The Georgia Straight - Third Culture - August 12, 2021

AUGUST 12 – 19 / 2021 | FREE Volume 55 | Number 2791

BALLOT QUESTION Trudeau’s foes boxed in

MORTGAGE FORECAST

What’s next for homeowners?

THIRD CULTURE

Accomplished actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer Krystal Kiran knows what it’s like to straddle India and Canada, and now she’s hoping to share her insights with the next generation of South Asian artists

LEGAL PRIMER • SEATTLE KRAKEN • CHINESE GENE • AFGHAN FOOD

POLITICS

Ballot-box issue may make life tough for Trudeau’s foes

CONTENTS

August 12-19 / 2021

9

COVER

Actor, dancer, and choreographer Krystal Kiran went from Penticton to Broadway to touring with Bollywood’s top songwriter.

Now she wants to help local kids.

by Charlie Smith

By Charlie Smith Cover photo by David Cooper/Shaw Festival

4

REAL ESTATE

Central 1 Credit Union chief economist Brian Yu explains why he’s not expecting the Bank of Canada to pull the trigger on interest rates.

By Carlito Pablo

12

MUSIC

The Vancouver band Small Town Artillery is seeking a more holistic approach to life on the road.

By Steve Newton

Y

When Canadians go to the polls, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping that his government’s response to COVID-19 will give him a second Liberal majority. Photo by Adam Scotti/PMO.

ou see them in grocery stores all the time: men who are often over 40 and not wearing masks.

These are the folks who think that because they’re double-vaccinated, they don’t need to cover their noses and mouths, even where this is recommended.

Or they’re simply unvaccinated and think COVID-19 restrictions are yet another representation of the nanny state. This is notwithstanding more than 632,000 deaths in America and 26,000 deaths in Canada linked to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

A surge of new cases among the unvaccinated has potential to overrun intensive-care wards. But these maskless shoppers don’t think about that, nor do they worry about the immune-compromised for whom vaccines may not be nearly as effective.

So why am I writing all of this? Because as Canada lurches toward a federal election, right-wing maskless shoppers don’t have a national political party in the House of Commons that reflects their views. The federal Conservatives won’t embrace the type of right-wing COVID denialism that runs through Republican circles south of the border.

So a significant number of right-wing Canadians are going to be deeply disappointed in Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s policy responses to COVID-19.

That helps Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, especially if some of these Conservative-leaning voters drift to more fringe groups, like the People’s Party of Canada. It’s led by a man who refuses to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

It doesn’t take that many voters of a similar mindset to drive Conservative support down from its traditional level of 30 to 33 percent.

The NDP also faces a conundrum with COVID-19. Some of its traditional voters feel that the federal and provincial governments aren’t doing nearly enough. These

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voters are aware of the growing evidence that COVID-19 is airborne and want more mask mandates in public spaces and more restrictions on flying.

But these voters are not hearing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh getting too worked up about schools, which is a provincial issue, and air travel. All of this leaves little daylight between these two opposition leaders and the Trudeau government.

Expect O’Toole to talk up the federal deficit and whip up fears about China.

Singh, on the other hand, will talk about the housing crisis, systemic racism (which includes boil-water advisories on Indigenous reserves), the climate breakdown, and income inequality.

But with the Delta variant spreading madly, COVID-19—rather than China, housing, the climate, deficits, or income inequality—will likely be the key ballotbox issue.

Hordes of people will go into the polling booths asking themselves the following questions: 1. Did the Liberal government do a decent job of protecting me and my family during this unprecedented health crisis?

2. Do we really want to change the government at a time like this?

Trudeau has been throwing huge sums of money at individuals and businesses since the pandemic was declared. That’s going to help the Liberals, notwithstanding the prime minister’s relatively low personal approval rating.

Keep in mind that there have been five provincial and territorial elections since the pandemic was declared on March 11, 2020.

In every case, the premier held on to his job, usually with more seats in the legislature after the election than before the vote was held.

Is there really any reason to think things will turn out differently for Justin Trudeau? Not likely. At least, not yet. g

AUGUST 12 – 19 / 2021

e Online TOP 5

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BOOK REVIEW BOOKS FEATURE CLASSIFIED ADS DANCE FOOD LEGAL AFFAIRS POLITICS SAVAGE LOVE SPORTS WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE WINE

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 55 | Number 2791 #300 - 1375 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6H 0B1 T: 604.730.7000 F: 604.730.7010 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com

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

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

1 2 3 4 5

B.C. appeal board affirms $82-million assessment on half-empty apartments.

COVID-19 in B.C.: Dr. Bonnie Henry announces accelerated vaccine doses.

Carnaval del Sol is right around the corner with electrifying outdoor festival.

Vancouver transit advocate to lose home in rezoning on Cambie Street.

The Wilful Blindness of Wilful Blindness: A review of Sam Cooper’s book. @GeorgiaStraight

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REAL ESTATE / BOOKS

Economist forecasts low rates to continue

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by Carlito Pablo

he chief economist of the trade association of B.C. and Ontario credit unions expects interest rates to remain low for some more time.

Bryan Yu with Central 1 Credit Union anticipates that the Bank of Canada will raise its interest-setting rate only toward the end of 2022.

Yu doesn’t see the bank “pulling the trigger too quickly”.

“Our view is that the bank is going to be more patient,” Yu told the Straight in a phone interview.

The low cost of borrowing has been one of the main drivers of the housing market in Canada—and B.C., in particular.

The bank slashed its overnight rate three times in March 2020 to its lowest level of 0.25 percent.

The move was intended to contain a feared economic fallout in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Variable mortgage rates are inf luenced by the bank’s overnight rate.

Up until March 2021, the bank has maintained that it will hold the rate until 2023.

However, the institution indicated in April that a hike may be forthcoming earlier, in 2022, after certain economic targets are met in the second half of that year.

In July 2021, Central 1 released its interest-rate forecast, which predicted that the current rate of 0.25 percent will go up to 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 and to 0.75 in the first quarter of 2023.

Yu said that the Bank of Canada will likely want to first see a stable economic

White drenches the Sunshine Coast with wisdom and humour

by Charlie Smith

Our view is that the bank is going to be more patient.

– economist Bryan Yu

Central 1 Credit Union’s Bryan Yu doesn’t think that the Bank of Canada will “pull the trigger”.

recovery before hiking rates.

Meanwhile, yields on the five-year Government of Canada bonds are also expected to increase. This means an uptick in five-year fixed mortgages that constitute the most popular mortgage product in the country.

“We will see, I think, some modest movements in the five-year rates over the course of 2022,” Yu said.

Overall, the economist doesn’t expect rate increases that would shock the housing market.

“It’s still going to be a low-rate environment,” Yu said.

In a May 5, 2021, outlook report for the B.C. housing market, Yu wrote that higher mortgage rates would “quickly cool the market”.

However, a “sharp hike in rates is unlikely given ongoing economic uncertainties, excess economic slack and anchoring

of the Bank of Canada’s policy rate at current levels for the coming year”.

In the interview, Yu noted that even a higher-than-anticipated increase in interest rates can be handled by borrowers.

“They have been stress-tested at a relatively higher rate than their actual contracted rate,” he said.

Yu was referring to tighter mortgage rules introduced by the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Department of Finance.

Starting June 1, 2021, insured as well as uninsured mortgage applications should qualify at either the benchmark rate of 5.25 percent or the rate offered by the lender plus two percent—whichever is higher.

The previous qualifying rate was 4.79 percent. The new rules are meant to ensure that borrowers can afford higher payments should financial circumstances change.

With the more stringent rules in place, Yu said, borrowers have a “lot of wiggle room” should interest rates increase more than expected. g

BOOKS

HERE ON THE COAST

By Howard White. Harbour Publishing, 205pp, softcover

d EVERY ONCE IN a while, I come across a book that makes me feel like a fraud.

Here on the Coast: Reflections From the Rainbelt is one of those books.

That’s because the author, Harbour Publishing founder Howard White, is so damn clever and knowledgeable that he leaves the rest of us wondering why we even bother pecking on a keyboard for a living. In this collection of 50 stories from the Sunshine Coast, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour winner pokes fun at everything from the name of the region—it’s actually pretty rainy—to the desire of realestate hustlers to name streets in ways that attract more buyers. There are also deeply informed and amusing essays on the folly of a fixed link to the Sunshine Coast and incomprehensible spelling conventions applied by scholars to Indigenous place names.

Elsewhere in the book, he delves into the real-estate value locked up in boats that people rarely use. Then there’s a funny tale about a guy who detests travelling that comes with a surprising conclusion.

Along the way, White dishes up delicious servings of Sunshine Coast history.

This is B.C. writing at its finest—so conversational, so profound, and so utterly unpretentious. No wonder they gave this guy the Order of Canada. g

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BOOKS

Canada’s Chinese Gene was with B.C. from the beginning

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by Charlie Smith

In M em or y of

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Guo Ding and Kenny Zhang wrote a book about B.C. history because not enough residents realize that without Chinese railway workers, the province could have become part of the United States.

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hinese pioneers are one of the founding peoples of British Columbia, according to a new book by high-profile immigrants from China. Broadcaster Guo Ding and policy researcher and businessman Kenny Zhang, who were each raised in Shanghai, made this assertion in Canada’s Chinese Gene: A Sense of Belonging, Ownership and Contribution, which was recently translated into English following its original publication in Chinese in 2017.

They insist that if it were not for Chinese immigrants, the Canadian Pacific Railway linking B.C. to the rest of the country never would have been completed. The terms of union for B.C. to join Confederation included a transcontinental railway—something that prime minister John A. Macdonald promised would be finished without additional taxes.

“This policy essentially doomed the funding for the railway construction from the very beginning,” Ding and Zhang write.

“Thus, Chinese workers were recruited to take up the heavy burden that others, especially white workers, would never have taken, to build the most dangerous section of the railway while accepting the lowest of wages.”

According to their research, 15,000 construction workers, including 9,000 Chinese, built the most perilous section, from Fort Moody to Eagle Pass, southwest of Revelstoke. Upwards of 600 Chinese workers died.

In a joint interview with the Straight, both Ding and Zhang said that most people of Chinese ancestry in B.C. don’t think of themselves as one of the founding peoples of the province. Ding said that many view Chinese Canadians with suspicion because of a fundamental misunderstanding: that they are simply people who arrived seeking a better life rather than being essential pioneers in the creation of B.C. “That’s why we always see them as foreigners with Canadian passports,” Ding

said. “That kind of concept seems to last forever. They never see the Chinese community as part of this country or this province. That’s wrong.”

That’s one reason why Ding is so adamantly in favour of the creation of a new Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver.

Zhang said that if there were no Chinese immigrants in the early days, the province could have easily come under American control. That’s because the railway would not have been completed, leaving people feeling that they were tricked into joining Canada.

“The federation would be totally different,” Zhang said. “B.C. could be part of other countries.”

According to Ding, none of the Chinese workers who sacrificed so much were invited when the ceremonial last spike was driven into the track by company director Donald Smith at Craigellachie, near Eagle Pass, on November 7, 1885.

“They were isolated,” Ding said. “They could not be accepted by the mainstream.”

Ding’s 2018 book, The Voice of a Chinese Canadian, included a preface by Attorney General David Eby. In it, the attorney general praised Ding for his efforts to educate politicians and the public about the history and culture of minority groups in B.C. The preface acknowledged that Ding had publicly criticized Eby in connection with a 2015 housing study by Andy Yan, which relied on land-title information supplied by Eby. However, after the attorney general told Ding that he was unhappy that this study was cited to advocate discrimination against Chinese Canadians, Ding invited him on his Omni TV show to denounce racism.

“I agreed to do so,” Eby wrote. “His offer, and my acceptance of it, was the beginning of our friendship.”

According to the preface, Ding and Eby now “regularly meet for meals with our families, sharing food, jokes, and stories about our lives”. g

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5

SPORTS

Comparing Kraken players to Bruckheimer movies

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by Nathan Caddell

he NHL isn’t exactly known for exciting, interesting owners.

Other sports have celebrities like Will Ferrell and Will Smith or, at the very least, fascinating personalities at the top of the organization like Steve Ballmer and (until his death) George Steinbrenner. In hockey, there’s Mario Lemieux and, uh, the Molson family?

That’s why it was such a breath of fresh air to see the Seattle Kraken ride into NHL expansion with Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer as one of the team’s owners.

In a quest to get to know both the owner of the franchise and the players the team will go into its inaugural season with, we’re going to match Bruckheimer movies to Seattle players. Bad dad jokes will be cracked, comparisons will be forced. And, hopefully, you’ll come away with a renewed appreciation for both Crimson Tide and Vince Dunn.

Player: Adam Larsson Movie: Top Gun That Goose could very likely be Larsson, as much as Alberta hockey fans will be dismayed to see the former Oiler combine with the ex-Flame. But the duo look like a solid bet to start the season as the Kraken’s number-one defensive pair. And it’ll be a good one, at that.

FORWARDS

Film producer Jerry Bruckheimer co-owns the Seattle Kraken, which drew comparisons between some of his Hollywood hits and Kraken players like Yanni Gourde. Photo by Tampa Bay Lightning.

Player: Yanni Gourde Movie: Days of Thunder We start off with a bit of an obvious one.

Gourde was one of the Kraken’s more highprofile picks off reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. One hopes, of course, that Gourde’s time with Seattle won’t end in the same way as movie costars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s relationship—but hey, it grabbed headlines.

Player: Joonas Donskoi Movie: Beverly Hills Cop Eddie Murphy as a fish-out-of-water Detroit cop in L.A.; Joonas Donskoi going from the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche to an expansion team, likely shifting from the second line in Colorado to one of the offensive centrepieces in Seattle.

Donskoi—a fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft who has never cracked 37 points in the NHL—has never been burdened with intense expectations, but a good amount will be expected of him in Seattle.

Player: Jared McCann Movie: Pearl Harbor What is Pearl Harbor if not a story about revenge? And one gets the sense that McCann still harbours (yep, intended) something of a grudge against the Vancouver Canucks for how that relationship ended.

Picked by many analysts to have something of a breakout year with the Kraken, McCann seems poised to make Canucks fans regret the Erik Gudbranson trade more than they already do—if that’s possible.

Player: Brandon Tanev Movie: Crimson Tide There is no player on this list who is a better example of the eye test–versus-analytics war that plagues much of hockey discourse these days. The latter camp would have much rather preferred the Kraken take a different player off Pittsburgh’s roster (Zach AstonReese, perhaps). But old-school hockey men love the grit and hustle of Tanev’s game.

And, really, Crimson Tide serves pretty well as a metaphor for that same argument, with the old-school, acts-on-his-instincts captain (Gene Hackman) butting heads with the more measured young officer (Denzel Washington).

Player: Jordan Eberle Movie: Armageddon Eberle was one of the Kraken’s flashier picks—expensive, fun, not exactly beloved by analytics experts. Just swap out analytics experts for critics and you’ve got the 1998 Bruce Willis blockbuster.

Player: Jaden Schwartz Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean If there is an X factor, a wild card, a Jack Sparrow type on this roster, it is Schwartz.

Long a very responsible defensive player, Schwartz has been a frustrating player to try and predict because of his incredibly streaky point production.

After scoring 57 points in 71 games in 2019-20, Schwartz tallied only 21 points in 40 games last year. If the Kraken are getting early 2000s Johnny Depp here, they’re happy. If Schwartz seems as tired as Johnny Depp in any of the sequels, they just paid a lot of money for too much eyeliner and mediocrity.

DEFENCEMEN Player: Mark Giordano Movie: Top Gun: Maverick It’s hard to resist the “old vet coming back for one more ride” narrative when it comes to Giordano. The former captain of the Flames is likely to wear the C with the Kraken as well. Who will be his Goose?

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Player: Cale and Haydn Fleury Movie: Bad Boys The Kraken obviously would like to establish a cohesive locker room, and what better way to do that than draft a pair of brothers? It also doesn’t hurt that Cale and Haydn were both highly touted prospects in their day. They haven’t totally realized that potential yet, but why not take a swing?

And while Will Smith and Martin Lawrence weren’t blood related in Bad Boys and its sequels, they were brothers in every other sense of the word. Let’s hope that the Fleurys display the same chemistry that Smith and Lawrence oozed on-screen.

Player: Vince Dunn Movie: Coyote Ugly The 2000 Piper Perabo–starring film is about a young woman coming out of her shell when she gets a job at a New York bar.

Smart money is on Dunn to finally establish himself as an effective offensive defenceman on a nightly basis with the Kraken. He never got a great shot in St. Louis, but Dunn is going to be a sleeper in many a fantasy hockey pool this coming season.

GOALTENDERS Player: Chris Driedger Movie: Gone in 60 Seconds He was so close. After being chosen by the Kraken in the expansion draft and then negotiating a deal with the club for three years at a $3.5-million cap hit, Driedger must have thought he was finally getting his shot at a starting role in the NHL. He even made the trip down to Seattle with some other key players to meet the city and the fans.

Then it was gone: a week later, the Kraken signed goaltender Philipp Grubauer to a six-year monolith contract.

Player: Philipp Grubauer Movie: The Rock This one is less about the actual content of the Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage vehicle The Rock than an assertion about what Grubauer, the Kraken’s number-one goaltender, will have to be for the team to have success. Just like Marc-Andre Fleury in the Vegas Golden Knights’ first season, Grubauer will have to be rock solid with Seattle. g

LEGAL AFFAIRS

Legal issues that the public often doesn’t consider

T

by Charlie Smith

his week, we’re highlighting legal issues in three areas of law that affect vast numbers of people: employment, consumer matters, and wills and estates.

EMPLOYMENT LAW

Many business owners think that there are two types of workers: employees and independent contractors. In fact, there’s a third category known as “dependent contractors”.

This was addressed in a 2009 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling involving a woman named Elizabeth McKee and a company called Reid’s Heritage Homes, which lost the case. The judge declared that dependent contractors are owed reasonable notice if they’re terminated.

So what is a dependent contractor? In a 2018 B.C. Supreme Court ruling, one of the tests involved the level of worker control.

Other tests concerned who owns the equipment and tools, the contractor’s opportunity for profit and loss, and the degree of the contractor’s integration with the business. A key consideration is whether the contractor is economically dependent on the business.

Dependent contractors cover their own Canada Pension Plan contributions, as well as remittances for income tax and employment

insurance. That’s why they are sometimes seen as independent contractors by companies, which then choose to offer no severance when they hire someone else to do the work.

Last year, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled that couriers who were doing deliveries for Foodora were dependent contractors under provincial labour legislation, notwithstanding the employer’s objections.

“At common law, dependent contractors are like employees in that they are entitled to reasonable notice of the termination of the working relationship, in recognition of their economic dependence on a single employer,” labour lawyers Andrew Shaw and Shyama Talukdar wrote on the Baker McKenzie website last year.

CONSUMER LAW

On July 20, Consumer Protection B.C. suspended the licences of two home inspectors for failing to obtain and maintain $1 million in errors-and-omission insurance and $1 million in general-liability insurance. It’s one of many rulings issued by the provincial regulator, which has a mandate to respond to consumer inquiries and investigate violations of consumer-protection laws.

The regulatory framework can be

Lady Justice is blindfolded to represent that everyone is equal before the law. Kynny/Getty.

confusing to the public because federal and provincial governments both oversee consumer protection.

“In general, federal laws focus on ensuring consumers a safe, fair and competitive marketplace,” the law firm Stikeman Elliott points out in a seven-page overview. “In addition to addressing the anti-competitive effects of mergers and other business practices, federal laws govern consumer product safety, packaging and labelling, and deceptive marketing practices.”

In addition, the federal government regulates consumer transactions in areas of federal jurisdiction, such as banking,

airlines, and telecommunications.

Provincial laws, on the other hand, set the ground rules for licensing various occupations and stipulate what constitutes unfair business practices in provincially regulated areas.

“All provinces have legislation dealing with gift cards (generally prohibiting expiry dates, although exceptions apply for certain types of cards), and most deal with unsolicited goods or negative option billing (consumers typically are not obliged to pay for unsolicited goods or services),” Stikeman Elliott states.

WILLS AND ESTATES

B.C. introduced the Wills, Estates, and Succession Act and new probate rules in 2014 to provide greater certainty to those who put their final wishes in writing. The act also clarifies the process around inheritances if a person dies without a will.

Under the law, it’s possible for a person 16 years of age or older to write a valid will without legal help. However, this will must be in writing and signed by the maker of the will with two or more witnesses present at the same time. Plus, these witnesses have to provide their own signatures. g

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7

FOOD / WINE

Afghan dining reflects country’s Silk Road history

F

by Charlie Smith

or most Afghans living in Vancouver, it has been heartbreaking to see what has happened to their country this month. As the Straight went to the printer, seven provincial capitals had fallen to the Taliban, the latest being Haibak, which is in the north.

For non-Afghans in Vancouver, the closest many of us have come to that country is a visit to the Afghan Horsemen Restaurant (202–1833 Anderson Street), which has been dishing up superlative cuisine since 1974.

The interior of the second-storey dining room is bedecked with art and artifacts of a happier time in Afghanistan, when people looked forward to the future. And the succulent shish kebabs, lamb shoulder chop, and specialty platters have attracted many loyal fans, some of whom enjoy eating Afghan-style, on the floor, in the eastern room. It’s rather incredible that this first Afghan restaurant in Canada has remained open for almost five decades.

Because Afghanistan has been on my mind due to news coverage, I tried a newer

At the Afghan Chopan Bakery and Diner in Richmond, it’s possible to order the national dish of the Central Asian country, Qabeli Pallow (centre), as well as Tekka Kebab (right) with a side salad.

Afghan establishment for the first time, even though it’s been around for about nine years.

Afghan Chopan Bakery and Diner (1600– 8260 Westminster Highway, Richmond)

displays Afghan artifacts and carpets as well as currency from the country, which caught my eye. Although not as elaborate as what’s exhibited at the Afghan Horsemen, it was

sufficiently interesting to get me to wander away from my table for a closer look.

But any restaurant lives or dies on the quality of the food. In this regard, Afghan Chopan passed the test with ease. The Tekka Kebab—three skewers of top beef tenderloin marinated in spices—was truly extraordinary. It came with a light side salad. The naan overcame any remaining hunger pangs.

Many don’t realize that naan means “bread” in Farsi. At Afghan Chopan, it’s like a cross between pita bread and the more filling Indian naan.

My dining companion ordered Qabeli Pallow, a hearty meal of beef shank along with steamed basmati rice with raisins and carrots. It also came with a side salad. Qabeli Pallow, a mixed rice dish, is considered Afghanistan’s national dinner and it tastes like a lighter version of an Indian biryani.

Afghanistan was at the heart of the Silk Road trading route, and its cuisine reflects the influences of those who have passed through that land, including Greeks, Persians, Indians, and even Chinese. Yet Afghan food still has a flavour that’s all its own. g

Four easygoing wines for your backyard barbecue

M

by Mike Usinger

essy charcoal or clean-burning gas? If you’re a regular Straight reader, you know where we fall on the battlefield. Let those who tend to obsess over, well, everything, worry about carcinogens, Metro Vancouver air quality, and the remote-but-stillreal possibility that an errant spark might set the neighbours’ garage, trampoline, or Tesla on fire. Meanwhile we’re dutifully grilling with lump charcoal and Texas mesquite chunks, and no one’s swaying us to Hank Hill’s side of the fence.

The beauty of barbecue season is that it’s all about keeping things laid-back and casual, which is to say no one’s expecting you to break out a case of Lail 2018 Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon or Domaine Monier Perreol Saint-Joseph Blanc. The following four wines are great for backyard hangs, with the price tags ensuring you can spring for a beautifully marbled rib-eye instead of a skirt steak for which you need a freshly sharpened straight razor.

TOM GORE VINEYARDS CHARDONNAY

Some people stand around watching others get their hands dirty, and others would rather be in the fields alongside the hired help. The label for this full-bodied and creamy Chardonnay leaves no doubt where second-generation California winemaker Tom Gore stands. Imprinted on the front is the statement “Farming is my life’s work and greatest joy.”

There’s an old saying that goes something like “Pick a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” If only more folks paid attention to those words.

Made with grapes sourced from California’s central and north coasts, Tom Gore Vineyards Chardonnay tastes of mildly spiced apple and vanilla-laced pear with a trace of ripe Meyer lemons. Break out the cedar planks and throw on a maple-miso sockeye and no one—with the possible exception of the vegans—will go home disappointed.

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INNISKILLIN NIAGARA ESTATE RIESLING

Steaks, ribs, hamburgers, and the crack-cocaine-of-meat known as rack of lamb get much of the attention during the barbecuing season. If you’ve stood downwind when they hit the grill, you know why. But don’t forget the more delicate beauty of apple-wood-smoked pork tenderloin, Cajun-buttered shrimp skewer, or grilled Atlantic lobster tails.

Crisp, and sweet but not overpoweringly so, Inniskillin Niagara Estate Riesling will get you dreaming of ripe passion fruit, fresh lime zest, and spring apple blossoms. Now pass the grilled lobster, and don’t skimp on the blackened lemon-butter.

Summer is time for wines that aren’t going to break the bank.

BODACIOUS SMOOTH RED

One of the great things about summer is the endless array of fresh-from-the-orchard fruit, with Okanagan cherries, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries bursting with a sweet complexity that’s impossible to find the other nine months of the year. Yes, you can buy out-of-season fruit in November, but the long-haul semi-trailer trip from Mexico isn’t doing anyone any favours. Bodacious Smooth Red tastes like summer. Expect an everything-but-the-vineyard-sink approach to things, which is to say you get a blend Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and, quite possibly, whatever else is kicking around. Can you say fruit-bomb, with blackcurrant, blackberries, and lambert cherries all front-and-centre?

Sweet and budget-friendly are also buzzwords here, with Bodacious the kind of unfussy and accessible red made for folks who require nothing but a good burger—complete with processed cheese and a white-trash bun—to make them happy when the Char-Griller is ready for business.

SUMAC RIDGE PRIVATE RESERVE MERLOT

Here’s something that you probably didn’t know: you can use your barbecue to make everything from mains and sides to soups (grilled gazpacho) and salads (roasted eggplant and grilled tomatoes for the win!). Got a plum tree in your backyard that the raccoons and rats won’t stop raiding? Get picking, light the charcoal, and whip up Jamie Purviance’s caramelized plum upsidedown cake.

Speaking of ripe and luscious plums, that’s the first thing that hits you in Sumac Ridge’s big-flavoured but budget-friendly Sumac Ridge Merlot. Wisps of cedar and soft spice make this an unpretentious and reliable go-to for options like Vietnamese cherrywood-smoke ribs or ever-underrated Texas tri-tip. But who needs to waste time fussing over a three-course meal in the summer? Maybe just pour a third glass of the pleasantly jammy Sumac Ridge Private Reserve Merlot and skip right to the upsidedown cake—because lord knows those plums aren’t going to eat themselves. g

ARTS

Kiran feels empowered as part of “third culture”

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by Charlie Smith

ctor, dancer, singer, choreographer, and producer Krystal Kiran knows what it’s like to feel fragmented.

As a self-described “third culture” kid—the daughter of Punjabi immigrants— she didn’t feel entirely at home growing up in the largely white world of Penticton with her brother in the 1980s and 1990s.

Now a resident of West Vancouver, Kiran defines the third culture as a space where people feel they do not belong to any dominant cultural group because their parents came from another place with different traditions.

“We were born and raised in Canada, but our parents are Indian, for example,” Kiran said in a phone interview with the Straight. “So when we also go back to India, we’re not seen as Indians. We’re seen as foreigners.”

Like many of South Asian ancestry, she was scarred by discrimination in the 1980s. In her case, a dance teacher told her that another student’s mother didn’t want her in the same class because of her Punjabi Sikh heritage. That caused Kiran to quit for an entire year. She told her mother that she had suffered a shoulder injury.

But Kiran missed dance so much that she returned the following year, more determined than ever. As Kiran looks back today, she feels that this experience was a factor in her drive and dedication, which has propelled her to astonishing career successes. ”I also cannot deny that the sense of striving and accomplishment is also linked to racism and, therefore, trauma,” Kiran added. “As I reflect on my career over the years, I am able to look in retrospect and hindsight where and how this has played out, both positively and negatively.”

Three years after performing at the PNE in Vancouver, Kiran made her professional debut at the age of 19 in the dance ensemble of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway production of Bombay Dreams. Bollywood’s legendary Farah Khan choreographed the show.

Kiran heard about Bombay Dreams when it was being performed in London, and she jumped at the chance to audition when it came to New York. In addition to dancing, she was cast as the understudy to the lead character. The production also featured music by Indian composer A. R. Rahman, whose songs Kiran had adored since childhood.

“That was the first time I got to meet him and I got to tell him that I was such a huge fan,” Kiran recalled.

Later, she was invited to perform in the Toronto stage production of Lord of the Rings, in which Rahman teamed up with a Finnish folk band, Värttinä, to create the music. Rahman was at the piano as Kiran and other cast members sang songs during workshops.

It took many years for producer, performer, and choreographer Krystal Kiran to fully appreciate the benefits that came from straddling both Indian and Canadian cultures. Photo by Sid Ghosh.

Since then, Kiran has acted in western movies and TV shows and performed in major South Asian productions on and off Broadway. These include Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges’s Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical, Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, and the Shaw Festival production of The Orchard (After Chekhov). The latter was an adaptation of Chekhov’s The Orchard, featuring a South Asian family in the Okanagan in the 1970s.

She was also a lead singer and soloist on Rahman’s Jai Ho world tour, which was named after his 2009 Oscar-winning song composed for the movie Slumdog Millionaire. With a laugh, Kiran said she felt that she had truly arrived when she was in a Skype conversation with Rahman and saw the letters “A. R.” flash across her screen.

“That really was such a monumental professional experience for me: getting to work with him a few times, but particularly getting to tour with him,” Kiran said.

On tour, she sang in different languages, including Hindi and English, which brought up that familiar feeling of fragmentation. At times, Kiran worried about whether her Hindi was too heavily accented and if she wasn’t sufficiently Indian to be singing Rahman’s works.

But after performing in places like Texas, which has a large community of expatriate Indians, she had a revelation: there would have been no world tour without the diaspora. And this diaspora should be cherished, whether it was in Singapore, Europe, or Vancouver.

“To feel ‘otherized’ or to feel ashamed that we’re not enough…I was, like, ‘You

know what? No! I’m going to call bullshit on that and say…the fact that we can straddle two kinds of cultures is our superpower.’ ” KIRAN PLANS ON bringing that message to a free song-and-dance lesson over Zoom as part of this year’s Monsoon Festival of Performing Arts. She will rely on a piece by U.K.-based composer Nitin Sawhney.

So when we go back to India, we’re not seen as Indians.

– Krystal Kiran

“He beautifully explores these classical Indian sounds with other forms of music you wouldn’t necessarily think to put together,” Kiran said. “We’ll be doing an intro of the voice work of it and learning the actual lyrics of the song, which are in Hindi. Then we’ll be melding movement to that as well.”

Kiran loves Bollywood music and films, but she also feels that many westerners don’t always appreciate its many layers. For example, some Bollywood movies, such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, feature classical Indian dance, like the Kathak moves that she performs. It’s not all flashy, modern line dances performed in zany

settings. And Bollywood films were instrumental in helping her connect to her Indian culture in her youth.

Kiran acknowledged that she never would have been able to pursue a career in arts and culture were it not for the strong support from her parents. Her father, Malkit, grew up in Kolkata, a centre of arts and culture and progressive thinking. Her mother, Jas, was nine years old when she moved from a village in Punjab to Canada. According to Kiran, her mom wanted to attend dance classes but never had the opportunity.

“She put me in ballet in Penticton when I was three, which was completely out of the norm of the community,” Kiran revealed. “So I feel really fortunate that my parents, in both their ways, appreciated the arts even though they didn’t really necessarily practise them themselves.”

Her company, House of Kiran, is partnering with the South Asian Arts Society, which produces the Monsoon fest, on an ambitious educational project next year to help kids of South Asian ancestry in the Lower Mainland reconnect with their roots. According to Kiran, this will embrace a third-culture approach to dance movement and wellness.

The goal is to create programs that help people of different backgrounds forge mind-body-emotional connections through movement and “unapologetic cultural expression”. And that, Kiran hopes, will help them process unresolved trauma in a safe space regardless of their race, cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.

This isn’t Kiran’s first foray into education. She produced, choreographed, and performed in a short dance film, “Thy Beauty’s Doom”, in honour of Maple Batalia, an artistically talented 19-year-old Surrey student who was murdered by a former boyfriend.

The film was inspired by Batalia’s paintings and a Shakespeare sonnet, and if people pay close enough attention, they’ll spot an image of Guru Nanak, the equality-minded founder of the Sikh faith. Proceeds went to the Maple Batalia Memorial Fund, which offers scholarships to students at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Kiran said that her career experiences have put her in a good position to share her insights with the next generation to help them appreciate their heritage. She’s even planning to offer a weekly seva (service with no expectation of reward) class for seniors where they’ll sing and dance old Bollywood hits.

“When moving away from colonized approaches, I believe we actually have the opportunity and ability to heal,” Kiran emphasized. “While I have some ideas on how to approach this, I also know and embrace that the learning process will be continuous and evolving.” g

AUGUST 12 – 19 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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ARTS

Mushrooms get funky at Vancouver’s Vines fest

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by Charlie Smith

ritish Columbia is home to more species of fungi than any other region of Canada. So perhaps it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that mushrooms are about to become the subject of an outdoor dance performance.

Vancouver dancer and choreographer Katie Cassady told the Straight by phone that she came up with the idea after reading anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing’s 2015 book, The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. The matsutake mushroom, a revered and very expensive delicacy in Japan, is thriving in many parts of the world as a result of the degradation of naturally occurring forests.

“In the beginning, she talks about interspecies eating and different senses of time,” Cassady said. “So then I had this idea to make this duet about mushrooms.”

Called funky fungi, it will be performed for the first time for free outdoors at John Hendry Park (also known as Trout Lake Park) as part of the Vines Art Festival.

Cassady said that she will perform the “funky duet” with Sophie Mueller-Langer.

“In the beginning, we’re mycelium, which is like this threadlike network,” Cassady explained. “It almost looks like roots, from what I’ve seen in pictures. I’m working on creating these headbands which have these pom-poms that are like having white tendrils.”

She and Mueller-Langer will also be wearing costumes with stripes, called hyphae, designed to look like a mycelium structure. Then halfway through the show, they’ll turn

Dancer Katie Cassady looks forward to performing funky fungi outdoors. Photo by Katie Cassady and Sophie Mueller-Langer.

into mushrooms, reflecting the fungi’s life cycle. “Then we might want to reproduce,” Cassady quipped.

So how will they appear like mushrooms?

“We put on these bike helmets that I’ve embellished a bit,” Cassady responded. “Those are our mushroom hats.

And we dance as mushrooms.”

This is not going to take place on any of the Vines Art Festival stages. No siree. This will be a roaming

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

AUGUST 12 – 19 / 2021

performance, with the dance occurring somewhere in the grounds around Trout Lake amid any people who happen to be in the vicinity. Each dancer will also be singing a cappela at different times. Rehearsals have been taking place near the baseball diamond.

To Cassady, Vines seemed like the ideal presenter, given the festival’s history of supporting underrepresented voices and supporting artistic presentation in the outdoors. Plus, she appreciated the festival’s support for artists during the pandemic and she went to the same Edmonton high school as the founder, Heather Lamoureux.

Cassady trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and has performed with Kokoro Dance, Amber Funk Barton, Future Leisure, and TWObigsteps Collective. Mueller-Langer performed in another of Cassady’s duets, II, earlier this year in the TWObigsteps Collective’s final production.

As a choreographer, Cassady likes exploring interconnectedness and relationships—and funky fungi is an extension of this into another species.

“It’s like we’re in the landscape and we’re kind of doing our thing, then we come together and we do more of a dance,” Cassady said. “It’s so nice to perform outside in the world.” g Katie Cassady and Sophie Mueller-Langer will perform funky fungi on Saturday (August 14) at John Hendry Park as part of the Vines Art Festival. It’s part of the Stl’a7shn-chet - Our Feast event, which begins at 1:30 p.m.

AUG 12-29 • LIVE MUSIC • DANCE • SHOWS • FOOD • WORKSHOPS •

MUSIC

What’s In Your Fridge: Vancouver’s Tess Anderson My Chemical Romance, OK Go, and frozen Krazy Glue all make the cut for a swimmer turned singer

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by Mike Usinger

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

back-to-back. (Okay, let’s be real, that’s still me at 24). I swear this album never gets old. Very little brings me more joy in life than screaming along to “Teenagers” and “This Is How I Disappear” in my car on road trips.

ALL-TIME FAVOURITE VIDEO

OK Go “Upside Down & Inside Out” OK Go has always been masters when it comes to crazy over-the-top music videos, but their video for “Upside Down & Inside Out” takes the cake. The video is shot in zero gravity, and they had to go to Russia to film it. It is mind-blowing what they were able to pull off. You have to go watch the behind-the-scenes video to fully understand what is even going on. It’s insanely cool, and definitely makes me want to go up in a plane and experience zero gravity.

ON THE GRILL

Tess Anderson WHO ARE YOU

I’m a singer-songwriter, music producer, and vocal coach. I grew up in Victoria and moved to Vancouver in 2016 to dive headfirst into a music career. Although music is by far my biggest passion, I was a nationally ranked competitive swimmer for nine years, and only quit because of injuries. I got myself through college working as a lifeguard and swim instructor, and being in the water is still one of the places I feel most at home. These days you can catch me performing at various venues around the Lower Mainland a few nights a week, hiding in my little studio writing and recording all my feelings, coaching my incredible music students, or hanging out with my husband and our four-year-old son. I also have been working on releasing my debut EP for the last three years, and it is finally out this summer.

WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE

Pineapple juice. This is one of my voicecare secret weapons, thanks to a vocal coach suggesting it when I got laryngitis in high school. It’s a natural inflammatory and can also help prevent phlegm buildup in your throat. If you Google it, there’s some debate about whether or not it’s actually effective, but hey, it’s saved my voice on numerous occasions. I have a Costco size box on hand at all times.

FIRST CONCERT

When I was about nine, my mom took me to go see Hilary Duff at the Save-OnFoods Memorial Centre in Victoria. I was absolutely obsessed with her. I remember walking in the front doors of the arena and completely losing my mind realizing that I was standing in the same building as Hilary Duff. Being a Hilary Duff show, nearly the entire audience was young girls, which meant that the lineup for the women’s bathroom was atrocious, while the men’s bathroom was empty. I remember having to go right before she was supposed to hit the stage, and I really didn’t want to miss her grand entrance, so my mom decided to take me into the men’s bathroom. While I was in the stall, an angry security guard came in yelling at me to get out… I was mortified. Oops. At least we didn’t miss the start of the show.

LIFE-CHANGING CONCERT

Sitting second row for Sara Bareilles at the Rio Theatre in 2013. This show was everything. It was part of her solo “Brave” tour, and it was one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever seen. She jumped back and forth between piano, electric and

Before making “Hang on to your fucking hat” a mantra, chapeau-fixated Tess Anderson lost a couple dozen fedoras, sun visors, and flat caps every time she took a road trip. Photo by Ezra Tsai.

acoustic guitar, ukulele, and even a harmonium. Seeing her rock the stage completely alone—with not even an opening act—was beyond impressive. Sara is the reason I decided to get into songwriting in the first place, so seeing her up close and personal in such a tiny and intimate venue was insane. I honestly spent most of the show sobbing. Since the Rio is originally a movie theatre, she spontaneously decided it was only fitting to close off the show with an impromptu acapella performance of “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid. So funny. It was pure magic and solidified in my mind that music was what I wanted to do with my life.

TOP THREE RECORDS

Nothing But Thieves Broken Machine Conor Mason’s voice is otherworldly, and the songwriting on this album is phenomenal. They toured this record here, playing the Imperial on Main Street in 2017. At that point, Vancouver had been the only city in

North America that had played their new single “Amsterdam” on the radio. It was probably my favourite concert I have ever attended. Everything about it was flawless, and listening to these songs always brings me right back there.

Gluten-free English muffins. I learned I was gluten intolerant when I was about 16, after two years of being extremely sick all of the time with no answers as to why.

Although I don’t miss gluten anymore (or how it made me feel), finding good bread alternatives is still so hard. After years of searching, I finally came across a brand of gluten-free English muffins that are fantastic, and they’re now a breakfast staple around here.

Sara Bareilles Kaleidoscope Heart If you haven’t figured it out by now, I adore Sara Bareilles. So much so, that over spring break while I was in the ninth grade, I learned to cover almost every single song on this album and posted one video a day for a week straight on my YouTube channel in what I called my “Sara Bareilles Week”.

I still to this day occasionally play some of the covers in my shows. This album (as well as her previous record, Little Voice) really inspired my early songwriting, so it will always hold a huge spot in my heart.

Krazy Glue. Growing up, my parents always kept our Krazy Glue in the fridge. I never thought to ask why­—it just was always what they did. As an adult, when I bought Krazy Glue to fix a broken bowl (still holding together four years later, by the way), I put it in the fridge afterward.

My husband has always thought it was super weird, but I kept it there regardless. When writing this, I finally Googled whether or not you’re supposed to keep Krazy Glue in the fridge, and ta-da, keeping it there extends its shelf life. So there you go, nice work Mom and Dad. g

My Chemical Romance The Black Parade Yup, I was that pre-teen who was listening to Hilary Duff and My Chemical Romance

Watch the video for Tess Anderson’s new single, “Don’t Believe In” (cowritten with and produced by Mother Mother’s Ryan Guldemond), on YouTube.

AUGUST 12 – 19 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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MUSIC

Small Town Artillery gives rock a funky injection

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by Steve Newton

om van Deursen figures he’s been playing music with his kid brother Derek for about 20 years now.

They grew up near the small town of Kaslo, B.C., and had caught the music bug by the time they hit double digits.

“We liked a lot of rock ’n’ roll,” van Deursen says on the line from Ucluelet, where he’s enjoying a few days of relaxation. “We were listening to all the pop punk and the pop rock—Green Day and Billy Talent and Rage Against the Machine.

But we also had my parents’ record collection, so Asleep at the Wheel and the Blues Brothers soundtrack and Supertramp, and then it all just started to mash together.”

Over time, those early influences led to the formation of Small Town Artillery, a band that thrives on the DIY approach the brothers developed early on when it came to finding gigs. As teenagers, they would put on their own shows in the high-school gym, at the skatepark, and for friends’ weddings and birthdays.

“There was only one music venue in Kaslo that ran year-round,” van Deursen says, referring to the historic Langham theatre. “There was a healthy sort of love for the arts, but there wasn’t a lot of venues, so we had to kind of make our own venues as kids, and that totally reflects what we do now. That mentality really stuck around.”

One example of the van Deursens working hard to make music happen was the East Van Block Party, which they organized and hosted in September of 2019.

“Our old jam space was a place called the Rockery, and it had an alley behind it that was just perfect—like mostly businesses that were closed on a Saturday and one residence that we actually were able to pay them some money and tap into their stove outlet to run power. So we were able to throw a

The core members of Small Town Artillery are Tom van Deursen (centre), Derek van Deursen (left), and Carson Webber (right); the B.C. band is working on its third album. Photo by Mary Matheson.

free festival. I went around and got sponsors, and we had about a thousand people in the alley, a bunch of bands, a licensed beer garden, and raised money for Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver. It was just great.”

One of the local acts that took part in the East Van Block Party was teenaged singersongwriter Aza Nabuko. She opened for Small Town Artillery last week when they performed as part of the Firehall Arts Centre’s Music in the Courtyard series.

“She started out as sort of like a folk-pop starlet,” van Deursen relates, “and she has morphed into a punk rock ’n’ roll queen.

Her last album, Indigo, just came out a couple months ago, and she’s got a great voice and stage presence and writes really interesting, heavier music, so it fits really well with our band.”

Van Deursen, 32, handles lead vocals and guitars for Small Town Artillery, with 30-year-old Derek on drums and vocals.

Other current band members include bassist Carson Webber, guitarist Kyle Vaughan,

saxophonist Jen Davidson, trumpeter Jocelyn Waugh, and background vocalist Chelsea Webber. The group has released two albums and two EPs and is currently working on a third LP. Van Deursen describes the music as “anthemic rock ’n’ roll with a brass section”.

“It piques curiosity,” he says, “because anthemic rock ’n’ roll’s nothing new, but with horns it’s pretty unique. We have sort of an all-ages or world-music element just because of the brass, but it’s definitely funky rock ’n’ roll.”

One way Small Town Artillery finds the funk is through a mash-up of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” and Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle With You”, which it performed last year as part of the online Kaslo Jazz Etc Festival. Van Deursen says the song combination just kinda happened.

“We were cooking up in the jam space,” he recalls, “and we just started putting down the ‘Billy Jean’ bassline and then singing, ‘Well, I don’t know why I came here tonight,’

over that. It felt so good that we just starting mashing the two songs together.”

Fooling around with other people’s material is fine, but Small Town Artillery’s main focus is its original music. Van Deursen’s songwriting skills are on display in the introspective 2019 tune “The Birds up North Are Braver”, which was written at a transitional time in his life.

“I was staying out with some friends on the Island and I just had an important person from my past sort of reappear in my life and I was asking myself, you know, ‘Can I let this love back in, in a safer and more gentle way?’ So I was trying to listen to my heart at the time, and the line, ‘I don’t need nobody, no saviour, but the birds up North are braver’ just kind of came. I have such a fascination and respect for the birds that live nearby, the ravens and the crows, and I just thought of their intuition and trying to run it against—or with—my own.”

Small Town Artillery has several B.C. shows lined up in August—including gigs in Lillooet, Tofino, Golden, and their old hometown of Kaslo—then for most of the fall and winter, they will work on finishing the new record.

“The pandemic really gave us all perspective on how we approach life on the road,” he explains. “I spent a decade between this band and another band, touring incessantly, filling up my energy tanks and then running them right to zero and becoming totally depleted and exhausted and broke and ending up back at home. So a more holistic, careful, and gentle approach to life on the road—especially as we’re all getting older—is on my mind now.” g Small Town Artillery is currently touring B.C. with guest Aza Nabuko. You can check their concert schedule at www.smalltownartillery.com/shows.

Mauvey leaves his disciples wanting more with “9”

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by Mike Usinger

While it’s possible, when it comes to Mauvey it’s unlikely that the carpet matches the drapes. Photo by Bree Ross Laryea.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

AUGUST 12 – 19 / 2021

f there’s any truth to the saying “the best is yet to come”, then goddamn if we don’t have something to look forward to in the coming months. At the end of Mauvey’s video for “9” one of the last things we see before things fade to a, um, purplish black is the words “to be continued”.

There’s a lot to build on. The joy of pedalling down a deserted road in a soft-violet jumpsuit while carrying a bouquet of flowers in a fancy print-adorned can.

A straight-from-left-field ascent to heaven where the angels look like they’ve just returned from a shopping spree at Blossom Market on Commercial Drive.

A pickup truck sequence where the greasepainted ADHDafflicted thing riding in the flatbed looks like the vaguely disturbing protegé of Pennywise, Pogo, and Art the Clown.

And, after a near-miss on the road between most of the parties involved, flying pizza slices, tortilla chips, lettuce, soda pop, and watermelon—even though there’s been zero

indication that someone’s been holding an impromptu picnic. In the dark.

Yes, somehow in about less than a nanosecond, day to turns to night, after which our purple-’frod clown in question finds itself covered in what’s either sawed-in-half donuts or a completely demolished angel’s food cake.

As chaotic as this all sounds, “9” works a gorgeously smooth vibe that falls somewhere between soft-thump R&B and funky-indie, with a bit of Jamaican dancehall thrown in to keep things interesting.

Give props to Mauvey on the multitalented front—in audition to writing “9” and starring in the video, he also acted as co-director. This is the first installment in a multipart film series called “The Florist”, and that things are to be continued suggests that the Vancouver-via-England artist will be busy in the months ahead. Given what he’s already accomplished, we’ve got something to look forward to. g

MOVIES / SAVAGE LOVE

Trans Latina sex workers drive story of Caer (Caught) Director Nicola Mai decided to let them choose what tales should be included in a film about their lives

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by Charlie Smith

arly in Nicola Mai’s film Caer (Caught), two plainclothes New York City police officers are scoping out a transgender Latina woman walking on a sidewalk in broad daylight. The cops look at a photo in their possession to confirm the identity of the woman, who has been the subject of a complaint by a neighbour.

“Sgt. Richards and Sgt. Hernandez have identified the suspect. Over,” one of them barks into the police radio.

With that, the male and female officers bound out of the car, run up to the woman as she approaches her residence, and tell her that she’s under arrest. As she’s being handcuffed, a youth, possibly her son, quickly packs a knapsack and flees.

This compelling film, part fiction and part reality, reflects the realities of transgender migrant sex workers who are under constant harassment from the state. But Caer (Caught) isn’t like others of its kind.

That’s because the lead actors are all nonprofessional performers and are members of the Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo. This group defends and advocates for trans Latina migrant women.

Plus, TRANSgrediendo was involved at every step of the filmmaking process, including editing.

Mai, a University of Newcastle professor of sociology, has been studying migrant sex workers for 20 years. He told the Straight by phone from Paris that he wanted to capture the complexity of their lives. So he asked them if they were to tell a story about themselves—either collectively or individually—what would it include?

“Who would be the protagonists?” Mai

And the smallest thing could present the biggest risk.

– Anoushka Ratnarajah

The New York–based performers in director and sociologist Nicola Mai’s semidocumentary Caer (Caught) are all nonprofessionals who belong to Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo.

continued. “What would happen? And I think everything flows from that.”

Caer (Caught) took two years to complete and is being presented at this month’s Vancouver Queer Film Festival. The theme of police surveillance and harassment crops up repeatedly in the film because it forms such a powerful undercurrent in the two lead characters’ lives.

“It’s very important to know that the majority of people working in the sex industry are not victims of trafficking,” Mai emphasized.

He added that in many cases, they chose to work in this area because if offered a less exploitive situation and better income opportunities than other options. He wasn’t out to celebrate sex work—that’s clear from the legal difficulties encountered by the women. But Mai thinks that a great deal more attention should be devoted to migrant sex workers’ labour rights rather than victimhood, which is then used to justify more state repression.

“We wanted to look at the impact the criminalization of sex work had on the lives

of the people directly concerned,” he said.

The artistic director of Out on Screen, Anoushka Ratnarajah, told the Straight by phone that there’s been a growing number of people trying to enter the United States because they are fleeing the effects of colonization, climate change, and corporate resource extraction. And a fair number are queer and trans folks.

“They find themselves in a country that’s supposed to be safer for them but the only way for them to survive is to do work that isn’t legal in that country,” she said. “There are really complex conversations between them about what their experiences of ‘trafficking versus choice’ are, how they have conversations with their partners and their friends about their work, and it being such a dangerous job because the cops and ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] are constantly watching them. And the smallest thing could present the biggest risk.” g Caer (Caught) will be screened at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, which runs online from Thursday (August 12) to August 22.

Avoidance the best path for former kissing cousins

by Dan Savage

Dan Savage isn’t judging cousins for hooking up, but he notes that things can get awkward.

b I FELL IN love with my second cousin about four years ago at a family reunion. (I hadn’t laid eyes on him since I was a kid!)

I was 15 when we met, he was two years older, and we were in a long-distance relationship for three years. We ended things a year ago and I’m going to be seeing him for the first time since our breakup at another family reunion this fall. He’s bringing his new girlfriend.

Do I have a responsibility to make her feel comfortable? Do I avoid him and risk family drama? I’ve done so much to work through this, Dan, and I’d love to see this as a healthy exercise in staying true to myself.

- Cancel On Upcoming Shindig? I’m Not Sure!

I’m hoping it was just the usual heartache you had to work through after this relationship ended—by which I mean to say, COUSINS, I’m hoping your ex-boyfriend (and current second cousin) wasn’t emotionally or physically abusive and you weren’t working through trauma. And I’m hoping you didn’t get too much grief about dating your second cousin from other family members. (First cousins can legally marry all over the world!)

Assuming your ex was only guilty of breaking your heart (a risk we take when dating anyone), you should approach this family reunion like any mature adult who finds herself at a wedding or a funeral or a holiday party with an ex. You slap a smile

on your face and say hello to your ex, you tell his new girlfriend it’s nice to meet her, and then you avoid both of them for the rest of day. If you’re worried about getting trapped in a conversation with either or both of them, COUSINS, and don’t have it in you to say, “I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse me, I gotta go take a monster shit,” then deputize someone to run interference for you. Your designated interferer should stay by your side as much as possible, COUSINS, and if you get separated and they see you trapped in an extended conversation with your ex or his new girlfriend, COUSINS, it’s their job to swoop in and rescue you.

AUGUST 12 – 19 / 2021

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And if family members gave you grief about dating your second cousin—if you were subjected to more than some gentle awkwardness-acknowledging, tensionreleasing ribbing about the situation— and that grief was the source of whatever you had to work through since breaking up with the guy who was essentially your high-school boyfriend (a guy you were always gonna break up with at some point), COUSINS, then this reunion is an opportunity to tell those people to go fuck themselves. b SHOULD I WORRY about my son who is 24 years old, straight, cute, has friends, and is also a virgin?

- Mulling Over Moments

a mom not to worry but a mom is still gonna worry, MOM, so you go right ahead and worry. But if your son knows he can talk with you about anything and he’s chosen not to talk with you about this, MOM, and if your son isn’t upset about it or otherwise miserable, leave him alone.

If he has friends—and you say that he does—then he has peers he can confide in about his love life, assuming he wants one, and open up to about his sexual inexperience, if he regards it as a problem, MOM, which he may not.

You can tell

b I’VE BEEN READING you for many years.

You have great language skills. But your use

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of “gonna” and “wanna” for “going to” and “want to” just comes across as adolescent and condescending. You’re too old to be using that sort of lingo, Dan. Please respect yourself and your readers.

- Griping Over Nauseatingly Nonsensical Affectations

You’re gonna hafta pry those “gonnas” and “wannas” outta my cold, dead hands, GONNA, if you wanna get ‘em outta my column.

b THREE MONTHS AGO, I came out as polyamorous in an email I sent to my immediate and my entire extended family, because I’m done asking one of my partners to pretend he’s “our roommate” when my parents or siblings come to visit, and it hurts me so much to exclude him from family events and holidays. (And it hurts him too.) My whole family is getting together over Labour Day Weekend and all three of us are planning to go. Is there any way to avoid awkwardness?

- Bringing All My Boyfriends Inside

youth leader, who was my best friend’s stepdad and who I viewed as a father figure, was a sexual predator. When I was seventeen, he started asking me for sex and also told me he’d thought of me “that way” since I was twelve.

I found out later he got a woman with a mental disability pregnant, and my childhood best friend has hinted to me that he assaulted her as well. Much to my rage, this guy’s wife, this church, and even my own parents never went after this guy, legally or otherwise. Outrageously, he’s still a member in good standing of this same church. A few days ago, a different childhood friend died. He was my best friend’s cousin, and we all grew up together. Obviously, this asshole will be at the funeral. I’m determined to be there to support my friend, but how do I interact with this predator without causing a scene? I don’t want to make this sad reunion about me, but I refuse to entertain this guy in Hospitality/Food Service any way. Any thoughts on telling him to go fuckCalabash himself?Bistro

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b I WAS RAISED in a conservative batshit household and equally batshit church. The

CHAMBAR RESTAURANT Your childhood best friend dropped hints about being assaulted by this man—her stepfather—but she never actually came out and told you that. But you know for a factCHAMBAR that he preyed on a mentally disabled RESTAURANT iswoman HIRING SERVERS. Downtown - Vancouver and that he sexually harassed you 20 - 40 hours per week. Part-time or Full-time.

Wine knowledge is a major 2 years of when you were a asset. minor.

And like so many fine dining experience is a requirement. sexual predators info@chambar.comon altars, this asshole got away with it. There haven’t been any

P.S. They’ll get used to you being poly; you’ll get used to them knowing you’re poly; and it’ll get less awkward over time.

But there’s no way to avoid that first blast of pure awkwardness. Instead of trying to avoid it, BAMBI, try to have a sense of humour about it.

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GEORGIA STRAIGHT JUNE 25AUGUST – JULY 2 /122020 2 14 THETHE GEORGIA STR AIGHT – 19 / 2021

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consequences, no accountability, and he’s still in a position—a position of spiritual authority—where he can (and probably does) abuse and exploit other vulnerable women and girls.

Ugh. I’m pro telling this asshole to go fuck himself at the funeral—loudly—but there’s something you could do before the funeral.

While you can’t control what your parents or this church have done or failed to do, FUNERAL, and while your childhood best friend’s story isn’t yours to tell—and you don’t know or don’t officially know the full story—you can tell your own story. You can report this asshole to the pious lowlifes who run this fucking church and file a police report at the same time. Oh, and make sure to let those church leaders know you filed a police report. While there’s no guarantee they’ll act against this creep after getting a report of sexual abuse (see Catholic Church, sex abuse scandals), they’ll at least know they’re leaving themselves open to potential financial consequences if they fail to act (see Catholic Church, sex abuse scandal settlements).

I’ve been to a few funerals in my time, FUNERAL, and it’s not the people at the funeral we tend to remember—it’s the people who were there for us before the funeral and after. Head home, be there for your old friend, and feel free to Massage skip the funeral if that asshole is gonna be there. g Email: mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @ FakeDanSavage. Website: www.savagelovecast.com.

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