out the Naked Cowboy, a Times Square fixture. (TimesSquareNYC.org) 4. J.P. Morgan’s Study and Library In 2006, Renzo Piano integrated the three landmark buildings of The Morgan Library & Museum, but the McKim building was not part of that project. Now, restored at a cost of $4.5-million, visitors can enter J.P. Morgan’s study, where bankers met during the 1907 Banker’s Panic. Best is the 16thcentury Florentine coffered ceiling and St. John the Baptist bronze, and paintings by Memling and Tintoretto. The former director’s office is now a gallery featuring the earliest objects in Morgan’s collection. Equally impressive is Morgan’s doublestoried library with new lighting so that you can even see the gold on the book bindings. (themorgan.org) 5. Red Rooster Restaurant Think Spiced Pumpkin Turnip Soup, Dirty Rice and Shrimp, Blackened Catfish and Black Eyed Peas or uptown Steak Frites followed by Whiskey Fudge or Apple Caramel Sundae. That’s the kind of comfort food you’ll find at the new Red Rooster Restaurant smack in the heart of Harlem. Enjoy a meal in the loft-like dining room, where art by local artists hangs on the walls. You’ll be surrounded by a diverse group of gentrified diners. Afterwards catch a show at the Apollo Theater or listen to jazz or blues in a nearby club. (redroosterharlem.com) 89

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6. Spiderman When it began, it had endless actor injuries. Spiderman continued to fly off the stage and into the air, often landing in the mezzanine. When Julie Taymor, who conceived the show, was fired, Spiderman’s buzz grew dismal. The show regrouped and is now a hit, with music by Bono and the Edge. The sets and costumes wow and the stunts are like nothing ever seen on Broadway. (spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com) 7. museum of arts and design At MAD, you’ll see contemporary hand-made objects in clay, glass, metal, fibre, and wood. Take a docent-guided gallery tour to the highlights of the impressive permanent collection. Watch and talk to artists at work. The gift shop has perfect gifts even for the most hard-to-please. Head up to the top floor bistro, open for lunch, tea service and dinner. The food is contemporary American with Mediterranean influences, even better if you ask for a table by the windows with perfect views of Columbus Circle and Central Park. (madmuseum.org) 8. The Metropolitan’s Cloisters The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a dazzling new wing, the Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia. See it, then continue uptown to the Cloisters, a Met branch and America’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of the Middle Ages.

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Overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan, this unique museum is made of portions of five medieval cloisters. Through April 22 view pieces of the 12th-century Lewis Chessmen. Any time of year, visit the three enclosed gardens with more than 300 plant species grown during the Middle Ages. (metmuseum.org) 9. Jane’s Carousel Be a kid at Jane’s Carousel in the newly renovated Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Brooklyn. Dating back to 1922 with 48 beautifully carved horses and two magnificent chariots, it is magically set beside the East River, housed in a spectacular all-glass pavilion designed by famous French architect Jean Nouvel. Just $2 a ride. The most fun ways to get there are to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge or take the new East River Ferry. (janescarousel.com) 10. 9/11 Memorial To honour the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of the two World Trade Center towers, a gargantuan memorial has been created from the footprints of the towers. Each houses a reflective pool of water with flowing waterfalls on four sides. The names of those who lost their lives are engraved on the railing. A peaceful, soothing, and moving tribute. Buy a ticket online prior to going. (911memorial.org) VB For everything about NYC, see: nycgo.com.

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FOOD & WINE

Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;mon, get hoppy in the kitchen: crack open a beer and cook with it text and photos By Maryanne Carmack

Beer-steamed mussels are an easy, flavourful meal.

e have held beer aloft as a treasured beverage since the dawn of civilization, so why are we reticent about pouring it into our cooking pots as a distinctive ingredient? After all, we enjoy wine in our glasses, too, and it is routinely used to enhance flavours in many dishes. A great reason to cook with beer is because it adds immense, unique flavours — smoky, sweet, bitter or acidic, or a combination of these, depending on the variety of beer you choose. Beer’s effervescence and yeast add air and lightness to a batter or bread, and flat beer can be used for marinating, poaching, braising and stewing. Beer contains alcohol, which helps to amp up other flavours in a dish. Alcohol dissolves many compounds that are not very soluble in water, like essential oils and other organic compounds. These compounds are key flavour components of foods such as black pepper, chili peppers and tomatoes, among others. Adding any alcohol-containing liquid to a dish can dissolve these compounds, making them more available to your taste buds and increasing their flavour. Before cooking with various beers, get to know them. While all beer is water, malted barley, hops and yeast, those are just the primary colours of the canvas. Depending on where your grains come from or how they were kilned, they change from a sweet base malt, to notes of caramel, toffee, chocolate, coffee and dark roast. Some grains will give beer a hint of raisin, others a candy sweetness. Adding different sugars to dry out a beer gives it a different taste dimension. Hops, derived from a bitter flower, can be used for just bitterness, but can also add flavour and aroma. With new hop strains, brewers bring out flavours from onions, oranges, grapefruit and dried apricots to pine. The type of yeast, too, adds unique flavours, from hints of spice like clove and cinnamon to fruit flavours like banana, even altering the body of a beer. The most important point, however, is never to cook with a beer you wouldn’t drink. If it doesn’t appeal to you as a beverage, chances are it wouldn’t appeal to you in a recipe. Use heavier beers like stouts and porters with hearty dishes like braises and stews, and lighter beers like pilsners, pale ales and wheat beers with more delicate dishes like fish, chicken and vegetables. Don’t overdo it, especially when using a bitter, hoppy-tasting beer, because the bitterness can overpower other flavours. By the same token, avoid light beer in cooking because it’s just like adding water. Remember that the alcohol evaporates in cooking and that the flavour of the beer strengthens the longer a dish is cooked, so adjust the strength and amount of beer accordingly. Beer is an excellent batter ingredient because the alcohol causes the batter to dry more quickly and form a crisp outer layer, which reduces moisture loss and fat absorption. Beer

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also helps the batter to rise and creates a light, delicious crust. When browning meat for your chili or stew for example, splash some beer into the pan (deglaze the pan as you would with wine) and scrape up all of the browned bits to start a rich sauce. Or use beer as part of the liquid for paella. Or spike cheese sauce (for dip, soup, or macaroni and cheese) with a splash of beer. Slow-braise meat or steam mussels or shrimp in an inch or two of beer. Beer allows creativity to run wild in the kitchen. Google “cooking with beer” and you’ll find recipes such as amber ale apple fritters, beer-braised pork ribs, beer-brined chicken, beer risotto, beer-steamed mussels, tipsy turkey and beersickles, just to name a few. Here are two to try: BEER-STEAMED MUSSELS 2 lbs mussels, bearded and scrubbed well to remove dirt 1/4 cup butter 1 large sweet onion, sliced 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced 2 tsp Dijon mustard 1 small Chorizo sausage (or substitute spicy Italian sausage), chopped 1 red pepper, diced 1 bottle beer (preferably lighter, such as ale) Juice of one lime 1 handful fresh Italian parsley, chopped 1 handful of sliced (chiffonade) cabbage (curly variety) Coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about three minutes. Add chorizo and red pepper and cook for a further five minutes until chorizo is golden brown. Add the beer, lime juice, mustard and the mussels. Sprinkle cabbage over top of mussels. Cover and steam over medium heat until mussels open, about five to seven minutes. Stir in chopped parsley. Adjust seasoning. Serve immediately with toasted bread. Note: Only cook mussels that are tightly closed. If they are not tightly closed, tap the shell: if they close they are still alive and fine to use but if they do not close, discard them. Also discard any mussels with cracked shells. GREEN BEANS IN BEER SAUCE 1/3 lb sliced bacon, diced 1 package (16 oz.) frozen (thawed) or fresh cut green beans 1/3 cup beer 1/3 cup butter, cubed 3 tbsp brown sugar 3 tbsp white vinegar 4 tsp cornstarch 2 tsp grated onion 94

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring the beans, beer and butter to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for eight to 10 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon to paper towels to drain. Remove beans with a slotted spoon and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, vinegar, cornstarch and onion until blended. Stir into the saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for one to two minutes or until thickened. Add beans; heat through. Sprinkle with bacon. VB

What to drink when Cooking with beer? by SHARON MCLEAN Maryanne has captured the key principles for cooking with wine or beer: only cook with something that you are happy to actually drink; match the weights of the dish with the beer or wine; and, most importantly, don’t overdo it. But, what to drink when you’re cooking with wine or beer? The easy answer, of course, is to drink what you’ve put in the pot. I always pick from the same “family,” but if I’m planning on an expensive bottle I usually downgrade the cooking wine to be easier on the pocket. The Scot in me rebels at the thought of pouring half a bottle of Grand Cru Burgundy into the coq au vin! It is possible to pair a wine with a beer-based recipe, or vice versa, but be careful. If the beverage is only a minor part of the recipe, then you can follow our usual pairing guidelines. It’s easy to envision enjoying a beer with pasta and tomato sauce where you have added a little red wine. However, for dishes like a Guinness Beef Stew or Beef Bourguignon, where the beer or wine is a major component, it’s best to stay true to the dish and avoid adding in a new range of flavours. The Beer-Steamed Mussel recipe has an incredible array of flavours and adding another distinctive component could well upset the balance. Drink the beer. The Green Beans dish is also a challenge. There are some big flavours here — the beer and the bacon — but, it’s likely to be a side-dish and the choice of main dish will really affect the pairing. Picking up on the thrifty theme again, many recipes call for just a splash of wine. Since we are only going to cook with a wine that we’re happy to drink, “cooking wines” are off the menu. So, consider freezing left-over wine in ice-cube trays. Make sure you do it before the wine becomes oxidized. You’ll avoid having to open a whole bottle for just a few tablespoons.

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Readers’ Digestion Ever accidentally pushed a fork in the garburator? Chances are your garburator retorted with a deafening clatter. Similarly, digestive issues could be your bodies’ way of alarming you that something you ate wasn’t well received by your body. Control gut gremlins by watching what you put in your mouth. De-clog. Like a drain cleaner, fiber keeps everything moving, preventing back-up. Specifically, insoluble fiber found in wheat bran, nuts and the skin of fruits and vegetables rate the best for regularity aid. Water down. Fluids help foods flow through your system Train your trunk. Regular exercise strengthens the diaphragm and could prevent acid reflux. Employ germ warfare. Friendly bacteria, as found in certain yogurts may defend against bacterial invasion. Limit diet foods. Diet pop; sugar-free gum and other diet foods contain artificial sweeteners that might disturb intestinal tranquility. Chew! Some of us eat like we still live in a world of food scarcity. Maximize nutrient absorption by taking the time to slow down and chew! Put out the fire. Fatty foods could elicit heartburn. Balance acid. Overloading on painkillers might welcome the bacteria H pylori which can mess with the gut’s environment, inviting nasty stomach ulcers to develop. Meat limits. Excessive red and processed meat could increase your risk of contracting colon cancer. Mix it up with poultry, fish, seafood, beans and nuts. Allergic or intolerant? Gluten, wheat and lactose might be taxing your gut. See your health practitioner if you suspect an issue. Jessalyn O’Donnell, RD Thrifty Foods

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Spare the carbolic soap and

spoil the child: a visit with Grandma Ogibowski By Shannon Moneo ILLUSTRATION SHELLEY DAVIES

Do you remember visits with a grandparent? How can you forget the fun? The indulgence? The leisure? You weren’t staying with my Grandma Ogibowski. My mom’s mom had to quit school as a young girl to work as a housekeeper and then was widowed in 1960 at age 58, when my Grandpa Nick died of cancer. I rarely saw her in a dress and never did she wear makeup. She rubbed Listerine over and around her blue, blue eyes each night and swore it was the reason she never needed glasses. She was built strong and stayed trim thanks to constant work, and kept her long, fair hair pinned back in a bun as tight as her purse strings. Growing up, my bombshell blonde mom Stella latched onto my Franco-Manitoban dad Renald when he pulled into town in his dump truck and fled to Winnipeg. For me, trips from the city to Grandma’s Manitoba home were endurance tests. This was a woman who, before she was widowed, got up at dawn to bake bread, pick rocks in a field and cap her day off with chopping heads off chickens. My little

whines that I was bored or tired didn’t wash with Baba. Now, speaking of wash, Grandma’s house was without running water. I was the water supply system. My daily walks to Elphinstone’s community water pump were easy, all downhill, two empty buckets in my hands. Returning was water torture. I still remember getting waylaid at the corner store at the bottom of the hill. By the time I made it back with the semi-full buckets, my Jersey Milk chocolate bar had become an embarrassing, melted mass that tarnished my rear. Which brings us to laundry and Grandma’s wringer-washer. Remember those contraptions? I had to haul rainwater, collected in her four strategically placed barrels, which then got heated on her kitchen woodstove. Needless to say, laundry was done twice a month. My stained shorts got spot treatment. Now, I’m sure you’ve figured out that her very modest house had no toilet, bathtub or shower. Just a wash basin. It was like camping, except I was indoors. Being a tomboy, I got dirty. The problem was Grandma only used carbolic soap. The smell still makes me queasy today. Dark orange, pungent and powerful. As for la toilette, Grandma had an outhouse, and yes, it’s true, there really was an Eaton’s catalogue in there as the only source of paper. It may have been for reading, but unless you kept the door open, it was pretty dark. The two-seater outhouse (why two seats? I wouldn’t share space with anyone!) overlooked one of Grandma’s two big gardens. I usually kept the door closed, enduring the helicopter flies. But during a Christmas-time visit, when temperatures dropped to -25º C, trips were so zippy I didn’t bother securing the door. What if it froze shut? Night-time relief meant the proverbial chamber pot. Now I know where the word “tinkling” came from. Grandma’s house had a tiny porch, a small kitchen where the washbasin was situated, a cramped living room and two little bedrooms. The dirt-floored basement stored the many potatoes, onions, beets, carrots and garlic she grew and the jars of berries and pickles she prepared, right up to her late 80s. I hated venturing down there for a supper ingredient, fearing the boogeyman. Grandma wasn’t sympathetic to childhood angst. At least I hadn’t yet watched any creepy movies. Still, the supernatural wasn’t a stranger on Grandma’s premises. She was a devout Roman Catholic who prayed on her rosary every night, took me to church on Sundays and whose home was full of religious statues, calendars and pictures. Any and all transgressions were duly noted by sternfaced popes or saints. Catholic guilt? Of course! Burned into my memory is the night of a wild thunderstorm, when the 30-metre-tall pine trees in front of Grandma’s house threatened to fall and lightning almost struck. I was ordered to pray. It worked. I’m still here. Grandma died in 1990 at the age of 88. I still miss her … but not the outhouse. VB

HINDS BLINDS

SECRETS & LIVES

By shannon moneo

Why did you become a magician? My mom hired a local kid magician when I was 10 years old for my little brother’s birthday in Calgary, where I grew up. I was in the audience and it just really connected with me. Magic, illusion, trick: what’s the difference? “Magic” is the catch-all phrase that covers all of what we do. Some view “trick” as a simplistic word to describe what we do. “Illusion” usually denotes a larger trick. Teresa (Midbo, Hatfield’s wife and performance partner) and I specialize in illusions. We float people in the air, cut people in half, produce and vanish people rather than coins. What we do (in Magic ‘N Miracles, Canada’s largest annual touring magic show) is a full-on stage show, dancers and costumes, and guest magicians. How old were you when you did your first magic trick? I was 10, at that birthday party: afterwards the kid magician showed me how to vanish a penny into my arm. I have not stopped. I was small and not particularly athletic. It gave me an identity. I think a lot of people who are drawn to magic, that’s the case. You do find people who are shy, uncomfortable sometimes in social settings and yet with magic, they’re able to enter that situation with a degree of power and strength. What is your all-time favourite trick? It’s called Suspended Animation and it’s the instantaneous exchange of both of us. Teresa’s locked in a glass box up on a pedestal. I’m standing eight or 10 feet away. It’s literally instantaneous. Have you ever been injured doing an illusion? Yes, Teresa and I both. Teresa has to do the hard stuff inside of the props. She gets hit with swords, had her nose almost taken out. A lot of times we’re both working blind to a degree. Although I know where she is, I don’t know at every moment where every part of her is. Either cutting or slicing or whatever. It becomes almost a ballet of knowing and anticipating whatever each one is doing. Occasionally that goes wrong. How do Victoria audiences rate? They’re wonderful. They’re very appreciative. When we moved here six years ago, we moved here to buy, what was then and now, an iconic shop. It was Tony’s Trick and Joke Shop. It’s been here for 35 years. How did you meet Teresa? She was one of the dancers I hired in 1992. Not only is she an exceptional dancer, she’s a great performer, very charismatic. Eventually, we discovered that we liked each other so we got married in 1998. She is my partner, not just my assistant. She creates routines, selects music. She finds or designs most of the costumes we use.

Why aren’t there more female magicians? I don’t know. There are some phenomenally successful female magicians in North America. I’ve hired a number, one of whom is a world champion, Juliana Chen, who specializes in card manipulation, producing hundreds of cards from her bare hands. You perform at fairs, casinos, corporate functions and even on cruise ships. Your favourite venue? Theatres, like the Royal. People are buying a ticket to see you, so you’re already half-way there to that shared experience you’re looking for. When you’re on a cruise ship, you’re simply the entertainment. They’re not necessarily there to see you. Why were you named Canada’s Magician of the Year for 2005-06? It is voted on by members of the Canadian Association of Magicians. Winners include the elite of the magic world in Canada. The best illusionist ever? David Copperfield. David changed the way that magicians act, dress, perform and create the magic that they’re doing. By virtue of the television specials, which required an entirely new show every year, he created more memorable magic and was seen by more people than anyone in history, to that point. What do you do for fun when you’re not suspending reality? We kayak. We love going up to Tofino, over to Salt Spring, Parksville. You can drive 20 minutes in any direction and you’re in a paradise, each one different from the other. How much longer will you bedazzle audiences? In some way, shape or form, until the day I die. VB This interview has been condensed and edited.

Murray Hatfield, 50 award-winning magician and co-owner of Murray’s Trick & Joke Shop PHOTO BY GARY MCKINSTRY

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