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APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 3
4 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
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All advertised prices include taxes & fees. Conditions apply. Ex: Vancouver. All advertised prices include taxes & fees. Package, cruise, tour, rail & hotel prices are per person, based on double occupancy for total length of stay unless otherwise stated. Prices are for select departure dates and are accurate and subject to availability at advertising deadline, errors and omissions excepted, and subject to change. Taxes & fees due in destination are additional and include, but not limited to, local car rental charges & taxes, one-way rental drop fees which are to be paid upon arrival, resort fees & charges, tour ‘kitty’, airline baggage fees and cruise gratuities. *Conditions apply. For full terms and conditions please speak with a Flight Centre travel consultant or visit flightcentre.ca/europe. †We will match any written quoted airfare. Additional important conditions apply. For full terms and conditions visit flightcentre.ca/lowestairfareguarantee. BC REG: #HO2790 Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40009178, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to The Georgia Straight, 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9
APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 5
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8 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
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CONTENTS
SkyTrain bike path, Vancouver. Darren L. Hopwood photo.
12
NEWS
On the eve of Vancouver’s annual 4/20 festival, cannabis activists say protests are necessary as long as Canadians keep going to jail for violating anachronistic laws prohibiting marijuana use. > BY TR AVIS LUPICK
18
FOOD
Meet three B.C. women who figured out that launching their own businesses was the best way to improve human and animal health. > BY CHARLIE SMITH
21
COVER
At the new Vancouver Opera Festival, a searing work about death row mixes with classic productions, concerts, media art, and more.
START HERE 16 20 30 34 30 13 15 20 37 14 43 17 28 29
Books The Bottle Comedy Confessions Dance Green Living Health I Saw You Local Discs Real Estate Savage Love Straight Stars Theatre Visual Arts
> BY JANE T SMITH
31
TIME OUT
MOVIES
Before the Streets breaks all the right rules; Germany and France go dancing in Frantz; Colossal does monster battle with itself; hearts of darkness enter The Lost City of Z.
30 Arts 40 Music
SERVICES
35
MUSIC
Blues stylist Cécile Doo-Kingué exorcises societal demons in her songs—and still finds time to seek fun in multi-artist bills.
40 Careers 14 Real Estate
> BY ALE X ANDER VART Y
40
COVER PHOTO
CLASSIFIEDS
Automotive | Education | Services | Travel Marketplace | Employment | Real Estate Property Rentals | Music | Announcements Callboard | And more...
GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight
EMILY COOPER
APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 9
NEWS
NDP stakes out green turf > B Y C HA R LIE S M ITH
V
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ancouver-Fairview NDP candidate George Heyman says that if his party forms the next B.C. government, it will do “everything” within its power to stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline from being built. “It’s just wrong,” Heyman told the Georgia Straight by phone. “It’s far too much risk. It tramples on First Nations’ rights. It threatens our economy, our coastline, and our quality of life. And it runs counter to our climate-change commitments.” The B.C. Liberal government and the Trudeau government have approved the project, which would triple bitumen shipments from Alberta to the Lower Mainland. It would also result in approximately 400 oil tankers per year travelling through Burrard Inlet. Heyman also maintained that the B.C. NDP is “committed to improving transit of all kinds in Metro Vancouver”. “We have said for several months now that we will fund 40 percent of all of the capital projects in the mayors’ 10-year plan,” he declared. “That’s the Broadway subway, light rail south of the Fraser, new buses, expansion of HandyDart, the Pattullo Bridge, and we’ll work with the mayors on increasing service in all of these modes.”
George Heyman says the NDP will improve transit. Josh Berson photo.
untolled bridges, causing massive congestion on the Pattullo and along the main arteries in New Westminster,” Heyman said. “People are driving farther. They’re idling in congested traffic and it’s likely worse for climate impacts.” The Straight then asked if the B.C. NDP platform rules out a regional tolling policy. “We’ve said that we’ll work with the mayors in good faith on a number of issues that they’ve put forward in which they want to move,” Heyman replied. “They haven’t put anything forward as something to be developed in the short term, but we will be happy to discuss it with them.” He also repeated the B.C. NDP’s pledge to subject the $8.8-billion Site C dam in northeastern B.C. to a review by the B.C. Utilities Commission. “I think British Columbians and the BCUC need to look at how much more money is going to be dropped into this white elephant,” Heyman said. “And what could we do with that money to drive rates down for British Columbians and create more jobs rather than the other way around: fewer jobs at higher rates under Site C.” -
Earlier this month, B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan declared that he would eliminate road tolls on the Pattullo and Golden Ears bridges. That has drawn criticism from municipal officials, including New Westminster mayor Jonathan Cote. Heyman, however, said that the B.C. Liberal government did nothing after saying for four years that it would review tolling policy. “So we have tolls on two bridges To read the transcript of George Heythat have been driving traffic to man’s interview, go to Straight.com.
The Georgia Straight | Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly | Volume 51 Number 2572 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 www.straight.com Phone: 604-730-7000 / Fax: 604-730-7010 / e-mail: gs.info@straight.com Display Advertising: 604-730-7020 / Fax: 604-730-7012 / e-mail: sales@straight.com Classifieds: 604-730-7060 / e-mail: classads@straight.com Subscriptions: 604-730-7000 Distribution: 604-730-7087
80 UP TO
EDITOR + PUBLISHER Dan McLeod
% OFF
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Yolanda Stepien GENERAL MANAGER Matt McLeod
RETAIL
EDITOR Charlie Smith SECTION EDITORS
Janet Smith (Arts/Fashion) Mike Usinger (Music) Steve Newton (Time Out) Adrian Mack (Movies) Brian Lynch (Books) EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Doug Sarti ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Gail Johnson, John Lucas, Alexander Varty STAFF WRITERS
END OF LINE & DISCONTINUED STYLES
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NEWS
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Tony Wade recently died at the age of 68, but during his life he completed three documentaries about the Georgia Straight and was prepared to do a fourth.
Offer expires May 12, 2017
Broadcast journalism trailblazer left a mark > BY C HA RL IE SM I TH
O
ne of B.C.’s most influential broadcast journalists of the 1970s and 1980s has passed away in St Leonards-on-Sea, England, after suffering from throat cancer. Tony Wade was the fiery and iconoclastic executive producer of CBC TV’s Pacific Report, a pioneering newsmagazine program that wasn’t afraid to challenge conventional wisdom. He was 68. In 1980, he and Pacific Report journalist Wendy Strazdine created a 16-minute documentary called “Apprehensions”, which shone a light on the seizure of indigenous children and their placement with white families. It led to new laws around the fostering of First Nations kids and won the B’nai Brith Media Human Rights Award. In 1987 Wade produced a landmark 25-minute documentary for Pacific Report on Michael J. Fox, then a major television star on Family Ties. He took viewers behind the scenes with Fox, showing him driving to work in his black Ferrari, interacting with his costars on set, and speaking frankly about his life as an actor. Much of the program was filmed in Los Angeles as Fox was working days on Family Ties and at night filming Back to the Future. Wade’s style was to let the subjects reveal their stories rather than having journalists intrude too heavily in the storytelling. This process was on display in another of his memorable Pacific Report documentaries, “The Crusoe of Lonesome Lake”, which told the story of B.C. homesteader and environmentalist Ralph Edwards, as well as another program on the punk band D.O.A. In 1996, Wade created a pilot for CBC TV called The Criminal Mind, which focused on psychopaths in prison. The show was ahead of its time but wasn’t picked up by the network. Former Pacific Report executive producer Peter McNelly described Wade as “charming, talented, tough, and sweet” in a tribute that appeared in a newsletter shared by current and former CBC staffers. Another former CBC Vancouver colleague, Dan Noon, called Wade a “great producer, director, and writer”. “He always connected with people with his unique sense of humour and his genuine interest in what people had to say, both in front and behind the camera,” Noon added. “He enriched all of our lives and I am very proud to say he was my friend.” Film editor David Banigan stated in the newsletter that Wade made him laugh. Banigan cited one of Wade’s restaurant reviews in which he declared: “It was really expensive but the food was terrible.” Although Wade was admired for his eye for creating compelling cur-
rent-affairs programming, he was also a great mentor, helping many journalists learn the principles of long-form journalism on television. He also chronicled the evolution of the Georgia Straight in three different documentaries. In the first, on Pacific Report in 1982, the youthful-looking publisher, Dan McLeod, declared that he was no longer interested in confronting the authorities and didn’t intend on returning to court. This was in reference to the late 1960s, when the Straight was repeatedly harassed by police and politicians. For a six-week period in its first year, the paper was kept off the streets after the city revoked its business licence. The second documentary appeared on Pacific Report in 1987 to coincide with the Georgia Straight’s 20th anniversary and publication of its 1,000th issue. It revealed how the paper’s switch to arts and entertainment helped it survive financially in the 1980s and included file footage from the paper’s controversial early days. “The Straight has outlasted [combative former Vancouver mayor] Tom Campbell and the hippies and is soon to outlast Ronald Reagan and the yuppies,” McLeod said in the documentary. Wade’s third documentary about the Straight was far more ambitious. Coproduced by Straight alumnus Tom Crighton, The Last Streetfighter: The History of the Georgia Straight was a 47-minute look at the newspaper on its 30th anniversary. It included an interview with Bob Geldof, who was the paper’s music editor in the mid-1970s, and it highlighted the connections between the Straight and the founders and early members of Greenpeace. The Last Streetfighter won two CANPRO Canadian television awards as well as a certificate of merit from the Jack Webster Foundation. Wade also won two Anik Awards, a New York Film and Television Festival bronze medal, and an AMTEC Award of Merit for documentaries about artist Bill Reid, children’s entertainer Charlotte Diamond, and writer and historian Barry Broadfoot, respectively. McLeod said that Wade and Crighton finished a treatment to do a one-hour documentary on the Straight’s 50th anniversary this year but, sadly, Crighton suffered a relapse of his own throat cancer and was unable to continue. “I think, one way or another, Tony would have gotten the project done even without Tom’s help if not for his own cancer recurring,” McLeod said. “In August, he wrote me that the lymph nodes in his neck were swollen and cancerous. Soon he had the diagnosis: ‘small-cell lung cancer’.” Wade is survived by his wife, Sidonie, his children Markus, Adam, Christopher, and Hayley, his stepdaughter Sara, and his grandchildren Sadie and Mason. -
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APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 11
NEWS
Marijuana activist Jodie Emery notes that since last year’s 4/20 festival at Sunset Beach, many storefront dispensaries across Canada have been raided by police.
4/20 organizers say protests still necessary > B Y TR AVIS LUPICK
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ith Canada now well on its way to legal recreational marijuana, what is there left for activists to protest at Vancouver’s annual 4/20 event? Plenty, according to organizers of the massive gathering, which is scheduled to happen this Thursday (April 20) at Sunset Beach in the city’s West End. In a telephone interview, Canada’s most prominent advocate for marijuana reform, Jodie Emery, was highly critical of legislation the Liberal government tabled in Parliament on April 13. “It is prohibition 2.0,” she told the Georgia Straight. “It is not legalization. It is a continuation of the kind of criminalization that we’ve seen before, with the introduction of even harsher laws that will victimize even more peaceful Canadians.” Emery said that this year’s 4/20 event is therefore about getting people involved in aspects of the legalization process that still remain to be determined. “The provincial governments and city governments will be drafting a lot of the actual details, so we have to start reaching out to our elected officials there and telling them the truth about cannabis,” she explained. If passed into law, the Liberal government’s Cannabis Act will make it legal for people to purchase and possess up to 30 grams of marijuana (as long as it is produced by a company authorized by the federal government). It would also permit individuals to grow up to four plants in their home. Dana Larsen said that’s the good news. In a separate interview, the former vice president of the Canadian Association of Cannabis Dispensaries added that just about everything else in the Liberals’ plan is bad news. For example, Larsen said, the proposed laws provide for prison sentences for anyone caught giving even a small amount of weed to a friend under the age of 18. They also make it a crime to smoke a joint that was rolled with marijuana that was not grown by a company approved for production by Ottawa. “Unless you grow it yourself or you buy it legally, even possession is still banned,” Larsen continued. “There are no comparable laws for alcohol or tobacco where they restrict the ownership of your alcohol like that.” Larsen asked why the Liberals have proposed jail time for people who break the rules with marijuana while similar offences with alcohol or tobacco only result in fines.
“I would actually be happy if they just took all the alcohol rules and laid them on to cannabis,” he said. “I believe that the rules should be less severe for cannabis, because it is so much safer than alcohol. But as a term of public policy, I understand.” In a separate interview, Kirk Tousaw, an Abbotsford-based lawyer who specializes in drug crimes, said that because it is widely understood that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, these tougher penalties for weed simply don’t make sense. “That is just out of whack with what any rational system of government regulation should want to do,” he said. “You should want to penalize offences involving the more dangerous substances more harshly, not less harshly.” In October 2015, when Justin Trudeau was still a candidate on the campaign trail, the Straight published an in-depth report on the competing Liberal and NDP plans for marijuana reform. It noted that during the first six months of that year, only 327 people spent time inside a B.C. Corrections institution for a drug crime. However, an additional 1,069 British Columbians were convicted of a drug offence but were given probation or released on a conditional sentence. A number of people interviewed who fell into that category told the Straight stories of how their names were entered into computer systems that complicated things like international travel and job applications. Tousaw warned that under the Liberals’ framework for legalization, people will continue being arrested for marijuana and will be stuck with records that could haunt them for decades. “It seems very clear that the government is committed to retaining significant criminal penalties, including the prospect of lengthy prison terms for cannabis-related activities that fall outside of the fairly narrow confines of what is going to be legalized,” he said. “There is no reason that a Canadian with 31 grams of cannabis should face a criminal record and the possibly of being fined or going to jail because they are one gram over some arbitrary number.” Larsen emphasized that as long as people are going to prison for marijuana, Vancouver’s 4/20 festival is a demonstration against laws he described as unjust. “It remains a protest,” he said. “Anyone who thought that this was going to be a big celebration and that we have nothing left to protest anymore, they are very wrong.” -
GLASS ARTIST PIPES UP
PROVINCIAL GENERAL ELECTION
APRIL 27 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
Will the public’s desire for change unseat the B.C. Liberals? Or will Premier Christy Clark’s handling of the economy and other issues give her party its fifth straight majority? In our April 27th issue, we will examine key issues that could decide this election.
To Advertise Contact 604.730.7020 | sales@straight.com 12 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
> BY CHARLIE SMITH
Glass blower Alex Zirkl is only 24 years old, but he’s already one of North America’s most imaginative creators of pipes used by cannabis consumers. The Victoria-based artist’s colourful and carefully crafted works will be on display at 10,000 Hours, a solo exhibition of glass art hosted by Puff Downtown (1109 Granville Street) at 7 p.m. on Saturday (April 22). Zirkl’s high-end pieces feature glass tubes or balls encased within other glass tubes or balls, separated by mere millimetres to allow smoke or water to pass through. “Most of the pieces at the show are $1,000 to $4,000.” Zirkl said. “The colour work that goes into them ups their price quite a bit.” -
GREEN LIVING
Nonprofit redirects food waste to needy “They [the business owners] were already feeling bad about the waste hree years after the release of they had, but they didn’t have the Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story, manpower to do something about a B.C.–produced documen- it,” says Schein. “So we try to make tary that follows filmmakers things easier for them.” Grant Baldwin and Jen Rustemeyer The green advocate cold-called as they attempt to live off discarded various charities, community centres, groceries for six months, the flick is and other nonprofit organizations still touching lives. around Metro VanCase in point: local couver and started Presented by high-school teachhand-delivering er David Schein, boxes of produce, who left his job baked goods, and last summer to found the Food Stash other foods to people in need. Seven Foundation, an eco-minded nonprofit months later, Schein estimates that that delivers food waste to charities Food Stash has collected over 70,000 around Metro Vancouver. pounds of food waste from nearly 40 Speaking to the Straight by phone, grocers, restaurants, and cafés, includSchein explains that he was com- ing Terra Breads, Greens Market, and pelled to make a difference after view- Le Marché St. George. ing Just Eat It in the spring. An avid Schein also works with Delta’s food preserver and gardener, he was Windset Farms to recover “ugly”— extremely bothered by the truckloads misshapen or blemished—fruits and of perfectly fine apples, bananas, and veggies that are not accepted by groother foods documented in the film— cery stores. Much of the food sourced all destined for the landfill or com- from shops and eateries, meanwhile, post because they had reached their is past its sell-by date, which means sell-by date or did not fulfill visual it should not be sold by grocers but is standards set by grocers. still edible if stored properly. Schein “The images of the produce got to and a rapidly growing team of volme,” Schein says, echoing Baldwin unteers make it a point to visit Food and Rustemeyer when he says that 40 Stash’s suppliers daily to ensure that percent of the fruits and vegetables these items make it to their beneficigrown globally go uneaten. Today, the aries in time to be eaten. Food and Agricultural Organization Among the group’s bounty are of the United Nations estimates that ready-to-eat sandwiches, salads, and one-third—or 1.3 billion tonnes—of even vegan pizzas. However, fresh, food prepared for human consump- wholesome foods like produce, frozen tion never makes it onto plates. meats, and dairy products are a focus In September, Schein began ap- because they are more nutritious and proaching food-related shops on Main have the least amount of food-safe Street and in his Kitsilano neighbour- risk, says Schein. “I want to give people hood, asking business owners if they’d food that I myself would want to eat.” be interested in donating their “unThe foods are transported to sellable” foods. The August Market, 25 local nonprofits, including the Beyond Bread, and the now defunct Greater Vancouver Food Bank, the Produce Co. immediately signed on Inland Refugee Society of B.C., and Food Stash Foundation was born. and the Vancouver Aboriginal > BY L UC Y LA U
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Food Stash founder David Schein launched his nonprofit to deliver unsellable food to local charities. Amanda Siebert photo.
Friendship Centre Society. Schein hopes to set up a subscription-box service in the near future, where food-insecure households can have cases of produce, bread, and other healthy products delivered right to their doors. As a former high-school teacher, he’d also like to set up a program where he can bring interested kids along on Food Stash’s trips. “I’ve done that a few times now
and they [the students] are always very impressed by the quality of the food,” Schein says. “They kind of have this image of ‘Oh, it’s going to be rotten. It’s going to be terrible.’ And then they see it and they’re like, ‘Wait a second, I’d eat that.’ So I think it’s really important for that generation to witness that.” In addition to diverting waste from landfi lls, Schein emphasizes
that consuming all food products honours the labour and resources—water, grain, and land, for example—that go into creating them. He sees feeding the less fortunate as a natural solution to a global, environmentally damaging problem. “It’s such a shame to be throwing all this food away when so many people could really benefit from having it,” he says. -
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The City of Vancouver has photographed many single-family homes with heat sensors to determine if they would benefit from upgrades. ivansmuk photo.
any homeowners in have an old furnace and you put in a Vancouver will soon brand-new high-efficiency furnace, have an idea of how the house is not magically all of a sudthey can reduce their den going to use a lot less energy,” energy bills. They’ll be receiving Dolan said. “You need to also focus on by mail a thermal image of their reducing your need for energy.” house, showing which parts are One way is to switch to cold water leaking heat, like a drafty window when washing clothes. According to or a poorly insulated door. the City of Vancouver, this can save up Thousands of single-family dwell- to $52 a year. ings have been photographed with Dolan also suggested shorter a heat sensor in a pilot program by showers. B.C. Hydro estimates that the city to identify buildings that can if two people in a home reduce their benefit the most shower time by a from upgrades. minute each, that’s It’s part of an going to save $30 a overall goal to cut year. In addition, Carlito Pablo g re e n hou s e - ga s homeowners may emissions in Vancouver. According to want to install low-flow shower heads. the city, detached homes account for 31 An information graphic prepared percent of those given off by buildings. by environmental think tank the PemOther property owners, who will bina Institute shows that energy effinot get letters from city hall, may also ciency has direct and indirect health want to know the energy efficiency of benefits. Lower bills and comfortable their home. To get a complete pic- homes contribute to better mental ture, certified energy advisers like health and reduced chronic diseases. Luke Dolan can help. As for home values, the Pembina Dolan is the owner of Capital Institute’s infographic indicates Home Energy, a Vancouver-based that an energy-efficient house can company whose services include sell for a higher price. home energy evaluations. Vancouver’s thermal-imaging pilot “Windows are, typically, the program covered Strathcona, Hasweakest point of the building,” tings-Sunrise, Dunbar-Southlands, Dolan told the Georgia Straight in a Riley Park, and Victoria-Fraserview. phone interview. According to Chris Higgins, a According to him, a home evalu- green-building planner with the city, ation typically takes two hours; at some 2,000 to 3,000 homeowners the end of it, owners get a report will be receiving letters along with a and recommendations. thermal image of their house. Dolan said suggestions may include “The city has a goal of helping something as simple as going around homeowners reduce greenhouse gases with a caulking gun or some weather by 20 percent by 2020,” Higgins told stripping to seal up the house. the Straight by phone. “We’re very, very Replacing incandescent lights with close to meeting that goal, and we’re energy-saving light-emitting diodes wanting to help homeowners be aware (LED) or compact fluorescent light of grants and energy-efficiency incenbulbs is another relatively inexpensive tives that they may be eligible for.” way to save on bills. The City of VanHiggins said that it will be up to couver estimates that lighting takes up property owners to decide if they 20 percent of electricity use in homes. want to do upgrades, such as reSome measures require a bit more placing windows or adding insulamoney, like getting newer and more tion to their walls. energy-efficient appliances. Higgins said staff will evaluate the Dolan said that owners may also results of the thermal-imaging prolike to consider replacing their old gram after one year and see if it can be furnace and hot-water tank. He noted done in other neighbourhoods. that heating takes up about 60 percent The city estimates that there are to 70 percent of household energy use. about 77,000 stand-alone houses in Some changes in personal habits Vancouver. About 40,000 of these might be needed as well. were built before the 1960s and likely “If you take an old house and you need improvements. -
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Boxing powers punch against Parkinson’s Drawing upon pugilistic techniques, a new exercise class puts on the gloves to help combat symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease
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do not remember when I first heard about However, there are other things that we can the benefits from the sport of boxing for do for ourselves besides relying on our meds those afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. and attitude to feel somewhat normal. Forced At first, I was skeptical about a sport that intense exercise is identified as a key component requires you to beat another fighter about the in reducing stress and the effects of Parkinson’s. head until they succumb or Rock Steady Boxing, Inc., a time runs out. Look what nonprofit organization, was happened to Muhammad founded in Indianapolis in Ali: it is estimated that 2006 by Scott Newman, who Rex Moore he took more than 29,000 was a young-onset PWP at punches to the head during his career. age 39. Since then, word has spread quickly and Subsequently, I learned that with this new Rock Steady is now a worldwide organization. method of treatment for PD, there is no live Allie Saks is the head coach and owner of fighting involved, only noncontact traditional the Rock Steady Boxing affiliate in Vancouver. training techniques. The utilization of boxing She is a registered occupational therapist who movements and footwork, combined with a has experience working with individuals with variety of punches and boxing strategy, may neurological conditions. She began classes in help slow the advance of Parkinson’s. June 2016 and now offers them three days a Parkinson’s is a progressive disease of the week at two downtown gyms. brain, with many notions of the causes and The classes, strictly for men and women no cure in sight. It is estimated that more who have Parkinson’s, were designed to than 10,000,000 people worldwide are liv- lessen or slow the symptoms of Parkinson’s ing with the burden of Parkinson’s. I was disease. Boxers train to improve fitness, diagnosed in 1993, at the age of 41, and I was strength, balance, timing, speed, range of deeply shocked when identified as an “early- motion, and hand-eye coordination. These onset” Parkinsonian. That day of my diag- are everyday functions that are typically afnosis, I was given a life sentence, but look- fected by Parkinson’s. ing back now, almost 24 years later, at least Rock Steady classes are fun and challenging, it was not a death sentence. The years since priced fairly, and strenuous enough to leave my diagnosis have forced me to adapt to this you soaked in sweat by the end. Saks is a great disease by accepting it, accommodating it, motivator and moves throughout the class exprioritizing my life, and fighting back with horting everyone to work harder with a smile determination and tenacity. and positive feedback. She is a pepper pot of There are approximately 13,000 people energy, and even though her classes are fastwith Parkinson’s (PWP) in British Colum- paced and challenging, everyone is encourbia, all suffering some combination of the aged to proceed at their own pace. four horsemen of PD: limited mobility, lack Boxing gloves and hand/wrist wraps are of balance, body stiffness, and acute tremor. provided, and the one-hour classes start with We take a variety of medications to help al- stretching and some stationary bike. Then we leviate the symptoms of PD and to help kick- split into groups and begin to rotate through start that part of the brain that produces the four to six rounds of exercise-specific comchemical dopamine, which, in turn, powers binations. An example of this might be one our nervous system. person (we usually work in pairs) hitting the
Health
Rock Steady Boxing classes, which focus on noncontact training techiniques, are designed to help Parkinson’s patients like Sidney Fattedad with aspects like hand-eye coordination and range of motion.
heavy bag with a combination of jabs, crosses, overhands, and uppercuts while the other does jumping jacks or planks for one to two minutes per station. The classes end with core work and a cool-down period punctuated by a group cheer. I feel good for a couple of days after these sessions, and I am probably in my best shape, with more stamina than I had in my 50s. Another unique feature of Rock Steady is encouragement for the participant to bring a caregiver, a friend, or a family member to the workout as a “corner person”, someone who helps with the transitions and motivates you just by being there. Equally important, but understated, is the camaraderie that is built within the Rock Steady participants. We get to know our fellow travellers, those comrades in arms who are also carrying this extra load through life. We compare notes regarding our conditions and the different
stages and symptoms of our diagnosis, but mostly we just focus on the exercises. This allows us an opportunity for an hour or two each week to forget about it and just commune. Rock Steady offers four different class levels and has programs for those who use canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. Virtually anyone who can get to the gym can participate. Sadly, there are still many PWP who are unable to participate in any physical programs due to their deteriorating condition. These are Parkinsonians who are housebound and in need of full-time caregiving. I would encourage them to keep striving to move, take small steps, try to maintain a positive attitude, and hope for a better day tomorrow. April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month. For more information about Rock Steady, visit www.rocksteadyboxingvancouver.com/.
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BOOKS
Verses powered by change Family history splinters in The Water Beetles
> BY A LEX A NDER VA R TY
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> B Y D AVID CHAU
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Poetry allows Sonya Renee Taylor (left) to ask uncomfortable questions about oppression; Sheri-D Wilson has come to see every poem as a political act.
Sonya Renee Taylor reads at the Cultch on Wednesday (April 26). Sheri-D Wilson performs at the WISE Hall next Thursday (April 27). For a full Verses Festival schedule, visit www.versesfestival.ca/.
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Dig in
Basically, she was saying, ‘You’re not focusing on the deeper issues, and in order to focus on the deeper issues, you must face your own shadow fearlessly.’ And she was right. I kind of came home with my tail between my legs, and I decided to go deeper, and to go harder, and to go darker.” But, Wilson adds, there’s light in that darkness. “I’m trying to do it in a way that isn’t supporting the negative tone,” she says. “I’m changing the tone of things so that I’m not supporting, you know, Mordor.” The magic seems to be working: a series of coincidences led to meetings with producer Steve Berlin, of Los Lobos fame, and with guitarist Barry Reynolds, Marianne Faithfull’s long-time bandleader. Both contribute to Dragon Rouge, and Reynolds will helm the band that will back Wilson at Verses. “I go with the idea that every poem is a political act,” she says. “And to transform the world, you must transform yourself first.” -
IN T OF
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16 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
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employing the oratorical cadences she absorbed growing up in the African-American church to deliver a plainspoken yet transformative message of self-empowerment. “Part of what drew me, as a child, to the black church—beyond my grandma saying ‘Get up and go to church’— was this sort of magical storytelling that enslaved Africans brought here to the U.S.,” Taylor notes. “There’s something just magical about weaving a tale that has all of the realities of your material world, and then all of these possibilities of the supernatural world, all connected.” Magic is no stranger to Calgary’s Sheri-D Wilson, another Verses Festival poet. A formative influence on Canada’s spoken-word scene, she’s long maintained an interest in what she calls “the arcane”, which can range from the consciousness of trees to the surreal possibilities that hover at the edge of everyday life. But her most recent writings, as collected on her new words-and-music CD Dragon Rouge, stem from a shift in her own artistic method, triggered by a visit to her teacher and muse, beat-generation legend Diane di Prima. “I just got reamed out,” she says in a phone call from Alberta. “Reamed!
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he Verses Festival of Words is at least nominally about poetry, primarily in its more performative incarnations: spoken word, rap, words-and-music collaborations, and slam. But at its heart it’s really about transformation: about the power of poetic speech to change the self in ways that can then result in social change. “They say that before you can fi x something you have to name it,” says the 11-day event’s artistic director, Jillian Christmas, in a telephone interview from her East Van home. “Being able to vocalize what an issue is is the first way that we start to imagine a solution for it.” That’s why, she continues, this year’s Verses roster is full of poets who are also activists, like Sonya Renee Taylor, the Oakland, California, writer whose poem “The Body Is Not an Apology” helped spark a popular website—and an international movement—devoted to cultivating radical self-love. Beginning with the idea that internalized self-loathing—in people of colour, in the LGBT community, and in those who don’t fit society’s unrealistic body norms—is one of the most powerful forms of oppression, Taylor has made it her life’s work to liberate herself and others from the paralysis of shame. “I think of radical self-love as our inherent state,” Taylor explains, on the line from California. “What we’re battling is the layered calcification of messages that are not in our best interest, right? So, really, it’s about ‘How do we get back to who we inherently are?’ And for me, poetry allowed me to ask uncomfortable questions—of my own life, of the way that I was navigating the world, and of the world itself.” Language, she adds, has the ability to either create or destroy, and she’s chosen to use her linguistic powers in an affi rmative fashion,
ichael Kaan gained greater perspective on hardship after reading his father’s journals. Composed in English with Chinese marginalia, the disjointed entries chronicled David Kaan’s boyhood struggles, when Japanese forces invaded Hong Kong, and David fled with some family members to rural China. “He didn’t talk about it that much,” Kaan says to the Straight, from his home in Winnipeg. “I knew that all they had, they had to leave when he was quite young. I didn’t know the details of it except for a few stories here and there. And then, a few years after he died [in 2006], my mother gave me a copy of his memoirs, which he wrote down, I think, in the late ’80s and early ’90s.” It’s these papers that provide the basis of Kaan’s sterling debut novel, The Water Beetles, the story of ChungMan, youngest son of the Leung clan, who recounts how an affluent life in Hong Kong is replaced with imprisonment by the Japanese military in China during the Second World War. Like David, Chung-Man also leaves Asia afterward and arrives in North America, where he becomes a doctor and raises a family. According to Kaan, “Even if you don’t think about it this way, you expect to experience some continuity of who you are, that your life will follow some sort of desirable narrative of growing up, getting an education, having a family or not, and then growing old.” Despite Chung-Man having “done that, there’s this feeling of a rupture in himself because of this trauma. And because he does feel that,” Kaan continues, “part of him is just stuck there, and he can’t get rid of it.” The incidents described here actually occurred. They’ve “been fictionalized in lots of ways”, Kaan says, noting that a few lines his father wrote appear in the text, “but the meat of it is true.” Kaan, 48, began writing seriously a handful of years ago, though he considered a literary career in university. (“I walked away from all of that for quite a while and then got back into literature and reading, and just decided one day that I needed to write a book.”) Initially, he attempted a comic novel, “which was very abortive, I think I lasted about 4,000 words”,
before finding purchase with more sober material. In 2014, when he started the novel in secret, the plot was primarily told by an adolescent Chung-Man. At the suggestion of his editor, Kaan later emphasized the sections narrated by the elderly protagonist, which allowed further exploration of fractured identity and memory. “It gave me the chance to have essentially a book told by two narrators, an old man and a young boy. I tried to build in a bit of ambiguity even about which of them is telling the story.” Reflections on a splintered self recur through the novel. “Sometime in the countryside during those years,” Chung-Man says, “came the moment when I was divided, twinned, and separated by blast waves or the wind from burning fields, or by the sound of boots on dark roads.” Kaan cut much violence from the manuscript, avoiding portrayals of “war that are just an endless parade of awful things”. It was conveying the era’s despair, rather than its brutality, that presented a challenge. This, he admits, “was really tough.…My dad was in fact 9 when this happened. The boy in the story is 12. It was really eye-opening to write some of those passages one night, and then the next morning you get up and you’re making breakfast for your kids and they’re the same ages, and their biggest problem is that there’s no cereal.” Offering that his main objective is to engage people (“That feeling of being immersed in a book is very important, I need to be thinking about that as opposed to my opinions on a certain topic”), Kaan has succeeded in producing a work of lasting power. Introduced on these pages is a writer as skilled at crafting prose as he is at revealing the sufferings of war and lapsed time. “When I’m writing, or thinking about writing, or struggling with writing,” he says, “the question I always ask myself—the number one question—is ‘What is it like to read a great book? What is it like to be totally captivated by a piece of writing?’ “I don’t know how you do that, because it’s such a subjective thing,” he adds. “But I like to have that in mind.” Michael Kaan will appear alongside fellow authors Lisa See and Carys Davies on Wednesday (April 26) at the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library, as part of the Vancouver Writers Fest’s Incite series.
straight stars April 20 to 26, 2017
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aven’t filed your taxes yet? You’ll now get a fresh boost of get-up-and-go Mercury and Mars. Although Taurus month has just begun, both planets take their leave of this sign. On Thursday, Mercury picks up the pace in Aries. However, the paperwork, transport, and communications planet continues to travel retrograde until the start of May. We aren’t off the hook with the need to play it safe. Aim to be thorough and clear, double-check everything, and set extra time and money aside to cushion for the unforeseen. Also on Thursday, Pluto in Capricorn begins its annual five-month retrograde cycle. This switch-format/ restructure-it influence could be subtle or it could be notable. Friday’s Venus/Saturn, on a reality checkpoint, and Mars, freshly mobilized in Gemini, are also looking for a better plug-in. Watch for headlines from the world of politics, business, and money markets. This combo of transits is optimized for a release, for diffusing tension, surpassing whatever has been in the way, hitting the refresh button, and moving on to the next plan or stage. Relinquish, don’t dwell on loss; there’s more to be gained. If you have been confused or have held on to unrealistic expectations, the stars aim to set you straight. Despite all that, Friday/Saturday can be a smooth ride if you choose to make it so. Don’t clutter your weekend; simplify it, instead. Relax and enjoy the movie. Play up the
romance; replenish yourself spiritually. Sunday evening through Tuesday, the Aries moon keeps a good lock on the target. Monday/Tuesday can set you on a productive and straightforward fast track. Wednesday delivers a super new moon in Taurus. Stay creative!
ARIES
March 20–April 20
Venus/Saturn on Friday moves you past a major hurdle or mindset. Mars into Gemini is also mobilizing. One way or another, this next two weeks of Mercury retrograde in Aries will get you going again. Thanks to Monday’s Mercury/Saturn, you should find a talk, project, or official undertaking is more productive: you can hit the nail on the head with better precision.
TAURUS
April 20–May 21
Both Mercury and Mars take an exit out of your sign. Mercury will light up in Aries for the next few weeks, but it will revisit Taurus as of mid next month. It’s a prime opportunity to fill in a missing blank, to get better clued in. Mars in Gemini will prompt you to try something new—or added—on for size.
GEMINI
May 21–June 21
Have you been keeping a low profile of late? Watch for Mercury’s backtrack into Aries to rev up your social activity and to put you out on show. As is typical of the cycle, expect to unexpectedly bump into folks you know. As of Friday,
> BY ROSE MARCUS
Mars hits go and so do you. Still, better control, too. Progressively, chill out for the weekend. Monday/ Mars in Gemini builds more flexible Tuesday, the target is well met. options.
CANCER
June 21–July 22
It’s time to renegotiate with the bank, your employer, or yourself. Mercury retrograde on a revisit of Aries will prompt or force you to rethink your priorities, goals, and commitments. This transit also helps you to cut to the chase with better precision. Watch for what’s best, most expedient or effective, to become more obvious. Mars into Gemini also speeds up the process.
LEO
July 22–August 23
You’ll get somewhere now. From the look of it, you’ll get someplace good. Mercury’s revisit to Aries, starting Friday, forms a good working relationship with Saturn, especially through Monday. Good timing is on your side. You’ll reach your objective or destination just fine. Friday’s Venus/Saturn can remove a doubt or uncertainty. Mars into Gemini, starting Friday, gives you more to say, do, and consider.
VIRGO
August 23–September 23
Thursday/Friday can get you up and over the hump. As well, something unexpected can add up to more or provide a better solution. Mercury’s backtrack into Aries can get you, it, or them fired up again. Both Venus and Mercury retrograde make good strides with Saturn; you should feel you are getting it under
LIBRA
September 23–October 23
CAPRICORN
December 21–January 20
Mercury retrograde in Aries and well-aligned with Saturn through Monday offers you positive reinforcement. You can revisit or cut to the chase with greater success. Letting go isn’t about giving up; it’s about creating room for something better to fill the gap. Mars in Gemini provides you with more information, options, or ideas.
Mercury’s backtrack into Aries can prompt another look-see or a fresh perspective. Something you previously laid to rest can be revived, perhaps unexpectedly. Friday is a game-changer day. Start to finish, the week ahead is a productive AQUARIUS one for getting it sorted out. What’s January 20–February 18 meant to be shows substantial benefit Thursday/Friday gets it or profit. Mars in Gemini sets talks moving, perhaps unexpectedly so. and opportunity into motion. Sunday/Monday is optimized for SCORPIO revisiting an important topic, a test October 23–November 22 retake, a second try, a contract reIt seems you have more newal, or paperwork revision. A work or working-it-out to do. Mer- fresh perspective or second opinion cury’s revisit of Aries will keep is a step in the right direction. Mars you going at it full tilt for the next in Gemini keeps you sharp, on the couple of weeks. Friday could see ball, and helps you to make better you make a breakthrough, get you inroads. better clued in, and/or relieve the PISCES pressure. Mars in Gemini mobilFebruary 18–March 20 izes talks, negotiations, plans, and Thursday/Friday could renewal agreements. Monday’s Mercury/Saturn starts the new bring it out into the open unexpectedly. Everything happens week on solid footing. for a reason. Even if there’s added SAGITTARIUS cost or a disruptive element, the November 22–December 21 clear-it-away feels well timed. SatThursday’s synchronicity urday through Monday, creativity, can set you on a faster track. Even so, instincts, and good timing hit the through Saturday, take it moment to target well. Mercury retrograde moment. Don’t prejudge until you in Aries and Mars in Gemini fasthave more to go on or you’ve tried it on track communications, paperwork, for size. Mercury retrograde on a back- responses, and results. track of Aries and Mars on a sprint through Gemini will speed up a sort- B o o k a re a d i n g o r s i g n u p f o r it-out process, a project, a relationship Rose’s free monthly newsletter at www.rosemarcus.com/astrolink/. matter, or a time line.
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Get rid of redundant forms or modify existing ones to include multiple functions. APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 17
EARTH DAY
Pure dreams drive foodies
F
or nine years, Vancouver’s Brianne Miller travelled the world working as a marine biologist. Through her fieldwork, she observed how plastics that entered ocean ecosystems were wreaking havoc on fish, turtle, and marine-mammal populations. The sheer volume of plastic in the seas was driven home to her while she was on a boat leaving Sipadan Island on her way to a popular diving site. The island is off the east coast of Borneo. “If you’re looking out, the ocean looks like it’s a pristine, blue tropical paradise,” Miller told the Georgia Straight by phone. “As you turn your Zero Waste Market founder Brianne Miller saw what disposable plastics do to gaze downward, it’s a sea of plastic marine animals, which is why she created a grocery store without packaging. and garbage: everything from leftover food and whole bananas to shoes and (1829 Quebec Street) on Earth Day a challenge for clients to prepare straws and a whole lot of food pack- this Saturday (April 22), followed by healthy, low-sodium meals without aging. That was one image that stood another opening at Patagonia Van- any refined processed foods or colout in my mind.” couver (1994 West oured food additives. In recent years, 4th Avenue) next “I decided to start the Green there have been Friday (April 28). Moustache to be able to give my cliseveral stories in “We’re trying ents, my community, and my family Charlie Smith the news about to encourage be- a place where we can get really clean, beached whales with plastic bags haviour change,” Miller said. “A lot healthy, healing foods,” she stated. and other debris in their stomachs. of that boils down to education.” The company name originated And Miller has witnessed plasHer first touchpoint with the busi- from when her youngest daughter, tics piling up on a remote beach ness world was Futurpreneur Can- then two years old, spilled a green in Haida Gwaii, where no human ada, a nonprofit organization that smoothie on her face, giving her a could be seen for kilometres. provides financing, education, and huge green moustache. “Plastic breaks down into small- mentorship to young entrepreneurs. Another Futurpreneur-funded and er and smaller pieces,” Miller ex- Futurpreneur provided Zero Waste -mentored entrepreneur who is trying plained. “Then these smaller pieces Market with its first loan of $15,000, to improve public health is Tara Bosch. are ingested by animals that are which was leveraged with an addi- In 2015, the former UBC arts student lower on the food chain.” tional $30,000 from the federal gov- founded SmartSweets, which aims to She pointed out that these “micro- ernment’s Business Development reduce the consumption of sugar-filled plastics” leach harmful chemicals into Bank of Canada. candy across North America. smaller fish and other sea creatures. When Futurpreneur lends money “The vision for SmartSweets is to They, in turn, are eaten by larger mar- to an entrepreneur, it also connects become the global leader in innovatine animals, where these toxins bioac- them with a business mentor for two ing smart confectionary products that cumulate, and because the fishing in- years. This is one of several reasons kick sugar,” Bosch said. “Alongside dustry often targets larger species, this why another health-oriented B.C. that, the mission is really to educate the has consequences on human health. food business, the Green Moustache public about the impact sugar has on “I wanted to tackle that problem Organic Juice and Live Food Bar, our health—making smaller, smarter with a practical, concrete solution continues thriving more than three choices that kick sugar, allowing us to that people could implement in their years after it began in Whistler. have a healthy relationship with food everyday lives,” Miller said. Launched by Nicolette Richer and and, ultimately, with ourselves.” This was the impetus behind the her husband, Pierre, it has expanded She started small, buying a founding of Zero Waste Market in to four outlets with the help of Steve gummy-bear mould through Ama2015. Her mission is to halt the dis- Sabey, a retired energy executive and zon and testing recipes in her kitchtribution of plastics that are causing Futurpreneur mentor. Richer cred- en. Her first commercial product has so much harm in the sea. ited Sabey for assisting her business in no sugar, no sugar alcohols, no arti“You can picture us as a full- a wide range of areas, including hu- ficial sweeteners, and is GMO–free, fledged grocery store without any man resources, how it spends money, gluten-free, and allergen-friendly. packaging,” Miller said. and fielding inquiries from investors. Each bag contains 24 grams of This means that fruits, vegetables, Richer ran a health-consulting plant-based fibre, two grams of natother food products, and even li- company for 10 years, providing a ural sugar from fruit extracts, and quids—including vinegar, olive oil, metabolic nutrient-therapy program five grams of protein. The product is molasses, shampoo, conditioner, and to clients with chronic diseases and available in stores across Canada. cleaning supplies—are sold either in cancer. The goal was to detoxify their Bosch credited her grandmother reusable jars or to people who bring bodies to promote healing. for getting her interested in creattheir own containers. “It’s really using food as medicine, ing healthy sweets. “She said that Zero Waste Market has been oper- which is still a relatively new concept she regretted having so much exating as a pop-up shop. The next two in our society,” Richer said. cess sugar because of how it has are coming to Earnest Ice Cream She acknowledged that it was impacted her health.” -
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know BBQ? You don’t know
was walking home from Gastown to Chinatown recently and was beginning to think about what my dinner plans were going to be. Strolling east on Keefer Street, I’d actually just walked past Juke (182 Keefer Street; jukefriedchicken.com/) when a mild gust of wind came from behind, carrying the unmistakable aroma of fried chicken. That’s all it took. Within moments, I was inside the place, placing my to-go order for their Juke Box Combo: fried chicken and ribs along Tacofino burritos’ abundant flavour with a side of fried Brussels sprouts demands an equally bold wine. and kale salad. When I got home, there was a bot- so it’s vegetarian-friendly as well. For tle of wine open on my kitchen table, those with a sweet tooth, she also has something I’d opened the night be- seasonal berry dumplings served hot fore, and as fortuitous as my dinner with cinnamon-honey ice cream. decision was, so was the evening’s On a recent venture, my wife and wine pairing. The wine was Yalum- I shared both the poutine and pesto ba Old Bush Vine Grenache 2014 dumplings, and with all that fla($25 to $30, private liquor stores), a vour going on, we needed a wine classic Australthat wouldn’t be ian red from the shy. Winemaker Barossa Valley Nikki Callaway’s and an ideal wine Quails’ Gate Rosé Kurtis Kolt to slurp up all of 2016 (Okanagan that fried, salty goodness. The wine’s Valley, B.C.; $16.99, B.C. Liquor juicy, purple fruit easily lapped up Stores) blends Gamay Noir, Pinot each component of my dinner, and Noir, and Pinot Gris into a cavalits baking spices added an extra dash cade of red berry fruit, with plenty of of delicious. bright mandarin orange notes proThe spontaneous food and wine viding a nice lift. All that fruitiness pairing had my wheels turning and provides a dynamic contrast with the prompted me to embark on further rich dumplings, while the lively acidadventures, pairing some of my fa- ity freshens the palate after each sip. vourite Vancouver takeout dishes When a hankering for Mexican with wines to suit. strikes, I always appreciate that beHeather Johnston opened Hey, tween food trucks and brick-andDumplings! (721 Gore Avenue; hey mortar locations, Tacofino (various dumplings.com/) in early March, and locations; tacofino.com/) is never too I’ve had to employ some serious will- far away. Although I could point and power to not make the tiny storefront shoot, enjoying anything struck on the a daily stop. Her specialty is pelmeni menu, I do like a touch of heat in my (ear-shaped) dumplings, available in food from time to time. The Walking three savoury flavours: poutine, ginger Burrito (also available in taco form) scallion, and (my favourite) sunflower is loaded with bean dip, rice, chorizo seed and arugula pesto. There are both sausage, corn chips, nacho cheese, arumeat and potato options for the filling, gula, cilantro, and Valentina hot sauce.
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Again, when we have a dish jampacked with so many ingredients and an abundance of flavour, a subtle, nuanced wine will simply be buried underneath it all. My vote is for something superfruity and sparkling, like 8th Generation Integrity 2015 ($21, 8thgeneration.com/). It’s a fun bottle of fizz; the Summerland winery has decidedly not made a traditionalmethod, Champagne-style wine. Instead, this blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and Kerner is injected with carbon dioxide, just like a soda, giving the cheery peach and apricot flavours extra propulsion and zip. There’s a hint of sweetness on the finish, just a little bit, perfect for tangling with the heat brought by the chorizo. While the wine can be ordered winery-direct, it can also be found at private stores around town for a few bucks more. I recently spotted it at Legacy Liquor Store in Olympic Village. It doesn’t take any arm-twisting to get me drinking Chenin Blanc; it’s one of my favourite white grapes, particularly when vinified dry, with juicy acidity carrying hallmark pear and quince flavours. Spier Chenin Blanc 2016 (Western Cape, South Africa; $13.49, B.C. Liquor Stores) is an absolute gem and a bargain, too. In fact, until April 29, B.C. Liquor Stores have knocked a buck off, bringing it to an ultrareasonable $12.49. Along with the fruit, Spier’s bottling also has light herbal notes; fresh sage and thyme round it out well. There’s also a hint of salinity, which brings my mind to fish, with Main Street’s Fish Counter (3825 Main Street; thefish counter.com/) immediately trailing that thought. With this wine, it’s impossible to make an incorrect choice. Whether you’re in the mood for an oyster po’boy, halibut fish and chips, or New England–style clam chowder, the wine will leave your palate getting along with things swimmingly. -
> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < WE WORK TOGETHER
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 3, 2017 WHERE: Studio Marine
You: blonde middle aged and smoking hot. Hard worker with a smile that never quits... I get butterflies every time you walk into my stage or by my bench. I’m a little younger but believe me I’m not inexperienced. A series of... Say hi sometime. Let’s go for drinks
KARAOKE DREAM MAN
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The woman at The Damned. Jean jacket? Super cool scolding finger? We were dancing beside eachother. Please accept my sincere apology. I misread. Very embarrassing for me, I assure you. I hope it doesn’t sour your memories of an excellent show
VOLUPTUOUS EXOTIC SHORTIE
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PERFORMANCE SPONSOR THURSDAY, MAY A 11
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MARCH 31, 2017 WHERE: Terminal Pub
COMMUNITY BALCONY SPONSOR
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MEDIA PARTNER
SUPPORT FOR BALLET BC HAS BEEN GENEROUSLY L PROVIDED BY
DANCER RACHEL MEYER. PHOTO MICHAEL SLOBODIAN.
I saw you sitting at the bar with some guy, didn’t pay attention, but I sure noticed you. And your assets that stood out from across the room. I was waiting for him to leave so I could sit across from you and make you mine, but instead you finished your dessert, paid the bill and left... but man did I even enjoy watching you leave! You were wearing a sexy skirt, a low cut top and ‘hooker’ boots, and it was hot as hell. I saw you looking at me too, let’s make this happen!
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 12, 2017 WHERE: Flight From London to YVR I was sat on my own and you came and sat on the aisle seat. That horrible smell? It wasn’t me! I wanted to say something after we got off but you were with your mum? and it didn’t seem appropriate. Can I buy you a drink sometime?
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ALIBI ROOM
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Dear attractive woman: We got into some small talk about banking fees and beer - I wanted to talk to more but got scared... Hope to see you again.
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LHR TO YVR
We met in long line-up for membership then later buying Cliff bars then later in check out line up and later in garage! So that’s crazy! Ur tall and dark haired and gorgeous! Dinner?
I didn’t sing and neither did you before I left. You were wearing plaid and had a delicious ginger composition. I like your beard. We made eye contact once or twice. I would like to again!
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Queen Elizabeth Theatre | balletbc.com | ticketmaster.ca
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 15, 2017 WHERE: 1st Avenue Liquor Store
I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 15, 2017 WHERE: The Commodore
Choreography Emanuel Gat Emily Molnar Ohad Naharin
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 15, 2017 WHERE: COSTCO Vancouver
I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 13, 2017 WHERE: British Ex-Servicemens Club
THE DAMNED
Program 3 May 11 12 13, 2017
AT COSTCO BUYING CLIFF BARS
EDGEWATER CASINO
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 7, 2017 WHERE: Edgewater Casino Hey, we met at Edgewater Casino Friday, April 7th. We were sitting a couple of seats away from each other at the slot machines. You had a boyish grin; a sense of humor; and a beer in hand. You had light brownish hair, I think lighting terrible there; late 40’s, early 50’s? You said to me ‘If you win $20,000 you buy me a beer’. I said sure. I went off in another direction where you later found me. I wish I had given you my number. Do you remember what you last said? I would like to have a coffee with you sometime. :) Our interaction was short, but like I said I wish I had given you my number.
VIENNA (AUSTRIA) STARBUCKS DECEMBER 2016
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 12, 2017 WHERE: Vienna - Starbucks You are blonde and you said that you are from Canada. I am looking for you everywhere. Send msg for more details.
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 1, 2017 WHERE: Alibi Room
r
When you were leaving the Alibi Room with your friends, we made eye contact. I was with my friend at a table near the window. I glanced outside and you were on the sidewalk watching me. I was a bit shy, but I kept glancing over my shoulder at you guys. When my friend left the table, next thing I knew you came back inside and sat down at my table with me. You shook my hand and asked if you knew me from somewhere. You looked familiar as well to me. I made a terrible joke that perhaps we had met in clown school. You were blonde, attractive, your name was Jordan. We chatted for a few minutes until my friend came back. You asked for my number, and when you left you said you were going somewhere secret. But you never contacted me? Did I give you the wrong number?
SUNDAY NIGHT SKETCHERS
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: APRIL 9, 2017 WHERE: Commercial #99 Bus Stop You were waiting for the number 99 B-line at Commercial, I was behind you eating pizza. You were wearing beat up Sketchers, a black leather jacket and had a tan/sand coloured bag with a little rip on the outside. I was unshaven and wearing glasses, black t-shirt and jacket, jeans with the knees ripped out and beat up Vans. We should hang out.
Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ 20 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
ARTS
As J’Nai Bridges’ Sister Helen pleads with him
BY JANET SM IT H
to tell the truth, Daniel Okulitch’s death-row convict, Joseph, is slumping onto the floor, recoiling in shame, his handcuffs binding his wrists to a chain cinched around his waist. The singers are rehearsing a beyond-intense scene, showing how the human voice can break out even when the body is in shackles—clearly not the sort of thing Okulitch could achieve if he were pretending to wear the manacles. “I requested them as early as possible because it affects so much of your physicality and the psychology of the scene,” says Okulitch, a Canadian bassbaritone who has sung the role in Dead Man Walking three times. He’s talking to the Straight in an interview with Bridges after the emotionally draining rehearsal at Vancouver Opera. “You feel so constrained. I mean, we all gesture with our hands, and when you don’t have that ability there’s this energy that has to go somewhere. It’s frustrating! You think, ‘Dammit, I want to move!’ That’s something that prisoners would have to learn to deal with, but I’m not sure that it would ever really go away.” Adds rising American mezzo-soprano Bridges: “And for sure it affects how I deliver my lines to him, too.” That physicality, along with the music, plays a huge role in defining the characters in Jake Heggie’s contemporary opera, based on both the 1995 movie and the best-selling nonfiction book by Sister Helen Prejean, with a libretto by acclaimed American playwright Terrence McNally. “We don’t do a lot of things,” Okulitch explains. “There’s one big action at the beginning in the prologue—the crime—but otherwise it’s people talking to each other in really intense situations. There’s a lot going on! But it’s not ‘Here’s a song and dance and here’s a battle scene.’ It’s an intimate kind of show.”
Finding a way to forgive
Bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch, with mezzo J’Nai Bridges, says it would be a mistake to make his death-row inmate too sympathetic. Emily Cooper photo.
At the Vancouver Opera Festival, Dead Man Walking ’s stars “One of the phrases we’ve amazing to watch the affable singer, helped by the used in rehearsal is ‘It’s a score’s southern vernacular, turn into a violent, talk about why the work has become a modern classic “It’s really difficult in that way,” adds Bridges. “It’s a big stage that we have to fi ll with really intense conversations and still let everyone into it. Today I’m really feeling it and I think that’s not a bad thing.…There are some challenges because it sits in this place with my voice that’s kind of speak-y, so I have to be constantly thinking about different things, but one of them is not to get too sing-y—not to get too operatic.” She’s watched countless videos of Prejean, and read her memoir, trying to unlock the nuances of the relationships that the Louisiana nun had to the prisoners she advised. “There’s a lot of information in the book that you get about how they were physically together, how he would not look at her,” she says. “Details like that have been really helpful.” In the opera, Joseph (whose name has been changed from Sean Penn’s character Matthew Poncelet) is a composite created from two reallife death-row convicts Prejean befriended in jail. And even though the opera is called Dead Man Walking, the story is really her own—following her discoveries about guilt, forgiveness, redemption, and the death penalty. She is seeing death row for the first time, and through her eyes, we can start to confront how we feel about it, and the capacity to forgive, too.
THINGS TO DO
race towards redemption.’ You rage-prone good ol’ boy from the Deep South— know, we have a set amount of time, whether or one who’s capable of horrific acts. not she can help me be redeemed by opening up “The challenge of this piece is that it’s not about about what I did,” the Ottawa-raised Okulitch ‘Can you forgive somebody who you like ?’ ” he emoffers. “We have to remember this is a theatrical phasizes. “It’s ‘How do you forgive the unforgivable?’ portrayal of real-life events. Death-row confes“So the first time I did this role, early on the sions are rare. They are. But this isn’t a biography. director said, ‘You’re being way too sympathetic. It’s a story about ‘How do you forgive someone We have to not like you.’ Because this isn’t about and what does that mean?’ ‘Oh, that poor guy! He’s getting executed.’ He “It’s also about the system of capital punishment. raped and he murdered someone! And he’s unBut what’s interesting is it doesn’t really choose a repentant until the very end. side. We know that Sister Helen doesn’t want him to “The more you humanize someone, the more die, but you also get the parents of the victims difficult it is to kill them, that just happens as major characters in the work saying ‘This with the writing,” he says, then adds with was my experience and, yes, we think a laugh: “The whole time I’m not trying Check out… he should die.’ There’s no question as STRAIGHT.COM to do anything appealing—specifically to his guilt: we see him in the prologue not, actually!” Visit our website rape and murder someone. So it’s not The opera, which debuted in 2000, for morning-after like you’re saying, ‘Well, did he really gives a strong contemporary option reviews and local arts news do it?’ And then you have the character amid the three big works being staged who plays my mother begging for his life. at the first Vancouver Opera Festival. You see the crime sets off a tsunami of events It complements and contrasts Giuseppe that destroys the lives of many, many people, and so Verdi’s monumental Otello, staged here for the first while it’s not a biography, it’s necessarily operatic. time in 36 years, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s These are huge emotions.” classic The Marriage of Figaro. Even though it’s so One of the nuances Okulitch has found, other new, Heggie’s work now ranks as the 21st century’s than the need to wear those metal chains from most produced opera, praised for its rich yet acthe get-go, is that he can’t make his character too cessible touches of zydeco, jazz, gospel, and rock, see page 24 empathetic or the entire piece loses its power. It’s
ARTS High five
Editor’s choice BAROQUE BEAUTY In his short life, 17th-century composer Henry Purcell wielded all the major vocal and instrumental genres of his time—sacred and otherwise. When Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin and nine-piece ensemble Les Boréades de Montréal perform Works by Henry Purcell, the program will include songs and airs from his English semi-operas King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and The Comical History of Don Quixote, as well as the lament from his only full opera, Dido and Aeneas. It’s a chance to revel in the talent of a master dubbed Orpheus Brittanicus for his expressivity—and to find out why Opera News has called the charismatic Gauvin “the Queen of baroque opera”. The much-anticipated collaboration with Vancouver Opera brings Early Music Vancouver’s season to a final flourish. Karina Gauvin and Les Boréades de Montréal perform Works by Henry Purcell at Christ Church Cathedral on Friday (April 21).
Five events you just can’t miss this week
1
MURRAY PERAHIA (April 23 at the Chan Centre) Seriously: one of the world’s greatest pianists hits the Vancouver Recital Society.
2
THE PLANETS (April 24 at the Orpheum) Beam me up, Scotty: the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra conjures Holst’s epic work with HD video from NASA.
3
VERTICAL INFLUENCES (To April 30 at Britannia Ice Rink) Prepare to be awed: hip, artfully acrobatic ice-skating like you’ve never seen it.
4
CHARLIE DEMERS (April 20 to 22 at the Comedy MIX) One of our city’s smart-funniest observers of life and politics.
5
SHAPE OF A GIRL (April 26 to 29 at Pacific Theatre) Joan MacLeod’s harrowing one-teen play about bullying, based on the Reena Virk tragedy.
In the news ARTS COUNCIL PROMISE A B.C. NDP candidate says his party will put an end to this province being last in Canada in per capita arts funding. Spencer Chandra Herbert (right) told the Straight that the NDP platform pledges to double the government’s investment in the B.C. Arts Council over four years. This means the annual expenditure would eventually reach $48 million under a John Horgan–led government. The B.C. Liberals have frozen the B.C. Arts Council’s budget at $24 million annually since 2013-14. “As well, we will be increasing the number of years you can get your gaming grants, which for many artists will take a whole headache of paperwork off their plate,” Chandra Herbert said. The B.C. NDP has also promised to increase investment in Creative B.C. to support the domestic film sector. Meanwhile, the B.C. Liberal platform promises an additional $15 million for the B.C. music fund and $5 million for the community gaming grant program. -
APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 21
22 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 23
22 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 23
Erin Wall and Gregory Dahl star in a momentous staging of Otello, the first in this city in more than three decades, at the festival. Emily Cooper photo.
2 CHOR LEONI/MEN’S CHOIR PRESENTS C Erick Lichte
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
CHANTICLEER in Concert
“Chanticleer fascinates and enthralls for much the same reason a fine chocolate or a Rolls Royce does: through luxurious perfection.” — Los Angeles Times “The world’s reigning male chorus.” — The New Yorker
April 21 | 8:00pm CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 6265 CRESCENT RD, UBC, VANCOUVER SECTION A $70 | SECTION B $60 | SECTION C $45
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New Opera Festival goes far beyond stage works
The new Vancouver Opera Festival, which takes over the Queen Elizabeth Theatre plaza and both its venues from next Friday (April 28) to May 13, is an allconsuming affair. In the past, our resident opera company has staged a few shows stretched out over an entire season; now, for the first time, it has to produce three major works over a tight 16 days—Otello, Dead Man Walking, and The Marriage of Figaro. The rehearsal studio at VO’s East Side opera centre is running from 10 in the morning till 10 at night, with Figaro using the nearby Russian Hall to prepare. Costume racks line every spare hallway and boardroom at the centre, and the props and sets facilities are in overdrive. Concerts by the likes of cabaret-style vocalist Ute Lemper at the Orpheum on May 4 and throat singer Tanya Tagaq at the Vogue on May 12, a Carmina Burana sing-along with the Vancouver Bach Choir on May 3, plus numerous speakers’ panels and workshops join the programming, many of them taking place in an on-site festival tent. VO aims to animate the Queen Elizabeth plaza, including a massive media-art installation by Paul Wong. (See story on page 26.) “One of the main goals is we want to create a celebration of the arts that everyone can participate in, including events that aren’t opera,” explains Vancouver Opera’s new general director, Kim Gaynor, speaking to the Straight on a break over the phone. “We’re trying to give lots of points of entry into the art form, with lots of activities for families and young people.” Events aimed at the latter include the kids-oriented Opera Tales at the Playhouse May 2 and the pre-Figaro Opera Zoo May 6 and 13 at the Playhouse, with interactive stations offering young operagoers hands-on activities like drawing, singing, and dress-up with opera pros. “If you buy a pass you get admittance to quite a few events—it has that all-inclusive feeling,” Gaynor says. “We’re going to be using the Queen Elizabeth plaza as a place for people to just come and hang out. “The restaurant that has not been used for a very long time, we’ve transformed that into an after-performance lounge with light snacks, refreshments.” One of the festival’s biggest coups is a free panel discussion next Saturday (April 29) called Ethical Justice in the 21st Century that will feature Sister Helen Prejean, the real-life nun who wrote the best-selling book Dead Man Walking, bringing her together with Shelley Joseph of Truth and Reconciliation Canada and Brenda Morrison, director of the Centre of Restorative Justice at SFU. Dead Man Walking’s creator, Jake Heggie, also hosts a free talk the day before. And for opera buffs, the three main-stage shows offer a range of new and traditional stagings to suit different audience tastes. “We have Otello, a massive Verdi opera: it’s overwhelming and requires such big voices and hasn’t been done here in more than 30 years. That’s monumental,” Gaynor says. “That’s for people that love Verdi and love drama and big voices. “Then Dead Man Walking is a contemporary masterpiece in its own way. Although it’s new, it’s had 300 performances around the world and it’s very easy to listen to. “And Marriage of Figaro: it’s a comic opera that was revolutionary at the time,” she says. “It’s a joy to look at and to listen to. If it’s your first opera, people should see that one.” A lot is at stake as Vancouver Opera changes its format, throwing its resources into the spring fest and hoping that music lovers and the curious will converge on the Queen Elizabeth plaza next week. “Some people have no idea what we’re up to. Vancouver has so many fantastic festivals,” Gaynor admits. “And then some have a wait-and-see attitude—‘Let’s go and we’ll see.’ I find here that people are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.” > JANET SMITH
it goes beyond the theme of capital
Finding a way to forgive punishment into universal struggles. from page 21
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24 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
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and its mix of plainspoken and eloquent text. “In that way it’s a fantastic way for people to get introduced to contemporary opera who otherwise might have misconceptions about it,” Okulitch enthuses, adding that there is still nothing more powerful than the unamplified human voice. “I love singing in English because I don’t have to think about the emotion. I know what I’m saying. It’s there,” Bridges adds, comparing it to how singing in traditional operatic Italian or French always requires the extra step of translation in her mind. That emotional immediacy in Dead Man Walking only begins to explain its status as a new operatic classic, directed here by young, fast-rising director Joel Ivany. It continues to succeed, the singers suggest, because
“The reason it sticks is it’s about the human experience of forgiveness and what is it to forgive someone for doing something unforgivable,” Okulitch says. “So you can have no interest in the death penalty and you can have no knowledge of how it functions; you can not know anyone who’s ever suffered a violent crime and go into this story and still be challenged with ‘What do you have to forgive in your life, what do you bestow on someone?’ ” Then he grabs his iPhone to search for his favourite quote on the subject: “Here it is: ‘Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.’ ” -
Dead Man Walking is at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 29 and May 2, 5, and 7 as part of the Vancouver Opera Festival.
APRIL 20 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25
ARTS
For Five Octave Range, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza, Paul Wong filmed opera singers and then digitally exaggerated the imagery and sound.
Paul Wong aims for sensory overload The art maverick dives into unknown territory with Five Octave Range, a four-screen installation at the opera fest
Spoken Word / Storytelling / Music
7TH Annual
Celebrating a broad definition of literary arts, including spoken word poetry, storytelling, page based poetry, singer songwriters, improvisers, and more. Come be swept away in a wave of word bending wonder, where activism and art take centre stage.
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ot much fazes media artist Paul Wong, whose occasionally controversial career has encompassed both the radical use of emerging technologies and a provocative openness to gender fluidity. Until recently, however, there was one discipline that gave him pause: opera. On the line from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he’s curating an exhibit of work by video pioneers Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak, the East Van resident says that he used to be “intimidated” by opera’s elitist aura, and by the inaccessibility of the art form itself. He’s over that now. Tapped to create an outdoor video installation for the upcoming Vancouver Opera Festival, Wong began researching opera and quickly discovered that the art itself is not nearly as off-putting as the trappings that occasionally surround it. The operatic voice was his passport into the genre, Wong says, noting that “the finely tuned instrument of an opera singer” ref lects undeniable assurance and commitment. “It’s like with any craft that someone masters; you can’t help but be kind of awed by it.” And so for Five Octave Range, a four-screen, multichannel audiovisual installation that will be on view at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza during the festival, he began by inviting a baritone, a tenor, a coloratura soprano, and a mezzo to demonstrate their skills for the camera. “I had these performers come to a very echoey concrete studio at VIVO Media Arts, and to have them do their thing was quite inspiring,” Wong explains. “They’re loud, these people. Pop singers, you know, they know how to manipulate microphones and perform in the studio, but to see these people perform a cappella and hit these notes at this outrageous volume is quite astonishing. So, really, this is all about reverb and echoing and vibration. It makes you really think about breath and the diaphragm— and your ears ringing.” Once his documentary footage had been shot, Wong began playing with image and sound, exaggerating the already outsized voices and digitally fragmenting the singers’ images. Waveforms, displayed as if on an oscilloscope, became a visual motif; in Five Octave Range they’re
rendered in bright, saturated colours, dancing like a light show at an all-night rave. Sensory overload is part of Wong’s intent: each of the four screens is its own stand-alone artwork, but the way their looped audio components will blend on the plaza is both unpredictable and intentionally chaotic. “There’s four screens, four round screens, each with sound,” Wong explains. “And we’ve designed it so they’re going to be in kind of an arc, in a half-circle, so to speak. And they’re transparent screens, so you can go to one side of the screen facing out and the sound might be more isolated, or you can get in the centre of the semicircle where the sounds are all crossing over. Each of the four loops is approximately five minutes long—and they’re not synchronized, so who knows what will happen as these loops get more and more out of sync?” In a sense, Wong’s using operatic tropes the same way that minimalist composer Steve Reich used found sound in his early work: superimposing sound upon sound as a way of building textural depth and emotional resonance. He’s also riffing on the idea of opera as storytelling—or perhaps flawed storytelling, given the incomprehensibility of many operatic plots. “I really wanted to do something non-narrative and abstract. When you go to an opera, a lot of it is in French or German or Italian—and even in English, you really don’t understand what they’re saying,” he explains, laughing. “They still have those translation things above the stage. And I’m not that interested in the beginning, middle, and end of a story, anyway. I just wanted to work with the vocalizations, to take moments and sounds and gestures and just let them f ly.” As abstract as Five Octave Range sounds in theory, in practice the work should be strangely festive, giving both operagoers and casual passersby a glimpse of something vivid and absurd. And if his operatic experiments lure more people into the festival, this new opera convert is fine with that, too. “It’s quite a wacky form,” Wong says. “But one shouldn’t be afraid of it!” Paul Wong’s Five Octave Range will be installed at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza from April 27 to May 13.
41 CALL ☎ 604-688-14 hco.org ut O yo w w w. YouthC 26 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
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Lesley Telford’s Spooky Action at a Distance associates quantum entanglement with human relations. Cara Tench photo.
Dance draws from science > BY JA NET SM IT H
O
ne of the clearest definitions of quantum entanglement— a phenomenon Albert Einstein dubbed “spooky action at a distance”—can be found in a vampire movie. In Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive Tom Hiddleston’s depressed rock-star bloodsucker explains it this way to Tilda Swinton’s Eve, his centuries-long partner: “When you separate an entwined particle and you move both parts away from the other, even at opposite ends of the universe, if you alter or affect one, the other will be identically altered or affected.” In fact, it was by watching the dark love story that Vancouver dance artist Lesley Telford learned about quantum entanglement—in which particles are so closely connected that they cannot act independently of one another, no matter how much space lies between them. She became fascinated not just with the scientific possibilities of the concept but with the romantic ones. It’s an idea she explores in a new work, named—what else?—Spooky Action at a Distance. “I thought, ‘What a great metaphor,’ ” the choreographer tells the Straight over sushi before heading into a Dance Centre studio. “It’s the idea of quantum entanglement and how that could relate to human entanglement.…It’s really a metaphor for human interactions.”
First, though, as is so often the case with Telford, she needed to form those ideas into words. So she approached poet Barbara Adler to talk about the phenomenon, and then to have her build poetry around it—text that the writer will perform live in Telford’s first full evening of work here. “Barbara talked a lot about how you feel this resonance with people that have been in your life, and how it’s tied into romantic connections and love stories,” Telford explains. “As we dig into it, it’s become less about that and more of an underlying vibration in the work; it feels like we’ve gone beyond that starting point.…I feel like she has a way of making it so down-to-earth and it’s given us so much food to work with. Are we in control of the universe or is it in control of us?” Spooky Action at a Distance, a work for seven dancers, ends up being a string of duets that weave—entangle—into other duets. Under the banner of her company, Inverso, it joins two other pieces on a solo program called Three Sets/Relating at a Distance that features poetry-driven works. Telford, an alumna of Nederlands Dans Theater and Madrid’s Compañía Nacional de Danza, has now returned to her hometown and is in the midst of an artist’s residency at the Dance Centre. She is already in demand here: along with this solo evening, she’s just coming off a creation at Ballet BC for its Program 2, and she’s done choreography for Pi Theatre’s
remount of the play Long Division. In the duet My tongue, your ear, she plays Nico Muhly’s haunting, angular viola piece Etude 1A off excerpts of Polish poet Wisława Szymborska’s ironic portrayal of parting, “The Tower of Babel”, and If is a trio that features an Anne Carson poem. In Spooky Action, it was Adler who really anchored her ideas and helped her grab onto an intangible concept, Telford says. But in the other two short pieces, poetry was the impetus for her explorations. “The danger in dance is it becomes so studied; it can square off into music,” Telford explains of her love of using poetry, “so those rhythms [of speech] really sparked ideas about how we access movement.” Non-physics majors in the audience will be relieved to hear that in Spooky Action, as in the other two works that show Telford’s range of creation over the past decade, it’s not required to fully comprehend the complex concepts that inspire her choreography. It can be simply enough to enjoy innovative choreography that feels like it’s grounded in something deep, intricate, meaningful, and sometimes a bit strange. “I kind of hope that people don’t feel it’s necessary to understand it all,” says Telford. “It just helps me find a reason to make movement.” -
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Lesley Telford’s Three Sets/Relating at a Distance is at the Scotiabank Dance Centre from Thursday to Saturday (April 20 to 22). Paula Kremer, Artistic Director
Chanticleer gives voice to variety > BY A LEX A N D E R VAR TY
B
ased as he is in Atlanta, Georgia, William Fred Scott understandably wants to know how the weekly magazine calling him from Vancouver, British Columbia, got its name. And readers of said weekly could also be forgiven for needing him to explain just what, exactly, the Bay Area–based men’s choir he leads is all about. Chanticleer, which celebrates its 40th anniversary next year, has an astonishingly diverse repertoire: its 25 CDs encompass the music of the Mexican baroque, a 70-minute liturgical drama penned by the late British composer John Tavener, interpretations of jazz and indie-rock songs, and five Christmas-themed collections. But when the 12-member ensemble first came together, it had a much simpler mandate. “It was formed 40 years ago out of a group of singers who had sung at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco,” Scott tells the Georgia Straight in a telephone interview from his Peach State home. “These guys got together literally around a kitchen table, because they felt like they would like to try singing Renaissance music in a Renaissance way.” Early music is still a part of every Chanticleer concert, Scott assures us, and that was one of the things that led him to sign up as the ensemble’s music director three years ago. “That was great, musically interesting material for me, because I didn’t know a lot of this Renaissance choral material,” says Scott, a veteran of both the Atlanta Opera and the Atlanta Symphony who commutes cross-country to rehearse with his singers. “But it’s not just Renaissance, and it’s not just sacred.…Chanticleer has a great sound for jazz and for the African-American spiritual, as well as for Romantic 19th-century music. So if we have a mission statement at all, it’s that we are an all-male ensemble,
without a conductor, singing soprano through bass. “We have a kind of specialty in Renaissance music because it’s in our DNA,” he continues. “But we also have a great feeling for the importance of commissioning new choral works, and so we have, if you will, a legacy of literally hundreds of commissions that have been written for us.” One of those, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s Hommage à Edith, is the centrepiece of Chanticleer’s latest recording, My Secret Heart, and it plays a similar role in the concert of the same name that Chanticleer will present as part of Chor Leoni’s upcoming Van/Man Male Choral Summit. “He seems to know exactly how to write for us,” Scott says of the Finnish choral innovator. “He makes a really beautiful kind of moody, Nordic, intense sonority, but every note seems to be just the right note for what we can do in terms of breathing and dynamics and phrasing.” In part, that’s because Mäntyjärvi pays careful attention to what male singers can and cannot do. “Male sopranos can never sing as high, consistently, as female sopranos can,” Scott notes. “So a composer cannot write a string of high Cs, let’s say, for the soprano voice. If they had a big choir with females in it, they could probably get away with that, but our group of 12 would never be able to sing, you know, the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, with all those B-flats and B naturals. It’s just too difficult for the male sopranos to live up there. “Other than that, though, the sky’s the limit.” Chanticleer plays the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Friday (April 21). The choir will also appear with Chor Leoni, the Vancouver Men’s Chorus, Karlakórinn Heimir, and the Van/Man Festival Singers at a sold-out Chan show on Saturday (April 22). Both performances are part of the Van/Man Male Choral Summit; for a full schedule, visit chorleoni.org/.
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ARTS
Heart and humour make Mom’s a must-see TH E AT RE MOM’S THE WORD 3 By Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard, and Deborah Williams. Directed by Wayne Harrison. At the Arts Club Theatre Granville Island Stage on Thursday, April 13. Continues until May 20
The day after Mom’s the Word opened, the Arts Club announced a two-week holdover. If you don’t already have a ticket, get one now. Better yet, get two. Bring someone you love—it doesn’t have to be your mom— because this show is a huge gift. It’s impossible to overestimate the achievement of this group of women. What began as a sanity-saving project for six theatre artists with young children (Linda Carson was part of the first show, but not subsequent ones) at the 1994 Women in View Festival has grown into an international franchise, with productions all over the world. For audiences who’ve gotten to know the creators’ kids in early childhood and adolescence, this show, which tracks the moms’ relationships with their adult children, is a welcome continuation of a beloved story. But you don’t have to have seen the earlier shows to appreciate the heart and humour of this one. Like the previous installments, Mom’s the Word 3 has a variety-show format, with brief skits, musical numbers, a game show, and lots of personal storytelling. Some of it is serious: Jill Daum tells of the life-changing Alzheimer’s diagnosis of her husband, Spirit of the West singer John Mann, at 50, and how it has opened a whole new phase of caregiving in her life. Robin Nichol recounts how her elderly father became a victim of ruthless scammers. Some is darkly funny: Barbara Pollard makes inventive use of a kitchen knife to dramatize her bitter divorce, and Deborah Williams
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Alison Kelly and Barbara Pollard deal honestly and hilariously with aging, divorce, and empty nests. Emily Cooper photo.
makes repeated sardonic allusions to her depression: “I’d love to be a model for more than Mental Health Weekly,” she deadpans. And some is downright hilarious, like Alison Kelly’s extended account of stalking her children after they’ve moved out of her house. Under Wayne Harrison’s direction, all these moms know how to put the cap on a scene; their ability to craft delicious one-liners and deliver them with impeccable comic timing is exceptional. “I can’t find my passion— I can’t even find my glasses” is one response to well-meaning advice for empty-nesters. Kelly shares a horrific realization from a spontaneous outing to the hardware store while house-painting: “Turns out I can no longer pull off shabby chic.” And Williams warns her husband that he is “one fuck-up away from a hideous, nonnegotiable death”. Over and over, I laughed to the point of tears.
Though the humour is well-crafted, the honesty and generosity at its heart are undeniable. These artists have been friends for decades, and one of the show’s unique gifts to audiences is that it lets us witness the delight they take in one another. As in the previous episodes, lowbudget simplicity characterizes the staging. Set and costume designer Pam Johnson fills the back wall with stacks of cardboard boxes, emblematic of the propensity of grown children to move out and move back in. Rolling chairs and pool noodles are all it takes to animate an underwater sequence dramatizing Pollard’s fantasies about her sexy aquafit instructor; an umbrella stands in for a parachute as Nichol recounts a skydiving adventure with her son. A show with this much heart doesn’t need fancy bells and whistles. Whether or not you’ve seen the earlier installments, don’t miss
Mom’s the Word 3. It’s filled with love, and it’s a winner.
> KATHLEEN OLIVER
HOW TO BE Created by Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg, in collaboration with the performers. A Tara Cheyenne Performance production, presented by the Cultch. At the Cultch’s Historic Theatre on Wednesday, April 12. No remaining performances
What a good time this show
2 is, and what a good time to
see it. How to Be is as fresh and invigorating as a springtime walk among the blossoms. Vancouver choreographer Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg is known for her playfulness. In How to Be, which was created in collaboration with the performers, she fuses dance and theatre to address the question that
vexes most of us: am I doing this (life, or any aspect of it) right? The piece opens with actor Marcus Youssef, who is not a trained dancer, awkwardly executing some steps. He’s soon joined on-stage by a group of more adept movers, who shift into a circle of empathy behind him as he takes turns in a compassionate listening exercise with dancer Susan Elliott. The hesitant confessions and sympathetic looks are hilarious because we can relate to them so easily. The trap of self-consciousness, the struggle to connect meaningfully with others, and the halting habits we impose on ourselves—these ideas are manifested in a variety of ways. Josh Martin surrenders to a beat for a few seconds, then stops, denying himself the pleasure of dancing. Justine A. Chambers reads out a long list of “shoulds”, her limbs repeatedly buckling under the burden and then recalibrating in slow motion. Kimberly Stevenson gives us some of the evening’s funniest moments: in one sequence, she runs around giving enthusiastic compliments to all her fellow performers; later, she becomes a frenzied choreographic drill sergeant. In one sequence, as Youssef warns about disappointment in love, the other six performers entangle and disentangle their bodies into beautiful shapes. All the performers (Bevin Poole and Kate Franklin round out the cast) embrace the piece’s unconventional structure, whose boundary between performers and audience is as porous as that between the authentic self and the one we put on in public. Marc Stewart’s terrific original music and James Proudfoot’s lighting mirror the energy and virtuosity of the performers. If you’ve already figured out how to do everything in your life right all the time, then you can give this show a miss. If not, you’ll take comfort and inspiration from How to Be. > KATHLEEN OLIVER
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28 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
ARTS
Talent converges at gallery Cherry-bark baskets to sand-carved masks, works are a testament to indigenous gifts VISUAL AR TS XI XANYA DZAM At the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art until September 4
Xi xanya dzam, the title of small exhibition at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, is borrowed from the Kwak’wala language. Pronounced “hee hun ya zam”, it is used to describe “incredibly talented and gifted people who create works of art”. Aptly, it is applied here to past winners of lifetime-achievement B.C. Creative Achievement Awards for First Nations Art. In addition to spotlighting the accomplishments of Primrose Adams (Haida), Dempsey Bob (TahltanTlingit), Rena Point Bolton (Sto:lo), Mandy Brown (Nlaka’pamux), Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth), Robert Davidson (Haida), Alvin Mack (Nuxalk), Mary Michell (Carrier), Earl Muldon (Gitxsan), Susan Point (Musqueam), and Norman Tait (Nisga’a), the exhibition grapples with different social and linguistic readings of “achievement” and “excellence”. It also provides an opportunity to consider how these qualities are celebrated and rewarded across cultures. While touring the Straight through the show, curator Beth Carter explained that who gives what to whom—and how honours are bestowed—varies from place to place and people to people. In many Northwest Coast First Nations, she said, the honoree presents gifts to the audience, thanking them for witnessing the event or ceremony and, in so doing, enfolding the honour into that people’s history. Organized by Carter and guest curator Lou-ann Neel, Xi xanya dzam represents the first time works
2a
Norman Tait’s Weeping Volcano Woman mask. Kenji Nagai photo.
by these award winners have been exhibited together. This means that we can see Tait’s big and extraordinary Weeping Volcano Woman mask, with its small frog-human hybrids emerging from its eyes and mouth, alongside Bolton’s exquisitely woven and imbricated cedar-bark baskets. We can encounter Davidson’s highly abstracted paintings, which riff on two-dimensional Haida design components, in close proximity to Michell’s gorgeously beaded moosehide clothing. And we can consider Muldon’s delicately carved gold bracelet, Killer Whale and Bear, in light of Bob’s Raven Frontlet, with its long beak, black nostrils, and— characteristic of Bob’s distinctive style—heavy-lidded eyes. The work of each artist is accompanied by a short biography and
also a phrase in his or her original language that is roughly equivalent to xi xanya dzam. (In the introductory panel, the curators acknowledge a team of “language keepers who generously helped us identify words and phrases in each artist’s traditional language”.) Mack is represented here by a Creator Mask, a model pole, and a talking stick, all carved out of yellow cedar. The beautiful Nuxalkmc description of his achievement, “Apcwakmtimutilh ala smayustalh ats,” translates as “We become uplifted by our traditions.” Adams, whose finely woven spruce-root hats and miniature baskets speak of her descent from a line of famously creative Haida women, is acknowledged in Old Massett Haida, “Gin ‘ la xay ‘aayaagang”—“She is an excellent weaver.” The artists here work in both traditional and contemporary media and materials. On the one hand, we have Brown’s cedar-root and cherry-bark baskets, executed using ancient coil basketry techniques, which she is credited with preserving. On the other, we have Point’s innovative “rattle” in blown and sand-carved glass, etched with an image of two loons. David’s Welcome Mask, made in collaboration with Tlingit artist Preston Singletary, resembles a historic Nuu-chah-nulth mask in wood, but is also executed in glass. And his Drum With Whale Design effectively combines quite different styles of painting and subtly rendered graphite drawing, to beautiful effect. Just as the title asserts, all the artists represented here are (and were: Brown passed away in 2015, and Tait in 2016) “incredibly talented and gifted people”. The show is pure joy to view. > ROBIN LAURENCE
PRESENTS
VSO SPRING FESTIVAL A BRITISH FANTASY
THE 2017 VSO SPRING FESTIVAL features Maestro Bramwell Tovey, violinist/violist James Ehnes, pianist Ian Parker, and narrator Christopher Gaze in a 5-concert celebration of British composers and their most popular works. Highlights include Holst The Planets, Elgar Enigma Variations, and The Last Night of the Proms. Order the Festival Pass (all 5 concerts) and save!
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SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 8PM, ORPHEUM James Ehnes leader/violin/viola* ELGAR Serenade for Strings in E minor BRITTEN Lachrymae* VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis BRITTEN Prelude and Fugue for 18 strings VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending* ELGAR Introduction and Allegro*
JAMES EHNES
THE PLANETS: AN HD ODYSSEY MONDAY, APRIL 24, 8PM, ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor James Ehnes viola* Elektra Women’s Choir° Morna Edmundson chorus director GAVIN HIGGINS Velocity WALTON Viola Concerto* HOLST The Planets° With HD VIDEO FROM NASA AND THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, shown on the big screen as the orchestra performs The Planets. BRAMWELL TOVEY
HENRY V SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 8PM, ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor Ian Parker piano* Christopher Gaze narrator° Langley Fine Arts School Choir° Jim Sparks chorus director MACONCHY Proud Thames MACMILLAN Fantasia on Scottish Airs RIDOUT Fall Fair ADDINSELL Warsaw Concerto* WALTON Henry V° CHRISTOPHER GAZE
ENIGMA SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 7PM, ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor/piano* ELGAR Piano Quintet* ELGAR Enigma Variations: An Exploration ELGAR Enigma Variations Maestro Tovey performs with VSO musicians in the Elgar Piano Quintet, then explains the Enigma Variations with his trademark insight and wit, before a full performance of Elgar’s landmark work in the second half of the concert. BRAMWELL TOVEY
LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS MONDAY, MAY 1, 8PM, ORPHEUM
Bramwell Tovey conductor Vancouver Bach Choir VSO School of Music Sinfonietta The Last Night of the Proms is the customary ending to the Promenades series at the Royal Albert Hall, a tradition proudly upheld by Bramwell Tovey, the Vancouver Bach Choir, the VSO School of Music Sinfonietta and the VSO.
BRAMWELL TOVEY WITH THE VSO
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APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 29
ARTS
Room 2048 tricks the eye DANCE ROOM 2048 A Hong Kong Exile production. At the Firehall Arts Centre on Tuesday, April 11. No remaining performances
Audacious, avant-garde, experias one grinning audience member put it after the show, “unapologetic”—Room 2048 left many who watched it a bit stunned. That’s in no small part because it ended not with a traditional cast bow but in a state of limbo, the performers on the dark stage caught in a dreamlike purgatory sliced up by slivers of light. The crowd didn’t quite know if it should stay or go, even when the Firehall’s heavy door to the lobby was cranked open. But that feeling of awe was also because the show had done such surprising things with light and movement— some of them bombastic, some poetic. The dance-based multidisciplinary work (choreographed by Natalie Tin Yin Gan) began more strikingly than almost any show in recent memory. To the sound of Susumu Hirasawa’s throbbing anime pop, projected light made performer Michelle Lui appear to shift magically in space, as if we were watching cinematic jump edits. One moment she’d be standing in a
2 mental—and
“performance after performance of surpassing brilliance and character”
Tickets from
- Gramophone
$25
BENJAMIN GROSVENOR piano SUNDAY MAY 7 at 3pm CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS One of the most sought-after young pianists in the world returns to Vancouver to perform a program of
rectangle of light facing one way, and in a single quick lighting change, she’d be facing another direction entirely, without ever seeming to move. The effect was discombobulating—as if your eyes had just been tricked. And really, the young trio behind Hong Kong Exile is all about discombobulating, disassociating, and disorienting. If these “tricks” on the eyes were just gimmicks, the show might seem self-indulgent, but there’s a purpose to the often tormented, alienated imagery you see in the threesome’s works. They’re expressing anxiety over Hong Kong’s final handover to China in 2047—and the way they feel tied to yet distanced from that frightening event, as young Vancouverites with roots in the Asian nation. The piece is a follow-up to 2015’s NINEEIGHT, inspired by the start of the transfer of power over Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, and has the same frenzied feel. None of this is spelled out literally. We see the magnetic Lui convulse violently for seeming eternities in a f lashing spotlight, while Milton Lim ambles around her, glowing red cigarette in hand, like he’s grooving at a club. We see Alex Tam remove layer after layer of white boxers as Lui looks longingly on, an exercise in frustration and unrequited desire. And in the
COM EDY
Visit vanrecital.com or call 604 602 0363
Produced by Vancouver TheatreSports League. At the Improv Centre on Thursday, April 13. Continues Thursday through Saturday until mid-May
CONCERT SPONSOR:
WESTERN WORLD
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
The John C. Kerr Family
Daniel Bolshoy
Vetta Chamber Music The Romance of the Guitar 2016 - 2017 31st Season Joan Blackman
Joan Blackman
Jennie Press
Yariv Aloni
Artistic Director
They say the western is dead. And it is. But make the
2 characters androids and add a creepy mastermind
who controls everyone, and now you’re cooking with gasoline, pardner. And so we have Western World, the latest knockoff from the good folks down at the Improv Centre on Granville Island. Based on the hit HBO series Westworld (which itself was based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film), it’s an oater without horses. Well, the horses are there; you just have to use your imagination. The sound effects by Laura Skelton help. Six players in full costume (on this night Clare Filipow, Lauren McGibbon, Allen Morrison, Margret Nyfors, Michael Teigen, and Pearce Visser) amble onto the excellent set by John Taylor and are introduced by show creator Graeme Duffy, who plays the Anthony Hopkins character Robert Ford, the cyborgs’ mastermind. With the old-timey western outfits and the backdrop—featuring a saloon, trading post, and Maggie’s Salon—the production values are topnotch. Duffy/Ford leads the actors in various improv games, each set in the town of Sweetwater in 1870. After each scene, the lifelike characters revert back to their trance-
like state and are often subjected to a dressing-down from their creator. It’s always a pleasure seeing creative new ways the tried-and-true improv gimmicks are incorporated. Vancouver TheatreSports League is catching up with technology. In one scene, an audience member was handed a portable keyboard that was hooked up to the big screen and he wrote the lines for Filipow’s character. Each actor was given time to shine so none felt the need to impose their will on the group, as sometimes happens. Laughs came from everyone. The problem with the seemingly democratic nature of improv is that the squeaky wheel often gets the oil. One punter was loud and quick, supplying, by Duffy’s estimation, 65 percent of the suggestions. I think it was higher. They were decent ideas, but let the others have a chance. One other crowd member got to play a pivotal part in the second half. Led by Teigen, the woman was given a poncho and a hat and became the star of the show. We often see volunteers on-stage, but the conceit here fits perfectly with the original story. In the TV series, the Westworld amusement park allows rich guests to live out their western fantasies without fear of getting offed. So we had Teigen partner up with Alexia from the crowd. Together they wreaked havoc on Sweetwater. Oh, there was lots of gunfire and carnage, but the ringer came away unscathed, the last one standing. The androids, of course, will be put back together and continue entertaining for the run of the show until mid-May. > GUY M AC PHERSON
ar ts/ timeout
Daniel Bolshoy guitar Joan Blackman violin Jennie Press violin Yariv Aloni viola Pamela Highbaugh cello
THEATRE DANCE MUSIC COMEDY ET CETERA GALLERIES MUSEUMS
Music for guitar and strings including Boccherini’s ever popular Guitar Quintet, and Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango. th
Thu Apr 27 at 2:00pm Fri Apr 28th at 7:30pm Pamela Highbaugh
> JANET SMITH
Western World guns for laughs
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extended ending’s cryptic repeated phrase, a square of blackness creeps over and engulfs Lui and Lim, who are lying in repose like statues, only to recede and throw them into the light again, over and over. In an interview before the show, digital lighting and soundtrack designer Remy Siu explained the interdisciplinary troupe is interested in conveying the passage of time. A yearning burns intensely in every scene. That and the mix of constant undulating fog and cinematic references are a nod to the passion and nostalgia of filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. Room 2048’s heavy feeling of being trapped in time says something about desire and loss that transcends words. If all that sounds too serious, there’s always a cheekiness that undercuts Hong Kong Exile’s work. Witness Tam struggling to remember numbers in Cantonese. Room 2048 ends up an odd mix of the personal and the conceptual, and the material often feels willfully cryptic. But the images here, created through inventive digital lighting, frantic movement, and all that fog, will deeply unsettle you. This is work that’s bold, technically savvy, and risky. As that viewer said, unapologetic.
LESLEY TELFORD | INVERSO
THREE SETS/RELATING AT A DISTANCE
West Point Grey United Church for more information visit our website
Vettamusic.com Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation
THE HAMBER FOUNDATION
Edith Lando Charitable Foundation season media sponsor
Photo: David Cooper
April 20-22, 2017 | 8pm Scotiabank Dance Centre
Tickets ticketstonight.ca Info thedancecentre.ca
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THEATRE 2OPENINGS THE WOLVES Stone’s Throw Productions presents Sarah DeLappe’s play that sees a pack of adolescent girls prepare for battle on the soccer field. Apr 20-23, 8 pm, Pacific Theatre (1440 W. 12th). Tix $15, info www.pacifictheatre.org/involvement/ stonesthrow/. DECK Writer-performer Lucas Myers stars in this play that explores the fine line between perfectionism and obsession, chaos and freedom. Apr 21-22, 8 pm,
see page 36
30 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
MOVIES REVIEWS BEFORE THE STREETS Starring Rykko Bellemare. In Atikamekw, with English subtitles. Rating unavailable
How’s this for timing? While we’re still clean-
2 ing up the bunting from National Canadian
Film Day, Chloé Leriche’s stringently authentic and unsentimental slice of First Nations life settles into a well-deserved weeklong run at the Cinematheque. Crafted mostly with nonactors and performed entirely in the Atikamekw language, Leriche’s film is surely some kind of landmark, not least of all because it’s so absorbing. Rykko Bellemare takes much of the credit for that as Shawnouk, a young man suspended between boredom and aimlessness in northern Quebec’s Manawan reserve. Judging from the misdirected energy that seems to quiver beneath his surface (a fireworks battle in a desolate quarry has a pleasingly surreal sense of abandon), we expect something to go terribly wrong for the
Bang the drum slowly
Rykko Bellemare plays Shawnouk, a young Atikamekw man who stumbles into the fugitive life in Chloé Leriche’s impressive debut feature, Before the Streets.
she lives with his parents in a remote Saxon village. The locals don’t exactly welcome a lone French visitor, regardless of his intentions. Tall, narrow-faced Pierre Niney played the blond fashThere are fireworks but there’s no Hollywood flash in ion icon in 2014’s Yves Saint the absorbing First Nations drama Before the Streets Laurent, but as the mysteriguy. And it does, when a stranger (Félix et Meira’s ous Adrien Rivoire, he resembles Truffaut’s Jim, Martin Dubreuil) cajoles the surly, if soulful, youth down to the wavy dark hair and pencil mustache. It seems he knew Frantz before the war, when both into a burglary spree. Somebody ends up dead thanks to that caper, and were music students in Paris. The dead soldier’s the terrified Shawnouk disappears into the woods stern doctor father (cast standout Ernst Stötzner) is with the cops on his back. It’s here that Before the furious, but his mother (Marie Gruber) invites AdStreets asserts itself as something other than a rou- rien into their home, where the Frenchman’s story tine narrative. Shawnouk will eventually find a kind unfolds gradually. You don’t have to be a German of redemption in traditional healing practices, de- nationalist (like those heel-clickers in the local beer picted in blunt and unromantic fashion by Leriche hall) to wonder where he’s really coming from. The film’s starkly beautiful black-and-white comand cinematographer Glauco Bermudez. But first, as a fugitive, he has to cycle through a few dead- positions occasionally bloom into muted period end jobs (including a brief and depressing stint as colour, especially when amour is suggested. Its ara dogcatcher) and negotiate a tense détente with his chaic qualities are well-earned, and Frantz is itself mom’s boyfriend (Jacques Newashish)—also a cop, a loose remake of Broken Lullaby, Ernst Lubitsch’s antiwar drama from 1932, just before Hitler’s rise but one determined to put kin first. All of this is delivered at a notably unstressed and the director’s move to Hollywood, where he pace, with none of the beats that would be ham- concentrated on notably antitotalitarian comedies mered into a screenplay if it were tendered at film like Ninotchka and To Be or Not to Be. Little in this school. The emphasis here is on a soul’s journey, and update lends itself to comedy, and despite the richthe closest thing to a climax consists of an intense ness of imagery and influences, the almost two-hour close-up on Shawnouk’s face as he sings and hits a movie is certainly dampened by its unvaried tone. drum. Considering the source (and notwithstand- Even after the stately action shifts to Paris, everying its crisp photography and attractive cast), this one’s feelings are so cautiously deliberated, it’s hard repudiation of conventional filmmaking is as excit- to get excited about their remaining options, romantic or otherwise. This is a movie to admire, not love. ing as anything out there right now. > ADRIAN MACK
> KEN EISNER
FRANTZ
COLOSSAL
Starring Paula Beer. In German and French, with English subtitles. Rated PG
Starring Anne Hathaway. Rated PG
French writer-director François Ozon’s latest genre study wears its history proudly. Set just after the First World War, the film draws on All Quiet on the Western Front, Carl Dreyer’s silent films, and, most overtly, François Truffaut’s Jules and Jim, which placed skittish Frenchwoman Jeanne Moreau between best friends and former wartime enemies Henri Serre and Oskar Werner. In Frantz, the woman is a levelheaded German, and the domestic side of her love triangle is already kaput. Still dressed in black, the lovely Anna (Paula Beer) is so devoted to her titular fiancé that
2
WEEK IN WIDESCREEN
The first hour of Colossal is packed with clev-
2 er metaphors that use horror-movie tropes
to explore the mysteries of human interactions. Some of this stuff is cleared up partway in, only to be replaced by a bigger question: why couldn’t the filmmakers come up with anything funny, smart, or thoughtful for the second half? Anne Hathaway stars as Gloria (no last name given), a hard-partying Manhattanite just getting by on the largesse of booze-buying pals and her hardworking boyfriend (Dan Stevens). He’s finally had it when she comes home from yet another all-nighter, and she hightails it back to her old home in upstate
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY We really can’t speak too
highly of this locally made comedy, about one long, hard day in the life of a self-doubting astrophysicist (Scott Bellis) and his sweetly dysfunctional family. Catch it, along with various cast and crew members, as part of the Vancity Theatre’s Canadian Film Week celebrations on Thursday (April 20). -
What to see and where to see it
1
BRUNO DUMONT The thorniest of modern French filmmakers gets a mini-revival at the Cinematheque starting Friday (April 21) with La Vie de Jésus. P’tit Quinquin and L’Humanité follow. Visit www.thecinematheque.ca/ for dates and times.
2
THEY LIVE Reportedly one of the
3
> KEN EISNER
THE LOST CITY OF Z Starring Charlie Hunnam. Rated 14A
From its title to its dashing, mustachioed
2 lead, The Lost City of Z harks back to the classic explorer movies of the last century. But it also comments on the downfall of that era, when allmale geographic societies talked about savages. Basing his extended tale on the nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann, director James Gray tells the story of Percy Fawcett, a stiffupper-lip Brit explorer who became obsessed with finding a lost city hidden in the thick Amazonian jungle of Bolivia and Brazil. Early in the last century, he left behind a wife and children he adored to spend years roughing it in the remote and dangerous “green desert”, a place where teeming piranhas and poison-arrow-shooting cannibals were just a few of the welcoming parties. Not that The Lost City of Z is an Indiana Jones– see next page
MOVIES
The projector
Canadian film week
New York—actually rural B.C.—to her spookily empty family abode (no explanation given). Help arrives in the form of an old grade-school chum called Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). Good news: he owns a bar and can give her a job. Bad news: he owns a bar! A few nights after carousing with Oscar and his own readymade crew (Tim Blake Nelson and Austin Stowell, both underused), their drunken reverie is interrupted by news that a giant, Godzilla-like monster has surfaced in Seoul, South Korea. (Tokyo was already taken, as a suit from lawyers at Toho averred.) This is enjoyably jarring, especially for something played as a routine indie dramedy until Koreans start getting crushed. The connection, as trailers tell you, comes when Gloria notices that her own personal tics are mimicked by that faraway gorgon. What this is supposed to mean—the collateral damage created by our own destructive traits or maybe the monumental size of our First World self-absorption—is left to our imaginations. That’s because the hard work of thinking it through wasn’t really done by writer-director Nacho Vigalondo, who gives us frustrating snack portions where the main meal should be. As the only female character in the story, Gloria simply isn’t substantial or interesting enough to represent what the movie might or might not be saying about gender roles, violence against (or from) women, alcoholism, or the best use of Downton Abbey veterans. The worst thing about Colossal is that it feels so small.
Canadian film week 2
Rio Theatre’s most requested films, John Carpenter’s They Live returns on Saturday (April 22) to chew bubble gum, kick ass, and offer a thoughtful screen rendering of Althusserian Marxism.
THE GIRLS’ HOUSE A wedding is interrupted by the mysterious death of the bride in this feature, banned in Iran, but screening at the Vancity Theatre next Wednesday (April 26) thanks to the Vancouver Iranian Film Society.
THE STAIRS The Vancity Theatre’s Canadian Film Week closes
out with director Hugh Gibson’s vital doc, about three Torontonians on the long path to recovery. The timeliness for Vancouverites is glaring, and Gibson will lead a panel discussion on Friday (April 21) with a Q&A on the following Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (April 23, 24, and 25). More details, including guests, are at viff.org/. APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 31
The Lost City of Z
from previous page
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APRIL 21
ADVANCE TICKETS AT WWW.RIOTHEATRETICKETS.CA KEDI SP ³.HGL D IUHTXHQWO\ HQFKDQWLQJ GRFXPHQWDU\ VKRZFDVHV IHOLQH SHUVRQDOLWLHV DQG WKH KXPDQV ZKR ORRN DIWHU WKHP (The New York Times) $OVR VFUHHQLQJ $SULO DW SP DQG $SULO DW SP FRANTZ SP ³)UDQW] ILQGV ZULWHU GLUHFWRU François Ozon WKRXJKWIXOO\ SURELQJ WKH DIWHUPDWK RI :RUOG :DU , WKURXJK WKH PHPRULHV DQG UHODWLRQVKLSV RI ORYHG RQHV OHIW EHKLQG ´ (Rotten Tomatoes) $OVR $SULO DW SP HW PURPLE RAIN SP %LJ VFUHHQ ELJJHU VRXQG 'HDUO\ EHORYHG ZH DUH JRLQJ WR JDWKHU WRJHWKHU WR JHW WKURXJK WKLV WKLQJ FDOOHG OLIH DQG WRDVW Prince RQ WKH DQQLYHUVDU\ RI KLV SDVVLQJ /HW V JR FUD]\
style thrill ride. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a meditative look at one manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s obsession, shot in rich, dreamlike imagery. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even a nod to Fitzcarraldo when Fawcettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ragtag team stumbles upon an opera house in the middle of dense rainforest. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Heart of Darkness story, yes, but one thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s measured and modest. Think of it as a gentler, more gentlemanly flipside to Apocalypse Now. Amazonia was no place for an upper-crust Englishman in collared shirts. So why did Fawcett return after his first failed mission thereâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;despite the mocking by peers who said there could not have been a civilized people in the jungle? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Soldierly decoration and reclaiming your family nameâ&#x20AC;? is the reason one of Fawcettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s superiors gives. Fawcett clearly has a taste for masculine glory, but it mixes with a desire to beat the gun-wielding colonialists to the ancient city. Aided by cinematographer Darius Khondji, Gray also contrasts cold-grey Britain against the dense, leafy wilds that call out to Fawcett. Still, Fawcett remains, frustratingly, an enigma. Hunnamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reserved, one-note, plummy take on his man of honour doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help matters. Cryptic and wandering as it all is, The Lost City of Z still casts a spell. It coalesces in a near-mystical ending, when its themes come magically together: the idea that we can never own or tame another civilization, the impossibility of knowing all the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mysteries, and the ability of the jungle to reclaim its losses. Just prepare for a long, leech- and spearfilled journey to get there. > JANET SMITH
THE STAIRS
formats over at least five years, centres on three Torontonians who have survived well enough to describe their journeys with some clarity. In his feature debut, actor turned director Hugh Gibson is heard cajoling, querying, and driving the three around as they pursue chores, court appointments, and rendezvous with other usersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; even though they all do conscientious work for the Regent Park Community Health Centre. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once you start, you never stop using,â&#x20AC;? admits Greg, who also goes to college. A big, biracial guy, he was abandoned as a baby and bears the literal scars of his life ever sinceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;most recently from a run-in with police. The talkative Marty, with a Caribbean lilt to his rapid speech, has done somewhat better, having moved on to an addiction to running shoes and Bob Marley T-shirts. (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because I can see where the money went,â&#x20AC;? he explains.) But heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not immune to street-level hassles that interfere with his progress. The most complex subject is Roxanne, who was adopted as a child by a Mennonite family and then â&#x20AC;&#x153;escapedâ&#x20AC;? into urban sex work she describes sometimes with horror and in some moments with humour. When confronted on the subway for wearing a full-length mink coat, she recalls answering, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you know how many animals I had to fuck to get this coat?â&#x20AC;? She describes her cumulative experience as a kind of PTSD that self-medication still hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite addressed. The movieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best in those candid moments. When Gibson gets more interpretive, with wide-angle lenses and pounding music, the effects are strained. In any case, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clear that for those at the bottom, the road to recovery takes far more than 12 steps. > KEN EISNER
A documentary by Hugh Gibson. Rating unavailable
CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY
The stairs of the title here, while A documentary by Matt Tyrnauer. Rated G
APRIL 22
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A documentary that should be aspirations and the virtual Mt. Sisyseen by anyone interested in phus facing all addicts once they lock the future of citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially those into the use-rinse-repeat cycle. The 90-minute doc, shot in several as fraught with housing problems as
Vancouverâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Citizen Jane is a fascinating call to arms for urban dwellers who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind fighting city hall. Matt Tyrnauerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s movie is somewhat light on personal backgroundâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; unexpectedly, since his previous flick was the bio-heavy Valentino: The Last Emperor, about the ancient fashion designer. Instead, it crams in as much as it can about Jane Jacobsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s battles, not her bio. Born in Pennsylvania and trained as a journalist, she worked for the State Department in World War II but became best known for urban activism in New York City and, later, Toronto. Politics was always personal to Jacobs, and she smelled trouble even before her own Greenwich Village neighbourhood was threatened by the brutalizing redevelopment projects of Robert Moses, the czar of New York City planning in the postwar period. While writing for Architectural Forum, she balked at the received notion that cities could be instantly improved by bulldozing entire â&#x20AC;&#x153;slumsâ&#x20AC;?, with their organically accumulated patterns of vibrant street activity, and replacing them with faceless towers that actively degraded the lives of poor people. Jacobsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s study of the before-andafter effects of these grandioseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and coincidentally lucrativeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;projects, and her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, created a sensation. This was just before Rachel Carsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Silent Spring, about creeping environmental degradation, and although the movie doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dwell on it, there was an unspoken sense at the time that these little ladies shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be poking their noses into the business of big, strong, science-minded men. Moses certainly reacted that way; once defeated by the action group she led, he lost his aura of invincibility and soon folded like a cheap tent. Jacobs then moved to Toronto and did the same kind of work there, where she died just short of 90, in 2006. I mention all this because Jane moves so quickly, with neat graphics and archival snippets, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth getting some feel for this particular citizen before going in.
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RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, Canada
A veritable whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s who in the music business, from Tony Bennett to Steven Tyler attest to the pivotal role that First Nations artists played in the development of Blues, Rock and Funk. SAT MAY 6
12PM CINEMATHEQUE
Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert, France
Chris Markerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative oeuvre as seen through the testimonies of seven people who knew him and worked with him, including Wim Wenders, Patricio Guzman, and Thierry Garrel.
Waking the Sleeping Giant Jacob Smith, Jon D. Erickson and Kathryn Goldman, US
The struggle for racial justice, economic equality, and womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights was hard enough in the US, but then the American election came to its final shocking conclusion. An intersectional coalition of activists, politicians, and ordinary folk offers a glimmer of hope. ADDITIONAL SCREENING FRI MAY 12 | 12:30PM | ANNEX TUE MAY 9
7PM CINEMATHEQUE
Ada for Mayor Pau Faus, Spain
The incredible story of Ada Colauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey from radical grassroots activist to principled politician, Ada for Mayor is also the story of a movement that triumphed against all odds, and an inspirational rallying cry for a new kind of populist politics â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one that is truly about the people.
THE EVIL IN US SP Vancouver Premiere! ³$ UDELG FURVV RI &DELQ )HYHU DQG 'D\V /DWHU 7KH (YLO LQ 8V JHWV WKH EORRG\ MRE GRQH ´ (Dread Central) )LOPPDNHUV LQFOXGLQJ ZULWHU GLUHFWRU -DVRQ :LOOLDP /HH DQG RWKHUV LQ DWWHQGDQFH IRU SRVW VFUHHQLQJ 4 $ PAUL ANTHONY'S TALENT TIME The Star Wars Show SP <RXU IDYRXULWH PRQWKO\ YDULHW\ VKRZ UHWXUQV WR WKH 5LR RQ 7KXUVGD\ 0D\ WK $V LQ 7KXUVGD\ 0D\ 7+( IRXUWK 8QOHDVK \RXU LQQHU -HGL RU UHVXUUHFW WKDW Jawa FRVWXPH IRU D 6WDU :DUV VSHFWDFXODU 0LQRUV ZHOFRPH
SEE WWW.RIOTHEATRE.CA FOR COMPLETE LISTINGS & UPDATED CALENDAR
32 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 27 / 2017
PREMIERE MEDIA PARTNER
“THRILLING, FUNNY, ORIGINAL... AN INSTANT CLASSIC!” COMING SOON
“THIS YEAR’S FIRST OSCAR® -WORTHY PERFORMANCES FROM SALLY HAWKINS AND ETHAN HAWKE.
ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST FILMS.” SCENE CREEK
“THE TRUE STORY OF CANADIAN FOLK ARTIST MAUD LEWIS, BOASTS A POWERFUL, OSCAR®-WORTHY PERFORMANCE BY SALLY HAWKINS.”
“A GROUNDBREAKER, SERIOUSLY UNMISSIBLE.
THEWRAP.COM
Anne Hathaway delivers a funny, fierce, fully committed performance that demands to be seen.”
“ETHAN HAWKE GIVES ONE OF THE FINEST PERFORMANCES OF HIS CAREER.” INTERVIEW MAGAZINE
ROLLING STONE
“++++ ! A WONDERFUL BLACK COMEDY. ‘Trainwreck’ meets ‘Pacific Rim.’ You haven’t seen a movie likes this before and you won’t again.” TIME OUT
++++ ++++ ++++ RICHARDCROUSE.CA
VANCOUVER OBSERVER
MOVIESMOVEME
“MAUDIE IS STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL AND DEEPLY MOVING.” LOCALEXPRESS.CA
“THIS IS A PAINTER WHOSE CANVAS WAS HER LIFE, AND WHOSE LIFE HER CANVAS. MAUDIE IS A MAGNIFICENT CELEBRATION OF BOTH.” NATIONAL POST
Academy Award® Nominee
SALLY HAWKINS
Academy Award® Nominee
ETHAN HAWKE
91% *AS OF APRIL 18
OFFICIAL SELECTION
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
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MONGREL MEMDIA PREPRSENTS WITH THE PARTIARTIICIPATION OFF TELTELEELEFIEFEFIILM CCANADA CANADADAA THEHENNEW NEWFO EWFOUNUND UNDLDLAND ANDD ANAND ANDDLLABRADDORORFFILM DED VEVELOLOLOPMPMPMENENENTT COCORPPORORATATIION ONONTATATARIRIROO MEM DIA DED VEVELOLOPMPMENET COCRPPORORATTION BELL MEDIA’S HAROLD GREENNBERG FUND AND BOBORDRDSSCACANNNNÁNÁN NAAHÉHÉIIREAENNNN / THEE IRIRISHF SH FILM BOOARARD IN ASSSOCIATIONWI N TH COR ORNENR PIECECE CACAPIPITATAL TAL LLLLCC ANDND CITATADDEELLCACANA CAANANDIANF AN FIILMSMS INC. A RINK RRAAT PRPRODODUCUCTITIONONS ONS SCSCREREENENE DOOOOR PAPARARLLEL FILMSM CO-PRODUCTION A FILM BY AISLILNG WALLSH SALLY HAWWKINSNS ETETHAHANNHAHAWK W E “MA MAUDUDIIE” KARARIARI MA MATCTCHEHETTTTT GABR ABBRIRIELLLEE ROSSE ZAZACHARARYYBEBENNNNETETT BILLYY MACA LEL LLLLAN CASTIASTTINGDG DIRECTO RECTO CTOORS JOH OHNNNBUBUCHCHANANJJASASSONO KNIGHGHT S ERV SUP ERVISINGSOUND NG & SOUND EFFECTS EDITOR STEV EVE MUNRO M.P.S.E. COSTUME DESIGNERR TRYRYSHSHAABAKKER ORIGINAL SCOREEBYBY MICHAAELELTTIMMIMNSNSS EDIE TOTOR STET PHEN O’CONNENLL PRODUCTIION DESID IGNEGNEER JOOHNHNHHANA D DIRECTORORR OFOF PPHOPHHHOOTOGOGRAPRARAPAPPHY GUGUYY GOGODFDFDFRREE REE CC..S.C. EXECUT EXE CUTIIVE PRRODU CUT ODUCER CERS HEA EATHER HALDANE HUSSAIN AMARSHI MA M RK ROBERRTS SHELDON RARBINOWI NOWITZTZ RORSS JACOBSON EDD RICHE CHE TYTLELERRRMIMTCTCCHEHEELLLLL ALAN ALAN MOLONEY JOHANNA HOGGANN PRPROPR DUCCEDEDBYBY BOBB COOPE OOPER PEERRMA MARYRRYY YOUUNGG LECCKIE MA MA MARYRYRYSSEXEXTOTON TOONNSUSUSASAANNMUMULLLLENEN WRITTEN BY SHERRY RY WWHIHTE DIRECTTEDEDBYY AIAISLSLISLING WA W LSH © 2016 Small Shack Productions Inc. / Painted House Filmsms Inc. Inc / PParalrarallel Films (Maudie) Ltd.
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APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 33
MOVIES
“ONE OF THE YEAR’S
“CITIES HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF PROVIDING SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY, ONLY BECAUSE, AND ONLY WHEN, THEY ARE CREATED BY EVERYBODY.” — JANE JACOBS
BEST MOVIES.”
++++ — NOW
Citizen Jane Battle for the City
“THE KIND OF GRAND ADVENTURE EPIC FEW PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO MAKE ANYMORE.” “POWERFUL. A VISIONARY FILM.”
91%
A FILM BY
MATT TYRNAUER
¿OPVweOLNH See the trailer at filmswelike.com
Post screening discussion April 25th with former Vancouver city planner Brent Toderian, urbanist Yuri Artibise and architect Elizabeth Mackenzie. Moderator: Frances Bula (CBC; Globe & Mail).
STARTS FRIDAY!
VANCITY THEATRE 1181 SEYMOUR ST • VANCOUVER
ADVANCE TICKETS AT VIFF.ORG
Director Nacho Vigalondo explores a monster of a problem in Colossal.
Director gave Colossal over to dark side
* 35mm PRINTS
> BY ADRIAN MACK
APRIL 20 - MAY 1
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*As of April 13
IN SELECT THEATRES FRIDAY
Check theatre directory for locations and showtimes!
NEW CINEMA
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
“Evocative ... A brave undertaking that tells a story almost never examined on film.”- Amanda Siebert, Georgia Striaght
SUNDAY APRIL 23 - 1pm
BEFORE THE STREETS APRIL 21-30
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 Ex Internet I quit Facebook over a year ago, it’s crazy how it permeates society. So many conversations friends have are about things that people wrote on Facebook, and you are expected to know these things.
Slacker For about a month, I’ve been noticing that my neighbouring co-worker isn’t actually doing any work. He puts a screenshot on his computer and then buries his head in his smartphone all day long and uses the inter-office chat to type with an old classmate. It’s really testing the limits of my passiveaggression, but you gotta pick your battles. In reality though, he must be bored to death.
Been Single So Long I’m starting to wonder what the actual purpose of kissing is and why everyone is so obsessed with it all the time.
To the knob ...in the grocery store who kept walking and said “ I don’t work here” when I asked for a second of your time. You don’t have to work there to help someone. When you’re in a wheelchair you can’t reach items on the top shelf. I have to confess that for a brief moment I wished our place could be reversed so you would know why people feel the way they do about your generation but that made me feel even shittier. I hope you think back on it and feel as bad about it as I did. A confession and a rant.
Lunch I ate an entire chocolate bunny for lunch. It was delicious.
Visit 34 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
to post a Confession
I
n Colossal, opening Friday (April 21), Jason Sudeikis gets to play the world’s biggest asshole. No, really—whenever his character gets drunk, an enormous robot appears and starts destroying buildings and killing hordes of people half a world away in Seoul, Korea. It’s a condition he shares with Anne Hathaway’s selfloathing boozehound, Gloria, who manifests as a huge reptilian kaiju. Colossal, then, is not the most conventional take you’re likely to encounter on the dangers of overimbibing. Nor does it provide us with anything like the kind of performance we’re used to seeing from the generally likable former SNL player. Indeed, Sudeikis’s Oscar is a very, very dark man. “He’s really scary, but don’t you feel like all comedians, male or female, have this evil side?” writerdirector Nacho Vigalondo asks in a call to the Georgia Straight from Los Angeles. “It doesn’t take a lot of effort to find the evil in Bill Murray, for example. Wouldn’t it be great if a film had Tom Hanks as a villain? That would be amazing.” Notwithstanding that both of those actors have been cast as villains— Murray in the fine Mad Dog and Glory and Hanks in the not-so-amazing The Ladykillers (and let’s not forget Albert Brooks in Drive)—we take the point, and we share the Spanish filmmaker’s enthusiasm when he states that “giving a villain to an actor who has played a bunch of villains makes you feel safe. But giving a villain to a charming comedian is much more exciting.” Casting included, the whole of Vigalondo’s project is impressively risky, given his status as the critics’ darling behind super low-budget indie faves Timecrimes (2007) and Extraterrestrial (2011), not to mention his Oscar-nominated short “7:35 in the Morning” or a wild segment in the anthology The ABCs of Death, “A Is for Apocalypse”, that the rest of the film, with just a few exceptions, couldn’t hope to match). Colossal sees the 40-year-old director take a kaiju-size leap into the world of Hollywood A-listers thanks to Hathaway’s unexpected affection for the script, which was partly informed, the director quietly revealed in a Reddit AMA, by the pulp visionary Philip K. Dick. (“It’s not about the sci-fi devices he uses in his tales,” Vigalondo tells the Straight. “It’s about pulling together the cosmic and the mundane. How you have a chance to disrupt the whole universe but at the same time you’re hungry.”) But big-shot actors aside, the vinegary sensibility infusing the movie is hardly mainstream-friendly. Neither is its staunch refusal to let any of its characters off the hook. “There’s always a reason behind guys behaving that way,” Vigalondo allows, referring to a key scene in which Oscar speaks candidly about the shame that drives his behaviour. “But do we have a chance to redeem the guy after punching Anne Hathaway in the face? And he isn’t just punching Anne Hathaway in the face; he’s committing genocide—which is a different kind of crime! I don’t know if you can be redeemed of any of that.” Yeah, probably not. -
MUSIC
Songwriting, says Cécile Doo-Kingué, is a BY AL EX ANDER VAR T Y
cathartic act—or perhaps even something stronger. “There’s definitely an aspect of songwriting as exorcism for me,” the New York City–born, Montreal-based singer-guitarist tells the Straight, during a Lower Mainland lunch break before she heads to some friends’ Langley wedding. “Through song, I find that I express my anger, my sorrow, and my concerns in a healthier way than if they just stay in my head.” And having that safety valve, she continues, was never more valuable than in the early days of the Black Lives Matter movement, when a string of brutal, racially charged murders—many of them perpetrated by police officers—tore a gaping rent in the social fabric of the United States. DooKingué, the child of Cameroonian immigrants, naturally identified with the victims, and just as naturally turned to song as a way of both finding release and expressing her mournful indignation. That’s nowhere more obvious than on “Six Letters”, from her 2015 release, Anybody Listening, Pt. 1: Monologues. The letters in question spell out what’s either a playful endearment or a vicious racial slur, depending on who’s using them and how, but for Doo-Kingué it’s clear that using the language of slavery only perpetrates the conditions under which black lives don’t matter.
A different shade of blue
She happily agreed to perform at A Mighty String Thing, but Cécile Doo-Kingué refused to even consider playing A Mighty Strong Thong. Terry Hughes photo.
“Unfortunately, a lot of times the type of blues that gets pushed is a stereotype of itself, right? And so sometimes For Cécile Doo-Kingué, playing the blues is about I get a kick out of playmore than following the standard 12-bar form ing a blues gig and never “Slavery’s abolished but people are still en- once playing a 12-bar. Blues is also a very rich slaved,” she sings, to an acoustic-guitar riff that genre, so the idea is to see how to represent it invokes both the gods of the Delta blues and the nowadays without being limited to that.” angry urgency of the present moment. And while Doo-Kingué’s versatility will certainly be Doo-Kingué isn’t always a political songwriter, tested in her two upcoming Rogue Folk Club she’s relieved—if not exactly happy—that she has shows. A Mighty String Thing finds her in the a vehicle for social and political expression. company of Tex-Mex specialists Josh and Max “With ‘Six Letters’, for example, all the Baca, Vancouver Island roots duo Doug Cox shootings that were happening, the amount of and Sam Hurrie, and Brazilian-born singer, negative energy they triggered in me was over- guitarist, and percussionist Celso Machado. whelming,” she explains. “So I was like, ‘Well, Hornby Blues offers a less diverse package, but how do you put that into song in a way that can singer-guitarists Rick Fines, Paul Pigat, Susie open a dialogue, or that can express the sorrow, Vinnick, and Doo-Kingué will presumably the anger, all of that, but without going there?’ have had some time to work on their act while So it’s like, ‘Tell the stories, and what those stor- teaching at the annual Gulf Island blues retreat ies represent.’ that gives the show its name. “Take the kids who go around calling each Both combinations, Doo-Kingué promises, other ‘nigger’ without realizing the weight of that should play out like particularly friendly and word,” she continues. “Well, the weight of the focused folk-festival workshops. “I know that word, if you want a real-life example, is the kid with the Mighty String Thing, if it’s anything that got shot down and whose dead body was left like it was last year, the idea is for us to see what to rot in the sun for three hours for everyone to kind of fun we can come up with together‚” she see. That’s a modern-day lynching by the cops— explains. “It’s not so much ‘Hey, let’s each do and, you know, that’s the present-day reality of our thing and be an island,’ as it is ‘How can that word. So I’m trying to contextualize conse- we merge our universes into making magic and quences and emotions.” sharing it with folks?’ So that’s what I’m hoping For all that “Six Letters” is emblematic of those two nights are going to be.” Doo-Kingué’s moral compass, Monologues isn’t There will be rollicking dance tunes, deep entirely representative of her musical output. blues meditations, a diversity of cultural apOn the follow-up, last year’s Anybody Listening, proaches, and perhaps even a little friendly riPt. 2: Dialogues, she steps away from acoustic valry, given the playful virtuosos involved. And music toward an energetic full-band sound, as long as Doo-Kingué’s on-stage, meaningful proving herself an adept and extroverted elec- music won’t be overlooked. tric guitarist. And on both discs, as in her live “It’s important to put a good, strong message out shows, she’s more than willing to open her es- there,” she says. “All the big movements towards sentially blues-based sound to inf luences both social justice, towards equality, have been aided by old and new. art and artists, because we have people’s ears and “I think I get bored!’ she says, laughing, eyes and souls in a way that politicians don’t have. when asked about working hard-rock, vintage- And when you see how low the bar of human desoul, and hip-hop elements into her sound. cency has been dropped, now, more than ever, they
CHECK THIS OUT
DO IT FOR THE KIDS Raffi tweeted that he objects to
the New Pornographers’ name, because won’t someone please think of the children? He must be concerned that the band will be a bad influence on its fan base of 35-year-old record-store clerks.
NO NORMALOIDS PLEASE Babymetal has stipu-
PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP If you love Latin jazz and Cuban rumba you won’t want to miss the Pedrito Martinez Group at St. James Hall this Sunday (April 23). Havana-born singer and percussionist Martinez, based in the United States since 1998, plays congas, cajón, timbales, and the bata drums (used only in rituals and ceremonies of Santería, the Afro-Cuban religion in which he’s a priest). Martinez has contributed to more than 50 albums and worked with the likes of Paul Simon, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, and Paquito D’Rivera. When he comes to Vancouver he’ll be leading his crack quartet of musicians from New York’s vibrant Latin scene, performing songs from their second album, Habana Dreams. -
A Mighty String Thing plays St. James Hall on Saturday (April 22). Hornby Blues takes place at the same venue on May 4.
in + out
Cécile Doo-Kingué sounds off on the things enquiring minds want to know.
On her initial blues epiphany: “That’s an easy one: one of my brothers gave me my first guitar, and when he saw that my rhythm was solid, he gave me two tapes. He gave me a T-Bone Walker tape and a Freddie King tape, and that was it for me!” On her plans for the third installment of the Anybody Listening trilogy: “The trilogy, part of it was sparked by the fact that I’ve been touring a trio for the past few years, and some of my fans mentioned to me how they missed hearing me solo acoustic. It kind of made me think, ‘Hmmm. Well, what is it that’s different between me solo versus me with a rhythm section?’ That’s why you’ve got the first chapter that’s solo acoustic, and the second chapter that’s me accompanied by good friends. And then the third chapter will add the element of a crowd. How does an audience affect the tunes, and the performance?” On taking a break from songwriting: “I’m taking a step back to try to better understand what’s going on, so that I can come out with a deeper opinion, or at least a deeper impression, to share. Whatever lyrics I want to put out there, I don’t want them to just be a reaction to something. I want them to actually help towards whatever change it is I want to see—but I first need to understand exactly what it is I’m witnessing or feeling before I can do that.”
MUSIC Let’s talk about
You gotta see
need us to be part of the mobilization to bring some dignity back to our species.” -
lated that certain shows in its native Japan be restricted to “males only”, “elementary school children and adults over 60”, and “dress code: corpse paint”. In other news: Japanese pop culture is very, very weird.
LOVE HER In a face-to-face interview, Lana Del Rey praised Courtney Love for a Hole back catalogue that she described as the “epitome of cool”. Which, although it’s not mathematically possible, just increased our already maxedout love for Del Rey another 200 percent. SADDER THAN SAD Tye Trujillo, the 12-year-old son of
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, has joined Korn as the band’s temporary bassist. That raises the question of what’s sadder: hiring a preteen as your bassist, or having to say you’ve joined Korn.
Fresh and local RE/GEN GEN II The best thing about the relentlessly goddamn great GEN II is the way RE/GEN sounds like it has zero use for pop music as it exists in 2017. Or, for that matter, any year that came after America turned on, tuned in, and dropped the fuck out in the acid-fried era of classic ’60s psychedelia. The four-song EP gets off to a paisley-perfect start with the easygoing “Melt”, where vocals and guitars are lightly bathed in reverb and the keys come straight from the rabbit hole. Consider the propulsive “Human” a perfect lead-off for that Levitation Fest road-trip tape, while “Feelin” is all celestial gorgeousness until the lethal shot of distortion at the 2:10 mark. If you need something to tide you over until the Black Angels hit town, consider this the pure stuff. APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 35
Arts time out
from page 30
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (6450 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby). Tix $30-38, info tickets.shadboltcentre.com/.
2ONGOING ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Tony Kushner’s tale of companionship and abandonment that takes place in New York City at the beginning of the AIDS crisis. To Apr 23, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville). Tix from $29, info www.artsclub.com/.
straight choices
THE BARD IN SONG The Vancouver Cantata Singers pull out all the stops for their last concert of the season. In Full Fathom Five: Shakespeare in Song, they raise a kind of vocal toast to the Bard on his birthday. The afternoon choral concert explores Shakespeare’s influence around the globe, with a remarkable program that spans music from Canada, Finland, Hungary, and beyond. Best of all, the concert takes place in the intimate Orpheum Annex. Settle in for the serene sounds on Sunday (April 23) at 3 p.m. MOM’S THE WORD 3: NEST 1/2 EMPTY Mom’s the Word Collective presents the story of a group of moms whose kids have grown, whose marriages have evolved, and whose bodies are backfiring. To May 6, Granville Island Stage (1585 Johnston, Granville Island). Tix from $29, info www.artsclub.com/. PARADE Fighting Chance Productions presents the story of a man who is put on trial for the murder of an employee. To Apr 29, Norman Rothstein Theatre (950 W. 41st). Tix $25-40, info www.fightingchance productions.ca/.
Telford. Part of the Dance Centre’s Global Dance Connections series. Apr 20-22, 8 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie). Tix $32/$24, info www.thedancecentre.ca/.
THE TUNNEL Heather Laura Gray’s multimedia project sees dancers move through a staged consciousness, immersed in the evolving light show as they struggle through turbulent thoughts, battling themselves and each other. Apr 26-30, Studio 16 (1545 W. 7th). Tix $25, info www.heatherlauragray.com/projects.html.
FULL FATHOM FIVE: SHAKESPEARE IN SONG The Vancouver Cantata Singers present a program that explores Shakespeare’s international influence in music from around the world. Apr 23, 3 pm, Orpheum Annex (823 Seymour). Tix $10-30, info www.vancouvercantata singers.com/concerts/.
COMEDY
MUSIC
2ONGOING
2THIS WEEK SOPRANO KARINA GAUVIN WITH LES BOREADES: WORKS OF HENRY PURCELL Early Music Vancouver presents the Canadian soprano and the Canadian early-music ensemble in a program highlighting the music of English composer Henry Purcell. Apr 21, 7:30 pm, Christ Church Cathedral (690 Burrard). Tix $18-67, info www.earlymusic.bc.ca/.
THE COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa, 604-684-5050, www. thecomedymix.com/. Comedy club with pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Wed at 8:30 pm, and featured headliners Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. Cover $8 Tue, $10 Wed, $15 Thu, $18 Fri, $20 Sat. 2CHARLIE DEMERS Apr 20-22 2DINO ARCHIE Apr 27-29 2BRYAN CALLEN May 4-6.
CHANTICLEER Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble headlines Chor Leoni’s Van/Man Male Choral Summit. Apr 21, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix $45-70, info www.chorleoni.org/concerts-events/ events/chanticleer-in-concert/#buy-tickets/.
straight choices
VSO SPRING FESTIVAL Maestro Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra present a celebration of British composers and their most popular works. Concerts include Songs and Serenades (Apr 22, 8 pm), The Planets: An HD Odyssey (Apr 24, 8 pm), Henry V (Apr 29, 8 pm), Enigma (Apr 30, 7 pm), and Last Night of the Proms (May 1, 8 pm). Apr 22–May 1, Orpheum Theatre (601 Smithe). Info www.vancouversymphony.ca/. MYVOICE AT THE CHAN The young men of Chor Leoni’s MYVoice perform at a concert that also features the PROMYS Honour Choir and a finale featuring over 400 male voices. Apr 22, 4 pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall (6265 Crescent Rd., Chan Centre at UBC). Free admission, info www.chorleoni.org/concerts-events/ events/myvoice-at-the-chan/.
2THIS WEEK
VAN/MAN MALE CHORAL SUMMIT Music by Chanticleer, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, Chor Leoni’s MYVoice choirs, Vancouver Men’s Chorus, Karlakórinn Heimir, and Van/Man Festival Singers. Apr 22, 7:30 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix $35/30/25, info www.chorleoni.org/.
INVERSO Dance, poetry, and music come together in a triple bill of varied works by Vancouver choreographer Lesley
MURRAY PERAHIA The Vancouver Recital Society presents the classical pianist in a program of works by Bach, Mozart,
DANCE
and Beethoven. Apr 23, 3 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Info www.vanrecital.com/.
DANCE MULTITASKER Heather Laura Gray is a Vancouver-based choreographer with a background in theatre and film, and you’ll see all her skills come together in the premiere of the multimedia The Tunnel. You’ll get your first chance to see it on Sunday (April 23) at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre as part of New Works’ Dance Allsorts series. Word has it the artist is transforming the venue’s black-box theatre into a vast void filled with original, dreamlike projections. Dancers struggle in shifting light, trying to find their way out of the dark. Expect dramatic and haunting visual effects and raw yet honed dance: Gray has studied everything from ballet to hip-hop. Enter The Tunnel at 2 p.m.; she offers a free workshop for 30 audience members at 3:15, after the show. It then runs at Théâtre la Seizième’s Studio 16 from next Wednesday to Saturday (April 26 to 29).
YUK YUK’S COMEDY CLUB 2837 Cambie, 604-696-9857, www.yukyuks. com/vancouver/. Comedy club with Top Talent Tue at 8 pm, amateur night Wed at 8 pm, and professional headliners Thu-Fri at 8 pm and Sat at 7 and 9:30 pm. Cover Tue $10, Wed $7, Thu $10, and Fri-Sat $20. 2DAMONDE TSCHRITTER Apr 20-22 2EDDIE DELLA SIEPE Apr 27-29.
straight choices
VANCOUVER THEATRESPORTS LEAGUE Some of the world’s most daring and innovative improv. #NoFilter (Thu, 9:15 pm); Firecracker! (Wed, 9:15 pm); Ok Tinder (Fri and Sat, 11:15 pm); Rookie Night (Sun, 7:30 pm); TheatreSports (Wed, 7:30 pm; Fri and Sat, 9:30 pm); Western World (Thu, Fri, and Sat, 7:30 pm). Apr 19-26, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Info www.vtsl.com/.
ET CETERA 2THIS WEEK CAPTURE PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL Annual not-for-profit festival aims to spark public dialogue about photography as an art form and a vessel for communication. To Apr 28, various Vancouver venues. Info www.capturephotofest.com/. VERTICAL INFLUENCES Performed by Le Patin Libre, the production ranges beyond the limits of traditional figure skating. To Apr 30, Britannia Ice Rink (1661 Parker). Tix from $20, info www.thecultch.com/.
GALLERIES BILL REID GALLERY OF NORTHWEST COAST ART 639 Hornby, 604-682-3455, www.billreidgallery.ca/. 2XI XANYA DZAM (art by Primrose Adams, Dempsey Bob, Rena Point Bolton, Mandy Brown, Joe David, Robert Davidson, Alvin Mack, Mary Michell, Earl Muldon, Susan Point, and Norman Tait) to Sep 4 VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 750 Hornby, 604-662-4719, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/. 2WE COME TO WITNESS: SONNY ASSU IN DIALOGUE WITH EMILY CARR (Sonny Assu creates a new series of digital tags on a body of Emily Carr paintings) to Apr 23 2SUSAN POINT: SPINDLE WHORL (exhibition surveys Point’s entire careert) to May 28 2HOWIE TSUI: RETAINERS OF ANARCHY (solo exhibition featuring new work from Howie Tsui) to May 28 2PACIFIC CROSSINGS: HONG KONG ARTISTS IN VANCOUVER (exhibition presents works from well-known Hong Kong artists) to May 28
MUSEUMS THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604-8225087, www.moa.ubc.ca/. 2AMAZONIA:
GUITARS AND GUFFAWS Fringe-goers are already familiar with the one-of-a-kind guitar-playing and acting chops of Chase Padgett, whose 6 Guitars won the 2013 Pick of the Fringe and the Georgia Straight Critics’ Choice Award. Now he’s back with Funny Music Weirdo, part of the yearlong Fringe Presents series, and it highlights one of his other skills: live comedy. In fact, he performs regularly at the Curious Comedy Theatre in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. If you love the guitar or you just want a laugh, head to Granville Island’s Studio 1398 from Thursday to Saturday (April 20 to 22) for an evening of music and characters. Added bonus: Chase will be part of the Fringe Cabaret: After Dark—a late-night, 10 p.m. show on the last evening, with fellow Fringe alumni Jeff Leard, Ingrid Hansen, David C. Jones, Mark Hughes, and more. THE RIGHTS OF NATURE (exhibition features Amazonian basketry, textiles, carvings, feather works, and ceramics) to Jan 28 2TRACES OF WORDS: ART AND CALLIGRAPHY FROM ASIA (multimedia exhibition examines the physical traces of words) May 11–Oct 9
TIME OUT ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge. We can’t guarantee inclusion, and we give priority to events taking place within one week of publication. Submit listings online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.
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I M U R’s Mikey J. Blige and Jenny Lea are working on a new album made up entirely of samples of Lea blowing raspberries. Kyle James-Patrick photo.
I M U R recognizes the power of silence L OCA L RE C O RD S I M U R Little Death (Independent)
A major factor in the slow de-
2 cline of guitar-driven music—if
KARSTEN SOLLORS Hold Lock EP (Farris Wheel)
A master of producing tech
2 house tracks with rolling one-
bar loops, Karsten Sollors has a special expertise in making his music sonically gripping. Dropping sounds and melodies in and out, and understanding exactly when to muzzle or unleash accented rhythms, the producer and DJ has built his brand around subtle variations. Sollors’s music, then, is about patience—a technique that the Vancouver-born Chicago resident has perfected on his latest EP, Hold Lock. Freshly appointed to a new monthly residency on England’s This Is Electric radio show, and slated next week to play on London-based label Anjunadeep’s stage at the Spring Awakening Festival, it’s unsurprising
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QUEENSYZE A Girl Wants EP (Leap4rog)
The ability to sound simulraw and polished is a rare skill. Vancouver producer Queensyze makes it look easy. A staple of the local underground scene, Queensyze—or Jennifer Roworth, to her friends—wears many hats, including composing original music for film, remixing for video games, and filling floors as a DJ by playing her own electronic tracks. All three elements help compose her latest EP, A Girl Wants. Opening the record with a driving four-on-the-floor kick drum, light hi-hats, and a siren-esque synth, the title track builds rapidly and kicks up a gear as the five-note descending bass riff explodes into the song. A composition that wouldn’t seem out of place in a peak-time set at an international festival, “A Girl Wants” is propelled by dark bass frequencies and artfully echoed vocal samples, banging out a relentless dance-floorpacking rhythm. “Forget About Him” cools the mood while maintaining the same tempo, combining soft minor pads with a simple house beat. With the lead synth sound recalling much of the music popular on live Twitch streams, the track highlights Queensyze’s aptitude for writing for video games, while still maintaining a strong after-hours club vibe. The final song, “A Good Time”, is both punchy and ambient, marrying expansive washes of sound with aggressive snare hits, and a rich, acid-tinged melody. The most underground-sounding of the trio, “A Good Time” is a rolling and powerful composition that steers listeners with strikingly placed spoken vocals, entering the same terrain as her careerhighlight hit “Gotta Get Up”, which broke the Top 10 on Traxsource. On the strength of this EP, she might well do it again.
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you want our professional opinion—is the rise of cheap digital audio workstations, or DAWs. Coming pre-loaded with drum patterns, malleable synths, and simple interfaces, DAWs make it more than possible to create electronic tracks in your basement that are—after you watch a few YouTube tutorials—studio quality. That’s not to say, however, that every bedroom producer is the next Audiojack. True, the barrier to entry has lowered, but as SoundCloud becomes saturated with competent compositions, the rift between the average and the inspired widens. Vancouver group I M U R falls squarely in the latter category. Despite releasing its debut record, Little Death, just weeks ago, the trio— pronounced “I am, you are”—has already racked up more than 200,000 cumulative SoundCloud plays on its nine experimental R&B tracks, due in large part to the standout single, “F F L”. Layering singer Jenny Lea’s soulful voice over tropical-tinged chords and sparse electronic drum rhythms, the song is at once highly danceable and effortlessly smooth—a characteristic that defines the record as a whole. Recognizing the power of space and silence, Mikey J Blige’s production never overloads the album with samples or instruments, relying instead on simple guitar riffs and light piano touches to complement Lea’s vocal acrobatics. A master of genre-bending, I M U R creates tracks like “Breathless” and “Bumps” that swing between commanding traplike drum samples and soft, melancholic bridges, creating a rich diversity that is emphasized in a live setting by third member Amine Bouzaher’s electric violin and bass. A master class in slick production, Little Death’s rich contemporary sounds should prove a model for Vancouver’s burgeoning producers.
that Sollors has infused the bass line of the record’s title track with a U.K. flavour. Building from a short lowfrequency riff and uncomplicated drum line, “Hold Lock” weaves classic 808 sounds around short, echoed vocal samples that lengthen into a full spoken-word discussion. Running at 125 BPM, the song’s pithy, acid-imbued feel is punctuated by Sollors’s expert use of high-pass filters and forceful kick drum. Despite firing at a similar pace, Bside “The Hood” showcases a different vibe. Again drawing on spokenword snippets, the song incorporates everything from subtle police sirens to almost inaudible synth pads, while still showing off musical elements that will be familiar to Chicago house aficionados. An aggressively danceable EP, Hold Lock is a versatile and upbeat release that pushes Sollors’s catalogue in positive directions.
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APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 37
MUSIC
Vinyl’s still king at Vancouver record stores > B Y M IKE USING E R
W
hile it might be hyperbolic to suggest that vinyl has singlehandedly rescued the world’s brick-and-mortar record stores, the resurgence of a format once considered dead has certainly helped. It also hasn’t hurt that physical locations will always offer a personalized experience that cyberspace can’t. Those realities are just two reasons Vancouver retailers are bullish about a business model that, at the beginning of this century, looked like it might be headed the way of the 8-track tape. On Saturday (April 22) music fans in Canada, Japan, Italy, America, Ireland, France, Australia, and beyond will celebrate the 10th edition of Record Store Day, which has grown from a small Baltimore initiative to a global event. Vancouver will be in on the festivities as independent record stores continue to carve out a place in a city famous for unaffordable real estate and sky-high property taxes. Neptoon Records manager Ben Frith says that the key to running a successful store in the era of digital downloads and the rise of Amazon is keeping on top of what people are looking for. Originally located on Fraser Street and now at Main and East 20th Avenue, Neptoon has been around since 1981. Over the years, it’s seen numerous changes in buying habits, with CDs wiping out vinyl in the mid-’80s, Napster torpedoing CD sales in the early ’00s, and vinyl making a roaring comeback over the past half-decade. “We’ve always tried to diversify,” Frith says in a phone interview. “When vinyl died we did more CDs. When CDs died down we were selling lots of memorabilia—concert posters and stuff like that. Funnily enough,
Ask nicely and Neptoon Records’ Ben Frith will show you his “butcher cover” copy of the Beatles’ Yesterday and Today.
now that that stuff has slowed down, we’re back to vinyl. We still sell a good amount of CDs, partly because I think there’s a lack of options. Even when HMV was around there weren’t a lot of catalogue titles. It was mostly greatest hits.” As Frith notes, once-powerful chain HMV did indeed recently close up shop in Canada, shuttering 102 music retail stores. But while that’s a sign people aren’t buying CDs like they once did, it doesn’t mean the market has completely dried up. Vancouver’s Sikora’s Classical Records at 432 West Hastings has successfully carved out a niche that’s endured since the store was founded by Dick and Dorothy Sikora and Rod Horsley in 1979. Owned by Ed Savenye and Roger Scobie since 2001, Sikora’s continues to be a go-to for those looking for the best in classical and jazz recordings. “The majority of what we do is still CDs,
but we’re specialists,” says Savenye by phone. “A lot of little independent labels—and the majors—are still producing a lot of CD material, as well as vinyl. I’d have to crunch numbers, but I’d have to say that CDs are still over 75 percent of our revenues.” What both casual customers and loyalists get when they visit Sikora’s is insight from staff members who not only care deeply about music, but are happy to share their knowledge. “Our strength or service is that we can be a starting point for anyone who comes in,” Savenye notes. “I have people come in and say, ‘I try to go to Amazon to find opera, but all I get is Charlotte Church and Andrea Bocelli.’ There’s nothing wrong with them, but they don’t represent opera other than singing an aria here or there and doing it tolerably well. But if you want to know about opera, come to the professionals, and we’ll steer you in the right direc-
Bronze Age Records presents
Madou Diarra
own. We sell a lot of stuff where we’ll be playing something and someone will go, ‘Man, who is this? I haven’t heard it before—do you have it?’ ” Red Cat Records co-owner Dave Gowans says that the sheer number of folks who make brick-andmortar stores part of their lives has continued to grow since he and business partner Lasse Lutick opened their 4332 Main Street location in 2002. Record Store Day has become a legitimate phenomenon in recent years, the big attraction being in-store performances as well as specialty releases by everyone from Jack White and Radiohead to David Bowie and Metallica. (Red Cat and Neptoon will both feature live bands on Record Store Day. Both will also feature in-store specials, as will Sikora’s and other independent record stores around town.) Gowans says vinyl is the big seller at Red Cat, which survived some early lean years when music fans suddenly began doing their purchasing—and illegal downloading—online. “I’m just watching people in the store right now,” says Gowans, who with Lutick last year opened up a second Red Cat at 2447 East Hastings. “People just like touching stuff. Vinyl is a really tangible item. Most of the time people are walking around holding their phones. When they come into Red Cat, you see the expression of older people, and younger people, change. They’ll be like, ‘Look at this one! Is it an old original one, or a reissue?’ “I think the culture of it is what keeps things going,” he continues. “You go and grab a coffee and go to the record store and dig around. We get people pushing strollers who come in and look for records. It’s nice to see that it’s still a thing.” -
tion. If you know exactly what you’re looking for, then sure, you can find, point, and then click online. But for people who want to learn, who want to experiment and go, ‘Look, I’ve heard Beethoven’s Fifth, what do I do next?’ that’s really hard to do online.” Neptoon’s Frith echoes that sentiment, arguing that a large part of any record-store experience is interaction, whether it’s physically working through a bin of vinyl records or simply talking to the folks behind the counter. “If you look at something like Apple Music, a lot of the algorithms that they come up with are pretty stock,” he says. “Look at one of their playlists, and you’ll be like, ‘These are all the most obvious things that you could pick.’ What the online experience is lacking is someone to go ‘You might like this.’ When you go into a store, you might hear something that Record Store Day is this Saturday you might never come across on your (April 22).
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Vocalist and n'goni player from Mali performing his new album
NEW ORLEANS INSPIRED CUISINE
Djandjon Hunter songs from the precolonial Mandinka Empire
FAT TUESDAY!
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Pasta is $ 95 from 5 till 9 Friday, April 28 at 9:00 (doors open at 8:00)
Come down for 1/2 price pasta and free live jazz!
The Western Front - 303 East 8th Avenue
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Free concert; LP's and CD's available at the show
1516 YEW STREET, VANCOUVER, BC | 604 428 2691
38 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017
MUSIC
Zappa is still playing Zappa Despite aggressive legal acDweezil Zappa—virtuoso guitarist and son of the eccentric Frank Zappa—will not stop performing. “A few years after my dad passed away in ’93, I would ask people what they thought about him,” Dweezil tells the Straight on the line from Scottsdale, Arizona. “A lot of individuals under 40 didn’t even know who Frank Zappa was. To me, that was pretty surprising, because my dad has made some major contributions to the world of music. I noticed that there wasn’t anything happening in terms of trying to develop a new audience to appreciate Frank’s work, so I started the Zappa Plays Zappa tour in 2006 to expose people to a wide selection of his music. We’ve been performing his songs every year since.” Dweezil’s attempt to revitalize interest in Frank Zappa’s catalogue, however, suffered a serious setback in 2015. After Gail Zappa—head of the Zappa Family Trust, and Frank’s wife—died of lung cancer, control of the trust, which includes the rights to Frank Zappa’s music, passed to two of Dweezil’s siblings: Ahmet and Diva. According to the guitarist, the pair deemed the name Zappa Plays Zappa an infringement of copyright, and suggested that each song Dweezil performed could incur penalties of up to $150,000. “It’s very baffling to me,” he says. “I don’t understand what their thought process is. I would have thought that a prudent person who was tasked with looking after the future of the Zappa legacy would say, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be great if we got a very proficient team of people who know how to handle a very particular catalogue, and understand the nuances and integrity of the music, and then propel the songs into the future with a sense of professionalism?’ Instead, they’re trying to stop it.” Last year, Dweezil was slapped
very different from Frank’s later work. It’s more about the energy of it as opposed to the drilled precision of the actual notes and rhythms. Some of it is comical, some of it is sarcastic, but it’s a real collage of temperaments. “When you put that record into perspective and compare it to other things that were out at the time, it’s so subversive and dangerous,” he continues. “Even half a century on, it still retains that quality because there’s nothing like it. The songs have elements that feel like they’re ripped from today’s headlines—you take a track like ‘Trouble Every Day’, and the lyrics feel exactly like what is happening like, now. It’s like he was a rock ’n’ roll Nostradamus.” Although deeply upset at the Zappa Family Trust’s legal action, Dweezil will continue to prioritize his father’s work above the potential financial penalties. He’s also offering a big “fuck you” to his siblings. “My goal is to point out that what people think they know about Frank often wasn’t very accurate,” the guitarist says. “So, for example, if they had only heard songs like ‘Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow’ or ‘Montana’—the songs with a monologue and a bit of a sense of humour—they would regard him as a novelty act, especially because that’s the stuff that got the widest exposure. I don’t think that does justice to the over 70 albums that he made in his lifetime, because the majority of it is not like that. Frank ultimately was a classical composer that used a rock band as his orchestra. He eventually ended up working with classical orchestras as well, but rock bands were his main medium. He was a real musician.”
2 tion,
Dweezil Zappa’s tribute to his dad does not include a soul patch.
with a cease-and-desist order from his siblings for using the name Zappa Plays Zappa. But despite the legal threats, the guitarist will continue to take Frank’s music on the road— under the new moniker 50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F*CK He Wants—to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his father’s first album, Freak Out!. “I organized the songs for this tour in a way that feels almost > KATE WILSON chronological,” Dweezil says. “It’s roughly a two-and-a-half-hour show. The early Mothers of Inven- Dweezil Zappa plays the Commotion stuff has a certain feel to it that’s dore on Tuesday (April 25).
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2JUST ANNOUNCED JAMES DANDERFER’S EAST-WEST QUINTET FEATURING QUINCY DAVIS AND NEIL SWAINSON Bringing together an impressive group of bicoastal jazz musicians for a night of swing music from the American Songbook and beyond. With Oliver Gannon on guitar and Brad Turner on piano. Presented by Coastal Jazz. Apr 28-29, 8 pm, Frankie’s Jazz Club (765 Beatty). Tix $15, info www.coastaljazz.ca/. TRUCK STOP CONCERT SERIES Red Truck Brewing presents the annual summertime concert series, featuring performances by Cut Copy, Youngblood, and Band of Rascals (Jun 17), Drake White and the Big Fire, the Dungarees, the Chris Buck Band, Kristen Bunyan, and Sykamore (Jul 15), and Lee Fields and the Expressions, Vince Vaccaro, and Real Ponchos (Aug 12). Jun 17; Jul 15; Aug 12, Red Truck Brewery (295 E. 1st). Tix on sale Apr 21, 10 am, $75/35 at www.truckstop concertseries.com/.
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Equal Parenting Group - North Vancouver Support group for fathers going through the divorce process needing help. Call 604-692-5613 Email:nspg@mybox.com
Caroline Marie Bailey
age 50, passed away on Friday, 7 April 2017 at her home in Squamish, BC. Caroline was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland to Marion (Burke) and Raymond Bailey (predeceased 1979). Caroline was an adventurous, strong, independent woman who lived her life with vigour. She was a passionate climber, hiker and world traveller. In her career as a Massage Therapist she made many personal connections with her clients. With a gypsy soul and a kind heart she lived her life to the fullest. Caroline’s immediate and Squamish families will miss and hold her deep within their hearts. Remember her beautiful smile and feel her spirit in everything you do. If you wish to write comments please visit:
www.squamishfuneralchapel.com
GEORGIA STRAIGHT STRAIGHT APRIL APRIL20 20––27 27//2017 2017 40 THE GEORGIA
COMMODORE BALLROOM 868 Granville, 604-739-4550. 2THE ZOMBIES Apr 21 2THE HARPOONIST & THE AXE MURDERER Apr 22 2DWEEZIL ZAPPA Apr 25 2JIMMY EAT WORLD Apr 26 2DANIEL WESLEY Apr 29 2ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES May 3 2FLOGGING MOLLY May 7 2TESTAMENT May 10 2THE SMUGGLERS May 13 2JASON BONHAM’S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE May 16 2MICHAEL KIWANUKA May 23 2BONOBO May 25 2FIVE ALARM FUNK May 27 2BLACKBEAR May 29 2HOLLERADO Jun 10 2HELLYEAH Jun 5 FORTUNE SOUND CLUB 147 E. Pender, 604-569-1758. 2WINDHAND Apr 22 FRANKIE’S JAZZ CLUB 765 Beatty, 778727-0337. Live music Thu-Sun. 2P.J. PERRY QUARTET Apr 21 2JAMES DANDERFER’S EAST-WEST QUINTET FEATURING QUINCY DAVIS AND NEIL SWAINSON Apr 28 2HELEN SUNG QUARTET May 5 2COCO JAFRO May 13 2FROM NEW YORK CITY: TERRELL STAFFORD May 17
BILL CHARLAP TRIO • MAY 4 @ 8 PM
MARC COHN • MAY 8 @ 8 PM
Grammy-winning singer/songwriter celebrates the 25th anniversary of his platinum-selling debut album
VENUE: NORMAN ROTHSTEIN THEATRE
Tickets: 604.990.7810 • Online: capilanou.ca/centre Capilano University • 2055 Purcell Way • North Vancouver
Fertility Support Group Discover new perspectives make positive changes and learn simple tools to take charge of your reproductive wellness while connecting with other women. The meetings provide a space for open discussion. 2nd Tuesday of each month 7:45 - 8:45pm (Sign up required) Reg & Info call: 604-266-6470 or www.familypassages.ca
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Anxiety? Depression? Free Mental Wellness Support Group held on Saturdays (10:30 am – 12:30) Promotes a holistic approach to healing (body, mind & spirit). Networking and interactive learning experience in a safe, non-judgmental environment. For more information call 604-630-6865 or visit www.mentalwellnessbc.ca
Join DAN MEADES, provincial co-ordinator for the Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, for a presentation on the success of Newfoundland and Labrador’s poverty reduction strategy - a formal plan, introduced in 2006, when they shared one of the worst poverty rates with British Columbia. Their poverty rate has declined significantly since then. However, BC still has one of the highest poverty rates and is now the only province in Canada without a poverty reduction plan.
Alma VanDusen & Come and learn how to make poverty reduction possible Peter Kaye Room in British Columbia.
Vancouver Public Library
350 West Georgia
FREE TICKETS:
www.eventbrite.com
IVANHOE PUB 1038 Main, 604-608-1444. Pub with live bands on weekends and open jam night Sun from 4 to 8 pm. RAILWAY STAGE AND BEER CAFÉ 579 Dunsmuir, 604-564-1430. Vancouver’s original live-music venue reopens with a facelift and renewed approach to music and beer. 2THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON JAMS Apr 22 2JOKES Apr 25 RICKSHAW THEATRE 254 E. Hastings, 604-681-8915. 2MYKE BOGAN Apr 20 2THE GATEWAY SHOW Apr 22 2D.R.I. Apr 26 2DUNE RATS Apr 28 2COOLAID SHOW 3 Apr 29 2ASPHYX Apr 30 2CJ RAMONE May 4 2DELAIN AND HAMMERFALL May 5 2THE MAHONES May 6 2SABATON May 7 2SOUNDS OF SOLIDARITY May 12 2ART BERGMANN May 19 2EVERGREY May 21
COBALT 917 Main, 778-918-3671. 2ALL THEM WITCHES May 6 2HO99O9 May 24 2TWRP Jun 4 2THE DESLONDES Jun 18 2(SANDY) ALEX G Jun 21 2GUITAR WOLF Jun 22 2JOHN MORELAND Aug 9 2FRANKIE COSMOS Aug 24
VENUE: KAY MEEK CENTRE
321 W.Hastings St • 604.488.1234 • vinylrecords.ca
Healthy & loving relationships alluding you? CODA: Co-dependency Anonymous 12 step Recovery: 604- 515-5585
BLUE MARTINI JAZZ CAFE 1516 Yew, 604-428-2691. Live jazz, soul, and blues. 2RON JOHNSTON TRIO Apr 19 2RAY AYOTTE IMPROMPTU Apr 20 2A TRAIN LIVE Apr 21 2KRISTIAN ALEXANDROV MUZIKA Apr 22 2JAM HOSTED BY GABRIEL AND BRUNO Apr 23 2LINDSAY MARTEL Apr 25 2STEPHANIE PERDRAZA Apr 26 2BLUEVOODOO DUO Apr 27 2MADELEINE ELKINS TRIO Apr 28 2STEPHANIE PEDRAZA TRIO Apr 29 2JAM HOSTED BY GABRIEL AND BRUNO Apr 30
Grammy-winning pianist’s tight-knit jazz trio (featuring Peter Washington on bass & Kenny Washington on drums)
VINYL RECORDS
411 Seniors Centre Society
FUNKY WINKER BEANS 37 W. Hastings. Evil Bastard Karaoke Experience Sun-Thurs.
VENUE: ST. JAMES HALL
JERICHO, THEE MAGIC CIRCLE, SARAH JICKLING 2 - 6PM
704 – 333 Terminal Ave. Van 604 684 8171 An inclusive centre for older adults, 55+ on low income, and those with disabilities, offering year-round educational, health-related, recreational activities. Information & Referral to assist seniors with resources & services in the community ie seniors benefits, income tax preparation & government services. Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm
BILTMORE CABARET 2755 Prince Edward, 604-676-0541. 2SAN FERMIN Apr 20 2JOE PURDY Apr 21 2THE WEDDING PRESENT Apr 26 2SONDRE LERCHE Apr 28 2POND Apr 29 2LEIF VOLLEBEKK May 4 2BARNS COURTNEY May 5 2CHAMELEON EP RELEASE PARTY May 6 2ODDISEE & GOOD COMPNY May 12 2THE WILD REEDS May 16 2AN EVENING WITH PETE YORN May 18
Afro-Cuban master percussionist w/ his red hot, dance-inducing band
IN-STORE PERFORMANCES:
SUPPORT GROUPS
2BRIA SKONBERG May 27 2TRIBUTE TO CANNONBALL & CLEANHEAD Jun 2
PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP APR. 23 @ 8 PM
INTERNATIONAL RECORD STORE DAY SATURDAY APRIL 22 12 - 6pm
at a
EXTRAVAGANZA Apr 28 2THE KOMBUCHA MUSHROOM PEOPLE Apr 29
Dan will be joined by Iglika Ivanova, from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and local speakers to highlight the cost of poverty in BC, and show how, with a poverty reduction plan, these costs could be cut in half, thus promoting justice for all in BC.
don’t miss out! For up-to-the-minute, searchable Music Time Out listings, visit
www.straight.com
RIVER ROCK SHOW THEATRE River Rock Casino Resort, 8811 River Rd., 604-2478900. 2MELISSA ETHERIDGE May 5 230TH ANNIVERSARY GALA PERFORMANCE May 28 ST. JAMES HALL 3214 W. 10th, 604-7363022. 2A MIGHTY STRING THING Apr 22 2PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP Apr 23 2VAN DJANGO AND THE MARC ATKINSON TRIO Apr 27 2THE COMPANY B JAZZ BIG BAND Apr 28 2THE HOT CLUB CABARET Apr 29 2KITS CLASSICS AND WORLDS BEYOND Apr 30 2HORNBY BLUES May 4 VENUE 881 Granville, 604-646-0064. 2SOULGOOD BEST DANCE CREW FINALS INSIDE #GOODFRIDAYS AT VENUE Apr 21 2TRIBUTE May 5 2KRANIUM May 20 2MARIAN HILL Jun 6 2THE DRUMS Jul 18 VOGUE THEATRE 918 Granville, 604569-1144. 2THE NIMBUS GRAD AND SHOW CASE Apr 22 2LAURA MARLING Apr 26 2DRUM HEAT Apr 27 2THE VISIONARY ART AND LIFE OF ALEX GREY AND ALLYSON GREY Apr 28 2SAID THE WHALE Apr 29 2KEHLANI May 1 2THE HIDDEN BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS May 2 2DOXA OPENING GALA May 4 2TIMBER TIMBRE May 5 2BIANCA DEL RIO May 19 2THE MOTH May 20 2NEEDTOBREATHE May 22 2THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN May 24 2ALI WONG May 25 2CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN May 30 2DEVA PREMAL AND MITEN Jun 9 WISE HALL 1882 Adanac, 604-254-5858. 2PLANET PINKISH Apr 19 2LINDA MCRAE AND GURF MORLIX Apr 20 2JOEY ONLY Apr 21 2TABOO REVUE: SPRING SCHWING Apr 22 2WISE LOUNGE MONDAYS WITH MISS QUINCY AND THE FIVE STAR STUDS Apr 24 2DROP IN ROCK CHOIR Apr 25 2BRET HIGGINS’ ATLAS REVOLT Apr 28 2JAMES MCCARTNEY May 13
TIME OUT MUSIC LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. We can’t guarantee inclusion, and we give priority to events taking place within one week of publication. Submit listings online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.
EMPLOYMENT
HOSPITALITY/FOOD SERVICE Hiring One Full-time Pasta Chef
$23.50/hr, benefits offered after 1 yr, high school/equivalent, speak basic to moderate English, 2 yrs cooking exp, excellent customer interaction & service, respectful, self-motivated & good team player. Main duties: prepare & cook complete Italian meals or specialty foods & create decorative food displays for special events such as half buffet & catering, instruct cooks in preparation, cooking, garnishing & presentation of food, plan menus & create new recipes, supervise cooks & other kitchen staff & requisition food & kitchen supplies. Email: wholesale1@cioffisgroup.com Cioffi’s Meat Market & Deli Ltd. 4158 East Hastings St. Burnaby BC V5C 2J4 PERM & F/T Line Cook Yakiniku Chosun BBQ Izakaya (Yakinikuya Japanese BBQ) is hiring for PERM & F/T Line Cook. Wage $15/hr.+tip. 40 hrs/wk.10 days’ paid vacation. Duties: Make meals such as Sushi, Sashimi, BBQ & etc. Min. 2-3 yrs. cook exp./COMP. High school/English. Send resume by mail at 793 Jervis St. Vancouver, BC, V6E 2B1 (work location) OR email. yakinikyu28@gmail.com
www.straight.com
HELP WANTED
WALKERS REQUIRED The Georgia Straight requires energetic, physically fit, and customer service oriented walkers. Walkers will distribute The Georgia Straight on the West Side (Approx. 3-5 hrs) Vehicle Required. Interested candidates please email your resume to:
careers@straight.com
Quoting WALKER2017 in the subject line NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE
TRADES
Glaziers (All Levels)
Install window and door systems for commercial projects. Must have transportation to job site and must be fit as some heavy lifting required. Send resume to: admin@glastech.ca Fax 604-941-3113 www.glastech.ca
............................................................................................................................................................... CLASSIFIEDS TILESETTER ARV Construction Ltd. Salary: $25.25hourly Job Type: FT, Permanent. Minimum Education: High School. Position Available: 1 10207 143A St. Surrey BC V3T 5C1 Main Duties: Prepare, measure and mark surface. Clean and level the surface to be tiled. May prepare cost estimates and orders. Work Location: Various locations in Lower Mainland, BC. Qualification: 2 years of relevant experience required. To apply please send your resume to arvconstructionltd@gmail.com
PERSONAL SERVICES
DATING SERVICES Meet Attractive Singles 604-805-1342 or 604-873-8266 M.S. Oriental Dating Service For singles looking for meaningful relationships. All Nationalities Welcome. Since 1987.
Construction Related Field
604-583-8800
Private/houses & commercial buildings Installation, frames, Dry-Wall, familiarity with carpentry, experience on working on buildings (house/commercial) made out of wood and metal frames. Experience required 3-4 yrs. Salary $26.00/hr Email: lagarrigo@hotmail.com
GAY PERSONALS
SERVICES
Aqua Spa BLISSFUL MASSAGE
Lily’s Bodycare Beautiful Spa Romance Relaxation Spa relaxation 604.986.8650 massage CHINESE, JAPANESE & KOREAN MASSAGE
SERVING NORTH VANCOUVER FOR 17 YEARS
1050 Marine Dr. North Van
Promo $30/45 mins
LOTS OF PARKING AT THE REAR
EMPLOYMENT
20437 Douglas Crescent, Langley (@ 204th St. beside HomeHardware) Front & Back Door Entrance Free Parking
CoverGirlEscorts.com is now Hiring.
604.510.6689
Call 604-438-7119
Seeking all nationalities 19+ No experience necessary.
Hiring
FORBIDDEN CITY Adult Movie Rooms & More
AESTHETICS $50 Steam plus Massage 604 -709- 6168
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604-446-2489
Mr. BALDNUTZ
PERSONAL SHAVING SERVICES FOR MEN ★ SAFE ★ CLEAN ★ DISCREET ★
CERTIFIED MASSAGE
Leelawadee Thai Spa 889
Helmcken St. 778.886.3675 www.leelawadeethaispa.com
Thai Massage 778-886-3675 D/T.
HOME & GARDEN SERVICES
MOVING & STORAGE TwoGuysWithATruck.com Moving & Storage, Free EST. Visa Okay. 604-628-7136
604-767-8625
MASSAGE BODYWORK MASSAGE In a peaceful setting in Langley Because you deserve it! 9am - 8pm
Robert 604-857-9571
Curious? Straight?
M2M Erotic Massage Yaletown Ric 604-719-3433
MASSAGE $60/30 mins (incl tips)
E. 49th Ave & Victoria Dr. 10am - 8:30pm • HIRING 604.500.9082 • 778.379.7736
CuriousButStraight.com ORIENTAL STRONG HANDS E. Van. New location. Kingsway area. Mature * Good ServicE & Massage *Ultra Enjoyment * Discreet shave avail. In/Out calls for good time. 9AM - 9PM 778-989-2128 JOHN
Sensual Massage
Experienced, discreet, and clean for men only by a mature male. 9 am to 10 pm in-calls only. Student rates. Burrard & 6th
Alex 778-828-4683
Beauty & Wellness Spa 604.325.2313
Do you have any old Vancouver 2010 Olympic pins that you no longer want? If so, please call Stephen at 604-728-0435 or stephenkinnis@hotmail.com
RECORDING STUDIOS Celebrate Canada's 150th in a Professional Studio For 150 days starting April 1, 2017, we are offering full day recording for $150.00 + tx. Engineers with over 40 yrs. experience. New West 24/7 Call 604-229-5981. Book online
REHEARSAL SPACE Renegade Productions Inc. www.renegadeproductions.net 604-685-0435 www.facebook.com/RPInc EQUIPPED HOURLY REHEARSAL ROOM New West $20/hr 24/7 Call/Text 604-229-5981 diamondsharpstudios.com click BOOK ONLINE
Suna Studios Rehearsal M-F 6-12, Sat/Sun 12-12 East Van Hourly ($16.66/hour) & L/O, www.sunastudios.ca 604-563-5460
REPAIRS
BASONE
Healing for Sexual Problems Control Ejaculation, Maintain Erection, Cure Herpes herbalbathclinic.com 604-271-4148
Tantra Massage
Zara 604-222-4178 Jericho PREMATURE EJACULATION? ELIMINATE MOST ISSUES PERMANENTLY REGAIN CONFIDENCE–VITALITY–ENERGY RESULTS GUARANTEED $30 OFF 1st APPT
SacredTantraMassage.com RICHMOND - 2 RD / WESTMINSTER Hwy
604-788-7723 Divinea 8am-8pm
BODYWORK GREAT ASIAN MASSAGE 604-782-9338 Surrey
Gemini Studio EXCELLENT MASSAGE SPECIAL PACKAGES
D-768 Princess St., New Westminster (@ 8th St. between 6th & 7th Ave behind Save-On Foods)
604.523.6689
Reg
BODY SCRUB 120 (Incl. 45 min. Hot oil massage) NOW $
75 MIN
3272 W. Broadway
GREAT MIX FULL BODY MASSAGE Certificated nice female masseuse in Richmond provides effective deep tissue, relaxation, prostate helth maintenance massage. Special Waxing Rate available. More info at www.healthyaction.ca text/call @ 778-871-9809
604.566.0700 8652 Granville St. Hiring
$20/40MINUTES FOOT MASSAGE (Reflexology). Gentleman therapist. Location? Please check website @24hours online booking Emperorfeet.blogspot.com Reception604-441-7658
I Spa
19+ SWEET GIRLS
MASSAGE Professional Chinese Massage Coquitlam $60/1hr $100/2hr
CHINESE BEAUTY - HELEN Warm & loving - complete body massage. All incl. Reasonable low price. R/mond new home.
10am - 2am. 778-322-1583 AMAZING ASIAN MASSAGE GRAND OPENING! $120/40 min Package, open 7 days 10 am - 10 pm. 604-270-6891 12551 Vickers Way, Richmond, close to IKEA
HONG KONG STYLE MASSAGE Perfect SensualOil Body Massage. 1Hr/$80. 45min/$60, 30min/$50 INC. TIP 223 W/ Broadway. 2blk E/of Cambie 6am-1am. 7 days. 5min from D/T
Please Call Lini 778-668-2981
Sexy Thai Girl Jessica Burnaby 604-336-4601
Hiring
604.568.9238
604.558.2526
$80/30 min.(incl.tips)
20 E/Pender or Dunbar
MUSICIANS WANTED
NURTURING TOUCH
Over 20 yrs exp. 604 739 6002 Mon-Fri Kitsilano
The Main on Main St. is looking for Wednesday through Saturday night acts. All Genres welcome. For more info email mainbooking@hotmail.com
COCO'S THAI MASSAGE
GIGS
BBY. $40 & up! No F/S 10am - 8pm 604-619-7453
TOKEN RHYME @ Princeton Pub - 4/29 Americana-esque, semi-psychedelic country rock-ish trio + a kickass female singer. And yes you will hear some Grateful Dead! no cover. Sat Apr 29. 9pm-1am. https://www.reverbnation.com/tokenrhyme
New Staff! Relaxation Massage. 604-985-4969 HIRING
#3-3490 Kingsway NEAR JOYCE NEXT DOOR TO SUBWAY
Angel TOUCH
$60 In/Out 778-323-0002
JAPANESE $60 4095 Oak St. Vancouver 604-266-6800
OPENING MIYA GRAND $10 OFF
BEAUTY SENSATIONAL MASSAGE
Exotic East Indian (45)
ocean RELAXATION
CENTRE All Beautiful (19+) Girls
5 MINS FROM D/T
604-738-6222
Underground Parking
Emax Massage
$100
JAPANESE Oak St. vancouver
604.553.0909
778.321.2209
ORGANIC TOUCH HEALTH CENTRE
UNDER
NEW
management
15244 Russell Ave. White Rock
604 998.7831
COMPANION Fun Classy Blonde Beauty In calls & Out calls locally Private upscale condo
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30 min / $30
3671 EAST HASTINGS
604-568-0123 NOW HIRING
Rose Body Massage 49 E. Broadway @ Quebec St. open 7days/9am-midnight
604-568-2248
Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese & Philippines Girls (19+) In/Out calls
604-600-6558
PHD in Pleasure 5PM-2AM 604-670-1600 $60 or $80 F/S! 630 E.Georgia
778-251-5367 GORGEOUS BEAUTY Gentle & Sweet, Petite and Exquisite. Local, Elegant Super Service!
Call 778-926-1000. Van East. GENTLEMEN DISCREET ATTRACTIVE MATURE EUROPEAN LADY OFFERS DELIGHTFUL RELAXATION SESSIONS.
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Van, Hastings & Cassiar & Coq.
Meena 778-839-6583
604 879 5769
778-682-4068
GUITAR
2639 W. 4th Ave.
10 AM TO 10 PM
Good Price, Good Service D931 Brunette Ave. 7 Days a Week
MERIDIAN SPA LTD.
10AM - 10 PM Hiring
3488 MAIN ST. @ 19TH AVE
PANTERA SPA
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Massage Beauty Care at Marpole
than
BEST
#3 - 3003 Kingsway @ Rupert, Van. - N/E Corner
(& Blenheim)
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COMFY WELLNESS SPA
AMAZING TOUCH SPA 10PM
•
Grand Opening
70
604.873.9890
3482 Main Street & 18th Ave
#100 - 1727 WEST BROADWAY
$
KINGSWAY & KNIGHT Relaxation Massage! Good rate!604-442-9526
318 E. 5th Ave • 604.677.0311
INCLUDES TIPS
Richmond
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Suite 1090 – 8580 Alexandra Rd.
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LD BE! SHOU
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SHOP
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778.316.2660
Hiring
WINTER SPECIAL
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MUSIC
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HIRING
BATH HOUSES
121 W. Broadway at Manitoba
TOKYO Body
STEAM 1 MEN’S BATH HOUSE
STEAM 1
Massage
EVERY DAY flat rate pricing! Anytime 24/7 Lockers $14 | Rooms from $22
NEW GIRLS
NOW
BLACKOUT PARTIES NOW TWICE A MONTH SUNDAY APRIL 30TH & SATURDAY MAY 13TH 11AM ‘TIL 7PM
(incl. tips)
604
Lotus Beauty Spa $ 70 /30 mins 10:30am-8pm Daily 5336 Victoria Dr. Vancouver
A/C AVAILABLE 604.327.8800
HIRING
438-8979
101-5623, Imperial St. BBY (Across Macpherson Ave)
Anonymous Check In Avail • All Rates with Current Membership
Drop In Fees May Apply Now no ID needed for entry
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APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 41
CLASSIFIEDS ................................................................................................................................................................ BEAUTIFUL OLDER WOMAN Sweet, Discreet & Ready to Eat! SARAH in SURREY Your place or mine,
604-671-2345
HIGH CLASS FEMALE ESCORTS & INTIMATE COMPANIONS
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Tanisha 604-442-9178
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Just pick a time, Well worth every dime, You will have an AMAZING TIME!
Kelly 778-714-0824
www.straight.com
GRAND OPENING! Best Massage Every day different female practitioners! 3322 Main St. 604-872-1702
RILEY 604-773-8876
36D - 26 - 36. 36th@ Victoria
Amazing Massage Fun Thursday, Friday & Sunday! Yuki & Tina. $100 ( includes room fee and tips) 3517 Kingsway, Vancouver 604-558-0228
RAINBOW MASSAGE INTERVIEWS DAILY C OV E RGI R LE S C ORT S .C OM
$80/30 MIN (INCL. TIPS)
604.430.3060
CHINESE, THAI, Japanese, Vietnamese & CAUCASIAN GIRLS
NEW young (19+)
Girls
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ANGELA
4536 Hastings St.
778-317-3888
Burnaby near Willingdon Ave.
HIRING BACK ENTRANCE + FREE PARKING
11AM - MIDNIGHT 604-299-1514
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Open from 10am
604-780-6268
HIRING
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Front & Back door entrance. Free Parking
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Seattle: 206-576-1825 Victoria, BC: 250-220-3334
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PHOENIX MASSAGE
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FREE PARKING HOTEL SERVICE
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NANAIMO
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savage love I’m a queer girl living with a male
partner. This weekend, we found ourselves in an after-hours club, made some new friends, and ended up at a house with two other guys and a girl. Things were pretty playful with everyone except for one of the guys. We all wanted him gone, but he wouldn’t take the hint. He bought the booze for the after party, so we were a little unsure of the etiquette of asking him to leave. Neither I nor the other girl was interested. I made it clear that penetration was off the menu for me, and everyone respected this—except the one guy. He asked if I would do anal, and I refused. He shoved his fingers in my ass, and I stopped him. I positioned myself away from him, but he somehow got behind me again and put his bare dick in my ass— though barely. The host pulled him off me. We were admittedly all a bit fucked up from partying. I had a stern talk with him about respecting consent—but when I felt his dick enter me from behind a second time, I got upset. My boyfriend threatened him, and the guy punched my boyfriend and broke my sweetheart’s nose. The host threw the guy out with no pants, so he had a well-deserved walk of shame. We don’t know the guy’s last name, so we can’t charge him. My question is this: as a couple, we enjoy threesomes/moresomes/swingers’ clubs, et cetera, and this wasn’t the first time a fun night was ruined by a persistent dick monster. Do you have any suggestions for dealing with pricks like these? Sober and not horny me has all the answers, but when I’m feeling violated and vulnerable, and distracted by whatever dick/pussy is
in my face, I’m not the loudmouthed feminist bitch I usually am. We all agree he should have been kicked out before the offences added up. Maybe he should have been kicked out when we all agreed we weren’t comfortable with him playing with us. What’s the etiquette of telling someone they can’t join in? I’m done dancing around assholes’ feelings. > QUEER UNICORN EXHAUSTED ENTERTAINING NUMBSKULLS
“Persistent dick monster” (PDM) is putting it mildly, QUEEN. This guy sexually assaulted you and physically assaulted your boyfriend—that guy is a VSP (violent sexual predator), not a PDM. And even if you don’t know his last name, report the night’s events to the police. It’s possible this asshole is already known to the cops—hell, it’s possible he assaulted someone else on his pantsless way home and they’re already holding him and they’d be happy to add more charges to the ones this asshole is already facing. I’m not saying you have to report him, of course. It’s estimated that only 15 to 35 percent of all sexual assaults are reported to the police, and only nine percent of all accused rapists are prosecuted. While recognizing some folks have legitimate reasons for not going to the cops, we need to get those numbers up—because unreported rapes and sexual assaults can’t be prosecuted. As for preventing a PDM/VSP from ruining your future threesomes/ moresomes, et cetera, advance planning—and familiarity among participants—is the best way to ensure a good experience. Spontaneous can be
> BY DAN SAVAGE fun, but it’s difficult to pull off safely with groups—spontaneous fun can be difficult to pull off safely in pairs. Another lesson to be learned from this encounter: getting shitfaced/ shtoned/shwasted may not be the best plan. It’s often the worst plan—getting fucked up rarely results in good sex, even between people who fuck on the regular. Plus, it’s easier to ignore red flags/gut feelings when you can barely shee shtraight. Having to remind someone about consent is a major red flag, QUEEN, and one we’re likelier to overlook when we’re shwasted. In a situation where you’re receiving unwanted touches, your polite dismissal of them should be enough. If this reminder has to be repeated twice, that participant should have their pass to moresome mountain revoked immediately. Two final takeaways: Even kind and decent people can be terrible about taking hints—especially when doing so means getting cut out of a drunken fuckfest. So don’t hint, tell. There’s no rule of etiquette that can paper over the discomfort and awkwardness of that moment, so your group’s designated speaker-upper will just have to power through it. And if you’re going to drink and group in the future, QUEEN, hew to a strict BYOB policy. You don’t ever want to be in a position where you hesitate to show someone the door because they brought the booze.
My wife and I are newlyweds. My wife wants sex two to three times a week, which matches up perfectly with my desires. But her desire for sex peaks around 3 to 5 a.m. She’s a
morning person with insomnia, and I’m a night owl and a heavy sleeper. She’s tried to wake me up for sex, and my unconscious self has rejected her multiple times (I never remember this). When I do wake up, the halfconscious romps we have aren’t really satisfying. My sexual desire peaks midday and after work when I have more energy to have sex or come up with a fun bondage scene. But when she gets home, she usually has a series of chores or projects that take up all her attention.
they have anything to apologize for. After Trump’s election (#ITMFA), I’ve found it difficult to stomach them, even in small doses. I grew up Catholic myself and was sent through gay-conversion therapy, so I have a visceral reaction to this kind of bigotry, especially when it is directed toward my family of choice. My husband is also appalled by them and always puts us first, but the idea of not retaining a connection to his family of origin hurts him. Do I suffer the occasional visit? Help!
Your wife needs to save chores and projects for 3 to 5 a.m.—provided no power tools are involved—and reserve the early evening hours for romps and creative bondage scenes.
For the sake of your marriage, SHUTOUT, you should suffer the occasional visit—whether your husband sees his family on his own or you’re along for the ride—without punishing your husband for it. Remember: you’re in this together, and private jokes, surreptitious eye rolls, and pot lozenges can go a long way toward making these events not just bearable but (mischievously) pleasurable. And seeing as you’ve already trained his family to cool it by cutting back on your time with them— a strategy I recommend—you can train them to keep things civil, hatefree, and non-biphobic by warning them in advance that you will get up and leave if they say anything shitty or unkind to you, about you, or in front of you. Then follow through. -
> INSOMNIA NOW SUSPECTED OF MAKING NIGHTS INCREDIBLY AWKWARD
My husband and I have been
together for six years and are quite happy, much to the chagrin of his family. They are Islamophobic, antichoice, Fox News–watching, conservative Catholics. They began writing us letters about how they disapproved of us when we moved in together before marriage. One launched a campaign to break us up because they figured my then boyfriend didn’t know I was bisexual. (He did, and I’m out very publicly.) They boycotted our wedding because it was not in a Catholic church. They would not come to a party we had because a Muslim friend would be there. They’ve realized that in order for us to even rarely see them, they need to cool it, but they don’t think
> SHOULDN’T HUBBY UNLOAD THESE OUTRAGEOUSLY UNENLIGHTENED TURDS
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