The Georgia Straight - Healthy Planet - April 21, 2022

FREE | APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

Volume 56 | Number 2827

SACRED YOGA

Church taps into spiritual aspect

CRAZY8s CONTENDER

Indigenous director’s take on colonialism

HEALTHY PLANET Why B.C. is so vulnerable to a changing climate; plus, a hunger strike for ancient forests BLACK DOG VIDEO • COSTLY COTTAGE • WAIT LIST EXPERIMENT • SHOT OF SCOTCH

EARTH DAY

Hunger striker wants young folks to learn how to disobey

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CONTENTS 4

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

COVER

With Earth Day on Friday (April 22), here’s a reminder why B.C. is especially vulnerable to a climate breakdown.

by Charlie Smith

hen reached by the Straight on the 24th day of his hunger strike, Vancouver environmental activist Brent Eichler wants to talk about how heat domes have been destroying wildlife in Africa, Australia, and here in B.C. “I have an affinity for the Buddhist tradition and, you know, valuing all sentient beings,” Eichler said on April 18. “To me, we’re all connected and so I feel very terribly about the loss of biodiversity and life on this planet. It really disturbs me.”

Eichler, 57, is one of two Save Old Growth activists who are on hunger strikes until B.C.’s minister responsible for forests, Katrine Conroy, hosts a public meeting on preservation of ancient forests. The other hunger striker, 69-year-old Howard Breen, lives in Nanaimo.

“I’m doing surprisingly better than I thought I would be,” Eichler said in advance of Earth Day on April 22. “The first part was really hard, but I find it’s not very difficult at all now.”

He’s surviving mainly on clear liquids,

April 21-28 / 2022

By Charlie Smith Cover photo by appledesign/Getty Images Plus

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HOUSING

The local property market has truly gone haywire—a 444-square-foot cottage in East Vancouver recently sold for more than $1.5 million.

By Carlito Pablo

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MOVIES

Indigenous writer-director Kenny Welsh’s short film, “The Faraway Place”, is among the six finalists in the Crazy8s film competition.

By Steve Newton

Save Old Growth activist Brent Eichler has gone nearly four weeks without eating any solid food.

water, and lemon juice. And his vital signs are being monitored by two physicians, Dr. Tim Takaro and Dr. Linda Thyer.

“Of course, you need to keep your salt up,” Eichler said. “And I’m taking lots of vitamins.”

His passion for peaceful civil disobedience was ignited around the age of 13 when he read an essay on the subject by 19th-century writer Henry David Thoreau. Save Old Growth has embraced peaceful civil disobedience to protect ancient forests that serve as carbon sinks and preserve biodiversity.

The group is also inspired by the suff ragette movement, the Indian independence movement, and the U.S. civil-rights Freedom Riders.

“I really believe that the young people today need to learn how to disobey,” Eichler said. “It’s obvious to me we’re never going to get anywhere as far as solving these existential crises without people taking action and doing civil disobedience.”

He offered great praise, however, for the young people involved in Save Old Growth who have willingly faced arrest by blocking traffic in pursuit of their goal. Eichler noted that he’s single and he feels privileged enough to take this stand.

“I have a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the future—not my own, because I’m old,” he emphasized.

As the Straight went to the printer on April 19, Conroy was still refusing to grant a public meeting to talk about forest policies.

“That won’t stop me from acting,” Eichler insisted. “I made a vow to myself at one time that I would act independent of the results of those actions. I would like to meet with the minister, but even if the minister doesn’t meet with us or try to meet any of our demands, I still think it’s worth doing.”

That prompts the Straight to ask what people closest to him think of this.

“My mom is worried,” Eichler acknowledged. “She’s in assisted living in Langley.

And my sister is worried also.” g

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

e Start Here 6 ANALYSIS 13 ARTS 18 CLASSIFIED ADS 2 EARTH DAY 10 FOOD 10 HEALTH 15 MOVIES 17 MUSIC 8 REAL ESTATE 17 SAVAGE LOVE 14 THEATRE 12 VISUAL ARTS 7 WINE

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

e Online TOP 5

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

1 2 3 4 5

B.C. replies to FIFA’s acceptance of Vancouver as World Cup candidate city.

Two black bears videotaped wrestling on a trampoline in Coquitlam.

Realtor says vacation rentals are driving up prices of Whistler townhouses.

Andrew Weaver accuses NDP government of moving into “herd immunity mode”.

Here are 45 things to do in Vancouver this week from April 18 to 22. @GeorgiaStraight

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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EARTH DAY

Why B.C. is especially vulnerable to climate crisis

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by Charlie Smith

here are a couple of key takeaways for British Columbians from the climate crisis as we approach Earth Day on Friday (April 22).

The first is that rising levels of water vapour in the atmosphere due to a warming Pacific Ocean are bringing more torrential downpours to the province. And that’s having devastating economic implications.

The second key takeaway is that heat domes are far more deadly than extreme rainfall.

In the worst cases, atmospheric rivers are bringing extreme precipitation deeper into the mainland of B.C., in some cases changing the topography of the landscape.

An early sign of this occurred back in 2013 when a record amount of rainfall fell in the Kootenay-Columbia River region, cutting off highway access. But that was far less severe than what occurred last November when intense rainfall caused the Coldwater River to change its course through Merritt, which suffered historic f looding.

As a result of that storm, the Nicola River changed course as well, washing out large sections of Highway 8 between Spences Bridge and Merritt. The Coquihalla

An atmospheric river packed a punch last November, washing out several sections of Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge. Photo by Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Highway was also washed out in places.

The billions of dollars of damage caused by the November flooding, which also hit Abbotsford and Princeton, left a lasting impact not only on the economy but on people’s psyches. If it could happen once, could it happen again?

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

Unfortunately, the answer is probably “yes”.

Here’s why. Two 19th-century thermodynamics researchers, Rudolf Clausius and Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, discovered that for every 1° C increase in temperature, the atmosphere can hold seven percent more water.

As the planet warms, this is adding a powerful punch to the storms coming in off the Pacific Ocean, putting B.C. at the front end of the climate crisis.

As warming increases—and it will because of the “carbon lag” from current emissions—it will likely bring more and possibly even larger atmospheric rivers to the province.

But there’s something else also occurring over the Pacific Ocean.

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the warmer water temperatures in the western part of this body of water also contribute to heatwaves.

On its website, the NOAA likens the ocean to a swimming pool when the heater is turned on. Using this analogy, temperatures increase faster in areas closer to the heater jets.

“If one thinks of the Pacific as a very large pool, the western Pacific’s temperatures have risen over the past few decades as compared to the eastern Pacific, creating a strong temperature gradient, or pressure differences that drive wind, across the entire ocean in winter,” the NOAA states.

“In a process known as convection, the gradient causes more warm air, heated by the ocean surface, to rise over the western Pacific, and decreases convection over the central and eastern Pacific,” it continues.

“As prevailing winds move the hot air east, the northern shifts of the jet stream trap

the air and move it toward land, where it sinks, resulting in heat waves.”

Evidence suggests that those heat waves become more intense when the undulating atmospheric “Rossby waves”, which are associated with pressure systems and the jet streams, become “quasi-stationary” and far more amplified.

This was explained in a 2017 paper published in Scientific Reports.

“In summary, our analysis of both historical model simulations and observational surface temperature data, strongly suggests that anthropogenic warming is impacting the zonal mean temperature profi le in a manner conducive to wave resonance and a consequent increase in persistent weather extremes in the boreal summer,” wrote climate researchers Michael Mann, Stefan Rahmstorf, Kai Kornhuber, Byron A. Steinman, Sonya K. Miller, and Dim Coumou.

“Combined with other additional proposed mechanisms for climate change impacts on extreme weather, this adds to the weight of evidence for a human influence on the occurrence of devastating events such as the 2003 European heat wave, the 2010 Pakistan flood and Russian heat wave, the 2011 Texas heat wave and recent floods in Europe.”

The paper was published before the 2021 heat dome that killed almost 600 British Columbians. It offered further evidence that the climate is messing with the jet streams, which are narrow bands of wind in the upper atmosphere blowing from west to east. They follow boundaries between hot and cold air.

“As the difference in temperature increases between the two locations the strength of the wind increases,” the NOAA explains on its website.

But in summer, with a warming Arctic region, the difference in temperature diminishes, slowing down those jet streams. And that could be a factor in those Rossby waves forming large loops and so many people dying last summer from extreme heat in B.C. One of the newest examples of extreme flooding occurred in South Africa, killing hundreds and leaving tens of thousands homeless, according to the Guardian.

Mann, the lead researcher in the 2017 Scientific Reports paper, was recently on the BBC to discuss the role of the climate crisis in this recent event.

“At some point, it’s really basic physics,” Mann told the BBC. “A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture. So when you do get rainfall, you get more of it in shorter periods of time. That’s what we’re seeing here: unprecedented flooding. About two centimetres of rain fell per hour for a 24hour period.” g

COMMENTARY

Political parties clamp down on internal dissent

by Charlie Smith

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Campaign workers for former U.S. president Donald Trump were required to sign contracts that included nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses. Photo by Bermix Studio/Unsplash.

or many years, former U.S. president Donald Trump was able to silence dissent through the use of nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses in employee contracts.

These clauses kept campaign workers from publicly demeaning Trump forever for whatever he might have done while campaigning.

The existence of these clauses came to light when a former campaign worker named Jessica Denson launched a court challenge. It was against Trump’s 2016 campaign organization, which was called Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. A year ago, she obtained a judicial order in U.S. District Court declaring that the nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses were invalid and unenforceable under the basic principles of contract law.

Judge Paul G. Gardephe noted that the wording of these clauses was so vague and broad that an employee was not free to speak about anything concerning the campaign.

“Moreover, the Campaign’s past efforts to enforce the non-disclosure and nondisparagement provisions demonstrate that it is not operating in good faith to protect what it has identified as legitimate interests,” Gardephe wrote in his ruling. “The evidence before the Court instead demonstrates that the Campaign has repeatedly sought to enforce the non-disclosure and non-disparagement provisions to suppress speech that it finds detrimental to its interests.”

This raises three important questions in Canada.

1. Are Canadian political parties including nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses in their contracts with campaign employees and candidates?

2. Are campaign employees and candidates signing agreements that prevent them from even disclosing the existence of these clauses?

3. Does this explain why Canadian politics has become so bland in the 21st century?

It’s rare that anyone hears a peep of criticism from within the Liberal Party of Canada about Justin Trudeau. Even former

cabinet ministers who don’t seek reelection, like Bill Morneau and Catherine McKenna, never seem to utter a critical word in public.

That’s very different from what we have seen during the past century.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has also enjoyed a smooth ride from his caucus, despite disappointing results in two consecutive elections.

Singh’s predecessor, Tom Mulcair, was voted out of his position at a convention where there was very little public condemnation of him. It came as a total surprise to many in the media when the putsch succeeded.

It’s a similar story in some provinces.

B.C. premier John Horgan, for instance, has cruised along in power for nearly five years without a single word of real dissent uttered publicly by members of caucus, former caucus members and former cabinet ministers from 2017 to 2020, and party workers.

Horgan is an affable fellow, but what can explain such ironclad consent to everything he’s doing? His government’s handling of the overdose crisis, support for the Site C dam, and his very questionable approach to containing the spread of COVID-19 haven’t created a ripple of concern.

It stands in sharp contrast to what some of his NDP predecessors, such as Dave Barrett and Mike Harcourt, endured when they were premiers.

If there are Trumplike nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses included in agreements to either run as a candidate or work as a campaign employee for Canadian political parties, this needs to be addressed through legislation.

The existence of such clauses must be disclosed to the voters through party filings to election regulators, such as Elections B.C. or Elections Canada.

Plus, these agreements with members of legislatures or Parliament should be subjected to limits that are in accordance with Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of expression, including freedom of the media. Trump’s “forever” clause should

be banned from ever being imposed on a campaign worker or politician in Canada.

It’s actually a life-and-death issue, given that governments in many provinces have lifted indoor mask mandates as the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron is spreading wildly. That’s to say nothing of Canadian governments’ ongoing negligence in addressing the overdose crisis.

A growing number of health experts are calling for the return of mask mandates to prevent further death and disability from the airborne SARS-CoV-2 virus. Yet entire caucuses of provincial parties remain silent and supportive of their leaders who embrace policies that fly in the face of scientific evidence.

Is there truly no dissent in the face of such colossal political irresponsibility? Is that what politics have become in Canada?

Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre claims he wants to make Canada the freest country in the world. I dare him to promise to ban all parties, including his own, from imposing nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses on employees and candidates. If he doesn’t do that, his talk of freedom is all just a bunch of campaign BS. As a voter, I want to know if a candidate in my riding has signed an agreement to be muzzled from ever criticizing their leader in perpetuity. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a deal-breaker when I enter the ballot box. I suspect that I’m not alone in that regard. g

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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ANALYSIS

CBC ombudsman misses mark in Woo’s complaint

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by Charlie Smith

ate last month, CBC ombudsman Jack Nagler essentially cleared a CBC journalist of an allegation that his “misreporting” led to a torrent of anti-Asian hatred directed against a B.C. senator.

Sen. Yuen Pau Woo filed a complaint last year to the Crown broadcaster’s ombudsman in response to an article by journalist John Paul Tasker. It concerned a speech that Woo had delivered in the Senate.

According to Tasker’s report, Woo said that Canada should avoid criticizing China for human-rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims. In fact, Woo maintained, his speech included the exact opposite words.

“Whereas Beijing asserts that Canada

should not comment on the Xinjiang situation because of our experience with residential schools, I argue that it is precisely because (of) our history of residential schools that makes it necessary for us to speak to the Chinese,” Woo stated in his complaint.

Woo also objected to Tasker’s claim in his report that the senator was “echoing” the arguments of the Chinese government.

“There is no reasonable interpretation of my speech as ‘echoing’ the arguments of the Chinese government, but it seems the journalist was determined to convey that misimpression,” Woo stated in his complaint.

Woo also stated: “Apart from a superficial textual comparison, how can my speech be characterized as an ‘echo’ of

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

CBC ombudsman Jack Nagler maintained that the Crown broadcaster delivered a “reasonable account” of a speech by Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, but that’s certainly not how Woo viewed the story.

China’s position? Would you report that the Conservatives echo the NDP in their climate change policy because both parties refer to global warming?”

In addition, Woo questioned why he was “singled out for scrutiny” when comments by another senator with similar views who was not of Chinese ancestry were ignored.

According to Woo, the CBC report led to an “avalanche” of hate being directed against him.

CBC’s then–director of journalistic standards, Paul Hambleton, defended Tasker’s report while expressing regret over the hateful messages directed at Woo. In his written review, Nagler told Woo that “what you said about the content of your speech to the Senate is absolutely correct, and I believe your argument about the intent of your remarks—and yet I’m still not convinced that the CBC was guilty of, to use your phrase, ‘misreporting’.”

Nagler came to this conclusion even though he agreed that Tasker’s story “erred” by quoting Woo as saying that Canada “should avoid criticizing China”.

According to Nagler’s decision, Tasker was “exercising routine editorial judgment”.

Nagler stated that this came after Tasker was struck by Woo’s “message about the folly of lecturing China on how it governs itself, and in particular the parallels [Woo] drew between China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, and Canada’s own human rights failures in the past, not only with Indigenous people but also with immigrants and minority groups”.

“At the same time, I can see how Mr. Tasker came to the conclusion that he did,” Nagler continued. “After all, in the course of your address, one of the primary arguments you made as to why Canada should not be so quick to condemn China was because of our own track record.”

Nagler went on to rationalize Tasker’s claim that Woo was “echoing” the Chinese government, even though the ombudsman acknowledged that Woo had rejected that description by Tasker.

“Perhaps there were other ways he could have phrased it,” Nagler wrote. “However,

the conclusions that the journalist drew from your remarks were reasoned. I do not think you should have been surprised that someone would draw those conclusions, and I found it understandable that they formed a prominent part of his coverage.”

As a result, Nagler claimed that the article was “a reasonable account of your speech”.

“CBC’s approach is further supported by the fact that the article included extensive quotes from your address, which helped readers draw their own conclusions about the effectiveness of your argument,” Nagler stated in his ruling.

So there you have it.

1. A senator of Chinese ancestry is singled out for coverage of his speech on China when the white senators’ speeches were ignored.

2. This senator of Chinese ancestry was reported to have echoed the line of the Chinese government, which he adamantly denies.

3. The CBC ombudsman agrees that the senator’s interpretation of his own words was “absolutely correct”.

4. The CBC ombudsman agrees that the senator was mistakenly characterized as saying that Canada should avoid criticizing China because of what Canada had done to Indigenous peoples.

5. Yet despite all this, the CBC ombudsman still deemed that the news story was a “reasonable account” of the senator’s speech.

Nagler’s response is, to put it bluntly, a disservice to Asian Canadians. And it should be of serious concern to anyone who feels that media coverage has played a central role in the rise of anti-Asian hatred in Canada in recent years.

If the CBC ombudsman can’t bring himself to use the word “misreporting” after a news story with a key error brings on a torrent of anti-Asian hatred, how can Asian Canadians ever expect to receive justice from the CBC in the future for coverage that maligns them?

Nagler had an opportunity to make a powerful statement about the importance of media responsibility in covering racial issues.

Instead, he sided with his employer. g

WINE

Four wines that a French woman will happily carry

by Mike Usinger

sandwich, Township 7 Merlot is also a great candidate for cellaring. Buy a six pack of bottles for the spring, and a case for the future, and you won’t be disappointed.

TOSO MALBEC 2020

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ant to make your day a little brighter and yourself completely jealous of the way others choose to live their lives? If so, Google “A French woman with her baguette and six bottles of wine”.

Not to spoil the surprise, but what pops up is indeed a French woman, and she’s captured walking up the street with a baguette the size of a telephone pole and a six-pack of France’s finest in a carrying basket.

There’s some debate about who took the photo, with most pegging the shot as the work of early travel photographer Branson DeCou circa 1945. Except that if the picture was, indeed, from 1945, DeCou was shooting in a more heavenly place at that time, leading many to theorize the image was by the late photographer’s wife, Elsie Vera Stanley DeCou. That leads to a whole slew of questions.

Start with why Branson DeCou usually gets the photo credit when his wife was considered to be just as handy with the camera, the possible answer being that the world was a giant boys’ club.

How big was the oven the baguette popped out of? How much wine does one consume on an average day that they need to return from the store with a six-pack?

Crack open one of the following worthy bottles of red, then settle in for an afternoon of debate on the above questions.

And don’t forget the baguette.

INNISKILLIN DISCOVERY SERIES ZINFANDEL 2017

With the spring rains now upon us for the foreseeable future, now isn’t the time for putting away the Molly Stevens’s award-winning—and essential—All About Braising.

When the storm clouds gather round and heavy rains descend, nothing’s better than heavy fare like Top Blade Steaks Smothered in Mushrooms & Onions, Yankee Pot Roast Redux, and Neapolitan Beef Ragu.

Bursting with overripe raspberries and wild blackberries, Inniskillin Discovery Series Zinfandel 2017 is smooth and silky

soft, but also bold and peppery enough to hold its own against a Beef Bourguignon or Ethiopian lamb wat. The delicate chocolate and prune undertow, meanwhile, makes it equally welcome when dessert lands on the table. And yes, there’s always room for dessert, especially when it’s cold and wet in these parts, which is to say any month not named July or August.

Ever think about how weird it is that every second person you know has been to Thailand, Indonesia, and Mexico, but no one from these parts seems to have visited Argentina? Yes, it’s a 14-hour flight, but think of what we’re missing out on.

The towering Iguazú Falls. Buenos Aires’ colour-saturated La Boca neighbourhood.

And delicious Argentine beef, charred on charcoal and served with endless amounts of garlicky chimichurri. Inspired enough

to rethink your next vacation?

Get into the spirit of things with Toso Estate Malbec, an exceptionally smooth, unfussy Argentina offering that’s heavy with juicy blackcurrant and sweet ripe cherries.

Pour a glass and imagine yourself hanging for the afternoon at a streetside cafe in Buenos Aires’ famously scenic Recoleta neighbourhood. Or better yet, pair Toso Estate Malbec, which has hints of smoky oak and burnt coffee, with a plate of bluerare asado Argentine beef, making sure the chimichurri has an extra garlic clove or two.

Heavenly—like the idea of strolling up the street in Paris with a six pack of wine and a giant baguette, forever immortalized in time. Only, you know, different. g

HESTER CREEK OLD VINE CABERNET FRANC 2019

The bottle promises Old Vine, which in British Columbia means rewinding to 1968, when the vines that provide the foundation for this multilayered Cabernet Franc were first planted in the Okanagan.

Bringing things up to the present, after being handpicked from the Golden Mile Bench’s Block 3 vineyard, grapes for Old Vine Cabernet Franc spent three weeks in Italian Ganimede fermenters, and were then barrel aged in French and American oak for 18 months.

Uncork the bottle, and you get a gentle tug of war between freshly scraped vanilla bean and buttery caramel. From there, dry and earthy are good starting points, with Old Vine Cabernet Franc’s initial flare of acidity giving way to delicate red currant and West Coast huckleberries along with freshly cracked black pepper.

TOWNSHIP 7 MERLOT 2019

Sticking with the Okanagan and wines that make a bold statement, Township 7 goes big with its Provenance Series Merlot, which lands in the glass earthy and spicy, and then swings for the fences with notes of dark plum, ripe cherry, subtle licorice, and top-shelf cocoa. For those who like to know the backstory of what they’re drinking, grapes are picked from Township 7 vineyards in Oliver, Naramata, and Okanagan Falls, and then matured in French and American oak for 18 months.

Full-bodied and tannin-heavy enough to hang in there this weekend with a beautifully marbled rib eye or pulled pork APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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REAL ESTATE

Was West End condo coup a superstitious deal?

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by Carlito Pablo

udging from what it offers, this Vancouver condo suite should sell for top dollar.

The more than 3,000-squarefoot apartment occupies an entire floor at the Presidio, a West End tower designed by famed architect Richard Henriquez.

The 1388–2088 Barclay Street property enjoys 360-degree views of the city and beyond.

There’s a view from all of the three bedrooms (with ensuite), and the building is close to Stanley Park as well as other amenities like shopping.

On April 1 this year, the property sold for $3.5 million. That’s a lot of money, but there seems to be something odd.

For one, the sold price of $3.5 million was much less than its last purchase price.

As per B.C. Assessment, the condo was previously bought on September 23, 2021, for $4,380,000.

Second, the listing price was also below the current valuation of the property.

Again using B.C. Assessment data, the West End condo has a 2022 assessment of $5,442,000.

Yet when it was listed this year, the seller asked for $4,595,000, which is less than the

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

There aren’t a lot of buildings in much of the western world with a 13th storey…

This condo in the West End’s Presidio tower occupies its entire 13th floor, which may have a lot to do with the fact that it recently sold for almost $2 million less than its 2022 assessment.

assessment. The asking price was later reduced to $4,288,000. Then the property was let go for an even lower amount: $3.5 million.

The Straight did not receive a reply when it sought comment from the listing agent.

Now, you may or may not be superstitious, but this condo is associated with the number 13: the property occupies the entire 13th floor of the Presidio.

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

There aren’t a lot of buildings in much of the western world with a 13th storey, because this number is superstitiously linked with bad luck. The extreme fear of this odd number is called triskaidekaphobia.

However, it’s the opposite in other parts of the world.

For example, the number 13 in China is associated with continued or assured

growth, and so it is a lucky number.

To cite another example, a 2021 article published by the Times of India stated that the number 13 is “actually a very lucky number”.

“In fact,” the paper reported, “in India, the 13th day of the lunar fortnight is known to be highly auspicious and is called Triyodashi. It belongs to Lord Shiva and is said to bestow long life, peace and good fortune. A person who fasts on the 13th day becomes liberated from all their past and present sins.”

Fear of the number 13 is said to have biblical origins. In particular, Judas was counted as the 13th guest at the Last Supper, and he was the one who betrayed Jesus Christ.

With 1388–2088 Barclay Street, though, one could say the new owner is a lucky person, given the bargain they recently got. g

HOUSING

Small East Van cottage sells for over $1.5 million

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by Carlito Pablo

he cottage is tucked in at the back of its own lot in East Vancouver, like a laneway house.

But there’s no bigger house in front of it. The small (only 444 square feet) home at 1280 East 33rd Avenue contains a bedroom, a living room that also functions as a dining area, kitchen, and a bath.

It was built in 1944, and there’s a chance it will be replaced with a new development.

This is because the cottage was sold recently for $1,550,000.

The listing for the property noted that the site presents a “great opportunity to build a duplex in a fabulous location”.

The selling price equals $3,491 per square foot of the existing tiny home.

An interesting thing about this sale is that 1280 East 33rd Avenue made more money than the property immediately to the west did when it sold last year. On May 11, 2021, 1260 East 33rd Avenue sold for $1,325,000.

The house at this neighbouring site is 1,630 square feet, which means it’s about three to four times bigger than its diminutive neighbour. Both homes sit on 33-foot lots.

The Straight asked longtime Vancouver realtor David Hutchinson what he thinks regarding the two properties.

A 444-square-foot East Side home became a veritable gold mine this year for the owner.

“Although one house is larger than the other, detached-house sales are mostly based on land value,” Hutchinson said.

He noted that assessed values of both properties are about the same. The property at 1280 East 33rd Avenue has a 2022 assessment of $1,420,900. That’s $1,412,000 for the 33 x 118.5 lot, and $8,900 for the structure.

The property at 1260 East 33rd has a 2022 assessment of $1,469,000. This is broken into $1,409,000 for the 33 x 117.7 lot, and $60,000 for the rancher with basement.

“What a difference a year makes: the

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smaller house sold at a higher price because the market had gone up quite a bit,” Hutchinson said. This property with the larger home sold in 2021 for $1,325,000.

The Sutton Group–West Coast Realty agent also noted that 1280 East 33rd Avenue is the smallest detached house he’s ever run across in Vancouver.

“I don’t know the complete history of the 78-year-old home, and whether it was always that way or the structure at the front of the property was removed at some time,” Hutchinson said. “But in any case, it’s absolutely amazing that a detached house like this even exists in the city.”

Another interesting thing is that 1280 East 33rd Avenue sold on the same day, March 29, 2022, as the property on its east side, 1294 East 33rd Avenue.

That property—which has a 33 x 118 lot and a 2,443-square-foot house with three bedrooms and two baths—sold for $1,750,000. Its 2022 assessment is $1,454,100, which is comparable to the others.

Based on tracking by real-estate site Zealty.ca, the sellers of the three properties have the same listing agency, Stilhavn Real Estate Services. A day after the Straight reported about the cottage sale, listing agent

Laurie Gillis got in touch and shared the story behind 1280 East 33rd Avenue and the two neighbouring properties.

Gillis related that a family lived in the cottage in 1944 and started a garden. “I was told it was a potato field,” Gillis said.

After the birth of a son, the owner built a bigger house on the property’s west side, which eventually became 1260 East 33rd Avenue. Years later, the family built another house on the east side, and this is now 1294 East 33rd Avenue.

“It was a whole family compound, which was kind of neat,” Gillis said.

The son lived at 1260 East 33rd Avenue until his death. The family matriarch stayed at 1294 East 33rd Avenue, and she passed away last year.

Meanwhile, a family friend resided at the cottage at 1280 East 33rd Avenue.

Gillis said that properties were left behind to friends.

The property agent also said that one family bought both 1280 East 33rd Avenue and 1294 East 33rd Avenue on March 29, 2022, where it may build something bigger.

This means that part of the original compound may become a multigenerational residence again. g

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APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

9

HEALTHY LIVING

Church’s yoga seeks to stimulate spiritual selves

M

by Carlito Pablo

any people get into yoga because of its health benefits.

The practice is linked to a lot of positive physical and mental outcomes.

One aspect about the discipline that is often less talked about in the West is its association with spirituality.

Think of spirituality as the search for something sacred beyond the scope of the material world.

A new yoga program by St. Andrew’sWesley United Church in Vancouver hopes to provide greater appreciation of this side of the ancient system.

“We believe in spirituality, and being able to be spiritual in different ways,” said Diane Mitchell, executive director of operations with the West End–based church, in a phone interview with the Straight.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

“It brings us peace,” Mitchell explained.

“And it brings an inner sense of self, and a higher awareness of the world and a higher power, however you want to express that.”

Over at St. Andrew’s-Wesley (100-1022 Nelson Street), visitors can explore their spiritual self through prayer. Or they can do the same by walking the labyrinth that is painted onto the church’s floor.

“You can walk the path that has candles all around it, and you meditate as you walk,” Mitchell said about the circular trail.

“You can chant…And the walk can be as fast or slow as you want it to be.”

Starting Thursday (April 21), visitors will also be able to explore their spiritual being through yoga. Mitchell said that it’s a drop-in program, by donation.

The yoga sessions are from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and will be held every Thursday until June 30. The program will be led by yoga instructor Regina Zhen.

Mitchell recalled that St. Andrew’sWesley wanted to find new ways to meet the needs of the community and for the public to use the church more often.

“And so we came up with offering yoga because it’s a calm place, it’s a beautiful place

St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church offers a yoga drop-in program. Photo by Getty/ersler.

to do yoga, and it’s a bit of quiet in the heart in the city,” the executive director said.

It’s another way for the church to become a part of the spiritual journey of people.

“Some people don’t want to pray but they want to do yoga to be spiritual,” Mitchell said.

“Some people don’t want to do yoga but they want to walk our labyrinth. And then some people want to pray, and so you could do all three of those things. Or you could pick the one that matches what you want to do,” Mitchell added. g

Planted Expo invites vegan women’s business advocate

P

by Charlie Smith

lant-based foods will play a critical role in combatting the global climate crisis. But women who start businesses in the animal-alternatives sector often feel that they don’t receive equal treatment from financiers, according to a report by San Francisco-based Vegan Women Summit.

It surveyed 145 women founders of organizations in the plant-based, food technology, and animal-alternatives industry across six continents in November and December of last year. And 85 percent of them cited gender bias specifically, which was a 23 percent increase over the results from a similar study a year earlier.

“The gender gap in investing is profound across all industries with no exception to the plant-based, food technology and animal alternatives industry,” the report states. “Unfortunately, despite increased investment in the space, gender bias continues to be prevalent and increasing in the industry.”

More than one in three respondents selfidentified as women of colour. Of them, three out of every five surveyed stated that they encountered bias, and almost two in five reported facing racial bias in the fundraising process.

Food-industry activist Jennifer Stojkovic will speak in Vancouver. Photo by Shan Hasan.

The Vegan Women Summit was founded by food-industry activist and former Toronto resident Jennifer Stojkovic. She will be one of several speakers at the Planted Expo Vancouver convention on June 4 and 5. It’s billed by the promoter, PlantedLife.com, as Canada’s largest plant-based event, with more than 200 vegan-based businesses all under one roof at Vancouver Convention Centre West.

Among the other speakers is celebrity chef Chanthy Yen, personal chef to Justin Trudeau. Other speakers at Planted Expo include Seaspiracy director Ali Tabrizi, U.S. ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, dietician and author Vesanto Melina, and Vancouver streetball legend Joel Haywood. g

HEALTHY LIVING

Five eye rejuvenation treatments that work

Vancouver’s 8 West Clinic offers a wide range of nonsurgical and surgical treatments that can restore youth to your eyes

I

(This story is sponsored by 8 West Clinic.)

f you’re trying to maintain a youthful appearance, it’s important that you pay attention to the delicate, paper-thin skin around your eyes. As we age, our skin loses its elasticity, which results in fine lines and wrinkles. But, thankfully, there are several treatments and surgical procedures that can restore and refresh tired eyes.

Vancouver cosmetic surgery and skin clinic 8 West Clinic offers a full spectrum of nonsurgical and surgical treatments that help patients rediscover their confidence.

The clinic is led by dual board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas Buonassisi, who works closely with his team of medical aesthetic professionals.

When it comes to plastic surgery, it’s crucial that you select an experienced surgeon whom you trust will achieve the results you’re looking for. Because Dr. Buonassisi is a subspecialist, he’s able to blend the results to your features, ensuring a natural look for years to come.

“Eyes are one of the first areas of the face our patients often look to rejuvenate as a result of aging and sun damage. They usually feel their eyes look ‘tired’ and reflect ‘less vibrantly’ than they feel inside,” shares Dr. Buonassisi. “If you’re bothered by fine lines and wrinkles, drooping skin, puffiness, bulging fat, volume loss, or hollowness, you could be a candidate for eye rejuvenation.”

With more than 25 years of experience, 8 West Clinic is dedicated to results, ongoing education, gold standard technology, and high-quality skincare products. The knowledgeable and friendly team is always eager to help patients build a treatment regimen that will provide long-lasting results.

Depending on your facial concerns and goals, these five eye rejuvenation treatments can get you looking and feeling your best.

Dr. Thomas Buonassisi and 8 West Clinic’s advanced injector, Lisa Roberge, help a patient regain their confidence.

Blepharoplasty has some of the most high-impact results.

DERMAL FILLERS

Patients are allowed to use makeup to conceal any discolouration around the area after surgery.

Dr. Buonassisi performs upper and lower blepharoplasty surgeries on a weekly basis. 8 West Clinic also offers other services that can further enhance the outcome, including laser skin resurfacing to manage your surgical scars.

If you’re sick of applying a thick layer of concealer under your eyes every morning, dermal fillers can instantly lift and brighten the area by filling in sunken shadows.

Many people rely on dermal fillers, in combination with Botox, to combat fine lines and restore the facial volume loss that occurs with age.

At 8 West Clinic, experienced senior nurse injectors carefully administer filler to restore volume, plump features, and smooth skin.

This nonsurgical procedure offers results that can be noticed immediately after treatment.

LOWER BLEPHAROPLASTY

LASER SKIN RESURFACING

– Dr. Thomas Buonassisi

UPPER BLEPHAROPLASTY

This surgical procedure awakens the eye by removing any excess skin around the eyelid—applying eyeshadow will no longer be a discouraging task. An upper blepharoplasty is suitable for those with hooded eyelids or sagging skin above the eye that causes folds.

During the procedure, a precise incision is made in the upper eyelid and the excess skin is removed. The small scar will be hidden in the natural crease of the eyelid once it’s healed.

“Because the surgery is minimally invasive and done within an hour, most patients can be up and about the next day,” says Dr. Buonassisi. “However, some patients do opt to take a few weeks off of work to let the sutures dissolve and for any bruising or swelling to improve.”

a small incision inside the lower eyelid or along the lower lash line, reducing puffiness without leaving any scarring.

“Blepharoplasty has some of the most high-impact results,” he reveals. “It’s easy, has low downtime, and creates a visible, rejuvenated difference.”

The lower blepharoplasty removes excess or herniated skin from underneath your eyes, noticeably reducing any puffiness and dark circles. In this surgical procedure, bulging fat and sometimes skin or muscle are carefully removed through

Laser skin resurfacing is suitable for men and women who are bothered by the natural loss of collagen and elastin that comes with aging, causing concerns like crepiness and fine lines around their eyes.

The nonsurgical treatment uses short,

concentrated beams of light to smooth and restore delicate skin.

Patients who undergo laser skin resurfacing with treatments like the Erbium:YAG Contour TRL will receive a treatment that’s customized for their skin and desired outcome. 8 West Clinic’s skilled laser technicians use highly customizable lasers to deeply penetrate and resurface the skin while simultaneously stimulating collagen for firmer, smoother skin.

Most patients who have deep skin resurfacing will take five to seven days off work and limit social activities for one to two weeks.

BOTOX

This nonsurgical treatment is an incredibly easy way to enhance your natural beauty.

At your appointment, a senior nurse injector will inject Botox around the corners of your eyes. By relaxing these muscles, crow’s feet become much less visible.

You’ll see results within five to 14 days after treatment and results will last for three to four months. g The team at 8 West Clinic offers complimentary medical aesthetic consultations and complimentary pre-consultations with surgical patient care managers. To book a consultation, visit www.8west.ca/contactus/.

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

11

ARTS

Mosaic artist delivers dignity to Mary Magdalene

I

by Charlie Smith

n popular culture, Mary Magdalene has often been portrayed as a former prostitute—a fallen woman who only found redemption when she became a close disciple of Jesus Christ. Naturally, this piqued the interest of Vancouver artist Lilian Broca, who has been researching the lives of courageous female biblical figures for the past 30 years.

In 2000, she created images for a book project with Joy Kogawa, entitled A Song of Lilith. Broca went on to create large-scale mosaic art projects around two other women in the Old Testament, Esther and Judith. Now her third mosaic project on a major biblical figure, Mary Magdalene, is on display at the Italian Cultural Centre.

“Unlike my former heroines yet equally courageous, loyal and determined, Mary Magdalene survived not only fierce enemies wishing her harm, once Jesus died on the cross, but also the ensuing 2,000 years of denigration, defamation, and vilification,” Broca declared in a statement.

Each of the two-metre mosaics of Mary Magdalene at the Italian Cultural Centre includes handwritten and illustrated scripture manuscripts using seven

Lilian Broca’s depictions of Mary Magdalene are on display at the Italian Cultural Centre.

ancient languages spoken during her life. They were created from luminous Venetian smalto glass, which is opaque.

“Through the manipulation of that light in my narrative series, I am able to create works that possess both intellectual content and a dynamic, living quality,” Broca stated.

Born in Romania and raised in Montreal, Broca was a painter for many years.

She saw her first mosaic—a work of art on the floor in an archaeological dig—at the age of 12. She was mesmerized at the time, but she only began creating mosaic art in 2002 with her Esther series.

“I noticed that for the last two millennia, mosaics have been the favourite medium for celebrating masculine achievements in politics, in the military, and in commerce,” she stated. “Usually these mosaics were created in monumental sizes and we still see examples today, like Alexander the Great’s military campaign mosaic found in Pompeii.

“Conversely, when it came to women, this was not the case, the female iconography being that of deities and mythological female figures,” she continued. “It is for this reason that I chose the mosaic medium and the monumental sizes to represent my heroines, my protagonists.”

She hopes that by depicting great

female figures, such as Mary Magdalene, in this ancient and monumental art form, they will be accorded the same level of dignity and respect as their male counterparts.

“Throughout history, the way ancient women’s stories have been recorded and imparted have greatly affected the way women have been perceived and valued in cultural and social climates of later generations,” Broca explained. “My intent was and still is, to restore through my art, the high social status and feminine power she possessed during her life with Jesus by her side. I hope that this series offers new ways to perceive the hugely influential relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene as well as reassess what happened to that relationship as written by the male founders of Christianity. Also, I am hoping my mosaics and drawings will offer strong reasons to motivate viewers to re-examine this critical episode in human history.” g Lilian Broca: Mary Magdalene Resurrected is being exhibited at the Italian Cultural Centre from Monday to Saturday until August 15 as part of Il Centro’s Save Venice project.

SHAUN MAJUMDER The Love Tour Check out the Georgia Straight’s upcoming issue on MAY 26, 2022 and discover our readers favourite places to eat, drink and hang out.

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APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

735 Eighth Ave, New Westminster

masseytheatre.com

ARTS

Shot of Scotch blazes new path with Culloden tale

by Charlie Smith

is seen at competitions or very specific Scottish events, like the Highland Games or Celtic Fest, for example.

“It’s a very virtuosic and powerful dance form,” she continues. “It’s very heavily structured with a very rigid technique.

And dancers train from a very young age on a set number of traditional dances. The aim is for perfection.”

Nase’s family history adds another intriguing dynamic: she’s not purely of Scottish heritage. She’s actually a mix of Scottish, Irish, English, and a little bit of German heritage. It raises questions of what role her family history played in the Battle of Culloden.

“I know that I have MacDonalds in my Highland dance troupe Shot of Scotch is drawing on the Battle of Culloden for its first full-length production while retaining the integrity of the traditional artform. Photo by Shannon Cressey.

O

ne of the defining moments in Canadian colonial history was the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, when British troops under General James Wolfe defeated the French in 1759. It led to the surrender of Quebec and historical grievances that continue in that province to this very day.

The Scottish equivalent was the Battle of Culloden in 1746, when the British government force put down the Jacobite army, led by Charles Edward Stuart. This war had far-reaching ramifications in the U.K. and Canada, according to Susan Nase, one of the founders of the Shot of Scotch highland dance troupe.

“The Battle of Culloden ended, and the English really made an effort to stop any future uprisings from happening,” Nase tells the Straight by phone. “They banned the wearing of the kilt. They banned the Gaelic language. There were a lot of atrocities that happened over the next decade as they then cleared the land and forcibly removed many of the Highlanders and put them on ships to the colonies. That’s how some of our ancestors may have arrived here in Canada.”

Once they arrived, they were part of another side of British imperialism: seizing land and resources from Indigenous people.

“So it made us complicit in the colonial system to this day,” Nase continues. “So it brings up a lot of questions and reflections.”

Moreover, the Battle of Culloden continues having an impact in Britain, fuelling the Scottish independence movement.

In 2014, 44.7 percent of Scots voted yes in an independence referendum. That, too, was an echo of the Canadian experience.

More recently, Scotland voted 62 percent to remain in the European Union, which stood in sharp contrast to the 53.4 percent in England who voted to leave.

Shot of Scotch, which was launched in

Vancouver in 2013, is turning this legacy of the Battle of Culloden into the first fulllength traditional Highland dance production in the world. Nase has spent two years as the choreographer and director of this work in progress, Wilt Thou Go, which will be presented at the Scotiabank Dance Centre on April 29. It’s one of many live and online free events that the Dance Centre is offering on International Dance Day. She describes Wilt Thou Go as an investigation of the humanity and the depth of Highland dancing and how that relates to Brexit and living on unceded lands in Canada.

“It’s been challenging on the dance side because my dancers are such beautifully trained, competitive, powerful Highland dancers,” Nase says. “Working on finding ways that we can express human emotion outside of the limits of Highland dancing has been a real journey for us.”

They’re seeking authenticity without feeling that they have to become actors or contemporary dancers. To Nase, that means finding ways in their vocabulary to shift the quality of movement. In addition, she’s incorporating other aspects of music or lighting or projection to help carry the story forward in a way that retains the integrity of the Highland dance training that they all have.

The dancers are Shannon Cressey, Katelyn Currie, Lindsay Ellis, Crystal Greentree, Megan Hall, Meghan Pike, Erin Robertson, and Danielle Senyk, with music by Tim Fanning, Robyn Carrigan, Stephanie Cadman, and Sandy Marshall. Itai Erdal is doing the lighting design with Cande Andrade and Jennifer Stewart in charge of projection design.

“Highland dancing is not well known to the public,” Nase notes. “One of the reasons is because it’s a highly competitive dance form. So, generally, Highland dance

family, which is a Highland clan, so it’s very likely there were MacDonalds involved in this,” Nase says. “I also know I had family in England and in the Lowlands of Scotland.

“In the Battle of Culloden, there were many people involved,” she adds. “It was not just Scots versus English. Sometimes it was Scots versus Scots and English on both sides. There were French involved as well as Irish. There is a lot of uncertainty in the truth of these historical events.” g As part of International Dance Day, the Dance Centre will present Shot of Scotch’s work in progress, Wilt Thou Go, in the Faris Family Studio of the Scotiabank Dance Centre on April 29. Admission is free but advance registration is recommended.

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APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

13

ARTS

An eye invites youths into The Wait List Experiment

T

by Charlie Smith

he set on Some Assembly Theatre Company’s newest production, The Wait List Experiment, is certainly an attention grabber. At the centre of the stage is a 10-metre by fivemetre eye that leads into a labyrinth made up of nine panels.

The giant eye overlooks eight youths—all on wait lists to see therapists—who’ve been recommended for an experimental peersupport program to cope with the pandemic.

“This eye ends up pulling in the youth when they’re ready to face their fears,” playwright and director Valerie Methot tells the Straight by phone.

The audience hears the voice of a program facilitator named Iris, but it’s not clear where she is.

“This experimental pandemic peer-support program takes place in an eye because one’s eyes have to be open in order to access any kind of optimism,” Methot says.

She created the Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group project in 2002 as the artist-in-residence at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre.

“We get to have this amazing space that’s accessible and we get to use it free of charge because it is an artist-in-resi-

We did drawing exercises, so there’s a lot of artistry going on here.

– playwright and director Valerie Methot

Some Assembly Theatre Company establishes “meeting agreements” before all of its shows so it can create a safe space for the young participants, such as Mitch Broome and Fox Hunt.

dence project,” she says.

Methot recalls that when she first began doing this work, she was amazed by the number of youths who wanted to participate in works that also involve professional artists. She quickly learned that they were not interested in working on plays typically

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produced in their schools, including the works of William Shakespeare.

“A lot of these youths were newcomers to Canada,” Methot says. “And it was really eye-opening to me what their struggles were.”

For more than two decades now, she’s

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The Imitation Game: Visual Culture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence is organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Bruce Grenville, Senior Curator and Glenn Entis, Guest Curator Scott Eaton, Entangled II, 2019, 4k video (still), Courtesy of the Artist

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

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been doing annual call-outs. This year’s group ranges in age from 12 to 21 and includes some who’ve worked on projects in previous years.

At the beginning of every production, she creates a “meeting agreement” to establish a safe space for all participants.

“We always do a warm-up at the beginning,” Methot says. “We acknowledge the land we stand on, we acknowledge each other, and we do empathy exercises. So it’s all about being seen and being heard with respectful boundaries.”

In early workshops, the youths discussed the pressures that they faced trying to envision their future in the midst of a pandemic. “So I knew that this would be very important content to tackle,” Methot says.

The youths also educated her about “toxic positivity”, which is when optimism is not rooted in reality.

This year’s production of The Wait List Experiment includes masks designed by Melody Anderson. Her false faces have been used in more than 50 productions, including The Number 14. The show’s movement director and physical dramaturge is professional theatre artist Susan Bertoia, whom Methot described as an “amazing artist”.

The idea for the eye came from visual artist Joe Baker, who worked on it with Duane Murrin, both of whom share a setdesigner credit with Methot.

There are 11 youths credited as writers, actors, musicians, or designers: Hiraeth Campbell, Fox Hunt, Mitch Broome, Ciara Wilkinson, Nghi Nguyen, Ayden Ramzan, Lily Truesdell, Fiona Jenkins, Isobel Galsworthy, Tiffany Adams, and Ari Brewer.

Even though The Wait List Experiment deals with a heavy subject—mental health and addiction—Methot emphasizes that there is a lot of joy on the set and promises that the show will be “super entertaining”.

“The masks are really helping that out,” she noted. “So is the movement. A lot of the youth are getting involved in the visual design. We did drawing exercises, so there’s a lot of artistry going on here.” g Some Assembly Theatre Company presents The Wait List Experiment at Roundhouse Performance Centre at 7:30 p.m. on April 29 and 30 and at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for school groups on May 2 and 3.

Admission is free.

MOVIES

Barring a miracle, Black Dog Video is closing shop

A

by Mike Usinger

fter outlasting one-time behemoth Blockbuster by almost a decade, Black Dog Video has announced that it’s closing for good.

First opening its doors in the mid-’90s on Cambie, the Vancouver institution has operated on Commercial Drive since 2005.

In a newsletter to customers, owner Darren Gay said the decision was one of the hardest of his life. Citing spiralling operating costs combined with the convenience of renting movies on streaming services, he called the closure something that was a long time coming.

“It’s finally time to rip that band-aid off and pull the trigger so to speak,” Gay wrote. “Business has been on a decline for years while costs–rent, etc–have steadily risen. We just can’t feasibly stay open any longer. We lost the war to, what I call, the ‘convenience of mediocrity’ that is streaming et al.”

He continued with: “Unless some kind of miracle comes along–maybe a wealthy benefactor takes us under their wing or a long-lost relative wills me their fortune (yes, I’m willing to spend a night in a haunted house!)—then we will be closing our doors come the end of June (tenta-

A Vancouver institution since the mid-’90s, Black Dog Video has been the place to go for not only new Hollywood movies but cult classics that aren’t available on streaming services.

tive date as I’m on the hook with my lease until February).”

Black Dog Video carried the latest

Hollywood blockbusters and critically acclaimed indie films, but the real greatness of the store was its collection of films that

aren’t available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Crave, or Apple TV. After striking out everywhere on the digital front, Black Dog was where you could find David Lynch’s Wild At Heart, Julien Temple’s The Filth and the Fury, and the ’70s car-chase classic Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry.

But being a go-to destination for hardto-find films wasn’t enough to pay the bills at Black Dog. “It breaks my (and the staff’s) hearts to have to do this as I’ve loved this job and feel damn lucky and privileged to have been able to bring the world of cinema to Vancouver for so long,” Gay said. “It’s going to be a difficult next few months.

I want to thank all of you who came through our doors over the years and especially the ones who stuck with us till the end—a proper eulogy is still to come.

Dark days indeed.”

Black Dog is currently pricing stock for sale to the public, with that date likely to be May 22. In the meantime the store remains not only open but a great place to find Illustrious Corpses, Mill of the Stone Women, and Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge. g

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

15

MOVIES

Crazy8s director depicts lost culture with horror

by Steve Newton

Raine Mateo stars as Mana in the Maple Ridge-shot horror fantasy “The Faraway Place”, one of six short films completed in only eight days as part of the annual Crazy8s film competition.

Indigenous writer-director Kenny Welsh once spent eight months in Dawson City, where he indulged his passion for scary movies by renting as many horror films as he possibly could.

efore he moved to Vancouver to study film at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Yukon native Kenny Welsh spent eight months in Dawson City. Lucky for him, the old home of the Klondike Gold Rush had a little video rental store where he could score himself 10 movies for around 15 bucks.

“They had a really huge horror-movies selection,” Welsh recalls on the phone from RealWorld Media, the local film production company where he works as an editor, “so most of the time there I just spent watching horror movies all day.”

Welsh’s fondness for scary flicks can be easily ascertained by viewing his short film “The Faraway Place”. One of the six finalists in this year’s Crazy8s competition, it’s a horror fantasy that depicts two people, a young woman and her father, being chased in the woods by red-cloaked villains. The reason they’re being hunted is because they both have horns protruding from their foreheads.

“I wanted to make this film as a metaphor/corepresentation of colonialism,” Welsh says, “because I’m Indigenous, but I didn’t grow up with any of the culture, mostly because my grandparents had gone to residential schools and the culture was lost. And so the horns signify that connection to the culture, and the villains in the film are like a cult, and one of the things they do is to remove the horns to remove that identity from them.

“So with ‘The Faraway Place’ I wanted to get a better understanding of how that culture was lost,” he stresses, “and just tell

“Emily Carr wasn’t incredibly focused on the technical aspects of making film,” he points out. “It was more the theory behind it and the history and culture behind film. How to tell stories. I think that really helped shape how I came up with the concept of ‘The Faraway Place’ and what I wanted to say with it.”

It was while enrolled at Emily Carr that Welsh became aware of Crazy8s, an eight-day filmmaking challenge that provides funding and support to emerging filmmakers to help them produce a short film. On May 7 at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, Welsh’s work will be screened along with others directed by Stephanie Izsak (“Consumer”), Shakil Jessa (“Imran and Alykhan”), Alireza Kazemipour (“The Gold Teeth”), Derek MacDonald (“Undeveloped”), and Kay Shioma Metchie (“Weeds are Flowers, Too”.)

Welsh says the biggest challenge in finishing his film in eight days came when the original lead actor wasn’t able to make the shoot on the second day, so they had to reshoot everything from the first day. But he also feels like the best thing about “The Faraway Place” was the acting, especially that of Raine Mateo, who took over the lead role of Mana.

“She was originally cast in one of those side-villain roles,” Welsh notes, “and then because of the issue with the lead actress leaving the film, her coming in on the second day and pulling it off, doing such a good job of it, I was very impressed with that. But all the actors were amazing.”

B

16

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

I wanted to make this film as a metaphor…of colonialism.

– director Kenny Welsh

the story of that. And then from here on, as I grow and learn more about the culture, I plan on telling more stories about it as well.”

In 2014, while attending Yukon College (now Yukon University) in Whitehorse, Welsh met fellow filmmaker PoChun Chen, and they’ve been together ever since.

Chen produced “The Faraway Place” and also directed “Fish”, a gruesome threeminute horror film for which Welsh served as director of photography and sound designer. It took third place at the 2019 Artlist Horror Film Contest.

“That was a project that was really last minute,” he says. “We heard about this contest from a friend of ours and we were like, ‘Okay, let’s get one of our friends to act in it and we’ll just shoot it over the weekend and edit it and then submit it.’ And then, surprisingly, we ended up in third place.”

In the spring of 2020 four years of studies paid off for Welsh when he graduated from Emily Carr with a bachelor’s degree in film and screen arts.

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

Growing up surrounded by forest in a small Yukon town, Welsh developed a love for the outdoors and the stark beauty of nature. Filming “The Faraway Place” at the BCIT Forest Society Woodlot 0007 in Maple Ridge made him feel right at home\—although maybe not quite as cold.

“I wanted nature to play a big role in the film and in the production side of it as well,” he says. “I wanted to make sure while we were there interacting with nature that everyone was respectful of it.”

When he isn’t busy telling stories through film, Welsh also makes music on the side, recording under the moniker Eat Your Friends.

“I kind of bounce around everywhere,” he says of his musical style. “I started way back doing metal, then I kinda transitioned into electronic music for a while, then hiphop, and now kinda back into metal again— but combining it with hip-hop.”

Welsh is currently developing a pitch for Vancouver Film Studios’ Indigenous Film Bursary, which is open to all Indigenous people aged 16 and over in B.C. and includes $5,000 to make a film as well as lighting and grip equipment from Pacific Backlot and soundstage space at VFS. He also has big plans—and high hopes—for “The Faraway Place”, whether it takes the top prize at Crazy8s or not.

“I’m actually in the middle of writing the feature-length script for it right now,” he says. g The Crazy8s gala screening and afterparty takes place May 7 at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts .

MUSIC / SAVAGE LOVE

“Nervous Breakdown” gets a sex-bomb reworking

N

by Mike Usinger

ever try and top a classic by playing things straight up.

Think about that for a second.

No one gives a shit about Slayer’s note-for-note recreation of Minor Threat’s “Guilty of Being White”. Or Guns N’ Roses’ carbon copy of Fear’s “I Don’t Care About You”. Or the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ failed attempt to outmuscle the Stooges with “Search and Destroy”.

Looking, meanwhile, for examples of covers that pay homage to the originals while adding something new to the conversation? Consider Sonic Youth’s space-drugs makeover of the Carpenters’ “Superstar”, the Bangles’ thrashy retooling of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter”, and the Flying Lizards’ fabulously fucked up riff on the Motown banger “Money (That’s What I Want)”.

Pink Mountaintops clearly understands that there’s no point trying to outanger Black Flag on “Wasted”, so the band doesn’t even try. Instead of raw-power fury and flying-snot insanity, project leader Stephen McBean reimagines the first-wave hardcore detonator and panty-removal music for Berlin art-school graduates.

In an approach that’s more punk than what was considered punk, “Wasted” seriously swings with post-paisley under-

Pink Mountaintops clearly understands there’s no point trying to out-anger Black Flag.

Pink Mountaintops’ singer and frontman Stephen McBean gives the number-one charades answer to the question, “What’s the last thing you want to see when visiting the proctologist?”

ground guitar, a vintage Krautrock drum beat, cloud-drift synths, and a vocal approach that drips sex.

As great as the song is, the video is somehow even better, that having everything to do with guest appearances by living L.A. legend Steven McDonald of Redd Kross and Off!, Death Valley coconspir-

ator and classically trained violinist Laena Myers-Ionita, and long-time McBean associate Joshua Wells of Black Mountain and Lightning Dust fame.

How great is Pink Mountaintops’ take on “Nervous Breakdown”? Rather than take our word on things, consider what no less than American punk icon Keith Morris has

to say about the cover. While Morris’s day jobs include fronting both Off! and the Circle Jerks, he’s also the man on the mike for Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown”. Which makes him the most qualified person not named Greg Ginn to weigh in.

“Great job,” Morris has raved, “taking a song that’s been beaten to death by numerous punker dunkers and turning it into your own song! BRAVO!!!!”

The key words there: “your own song.”

Kind of like what Therapy did with Hüsker Dü’s “Diane”, D.O.A. pulled off with Edwin Starr’s “War”, and Johnny Cash struck black gold with with his version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”.

And what Puddle of Mudd’s note-fornote cover of Nirvana’s “About a Girl” totally fucking didn’t. Dear God, people, why would you play things straight up? g

Storage-nights bondage is safe with right steps

by Dan Savage

b I’M A MARRIED gay man. I’m nervous about sending this question and my husband is afraid you might answer it.

I’m a fairly vanilla guy, while my husband is into bondage. We’ve been able to make it work because he’s into a kind of bondage he calls “storage”. On “storage nights”, I put him in bondage and play video games while he “suffers”.

So far, so good. But I worry about accidentally killing him. Most often I put him in his sleep sack—picture a leather sleeping bag you can’t get out of—which is strapped to a bondage board on the floor by our couch. I play video games for a few hours with my feet up on him. Every half-hour, I tighten the straps. Toward the end of the night, the straps are so tight he can’t move or even take a deep breath. If he doesn’t complain or ask to get out, he’s rewarded with a hand job when I’m done. We do this about twice a week. (We also have a leather straitjacket, but we use it a lot less often.)

I’m worried that he’s going to have an embolism or something because of the straps.

Some go over him and around the board, pressing him down to the board, others go around his body and cinch in. The straps aren’t tight at first. But for the last hour,

Encasing a loved one in a leather sleeping bag isn’t risk-free, but if you observe some basic rules—including having a safeword or other verbal sign or gesture—everything should be okay.

they’re fairly tight, and for the last 20 or 30 minutes, they’re almost unbearably tight.

I never leave him alone. If it matters, he’s in his 40s, in great shape, normal blood pressure, et cetera. He didn’t want me to write, because he doesn’t want to find out it’s dangerous and have to stop.

For the same reason, he doesn’t want to ask his doctor.

We’ve been doing this for 10 years and I haven’t killed him yet. Is there a chance I might? Can you ask a doc for me?

- Seeking Advice Concerning Kinky Dangers

PS It feels crazy to say this, but “storage nights” are special couple time for us and an important part of our intimacy. I don’t want to give them up any more than he does. and restraint raises a few concerns,” said Dr. Seth Trueger and Dr. Ryan Marino, both doctors who specialize in emergency medical care.

(They read your question and shared their thoughts in an email they composed

“Hours-long bondage

together.) “First, however long you’re tying someone up, having some sort of safeword or action-equivalent alarm system of some kind seems prudent.”

If your husband is gagged when you store him, SACKD, a one-two-three pattern of grunts can be used in place of a safeword.

“For a mix of reasons, restraining people prone—on their belly—can be particularly dangerous,” said the docs. “We know this from both patient safety research and examples from law enforcement. That doesn’t mean tying people up on their backs is always safe, but tying someone down on their belly is worse. There’s also a known link between unexpected deaths and compromising the airway and breathing.”

So, don’t strap your husband face-down on your bondage board, don’t put anything around his neck or otherwise restrict his air intake, and if you haven’t already agreed on a safeword and/or safe grunt and/or safe gesture, settle on one and/or all now.

“Another potential risk from tight restraints would be muscle breakdown potentially causing kidney damage and electrolyte issues (rhabdomyolysis),” said the docs, “so platitudes like ‘stay hydrated’, i.e.,

APRIL 21 – 28 / 2022

see next page

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

17

from previous page

drink plenty of water before and after, is reasonable advice. And physical restraint plus ‘chemical restraint’, i.e., sedation or intoxication, is a much more dangerous combination, so it’s probably safer to avoid anything like alcohol [when you play].”

It doesn’t sound like you’re doing rope bondage, SACKD, since sleep sacks and straitjackets designed for BDSM play are usually secured with leather straps, not ropes. But Trueger and Marino urge ropebondage fans to use quick-release knots.

“If things go south, it’s easy for anyone to get flustered or start to panic, which does not make untying tight knots any easier,” added the docs. Safe and sane bondage tops know to keep a sturdy pair of safety scissors nearby for the same reasons.

As for your concerns about leather straps causing a potentially life-threatening pulmonary embolism…

“There is going to be some level of risk with immobility and restraint with things like blood clots,” said the docs, and blood clots can cause an embolisms, and embolisms can kill.

“But it’s doubtful that using straps instead of ropes would make a difference as far as clot/ embolism risk, or that a short period of extra tightening—30 minutes—would be riskier for

clots or an embolism or anything other than bruising or other soft tissue injury from direct pressure.”

Long airline flights famously present a risk for embolism—all that time spent sitting on your ass—but flights of less than three hours “don’t raise the risk substantially”, said the docs, “and using straps has the added benefit of being a bit more straightforward to release in a pinch.”

Be aware of the risks, and you don’t have to give up your storage nights.

“The way our brains work, we get lulled into feeling safe when we do risky things a lot,” Trueger and Marino said. “So it’s important to not get comfortable and then get lax because nothing has gone wrong before. Figure out good safety rules and stick to them. And pay special attention during times of escalation.”

So, when you’ve pulled the straps so tight your husband can barely move—during that last half-hour—you should put the game pad down, SACKD, turn off the TV, and focus all your attention on your poor, miserable, suffering-just-the-way-he-likes-to-suffer bondage freak of a husband.

Follow Dr. Seth Trueger on Twitter @ MDaware. Follow Dr. Ryan Marino on Twitter @RyanMarino.

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b I’M A 59-YEAR-OLD, cis, het, kinky Dominant woman. I’ve been in the D/s lifestyle for about 10 years. Last year, a younger man found me on Fetlife. We messaged and met for coffee. I was impressed with his maturity and self-awareness. We’ve had a wonderful time meeting about every two weeks to play and explore. During that time, we discovered that he really loves pegging. I’ve pegged him several times, and he’s told me he’s slightly addicted to the incredible orgasm he receives when being pegged.

One of our D/s rules is that he always has to ask permission to come. No matter what we’re doing, he must ask. And he always has.

However, the last time I pegged him with my vibrating dildo, I realized he was coming without permission. I said, “Bad boy, you didn’t ask permission!” He was stunned and responded, “What? Am I?” and then shot an even bigger load. We were talking afterwards, and he swears he didn’t know he was coming until I said something. He says he didn’t feel like was coming until a good five seconds later.

Could this be due to prostate stimulation?

I’ve never been particularly successful with prostate milking with other subs, so I don’t know. I have no concern that he disregarded our rules. He’s never been a brat in our dynamic. I’ve had other subs lose it without

asking and apologize profusely while they’re coming. (Which, I have to admit, I kind of love.) Any insight here?

- My Inexperienced Sub Toy’s Recent Ejaculation Somewhat Suss

may have finally done it—you may have milked a man’s prostate—but here’s how you can tell for sure: did that first wave of cum drool out of his dick?

Prolonged stimulation of the prostate gland can sometimes cause the prostate to release seminal fluid. But without the contractions that accompany an orgasm, “milked” seminal fluids don’t shoot out; they ooze out.

If your sub was already leaking pre-ejaculate, the release of seminal fluids from his milked prostate wouldn’t feel like an orgasm but like a big release of pre-ejaculate. It wasn’t until the orgasmic contractions kicked in and he started shooting that he could feel himself climaxing. And since the prostate gland produces only 30 percent of seminal fluid released in a typical orgasm, he still had plenty left to shoot when those orgasmic contractions kicked in. g

Congrats, MISTRESS, you

Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. Email: questions@savagelove.net. Listen to Dan on the Savage Lovecast. podcasts and more at savage.love.

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