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CONTENTS

ENDS JUNE 15TH

False Creek. Jerry Meaden photo.

NEWS

One of the founders of a new municipal political party says that all new Vancouver transit-hub real-estate developments should contain only affordable rental housing. > BY CARLITO PABLO

HEALTH

Not all pregnant people are women, so a local midwife helped establish an inclusive queerand trans-friendly midwifery collective. > BY V.S. WELLS

FOOD

Do you think you could go up against some seasoned chefs in a Korean-food cook-off? Or would you rather just taste the results? > BY TAMMY K WAN

START HERE 11 15 14 20 11 23 9 31 13 6 12 20 21

Books The Bottle Confessions Dance I Saw You Movie Reviews Real Estate Savage Love Straight Stars Straight Talk Technology Theatre Visual Arts

TIME OUT

ARTS

Farewell to the maestro: Bramwell Tovey has brought two chamber spaces, a music school, new festivals, and broadened tastes to this city.

22 Arts 28 Music

> BY ALE X ANDER VART Y

SERVICES

COVER

After the nonstop momentum of Summerland, Coleman Hell headed to Topanga to put himself in a new headspace for his follow-up.

28 Careers 9 Real Estate

> BY MIKE USINGER

GeorgiaStraight @ GeorgiaStraight

COVER PHOTO

CLASSIFIEDS

@ GeorgiaStraight

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straight talk

NINETY FEET SOUGHT FOR CHINATOWN HEIGHT LIMIT

Vancouver city staff are recommending in a report that tall buildings should no longer be allowed in Chinatown. Staff have proposed a height limit of 90 feet on new developments in order to preserve the character of the historic neighbourhood. This could mean that council has to revoke its 2011 decision that permitted developers to seek approval of rezoning applications for towers in areas south of Pender Street. The completed 17-storey condo project by Westbank Projects Corp. at 188 Keefer Street and BlueSky Properties’ finished 16-storey building at 633 Main Street are two examples of these big developments. Staff have also suggested limiting the width of storefronts and development sites as a way to protect the unique quality of Chinatown. Council was originally scheduled to decide on May 15 whether or not to refer the zoning changes to a public hearing. However, council delayed action by three weeks following a motion by Coun. Raymond Louie that was seconded by Coun. Melissa De Genova. The matter returns to council on Tuesday (June 5). Meanwhile, a petition has been launched urging council to “refer the new Chinatown zoning policies to public hearing as soon as possible”. “Chinatown is a special historic cultural neighbourhood in Vancouver that needs to be protected from intense development pressures and real-estate speculation,” the petition, initiated by the #SaveChinatownYVR campaign, states. The report containing zoning changes was prepared by Karen Hoese, acting assistant director for downtown with the city’s planning, urban design, and sustainability department. In her report, Hoese wrote that the changes are meant to “immediately manage development and calm speculation”. “Land value has almost doubled between 2012 and 2016,” Hoese noted. “Property taxes have also increased, which in many cases are passed directly onto commercial tenants, making it difficult for them to continue to operate.” It recommended that the pro-

of carbon-dioxide emissions, which now exceed 410 parts per million in the atmosphere. Carter, a retired MD, is founder of the Climate Emergency Institute and was an expert reviewer of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fifth assessment in 2014. Woodworth is a retired B.C. government medical librarian. > CHARLIE SMITH

MINIMUM-WAGE WORKERS WILL RECEIVE A RAISE

The City of Vancouver is taking action to calm speculation in Chinatown. posed changes exempt the rezoning application for a 15-storey condo tower at 728–796 Main Street that is currently in process. > CARLITO PABLO

BOOK RAISES ALARM OVER CLIMATE INACTION

Nobody in the mainstream media ever asks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Finance Minister Bill Morneau if they’re perpetrating an unprecedented crime on future generations. Even after the Liberal government announced its intention to pay $4.5 billion to Kinder Morgan for its Trans Mountain pipeline system, coverage focused on the financial aspects of the deal, not its moral component. But what if Trudeau, Morneau, and politicians like them are committing a crime of immense proportions on the young and those yet to be born by promoting greater use of fossil fuels? Would the mainstream media become an accessory to the crime by drastically underplaying this threat to humanity? These are two issues raised in a new book, Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival, by B.C. authors Peter D. Carter and Elizabeth Woodworth. “The global climate change emergency deserves and requires a rapid global emergency response,” Carter and Woodworth declare. They also make a case that it would be criminally negligent to do otherwise, given the trajectory

British Columbia’s minimum wage is scheduled to receive a relatively substantial increase this Friday (June 1). Just in time for the weekend, the province’s lowest-paid wage earners will see their pay rate rise $1.30, from $11.35 an hour to $12.65. The move was announced by the NDP government last February as part of a plan to raise B.C.’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. A $15 minimum wage by 2021 was a promise that the NDP included in its platform for the 2017 provincial election. But after the party took power last July, it scrapped the time line it had set for itself and instead convened a Fair Wages Commission to study the issue and make recommendations on the best path to $15. The bump that minimum-wage earners will receive this Friday is part of the commission’s plan. It will see B.C. reach a $15 minimum wage by 2021 after all. In June 2019, B.C.’s minimum wage will rise another $1.20, taking it to $13.85. Then in June 2020, the minimum wage will increase 75 cents, to $14.60. Finally, in June 2021, it will receive an increase of 60 cents, bringing B.C.’s minimum wage to $15.20 an hour. Last month, the Straight reported on an analysis by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) that states that residents of Metro Vancouver need to make $20.91 an hour to just get by raising a family in 2018. That’s the amount the group described as a “living wage”, defined as “the hourly wage that two working parents with two young children must earn to meet their basic expenses”. Elsewhere in B.C., CCPA calculated that in 2018, the living wage in Powell River is $17.15, in Prince George and Quesnel it’s $16.51, and in the Fraser Valley it is $17.40. > TRAVIS LUPICK

The Georgia Straight | Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly | Volume 52 Number 2629 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 www.straight.com Phone: 604-730-7000 / Fax: 604-730-7010 / e-mail: gs.info@straight.com Display Advertising: 604-730-7020 / Fax: 604-730-7012 / e-mail: sales@straight.com Classifieds: 604-730-7060 / e-mail: classads@straight.com Subscriptions: 604-730-7000 Distribution: 604-730-7087 EDITOR + PUBLISHER Dan McLeod ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Yolanda Stepien GENERAL MANAGER Matt McLeod EDITOR Charlie Smith PRODUCT DIRECTOR

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Piper Courtenay, Tammy Kwan, Lucy Lau, Travis Lupick, Carlito Pablo, Craig Takeuchi, Kate Wilson SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy PROOFREADER Pat Ryffranck CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Gregory Adams, Nathan Caddell, David Chau, Jack Christie, Jennifer Croll, Ken Eisner (Movies), George Fetherling, Tara Henley, Michael Hingston, Ng Weng Hoong, Alex Hudson, Kurtis Kolt,

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6 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018

NEWS

Party urges transit policy > BY C A RL ITO PA BLO

new Vancouver civic party is suggesting that condo projects should not be allowed around transit stations. According to David Chen, the key founder and mayoral nominee of new municipal entity ProVancouver, developments in transit locations should be for affordable rental housing only. Chen noted that real-estate speculation is high in market-housing developments around transit. “The problem is when you have speculation…people that buy, they actually don’t use transit,” Chen told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. Chen and ProVancouver are advancing a policy option that’s been raised before. In 2016, Metro Vancouver planners Raymond Kan and Margaret Eberle prepared a report in connection with the regional government’s transitoriented rental-housing study. “Accommodating renter households, in particular those making less than $50,000 per year, in transitoriented locations is not only key to developing diverse, vibrant, and complete communities, but it is also key to maximizing transit ridership and the value for money of transit and housing affordability investments,” the report stated. Kan and Eberle noted that “transit usage rates for renters consistently exceed that for owners, even after controlling for density, household income, and location.” “For renters specifically, transit usage rates generally rise as income declines, but transit usage rates remain generally flat for owners,” the authors wrote. “Low ($30,000$50,000) and very low (less than $30,000) income renters have the highest transit usage rates.” The two Metro Vancouver staff members also cited a hypothetical

Transit hubs need more rental units, says David Chen of ProVancouver.

scenario of a transit corridor that can accommodate 10,000 new households. According to Kan and Eberle, “a shift from a scenario with 100 percent owner households to a scenario where 60 percent of households are owners and 40 percent are renter households translates to an increase in annual transit commute trips in the corridor by 10-12 percent. “Further, if all the renter households were making under $50,000, then annual transit commute trips could increase by an additional 11-14 percentage points.” Kan and Eberle made a key conclusion: “The findings make evident that the creation of affordable rental housing in transit-oriented locations will create a reliable base of transit customers for the regional transit system. “Secondly, these transit customers will likely benefit from improved access to jobs, schools, and other destinations,” they continued. “Finally, these transit customers may benefit from a resultant reduced overall housing and transportation cost burden relative to their income levels.” A new rapid-transit line is set to be built in Vancouver, the Broadway extension for the Millennium Line.

The $2.83-billion project will have six stations. ProVancouver launched in April this year. Soon after, it announced a merger with another fledgling party called Your Political Party Vancouver, although it retained its name. Chen, a financial planner, was born and raised in Vancouver. He and his wife are parents to three young children; the family lives in Strathcona. He said that the rental-only model around transit stations is one of two key housing policies that his party wants to offer to Vancouver voters in the October 20 municipal election. The other is a 50-50 split between market homes and rental housing in future developments. “ProVancouver is committed to moving forward on a plan that all new developments will have at least 50 percent or more as rental units,” Chen said. Chen is in for what looks like a tight race for mayor. SFU academic Shauna Sylvester and Burnaby South NDP MP Kennedy Stewart have announced that they are running as independent candidates. Popular Green councillor Adriane Carr has not made a final decision about the mayoral contest. Councillor Hector Bremner seems likely to pursue his mayoral ambitions. The Non-Partisan Association, which rejected Bremner’s application to seek the party’s nomination, will choose a candidate from among park commissioner John Coupar, financial analyst Glen Chernen, and businessman Ken Sim on June 3. The nomination of the ruling Vision Vancouver party is being sought by Squamish hereditary chief Ian Campbell and tech entrepreneur Taleeb Noormohamed. A new group called Coalition Vancouver is backing former Vancouver South Conservative MP Wai Young for mayor. -

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n May 23, the City of Vancouver announced plans to take the wind out of the real-estate market on a major transit corridor. A policy report is expected to be released sometime in June with details about how speculation will be curbed on West Broadway. The goal is “to preserve affordable and rental housing and job space” even as TransLink develops the Millennium Line Broadway Extension Project, a.k.a. the Broadway subway, which will run from VCC-Clark Station to Planner Brent Toderian sees False Arbutus Street. The city’s announceCreek Flats as a “critical” issue. ment comes after at least 19 sites along West Broadway have changed hands the affordability question.” since December 2016, including some By “lazy” he meant not just thinklocations west of Arbutus Street, ac- ing that allowing strata-title condos to cording to a recent report by commer- dot False Creek Flats will necessarily cial realtor Avison Young. make housing more affordable for the The most expensive property was middle class. When he was in charge the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance of planning at the city, Toderian acCompany building east of Arbu- knowledged supporting some higher tus Street, which was purchased for density in former industrial areas but $39 million in September. Next most also retaining them as an “enterprise costly was the building attached to zone” or a “green economy zone”. the Staples store west of Birch Street, But this had to be done with at $35 million. That was closely fol- considerable finesse. Housing, he lowed by the Heart and Stroke Foun- argued, should only be rental, bedation of B.C.’s cause that doesn’t building at 1212 drive up land valWest Broadway, ues at anywhere which went for near the same Charlie Smith $34.7 million. rate as strata-title A great deal of public attention has condos. Higher land prices drive focused on all the land deals in the away businesses that can’t afford to vicinity of the three Broadway subway expand, undermining employment. stops west of Cambie Street—around “The way I described it at council Oak, Granville, and Arbutus. But there was in the context that condos are a hasn’t been nearly as much discussion zebra mussel,” Toderian explained. about the three eastern stops along the “They’re an invasive species that Broadway subway at Cambie, Main takes over the ecosystem. You have Street, and Great Northern Way. to protect from condos.” The city’s former director of planToderian didn’t even want to ning, Brent Toderian, told the Geor- hazard a guess about what might gia Straight by phone that when he happen around the corner of Main was working for the city, he learned and East Broadway after a SkyTrain that housing was prohibited on only station is built. 10 percent of Vancouver’s landmass. “The challenge of increasing But that relatively small percentage density on transit [lines]—which was home to half the jobs in the city. is a very good thing, let me be very And 182 hectares of that “job-space clear—relative to the maintenance land” is on False Creek Flats, which is of that gritty, authentic community bounded by Main Street, Prior Street, character is one of the biggest challenClark Drive, and Great Northern Way. ges in our city,” he said. “But weighing More than half the land on the flats it against the costs and consequences is owned by the city, which makes it of everything from climate change to a tempting site to develop housing. public health associated with getting And with a new rapid-transit station people out of the cars and supporting slated to go near the new Emily Carr a more transit-friendly existence— University of Art + Design campus that’s a hard debate to have.” on Great Northern Way, it’s easy to As for the future Millennium conclude that this could become the Line stop at Cambie Street and West city’s next condo hot spot. Broadway, Toderian said that it may Toderian, however, said that it’s not experience as many changes as not necessarily going to happen if the people might expect. While there next city council wants to preserve could be more density, it won’t see a much of this area for employment. dramatic transformation if council He called it “one of the most critical wants to retain view corridors. issues in city planning in Vancouver”. There’s already a Canada Line sta“Being an affordable city in- tion at that location, and it hasn’t cludes salaries,” Toderian stated. resulted in big changes around that “It includes jobs. With whoever intersection. gets in power with the new council, “I don’t think having the extra it’s very important that they take station will mean the city will radthe jobs-lands challenge serious- ically change its land-use planning,” ly—and not take a lazy approach to he said. -

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ot everyone who gets preg- word woman in the way that we talk nant is a woman. Birthing about midwifery, because it feels and parenting can also ex- like it’s really connecting to the histend to transgender, non- tory of the work that’s been done,” binary, and gender-nonconforming they said. Beitel thought that the people who were assigned female at word woman could still be includbirth but now identify differently. ed in documents so long as it was Cora Beitel is a registered midwife alongside inclusive language like who identifies as nonbinary and uses client, family, or individual. they/them pronouns. Being gender-variant and preg“I’ve definitely encountered doc- nant can create challenges medically, tors and nurses who have misgen- personally, interpersonally, socially, dered people and have had trouble and professionally, according to respecting people’s needs around Simpson. “Being put in a position their identity,” Beitel told the Georgia where they need to educate their Straight in an East care providers on Vancouver café. how to take care Beitel cofounded of them, it’s a riStrathcona Middiculous position V.S. Wells wifery Collective that trans folks are in Vancouver about five-and-a-half in all the time,” Simpson said. years ago; it has since become one GASI, which started in March 2017, of British Columbia’s most queer- is designed to advocate for queer and friendly midwifery practices. About gender-variant midwives, clients, and three-and-a-half years ago, the clinic children born to clients, promote inestablished a queer and trans parent- clusive models of care, and provide ing and pregnancy community group. education to B.C. midwives at large. “With establishing that group, In December, the committee orI think our clinic became more ganized a training session attended known for providing inclusive by more than 100 people to help midwifery care but also focus- midwives understand queer and ing on more than just the medical trans health needs; B.C. has about care,” Beitel said. 300 registered midwives. Their expertise is in high demand. Mel Mundell, MABC communiLast year, they spoke at the triennial cations director and GASI member, congress of the International Con- noted that the event took place at federation of Midwives in Toronto B.C. Women’s Hospital. “There’s an as part of a symposium about the example right there of gendered lanlived experiences of queer and trans guage and birth,” said Mundell, who midwives and clients. In the past identifies as queer and uses they/ few weeks, numerous requests have them pronouns. filled their inbox. Providing inclusive care goes beBeitel doesn’t disclose their gender yond using the right words, though. identity and pronouns during work Beitel said the physical space of a unless they are caring for a trans or midwifery clinic is a key place to nonbinary client, as they don’t feel start—including knowledgeable adcomfortable inserting that part of ministrative staff, diverse posters their identity into a job where their and images on the walls, a variety of clients are the focus. library books detailing different exGender-neutral language in periences, and single-stall nongenmidwifery has previously caused dered bathrooms. controversy. In 2015, the Midwives In terms of care, Beitel said, proAssociation of North America viders need to ask open-ended queschanged its documentation word- tions, not make assumptions, and ing from “woman” to “pregnant take it slowly. individual” or “birthing parent”. “Within midwifery care, we have A group called Woman-Centered the opportunity…to really slow Midwifery circulated an open let- down and not rush through our ter protesting the changes, arguing appointments, not rush through that “pregnancy and birth are dis- physical exams,” Beitel said. “It’s tinctly female biological acts.” really taking time with people’s Tracy Simpson, a midwife and for- health care and with their bodies in mer board member of the Midwives a way that’s honouring that there’s Association of B.C. (MABC), felt that so much more at play than what something needed to be done. The you’re seeing in that moment.” letter, in part, prompted Simpson In hospitals, the change is slower: to propose a working group within doctors and nurses often greet new MABC—called Gender and Sex- patients with, “Is it a boy or a girl?” ual Inclusivity (GASI)—to focus on Beitel said this is a difficult quesqueer and trans needs in midwifery. tion for people who don’t identify “As a queer and gender-noncon- with the gender they were assigned forming midwife…I’m more aware at birth. of the issues,” group chair Simpson Institutional change takes time, said by phone. “It’s something that but Beitel said hospitals are makaffects me personally.” ing steps. They think health-care Beitel, who was previously part of workers are generally amenable to GASI, understands where some of change if it means they are helping the resistance to inclusive language their patients. could be coming from. “Health-care providers want to do “For a lot of midwives, it feels well by people,” Beitel said. “It’s why really important not to lose the we do this work.” -

Health

10 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018

BOOKS

STEPHEN BURKE

History lives in 105 Hikes

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n the introduction to 105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia, Coast Salish author and ethnobotanist Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;uyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;tanatâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Cease Wyss reminds readers of the history of the land where they walk. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a history thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s far longer than the 240-some years that Europeans and their settler descendants have travelled this region. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We love our sacred stsĂŠktsek, our forests, and we hope you love them too,â&#x20AC;? she writes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These forests and smĂĄnit, these mountains, are the places where we have gathered s7Ălhen (foods), kâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ĂŠytlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;tanayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (medicines), materials for our cultural regalia, and tools for creating the important treasures that we spent centuries learning about. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our hope, as Indigenous peoples, is that through your time in our ancestorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; homes in the natural world, you will become as deeply connected to these wonderful and beautiful places that have cared for our peoplesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as we have, hopefully, cared for them.â&#x20AC;? In a telephone interview, the guidebookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s author and photographer, former Georgia Straight staff writer Stephen Hui, says it was very important to him to help people explore southwestern B.C. with an appreciation for the Indigenous peoples who were the first to call this land home, as well as with a knowledge of the history, positive and negative, that makes B.C. what it is today. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re standing on top of Mount Erskine on Salt Spring Island, one of the islands youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking at was the site of a residential school that closed only a few decades ago,â&#x20AC;? Hui notes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I mention that if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re driving into Manning Park, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re driving past Sunshine Valley, and that used to be a Japanese internment camp.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;So I tried to put some social content in the hikes and also acknowledge that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all Indigenous land,â&#x20AC;? Hui continues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I tried to acknowledge the territories of the hikes you go into. I did a lot of research on Indigenous toponyms or place names because definitely, reading most guidebooks, that history and presence is rather erased.â&#x20AC;? 105 Hikes is the spiritual successor to 103 Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia, a beloved series by David and Mary Macaree that ran with irregular updates for almost 50 years. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an entirely new guidebook that Hui researched and compiled from scratch, drawing on 25 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience on B.C. trails. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The 103 Hikes franchise was the set of guidebooks that I grew up reading,â&#x20AC;? Hui says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They were my favourites. My favourite books in general, out of all books. So itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s totally unexpected that I would take over the torch from that series.â&#x20AC;Ś Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great position to be in, and it was also a daunting challenge. It was a gift, but it was a ton of pressure.â&#x20AC;? Hui recounts how he met that challenge with a simple goal: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I set out to write a guidebook that

I would want to use,â&#x20AC;? he explains. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That I thought would be useful to people, both hard-core hikers and the new generation of hikers.â&#x20AC;? Expanding on terrain covered in 103 Hikes, Huiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book also includes trails on B.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s southern islands and in Washington state. Printed in vivid colour with a photograph and a map accompanying every hike, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a guidebook for outdoor enthusiasts that was obviously produced by a member of the hiking community who shares its values and appreciation for nature. Throughout are instructions and tips to maintain the Pacific wilderness that the occasional hiker might not think of or have heard before. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I tried to encourage minimumimpact practices that are known as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;leave no traceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ethics,â&#x20AC;? Hui says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t shortcut trails. If thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a switchback, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t shortcut them, because that leads to a lot of erosion. No littering. People think that they can throw an orange peel or a banana peel or eggshells in the woods because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re natural. But that stuff actually takes quite a long time to decompose, and it really adds up. And be careful with your pee and poop, because it adds up too.â&#x20AC;? Stephen Hui will host book-launch events on Saturday (June 2) at MEC (130 West Broadway) and on June 12 at the ANZA Club (3 West 8th Avenue). For complete details, visit 105hikes.com/.

Gaston navigates the past RE VIEW JUST LET ME LOOK AT YOU By Bill Gaston. Hamish Hamilton, 288 pp, softcover

With his new book, Victoria writer Bill Gaston shifts away from his much-lauded fiction (his last novel, The World, was awarded the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize) to a work of very personal nonfiction. While Just Let Me Look at You isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Gastonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first foray into memoir, it feels like the work of a lifetime. Just Let Me Look at You begins with Gaston, cresting 60 years old, setting forth on a solo boat trip, â&#x20AC;&#x153;thirty years in the makingâ&#x20AC;?, from Gabriola Island to Egmont, a tiny community on Sechelt Inlet. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not exactly an endurance featâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just â&#x20AC;&#x153;eighty miles across the Salish Sea and up a remote inletâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;but the journey is significant. Egmont is â&#x20AC;&#x153;where my father and I learned to mooch for salmon together,â&#x20AC;? Gaston writes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where I came of age, and he slid downhill, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where we grew apart.â&#x20AC;? Framed around Gastonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s often hilarious boat trip (his boat is â&#x20AC;&#x153;a piece of junkâ&#x20AC;?), Just Let Me Look at You is a cleareyed, unsentimentalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;though clearly deeply feltâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;examination of Gastonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship with his father. A veteran

who joined the American navy in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, his father was a manager at Sears who climbed the corporate ladder while dragging his family from city to city, eventually settling in Vancouver. He was also a boisterous drunk eventually claimed by alcoholism, though not before his relationship with the bottle destroyed his relationship with his son. But Gaston and his father could always find safe ground fishing together, and Gastonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trip to Egmont is an attempt to reconcile not only his feelings on the man he knew, but the secrets he only discovered in the wake of his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, and his own growing self-awareness and understanding of the older man as he himself ages. Just Let Me Look at You is a beautiful book, evocative and thoughtful, as rooted in the waters and history of the West Coast as it is in the human relationships at its core. Yes, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of fishing, but Just Let Me Look at You is about fishing in the same way Field of Dreams is about baseball: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s written with such love and devotion that it will win you over even if (Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m guilty of this) you couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t care less about the activity. And like the film, just when you think you have it figured out, the book sneaks up on you and breaks your goddamn heart. > ROBERT WIERSEMA

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

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 28, 2018 WHERE: Tocaderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizza & Steak House In honour of your dork mom and her search. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one for you. Andrew - Met you (again) at the janky Greek spot on Nanaimo. I was in your spot but you apologized for being in mine. If Tocaderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is your favourite Greek restaurant, Your Favourite Band Sucks.

BRITTANY - YOU WERE STUDYING FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE EXAM AT PLATFORM 7 KITS

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 17, 2018 WHERE: Platform 7 Coffee Kitsilano You were â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;tryingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to study for your upcoming exam at Platform 7 in Kits. We chatted for a bit about different ways of studying, environmentally sound buildings, real estate stuff and your next career move. Next thing I know you were saying goodbye.

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 25, 2018 WHERE: Tobyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pub

Near the end of the night I was dancing with friends by the wall and you came up to me and tried to talk. It was crazy loud and I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t catch what you were saying, but my friends were in a drunk, possessive mood and pulled me away to dance before I could respond. You seemed nice and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sorry my friends chased you off! I would have been happy to meet you.

WALKING PAST JUKE IN CHINATOWN

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 28, 2018 WHERE: Prince Edward @ 31

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 24, 2018 WHERE: Jukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

You were jogging across Prince Edward @ 31st and you passed right in front of me and cut through the cemetery. Anyone who jogs in a graveyard is my type of person. You - shoulder length dark hair and purple jogging pants. Me - Dark hair, beard. Go for a run sometime?

I walked past Jukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relatively quickly with my friend and his dog but I caught your eyes as I peered in. You had tattoos on your forearm and blonde hair. Shouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come in and asked you join me and my friends for drinks on the roof. If you shared the same sentiment about our brief eye contact, tell me what I was wearing!

KERRISDALE THRIFT STORE

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 25, 2018 WHERE: Kerrisdale Thrift store Writing this defies all reason and logic but here goes... You were trying on a white kit cardigan sweater. I commented it looked nice. Realizing I was probably over stepping boundaries I backed off and kept my mouth shut. I was totally enamored by your demeanor and beauty.

We made eye contact Friday night, said hi & I blushed, band started and I enjoyed watching them, tho you were right in front of them. ;) Would love to chat.

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 25, 2018 WHERE: Fox Cabaret

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 24, 2018 WHERE: Cordova and Carrall We kinda bumped into one another at the wrong time for this but whilst we walked the block along Hastings seeking your lost goods, I couldn't help but see the beauty you have and, well, wondered if maybe we could do coffee or Palm Bay vodka shots? Would be nice to know normal people other than the chaotic ones I see daily at the overdose place where I work.

COSTCO LOADING

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 23, 2018 WHERE: Costco

Five ton truck, you were loading flats of water bottles with an older white guy. I was unlocking my bike nearby, many glances.

COQUITLAM COSTCO BLONDE

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 24, 2018 WHERE: Gov Rd Costco

We were picking up similar items. You were wearing a pink shirt and have blonde hair. I caught you looking at me at the checkout line.

RED BALL CAP, GREY SWEATER AT BUS STOP ON GRANVILLE

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: MAY 26, 2018 WHERE: Vancouver - #4 Powell Bus I was waiting for the bus on Granville Street around 7pm. We were the only two at the bus stop for a while. You were listening to music on your black ear buds, wearing a grey sweater, a red ball cap. We both got on the #4 Powell. You were standing in front of me for a few stops. I noticed the scent of your cologne, it was fantastic. You came and sat directly across from me at the back of the bus. I liked your look and wanted to ask what the scent was you were wearing to break the ice, and if I could take your portrait sometime (I'm a photographer), but I didn't because I can be stupid shy in groups of people. You got off the bus in Gastown and went on your way. In the off chance you ever read this, we should hang out and go take some portraits! Message me with something I was wearing or the colour of my hair, your Instagram to confirm & I'll send you mine!

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ MAY 31 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; JUNE 7 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 11

HIGH TECH

Microsoft mentors students in its Garage > B Y KATE WIL SON

ood inventors set out to solve a problem. Better inventors solve problems that society ignores. Technology giant Microsoft has taken that mantra to heart. In February this year, the company partnered with national NGO Inclusive Education Canada to launch Inclusive Education Month: an initiative to raise awareness of alternativelearning strategies. Alongside other programs, the Vancouver chapter featured a neurodiversity hackathon, inviting local programmers to create ways to improve the lives of those whose minds operate outside of the normal spectrum. From the scores of invited students and established engineers, one team stood out. Five postgraduate students from Simon Fraser University chose to help individuals with autism. Imagining a wearable device that could detect some of the behaviours associated with overstimulation, or “stimming”, they created a small machine that could measure biosignals such as heart rate, breathing rate, skin temperature, and galvanic skin response. The device—which looks much like a Fitbit or watch—would use those inputs to determine an individual’s anxiety levels and give insight into whether that person might be at risk of having an emotional episode. “The hackathon gave us a lot of tools to get started on the idea,” Jordan Lui told the Georgia Straight at the recent #BCTech Summit, where the group was showcasing its design. “Microsoft brought in experts who helped us highlight the daily challenges and obstacles that people with autism are having. We looked at some of those issues, such as tracking episodes, wanting to predict them, and trying to recognize that

Teams from SFU and BCIT exhibited their health-technology prototypes at the #BCTech Summit. Kyle Ball photo.

they’re happening. We realized that it was important to record biodata from the individual to give them and their loved ones greater awareness, and also incorporate motion recognition to recognize some of the telltale signs of stimming that can be associated with an upcoming episode. We thought an on-body device would help with that.” After their promising presentation at the hackathon, Microsoft invited Lui and his four teammates—Chakaveh Ahmadizadeh, Neha Chhatre, Rana Sadeghi Chegani, and Zhen Xiao—to the Microsoft Garage. A space created for individuals to design, code, build, and release a new product, the Garage offers state-of-the-art tools and the opportunity to toy with innovative leftfield ideas. Under the mentorship of

12 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018

Stacey Mulcahy, the senior program manager of Microsoft Garage, the team was able to develop its concept to a working prototype. “It was a lot of hard work,” Ahmadizadeh said. “One of the biggest challenges was learning. We did a fair bit of research into which biosignals are the most prominent and did a lot of reading in order to tailor our design. We 3-D–printed the hardware ourselves, did our own experiments, and created an algorithm that could learn the specific patterns that could trigger an episode for each individual. It was a comprehensive thing to do over one-and-a-half months.” Before spending their time in the Garage, entering the B.C. tech industry was a pipe dream for a number of the team members. After realizing

the speed at which prototypes can be built and receiving local interest, the group has f loated the idea of possibly developing the device into a marketable product. “I came to B.C. because I was interested in getting involved in tech for health care,” Lui said. “When I got here, I heard that it was really hard to get into, because companies are highly regulated and you have to do the exact right degree. For me, I learned from this experience that people can help supply the resources and idea and start making things to help contribute to the health-tech industry. The barrier to entry is much lower than I realized.” The SFU cohort wasn’t the only group of students welcomed into the Garage by Mulcahy and the Microsoft team. After their dean contacted

the company, three individuals at BCIT were granted the opportunity to spend a month and a half working on another cutting-edge health-tech idea in the technology giant’s office. Making use of the HoloLens—an augmented-reality headset created by Microsoft—Mark Tan, Rong Zhou, and Jae Jang created a tool that simulates flesh wounds, aiming to help paramedic and medical students become more familiar with trauma. “It’s a proof-of-concept project for BCIT health and science to help improve the way people identify injuries,” Jang told the Straight. “Currently, what the school does to represent the wound is to apply plastic objects on top of mannequin dolls, and then put makeup on it to make it seem more realistic. They have to repeat that process several times. They wanted a more efficient way to do it, and that’s why they proposed a project that made use of HoloLens and augmented reality.” The team wrote a program that lets the wearer of the HoloLens headset bring up a menu for either an instructor or student. By tapping fingers in the air, an individual can open a visual that displays up to five categories of images. Next, they lay a small square of paper that resembles a QR code on top of a mannequin and the headset turns the 2-D picture into a gunshot, slash, or stab wound, projected onto the dummy as a hologram. “Because the HoloLens is so new, there aren’t a lot of people in B.C. who know how to use the technology,” Zhou said. “There isn’t much information online. When we had trouble developing, we were able to be helped by the people who actually made it.” “We absolutely want to work in the tech industry in B.C.,” Jang added. “This experience has boosted our confidence. It’s been tough, but we’ve really enjoyed it. It’s great to have the chance to work on ideas like this, because they can be so impactful.” -

straight stars > B Y ROSE MA RC U S

May 31 to June 6, 2018

eels good; easy does it; cashing inâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Mercury/Mars and Venus/Jupiter aim to help you make the most of it on Friday. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an optimal day to connect, make money, reward yourself, hit the road, or cozy up to the one you love. Saturday/Sunday, the stars lean toward social engaging rather than one-to-one relating, but no matter how you play it, satisfaction is on the ready dial-up this weekend. Tuesday, you have game, or they do. The day can be most favourable for a meet-up, an important talk or debate, for buying, selling, brokering a better deal, and for setting plans in motion. Tackle the paperwork; watch the game; give your lover what they desire/deserve. On the other hand, Tuesday/ Wednesday could produce a noticeable shift, redirect the conversation, or something more. Read the fine print; watch for signals, subtle vibes, and intuitive impressions. Mercury, in conjunction with the sun, can bring something out into the open that needs to be discussed. Venus in opposition to Pluto triggers potent, raw, or compulsive emotions and makes for an edgy undercurrent. It can be hard to hold back on feelings, cravings, or desire. Both Mercury/sun and Venus/Pluto are quick on the uptake. Both have a talent for connecting the dots and getting the message across. Venus/Pluto can look to hit a target or to find one. Tuesday could stir up the action regarding an important relationship issue or money matter. Through midweek, the moon in Pisces keeps potential on brew. Wednesday can bring more to the surface or out into the open. Go by feel. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make assumptions.

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

March 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;April 19

Friday/Saturday, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as good as it gets. Mercury/Mars keeps the conversation and the good ideas going strong. Venus in Cancer soaks it up with Jupiter on Friday and Neptune on Saturday. Let the spirit move you. Indulge; create; love them; love it. Tuesday, something important/ impactful is said or done. Wednesday, it is easy to get lost, forget, or lose out. Keep it simple. April 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;May 20

Even the tough stuff comes easily Friday/Saturday. Aim to get on their good side; upsell it; call in a favour; talk to a lawyer; put a difficult matter to bed. Mercury/Mars and Venus in good shape with both Jupiter and Neptune help you to make good inroads. Tuesday night can stir it up; Wednesday waters it down. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bank on a promise. May 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;June 21

Looking good; sounding good. As June begins, Mercury in Gemini keeps you nicely energized and making the most of it. For this next week, feel your way along and let the moment dictate the play. Friday/Saturday, soak it in, soak it up; let them know how much you care. Venus enhances creativity, romance, emotional responsiveness, and rapport. Wednesday, time evaporates. Relax, let it go.

CANCER

June 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;July 22

LEO

July 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;August 22

Friday ends the week and begins the new month on an upswing. Use this day to talk it up or get the show on the road. The rest of the weekend continues the easygoing track. Tuesday, go with the flow. By evening, the stars give you more to say, ponder, or do. Wednesday, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll feel/ sense plenty more than is on display.

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VIRGO

August 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;September 22

Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it great when it all just falls into place? Friday can be one of those days. You can feel gifted; you can be charmed. Conversations, plans, and activities should prove delightful and/or profitable. The good trend continues through the weekend and for the week ahead. Tuesday evening, say it; do it; get it solved. Wednesday, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t force what isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t coming naturally.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

La Casa

Gelato

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September 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;October 23

As June opens, Mars talks it up; Venus plays it up. Connect; convey; sell it. Get your body moving; head and heart follow suit. Both Venus and Mars are great for setting wheels in motion and for making the most of it, especially through Tuesday. Wednesday, wander; conjure; heed the spiritual call; take a day off. Put off the important stuff. October 23â&#x20AC;&#x201C;November 21

Friday is your best to attend or host an event, sign a contract, take charge, spend on a big-ticket item, or make it official. Good news could make your day too. The good trend continues through most of the week ahead. Still, proceed with caution on Wednesday. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good promise and potential, but it can be difficult to nail it or them down. November 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;December 21

The workweek comes to a smooth, feels-good wrap-up. Overall, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an easy sail through the week ahead too. Even so, late Tuesday through Wednesday, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to get caught up in the emotion, the romance, or a whim. Keep tabs on your medicines, alcohol, or drug consumption. Wednesday, let the creative muses play; commune with the divine; or coast. December 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;January 19

Thursday/Friday, say it; do it; make it happen. The Capricorn moon puts optimal timing on your side. The conversation flows. Folks are willing to spend, indulge, or give you more. Tuesday/Wednesday, Neptune runs the show. Things can slip by you or get lost in translation. It can be a day of drain or heightened sensitivity and imagination. January 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;February 18

Mars in Aquarius keeps you in good running order through Friday. The moon in Aquarius takes over the job through Monday. Tuesday evening, a conversation, catchup, or evening out provides good entertainment. Say what you feel; get it out in the open. Wednesday, stay noncommittal. Ease up. Save the important stuff for another day. February 18â&#x20AC;&#x201C;March 20

Venus/Jupiter keep you feeling mighty fine. Romance or your social life can hit a high. Friday, make money or spend it; get on a plane; or get your weekend pleasure sorted out. Tuesday/Wednesday, once the conversation or imagination gets up and rolling, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no telling where it can take you. Watch your vices; donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drive impaired. -

You have right touch, right words Friday/Saturday. Play up the romance; give in to the creative muses; or aim for a spiritual refill. Emotionsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;yours or theirsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;are an open book. Tuesday evening through Wednesday can keep you swimming in the deep end of an emotional process or creative project. Someone or B o o k a re a d i n g o r s i g n u p f o r something can make a strong im- Roseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free monthly newsletter at rosemarcus.com/. pression on you.

MAY 31 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; JUNE 7 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 13

FOOD

Chefs aim for Korean crown

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orean food is becoming a popular mainstay in Vancouver’s food scene—there is probably always someone in your friend circle who is craving tofu soup, bibimbap (hot-stone rice bowl with various toppings), or haemul pajeon (seafood pancake). The love for this Asian cuisine is real, so it’s fitting that a Korean cooking face-off is returning to the city. In its second year, the Korean Culinary Competition—hosted by both the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea and Vancouver Community College—will take place at VCC (250 West Pender Street) on June 14 at 2 p.m. The public will be invited to try the dishes and enjoy food-related activities from 3:30 p.m. Amateur and professional chefs (separated into two groups) are invited to participate in the event. Each contestant will be allotted 90 minutes to whip up a tasty Korean food item, which will be judged for its taste and presentation. Ingredients and essential kitchen The Korean Culinary Competition could result in at least one chef trying to create equipment will be provided, but you a dish like pork-bone soup (above). Laughing Dog Photography/iStock photo. can bring in your own rice cooker if need be. (We think rice is a pretty interview at a local Vancouver res- have a passion for Korean food, important accompaniment for Ko- taurant. “Cultural affairs, especially then check out the gimbap (Korean rean cuisine.) food, are the gate- seaweed and rice roll)-making that First-, second-, way and connect- will be happening from 3 to 4 p.m. and third-place or between Asian “We [Koreans] have a big preswinners in each heritages with lo- ence in Asian communities, but we Tammy Kwan group will be cal communities. think [that] politically and socially, awarded a cash prize ($800, $300, With food, we don’t have any lan- we are underrepresented,” Lee said. and $100, respectively). The first- guage barriers.” “There is still a long way to go to place professional competitor will be The judges for this year’s event be proactively engaged with local invited on a weeklong trip to Korea haven’t been confirmed yet, but ex- communities.” to compete against other winners pect to see Consul General Gunn What better way to engage and from around the world and will have Kim, Peter Nunoda (president of interact with Vancouverites than the chance to travel to renowned res- VCC), chef Collin Gill (VCC culin- with mouthwatering foods? taurants around the Asian nation. ary arts department head), and The cooking competition’s sub“The reason we do this competi- perhaps a local Korean restaurant mission deadline is May 31 at 11:59 tion is to promote Korean food to owner/chef decide on the winning p.m. For more information and the foreigners, not just Korean nationals dishes. online application, visit the Consulliving in Canada,” Consul Kangjun If you’re not confident enough to ate General of the Republic of Korea Lee told the Georgia Straight in an join this year’s competition but still in Vancouver website. -

Best Eats

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

Scan to confess Thank you! A while back someone posted something about aging. I’m in my early fifties and I get anxious sometimes about not wearing age appropriate attire. I don’t want to, I still want to wear my converses...In the comments section someone said they should check out Sarah Jane Adams. What an inspiration! I never would have known about this extraordinary woman. Thank you anonymous commenter for changing my perspective.

Best Ohs Two months ago I had the best orgasm I’ve ever had. Then yesterday was so awesome too. I can’t tell if it’s because my husband and I are really in a groove or if it’s because I’m mid 30’s and my body wants me to have lots of sex lol. Either way, wahoo!

I Call Bullshit I call bullshit when women say they don’t care whether a guy is homeless or worth millions because they only care about love.

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Mental health My job makes me want to kill myself. I get treated so poorly every day it makes me feel like garbage. So I’m finding work elsewhere that’s not as stressful and quitting that shit hole. Here’s to mental health.

People Before Prots I own six small apartment buildings in Vancouver. In my 40 years as a landlord in Vancouver I have never had to evict a single person. I have always followed... (con’t @straight.com)

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FOOD

So many things to do and wines to drink

n our day-to-day lives, there are up to hit the theatre, or slapping on plenty of times and places that we sunscreen to venture out to various enjoy wine, right? Some of our fa- summer festivities, doing those last vourite experiences with the stuff few around-the-house things when a revolve around epic meals full of rev- splash of something to get us in the elry, surrounded by friends or family. mood may be in order. Other times, it’s on With Vancoua patio or our balver’s summer cony, eyes squintcalendar chocking in the sun as a-block with fun Kurtis Kolt we swirl a chipper things to do, there’s white or rosé in our glass. no shortage of inspiration. Here are Hell, there’s certainly even noth- a handful of things going on around ing wrong with a hearty Chardon- town, along with a little suitable nay and a bowl of popcorn whilst something to wet your whistle. binging on our latest Netf lix adSKY LEAKS AND LENS CLEANdiction, yeah? This week, we’re going to look at ING—SCOTT MCFARLAND (To another stretch when wine can be June 9, Monte Clark Gallery) I’ve alparticularly pleasurable: those times ways enjoyed Toronto photographer when we’re getting ready to head out Scott McFarland’s experimental on the town. Those in-between mo- photography for its vividness and ments when we’re getting gussied complexity. In this show (a double

The Bottle

Michael Shindler’s A Sunday in August Riesling is crisp and snappy.

feature, really), for the Sky Leaks component, he incorporates imperfections in lightboxed cloud images damaged by exposure to light

and water. With Lens Cleaning, he presents imagery documenting his process, like cleaning camera lenses with his T-shirt and leaving dust on them, which affects his final work. It’s all quite natural and honest, embracing these influences and imperfections. There’s a similar thread woven through Michael Shindler’s wines out of British Columbia’s Similkameen Valley, a project he dubs A Sunday in August. He makes wine from small lots of purchased fruit; varieties like Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir have been some of my favourites of late. His wines are naturally fermented, unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulphur added as preservative. Because he’s not a fan of intervening too much in the process, these wines are also honest and will evolve in bottle. There may be a touch of cloudiness

or sediment here or there. His crisp and snappy 2015 Riesling ($21.65, Marquis Wine Cellars) is currently buoyed by fresh lemon and pink grapefruit, crisp acidity, and a hint of salinity, but we can likely expect it to become honeyed, with marmalade and petrol notes, as we tear pages off the calendar. For more information and local availability, visit www. asundayinaugust.com/. ITALIAN DAY ON THE DRIVE (June 10, Commercial Drive) It’s that time again! Jostle elbows with more than 200,000 neighbours along a 14-block stretch of the Drive, with plenty of musical performances, things to eat, fashion shows, and more. Of course, drinking an Italian wine before stepping out is a no-brainer, but let’s be extra theme-oriented by enjoying see next page

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The Bottle

ARTS OF RESISTANCE

May 17 – October 8, 2018

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one of Italy’s many indigenous grape varieties: Pecorino! Sheep Thrills Pecorino Terre di Chieti 2016 (Abruzzo, Italy; $13.99, B.C. Liquor Stores) is perfect for sunny summer days. Bite into this juicy peach of a wine and enjoy its breezy citrus fruit, fresh oregano, sage, and brilliant acidity. THE THINGS WE GROW—GATHIE FALK (May 26 to June 30, Equinox

Gallery) The frames on the walls can barely contain the abundance of flowers and plant life in Order of Canada recipient Gathie Falk’s paintings; one can almost take in their aromatics. On the same token, I recently stopped in my tracks upon taking my first whiff of Emandare Vineyard Siegerrebe Gewürztraminer 2016 (Vancouver Island, B.C.; $23, www.emandarevine yard.ca/), with its fragrant rose petals and jasmine. How refreshing to have something so floral and tropical (think litchi and passion fruit) still finish dry as a bone, making it all the more refreshing. A summer sipper, indeed! I recently spotted the last bunch from the 2015 vintage at Marquis Wine Cellars; nab ’em while you still can.

Politics and the Past in Latin America

MAMMA MIA! (Through August 12, Stanley Theatre) The famous goodtime romp—set in the Greek islands, full of wedding bells and ABBA

Scott McFarland’s photography is at the Monte Clark Gallery until June 9.

tunes—has been packing the house at the Arts Club’s Stanley Theatre on Granville since opening earlier this spring. Let’s set the scene from the southern coast of Greece with Katogi & Strofilia Syn+ White Dot 2016 (Peloponnese PGI, Greece; $20 to $25, private liquor stores). Although its varietal blend of Moschofilero and Roditis may not be familiar, a couple of quick sips and this crunch of Granny Smith apple and nectarine, drenched in fresh lime and tethered with a little grapefruit pith, won’t be a stranger for long. While it’ll put you in the mood for the musical’s sunny setting, you may want to allow time to tuck into some fresh local seafood to go with it before you call that cab. -

The Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Society presents Vancouver’s Professional Awards and Party

Celebrating 36 Years!

Congratulations and a big round of applause for all Jessie nominees! Monday, July 16

Doors 5:30pm Ceremony 6:30pm

Bard on the Beach BMO Mainstage in Vanier Park Ticket - JessieAwards.com or call 604.739.0559

Explorer Speaker Series at the Orpheum theatre Series Subscriptions Available Now $165 for all four shows

more info at

www.vancouvercivictheatres.com 16 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018

Steve Winter

UP CLOSE. IN PERSON. LIVE!

ARTS

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra B Y ALEX ANDER VAR T Y

has never sounded better. Its affiliated School of Music, which opened in 2011, has given employment to scores of skilled musicians and education to thousands more. Two attractive chamber-music spaces, Pyatt Hall and the Annex, are up and running in a city otherwise chronically short of concert venues. A pair of festivals, one dedicated to new music and the other to the titanic figures of the near and distant past, have opened and expanded our collective ears. And yet when Bramwell Tovey, who is soon to depart his position as music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra after 18 years at the podium, reflects on his achievements, he doesn’t single out any of his many accomplishments. Instead, he takes a typically expansive approach, choosing to celebrate an achievement that encompasses all of the above: putting the VSO at the centre of cultural life in the Lower Mainland. “There is real artistic value and social value in what we do, and I think there’s now a belief that the orchestra is part and parcel of the social success of the city,” he tells the Georgia Straight, in a telephone interview from his Seymour Street office. “I mean, I love looking out of the window here at the VSO school. This is all built up around here now, with lots of different apartment blocks, and it’s a much less violent area to be in than it used to be.…And I think the orchestra has contributed to that.” When Tovey arrived in Vancouver, after a successful 12-year run as music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the VSO’s home base, the Orpheum, was “an island” in a sea of urban blight. His intent was to take a hands-on approach to renovating both the orchestra and the

Tovey leaves a musical legacy

Bramwell Tovey is proud that the VSO is seen as an integral part of the success of the city; below left, Jocelyn Morlock appreciates his passion for new music.

it, Tovey demurs. “That really is a question for As he prepares his final concerts after 18 years at the VSO, the other people,” he says. maestro and others reflect on his approach and a changing city Other people, however, are willing to offer a area, but he had no idea that literally getting his definitive verdict. An unscientific poll of audience hands dirty would be part of the process. members, from veteran season-ticket holders to “I remember, for instance, when two members composers to adventurous rock musicians, finds of the orchestra had violins stolen from a car universal agreement that Tovey will be handing over when they were parking one morning. The whole a well-oiled machine to Otto Tausk when the Dutch orchestra decided to fan out and check all conductor becomes the band’s leader next fall. the bins. So we did that; I took a couple Some of Tovey’s most vociferous supporters, in of blocks, and I felt incredibly unsafe, fact, are those who get to work with him every week. walking around looking in wheelie bins,” “There’s no doubt that the VSO is sounding bethe explains, using the British term for ter than it ever has,” says Roger Cole, who has had Dumpsters. “At one point I walked into ample opportunity to compare Tovey’s approach an alleyway and a bunch of addicts came to those of his predecessors. “You know, this is my out who’d been waiting for a pusher. 42nd season, so I will have survived four music “So it was a different kind of atmos- directors after Bramwell leaves, and will hopephere,” he continues. “Now, people have fully survive a few years of the fi ft h,” the VSO’s residences here, and the orchestra is cen- principal oboist continues. “And every conductor tral to the community with all the pro- has his or her own manner when it comes to shapgrams going on at the school, with the Su- ing a performance. I have found Bramwell’s apzuki lessons, the choirs, the sinfonietta, proach to be a big-picture approach. He knows all the teaching… I mean, none of this what kind of performance he’s looking for, and he existed 18 years ago. This was a derelict knows what the piece means to him. But it’s very cinema, and it’s now got 2,000 people rare that he will nitpick and ask you to do this inbobbing in and out every week, having lessons. So stead of that—which we, as musicians, can find the orchestra, I think, has been a good social citizen, sometimes annoying. In other words, he’s confiand every penny of public subsidy that it’s received dent in the people he’s hired, and in that they’ll at any level has contributed to the economic well-be- all do their best playing if he lets them take their ing of the area. It’s good investment by government, own approach. Now, of course, having said that, and a good investment by ticket buyers.” he’s the one that really shapes the performance. Asked whether he thinks he’s leaving the VSO in But I’ve always enjoyed working with him over the better musical shape than it was in when he found years, because I feel that when he’s on the podium

THINGS TO DO

I can really do my thing, and he’s not going to try to stifle me, as some conductors do.” The VSO’s composer in residence, Jocelyn Morlock, is even more effusive about Tovey’s support for her work, and for contemporary music in general— which isn’t surprising, given that Tovey has not only fronted internationally recognized new-music festivals here and in Winnipeg, but is loosely responsible for Morlock’s increasingly successful career. “Bramwell was an inspiration from the time I was 20-something years old,” the Manitoba native recalls. “The first year of the [Winnipeg] New Music Festival, my first composition teacher, Pat Carrabré, drove a vanload of us out from Brandon to see it, and I was just amazed.…Bramwell was bringing in all kinds of new-music things I never imagined that I’d hear in real life. So that was sort of the start of my new-music education, and he was kind of my idol.” Morlock credits Tovey with a preternaturally acute ability to pinpoint flaws in any performance or score, and an equally useful way of making helpful suggestions without implying criticism. “Because he’s a composer himself, he’s extremely open to trying all kinds of things,” she says, adding that his openness extends to his concert programming. “He’s willing to put as much new music out there as possible. He believes that the audience will come to us if we try to make a connection with them. So it’s not put there apologetically; it’s put there with pride and curiosity.” Vancouver composers, musicians, and audiences are not going to be entirely deprived of Tovey’s input. After assuming his new position as director of orchestral activities at Boston University, he’ll make regular guest appearances with the VSO as music see next page

ARTS High five

Editor’s choice CINDERELLA STORY The famous glass slipper takes the form of a sparkling pointe shoe as the Goh Ballet puts its classical chops to the fairy tale “Cinderella”. To mark its 40th anniversary, the company has commissioned a world premiere with a glittering pedigree: it’s choreographed by Maina Gielgud, former artistic director of the Australian Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet. The Goh Ballet is also bringing in principal dancers Venus Villa and Rolando Sarabia from the Washington Ballet to join its cast of polished dance students. With a lush video set design by Jamie Nesbitt and the sweeping sounds of Sergei Prokofiev, it might turn out to be a crowd favourite on the scale of Goh’s beloved annual Nutcracker. The Goh Ballet presents Cinderella at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts on Friday and Saturday (June 1 and 2).

Five events you just can’t miss this week

LES PARFAITS INCONNUS (To June 3 at the Granville Island Stage) Circus meets rock concert in a cool spectacle at the children’s fest.

KITT & JANE (To June 3 at the Vancity Culture Lab) Whacked-out fun happens as two pals hijack a school assembly at the rEvolver Festival.

SEAN KENT (May 31 to June 2 at the Comedy MIX) As gutsy as he is smart, this is one standup who will take on any subject, sexual or political.

SUSAN HILLER: ALTERED STATES (To September 2 at the Polygon Gallery) Multimedia mashes with dreamscapes and pop culture at this art legend’s exhibit.

THE MAKING OF THE X-FILES (To June 30 at the Back Gallery Project) Step right into the FBI basement office of the cult TV series’s Fox Mulder.

In the news DANCE AWARDS Two boundarybreaking artists have won top local dance awards. Julia Taffe, artistic director of the highflying troupe Aeriosa, which just performed Second Nature at the Scotiabank Dance Centre, is receiving the Isadora Award for Excellence in Dance in recognition of her contribution to B.C.’s dance scene. Taffe receives an Isadora Award sculpture by glass artist Mary Filer, subsidized rehearsal space at the Scotiabank Dance Centre to the value of $1,000, and $500 cash. Meanwhile, Justine A. Chambers, known for interactive, site-specific work, has scored the Lola Award for a midcareer or senior artist who is adventurous and interdisciplinary. Chambers, whose $10,000 prize is named for late local dance icon Lola McLaughlin, has created works including The Choreography Walk, a two-hour stroll through Vancouver with fleeting choreographic works en route and Family Dinner, in which small audiences dine with dancers. MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 17

ARTS

C’mon, Angie! speaks to #MeToo Arts Club leads in Jessie Award nominations

> B Y A NDRE A WARNE R

“P

erpetrator and victim: these are two characters struggling against those labels.” Director Lauren Taylor has paused rehearsal so she can offer these notes to actors Kayla Deorksen and Robert Moloney. Opening night of Touchstone Theatre’s newest production, C’mon, Angie!, by local playwright Amy Lee Lavoie, is a week away. The play’s tag line is a brilliant nod to a significant aspect of the contemporary #MeToo movement—“He said. She knew.”—and the room feels appropriately, understandably tense as they resume the emotionally explosive scene. In the play, Reed, played by Moloney, thinks his onenight stand with Angie (Deorksen) was just fulfilling a sexual fantasy. She says it was a violation, and their confrontation is Lavoie’s attempt to unpack consent and why it’s still treated as a mystifying, messy concept rather than a given. From the cast to the crew, C’mon, Angie! is not easy material for anyone involved. “Pretty much everyone in the room had a personal experience with this situation,” Taylor says during a lunchbreak interview with the Straight, Lavoie, and assistant director Naomi Vogt. The almost daily occurrence of further accusations against more and more men has meant that difficult and potentially traumatizing conversations about sexual assault, consent, and coercion are the new normal for many women. This was the situation Lavoie repeatedly found herself in a few years ago, when high-profile cases against Jian Ghomeshi, Brock Turner, and Bill Cosby were in the news. “It was the conversations I was having about those cases with people in the privacy of my home,” Lavoie says. “The pervasiveness of some of the problematic thinking and thought patterns from my male acquaintances and friends—it [writing C’mon, Angie!] was really a chance for me to work out the tremendous amount of frustration I was feeling at that point.” Though she began writing from a place of anger, Lavoie crafted C’mon, Angie! to also reflect how women are changing the culture of shame and stigma following an assault or violation, by finding power in breaking their silence, coming forward, and naming what has happened to them. “One of the things we’re really excited about exploring is it’s her [Angie’s] need that she’s fulfilling, not his,” Vogt says. “In this play, it’s her saying to him, ‘You did this, and this is the impact.’ It’s about her being seen and she’s asking for that recognition for her, not so that he can go into the world with a new state of enlightenment. It’s so that she can enter the world feeling like her truth has been spoken.”

> B Y JAN ET SMITH

Robert Moloney and Kayla Doerksen confront issues of consent after a one-night stand. Bold Rezolution photo.

“We’re part of this incredible movement right now and figuring out, like, ‘Okay, so how do we want to move forward and how do we address the things in the culture that are perpetuating this shit?’ ” Taylor says. The answer is clearly visible, if complicated in execution. “It’s exhausting because we haven’t solved patriarchy, so we often feel like we’re screaming into the void.” To keep guard against the rawness of both the subject matter and the times in which we live, Lavoie credits Taylor with the safe space she created in rehearsal. Taylor recruited Amy Rutherford, an actor who is also training in expressive-arts therapy, to create a series of exercises that would help establish boundaries for everybody between their work/stage lives and their personal lives. Still, Taylor says, “This has probably, honestly and truly, been one of the most challenging processes that I’ve ever been through, because it’s butted up against every single cell in my body, every single thing that just makes me crazy with rage.” And yet, there’s hope. In fact, Taylor sees plays like Lavoie’s as being a crucial part of moving humanity to a place of greater understanding. “We socialize each other as humans,” Taylor says. “When we’re watching human beings in front of us speak this, and live and breathe it—I think that’s the power of theatre.” C’mon, Angie! runs from Friday (June 1) to June 9 at the Firehall Arts Centre.

he Arts Club Theatre Company led the way with a whopping 34 separate nods announced at the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards nominations party held on May 27 at the iA Financial Group Atrium at the BMO Theatre Centre. Of the 12 Arts Club productions that earned nominations, Hand to God led the way, with six mentions, including both lead actors, Oliver Castillo and Jennifer Lines, along with director Stephen Drover (who’s just been named the theatre company’s associate artistic director). Topdog/Underdog and Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika both received five nominations. Elsewhere in the large-theatre category, Pacific Theatre scored 10 nominations, with Outside Mullingar earning six. Bard on the Beach saw five of its productions saluted, with four nominations, including outstanding production, for Much Ado About Nothing—a black-and-white rendition of Shakespeare that was inspired by the movie La Dolce Vita. Aside from Drover for Hand to God, there are three other Arts Club nominees for the Georgia Straight large-theatre outstanding-direction award: Lois Anderson for Fun Home; Kim Collier for Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika; and Dean Paul Gibson for Topdog/Underdog. Pacific Theatre’s Angela Konrad also received a nod for Outside Mullingar. The small-theatre category was much more spread out, with Rumble Theatre’s production of The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius leading the way with eight nods, including Colleen Murphy for outstanding original script and Stephen Drover for another directing prize. SpeakEasy

Tovey leaves a musical legacy

vancouver

c i s u m k l fo tival

fes B e a c h P a r k o h c i r e J , 15 13 y l u J

director emeritus. He’ll also retain a keen interest in local cultural matters, along with an apartment in one of those downtown towers. “The kids don’t see themselves as being citizens of anywhere else,” he says. So his departure is not so much a matter of adieu as au revoir, and there are ample options for those wishing to give Tovey a proper sendoff. This week, the VSO will host a farewell gala, with guest stars ranging from mezzosoprano Judith Forst to former VSO concertmaster Mark Fewer. After that, Tovey will reinvigorate classics from Johann Strauss and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky at the Orpheum and the Centennial Theatre. And then we’ll get to hear the conductor work his special magic on Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, before he closes the 2017-18

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Bravo Bramwell! at the Orpheum on Thursday (May 31). Johann Strauss and Tchaikovsky will be featured at the Orpheum on Friday (June 1) and the Centennial Theatre on Monday (June 4). Peter Grimes is at the Orpheum on June 9 and 11. Resurrection: The Season Finale is at the Orpheum from June 16 to 18.

MEET YOU AT THE BEACH!

T H E F EST I VA L . B C . CA 18 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018

Theatre’s The Shipment received five. Monster Theatre’s Who Killed Gertrude Crump?, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre’s 1 Hour Photo, and Patrick Street Productions’ A Little Night Music received four nods apiece. Prime Cuts Collective’s Butcher earned three. In the category of theatre for young audiences, Green Thumb Theatre garnered a total of 12 nominations. Its production of The Code received five, and Jabber, a coproduction with Neworld Theatre about teens and technology, received six. Vying for the Critic’s Choice Innovation Award are Fight With a Stick’s Cinerama, Elbow Theatre’s Hyperlink, Universal Limited’s Japanese Problem, Mind of a Snail’s Multiple Organism, Alley Theatre’s The Ridiculous Darkness (produced in partnership with Neworld Theatre), and Level-Headed Friends Productions’ Six Fine Lines. The 36th annual Jessie Awards ceremony will be held in the summer for the first time, on July 16 at Bard on the Beach’s BMO Mainstage in Vanier Park. After the ceremony, the festivities will continue at the Awards After Party, at Progress Lab (1422 Williams Street) from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. -

season by pairing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor with the world premiere of Morlock’s O Rose. It might be best to catch them all: whether he’s basking in the celebratory spotlight, putting a new spin on old music, or interpreting a demanding but emotionally engaging 20th-century masterpiece, Tovey’s social and sonic skills will be as masterful and engaging as ever. And even though they won’t be permanently absent from the local scene, they’ll be missed. -

from previous page

41st Annua

Puppet-crazed Hand to God earned six nominations, David Cooper photo.

ARTS

Kathy Griffin leans into Trump controversy > B Y GUY M A C PHER SO N

he Trump presidency has been a scary carnival ride for too many around the world, but Kathy Griffin has enjoyed her own personal hell with the man she has known casually for decades. On May 30, 2017, she thought her career had come to an end. Griffin posted a photo of herself holding a severed replica of Donald Trump’s head that was smeared in fake blood. Since Trump was obviously alive, and since Griffin has made a name for herself the past 20 years as a standup comedian, it seemed obvious this was just for kicks. In the fractured world of American politics, though, she might have known better. She became the subject of a twomonth federal investigation. “He brought in the fucking Department of Justice, headed by Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, ‘Oh my lord! Somebody get me a mint julep!’ ” she says in full faux drawl on the phone from her home in Los Angeles. “They were trying to decide whether or not to charge me with conspiracy to assassinate the president of the United States.”

Kathy Griffin thought her career had come to an end when she posted a prank photo with a fake severed head, but now she’s telling the whole ugly story on tour.

She says she’s currently on the Interpol list, which means she’s detained at every airport she goes to—a hassle at the best of times, but consider that she has played 15 countries since being cleared. “That’s scary as hell,” she says. “That shouldn’t be happening to a comedian.” She soon found out who her allies were in show business.

“I can tell you that that day—the day that changed the trajectory of my life forever—I got a call from your very own Jim Carrey. You heard me!” she says. “It was so sweet, because obviously I was a complete wreck. A wall of shit fell on me. First of all, it’s unprecedented in the history of the United States that a sitting president would use the power of the Oval

Office, the First Family, obviously the right-wing machine, including Fox News and every Alex Jones conspiracy theorist, to actually try to imply that I had a) broken the law, which I didn’t, or b) that I—I mean, I’m laughing because I’m sorry, you have to laugh—that I had joined ISIS or alQaeda. And he goes, ‘Do you know how many comedians would give their right arm to have this story? At the end of this, you’re going to have a story no one in the world can touch. Not another comedian. Nobody.’ ” So she got writing, running her lines in her living room. She toured Europe, first with a two-hour show, and it’s only grown since then. She recently attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, getting into it with influential Republicans. “Obviously, half the room there wants to pretty much kill me, so I can’t resist just going up to them,” says Griffin, who issued a public apology almost immediately after the incident. “I’m also going to admit that I purposely stood outside the men’s room and just had some choice words for certain members of the Trump administration. And I would do it again!” She calls it a “fucking triumph”,

given what she’s been through. She even met Stormy Daniels. “So the story kinda keeps getting bigger and bigger. I swear to god, if you let me, I could do five hours straight at this point. Five hours solid. Because it just keeps ballooning and some of it is just so nuts.” You can expect to hear all the stories, from her early meetings with Trump back when he guest-starred on Suddenly Susan in 1997 (she calls him “aggressively stupid”) to hanging with her next-door neighbours, the Kardashian-Wests. (“Let’s just say he’s not the greatest conversationalist,” she says of Kanye.) “I’m leaning into the topic,” she says. “I’m not running from it and saying, ‘Everything’s fine; let’s talk about the difference between puppies and kittens.’ This is a show where there is cursing, I name names, I tell tales, and I have a unique story.” Buckle up. There’s a ton to tell and she won’t cut you short. “Tell your readers to either wear a colostomy bag or be prepared to take bathroom breaks.” Kathy Griffin’s Laugh Your Head Off World Tour plays the Orpheum on Saturday (June 2).

Artist Robin Ripley created Florescence (shown here in detail) by collaging plant definitions from a dictionary, working the notched pages into the petals.

Along with Ripley, here are three other form-pushing artists you should n avid reader who’s worked make sure to catch at the Art Walk: in public libraries for 15 years, Robin Ripley knows LEAH PRICE (5474 Trafalgar Street) the tactile, aesthetic pleas- Price turns trash into eye-pleasing, ures of books—and is all too aware thought-provoking artwork, imbuthat we may be losing these in our ing her mixed-media creations with history or commentary about the increasingly wired world. “When you see microfiche dis- source materials. Think whimsical appear and then other forms disappear, framed collages of discarded toys, you think, ‘Are books next?’ ” says the game pieces, and ornaments, or mixed-media artist, who explores the dryer lint, realtor promotional masubject in a series called “Book Bytes”, terial, and plastic packaging sewn showing at this weekend’s West of into a new vision of “home”. Main Art Walk open-studio event. “I’m approaching it sort of like an an- OLGA CAMPBELL (3866 West 12th thropologist: are these things cultur- Avenue) Campbell’s digital collages ally important, and do I visually like and mixed-media paintings defy the way that print rests on the page?” easy definition, combining human Visitors to the Art Walk can see and bird imagery, text, and objects what she means in works like Flor- into dreamlike combinations all escence, carefully cut-out flower and their own. Also on sale at the walk: plant definitions from a dictionary, her moving book of poetry and artall meticulously collaged and splayed work about her family’s Holocaust like petals on a 20-by-20-inch round history, A Whisper Across Time, and flower. Its red edges come from the her photo book of Vancouver street dictionary’s notched pages, “which I art, Graffiti Alphabet. loved when I was young”, Ripley says. Another piece inspired by a dis- ALICE PHILIPS (3793 West 11th Avappearing art form, Pitman Short- enue) This veteran hand-felter and hand submerges the pages of the old fabric artist, who shares a studio with shorthand guide, layering them with Ripley, will have exquisitely crafted sanded paint and plaster, Ripley hav- practical and wearable objects on ing used a Dremel tool to carve out sale at the Walk, from tea cozies to scarves. But we love her more outthe shorthand symbols. The work, showing at 3793 West there pure artwork, like the Boogie 11th Avenue (where Ripley, who lives wall hanging, whose shaggy felted in the ’hood, is exhibiting as a guest), Wensleydale and merino wools drip continues her interest in humans’ re- with layers of saturated pink and red lationship to objects. And the work against grey. has an important three-dimensional look and feel. “Compare that to a The West of Main Art Walk takes screen, which is so 2-D, and where place Saturday and Sunday (June 2 people are reading now,” she says. and 3) between Point Grey and Main “My work reminds people books are Street, and from Granville Island to 41st Avenue. physical objects.” > BY JA NET SM IT H

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ARTS

Fest gets strange, dark, and funny T HEAT RE

FUCHSIA FUTURE Written by Elysse Cheadle. Directed by Marc Arboleda. An Elysse Cheadle production, with presenting partner Mind of a Snail Puppet Co. A rEvolver Festival presentation. At the Cultch’s Vancity Culture Lab on Thursday, May 24. Continues until June 3

Take a Walk on the Art Side

With Fuchsia Future, an offbeat

2 musical about a family coping

with the tragic loss of its patriarch, Elysse Cheadle proves an inspiration to the DIY set. Unpretentious and experimental, with a huge heart and a wickedly clever brain, Cheadle is the writer, producer, and colead actor of Fuchsia Future, one of the strangest and most bizarre local plays in recent memory. Convoluted but restrained, simply staged but artistically complex, Fuchsia Future was inspired by George Price, a real population geneticist who ended up taking his own life after attempting to disprove his own scientific theory about altruism. But rather than focus on Price, who doesn’t appear as a character in the piece, Fuchsia Future imagines a fictional son, Paul (Cheadle), and Ma (Carmine Santavenere), who must redefine themselves after Price vanishes. Paul suspects the mysterious neighbour, Mr. Frown, of having some responsibility for his father’s absence, while Ma recounts her and her husband’s shared love of everything bread-related and their mutual hatred of birds or, as she calls them, “wretched sky monsters”. Also on-stage are three musicians who sing songs and provide a live soundtrack to highlight everything from walking to chewing to a house imploding. Often the trio’s contributions serve to heighten the absurdity, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t talented. They harmonize and turn baking equipment into percussion instruments, and one even plays the banjo. As Paul, Cheadle excels at delivering long lines that are often as ridiculous as they are poignant (“Ma! You know I need to be alone with my contemplations!”). It’s both Cheadle’s writing and his delivery that make Paul so endearing. Santavenere is the real scene stealer, though, and is an absolute joy to watch as Ma. Whether rolling across the floor or kneading dough or doing some soft twerking, Santavenere is a gifted physical comedian and an engaging presence on-stage. Santavenere also gets some of the best lines, including a recitation of the long list of bread-related

OPEN STUDIO TOUR & SALE Saturday & Sunday, JUNE 2 & 3, 11am - 5pm Info & electronic maps: artistsinourmidst.com

FEATURING mia susan amir Centre for Embodied Performance Elysse Cheadle DustyFootProductions La Fille du Laitier Francesca Frewer and Erika MitsuhashI Little Mountain Lion Productions manidoons collective Nebula Company Theatre Pandemic Theatre Christine Quintana with Molly Mackinnon Resounding Scream Jess Amy Shead SNAFU

20 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018

terms of endearment she had for her husband. (“My little yeast beast” and “My perfect crust thrust” are just two that I managed to write down.) Fuchsia Future is packed with these laugh-out-loud moments, and yet it never shies away from its dark side either. Cheadle knows the symbiotic nature of the two extremes, and that’s what makes Fuchsia Future so refreshing. It’s wildly entertaining, genuinely affecting, and utterly a creation of Cheadle’s singular vision. > ANDREA WARNER

THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN Created and performed by Jivesh Parasram, Tom Arthur Davis, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, and Adele Noronha. A Pandemic Theatre production, with presenting partner Neworld Theatre. A rEvolver Festival presentation. At the Cultch’s Vancity Culture Lab on Thursday, May 24. No remaining performances

“I’ve never wanted to kill myself.

2 I have wanted to kill all of you.”

When Adele Noronha delivered this line, wearing a suicide vest, at the May 24 performance of The Only Good Indian, it felt like the air left the room. Noronha’s face, eyes, and body conveyed the complexity of the moment with a kind of realness that was blood-chilling. Steely resolve fighting against wild rage, profound hurt and hopelessness butting up against radical defiance, years and years of colonial and patriarchal trauma manifesting in a declaration that was both threat and sacrifice. There are many moments of genuine

greatness in The Only Good Indian, but the play and its unconventional form are difficult to convey. There’s just one performer—four culturally diverse people alternate the solo role—and certain elements of the script change each time, depending on the actor. The constant is that the actor puts on a suicide vest and sets the timer, and then, in a part-lecture, part-monologue format, tries to explain what’s led to this decision. Noronha talks about being an immigrant to Canada, a racialized woman who has struggled with oppression and marginalization, and survived rape. Noronha also muses on what it is to be someone who was born into colonization in India, and who then moved to Canada as a settler. She reflects on the tension between her identities, and on Indigeneity. This is where The Only Good Indian would benefit from spending more time strengthening the material. As it stands, it feels like the connection between Indigenous people and India is too tenuous and slight, which is not in keeping with the depth and weight of the rest of the material. The Only Good Indian also rushes its ending. Rather than naturally building to its climax— one that the audience very much cares about, thanks to Noronha’s performance—the play suddenly speeds up to a stop, and it just fizzles out rather than resonating the way it could and should. Noronha is a dynamic, winning performer, and The Only Good Indian is ambitious, risky theatre—it just needs a bit more work to live up to its premise. > ANDREA WARNER

Putting words into action In Serge Bennathan’s Contes Cruels, the dance speaks louder than the poetry DANCE CONTES CRUELS A Productions Figlio presentation. At the Firehall Arts Centre on Wednesday, May 23. No remaining performances

French-born,

Vancouver-based

choreographer

2 Serge Bennathan has been interweaving dance and

12 Minute Madness photo by Chris Randle

Closes soon!

Clever absurdity rules in the rEvolver Festival’s Fuchsia Future, a musical in which laughs crash up against the dark side. Paula Viitanen Aldazosa photo.

poetry for years now, but in his latest experiment, the action definitely speaks louder than the words. That’s in part because of his sharp eye for combining performers—in this case a quartet of the most physically powerful, electric talents working in the city today. On a stage stripped to its flies, Josh Martin, Hilary Maxwell, Molly McDermott, and Katie Lowen bring extra force to the production’s pummelling movement. The overall impression is of humans struggling, reaching, and lunging—fighting to simply exist. At times, the performers raise their hands high, creating a sea of fingers gently grasping skyward; at others, they frantically flail and flicker their arms to the point of exhaustion. In one striking sequence, the dancers pulse in unison, hands raised and pumping in front of their faces, forming a kind of collective beating heart. There’s a stunning central duet by Martin and Maxwell that’s as muscular as it is emotionally intense. He lifts her high to stand on his shoulder; later, he collapses, in slow motion, broken at her feet. As Bennathan talks, from the side of the stage, about a vision of a mother who can’t hear her son trying to reach her through time and space, Martin jumps to wrap

himself desperately around her torso. Bertrand Chénier’s haunting, minimalist score and James Proudfoot’s dim, brooding lighting add to the often introspective mood. The themes are less defined here than in previous Bennathan works like Monsieur Aubertin and Just Words, and some of the poetry, which jumps between French and English, gets lost in translation. Bennathan’s writings, mostly performed by him at a mike on-stage, but also sometimes by his dancers, are an amorphous, earnest meditation on mortality, courage, and love. The choreographer has said he was inspired by the person who held Cpl. Nathan Cirillo as he lay dying after the shooting at Ottawa’s National War Memorial in 2014. Though she was a complete stranger to Cirillo, she is said to have repeated to him, over and over, that he was loved. The text here never gets specific about that, and it’s hard sometimes to understand the details of the poetry spoken from a handheld sheet of paper. But it’s still fascinating to watch Bennathan on-stage, sometimes directing the movement, sometimes observing the dancers, sometimes simply moving back to let them embody his thoughts. Bennathan’s work comes from deeply personal places, and the fact that he steps in and makes that visible may be one of the most radical things he does here. He’s baring the process at the same time as he is doing that most unfashionable thing: baring his heart. Meanwhile, his wildly committed dancers are baring their souls. > JANET SMITH

ARTS

Fierce folk art speaks to Latin American unrest VISUAL AR TS ARTS OF RESISTANCE: POLITICS AND THE PAST IN LATIN AMERICA At the Museum of Anthropology at UBC until October 8

Horned devils and fire-breathserpents, extrajudicial executions and human sacrifice, armed insurgents and masked men wielding large hypodermic needles—there’s no shortage of frightening imagery in Arts of Resistance. There’s no dearth of beautiful and peaceable imagery, either: sumptuous flowers, winding rivers, idealized scenes of hearth, home, and agricultural abundance. Part of what is fascinating in this exhibition, subtitled Politics and the Past in Latin America, is the tension generated between the overtly critical and the quietly subversive. Curated by Laura Osorio Sunnucks, a postdoctoral curatorial fellow at the Museum of Anthropology, the show examines the ways in which marginalized, largely Indigenous communities in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile use folkloric art traditions to express what Osorio Sunnucks describes as “contemporary political realities”. These realities, she notes while walking the Straight through the exhibition, range from state-sponsored violence to the forced imposition of genetically modified crops. While a few of the historic objects in the show are drawn from MOA’s permanent collection, many of the 100-plus works on view were recently commissioned for the museum. Two wall works—a graffiti mural by the Lapiztola collective from Oaxaca, Mexico, and a kené design mural, painted by members of the Shipibo-Konibo diasporic community in Lima, Peru—were created for the exhibition directly on-site.

2 ing

Left, a Peruvian carnival mask of the devil’s wife, “La Loca”; right, an embroidery depicts Salvadoran escape. Kyla Bailey photos.

The show also explores the inspiration that contemporary Latin-American folk art draws from pre-Hispanic cultures. A powerful example is Ayotzinapa Codex, a banner that alludes to both Spanish colonial and pre-Hispanic forms and histories to protest a number of contemporary social, political, and environmental wrongs. Most notable among these is the 2014 kidnapping and disappearance of 43 education students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in Guerrero, Mexico. Created by Juan Manuel Sandoval Palacios and Diego Sandoval Avila, the work uses handwriting and painted figures modelled on those found in historic Mesoamerican codices to draw our attention to both the particular (collusion between a drug cartel and state authorities in disappearing the Nahuatl-speaking students) and the general conditions of violent oppression

and exploitation by those in power (violent oppression and exploitation of Indigenous people by those in power). Also on view are paintings on roof beams, from the Sarhuino people of Peru. They exemplify a traditional folk-art form, now mostly discontinued, depicting scenes of family life, beliefs, and rituals. Collaboratively created for newlyweds, they functioned, Osorio Sunnucks says, as a way of passing on family and cultural histories. Evolved from that tradition are a series of similarly styled paintings on rectangular wooden panels, representing the violence committed against the people of Ayacucho by both government troops and Maoist “Shining Path” guerrillas during the 1980s. The panels were painted by Venuca Evanánda Vivanco, who reproduced them for MOA from originals by her father.

The extravagant and alternately frightening, humorous, and satirical festival masks and costumes displayed in the show suggest the ambiguous character of depictions of Satan in parts of Indigenous Mexico and South America. A carved and painted wooden mask from Guerrero, for instance, conjoins twisting horns, twined serpents, and multiple snarling and ferocious creatures, intended to scare children when performed and yet also a source of historical pride, related to a battle with the Spanish during the Mexican struggle for independence. “Because the Spanish missionaries forced the association of pre-Columbian deities with the Devil,” the exhibition text tells us, “it is possible the Indigenous people of Mesoamerica sympathized with the Devil.” At the same time, Osorio Sunnucks says, Indigenous peoples may have seen

the Spaniards themselves—cruel and avaricious—as devils. A few works in the show are extremely understated, including five small ink paintings on bark paper, depicting in intricate detail the daily lives of rural folk in the Balsas River region of Guerrero, Mexico. Created by members of an extended family from Xalitla, these works gradually and subtly shift from idealized representations of rural life to images of social change, including political corruption and desperate rates of emigration. More understated still is the array of huipiles or blouses from Maya communities in Guatemala and southern Mexico, which Osorio Sunnucks has strategically placed in the show’s introductory installation. While the woven and embroidered patterns on these garments vary widely, from the floral to the geometric, the basic huipil form is consistent throughout: a folded cotton square with a circle cut out of its centre, its edge often highly decorated, indicating the neckline. This form reproduces the pre–Classic Maya conception of the universe as a four-cornered structure with a hearth at its centre—and places the head of the Maya woman wearing the huipil at the centre of that universe. In the context of the exhibition, the message encoded in these blouses is an assertion of cultural identity and solidarity, especially in Guatemala, where the Maya have been systematically oppressed and outright murdered. Osorio Sunnucks speaks about another, more paradoxical subtext into this display, that is, the appalling rate of femicide in Mexico, especially involving missing and murdered Indigenous women. Although the introductory text panel asserts the “irrepressible resolve of rural, Indigenous, and diasporic peoples in Latin America”, redress of their suffering seems very far away. > ROBIN LAURENCE

HARIPRASAD Featuring Jarrett Martineau, founder of Revolutions Per Minute, CanLit luminary Charlotte Gill, and acclaimed author and journalist Amitava Kumar. Plus special guests. Sat. July 7 @ 7PM

Five speakers. Fifteen minutes each. Magic.

IMPERIAL

Presented by Publishing @ SFU

CONFLUENCE A galaxy of potent voices from around the world. “The true definition of an artist.” – Harry Belafonte (on Aja Monet) Featuring an all-star cast, this is an unforgettable night celebrating the power of the lyric in music and literature. Starring Leanne Simpson, Ansley Simpson (2018 Best New Artist, IMA Awards), cellist Cris Derksen, poet Aja Monet, Vivek Shraya (Too Attached) and transcontinental project Jhalaak. Sat. July 7 @ 9:30PM

“Chaurasia is among the small handful of Indian classical musicians who can sell out concerts in his homeland and around the world.” —The Guardian Acknowledged worldwide as the absolute master of the bamboo flute. He has collaborated with legends like George Harrison, John McLaughlin, and Zakir Hussain. A concert for the ages.

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CHAURASIA

5 X 15

The World’s Greatest Flautist

“If 5×15’s packed soirees feel like an evening of offline, communal surfing, it’s due to the eclectic menu of speakers.” —The New York Times

Sat. July 14 @ 8PM

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Presented by

Indian Summer is a contemporary multi-arts festival. ISF 2018 takes on a massive theme—Mythmaking, examining ten centuries of human imagination and storytelling. We present a continent-spanning range of artists, from the inheritors of ancient oral storytelling traditions to genre-defying musicians, award-winning novelists, and provocative visual artists.

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MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 21

ar ts/ timeout

THEATRE DANCE MUSIC COMEDY LITERARY EVENTS ET CETERA GALLERIES MUSEUMS

< Lara Barclay, Heather Dotto, Heather Laura Gray, and artistic director < Davi Rodrigues. Jun 1, 2, 8-10:30 pm, < BlueShore Financial Centre for the < Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). $25, info www.lamondance.com/. < < MUSIC < < 2THIS WEEK

Granville). Tix from $29, info www.artsclub. com/shows/2017-2018/mamma-mia/.

THEATRE

TOLKIEN The tale of how Narnia and Middle-earth came to be is chronicled in a new play by Pacific Theatre’s artistic director Ron Reed. To Jun 9, 8-10:40 pm, Pacific Theatre (1440 W. 12th). Tix $20-36.50, info www.pacifictheatre.org/season/20172018-season/mainstage/tolkien/.

2ONGOING

DANCE

REVOLVER THEATRE FESTIVAL Upintheair Theatre presents a program of new works by distinct voices from across the Canadian live-theatre scene. To Jun 3, The Cultch (1895 Venables). Tix $20/15, info www.revolverfestival.ca/.

2THIS WEEK

MAMMA MIA! The Arts Club Theatre Company presents a feel-good musical featuring the music of ABBA. To Aug 12, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750

CINDERELLA Goh Ballet presents a worldpremiere of choreography staged by dance luminary Maina Gielgud, with music by Sergei Prokofiev. Jun 1-2, The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts (777 Homer). $28-$82, info www.gohballet.com/. MARBLED Lamondance presents cutting-edge choreography from

KIDS HELPING KIDS Jessica Wang, Elizabeth Chen and Ray Zhang are featured at a charity piano concert, with maestro Ken Hsieh and the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. All proceeds to Easter Seals, which helps kids living with disabilities. Jun 1, 7 pm, Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton). $15, info www.kidsvmo.eventbrite.com/. WEST END CHAMBER CHOIR The choir, joined by Vancouver soloists and orchestra, performs Magnificat by J. S. Bach and madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi. Jun 1, 7:30 pm, St. Paul’s Anglican Church. Tix $20, info www.westendchamberchoir.com/. VIVALDI CHAMBER CHOIR The choir celebrates its 30th anniversary by performing Vivaldi’s Gloria. Jun 2, 7:30 pm; Jun 3, 3 pm, St. Helen’s Anglican Church (4405 W. 8th). $25 adult/$20 senior student, info www.vivaldichoir.org/.

AD MARE WIND QUINTET Vancouver ProMusica presents one of Canada’s top chamber-music groups. Jun 3, Pyatt Hall (843 Seymour St.). Tix $20/$15, info www.vancouverpromusica.ca/.

the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, immersing viewers in the ocean-plastic pollution crisis. To April 30, 2019, Vancouver Aquarium (845 Avison Way, Stanley Park). $22-$39, info www.vanaqua.org/.

COMEDY

WEST OF MAIN ART WALK Experience the works of over 60 visual artists in garden studios, work spaces, galleries, and gathering places. Jun 2-3, various venues from Point Grey to Main Street and from Granville Island to 41st Avenue (Vancouver). Free, info www.artistsinourmidst.com/.

2ONGOING THE COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa, 604-684-5050, www. thecomedymix.com/. Comedy club with pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Wed at 8:30 pm, and featured headliners Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. 2SEAN KENT May 31–June 2

on the web!

For up-to-the-minute, searchable Arts listings on your phone, visit

www.straight.com

GUIDED TOUR OF EMILY CARR IN DIALOGUE WITH MATTIE GUNTERMAN Gallery tour designed for people who are blind and partially sighted, facilitated by Steph Kirkland of VocalEye and art educators Marie-France Berard and Lynn Chen. Jun 2, 3-5 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby Street). Info www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/.

GALLERIES

YUK YUK’S COMEDY CLUB 2837 Cambie, VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 750 Hornby, 604-696-9857, www.yukyuks.com/vancouver/. 604-662-4719, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/. Comedy club with Top Talent Tue at 8 pm, 2BOMBHEAD (thematic exhibition amateur night Wed at 8 pm, and profesexplores the emergence and impact of sional headliners Thu-Fri at 8 pm and Sat at the nuclear age as represented by artists 7 and 9:30 pm. 2RON FUNCHES June 1-2 and their art) to Jun 17 2EMILY CARR IN 2STEVE HOFSTETTER June 3 DIALOGUE WITH MATTIE GUNTERMAN (new exhibition features the paintings of 2THIS WEEK Carr with 48 photographs by U.S.–born photographer Gunterman) to Sep 3 KATHY GRIFFIN Controversial American comedian performs on her Laugh Your Head Off Tour. Jun 2, 7:30 pm, Orpheum MUSEUMS Theatre (601 Smithe). Tix at www.ticket master.ca/. MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER 1100 Chestnut Street, 604-736-4431, www.museumofvan LITERARY EVENTS couver.ca/. 2HAIDA NOW: A VISUAL FEAST OF INNOVATION AND TRADITION (exhibition guest-curated by Kwiaahwah Jones 2THIS WEEK features more than 450 works by carvers, 105 HIKES BOOK LAUNCH Book signweavers, photographers, and print makers, ing with author Stephen Hui to launch collected as early as the 1890s) to Jun 15 his new hiking guidebook 105 Hikes. Jun THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT 2, 2-4 pm, MEC (130 W. Broadway). Free, UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604-822-5087, info www.105hikes.com/2018/03/28/ www.moa.ubc.ca/. 2CULTURE AT THE book-launch-mec-vancouver/. CENTRE (collaboration between six First Nations communities offers insight into the ET CETERA work Indigenous-run cultural centres and museums in B.C. are doing to support their 2JUST ANNOUNCED language, culture, and history) to Oct 8 2ARTS OF RESISTANCE: POLITICS AND THE INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL Eighth PAST IN LATIN AMERICA (exhibition illusannual festival features a wide range of trates how Latin American communities use artists, from the inheritors of ancient oral traditional or historic art forms to express storytelling traditions to genre-defying contemporary political realities) to Oct 8 musicians, acclaimed novelists, and provocative visual, performance and culinary artists. Jul 5-15, various Vancouver venues. TIME OUT ARTS LISTINGS Info www.indiansummerfest.ca/. are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit 2THIS WEEK listings online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it DOUGLAS COUPLAND’S VORTEX Douglas Coupland’s new radical art instal- into the paper due to space constraints will appear lation takes an imaginative journey to on the website.

“SUBLIMELY EROTIC.”

PETER BRADSHAW, THE GUARDIAN

“EXQUISITE . . . JULIETTE BINOCHE BRINGS LUMINOUS INTENSITY AND WICKED HUMOR.”

“IT IS A LOVE STORY, A

BEAUTIFUL AS IT IS DEVASTATING.”

RICHARD BRODY, THE NEW YORKER

JULIETTE BINOCHE

RACHEL WEISZ

RACHEL McADAMS

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MOVIES

SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER THE GROUNDBREAKING RIVERS & TIDES - A NEW FILM BY THOMAS RIEDELSHEIMER

“NOTHING SHORT OF EXTRAORDINARY” — IndieWire

“A CONTEMPLATIVE BEAUTY” — Village Voice

LEANING INTO THE

WIND

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY Ethan Hawke ponders redemption through ecoterrorism in Paul Schrader’s rapturously bloody First Reformed.

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RE VIEW S

biblical, the bloody, and the rapturous with its weakest parts: two brief codas, a bolt of undiluted power—one that set in 1975 and the present, that feel FIRST REFORMED may rock your own foundations. rushed and sentimental in ways that > JANET SMITH don’t fit with what’s gone before. As Starring Ethan Hawke. Rated 14A so often happens, foreplay turns out to Devoid of comfort or decora- ON CHESIL BEACH be the best part. > KEN EISNER tion, the stark white Dutch Starring Saoirse Ronan. Rated 14A Reformed church so central to Paul Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, ADRIFT Schrader’s new film epitomizes the recently seen sparring in The Starring Shailene Woodley. Rated PG extreme austerity of his approach. Schrader shoots everything with Seagull, display serious screen presOn the surface, Adrift is a facta grim sense of restraint, which ence in a lovingly crafted adaptation based romantic adventure, makes the few acts of violence here of Ian McEwan’s novel of deep-dish starring Big Little Lies’ Shailene stand out—well, like brains splat- repression in 1962 England. McEwan, whose Atonement gave Woodley, who also helped produce, tered across snow. In what might be the best per- Ronan her screen breakthrough when as Tami Oldham, who in 1983 met formance of his career, Ethan Hawke she was just 13, also did the screenplay full-time sailor Richard Sharp in plays the Reverend Toller, head of a for this feature debut for director Dom- Tahiti, after bumming around on 250-year-old institution in wintry inic Cooke, a BBC Shakespeare spe- boats in the South Pacific. But it’s upstate New York. He ministers to a cialist who finds both tragedy and farce really about an unusual subject for dwindling congregation by day, re- in a tale that fixes on a timid young movies: intelligence. Woodley’s 23-year-old Califortiring alone to his spartan quarters couple’s wedding day. Initially, we wonder why we’re spending so much nian is instantly smitten by the with its bad plumbing at night. By all appearances he leads a time at the stuffy country hotel located soft-spoken Brit played by The strict devotional life. But while he on the seaside respite of the title. But Hunger Games’ Sam Claf lin, who has to be the rock, counselling his what should be the end of one romantic has a Roger-Daltrey-played-by-thecongregation members when they chapter is actually the launching point young-Hugh-Grant vibe. (Woodhave troubles, he is battling illness for what began it, and where these ley’s Divergent series costar Miles and his own nagging demons. This overly cautious youngsters came from. Teller was originally slated for this Howle’s tousle-haired Edward role, but that’s pretty hard to picture all becomes apparent as he helps Mary (Amanda Seyfried), a young, Mayhew is of rough country stock, but now.) He warns her of starvation, pregnant woman whose eco-activist his father is a hard-working school- disorientation, and even hallucina(possibly ecoterrorist) husband is master, and Edward has just received tions coming with life at sea, but so distraught about the Earth’s im- a first-class degree in history from she signs on anyway. They’re only in his self-made 36pending environmental apocalypse Oxford. Ronan’s Florence Ponting that he wants her to get an abortion. likewise received a first, in classical foot sailboat a few months before Trying to convince the man that music, and has already formed a ser- another couple offers them a wad life is worth living sends Toller into ious string quartet. But her snobby, of cash to sail their 44-footer back his own crisis of faith—not to men- well-to-do parents (Emily Watson and to San Diego—Tami’s hometown, tion deep into the bottle. Hawke is Samuel West, both terrific) don’t put which she’s not anxious to see again. perfectly buttoned up here, calm, much faith in her fiddling, or in the That won’t be her biggest problem. quiet, and reassuring as the minis- “country bumpkin” she brings home. Once under way, they run into a Their love is genuine, however. Ed- massive hurricane, and Richard is ter, only subtly suggesting his tight white collar can barely contain his ward introduces her to the pleasures swept overboard, with the injured suffering. He is grappling with a of Chuck Berry—in the opening se- Tami left to fend for herself. This happens right at the start of world in crisis, one he’s realizing quence, he explains the musical structure of your basic blues progression— the 90-minute effort, although the can’t be healed by prayer. His beliefs seem even more and she brings out the best in his whole story is broken up into biterocked by his financial reliance on a mum (Anne-Marie Duff), a talented size flashbacks by outdoorsy Icecrassly commercialized, corporate- artist brain-damaged in a shockingly landic director Baltasar Kormákur, backed megachurch called Abun- depicted accident. This is very much who previously delved into the life dant Life—a place that equates pre-Beatles Britain, with neither Car- aquatic in films like The Sea and The naby Street nor affordable therapy yet Deep. (His breakthrough 101 Reypiety with prosperity. In its portrait of a man losing in sight. These kids are probably the kjavik was more about the Drink.) his grasp on sanity, and its themes last of their kind to be fastidiously The screenplay is mostly by Hawaiof misguided martyrdom, First Re- polite with each other, or even to be ian-born twin brothers Aaron and formed sometimes echoes Schra- virgins on the big night, as Florence Jordan Kandell, and their dialogue der’s script for the timeless Taxi struggles to overcome revulsion at is unusually bland—not unrealistic, Driver. It also reflects Schrader’s what might not actually be her first, but nothing very lyrical or amusing, either. (The orchestral score is also ongoing big life questions, as some- or worst, exposure to sex. The exquisitely written movie is es- pretty dull.) Of course, language one still grappling with his strict Calvinist upbringing, mixed with pecially effective at connecting small isn’t a crucial element of this surthe doom anxiety that plagues these details of the couple’s seaside tête-à- vival story, which largely consists of tête with flashbacks that illuminate Tami figuring out how to stay alive troubled times. But what sets First Reformed apart them. I wish there was more cohesion and get the banged-up yacht moving is Schrader’s relentless reserve—his between Florence’s steely musical am- again, without the aid of a working stark, motionless takes, his meticu- bition and her day-to-day life. (She’s engine or electronic equipment. Once she finds the seriously batlously framed shots, Hawke’s flat never seen practising her Beethoven, narration, and the lack of any sound- for instance.) And shy bookworm Ed- tered Richard clinging to a dingy track until a gnawing industrial roar ward seems at odds with his other side: and patches him up, she gets occaa lippy college lad known for picking sional nuggets of nautical wisdom sets in toward the end. The film is about as comforting fights in the street. Of course, people from him. But for the most part and inviting as those hard white are complicated, and that may be the she has to improvise, based on an pews, but stay put: all that restraint film’s real subject. The bigger problem, old sextant, some charts, and bits see next page makes the climax’s mix of the though, is that the story winds down

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Adrift

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of material literally floating around the cabin. She manages to pump out the bilge, rig a hunk of sail, and turn north toward Hawaii. The most interesting stuff in Adrift involves the amazingly resourceful particulars of her long-shot survival, and viewers can argue about how much has been changed from real events, considering it says “A true story” right onscreen. Oddly, there’s no credit for Oldham’s own memoir. Or maybe that was just a draft.

> KEN EISNER

LET THE SUNSHINE IN Starring Juliette Binoche. In French, with English subtitles. Rated 14A

The limits of art, and of viewer

2 patience, are tested in the deceptively named Let the Sunshine In—a movie that hardly allows air between words, or real warmth between humans.

distant from the story. As always, Binoche is never less than believable, but what are we being asked to believe? Denis got in hot water recently for mocking the #MeToo movement; she’s always had a volatile relationship with the politics of race, sex, and class, starting with her first feature, Chocolat, set in French colonial Africa. (Binoche also starred in a film of that name, directed by Lasse Hallström. And Beauvois, the banking Lothario here, was in yet another Chocolat, from 2016, about a black belle-époque clown.) In the final scene, running under the end credits, Binoche is paired with a mountainous Gérard Depardieu, seemingly playing a therapist. Actually, he’s a glorified fortuneJuliette Binoche is newly divorced and looking for love in all the wrong places teller, skilled at mansplaining what in Let the Sunshine In, the latest from volatile French filmmaker Claire Denis. middle-aged women want to hear. The great Juliette Binoche plays dressed with élan and looking for Isabelle fails to notice that he’s mostIsabelle, a successful painter who what she calls true love. The affairs we ly making a case for his spiritual has recently divorced for reasons see don’t look especially promising. journey into her pants. Or maybe he First up is her ongoing thing with just thinks she has some chocolate. never made plain. It’s not hard to im> KEN EISNER agine why, given the restless way she an oily banker (Xavier Beauvois) wanders the wintry streets of Paris, who really loves his wife, but oh, you kid! “I just got back from Brazil,” he ZAMA states, shoving a bouquet in her face, Starring Daniel Giménez Cacho. In “and I felt like banging you!” The Spanish, with English subtitles. Rating flowers were de trop, apparently, and unavailable she suddenly fixes on a handsome Argentina’s Lucrecia Martel, stage actor (Nicolas Duvauchelle). one of the most consistently On their first date, he whines about his work and says he’s leaving his interesting stylists working today, is wife, but hasn’t told her yet. Uh-huh. also flying under the cinematic radar. She insists on taking him to bed, and It probably doesn’t help that her last then feels offended when he’s the one release, The Headless Woman, was who says “Too soon.” That dynamic made almost a decade ago. Martel’s is repeated many times, with Isabelle earlier films, The Holy Girl and La crying out for old-fashioned amour, Ciénaga, were set in a recent past men expressing ambivalence, and more dreamlike than real, but full her pushing them around until she of oddly recognizable atmospheres can judge their performances as, you and oblique rituals that give our lives their most mysterious qualities. know, lacking something. The sharp-eyed writer-director’s Veteran filmmaker Claire Denis, working with playwright Christine new movie is her first leap into cosAngot (both riffing on essays about tume drama, first male-centric story, love by Roland Barthes), was brave to and only effort adapted from existing create a character so unlikable, and so material. Based on a 1956 novel by utterly dependent on and somehow Antonio Di Benedetto, tortured and immune to male validation. (Cue Etta exiled by Argentina’s military dictaJames singing “At Last”.) One remark- torship, Zama centres on the hauntable scene depicts Isabelle working ing figure of Diego de Zama, played on a large canvas, but her work feels by Mexican actor Daniel Giménez

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JUNE 1-10 “A major auteur and eloquent leading light of the New Argentine Cinema.” - New York Times

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24 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018

Cacho, whose profile is so chiselled it should be on a Spanish doubloon. It’s 1790, and this midlevel government functionary has been sent from Buenos Aires to a backwater in what would later become Paraguay. Zama, clean-shaven and bewigged, hasn’t seen his wife and children in years, and has long been asking to be transferred to a larger town. But he was born in the New World, is therefore considered less worthy by the crown, and keeps getting passed over for promotion. Colonials in this remote place have a curious relationship with the African slaves, the Indigenous people, and the many mixed-race children that have resulted. Perhaps his flirtations with a married Spanish-born noblewoman (Almodóvar regular Lola Dueñas) will bear bureaucratic fruit. Zama prides himself on his lack of cruelty, but he also exhibits a proud absence of moral curiosity. His essential neutrality gets him in and out of various scrapes, depicted by Martel rather cryptically, with snippets of dialogue returning intermittently to reinforce events that are only hinted at. Portuguese cinematographer Rui Poças, who also shot Tabu and The Ornithologist, depicts wide-screen jungles and colonial villas with equal detachment, supported by anachronistically cheerful music from Los Indios Tabajaras, a Brazilian group that specialized in Hawaiian-flavoured kitsch. Don’t assume that all these intriguing elements add up to a story that’s easy to follow. But the merging of raw nature and well-researched colonial history with magic realism tinged by Kafka, Camus, and Borges is fascinating throughout. In the multinational production’s last quarter, when Zama joins a group of soldiers (including Brazil’s popular Matheus Nachtergaele) in search of a mythical bandit long terrorizing the region, things really turn wild. By then, our stoical antihero has a long beard and tired eyes, and is still waiting for a transfer that will never come. > KEN EISNER

MUSIC

Sometimes, as Coleman Hell discovBY MIKE US IN G ER

ered when it was time to follow up his hit debut LP, Summerland, you have to get yourself to a better place for life to make sense. By the tail end of 2017, the Toronto-via-ThunderBay singer-songwriter had every reason to feel like it was all too much. After years of slogging things out to little reward, Hell stumbled onto something great with 2015’s “2 Heads”, a platinum-shifting single that ripped up the charts on both sides of the border. His subsequent full-length solidified him as a breakout star, spawning two more hits (“Devotion” and “Fireproof”) and turning life into a blur of constant touring. In many ways that was the realization of a dream for Hell, who started writing songs before his teens and later spent time in Hogtown’s indie hiphop trenches. But as anyone who’s ever spent endless hours staring out of a tour bus window and checking in to a parade of hotel rooms will testify, at a certain point it all becomes hopelessly disorienting. “There’s a lot of travelling, and when you’re travelling that much, you become accustomed to a certain type of momentum,” Hell says, on the line from his home in Toronto. “You’re always physically moving, and because of that you do a lot less

Calling from the canyon

Coleman Hell’s yet-to-be-released new album Topanga sees the Canadian artist working through some internal struggles, using songs as his diary.

in the songs. Summing up dating perfectly in our iPhone-obsessed times, the of taking self-inventory. So when you finally take a slinky soul jam “Left on Read” has him lamenting, break, you’re like, ‘I haven’t really thought about any- “Oh, you don’t even pick up your phone now/I’ll bet thing or dealt with anything for a really long time.’ you don’t even scroll down/I’m doing fine on my I realized that I needed to take a break and do that.” own now.” The ethereal new-waver “Video”, meanFor an idea of the headspace the singer was in while, looks back to a long-gone past with lines like after the Summerland tour and promo cycle, con- “I can still picture you, like an old video/Never stop sider the blazingly powerful “Real Me”, off his up- missing you, memories on a loop.” coming sophomore album, which has a working “I went through a recent heartbreak, along with title of Topanga. Unflinching and raw, the song just dealing with my general health,” he reveals. has Hell pulling back the curtains of his private “There was a breakup as well as other things, so life, where things are not nearly as idyllic as they there was a whole bunch of stuff at bay there. It’s might seem from the outside. definitely not as light of a listen as the last album. Over plaintive piano and 808s & Heartbreak Summerland was sort of a conceptual thing where percussion loops, Hell gets disarmingly revealing with lines like “I feel so insecure sometimes wish I could disappear” and “Hide in my house KEEP ON TRUCKIN’ in a housecoat/Never going out/No sunshine and rainbows/Just a stormcloud that’s been following The fourth, 2018 installment of Red Truck me/So down I think I got a disease.” Beer’s Truck Stop Concert Series consists Now that he’s beginning to do press for Topanof three showcases, each loosely based on a ga—the release date of which is still TBA—the genre. The key word there is loosely. singer has started thinking about how personal “We’ve found most people who attend music much of the album ended up being. When he finshows are fairly open-minded and interested in ished up touring Summerland, Hell found himself trying new experiences,” says Red Truck Beer with plenty of time on his hands in Toronto. As marketing head Brian Fong, interviewed by phone. anyone who’s ever been wide-awake in bed at 3 “Not just musical experiences, but also culina.m. will tell you, sometimes being left alone with ary, travelling, and beverages. So the genres of one’s thoughts can be a dangerous thing. music that we’ve got are going to be very different So Hell decided that he needed to mix things up. between shows, and even at each individual show. He fled Toronto for the fabled hotbed of creativity Given people’s willingness to try new things, that that is Topanga Canyon, California—a place that makes for a great intersection between craft beer has famously inspired such artists as Joni Mitchell, and the music we’re showcasing.” Neil Young, the Doors, and Fleetwood Mac. For this year’s three-date Truck Stop Concert Setting up in a rented house, Hell ended up in Series, Coleman Hell headlines the indie- and a better place. roots-oriented June 16 bill, with support includ“Changing up the scenery was kind of what ining Seattle DIY stalwarts Pickwick, Victoria itiated things,” he recalls. “And it ended up being a blues-rocker Jesse Roper, Vancouver’s Aviator really positive experience, so I’m happy I did it. I had Shades, and 2017 Truck Stop Concert Series this idea where I wanted to rent a giant mansion of winner Sam the Astronaut. a house with a pool that was somewhere you could Soul and classic R&B take the spotlight on go and take hikes. So I rented this big house and just July 14 when the main attraction is Seattle’s Allen sort of existed there for a couple of months. It was Stone, with the brilliantly retro Nick Waterhouse kind of like a retreat, but this one a little more glamsecond-billed. Rounding out the undercard will orous than a cabin in the middle of the woods.”

A change of scenery helped Coleman Hell get through some dark times and chart new musical directions

A CABIN IN NORTHERN ONTARIO was, of

course, where Hell worked with friends on Summerland, a record that bridged easygoing Ed Sheeran–era folk with rootsy Great White North Americana. Topanga marks a new direction for the singer, with laid-back guitars and banjos swapped out for gleaming synths and blissed-out club beats. Hell notes that he didn’t end up in Topanga Canyon by spinning a globe and pointing. “It’s kind of a famous place to record,” he says. “Because of its history, I thought I’d catch the spirit of everyone who’s spent time there.” And once he arrived, he was not only instantly enchanted, but also ready to work. “I pretty much got right to it, because I had a lot to say and a lot on my mind,” Hell says. “I bought this old typewriter and brought it with me. I wrote all of my lyrics on this typewriter, which was kind of cool unto itself—there was a certain rhythm to writing on it. I think that really influenced the lyrics.” One might rightly surmise that the singer has had plenty of dark days over the past couple of years, as he’s been open in interviews about dealing with depression and anxiety. Rather than wallow in the blackness, he chose to try to pull himself out of the darkness. The theme of missing someone close and longing for human contact surfaces time and time again

be Burnaby’s genre-blending Antonio Larosa, the Eleven Twelves, the Elwins, and Atlameda. The third event in the Truck Stop Concert Series gives Vancouver a reason to break out the cowboy hats on August 11 when Nashville’s chart-topping Michael Ray rolls into town to support his sophomore release Amos. Joining the American country star will be Wes Mac and his fellow Calgarians Nice Horse, and bluegrassflavoured Rollin’ Trainwreck, which took home top prize in the Truck Stop Talent Search contest this past April. Ultimately, Fong says, the Truck Stop Concert Series isn’t a moneymaker for the company, but instead is shooting for something more valuable. “It’s kind of a platform for us to launch beers, get people down here to celebrate beer, and also kind of create community within East Van and our brewery district. So it’s kind of grown into something bigger than the music—it’s more of a passion project. We’re ultimately trying to create a vibe—a place for like-minded individuals to come together and enjoy both craft beer and live music.” In the coming weeks, Red Truck will be adding performers to the series. In the meantime, tickets and info for all three Truck Stop Concert Series showcases can be found at truckstopconcertseries.com/.

> MIKE USINGER

I was telling a story. This one is more like a diary.” The degree to which Topanga reads like one person’s inner monologues is starting to hit Coleman now that he’s having to talk about the album. He quite intentionally took a break from social media during writing and recording, choosing to direct his energy to the creative process. “I wasn’t thinking and feeling things that I wanted to tweet or take pictures of, so I sort of isolated myself in that way too,” he says with a laugh. “So when you’re making the kind of record that I did, with no feedback, you don’t really think about how personal it is. Now that I’m revving up for the release, I’m starting to go, ‘Hmm, I wonder what people are going to think about this?’ because it’s pretty different. There were two ways to go about following up Summerland. I could have concerned myself more with following up the commercial success of that record. But I felt somehow that I was in a place where I had people’s attention, so instead of trying to top the last record in terms of theatrics, I decided I would instead pull back the curtain and go, ‘All right, here’s a little bit more about myself, and hopefully you’ll still like me.’” One of the chances he took was in making Topanga different not just lyrically but also musically. Hell rolls out everything from tribal jungle pop (“Twenties”) to cognac-laced soul (“Mixtape”) to thumping electro (“Killer”). That he might alienate those who first fell for “2 Heads” is a chance he’s willing to take. From the Beatles to U2 to Radiohead to Kanye West, the acts that have managed to transcend time are the ones that decide they’re going to play by no one’s rules but their own. Noting that the shape-shifting Radiohead has been something of a lifelong obsession, Hell says, “To be honest, I’m just excited to release this record and see where it takes me. I’m curious what fans are going to be willing to grow with me. What I’ve always liked about acts like Radiohead, Prince, David Bowie, and André 3000 is going, ‘Okay, what’s their next phase going to be?’ With Summerland I was almost like a Method actor— I got so committed to the songs I was having séances in the woods and painting moons on my head. I was so deeply into it, at the end I was like, ‘Okay, this had to die now—it was fun and great, but I gotta do something else.’ ” What’s interesting about Topanga is that, even when he’s at his most melancholy, Hell never sounds morose. Instead, the album radiates a sense of hope. For Hell, his time in Topanga Canyon was a big step in a journey that continues. It’s no accident, then, that the dream-hazed title track for Topanga concludes with the line “Don’t cry, Topanga, everything’s going to be alright.” “My life is a lot more stable now, so that’s a real positive,” he notes. “Life is just a series of high points and low points, and there’s suffering everywhere, no matter which way you cut it. So it’s really just all about coping. I’ve learned to like living in the purgatory between the good and the bad moments—it always gives you something good to strive for, which is kind of what life is about.” Hell pauses, and then laughs. “My sister always describes me as someone who’s incapable of keeping it light. But I like to get into the nitty-gritty most of the time—that’s kind of where I live. So what would I have to write about if everything in life was just a straight, f lat line forever? The answer is ‘I wouldn’t be doing this.’” Coleman Hell headlines the first installment of Red Truck Beer’s 2018 Truck Stop Concert Series on June 16. The series takes place at Red Truck Beer Company (295 East 1st Avenue).

MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25

MUSIC

Stickybuds delivers subtly political messages where the world’s at right now. “Over the past eight years, I’ve been interested in learning about geopolitics and how the financial system works,” he continues. “Thankfully, I’m an independent musician, and I have a decent amount of time to listen to lectures and read things. I can take parts that are important and put them into the music I make. When I’m old and grey and sitting on a porch somewhere with some greatgrandkids, I want to be able to say, ‘This is how it was back then.’ ” Despite the song’s message and Martens’s history of remixing tracks with ecologically minded lyrics, though, the artist makes it clear that he’s not trying to turn his feelgood, party-funk brand into a political one. Aiming to counterweigh his tracks’ heavier content with upbeat songwriting, he places as much focus

Stickybuds, a.k.a. Tyler Martens, aims to make more than just club bangers.

on the music as the words. “I’m not trying to force politics on anyone,” he says. “I’m not trying to turn my shows into political rallies. The message is probably the most important thing in that song, but it’s a balancing act. The landscape of politics and the social consciousness is very intense right now. People are firing on all cylinders and it’s really full-on.”

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and bass, and it’s about profiting off war and the corruption behind it. You can play that at peak time in the club, but the message is still there too. I hope that it resonates with people.”

> KATE WILSON

Stickybuds plays the Imperial on Friday (June 1).

Pioneering guitar wizard Satriani talks amplifiers When Joe Satriani phones the

2 Straight from his home in the

San Francisco Bay Area, he apologizes right away for being a few minutes late with the scheduled call. He explains that he was playing his guitar, composing a song, and lost track of time. That’s when it’s my turn to feel regretful, because what if I just dragged the pioneering guitar wizard away from creating his next masterpiece? “I had one of my new chrome [Ibanez] guitars that I was plugging into two very old Fenders,” notes Satch. “One a 1960 Fender Deluxe, which has got quite a growl to it, even when you just set it on, like, 4. see next page

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The producer’s party reputation got a boost last year when his track “Clap Ya Hands Now”—a modern take on the Meters’ classic “Hand Clapping Song”—was selected by Sony Pictures to soundtrack the trailer for SpiderMan: Homecoming. The achievement crowned a new era for Martens. Eschewing samples in favour of session musicians, and licensing the track from the original band, the producer integrated his electronic production with recorded instruments. “I have an album coming out over the summer,” he says. “I’m pushing myself to do more challenging things, like hiring guitar players, singers, and horn players. The record is full of electronic funk music, and electronic reggae. It’s been a great learning experience, working with artists that I respect and making music with them, and working with all these different session musicians. “There’s definitely some more politics on the record, though,” he continues. “I’m trying to make music that’s not totally disposable, like some club banger that’s played for three months and everyone moves on. My next single is called ‘The Firestarter’. It’s one of the more banging ones, full-on drum

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The West is becoming increasdivided along political lines. Discussions of administrations dominate dinner tables and school campuses, and everyone has an opinion about how to change the status quo. Canadian producer Stickybuds—also known as Tyler Martens—is no exception. With more than 10 years’ worth of glitchy electro-funk releases in the bank, the producer has written a number of tracks that broach controversial political topics. None, however, has come close to expressing an opinion as overt as his latest release, “Crooked Politicians”. “I watch a lot of independent journalists, and I’m pretty in tune with the political spectrum,” he tells the Straight on the line from his home in Calgary. “I think that song just came out of the frustration that I feel for

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And then I moved into a ’63 Fender Princeton amp, which is a little cleaner, with a bit more bottomy sound, a little less midrange. And I was just writing something that was sort of classic-rock-sounding. I was getting lost there, but I’ve got a job to do, so I’m back on the phone.” Sitting in his home studio, the acclaimed picker starts counting off the amplifiers he’s got at his disposal. “I have about 20 amps just within about 20 feet of me right here,” he declares, “and boy, if somebody said, ‘Hey, you’ve got nothing to do today,’ I’d just be down here playing all of them and making mental notes, like ‘This is good for this’ and ‘This is good for that.’ ” While Satriani’s in the mood to chat about gear, I wonder aloud which prized amp was the one used to help concoct the killer sound on his latest album, What Happens Next, a thoroughly rocking tour de force featuring drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chickenfoot) and bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Country Communion). “Oh, we had quite a few,” he replies. “You know, each song is like a funny story about what amp wound up being the one that was, like, the melody amp or the main-riff amp or the solo amp. And it’s always a bit of a discovery, because you don’t know what’s gonna be the ultimate complement until you have the bass and the drums

really sounding the way you like. And then you go, ‘Oh, okay, that 1970 Marshall is, like, the right amp for the riff.’ Or you take an amp out that you haven’t played in 10 years and it’s the perfect thing for the solo.” Satriani was not alone when choosing which equipment to use for his latest batch of mind-boggling instrumentals. He got a lot of help on What Happens Next from Langley studio ace Mike Fraser. “Fraze” has worked with him in various capacities since 1998’s Crystal Planet, but on the new disc he earned credits for recording, engineering, mixing, and producing. “Mike is really amazing,” raves Satriani. “I don’t think there’s anyone quite like him in the world. He has the perfect set of ears, and a real creative temperament. He has that incredible technical background and facility, but I think one of his best traits is that he can handle a room of crazy musicians, you know what I mean? “He can handle a group, and then he can sit with you in a room for hours and, in a reassuring way, get the best performance out of you. Mike’s got that ability because he’s just a really cool guy, and he never stands in the way of something good happening— even if it’s completely unplanned. And I have to say, he gets the job done.”

> STEVE NEWTON

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23 KAMIKAZE GIRLS

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MAY 31 – JUNE 7 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 27

Ludwig, Ponytails, Loig Morin, and Kitty & the Rooster. Jul 7, 11 am to 9 pm, West 4th Avenue (between Burrard & MacDonald). Free, info www.khatsahlano.com/.

music/ timeout CONCERTS

PNE SUMMER NIGHT CONCERTS Featuring performances by Boyz II Men (Aug 18), Air Supply (Aug 19), Dean Brody (August 20), Goo Goo Dolls (Aug 22), I Love the ’90s Tour (Aug 23), Wilson Phillips (Aug 24), Marianas Trench (Aug 25), Lost ’80s Live (Aug 26), 112 (Aug 28), Kool & the Gang (Aug 29), Jann Arden (Aug 30), Burton Cummings (Aug 31), Chicago (Sep 1), Village People (Sep 2), and Cyndi Lauper (Sep 3). Aug 18 to Sep 3, PNE Amphitheatre (2901 E. Hastings). Free with PNE admission; reserved seats available at www.pne.ca/.

2JUST ANNOUNCED QUINCY DAVIS/JAMES DANDERFER QUINTET An all-star quintet from New York, Texas, and Vancouver unites with swinging standards and exciting originals. Led by Davis and Danderfer, this group features Juno winners Oliver Gannon and Brad Turner and guest Karl Kohut. Jun 8-9, 8 pm, Frankie’s Jazz Club (765 Beatty). Tix $20 at www.coastaljazz.ca/.

319 MAIN STREET (Closest Cross Street Cordova • Close to Sea Bus) TICKETS: $20 AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.IMPERIALVANCOUVER.COM OR PICK UP AT ZULU, RED CAT, HIGHLIFE AND NEPTUNE RECORDS SHOW UPDATES: WWW.SHESTOLEMYBEER.COM OR OUR SHE STOLE MY BEER FACEBOOK PAGE

EMPLOYMENT

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

CAREERS

NOTICES

HERITAGE DRYWALL LTD is looking for Drywall Installers and Finishers Job location: Greater Vancouver, BC Permanent, Full time. Wage - $25.50 per/h Skills requirements: Experience 3-4 years, Good English. Education: Secondary school Main duties: Preparation of the drywall sheets for installation (measuring, cutting). Installation of drywall sheets. Securing of drywall sheets in metal or wooden studs or joists. Filling joints, holes and cracks with joint compound. Applying successive coats of compound, sand seams and joints. Company’s business address: 20448 – 90 Crescent, Langley BC V1M 1A7 Please apply by e-mail: heritagewall@gmail.com

~ ARGENTINE TANGO ~

Explore & discover the Freedom to dance the Tango Walk. lacaminatatango@gmail.com

604.219.6312

www.lacaminatatango.org

MARKETPLACE

STYLE

Concrete Mixer Helper

MUSIC

REHEARSAL SPACE CHARTS MUSIC

Lockout available & $20 Hourly 604-436-9397

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REPAIRS Basone Guitars – Vancouver's BEST Guitar Shop! GREAT DEALS on Guitars, Amps, Pedals, Ukuleles, Plus professional REPAIR SERVICES and Custom Electrics. Stop by today! 1 blk East of Main St. 318 E 5th Ave 604-677-0311 basoneguitars.com

MOOD DISORDERS

SUPPORT GROUPS We have peer-led support groups all over the Lower Mainland for people with depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety led by well-trained facilitators. Group sessions during days, evenings, or Saturdays. For location and times of groups:

Nar-Anon North Van

12-step program for families and friends of addicts, meets Tuesdays from 7:30 to 9 pm 176 2nd Street East in North Van.

Heavy Ear Ring Supports Dare to wear huge, heavy ear rings again, in comfort. Never have torn earlobes again. Just $15.99 with Free Shipping.

www.hersheavyearringsupports.com

MIND BODY SOUL

ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE The Alexander Technique

sessions for back pain, bulging discs and impinged nerves. Alena Minova, CanStat Certified 778-885-6229 Highgate Sports Clinic, Burnaby.

www.straight.com

RECOVERY International FEAR? DEPRESSION? PANIC ATTACKS? Feelings that keep you from really living your life? A way out is where we come in. Weekly meetings. Call for info: 9am - 5pm Kathy 778-554-1026 www.recoverycanada.org

Sex Addicts Anonymous

12-step fellowship of men & women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other, that they may solve their common problem and help others recover from their sexual addiction. Membership is open to all who desire to stop addictive sexual behaviour. For a meeting list as well as email & phone contacts go to our website at

www.saavancouver.org

SEXAHOLICS ANONYMOUS - Vancouver, BC For those desiring their own sexual sobriety, please go to www.sa.org for meetings times and places. We are here to help you from being overwhelmed. Newcomers are gratefully welcomed. Support, Education & Action Group for Women that have experienced male violence. Call Vancouver Rape Relief 604-872-8212 Healthy & loving relationships alluding you? CODA: Co-dependency Anonymous 12 step Recovery: 604- 515-5585 Vancouver Society for Sexuality, Gender & Culture Educational group with monthly meetings are planned for: 1st Tuesday of each month, 6:30 PM 8:30 PM Vancouver Public Library - Firehall Branch 1455 W 10th Ave (by Granville St next to the Firehall) All are welcome, and we are looking for Board Members from the Health, Counseling, Education, and Business Professions Info: Michael or Darren: VSSGC@yahoogroups.ca Women Survivors of Incest Anonymous A 12 Step based peer support program. Wed @ 7pm @ Avalon Women's Centre 5957 West Blvd 604-263-7177 also www.siawso.org

28 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT STRAIGHT MAY MAY 31 31 –– JUNE JUNE77//2018 2018

Heaven! SERIOUS CALLERS ONLY!

ANTHONY

Lawyer Wanted

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

OTHER

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Meet Russian Ladies

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ROXANNE'S DAY SPA

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Experience the Art of Massage Gentlemen only 778-929-0635 Richmond

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COCO'S THAI MASSAGE BBY. $40 & up! No F/S 10am - 8pm 604-619-7453

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MATURE MAGIC TOUCH

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HERS

TOM JONES Welsh pop singer-songwriter known for hits like “What’s New Pussycat?” and “It’s Not Unusual”. Jun 2, 7:30 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tix $125/99/69/48 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

TIME OUT MUSIC LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. We can’t guarantee inclusion, and we give priority to events taking place within one week of publication. Submit listings online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

THE SCORE Pop band from New York plays tunes from debut album Atlas, with guests the Orphan the Poet. Oct 13, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix on sale June 1, 10 am, $14 (plus service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/.

Info: nar-anonbcregion.org offers over 50 volunteer-led support groups throughout BC. These provide people with Parkinson's, their carepartners & families an opportunity to meet in a friendly, supportive setting with others who are experiencing similar difficulties. Some groups may offer exercise support. For information on locating a support group near you, please contact PSBC at 604 662 3240 or toll free 1 800 668 3330.

JOE SATRIANI American hard-rock guitar virtuoso (“Surfing With the Alien”) performs tunes from new album What Happens Next. Jun 1, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix $69.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

BRYAN ADAMS Vancouver-raised, England-based pop-rocker, best known for hits like “Summer of ‘69” and “Run to You”. Jun 6, 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix from $45 to $125 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

THE DISTILLERS Australian-American punkrock band, with guests Starcrawler. Sep 10, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale June 1, 10 am, $40 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

NOTICES

SUPPORT GROUPS The Compassionate Friends (TCF) Burnaby TCF is a grief support group for parents who have experienced the loss of a child, at any age. Meet the last Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. For location call Grace: 778-222-0446 "We Need Not Walk Alone" compassionatecircle@hotmail.com Burnaby@TCFCanada.net www.tcfcanada.net

2THIS WEEK

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR Canadian experimental-music collective tours in support of latest release Luciferian Towers. Jun 4, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix $29.50 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat Records and www.ticketfly.com/.

GOV’T MULE American blues-rock/jam band, featuring singer-guitarist Warren Haynes, plays tunes from latest album Revolution Come...Revolution Go. Sep 4, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Jun 1, 10 am, $45 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

CALLBOARD

SPRING SPECIAL Bodyscrub $65/70min. Waxing 20% off. Massage $28/half hour 8 - 4287 Kingsway 604-438-8714

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TRADES 3 positions avail. Employer: VanCity Concrete Ltd.MetroVancouver most of our contracts. Residencial and Comercial. Permanent Full Time Position.Compensation/salary: $18.00/hour, dependingon experience. Hour of Work: 35- 40 hours a week.2- 3 years experience is an asset. English and Spanish is required. Email: info@vancityconcrete.com

CERTIFIED MASSAGE

604.330.8133

NAKAPAI CONSTRUCTION LTD is looking for Carpenters.Greater Vancouver area, BC.Permanent, Full time Wage - $ 27.80 per/h Education: Secondary school Skills requirements: Experience 3-4 years, Good English. Main duties: Read and interpret construction blueprints, drawings, specifications; Measure, cut, assemble, and fasten lumber and wood materials; Prepare layouts, build different wood forms;Fit and install different trim items as required; Operate hand and power tools in a safe and efficient manner;Promote job site safety and encourage safe work practices; Supervise helpers and apprentices. Company’s business address: 401-321 Hospital Street, New Westminster BC V3L 3L5 Please apply by e-mail: hrnakapai@gmail.com

WEST 4TH KHATSAHLANO STREET PARTY Annual outdoor music festival features performances on various stages by Bif Naked, Frazey Ford, Slow, Leeroy Stagger, Actors, Kimmortal, Jasper Sloan Yip, Haley Blais, Carmanah, Sam Tudor, Necking, Malcolm Jack, Blue J, Schwey, Harlequin Gold, Peach Pyramid, Layten Kramer, Leisure Club, Chersea, Blue Strange, Kellarissa, Johnny Payne, the Staggers and Jaggs, Wallgrin, Nina Mendoza, Jenny Banai, Colin Cowan & the Elastic Stars, Big Top, Future Star, Graham Brown Band, Parlour Panther, Sorry Edith, the Circus in Flames, Club Sofa, Tim the Mute, Booty Ep, Kirsten

THE CADILLAC THREE Southern-rock group from Nashville, with guest Austin Jenckes. Aug 21, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Venue (881 Granville). Tix on sale June 1, 10 am, $30 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

CITY OF THE SUN Instrumental postrock trio from New York City, with guests Leon of Athens. Nov 3, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix on sale Jun 1, 10 am, $15 (plus service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/.

Reg $ 120

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TALK MEN OFF GET TALKED OFF

savage love I am a 38-year-old gay man with a serious problem. My boyfriend of five years has developed a strange fascination. We’ve always watched porn together, but now he has been looking at straight porn and even lesbian porn (!!!) more and more often. More than once he has expressed an interest in having a MMF threesome—and he’s a self-proclaimed gold-star gay! This week, I discovered he had hidden a Fleshlight from me. I could tell he had used it. What is going on with him? On the other hand, we still have sex pretty frequently. He really gets off when I call his ass a “pussy”, which I’ll do to turn him on, but I find it pretty weird. He also tells me he gets off on the thought of the two of us fucking a woman together. This really seems bizarre! Could my beautiful bottom boy be turning bi? If he is, I don’t know how we can handle it.

like a sexy adventure you would both enjoy? Likeliest. As for how to handle it, GAYBYBI, you’ll have to use your words: ask your boyfriend if he’s bi. (Spoiler: he’s bi, bicurious, or so homoflexible he could tour with Cirque du Soleil.) If you’re not interested in having sex with women, tell him so. If being with you means he can never have sex with a woman, tell him so. And if you would never knowingly date a bi guy, tell him he deserves better.

Turning bi? Unlikely. Always was bi and only just realized it? Likelier. Always was bi but identified as gay because (1) he prefers men as romantic partners and (2) the biphobia he encountered in gay male spaces/bedrooms/buttholes convinced him to stay closeted but he doesn’t want to live a lie anymore and he’s done hiding from the man he loves but instead of using his words and coming out to you like a grown-up, GAYBYBI, your boyfriend is letting you know he’s bi with his porn choices and a big push to make a MMF threesome sound

People who are courteous to strangers (“Excuse me, can I squeeze past you?”) and contemptuous with intimate partners (“Do you have to stand there, you fucking dumbass?”) don’t value their partners and don’t deserve intimacy. People who are assholes to everyone don’t deserve intimacy either, of course, but they get points for being consistent.

> BY DAN SAVAGE Anyway, I was really looking forward to him jacking me off and vice versa. But when I arrived, he said he was only interested in me giving him a massage and then a handjob. Apparently, he’s a straight guy who wanted to experiment with men in a very limited way. Like I said, super hot, so I happily obliged. But after he came, I was really aching for release myself. But as I stated earlier, he made it clear he did not want to reciprocate. After we were fi nished, he indicated that he might hit me up again. Do you think I should continue with the massage and “happy ending” in hopes he will someday feel comfortable enough to reciprocate? Or should I just go ahead and find myself another jack-off buddy?

A relationship question that doesn’t involve sex: occasionally when two people live together, they bump into each other or one may get in the way of the other. Is it reasonable to be put off if rather than sim> CRAVING UNCUT MASCULINE ply hearing “Excuse me” when you SRI LANKAN are inadvertently in someone’s way, the person trying to gain access says, > GUY ALARMED, YEAH, BY “Do you have to stand there?” Another jack-off buddy? No, no. YOUNGER BOYFRIEND’S INTEREST > JUST SEEMS RUDE Additional jack-off buddy.

I recently spent a wonderful weekend with a young woman from out of town who identifies as queer and poly. Being the curious guy I am, I had her explain what these things meant to her. She went on to say that she is considering changing from poly to nonmonogamous. I find this confusing. I’m certainly nonmonogamous, but I’ve never thought of myself as poly. What is the difference?

I recently posted an online ad > CONFUSED OVER LINES INSIDE NAMES for a jack-off buddy. I got a response from a man who turned out to be a gorgeous young Sri Lankan dude I would describe the difference as with a huge, beautiful uncut cock. Googleable, COLIN. But since you

asked: a nonmonogamous person has sex with their partner and others; a poly person has or is open to having committed and concurrent romantic relationships. For one example: an ethically nonmonogamous woman fucks the boyfriend/husband she loves and other guys she doesn’t; a poly woman has two (or more) guys she both loves and fucks.

In regards to your first complaint, IWFU, there are sex workers out there fighting for their rights and fighting the stigma against sex work—along with fighting prohibition, the Nordic Model, and SESTA (Google it)—but you don’t see the men who employ them stepping up and joining the fight. “[It’s time for] all of you clients out there [to] get off your duffs and fight,” as sex worker and sex-worker-rights advocate Maggie McNeill wrote on her blog. “Regular clients outnumber full-time whores by at least 60 to 1. Gentlemen, I suggest you rethink your current silence, unless you want to be the next one with your name and picture splashed across newspapers, TV screens, and websites.” In regards to your second complaint, IWFU, it is true that I’ve said—on one or two occasions—that oral comes standard and any model that arrives without oral should be returned to the lot. I’ve also said that you can’t be in an LTR without paying the price of admission, and I’ve said that a lot more often. If not getting oral at home is the price of admission you’re willing to pay to be with your wife, and if allowing you to get oral elsewhere is the price of admission she’s willing to pay to be with you, then Godspeed, IWFU, and tip the sex workers you patronize and speak up to fight the stigma against doing sex work and hiring sex workers.

I have two complaints: one with the world and one with you. My problem with the world is that it seems to think it is possible to embrace the rights of sex workers and still stigmatize the men who employ them. I am in a happy monogamish marriage, and I enjoy a very good, vanilla-but-bordering-on-tantric sex life with my wife. Early on, when we discussed how open our marriage should be, we decided it would be all right for me to see escorts several times a year. This gives me some sexual variety and keeps her from feeling threatened by my becoming emotionally involved with a third party. She is very mono and has no interest in going outside the marriage for sex. My quarrel with you has to do with your oft-repeated advice that people should break things off with partners who don’t perform oral sex. My wife doesn’t like to give head—and I really don’t like getting it from her, since she doesn’t like doing it. It is, however, one of the things on my list for my quarterly pro session. So I go On the Lovecast, “Ask a Fuck-Up!”: down on her, she doesn’t go down on Listen at savagelovecast.com. Email: me, and I see escorts who do. And… mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on > IT WORKS FOR US

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