The Georgia Straight - Home Survival Guide - April 2, 2020 by The Georgia Straight

FREE | APRIL 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 9 / 2020

Volume 54 | Number 2723

ISOLATION DIARIES

How creatives cope

KEEPING KIDS BUSY

Solutions for parents

Home Survival Guide How to design your space in ways to ward off cabin fever

STREAM AID 2020

LIQUOR NERD

GLACIER FINANCIALS

FITNESS

CONTENTS

April 2-9 / 2020

COVER

Wondering what you can do to stay well while stuck all day inside your home? Interior designers are here to help—and they have research. By Janet Smith Cover illustration by Mark “Atomos” Pilon

REAL ESTATE

The COVID-19 pandemic has provinces rushing to ban evictions and a planner pondering what’s next for cities. By Charlie Smith and Carlito Pablo

ESPORTS

Stars ranging from Joe Jonas to Richard Sherman were quick to mobilize for a world that can use some help. By Mike Usinger

e Online TOP 5

e Start Here 6 ARTS 9 BEER 9 CANNABIS 9 CONFESSIONS 5 EDUCATION 3 FINANCE 8 FOOD 7 HEALTH 9 I SAW YOU 10 MUSIC 3 NEWS 11 SAVAGE LOVE 4 STYLE 10 TELEVISION 8 WINE

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

1 2 3 4 5

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 54 | Number 2723 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 T: 604.730.7000 F: 604.730.7010 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com

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Robson Street shops board up amid spike in break and enters. Wanted: 37-year-old high-risk offender leaves halfway house. Food stylist, writer, and broadcaster Nathan Fong dies. Here’s how to clean your smartphone during the pandemic. Businesses that are still open to serve you (but at a distance).

GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight

PUBLISHER Brian Kalish

SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Jeff Li

FOUNDING PUBLISHER Dan McLeod

DIGITAL COORDINATOR Jon Cranny

SECTION EDITORS Janet Smith (Arts/Entertainment/Style) Brian Lynch (Books) Mike Usinger (eSports/Liquor/Music)

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Mike Correia

EDITOR Charlie Smith

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Miguel Hernandez SALES DIRECTOR Tara Lalanne

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Glenn Cohen, Robyn Marsh, Manon Paradis, David Pearlman

SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Gail Johnson (Health/Food/Wine) John Lucas (Cannabis)

CONTENT AND MARKETING SPECIALIST Rachel Moore CIRCULATION MANAGER Giles Roy

STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) Craig Takeuchi

CREDIT MANAGER Shannon Li ACCOUNTING SUPERVISOR Tamara Robinson

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2 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020

REAL ESTATE

Tenant solutions draw landlords’ ire

by Charlie Smith

n online petition calling for the elimination of housing costs attracted more than 700,000 signatures before the Straight went to the printer. The petition was launched by Joseph Rutherford in response to the devastating effect that COVID-19 is having on Canada. “Our federal government should act in a similar fashion to Italy’s and mandate the suspension of rent and mortgage payments during the Coronavirus pandemic,” he wrote on change.org. It was launched before Alberta joined a growing list of Canadian provinces that have imposed more restrictions on landlords during the COVID-19 pandemic. Premier Jason Kenney has announced that nobody could be tossed out of their homes for nonpayment of rent or utilities before May 1. Kenney also froze rents while Alberta’s state of emergency remains in effect and declared that late fees cannot be imposed on tenants over the next three months. “We are expecting landlords and tenants to work together to figure out payment plans that help everyone meet financial obligations as we manage COVID-19, and we are doing further policy work on support for renters during these tough times,” Kenney said. This announcement came on the same day that the federal Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer outlined a COVID-19 scenario in which the unemployment rate could rise to 15 percent in the third quarter of 2020. B.C. premier John Horgan and Manitoba premier Brian Pallister also announced freezes on annual rent increases, effective April 1, for those whose livelihoods have been affected by COVID-19. In addition, Horgan pledged a moratorium on evictions until the COVID-19 pandemic had been brought under control, except when there were safety issues involved. And B.C. Housing will provide up to $500 per month for three months in rent subsidies for tenants with low to moderate incomes. In Manitoba, Pallister postponed all non-urgent eviction hearings until May 31. The governments of Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Yukon—as well as the Prince Edward Island Housing Corporation and Northwest Territories Housing Corporation—have also suspended evictions in almost all cases due to coronavirusrelated economic challenges. Ontario has postponed inperson Landlord and Tenant Board hearings. The B.C. measures have received blowback from landlords. The Goodman Report, a newsletter written by realestate agents Mark Goodman and Cynthia Jagger, maintained that if landlords defer payments to fi nancial institutions, it “will cost landlords more without

Most provinces and territories in Canada have responded to the COVID crisis by suspending or postponing evictions.

allowing any way to offset the income lost”. “Additionally, while we can appreciate that the rent supplement of $500 will be paid directly to the landlord to ensure receipt of rent, in our market it’s unlikely that this will be enough to compensate for the losses from a protracted rent increase freeze,” the newsletter states. “Further, it’s disappointing that the Province so far offers landlords no way to recoup losses other than the recommendation that banks should allow them to defer mortgage payments,” it adds. “So far this isn’t policy but merely a recommendation lacking teeth. “Finally, as we all know but the Province hasn’t acknowledged, a mortgage deferral comes with compounded interest. Landlords simply don’t get out of paying the mortgage, any more than they get out of paying property tax or operating expenses such as insurance and utilities.” The Vancouver Tenants Union (VTU), on the other hand, doesn’t think that the B.C. government has gone far enough. It is asking tenants to post their concerns using the hashtag #BCRentCrisis because renters “can’t count on every landlord being voluntarily understanding or charitable at this time”. In the past, the VTU has advocated for vacancy control, which would limit annual allowable rent increases to the unit, even after it is vacated, rather than to individual tenants. Landlord B.C. and the Urban Development Institute, which represents developers, vehemently fought that idea, saying it would stymie the construction of new apartments. Vacancy control was not recommended by the NDP government’s B.C. Rental Housing Task Force in its December 2018 report. g

Planner ponders post-COVID cities

by Carlito Pablo

obert Barrs and his wife and their three-year-old son live next to a park in Vancouver. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the young boy liked to go out and play with other kids at the playground in the park. Now there’s a caution tape wrapped around the recreation area. The city has closed playgrounds to promote social distancing and stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. “He finds that quite frustrating, and we have to explain it to him; and it’s funny: he’s able to absorb it and get it,” Barrs told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. When Barrs looks at the empty playground and other deserted public spaces, he sees it not only with the eyes of a parent but also those of an urbanist. Barrs is a principal with the Vancouver-based Modus, an urbanplanning and public-engagement company. He is a former president of Smart Growth B.C., a nonprofit dedicated to environmentally responsible land use and development. According to Barrs, it is unfortunate that the pandemic is happening at a time when cities like Vancouver have been making progress in designing urban areas. Barrs said that there had been advances in building cities for “high-quality density and livability and for mobility as well as active transportation”. “The images, and just kind of driving around, you see these fairly desolate open spaces now, and the first thing that goes through my mind is that it’s a shame that we may lose some of that momentum that we’ve been building up over the last 20 or so years and done so well in the city and in this region,” he said.

Barrs explained that as part of urbanism, planners have been encouraging people to congregate and develop a “collective human experience” as they live in compact cities. “I guess social distancing is really the antithesis of urbanism, in a way,” Barrs said. A big question is whether the effects of the pandemic on how cities are thought about will be long lasting or just temporary, until the development of a vaccine or immunity in the population. Barrs wondered if public-health risks posed by pandemics will shake fundamental premises about the value of dense and amenity-rich communities. “We build complete communities, in part, because it improves the efficiency and viability of public transit and transportation of all kinds,” he said. “It cuts down on the number of cars.” Now that a lot of people are working at home, which Barrs thinks will last in the short term, there is less need to travel at all. According to Barrs, the need for transit-oriented developments might be “diminished”, although it will not be gone completely. Barrs has some suggestions on how cities can build resilience to pandemics. One of them is improved Internet infrastructure. Barrs and his colleagues at Modus have been working at home, and he noted that their video conferences are sometimes breaking up, probably because of the sudden strain on the Internet system. “We’re craving for interactions, and we are able to get quite a sense of interaction through online video conferences,” he said. “It doesn’t completely replace being in a room with somebody and interacting with somebody, but it does partially replace it.”

In light of empty grocery shelves, Barrs also suggested that cities should think about ensuring supply of commodities, especially food. “I think we’re going to be rethinking basic local manufacturing and local supply chains as much as we can, or at least building some more resilience into those supply chains to make sure that if one place or port goes down, if a particular trading route is blocked or choked, then we’ve got alternatives that are readily available,” Barrs said. Barrs added that this may require having to “localize and regionalize some manufacturing and distribution”. “That would increase our resilience as a region and as a city,” he said. Another suggestion from Barrs is developing contingency plans to support emergency service workers during crises like pandemics. Such plans will allow frontline workers to have access to basic needs “so that they can keep doing that work”. “If the stores are empty when they go into a store, they have very little time to go a second time,” Barrs said. Barrs thinks that cities will be able to move beyond the immediate crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “In part, it will be temporary, because I don’t think we have a lot of choice,” he said. Barrs noted that one option could be decentralizing cities into “smaller communities” or even building “more suburbia”. “But even within those kind of communities, you’re still coming into contact with people,” Barrs said. “And so it’s not really a solution for pandemics and contagion generally.” Barrs is confident that cities will be able to weather the crisis and become stronger and more resilient to pandemics. “We’ll come back, and cities will remain viable,” he said. g

NEWS

FINANCE

Summer wood-burning to be illegal Glacier Media set for tax fight as shares flounder

by Carlito Pablo

owadays, most fireplaces are powered by gas, but there are some that use wood. Wood-burning fireplaces and similar appliances like stoves affect air quality, which is a major concern in the Lower Mainland. Because of this, the Metro Vancouver regional government is moving forward with regulations to control wood burning inside homes. Starting in 2021, it will be illegal to use wood-burning fireplaces and stoves between May 15 and September 15. Violators could be fined $10,000 for each day in contravention. The prohibition is the first phase of a three-stage implementation of rules that will eventually phase out appliances that do not meet emission standards, with a few exceptions. “The phased requirements would start with restrictions on the use of wood-burning appliances in the warm season and culminate in requiring the use of cleaner wood-burning appliances and other low-emission technologies in urban areas, except during emergencies and for low-income households or where wood-burning appliances are the sole source of heat,” Roger Quan, Metro Vancouver’s director of air-quality policy and climate change, wrote in a recent report. On Friday (March 27) the Metro Vancouver’s board adopted recommendations in Quan’s report. Metro Vancouver chair Sav Dhaliwal explained that wood-burning appliances are a significant source of fine particulate matter, which poses risks to people with respiratory and heart issues. “People with asthma and other issues have a difficult time when you have wood-burning appliances nearby,” Dhaliwal told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. This doesn’t mean that all wood-

by Charlie Smith

Wood-burning fireplaces and stoves face a ban. Photo by Hayden Scott/Unsplash

burning fireplaces and stoves will be illegal. “It’s just the old-fashioned fireplaces that will be phased out,” Dhaliwal said. In his report, Quan pointed out that smoke from residential indoor wood-burning is the “most significant source” of fine particulate matter in the region. Indoor wood-burning contributes more than a quarter of fine-particulate-matter emissions, and it’s also the “second top source of toxic air pollutants”. “Exposure to wood smoke is of particular concern in densely populated urban areas, due to the proximity of a single smoking chimney to multiple neighbours,” Quan noted. He reported that the annual health-related benefits from reducing the impacts of fine particulate matter from residential indoor wood-burning are estimated to be “between $282 million and $869 million”. The second phase of the regulations begins on September 15, 2022, with Metro Vancouver requiring the registration of clean wood-burning appliances in designated urban areas. To be certified as clean, a fireplace or stove has to have a particulate-matter emission rate that does not exceed

4.5 grams per hour. Masonry heaters, which are site-built or –assembled and made of materials like stone or brick, are also considered clean burning devices. Phase 2 will likewise require users to declare that they are using “best burning practices”. Based on a document attached to Quan’s report, best burning practices mean operating a residential indoor wood-burning appliance in a way that produces “no visible emissions except during the starting of a new fire for a period not to exceed twenty minutes in any four hour period”. Compliance with best burning practices includes using only “clean, seasoned wood or wood products, manufactured firelogs, or wood pellets”. To start a fire, one must use only “non-glossy, uncoated, uncoloured paper”. In a 2017 presentation, Julie Saxton, an air-quality planner with Metro Vancouver, reported that there are about 100,000 fireplaces and stoves in use in the region. The third phase starts on September 15, 2025, when nonregistered devices in urban areas will no longer be allowed, except in low-income households. g

.C.’s largest publicly traded media company had a pretty good year in 2019, notwithstanding its flagging share price. Glacier Media posted a $34.2-million profit, up dramatically from the $654,000 in net income in 2018. The improved financial results, which were reported on March 27, came partly as a result of a $47.6-million gain on the sale of its interest in Fundata Canada Inc. But the Vancouver-based owner of the Vancouver Courier, North Shore News, Times Colonist, REW (a realestate website), and other assets has revealed that it’s still in a mighty fight with the taxman. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has assessed taxes payable—including interest and penalties—of $58.2 million. This related to an unnamed affiliate’s scientific-research and experimental-development tax credits following audits from 2008 to 2017. According to Glacier, the affiliate has filed notices of objection with the CRA and provincial taxing authorities. Glacier’s “management’s discussion and analysis” states that the affiliate has “substantially paid all of the required deposit of $23.5 million”, which is recorded as an asset on Glacier’s balance sheet. Glacier has about 2,000 employees. During the past year, revenues dipped to $184.8 million from $188.4 million in 2018. Company highlights included a 15 percent rise in revenue for REW and another subsidiary, Environmental Risk Information Services. However, Glacier acknowledged that “softness in print community media, agricultural advertising, and the energy and mining business” led to

Some Glacier assets thrived in 2019. Photo by Tim Mossholder/Unsplash

a greater than expected revenue decline in earnings before income tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). In addition, Glacier blamed the B.C. government’s tax increases on the realestate sector for hampering consumer spending, adversely affecting advertising revenue in the Lower Mainland. In the past fiscal year, Glacier spent $19 million buying Castanet Media Ltd., and an additional $3 million is due over the next two years. Looking forward, the company said it is “too early” to determine the effect that COVID-19 will have on operations. But it expects that profitability “will be affected to varying degrees within its businesses”. “The Company is taking a wide variety of measures to protect the health of its staff, help reduce the spread of the virus and maintain the Company’s businesses as best as possible,” it stated. Glacier Media shares were trading at 35 cents as the Straight went to the printer, down from a 52-week high of 77 cents. g

APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 3

URBAN LIVING

It’s a good time to rethink your space

by Janet Smith

s you cope with the realities of what #stayhome means—your laptop balanced precariously on your knees, your roommate banging around dishes in the kitchen, your only view a wall with a bookshelf on the verge of avalanche—consider this: you could be stuck here in COVID-19 limbo for many weeks to come. But when you get past the shock of better-for-us-all isolation, take a good, long look around, and ponder what interior designers have carefully thought about for decades. Contemplate how everything in your space, and where it’s placed, will affect your state of mind, your physical health, and even your creativity and productivity. Science and research prove it. According to local experts, the solutions could be as simple as moving the furniture so your work station sits at the nearest window. You can do this. “I think spaces are much more important than people think,” says Paola Gavilanez, a professor of interior design at the Wilson School of Design at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. For now, she suggests, there’s no sense worrying about the fact that you’re in serious danger of taking root on the sofa. Instead, wait till things calm down to ask yourself, “What do I need to do to stay healthy at a time when I’m being told to spend 24 hours a day inside the house?” And that’s where the expertise of interior designers can help. ““It doesn’t have to be expensive or require major construction,” she says. Until we have time to adjust to our new homebound world, we’re going to have to make the best of what we have. “So we’re at the point of thinking ‘What little things can I change, and what little things should make things better?’ ” Gavilanez offers. FOR STARTERS, IF social distancing suddenly has you channelling Japanese tidying guru Marie Kondo, madly sorting through shelves and purging, you have the right instinct. “This is the time for spring cleaning and decluttering—that’s the number one thing that people can do to enjoy their home,” says Kendall Ansell, founder, owner, and principal designer at Kendall Ansell Interiors. “People live with clutter all the time, and this is a chance to get more organized. I’m staring at my bookshelf right now, saying,

Kendall Ansell employs natural wood, organized shelves, and plants. Photos by Barry Calhoun (left) and Janis Nicolay (right)

‘Oh, I don’t need that many books.’ ” Research says this approach will bring you calm at a time in the world when you need it. “It’s the theory of organized complexity,” Gavilanez explains. “Nature is complex but not messy, and humans respond well to spaces that have variety—books, art, furniture. So it’s not that the room should be minimalistic; that can feel like a jail. But even if you have a space full of books and other things, decluttering will help. Humans respond to order and organization. But order doesn’t mean nothing on my walls and nothing in the space.” The same sense of order will serve you well as you start adapting your home as a workspace for the first time. Gavilanez cites a Harvard Business Review study that found you need to prevent your work life from blurring with your home life to be productive. And yes, that means not trying to write reports from under your duvet in bed. “A Harvard Medical School study says limit the bedroom to sleep and sex; that means no TV and no work materials,” Gavilanez says. “That will strengthen your mental connection to sleep. “To be productive, try to make a space and routine that fosters ‘coming home from work’ even when working at home.” For Gavilanez, that means that she and her husband get up at the same time each day, 7 a.m., get dressed, and “go” to work at their respective stations. However, that does not mean that

they necessarily stay in a single spot all day, glued to their chairs. In fact, Gavilanez has found other research suggesting that moving from position to position throughout the day can benefit you mentally and physically—whether it’s sitting on the floor or bending back on a lounger. “Changing the position of what you look at, from sitting up to lounging, might improve your creative skills,” she suggests.

I think spaces are much more important than people think. – Paola Gavilanez

These days, Ansell, who’s used to working from home while looking after a three-year-old son, moves around the house a lot. She’s created stations where her child plays—“the living room is puzzles and Thomas the Tank Engine, the kitchen nook is iPad and colouring, and upstairs are the binoculars and spy stuff”—and she and her self-employed husband move their work as necessary to keep one eye on their son. “I think it is good for the psyche to move spots,” Ansell says.

ONCE YOU’VE HAD time to recover from this abrupt societal sea change— after you’ve decluttered to the point where you can frame a video conference without outing your aversion to folding laundry—you may be ready to consider the benefits of biophilic design. The term refers to the way that humans feel well around nature. It’s how we evolved. There’s a large body of research that says anything you can do to bring a little nature into your home will have health benefits, Gavilanez advises, lowering stress and even boosting creativity. One of the most obvious ways to do that is through house plants. Look at any of the Vancouver lofts and condos that Ansell has designed and you’ll see a burst of greenery: sometimes it’s just a small grouping of spiky zebra succulents sitting on a bedside table; sometimes it’s a leafy tropical anchoring the corner of a white-on-white room. “A space can feel very sterile without any life in it—I like succulents, a gum tree, a snake plant,” Ansell says. “You just need a few, and adding that to your décor is a mood booster.” Another strong way of bringing nature into your home is through light, according to a 2015 British study by Stephen R. Kellert and Elizabeth F. Calabrese, says Gavilanez. “It’s making the most of natural light and having access to daylight, so that could mean spending time close to a window or spending a little time on the patio or moving the workspace close to a window,” Gavilanez offers.

“Maybe it’s moving a mirror to reflect natural light or painting walls lighter colours.” Close behind that is the need for fresh air while you’re in your home. A recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report stated, “Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors,” (that’s precoronovirus, by the way), “where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations.” So open the windows and encourage natural ventilation whenever you can. And while you’re there, remember that humans have an innate need to experience weather shifts. “If it’s raining, open the window and smell the rain on the earth and listen to the sound of rain,” says Gavilanez, “or feel the breeze.” The same soothing effects come from the presence of animals—created by putting a bird feeder on your deck, adding an aquarium to your living room, or planting a butterflyattracting garden, riffs Gavilanez. Images of nature also produce benefits, meaning you might want to put that abstract landscape or botanical print in a more prominent spot. Gavilanez points out that the same goes for natural materials. “Humans respond well to anything from the natural world—wood, stone, cotton, leather,” she says. “I’m not recommending that everybody make it look like a cottage in the woods, but, for example, the bedroom could have exposed wood on the bed, or cozy wools might make it feel better.” Ansell, too, sings the praises of natural wool as a throw or pillows. In these cash-strapped times, Ansell encourages moving and redeploying items from around the house, whether it’s by shifting a warm quilt from the bedroom to the living room, or digging out a wool blanket from the closet to add natural, cocooning layers. Small ideas like these may seem trivial now, but as we face distressing statistics and uncertainty beyond our doors, the need for comfort and refuge become more important behind them. And who knows? Our work-life adjustments may have effects lasting long after the COVID-19 crisis, however it comes to a resolution. Until that hard-to-see future arrives, get comfortable, declutter, and, above all else, just #stayhome. g

Lounge like a boss in local designs

by Janet Smith

f your new 9-to-5 attire consists of grizzlybear-print fleece pyjama pants, a ripped Nirvana concert T, and the overized hoodie usually reserved for walking the dog, you’re not alone: all-day PJs is the new normal, thanks to COVID-19 and our flattening-the-curve duties. Granted, you might not exactly be thinking of making a fashion statement during the current lockdown, with the pandemic crisis and the fact that working at home means your travel plans consist of moving from your bed to your sofa. But there are ways to feel better about this—to lounge like a boss. It’s extra easy in Vancouver, a design mecca for loungewear and all things chill, far beyond lululemon. So, with that in mind, here are some feel-good wearables that can be safely delivered to your You can flatten the curve in style in (left to right) the Sleep Shirt Care Package, lululemon’s Dance Studio Joggers, and Delilah Slaya slip-ons from Malvados. door—at least to get your mind off reality while the Long for $185 (regularly $303). If two-piece at Gap Inc. and Walmart. In what will come as than Malvados’s beach-vibing turquoise you hunker down at home. luxury PJs are more your style, we found a few news to precisely no one, loose casual pants are Delilah Slaya slip-ons ($39.99), with its remaining styles at Vancouver’s Kinda Sleepwear in. Lululemon.com’s lightweight Dance Studio cushiony, moulded EVA footbed with toe PYJAMA PARTY If you’re committed to stay- (on hiatus for maternity leave), which specializes Joggers ($98) fit the bill, in serene colours like pillow and a vegan polyurethane-leather ing in all-day sleepwear, check out some of the in relaxed old-school button-up tops and high- Tidewater Teal and Ink Blue; with two-way strap. Not bright enough for you? Check classics made here in Vancouver. Local brand rise pants, all crafted from soft Italian shirting stretch and a drawstring waist, they hit a bal- out Vancouver-based Native Shoes’ chunky the Sleep Shirt made it big in 2017, when Oprah cotton. The Mary Set in Raspberry Milk Stripe ance of tailored leisure, moving easily from your Spencer LX in screaming chartreuse green, picked its blue-striped Oxford-cotton style as ($250 via kindasleepwear.com) rethinks men’s living-room yoga practice to your video confer- with an EVA footbed and rubber insert—a one of her “favorite things”—even to wear to pyjamas with a V-neckline and cropped sleeves. ence call. Elsewhere, at Vancouver’s Orb (shop. look that says five-star Vegas poolside even the office with sandals. Now, in these COVID- And for something completely different, look to orb.life/), the cropped Jenna supersoft knit black while you’re confined within the four walls 19-plagued times, it’s offering the Care Package Blim Vancouver (blim.ca/) for truly one-of-a- pant with a foldover waist, is on sale for $39.99; if of a West End studio ($35). And don’t forget at 40 percent off; the set combines a best-selling kind kimono-style haori robes hand-sewn from you ever go back to the office, you can pull these that the coziest slippers on the planet are still nightshirt and a few self-care items (an eyemask, your fave vintage fabrics; we’re coveting the He- off as gauchos. hand-crafted at North Vancouver’s Padraig a bamboo toothbrush); send it as a comfort to a Man and Skeletor print right now ($65). Cottage; the original, laced women’s bootie SLIPPER ENVY This city is known for yoga style is knitted from fine New Zealand wool, friend or family member, with $15 from every package going to Food Banks Canada. The Short BOTTOMS UP Not surprisingly, CBS News pants, but it’s clearly cornered the market with a plush sheepskin lining, but it breathes Sleep Shirt Set goes for $175 (regularly $288), reported this week that trouser sales are down on leisure footwear, as well. Look no further enough for this time of the year ($90). g 4 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020

EDUCATION

Keep kids learning while school’s out

by John Lucas

hanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s spring break has begun to look more like an indefinite school hiatus. While that thought no doubt appealed to many school-aged children at first, it all seemed like a lot less fun when the reality set in. Community centres and playgrounds are shuttered, as are libraries; hockey practices and karate classes are off; and even hanging out with friends is officially frowned-upon in the age of social distancing. Worst of all, there’s nothing less stimulating than sitting around while your working-from-home parents swill French-press coffee and stare at a computer monitor for eight hours every weekday. With that in mind, here are half-adozen ways to keep kids engaged and active until school starts again (or at least until the school board’s home instruction ramps up). As a bonus, some of these are fun for grownups, too.

FENDER PLAY

Age range: All ages. Price: Free trial, then US$9.99 per month. Why it’s awesome: If you have visions of your 10-year-old would-be rock star ripping through note-perfect renditions of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock”, Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”, and Nirvana’s “HeartShaped Box”, keep dreaming. They would probably much rather learn songs by Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran. Fortunately, Fender’s app includes all of the above plus a lot more, and it also promises that, even if you’ve never picked up a guitar, bass, or ukulele in your life, you’ll be mastering riffs within the first seven lessons. Right now, Fender is offering the app—which can be used on a phone, tablet, or desktop computer—

(including Canadian Chris Hadfield) put everything into perspective. This one isn’t just for the kids, though. Watch it with them and you might learn something yourself. 365 DAYS OF DRAWING

Age range: Tweens to adults. Price: $25.50 at Indigo.ca. Why it’s awesome: With a new drawing prompt or challenge every day, British illustrator Lorna Scobie’s book should buy you a little quiet time, and will provide your more artistically inclined offspring the inspiration to keep creating, even in the absence of formal school art classes. Activities include drawing an object without looking at the page, learning to create shade and tone with different materials, and prompts such as Many parents are loosening screen-time restrictions to keep their children occupied. Photo by Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash “Fill the page with leaf shapes” and “Draw an imaginary book cover”. free of charge for three months to the screeching. See www.youtube.com/ DISNEY+ Age range: All ages. Price: Seven- Part of a series by Scobie that also first 500,000 people to sign up. (In user/CosmicKidsYoga/. day free trial, then $8.99 per month includes 365 Days of Art and 365 nonpandemic times, you can get a or $89.99 for a year. Why it’s awe- Days of Creativity. free 14-day trial, after which the app SCHOLASTIC LEARN AT HOME costs US$9.99 per month.) See try. Age range: Grade levels from K to 9. some: Without coming right out Price: Free. Why it’s awesome: These and endorsing the notion of plunk- CIRQUECONNECT fender.com/play/playthrough. days, home schooling isn’t just for, well, ing your children in front of a TV for Age range: All ages. Price: Free. COSMIC KIDS YOGA home schoolers. Pretty much anyone eight to 10 hours every day so you Why it’s awesome: Like pretty much Age range: 3+. Price: Free. Why it’s with a school-aged kid is scrambling can try to pretend that your work every other cultural organization, awesome: If you’re looking for ways to find grade-appropriate materials to life hasn’t totally gone off the rails, Cirque du Soleil has been battered to get your wee ones doing some- keep kids learning outside the class- let’s just say that loosening your by COVID-19. The Quebec-spawned thing other than binge-watching room. Kids’-book publisher Scholastic usual screen-time limits might be a global sensation has laid off 95 perPaw Patrol or running around your has responded to the demand by mak- sanity saver. Disney+ has all the Star cent of its staff and is reportedly tee500-square-foot condo screeching ing its online portal filled with reading Wars movies (plus The Baby Yoda tering on the brink of bankruptcy. “Baby Shark” at top volume, the materials, research projects, and virtu- Show… er, The Mandalorian) and Nonetheless, the company has creCosmic Kids YouTube channel could al field trips free for pupils of all grade all the Marvel and Pixar stuff, but ated an online portal, CirqueConbe your salvation. Yoga sequences levels. There are currently three weeks’ it also has some pretty great docu- nect, where fans can watch performthemed around popular movies in- worth of resources on the site, pro- mentaries. Especially worthy of ance highlights, makeup tutorials, cluding Frozen, Star Wars: The Force viding approximately three hours of note is One Strange Rock, a National and workout videos; stream Cirque Awakens, and Moana will keep their learning per day. No registration is re- Geographic series from visionary music playlists; and download a virbodies active, and mindfulness vid- quired. The Scholastic Learn at Home filmmaker Darren Aronofsky that tual-reality app. As the CirqueConeos (on topics from dealing with portal is operated by the U.S. branch of tries to make sense of all the various nect page says: “Now more than ever, nightmares to making good choices) the company, but Scholastic Canada systems that work together to make we want to do our little part to spread will engage their brains. There is also has its own “Things to Do” page. life on our planet possible. The show joy, even from afar, directly to your also a series of guided relaxations— See classroommagazines.scholastic.com/ is visually spectacular, and the in- safe spaces.” See cirquedusoleil.com/ which might help cut down on the support/learnathome.html. sights of eight former astronauts cirqueconnect. g

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ARTS

The Isolation Diaries: painter David Wilson Arts sector regroups as the

city approves 2020 grants

by Janet Smith

ith theatres and galleries shuttered to flatten the COVID-19 curve, the Isolation Diaries reach out to Vancouver’s creative sector to find out what they’re watching, how they’re coping, and where they’re finding inspiration.

by Janet Smith

THE ARTIST

David Wilson, Vancouver contemporary painter known for canvases that capture buzzing-with-life cityscapes NO. 1 THING THAT’S GETTING YOU THROUGH

I would have to say following a daily routine and taking the time to think and meditate. I read a lot about what is happening both here and abroad. It makes me very grateful we live in a country that cares about everyone and is taking measures to protect us all. As a nation we seem to be doing well so far. But only time will tell. In the duration I will work as I can from home and look forward to when we return to some semblance of normalcy, whenever that might be. COMFORT FOOD

Peanut butter and chocolate. Together or apart. Oh, and red wine too! A three-way tie. QUARANTINE SOUNDTRACK

Kurt Vile. Any album of his will do but for these purposes let’s go with Wakin on a Pretty Daze. Hmmm… Can also add Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis in heavy rotation, too. STREAMING NOW

Currently on Ozark Season 3. Can’t imagine the stress that family goes through each day! Makes our current situation feel like a picnic. As

Artist David Wilson’s acrylic-on-canvas At the Edge of the Sea, one of the cityscapes the painter has become known for—when he’s not streaming Ozark.

for podcasts, I get a lot out of Sam Harris both through his podcast and meditation app Waking Up, which is full of fabulous lessons, many of which I mentally refer to in order to maintain my sanity these days. Very helpful and highly recommended. Life-changing, really.

FITNESS HACK

As a family we go for a walk every day with our dog, and often again without him. (He’s getting old.) I’ve always been a reluctant exerciser but I do have a regular routine of stretching and light workouts that don’t require a gym and can be done in the house or garage. (I’ve always hated CREATIVE OR LEARNING OUTLET the gym anyhow. Too many germs.) As a visual artist it’s been difficult to It doesn’t take much to stay fit, really. be inspired to work while the world Just a little perseverance. And it’s a burns. But I sincerely believe that good time to start! the arts will help pull our societies through this time and bring clarity SURVIVAL TIP to the situation. How many people We have learned to survive in an are at home watching videos, listen- arts-based industry where the only ing to music or viewing online ex- thing for certain is that nothing is hibitions? Now more than ever the for certain. We have had to learn to arts create a vital link to us all. I’m live with the constant unease of uncurrently working on a project that certainty (hasn’t always been easy!) utilizes social media (Instagram) and over time we have become acas a means to “travel” the globe to customed to it. And in doing so we various locations and gather subject learned to never underestimate the matter that I cannot physically ac- ability of oneself and those around cess right now. I’ll be using those im- us to adapt and find solutions to ages in a series of works to transport the problems at hand. It’s vital to the viewer to places that we are most stay informed, do what is asked of unlikely to be able to visit for a very us by our elected leaders, and follong time while touching upon the low the science. This is their time to lead. g idea that we are all alone together.

Capture Photography Festival brings about human connection through art (This story is sponsored by Capture Photography Festival.)

s a festival that celebrates the medium of photography, Capture is a purveyor of perspectives and invites its audiences to challenge their own. From Thursday (April 2) to April 30, Western Canada’s largest photography festival showcases local and international lens-based art, playing homage to this region’s international reputation for photographic excellence. In previous years, the festival included workshops and events but this year’s lineup looks a little different. In response to the current health crisis, Capture has adapted quickly to provide its audiences with engaging and meaningful content. Emmy Lee Wall, the festival’s executive director says “the recent challenges that we’ve faced globally have only served to remind us how art serves to unite and the critical function it serves in uplifting communities, especially during difficult times.” Art holds the ability to connect individuals, deepen relationships, and facilitate self-expression. “Capture is an organization dedicated to collaboration with artists, curators, and groups to realize a collective energy during the month of April—and this year has been no different,” says Wall. “Capture continues to play an important role in advancing lens-based art in this community and providing meaningful engagement with art to a wide audience.” Approaching photography in expansive ways allows festival attendees to uncover the many rich and vibrant layers that exist below the surface of an image and beyond its frame. In a world increasingly saturated with images and with photographs becoming a primary tool for communication, Capture aims to unpack what it means to read an image.

Capture Photography Festival audiences will be able to enjoy virtual exhibitions.

Capture is especially recognized for its public art program that includes lens-based work on the Dal Grauer Substation on Burrard Street, Pattison Outdoor billboards, the Stadium–Chinatown SkyTrain Station. The Canada Line will also feature gorgeous lens-based art displayed at eight of the stops around Metro Vancouver. The locations of the other outdoor art displays can be found online. “The numerous public art installations throughout Vancouver feature the work of international, national, and local artists, including Paris-based Kapwani Kiwanga, New York-based Moyra Davey, and Vancouver-based Elizabeth Zvonar,” says Wall. People are encouraged to visit the public installations as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, Capture Photography Festival is pivoting to a largely digital platform to bring art to everyone in the community through its broad collection of online content. Audiences are able to enjoy virtual exhibitions, filmed tours, and talks

6 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020

in the comfort of their own home. The Capture catalogue, available as a hardcopy and online, is full of information on the artists, exhibitions, and public art projects that comprise the festival. It also offers engaging editorial content including essays on the state of contemporary image culture. These are by a diverse range of writers such as best-selling author Douglas Coupland, London’s Hayward Gallery senior curator Cliff Lauson, and Capture’s TD assistant curator Cheyenne Rain Legrande. Also featured is a conversation between local luminary Ian Wallace and internationally renowned streetstyle photographer Scott Schuman, also known as The Sartorialist. Their dialogue will focus on the development of Schuman’s practice, which marries the traditions of street photography and portraiture. g For more information, visit www. capturephotofest.com/. Follow Capture Photography Festival on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

On March 31, the Cultch’s executive director, Heather Redfern, made an impassioned plea to city council to approve 2020 cultural grants. Photo by Jeremy Minnagh

fter weeks in crisis mode, Vancouver arts groups say announcements this week offer some hope for staying afloat through COVID-19 shutdowns. On March 31, city council unanimously approved regularly scheduled cultural-grant funding for 2020. That reinforced some rare good news on the federal front the day before: that the Canada Council for the Arts will kick in $60 million in advance funding—or about 35 percent of annual grants—to the country’s 1,100 core-funded organizations. The same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vastly expanded the 75-percent wage subsidy for small businesses to include nonprofits, to encourage them to keep workers on during the pandemic— a move that will now include many arts companies. Those acts, along with funding advances from the B.C. Arts Council, will combine to assist the Cultch’s survival, its executive director, Heather Redfern, told the Straight. “It will really help us get through the next couple months and to plan the next season,” she said, adding that when the COVID-19 crisis struck, the organization had been two weeks away from announcing the 2020-21 lineup, which will now have to be totally reevaluated. “Obviously, this is unprecedented, so it’s going to be a matter of having cash flow and whether we can keep the staff that we need to work on this, which is something we’re quite far behind on now,” she said. “We really haven’t had the time to do that [planning] because we’ve been dealing with the immediate fallout. Your financial ability to deal with that crisis is stopped and you have no money coming in.” Closing theatres down has its own heavy costs, she pointed out; there is still overhead, and staff have spent many hours processing ticket returns and other logistics. Redfern made an impassioned plea at a special Vancouver city council meeting on March 31 in support of 2020 cultural grants. Rumours had circulated in the community that some council members were getting cold feet about approving the arts funding during a health crisis. The grants included a total of $6,273,590 to 208 cultural organizations, including millions in operating funds for groups from Ballet BC to the Arts Club Theatre. “The fact that they unanimously approved the funding was what we absolutely need them to do,” Brenda Leadlay, executive director of the B.C. Alliance for Arts + Culture,

told the Straight. Also noting the economic benefits the infusion will create, she added the pandemic is reminding everyone about the more qualitative value of arts investment: “Right now people are facing isolation; they’re struggling with their mental health and struggling with being confined with their family. And with that isolation, what are they doing? They’re reading books, they’re watching Netf lix, they’re listening to music, they’re playing video games. These are all products created by the cultural sector. If that wasn’t there, it would affect their mental health and ability to cope.”

It will really help us get through the next couple months and to plan the next season. – Heather Redfern

But she tempered the good news with the fact that NPA Coun. Colleen Hardwick warned the sector not to expect status-quo support moving forward amid the health crisis. “It’s not really our sector’s responsibility to handle the city’s budget,” Leadlay said, questioning the targeting of arts if there are shortfalls elsewhere. Leadlay stressed that the city grants are not additional money being pumped into the system. “The cultural sector has been underfunded for a long time,” she said, pointing out the B.C. cultural sector’s gross domestic product is exceeds $6.7 billion (according to the last Stats Can study, in 2014). There are more artists per capita here than in any other province, with the highest concentration in Vancouver. “This sector is going to be needing a lot more. When you look at Germany or the U.K., they’ve already committed lots of extra money—and that’s understandable, because they were a couple weeks ahead of us. But it shows that they recognize the value of those sectors inherently. I mean, it was 50 billion in Germany.” (As the crisis hit, that country earmarked that number of Euros specifically to small businesses and freelancers, including those in the cultural, creative, and media sectors.) g

ESPORTS

HEALTH

Stream Aid shows gamers have hearts Exercise to keep anxiety and depression at bay by Mike Usinger

Joe Jonas participated in Stream Aid 2020. Photo from @joejonas/Instagram

here was a seismic and culture-jamming shift in the entertainment world on March 28, and unless you spent 12 hours glued to Twitch, it’s possible you didn’t even notice. For those avoiding the news, there’s a bit of a global crisis right now. The COVID-19 pandemic has shut down the world in a way that’s made every panic of the past halfcentury seem like a blip. Strangely, mass trauma has a way of making one feel like there’s maybe hope for humanity. When things get truly ugly and grim, people often tend to forget about their differences and pull together. And pull together they did on March 28, in a 12-hour marathon dubbed Stream Aid 2020. Organized and spearheaded by Toronto-based Enthusiast Gaming, the event had a diverse army of entertainmentindustry stars diving head-first into eSports gaming on the Twitch platform, with performances by music megastars like John Legend adding to the digital festivities. Many stars stepped up—all too fittingly—to play Call of Duty for charity on Twitch. By the time the epic streaming session was over, US$2.7 million had been raised for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Defense Fund. The idea of stars banding together for an important global cause is not new. Your great-grandparents will remember Queen, the Who, and Elton John headlining Live Aid to raise money and awareness for droughtravaged Ethiopia back in 1985. Or Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan pitching

in for Farm Aid to help rural Americans that same year. The very title Stream Aid is an intentional nod to those endeavours. Where things have changed, almost mind-blowingly, is the speed with which Stream Aid 2020 came together. Back in olden times, to pull off something as mammoth as Live Aid required months, if not a good year, of planning, with countless moving parts to coordinate—everything from landing the talent to negotiating television rights to sourcing Porta-Potties for the common rabble. Now think of Stream Aid 2020. Three weeks ago, none of us imagined a time in North America when we’d be quarantined at home like something from a Ray Bradbury novel. And yet here we all are. Recognizing that COVID-19 was mushrooming into a global problem, Twitch and Enthusiast Gaming moved lightning-quick to do something about it. The first mention of Stream Aid 2020 on the Enthusiast Gaming and Twitch Twitter accounts came on March 26. A couple of days later, the COVID-19 Solidarity Defense Fund was almost US$3 million dollars richer. Things now move faster online than they ever did in the real world. The money raised for the COVID-19 Solidarity Defense Fund is earmarked for countries where underfunded and undeveloped health-care systems will make the virus even more dangerous than we’ve seen to date. It will save lives on a massive scale. Stream Aid 2020 was noteworthy for the range of talent that stepped up.

NFL giants like Richard Sherman and Darius Slay did battle in the eSports arena, taking to Twitch alongside music-world titans Joe Jonas, Garth Brooks, Steve Aoki, and Diplo. English Premier League soccer idols Kevin de Bruyne and Deli Alli were on the frontlines alongside F1 driver Lando Norris and golf legend Greg “Great White Shark” Norman. Ever wonder what eSports aces Nick “Eh 30” Amyoony, Tfue, Josiah “Slacked” Berry, and the members of the Seattle Surge have in common with South African zef-rap lunatics Die Antwoord and solid-platinum Bee Gees legend Barry Gibb? They were all on deck to raise money for the COVID-19 Solidarity Defense Fund. That you had celebrities from all corners of the entertainment world speaks to, among other things, the reach, global impact, and inclusivity of eSports and gaming culture. That inclusivity is super important. The reality is that 99 percent of the people on the planet can’t get on the football field with Richard Sherman and look like they know what they are doing. They can’t easily slide behind the wheel of an F1 racing car or take to the decks at the XS Las Vegas superclub and get the floor blissfully moving as one. But because we’re now in a world where almost everyone has grown up with some sort of exposure to gaming, virtually everyone knows what to do with a controller. So even if we’ll never be Kuro Takhasomi or Maroun Merhej, that hasn’t stopped us from becoming semi-proficient at DOTA 2. The beauty of eSports is that you don’t have to be able to scare Gabriel Toledo to do some damage on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Those old enough to remember when televisions were considered cutting-edge technology are no doubt wondering why anyone would want to watch their fellow human beings—celebrities or not—do battle in the eSports arena. Which is kind of funny, because, even if you’ve never pulled on a pair of skates, you may still love watching hockey. There’s an easy answer. As a species we’ve been watching others play games for years, right back to when Barry Gibb was marking the progress of Maurice and Robin in the days of the steam-powered pinball machine. In the decades that have followed, we’ve gone from boomers standing in arcades watching their friends master Space Invaders to millennials marvelling at the prowess of the Plants vs. Zombies–obsessed kid who got an iPhone before everyone else in Grade 5. Except that now we’re coming together en masse to watch on Twitch—and, in the blink of a digitalworld eye, to do life-altering good for our fellow human beings in the process. Man, how quickly and seismically the world has changed. g

by Gail Johnson

You don’t have to be Vancouver fitness trainer Dania Assaly to prioritize physical activity in the era of the novel coronavirus. Photo by Ben Owens Photography

e all know how importFor starters, remember that outant regular physical side is still open. Remember, go with activity is at the best your immediate family only and of times. In the era of keep your distance from others. the novel coronavirus, it’s even more If it seems way too boring to go for a crucial. walk solo, go with a friend—virtually. If you’ve found yourself sucked into Leave home at the same time, connect the vortex of so many heartbreaking via FaceTime, and catch up while satisand just plain terrifying stories from fying your Fitbit. Go online to get your workout in. It’s every corner of the map, unable to sleep, pouring too many Quarantinis no surprise that gyms, yoga studios, ceand/or contemplating day drinking, lebrity trainers, and everyone else who and generally feeling paralyzed by the makes a living off fitness and exercise end of the world as we know it, it’s time are offering classes on their website, Instagram account, YouTube channel, to start (or resume) working out. Keep in mind some of the benefits or other social-media platform; some of fitness on your physical health in are free and some are not. There’s every general: better cardiovascular func- possible format at your fingertips. Make your living room (or your tion and reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, carport, deck, or kitchen) your home gym. Put on workout gear, complete and cancer. The positive effects are way more with runners. Crank music that revs extensive than that, and we’re talking you up. If you don’t have equipment about the ones that can help offset the at home, go the old-fashioned DIY anxiety people are experiencing these route and use soup cans for free days. Exercise reduces stress, im- weights, nylons for resistance bands, proves sleep, and increases sex drive. and dish cloths for gliding discs. Do a proper warm-up, cool-down, It strengthens immunity. It boosts energy level, concentration, focus, and stretch; be well hydrated before, and productivity. It helps improve during, and after your workout. Keep a routine. Instead of saying brain function and memory—both of which can take a hit with excessive something vague like, “I’ll work out today,” write down in your calenworry and lack of sleep. Whether it’s walking, swinging dar a specific time and duration for kettlebells, amping up your asanas, exercise several times a week. Treat or however else you like to move those entries like you would an apyour body, exercise mitigates symp- pointment with a medical specialist toms of depression and anxiety. It or divorce lawyer—something that lifts your mood, enhancing feelings cannot be cancelled or rescheduled. The Canadian Physical Activity of happiness and calm. It can also help you tune out the Guidelines suggest at least 150 minutes world in a way that few other ac- of moderate- to vigorous-intensity aertivities can. Get your sweat on and obic exercise weekly. If you opt to do 30 minutes five times a week, remember you’ll forget about life for a while. But with stricter rules around that you can break up a 30-minute segphysical distancing coming into play, ment into three 10-minute slots. Who and with gyms, pools, and basketball knows? Get into the habit of working courts closed, it’s more challenging out amid the coronavirus pandemic to get your workout in. Time to get and you just might keep it whenever the world gets more normal. g both creative and back to basics.

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APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 7

FOOD

How to cook your stockpiled basics

by Martin Dunphy

f you have stocked up on canned and packaged dry foods in anticipation of self-isolation during the global COVID-19 pandemic, you will soon have to figure out what to do with all that pasta, rice, and sauce. Besides, there aren’t a lot of options, what with most or all of the sitdown restaurants closed. You might not have done all that much home cooking in your life, depending on your age (though most parents will already have a grounding in how to put together cheap and nutritious dishes), and you might not even know if you have most of the ingredients you need to be able to create food you actually want to eat. Here are some ideas about what to have available and how to begin thinking about putting those supplies together in ways that won’t have you tasting one bite and consigning your improvised masterpiece to the compost bin. Most of these suggestions are for what are commonly referred to as “comfort foods”, and what better foods to have during times like these? If money is a consideration (and for many people out of work or on fixed incomes, it is the major determining factor as to what they will be eating), most casserole-type dishes are economical and supply lots of leftovers. Familiarize yourself with protein, vitamin, and mineral content of your foods of choice to make sure you are not shortchanging yourself nutritionally. If you are not used to cooking large(ish) quantities of food for yourself and/or others, don’t worry too much about ingredient measurements. You can always look up recipes online or in books, but these ideas can almost always be thrown together by eye and taste. You will know if you are adding too much sauce or too little, and excess or unused ingredients can be refrigerated and used in other dishes. (Worry about exact measurements in baking, where it usually is essential.)

just long enough to melt the cheese. You can remove the cover and put under the broiler for a few minutes if you like bubbling/slightly browned cheese and crisper crumbs. Triple the base ingredients for a large casserole to feed more or for extra meals. You can, of course, use plain macaroni or any pasta and try any kind of cheese sauce you like. CORNED-BEEF HASH

If you haven’t done a lot of home cooking in your life, just learn the comfort-food basics. Photo by Jason Briscoe/Unsplash

ADD-INS

Sauces hold ingredients together, prevent them from drying out during cooking, and add lots of flavour. They are essential for many dishes that require mixing and baking/heating in large casserole containers or cast-iron skillets. You can get them canned or dried (with dried, you add liquids, usually water or milk). The most common are tomato sauces (puréed, crushed, diced, strained, or whole, with or without added seasonings); soups (again, in cans, pouches, or dried, with canned cream of mushroom or cream of celery being two faves for a break from tomato and for many casseroles that call for a white sauce); and canned or jarred cream-based sauces like alfredo and others, which can be used for pasta or whatever you prefer. Chicken, beef, and vegetable broths can be used in many dishes as well; these can also be made from cubes or powders. Always have a bottle or two of your favourite hot sauce or salad dressings (some of which can be used in cooking), as well as mayo, mustard, STAPLES ketchup, and other condiments and These are pretty much no-brainers: sauces (including barbecue and steakdried pasta of all kinds (spaghetti, type sauces such as A1 and HP). macaroni, rigatoni, fettuccine, etcetera); rice (again, many varieties, HERBS, SPICES, ETC. depending upon whether you prefer Salt and pepper are the obvious startcooking from scratch or going with ers, and have tomato-friendly dried the quick-cook kinds); beans (many herbs handy, like thyme, basil, and types, both canned and dried, with oregano. Powdered garlic is essential, canned being by far the easiest to and rosemary is useful. (And maybe prepare); canned tuna (lots of var- give smoked paprika a try.) Cayenne ieties, but “flaked light” is usually and chili powder come in handy for the cheapest); canned meats (corned lots of dishes, and don’t forget to keep beef, luncheon meats, flaked ham dried and grated cheese in the fridge and chicken, etcetera); and dried (like Parmesan or Romano). If you use garlic or celery salts, keep in mind that noodles of all types.

they will be adding to the salt content, so use table salt sparingly so as not to overseason. Some grinder-type containers of pepper-lemon-dill mixtures are good to have for seafood casseroles. MEATS

Other than the canned ones noted above, bacon, hamburger, and smoked sausage or ham are the go-tos here. Freeze hamburger in one-pound blocks, and take it out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge the night before you cook. Bacon can be frozen, but it also usually keeps for a long time in the fridge. Check the best-before dates, and ask your butcher/deli attendant about the longevity of smoked meats . PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

While you cook your pasta and rice, you can be browning/frying your hamburger and bacon, if needed. Remember not to overcook pasta and rice, as they will still be going in the oven, often with liquid ingredients. Simply mix the meat and pasta or rice with the desired sauce in a casserole dish or oven-suitable container. You will almost always want a tightfitting cover (or foil wrap) for cooking/heating so the dish doesn’t dry out. Add any cheese or bread crumbs on top for melting/crisping, and pop in the oven. You usually don’t need more than 300 degrees F for 20 or 30 minutes to prepare; you are, essentially, marrying and heating ingredients that are mostly already cooked.

and are familiar with. You be the judge about the suitability of mixing things. You might surprise yourself and others. In a good way. (Just don’t conduct wild experiments in large quantities, so as to avoid waste.) BBQ BEANS

This is great by itself or as a side dish with lots of things like burgers, ribs, whatever. Combine three or more types of canned beans (standard “baked’ beans, kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, etcetera), including the liquids they are canned with. If there isn’t enough liquid, put in some tomato sauce. Add a few squirts of prepared barbecue sauce(s) to taste, along with a bit of ketchup and a dash or two of worcestershire sauce. A tablespoon of HP or AI steak sauce adds savoury background; a few (only) drops of “liquid smoke”, usually hickory-flavoured, can add BBQ cred. A small amount of molasses and/or brown sugar gives it a sweet profile, and Dijon mustard balances that out and adds tang. Add anywhere up to a pound of crumbled/torn cooked bacon and you are in business after heating long enough to fuse the flavours. This can be done on the stovetop, in a suitably large and thick pot, as easily as in the oven. Give it at least an hour. TUNA CASSEROLE

The old standby for some families. A quick and easy way to prepare this dish is to make a box of Kraft Dinner according to instructions, add a can of SOME DISH IDEAS drained tuna, season, mix thoroughly Remember that you are putting and top with bread crumbs and grated together ingredients that you and cheese (cheddar works fine), then pop your family/friends already like it into the oven for 20 minutes at 250 F,

This is a meat-and-potatoes dish that can be used for breakfast (served with a fried egg on top) or any meal. It can be made on a stovetop in a large covered skillet, and leftovers taste great. For prep, peel and quarter a halfdozen large boiling potatoes and chop two medium-to-large onions. While you parboil the potatoes (just until they are half done, because they will be cooking more and you don’t want to make them mushy), sauté the onions until translucent. Then open two or three cans of corned beef and slice and chop into smallish chunks. Put a layer of partially cooked potatoes and onions in the skillet, top with a layer of chopped corned beef, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and worcestershire sauce (and a few squirts of HP sauce). Repeat with another layer or two until ingredients are all used. Cover and cook over medium-to-low heat for 30 to 40 minutes on your stovetop’s largest burner, opening to turn over periodically with a spatula to thoroughly mix and brown evenly. Check every 10 minutes or so in order to avoid burning. VARIOUS OTHER DISHES...

Rice can be combined with chicken, turkey, sausage, etcetera, in any number of dishes, often with canned soups in casseroles (try substituting various broths for the water when you make the rice initially). Any pasta can be mixed with tomato/alfredo sauce, and you can then add whatever you fancy for a complete dish (keeping in mind that many vegetables, canned or fresh, may be added, according to taste and preferences). Shepherd’s pie has many variations, but it is basically a layer of seasoned precooked ground meat (traditionally lamb, but beef has taken over) and onion (sometimes with creamed corn, peas, or carrots added) covered with a thick layer of cooked mashed potatoes and baked in a covered casserole dish for about a half-hour. Hamburger can be mixed with almost any sauce and pasta, then baked. And so on... Remember to familiarize yourself with safe-storage recommendations for whatever perishables you have. Enjoy. g

Our wineries give deals—and support

by Gail Johnson

long with so many other sectors, the B.C. wine industry is fighting to survive the financial wreckage of COVID-19. “COVID-19 is affecting the wine industry at every level of sales, marketing, and production,” says Gene Covert, owner and winemaker of Covert Farms Family Estate, an organic winery and farm in Oliver. “With tasting rooms closed, there are layoffs and loss of sales. The industry is trying to adapt by increasing online sales; it still remains to be seen if it will make up enough.” Although the provincial government is allowing wine to be delivered with food orders, the closure of most restaurants means that a key sales channel has diminished substantially. “On the production side, many wineries are in bottling season, and global supply-chain disruptions have meant that some may not have received their bottles, labels, and corks,” Covert tells the Straight. “In the vineyard, social distancing, quarantine periods, and delays to foreign agricultural works are challenging the vineyards to keep up with operations.” According to the B.C. Wine Institute (BCWI), the COVID-19 crisis highlights the importance of free interprovincial trade. This would allow people to support small businesses

8 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020

Covert Farms Family Estate owner Gene Covert is offering free shipping. Photo by Hero Images Inc.

and local farmers by legally receiving direct wine shipments from across Canada. “With 282 wineries and 923 grape growers, the B.C. wine industry is doing what it can to protect the more than 12,000 jobs B.C. wineries support and that are essential to maintaining operations during a potential lockdown,” BCWI communications director Laura Kittmer said during a recent industry webinar. “The good news is that we have an amazing community that is willing to support local.” As of March 24, 86 percent of B.C. wineries

are offering free shipping on orders, according to the BCWI. (Some have minimum orders in place; some don’t.) Covert Farms is offering free shipping on six bottles or more until the end of April. (It has just released four certified-organic wines: 2019 Rosé, 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, 2019 Pinot Blanc, and 2019 Méthode Ancestral Sparkling Zinfandel.) Penticton’s Upper Bench Winery and Creamery is offering free shipping on all orders of wine and cheese anywhere in B.C., with no minimums or maximums. Mission Hill Family Estate and CedarCreek Estate Winery are offering free shipping. West Kelowna’s The Hatch Wines is offering free shipping on orders of six bottles or more. (What gorgeous bottles they are, adorned with artwork by Vancouver’s Paul Morstad.) If you order a case, you get some “additional liquid love”. Several B.C. wineries are also reaching out in support of people in need. Township 7 Vineyards & Winery, for instance, is donating $10 to the B.C. Hospitality Foundation for every online order of a minimum of four bottles. A registered charity, the BCHF helps hospitality workers facing financial hardship due to medical circumstances, and it provides scholarships to up-and-comers in the field.

Rust Wine Co. is donating $5 per magnum of its 2019 Gamay Noir to the BCHF. The wine, fermented in stainless steel, boasts what are known as the “Similkameen Classic” notes of cracked pepper, red fruits, and tobacco. Foxtrot Vineyards, a boutique Naramata Bench winery specializing in premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, is donating 10 percent of online sales to restaurant workers who are experiencing a threat to their livelihood because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shipping is free throughout the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island on orders of six bottles or more. Vanessa Vineyard winemaker Howard Soon was honoured with an Order of Canada last year for his role in shaping, expanding, and elevating British Columbia’s wine industry. The Cawston winery is offering free shipping on purchases of 12 bottles or more. It’s also donating meals to the Meals on Wheels program at the Lower Similkameen Community Services Society, which delivers food to seniors. This is just a handful of B.C. wineries that have put offers and special efforts in place in response to exceedingly difficult times while producing some of the world’s best wines. For more information and updates, visit B.C. Wine Institute at winebc.com/. g

DRINK

Sweet and sour make cocktails great by Mike Usinger

“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they get up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.” – Jack Lemmon, Under the Yum Yum Tree

ey, welcome back, fellow Liquor Nerds. If you’re just joining us and missed last week’s inaugural installment of the column, let’s begin with a quick summary. Thanks to the end of the world as we know it, you need to something to ensure that you feel fine right about now. A good way forward to life-long happiness is to go to bed at night feeling like you’ve mastered something new. So why not spend your COVID-19 lockdown proving to yourself that you can hold your own on home-cocktail front? If your idea of a sublimely perfect drink is three ounces of Sailor Jerry and a room-temperature Five-Alive juice box, you need to up your skills. Last week, we talked basics: get your hands on a cocktail shaker of some sort and ice that hasn’t been sitting in the fridge since 9/11, and you can easily make a Manhattan with some whisky and a splash of vermouth. This week, let’s explore two ingredients that are essential to too many cocktails to count here. Because a good drink is all about balance, once you’ve got the liquor taken care of, you usually need something sweet and something sour. First the sour. Sometimes you’ll end up with other fruits in the mix. (Hello, exotically delicious Scorpion, which is kind of impossible to execute until you’ve sourced a frozen packet of Goya passion-fruit purée.) Sticking to basics for now, you’re usually going to need the juice of either a lemon or a lime. And there’s only one way to play things: those lemons and limes need to be fresh. Here’s a couple of semipro tricks. Avoid supermarkets and big-box stores, where lemons and limes will often run you 69 cents each or more. Instead, shop local at small, indie operations. At Persia Foods on the Drive, you’ll sometimes find limes at five for a buck. All lemons and limes are not created equal, so choose wisely. Lemons should be heavy and soft. As for limes, avoid the ones harder than an avocado pit and look for smooth skin with some give when you press lightly. When you get them home, roll them on the counter with the palm of your hand to break the juice capsules.

Unless you want to ruin whatever you’re making, use fresh lemons and limes.

And then you squeeze. You can use a wooden juicer, or the 1940s Rival Juice-O-Mat you found at that mid-century antique store in Palm Springs, or your thumb, if you’re desperate. And that’s it. Again, don’t think of cutting corners by using ReaLemon or ReaLime from a plastic squeeze bottle. You will ruin whatever you are making instantly and horribly. Now to the syrup. There are all sorts of sweeteners you can use for

cocktails: maple syrup, agave syrup, or that can of Coco López Real Cream of Coconut that you muled up from Palm Springs, on the same trip that brought you the Rival JuiceO-Mat. We’ll get fancy at some point in the future. Right now we’re keeping things beginner-level easy with simple syrup, also known in recipes as gomme syrup or rock-candy syrup. True to its name, it’s idiotically simple to make: pour one cup white granulated sugar into a saucepan with one cup of water, bring to a boil. When the sugar is melted, let it cool, and store it in the fridge. There. You’ve got the basics for cocktails that range from an on-therocks Margarita (don’t scream that it doesn’t call for simple syrup; we’re making our own rules here, and it’s better with it) to a Whiskey Sour. Speaking of latter, which dates back to 1870, let’s make one. Purists will note that a true Whiskey Sour calls for an egg white, but all that’ll do is convince you tomorrow that you have salmonella in addition to COVID-19. So instead, do this: 1.5 oz bourbon 1 oz fresh lemon juice 0.5 oz simple syrup Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice, shake for 15 seconds, strain into a glass. Garnish with a lemon or orange slice if you want to get extra fancy. There. You did it. g Mike Usinger is not a professional bartender. He does, however, spend most of his waking hours sitting on barstools.

B eer OF THE WEEK RED TRUCK BEER COMPANY

has rolled out two seasonal offerings for this spring and summer. Because the last thing you want during shorts weather is a 12-percent-ABV Oyster Stout, both are on the lighter side of the beer spectrum. Truk Truk Summer Ale offers notes of mango and passionfruit,

HEY, MY EYES ARE DOWN

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 27, 2020 WHERE: My long hair, and your mascara smile I've seen you, and I feel you've seen me. At your families bakery. You are way to real to be single, and it's sucks, because I'm headed out next week. I saw you today, amid the craziness that we are dealing with currently, sorta wanna know you better. Am sans beard currently and you are incredibly cute.

WORKING NEAR BURRARD

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: FEBRUARY 20, 2020 WHERE: Near Burrard Skytrain Station I was working in front of a hotel, when you came from the street and asked for directions to the train. I asked where you were heading expecting you to say airport. You said Port something, so I showed you where Burrard Station was. As I was walking to the sidewalk I heard, "You're hot, so I'll follow you." I couldn't believe someone as gorgeous as you thought I was hot! Your name started with a J. You were (presumably still are) Caucasian, brown hair, black shoes, black jacket, blue jeans. I doubt you'll see this, but if you do, could I maybe get a mulligan on meeting you so I can ask you for your phone number?

RED BELLY BUTTON

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 19, 2020 WHERE: Chinatown

You were an Ubereats bike courier picking up an order for delivery. You had on a fannypack that looked like human belly (weird). I said that on first glance I thought you just had a really red belly button and you told me you do (gross). I liked you. Maybe we can sit a safe distance apart sometime if you see this.

A MUTUAL SMILE. W 2ND AVE & ONTARIO ST WEDNESDAY 7.20PM

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 25, 2020 WHERE: W 2nd Ave & Ontario St I was on my bike, and had stopped at the junction. While fiddling in my courier bag for a blinky light to put on my handlebar, I glanced across to the Northbound side of Ontario, and there you were, on your own bike. It was white, or a pale colour if I remember correctly. You seemed to be checking me out. When the light turned green, we cycled towards each other, and exchanged what seemed like a very warm deliberate smile as we passed. Had I not been so tired, I would have trilled my bell... If you are reading this, you know when and where to find me most days. I’m a creature of habit.

ON A BUS IN WEST VAN & AGAIN AT DELANY’S

VINTAGE DREAM

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 6, 2020 WHERE: East Van

I saw you walking down Main Street this morning I would guess you are in your late 40’s. I guess you were going to work. What a pleasure it was to witness your fabulous vintage look.

FLAMINGO SOCK WEARING BLOOD DONOR

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: FEBRUARY 22, 2020 WHERE: Oak St Donor Clinic We chatted during and after our blood donations about sock deliveries, my future halloween costume and the book I can only assume you’re reading right now: American War.

CONVERSATION AT SECOND BEACH

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 12, 2020 WHERE: Bus from Van to West Van / Delany’s cafe

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 8, 2020 WHERE: Second Beach/English Bay Vancouver

I was in the very back corner next to a woman with a huge bouquet of flowers. You got on the bus in Vancouver and sat facing me. You were wearing hikers, a blue wool sweater, and white and blue earbuds. We made eye contact and I thought I’d like to speak to you if we get off the bus at the same stop. You stayed on all the way until about 18th in West Van. When you got off, I thought I missed my chance. I was going to 24th and would be at an appointment for nearly 2 hours. When my meeting was done I went to delany’s cafe. Low and behold there you were again! Working on your laptop, with your ergonomic mouse. I couldn’t hardly believe it. I was sitting behind you working on my laptop, I tried to find a good time to speak to you again but didn’t. We ended up leaving at the same time, but you were wearing your earbuds again and I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt you. We both ended up walking along the sea wall. Contact me if you would allow me to try again at the cafe. :)

It's Mary from the beach. I asked you for a conversation, and I really liked that you were up for going deep without any awkwardness. I got the sense that you are happily and intentionally single, or perhaps in a monogamous relationship. Without overstepping any of those boundaries, or the boundaries of your introversion, I would love to have another conversation. Unlike you, I am easy to find online. Just google my name, my profession, and my city.

BREWHALL

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 7, 2020 WHERE: Brewhall

You’re a server and we’ve briefly spoken before about a libra night last year. I like the vibe between us, just curious if you’d be down to get a coffee/drink sometime? Probably should’ve asked in person...but hey, who does that nowadays!

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _

with its 4 percent ABV making it light enough for gatherings around the barbecue or standing in the baseball outfield praying to God, Les Nessman-style, that the ball doesn’t come to you. Seas the Day Pineapple Hefeweizen ups the alcohol content to 4.75 percent ABV, but still sticks to the easy and breezy tropical vibe, with clove and banana undertones riding shotgun with a beer inspired by the world’s third-most important tropical fruit. Both offerings are available as right now at Red Truck Beer Company (295 East 1st Avenue), which remains open for pickup purchases. g

by Mike Usinger

Woods puts cannabis plans on hold

by Carlito Pablo

elly Ann Woods was supposed to launch a line of cannabis-infused beverages sometime in April or May this year. With the ongoing pandemic, that will have to wait, the well-known sommelier and mixologist informed the Georgia Straight. Woods, co-owner of Gillespie’s Fine Spirits, is focusing at present on the production of hand sanitizers at her Squamish distillery. According to her, the distillery has now been inundated with orders for hand sanitizer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is a huge business pivot,” Woods stated in a blog by realtor Jean Seguin. Woods and Seguin are working together to sell Gillespie’s Fine Spirits. Before the pandemic hit, the distillery, which has a cocktail bar, was listed for sale. The bar is called Squamish G Spot—it is described on the distillery’s website as a “hidden gem”—hence the bar’s slogan: “Have you found it yet?” Seguin recalled that Gillespie’s was first listed two years ago, but the owners later decided to keep the distillery. “Surprisingly, it’s one of the few businesses that is going to get to thrive during this time,” Seguin wrote in his blog. In the blog post, Woods indicated that she expects the production of hand sanitizers by distilleries like Gillespie’s to continue even after the worst of the pandemic is over. “Chances are that people will be more germ-conscious,” Woods said. If a buyer comes along to take over Gillespie’s and

> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message <

The Georgia Straight Confessions, an outlet for submitting revelations about your private lives—or for the voyeurs among us who want to read what other people have disclosed.

Scan to confess Not true Living on my own means I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want, right? Nope. Living on my own means I have twice as much to do, for myself, than if I lived with family. If I don’t do everything for myself, it doesn’t get done.

I’m lookin’ for work right away I’m not waiting three months when EI expires and everyone is rushing to REALLY get a job. It’s gonna be mayhem then. I’m guessing 20% isn’t even that unrealistic for unemployment when a once in a lifetime event like this happens. It has been higher... why wouldn’t it hit those peaks this time around?

Ready to pounce Oh my gosh when this quarantine is over I am going to spring out into the world and seek romance and adventure! I will be full of lust and will be out smiling at cute guys, hopefully someone will talk to me.

How do you practice quarantine with roommates? Sommelier and mixologist Kelly Ann Woods planned to launch a line of cannabis-infused beverages this spring.

Squamish G Spot, Woods will say goodbye to these establishments and will, instead, be concentrating on State B, her line of nonalcoholic cannabis beverages. Woods explained that State B drinks will feature a low dose of CBD and THC. “State A is that state when are fighting with your spouse, you’re stuck in traffic, and your kids are driving you crazy,” Woods told the Straight. That mindset will change with State B drinks, she said. “State B is the feeling right after a run or meditation,” Woods said. g

If I am a sublet, chances are I will get evicted if my roommate comes back from a trip finally. What the hell do I do? Come on Dr. Bonnie. Tell us what to do here.

Bakers dozen In a twisted selfish way, the positive (if any) from this Covid-19 pandemic is that I now have the time to watch the Food Network for several hours per day to give me new ideas and improve my baking.

Visit

to post a Confession APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 9

TV / MUSIC

CBC Gem offers plethora of choices

by Norman Wilner

BC’s free streaming service, Gem—available in app form, on smart TVs, and through your web browser—offers access to live regional feeds, CBC News Network, and all the sitcoms, dramas, documentaries, and miniseries you can eat. And it’s not just current television like Anne With an E, Kim’s Convenience, and Schitt’s Creek; there’s also a wide range of old favourites and new imports, and a whack of documentaries and feature films. Here are a few things to get you started. TELEVISION

THE KIDS IN THE HALL All five seasons of Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson’s revered sketch-comedy series are available on Gem. That’s a total of 100 episodes— and 10 “fan favourites” compilation shows—of groundbreaking genius, and for some reason these appear to be the American episodes, which means that every so often you’ll stumble across a sketch like “The Dr. Seuss Bible” that never aired here. I’m thinking it’ll be a while before the Amazon revival gets into production, so maybe parcel these out. SLINGS & ARROWS Created by Susan Coyne, Bob Martin, and Mark McKinney, and revolving around the flailing efforts of a theatre company to hold itself together after the death of its venerated artistic director, this mid-’00s Stratford spoof may be the single finest sitcom this country has ever produced. It’s certainly the one most beloved by people in the industry, both for its smart backstage satire and its unmatched ensemble cast, which includes Paul Gross, Martha Burns, Stephen Ouimette, and Don McKellar, as well as McKinney, Martin, and Coyne, plus a young Rachel

or surf a new wave of homegrown cinema like Deanne Foley’s An Audience of Chairs, Rebecca Addelman’s Paper Year, and Sook-Yin Lee’s Octavio Is Dead! It’s also a good place to find movies you almost certainly missed the first time around, like Gary Burns’s Man Running or Lindsay MacKay’s Wet Bum. Want a Sandra Oh double feature? Here’s Mina Shum’s Double Happiness and Don McKellar’s Last Night, which are also two of the best Canadian films of the ’90s! Rather spend time with people in increasingly awful situations? Pair Denis Villeneuve’s urban-alienation nightmare Enemy with Adam MacDonald’s Algonquin survival thriller Backcountry! Looking for small films about two friends working stuff out? Try Pavan Moondi’s Funnymen Fred Armisen (left) and Bill Hader deliver a memorable parody of Grey Gardens in Documentary Now! on CBC Gem. Sundowners or Jordan Canning’s Suck McAdams. It also features appear- the Artist), Owen Wilson and Michael LUTHER I have a love-hate relationship It Up. And that’s just a sampling. ances by Geraint Wyn Davies, Colm Keaton (the Wild Wild Country spoof with Neil Cross’s BBC detective serFeore, Sarah Polley, William Hutt, Batshit Valley), and Taran Killam, Ri- ies, which stars Idris Elba as a London DOCUMENTARIES Jonathan Crombie, Séan Cullen, Eric chard Kind, Paula Pell, Renée Elise homicide detective whose personality Gem is packed with documentaries Peterson, and Jackie Burroughs. Never Goldsberry, and frequent contributor seems almost as pathological as the covering every subject imaginable, seen it? Pace yourself: these three six- John Mulaney (the ingenious, endless- murderers he pursues: I love Idris Elba, and you can spend hours just combepisode seasons—covering chaotic ly rewatchable Sondheim riff Original and I hate the show. Cross captured ing through the options. Organize productions of Hamlet, Macbeth, and Cast Album: Co-Op). Every episode is lightning in a bottle with the first run a musical playlist with Marie Cleof episodes, which pits Luther against ments’s The Road Forward, Charles King Lear—are all we’ll ever get. a weird, twitchy little joy. calculating sociopath Alice Morgan (a Officer’s Unarmed Verses, Martha KeDOCUMENTARY NOW! Gem isn’t TRAVEL MAN: 48 HOURS IN… brilliant Ruth Wilson), and then forces hoe and Joan Tosoni’s Gordon Lightjust a cornucopia of Canadian pro- Not only is Richard Ayoade’s eccen- that dynamic on every successive sea- foot: If You Could Read My Mind, and gramming; CBC has also licensed doz- tric travel show—in which the actor son, bringing Alice back over and over Jessica Edwards’s Mavis!, or dig a little ens of American and British shows, and filmmaker crankily visits a city again to solve whatever problem Luther deeper and find unexpected treasures including this super-niche cult delight, for exactly two days, accompanied by had created for himself. Also, the show like Jennifer Baichwal’s Manufacproduced for IFC in the U.S. From the a famous friend—consistently fun (if never seems to realize that its hero is tured Landscapes, Hari Kondabolu’s very first episode—which mashed up frantic) viewing, but now every epi- truly terrible at his job: his instincts The Problem With Apu, or Jamie Grey Gardens with The Blair Witch sode looks like a historical document. are atrocious; he’s constantly getting Kastner’s The Skyjacker’s Tale. Also, Project and actually made that work— (Get a load of all those people eating people killed; and he never once has there’s a short documentary about creators Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth happily in restaurants!) The ninth to reckon with the consequences of his competitive balloon sculpture that’s Meyers, and Rhys Thomas have deliv- and final collection of episodes just actions. I mean, Dr. House was a dick, kind of amazing. ered pitch-perfect riffs on the films of dropped, including a visit to Dubrov- but he managed to cure people, like, 95 Jonathan Demme, Errol Morris, Les nik with Stephen Merchant, but if percent of the time. Consumer tip: the site’s navigaBlank, the Maysles brothers, D. A. you want a good place to start, check tion is… less than perfect, and titles Pennebaker, and others, with Hader out Season 2, Episode 1, in which MOVIES that start with A or The will be filed and Armisen sharing the screen with Ayoade and his old IT Crowd costar Gem’s movie selection bleeds maple, under A or T, respectively. Hopeguest stars like Cate Blanchett (for the Chris O’Dowd carve a particularly but in a good way: you can dig back fully, someone is already working on decades and find forgotten treasures that (from home). g Marina Abramović parody Waiting for destructive path through Vienna.

What’s in Your Fridge: Josh Bogert

by Mike Usinger

hat’s in Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.

this album were way ahead of their time, taking influences from dance music and infusing the sounds into pop tracks. This was largely due to Skrillex being the mastermind behind the production. Purpose really inspired me to become a producer, and I soon began to develop what eventually became my own sound, taking bass music into the realm of pop.

ON THE GRILL

Josh Bogert.

WHO ARE YOU

Hey, I’m Josh! I’m a 19-year-old singer, producer, songwriter, and musician from South Surrey. Since I was a child, my first passion has always been music (I learned the violin when I was four) and I’ve always known I wanted to make music my career. My second passion is CrossFit and weightlifting. I spend most of my days in the gym instructing or in the studio making music. I’m also really into good food. (Fitting that this is a What’s in Your Fridge feature.) Give me a giant greasy burger, a fire-roasted pizza, or sushi and I will be happy. The West Coast is the coast for sushi. I could go on for days about food, but I mainly want to introduce my new EP, Perspectives, which is out now on all platforms. This release is really special to me because the new sound it introduces is fully representative of the music I love to make. I feel as though I’ve really nailed my own unique sound by combining pop vocals/songwriting with a production workflow inspired by melodic dubstep. With this EP I was able to record, produce, mix, and master all the songs, and I designed the cover art myself, so I feel the whole project really represents me. My goal with these songs, and with everything I’m doing, is to spread positivity and hopefully provide some insight and perspective on the situations people encounter in their lives. FIRST CONCERT

When I was about six or seven years old, my parents took me to see Rascal Flatts, because I was obsessed with their version of “Life Is a Highway” from the Pixar movie Cars. We saw them at Rogers Arena (or rather GM Place at

ALL-TIME FAVOURITE VIDEO

Lil Dicky “Earth” I think this one is always changing for me, but one that really stands out is Lil Dicky’s “Earth”. I’ve recently been getting into 3-D animation and computer graphics, so this video really interests me in that sense, especially as I create the graphics for my own projects. I think the message is also really important, since Earth is the only place we have to call home, and we need to take care of it. I think the video for the song is really fun, and it’s cool to see so many artists coming together on such a powerful project. The vibrant energy South Surrey producer-singer-songwriter Josh Bogert enjoys CrossFit and giant greasy burgers. in this video was an inspiration for how I wantthe time) in Vancouver, and I remember being teens I was on a TV show called Backstage on ed my video for my single “Vibrations” to feel. forced to wear the most uncomfortable earplugs the Family Channel. In 2016, we did a tour and complaining the whole time! Even though I across Canada with the cast from a few of the WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE was a complainer (what kid wants to wear ear- Family Channel shows, performing in theatres My mom’s family-recipe chicken noodle plugs?), I do remember having a great time and and arenas in most of the southern provinces. I soup. Hands down the best chicken noodle was having the time of my life on-stage, living soup you’ll ever taste, passed down several really enjoying the show! my dream, and Jon Bellion was the soundtrack generations on my mom’s side of the family. LIFE-CHANGING CONCERT to the whole experience. In 2012, I saw Michael Bublé at Rogers Arena. Orange juice. I know, I know, this may not At the time he was my favourite artist (Canada The Zac Brown Band The Foundation It real- seem like the most exciting thing to have sitrepresent!), and the whole time all I could think ly takes me back to my early childhood. Grow- ting in the fridge, but it is a must for me. What about was how I wanted to be up on that stage ing up, my older brother and I mostly listened can I say, I am pretty particular about my OJ. one day. It was an incredible show, and the first to country music, because that’s what our par- It can’t be from concentrate because ew, and it arena show that I can clearly remember. I was ents liked. The Zac Brown Band, and especially has to have the pulp in it. (Back off. pulp hathoroughly inspired by the performance and their hit song “Chicken Fried”, played a huge ters!) If it’s fresh squeezed, even better! the energy of the crowd. This show gave me role in my early love for music, and hearing the nudge to start performing myself, so the their songs will always take me back to riding Protein bars. As I mentioned earlier, CrossFit following year I played over 100 local shows in in my dad’s old pickup, going camping, and and weightlifting are big in my life. This means my community, at cafés, restaurants, and even hitting the trails on our dirt bikes out in the I’m pretty much hungry all the time… and I some local festivals. mean constantly! Protein bars are a real lifeFraser Valley. saver, especially right after a crazy workout. TOP THREE RECORDS Justin Bieber Purpose This was the album ’Cause who has time to be constantly cooking Jon Bellion The Human Condition Definitely that really got me hooked on electronic pop, up chicken, amirite? Oh, doesn’t everyone put my favourite album of all time. In my mid- and it was my gateway to EDM. The ideas in protein bars in their fridge? g

10 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT APRIL 2 – 9 / 2020

SAVAGE LOVE

Now is not the time to open things up by Dan Savage

b MY HUSBAND AND I got married in August of 2019 and we were together for over five years before getting married. I’m very happy and love him with all my heart. I want to have his kids and support his entrepreneurial efforts as he supports mine. We don’t fight; we just have some tiffs here and there. The kicker is that I have a tough time feeling him during sex and he doesn’t last as long as I would like him to. We’re adventurous enough to try different things, i.e., toys and different positions, but I find myself sexually unfulfilled. He also isn’t very willing/interested in going down on me; in fact, he has not once gone down on me. I’m also finding myself attracted to and fantasizing about other men. In addition to being honest with my husband, I don’t know what the solution is. I’m not opposed to opening up a marriage, but I worry that I’m just being selfish and that it’s too soon to try or even discuss it at any length. I did bring up a crush I have on a coworker and my husband said, “There’s nothing wrong with having a snack.” What did he mean by that? Do you have any other insights or suggestions on what to do? - Married Not Dead

letter with Tristan Taormino, author of Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships. Through her books, lectures, and podcasts, Taormino has helped countless couples navigate the transition from monogamy to nonmonogamy. But before we dive into the specifics of your situation, MND, there’s something Taormino and I want to make clear to all. “In this time of a global pandemic, thinking and talking about nonmonogamy is all you can do right now,” said Taormino. “This goes for every-

I shared your

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one: no new sex partners until public health experts say we can go back to standing closer than six feet apart. Even then, we’re going to have to proceed with caution.” Listen up, people: the woman who literally wrote the book on open relationships says open and poly relationships are cancelled for the time being. “Yup, cancelled,” said Taormino, “unless every one of your partners lives with you.” While COVID-19 isn’t classified as a sexually transmitted infection (STI), having sex with someone who has coronavirus would almost certainly result in transmission. And since people who get infected typically don’t show symptoms for up to two weeks, the fact that someone appears to be healthy doesn’t mean they are coronafree. Someone can look and feel great and be both infected and infectious. So for the time being we should only be having sex with a sex partner we live with. If you have more than one sex partner and you’re all staying in the same place, great! Poly isn’t cancelled for you and your partners. But we shouldn’t be hooking up with new partners in person or going to see established partners we don’t live with. That goes double for meeting up with non-cohabitating partners who have other partners and whose other partners have other partners of their own. But the good news is that sext messages and dirty video chats are both allowed and encouraged, kids, so we can get off online with new people as well as established partners who live on the other side of town or the other side of the world. Hell, get the whole polycule together on Zoom—just don’t actually get together with (or get under) anyone you don’t live with. Okay! With that out of the way,

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MND, we’re going to answer your question. But bear in mind that some of our advice won’t be fully actionable until after COVID-19 is brought under control. “I’m glad MND is being honest with her husband about her desires, but let’s take that further with even more specific talk about what’s missing in her sex life,” said Taormino. “In her letter, I heard: pussy-eating, intense enough sensation from intercourse, and longer sex sessions. I’ll translate that: she’s missing pleasure, reciprocation, and orgasms for her. She is not being selfish for wanting these things. They are pretty fundamental aspects of a sexual relationship, and she needs to address them with her husband first.” Backing way the hell up: assuming you knew about my column five years ago, MND, it’s telling you didn’t ask for my advice back when you realized your new boyfriend was never going to eat your pussy. (Spoiler: I would’ve told you to dump him.) Since you chose not to break up with your boyfriend over the lack of cunnilingus back then and you don’t want to divorce your husband over it now, MND, it would seem that going without oral—at least going without at home—is the price of admission you’re willing to pay to be with this guy. As for your other issues about your sex life with your husband—you don’t “feel him” during penis-in-vagina (PIV) intercourse and it’s over too quickly—the right toys could certainly help. But if your husband ruled out penetration toys that were bigger than his cock, MND, or if you didn’t order any that were bigger than his cock to avoid hurting his feelings, you’re gonna have to broach the subject of buying some larger toys, MND, ones you can really feel. And since experimenting

with new positions didn’t help your husband last longer, you should try alternating between toys and his cock during PIV, which will make both the sex (and the husband) last longer. “If MND’s husband is really in this relationship, he should be open and willing to give most anything a try,” said Taormino. “MND really needs to see that he’s as interested in her pleasure and satisfaction as he is in his own. And if there’s something she wants to try or something that really turns her on and gets her off that her husband doesn’t know about, now is the time to share the juicy details.” As for opening up the relationship, MND, I wouldn’t advise most people to initiate that convo at this moment. Because if the conversation goes badly—and they often do at first—that could mean sheltering in place with an angry person. But based on your husband’s reaction when you confessed having a crush on a coworker, MND, I think you could risk discussing opening up while you’re locked down. Your husband didn’t say there was nothing wrong with fantasizing about a snack, MND, he said there’s nothing wrong with having a snack. Make no mistake: that’s not a green light to immediately outsource getting your pussy eaten. But his calm, matter-of-fact reaction when you confided in him about your crush is a good sign. But first things first: you need to work with your husband on improving your sex life at home, and you should have a convo about that—and a convo about ordering some new sex toys—before you make plans to open up the relationship and start getting your pussy eaten elsewhere. “Exploring nonmonogamy is one way to address sexual incompatibilities and expand our capacity for

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love and intimacy,” said Taormino. “But the stuff between the two of them needs to gets talked about first. Otherwise, you’re glossing over the issues with something new and shiny.” Follow Tristan Taormino on Twitter @TristanTaormino. b I’VE BEEN IN love with a close friend for years. Social distancing has thrown major life “regrets” into high relief and I would be crushed if something happened to him. We’ve both been distancing for two weeks and neither of us has symptoms. Can I have him come over to hang out? What if we ended up making out or hooking up? He has housemates and I don’t, so he’s around more people than I am, but everyone at his house has been distancing too. I see so many questions about hooking up with randos and that seems like a clear no-no. But what about hooking up with someone you know? - No Regrets

NR. We’re not supposed to come within six feet of anyone we don’t live with, NR, which means you can’t invite this guy over to play cribbage and/or fuck you senseless. If you wanted to invite this guy over to stay, you could shack up and wait out the lockdown together. But you can’t invite him over just to play. Instead of inviting him over and hoping for something to happen, NR, you should give this guy a call and tell him how you feel. He might feel the same way and want to be your quarantine buddy. But if he doesn’t feel the same way, at least you’ll know. Rejections we can get over, NR, but regrets are for life. g

Also a no-no,

Listen at savagelovecast.com. Email: mail@ savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage.

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www.saavancouver.org Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) Do you have a problem with sex and love relationships. You are not alone. SLAA is a 12 Step 12 Tradition oriented fellowship for those who suffer from sex and love addiction. Leave a message on our phone line and somebody will call you back for meeting time and locations. slaavan@telus.net SEXAHOLICS ANONYMOUS - Vancouver, BC For those desiring their own sexual sobriety, please go to www.sa.org for meetings times and places. We are here to help you from being overwhelmed. Newcomers are gratefully welcomed. Support, Education & Action Group for Women that have experienced male violence. Call Vancouver Rape Relief 604-872-8212 The Compassionate Friends (TCF) Burnaby TCF is a grief support group for parents who have experienced the loss of a child, at any age. Meet the last Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. For location call Grace: 778-222-0446 "We Need Not Walk Alone" compassionatecircle@hotmail.com Burnaby@TCFCanada.net www.tcfcanada.net Vancouver Society for Sexuality, Gender & Culture Educational group with monthly meetings are planned for: 1st Tuesday of each month, 6:30 PM 8:30 PM Vancouver Public Library - Firehall Branch 1455 W 10th Ave (by Granville St next to the Firehall) All are welcome, and we are looking for Board Members from the Health, Counseling, Education, and Business Professions Info: Michael or Darren: VSSGC@yahoogroups.ca WAVAW - Rape Crisis Centre has a 24-hour crisis line, counselling, public education, & volunteer opportunities for women. All services are free & confidential. Please call for info: Business Line: 604-255-6228 24-Hour Crisis Line: 604-255-6344

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