The Georgia Straight - Dana Gould - May 19, 2022 by The Georgia Straight

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022 | FREE

Volume 56 | Number 2831

HOME PRICES

West Side retains value

YELLOW FEVER

Rick Shiomi’s pioneering play

DANA GOULD For this JFL Vancouver performer, an early love of George Carlin led to comedy gold via standup, Stiller, and The Simpsons

DOXA AWARDS • HIKES FOR KIDS • ANDREA JIN’S JUNO • FREYSEXUALITY

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CONTENTS

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Dana Gould turned an early love of George Carlin into an enviable career doing standup and writing comedy.

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REAL ESTATE

Even though sales are slowing on Vancouver’s West Side, there has still not been any decline in the median price of a home in that part of town. By Carlito Pablo

MOVIES

The DOXA Documentary Film Festival’s awards have gone to films about child brides, queer youth, amnesia in the Sahara, and the overdose crisis. By Charlie Smith

e Start Here 12 ARTS 16 CANNABIS 15 CONFESSIONS 5 ENVIRONMENT 8 FOOD 16 JUNOS 6 HEALTH 15 MUSIC 7 OUTSIDE 17 SAVAGE LOVE 10 THEATRE 13 VISUAL ARTS e Listings 14 ARTS

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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

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e Online TOP 5

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

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Four-car collision on Granville leaves one person dead, two with injuries. Albert Huang and Peter Waldkirch: Council should strengthen Broadway Plan. A geeky scientific paper and the biggest B.C. scandal of the year. 45 things to do in Metro Vancouver this week, May 16 to 20. Simu Liu comes to Vancouver on his We Were Dreamers tour. @GeorgiaStraight

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REAL ESTATE

West Side homes can retain Report suggests summer value even with slower sales might bring balanced market

by Carlito Pablo

he median price of detached homes on the East Side of Vancouver has started to soften amid declining sales. The number of sales is also falling on the wealthier West Side of the city, but the median price is not only holding up, it is going up. While the median price of East Side detached homes dipped 1.4 percent in April 2022 compared to March this year, the same measure for a single-family residence on the West Side rose 7.6 percent. In April this year, the median price of a West Side home increased to $3,768,000 from the previous monthly level of $3.5 million. Median price is the middle point in a list of prices. Rising median prices indicate that property prices are on the rise. If the median price is moving up, that’s a sign that a market is hot. Vancouver realtor David Hutchinson is currently looking for a West Side home for a client. Last year, Hutchinson sold that client’s home in West Vancouver for $3,150,000; the seller wants to eventually settle in a new place in Kitsilano. “The West Vancouver property was very spacious, and it has amazing ocean and sunset views, but Kitsilano is more central for his lifestyle,” Hutchinson told the Straight. It’s often said that real estate is all about location. For Hutchinson, that explains the durability of the housing market on the West Side. “The West Side of Vancouver is a very resilient market due to its convenience, proximity to beaches, shopping, good schools, and it’s also close to downtown Vancouver and local ski hills,” Hutchinson said.

here may be more to this summer than the usual sun, sea, and sand. For prospective buyers of homes in Metro Vancouver, it could mean the arrival of a balanced housing market. A recent report by real-estate marketing firm rennie suggests it’s possible. “Maybe—just maybe—we’ll find ourselves with balanced market conditions just in time for summer,” states the rennie review that came out May 11. A balanced market means that sellers and buyers are on equal footing. This means a sales-to-listings ratio of between 12 percent and 20 percent. To explain, a ratio lower than 12 indicates that there aren’t many buyers. A figure above 20 suggests that a lot of purchasers are competing for properties and sellers are in control. A balanced market may not come this summer, but there are signs that should give some hope for potential buyers. “The early returns for May are showing moderate sales counts, similar to those in April, as inventory continues to expand,” the rennie report stated. How did April 2022 look in the markets covered by the real-estate boards of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley? The rennie review said that sales from both regions last month totalled 4,826, a 30 percent drop from March, and 38 percent below April 2021. “Having noted this, we’d be remiss if we didn’t also point out that both March 2022 and April 2021 posted atypically-high sales totals; indeed, compared to the pastdecade April average, last month’s sales

LANGLEY

Rennie & Associates listed this West 11th house for $3,698,000. It sold for $3,850,000 on May 3.

The Sutton Group–West Coast Realty agent noted that the West Side has “long been a unique and desirable neighbourhood. It’s a very popular location for buyers, including those from various other countries. “The large, distinctive homes attract a wide variety of buyers seeking the privacy and exclusivity of West Side neighbourhoods such as West Point Grey and Shaughnessy,” he continued. “West Side homes really hold their value.” It’s typical in many real estate markets for prices to go up and down in a cycle, but that, generally, does not apply to Vancouver real estate on the West Side. “The West Side is a relatively sheltered market,” Hutchinson said. With the arrival of the Broadway subway, those locations will become even more desirable, the realtor noted. The number of detached homes sold on the West Side of Vancouver fell from 124 in March 2022 to 93 in April, marking a 25 percent drop. g

LANGLEY

NORTH VANCOUVER

This home at 3289 West 36th was listed for $4,800,00. It sold the next day for $4,380,000.

only came in 1% lower.” Meanwhile, new home listings are rising. “It was the fourth consecutive monthly increase in supply, though inventory remains relatively constrained overall: the 13,475 homes for sale at the end of April are still 14% below April 2021’s level, and 25% below the past 10-year April average.” As well, the sales-to-listings ratio dropped to 36 percent in April from 59 percent in March. This means that the “market is still tilted in favour of sellers”. However, “conditions have markedly improved for buyers insofar as having a greater range of housing options to choose from”. “It can be said, then, that market conditions have shifted—moderated, more pointedly,” the rennie review stated. g

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ENVIRONMENT

Green living is really good for you—and the planet by David Suzuki

green behaviours such as carrying reusable tote bags because they could be perceived as “too feminine”. It doesn’t have to be that way. Diverse communities in all socioeconomic circumstances have long traditions of practising sustainable lifestyles for economic, cultural and survival reasons. And to overcome environmental crises, we all have to contribute. We can learn from each other, and the beauty and strength diversity brings is not just theoretical; it’s proven by science. As humans, we must embrace diversity—in our families, organizations, and communities. It’s important to push for changes to the institutional and societal structures and

beliefs fuelling the climate, biodiversity, pollution, and other environmental crises, and the changes we make in our individual lives signify support for those large-scale shifts needed to protect nature’s diversity and the well-being of all life. They can also get us to question our values, an important step in a world where wealth and unbridled consumerism are often prioritized. Live green. You’ll feel better for it. Let’s all be part of the solution! g David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and cofounder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from foundation senior writer and editor Ian Hanington. Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.

Taking personal action is an excellent way to embark on the road to a sustainable future and a good way to begin is by planting a pollinator garden. Photo by Kopph/Wikimedia Commons.

t’s hard not to despair over the state of the world, but one well-known, proven antidote is action. And though what you do every day to avoid environmental damage may seem small and ineffectual—especially if you feel no one else is doing anything—know you’re not alone. Green living is coming onstream faster than ever before, and many people taking many actions add up to a world of difference. Of course, confronting major issues like climate disruption, pollution, and species extinction requires top-down actions from governments, industry, and societal institutions, but each of us can contribute to the tidal wave of change the planet needs. After all, humanity’s utter interdependence with nature means that how we treat our surroundings affects us all. Personal action is a great entry point into making the world a better place. With good information, anyone can make informed choices and adopt sustainable practices. Mindfully considering your habits and their effects on nature can also help you develop a deeper understanding of complex challenges our species faces. Linking environmental issues to everyday activities makes environmentalism easy, accessible, and tangible. And simple steps like walking, cycling, or taking transit instead of driving—or growing your own food and making your own home cleaners and personal-care products—can save money and improve your health and quality of life. Get out of your car. Plant gardens for butterflies and bees. Take part in climate strikes. All are ways to connect with others, build relationships, and ignite hope—important for mental health. Learning about and practising sustainable habits will also help you more confidently participate in conversations on topics you care about.

It can be a challenge to live sustainably, though. That’s because many of our systems are deliberately designed to promote excessive consumption and waste for the sake of profit and economic growth. Making changes in your life can catalyze deeper involvement in activism—in your community and beyond—to improve those systems. With so much going on in our lives, it can be difficult to know where to start, or find ways to step up our efforts. Joining a local organization is one option, but lots of online resources can also steer you in the right direction. For almost two decades, the David Suzuki Foundation’s Queen of Green program inspired thousands to adopt Earthfriendly habits. Recognizing the need to remove barriers from participating in sustainable lifestyles and to seek input from diverse segments of society to identify solutions, the Foundation recently launched a renewed Living Green program. Growing awareness of social and justice consciousness has brought problems in the eco-lifestyle community to light. It hasn’t always accurately reflected the true cross-section of society and, historically, could be considered sexist, classist, colonial and gendered. Marginalized people and those living in remote or rural communities often face greater barriers to adopting green lifestyles—including lack of safe and sustainable transportation infrastructure, food insecurity, precarious work or housing, income insecurity, affordability of everyday goods, access to green spaces, and environmental racism. Disproportionately shouldering the role of nurturer in households and communities—including workplaces—women are also more likely to champion environmental causes and support sustainable lifestyles. Studies show some men won’t adopt MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

HEALTH

Group complaint alleges COVID-19 disinformation

by Charlie Smith

fair number of well-educated social-media users have repeatedly condemned members of the B.C. press gallery for allegedly shielding the NDP government from criticism over its COVID-19 policies. It happened again last weekend after CityNews reporter Liza Yuzda blocked a former UBC postdoctoral fellow seeking coverage of her group human-rights complaint. Lena Patsa filed her complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal on behalf of a “class of individuals who have been identified as higher-risk for severe COVID-19 based on a variety of factors”. These include age, comorbidities, underlying conditions, current/prior medical history, and eligibility for vaccination. Patsa’s complaint alleges that discrimination has occurred on the basis of physical disability in services and employment, which are prohibited under sections 8 and 13 of the Human Rights Code. She named the Office of the Provincial Health Office, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, the Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, B.C. Children’s Hospital, Providence Healthcare, and the Ministry

The reason I…block quickly is the nastiness is crushing. – CityNews reporter Liza Yuzda

Dr. Bonnie Henry’s public statements are at the centre of a B.C. human-rights complaint.

of Health as respondents. In her complaint, Patsa states that it was filed in response to public messaging, guidance, and policies that contradict federal guidance and the established scientific consensus that SARS-CoV-2 virus is transmitted via the air. She maintains that this constitutes “disinformation that directly and/or indirectly enables and/or is used to justify/enact policies and decisions that are discriminatory towards Members of the Class defined herein”. For each respondent, she lists specific

instances of alleged disinformation. For the Provincial Health Office, for example, she cites a Dr. Bonnie Henry comment at a briefing about the inability of the virus to be suspended in the air and travel long distances. Patsa also mentions one of Henry’s comments that “there’s no evidence that having a child wear a mask all day long will make a difference in terms of transmission.” In addition, Patsa cites Henry’s comment at a 2021 lecture that “children are not amplifiers in schools”. As a result, Patsa alleges, the respondents are directly endangering the lives and health of high-risk individuals who are members of the group. Moreover, she claims that this makes managing daily life and the risk of infection

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extremely difficult, if not impossible, for those without means. This is why she alleges that the respondents’ actions “indirectly enable discrimination” by serving as a basis for denying accommodations under the B.C. Human Rights Code. As one example, she cites a ban on the use of N95 respirators in long-term care facilities. None of Patsa’s allegations have been proven before the tribunal. Over Twitter, Patsa expressed befuddlement over the media’s failure to cover her complaint, which was filed in late March. This came after Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender wrote a March 16 letter to Henry maintaining that the decision to lift a provincewide mask mandate discriminated against the immunocompromised. Later in the same thread, Patsa accused the “4th Estate” of happily reiterating the “science-denying gaslighting spewed by the PHO+gang”. On Twitter, Yuzda responded that she had presumed Patsa’s original tweet was by “another troll threatening her with the Nuremberg bs over COVID-19 vaccines”. “The reason I mute or block quickly is the nastiness is crushing,” Yuzda declared. g

OUTSIDE

Six super-fun hikes for kids close to Vancouver

by Stephen Hui

ake a hike, kids! Doesn’t visiting beaver lodges, hollow trees, suspension bridges, tide pools, and waterfalls sound like fun? My new book, Best Hikes and Nature Walks With Kids In and Around Southwestern British Columbia (Greystone Books) is designed to help families explore the great outdoors. Best Hikes and Nature Walks With Kids describes 55 hiking trails near Vancouver. These hikes are ideal for children aged 4 to 11—but they’re not just for kids. Beginner hikers, seniors, nature lovers, and anyone seeking short hikes will enjoy these trails. Here are six delightfully fun B.C. hikes featured in my new book. Important reminders for hikers: check current conditions; take the essentials; leave a trip plan with a responsible person; and make sure to leave no trace.

CHEAKAMUS CANYON

Make a splash at Starvation Lake. Chase trains in the dramatic setting of Cheakamus Canyon. Take a hike on the Sea to Sky Trail and peer down at railway tunnels and bridges and whitewater. If the kids are acrophobic, you’ll find out.

limpets, sea stars, and dramatically fractured, multicoloured rock. Comb the beach for interesting stones and shells but remember the fourth principle of Leave No Trace: “Leave what you find.” MOUNT THOM

Mount Thom is an enjoyable hike in any season, including the fall, when the brilliant foliage shines yellow, orange, and red. Climb the mountain from Chilliwack’s Promontory neighbourhood. On the summit, marvel at ravens soaring and diving overhead. FLASH LAKE Author Stephen Hui’s newest book, Best Hikes and Nature Walks With Kids In and Around Southwestern British Columbia, has a section on Flash Lake (above). Photo by Stephen Hui.

KILLARNEY LAKE

Take the ferry to Bowen Island. Visit a fish ladder and waterfall. Spot a beaver dam and lodge. Look out for hollow trees and horseback riders. The hike to Killarney Lake offers plenty of interest to young ones. LOST LAKE

Four lakes, one hike—it’s a sweet deal on Hollyburn Mountain. Enjoy the novelty

of strolling through the cross-country-ski area (for free) in the off-season, take a dip in a lake or two, and hunt for slime moulds in the forest. You’ll even go by a cabin called The Doghouse. JUG ISLAND BEACH

Jug Island Beach is an enchanting destination in temtemixwten/Belcarra Regional Park. The shoreline hosts barnacles, crabs,

A jewel in E. C. Manning Provincial Park, Lightning Lake holds rainbow trout, and its chilly bluish-green water makes for invigorating swimming. Another reason to visit is the rodents, namely the squirrels, chipmunks, and beavers. Leave the crowd behind by setting out for Flash Lake. g Stephen Hui is the author of Best Hikes and Nature Walks With Kids In and Around Southwestern British Columbia, a new guide to 55 hiking trails in B.C. and Washington. His first two books, 105 Hikes and Destination Hikes, were #1 B.C. bestsellers. Learn more: 105hikes.com.

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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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LIQUOR / FOOD

Tattoos and cocktails come together in Gastown

by Mike Usinger

or those whose all-time idols include Norman Keith Collins, Sailor Jerry, and the ghost of Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, it sounds like the world’s greatest dream come true. Inked hands and rum bottles up if you couldn’t be more excited about an evening that features drinks and live tattooing in Vancouver’s historic Gastown. Tattoos Meet Cocktails will see mixologists and tattooists set up at Le Papillon Studio at 369 Carrall Street. Kicking off with a short documentary on the night’s ink artists, the event is to feature four stations where attendees can sip forwardthinking cocktails while watching folks get tattooed in front of them.

Drinks will ref lect the work that night of four Le Papillon Studio tattooists: Gale, Marine, Shae, and Louis Tibo. Cohosting the night is Cocktail Connoisseur, the Vancouver-based “ghost bar” that’s building a reputation for outsidethe-box pop-up events. Mixologists Jean Laven and Kam Tabarraee will create four molecular cocktails inspired by the stories and stylistic approaches of each of the artists. Le Papillon bills itself as a space designed to provide a “platform that supports our family of creatives in their path and showing the community around us our perspective on tattooing and art in general.” Tattoos Meet Cocktails will have two

Tattoos Meet Cocktails will give drink connoisseurs and ink aficionados the chance to combine two of their passions as artists like Giles work on-site at Le Papillon in historic Gastown.

May 21 sessions, one of them at 5 p.m. and the other at 8 p.m. Be forewarned that it’s highly unlikely that any tattoos will end up bringing to the

mind the work of Norman Keith Collins. And that it’s equally improbable that the cocktails in question will be built around Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. g

F oodie TOURS RETURN

d THE PANDEMIC hasn’t only taken a toll on restaurants. It has also been brutal on companies that offer food and beverage tours in the Lower Mainland. One such example is Vancouver Foodie Tours, which was founded by Michelle Ng in 2010. In 2017, it made a Forbes magazine list of the top nine food tours in the world. But for two years, Vancouver Foodie Tours went on hiatus due to COVID-19. This month, however, the company has relaunched with two offerings: a Granville Island Market tour and an Authentic Asian Eats tour, which shows

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

the delights of Richmond’s food scene. “Richmond is home to world-class Asian food establishments,” Ng says. “Our food tour experiences help ease language and cultural barriers, providing guests with an easy and inviting way to explore authentic Asian cuisine, history, and culture.” On Granville Island, tourgoers get a chance to check out everything from Lee’s Donuts to Benton Brothers Fine Cheese and Oyama Sausage Co. There are several other stops along the way, all with “VIP” access, in this local culinary hot spot. g

by Charlie Smith

ARTS

Dana Gould turns love of Carlin into comedy gold

by Steve Newton

t ain’t easy being a comedian these days. Just ask Academy Award slapping victim Chris Rock or, more seriously, Dave Chappelle, who had to ward off a knife-wielding attacker onstage at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this month. The morning after Chappelle’s close call, Dana Gould is on the phone, and he’s heard the news and seen the pictures. “I saw the photo,” Gould says, referring to the viral image of the injured suspect on a stretcher, “and from what I understand, the guy’s arm, they aren’t supposed to bend that way. “You know,” he adds, “after the Chris Rock thing, Kathy Griffin said, ‘Oh, great, now all comedians are gonna have to worry about getting attacked on-stage,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, Kathy, calm down.’ But then I was like, ‘Nope, she’s right.’ That’s the great thing about human nature. There’s no bottom. Just when you think things can’t get crappier, they come up with something new.” Gould, who has been performing standup since he was 17, hasn’t had to deal with any scary situations onstage himself. The closest he ever got to being attacked was when a drunk guy threw a beer at him at the end of a Donald Trump joke. “He was such a bad shot, I was never in danger,” he recalls. Gould first discovered his love for comedy, risky as it might be, as one of six kids in a boisterous, Irish-Catholic workingclass family in Massachusetts. “There was always a fight over the TV,” he says, “but if a Clint Eastwood movie was on, if the Three Stooges were on, or if George Carlin was on, everybody would shut up and watch. [Carlin] was very much a hippie back then; he was very kinda groovy and had a very mellow vibe about him, and for whatever reason, I felt a kinship with him through the television. It was 1972, so I was like eight or nine, but I went, ‘I’d like to do what he does.’ So from a very young age, I kinda knew what I wanted to do.” Gould’s connection to and respect for Carlin is clearly evident in an interview he did with the comedy legend for HBO back in March 1997 at the former U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. The apparently well-researched questions Gould put to his idol make you wonder whether he’d ever considered a career in journalism. “Well, I’m on a thing called Bulletin,” he replies, “which is a version of Substack, and I write two—I call them articles—I get to write two articles a week just about weird movie ephemera. The other thing that I loved as a kid, outside of George Carlin, was [the shortlived 1970s TV series Kolchak:] The Night Stalker, so if I didn’t become a comedian I would have become a reporter like Kolchak. I have a feeling a lot of reporters about my age were inspired by Kolchak.”

When he isn’t slaving away as a standup comedian and writer, Dana Gould likes to pore over his impressive collection of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazines. Photo by Andrew Max Levy.

I felt a kinship with him [George Carlin[ through the television. – Dana Gould

After getting his start in comedy by sneaking into clubs underage to do standup, Gould scored a job writing and performing on The Ben Stiller Show in 1992. During its 13-episode run, that sketchcomedy TV show helped boost the careers of not just Gould and cocreators Stiller and Judd Apatow but Bob Odenkirk, Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, and, to a lesser extent, Andy Dick. “That show was a launching pad for so many careers,” Gould says, “but at the time, it was just an extension of my social life. These were all my friends, and Ben cast the show from his living room. We’re all in the living room watching TV, and the call came in and it was like, ‘Well, we’re doing the pilot; I guess you all have jobs.’ “So it was a really great time,” he adds. “I think that one of the reasons that show resonated with people so well is because it was a very organic group; it wasn’t put together in a lab. We were all friends before, so we knew each other’s rhythms and things.” After getting his break on The Ben Stiller Show, Gould made appearances on sitcoms

like Roseanne, Ellen, and Seinfeld before hitting the creative jackpot by becoming a writer on The Simpsons for seven years. He recalls that the greatest thing about that job was just being able to work with people who were so wildly talented. “I really learned how to write in that writers’ room,” he says, “and to sit in a room all day, every day, with some of the best writers in town, there’s no way it can’t rub off on you. And I’m so grateful to that show for not only teaching me how to write but for making me a much better writer. “And it’s kinda like the Mafia,” he adds, “in that you’re always a part of the show. I was talking to Matt Selman, the showrunner, just last night. You know, you’re always kinda there, and it’s great to know that your work will live on. I wrote an episode about when the Simpsons went to China to adopt a baby for Selma—based on my own experience adopting my children—and, apparent-

ly, that is the only one not shown in China. So I’m proud of that—I guess I’m proud.” Gould’s skills as a writer keep him very busy these days. As well as working on projects for both film and TV, he’s got his own YouTube miniseries, Hanging With Dr. Z; a monthly podcast, The Dana Gould Hour; and his two articles a week for Bulletin. So when he gets to do standup now, it’s a total release. “Having all that stuff going on,” he says, “going on-stage is just bliss, because I just get to uncork and let it all pour out. And I think—like a lot of comedians that have gone through the pandemic—we have all of this material backup and all of these experiences that really didn’t have an outlet, so I’ve really been enjoying going up onstage and just riffing. “One of the other things I did last year that can give you a taste of what I’m doing [with standup] is a documentary I made with Bobcat Goldthwait called Joy Ride, which is available streaming now. Just before the pandemic, we did a two-man stage show and we drove throughout the American Southeast and did four or five shows together. The documentary shows us on-stage and shows us off-stage and travels with us and sort of tells our stories, because although we are best friends now, we used to hate each other, and the reason we hated each other is because we’re basically the same person. So we had to kinda get over ourselves. “My [standup] stuff is very autobiographical,” he adds. “You know, my older brother is an antivaxxer, so I’ll talk about him. There’s no specific politics; it’s more just talking about trying to navigate a bifurcated world in a way that doesn’t alienate anybody. Like, I’m just trying to get through the day without fucking up. It gets harder and harder and harder.” g Dana Gould performs standup comedy at the Rio Theatre on Saturday (May 28) as part of Just for Laughs Vancouver.

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BACK FOR 2022!

Preview w EExhibition xhh i b i tiio & Sale May 18-19 at Yaletown Roundhouse

Art Walk Open Studio Tour & Sale May 28-29 Event details at www.artistsinourmidst.com MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

ARTS

Fever returns to the stage at timely point in history

by Charlie Smith

hen playwright, stage director, and taiko artist Rick Shiomi was growing up in Toronto in the 1950s, the internment of Japanese Canadians wasn’t really on his radar. It might seem odd, given that both of his parents were from Vancouver and were among about 21,000 B.C. residents of Japanese ancestry who were detained under the War Measures Act in 1942. “I didn’t realize what that was all about and how it had impacted the Japanese Canadian community,” Shiomi tells the Straight from his home in Minnesota. His parents were sent to Bay Farm in the Slocan Valley, which held almost 1,400 Japanese Canadians by the end of 1942.

Students who attended the school in Bay Farm included writer Joy Kogawa and environmentalist David Suzuki. Shiomi, winner of the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award in 2015, says his father was later sent east to work on another farm. After the Second World War, his parents moved to Toronto, where Shiomi was born in 1947, the seventh of eight children. His parents didn’t have the choice of coming back home to Vancouver at that time because Japanese Canadians were excluded from the West Coast until 1949. “There was a certain attitude, certainly among people like my father, of a sense of, ‘They didn’t want us back there anyways,’ ” Shiomi says.

So that outsider detective character becomes a classic reflection of that experience… – playwright Rick Shiomi

Vancouver shaped playwright Rick Shiomi’s perspective on culture. Photo by Lia Chang.

JOE INK

in partnership with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs proudly presents the world premiere of

DANCE:CRAFT Performances + Exhibition 7pm

2022

MAY 20 TO 22

SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre 149 West Hastings Tickets: eventbrite.ca | Info: joeink.ca $30 Adults | $25 Students & Seniors + s/c Performers: Heather Dotto & Joey Matt. Ceramic heads: Debra E Sloan. Photo: Michael Slobodian.

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

After graduating with a University of Toronto history degree in 1970, Shiomi obtained a teaching degree at Simon Fraser University. He then spent two years travelling in Europe and Asia before returning to Vancouver in 1974. In that era, many artists of Asian ancestry were beginning to make a mark, including Jim Wong-Chu, Tamio Wakayama, Paul Yee, Helen Koyama, and Sky Lee. Shiomi was coordinator of four of the first five Powell Street Festivals, starting in 1977, deepening his understanding of the Japanese Canadian community. In this period, he made connections with playwrights David Henry Hwang and Philip Kan Gotanda. By then, Shiomi was a short-story writer and Gotanda encouraged him to turn his tale about a Japanese Canadian detective into a play, which became Yellow Fever. From May 28 to June 12, the Firehall Arts Centre will present Yellow Fever in the style of a radio play—34 years after it was first produced by the company. It will be directed by Donna Spencer. Raugi Yu is the associate director, with audiences hearing and seeing the radio drama being created. “The play come out of my experiences being involved in the Japanese Canadian community in Vancouver,” Shiomi says. “Really, it was there that I really learned so much about the Japanese Canadian history that I didn’t know when I was growing up in Toronto.” Yellow Fever is anchored around a Japanese Canadian private eye, Sam Shikaze, who is hired to find the missing Cherry Blossom Queen. It’s set in Powell Street, the centre of what used to be Vancouver’s thriving Japanese Canadian community. The lead character resembles Sam Spade, with a little bit of the cynicism shown by Rick in Casablanca. It debuted in New York in 1982.

The short story was inspired by community leader Gordon Kadota, a secondgeneration Japanese Canadian whom Shiomi met while working at the Powell Street Festival. “He reminded me of Columbo, the TV character,” Shiomi says. “He had this kind of trenchcoat and this really dry sense of humour.” According to Shiomi, Kadota was a “kind of heroic outsider”, just like his lead character. “How it really connects to Japanese Canadian history is that the Japanese Canadians for so long have been outsiders,” Shiomi says. “So that outsider detective character becomes a classic reflection of that experience, in a sense.” On the surface, Yellow Fever is like a film-noir detective story. But it also addresses the yellow-peril racism that has dogged B.C. since the 19th century and continues to this day, erupting in waves of hatred in different periods. “When I wrote the play, there was this whole group called the Sons of the Western Guard,” Shiomi says. “These are—to me, in my mind—pretty wacky people, people who are way out there in terms of their sort of racist or white supremacist perspective. But you know, 40 years later, shockingly, there’s many more of those people.” His characters in Yellow Fever respond to racism in different ways. Some are more assimilationist, including one named Capt. Kenji Kadota, whereas others, like Shikaze, are less interested in blending into the white-dominated society. Shiomi hopes that his play leads audiences to think about what it means to be Japanese Canadian and about the community’s place in Canadian society. “I feel like assimilation is an interesting question because, certainly, looking back on it now, I don’t feel like we should be a separate entity or a separate type of community from everyone else,” Shiomi says. “But I certainly don’t feel like we should be surrendering everything that is Japanese Canadian about us in order to be what we consider to be equals of white Canadians, in a sense. Those are the two extremities.” g The Firehall Arts Centre will present Yellow Fever from May 28 to June 12, with previews running from May 28 to 31.

This May & June at the Orpheum Down the Moldau

Christopher Gaze MAY

JUNE

TODAY!

Thurs, 2pm | Orpheum

Thurs, 7:30pm | Orpheum The VSO’s dear friend James Ehnes joins to celebrate the close of an extraordinary season, playing Beethoven’s majestic Violin Concerto. Plus, the VSO plays Mozart’s beloved Symphony No. 40, the Great G minor Symphony. One night only and not to be missed!

Enjoy highlights from Czech composer Smetana’s Má vlast (My Fatherland) nspired by his Bohemian homeland. Includes The Moldau.

Bohemian Rhapsody

David Lakirovich

James Ehnes Plays Beethoven

James Ehnes

MAY

THIS WEEKEND! 20/22 Fri, 7pm | Orpheum Sun, 2pm | Orpheum

Classical Kids Live!

Classical Kids Live! JUNE

Folk tunes and rhythm infuse this program of two great Bohemians, Czech composers Dvořák and Smetana.

Beethoven Lives Upstairs

Sun, 2pm | Orpheum The classic tale of a young boy learning about the strange noises and the moody man living upstairs.

Mahler’s 5th MAY

Fri & Sat, 8pm | Orpheum

27/28 A gorgeous meditation from English

composer Anna Clyne sets the stage for Mahler’s magnificent 5th. From the first trumpet call, to delicate Adagietto, to massive horn anthem, each moment is filled with emotion.

Otto Tausk

PLUS

22/23 Season

Let’s Play

SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES ON SALE NOW

VancouverSymphony.ca 604.876.3434 MAY 19 TEA & TRUMPETS SERIES SPONSOR

MAY 22 SYMPHONY SUNDAYS SERIES SPONSOR

MAY 27, 28 MASTERWORKS DIAMOND SERIES SPONSOR

KIDS CONCERTS SERIES SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSOR

BROADCAST MEDIA PARTNERS

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

Concert programs are subject to change at any time.

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ARTS

Early Music Vancouver gets ready for Bach fest

by Steve Newton

arly Music Vancouver (EMV) has just announced the lineup for its 2022 Vancouver Bach Festival, which will run from July 26 to August 6. Subtitled “Scottish Baroque and Other Traditions”, the festival will feature events at various venues, including the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Christ Church Cathedral, Pyatt Hall, VanDusen Botanical Garden, The Wolf & Hound, and UBC’s Sage Bistro. Highlights of the festival include: • The opening concert, July 27 at the Chan Centre, which will feature Vancouver’s poet laureate, Fiona Tinwei Lam; EMV artists-in-residence David Greenberg and David McGuinness, and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in a musical celebration of water, featuring works by Handel, Telemann, and Alasdair MacLean. • A Curious Collection of Tunes, July 28 at Christ Church Cathedral, an exploration of an 18th-century repertoire of Scottish tunes and their relationship with other traditions, featuring David Greenberg (violin), David McGuiness (keyboard), and Kirsty Money (nyckelharpa). • Resounding Hildegard: Echoes of

Ensemble Arkora director Kathleen Allan (photo by Benton Roark) will interpret Hildegard von Bingen; Kirsty Money (photo by Shehab Illyas) will explore some 18th-century Scottish tunes.

the Abbess in the Present Day, July 28 at Christ Church Cathedral, in which Ensemble Arkora (with special guest Lan Tung, erhu) explores the connections between past and present with a concert presenting both ancient masterworks and new works by Canadian composers. • From the Court of Louis XIV to

Shippagan, August 2 at Christ Church Cathedral, in which Acadian folk songs from Shippagan in Acadie are contrasted with 17th century “airs de cour” from the French court of Louis the XIV, featuring performances by Suzie LeBlanc, Vincent Lauzer, Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, and Sylvain Bergeron.

• The Next Generation: Baroque Innovations, August 3 at Pyatt Hall, featuring emerging artists—Ellen Torrie (soprano); Marie Nadeau-Tremblay (violin); Sylvain Bergeron (theorbo)—performing works by Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi, Henry Purcell, and J. H. Schmelzer. One of the festival’s special events is Rondeau, a fundraiser on July 26 at UBC’s Sage Bistro, featuring host Bill Richardson, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Lucas Harris (theorbo), and EMV artists in residence. “Artists in residence David McGuinness (Scotland) and David Greenberg (US/Canada) will make you want to get up and dance as they weave traditional tunes with baroque sonatas!” artistic and executive director Suzie LeBlanc said in a news release. “They will take us on a tour of the traditional folk music of Scotland and Cape Breton while other concerts in the festival will take us to Acadia, Sweden, and Métis musical traditions. Join us and discover the hidden threads between these different cultural traditions and well-known Baroque works by Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli, Muffat, and Couperin.” Early bird tickets for the Vancouver Bach Festival go on sale June 1 at 11 a.m. at earlymusic.bc.ca. g

A FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE production

A POWELL ST. MYSTERY by R.A. With Generous Support By:

Supporting Sponsor:

Jane Irwin and Ross Hill The Poseley Family Rick Erickson and Donna Partridge Additional Support from:

Directed by DONNA SPENCER Associate Director RAUGI YU

AI Youth Programs Sponsor: The Dr. Michael Smith Science Fair Endowment

Media Partners:

The S.M. Blair Family Foundation

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MAY 28 - JUN 12

604.689.0926

firehallartscentre.ca

280 E CORDOVA ST

FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE 2021-2022 | REUNION SEASON

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

SHIOMI

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

VANARTGALLERY.BC.CA

ARTS

Polygon’s Ghosts challenge binary view of tech and IRL

by Charlie Smith

olygon Gallery curator Elliott Ramsey is not one of those who makes strong demarcations between real and virtual worlds. In a phone interview with the Straight, he says that the term meatspace has become part of tech-bro lingo to describe real life but he thinks that the boundaries are far more blurred than people recognize. “As someone who grew up playing video games as a kid, one of the only acceptable ways to express gender nonconformity was through the video game characters that I chose,” Ramsey recalls. There were even genderfluid characters— and that made him think a great deal about impulses behind choosing a certain avatar. “We think so often about digital technologies as being escapist—as being of another world—but it really made me realize that impulse is really deeply connected to real life,” he says. “It’s a response to society, to our culture, to our environment—and that there really is no such thing as this offline world that exists separately from IRL, or in real life.” This view of the relationship between humans, technology, and the environment is at the heart of Ghosts of the Machine, an upcoming immersive multimedia exhibition that Ramsey is curating at the Polygon. It features several international artists, as well as a commissioned work by local Indigenous creator T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss (Skwxwú7mesh), in challenging the widely held view that digital technology is escapist. Wyss is developing a living garden that will have augmented-reality markets that viewers can access through Instagram. “So digital images will kind of emerge, kind of float out of the garden,” Ramsey says. “This comes back to Cease’s traditional teaching that from an Indigenous perspective, nature and technology are not opposites. Nature is technology. It’s the most advanced technology we have.” Shanghai artist Lu Yang’s Doku: Digital

Lu Yang’s Heaven Realm #1 (2021, aluminum, LED lights, backlit fabric, 39” X 55” X 4”).

Alaya series features self-portraits with facial-recognition markers, creating a digital complexion. That’s grafted onto the body of a dancer, who created choreography and movements that can be viewed on video. “Lu Yang really could set themselves anywhere, against any kind of backdrop,” Ramsey explains. That includes a planet reminiscent of Avatar movies. According to Ramsey, this taps into people’s imagination around speculative fiction and technology. He’s thrilled that a private collector, who wishes not to be named, was happy to lend Lu Yang’s work for the show. In addition, Ghosts of the Machine includes works by Ho Tzu Nyen, Juliana Huxtable, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Skawennati, and Santiago Tamayo Soler. g The Polygon Gallery presents Ghosts of the Machine from June 3 to August 14.

23 RDANNUAL

ses Pas den rden Gar 5 Fulll Ga $1

s or Pas arden rG

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MUSIC | ART | PERFORMANCE | GARDENS S

northvanarts.ca

@northvanarts

604-988-6844 Opus Art Supplies By All Means Create

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

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ARTS LISTINGS ONGOING

XICANX: DREAMERS + CHANGEMAKERS / SOÑADORES + CREADORES DEL CAMBIO Exhibition showcases, for the first time in Canada, the rich traditions of 33 Xicanx artists. To Jan 1, Museum of Anthropology at UBC. SHO ESQUIRO: DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY Solo exhibition by designer, artist, and activist showcases meticulously crafted couture gowns, textiles, paintings, and photographs. To Jun 5, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. SPRING 2022: COLLECTED WORKS Group exhibition on the potency of photography featuring the work of Larry Clark, Katy Grannan, and Andres Serrano. To May 28, Rennie Museum. Free. PROTEAN LATTICE: UBC MASTER OF FINE ARTS GRADUATE EXHIBITION Exhibition of work by graduating MFA students Russell Gordon, Romi Kim, Hannah Möller, Ido Radon, and Arti Struyanskiy. To May 29, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. CANOE CULTURES :: HO’-KU-MELH Work of 20 Indigenous artists and carvers curated by Indigenous artist and cultural historian Roxanne Charles. To Jul 3, Vancouver Maritime Museum. $13.50/$11. ALEXANDER GLYADYELOV: GATHERING DARKNESS Photographs of Russia’s war on Ukraine by Alexander Glyadvelov. To Jul 3, Polygon Gallery. SHIRLEY VALENTINE A Liverpudlian housewife takes a trip to Greece and starts to see the world and herself very differently. To May 21, Deep Cove Shaw Theatre. $29 general/$26 seniors and students. LAMPEDUSA Pi Theatre presents playwright Anders Lustgarten's play about two strangers finding hope and connection where they least expect it. To May 21, Vancity Culture Lab. From $25. THE GIRL NEXT DOOR A new queer Canadian poprock musical written and directed by Sara Mayfield. To May 21, The Red Gate Revue Stage. $25-30. STAG AND DOE Comedy shines a light on the nature of love, marriage, and weddings. To May 29, Metro

Theatre. Adult $34, senior $31.50. BEADED NOSTALGIA Exhibition exploring the use of contemporary beadwork as a way of honouring the past. To Oct 23, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. IGNITE! YOUTH ARTS FESTIVAL Eclectic festival features theatre performers, filmmakers, writers, poets, dancers, musicians, and visual artists, all aged 13 to 30. May 18-22, 7:30 pm, The Cultch. $0 to $20.

THURSDAY, MAY 19 HENRY ROLLINS American singer-activist performs on his Good to See You 2022 spoken-word tour. May 19, Rio Theatre. DOWN THE MOLDAU Christopher Gaze hosts an exploration by the Vancouver Symphony of Smetana’s Má vlast, featuring the iconic Moldau. May 19, 2:30 pm, Orpheum Theatre. $38.57-40.71. PASSAGES OF RHYTHMS Alvin Erasga Tolentino merges three duets created for three diverse artists and showcasing three different genres. May 19-20, 8 pm, Pal Studio Theatre. $30/$20. THE TYLER SISTERS New play by British playwright Alexandra Wood that follows three sisters over 40 years. May 19-21, 26-28, 8 pm, The Shop Theatre. $25.

FRIDAY, MAY 20 MOZART AND HER BROTHER Play tells the story of Maria Anna Mozart and her famous brother Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as they grow up touring the great cities of Europe. May 20-21, Anvil Centre. $25-35. DANCE:CRAFT Joe Ink presents the the world premiere of an exploration of two dancers interacting with craft objects in a reconfigured theatre setting. May 20-22, 7-8:30 pm, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. $30/$25 A CULTURAL EVENT MENAT STYLE Medusa Theatre Society presents an evening of heartwarming stories from MENAT (Middle Eastern, North African, &

Turkish) homelands. May 20-21, 7:30-9 pm, Progress Lab 1422. Pay what you want. VSO/BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY The Vancouver Symphony performs music by Smetana and Dvořák. May 20, 8 pm; May 22, 2 pm, Orpheum Theatre. Various. THE MOUNTAINTOP Katori Hall's intimate fantasia of the final night of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. May 20–Jun 11, 8-9:30 pm, Pacific Theatre. $15-$35. HERE FOR NOW VOL. 3 Cross-disciplinary art event featuring the Biting School (experimental theatre), Nancy Lee (sound), and Mohammadreza Akrami (dance). May 20-21, Slice Next Door. $20-$50.

SATURDAY, MAY 21 DRUMMING UP SPIRIT WITH TZO'KAM AND SAWAGI TAIKO A unique collaboration by Indigenous and Asian Canadian artists Tzo'kam and Sawagi Taiko. May 21, 7:30 pm, Orpheum Annex. $15-30.

SUNDAY, MAY 22 MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL Ninety-minute production features parodies from 25 classic hit songs from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. May 22, 7:30 pm, Centennial Theatre. $65/$55.

TUESDAY, MAY 24 COASTAL REFLECTIONS Photographers Sanam Khani and Trevor Schmidt explore new ways of looking at the world through experimental techniques. May 24–Jul 3, Kay Meek Arts Centre. Free.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 JUST FOR LAUGHS VANCOUVER Comedy festival features performances by Nicole Byer, Andrew Santino, Marc Maron, Maria Bamford, Bob the Drag Queen, Natasha Leggero, Dana Gould, Moshe Kasher, Jimmy O. Yang, Roy Wood Jr., and Chris Redd. May 25-29, various Vancouver venues. REVOLVER FESTIVAL Twelve-day theatre festival featuring new works by emerging to early mid-career artists. May 25–Jun 5, The Cultch. $22. VANCOUVER SPECIAL AT JFL VANCOUVER Showcase of Vancouver comics features performances by MC’s Toddy and Alannah Brittany and guests Julie Kim, Marito Lopez, Ross Dauk, Michlle Nnadi, and Savannah Erasmus. May 25, Fox Cabaret. $20. S'EFFONDRENT LES VIDÉOCLUBS Four marginal and whimsical characters intersect at a video club in the village of St-François-Xavier de Brompton. May 25–Jun 4, 8-10 pm, Studio 16. $26-30.

THURSDAY, MAY 26

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 STUDIO SHOWING: CORPOREAL IMAGO Join Ci in the studio to discover the floor-to-air research for their new aerial dance project, Throe. Jun 1, 5 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre. Free,

THURSDAY, JUNE 2 THIS IS THE STORY OF THE CHILD RULED BY FEAR Pi Theatre presents a story about worry and wonder, loneliness and community, beauty and fear. Jun 2-4, KW Studios. $25. VSO/JAMES EHNES PLAYS BEETHOVEN The Vancouver Symphony and James Ehnes perform Beethoven. Jun 2, 7:30 pm, Orpheum Theatre. KILL THE RIPPER Fairlith Harvey's darkly comic, female-led, Victorian revenge fantasy. Jun 2-4, 7:30 pm, Presentation House Theatre. $30/$25/$18

SATURDAY, JUNE 4 VSO DAY OF MUSIC A day-long celebration of music, with free live in-person concerts, open rehearsals, and family-friendly activities. Jun 4, 10 am–10 pm, Downtown Vancouver. Free.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5 VSO/BEETHOVEN LIVES UPSTAIRS The Vancouver Symphony performs its final Kids Concert of the season. Jun 5, 2 pm, Orpheum Theatre. $16.90-$28.33.

THURSDAY, JUNE 9 MORAG, YOU'RE A LONG TIME DEID Experimental musical traces a journey of queer discovery through the remixing of traditional Scottish music. Jun 9-19, Russian Hall. $10 to $75 KINKY BOOTS Tony Award–winning musical that celebrates compassion and acceptance. Jun 9–Jul 31, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. From $43. PIANO MASTERCLASS WITH JANE COOP Pianist Jane Coop leads a piano masterclass for the VSO School of Music. Jun 9, 5-7 pm, Pyatt Hall. $15.

FRIDAY, JUNE 10

FRIDAY, MAY 27

SATURDAY, JUNE 25

MY NAME IS NOT MOM Comedians, moms, and social-media stars Tiffany Jenkins, Meredith Masony, and Dena Blizzard perform their new comedy show. May 27, 7 pm, Harbour Event Centre. NAGAMO Musica intima presents a new program by composer of Cree descent, Andrew Balfour. May 27, 7:30 pm, St James Anglican Church. $30. VSO SEASON FINALE: MAHLER'S FIFTH The Vancouver Symphony performs Mahler's Symphony No. 5. May 27, 28, 8 pm, Orpheum Theatre.

LA DOLCE VITA WITH NICHOLAS WRIGHT An exploration of Italy with VSO Concertmaster Nicholas Wright. Jun 25, 7:50 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

MONDAY, MAY 30 A NEW BEGINNING An evening of Chinese music performed by the B.C. Chinese Orchestra, B.C.

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

DAVID KAPLAN Music on Main presents classical and improvisational pianist David Kaplan. May 31, 7:30 pm, Fox Cabaret. $15-32.

STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI IN CONCERT The Vancouver Symphony performs the epic score live with the film. Jun 10, 11; Jul 6, 7, 7:30 pm, Orpheum Theatre.

BEST OF FRIENDS! CHARLOTTE, FRED AND RICK Canadian children's entertainers Charlotte Diamond, Fred Penner, and Rick Scott. May 28-29, Surrey Arts Centre. $16-$26. MUSIC ON MAIN: SONGS FOR A LOST POD World premiere of a work based on singer-songwriter/ composer Leah Abramson’s fourth album of original songs. May 28-29, 7:30-9 pm, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. $15/32.

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TUESDAY, MAY 31

STAGE, SCREEN & STRINGS Concert by the VSO School of Music's six string ensembles. May 26, 7:30 pm, Vancouver Playhouse. $19/$10.

SATURDAY, MAY 28

Chinese Music Ensemble, and B.C. Chinese Youth Orchestra. May 30, 7 pm, Michael J. Fox Theatre. $30.

SATURDAY, JULY 2 THEATRE UNDER THE STARS TUTS presents performances of the musicals Something Rotten! and We Will Rock You, running alternate evenings. Jul 2–Aug 27, Malkin Bowl. SYMPHONY AT SUNSET Music director Otto Tausk leads the Vancouver Symphony in an open-air concert. Jul 2, 7 pm, Sunset Beach Park. Free.

TUESDAY, JULY 26 RONDEAU Fundraiser for Early Music Vancouver features emcee Bill Richardson, poet Fiona Tinwei Lam, and musicians David Greenberg, David McGuinness, and Lucas Harris. Jul 26, Sage Bistro. $225. ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the eventsubmission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don't make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

MOVIES / MUSIC

DOXA honours films on child brides, queer youth

by Charlie Smith

he DOXA Documentary Film Festival has given one of its big awards to a documentary about a 12-year-old Vietnamese Hmong girl facing the prospect of being kidnapped as a child bride. Children of the Mist, directed by Diễm Hà Lệ, received the DOXA feature documentary award from jurors Igor Drljaca, Arman Kazemi, and Mila Zuo. The protagonist, Di, lives in the mountains of North Vietnam. Like many preteens, she’s connected to the modern world with her cellphone. But she also must navigate through ancient traditions that can impose a wretched price on young girls. It is Diễm’s first feature-length documentary. In a videotaped message, she thanked the festival and the jury, saying it means a lot to herself, the fi lm’s protagonist and her family, and her friends from the Hmong community who supported the fi lm from the beginning.

Di, the protagonist in Children of the Mist, copes with the risk of being kidnapped for marriage.

The jury gave honourable mention in the feature-documentary category to Stefanos Tai’s We Don’t Dance for Nothing, which is about a young domestic worker who dreams of running away with a woman she loves. Jurors Elisa Gonzalez, Elfred Matining, and Sophy Romvari chose Colin Askey’s Love in the Time of Fentanyl as winner of the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Director. It’s a

Star Collector injects mod energy into a mopey world by Ferdy Belland

RECORD REVIEW STAR COLLECTOR

Game Day (Independent)

d STAR COLLECTOR bootstomps open the doors of Vancouver’s rock world with its fi ft h full-length release, Game Day. The album is yet another strong, ever-vibrant statement from guitarist/vocalist/svengali Vic Wayne and his tight squad of loyal sidekicks (lead guitarist Steve Monteith, bassist Adam East, and drummer Adrian Buckley), who’ve been pumping out quality albums since Jean Chretien was PM. Shame on you all for not paying attention sooner. The band’s modus operandi remains an unending yearning to meld all the best butt-shaking elements of classic British rock (1960s through 1990s) into smart, modern, sonic nourishment for tired ears who just couldn’t give a tin shit about current active-rock playlists. In other words, there’s no constipated baritone growlings, no turgid rifferama, no

incoherent mutterings about inarticulate neuroses—nothing like that here. Instead, it’s only bright, jangling guitars, propulsive beats, and gleaming vocal harmonies, along with snappy stories about love and no love, and the love of life and the desire to love life—the reasons why we keep waking up every morning. Happy familiar flashes and grin-inducing glimpses of Ray Davies and Pete Townshend and Paul Weller and Richard Butler and Richard Ashcroft and Damon Albarn and Jarvis Cocker pop and bubble up everywhere, song after song. But it’s all pure Star Collector, all the way. And guest appearances from the musical likes of Shane Hayes and Kevin Kane sure don’t hurt the proceedings any. If the term “mod” is a shortened form of “modern,” then let’s hope the winning sounds of Vic & Co. help reshape the overall mopey aimlessness of too much of today’s guitardriven mush and get us all back to where we once belonged—and bloody well keep us there. (Standout tracks: “Stranger (Renting Space in My Head),” “The Silent Type” [showing Sloan how it’s done], “Super Zero Blues,” “Cayenne and Caramel,” and “Funeral Party.”) g

riveting look at how staff and volunteers with the Overdose Prevention Society are saving lives with grace and courage in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Like Diễm, Askey was also honoured for his first full-length documentary. Honourable mention for the Colin Low Award went to Luke Gleeson’s DƏNE YI’INJETL—The Scattering of Man, which examined the impact of B.C.’s massive W. A. C. Bennett Dam on Indigenous people in the Peace River region. Norwegian director Kenneth Elvebakk’s Hello World won the Nigel Moore Award for Youth Programming. It’s an uplifting film offering a glimpse into what it’s like to be the only openly queer kid in school.

Scan to conffess

Jury members Maya Biderman, Teagan Dobson, Steven Hawkins, Anna Hetherington, and Jacob Saltzberg stated that Hello World “has the capacity to act as a catalyst for social change and fundamentally alter people’s behaviour”. Finally, DOXA’s Short Documentary Award went to Marseille-based director Abdessamad El Montassir’s “Galb’Echaouf”, which explores amnesia in the context of war in the Western Sahara. Jurors Jocelyne Chaput, Amar Chebib, and Lyana Patrick gave honourable mention in this category to Taino human-rights activist Siku Allooloo’s “Spirit Emulsion”. The University of Victoria grad shot this film about her mother with a Super 8 camera. g 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.

Two Cents I can’t taste a thing. It’s wild. Can’t smell either. It’s like chewing goji berries and eating sour cream but different. I know this is merely a covid novelty - but do the senses come back? Online I read maybe 4-6 weeks. I suppose it’s a great time to go on a diet. Perhaps this is a sneak peak to what my taste buds will be like in my senior years. Coffee has no flavour but the warmth and the mouth feel of it are still satisfying. I hear people recover with souvenirs from covid. Extreme aversions to meat, strong scents, caffeine… It’s almost like being bitten by a radioactive mosquito where a strange super power you never even knew you had is taken away from you. I’m curious and afraid what I will recover with. I hope I don’t lose coffee.

Back at the oﬃce Oh my godddddddddddd, back at the office it’s soooooo quietttttttttt yet there’s all these people sitting in such close proximity. Why didn’t I notice how weird this was. I want to run naked down the hallway. Make it stopppppp.

Breathe and move on I’m too tired to rehash the same bullshit from my past. It’s really getting old, boring and exhausting. I need to start thinking forward and take action. Action speaks louder than words. If I’m going to change my life for the better, then I need to do something about it instead of talking about it so much.

Fuck being friends Why would someone want to just be friends after a hot, passionate love affair didn’t work out? We were so attracted to each other but terrible as a couple. When it’s over, it’s over no more staying in my life.

Visit

to post a Confession MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

CANNABIS / MUSIC

Jim Belushi to speak on growing a (weed) brand

by Charlie Smith

im Belushi has had a lot of fun as a Hollywood actor. In such films as Real Men and The Principal and as the voice of Demon in Snow Dogs, he established himself as a versatile performer who could take on both serious and comedic roles. According to The Numbers website, Belushi’s films have grossed almost US$1.5 billion at the box office. Belushi has also demonstrated his versatility off-screen, becoming a cannabis farmer in 2015. He’s a licensed marijuana producer in Oregon, operating the 38-hectare Belushi’s Farm in the Rogue Valley. On the company’s website, he declares that he created it as a “gateway to healing”. “Every time I cultivate the land, I get pulled more and more into the medicine and the joy of this work,” Belushi stated on his website. “We sun-grow all natural and rigorously tested cannabis.” He’s even suggested that his brother John would still be alive if he had been a pothead rather than self-medicating with other drugs to cope with chronic traumatic encephalopathy from playing football. Belushi will share his story as a keynote speaker at the Grow Up Conference, Expo and Awards, which takes place from June 20 to 22 at the Victoria Conference Centre (720 Douglas Street, Victoria). The president and cofounder of Grow Up Conference, Expo and Awards, Randy Rowe, told the Straight by phone that those

Every time I cultivate the land, I get pulled more and more into the…joy of this work. – cannabis farmer and actor Jim Belushi

Randy Rowe, president of the Grow Up Conference, Expo and Awards coming to Victoria in June, says that guest speaker Jim Belushi is a “full-fledged cannabis farmer”. Photo by Tyler Maddox.

who register will appreciate hearing about Belushi’s efforts to build his own cannabis brand. “He’s a full-fledged cannabis farmer,” Rowe noted. Belushi isn’t the only big name from the cannabis world at the conference, which is in the heart of Victoria. One of the cofounders of High Times magazine, Ed Rosenthal, is also on the speakers list. The so-called guru of ganja is the author of

Ed Rosenthal’s Marijuana Grower’s Handbook, which Rowe describes as the “bible” for cannabis cultivators. Another speaker is Simon Smit, a 105time winner of the Cannabis Cup, according to Rowe. A legend in cannabis horticulture, Smit’s Amsterdam-based company, Serious Seeds, was inducted into the High Times Hall of Fame in 2007. “He’s going to be talking about what it

takes to become a cup winner,” Rowe said. “But more importantly, he’s going to be talking about genetics and breeding. I mean, if you want to learn a little bit about genetics, you’ll be learning from a master here.” Another speaker will be the cofounder and co-owner of Vancouver’s Village Bloomery, Andrea Dobbs. In addition, the Grow Up Conference, Expo and Awards will feature a 2.5-hour “speed networking” event in which licensed producers, including microgrowers, can have one-on-one meetings with retailers, including Dobbs. Rowe said that this will enable producers to speak directly with individual shopkeepers. “You get 10 minutes with a retailer,” he said. “You give them your elevator pitch and then you move on to the next one.” On “Budtender Day” on June 22, budtenders will be able to meet growers of products that they’re selling. For more information about the event, visit https:// growupconference.com/. g

Vancouver still tops in Juno comedy and metal

by Charlie Smith

or the second straight year, Vancouver recording artists have won Juno awards for best comedy album and best metal/hard music album. Comedian Andrea Jin picked up her first Juno for Grandma’s Girl. It’s the latest in a growing list of successes for the Shanghai-born funnywoman. In the past, she’s been chosen as one of the “new faces” at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and was awarded the SiriusXM top-comic award. NOW Magazine editor Glenn Sumi also picked Grandma’s Girl as the best Canadian comedy album of last year. Jin’s Juno came a year after Vancouver’s Jacob Samuel won the same award for Horse Power. One of the nominees in this category in 2022 was longtime Vancouver resident Seán Devlin for Airports, Animals. Another Vancouver Juno winner this year was Archspire, a technical death-metal band with four studio albums to its credit. It was honoured this year for Bleed the Future in the metal/hard music album of the year category. Last year, Vancouver-based Unleash the Archers took this award for Abyss. Ucluelet-born and Vancouver-based Jessia was named the breakthrough artist of the year. She’s best known for her single “I’m Not Pretty”. Jessia was also nominated for the TikTok Juno fan choice, which went to Shawn Mendes, and single of the 16

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

Vancouver standup Andrea Jin’s Grandma’s Girl has won the 2022 Juno for best comedy album. Photo by Andrew Max Levy.

year, which went to Charlotte Cardin for “Meaningless”. “I want all of my songs to feel like you’re sitting down and having a cup of tea with me,” Jessia says on the Republic Records website. “It’s very minimalistic. To me, less is more, and it’s really about the lyrics. I’m talking about

my life and my friends’ stories. I’ll be on the phone with somebody and literally stop like, ‘Hold up. I need to write a song about this!’ That’s how it happens.” Metro Vancouver resident Colin James, who was born in Regina, captured the Juno for blues album of the year for Open Road. Vancouver’s Mother Mother was nominated for group of the year, which went to Arkells. Another Vancouver artist, Hannah Georgas, was nominated for adult alternative album of the year for All That Emotion. The Juno went to Half Moon Run’s Inwards & Onwards. UBC music professor Dorothy Chang also snagged a Juno nomination for classical composition of the year for “Flight”. This prize went to Quebec-based Keiko Devaux, who was born in Castlegar, B.C., for “Arras”. Vancouver-based Snotty Nose Rez Kids, who were on the cover of the Georgia Straight last year, were nominated for contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year for Life After. The winner in this category was D J Shub for War Club. My Name is Suzie Ungerleider, by Vancouver’s Suzie Ungerleider, was a nominee for contemporary roots album of the year. The Juno winner in this category, Allison Russell, also has a Vancouver connection. She was once a member of Fear of Drinking, a Vancouver-based Celtic folk band. Her Juno came for Outside Child. The list of Juno winners is available at junoawards.ca. g

SAVAGE LOVE

Freysexuals’ commitment without sex not for all by Dan Savage

b I AM A 37-year-old heterosexual woman in a monogamous relationship with a het cis male. Let’s call him “Rick”. We’ve been together for five years and engaged for two. Our sex went from passionate, fun, and frequent early in the relationship to nearly nonexistent now. I have gently initiated conversations about how to spice it up—sexy dates, sex toys, new positions, even nonmonogamy—but Rick never took me up on any of my suggestions. I encouraged him to get bloodwork done, thinking maybe it was a decline in testosterone or something. I loved him and was legitimately concerned. I also made the pact with myself that I could live with only having sex four to five times a year because Rick brought so much “good” to the table. Outside of sex, our relationship is supportive, positive, and fun. Fast forward: I recently learned that Rick has a profile on an online dating app. We are not in an open relationship, even though I’d offered that as a possible solution to our sex woes. After some mild questioning, his story unravelled. He admitted to exchanging sexy pics and videos with more than 20 women on the Internet over the last few years. He was apparently going into our spare bedroom or bathroom to make and send these videos—sometimes when I was home, sometimes when I was waiting in bed for him. After talking with a friend, she confided in me that Rick’s ex had discovered dozens of sexting convos on Rick’s phone with strangers when they were together. My questions are both general and specific to me. First, is it possible for someone to be incapable of physical intimacy when there is love involved? I’m no expert, but it strikes me as troubling that Rick can’t make love with me—going so far as to blame it on hormonal shifts—when it’s not biological at all; he just prefers to jerk off with strangers. Is this actually a thing? Only being physically attracted to an anonymous, impersonal, meaningless stranger? My next question: is there hope for a future with Rick when he is lying to me—a GGG partner who wanted to work through this—and also lying to himself? I think I know the answer, but am I better off alone? - Sick Of Rick’s Dick Image Doings

Yes, SORDID, some people are incapable of being physically intimate when love is involved. There are straight men out there with what’s called Madonna-whore complexes; these men can’t make love with and/ or fuck women they love and respect. These men view sex as dirty and degrading, and they don’t wanna do dirty and degrading things with (or to) women

- Boundaries And Respectful Treatment Escape Numbskull Dumbasses

PS Public service announcement: bartenders are not sex workers. It is lazy and exhausting for people to assume that just because someone’s job is serving and entertaining you that they also are game for fucking you or your partner or both of you or you and your friends. Double shame on the ones who also hold a gratuity hostage while you politely rebuff them. It happens a lot and needs to stop. people started coming into your bar after you bought it, BARTEND, because the previous owners 86ed them years ago. And I predict their bad behaviour is going to escalate the longer you hesitate to 86 these motherfuckers yourself.

I’m guessing these

Dan says honesty is crucial in any relationship with a freysexual—someone who commits to a romance but does not want to have sex with their partner. Photo by Getty/Tero Vesalainen.

they have feelings for. Frankly, I don’t know what would be worse: being married to a man who refused to fuck me (because he respected me too much) or being fucked by a man like that (because he didn’t respect me at all). On the flip side, there are straight women who seem to have husband-material complexes. There are guys they can see themselves married to and possibly having kids with—husband material, e.g., good, kind, reliable guys—but those aren’t the men they’re excited about fucking. Instead, it’s bad, unkind, unreliable guys that turn these women on. Oh, and there’s a new type of long-term, committed, romantic partner out there who doesn’t wanna fuck people they love: freysexuals. A freysexual may love their romantic partner and wanna marry that person and make a life with them, SORDID, but a freysexual doesn’t wanna and/or can’t fuck someone they have strong and/or any feelings for. Basically, love is erotic kryptonite to the freysexual. Being freysexual doesn’t excuse your fiancé’s dishonesty, SORDID, assuming he is freysexual. Simply put, if your fiancé is freysexual and knew that about himself—even if he didn’t know there was a word/bespoke sexual orientation for him—he should’ve disclosed that to you. And if he only just realized it, he should’ve accepted your invitation to renegotiate the terms of your commitment, i.e., take you up on your offer to have an ethically nonmonogamous relationship. (For the record: I’m not suggesting that freysexuality isn’t a legitimate sexual orientation—freysexuals already have their own pride flag, and we all know how high that bar is—but I am suggesting freysexuals shouldn’t make sexually exclusive commitments to romantic partners or demand sexually-exclusive commitments from romantic partners.)

Whatever the deal is with your fiancé, SORDID, weddings are not famous for reviving sexually moribund relationships. So, if you want more than supportive, positive, and fun vibes from your future husband—if you want regular and decent sex on top of all that—don’t marry this guy. But if the idea of being in a companionate marriage with this man appeals to you, SORDID, that’s something you should explore with the help of a couples counsellor. Oh, and if sexting women he barely knows is his primary sexual interest and outlet, SORDID, your fiancé already opened your relationship—on his end. There’s no reason you should have to wait to open it on your end. b MY PARTNER AND I recently bought a bar in a small town, far from the city we’d lived in, which has been both fun and challenging. Anyway, a couple started coming in and quickly became very talkative about their personal situation. She’s a straightpresenting women; he’s a bisexual man; they have an open relationship. At first, I thought, okay, great. It’s a small community, and I’m glad they feel comfortable being themselves in our place. But their behaviour has rapidly escalated, however, to the man making comments to staff members that are inappropriate, ranging from crude come-ons to telling one and all about how ugly and weird his own dick is. I’m guessing that shaming himself like that is a kink for him. But we don’t want to hear his confessions. I need to address it, but I wanted some advice as to how. Shutting down garden-variety horny cis guys is something I have decades of experience with, but I wonder if I should be more delicate here, given their situation. I don’t want anyone to think we are biased, but this behavior is not acceptable, and I need to protect my staff.

b I’m a 31-year-old straight woman with a quick question. I’ve been in an on-and-offagain relationship with a man since I was 18 years old. I’ve gotten more comfortable dating other men when we’re not “on”. We were “off” for the last year, and I had an absolute ball. However, we got back together recently. The problem is my partner seems insecure suddenly and is constantly worried he’s not big enough. He sometimes even half-jokes about getting surgery to make his dick bigger. The other night, out of the blue, he said, “So, since you’re a lot more experienced now, bigger is better, right?” I don’t like this. Honestly, his new insecurities are making me feel less attracted to him and I’m starting to feel like we’ve hit a dead end in our relationship. Is this a sign that we should just break up? - Completely Over Comparisons, Kapisce?

It’s either an annoying insecurity you won’t be able to put up with, COCK, or your onand-off-again boyfriend is fumbling the disclosure of a kink. Sometimes when people want to tell their partner about a kink—a long-standing kink or a recently surfaced one—they’ll frame it negatively. They’ll point to a “crazy” porn clip they stumbled over or share a “gross” story about something a friend did, COCK, in the hopes that their partner will say, “Hey, I don’t think that’s crazy or gross; I think that’s hot!” Since people tend to mirror the attitudes of important people in their lives, and since there’s no more important person than a romantic partner, disclosing kinks like this— framing them negatively so you can deny any interest when your partner invariably reacts negatively—is a terrible strategy. Anyway, your boyfriend is either bringing up his anxiety about the bigger dicks you had during your last “off”,

MAY 19 – 26 / 2022

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