The Georgia Straight - PNE Summer Fun - Aug 15, 2019

AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019 | FREE Volume 53 | Number 2691

TOM SEGURA

Netflix spurred comedian’s rise

CLIMATE ANXIETY

Poll reveals Canadians’ concerns

GENDERFLIPPED BARD Coriolanus as a woman

PNE Summer Fun The annual fair is back in Hastings Park, with freaky food, funky concerts, and friendly SuperDogs

MUSIC ON MAIN

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CHRIS CRESSWELL

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CANADA SHOWCASE Daily, 12, 2 & 5pm

Join us throughout the day for wonderful live entertainment at Festival Park, highlighted by the Canada Showcase— a cultural mosaic of dynamic dancers and exhilarating musical performers.

Festival Park Nights, 7 & 8:30pm 40th ANNIVERSARY

Groove & Tonic August 17, 18, 20, 21

Moon Coin Show Band August 22, 23, 24

R&B Allstars August 25, 27, 28, 29

Ten Souljers August 30, 31, Sep 1, 2

Electric Fire: A Pyro Musical Finale

Hot Glass: Glass Blowing Demonstrations

Nightly, 10:15pm

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A nightly pyro musical finale where the skies erupt with flying rockets, exploding fire, live performers and high-voltage intensity. It’s a 360º, immersive show experience.

Learn the characteristics of molten glass, and how its properties make it possible to be blown and shaped, as the Hot Shop Team from the Museum of Glass demonstrate the process of creating works of art.

AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 3

CONTENTS

August 15-22 / 2019

7

COVER

The PNE Fair is back on Saturday (August 17), which means plenty of fun times for those who make their way out to Hastings Park.

By Charlie Smith

6

NEWS

Vancouver intellectual Seth Klein commissioned a poll on climate change that had some surprising results.

By Charlie Smith

7

THE DUELING PIANOS

FOOD

Jalapeño lemonade, foot-long fries, and pickle pizza are some of the zany treats being served at the PNE Fair.

By Tammy Kwan

11

ARTS

Moya O’Connell had never been asked to swordfight for a Shakespearean play—until Coriolanus came along.

9 :3 0 P M - 1:3 0 A M

By Andrea Warner

15 MUSIC

EV E RY F RI DAY & SATU RDAY I N AUG UST

Billy Idol is one of many performers who will turn the PNE fairgrounds into one of the coolest spots in town.

3 RD F LOOR

By Mike Usinger

e Start Here 11 ARTS TIP SHEET 10 THE BOTTLE 5 CONFESSIONS 8 HOROSCOPES 8 I SAW YOU 13 MOVIE REVIEWS 5 REAL ESTATE 19 SAVAGE LOVE 6 TECHNOLOGY

N OW–AU G US T 31

e Online TOP 5

e Listings 12 ARTS 17 MUSIC

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Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 53 | Number 2691

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1 2 3 4 5

Khloé’s Khardashian’s Revenge Body ruined a novel idea I once read.

RCMP reveal autopsy results of teen murder suspects who died.

Squamish Mountie goes to great heights in gondola probe.

Feedback loops could put human beings on road to extinction.

Intervenors will join dad and transgender child’s court battle.

GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight

The Georgia Straight is published every Thursday by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. Copies are distributed free every week throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, North and West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond. International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0709-8995. Subscription rates in Canada $182.00/52 issues (includes GST), $92.00/26 issues (includes GST); United States $379.00/52 issues, $205.00/26 issues; foreign $715.00/52 issues, $365.00/26 issues. Contact 604-730-7087 if you wish to distribute free copies of the Georgia Straight at your place of business. Entire contents copyright © 2019 Vancouver Free Press, Best Of Vancouver, Bov And Golden Plates Are Trade-Marks Of Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. SUBMISSIONS The Straight accepts no responsibility for, and will not necessarily respond to, any submitted materials. All submissions should be addressed to contact@straight.com.

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40009178, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to The Georgia Straight, 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C, V6J 1W9

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HOUSING

Telus CEO takes on land-title registrar

W

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.

by Carlito Pablo

hen Darren Entwistle and his wife, Fiona, bought two condo units in a Vancouver tower, the deal came with a rooftop deck. The high-rise was part of Telus Garden, a mixed-use development in the heart of downtown that included a new headquarters for the telecommunications company.

Entwistle is president and CEO of Telus.

Entwistle is credited by Westbank Projects Corp. for envisioning the concept for Telus Garden. Westbank is a development company and Telus’s joint-venture partner in the downtown project.

Going back to the deck, it was for the exclusive use of the Entwistles.

The views are awesome, for sure, but there was a problem.

When the developer registered the strata plan with the land title office, the document contained a number of errors. One of these mistakes was that it did not provide that the deck and a portion of the roof that is used to access the deck are part of one of the Entwistles’ condo units.

The couple sought to have these errors rectified through a petition before the B.C. Supreme Court.

Named as respondent, the strata corporation agreed that the mistakes should be corrected. The registrar of land titles was neither served with the petition nor included as respondent.

In July 2018, Judge Robert J. Sewell issued an order directing the registrar to correct the errors.

However, the registrar refused. It did not recognize the authority of the court to correct mistakes in registered strata plans. According to the registrar, such authority resides exclusively in its jurisdiction under the provincial strata property regulations.

The registrar filed a petition to set

Darren Entwistle sought exclusive use to the part of the roof of Telus Garden.

aside Sewell’s order. The Entwistles filed a petition to cite the registrar in contempt of court.

A hearing was held in January 2019. The contempt application was adjourned, and Sewell issued his

alk W OF THE WEEK LAST JUNE, the Heritage Vancouver Society released its top 10 watch list for 2019.

Topping the list was the old village in Mount Pleasant on Main Street between 6th and 12th avenues. New developments are putting the neighbourhood’s heritage features at risk. A two-hour walking tour led by researcher Christine Hagemoen will be held in the historic area on Sunday (August 18), starting at 10:30 a.m. Tickets are $10 for Heritage Vancouver members and $15 for nonmembers. Meeting place is at the northeast corner of 13th Avenue and Quebec Street. g

reasons for judgment this month.

Sewell’s ruling addressed the question of the respective roles of the court and the registrar regarding the rectification of strata plans registered in the land title office.

According to Sewell, the court has the power to rectify documents in cases “in which the court finds as a fact that an agreement or instrument as recorded did not accurately set out the pre-existing agreement of the parties”.

Sewell referred to this authority as the court’s “equitable jurisdiction” under the Law and Equity Act. “In this case the uncontradicted evidence is that the developer and the petitioners made the agreement alleged in the Original Petition,” Sewell noted. “In addition, there is no dispute that the developer inadvertently failed to cause the Strata Plan to be prepared in accordance with that agreement. Therefore, the elements necessary to order rectification were established.”

The judge also explained that an order for rectification “acts retrospectively to the date the instrument was created”. This means that his July 2018 order effectively amended the strata plan “prior to the time it was submitted for registration” in 2016.

Sewell likewise stated that there seems to him “no inconsistency between the power of the Registrar to correct errors and the power of the court to rectify documents”.

According to the judge, the registrar is “bound by the finding of the court”, but the registrar must also be “satisfied that the rectified document is registrable”.

The registrar’s application to set aside the judge’s 2018 order was dismissed. The office was directed to register the amended strata plan “once it is in a form acceptable to the Registrar”. g

Scan to confess Back at even ground After two sh*tty years, beat an addiction(past the 6 month mark this month) and am financially positive. Not by much, but paid off a credit card debt, cut up the credit card, got a temp job and put a couple hundred in savings. Never has even ground felt so nice. I could easily be defeated and look at everything I don’t have, but not today. today I’m just happy being even steven. I can pay for my own cup of coffee. woohoo!

I can feel it Growing apart from some friends. We had our good times but times have changed. I’ve changed. Some are permanently cognitively damaged by all the drug use. I so... (con’t @straight.com)

Different days Some days it all seems harmonious. I am at ease with myself, and the world seems friendly. I see the goodness and beauty in people, and even in evil acts I see a poor wounded person caught in a trap. But other days, perhaps... (con’t @straight.com)

Today.. ... I donated blood for the first time. Donated blood only lasts 42 days, I learned, and we always need more.

Ear-foes Took me about 20 minutes to muster up the courage to say something to the cute guy next to me on the bus, only to realize he was wearing one of those cordless earbuds that I couldn’t see with my peripheral vision. I guess those earphones are great at blocking something other than noise too.

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NEWS

Climate anxiety reflected in new poll

P

by Charlie Smith

eople across the country are waking up to the risks of rising greenhouse-gas emissions.

In a poll of 2,000 Canadian adults

by Abacus Data, 82 percent of respondents said that climate change is a serious problem. Almost half, 47 percent, described it as an “extremely serious” problem. And more than four in 10 described climate change as an emergency.

Only 12 percent felt that climate change was not something that people should be concerned about.

The poll also demonstrated a high level of anxiety across the country over climate change, which is associated with extreme-weather events such as sudden floods, heat waves, and droughts.

One in four respondents told Abacus they often think about climate change and that it makes them very anxious. About double that percentage stated that they think about it sometimes and that they’re increasingly worried about its impact.

Residents of Quebec were the most anxious, whereas Albertans were the least anxious. However, Abacus Data reported that even in Alberta, 58 percent of respondents said they “are either anxious and thinking about it all the time or think about it sometimes but are becoming increasingly worried about the impact it will have”.

The poll was commissioned by Vancouver resident Seth Klein, the brother of author Naomi Klein and an adjunct professor with SFU’s urban-studies program.

In a policy note on the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives website, Klein stated that he commissioned the poll because “far too much

Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, Texas, hard in 2017. Photo by 1st Lt. Zachary West

of the political oxygen and polling on climate change has been consumed by the carbon tax/pricing debate”.

“While carbon pricing is an important tool, it alone is not going to get us where we need to go, and the topic has distracted us from the scale of action needed,” he wrote. “Additionally, too often polling questions individualize the challenge and solutions, rather than focusing on collective and governmental actions.”

Only 14 percent of respondents in the poll said that they had definitely heard of the “Green New Deal”, which is being advanced by progressives on both sides of the border to bring about a rapid climate-friendly retooling of the economy. Another 19 percent thought they had heard of it.

In Canada, the Green New Deal, as it’s being proposed, must be rooted in Indigenous knowledge and science while aiming to cut Canada’s greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2030. It is also an economic-stimulus proposal, aiming to create more than a million

jobs through the transition away from the use of fossil fuels.

When the Green New Deal was explained to respondents, 72 percent stated they were either strongly or somewhat supportive.

Klein’s wife is OneCity Vancouver councillor Christine Boyle, whose motion declaring a climate emergency was passed earlier this year.

That was followed by similar motions being approved by other local governments and the Parliament of Canada.

Vancouver council has also approved six “Big Moves” to address the climate crisis, including setting a target of 50 percent of kilometres in 2030 being driven in zero-emission vehicles.

Another Big Move is to ensure that all new replacement heating and hot-water systems deliver zero emissions. Yet another sets a target of cutting embedded emissions in new buildings and construction projects to 40 percent below the 2018 level by 2030. g

Parkland makes bags from bottles

B

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6 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019

y the time you’ve finished reading this article, according to Forbes, about one million water bottles will have been purchased around the world. Only one in five of those will be recycled.

Bottled water is just one of the major sources of plastic dumping. Some industries create more waste than others, and one of the worst is fashion. Fabrics are dumped at the rate of 10 cubic metres every second, and a significant proportion of it is burned. Of that which isn’t, the UN Conference on Trade and Development counts that waste material as contributing to the proliferation of half a million tonnes of microfibre pollution in the ocean— the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles.

For the team behind Vancouver bag and accessory company Parkland Design & Manufacturing, those statistics were unacceptable.

Established in 2015, Parkland didn’t start out with sustainability at the top of its agenda. First focusing on designing its simple, stylish pieces with newly created materials, the organization made a range of items that caught the eye of gen-Zers and millennials. As the business grew, its leaders started digging into how they could refine the manufacturing process and reduce their impact on the environment. The result led to a huge shift across the company.

Since 2018, Parkland has made the exterior of its products entirely out of recycled water bottles. Like many bags, the chief material in its creations is polyester: a fabric traditionally produced using an energy-intensive chemical reaction involving coal, petroleum, air, and water. By choosing preused plastic as its base, Parkland uses far less energy in its manufacturing, and it doesn’t compromise on quality or style.

“With the recycled materials—we didn’t start there,” Daryl Trinidad, Parkland’s marketing manager, tells the Georgia Straight at the company’s pop-up shop on Granville Island. “A lot of brands start with that message.

We think it’s an important story that we’re making the change. Why? Because you have to do it. It’s 2019, and companies have to change.…Even Adidas has made the commitment to use recycled plastics in all their products by 2024.…I don’t want to say that we’re in any way leading it, but we want to do better, and we want to help others do more of the right thing.”

Repurposing plastic bottles isn’t the only way that Parkland is helping create a more sustainable fashion industry. Many of the company’s signature backpacks feature the classic diamond detail, typically used for hanging excess gear by cords. While previously it cut the shape from leather, Parkland now makes the patch from apples. A unique manufacturing process combines fruit waste—a byproduct of juice extraction—

The local bag and accessory company uses recycled plastic bottles for its Gen Z and millennial-focused designs.

with a glue paste to create an animal-friendly material with the appearance and feel of leather, making its bags certifiably vegan.

“We’re continuing to try and make everything recycled,” says Trinidad. “The zippers—they can be [made of recycled material], but we’re not there yet. We’re really working to figure that out and how we can continue our product development to be able to do that.”

Parkland’s range of bags includes backpacks, duffles, and totes, each sporting a broad selection of designs, from colourful prints to timeless, neutral options. Each comes in a variety of sizes for uses from school to the beach, and Parkland also offers a stand-alone collection for kids. In addition to conventional backpacks, the business also offers cool bag-style lunch boxes and plastic-free snack pouches, pencil cases, laptop sleeves, and cross-body bags.

“Our prints are really what sets us apart,” says Trinidad. “Carson [Gallagher], who’s our graphic designer, does the prints so well. We really resonate well with the kids’ market and the millennial moms buying for their kids. And then we have the 15-, 16-year-olds. Kids are taught about sustainability now—they have a different kind of education. You’ll have 17-year-olds who are amazed when someone is throwing something in the garbage rather than recycling it.” g

FEATURE

The PNE Fair is firmly back on track

V

by Charlie Smith

ancouver residents of a certain age can recall the rollercoaster years of the Pacific National Exhibition in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the future of its annual fair was in jeopardy. Residents living around Hastings Park wanted green space—and the only way to get that, it seemed, was to kick one of the city’s most popular attractions out to the suburbs.

So in 1996, the operator of the fair, the B.C.-government-owned PNE, announced that it would leave its long-time home in Hastings Park.

First the PNE was slated to move to Burns Bog in North Delta, until environmentalists started raising hell.

Then its future home seemed to be Surrey, until that was scotched. At one point, it appeared as though the Molson Indy auto race was going to move to Hastings Park.

An NPA park commissioner in those days, David Chesman, introduced a motion to get the board’s support for taking the PNE to court to force it out. In spite of this, the NPA–controlled council voted to extend the lease in the park, causing a near civil war within the centre-right municipal party.

Finally fed up with the controversy, the provincial government turned the PNE over to the City of Vancouver in 2004. The city wisely kept the then president and CEO, Mike McDaniel, in charge.

In response to the preceding years of chaos, McDaniel embarked on a mission to stabilize the PNE, which not only puts on an annual fair but also operates the Pacific Coliseum and the Playland amusement park.

He hired Shelley Frost, who had experience in the tech and arts industries, as the PNE’s vice president of sales and marketing. McDaniel and the other executives then set out to calm down the neighbours and put the city-owned company on a firmer financial foundation.

“Mike is fabulous,” Frost told the Georgia Straight during an interview in a corner office of the PNE administration building. “He was very focused on efficiency and making sure he was setting the PNE up for financial success. We’d gone through a lot of tumultuous times, and we had a lot of years of revenue swings.”

Clockwise from left: The Sea to Sky Swinger offers fairgoers a chance to see the city from a variety of angles; the SuperDogs are back for more excitement at the Pacific Coliseum; PNE president and CEO Shelley Frost can’t wait for the summer concerts.

One of the goals, according to Frost, was for the PNE to stop being a target for its opponents. She also wanted to consolidate all the various entities with a more harmonized message reflecting the values of the organization. That meant combining several different websites into one.

There also needed to be a sharper focus on digital marketing.

“We weren’t selling tickets online,” she recalled. “We were still very manual and cash-heavy.”

Over time, complaints by the neighbours diminished as the city and park board embarked on a longterm plan to turn Hastings Park into a more community-friendly venue.

The old Empire Stadium, formerly home to the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps, was converted to Empire Fields for sporting events for area residents. The Sanctuary, a treed area containing a large pond and peaceful walkways, stretched through the middle of the park from Hastings Street to the fair’s old livestock barns.

A stream was daylighted in Creekway Park to connect the Sanctuary to New Brighton Park on Burrard Inlet, a

I wanted to make sure that this concert lineup had the highest level of marquee interest.

– Shelley Frost

new bicycle and pedestrian pathway was created, and the community became engaged for a new master plan for the park.

By 2018, the PNE was solidly back on track and McDaniel decided to accept a new job as the head of the Coast Mountain Bus Company. That summer, Frost was named as his successor, just weeks before the fair was to begin.

“He set us up for great success,”

Frost said. “It’s kind of the next leap forward with the master plan.”

In late 2019 or early 2020, the PNE board’s recommendations for the park’s master plan will go to city council. “We’re getting close to the precipice of having some big decisions being made about being able to move some key projects forward that have been in planning for the past five or six years,” she noted.

In the meantime, Frost is also looking forward to the PNE Fair, which runs from Saturday (August 17) to September 2, with two Mondays (August 19 and 26) off. Frost has had a full year to put her stamp on this year’s event—and one of her priorities has been the Summer Night Concerts series.

Once upon a time, the PNE used to book acts like Wayne Newton, Jan and Dean, and tribute acts, including Elvis impersonators. Not anymore.

This year’s Summer Night Concerts Series includes much bigger names, including Billy Idol, Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe, Blue Rodeo, UB40, Colin James, Vanilla Ice, Burton Cummings, and other popular acts.

“I wanted to make sure that this concert lineup had the highest level of marquee interest to everybody— that you could see the ’70s, the ’80s, the ’90s, the 2000s,” Frost explained.

“I made a very conscious decision to invest a little bit more in the concert lineup because we see the response and the payoff—and the way it generates excitement about the fair.”

For the price of admission into the fair, patrons get a chance to see these acts on the night they’re performing in the PNE Amphitheatre on site. “Although there’s only 7,000 people that fit into the amphitheatre, we’ll see an attendance bump of anywhere from 5,000 to 20,0000 people between 5 and 8 o’clock,” Frost said.

“So even if they’re not going to the show, they’re still coming to the grounds because they know it’s going to be a fabulous night at the fair.”

Another priority for Frost is making the most efficient use of space.

Anywhere between 6,000 and 10,000 people will show up to watch the SuperDogs shows at the Pacific Coliseum during the daytime. But she’s hoping to make better use of this large building in the evenings. She also noted that the livestock buildings that are used for agricultural exhibits will be filled corner to corner with new attractions, including kids’ tractor races and a big “buy local” promotion that’s being done in partnership with the provincial Ministry of Agriculture.

Family-night movies, including some that are still in theatres, will be shown on the hillside of the amphitheatre. And there will be more diversity in the entertainment offerings.

“There are some core things that people always say are ‘my favourites, and don’t take these away’,” she noted, “but they want to see evolution.”

The PNE Fair continues to be the largest employer of youths in B.C., with 2,000 to 2,500 hired for its twoweek period. It’s a smooth-running machine, buttressed by a massive amount of research into what’s taking place at other fairs across North America.

“It’s an industry that we watch very carefully and we decipher what makes sense for us,” Frost said with a smile.

“R & D can be research and development or, as some of the other fairs call it, rip-off and deployment.” g

Extreme foods part of PNE experience

I

by Tammy Kwan

t’s that time of year when Vancouver’s masses converge at the fun, family-friendly festival known as the PNE Fair (2901 East Hastings Street). The highly anticipated summer fete runs from August 17 to September 2, offering a range of attractions and activities like outdoor concerts, the famed SuperDogs shows, midway games, thrilling rides, and arguably its most popular feature, crazy fair food.

It takes organizers and vendors almost a full year to come up with those unique and outrageous bites, for which research includes looking at what other fairs are offering, trending food concepts, and the latest creations on food TV shows.

Besides traditional grub like mini doughnuts, caramel apples, and pastel-coloured cotton candy, PNE fairgoers this year will find a mix of “extreme” foods (pickle pizza and a deep-fried Snickers bar/pickle/hot dog combo) and an expanded roster of healthy foods (vegan bowls, vegetarian street food, and Beyond Meat burgers).

“This year, we decided to do plant-based [food] at the fair, because no other fair offers plant-based and vegetarian food,” Faizzal Fatehali, manager of exhibit space at the PNE, told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

But if you’re there for over-the-top indulgence, the fair has your back. Expect to find everything from Bombay-style street food to fried chicken, from Mexican bites to a new bubble-tea stand. For the braver eaters, we suggest checking out Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Here’s our pick of 10 new and wild bites to try at the 2019 PNE Fair.

FUNNEL CAKE PIZZA

This isn’t your regular deep-fried sweet treat sprinkled with a blanket of powdered sugar. Instead, guests will find the twisted dough covered in savoury ingredients like melted cheese, pizza sauce, and pepperoni slices, and topped with some fragrant herbs. Bon appétit.

FLAMIN’ HOT CHEETOS CORN DOGS

We all know that this spicy, crunchy cornbased snack is also a hot trend (appearing in pop culture and fast fashion). When you pair it with a snack as well-known as the corn dog, it’s truly the best of both worlds. Grab one to share, or indulge on your own, and prepare a drink on the side if your spice tolerance is low—the Hot Cheetos heat hits fast.

BACON PANCAKES

The PNE Fair’s manager of exhibit space, Faizzal Fatehali, is promising more plant-based food, like a pickle pizza (bottom right), but meat lovers can sink their teeth into bacon pancakes and extra-spicy corn dogs.

corn dogs and bacon pancakes.

“If you’re going to eat a crazy meal in Vancouver, you’re going to come to the fair to have it. We have a lineup of everything from traditional burgers and hot dogs to the best pit mas-

ters cooking barbecue ribs in Canada…on our site,” Fatehali said. “You’re not going to get this type of food anywhere else, or you’ll have to wait another 365 days. There will be, guaranteed, something for everyone.”

Adventurous eaters have likely already paired these two breakfast staples together, but the PNE is going the extra mile by putting bacon inside the pancake batter as it cooks in the skillet. Drench it with some maple syrup and you’ve got all the major food groups in one bite.

BUTTER BEER ICE CREAM

Last year, fairgoers faced smoking-charcoal soft serve, and this year it gets even better with this butterscotch-flavoured frozen treat. Certain

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AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 7

from previous page

HOROSCOPE

JALAPEÑO LEMONADE

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guests may even say it pays homage to Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, but we’ll let you decide on that while you enjoy the ice cream.

Classic and refreshing lemonade now comes with a twist; its jalapeño flavour may give your tongue more heat than expected, but if you’re looking to try something unique, pull out your wallet for this beverage.

FOOT-LONG FRENCH FRIES

Crispy, golden fries never seem to last long enough to satisfy our taste buds. But the fair’s foot-long French fries (available with various sauces and toppings) may give McDonald’s a run for its money. True to their name, these lengthy bites will take you double the time to finish.

The Tipsy Unicorn Dry-Ice Drink will cool anyone down on a hot day at Hastings Park.

THE TIPSY UNICORN DRY-ICE DRINK

If you thought the unicorn trend was over, think again. This rainbowcoloured libation paired with dry ice gives off a smoky effect, making it a highly photogenic item. (Once it does its job as an Instagram prop, you can even drink it!)

and deep-fried chicken feet. This year, it’s going with a pickle theme, which includes pickle pizza: the pizza dough is covered in pickle slices, giving you the dill flavour you never knew you needed.

PICKLE-FLAVOUR COTTON CANDY

This treat may be the wildest thing you’ll eat at the PNE Fair this year.

In the PNE Fair food archives, some This green, pickle-flavoured cotton of the crazier items have been crickets candy may not suit everyone’s tastes, PICKLE PIZZA

but that’s what makes it a standout item. Expect a combination of sweet and vinegary flavours.

THE SNICKLY DOG

We take it back: this is probably the weirdest food on the fair menu this year. A combination of a Snickers bar, pickle, and hot dog (wrapped in a tortilla and deep-fried), it’s definitely a creative bite for the more courageous eaters. g

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> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < CANADA LINE GUY WHO BEAUTIFUL SMILE, MUMFORD AND SONS RAN FOR 25 AWKWARD CAR2GO, SHOW FRIDAY, AUG. 9TH GRANVILLE/DAVIE I SAW A: s I AM A: s I SAW A: r I AM A: r

You were wearing a grey gym shirt, blue eyes, blondishbrown hair. I was wearing striped peach/white shirt, brown hair. During the train ride you kept glancing over at me. We got off at King Edward and while you waited at the intersection and I was at the bus stop, we locked eyes.

Then you ran for the 25. Hmu, wish we talked :/

ACADIA BEACH - WE ENJOYED THE SUNSET C & T

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JULY 28, 2019 WHERE: Acadia Beach Vancouver Was a beautiful night at acadia beach as you two approached me. We had a super memorable sunset to say the least! You are a M/F couple with the initials C & T. Are you out there?

SLEEPY BOI IN ELECTRA BUILDING

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 6, 2019 WHERE: Downtown Vancouver, Electra building Me, leaving work early cause my internet was down, you, finishing up a massage. We rode the elevator down together and you looked so dazed and sleepy after your massage. You said you liked how I looked, relaxed. Let’s get coffee sometime?

WRECK BEACH BC DAY

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 5, 2019 WHERE: Wreck Beach

Mandy. Or was it Tandy?!

Thank you for stopping to say “Hi!” And especially for your very kind words. You really made my day!! And put wind in my sail. Handshake only, no hugs you said.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 9, 2019 WHERE: Granville at Davie Admittedly an anachronistic means of contact, but I can’t stop thinking about you. You flashed the most beautiful smile as you passed me walking my dog on Granville today. I smiled back, but was speechless. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw you a few minutes later in a car2go with a friend - that smile again! I stopped so you could make the turn, but my smitten brain only made the situation awkward. If you'd allow me the pleasure, I'd love to properly introduce myself over a drink.

N19 (HIGHGATE AREA) GIRL

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 10, 2019 WHERE: Edmonds and Hall Ave. You (wearing glasses) were in the N19 bus and got down at Hall Avenue. I was initially walking ahead, waiting at the lights.

I (white pants) wanted to ask you out but refrained from doing so at that time of the night. It was a missed opportunity but now I’d like to make up for it. Would you like to go out for coffee with me?

TATTOOED & LEGGY ON NANAIMO, PUNKY WITH CHUNKY DYED BANGS

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 8, 2019 WHERE: Nanaimo at 1st Ave You were crossing First at Nanaimo in short shorts, sexy tattooed legs for days. Hair cut in chunky bangs dyed something cyan-magenta. I’m the full-sleeved beard-o in black tee, dark hair and dark RayBans driving the white delivery van. You rubber-necked, all come-hither. First, crossing in front, then looking back again... then once more as I waited on your strut, crossing Nanaimo.

We ogled each other five times.

Give me another look. I’m your type. You’re definitely mine.

Your name is Shauna, you are Irish, and a teacher, and you were there with your brother. I work in social work and am in school. I thought you were so lovely and fun and awesome, and I so wish I had asked you for your number. If you see this, I'd love to hang out and get to know you better <3

BURGUNDY BABE AT SECOND BEACH POOL!

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 8, 2019 WHERE: Second beach pool

EAVESDROPPING AT MEET

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 2, 2019 WHERE: Meet in Gastown

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ 8 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019

newspaper.

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LIBRA

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SCORPIO

August 23–September 23

Thursday/Friday, the unexpected could overtake you—hopefully, in a good way. A creative solution, fresh try, or sudden inspiration or impulse can strike gold. Mercury/Uranus set you up to make a significant breakthrough. Over this next week, Mars, Venus, and the sun trek into Virgo. Have you lost yourself/your way recently?

You’ll have no trouble getting your game on now. Tuesday/Wednesday, go for it.

September 23–October 23

Exceptional (perhaps even a once-in-a-lifetime) opportunity is in the full-moon mix Thursday. Don’t hesitate to try something or someone new on for size. A risk can pay off bigtime (within reason, of course; play it smart). Friday, Mercury/Uranus calls for no holding back when it comes to speaking your mind or expressing your heart. Tuesday/Wednesday, Mercury/Jupiter keep it going strong.

October 23–November 22

J K

Please Please recycle recyclethisD newspaper. this

You were having lunch with a friend at the table next to me and my friend, looking beautiful in a black dress on a hot summer day. I could tell you and your friend were eavesdropping on our conversation - I was the one babbling on about my PhD research and music. Would love to chat with you if you were interested in what I was saying. Of course, there is always the chance that you overheard and thought I was thoroughly pretentious!

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VIRGO

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C

I got to second beach yesterday 8th at around 3.45pm. I was with my sister and 2 nephews and we set up in the corner of the grass section. This is when I noticed you just across. You were with 2 other ladies, I’m guessing a sister and mother?

You were wearing a burgundy red bikini, you have some tattoos on your left arm and I think you had turquoise nails. I just wanted to tell you that you are a total babe and I couldn’t help looking over at you lol. The 2 ladies left and you stayed for a bit before putting on white shorts and leaving yourself around 6ish. I wouldn’t mind hitting that vape pen lol?

full moon. Thursday/Friday can jump-start a new adventure of heart or wallet. Mercury/Uranus keeps it edgy, exciting, and/or cuts to the chase. Someone special can burst onto the scene; something unexpected can take you by surprise. Monday through the midweek peak, the getting is good.

Something special on the go?

Anxious to get onto a fresh page or to claim your well-deserved reward?

Added stress, added excitement, or the unexpected is in the full-moon mix Thursday/Friday. Despite what isn’t nailed down yet, you’ll find yourself ARIES heading onto a positive upswing. Friday March 20–April 20 through next Wednesday/Thursday, What a difference a day/a you’ll get it sorted out easily and well. singular moment can make! It’s SAGITTARIUS breakthrough time! Thursday’s full November 22–December 21 moon can coincide with the launch of Thursday/Friday can crack something truly exceptional. It could springboard you into a new love, ca- it open and/or get you thinking reer trajectory, or lifestyle overhaul. and moving in a whole new direcLuck, serendipity, and creative oppor- tion. Something social, unexpected, tunity run especially high. Mercury spontaneous, or outside of the usual keeps the action on percolate through can make your day. The week ahead mid–next week. Sunday onward sets gives you plenty to go on. Sunday onward, you’ll hit a good stride. you onto a productive track.

Tuesday/Wednesday, it falls into TAURUS place naturally, readily, and well.

April 20–May 21 Mercury/Jupiter keep good comThe defining moment has ar- munication, instincts, ideas, and rived! Whether long in the works or timing going strong. suddenly sprung on you, Thursday’s CAPRICORN full moon jettisons you into a signifiDecember 21–January 20 cant next chapter, this regarding caThursday/Friday, something reer, home base, a relationship status, or a new living-with-yourself reality. inside you could snap. The full moon Mars (Saturday) and Venus (Wednes- provides an opportunity to get it off day) into Virgo set you onto a major your chest. On the other hand, someimprovement track. Tuesday/Wednes- thing new or spur-of-the-moment day are optimal: connect; communi- could take you someplace good. Ideal for connecting, travel, and exploring cate; get it/yourself up and running. options Tuesday through Thursday, GEMINI Mercury/Jupiter sets you up to cover May 21–June 21 good ground.

Thursday/Friday, the fullAQUARIUS moon trigger could produce a great January 20–February 18 brainstorm, great find, surprise news, Thursday/Friday, the full or out-of-the-blue opportunity. Friday/Saturday, the moon in Pisces moon in Aquarius and Mercury/ keeps it running along a fluid track. Go Uranus keep you/it hot-wired. These by the feel. Sunday onward, you’ll gain transits can set you on fast-track a clearer sense of your best play. Tues- breakthrough or radically alter a day/Wednesday are great for talks, relationship status, your health, or connecting, or romance. Spontaneous wealth, especially if your birthday falls between February 15 and 18. or fresh does the trick quite nicely.

The week ahead gets it/you moving CANCER in the right direction. Tuesday/WedJune 21–July 22 nesday, the getting is good.

The full moon can trigger PISCES something unexpected regarding fiFebruary 18–March 20 nances, health, or a key relationship.

Keep exploring all options To the plus, once informed or enlightened, fresh opportunity presents itself. and stay open to the range of possibilLook to Mars (starting late Saturday), ity. Thursday to Saturday, something Venus (next Wednesday), and the sun new and/or completely out of the blue (starting next Friday) to set you onto can overtake you. The week ahead an improvement track. Tuesday/Wed- holds good potential too. Tuesday nesday, communication and activities through Thursday, Mercury/Jupiter set up an optimum few days for travel, run along a smooth track. connecting, exploring, and making LEO the most of the moment. g

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WHEN: AUGUST 7, 2019 WHERE: BC place

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full moon in Aquarius always holds an extra punch.

Thursday’s full moon is no exception to the rule. Expect the unexpected. It could be a wild ride. In opposition to Venus and Mars in Leo, this full moon could see the markets, politics, relationships, and weather hit a breaking-point or turning-point peak. If it is already on high stress, expect it to go snap. If you are already on your way to a divorce, this full moon could speed up the process. Aquarius is a liberation and emancipation archetype.

On the other hand, this full moon can be full of excellent opportunity. It can fast-track personal or lifestyle reinvention. It can produce something unexpected, special, exceptional, or exhilarating. Destiny in the making—someone special or someone new could burst onto the scene. Mercury in Leo square Uranus on Friday also lights a fresh spark. An air-clearing, self-discovery process, creative solution, or first date could lead you someplace good.

Late Saturday, Mars leaves Leo for Virgo. On Wednesday, Venus will do the same. Along with the sun’s entrance into Virgo next Friday, we’ll feel the pull toward getting organized for back-to-work and back-to-school season. That is not to say the stars aim to shortchange us! Wednesday/Thursday, the Taurus moon wants to savour the moment. Mercury’s trine to Jupiter on Wednesday wants to make the most of the gifts of the season. Travel, shopping, and social or pleasure pursuits are top of the checklist. Also a look-ahead, get-ahead, future-bound transit, Mercury/Jupiter puts more of everything on the upswing.

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Make that career change you’ve been thinking about!

WHEN: JULY 31, 2019 WHERE: Canada Line, King Edward Station

AUGUST 15 TO 21, 2019

by Rose Marcus

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L

July 22–August 23

One way or another. Venus and Mars in Leo strike it hot on the

Book a reading or sign up for Rose’s free monthly newsletter at rosemarcus.com.

Find Maui magic at Kā‘anapali Beach (This story sponsored by Kā‘anapali Beach Resort Association.)

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here are still a few weeks of summer left, but when the Pacific Northwest gets a little too grey for your liking, a trip to the tropical beaches and cultural riches of Kā‘anapali Beach Resort on Maui, might be just the pick-me-up you need.

With average temperatures of 18° C to 39° C year-round, Kā‘anapali, located on sunny West Maui, is one of the island’s prime locations. The three-mile crescent of white sand and turquoise water offers spectacular snorkelling, swimming, and sunsets, so it’s no wonder that Kā‘anapali Beach in Hawaii is famed as one of the best in the U.S. Flights go direct from Vancouver and take about six-and-a-half hours.

And getting to the resort from Kahului Airport has never been easier, thanks to a new access road off the Honoapi‘ilani Highway.

Upon arrival at Kā‘anapali Beach Resort, visitors find a little piece of paradise, with 13 resorts woven around two premier golf courses and a beachfront boardwalk, lined with exceptional dining, shopping, and entertainment.

There are places to suit a broad range of budgets, with one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas designed to facilitate a relaxing island escape.

Kā‘anapali’s newest accommodations, The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, offers guests all the amenities they need—like private verandas and fully equipped kitchens—to ensure a luxury home away from home.

Many Kā‘anapali condominiums also offer professional-quality grills for guests. This option allows visitors to enjoy cooking for themselves using fresh Maui ingredients—a guaranteed way to connect with the island’s spirit.

With its pristine beach, premier golf courses, and culinary excellence, Kā‘anapali Beach Resort is a perfect fall or winter escape.

But for those who prefer to dine out, there is no shortage of fantastic options, because Kā‘anapali chefs are known to steal the spotlight regardless of the season. Eight of the 13 resorts offer their own signature dining under the creative hand of an executive chef, all of whom compete amicably for top cooking honours.

Kā‘anapali showcases the soughtafter culinary tradition known as Hawaii regional cuisine, which yields consistently delicious ingredients from mountain to sea during its year-round growing season. This style has evolved out of the islands’ unique resources and brings together Polynesian and Asian techniques and flavours.

Every October and over three weekends on three islands, the “Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival” takes place, featuring a roster of more than 150 internationally renowned

master chefs, culinary personalities, and wine and spirit producers.

Kā‘anapali Beach Resort is the proud venue host on Maui from October 18 to 20. During this time, famous chefs, cooking personalities, and beverage stars captivate the crowd with their culinary skills. Visitors can enjoy wine tastings, cooking events, mixology creations, and magical dining experiences—all of which maximize Hawaii’s natural bounty.

If all the eating has you in the mood for some physical activity, there are plenty of choices at the resort. Visitors can take their pick of learning to surf or standup paddleboard, taking a sail on a catamaran, or cruising to a snorkel tour.

The ocean is home to glorious marine life, including green sea turtles, butterfly fish, parrotfish, tangs, eels, and triggerfish, which thrive

along the lava ledge of Pu‘u Keka‘a, commonly referred to as Black Rock.

But the Hawaiian Islands are perhaps most well known for their whales. Hunted almost to extinction during the 19th century, humpback whales have now made a triumphant return. Every year, the whales travel as far as 8,000 kilometres from their feeding grounds in Alaska to breed and give birth in the warm waters of the ‘Au‘au Channel between Maui and Lāna‘i. The ocean off Kā‘anapali comes alive with tail slaps, flukes, and full breaches from December to May, meaning that whale-watching is as easy as stepping out on your lanai. For those who want a closer look, there are boat tours available.

There are also plenty of fun activities to enjoy on land. Kā‘anapali has two championship 18-hole courses, a driving range, and two

putting greens for all levels of play.

And for those looking to indulge in some retail therapy, Whalers Village, a three-level, open-air mall, has an amazing selection of 90 different stores, including art galleries, local jewellery designers, island-style gift boutiques, bath and body shops, luxury brands, and more. There’s also a long list of free entertainment and activities throughout the day, every day.

Although Kā‘anapali Beach Resort has plenty to offer, the town of Lāhainā is located a five-minute drive away, and there is a free shuttle that runs between the resorts. The former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, from 1820 to 1845, has lots of colourful shops on seaside Front Street. Visitors can also marvel at the largest banyan tree in Hawaii near Lāhainā Harbor, which is one of 13 historic sites in Lāhainā.

Between the dining, shopping, beach activities, and entertainment, Kā‘anapali Beach is always buzzing.

But there’s a moment, right before sundown, when the deep note of the conch shell sounds and a calm settles over the golden curve of sand. That’s when all heads turn toward Pu‘u Keka‘a for the Sheraton’s nightly cliff-diving ceremony.

For Native Hawaiians, the black rock, which formed from lava flow two centuries ago, is a sacred spot where the soul leaps to eternity. Now, years later, a young warrior climbs up Pu‘u Keka‘a, lighting torches as he goes before offering his own torch, his lei, and his prayers to the ancestors. Then he extends his arms to the sky and dives into the sea below.

Just a little piece of the Kā‘anapali magic. g Kā‘anapali Beach Resort has something to offer for everyone, whether you’re looking for a couples retreat or a family trip. To learn more, visit the website at kaanapaliresort.com/.

Where The World Comes To Play 13 properties, 2 golf courses, 2 shopping centers, and an endless array of activities and dining options.

Home of the Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Ka‘anapali

www.kaanapaliresort.com @kaanapaliresort

AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 9

Rogues West

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Opera & Arias Photo: Tim Matheson

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On a wine professional’s calendar

by Kurtis Kolt

and

Rogues West

DRINK

s a guy who left the gig of full-time restaurant sommelier almost a decade ago in favour of a writing, consulting, and “whatever else” career in the world of wine, I can appreciate it when others make a similar leap of faith.

Granted, there isn’t the stability and security of a steady paycheque, but even in the lean stretches, I’ve never pined for those days of being buried in administrative duties, weekly inventory, and scheduling a small army of staff who often need the same days off.

What I do miss as a wine pro, regularly, is one-on-one quality time with guests, guiding an experience that includes a wine recommendation and the opportunity to expose someone to something they’ve never tried before—and, ideally, seeing their eyes light up when said recommendation hits the mark.

It’s for this reason that I particularly enjoy gigs like hosting a winemaker’s dinner, presenting a seminar or workshop for the public, or getting feedback on my writing ventures.

My colleague Maude RenaudBrisson (her first name is pronounced “mode”), originally from Quebec, has lived the past decade in Vancouver, most of which she spent doing sommelier duties at hot spots such as Nightingale and Chambar. A couple of years back, she gave the other side of the fence a whirl, working as an agent for Canadian importer Lifford Wine & Spirits. During the past little while, however, she has made the leap to freelance-type work, everything from cameo shifts on the floor at l’Abattoir in Gastown to moderating various wine-festival panels to producing and presenting seminars and events. This dipping of toes in various waters can be enjoyable and satiating

Maude Renaud-Brisson is a Vancouver-based sommelier and wine enthusiast who often presents seminars and other events. Photo by Amanda Harradence

for wine enthusiasts but also inspiring when looking to create new experiences for fellow enthusiasts. Rather than staying behind the scenes in consulting or operational roles, she’s opting to stay right out there with the people, only now in different capacities.

There are a couple of events coming up fast on Renaud-Brisson’s calendar that are worthy of pencilling in on our calendars, too.

Coming this Monday (August 19), running 5 to 8 p.m., is the monthly edition of her popular “apéro” evenings, which take place at rotating venues, each featuring a cohost chosen from a solid roster of highly regarded local sommeliers. The events are based on the decidedly French tradition of apéro, or apéritif: commonly, an early-evening time when work and chores are cast aside in favour of socializing and casual revelry over snacks and drinks with friends and colleagues. These local takes on the tradition are quite casual, as is this upcoming edition at Dachi (2297 East Hastings Street), where RenaudBrisson, along with in-house sommelier Stephen Whiteside, will present

AFGHAN HORSEMEN RESTAURANT SINCE 1974

AWARD WINNING

AFGHAN CUISINE

22 NDAnnual

2019

SINCE 2008

Open 7 Nights A Week from 5pm to close ABOUT OUR CHOIR • Vancouver’s newest downtown community children’s choir open to all school-aged children Kindergarten - Grade 3 and Grades 4-7+ who love to sing!

• Our choir is for everyone, regardless of singing experience.

We value teamwork and artistic music making and learning.

WHEN & WHERE • Rehearsals are Thursday evenings • Concerts and performance dates TBA • Rehearsals and performances take place at St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church, 1022 Nelson St., Vancouver, BC V6E 4S7

COST • We want our choir to be accessible to everyone. Our rates are based on a sliding scale of $25.00-$75.00 per term (September-December/JanuaryJune). If this is prohibitive please contact Jen Cunnings.

• Cost includes excellent musical instruction by director Jacob Autio, a t-shirt, and music sheets for home practice.

CONTACT Jen Cunnings j.cunnings@standrewswesley.com or (604) 683-4574 @sperokodalychoir @st.andrewswesley

St. Andrew’s-Wesley UNITED CHURCH

Spero Children’s Choir is generously supported by the congregation of St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church

1833 Anderson St. (2nd Floor) Vancouver

BEFORE THE ENTRANCE TO GRANVILLE ISLAND, RIGHT BEHIND THE STARBUCKS

For reservations visit www.afghanhorsemen.com or call 604.873.5923

HAVE YOU BEEN TO...

a handful of favourite wines of the moment available by the glass, along with light, shareable bites. Folks can drop in anytime (there’s no cover charge or R.S.V.P. required) and are also welcomed to bring their own wine, which can be opened for a ridiculously low corkage fee of $5 (which will be passed along to a local charity).

Having attended a few of these, I can guarantee that more than a few local sommeliers, along with casual imbibers, will be in attendance, and those special bottles guests bring along are often shared among keeners socializing around the room. It’s a cheery, social break from the norm and a fun way to start your week.

Follow her @AperoMode Instagram handle for more information and to keep up-to-date on future editions.

A little later in the week, she’ll collaborate with local holistic nutritionist Monica Elena of Holistic Heels for an event running both Wednesday and Thursday (August 21 and 22), dubbed Pairing Wine & Self-Love.

Hey, wine can be tricky when it comes to wellness, running the gamut from claims of health benefits (like lowering both cholesterol and risk of stroke) to negative issues (ranging from needless chemicals being put into our bodies to unhealthy relationships with booze), and beyond.

These events aim to cut through the noise, focusing on doing away with the stigma often tethered to alcohol through discussion of mindful drinking habits, along with the sustainability of everything from our bodies to vineyard practices.

Wines from three British Columbian wineries—Bella, Lock + Worth, and Le Vieux Pin, examples of sustainable, mindful farming and winemaking—will be poured to enhance the conversation, and grazing boards of seasonal nibbles will illustrate pairing potential. Tickets are $45 and can be found at holisticheels.com/.

Although Renaud-Brisson may not be on the frontlines of wine teams at local restaurants these days, Vancouver seems to benefit from this new niche of dynamic, unique events she’s bringing to thirsty palates. g

THE 22NDAnnual 18

2015

Celebrating

2019

Brewery Creek

50 years!

brewcreek.ca

Naam Restaurant

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arts

Bard casts woman as violent Coriolanus

by Andrea Warner

I

n all her years of acting, Moya O’Connell says she’s never been asked to sword-fight before.

This wouldn’t necessarily be shocking, except for the fact that O’Connell has done a lot of Shakespeare. A lot. In fact, she’s played many of William Shakespeare’s highest-profile female characters— including a buzzed-about Lady Macbeth at Bard on the Beach last year. Since the beginning of her career, O’Connell knew of just one of the playwright’s roles that would let her swing a broadsword in the name of the Bard: Viola in Twelfth Night.

That is, until now.

“I’ve never even been asked to punch someone in the gut!”

O’Connell tells the Straight with a laugh. It’s her lunch break from rehearsals for Bard on the Beach’s fourth show of the 2019 season, Coriolanus—the first staging of the play in the company’s 30-year history. O’Connell, who stars in the title role, never dreamed she’d get this opportunity.

“Especially not Coriolanus, the most masculine of all the Shakespeare canon,” says O’Connell, who’s marking her eighth season at Bard on the Beach. “That is exciting, and it is different than playing female roles. This is a person who takes action, who makes things happen, and that’s the great thing.”

Coriolanus is a controversial character who spends much of her time preoccupied by vengeance and who is, above all else, a skilled warrior. Historically, Coriolanus has been a man, and an arrogant, violent man at that. And even though O’Connell has spent decades performing Shakespeare, this is the first time she needs to rehearse her fighting technique.

“I started training a long time ago, months ago, building up my stamina and doing all sorts of MMA and boxing and just a variety of different types of workouts so that when I got into the room I would be ready to take on the choreography,” O’Connell says. “There’s a lot of violence. Coriolanus is a violent

At Bard on the Beach, Moya O’Connell takes on the controversial and ultramasculine role of Coriolanus. Photo by Emily Cooper

character, and we’re really going deep into that.”

Coriolanus is a dense play, and not a very popular one. It’s a political tragedy with a high body count, an indictment of toxic masculinity This is a person 400-plus years ahead of its time. But who takes action, this Coriolanus, directed by Dean Paul Gibson, narrows its focus to who makes things the play’s most salient and troubhappen, and that’s ling themes: power, corruption, fascism, and cruelty. The genderthe great thing. f lipped production is set in Rome’s – Moya O’Connell not-so-distant future following some kind of solar-f lare event that has wiped out the Internet and most technology. Coriolanus has been quashing uprisings, protecting the ruling class of Rome. When she seeks to join its ranks, her lack of political tact gets her deposed and enemies and, ultimately, Rome. she vows vengeance against her “Coriolanus believes [that] in a

time of instability, the people need absolute governance,” O’Connell says. “That these rebellions and these uprisings are just going to make us more vulnerable to being attacked. And obviously, she’s at odds with this democratic uprising that’s happening. She’s potentially a dangerous leader. At the end of the play, Coriolanus—spoiler alert—is killed. It’s a tragedy. You should probably think, ‘Yeah, that’s not a terrible thing for Coriolanus to have been killed.’”

As written, Coriolanus’s obsession with brutality, oppression, and reinforcing hierarchical power structures is what does him in.

In part, this is one of the things that make the gender-f lip casting so brilliant. Upholding the patriarchy is what’s killing Coriolanus

long before anybody else wants him dead, so having a woman in this role isn’t just a subversive act, but rather a blatant condemnation of the patriarchy and its inherent violence.

The casting choice also reframes Coriolanus’s mommy issues with his adviser and mother, Volumnia, who pushes her child to pursue politics no matter the cost.

“We talked a lot about what that original archetype is between this son who is beholden and deeply controlled by the mother,” O’Connell says. “We see it a lot in literature and classic literature, for sure, and mother-daughter is different. What is that? And what can that be? That’s what we’re exploring: this maternal aspiration and pushing of this child. She knows her child’s limitations: she is completely unable to be political.”

There are real-life correlations, of course, between Coriolanus and our contemporary times. As is almost always the case, the thematic relevance of a Shakespearean tragedy is ever-present. The volatile setting of this Coriolanus—the “not too distant future” and its accompanying political instability—doesn’t feel very far off to O’Connell.

“Right now the world feels pretty dark sometimes,” she says.

“There are people in leadership roles who would take away rights and take away freedoms. How people galvanize and how people have a voice, it’s something that we think about every day. I also think seeing a woman play a part like this—or not a woman, seeing women, because there are lots of women in our company playing parts that are male parts traditionally. That isn’t saying something overt, it’s just that this is the world we now live in, and I think that’s important.” g Bard on the Beach presents Coriolanus at the Howard Family Stage in the Douglas Campbell Theatre from next Wednesday (August 21) to September 15.

Nobody tells standup Segura what to say

by Guy MacPherson

T

he next time you’re at a standup theatre show, pay attention to the opener.

Take note of the name. The support act is often a star in waiting.

Ten years ago, I saw Jay Mohr at the River Rock Show Theatre. His opener was someone I’d never heard of, who was hilarious. It was Tom Segura’s first time performing in the Lower Mainland. Six months later, he was headlining the old Comedy MIX. Twice-yearly club work in the city led to a gradual progression up the comedy-venue ladder. Now he’s selling out grand theatres like the Q.E. A second show has been added for this Saturday’s Take It Down tour, where he performs with his own opener, New York’s Matt Fulchiron.

“He’s been a buddy of mine for years, great comic,” Segura says by phone from a bus taking him from Tarrytown to Albany, New York.

“You can’t bring some asshole with you. I think it’s a really fun thing to be able to do: bring people to big shows and give them that stage and be able to take care of them and pay them and basically duplicate the experience I had.”

It may seem like just yesterday he was playing the clubs, but not to him. “I’m very lucky, but it has been a slow build,” he says. “I started to sell out clubs in about 2014-15, then another year goes by and you move into rock clubs, then move into small theatres. So it’s been a slow progression, but I feel really thankful.”

His first major disappointment turned out

Podcasts are so much more authentic because there’s not a person regulating it.

– Tom Segura

Comedian Tom Segura says a key factor determines what will remain in his show: does his wife hate it?

to be his biggest break. He shot his first special (of three) on spec. The goal was to sell it to Comedy Central, but they passed on it. “So the consolation prize was Netflix,” he says. His was one of the first handful of comedy specials on the streaming platform.

Now there’s a sea of specials, making it more and more difficult for a comedy enthusiast to

keep up. But Segura sees the positives.

“Ultimately, it’s good for the world that I’m in,” he says. “Standup being big is just good for standups. Even when somebody has some huge special, that benefits the rest of the comedians, because it just makes the art of standup more appealing.”

Standup is consumed differently now than it was during the boom and bust of the 1980s.

With an audience demanding more and more new content, it’s survival of the fittest keeping the overall quality high.

“To be able to turn over hours all the time, of a high quality, it actually pares down the

number of people that can do it,” he says.

The second-biggest boost to his career has been the podcast (Your Mom’s House) he hosts with his comedian wife, the Canadian-ish (born in Windsor, but moved to the U.S. at four) Christina Pazsitzky. It’s been so popular, they recently built a studio and are producing five other podcasts.

“Podcasts are getting more popular,” he says, denouncing a recent New York Times headline that read “Have We Hit Peak Podcast?”. “I feel like we’re still in the infancy of all this. People are still finding out what they are and they’re loving them, so there’s no reason to stop making them. It’s a type of entertainment that makes sense; it resonates with people. Podcasts are so much more authentic because there’s not a person regulating it and there’s not a boss telling you how to do it, like a lot of traditional FM–radio shows.”

The same goes for standup. No one tells Tom Segura what he can and can’t say. Not even his wife.

“She disapproves of almost everything I say, so that’s usually how I know it’s staying in the show,” he says. “When she says, ‘You’re not really saying that, are you?’ I’ll be like, ‘Yeah,’ and then I’ll go, ‘Now I’m definitely saying it!’ ” g Tom Segura’s Take It Down tour plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre at 7:30 and 10 p.m. on Saturday (August 17).

AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 11

ARTS

Kessler event fetes music by osmosis

T

by Alexander Varty

he Kessler Academy takes its name from its major donor, philanthropist and music lover Susan Kessler, but draws its inspiration from a variety of different sources—some of them quite unexpected.

The summertime program, now in its fi ft h year, addresses what violinist Marc Destrubé sees as a variety of gaps in conventional music education. “One of the things,” the violinist explains on the line from his Bowen Island home, “is that if young musicians don’t have the chance to go out of their schools to work in a professional setting, they don’t have the opportunity to learn how to put together a program in a very short time.…They don’t have to go in on day one and put on a concert three or four days later that’s fully polished. So experiencing that intensity of work is one gap that can be fi lled.”

Destrubé, whose Microcosmos Quartet provides the core of the string-oriented program’s faculty, cites self-reliance and a sense of exploration as among the other qualities the Kessler Academy hopes to nurture. Working without a conductor, he explains, will ask students to sharpen their listening skills, while ending the session with a public performance of challenging 20thand 21st-century music will expose them to some of the “really great music of our own time” that they might not otherwise encounter.

This year, for instance, the Kessler Academy’s graduation recital will feature an all-Canadian program, ranging from the late Claude Vivier’s demanding and exciting Zipangu to new works by Vancouver composers Peter Hannan and Bradshaw Pack.

Learning by example is also part of the summer school’s mandate. “One of the things I’ve discovered is that

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Europe’s Echéa Quartet (with Vancouver-born violinist Aliayta Foon-Dancoes, left) delivers two Music on Main concerts prior to the Kessler Academy’s grad recital.

there are a hundred tiny skills that you can’t actually teach,” says Destrubé, citing jazz bassist Victor Wooten’s notion that we can learn music the same way we learn language, through osmosis. “We don’t sit down and learn how to speak,” he explains. “We just hang out with people who are good at it and who’ve been doing it for longer, and pick it up that way.”

That this approach works can be seen in the career of violinist Aliayta Foon-Dancoes, a 2017 Kessler attendee who, after two years at the Royal Academy of Music, is now playing some of Europe’s most prestigious stages with the Echéa Quartet. “One thing that really stands out to me is being introduced to new composers,” Foon-Dancoes explains in a telephone interview from her parents’ East Vancouver home. “It’s really unique to go to a program where you’re exposed to new works, and especially where you get to work on that repertoire with people who know the composers personally.

That’s a really exciting process.”

The greatest gift, she continues, is being able to return to the Kessler Academy this summer as a mentor.

She and the other members of the Echéa Quartet will join the Microcosmos players on the faculty, in addition to delivering two Music on Main concerts prior to the academy’s graduation recital. And, naturally, her former teacher couldn’t be happier.

“They’ll be learning from us, as more established players, and the younger players will be learning from them and seeing that this is what happens when you work hard: you can go off to the Royal Academy and play in the great concert halls of the world,” Destrubé says. “And that, in itself, is a wonderful lesson for younger people.” g Music on Main presents the Echéa Quartet at the Langley Community Music School on Tuesday (August 20) and at CBC’s Studio 700 next Wednesday (August 21). The Kessler Academy’s graduation recital, with the Microcosmos Quartet and the Echéa Quartet, takes place at Pyatt Hall next Saturday (August 24).

ARTS LISTINGS ONGOING THE TAMING OF THE SHREW The 2007 spaghetti-western version of Shakespeare’s work is the inspiration behind this Wild West love story. To Sep 21, Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival. From $26.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE Young Will Shakespeare has writer’s block. To Sep 18, Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival. From $26.

THEATRE UNDER THE STARS Alternating performances of Mamma Mia! and Disney’s Newsies. To Aug 24, Malkin Bowl. $30-55.

OF MICE AND MEN Promethean Theatre presents a collaboration between artists with disabilities and those without disabilities. To Aug 24, 8 pm, Stage Door. $20/15.

DISGRACED Vagrant Players present a play about a corporate lawyer whose career and personal life begin to slowly unravel. To Aug 17, 8 pm, The Nest on Granville Island. $25.

ROMEO & JULIET Beach House Theatre presents an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy. Aug 13-18, 8 pm, Blackie Spit, Crescent Beach. $35.

CLASSIC THEATRESPORTS Two teams of performers are pitted against each other in competitive improv matches. To Aug 31, 7:309:15 pm, The Improv Centre. From $10.75.

OK TINDER Vancouver TheatreSports improv show pokes fun at Vancouver’s dating scene.

To Aug 29, 9:15-10:15 pm, The Improv Centre.

From $10.75.

see page 16

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MOVIES

A timely portrait of the beloved Toni REVIEWS

TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM A documentary by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Rated PG

d RECENTLY DECEASED at 88, but here commanding the camera with clear eye and melodious voice, Toni Morrison was perhaps the least cryptic of interview subjects. Despite the raw anger expressed in fierce novels like The Bluest Eye and Beloved, her own presence was voluble and easily amused. “If you don’t laugh, you don’t survive,” she says at one point in this two-hour over-

view from photographer turned filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, who also made long-form docs about Lou Reed, among others.

The most serious downs were really experienced by Morrison’s parents, growing up poor and black in the Jim Crow South, from which they narrowly escaped. The writer was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in the integrated, working-class town of Lorain, Ohio. A place of vast potential and mutable identity, it offered endless opportunities to read Tolstoy, Austen, and Faulkner and develop her future classroom skills.

The name Toni, referring to St. Anthony, arrived with her conver-

sion to Catholicism at age 12. Morrison came via her brief marriage to a Jamaican architect, after a stint at historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she first learned about segregation.

She later worked as a teacher and editor, ending up with a senior position at Random House, in Manhattan, where she actively championed black writers long before her bosses realized she was sharpening her own novelistic pen before coming to work.

Plenty of colleagues and supporters show up, with Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz, and Walter Mosely testifying to her core vision, which

replaced the colonizer’s perspective with what’s seen by unapologetically African eyes. Her body of work netted her the Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer, the Presidential Medal of Freedom (when that still meant something).

But surviving friends single out her carrot cake as legendary.

The film’s kaleidoscopic use of images pertaining to slavery and its aftermath constitutes a provocation and a catalogue of Morrison’s many triumphs. In the end, this rousing documentary celebrates the acts of writing and reading, and language itself as an immortal expression of innate humanness.

by Ken Eisner

C’EST ÇA L’AMOUR

Starring Bouli Lanners. In French, with English subtitles. Rated PG

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What it eventually becomes is far richer than both.

In her first solo effort, young writer-director Claire Burger returns to the scene of other collaborative efforts, for a semiautobiographical tale of growing up but not giving up. Her

see page 16

“JULIANNE MOORE AND MICHELLE WILLIAMS SHINE.” -Pete Hammond, DEADLINE

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AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 13

MOVIES

The Transfinite spirit of queer film

I

by Adrian Mack

f we’re looking for a single word to capture both the diversity and the parapolitical complexion of this year’s Vancouver Queer Film Festival, let’s go with transfinite. This also happens to be the title of an especially striking feature screening roughly midway through the 31-year-old fest’s 11-day run.

Directed by U.K.–based Neelu Bhuman, the omnibus Transfinite explores the experience of gendernonconforming people of colour through stories that all share themes of magic, the sacred, and the occult. Not surprisingly, VQFF artistic director Anoushka Ratnarajah singles out the film—screening with Bhuman in attendance at the Vancity Theatre on Monday (August 19)—for its aesthetic and narrative daring.

“I’d love to see more queer and trans people in sci-fi and fantasy,” she says during a call to the Georgia Straight. “When marginalized folks are facing unbearable living conditions, it’s a way for us to imagine a way out of that. It’s a tradition that’s

14 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019

very rich from people who have experienced historic and current marginalization: ‘Look at what we can imagine; look at what we can create.’ ” There’s a whopping 70-plus films coming to VQFF 2019, but Transfinite joins a number of titles loosely gathered under a program called A Higher Power. Ratnarajah explains: “Themes of spirituality, religion, and the idea of a connection to the supernatural or a higher power were repeating in a lot of the film submissions that were coming through this year. It seems like an ideal theme for a spotlight. And it doesn’t really surprise me that artists in queer and trans film are reflecting upon this sort of existential crisis.”

Other fare programmed by Ratnarajah for the festival is somewhat more earthbound, if no less poetic. Opening the festival with a gala screening at the Vancouver Playhouse on Thursday (August 15), Song Lang stars Vietnamese pop star Isaac as a member of a folk

Leon Le’s gorgeous Song Lang opens this year’s Vancouver Queer Film Festival.

opera company facing retribution from a loan shark in 1980s Saigon.

Directed by Leon Le, the film recalls the high style of Wong Kar-wai energized by bursts of explicit violence.

“As soon as I saw it, I wanted it to be a gala film,” Ratnarajah enthuses.

“I knew right away.”

Premiering at the Playhouse next Wednesday (August 21), José again emphasizes the border-transgressing nature of the festival. ChineseAmerican filmmaker Li Cheng (in attendance at VQFF) made his lowbudget wonder inside Guatemala City with 19-year-old Maya Enrique Salanic as his lead. Of its multiple awards, the most impressive might be the Queer Lion prize the film picked up at last year’s Venice Film Festival—beating out The Favourite and Suspiria in the process.

“It has this depth to it because Salanic’s Indigenous heritage isn’t explicitly addressed but is implicitly present through ceremony, imagery, his relationship with his mother, and the things he has around him,” Ratnarajah says. “Colonization has, obviously, really impacted this place. It’s a dangerous place to live,

and the film is really a testament to the strength of young folks living in Latin America.”

The festival wraps on a high note with the August 25 screening of An Almost Ordinary Summer at the Playhouse. Described in VQFF’s program notes as “La Cage Aux Folles meets Mamma Mia! on the sexy Italian coast,” Simone Godano’s sundappled comedy lampoons Italy’s class system with its tale of two aging patriarchs who spring the news of their engagement on their families during a seaside get-together.

“It’s definitely a crowd pleaser,” remarks Ratnarajah, who likens it to Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers collaborating on a queer family romcom. “It’s very funny; the setting is beautiful; the fashion is amazing.

When we were watching the submissions, it was like, ‘Wow, it’s a dark year! Everyone’s going to be depressed!’ But some films are uplifting and humorous, and this is definitely one of them. It’s a delight.” g The Vancouver Queer Film Festival runs at various venues from August 15 to 25. More information is at www.queerfilmfestival.ca/.

music PNE concerts make fairgrounds cool

by Mike Usinger

POP EYE

S

tick around long enough and sometimes you get to be cool again. That could very well be the slogan of the PNE in 2019.

For a time—the late ’80s and the early ’90s—it looked like the days of the Pacific National Exhibition were numbered. Students of ancient history might recall that, before it became known for its 17-day annual fair, Sea to Sky swinger, and haunted house that’s pants-shittingly scary to anyone under the age of seven, Hastings Park was exactly what its name suggests: a park.

Google “Hastings Park + City of Vancouver Archives” and you’ll get a vintage aerial look at a site that, exactly 100 years ago, looked nothing like it does today. Think trees, trees, and more trees, the urban wilderness interrupted only by the occasional house. The wooden roller coaster is already there, as is the Hastings Racecourse, but other than that you might as well be looking at a plot of land in 100 Mile House.

In the decades that followed, the trees started to disappear, replaced first by dirt roads and wooden buildings straight out of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and later by Art Deco–inspired structures like the PNE Garden Auditorium and the Forum. By the ’60s Hastings Park was pretty much all blacktop and cement structures that were never going to win any accolades in Architectural Digest.

That was fine right through the ’70s, a decade when urban grit— as depicted everywhere from Taxi Driver to the iconic photos of Carrie Boretz—was seen as an inescapable fact of life. By the time the ’80s rolled around, the world had started to become a different place, that spilling into the ’90s, when the idea of saving Clayoquot Sound began to seem more important than pillaging old-growth forests to build more Vancouver Specials.

The surviving members of TLC (left) perform as part of the PNE Summer Night Concerts series, as does rocker Billy Idol.

It was around that time community activists began seriously pushing to have Hastings Park returned to greenspace, to the point where the future of Playland looked grim. As urban ecowarriors began lobbying government to create the city’s greenest jewel this side of Victoria Park, land was purchased in Surrey for the PNE in the ’90s. Suddenly it looked like the Villagers of East Vancouver would have to hit Highway 1 for their yearly fix of stupidly delicious Those Little Donuts.

For whatever reason, the idea that Hastings Park needed to be returned to an oasis of urban wilderness eventually petered out at the end of the ’90s. The demolition of old eyesores—the Showmart and Poultry buildings—probably helped, as did the creation of the surprisingly serene midpark lake known as the Sanctuary.

But just as importantly, the idea of the PNE somehow became as cool again as it was from the ’30s to the ’50s.

It’s pretty much a given that one generation’s trash eventually becomes a future one’s treasure. Think of the postgrunge ’50s-lounge revival. Or every film ever made by John Waters. Or the fact that A Flock of Seagulls and Wham! are, against

Summer Night Concerts has done a smart job of realizing that the PNE has evolved.

– Mike Usinger

all odds, cornerstones of any retro ’80s dance night.

Starting in the ’60s, the PNE seemed caught in some sort of time warp, a place where you went to inhale six bags of Those Little Donuts, embrace your inner white trash at the demolition derby, and puke up Martian-green cotton candy on the Scrambler.

Kitsch-cool? Totally. But eventually it became clear you needed something other than the SuperDogs show to keep the party fresh.

On that front, the Summer Night Concerts series has proven a crazy

success. Recent years at the PNE have given us everyone from Joan Jett and Blondie to Salt-N-Pepa and the B-52s. This year’s edition will see a decades-spanning lineup that includes punk founding father Billy Idol, rock survivors Styx and Cheap Trick, Canuck legends Burton Cummings and Blue Rodeo, metal miscreant Vince Neil, alt-nation alumni the Gin Blossoms and Collective Soul, local roots-blues vet Colin James, and R&B icons Smokey Robinson and TLC. For those who indeed subscribe to the theory that you’re sometimes rewarded for being a pop-culture punch line, say hello to Vanilla Ice, who’ll have Biz Markie, Rob Base, and Montell Jordan riding shotgun for an I Love the ’90s showcase.

And MC Hammer’s Hammer House Party with Bobby Brown—parachute pants completely optional.

Once upon a time, the idea of playing the summer-fair circuit was, for most musicians, right up there with Spinal Tap finding itself second-billed to the Puppet Show in Stockton, California.

Sometimes, though, a visionary comes along to embrace the idea that uncool can be cool. Not that

long ago, summer fairs meant Black Oak Arkansas featuring the third cousin of one original member, or the Ramones starring no one but C.J. Ramone.

When not playing Coachella or Lollapalooza, the Flaming Lips have taken to the stages of the Orange County Fair and Washington’s Puyallup Fair. After roaring onto the scene with smashes like “Fancy” and “Black Widow”, Iggy Azalea decided any cheque is a good one as long as it cashes, leading to appearances at the L.A. County Fair and Alaska State Fair.

Here’s the deal with the Summer Night Concerts series: it’s done a smart job of realizing that the PNE has evolved. Yes, you can still head directly to the Those Little Donuts stand, but you can also load up on Kit Kat Fries, Smoking Charcoal Soft-Serve Ice Cream, and Cricket Caramel Apples.

There’s no longer a demolition derby for the traditionalists, but you can kill a couple of hours at Game Changers: The Evolution of Video Games in the Garden Auditorium.

Summer Night Concerts hasn’t abandoned those who like their entertainment served irony-free. (The Mike Love–led Beach Boys will take take care of that.) But it’s also not forgetting the pop-culture posthipsters who understand that what makes “Ice Ice Baby” and “U Can’t Touch This” so cool is that they were once the height of uncoolness.

And that what makes Billy Idol so enduringly cool is that he doesn’t give a fuck if you think he’s cool or not. And that the members of Blue Rodeo have become Canadian roots royalty by never trying to be cool— they leave that shit to jackasses like Ryan Adams.

Enjoy the PNE Summer Night Concerts this year, then, on whatever level best suits you. And feel free to openly cry while singing along to “No Scrubs” when TLC hits the stage. As every Weezer fan knows, that song could not be more cool no matter who’s performing it—and not just because there was a time when Rivers Cuomo totally wasn’t. g

Acoustic punk Cresswell has no plan

by John Lucas

d SOMETIMES, EVEN when you know what you want, it can take someone else to nudge you in the right direction. For Chris Cresswell, that person happened to be one of his musical heroes.

The singer-songwriter and guitarist is best known as the frontman for long-running Toronto punk outfit the Flatliners, but a few years ago he started playing solo sets. These mostly consisted of acoustic versions of Flatliners songs, but after a 2013 gig opening for Scorpios at Lee’s Palace, Cresswell received an offer he couldn’t refuse—one that compelled him to round out his catalogue.

Scorpios’ Joey Cape asked Cresswell to fly out to San Francisco and record one of the earliest albums for his nascent One Week Records—the label’s second release, in fact, after a solo disc from Scorpios pianist Brian Wahlstrom.

As any Fat Wreck Chords aficionado could tell you, Cape also happens to be the singer for Lagwagon, which happens to be a very big deal indeed in Cresswell’s eyes.

“I was more than flattered,” he says when the Straight reaches him at home in Toronto.

“I grew up on his music. His music was a big formative part of my punk upbringing, and to have him say he wanted me to be one of the first people to be involved was extremely flattering, and I couldn’t say no. So I ended up busting my ass to finish some songs, and then a few months later I was in San Francisco and we made the record in six days.”

As Cresswell describes it, those six days were almost wall-to-wall work. “It was a lot of

In addition to his solo work, Chris Cresswell is a member of the Toronto punk band the Flatliners.

coffee by day, whisky by night, and we kind of kept that train rollin’,” he says. “And I would sleep in the studio as well, so there was no escape at all the whole time. But it was great.”

Cresswell says that he is still applying much of what he learned from that experience to his current solo recording project. In marked contrast to the spare acoustic aesthetic of his One

Week LP, though, his two most recent singles— “To the Wind” and “Gather My Thoughts”, both from this year—boast a more fleshed-out sound. With Matt Snell in the engineer’s chair and pianist Dave Grabowski and drummer Paul Ramirez (also a Flatliner) contributing, the songs are suitably lush, but with arrangements spacious enough to leave plenty of room for Cresswell’s affecting melodies.

The sessions that produced those two tracks are still ongoing; Cresswell certainly isn’t making another six-day record. The question is, does he plan on putting out another solo album at all, or will he continue to release individual songs as he completes them?

“I don’t really know,” he admits, “but that’s kind of the exciting thing, too, because usually making records, you have a whole plan and you have people in place to help you do this, and help you release that, and help you reach people this way. And with this, it’s been fun to be really serious about the music I’m making, but not take myself and the process so seriously. It’s very freeing, to be honest.”

of Michigan, where he, in his own words, is “hanging out with some family and working on some music stuff”, but just two days before, Krehel had been at New York’s Leesta Vall Sound Recordings Studio.

While there, the Seattle-based singersongwriter and guitarist spent the day recording songs directly onto vinyl, using Leesta Vall’s modified 1950s antique recordcutting lathe. No overdubs, no do-overs, just a man and his guitar making 26 records in one take apiece, each destined for a fan who had pre-ordered it.

“It was a blast,” Krehel says. “It was super intimidating, though, because right when he started the recording, it’s going right on there, so you’re like, ‘Man, I can’t mess up at all. This is somebody’s take. There’s no going back on that.’ But it was a lot of fun. I had a riot the whole time. It was just a cool little studio out in the middle of Brooklyn, and I really enjoyed it. It was definitely one for the books.”

It was a far cry from the process that went into the creation of Let Go, Krehel’s debut Chris Cresswell plays the Fox Cabaret on Saturday six-song EP. By his estimate, the musician (August 17). and his brother Palmer spent something like six years crafting the EP, teaching TREVOR KREHEL’S SONGS ARE ABOUT themselves how to do it as they turned their BREAKING FREE OF EXPECTATIONS former childhood bedrooms into studios.

(When both siblings had moved out of the d WHEN HE TAKES the Straight’s call, Trev- family home, they continued working on the or Krehel is fresh from a recording session songs wherever they happened to find themthe likes of which few artists will ever experi- selves, transforming apartment bathrooms see page 17 ence. We’ve reached him in his home state AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 15

from page 13

hometown, Forbach, a former mining village near the border with Germany, is where a beleaguered, bearlike civil servant named Mario (Bouli Lanners, best known for Rust and Bone) suddenly faces the task of raising his two teenage daughters alone.

His long-time wife, Armelle, is a theatrical tech person (Cécile RémyBoutang is also the production manager of this no-budget film) who finds Mario boring and ineffectual. Frankly, he doesn’t have much of an argument against that, and she’s done a runner.

Attempting to shake things up, he joins an improv group putting together a show where Armelle just happens to work. Gradually, his interest in music and dance overcomes his stalking instincts, and he starts getting into it. Not that this helps with the girls, a lively study in genetic contrasts.

The elder sister, Niki (Sarah Henochsberg), is almost 18 and someone who’ll always land on her feet. Fifteenish Frida (Justine Lacroix) is a far more troubled soul, confused about her own sexuality and just generally pissed at Dad for doing everything wrong. For his part, he’s most worried that she has started smoking.

These situations are familiar enough; what’s unusual is that all the participants, including most of the other friends, colleagues, and random folks who cross their paths, really like each other and demonstrate good-humoured resourcefulness, especially in a pinch. The movie’s offbeat pacing requires some patience, but that’s rewarded by scenes that turn out to be funnier, and more tender, than a hundred Hollywood romances.

by Ken Eisner

COLD CASE HAMMERSKJÖLD

A documentary by Mads Brügger.

In English, Danish, and French, with English subtitles. Rated PG

d CATNIP FOR CONSPIRACY theorists of all stripes, the two-hourplus Cold Case Hammerskjöld uses

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one unsolved mystery as a jumpingoff point for secret (and not-so-secret) machinations still haunting us today.

That mystery involves the death of Dag Hammerskjöld, the first really hands-on secretary general of the United Nations. An aristocratic Swedish economist and diplomat who helped formulate the Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe, he got the top job in 1956, just as the decolonization of Africa and Asia was in full swing. He was particularly interested in protecting the rights of new African nations, scrambling to keep resources that had been plundered by France, Britain, Belgium, and others for centuries. According to Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger, a Moby-looking trickster who has previously gone after illicit traffic in tobacco and blood diamonds, the UN honcho was killed when his advocacy got in the way of mining interests being fought over in the former Belgian Congo.

Working with Swedish aid worker Göran Björkdahl, investigating this cold case for years, Brügger goes to a number of spots associated with Hammerskjöld’s violent demise. He gets close to a Belgian colleague of the mercenary jet pilot who probably shot Dag’s plane down just as it was arriving in Zambia. The diplomat was found apart from the other charred bodies, with a playing card stuck in his collar. (The ace of spades, if you

must know.) And the craft was quickly buried after a cursory investigation.

In one of the most laughable episodes, our Scandinavian snoops attempt to locate and dig up the plane, before being stopped by a bemused groundskeeper. What the movie does excavate, most chillingly, is the connection between those mercenaries and a shadowy group called the South African Institute for Maritime Studies.

Further discoveries, not all confirmed, involve the CIA, AIDS research, and Karen Silkwood–type murders. For more, you just have to see the movie.

from page 12

THINGS: THE ENCHANTING THEATRE OF PUPPETS to Oct 14 MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER aWILD THINGS: THE POWER OF NATURE IN OUR LIVES to Sep 30 aHAIDA NOW: A VISUAL FEAST OF INNOVATION AND TRADITION to Dec 1 aTHERE IS TRUTH HERE to Dec 31 VANCOUVER ART GALLERY aMOVING STILL: PERFORMATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY IN INDIA to Sep 2 aVIEWS OF THE COLLECTION: THE STREET to Nov 17 aALBERTO GIACOMETTI: A LINE THROUGH TIME to Sep 29 aVIKKY ALEXANDER: EXTREME BEAUTY to Jan 26 aROBERT RAUSCHENBERG 1965–1980 to Jan 26

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY’S 7TH ANNUAL SUMMER REPERTORY FESTIVAL An uplifting comedy set in a doughnut shop (Superior Donuts), a classic political satire for the age of Trump (Born Yesterday), and a celebration of the power of storytelling (The Drawer Boy) make this year’s Annual Summer Repertory Festival from Ensemble Theatre Company one of its most thrilling yet. To Aug 16, Jericho Arts Centre. From $25.

VINES ART FESTIVAL Outdoor performing arts and land-justice festival. To Aug 18, David Lam Park and other venues. Free.

THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE On-script actors paired up with improvisers. Aug 25, 8 pm, Havana Theatre. $12.

MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC aIN A DIFFERENT LIGHT: REFLECTING ON NORTHWEST COAST ART to summer 2020 aSHAKEUP: PRESERVING WHAT WE VALUE to Sep 1 aSHADOWS, STRINGS AND OTHER

by Ken Eisner

AFTER THE WEDDING

Starring Julianne Moore. Rated PG

d AFTER THE WEDDING continues the grand tradition of securing the rights to European films and then draining all the personality out of them.

The original was no great shakes.

Danish director Susan Bier favours melodramatic potboilers with a light layer of social messaging. Her films are small-scaled enough to maintain some indie cred, and to give space to top-flight actors—in this case to Bond veteran Mads Mikkelsen as an orphanage director reluctantly meeting rich dude Rolf Lassgård, and discovering he’s married to Westworld’s Sidse Babett Knudsen, Mads’ longago ex.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14 ROBERT MUNSCH STORIES Beach House Theatre presents an outdoor performance of Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever and More Munsch. Aug 14-17, 11 am, Blackie Spit Park. $12.50.

THE ZOO STORY The Rusted Cage Theatre Lab. presents Edward Albee’s classic story of human disconnection and class division. Aug 14-17 & 20-24, Havana Theatre. $12-25.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 JOKES PLEASE! Standup comedy show hosted by Ross Dauk. Aug 15, 9-10:40 pm, Little Mountain Gallery. $10.

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16 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT AUGUST 15 – 22 / 2019

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16 THE CLOCK BY CHRISTIAN MARCLAY Twenty-four-hour video that montages film and television footage from the past 70 years.

To Sep 15, The Polygon. By donation.

MADSKILLZ VANCOUVER JUGGLING FESTIVAL Workshops and performances by hoopers, jugglers, flow dancers, prop manipulators, clowns, and ground-level circus artists. Aug 16-17, 10:30 am–11:30 pm, Roundhouse Community Centre. $34-54.

S.P.A.C.E. : SPIRITS + PEOPLE + ANIMALS + CREATURES + ECHOES Art event combines both static indoor gallery-style exhibition and outdoor digital installations.

Aug 16, 5-10 pm, McBride Park.

BLUERIDGE CHAMBER FEST: ERATO ENSEMBLE Two works by Brahms. Aug 16, 7 pm, Orpheum Annex. $30/15.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17 PNE FAIR The annual Pacific National Exhibition features midway rides, pig races, drag shows, agriculture displays, cooking demonstrations, SuperDogs, and the Summer Night Concerts series. Aug 17–Sep 2, PNE. TEATRO INTIMO DEL FLAMENCO Karen Flamenco presents a one-hour show featuring traditional flamenco music, dance, puppetry, and magic. To Sep 28, Sat. at 3 & 5 pm, The Improv Centre. $12.

CODA: SYNTHETIC NATURE Art party and performance event pairs electroacoustic musicians with live coders. Aug 17, 8 pm, Performance Works. $15-20.

In writer-director Bart Freundlich’s luxuriously shot version, the genders have been flipped, and Michelle Williams, called Isabel, is the expat raising money for her Indian orphanage. One-percenter Theresa is a Manhattan media mogul played

by Julianne Moore. Her screen hubby is Almost Famous’s Billy Crudup, as successful artist Oscar, currently helping teen daughter Grace (Abby Quinn) prepare for her own wedding, to one of mother Theresa’s callow employees (Alex Esola).

Newly invited Isabel stumbles into this setup, making an already tense scene more complicated. Get where we’re going with this? Trailers put the main spoiler up front, and the movie is quite eager to reach its conflict points quickly, even before characters are established. The rich can be caring sorts, while a do-gooder might be stiff and unyielding. Indeed, Williams plays Isabel as if she’s suffering through a permanent sinus headache.

Turns out Theresa has worse.

The weakest link is Crudup’s Oscar, who gets to explain youthful transgressions with leaden lines like “It was a lot to manage, but I did my best.” The whole movie suffers from that kind of flatness. The contrasts here—between rich and poor, first world and third, Hollywood and Scandinavia—really don’t have much to do with a tale that’s far more soap than substance.

by Ken Eisner

FAST COLOR

Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Rating unavailable

d IN FAST COLOR, everything feels parched and thirsty. Green is a hue that’s noticeably absent from director Julia Hart’s palette, as she shoots bleak motel rooms, roadside taverns, and decrepit farmhouses set amid tumbleweeds and dead cornfields. Characters are constantly lugging around gallon jugs of water.

It turns out that running taps are a thing of the distant past. We learn early on in this atmospheric dystopian genre-defier that the planet has FESTIVAL DEL HUMOR Performances by Mexican TV comedians Ricardo Hill, Nora Velazquez, and Alex del Castillo. Aug 17, 8-11 pm, Massey Theatre. $53.50/70/87.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 ROOKIE NIGHT Vancouver TheatreSports presents improv comedy with the plot and action based on audience suggestions. Aug 18, 25, 7:30 pm, The Improv Centre. $8.75-10.25.

faced drought for eight years. The film is anchored by the magnetic and steely Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays the mysterious Ruth. In Fast Color’s breathless opening, she is on the run, ropes gnawing at her wrists and a gun in her bag. When she hides out in a broken-down motel, she has a violent seizure that appears to bring on an earthquake.

Ruth has supernatural powers she can sometimes control with drugs.

And the government wants to get its hands on her, to try to harness her abilities to save the planet; it’s sent out the wonderfully creepy-nerdy agent Bill (Christopher Denham) to chase her down in his brown station wagon.

She flees to her old homestead, where we find out she comes from a family of strong women with even stronger supernatural gifts.

It’s a strange and enticing mix: a superhero origin story and scifi paranormal effects mix with apocalyptic allegory. Along the way, screenwriters Hart and Jordan Horowitz make ambitious attempts to touch on race, addiction, motherhood, the climate crisis, generational trauma, and female empowerment.

The midsection of the movie bogs down badly, as Ruth attempts to develop her powers at the farmhouse and talks—at length—through her difficult past with her mother, Bo (the impressive force of nature that is Lorraine Toussaint).

But these women are so grounded, and Hart creates such moody, low-budget magic through the images and retro-synth score, that you can’t help but get drawn in despite the ponderous pacing. The payoff for your patience is an ending that, yes, provides some of the spectacle you might crave in a movie about the supernatural. But it’s also played in a way that washes you over with hope—and that opens symbolic, and politically radical, new meaning. And in this era of endless Marvel movies and empty government promises, that’s a feat of almost superpower dimensions.

by Janet Smith

Arts

HOT TICKET

ALL OVER THE MAP: KATHARA PILIPINO INDIGENOUS ART COLLECTIVE Dance, music, and storytelling inspired by Indigenous knowledge. Aug 18, 1-4 pm, Performance Works. Free.

HONESTY, RIGOR AND ATTENTION IN SPOKEN WORD Brandon Wint leads a workshop for poets and spoken-word artists of all experience levels. Aug 18, 2-4 pm, Vancouver Poetry House. $5/pay what you can.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19 THE LAUGH GALLERY Graham Clark hosts a weekly comedy show with trivia and prizes.

Aug 19, 9 pm, Havana Theatre. $5.

IMPROV MONDAYS WITH MICHELLE Vancouver TheatreSports presents an improvcomedy melodrama. To Aug 26, 7:30-9:15 pm, The Improv Centre. From $10.

NAVIGATING COMMISSIONS WITH KATHY TRAEGER Forum on how to handle art commissions. Aug 19, 6:30-9 pm, Federation Gallery. $25.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 FULL PINT COMEDY Standup comedy in Kitsilano. Aug 20, 9 pm, Castaway Bar & Kitchen. $5.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21 CORIOLANUS Shakespeare’s story of a woman who fights for honour without compromise. Aug 21–Sep 15, Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival. From $26.

GONE VIKING: A TRAVEL SAGA Launch of author, poet, and songwriter Bill Arnott’s latest book. Aug 21, 7 pm, Massy Books. Free.

VINES: THE WOOD5 ANNIVERSARY (August 17 at

John Hendry Park) Head to the great outdoors all day Saturday as the Vines Art Festival takes over John Hendry Park with art installations, music, and much more (including Kathara— The Return of the Buwaya Spirit, a multidisciplinary mask performance exploring Indigeneity, identity, and culture from the Philippines, shown here, at the beach at 3:50 p.m.).

Elsewhere at the eco- and activist-minded celebration, watch for other one-of-akind experiences: a roving clown parade, crazy quilting, communal sound-art pieces, the Karakasa Obake’s oversized Japanese umbrella, and— our personal favourite—the Beaver Lodge Cinema, which is an installation, temple, and “chillout space” devoted to the industrious rodent. g

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

HOOD29 COMEDY FIRST ANNIVERSARY SHOW Standup comedy by Steve Bottomley, John Gough, Angelica Senger, Garrett Doran Moran, and headliner Katie-Ellen Humphries.

Aug 22, 9:30-11 pm, Hood 29. By donation.

RICHARD CLAYDERMAN The Return of the Prince of Romance. Richard Clayderman has done what virtually no other French act has ever done...established a truly international career as a best-selling recording artist and concert performer.

Tickets on sale now: visit Ticketmaster.ca or call 1-855-985-5000. Sep 27, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. $58.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 A BRIDGE ACROSS THE REALMS Don’t miss the chance to meet one of the most respected evidential psychic mediums of America, Andrew Anderson.

Andrew is coming for the very first time to Vancouver, BC, to share his spiritual wisdom and expertise as a clairvoyant and medium. Sep 14, 7-10 pm, Law Courts Inn Restaurant. $65-90.

ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events 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.

from page 15

and dorm-room closets into makeshift recording facilities.)

All that work paid off in the form of a collection of songs that positions Krehel somewhere between acoustic troubadour and fiery rocker, his ever so slightly rougharound-the-edges voice bringing palpable emotional weight to slowburners like “Close to the Edge” and “Bonnie and Clyde”. One thing that Krehel discovered is that the blessing of working with no deadline and unlimited takes can also be a curse—which is exactly why the session at Leesta Vall was so liberating.

“That’s one of the things I struggled with when I was recording my EP,” Krehel says. “Sometimes I would just get way too into it and try to make sure every part sounded so perfect. At the end of the day you just have to go up there and do your thing. So it was kind of cool to take exactly the opposite approach to the recording side and

Trevor Krehel wrote and recorded his debut EP over the course of six years.

making a little bit of a change there.”

If Let Go has an overarching theme, it’s one of escape, both literal and metaphorical. It’s a topic that informs “Better With You”, which opens with “Break away from the grip of this grind,” and especially “Break Free”, which closes the EP on

an especially yearning note.

“When I was writing some of these songs I was at a point in my life where I felt like I had just kind of followed in the footsteps of what you’re expected to be,” Krehel says.

“I had gone to school and studied something that, honestly, I wasn’t that interested in. Music had always been my passion, and I felt like I was just getting into that rhythm of what society expects you to do. And so ‘Break Free’ was, like, the last song on the EP, and it was me trying to decide, ‘Well, do I continue to try to go for a music career, even though it’s difficult—especially when you’re first starting off—or do I keep going down the easiest path?’

“That theme of escape is really just trying to step out of my comfort zone,” he concludes, “not going for the easiest route, but going for the route that I want at the end of the day.” g

CANADIAN PACIFIC BLUES SOCIETY and PRESENT

DOORS: 6:30 PM SHOW: 7:30 PM

Trevor Krehel plays Guilt & Company at 7 p.m. on Monday (August 19).

MUSIC LISTINGS CONCERTS JUST ANNOUNCED

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17

RICK ROSS American hip-hop artist. Sep 23, 9 pm, Harbour Event Centre. $49.50.

FACE TO FACE AND LAGWAGON American punk-rock bands play a coheadlining bill, with guests Makewar. Sep 28, 7:30 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $35.

ROSANNE CASH American roots singersongwriter. Sep 28, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. From $46.

ROBERT ELLIS Singer-songwriter from Texas, with guest Ian O’Neil. Oct 3, 9 pm, WISE Hall. $15.

MARI BOINE Sami vocalist performs traditional yoik chants of her Indigenous ancestry and Norwegian folksong. Oct 5, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. From $38.

NIKKI LANE Nashville-based country singersongwriter. Oct 9, 8 pm, WISE Hall. Tix on sale Aug 16, 10 am, $16.

CURRENT SWELL Indie-rock band from Victoria. Nov 8, 9:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom.

Tix on sale Aug 16, 10 am, $30.

DAUGHTERS Experimental rock band from Providence, Rhode Island, with guests Lingua Ignota. Dec 1, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. Tix on sale Aug 16, 10 am, $22.

CHRIS CRESSWELL Feel-good rocker from the Flatliners. Aug 17, Fox Cabaret. $15.

BURNA BOY Afro-fusion artist performs tunes from new album African Giant. Aug 17, Vogue Theatre. $85.

BLUE RODEO Canadian roots-rockers perform as part of the Summer Night Concert series. Aug 17, 8:30 pm, PNE Amphitheatre.

Free with PNE admission; reserved seats available.

BRASS CAMEL Local prog-funk quintet, with guests Bong Chow and Goodnight Sunrise.

Aug 17, 8 pm, Railway Stage and Beer Café. $10.

KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD Psychedelic rock band from Australia. Aug 17, 9 pm, Harbour Event Centre. $36.50.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 CHEAP TRICK American guitar-rockers perform as part of the Summer Night Concert series. Aug 18, 8:30 pm, PNE Amphitheatre.

Free with PNE admission; reserved seats available.

TUXEDO American dance-funk duo featuring Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One. Aug 18, 9 pm, Fortune Sound Club. $20.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19

WEYES BLOOD American singer-songwriter performs tunes from latest album Titanic Ris- “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC Comedic songparody artist from the States performs with a ing. Aug 14, Imperial Vancouver. $19.99. full orchestra. Aug 19, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth ADOJAH BALANCE KAPONE Jamaican regTheatre.

Tix $125/99.50/79.50/59.50/45. gae artist, with guests Damasco Soul System.

Aug 14, 9 pm, Calabash Bistro. $10.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 DEAN LEWIS Singer-songwriter from Australia. Aug 15, Vogue Theatre. $29.50.

RUMOUR MILL Local indie-pop duo. Aug 15, 5:30-7 pm, UBC Botanical Garden.

LAMBSBREATH Vancouver indie-alt band, with guests Bad Magic, Nomke, and the Noodle Boys. Aug 15, 7:30 pm, Railway Stage & Beer Café. $10.

CHRIS FRYE & THE ANALOG GHOSTS Lead singer-guitarist of the Bills performs with his new band. Aug 15, 8 pm, St. James Hall. $28/24.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16 LIGHTS Juno-winning electropop singersongwriter. Aug 16, Vogue Theatre. $34.50.

ROCK AMBLESIDE PARK Classic rock bands play three nights. Aug 16-18, Ambleside Park. $60-165.

PRETTYMUCH American-Canadian boy band from L.A., with guest Mackenzie Ziegler. Aug 16, 7 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. $49.95/32.50/29.95.

COLTER WALL Country-folk singer-songwriter from Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Aug 16, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. $49.50/39.50.

FRIDAY JAZZ The Neil Gray Quintet performs classic and progressive jazz. Aug 16, 9 pm, Tyrant Studios. $10.

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BUSTER BROWN & THE NEW RESOLUTIONS Local band comprised of top studio veterans plays original music and covers by Jeff Beck and Miles Davis. Aug 20, 9:30 pm, Guilt & Company. By donation.

98 DEGREES American pop/R&B band perform as part of the Summer Night Concert series. Aug 20, 8:30 pm, PNE Amphitheatre.

Free with PNE admission; reserved seats available.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21 BURTON CUMMINGS Canadian rocker performs as part of the Summer Night Concert series. Aug 21, PNE Amphitheatre. Free with PNE admission; reserved seats available.

AMOS LEE American soul-funk singersongwriter, with guest Madison Cunningham.

Aug 21, 7:30 pm, the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. $95/69/55/35.

DEMONS & WIZARDS Power-metal band from Germany, with guests Lizzy Borden and Tyr. Aug 21, 7:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $52.25.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 VINCE NEIL Former Mötley Crüe frontman performs as part of the Summer Night Concert series. Aug 22, 8:30 pm, PNE Amphitheatre. Free with PNE admission; reserved seats available.

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Music

TIP SHEET

c BURNA BOY (August 17 at the Vogue) This summer hasn’t exactly been a scorcher— unless you’re the kind of person who finds 21 degrees Celsius unbearable. That’s reason enough to head to the Vogue where Nigeria’s Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu promises to bring the heat with tracks like “Ye”. c KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD (August 17 at the Harbour Event Centre) Some acts—hello, Guns N’ Roses— take decades to make a record.

In a good year King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard will crank out five full-lengths. Whatever you’re doing, you’re not working as hard as Stu Mackenzie. c “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC (August 19 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre) Here’s an indisputable fact—for no other reason than the line “Grab yourself an egg and beat it”—Yankovic’s “Eat It” is every bit as great as Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23 SMOKEY ROBINSON American soul legend performs as part of the Summer Night Concert series. Aug 23, 8:30 pm, PNE Amphitheatre. Free with PNE admission; reserved seats available.

CAFE TACVBA Alt-rock band from Ciudad Satélite, Mexico. Aug 23, Vogue Theatre. $42.50.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 24 CALEXICO AND IRON & WINE Double bill of Americana and indie-folk acts from the States. Aug 24, 7 pm, Vogue Theatre.

SONNY LANDRETH Slide-guitar virtuoso from Louisiana, with local guest Robert Connelly Farr. Aug 24, 7:30 pm, Rio Theatre. $36.

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR Canadian experimental-music collective. Aug 24, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $35.

MUSIC LISTINGSare a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

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Battered Women's Support Services provides free daytime & evening support groups (Drop-ins & 10 week groups) for women abused by their intimate partner. Groups provide emotional support, legal information & advocacy, safety planning, and referrals.

For more information please call: 604-687-1867 BC Balance & Dizziness provides information & support for persons with balance, dizziness & vestibular disorders.

Bi Monthly info meetings @ St. Paul's Hospital.

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The Crisis Centre in Vancouver can help you cope more effectively with stressful situations.

604-872-3311 Drug & Alcohol Problems?

Free advanced information and help on how quit drinking & using drugs. For more information call Barry Bjornson @ 604-836-7568 or email me @livinghumility@live.com Fertility Support Group Discover new perspectives make positive changes and learn simple tools to take charge of your reproductive wellness while connecting with other women.

The meetings provide a space for open discussion.

2nd Tuesday of each month 7:45 - 8:45pm (Sign up required) Reg & Info call: 604-266-6470 or www.familypassages.ca Genital Herpes Support Group for Women Are you living with Genital Herpes in Vancouver?

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Notices

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On July 26, 2019 between 6pm and 7pm, on Pacific blvd eastbound near Davie Street, a black commercial cargo van cut off a white scooter, caused an accident and left the scene. If you witnessed this hit-and-run accident, please call

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SAVAGE LOVE

What to do about that shrinking feeling

by Dan Savage

b I’M AN OTHERWISE healthy male of 54. When I was a teen, my cock measured about six-and-a-half inches. Not small, not huge, pretty average. I never kept track of the situation down south, but suddenly I find my junk reports in just over four inches. WTF? Is this normal? Do men lose size/girth as they age? I’m only 54! How much more do I have to lose before 60? And beyond?

I’m single now and suddenly I’m afraid to be intimate with women I formerly would have embraced without a second thought out of embarrassment.

My confidence is at an all-time low.

I’m actually afraid to ask anyone out for fear of “exposing” the evidence. I assume there are no pills for this, but please tell me there are options.

- Shrinking In Seattle

“We have to

make a distinction between observed penile length and actual penile length,” said Dr. Ashley Winter, a board-certified urologist in Portland, Oregon. “Penis length changes in real time based on a number of factors, factors that include level of arousal, stress, and ambient temperature. For this reason, researchers like to limit variability by measuring the ‘stretched flaccid length’ in a warm room.”

Needless to say, most men aren’t observing—much less measuring— their dicks when they’re soft.

“We know that almost zero home dick measurements are done in the flaccid state,” said Winter. “But unless SIS jotted down the room temp or precise level of arousal when he measured his teenage penis, it’s unlikely he’s comparing apples to apples. Another issue—and a far less appreciated one—is that the penis is anchored to the undersurface of your

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pelvic bones, so nearly one-half of the average penis length is ‘hidden’ along the undersurface of the pelvis.”

There’s a very special tendon—the suspensory ligament—that runs from the base of your penis to your pelvis.

In addition to providing you with some degree of control when you’re erect, SIS, the suspensory ligament also holds some of your dick up and inside the body. Men who want their cocks to look larger when they’re soft and who don’t mind if their hard cocks are harder to control or flop around during intercourse will sometimes have this suspensory ligament cut, which causes the penis to “drop”.

Their cocks aren’t as useful for sex, it’s true, but there’s more “observable” cock for other men to admire in locker rooms and at urinals.

“The most dramatic cause of lost ‘observed’ penile length with aging is weight gain,” said Winter. “As the average guy gains weight, more of his fi xed penile length gets hidden as the crucial sit-bone-to-skin distance gets longer.”

So your dick may not be any smaller than it was in your teens, SIS; it’s just that more of it may be hidden inside your now middle-aged body, thanks to weight gain and that damn ligament.

But, hey, let’s say you’re no thicker today than you were in your teens and that your arousal levels are constant and that you’ve kept your apartment at a constant temperature over the decades. Could something be causing your cock to actually shrink?

“The main causes of actual penis shrinkage are having your prostate removed, Peyronie’s disease (plaque development that narrows or bends the penis), or the scarring of erectile

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tissue, something called corporal fibrosis. SIS would know if he’d had prostate surgery, and he would have a noticeable ‘lump’ or change in erection shape if he had Peyronie’s. So the main concern here is corporal fibrosis. It can be insidious and is usually associated with conditions that make blood vessels unhealthy—like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. SIS says he’s healthy, but the penis is often the first body part to manifest signs of the above conditions because it is so dynamic. Which means the penis, wonderfully and tragically, is often the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for cardiovascular health.”

Let’s say your canary is shrinking, SIS. What can you do about it?

“First and foremost, he should realize that far less women would care about his penis length than he does,” said Winter. “Studies including 52,000 individuals showed that 85 percent of women were satisfied with their partners’ penile length, while only 55 percent of men were satisfied with their own length.”

And unlike you, SIS, the women you sleep with today aren’t going to be comparing the dick you’ve got now with the dick you had (or thought you had) then.

“But if SIS wants to maximize his ‘observed’ penile length, he should shed extra weight—if he’s overweight—and should also check in with his doc for a test of his cholesterol, blood pressure, and a diabetes screen,” said Winter. “Regular erections do help keep the penis healthy, so if he has some ED, a Viagra (or similar med) can preserve length.”

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quotable studies on that one, but I have a few thoughts. First off, this may have nothing to do with age and everything to do with his position.

Contraction of the muscles in the pelvis, thighs (even calves!), and the muscles at the base of the penis (or clitoris) can contribute to strength of erection and intensity of orgasm, and certain positions may allow more effective muscle ‘recruitment’. So differences in position or stance during partnered versus masturbatory activities may hold clues for MSFS.” Another possible explanation— and another definite “Yahtzee!”— is that you’re ever so suddenly multiorgasmic.

“While it is more common for women to be multiorgasmic, there are men who can do this too,” said Winter. “Longer duration of arousal—common with porn-watching— and certain medications that prevent prolactin surge in the brain, and strong Kegels (those muscles again!) may lead to the ‘condensed multiorgasm’, a phenomenon that may fit the description MSFS is providing.”

But finally, and again, MSFS, so long as those powerful, long-lasting, all-body orgasms aren’t diminishing your quality of life, they’re nothing to worry about. Enjoy!

Follow Dr. Ashley Winter on Twitter @AshleyGWinter. Winter cohosts The Full Release (thefull releasepod.com), a terrific, funny, and informative sex and relationship advice podcast, with comedian Mo Mandel. g

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normalcy in sexual function is hammered into us from the start—but it’s pejorative and irrelevant,” said Winter. “As a physician, the relevant question here is: ‘Does MSFS find this distressing or harmful?’ It doesn’t sound like five-minute total-body masturbation-induced orgasms are painful for MSFS, nor are they interfering with his day-to-day quality of life. So, by definition, they are ‘nothing to worry about’. Furthermore, they are not the harbinger of any dangerous medical condition. As you like to say, Dan, this is more of a ‘Yahtzee!’ than a problem.”

Anecdotal evidence—my own, a huge pile of it, gathered over the years—indicates that you’re something of an outlier, MSFS; most of the older men I hear from with questions about their orgasms are concerned about their slow and steady deterioration, MSFS, not their sudden improvement. (Erections are harder to get; their orgasms are less intense; and their jizz is less abundant.)

But even if this isn’t a problem— even if this is a Yahtzee!—what might be going on?

“That’s the far more interesting b I AM 66 years old and a gay man. Af- question: why is this happening?” ter a very promiscuous youth, I have said Winter. “I don’t have a lot of

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THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 19

DEAD BROKE

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20 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT AUGUST 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 22 / 2019