The Georgia Straight - Born to Manifest - January 20, 2022 by The Georgia Straight

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022 | FREE Volume 56 | Number 2814

BORN TO MANIFEST

UNHINGED MARKET Housing fire needs response

CHILL OUT

Parks welcome winter campers

Choreographer Joseph Toonga uses krump and other dance moves to explore how Black people experience and respond to excessive scrutiny, indignities, and racist violence

TRAVIS LUPICK

•

POOR ITALIAN

•

IDAN COHEN

•

MUSICAL LEGACIES

HOUSING

Eby finally gets real about cause of high home prices

CONTENTS

January 20-27 / 2022

COVER

Just Us Dance Theatre artistic director Joseph Toonga will present his landmark show, Born to Manifest, at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

by Charlie Smith

By Charlie Smith Cover photo by The Other Richard

REAL ESTATE

BMO Economics describes 2021 as a year when the Canadian housing market became “unhinged” from underlying economic fundamentals. By Carlito Pablo

MUSIC

Okay with the possibility that “I’m on Fire” might end up in an Anusol ad, Bruce Springsteen has unloaded his back catalogue for big bucks. By Mike Usinger

B.C.’s minister responsible for housing, Attorney General David Eby, has an opportunity to cut housing costs, but to do that he must get lots of shovels in the ground. Photo by B.C. NDP.

or many years, Attorney General David Eby was one of the leading hawks in the B.C. legislature when it came to blaming high housing prices on foreigners. Back in 2016, for example, he cited an SFU report “conclusively showing that international speculators are the main factor driving the out-of-control real estate in Metro Vancouver”. “This report will come as no surprise to anybody who has been paying attention,” Eby declared in question period. “To the finance minister, when will this government finally take action on the international money that is driving Metro Vancouver’s real estate market?” This month, Eby, as the minister responsible for housing, is singing from a different song sheet. Now, he’s saying the real problem is a shortage of supply and that no tax policy will put a roof over someone’s head. It’s been a remarkable about-face. It’s also one that he hinted at last May when he told a nonprofit housing conference about the need for thousands of affordable rental units. That came not long after Eby had expressed regret over his role in a 2015 study that focused on non-anglicized names of a small number of homebuyers on the West Side of Vancouver. Eby is an adept political communicator. From 2015 to 2019, he went out of his way to encourage the public to think that if only the government would close loopholes and introduce new taxes, housing prices would come back down to earth. Well, guess what? The NDP government did these things and that didn’t prevent home prices from continuing to rise sharply. They kept going up even during a pandemic when immigration plummeted and there was relatively little foreign buying of residential real estate, according to provincial government statistics. There are a few within the NDP who 2

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

always knew that the problem was a supply shortage. They kept their mouths shut as the hysteria over foreign buying reached a crescendo in the media. Playing up the foreign ogre was good politics in a province where yellow-peril fears are part of the collective DNA. And Eby’s constant nattering about links between the River Rock Casino, high housing prices, and the fentanyl crisis helped the NDP win the 2017 election. When I suggested back in 2018 that Vancouver’s high housing prices were attributable to the inelasticity of housing supply, among other factors, I was ripped by that same SFU researcher whose work Eby was citing in the legislature in 2016. Not only did Eby publicize that questionable study for political gain, but he also relentlessly plugged the work of journalists Sam Cooper and Kathy Tomlinson, whose articles repeatedly focused on people of Chinese ancestry. Back in those days, Eby was screaming from the rafters about money laundering, which wasn’t going to do anything to put a roof over anyone’s head. He was cheered on by a former U.S. hedge-fund manager who was short-selling Home Capital shares. Thankfully, Eby has finally seen the light and recognizes that a shortage of homes is really what’s keeping housing costs skyhigh. It’s domestic demand that’s largely driven up prices, including from doctors, lawyers, and other high-income individuals buying second and third homes as investments or for their kids. It’s just too bad that about five or six years were wasted by the NDP focusing almost exclusively on demand-side measures, but Eby’s reversal is still better late than never. If there’s a famine, you don’t keep food away from the people. The same principle should apply to a housing shortage. That’s the real lesson from this sordid tale. g

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

e Start Here 12 ARTS 4 BOOKS 14 DANCE 10 FOOD 8 HEALTH 2 HOUSING 10 LIQUOR 6 OUTSIDE 17 SAVAGE LOVE 13 THEATRE e Listings 15 ARTS

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 56 | Number 2814 #300 - 1375 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6H 0B1 T: 604.730.7000 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com DISPLAY ADVERTISING: T: 604.730.7020 E: sales@straight.com

CLASSIFIEDS: T: 604.730.7000 E: classads@straight.com SUBSCRIPTIONS: 604.730.7000

e Online TOP 5

Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.

1 2 3 4 5

Vancouver home in Cambie Corridor listed at three times assessed value. Sovereign court sentences 75 to prison, including some big international names. Protect Our Province BC: An open letter to Adrian Dix and John Horgan. Scotiabank economist warns of rising prices without housing solutions. Police announce results of yearlong investigation into alleged drug trafficking.

DISTRIBUTION: 604.730.7032

EDITOR Charlie Smith GENERAL MANAGER Sandra Oswald SECTION EDITORS Mike Usinger (ESports/Liquor/Music) Steve Newton SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Jeff Li

@GeorgiaStraight

ART DEPARTMENT MANAGER Janet McDonald GRAPHIC DESIGNER Miguel Hernandez PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Mike Correia ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Glenn Cohen, Luci Richards, Catherine Tickle, Robyn Marsh, David Pearlman (On-Leave) MANAGER, BRANDED CONTENT AND MARKETING LEAD Rachel Moore CREDIT MANAGER Shannon Li ACCOUNTING SUPERVISOR Tamara Robinson

PETER WALL’S SHANNON MEWS 1515 W. 57th Avenue, Vancouver • 604.261.0732

OPEN HOUSE

SAT & SUN 9AM-5PM NOW RENTING Studio

■

1 Bedroom

■

2 Bedroom

■

Townhouse

Stunning, historical neighbourhood with many urban amenities. Close to shopping. www.pw-shannonmews.com | suites@pw-shannonmews.com

PETER WALL’S YALETOWN 1310 Richards Street, Vancouver • 778.903.5066

OPEN HOUSE

YALETOWN’S FINEST LIVING Studio ■ 1 Bedroom ■ 2 Bedroom

SAT & SUN 9AM-5PM NOW RENTING

Located in the heart of Yaletown, overlooking English Bay and False Creek, Peter Wall Yaletown is a rare residential leasing opportunity www.pw-yaletown.com | suites@pw-yaletown.com JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

BOOKS

Lupick tells drug users’ tales without any judgment

by Charlie Smith

Light Up the Night is ex-Vancouverite Travis Lupick’s second book on drug-user activism.

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

ormer Georgia Straight reporter Travis Lupick has read practically every book written about the overdose crisis. Invariably, they’re told from a few perspectives, such as by a parent who has lost a child to addiction. Or by a police officer or politician. Or by someone who is many years in recovery after a past addiction. All of these can offer valuable insights, but Lupick wanted to do something different. Something unique. So he wrote a book about the overdose crisis in America from the perspective of those caught up in the current war on drugs. “Light Up the Night is told through the eyes of people who use drugs without judg-

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

Most people do want people who use drugs to go to jail. – Light Up the Night author Travis Lupick

ment or apology,” Lupick told the Straight by phone from his home in California. “This book relates how drug users are experiencing the overdose crisis and it shares their ideas for how to solve it. I think that is a perspective that has really been needed in this conversation for a long time.” His first book, Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle With Addiction, documented how a group of street-entrenched drug users in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside mobilized the community and politicians to advance harmreduction initiatives that led to North America’s first legal supervised injection site. Two of the key protagonists, Ann Livingston and Liz Evans, played a critical role in prompting many Vancouverites to question the value of drug prohibition and favour looking at addiction as a health issue. In Light Up the Night: America’s Overdose Crisis and the Drug Users Fighting for Survival,, Lupick focuses on two female protagonists: Jess Tilley of Northampton, Massachusetts, and a resident of Greensboro, North Carolina, Louise Vincent. Tilley is president of the New England Users Union and Vincent is executive director of the Urban Survivors Union. Lupick focused on them because he felt it was important to describe the impact of the overdose crisis outside of New York or Los Angeles, where so many of America’s stories come from. “They’re also struggling with a very different manifestation of the war on drugs,” Lupick added. “That was the biggest surprise and learning curve for me in Light Up the Night, coming from Canada.” He was aware that police in the U.S. are more violent than their counterparts in Vancouver, but he didn’t realize how

radically different the war on drugs is playing out in America. In Vancouver, for example, Livingston and former park commissioner Sarah Blyth could pitch a tent in a back alley, invite the media, and start an illegal injection site. “The police would sort of look on from the corners,” Lupick said. “If you did that in the United States, you would go to jail. You would go to jail very quickly.” Yet in the face of this, Tilley and Vincent have been organizing drug users into a national union across the United States. By telling their stories, Lupick could continue the narrative that he began in Fighting for Space, only this time exploring the overdose crisis south of the border. While there’s a vocal minority calling for drug-policy reform in the U.S., it still doesn’t have mainstream support. That makes Lupick somewhat pessimistic about the prospects for real change that can reverse the catastrophic number of overdose deaths is so many states. “Most people do want people who use drugs to go to jail,” he said. Lupick quickly added that he has seen pockets of hope. For example, New York City opened the first sanctioned injection facility in the U.S. at the end of November, with help from people who played a key role in the creation of Insite in Vancouver. “Needle exchange is increasingly available in more jurisdictions,” he noted. “There’s a couple of areas where methadone is easier to get, but in other ways, the war on drugs is more severe than ever before.” That’s most apparent in the federal response to the fentanyl crisis. “I write in Light Up the Night that the U.S. government’s response to fentanyl is the greatest intensification of the war on drugs that we’ve seen in a generation,” Lupick declared. It’s come through the adoption of the “drug-induced homicide charge”, a.k.a. “death by distribution”. If a boyfriend goes out to pick up heroin for him and his girlfriend, he will be charged with murder if she happens to die of an overdose—even if he isn’t aware that the drugs that he bought were poisoned with fentanyl or some other substance. “So in some ways, the war on drugs is softening,” Lupick said. “In other ways, it’s more severe than ever—in response to fentanyl, especially.” g

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

OUTSIDE

How to get yourself used to sleeping in the snow

by Martin Dunphy

provincial news release about expanded camping opportunities caught our eye recently. That wasn’t because of where the new campsites were—in popular E. C. Manning Provincial Park, two hours’ drive from Vancouver—but because of when they were open: winter. It was also notable because of what it offered those who might normally shrink from the mere mention of winter camping: a comfy way to acclimatize themselves to sleeping outdoors during below-zero weather. It is possible to engage in both camping and winter recreational activities like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in various provincial parks in the South Coast region. But the opportunities are relatively few when compared to balmy-weather options. In Golden Ears Park, for instance, one campground remains open in winter, but its use is contingent upon sometimes-spotty road access, and water may not be available. Likewise, Garibaldi Park has one campsite available in winter, with limited facilities, and the much smaller Sasquatch Provincial Park near Harrison Hot Springs normally allows some winter camping, but the park is closed this winter due to wind

Many people who enjoy summer camping might be hesitant to try winter camping because of the cold, so a transition via RV camping might ease any anxieties. Photo by Bondariev/Getty.

and flood damage. Cultus Lake Park has a few sites available for hardy campers who bring their own drinking water and don’t mind pit toilets, and limited water and toilets are on offer during winter at the postage-stamp-size Porteau Cove site alongside the Sea-to-Sky Highway, albeit with limited recreational activities. But the Manning Park announcement offers a transitional opportunity for those

who might have always wanted to try winter camping but were just too afraid of, well, being cold. That’s because the new Skyview Campground is officially touted as an RV site, and a fully serviced one, to boot—the first such winter site offered by BC Parks. This means that adventurous outdoor aficionados can enjoy relatively luxurious winter amenities like hot showers, a heated modern wash-

room, guaranteed running potable water, electric and sewer hookups, and more. The campground’s 60 sites can be rented on a nightly, weekly, or even monthly rate (electricity is extra for weekly and monthly stays), and there is even a daily shuttle to the park’s popular lodge and ski area, where alpine skiing and snowboarding get the most attention. But, conveniently, the park’s main Nordic cross-country ski trail cuts right through the winter-camping site on its way to higher elevations and 60 kilometres of smooth gliding on groomed trails, and the facility’s website envisions that “snowshoeing from this location will be a highlight in the future”. So drive your (own or rented) RV or camperized van and dip your toes into the winter, so to speak. Bring along a small tent and an approved winter sleeping bag and see how comfy and warm you can be with just some banked snow and body heat. Try it for just one night; you can always retreat a few metres into your toasty vehicle should you get, um, cold feet. Then maybe you will be ready to try some of the other frozen options scattered around this beautiful province. g

Are You Looking For A Meaningful Volunteer Opportunity? Our Peer Support Services is accepting applications for our Friendly Visiting Program at Jewish Seniors Alliance (JSA). This volunteer training will prepare you with the skills to interact with seniors in our community and will enhance employment opportunities and personal growth. The program is available to people 18 years and older. Training will consist of four consecutive sessions, evenings 4pm - 8pm for a total of 16 hours. You will become more skilled with age-related challenges, grief and loss, isolation, loneliness and many other issues facing older adults including helping seniors cope with their increased anxiety and isolation caused by of COVID-19 JSA is an inclusive organization and reaches out to all seniors from all ethnic, religious or cultural backgrounds.

This training is being offered at no cost. At the end of the training you will get a certificate. The sessions are starting on Tuesdays in February from 4pm - 8pm on ZOOM. For more information please call Charles Leibovitch at 778-840-4949 or email: charles@jsalliance.org 6

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

People who identify as part of the LBGTQ community are invited to apply.

REAL ESTATE

The year our housing market became unhinged by Carlito Pablo

this is an acute situation.” In the face of a tight market, prices surged. Kavcic noted that the 26.6 percent year-over-year increase in prices in December 2021 represented the “fastest clip on record back to 2000”. As for investors, Kavcic noted that data for Ontario “show that investors (multipleproperty owners) accounted for the largest share of transaction volume in 2021, and were the biggest driver of the increase in volume from pre-COVID levels”. Moreover, he cited recent findings by the Bank of Canada that “investor demand” as a whole in the country increased 100 percent year-over-year as of June 2021. This level outpaced “increases among re-

peat and first-time buyers”. The BMO economist also observed something about how many home buyers in general were able to make purchases. “By August 2021, Canadians began taking on more in variable-rate mortgages than fixed-rate mortgages, which is a notable change in behaviour in a market that has traditionally been conservative users of fixed-rate product,” he wrote. Why? “Fixed mortgage rates backed up, and buyers had to shift to still-low variable rates in order to meet [affordability] and/ or qualification criteria,” Kavcic stated. He added, “That seems like a market that has been forced to stretch.” g

OFFERING GREATER VANCOUVER STRESS FREE, COST EFFECTIVE

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT A BMO report blames “investor appetite” for the record increases in home sales and aggregate benchmark prices in 2021. This home in Vancouver’s Shaughnessy area listed for $15,880,000.

ast spring, two economists with BMO released a paper asking policymakers to “act immediately” on the housing front. “Canadian Housing Fire Needs a Response”, Robert Kavcic and Benjamin Reitzes titled the piece. In it, Kavcic and Reitzes outlined a number of potential measures to cool down a “smoldering” real-estate market. Policymakers should act immediately “before the market is left exposed to more severe consequences down the road”. The possible measures mentioned in the March 30, 2021, paper include, among others, a speculation tax that would cover both principal and nonprincipal residences. Kavcic appears to be referencing the same document in a new report “Canadian Existing Home Sales (Dec.) — Investor Relations” released Monday (January 17, 2022). “Very early last year,” Kavcic wrote, “BMO Economics warned that policy (starting on the monetary side) needed to tighten in order to prevent the market from becoming dislodged from underlying fundamentals.” “And,” he continued, “that came from a team that spent many, many years defending the Canadian housing market from wave after wave of bearish assault, as most of the gains were rooted in income, demographic and interest rate fundamentals.” “Now,” Kavcic stated, “it appears that 2021 was the year the market became unhinged.” Kavcic released the paper on the same day that the Canadian Real Estate Association released annual sales figures for 2021.

The CREA reported that a total of 666,995 residential properties traded hands last year. “This was a new record by a large margin, surpassing the previous annual record set in 2020 by a little more than 20%, and standing 30% above the average of the last 10 years,” CREA stated in a media release. Meanwhile, the aggregate benchmark price of a Canadian home went up by a “record 26.6% on a year-over-year basis in December”. In another metric, the national average home price was $713,500 in December 2021, up 17.7 percent from the same month the year before.. The 2021 market was so hot that sales from January to October 2021 already exceeded the 552,423 sales for all of 2020. Kavcic believes that the market became unhinged in 2021 as “demand and investor appetite have taken over”. “Expectations and investor appetite took over Canadian housing in 2021,” the BMO economist noted. He continued, “We know it, and policymakers now know it too.” To illustrate, those 2021 sales that went 30 percent above the 10-year average highlighted the “boom in demand”. Meanwhile, new listings “came to market exactly in-line with the 10-year average”. “That distinction between demand strength and very normal resale supply flow couldn’t be more obvious here, and flies in contrast to the popular narrative that we are supply starved,” Kavcic wrote. He added, “Of course, there are longerterm considerations on the supply side, but

TIM Property Maintenance | JOHN YU Property Manager | CHARLES Assistant (unlicensed)

Dedicated professionals caring for your investment property ■

402-4932 Cambie St. | 2 Bdr, 2 Bath • Brand New • $3,300 /Month

■

206-5189 Cambie St. | 1 Bdr, 1 Bath • $2,300 /Month

■ 6302-1151

W. Georgia | Furnished 2 Bdr, 2.5 Bath, Luxury Sub PH • $6,200/Month

■

3703-4458 Beresford St. | 2 Bdr, 2 Bath Bby • Brand New • $3,500/Month

■

1001-6971 Elmbridge Way, Rmd | 1 Bdr, 1 Bath • $1,800/Month

■

11720 Yoshida Ct, Rmd | 3 Bdr, 1.5 Bath • $2,800/Month

Call today to learn more about our services! 778-668-7666 Johnyu@tenantedproperty.org JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

METROLAND REALTY

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

HEALTH

The COVID-19 conspiracy theorists need our help

by Charlie Smith

’ve spent a fair amount of time—probably more than most B.C. journalists—hearing the complaints of those who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19. I’ve watched their Facebook broadcasts. I’ve read their Twitter feeds. I’ve seen video of them speaking in front of politicians being hanged in effigy. One of them even served me with a notice of liability, citing the Nuremberg Tribunal, as if I was the equivalent of a Nazi war criminal for quoting their comments and repeating medical research published in peer-reviewed journals. I’ve tried to be respectful to them. I haven’t laden my articles with inflammatory adjectives likening them to brain-addled loons. Most of the time, I’ve let them do the talking because their own words are sufficient to show their mindset to our readers. They come across as very fearful people, thinking that the government is out to get them, evil people are out to get them, and, yes, even the media are out to get them. It’s also worth noting that several highprofile people in the movement have a fascination with firearms. They feel a need to protect themselves from evil—sometimes satanic evil in the form of the Canadian government—and they like demonstrating this in their social-media posts. In Canada, there seems to be a split in the movement between those affiliated with the People’s Party of Canada and/or the Action4Canada group, which has been advocating legal means to fight vaccine mandates, and an even more extreme wing that wants to engage in direct action by shutting down airports and the like. Here’s what I’ve concluded about this movement: • Many believe there’s a globalist conspiracy to deliberately wreck the economy to justify stealing their property. Some of them seem to think it’s a globalist Jewishled conspiracy. The latter group places inordinate attention on financier George Soros as the planet’s true Dr. Evil. * They don’t all self-identify as rightwingers. There are quite a few antiestablishment and antiglobalist types who self-identify as leftists and who have been associated with progressive causes in the past. • Some believe that Dr. Anthony Fauci is an evil man conspiring with billionaire Bill Gates. Others think China deliberately foisted this virus on the world. • Some think that corporations and the media are promoting vaccinations solely for the money. They’ll retweet rubbish on social media like “Reuters and Pfizer are owned by the same company. Check that.” I did. They’re not owned by the same company.

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

Some of those who refuse COVID-19 vaccines feel that they are on the side of righteousness, even though their belief about a global conspiracy seems very far-fetched to some of their loved ones.

• To them, proof that vaccines don’t work is demonstrated by so many vaccinated people contracting the Omicron variant. They ignore data showing the rates of hospitalization between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. They won’t acknowledge that taking a vaccine is like wearing a seat belt: you might still crash, but the effects will be far less damaging. • They place enormous importance on the pronouncements of a tiny number of their so-called experts, like virologist Robert Malone or Canadian physician Daniel Nagase, utterly ignoring the countless thousands of other experts who disagree with them. It’s reminiscent of the global-warming deniers fastening themselves to the skeptical climate-change pronouncements of MIT atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen and ignoring the thousands of others who disagreed with him. We all know how that turned out. • They think an infinitesimal percentage of people under 40 are being hospitalized due to COVID-19 when, in fact, hospitalization rates among the young have increased in the U.S. since the Omicron

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

It’s hard to get through to know-it-alls, regardless of the subject. – Charlie Smith

variant showed up. But even before that, a significant number of younger people were winding up in hospitals in B.C. • They think that COVID-19 is either the equivalent of a head cold or the flu even as some members of their movement have fallen very ill and even died due to the virus. They don’t acknowledge that COVID-19, through the Delta wave, has been a multifaceted disease that also attacks the circulatory system, internal organs, and the brain. It’s too early to draw conclusions about the Omicron variant.

Perhaps it will end up only being a respiratory infection. • They hate being called “antivaxxers”. Many insist that they just don’t like these particular vaccines being used against COVID-19 because they believe side effects are vastly underreported. So anyone who uses the term “antivaxxer” is immediately dismissed. As a result, I’ve taken to using the term “opponent of mRNA vaccines”. They can’t disagree with that. • Some hate the term “antimasker”. It took me a while to learn this, perhaps because leaders in the movement will ridicule wearing masks. They’ll say that wearing face coverings simply means that people are breathing in their own exhaled waste and they’re being poisoned. And you’ll never see them wearing masks at their rallies. But they still hate being called antimaskers. • Some actually believe soccer players are fainting in droves from heart attacks induced by the COVID-19 vaccine. The factchecking Snopes.com website determined that these claims were unsubstantiated. “In most cases, these incidents were attributed to other causes (such as dehydration), and some cases involved athletes who had not been vaccinated,” the website stated. • The people in this movement have become a community. They meet regularly at their rallies, exchange high fives, and chat about their interests even as the speakers are rambling on in the background. Some get a buzz from being so-called citizen journalists. And they feel a sense of solidarity in a pandemic when so many of the rest of us are feeling isolated. • They have a deep-seated us-and-them mentality when it comes to those who take exception to them protesting outside hospitals, restaurants, and even churches that implement vaccine mandates. • They feel they are on the side of righteousness; they’re the heroes. And the others are wrong. • They think that if they simply provide average people with enough of their information, they’ll see the light, but the people in power, the vaccine manufacturers, and their minions in the media are beyond hope because they’re evil. I’m worried about some of them whom I knew personally before this pandemic started. I don’t want them to die of COVID-19, but I see that as a distinct possibility, particularly among those who are over the age of 50. I’ve been trying to figure out how to convey my concerns to these people. I’ve considered writing a personal letter to a couple of them to tell them that they shouldn’t be so afraid of a tiny jab in the arm. It’s hard to feel sorry for the vicious anti-Semites in the movement—and there see next page

are quite a few of them—but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that many people are joining the anti-mRNA vaccine protests because it reinforces their self-image of being good, engaged citizens. I know that the research in peer-reviewed journals won’t get through to them because some believe that Fauci is controlling what’s being published (as if he has the time to focus on that, let alone have that degree of influence). Others see Pfizer as Evil Incarnate. Here’s the problem, though. These people who are so convinced that they are right are oftentimes also incredibly arrogant. They think that they know more than people who’ve been studying viruses and vaccines for decades just because a guy named Malone, now being idolized in the right-wing media, says mRNA vaccines are dangerous for kids. It’s hard to get through to know-it-alls, regardless of the subject. But I also don’t want these people to die prematurely, so I’ve been reading up on how to deal with arrogant people. “Their lack of self-awareness could almost be comical if it weren’t so sad and frustrating,” A Conscious Rethink website states. “They often can’t see just how ridiculous their claims are. “But arrogance is typically not something that comes from maliciousness,” it adds. “It often comes from problems with self-esteem and self-worth.” I’ve dealt with a lot of arrogant people in my life—and those words ring true to me. Beneath blustering narcissism often lies a fragile soul who is susceptible to lashing out at the slightest criticism. As a result, I’ve concluded that ridiculing or confronting the mRNA vaccine opponents isn’t going to help save their lives. Compassion, on the other hand, might provide better results, which will enhance the safety of those around them. So here’s my advice to those dealing with a loved one in the throes of conspiratorial thinking. If the goal is to get them to climb off the ledge, the last thing that’s going to work is to leave them feeling humiliated. So, a good start might be to begin with some humility, admitting times in your life when you’ve been duped. Sharing your own experience of being wrong can convey that this is okay—it’s not the end of the world. And it’s certainly better than leaving your kids without a father or a mother because you were so arrogant that you thought you knew more about vaccines than someone who has spent much of their lifetime in a laboratory. In the words of cult deprogrammer and former cult member Diane Benscoter, it’s “not going to be an easy process for them to get out of this with their dignity”. So go easy and go slow. It’s not going to happen in a day. And by all means, avoid using trigger words like antimasker and antivaxxer to describe them. People can change. It happens all the time in our society. g

HEALTH

Vancouver Coastal under fire from experts by Charlie Smith

Dr. Patricia Daly is vice president, public health, and the chief medical health officer of Vancouver Coastal Health, which opposes HEPA filters in classrooms. Photo by Vancouver Coastal Health.

he Ontario government has installed stand-alone high-efficiency particulate air filters, a.k.a. HEPA filters, in learning environments in the K-12 system. The Safe Schools Coalition B.C. also wants this done in B.C., which was covered earlier this month in a Straight cover story. That’s because the coalition feels that these devices will reduce the likelihood of airborne COVID-19 transmission. However, B.C. health authorities and the NDP provincial government have refused to do this. And when Vancouver Coastal Health justified this decision in a post on its website, it stirred up a tremendous backlash on Twitter not only from parents and local physicians but also from international researchers who have published papers in peer-reviewed journals on the transmission of COVID-19. “Like most common respiratory viruses, COVID-19 spreads primarily through respiratory droplet transmission within a short range,” Vancouver Coastal Health declares in a statement on its website. “Most commonly, students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 acquire the virus through close contact with a case at home or through their social networks.” The health authority’s claim about how COVID-19 spreads elicited a particularly scathing response from Jose-Luis Jimenez,

I’ve had to add @VCHhealthcare to the #COVIDHallofShame… – atmospheric chemist Jose-Luis Jimenez

an expert in aerosols, atmospheric chemistry, and disease transmission at the University of Colorado Boulder. “I have had to add @VCHhealthcare to the #COVIDHallofShame for some of the worst practices Worldwide in mitigation of COVID-19 transmission,” Jimenez tweeted. In another tweet, he accused Vancouver Coastal Health of “FULL DENIAL OF SCIENCE in their advice”. “Keep repeating totally outdated #DropletDogma,” Jimenez declared in a message on top of the Vancouver Coastal Health statement. “Even @WHO admits #COVIDisAirborne.” Jimenez is one of the top 10 researchers in the world cited on aerosols. He was one of six researchers who wrote a paper in the Lancet on April 15, 2021, entitled “Ten

scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2”. He also coauthored “Airborne transmission of respiratory viruses”, which was published in the journal Science on August 27, 2021. In addition, he’s quoted extensively in a recent McGill Office for Science and Society article explaining why SARSCoV-2 can linger in the air. On his Twitter feed, Jimenez regularly calls out public-health officials for missing the mark on their understanding about how COVID-19 is transmitted. If governments don’t understand how COVID-19 spreads—or are not up to speed on the latest research—he argues that this has implications for responses that might curb the spread. He recently tweeted a link to a preprint of a study that relied on the COVID Airborne Risk Assessment tool developed at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). It showed that one HEPA filter was as effective as two school windows being kept partly open all day during winter. In the past, Jimenez has slammed B.C. as one of the most “retrograde” jurisdictions in the world for its tardiness in educating the public that COVID-19 is an airborne disease. This criticism came notwithstanding the province’s relatively high vaccination rate. B.C.’s per-capita fatalities from COVID-19 have, to date, been lower than other Canadian provinces with large populations. Jimenez isn’t the only researcher who has criticized B.C.’s approach. Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist and statistical geneticist at Queen Mary University of London, has claimed on her Twitter feed that B.C. “is even more in the dark ages on evidence on school transmissions and mitigations” than England, where she lives. Gurdasani’s comment was retweeted by Dr. David Fisman, a University of Toronto expert on the epidemiology of infectious diseases. Jennifer Heighton, a Grade 5 teacher and cofounder of Safe Schools Coalition B.C., tweeted other critical reactions on her feed from the co-inventor of the CorsiRosenthal do-it-yourself HEPA filter, Jim Rosenthal, and atmospheric chemist Kimberly Prather. “I would give up saying the same thing over and over (filtration works!) if it weren’t for the fact that it is one of the easiest ways to reduce risk of inhaling SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19],” Prather, director of the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment at the University of California San Diego, tweeted. In her tweet, Prather added that there is “zero downside” and “many other health benefits” to enhancing filtration. g

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

FOOD / LIQUOR

Poor Italian pays fitting tribute to a rich history

by Charlie Smith

ome restaurant lovers are feeling a little skittish about indoor dining these days. And for good reason. With the Omicron variant still on the loose, now is not the time to be indulging in long-table dining alongside people you’ve never met. Fortunately, there are alternatives, including an old favourite in East Vancouver. The spacious Poor Italian Ristorante (3296 East 1st Avenue), across the street from Rupert Park, has a large enough dining area to allow you to keep your distance from other guests. Three things stand out at the Poor Italian: tasty cooking in large portions; humble, eager-to-please service; and an elegantly designed room that feels more like Florence than Vancouver. Plus, there’s plenty of free parking in front of the restaurant. Let’s start with the food. The Spaghetti & Meatballs ($24) looks deceptively small in the dish but, wow, does it ever fill you up. Served simply with tomato and basil sauce, it’s still full of zest, especially after the server adds a couple of spoonfuls of Parmesan cheese. It packs a greater punch than the spaghetti I’ve eaten in most other places in Vancouver. The Mixed Seafood Linguine ($25)

East Vancouver’s Poor Italian Ristorante does home-style food like spaghetti and meatballs in an authentic way, with portions large enough to make sure no one goes home feeling hungry.

comes with prawns, scallops, clams, and mussels in a white wine and tomato sauce with a light onion taste. It’s truly homecooked in a quintessential Italian way— simple yet flavourful. The Linguine With Pesto ($20) is milder than the other two dishes and will appeal

more to those who don’t have a hankering for spicy food. It’s prepared with fresh basil, ground toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, and extra virgin olive oil. I’ve heard others praise the Nonna’s Baked Lasagne ($24), so I’ll probably give that a try on my next visit. Meals come with a com-

plimentary bread basket to begin. And you can wind up your meal with the tiramisu ($9) for dessert. It’s light, fluffy, and large enough for two. The warmth of the Poor Italian is reinforced by its décor, starting with the terracotta planters outside. Inside, the Tuscan yellow and honeycomb colours on the walls and dark wooden tables and chairs, along with the lighting and images, create a sentimental vibe, taking diners right back to Italy. Founded by the Moscone family along with managing partners Francesco Mara and Angelo De Meo, the Poor Italian’s original investment team also included longtime Vancouver news anchor Tony Parsons, whose photo greets diners at the door. The menu pays homage to the history of early Italian immigration to North America, which was centred along Commercial Drive and East Hastings and East 1st Avenue in Vancouver. Dishes at the Poor Italian, like spaghetti and meatballs and cioppino, were created by immigrants after they arrived. They were certainly poor, but they ate well, worked hard, and contributed mightily to the development of the city. And the Poor Italian is doing what it can to ensure that this will never be forgotten. g

Glen Grant anniversary whisky is indeed precious

by Mike Usinger

s a valuable public service, we crack open spirits from B.C. to Bahrain and beyond, then give you a highly opinionated, pocket-flasksized review.

TODAY’S FREE POUR

Glen Grant Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition THEIR WORDS

“An extremely rare and precious liquid, The Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition is a luxurious, aromatic spirit, exuding an elegance that can only be achieved with time and dedication. The result is—quite simply—a sublime masterpiece. With only 360 decanters available, this complex alchemy of spirit and time is a rare specimen and a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.” TASTING NOTES

Some stories are inarguably more interesting than others, and with Scotland’s Glen Grant distillery dating back to the mid-1800s, there are definitely tales to tell. Start with cofounder James Grant not only spearheading the last clan revolt in Scottish history in 1820, but dabbling in moonshining during his early years. In the decades that followed Grant—along with his brother John—went legal, eventually building a local railway to help with distribution, thus opening up the country in a way the original Picts and Gaels never dreamed. The Grant’s descendents 10

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

Glen Grant’s Dennis Malcolm whisky is best enjoyed neat.

revolutionized single malt whisky production with elongated stills and water-cooling purifiers, pioneered the generating of electricity during the distilling process, and, well, you get the idea. Flash forward—or back—to 1946 and Dennis Malcolm was born on the distillery grounds. Starting out as a third-generation barrel maker

in 1961, he’s today, 60 years later, revered as Glen Grant’s master distiller. Given that backstory, it’s only fitting that Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition is not only a whisky, but in many ways an event. A big tip-off there is the $37,000 price point— yes, you read that correctly—with special touches including that every one of the 360 bottles available worldwide are hand-blown from crystal glass during a 15-hour production process. Sometimes it’s good to be a Lotto Max winner. Once the chestnut-coloured liquid gold is in the glass, the goodness starts with the smell of freshly peeled Italian Gargano oranges, charred pecans, and sweet Oloroso Sherry from casks dating back to Malcolm’s first days at Glen Grant. At 52.8% ABV, the Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition packs a velvet-hammer punch, all smoked dark São Tomé chocolate, caramel-dipped figs, jammy apricot, and plump Turkish raisins. Satiny and complex at first sip, things are just as pleasing on a back end that brings briny sea-salt, soft tobacco, and spiced oak. Savour this one, which is not only the oldest whisky ever produced at Glen Grant, but one of the oldest Scotch whiskies ever released. COCKTAIL TIME

As famously gracious as Dennis Malcolm is reported to be, what do you think his answer would be if asked how to best enjoy his 60th Anniversary Edition? With pomegranate-sage syrup and a splash of soda? Or......? Exactly. g

PuSh FEST

Manifest gets in your face in a truly personal way British choreographer Joseph Toonga places a premium on the value of sharing human insights

by Charlie Smith

s a large Black man, Joseph Toonga is often conscious about how he’s being perceived by those around him. The East London–based choreographer feels that if he gets passionate about something, he has to be careful because he’s a very expressive person. “Okay, watch your facials. Watch your actions. Because some people can perceive it [to be] very aggressive,” Toonga tells the Straight over Zoom. “I think that it’s something that stops me getting certain things I want to get…professionally, personally.” This constant self-censorship can be draining, he admits. As the artistic director of Just Us Dance Theatre, he has channelled those feelings into a three-part dance project exploring how Black people experience and respond to day-to-day scrutiny, indignities, harassment from authorities, and even racist violence. The first installment, Born to Manifest, began touring in the U.K. in 2019 and will have its North American premiere at this year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver. It vividly demonstrates through a form of street dance known as krump and other moves how two male friends (played by Toonga and a former student, Cache Thake) cope with the pain that comes with chronic oppression. Their movements and facial gestures are raw, highly expressive, and often very powerful, though they’re softened at times through expressions of vulnerability and camaraderie. The original score is by hiphop artist Mikey J. This is Toonga uncensored, writ large on the stage—a glimpse into what makes him human. “I think it’s not about education,” Toonga insists. “It’s more about having an insight. Here’s an insight into a small part of my journey and the people who reflect me or look like me. It’s not the whole story. It’s an aspect.” He would love to bring the next two installments to next year’s PuSh festival. The second, Born to Protest, has a cast of four males and one female and began touring last year. The third, he says, will feature an all-female cast. When selecting dancers, he doesn’t solely focus on physical prowess. “Sometimes it’s movement,” Toonga says. “Sometimes it’s actually personality. If the personality is right and I feel that they can move a little bit, I can work with that.” In creating Born to Manifest, he conducted interviews, distributed questionnaires, and conducted focus groups to hear the experiences of other Black people growing up in London. He reveals that the

In Born to Manifest, Joseph Toonga draws on experiences ranging from discrimination in the U.K. to run-ins with police. Photo by Emily Crouch.

title came from one of the people in a focus group. He found it appealing because there are so many layers to it. “When I look at it personally, it’s like I’m born to manifest being a man, being a Black man, being a father,” he says. “And, hopefully, that’s what people see. And when they hear about Born to Manifest, they recall what they are trying to manifest.” Toonga came to London as a young child from Cameroon, but he says that he was formed in the U.K. when it was a very racist country. As a refugee, he and his mother and cousin lived in a motel on the farthest margins of society. His ingrained inner awareness of how others might perceive his expressions is a product of growing up Black in London’s poorest borough. “I know if I dislike something, I cannot show you that I dislike it because you might translate it as being angry,” Toonga notes. “It was always a constant, like, kind of suppressing some of my emotions—how I felt about a lot of things—because I’m not allowed to feel them.” Then there was the police violence directed against the Black community. He told the Guardian in 2019 that the police once visited him because a neighbour heard some noises from his apartment and thought that he had kidnapped two women. He had to show the cops his ballet shoes and leotard

to convince them that he was a dancer. Yet at the same time, Toonga resists being pigeonholed into one aspect of his identity. He was once a child refugee. His mother faced discrimination and even violence due to her Cameroonian accent, which sets him apart from Black males who were born to British parents. These experiences helped shape him, but they don’t define him. He’s also a highly successful dancer and rising choreographer. And when people think that his art is a reflection of an activist mindset, he replies, “Nah, I’m just trying to express part of my journey.” The director of programming at the PuSh festival, Gabrielle Martin, first saw Born to Manifest at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019. In a phone interview with the Straight last month, Martin said that it’s unlike any other show that she’s ever seen. “As a Black person watching it, this work addresses the violence of racial oppression and through it, the rage that that generates,” Martin said. “I thought it was portrayed in a really visceral way.” She was also taken by the vulnerability portrayed by the two Black men on-stage and how they are able to cope with oppression through friendship and tenderness. Martin also acknowledged that as a women, she endures racism in different ways than

Black men might experience, which is another reason why she found Born to Manifest to be such an empowering show. “I think one of the things about being a Black person is that you just automatically empathize with all the fears of racial violence,” Martin said. Toonga hopes that people who see the show will leave thinking about the experiences of others. If there is a Black male or Black female in their lives who might not be as open or as expressive as them—or if they witness what they believe is anger—Toonga hopes that they dig deep and invest the time to try to appreciate what’s really going on. “It’s going to take more than just, ‘Hello, how are you doing?’ to understand that person,” Toonga says. He acknowledges that one of the biggest risks in choreographing Born to Manifest was creating a show that’s “in your face but not attacking you just because, in the piece, you’re the other”. “This piece needs to be in your face,” Toonga adds. “Not in your face in terms of making you feel guilty, just in your face in terms of my experience.” g The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival presents Just Us Dance Theatre and Joseph Toonga’s Born to Manifest on January 25, 26, and 27 at Performance Works on Granville Island.

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

PuSh FEST

Strathcona project inspired by “sniffing around”

by Steve Newton

hen Theatre Replacement’s James Long answers the phone to talk about the company’s latest project, Do you mind if I sit here?, he is taking a break from rehearsals for the PuSh Festival show. With the Omicron variant spreading wildly worldwide, he searches out a quiet corner in the Russian Hall in which he can remove his mask and safely explain that rehearsals are going smoothly. “You know, it’s a funny moment,” he says, “’cause we’re just waiting for somebody to say, ‘Oh, I got a sore throat.’ But, for the moment, everybody’s healthy, everybody’s happy, we’re bangin’ our way through this thing. We’re about two-thirds through the first rehearsal draft, and it’s feeling good. It’s really solid.” As a co-artistic director, along with Maiko Yamamoto, of Theatre Replacement since 2003, Long is a highly respected figure on the Vancouver theatre scene. He and Yamamoto won the coveted Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for directing in 2019. So it seems rather surprising that hear him say that he wasn’t drawn to theatre at a young age and that he’s seen “maybe three musicals” in his entire life.

The inspiration for Theatre Replacement’s Do you mind if I sit here? came when director and cowriter James Long stumbled upon a forgotten cache of industrial films in the Russian Hall.

“It was never about the spectacle,” he says. “It became about the act of performance and the technical study of performance that hooked me into theatre in university, and that slowly migrated into a love of making and directing work.” He didn’t get serious about the art form until he took a theatre class at Simon Fraser University taught by Gina Stockdale, who is one of the performers—along with Kayvon Khoshkam, Pippa Mackie, and Conor Wylie—in Do you mind if I sit here? Long, a former Carleton University journalism student, earned a master’s in urban studies from SFU a couple of years ago. “I’d been making theatre for close to 20 years,” he explains, “and had a bit of ants in my pants, so I decided to look at theatre through a different lens. There’s just so much context involved in making theatre, increasingly, and you can’t really make theatre in a bubble like you used to. I’ve always been much more interested in reflecting on what’s happening directly in the world around me with my work, and that includes working with nonactors and using interview material. “So the interweaving of theatre and direct studies of the urban environment made a lot of sense to me,” he adds. “It makes a lot of sense for Theatre Replacement’s work as well, and makes a lot of sense for this project, which is studying a building in the middle of Strathcona.” The core inspiration for Do you mind if I sit here? was found in a stash of 16mm films 12

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

We’re just waiting for somebody to say, ‘Oh, I got a sore throat.’ – theatre director James Long

that director-cowriter Long and dramaturge-cowriter Marcus Youssef discovered several years back. They were inside the Russian Hall, “sniffing around” during a break from their Theatre Replacement play Winners and Losers, and found several film canisters in a nearby closet. “We were really curious about them,” he says, “so we got a projector and ran them through, and they are industrial films from the USSR, sent to Canada between the ’50s and the ’80s, to essentially try to call the diaspora home. To say, ‘Hey, things are better; Stalin was rough [laughs], but come on back. It’s working.’ And so they sent them to places like the Russian Hall to get folks to say, ‘Oh, lookit, look at industry, look at the medical system, look at the space program. That is a place worth returning to.’ “And that aesthetic of the found material is used in the show: we have enormous projection screens, so we actually

get to see some of this archival material. It also had a deeper conceptual resonance in that this building housed a community of people for close to 80 years—a Russian community, recent immigrants, their children—learning language, learning dances, singing in choirs. “And that’s changing now,” he adds, “as the artists like myself move in and have the audacity to go sniff around in closets when they’re bored. That act of gentrification is also critical to this place, this idea of displacement, and what you do with buildings when the power shifts or the idea of ownership shifts. The piece deals with that question.” Although Do you mind if I sit here? is described as a “multimedia allegory” on the PuSh Festival website, Long isn’t quite sure if that’s the best term to describe it. “You know, we’ve been using fable a little bit. We use a bunch of different words, because we’re not exactly sure of the exact definition. We don’t really know what we’re making yet. We’ll know, hopefully, by closing what it is we made, exactly. But there is a fictional element to it, and fiction isn’t something I normally work inside of—I usually do more docu-type theatre, I guess. And so we’re flirting with the idea of fiction as three planners come into this building 30 years in the future and they discover there’s an impediment, there’s a problem, that they have to deal with before they can truly repurpose it for the community that now wants to use it.” And just what is that problem, that impediment, exactly? “I think I’m gonna keep it a secret,” Long says. “I don’t think it’s in the writeups yet. It’s a human problem. It’s a very human problem that they have to deal with. A problem I think that we’re dealing with all the time in the city and we’re dealing with all the time within the pandemic.” Before donning his protective mask and stepping back into the fray, Long is asked what he hopes people will take away from his latest work. “I just hope people get to say, ‘Gosh, that was nice to sit in a space with people and not feel alarmed or scared about it.’ And who knows what’s gonna be going on—or even if we do get to open. There could be new rules; people could get ill. There’s just so many factors. But I think the more narrative-based answer would be: I hope people look at buildings differently. This piece is responding to this building, but when they drive by another building in town that looks derelict or abandoned or underused, to recognize there’s history in those bones, in the floorboards. These buildings are critical.” g Do you mind if I sit here? has its world premiere at the Russian Hall from January 26 to 29 as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

PuSh FEST

Violette invites new friends to use VR to hear her story by Charlie Smith

JAN

21–23

Beethoven’s Eroica* Fri, Sat, 8pm | Orpheum Sun, 2pm | Orpheum

THIS WEEKEND! Beethoven’s heroic and revolutionary symphony is paired with Sri Lankan-Canadian composer Dinuk Wijerante’s Polyphonic Lively. Plus VSO Principal Flute Christie Reside is featured in Swiss composer Frank Martin’s haunting Ballade.

Christie Reside

Hear it. Feel it. Joe Jack et John’s production of Violette goes beyond a simple stage show by enabling audience members to put on a VR headset to gain insights into neurodiversity. Photo by Michel St-Jean.

hen Montreal-based theatre director Catherine Bourgeois decided several years ago to embark on the stage production of Violette, everyday women were only beginning to speak publicly about their experiences of sexual abuse. The Jian Ghomeshi scandal at CBC Radio was the catalyst back then. The Me Too movement and the accompanying stories of abuse by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein hadn’t yet emerged. Bourgeois, artistic director of Joe Jack et John, was keen to explore an area that spoke to her company’s mandate. Since its founding in 2003, Joe Jack et John has been a leader in promoting inclusivity on and off the stage. So it felt right for Bourgeois to try to shed light on sexual abuse within the neurodiverse community. But how could she do that with neurodiverse cast members in a way that did not turn off audiences because of the sheer horror of what the community has experienced? “For women, it’s between 70 to 90 percent of them that will go through sexual abuse of some sort during their lifetime,” Bourgeois tells the Straight by phone from Montreal. “And for men, it’s about 50 percent. These are the stats from Quebec; I think they are meaningful. I guess they are seen as easy prey.” She adds that with this subject matter, she didn’t feel that it would be appropriate to have someone jump on a stage and project loudly about what they had experienced. Rather, she felt that it deserved a different form. “In the past, we’ve been doing site-specific work,” Bourgeois says. “In the beginning, it was going to be like a show in an apartment—a show in a small place—where

people are kind of invited by a character and come for a tea.” Only after attending a conference in Europe did it dawn upon her that Violette could be offered to individual audience members with the help of virtual reality. At this year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, it’s being presented this way at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre. A neurodiverse actor (Stephanie Boghen in English and Anne Tremblay in French) plays Violette and will invite individuals into a set at the Roundhouse that looks like a bedroom. Violette makes a connection with her guest by asking a couple of questions before the guest sits on the bed and puts on the VR headset. That’s when the filmed version reveals Violette sharing her story without the guest witnessing any disturbing imagery. The VR segment also features a shapeshifting trickster character played by Tamara Brown in both the French and English versions. Ultimately, Bourgeois says, it’s a story of Violette’s resilience. “Because her trauma made her feel less inclined to go out in the street, that’s why she’s inviting what she calls a ‘brand new friend’ to come and listen to her story so she can go past the trauma and be free again,” Bourgeois explains. “So there’s this sharing of this story, but, as well, the main goal is that Violette gets better because she talks about it.” g With support from Théâtre la Seizième, Reel Wheels Theatre, and the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is presenting Joe Jack et John’s Violette in French and English at the Roundhouse from January 26 to January 30.

JAN

Chopin, Fauré & Bologne*

28/29 Fri, Sat, 8pm | Orpheum This (almost) all French concert features award-winning Canadian Chopin specialist Charles Richard-Hamelin in a ravishing program led by Maestro Tausk. Charles Richard-Hamelin

FEB

4/6

Debussy, Satie & Tan Dun Fri, 7pm | Orpheum Sun, 2pm | Orpheum

Discover the colour of music with master French composer/orchestrator Debussy, the playful Erik Satie, and renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun. Andrew Crust

Paul Shaffer Live! FEB

Fri, Sat, 8pm | Orpheum

11/12

Paul Shaffer

Paul Shaffer, former music director to David Letterman, shares symphonic renditions of his favourite pop, R&B, and jazz tunes plus anecdotes and reminiscences from a remarkable career.

*Note: Large symphonic pieces require more musicians on stage. To keep the musicians safe and provide increased physical distancing on stage, the VSO has changed the programming of its Jan 21–23 and Jan 28–29 concerts.

VancouverSymphony.ca JAN 21, 22 MASTERWORKS GOLD SERIES SPONSOR

BROADCAST MEDIA PARTNERS

JAN 23 & FEB 6 SYMPHONY SUNDAYS SERIES SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSOR

604.876.3434

JAN 28, 29, MASTERWORKS DIAMOND SERIES SPONSOR

FEB 11, 12 VSO POPS SERIES SPONSOR

Concerts presented at 50% capacity, in adherence with Provincial Health Orders

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

ARTS

Idan Cohen builds bridges between creative worlds

by Charlie Smith

ancouver choreographer Idan Cohen not only has a love of dance, he also relishes its marriage with memorable music in emotionally charged yet precisely arranged productions. The founder of Ne. Sans Opera & Dance company even made the pianist a character in Hourglass, his exploration of codependency that premiered at the Chutzpah! Festival in 2020, accompanied by four of Philip Glass’s piano études. That pianist, Vancouver Bach Choir music director Leslie Dala, has been one of Cohen’s longtime musical collaborators. Dala is also chorus director of Vancouver Opera. “We are now working on Hourglass as a full-length evening of all 20 études [by

Glass], and that would premiere in the next Chutzpah! Festival in November 2022,” Cohen reveals in a phone interview with the Straight before a rehearsal. They also collaborated on Orfeo ed Euridice, a Vancouver Opera production with Ne. Sans that premiered last month at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. “Les is really one of the most genuine, kindest people I know, besides…being a great musician and a great collaborator,” Cohen says. “We can share ideas or notions coming from very different worlds and then find a common ground that is very fertile and creative.” On January 27, Cohen and Dala will be back together again as part of the Dance

ZERO February 9 − 12, 2022 Scotiabank Dance Centre – 8pm

Dancer Ted Littlemore will perform a solo choreographed by Vancouver’s ever-collaborative Idan Cohen in the Dance Centre’s upcoming Discover Dance! series. Photo by Flick Harrison.

We can share ideas or notions coming from very different worlds. – choreographer Idan Cohen

ENGLISH

S U RTITL ES

seizieme.ca

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

Centre’s Discover Dance! series, along with countertenor Shane Hanson and dancers Ted Littlemore, Will Jessup, and Benjamin Defaria. The event will follow all COVID-19 protocols in accordance with provincial health orders. Cohen says that it’s important to him to work with “kind and genuine people” because the life of an artist involves sharing ideas and exposing things that are sometimes very intimate. “You want to surround yourself with people who get that, with people who appreciate that,” Cohen emphasizes, “and are not just there for different reasons but they are there to go through their own experience and to learn and expand our horizons and our limits—both in an

artistic and personal way.” In the upcoming show, the three dancers will perform four solos from Cohen’s works set to music by George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Glass. The Handel piece will be sung by Hanson. Two of these solos will be newer creations from the extended version of Hourglass that is in development. “I’m still working in the studio these days,” Cohen explains. “So it will be almost like a world premiere of the two solo piano études by Philip Glass. I’m very excited for that.” The other two solos will be from Solo for Orpheus, which premiered at the 2021 Chutzpah! Festival. Cohen emphasizes that all four are solos when you think of them strictly as dance performances. However, he describes them as duets or a trio when they’re viewed as marriages with what Dala and Hanson will bring to the presentations. “Les is on-stage and Shane is part of the choreography, in that sense,” Cohen says. “The musicians on-stage always have a certain presence in the work that we stage at Ne. Sans.” g The Dance Centre presents Ne. Sans Opera & Dance/Idan Cohen at the Scotiabank Dance Centre at noon next Thursday (January 27).

ARTS LISTINGS

ONGOING

SANKOFA: AFRICAN ROUTES, CANADIAN ROOTS Exhibition explores the relationships between traditional and contemporary African art and Black Canadian art. To Mar 27, Museum of Anthropology at UBC. CANOE CULTURES :: HO'-KU-MELH Work of 20 Indigenous artists and carvers curated by Indigenous artist and cultural historian Roxanne Charles. To Jul 3, Vancouver Maritime Museum. $13.50 adults/$11 seniors. SHO ESQUIRO: DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY Solo exhibition by designer, artist, and activist showcases meticulously crafted couture gowns, textiles, paintings, and photographs. To Jun 5, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. STEVEN SHEARER Exhibition curated by Polygon Gallery director Reid Shier marks the first major Canadian survey of Shearer’s work since 2007. To Feb 13,, Polygon Gallery. By donation. CONNIE SABO : INFORMATION + IMPRESSION A sculptural installation created from newspapers that have been twisted into suspended netting and shaped into circular forms. To Feb 4, Pendulum Gallery. Free. YOU ARE HERE 2022 The West Van Arts Council, North Van Arts, and North Shore Culture Compass present artwork of North Shore scenes by 12 artists. To Feb 6, Silk Purse Arts Centre. THE GOLDEN SECTION Exhibition of work by Karin Jones features geometric arrangements made from human hair extensions. To Mar 19, 12-5 pm, Burrard Arts Foundation. Free. YUKON LANDSCAPES Photo exhibition by Caroline Jalbert. To Mar 3, Le Centre Culturel Francophone de Vancouver. Free.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20 PUSH INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL 2022 PuSh is Vancouver’s signature, mid-winter cultural event, taking place each January in theatres and venues across the city. PuSh delivers groundbreaking, contemporary works of theatre, dance, music, and multimedia by acclaimed local, national, and international artists. 2022 PuSh features 12 works from three countries. Jan 20–Feb 6, various Lower Mainland venues. Single tickets from $20. ETERNITY MARTIS: MEET SFU LIBRARY’S 2022 NON-FICTION WRITER IN RESIDENCE Join Eternity Martis and fellow non-fiction author and journalist Kamal Al-Solaylee for an evening of readings and conversation. Jan 20, 6:30 pm, online, sfu.ca. Free.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 21 VSO/SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE Otto Tausk conducts the Vancouver Symphony in a program that features VSO principal flutist Christie Reside in Swiss composer Frank Martin’s haunting Ballade. Jan 21-22, 8 pm; Jan 23, 2 pm, Orpheum Theatre.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 22 CHILLIWACK Canadian rock band led by singerguitarist Bill Henderson. Jan 22, 7:30 pm, Massey Theatre. $55. SNOWED IN COMEDY TOUR Featuring standup comedy by Debra DiGiovanni, Dan Quinn, Pete Zedlacher, and Paul Myrehaug. Jan 22, 8 pm, Vancouver Playhouse. $42.76.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27 DISCOVER DANCE! NE. SANS OPERA & DANCE/ IDAN COHEN The Dance Centre’s Discover Dance! series features the innovative reconnection of music and contemporary dance by Ne. Sans Opera & Dance. Jan 27, 12-1 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $15 ($13 students, seniors).

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28 SOLO FLARE Solo performances by 11 of the Turning Point Ensemble’s musicians. Jan 28-29, 7:30-9:30 pm, Orpheum Annex. $16-36.

VSO/CHOPIN, BERLIOZ, RAVEL & BOLOGNE Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin joins conductor Otto Tausk and the Vancouver Symphony in a program of works by Chopin, Berlioz, Ravel, and Bologne. Jan 28-29, 8 pm, Orpheum Theatre.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29 LACHE CERCEL Vancouver-based musician blends Eastern influences with western musicology to create Roma jazz. Jan 29, 8 pm, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. $15-35.

MONDAY, JANUARY 31 JAZZ FLUTE REIMAGINED Flutist Jeremy Price performs with keyboardist Tilden Webb, bassist Dan Howard , and drummer Nicholas Bracewell. Jan 31, 7-9 pm, Water St. Cafe. $12.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME The White Rock Players' Club presents a heartwarming adventure based on Mark Haddon's bestselling 2003 novel. Feb 2-19, White Rock Players Club. $15-28.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18

SATURDAY, MARCH 12

KDOCSFF 2022: SEEKING TRUTH. WAGING CHANGE. Metro Vancouver's premier social justice film festival celebrates the power of documentary film and activism, showcasing award-winning films, speakers, filmmakers, exhibitors, performances, and community partners. Participants engage in lively discussions, debates, and dialogues as they investigate today's most pressing global issues. Feb 18-27, Online. $5 film or $45 all-access pass.

STEVEN PAGE WITH THE VSO Former Barenaked Ladies frontman performs solo tunes and BNL hits with the Vancouver Symphony, accompanied by guitarist-vocalist Craig Northey of Odds. Mar 12-13, 8 pm, Orpheum Annex. Note: postponed from original dates of Feb 14-15.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 AMIT PELED & NOREEN POLERA The Vancouver Chamber Music Society presents cello and piano duo. Feb 27, 7:30 pm, Anvil Centre. $20-38

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 GRUFF Carousel Theatre presents a family musical about immigration, friendship, sharing, and individuality. Mar 2-20, Waterfront Theatre. $24.

FRIDAY, MARCH 4 WOMEN OF NOTE Director Alexander Weimann and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra perform musical gems by women composers. Mar 4, 7:30 pm, Christ Church Cathedral. From $32.25.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 HEY VIOLA! Vancouver singer and actress Krystle Dos Santos stars in a one-woman musical based on the life of Black activist Viola Desmond. Mar 16-27, Anvil Centre. $25-35 (plus service charges).

THURSDAY, MARCH 17 MADE IN ITALY The Arts Club Theatre Company presents a play about a second-generation Italian teen struggling to find his place in Jasper, Alberta. Mar 17–Apr 17, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. Note: postponed from original dates of Jan 13 to Feb 13. Tix from $35. ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the eventsubmission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don't make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

Op To enin da g y

SHAUN MAJUMDER, THE LOVE TOUR Comedian and actor performs his newest standup show. Feb 3, 7:30 pm, Massey Theatre. $56.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4 THE STORY OF THE MADRIGAL Vocalists of Profeti della Quinta trace the evolution of the madrigal from the early masterworks of Cipriano de Rore to Claudio Monteverdi’s revolutionary innovations. Feb 4, 7:30 pm, Christ Church Cathedral. From $32.25. MAYDAY: LA GODDAM VOIE LACTÉE Performance by Montreal’s Mélanie Demers as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Feb 4-6, 8 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $37.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5 LUNARFEST WELCOMES THE YEAR OF THE TIGER In-person festival celebrating the Year of the Tiger, filled with crafts workshops, fortune telling, and cultural stories. Feb 5-6, 11 am–6 pm, šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square, Vancouver Art Gallery.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6 KALLACI STRING TRIO The Vancouver Chamber Music Society presents Korean trio composed of violinist Yoojin Jang, violist Hanna Lee, and cellist Joonho Shim. Feb 6, 7:30 pm, Anvil Centre. $20-38 (plus service charges). LUCY YEGIAZARVAN & GRANT STEWART New York City jazz artists Lucy Yeghiazaryan and Grant Stewart perform with Vancouver's Chris Gestrin on piano, John Lee on bass, and Jesse Cahill on drums. Feb 6, 8-9:30 pm, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Inperson $30-35, stream $15.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7 ADVANCE THEATRE FESTIVAL Dramatic readings over five nights of five new plays written and directed by diverse, under-represented theatre artists. Feb 7-11, 8 pm, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. In-person $30-35, stream $15.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11 JAZZ @ THE 'BOLT Three-day jazz spectacular in Burnaby featuring musicians from Vancouver and across North America. Feb 11-13, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. $35-$100.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15 JUST FOR LAUGHS VANCOUVER Comedy festival features performances by Trevor Noah, John Mulaney, Andrew Schulz, Ronny Chieng, Nicole Byer, Marc Maron, Maria Bamford, Bob the Drag Queen, Natasha Leggero, Moshe Kasher, Jimmy O. Yang, Chris Redd, and Janeane Garofalo. Feb 15-27, various Vancouver venues.

VOX.INFOLD

RUBY SINGH (VANCOUVER)

This ensemble vocal performance features rich, varied, and supremely evocative compositions, as well as sound design so immersive that the music can be felt as well as heard. JAN 20-23, 25-30 | LOBE STUDIO PRESENTED WITH INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL

BORN TO MANIFEST

JOSEPH TOONGA OF JUST US DANCE THEATRE (UK)

Laced with krump, popping, and martial arts styles, Joseph Toonga’s dance performance is a kinetic expression of defiance, with racial identity as the site of both oppression and pride. JAN 25-27 | PERFORMANCE WORKS & SELECT ONLINE PRESENTATIONS

CAPITALISM WORKS FOR ME! TRUE/FALSE STEVE LAMBERT (USA)

Capitalism: what has it done for you lately? This interactive installation project requires nothing from participants but the push of a button and an honest personal reckoning. Have your say! JAN 20–24 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY CENTRAL BRANCH PRESENTED WITH THE VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY & LIVING THINGS FESTIVAL

Jan 20 - Feb 6, 2022

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

PUSH FESTIVAL .CA

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

CHILL.

Enjoy stress-free reading without the noise on CreatorNews.

ARTS | CULTURE | LIFESTYLE ,QWURGXFLQJ WKH ŦUVW QHZV DJJUHJDWRU GHGLFDWHG WR WKH DUWV JOREDO FXOWXUH OLIHVW\OH DQG FUHDWLYH QHZV /HDYH GLYLVLYH SROLWLFV FULPH DQG IDNH QHZV EHKLQG ZLWK H[SHUWO\ FXUDWHG UHOD[LQJ UHDGV

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

MUSIC / SAVAGE LOVE

One percenters put their music legacies on the line

by Mike Usinger

he COVID-19 pandemic might have laid waste to music industry on a grassroots level, but it continues to be great news for one percenters like Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. All three cashed in big time in 2021 by selling their back catalogs for millions. And by millions, we’re not talking numbers like 10, 20 or 30, but instead eyepopping megabucks. As reported in Rolling Stone by former Forbes editor Zack O’Malley Greenburg, Springsteen earned a decidely un-blue collar-like US$590 million in 2021, with all but $40 million of that coming from selling both his master recordings and publishing copyrights to Sony. Simon off-loaded his back catalog last year to Sony for US$260 million, with the deal including both solo work and recordings made as part of Simon & Garfunkel. Originally part of the Los Angeles punk scene, the Red Hot Chili Peppers took home US$140 million by selling its catalog to UK investment and song management company Hipgnosis. Sunset Strip hair metal survivor Mötley Crüe meanwhile proved they aren’t as dumb as they look by turning over their master recordings to BMG for $95 million. For the curious, not everyone who made megamillions in 2021 did it by signing away their life’s work. Jay-Z’s financial empire grew by US$470 million after selling 50 percent of his Armand de Brignac champagne company to the luxury-brandfixated conglomerate LVMH, and then cashing out 80 percent of his stake in the streaming service Tidal. The man formerly known as Kanye West and Yeezy—and still famous as Rap’s Biggest Jackass—meanwhile saw his bank ac-

Bruce Springsteen made enough in 2021 to keep him in blue-collar shirts. Photo by Danny Clinch.

count grow by US$250 million, that thanks largely to his Ye-brand footwear business. But it’s the back-catalog business that’s of most interest here. Top artists have been signing away their work for reasons tied into taxes (royalty cheques have a bigger bite taken out of them than the capital gains made by selling one’s catalog of songs). Sign the rights to your life work away, and you come out ahead at tax time. But— and this can be huge—you no longer have a say in how your songs are used. One of Johnny Cash’s greatest accomplishments was that he never suffered the indignity of seeing “Ring of Fire” used in an ad for Louisiana Hot Sauce, Patak’s Lime Pickle, or Professor Phardtpounders Colon Cleaner. (As an interesting side note, a Florida-based ad agency lobbied

hard in 2004 to use “Ring of Fire” in an ad for hemorrhoid ointment, to which Cash’s daughter Roseanne stated “It’s a painful love song, most definitely not written for hemorrhoids.”). Once upon a time, there was a stigma to using one’s work to help hawk automobiles, beer, hamburgers, or processed cheese. In some ways the needle has moved a bit on that today thanks to the likes of Iggy Pop, whose street-cred rating remains a blue-chip one. Recall, if you will, the former Stooge’s drug-addiction-ode “Lust For Life” being used in a Royal Caribbean Cruises commercial (thus sparking the Onion story “Song About Heroin Used To Advertise Bank”). And while four-out-of-five idiot Android users will likely disagree, Apple’s iPhone has earned endless cool points for

spotlighting artists that aren’t so much under the radar as right off it. Admit it— despite the best efforts of Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youth, you’d never actually heard a Daniel Johnston song until “Story of an Artist” was used by Apple in 2018. But whether you’re talking Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Runaway” surfacing in a Calvin Klein ad, the Knife’s “Heartbeats” selling Bravia TVs, or Matt & Kim’s “Daylight” popping up in a Bacardi ad, those placements were green-lighted by the artists who wrote the songs. Springsteen, Simon, the Peppers, and even Mötley Crüe are about to discover that every deal has a very possible, and possibly horrific, downside. Imagine being the Boss of everything for the better part of six decades, and then suddenly being faced with hearing “Ramrod” in a Viagra commercial. Or “Tunnel of Love” soundtracking a Tampax ad. Or “I’m on Fire” in a spot for Anusol. Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away” is pretty much guaranteed to appear in an Astroglide ad, and Mötley Crüe probably deserves the indignity of hearing “Flush” when it’s inevitably used to hawk Charmin toilet paper. As for the Peppers, the possibilities are endless for “I Like Dirt”: get in line Coit carpet cleaners, Hoover vacuums, Lysol Kitchen Wipes, and Huggies diapers. With touring—and all the economic benefits that come from it—still mostly off the table at the beginning of 2022, the music industry might be in tatters, but a whole new world has opened up for the one percenters. Somewhere Johnny Cash is laughing, and not just because he never had to hear “The Blizzard” in a Head & Shoulders, Dairy Queen, or Uncut Organic Columbian Cocaine™ commercial. g

Spanking confusion fixed with a bi proclamation by Dan Savage

b I’M A STRAIGHT guy but my whole life I have wanted to be spanked by older men. Does this make any sense? Because I’m confused. I don’t like or want penis. Yet I want to be spanked as a punishment by men. I don’t understand myself sometimes. - Sincerely Pondering And Not Knowing

Give in to spanking instead of worrying about your curiosity. Photo by Light Field Studios.

The truly important question here isn’t why you want this, SPANK, but how much more time you’re gonna waste sitting on your ass wondering why you want this when you could be out there getting that ass spanked? And even if you came up with a neat and tidy answer, you’re still gonna want older men to spank you. Because getting to the bottom of a kink—

identifying some childhood trauma that explains everything—isn’t a cure. Instead of seeing the spankings you want as a riddle you need to solve, you should see them as a reward for all the wondering you’ve had to do. If you need a label, SPANK, just say you’re bisexual for spankings. Not bi for blowjobs, not bi for anal, not bi for JO or mutual masturbation. Just bi for spankings. b I LIKE THE way you walk the talk because gay guys in women’s clothes get me hard and horny and when I see a gay guy dressed in sexy clothing it just makes me want to jerk off and maybe one day I’ll meet a gay guy like you and

suck and blow him.

- Gooning About Gay Guys In Naughty Gowns

Articles of clothing don’t have genders, GAGGING, because anyone can wear anything, as Billy Porter was sent down to Earth to teach us. Also, not all gowns are naughty—think night, hospital, dressing, et cetera. That said, GAGGING, I don’t wear the kind of clothing the cishet patriarchy would have us believe is for women alone. Well, I don’t wear that stuff anymore. I used to drag, GAGGING, and the pictures are out there, but I haven’t worn so much as a skirt for years. So you can stop thinking about sucking my dick.

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

see next page

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

from previous page

to push your views on others? Many of us consider lying about cheating reprehensible! And the last sentence of your response (“I hope there were other women”) was astonishingly juvenile, meanspirited, and vindictive—and for what reason? To take sides against a clearly tormented heterosexual woman! Disgusting and shameful!

b I’M HOPING TO get an objective POV on something. I’m a 31-year-old male bottom. I have been in an open relationship with an amazing 31-year-old male top for 12 years. One year ago, I started to suffer some gender dysphoria. At roughly the same time, he expressed a desire to be topped. I never had any desire to top someone; I’ve never even felt that male urge to thrust my hips, but I hate that I’ve let my BF down. I can do this, but only with the help of ED meds. How can I get some pleasure out of it?

- Thoroughly Appalling Take Enrages Reader

- Topping Burden

your BF with toys, or you could take one (or give one) for the team once in a while (by taking ED meds and topping him), or your boyfriend could bottom for other men, seeing as your relationship is already open. Or all of the above. And if it’s the thrusting and/or being in control that turns you off (or tweaks your gender dysphoria), take an ED med and let your boyfriend ride your hard dick—then instead of you fucking him, he’ll be fucking himself. Power bottom, sub top!

You could penetrate

b I’M WONDERING HOW A J, the FinDom you quoted at length in your most recent column, wound up on your radar and getting what amounted to free advertising in your column. You said he lives in the Pacific Northwest. Isn’t that where you live, Dan? And you said his bathroom is always spotlessly clean. How would you know that? Are you his bathroom? - Dan’s Ethics Are Lacking

I’ve never met A J in person, there’s more than one city in the Pacific Northwest (and we don’t live in the same one), and I found A J looking for gay FinDoms on Twitter who might want to answer CASHFAG’s question. That said, DEAL, while I’m far too cheap to be anyone’s finsub (or their sugar daddy, for that matter), I do enjoy cleaning bathrooms—but not in a pervy way. I enjoy cleaning bathrooms in an eat-an-

Just because a reader is most comfortable being a bottom doesn’t mean they can’t have fun as a top with some toys or, if they are needed, even a little help from ED meds. Photo by Vlad Orlov.

edible-and-listen-to-musicals-and-zoneout-doing-housework-while-the-husbandand-his-boyfriend-are-at-the-gym sort of way. So, while I wouldn’t necessarily say no to cleaning A J’s bathroom, I haven’t been asked, DEAL, and, consequently, haven’t had the pleasure. b THIS IS ABOUT your recent response to UNCUT, the guy who met men who believed they were uncut when they were very much cut. You suggested that these men were lying about being uncircumcised. But not knowing might be more common than we assume. This is from Epidemiology, the authoritative textbook written by Leon Gordis of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health: “They asked a group of men whether or not they had been circumcised. The men were then examined by a physician. Of the 56 men who stated they were circumcised, 19, or 33.9%, were found to be uncircumcised. Of the 136 men who stated they were not circumcised, 47, or 34.6% were found to be circumcised. These data demonstrate that the findings from studies using interview data may not always be clear-cut.” - Some Truly Are Thrown

that men lie to prospective sex partners all the time—and, yes, #NotAllMen and #SomeWomenToo—it turns out that men may not be lying about this. In addition to the textbook example you shared, STAT, other readers sent along a clip of Patrick Stewart on the Graham Norton Show. In it, Stewart tells Norton he got into an argument with his wife about his dick one day. He insisted he was circumcised, she insisted he was not. Stewart, who thought he knew his own dick, followed up with his doctor and it turned out his wife, who may have had a larger frame of reference, was correct: contrary to what Stewart believed about his own dick, he was not circumcised as an infant or at any time in his life. The clip, which is easy to find on YouTube (and very funny), is yet more evidence—anecdotal, in Stewart’s case—that some men don’t know from their own dicks.

While it’s true

b In your reply to “SADSON” you are clearly taking sides based on how comfortable you must be about withholding the truth from a partner. You say the father should have “kept his mouth shut” about the affair he had! You know nothing about this couple’s values and decisions! Who are you

President www.amvideoclassifiedsglobal.com the world’s first virtual home show platform with 600 virtual home show platforms online in 15 North American countries is pleased to announce that Mr. Peter Koulouris, Business Reporter, Display Ads and Video Sales has joined our team in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

https://vancouver.amvideoclassifieds.com Peter has the ability to host a video with passion and excitement. We provide all advertisers with a copy of the video for their own use, plus post their business profile and video on our Vancouver virtual home show platform. If in the market for a well-crafted, well polished high quality business interview with a compelling script, and a truthful and compelling message that pulls the heart strings and makes you shout "Yes, I agree – I would love to shop in that store!"

please contact Peter at 604-825-8436 or email peter@amvideoclassiﬁedsglobal.com GEORGIA STRAIGHT JUNE 25JANUARY – JULY 2 / 20 2020 2 THETHE 18 GEORGIA STR AIGHT – 27 / 2022

Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. Email: questions@savagelove.net. Columns, podcasts, books, merch, and more at www.savage.love!

Employment EMPLOYMENT

APPOINTMENT Mr. Ken Meiklejohn,

This is an advice column, TATER. People send in questions; I answer those questions. So, I’m not pushing my views on anyone here. I’m sharing my views. That’s literally my job. And I’m not the first advice columnist to urge a cheater to withhold the truth from a partner: “The adulterer who wants to ‘set everything right’ by telling all would be better advised to keep his mouth shut and work out his guilt by behaving in a more thoughtful, loving, considerate way and stay out of other beds in the future.” That’s from the Ann Landers Encyclopedia, which was published in 1978. (Ann assumes all adulterers are male; I guess she could also be accused of “taking sides.”) In the case of SADSON’s parents, TATER, don’t you think SADSON’s mom would’ve been happier if her husband had taken Ann Landers’s advice and kept his fucking mouth shut? Instead, SADSON’s dad told SADSON’s mom about the affair he’d had a decade after it was over. So it wasn’t the affair that tormented SADSON’s mom, but knowing about it. As for my snarky postscript (“I hope there were other women”), SADSON’s mom has made her husband’s life a daily living hell for 30 years. Why? Because he fucked somebody else 40 years ago. I don’t know about you, TATER, but I think the punishment should fit the crime. And there’s only one way that’s possible here: more crimes, lots of crimes, so many crimes. g

Careers

Domb Enterprises Inc.

o/a Basil Pasta Bar is looking for Cooks. Perm, F/T, Shifts, Weekends Wage: $19.00 /hour. Min. 1-2 years of exp., good English, high school education Main duties: Prepare and cook complete meals; Portion, arrange, and garnish food; Operate various kitchen appliances; Oversee kitchen operations and train new kitchen staff; Supervise and co-ordinate kitchen helpers; Assist other cooks; Keep food preparation areas clean; Maintain inventory and records of food, supplies and equipment. Job location and business address: 636 Davie St., Vancouver BC V6B 2G5 Please apply by e-mail: Job@basilpastabar.com

Mr. Max Roofing Ltd.

SV Business Group Inc.

is HIRING experienced Roofers and Waterproofers. Greater Vancouver, Perm, F/T, $27.00 per hour. Job duties: Install, repair roofing systems, lay new roofing materials, Install insulation, sheet metal flashings, set up vapor barriers and vents, Build, repair single-ply roofing system, Install, repair metal roofs, Install roofing tiles, Apply waterproof coatings, Use SBS modified bitumen membrane/hot torch, Use hand and power tools and other equipment. Follow safety rules. Requirements: Exp. 2-3 years, good English, high school. Company’s business address: #15-2922 East Kent Ave South, Vancouver BC, V5S 0G6

o/a SV Yachts & Boats is seeking a Marine Mechanic. F/T, Perm, $34.00 /hour Main duties: Review work tasks with the Manager; Identify mechanical and electrical problems; Test parts and components; Adjust, repair or replace mechanical parts and components; Perform routine maintenance work; Install equipment and machinery on marine vessels; Use testing equipment and specialized repair tools; Report to the Manager and prepare documentation. Requirements: High school, Good English, Completion of apprenticeship program or over 4 years of work exp. Business address and job location: 5908 Marine Dr. West Vancouver, BC V7W 2S2

Please apply by e-mail:

employment.maxroofing@gmail.com

hr.svbg@gmail.com

MANSION one

Mind EMPLOYMENT Body & Soul

EMPLOYMENT Personals

Support Groups

Bodywork

A MDABC peer-led support group is a safe place to share your story, your struggles and accomplishments, and to listen to others as they share similar concerns. Please Note: Support groups are not intended to provide counselling/therapy. Please visit www.mdabc.net for a list & location of support groups or call 604-873-0103 for info.

HOT Filipino/East Indian Lady Burnaby & Vancouver. In/Out calls & All hotel service Mina 604-512-3243 No Text!

Newly Renovated. New management & staff. Validated parking at rear. Outcall + male massuese avail. Pls. call for Appt. & Details.

Massage

Call 604-568-2248

Battered Women's Support Services provides free daytime & evening support groups (Drop-ins & 10 week groups) for women abused by their intimate partner. Groups provide emotional support, legal information & advocacy, safety planning, and referrals. For more information please call: 604-687-1867 Heart of Richmond - AIDS Society operates a confidential support group for persons with HIV/AIDS, or persons affected (family, friends or care givers) by the disease. For info - 604-277-5137 www.heartofrichmond.com IBD Virtual Support Group Suffer from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis? Living with inflammatory bowel disease can be overwhelming, but you're not alone! The Gastrointestinal Society holds a free IBD support group via Zoom on the 3rd Wed of each month at 7:00 pm. Patients, families, and caregivers are welcome. For more information, email info@badgut.org. Is your life affected by someone else's drug use? Nar-Anon Family Group Meeting. Call the Volunteer 24hr Information line at 604-878-8844 for a list of meeting locations and times. (This number is not monitored)

www.naranonbc.com Nar-Anon 604-878-8844

Men Seeking Women

Mature, employed gentlemen is looking for a girlfriend. Hobbies are singing, dancing and making videos. Please call Kevin at 604-291-9364

Gay EMPLOYMENT Personals Massage

MAN TO MAN BODYWORK with Jim. Vaccinated! www.Handsomehands.ca

YOUR AD HERE

To place a classified ad call 604.730.7000 or email

g_cohen@straight.com

No charge for the room, only pay the tip!

$10 - $20

OFF with this ad

10am - midnight • 7 days

604.568.5255 3-3003 KINGSWAY @ RUPERT

TOKYO Body

604.256.4568

$180 / 7 HRS (Only $25/HR) $67 (Tip inc.) 2 for 1 Free

604

438-8979

101-5623, Imperial St. BBY (Across Macpherson Ave) PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER.

10am m - 10pm

BEST BES S RELAXATION

NOW HIRING

GRAND OPENING WEST SIDE ◆ Luxury Rooms ◆ Best Massage ◆ Best Service $100/30 mins

115-511 West 7th Ave.Van. 604.423.5880 Companion

604-957-1030

MING, Nice & Mature. GENTLEMEN

DISCREET ATTRACTIVE MATURE EUROPEAN LADY OFFERS DELIGHTFUL RELAXATION SESSIONS.

604-451-0175 www.EuropeanLady.ca

Celebrating 25 Years! Best Experience! Best Service! Best Choice! Steam Room & Infra Red Sauna. 2525 Arbutus Street Van.

604-738-3302

NOW HIRING

BEST MASSAGE ♦ BEST SERVICES

I am FULLY VACCINATED and carefully resuming my availability.

20 Sex Dolls 1/2 Price 100cm - $290 135cm - $590 170cm - $980

872 Seymour St. Downtown, Vancouver

$80/30 min (incl. tips)

604.568.1112 7 DAYS 10AM -11PM

5 VISITS - 1 FREE 10 VISITS - 3 FREE

$10 Off!

HIRING

with this ad

zmadultdoll.ca

cash

e-transfer

378 E.5 Ave. N/Van • 9AM-9PM th

NEW OWNER + NEW GIRLS! HIRING

EAST VANCOUVER

spa

FREE Parking at Rear •

Massage

NOW

ĂŶĂĚƵ

604.998.4885

JANUARY SALE!

NEW MANAGEMENT!

5281 VICTORIA DR.

ADULT SEX DOLL

8263 Oak St. Van

Welcoming Old & New Clients!

Dating Services

Personal EMPLOYMENT Services

PROMO

Totally Renovated!

Professional EMPLOYMENT Services

Lonely? Don't Give up! Date Local Russian & Ukrainian Ladies 604-805-1342

BIRTHDAY

emax ax MA MASS MASSAGE S AGE E

Join a FREE YWCA Single Mothers support group in your local community. Share information, experiences and resources. Child care is provided for a nominal fee. For information call 604-895-5789 or Email: smacdonald@ywcavan.org

Milano Dating Services

Green Spa

-Too Many calls! WE NEED YOU! What we're looking for: *Must be nineteen plus *Must have a valid photo ID *Must be attractive, outgoing, healthy, reliable and very hygienic *Newcomers and students are welcome WHAT WE OFFER Cash paid Calls every shift Smaller staff so you are a priority Security and client screening All female support staff Flexible scheduling Personal Driver Booking /Advertising ON CALL FROM HOME We will take care of your photos, and advertising and much more. No Hidden Fees, and a very fair commission structure. Please reply with: photos, previous experience (if any, but not necessary) & contact number to arrange an interview or you can simply text us with your info at lovemyjobgmail.com / 604-518-1990 Looking forward to speaking with you soon!

✁

Anorexics & Bulimics Anonymous 12 Step based peer support program which addresses the mental, emotional, & spiritual aspects of disordered eating Tuesdays @ 7 pm @ Avalon Women's Centre 5957 West Blvd - 604-263-7177

Your agency slow? We are BUSY

✄

AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS Does someone else's drinking bother you? Al-Anon can help. We are a support group for those who have been affected by another's drinking problem. For more information please call: 604-688-1716

Spa

Text David 778.956.9686

$28 / 50mins (FREE HOT STONE)

Stay Connected @GeorgiaStraight

FREE

BIRTHDAY MASSAGE

8642 Granville & 71 Ave., Van. 10AM MIDNIGHT

604-568-6601

I SPA THE REAL RELAXATION PLACE ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ SWEET YOUNG INTERNATIONAL GIRLS (100% 19+)

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 10AM - 10 PM

604.568.9238

(HIRING) / AIR-CONDITIONED

#3-3490 Kingsway

NEAR TYNE ST. NEXT DOOR TO SUBWAY

604.436.3131 w w w.greatpharaoh.com

5-3490 Kingsway, Van. NEWLY RENOVATED! E S T A B L I S H E D 19 9 3 HIRING: 778.893.4439

JULY 2 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT19 3 JANUARY JUNE 20 – 25 27 – / 2022 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

Vancouver's First Retail Cannabis Store

Student Sundays [19+] Open every day from 9AM to 11PM 2868 4th Ave. W Kitsilano (604) 900 1714 Evergreen Cannabis is a private retailer of legal, non medical cannabis. You must be 19 years of age or older to purchase cannabis. ID is checked on premises. 20

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

JANUARY 20 – 27 / 2022

The Georgia Straight - Born to Manifest - January 20, 2022

Articles inside

HEALTH

HOUSING

ARTS

DANCE

BOOKS

OUTSIDE

THEATRE

ARTS