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CONTENTS

University of British Columbia. Carol Nixon photo.

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COMMENTARY

The National Energy Board approved a pipeline without considering the impact of marine transport of diluted bitumen on endangered orcas. Why did the Trudeau cabinet endorse the NEB’s findings?

10

NEWS

Provincial legislation regulates third-party civic-election advertising beginning on September 22, but it’s a free-for-all until then. > BY CARLITO PABLO

19

COVER

In our guide to this year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival, we look at funny, fearless women, magicians who are not up to their usual tricks, and strong early reviews from Victoria.

Crib, twin and double sizes only. Aug 15 - Sep 15

17 31 14 30 30 31 40 39 35 9 43 18 6 16

Books The Bottle Cannabis Confessions Food I Saw You Movie Notes Movie Reviews Pop Eye Real Estate Savage Love Straight Stars Straight Talk Technology

TIME OUT

33

MUSIC

Compiling Phases, a collection of demos and outtakes, convinced singer-songwriter Angel Olson that flying solo is often the best plan.

29 Arts 37 Music

> BY ALE X ANDER VART Y

41

COVER PHOTO

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4 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

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SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 5

straight talk

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Vancouver park commissioner Erin Shum doesn’t deny that she earlier rejoined her old party, the NonPartisan Association (NPA).

But she has an explanation for why she decided later to run as an independent candidate for city council.

As many may recall, Shum bolted from the NPA in December 2016 after accusing her NPA commissioner colleagues on the park board of bullying her, then sat as an independent.

According to Shum, when businessman Ken Sim received the NPA’s mayoral nomination in June this year, she assumed that things were going to become better in the municipal party.

“I thought, ‘Okay, this might be somebody I could work with in growing the tent,’ ” Shum told the Straight in a phone interview on September 4.

However, Shum said she soon discovered that the party wasn’t interested in an inclusive, or “big tent”, approach to politics.

For this, she blames NPA president Gregory Baker.

“Under Greg Baker’s leadership, I was pushed out and wasn’t part of it, and this kind of shows what he was with Wai Young and what he did to Hector [Bremner] and everybody else,” Shum said.

Young and Bremner originally intended to seek the NPA mayoral endorsement, but they left to pursue their own plans with their new respective parties.

As for the “everybody else”, Shum mentioned the following people who wanted to become NPA candidates: former diplomat Rob McDowell, former Musqueam council member Wade Grant, former federal Liberal candidate Ken Low, and housing advocate Adrian Crook.

Like Shum, McDowell, Grant, and Crook are running for council as independents. Low is reportedly now with Vancouver First.

“I just want to make sure, you know, if I’m going to be a part of a team that’s growing the tent, but it didn’t seem like that. It wasn’t the case,” Shum said.

In July this year, Baker told the Straight that Shum had returned to the NPA and the party had accepted her membership. Shum announced on August 29 that she would be running as an independent candidate for council.

In a new interview, Baker said the NPA didn’t expect Shum’s move, as she had recently rejoined the party.

though the site itself is “comparatively narrow and deep”, with a total site area of 30,576 square feet.

McDonald’s provided evidence of three property sales, including two in the area for the time covered by the assessment, at $233 and $245 per square foot. Then it concluded that after adjusting for zoning, these sales were for $126 and $132 per square foot.

The assessor provided data on four land sales, tying his analysis to the “highest and best use” of the site. > CHARLIE SMITH

Council candidate Erin Shum says she’s been “pushed out” of the NPA. “I respect Erin, and, you know, she’s decided to go down this path,” Baker told the Straight by phone.

As for reaching out to Shum, Baker said he has no intention of doing so.

“Frankly, we’re just very busy running our own campaign and getting our candidates out in front to the public,” Baker said. > CARLITO PABLO

MCDONALD’S FAILS IN BID TO PAY LOWER TAXES

The Property Assessment Appeal Board has rejected an attempt by a fast-food chain to overturn a decision by a review panel. Had McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada been successful, it would have resulted in significantly lower property taxes at its fast-food outlet at 8191 Alderbridge Way. McDonald’s cited an assessment

by Colliers International that the actual value of the property and restaurant building was approximately $3.8 million. The assessor argued that the land and building were worth about $7.5 million.

“I prefer the evidence of the Assessor and find the actual value of the subject property to be $7,531,300, with $7,491,000 allocated to land and $40,300 to building,” the chair of the panel, Allan Beatty, concluded in his ruling last month.

A Property Assessment Review Panel had earlier confirmed a 2017 assessment at more than $6.5 million, which is what prompted the company’s appeal.

Beatty’s ruling reiterated the findings of these earlier decisions, imposing the same assessment.

The decision noted that the site is near the Lansdowne Shopping Centre at a corner location with exposure to three streets, including the major commercial artery of Alderbridge Way. There are three access points into the parking lot,

NEW WEST HOSTS THIS YEAR’S RECOVERY DAY

The seventh annual Recovery Day celebration is going to be bigger than ever, with a live concert by Matthew Good and shows by Royal City Wrestling. That’s in addition to a TEDxstyle speaker stage, a free kids’ zone, a sharing and healing circle, a memorial site, venders, and food trucks.

It takes place from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday (September 8) along 6th Street in the Uptown area of New Westminster.

Organized by the Recovery Day Vancouver Society, it began in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and has since spread to many other Canadian cities. The president, Giuseppe Ganci, is the director of community development at the New Westminster–based Last Door Recovery Society; the vice president, Lorinda Strang, is executive director of Orchard Recovery Center on Bowen Island.

Earlier this year, the cofounder of Last Door, Louise Cooksey, told the Straight that New Westminster is an ideal location because the city has been extremely supportive of the recovery movement. The goal of Recovery Day is to eradicate the stigma around addiction and generate awareness about recovery, as well as to celebrate people’s success in freeing themselves from drugs and alcohol.

“I think one of the biggest overlooked resources we have in our fight against these overdoses and addiction is people with lived experience that are successfully clean,” Cooksey said. “You don’t hear from them very often.”

Anyone who’s willing to share their story of overcoming addiction and mental illness in a 15-minute presentation is being invited to apply to be a speaker at Recovery Day. For more information, visit recoverydaybc.ca/. > CHARLIE SMITH

The Georgia Straight | Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly | Volume 52 Number 2643 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 www.straight.com Phone: 604-730-7000 / Fax: 604-730-7010 / e-mail: gs.info@straight.com Display Advertising: 604-730-7020 / Fax: 604-730-7012 / e-mail: sales@straight.com Classifieds: 604-730-7060 / e-mail: classads@straight.com Subscriptions: 604-730-7000 Distribution: 604-730-7087 EDITOR + PUBLISHER Dan McLeod ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Yolanda Stepien GENERAL MANAGER Matt McLeod EDITOR Charlie Smith PRODUCT DIRECTOR

Chet Woodside

SECTION EDITORS

Janet Smith (Arts/Fashion) Mike Usinger (Music) Steve Newton (Time Out) Adrian Mack (Movies) Brian Lynch (Books)

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STAFF WRITERS

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

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

Alex Hudson, Kurtis Kolt, Robin Laurence (Visual Arts), Mark Leiren-Young, John Lekich, Amy Lu, Bob Mackin, Michael Mann, Rose Marcus, Beth McArthur, Verne McDonald, Allan MacInnis, Guy MacPherson, Tony Montague, Kathleen Oliver, Ben Parfitt, Vivian Pencz, Bill Richardson, Gurpreet Singh, Jacqueline Turner, Andrea Warner, Jessica Werb, Stephen Wong, Alan Woo CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Alfonso Arnold, Rebecca Blissett, Trevor Brady, Louise Christie, Emily Cooper, Randall Cosco, Krystian Guevara, Evaan Kheraj, Kris Krug, Tracey Kusiewicz, Kevin Langdale, Shayne Letain, Matt Mignanelli, Mark “Atomos” Pilon, Carlo Ricci, William Ting, Alex Waterhouse-Hayward LEAD WEB DEVELOPER Jeffrey Li WEB ADMINISTRATOR Miles Keir

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6 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

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Ottawa must wake up to our love for orcas

T

he national media in Canada just don’t get it. Nor do the prime minister and most of his cabinet.

British Columbians care passionately about their most iconic species, the southern resident orcas.

There are only 75 of them left in three separate pods in the transboundary waters of Juan de Fuca Strait, Puget Sound, and the Strait of Georgia. The last one was born in 2015.

But these animals were given short shrift in the National Energy Board’s review of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, according to an August 30 Federal Court of Appeal ruling that quashed the project.

The three judges concluded that the country’s energy regulator did not assess the effects of the marine transportation of diluted bitumen coming through the pipeline.

In particular, the NEB didn’t consider Section 79 of the Species at Risk Act as it might apply to this population of endangered orcas in connection with an almost sevenfold increase in tanker traffic.

Back in 2014, the NEB recognized that problems might result from a sharp increase in oil-tanker traffic in the Salish Sea, where these creatures reside.

“The board acknowledges that the increase in marine vessels associated with the project would further contribute to the cumulative effects that are already jeopardizing the recovery of the southern resident killer whale,” the NEB stated. “The effects associated with project-related marine vessels will impact numerous individuals of the southern resident killer whale population in a habitat identified as critical for recovery and classified the effects as high magnitude.”

The NEB also found that “the operation of project-related marine vessels is likely to result in significant adverse effects to the southern resident killer whales”.

Future generations may never see this near Vancouver if southern resident orcas go extinct. Jon McCormack/Getty Images.

In 2016 Georgia Straight contribuThe orca is emblazoned on Vantor and orca lover Mark Leiren-Young couver Canucks jerseys. The first one cited these quotes at a town-hall meet- captured in the waters off B.C. was a ing in Victoria hosted by the NEB southern resident named Moby Doll. reviewers. And he said that the NEB And Leiren-Young declared at the was, in effect, acknowledging the meeting that no one who studies these pipeline was gocreatures believes ing to lead to the they can survive extinction of this “significant adgroup of whales. verse effects”.

Charlie Smith But when it Ergo, the apcame time to evaluate the company’s proval of the pipeline, in his opinion, is application, the NEB didn’t factor akin to a death sentence for a species of this into its decision-making. enormous intelligence.

Nor did the NEB consider potenThat was a year after Justin Trutially rising greenhouse-gas emis- deau, then leader of Parliament’s sions as a result of increased pro- third-largest party, told another B.C. duction of diluted bitumen. environmentalist, Kai Nagata, that he This wasn’t a problem for the would redo the approval process for Trudeau cabinet when it gave the the Kinder Morgan pipeline. green light to the project.

Trudeau never followed through on As Leiren-Young pointed out, the this promise, which was recorded southern resident orcas permeate the on video and posted on YouTube. consciousness of British Columbians.

Instead, he kept the old process

Commentary

designed by the Stephen Harper government. Then he tried to defend it as legitimate when the Trudeau cabinet approved the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion in 2016.

Earlier this year in a column on Straight.com, Vancouver environmentalist David Suzuki wrote that the three biggest threats to the recovery of southern resident orcas are “underwater noise and disturbance, contaminants, and a reduction in the whales’ favourite prey, chinook salmon”.

“Research indicates a 24 to 50 percent risk of southern resident orca extinction this century if conditions don’t change,” Suzuki noted.

“It’s a colossal failure of policy and will that finds Canada’s wildlife in such dire circumstances. The extinction of these whales, and many other endangered species in Canada, is a preventable tragedy.”

In the face of all this, the national

media served up more pablum from Finance Minister Bill Morneau about the wisdom of his government’s decision to spend almost $14 billion buying the existing Trans Mountain system and completing an expansion that’s been ruled offside by the courts.

Massive coverage was devoted to Alberta premier Rachel Notley pulling out of the national climate plan. There was no mention that she did this just after B.C. eclipsed last year’s record for hectares burned by wildfires, which are being fuelled by climate change.

Notley’s action is not considered a scandal by the national media, notwithstanding the fact that within a decade, the Earth’s average temperature is on track to be 1.5 ° C higher than the period before the Industrial Revolution. That’s a recipe for more wildfires, more f loods, more hurricanes, and more climate-related loss of life.

Elite media commentators in Central Canada expect British Columbians to sit by idly and watch their orcas disappear and even more of their renewable natural resource—lush forests—vanish as a result of Big Oil’s insatiable greed to peddle more of its filthy, nonrenewable resource.

As more B.C. forests burn, more carbon is released into the atmosphere, accelerating climate change.

That, of course, leads to more destructive flooding, like we saw earlier this year in the Okanagan and the city of Grand Forks.

The Trudeau government’s reaction to the climate crisis, its support for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project, and the potential disappearance of southern resident orcas are akin to what you might read in a Kurt Vonnegut novel.

It’s sheer lunacy.

Thankfully, three Federal Court of Appeal justices cut through all of this nonsense after weighing all the evidence. -

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HOUSING

Sylvester advances her housing solutions

A

n independent mayoral candidate has unveiled a six-pronged approach in response to Vancouver’s shortage and high cost of housing. The first plank in Shauna Sylvester’s platform is to map all community assets—including land, community centres, schools, and neighbourhood houses—to “consider how they can be mobilized� to help address the housing crisis.

Sylvester, an SFU professor of public practice, has pledged to immediately direct the $2 billion in the city’s affordable-housing fund to the community-housing sector to provide purpose-built rental accommodation. “I will use my networks and 30 years of working with federal and Mayoral candidate Shauna Sylvester provincial governments to leverage promises prompt action if she wins. their support, as well as other assets like pension funds or partnerships accomplish this is by allowing “genwith faith communities, philan- tle densification� on homeowners’ thropic entities, or financial institu- single-family lots, perhaps by addtions to build the housing we need,� ing three to four storeys that still reshe said in a speech unveiling her spect the neighbourhood’s character proposals. and retain the tree Sylvester has canopy. She mainalso pledged to tained that those make the city the homeowners who Charlie Smith North American do this to add hous“capital� of co-ops and cohousing. She ing would see their permit applicapointed out that these models “nur- tions fast-tracked. ture stronger, healthier communities�

However, because their properyet noted that the Connaught Hous- ties would become more valuable ing Co-op near False Creek took seven through this process, these homeyears to gain approval. owners would be required to pay a “We need to cut the red tape and community-amenity contribution provide mechanisms to encourage to the city, just as developers already more of this form of healthy com- do when they seek additional density munity housing,� she said. from city council.

One of her promises is to renew “Going forward, the city would be leases on all co-ops in her first year very transparent in laying out the rules as mayor to protect existing afford- and the rate of the CAC,� Sylvester able housing. And she has argued in insisted. “The CAC will then be dedifavour of “medium-dense� projects of cated to rental assistance or put into up to four storeys on two to three lots. an affordable-housing fund to create “Co-ops recognize the need to more affordable rental housing.� phase in redevelopment and create Vancouver already has a housing more co-op housing on their land,� authority, but Sylvester has advoshe stated. “They are experienced de- cated creating a series of “targeted� velopers who understand how to im- authorities to provide housing to plement a plan while minimizing the workers in specific sectors, such disruption on their communities.� as education, retail, services, and Sylvester also wants the city to pro- emergency response. vide land for co-ops to “mobilize their “In my first year in office, I will capital� to provide more housing. work in partnership with key emHer other proposals include ployers, unions, and community“building housing for humans at a service groups to identify opporhuman scale�. By that, she means tunities for creating viable housing providing alternatives to condo tow- authorities that ensure workers have ers and mansions on large lots. secure and affordable housing in the “We will bring families and kids city in which they work,� she said. back into neighbourhoods by making The final two planks in her room for people, not just demolishing housing platform are completand rebuilding luxury houses,� she ing community plans for different declared. “But simply adding more neighbourhoods in the city and fastsupply is not going to bring the af- tracking “smarter, faster decisions fordability we need. to lower housing costs and get roofs “We cannot upzone the entire city over people’s heads�. without also providing an afford“For example, we will get rid of ability mechanism,� she continued. minimum parking requirements “By doing so, we just make single- and look at a set criteria that enables family homeowners wealthier. We car-sharing, electric-vehicle charneed to capture some of that wealth ging within urban buildings and and redirect it to affordability.� on the street, and expanded cycling In Sylvester’s view, one way to storage,� Sylvester said. -

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NEWS

Until September 22, organizations like Vancouverites for Affordable Housing can spend unlimited amounts of money supporting their preferred candidates.

Window open wide for third-party messages > B Y C A RLITO PABLO

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10 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

A

group called Vancouverites for Affordable Housing has rented billboards to promote a candidate for mayor. “Fix Housing Now,� the displays proclaim.

If that call sounds familiar, it shouldn’t be surprising, given who is being endorsed in the signs. It’s Hector Bremner, a city councillor who is running for mayor with the slogan “Let’s Fix Housing.�

Other groups may want to follow suit and get every billboard they can in the city, or conduct other forms of advertising as well for Bremner or other candidates in the October 20 municipal election.

They can spend all the money they want before the campaign period starts on September 22, and there is nothing to stop them.

It’s what Pete Fry of the Green Party of Vancouver described as a loophole in the legislation on local election campaign financing passed by the provincial government last year.

In December 2017, Fry told the Georgia Straight that the gap will allow big money to return and influence the election through thirdparty advertising. The same law prohibits corporate and union donations and restricts individual campaign contributions to $1,200.

In a new interview, Fry indicated that the billboard advertising for Bremner demonstrates the “slippery slope of third-party advertising�. “Obviously, if they’re doing big Pattison billboards, those aren’t cheap,� Fry told the Straight by phone on September 4.

The Local Elections Campaign Financing Act regulates third-party advertising only during the 28-day campaign period, which starts on September 22 and ends on election day, October 20. “They can spend as much money as they want right now,� Fry said. During the campaign period, third-party advertisers can spend up to $150,000.

The law also does not put a cap on contributions to these groups. British Columbians who are either Canadian citizens or permanent residents can give as much money as they want.

Fry, who is running for council with the Green Party, provided the Straight with images of two billboard ads promoting Bremner and his Yes Vancouver party. According to Fry, the group that identifies itself as Vancouverites for Affordable Housing is different from a now-defunct group that used the same name. “Who knows‌who’s behind it,â€? Fry said about the pro-Bremner group.

Fry recalled that the old group became what is now known as Housing Action for Local Taxpayers. A check with Elections B.C. showed that Vancouverites for Affordable Housing is not a registered third-party advertiser.

Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson indicated that individuals and groups can now register so they can conduct advertising during the campaign period. However, Watson explained that they are not required to register outside the campaign period. “Third-party advertising is only regulated during the campaign period,� Watson said by phone.

Tim Crowhurst, who is the secretary of Bremner’s Yes Vancouver party, said that his organization doesn’t know who is behind Vancouverites for Affordable Housing. “Your guess is as good as mine,�

Crowhurst told the Straight by phone.

According to Crowhurst, Bremner and Yes Vancouver didn’t ask for the group’s support. “Obviously, people want what Hector is saying,� he said.

Like Fry, Crowhurst considers the local election campaign financing law passed by the B.C. NDP government to be “flawed�. “And so people are taking advantage of it,� he said.

He also noted that Yes Vancouver is a brand-new organization that doesn’t have the same resources as the ruling Vision Vancouver and its main rival, the Non-Partisan Association.

Referring to the billboards, Crowhurst said: “It’s great that there is support out there for our Let’s Fix Housing program, and we’ll be announcing next week a more detailed housing strategy.�

That may yet prove what the signs claim: that Bremner and Yes Vancouver “have a real plan� for housing. -

SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 11

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JUDITH RENAUD

KIRK TOUSAW

Strategic Advisor for Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Executive Director Educators for Sensible Drug Policy

Barrister and Advocate. CEO CannaReps Tousaw Law Corporation

Barrister and Solicitor

NATASHA RAEY

EXPO!

JULIE DOMINGO

LASKA MARIA FREEMAN Founder and Host of Sex Ed with a Twist

MARK HAUK

Lawyer.

Watson Goepel LLP

Founder, Saskatchewan & National Compassion Clubs

PHILIP KWONG

DR. PHILIPPE LUCAS

PIPER COURTENAY

Founding Director, BC Independent Cannabis Association

Vice President, Patient Research & Access, Tilray

Cannabis Editor The Georgia Straight

SARAH BLYTH

SANDRA COLASANTI

SARAH LEAMON

SARAH LANE

TOM ULANOWSKI

Founding Member, Overdose Prevention Society

VP Business Development, Remo Brands

Criminal Defence Lawyer, Partner at Leamon Roudette Law Group

Plant scientist

President Nextleaf Labs Ltd Cultivating cannabis for over 20 years; Partner, Groundwork Consulting

Head of Public Relations, Sail Cannabis (MVC Technologies)

CHIEF ROBERT GLADSTONE

LIAM OSTER

REMO COLASANTI

RYAN LEE

Founder, Remo Brands

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Elected chief from SHXWHA:Y Village

TRAVIS LANE

DR. M-J MILLOY

Epidemiologist, Research Scientist, BC Centre on Substance Use

SALIMEH TABRIZI, M.Ed Founder, Cannabis Hemp Conference & Expo

WALTER SORTO

DR. ZACH WALSH

Managing Director, Sunrise Wellness Foundation

Associate Professor of Psychology, University of British Columbia

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12 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

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SCHEDULE of EVENTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Segal Centre 10:00 - 10:45 AM

THE ORIGIN STORY: A brief history of cannabis Jamie Shaw Despite the recent spike in mainstream popularity, cannabis has roots dating back thousands of years.

From spiritual worship in nomadic societies to the resourcefulness born from hemp, weed has played an integral role in many cultures. A blend of activism, tradition, economics, therapeutic application, and recreational enjoyment has brought cannabis to the forefront—but where did it all start and how did it grow into a dominating plant driving conversation today? Join renowned advocate, lobbyist, and political consultant, Jamie Shaw, as she takes guests on a guided tour through one plant’s incredible and complex history.

11:00 AM - 11:45 PM

HIGHER LEARNING: The science of cannabis Enid Chen | Adolfo Gonzalez What’s the difference between a sativa and indica? Is CBD really non-psychoactive? What are terpenes? If you’re starting your weed knowledge from scratch, or just need a refresher, this mini course if run by two of the top cannabis educators in the country. Enid and Adolfo have developed a comprehensive beginner’s guide to understanding the fundamentals of the plant, including helpful resources and tools to enhance your learning.

12:00 - 12:45 PM

MARIJUANA AND MATTERS OF MENTAL HEALTH Salimeh Tabrizi | Dr. Zach Walsh

Is the jury still out on cannabis and mental health?

While some research states that cannabis use can increase a person’s risk for mental illness, many patients struggling with depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other related conditions have found significant relief with cannabis.

A panel of industry experts help explain where this powerful plant fits into society’s ongoing conversation about mental health.

5:00 - 5:45 PM GROWTH AND RECONCILIATION: Indigenous leadership in the cannabis industry Chief Robert Gladstone As Canada’s political and cultural attitudes shift, Indigenous leaders are fighting to secure a place for their communities in the cannabis conversation.

From the traditional understandings of plant medicines to new economic opportunities, legalization affords the country’s First Nations a leadership role in defining the way we understand and approach regulation. Chief Robert Gladstone discusses why cannabis is an Indigenous issue and tells the story of one village’s journey out of prohibition.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Weedshop Series | Theatre 10:15 - 11:00 AM

THE WEEDSHOP SERIES: Joint rolling 101 Craig Ex Say goodbye to stockpiling dispensary pre-rolls or begging your nimble-fingered friends to wrap up your weed. Craig Ex of the webcast Expert Joints is here to teach you to master the tricks and technique of rolling the perfect joint.

11:15 - 12:00 PM

THE WEEDSHOP SERIES: Edibles 101 Brandon Wright What once was relegated to homemade box-mix hash brownies has transformed into a diverse array of sophisticated edibles products. For those who aren’t partial to the smokier consumption methods, edibles provide a longlasting and dose-controlled solution—a benefit that is appeals especially to medical users. Although the federal government has said the regulations on edibles will have to wait until a year after flower and oils are legalized, it hasn’t stopped pioneers from pushing forward with creating innovative and responsible products. Join Brandon Wright, the Director and CEO of Baked Edibles Inc., for a comprehensive look into the use, history, and science behind cannabis-infused edibles.

1:00 - 1:45 PM

12:15 - 1:00 PM

COUPLES AND CANNABIS: Building a support system Sandra Colasanti | Remo Colasanti

THE WEEDSHOP SERIES: Consumption tools 101 Puff

We find strength in our teammates. Whether you are a patient suffering from a medical condition or a partner supporting their healing, exploring alternative treatments can be an incredibly difficult journey. Remo and Sandra know what it means to work together through a different set of challenges: They have built one of the industry’s most respected brands, but not without the battles that come with working in the grey market. Join these two cannabis couples as they share their stories of strength, communication, and how a strong support system helped them conquer the stigma that comes with cannabis.

There is so much more to cannabis consumption than joints and gummy bears. Join a local budtender as they breakdown the basics of the cool tools you’ll find in your local head shop—bongs, dab rigs, pipes, and more. This workshop is designed to help you find your favourite consumption method—highlighting everything from usage tips to cleaning and maintenance of your glassware.

2:00 - 2:45 PM

ASK A CANNABIS LAWYER: An interactive legal panel John Conroy | Kirk Tousaw Finding it hard to keep up with the tricky details of legalization? Come ready with questions!

Two industry-defining lawyers, John Conroy and Kirk Tousaw, are here to answer your burning canna-queries and clarify the hazy misinformation surrounding the new laws and your rights as a consumer.

3:00 - 3:45 PM

GREEN AND CLEAN: An organic approach to growing weed Sarah Lane | Travis Lane

1:15 - 2:00 PM

THE WEEDSHOP SERIES: Extractions 101 Philip Kwong With the rising demand for cannabis products, technologies and methods used for extracts are becoming more and more sophisticated. Despite their popularity, however, there is still a great deal of misinformation and confusion surrounding concentrates and how they play a role in consumption. Join Philip Kwong—the founder of the extraction companies Holistek Solutions and 3 Carbon Extracts—as he explains the fundamentals of cannabis concentrates, breaks down the extraction methods, and highlights the benefits of dabbing.

2:15 - 3:00 PM

THE WEEDSHOP SERIES: Sex and Cannabis 101 Laska Maria Freeman

The organic movement has won the hearts and minds of Vancouverites when it comes to food and health products—but what about our weed? As cannabis moves into the mainstream and mass production continues to grow, the question of what goes into our weed is fresh on the minds of many consumers. Join cannabis specialists and expert growers Sarah and Travis Lane as they breakdown the science and importance behind cultivating and consuming clean, unadulterated pot.

Let’s talk about sex, baby! From enhancing sexual experiences and boosting your sex drive to managing pain and treating STDs, cannabis plays an important role in the bedroom. Laska Maria Freeman—host and founder of Sex Ed with a Twist—is accustomed to breaking through the stigma and getting right to the important information in a fun and educational way. Whether it’s about using cannabis between the sheets with a partner or exploring it for your own personal pleasure, this workshop will have you laughing, learning, and loving weed in a whole new way.

4:00 - 4:45 PM

3:15 - 4:00 PM

OUR ROOTS: Exploring Vancouver’s cannabis history For 95 years Canadians have been fighting to remove the chains surrounding cannabis. It was the perseverance and bravery of advocates from all sectors that managed to gradually shift the culture, community and attitudes toward a more inclusive society. This panel brings together some of Vancouver’s most iconic weed warriors to discuss how the city played a role in shaping the national discourse and ending prohibition.

THE WEEDSHOP SERIES: Higher Learning (This session takes place at KPU in the concourse) Want to work with weed but don’t know where to start? From budtenders and dispensary managers to consultants and analysts, the first wstep is knowledge. Join Kwantlen Polytechnic University and CanMar as they highlight the educational and career opportunities awaiting Canadians in the newly legal industry.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Segal Centre

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Theatre 10:15 - 11:00 AM

10:00 - 10:45 AM

GROW LIKE A PRO: Home cultivation for beginners Tom Ulanowski

THE POT TALK: Breaking down cannabis for kids Judith Renaud | Dr. Jenna Valleriani As cannabis moves from an illicit drug to a medicine and recreational substance, it can be difficult to communicate that shift to a child. While schools are racing to keep up with the shifting social perceptions, parents and educators need tools now. A local expert will build a framework of myths, concerns, and age-appropriate conversation topics to touch on while talking to youth.

Come October 17, British Columbians will be able to grow up to four plants in the comfort of their own home. Interested in flexing your green thumb?

Tom Ulanowski, the President of Nextleaf Labs Ltd., explains the fundamentals of indoor cultivation, from lighting and watering to nutrients and grow mediums. You’ll be growing beautiful, healthy buds of your own in no time!

11:15 AM - 12:00 PM

11:00 AM - 11:45 PM GROUNDWORKS CONSULTING: Starting your own small canna-business Courtland Sandover-Sly | Jamie Shaw | Travis Lane From the basics of filing taxes to intricacies of navigating legal landmines, the tean at Groundworks Consulting is equipped to answer all your questions about starting a cannabis business of your own.

With decades of combined knowledge, these three industry leviathans know the ins-and-outs of building a framework for success. After years spent establishing individually powerful profiles within the industry, Jamie Shaw, Travis Lane, and Courtland Sandover-Sly have combined forces to help growers, entrepreneurs, and budding businesses find their foothold in the cannabis space.

12:00 - 12:45 PM

GET IN THE GAME: The role of cannabis in sports and an active lifestyle Angelina Blessed | Dave Weale You may have heard that cannabis can help treat medical conditions, but did you know athletes also use cannabinoids, like CBD and THC, to optimize their wellness routines? While some strains and consumption methods are great for chilling out, others can actually empower your active lifestyle. Join a panel of athletes and fitness instructors to discover how they use cannabis as an anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, energy booster, and more.

1:00 - 1:45 PM DOWN TO THE DNA: Cannabis genetics 101 Ryan Lee These days cannabis connoisseurs have a virtually limitless selection of strains to choose from. How did we get here? Cannabis researcher and breeder Ryan Lee takes us on a genetics journey, from the fundamentals of hybridization to the huge scope of phenotype matter expressions we see today.

2:00 - 2:45 PM

THE OTHER POT TALK: Navigating cannabis with parents and seniors Adam Greenblat | Camille Ritchie Shifting a mindset that was raised during a staunch prohibition can be a tricky conversation - one that Hilary Black is well-accustomed to having. As the director of patient advocacy at Canopy Growth and with over two decades of advocacy under her belt, she will guide you though the steps of deconstructing myths and creating a safe place for a responsible introduction to cannabis use for parents and seniors.

3:00 - 3:45 PM

BEYOND THE WHITE NOISE: The impact of legalization on minority communities Julie Domingo | Barinder Rasode | Bella Sie | Natasha Raey Each individual has a unique relationship with cannabis—this is mirrored in the mosaic of different communities across Vancouver. Often the narrative of a white, middle-class perspective takes centre stage in the media, but rarely is it asked how various minorities experience the cultural and therapeutic impact of the plant. A handful of thought leaders from an assortment of cultural, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds come together to discuss the impact of legalization on their community.

4:00 - 4:45 PM MOVE THE MOVEMENT: A non-profit with a story to tell Mark Hauk With no place to collect or find medical success stories, Mark Hauk, the founder of The Saskatchewan Compassion Club, decided patients needed a place to come together— a support system to host a dialogue around therapeutic cannabis use. Move the Movement is a non-profit organization building a digital database of testimonials, one story at a time. Join the founders, advocates, and team leaders as they share the powerful and captivating story of one organization’s goal to tear down 95 years of stigma and shame.

A NEW ERA: Health Canada’s guide to the new cannabis regulations David Brown

After thousands of consultations and hundreds of hours dedicated to hearings, expert testimonies, and debates, the Cannabis Act received Royal Assent on June 21, 2018. This new legal framework was a major step in fulfilling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign promise to enact a public health approach to legalizing adult-use cannabis in Canada. Join David Brown, a senior Policy Advisor with Health Canada’s Cannabis Legalization & Regulation Branch, for a comprehensive presentation on the federal government’s journey to legalization and how the new regulations will shape the country come October 17.

12:15-1:00 PM

WEED BEHIND THE WHEEL: Cannabis and impaired driving Sarah Leamon | Grant Gottgetreu

As the Cannabis Act made its way through the legislative process, so did the less publicized Bill C-46, which redefined the laws surrounding impaired driving. Sarah Leamon, a trained drug recognition expert and cannabis lawyer, breaks down impairment, risks, field sobriety tests, and your legal rights when it comes to driving and consuming.

1:15-2:00 PM

MY LOCAL DISPENSARY: WHAT’S HAPPENING INSIDE YOUR LOCAL POT SHOP? Andrea Dobbs | Walter Sorto | Liam Oster | Caitlin Hurely

With new regulations going into effect on October 17, consumers are going to see several dramatic shifts across the dispensary landscape. New stores will open, neighbourhood mom-and-pops will transition from “illicit” to “legal”, and some local favourites will inevitably close their doors. With municipalities asking for public feedback, it is now more important than ever to understand how local pot shops play a role in your community. Join a panel of dispensary owners and legal experts for a peak inside the brick-and-mortar cannabis shops as they move into a new era.

2:15-3:00 PM

THE EXIT DRUG? The role of cannabis in the opioid crisis Dr. M-J Milloy | Sarah Blythe | Dr. Philippe Lucas While much of North America is mired in an opioid crisis, Vancouver is at the forefront of harm reduction efforts that are changing the way people think about addiction. In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a number of grassroots organizations have come together to offer users an alternative to hard drugs: cannabis. Local experts and advocates will come together for a thoughtful and informative discussion on how cannabis can serve as a subsitute for opioids, alcohol, and more.

3:15-4:00 PM

AN L-PEAK INSIDE: The inner workings of a licensed cannabis producer Annaliese Kibler | Audrey Wong The only cannabis set to supply the legal market come fall will come from federally authorized licensed producers (LP). The select organizations must adhere to strict guidelines on distribution, packaging, advertising, grow conditions, reporting practices, and more. Join Annaliese and Audrey for a look inside the inner workings of one of the countries leading LPs and the process legal cannabis goes through before hitting shelves in October.

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SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 13

CANNABIS

Experts reveal how to clear criminal record > BY TRAVIS L UPICK

I

n 2017, there were 13,768 people charged with marijuana possession, according to Statistics Canada. This number has been on the decline for some time. There were 17,720 charges in 2016, 21,320 the year before that, 24,535 in 2014, and 25,819 in 2013.

But even counting just the past five years, that’s still 103,000 people in Canada charged with a crime that won’t be a crime for much longer. And these charges can complicate job applications and border crossings, to name only the most obvious situations where a record check might occur.

If you’re one of these people, you might view this situation as unfair and decide it’s time to clear your record of that joint you smoked so many years ago. What’s your first step?

Kirk Tousaw, a lawyer and one of B.C.’s foremost experts on cannabis law, advised against what would be most people’s first instinct. “If you Google ‘records suspensions’ or ‘pardons in Canada’, your first 20 hits are going to be people trying to charge you an arm and a leg,� he explained. “But if you just go to the Government of Canada website that’s maintained by the Parole Board of Canada, there’s good information there.�

You’ll find clear instructions there on how to apply for a records suspension (Canada’s official term for the mechanism commonly referred to as a pardon). It’s a relatively straight- A pot conviction can leave folks feeling forward process with a fee of $631. handcuffed for life. Getty Images. “They even maintain an eligibility self-assessment tool and a video tu- Pardons Canada, similarly described torial,� Tousaw added. the process as simple but still recomAndrew Tanenbaum, director of mended that people who can afford

a lawyer pay for one to complete the process on their behalf. “Doing it on your own is kind of like doing your own taxes,� he explained. Possible but not always advisable. At Pardons Canada, assistance applying for a records suspension costs $675 (in addition to the $631 that’s paid to the government).

Although it takes money and a few months, Tanenbaum suggested that seeking a records suspension for a cannabis offence is almost always worth it. “As long as you have been out of trouble for a certain period of time, you are going to get it,� he said. “For a summary offence—a smaller offence, like a drug-possession charge—you’ve had to [have] been out of trouble for five years. If it’s a more serious offence, like a trafficking charge—that’s called an indictable offence—you’ve

had to [have] been out of trouble for 10 years.�

While a straightforward process, it comes with significant limitations, cautioned Robert Mulligan, a defence lawyer with the Victoria firm Mulligan Tam Pearson. A records suspension clears one’s convictions from the RCMP’s Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, he explained, but not from other databases, such as those maintained by the U.S. government and its border police.

In 2018, it’s likely no longer possible to entirely clear one’s digital records of past legal transgressions, Mulligan said. “In the modern world, when it is so easy to store, share, and access digital records, there may already be large database volumes that can continue to cause harm well into the future.� -

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EDUCATION

Addressing misconceptions SFU grad Ali Najaf says international students enrich Canadians’ education

CALL ME FOR EXPERT ADVICE

> BY C HA RL IE SM I TH

A

s the school year begins, approximately 20,000 international students will be attending the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Ali Najaf, a recent graduate from SFU’s Beedie School of Business, understands some of the difficulties that many newcomers will encounter.

That’s because in 2012, he hopped on a plane and travelled more than 10,000 kilometres from his home in Lahore, Pakistan, to attend university in Canada. At first, he found university life in Canada very strange.

“People were calling the professor by his first name,” Najaf recalled in an interview at the Georgia Straight office. “I never called a professor by their name. We always used Sir and Madam.”

It took him about three weeks to get used to referring to one of his instructors as Steve.

Najaf, 25, attended boarding school in Pakistan before moving to Burnaby. He had never ridden on a public bus so it was baffling when he started doing this in Metro Vancouver.

“The first time I took transit, I got lost,” he said with a laugh.

Najaf immersed himself in student life, living in residence and volunteering enormous amounts of his time to help others who had come from abroad to study at SFU. He credits SFU’s residence life coordinator, Patrick Bourke, for helping him improve his accent.

Najaf supervised a floor of 40 student residents, hosted annual cultural galas, and organized a conference for 200 students in the co-op program.

In addition, he volunteered as a career coach with the business school, offering advice on creating résumés and cover letters. And he served on the SFU senate.

“I believe life is not made by the number of days you live, but the number of lives you inspire,” Najaf said.

For his efforts, he received the Beedie Business Award for International Students and the SFU International Award for Intercultural Engagement.

Najaf spoke to the Straight because he wanted to clear up misconceptions about international students.

First off, he emphasized that they don’t all come from wealthy families.

“A lot of my friends work so hard,” he said. “They work 20 hours or 30 hours to pay their tuition fees.

It’s very expensive.”

At UBC, international students in undergraduate programs pay roughly seven times as much tuition as domestic students and permanent residents in Canada.

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For a normal undergraduate course at SFU, international students pay four times as much as their domestic counterparts.

Secondly, Najaf said that international students often don’t get involved in the community because they’re shy and they fear they’ll be rejected by others.

He maintained that international students enrich the education of Canadians in university by bringing languages, customs, art, food, and music from around the globe.

However, he advised newly arriving international students that they might be surprised by Canadians’ perceptions of their countries.

For instance, he’s encountered people who didn’t expect that someone from Pakistan could speak English. He had to tell them that he had been studying it since Grade 1 in Pakistan. He also speaks Punjabi, Urdu, and Hindi.

In addition, Najaf said that some Canadians are under the false impression that there’s a war going on all the time in Pakistan. While there may be turmoil in certain regions, life was very peaceful for him and his family in Lahore.

He also said that there are McDonald’s restaurants in his home country, which has come as a shock to some.

When asked what else he would like people to know about Pakistan, Najaf replied: “We are a country of achievers and people who sacrifice.

Pakistan is a country that has a lot of philanthropy.”

To cite one example, he noted

that the recently elected prime minister, Imran Khan, has created hospitals in Lahore and Peshawar.

The former cricket star’s mother had cancer, which led him to raise money for the first one.

“He’s inspired me a lot,” Najaf revealed. “His determination of not giving up has made me strong.”

Najaf ’s family is in the rice business back home, and he’s the first to attend university either in Pakistan or abroad.

A “prime reason” for choosing Canada was the lack of racism.

He said that he never experienced discrimination in Pakistan but he read about it in newspapers and in history books, particularly in connection with how the British ruled during colonial times in South Asia.

Since moving to Canada, he’s noticed that he faces a lot more questioning about his past if he wants to cross the border to go to the United States.

“Canada is one of the few countries that accepts people—diversity is not only accepted but celebrated,” Najaf said. “That was something that brought me here.”

He continues offering help to international students, even though he’s about to begin a fulltime job. But he’s not through with postsecondary education.

In the future, Najaf hopes to pursue a master’s degree in international relations and public policy—and that would make him the first person in his family to attend graduate school. -

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SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 15

HIGH TECH

Unbounce’s AI compiles marketing insights

I

> B Y KATE WIL SON

n 2004, Blockbuster employed 84,000 people and operated in 14 countries, renting out videos and games to millions. Six years later, after the advent of video-ondemand and streaming companies, it was forced into administration.

The story is not too dissimilar from that of camera giant Kodak. After an employee invented and patented the digital camera in 1975, the company shelved the device because execs believed that customers would never want to look at photos on a television. Too slow to switch to digital, the business filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

Both are cautionary tales of what happens when businesses fail to embrace technological innovation. It’s a mistake that Vancouver company Unbounce is not willing to make.

“This is straight out of one of my favourite books, The Innovator’s Dilemma,” Carl Schmidt, the company’s CTO, tells the Georgia Straight at Unbounce’s annual Call to Action conference. “If you don’t keep pace—if you don’t adapt your business model to changing technology—you will die. It’s that simple.

Generally your customers will be solving today’s problems, and generally you need to be investing in the problems that they’re going to face a couple of years down the line.”

For the past few years, Unbounce has chosen to focus on how artificial intelligence can be used to figure out which factors make up the most attractive pages on the Net. A business that allows companies to easily design webpages and A/B– test which variants perform best in front of customers, Unbounce has created a machine-learning system that asks computers to rate landing pages—typically, a site’s

Carl Schmidt, chief technology officer at Unbounce, says words play a major role in the performance of web pages.

homepage—on how likely users are to engage with them.

Shocking Schmidt, the machine was able to guess which webpage would perform best at a rate of 79.7 percent. Humans, meanwhile, were only right half of the time.

“The surprising thing is just how impactful words ended up being,” he says. “We were able to predict a lot of things based just on the words. That told us that words played a potentially outsized role in the performance of these pages.

We’ve said this a lot, that the other elements are clearly important, but

perhaps—and we still have to do more work here—there’s a strong signal here that copy and writing is dominant.”

Using its machine-learning algorithm, the company was able to compile a number of insights that marketers could use to target consumers. Real-estate pages, for example, perform best when written at a seventh-grade reading level, whereas college admissions websites are more likely to encourage user engagement with universitylevel copy. Language that builds a feeling of anticipation or pressure

in the home-improvement industry turns visitors off, while an excess of positive words on a website for legal services makes it seem less credible to readers.

After gathering a glut of research data, the company felt sufficiently confident about its results to release its AI into the wilds of the Internet. Over 30 Unbounce clients offered to be guinea pigs for new technology, and connect their campaigns to the company’s engine.

After a few weeks, those businesses saw a lift of around 20 percent in conversions, with one tallying a

117-percent improvement. Schmidt attributes that success to the AI’s ability to deliver the right page to the right person.

“There’s no one message which is going to work best for your entire audience,” he says. “We know that words affect us differently based on our own biases and perceptions and experiences. There’s no way that one page can be the best for all of your visitors. Right now this is patented tech, so we’re going to hold it a little close until we figure out how we’re going to product it.

Then we’ll be talking a bit more about how it does what it does.”

If the company is able to replicate those results on a wider scale, Unbounce’s AI technology could spell big changes for consumers across the Internet. Although the company has not divulged exactly how its creation will operate, machinelearning technology in the future could be able to tailor each page for an individual, creating a more personalized experience, and encouraging more sales for companies. In Schimdt’s view, AI is a win for both browsers and businesses.

“The reason AI is important is because the world is becoming pretty overwhelming,” he says.

“We’ve got f looded inboxes; we can’t keep up on our social feeds.

It’s hard to just get the information that is really relevant. I think that AI can help us as consumers ultimately deal with the information firehose better, and be a filter for us. In the end, that will give us back more time.

“AI is going to be one of those differentiator technologies,” he continues. “Same as when the Internet came along and changed a whole bunch of business models, and challenged print, challenged mail-order—all of these things. It’s that class of technology.” -

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16 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

BOOKS

Ride retraces era of long, strange trips RE VIEW THUMBING A RIDE: HITCHHIKERS, HOSTELS, AND COUNTERCULTURE IN CANADA

By Linda Mahood. UBC Press, 331 pp, hardcover

This wise, comprehensive, and

2 highly readable book will strike a chord with those of us old enough to have been personally familiar with the subject. Just as some of our fathers or even grandfathers may have ridden the rails during the Depression of the 1930s, so did we, tens of thousands of young women and young men, hitchhike back and forth across Canada in the 1960s and early 1970s. Expo 67 helped to ignite the mass desire to see the rest of Canada, while Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Hollywood “road pictures” provoked the search for greater personal freedom.

Between 1970 and 1975, 100,000 hitchhikers a year passed through Winnipeg, headed in one direction or the other. No part of the country went untouched by this grungy, manic ricocheting from place to place. Vancouver and Toronto, however, were the two most popular destinations. I made that trip three times, once doing so with the help of only two kindly drivers. Conversely, I also found myself stranded for an eternity, as many of us were, in Wawa, Ontario, the hitchhikers’ hell.

The people now known as boomers considered the hitchhiking experience a rite of passage, whereas adults back then considered it a problem that had to be either eradicated or managed.

Vancouver’s ridiculous mayor, Tom Campbell, believed that hitchhikers were “undesirables” and worse. He wanted them outlawed.

The Georgia Straight, not unreasonably, called him “fascistic”. One critic characterized Campbell’s followers as people who “feel that anyone who slings a knapsack over his back during the summer and takes off travelling is nothing more than a Commie Pinko slob”.

Outrage about Campbell led one commentator to compare his agenda to Hitler’s rounding up of the Gypsies. Toronto’s mayor was just as silly but more thoughtful, arguing that young women might be vulnerable to exploitation both on the road and in the complex system of hostels that Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government created in partnership with various foundations and charities.

The conf lict in Vancouver came to a boil on October 15, 1970, when local police and Canadian Armed Forces members ferociously attacked residents of a hostel in what was called the Battle of Jericho, in which many were injured and detained.

Linda Mahood, who teaches history at the University of Guelph, is a crackerjack researcher who has conducted many interviews and ferreted out obscure reports, hitchhiking guides, and other literature. Surprisingly, though, her rich bibliography seems to have missed the anthology of hitchhiking writings by Canadian authors such as bill bissett, George Bowering, Al Purdy, and even Margaret Atwood. It was published in 1969 and quickly sold out three printings. > GEORGE FETHERLING

SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 17

straight stars > B Y R O SE MARCUS

September 6 to 12, 2018

M

at the Telus Studio Theatre

Kealoha WED OCT 3 2018 / 7:30PM

Hawaii’s first poet laureate gives captivating slam performances that stem from his identity as a modern Indigenous citizen of the world.

C H A N C E N T R E AT U B C Tickets and info at chancentre.com

ercury has just dropped the puck in worker-bee Virgo. On Thursday, Saturn ends the retrograde and the holdup cycle it started in April.

Both transits set the stage for getting something constructive accomplished.

Early Friday, Mercury in Virgo engages Saturn and Uranus by trine. It’s an excellent work-it-out, make-it-real transit. We can get better onto task, scoop a better price or deal, or fill in the blank. Along with a sun/Neptune opposition, Friday sets an optimal backdrop for creative endeavour, commerce, money matters, connecting, and manifesting. It’s also good for sorting out fact from fiction or wishful thinking.

Turning a corner on Saturday, Venus and Mars now launch a critical next phase regarding relationships, social politics, money matters, survival of the fittest, and the shaping of a new reality.

Venus enters Scorpio on Sunday, accompanied by a new moon in Virgo.

Venus is very powerful in the sign of the hidden mysteries. Venus can be a destructive and undermining force or it can be utterly transforming and regenerating. Turning retrograde next month in Scorpio, there will be no skirting around the karmic necessity.

Entering Aquarius late Monday night, Mars will now pick up the slack from that which was introduced or ignited last May. With both planets forcing the issues, expect the next couple of months to be defining. Venus in Scorpio correlates to the business of oil and to addictions of all kinds; Mars in Aquarius correlates to fracking but also to new energy, new technology, and a new social world order. There is absolutely no reason to keep undermining the survival of life on the planet.

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18 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2018

ARIES

March 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;April 19

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t waste your timeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;use it, instead. Now through Saturday, apply yourself, take your best shot, seize opportunity. Great gains are for the making. Venus in Scorpio, starting Sunday, and Mars into Aquarius, starting late Monday, launch a pivotal, even life-altering, couple of months regarding your money and material status, a key relationship, and lifestyle reinvention. Tuesday/Wednesday, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power-play time.

TAURUS

GEMINI

April 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;May 20

Fresh at it in Virgo, Mercury is your ally, especially through Saturday. Saturn direct is too, starting Thursday. You should make excellent progress with paperwork, talks, studies, organization, and fixit projects. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also find you get more value out of your dealings with advisers, agents, trainers, or health practitioners. Venus and Mars set a key relationship or a lifestyle change onto a faster forward.

May 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;June 21

Through Friday, Mercury loans you a great knack for timing it and picking it right. Mars in Aquarius, starting late next Monday, bolsters confidence and can-do.

Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a natural progression or a push come to shove, Venus in Scorpio submerges you deeper into a process, search, learning curve, and revamped reality. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hesitate to change your job, schedule, or health regimen.

CANCER

June 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;July 22

LEO

July 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;August 22

The end of Saturn retrograde sets you up to make better progress. Friday, it all clicks into place readily and well. No effort needs to be applied, although if any is required, it is to avoid getting overly swept up.

Leaving no stone unturned, Venus and Mars hit go on what will be a pivotal couple of months for innerand outer-life reinvention.

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

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

Mercury, freshly into Virgo, keeps you and the action clipping right along, Potentials are shaping up, especially Friday. Hope and inspiration can be too. Despite whatever uncertainty sun/Neptune may tap, you should feel like things are shaping up for you. If it disintegrates, it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t meant to be. Move on. Sunday begins a good 10-day run. Wednesday could see you on a breakthrough.

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

You are likely to feel a stronger sense of fate or of destiny in play. Ceres, freshly into Libra, Chiron in Aries, Saturn out of retrograde, and both Venus and Mars on the forward thrust set up your karmic springboard.

Every day over the next week holds major sway and swagger. Monday through Wednesday are optimal for taking your best shot.

October 23â&#x20AC;&#x201C;November 21

Hitting peak on Friday, a grand trine between Mercury, Saturn, and Uranus makes for an auspicious time to sign it, say it, or launch it. Sun/ Neptune tops it up or fills in blanks.

Venus in Scorpio, starting Sunday, powers up your ability to attract and to act. Mars in Aquarius, starting Tuesday, sets you on a fast-track date with destiny.

November 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;December 21

Mercury in Virgo is in excellent shape with Saturn and Uranus as back-to-work week one finishes out.

You should feel that you are getting in front of it well. Venus into Scorpio enriches potentials and prospects. The transit takes you into deeper emotional waters, too. Never a dull moment, Mars into Aquarius keeps your sharpershooter instincts running at full capacity, especially Tuesday/Wednesday.

December 21â&#x20AC;&#x201C;January 19

The time is right; the time is now. The end of Saturn retrograde on Thursday is excellent for hitting go.

Engaged in a grand trine with Mercury and Uranus, Friday is auspicious; take the initiative and start the talk, negotiation, paperwork, study, or search.

Venus in Scorpio and Mars in Aquarius support your power play. Tuesday/ Wednesday, take your best shot.

January 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;February 18

Thursday/Friday sets you onto a major improvement curve.

A better deal, solution, or avenue can be easily found. No matter how things shape up, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll feel/see it is working out for the best. Sunday onward, Venus into Scorpio and Mars into Aquarius strike flint on a significant personal and professional next chapter. Tuesday/ Wednesday, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll hit full steam ahead.

February 18â&#x20AC;&#x201C;March 20

Even the tough stuff comes easily Thursday/Friday. Let the moment be your guide. Saturday/Sunday is also smooth going. Venus in Scorpio, starting Sunday, is one of your best transits for matters of heart or financial gain. Mars in Aquarius also juices up potentials. Sunday through Wednesday, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no stopping whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s already in motion. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all systems go. -

Friday is a good day to pick up the phone. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a good day to sign a contract, apply for the job, or file the paperwork. Next Tuesday, enlist cooperation, get on their good side, put ambition into play. Wednesday can see you on a breakthrough or a sudden fast track. Venus in Scorpio, an attraction and juice-up tran- Book a reading or sign up for Roseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free monthly newsletter at rosemarcus.com/. sit, loans you better sway.

Vancouver

fringe festival

Diana Bang, Katie-Ellen Humphries, Fatima Dhowre, and Morgan Brayton form The Lady Show (Maggie MacPherson photo); below left, Lip Service’s Ashley Whitehead and Natalie Tin Yin Gan.

When feminism meets funny

and sketch artist. Fatima Dhowre is a standup comic. And Katie-Ellen Humphries is a standup comic with a background in theatre and cabaret.

Of the four, only Dhowre is making her At this year’s Fringe Festival, women’s comedy goes Fringe debut. “That’s a beyond bawdy, making sex and sexism a laughing matter hard no,” she tells the Straight with a laugh, It’s a hot and smoky Monday night in Van- when asked if she has any experience with somecouver, bare skin sticking to every surface inside thing like this. “But I’m excited to do a Fringe show B Y ANDREA WARN ER the Kino Cafe on Cambie Street, lungs choked with women I love doing comedy with, and espeas B.C. burns. Even though we’re technically cially a show that I love doing.” indoors, the restaurant’s large windows are all A typical Lady Show consists of two 45-minute open, so there’s little respite. Thankfully, this halves, one 15-minute intermission, and at least is a fundraiser for The Lady Show’s Fringe Fest a few special guests. There are usually sketches, debut, and everyone knows that feminist com- skits, and standup sets, and a somewhat elaborate edians are experts at making us laugh even opening number. while the world is on fire. Especially when the “The thing about The Lady Show is that all four world is on fire. of us bring something really different, so it’s greatThe Lady Show has been a semiregular com- er than the sum of its parts,” Brayton says. edy event in Vancouver only for the last few The condensed, Fringe Fest version of the proyears, but the core performers have between 10 duction—“a squeezed diamond of a Lady Show”, and 20 years’ experience each in their various Brayton says—is just 60 minutes long, but it fits in disciplines. Diana Bang is an actor, sketch artist, perfectly with what has emerged as the unofficial writer, and filmmaker. Morgan Brayton is an actor theme of 2018, at the Fringe and beyond: smart,

THINGS TO DO

funny feminist comedy is taking over the world.

There’s the Nanette effect, of course—Hannah Gadsby’s recent Netflix comedy special has been credited frequently with changing the face of comedy, and began as a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe. All four Lady Show members exchange glances and laugh at the mention of Nanette. Brayton and Bang have actually written a new sketch together to touch on the hyperbolic enthusiasm Gadsby has generated.

“It’s a great show, it’s an amazing show,” Brayton says. “In no way, shape, or form do I want to disparage that show. And also, there is a lot of great, provocative, moving, captivating comedy being done by women, by all kinds of people, and often people’s ideas of what comedy is are very narrow.

It’s a beautiful show, but it wasn’t the most revolutionary show I’ve ever seen. Diana and I love it, and also, we’re like, ‘Go see some other comedy.’ ” “It’s revolutionary maybe for the mainstream, but if you go to any other alternativecomedy rooms, I think you’ll see all sorts of things,” Bang says. “I want to reiterate that the definition of what comedy is can sometimes be very narrow, and it encompasses so much more.

I feel that way about sketch comedy. A lot of people think it’s just SNL, and no, it can be so much more than that.” see page 24

ARTS High five

Editor’s choice CATCH THE FEVER We’ve said this before: “The Fringe circuit exists so that we can see artists like Martin Dockery.” Now the widetravelling, full-body storyteller extraordinaire who’s brought you shows like Wanderlust and The Bike Trip is, according to Toronto’s NOW Magazine, about to present “his most personal and universal tale yet”. Delirium flits from subjects as diverse as Burning Man and his grandfather’s butterfly book to the death of a beloved dog—stories only this Brooklyn-based monologuist could weave together into a meditation on mortality, all with humour and harrowing moments. Martin Dockery: Delirium is at the Waterfront Theatre from September 7 to 10 and September 13 and 15 at the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Five acts to catch at the Phillips Fringe Bar at Ocean Art Works

1

LEISURE CLUB (8 p.m. on September 6) Google the band’s “Still Young” video for a popjangly, blissed-out look at the end of summer.

2

HARLEQUIN GOLD (8 p.m. on September 9) The indie-pop duo melts voices together the way only real-life sisters can.

3

THE SUMNER BROTHERS (9 p.m. on September 9) Local country-roots rockers bring the best possible twang.

4

FIRST ANNUAL FRINGE FESTIVAL CEILIDH (8 p.m. on September 10) Wear your kilt to learn traditional Scottish social dances to the sounds of a live band.

5

KITTY AND THE ROOSTER (8 p.m. on September 14) Rubber cat and rooster masks are the draw; retro-rockin’ country-fried beats will keep you dancing.

What’s new

NO MORE SPREADSHEETS Sign into Fringe-O-Matic to organize your schedule. Rate the shows you’re most interested in and sync it up with your Google calendar; the new high-tech tool will actually generate a personalized schedule for you. It all started as a website designed by avid Orlando Fringe audience member Lewis Johnston, who came up with it for his own show-juggling.

You can get it free via fringeomatic.com/, and use it to learn more about plays, plus find maps and the quickest mode of transportation to get to your venue. SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 19

Studio 16

False Creek Gym

Studio 1398

Ten Tips for a Collapsed Uterus

Baba Yaga and the Black Flower

Redemption

8 6 - 16

Every show at the Fringe Festival is selected by lottery or on a first come, first served basis.

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a sampling of what you can expect at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Festival.

For a full list of dates and times, pick up a program guide at Blenz Coffee locations or at VancouverFringe.com! Tickets for these, and all shows in the Festival, are available at VancouverFringe.com.

Low Vision Friendly d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Friendly The Vancity Culture Lab

The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant Midtwenties Theatre Society Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Rainer Werner Fassbinder mtstheatre.com

Poetic / Intellectual / Intimate / Multicultural / LGBTQ+ / 14+ Set in modern Germany, an arrogant, female fashion designer falls in love with a beautiful but cold ingĂŠnue who wants to be a model.

Themes of narcissism, intimacy, and obsession are explored in beautiful melodramatic fashion in this stage production of one of the most beloved films of New German Cinema auteur, Rainier Werner Fassbinder. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A fascinating rococo experiment in power.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Hilton Als, The New Yorker Magazine

Coming of Age Productions Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Colleen Brow

Funny / Intimate 14+ Swingers parties, obituaries, sex, Gwyneth Paltrow (damn her), and more. Writer and humourist, Colleen Brow, explores the trappings of aging through a comedic, bifocal lens; offering up handy tips and midlife musings as thick as an errant chin hair. Irreverence with a smidgen of melancholy. If we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be young again, at least we can be immature.

The Vancity Culture Lab

Bonnie & Clyde The Ordinary Productions Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Adam Peck

1934. The American South. Outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde have found one last place to hide. Time is tickingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on the run from the law and from reality, but which one will catch them first?

Based on the true story, Bonnie & Clyde is an intimate re-telling of the final hours of one the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most legendary crime duos. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bank robbers, murderers, American legendsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Bonnie and Clyde captured the public imagination in the 1930s and havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t relinquished it since.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;SF Chronicle â&#x20AC;&#x153;Commit murder for a ticket.

But only if ya have to.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Venue Magazine

Musical / Warm and Fuzzy / Multicultural .LGÄŚV 6KRZ $OO $JHV Ä­ 6PRNH )RJ Come see a new family-friendly puppet show at Fringe this year: Baba Yaga! Puppet show, you say?

Yes! Handmade marionettes are waiting to tell you the story of Baba Yaga. This ancient Russian forest entity is cosmically cranky and lives in a chicken legged-house. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only one thing that can stop her and it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t love.

Breaking the Cycle Films Ltd. Belen, USA Playwright: James Walter Charleston redemption.one

Intense / Intimate Ä­ Coarse Language / Sexual Content Empowering her own abuse with purpose, a therapist confronts toxic masculinity with compassion in an attempt to find the root causes and bring an end to rape culture. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A veteran of multiple Fringe festivals, touring artist Jim Sea stuns audiences with his one-man show.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Tina Farmer, KDHX Radio (St. Louis)

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hits a chord with her humorous observations culled from the mundane landscape of North American life.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;North Shore Outlook

The Vancity Culture Lab

Intense / Poetic / Intimate 14+

Vancouver Puppet Theatre Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Viktor Barkar vancouverpuppet.com

XY

XY

The Shape of Things

Trevor & Margaret

Heckinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Good Theatre New Westminster, Canada Playwright: Neil Labute

Tomo Suru Players Vancouver, Canada Playwrights: Gerald Williams & Max Hall tomosuruplayers.com

Big Queer Filipino Karaoke Night!

,QWHQVH ,QWHOOHFWXDO 6KRFNLQJ 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content From the ever-popular Neil Labute, a biting tale of love, lust, and betrayal. When shy and sheltered Adam meets art student and wouldbe vandal Evelyn, the two are immediately drawn to each other.

Before long, Evelyn adds a dose of chaos and rebellion to Adamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life with her boldness, fierceness, and the revelation of one shocking secret. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Clever, uncomfortable and brilliantly staged, The Shape of Things leaves the audience with much to talk about.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CurtainUp â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mean and marvelous.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;TheaterMania

Funny / Intense / LGBTQ+ Ä­ Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content How well do you ever really know someone? Trevor and Margaret bring this struggle to the stage with life changing consequences for everyone involved. From the very beginning in Trevorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, complicated relationships have a strong impact, starting with his father and a dead mother.

Margaret has her own issues as a woman willing to settle for something far less than perfect. A relationship built on disappointment and half-truths shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be enough for anyone, but Margaret is considering marriage. When will too much be too far for even this long suffering, self deluding woman?

Produced by Tender Container, Associate Producers Neworld Theatre, and New(to)Town Collective Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Davey Calderon newtotowncollective.com

Funny / Musical / Intimate / Multicultural / LGBTQ+ Ä­ Big Queer Filipino Karaoke Night! is a Clown-Drag-Karaoke Extravaganza, serving up Filipino-Canadian identity shenanigans, queer insights, family epiphanies, and soul gratifying karaoke! Inspired by Davey Calderonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit to his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ancestral land, the Philippines, this show is an interactive celebration of the intersections found in oneself.

Performance Works

Performance Works

Havana Theatre

Havana Theatre

Carousel Theatre

The F Words

Mel Malarkey Gets The Bumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rush

The Crystalline Cabaret Presents: House Nocturnae

Miyoshi: An RCMP Interrogation

Spinning You Home

Yvette Dudley-Neuman Coquitlam, Canada Playwright: Yvette Dudley-Neuman tteeVy.com

)XQQ\ 1DXJKW\ 7HDU -HUNHU Ä­ &RDUVH /DQJXDJH Sexual Content This award-winning show is â&#x20AC;&#x153;lively, tough, sexy, hilarious, and transformational!â&#x20AC;? (Theatre BC) And it received an honourable mention from Theatre BCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2014 Playwriting Competition. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The F Words is an F-ing great play and the perfect show to catch at the Fringe this year! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vividly insightful, upliftingly musical, and educationally punny. ... I guarantee youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll come away laughing and with an expanded vocabulary.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Sonja Cvoric, Plank Magazine â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yvette is a skilled actress and storyteller. Her message is personal, universal, and resonant.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;VUE Weekly

Erroneous Productions Toronto, Canada Playwright: Charlie Petch charliecpetch.com/mel-malarkey.html

Funny / Weird / Poetic / LGBTQ+ Ä­ Coarse Language / Sexual Content Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the last night at the Vagabond Theatre and Mel canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bear to tell the audience. She keeps the bawdy acts going and the elixir flowing. In private, she delivers odes and tells stories of her â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vaudeville theatre for the unrefined.â&#x20AC;?

Written and performed by award winning playwright and spoken word artist, Charlie Petch. Donkeys!

Desperation! Debauchery!

Best Spoken Word Album of 2017. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A bittersweet tribute to an age when the options for performance seemed endless ... a chronicle of lost theatre forms ... [a] bizarre and hilarious play.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Electric City Magazine

20 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2018

The Crystalline Cabaret Vancouver, Canada Playwrights: The Crystalline Cabaret facebook.com/thecrystallinecabaret

Naughty / Intimate / LGBTQ+ Ä­ Sexual Content / Nudity An electric roadhouse where enigmatic fantasies come alive after dark. With every sip, witness a menagerie of captivating performers prowling the dusty stage. Eclectic dancers, burlesque stripteasers, and torch singers show you the intoxicating taxonomy of the night. Be careful when you step into House Nocturnae... you may never want to leave.

Innocence International Vancouver, Canada Producer: Ken Klonsky kenklonsky.com

Funny / Intense Ä­ Coarse Language Miyoshi: An RCMP Interrogation plays out the transcript of an actual RCMP interrogation. Two interrogators attempt to manipulate Miyoshi into turning on his friends, Atif Rafay and Sebastian Burns, both accused and later wrongly convicted of the murder of Rafayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family.

Spinnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Collective Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Sally Stubbs sallystubbswriter.com

Funny / Poetic / Intimate 14+ Even dead, Grampa tells the best stories: A storm rages. Trapped, Sarah and Grampa bring to life the tale of legendary gold miners, Cariboo and Sophia Cameron. Celebrates love that transcends death, a haunting chapter in BC history, and the power of storytelling.

From Sally Stubbs, Sarah Roa, and Simon Webb of And Bella Sang With Us, Pick of Fringe 2016. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With poetic prose, Stubbsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; play is pure Canadiana ... the perfect love letter to a time gone by ... Ambitious and noteworthy.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Alan Woo, Fun! Fun! Vancouver!

FRINGE FESTIVAL

Magic finds fresh form at the Fringe Fest A growing number of illusionists are forgoing spectacle for intimate storytelling and low-tech tricks in an atmosphere that lets them get creative > BY JA NET SM IT H

T

his year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival has an unprecedented number of magic shows, but if you’re picturing guys in tuxedos pulling rabbits out of a hat—well, you probably haven’t seen a magic show for a while. And you definitely haven’t seen one of the growing number happening at Fringes around Canada and the world.

For Aussie talent Robbie T, as for so many other illusionists hitting the Fringe circuit, it’s a chance to do something riskier, more personal, and more narrative than the corporate work where they make their bread and butter.

“I didn’t want to do my tricks that I do for my day-to-day bookings and corporate events. And it’s nice: it’s not as commercial and I get to be a little more creative,” says the Perthbased artist over the line from Oz, before boarding the long flight here to present his largely autobiographical hit Weirdo. “A lot of magicians are kind of awkward people and to a degree that’s why they got into magic—it makes them stand out a little bit if they’re not good at sports or whatever. And this show is kind of playing on that idea.”

Amid the storytelling, he performs some of his low-tech tricks, working in some added elements you’d never associate with a regular magic act.

“I incorporate various photos of me growing up, just to provide some texture and colour,” he says. “I still have a diary that I kept, and I read from that, and I have a stuffed elephant that I’ve had since I was three or four years old.”

Canadian magician Keith Brown, who’s a Fringe-circuit veteran, also works in some photos—including X-rays—of a trick that went sideways

Keith Brown counts on his audience’s help to make magic (Tisse Mallon photo); right, Robbie T brings a friend from the past.

three years ago, sending him to the hospital. Let’s just say it involves a sewing needle and a stomach injury, and if you come to see his show Absolute Magic, you’ll witness him attempting it again.

“The trick is great at the Fringe, but not great at a corporate Christmas party where they’re about to start dessert and going, ‘Oh my God! Is he going to kill himself?’ ” the artist, who’s been practising magic since he was 13 and works full-time in the field, tells the Straight from Toronto.

The Fringe, it turns out, provides multiple benefits to magicians beyond a creative outlet—not the least

of which is a viable space to perform outside of offices, convention centres, and backyard birthday parties.

“There aren’t that many magic venues in the world,” Brown explains. “When I saw it [the Fringe], I said, ‘I could fit in here.’ You see open mikes for musicians and comedians—not magic. And magic, in some people’s eyes, isn’t high art.

The Fringe was finally a place where I could say ‘I can fit in here and participate.’ I think the Fringe creates this very nice opportunity where it creates an equal playing field.”

Another benefit the Fringe offers is the chance for audiences to see magic

live. Although the art form has seen a new wave of interest, thanks to Netflix shows like Magic for Humans and Penn & Teller: Fool Us, there’s a special thing that happens when you see it performed in intimate venues like those at the Fringe.

“With TV, there’s always the justification, as an audience member, that the trick happens because of editing.

It’s different than when you’re face to face with a magician,” Brown says.

“The other thing for me is, like, I can’t do magic by myself; I need your willing participation to interact with me.

I can do my tricks in the mirror, but I’m not going to fool myself.”

Which brings us to the rabbit in the hat—and any other great-escape, body-floating spectacles you associate with the glitzy Vegas magic acts of the past. (As Robbie T’s tag line reads: “ ‘I’ve never heard of you.’—David Copperfield”.) Many of the magic shows on offer at the Fringe work the power of innovating with small-scale illusions—involving a deck of cards or a borrowed cellphone.

Brown calls it a return to the “realness and authenticity” of magic—“no flashing lights and top hats”. “It’s not about music or fog or big boxes or illusions you’ve never seen before,” he elaborates. “I would rather stick to the basics of strong magic and strong showmanship. I’m happy with just you and me in a room.”

And there, Robbie T would seem to heartily agree. “Magic does get a bit of a bad rap and not everyone is a fan of it. A lot of it is a little bit cheesy and copy-and-paste,” he tells the Straight. “It’s a bit of a myth that magicians don’t share anything. They do—I think there are more books on it than any other area of interest.

And with all this stuff flooding the market, it can be difficult to make something your own, to put your own flavour and personality in it.

“I’m not doing grand illusions, but stuff that’s more intimate, a lot of it involving the audience. They trust the show and I try to do it in a way that doesn’t belittle them or make them feel uncomfortable,” he continues.

“Right toward the start of the show, I tell people I’m a bit of a weirdo—but I think in a way we all are.” Weirdo is at Performance Works September 6, 8 to 10, 14, and 16; and Absolute Magic is at Studio 1398 on September 7, 9, 10, and 13 to 15, both as part of the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

September 6-16, 2018 Mon – Fri 6:00pm-late Sat & Sun 1:00pm-late

Ponytails

FRANKIIE

Kimmortal

Free lilive music F i every night of the Festival!

Dawn Pemberton

Parlour Panther

Leisure Club

Ocean Art Works 1531 Johnston Street Granville Island VancouverFringe.com/fringe-bar Kitty and the Rooster

And Many More!

8

SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 21

FRINGE FESTIVAL

Tilley hats and trickster tales: early Fringe reviews (1:30 p.m.), 11 (6:15 p.m.), 14 (8 p.m.), 15 (3:15 p.m.), and 16 (1:30 p.m.)

> B Y KATHL EEN OL I VE R

T

he 10 shows reviewed below are all coming to Vancouver from the Victoria Fringe; the first three are highly recommended. You should also watch for Fake Ghost Tours, a slightly different version of which ran in Victoria; word is that it’s hilarious—no surprise, given that one of its creators is Shawn O’Hara of Field Zoology 101.

RED BASTARD: LIE WITH ME This piece promises more transgression than it delivers. In his Red Bastard costume, Eric Davis looks like he has a belly full of tumours—or maybe is one. But his persona as a growling, snorting provocateur is in too-short supply in this show that explores love’s rules and monogamy’s limitations. There’s some fun audience participation—we are all liars, after all— but for a long chunk in the middle, Davis takes off his red latex to engage in a repetitive, shapeless lecture about how “the standard rules of love” run counter to human nature and therefore compel people to cheat. Davis is often charming and sometimes spontaneous, but his point could be made more compellingly. At Performance Works on September 8 (5:45 p.m.), 11 (8:35 p.m.), 12 (5 p.m.), 14 (8:25 p.m.), 15 (1 p.m.), and 16 (7:20 p.m.)

FIELD ZOOLOGY 101 Join Dr. Bradley Q. Gooseberry, graduate of Fort St. John Community College and Barbeque Joint, for a truly enlightening hour of instruction. Shawn O’Hara is wickedly deadpan as his cargoshorts-and-Tilley-hat-clad alter ego gives a lecture loaded with absurdities like “The panda bear is the only bear capable of true hatred” and personal anecdotes, like the one about stalking “a raccoon I believed had disrespected me”. O’Hara’s deep, professorial voice with its erratic pronunciation (listen for “peacock”), the hilarious illustrations he slips onto his overhead projector, and his terrific timing enhance his well-crafted script, which never stops surprising. Delightful. At the Revue Stage on September 6 (6:45 p.m.), 8 (8:15 p.m.), 11 (5:15 p.m.), 13 (10:15 p.m.), 14 (6:45 p.m.), and 16 (noon) AWKWARD HUG In this beautiful, gentle solo show, writer-performer Cory Thibert looks back on his 19-year-old self with tenderness and precision. It’s a time of changes: starting theatre school, questioning his relationship with his girlfriend, and downsizing the family home.

The move becomes a catalyst for a reassessment of the things about his parents that have always been normal to him but may not appear that way from the outside; to give away any more details would be to rob you of the pleasures of this script’s measured revelations. Thibert is a skilled and emotionally honest storyteller, and his writing is carefully observed. “I feel like I was raised by malls,” he reflects on the landscape of his Ottawa childhood. Recalling losing his virginity on the bedroom floor at someone’s house party, he says, “My feet are against the door and I can feel people on the other side of the door pinching my toes.” Well-chosen details and an unhurried pace culminate in a moving conclusion. Bring someone you love. At the Cultch’s Historic Theatre on September 7 (8:35 p.m.), 8 (10 p.m.), 9 (1:45 p.m.), 12 (9:45 p.m.), 14 (5 p.m.), and 15 (3:45 p.m.)

ROCKO AND NAKOTA: TALES FROM THE LAND Anishinaabe

writer-performer Josh Languedoc offers an hour of warm and

Feminism meets funny

from page 19

Lip Service, created and performed

by Vancouver-based artists Ashley Whitehead and Natalie Tin Yin Gan, is eager to blow up some of those very narrow definitions. Whitehead and Gan are at the Edmonton Fringe ahead of their upcoming Vancouver Fringe run, and when the Straight connects with the pair via Skype, they answer clad in full-size vulva costumes.

Given the tag of their show—“Ever wonder what your vulva alter-ego might do if given the spotlight?”— the outfits aren’t out of place, and they are the same ones Whitehead and Gan wear throughout their performance. In this context, it’s a wonderfully surreal experience to listen to the two artists discuss everything from dismantling the patriarchy as marginalized artists—Gan identifies as second-generation Canadian-born Chinese and Whitehead identifies as queer—to internalized sexism while dressed as vulvas.

“I think the concept of the show has always been our friendship and the basis of how we work in the studio,” Gan says. “We speak a lot about our relationship to our bodies, the ways

5-STEP GUIDE TO BEING GERMAN 2.0 Don’t let the title fool you: this

Clockwise from left, Josh Languedoc in Rocko and Nakota; Field Zoology 101’s Shawn O’Hara; La Palabra en el Tiempo.

unpretentious storytelling, playing Nakota, a 12-year-old boy who’s trying to write a superhero story. He idolizes the solitary Wolverine, but his grandfather wants him to learn the value of vulnerability and community, embodied in riveting Indigenous stories of trees, wolves, water spirits, and the Raven, wittily described as “trickster, shapeshifter, character actor”.

Languedoc has crafted his tales well, and he brings a low-key charm to his performance. Recommended for older kids and adults. At the Waterfront Theatre on September 7 (6:45 p.m.), 8 (3 p.m.), 9 (7:15 p.m.), 11 (5 p.m.), 14 (10:35 p.m.), and 16 (6:30 p.m.)

LA PALABRA EN EL TIEMPO There’s virtuosity to burn in this hour of dance, music, and poetry. I know next to nothing about flamenco traditions, but the sensual pleasures of this show are many: Denise Yeo’s dancing, by turns sinuous and ferocious (not to mention her exquisite costumes); the rich voice of poet Garth Martens, and his fleeting images of travel to an unspecified Latin-American location; the soulful singing of Veronica Maguire; and especially the music.

Guitarist Gareth Owen plays like he has a hundred fingers, and the foot stomps, handclaps, and clacking

castanets of other cast members enhance the extraordinary rhythms of the piece. Let it wash over you. At Studio 16 on September 6 (5 p.m.), 9 (6:05 p.m.), 10 (6:50 p.m.), 12 (7:15 p.m.), 15 (9:50 p.m.), and 16 (4:45 p.m.)

ADHD PROJECT Carlyn Rhamey is as openhearted and generous a performer as you’ll see at the Fringe. Here, she shares her experience of living with ADHD—from being bullied and shamed as a child to navigating the bureaucracy of the medical and educational systems as a young adult. Some of the heroes that emerge in this story—besides Rhamey’s upbeat outlook—are her family and school drama classes; we’re lucky that Rhamey found her way into the theatre, and that this show will be going into schools next year, where its positive message can reach younger people. At the False Creek Gym on September 6 (6:30 p.m.), 8 (8:20 p.m.), 12 (5:15 p.m.), 13 (8:25 p.m.), 14 (6:35 p.m.), and 16 (1 p.m.)

THE

ANGELS & ALIENS Who’s respon-

sible for the mess humans are always making of our lives: angels or aliens?

That’s the existential question playfully explored in Jeff Leard and Sydney Hayduk’s tight two-hander. It’s

that we’ve been socialized as women, and the things that we feel like we have access to or the things that we don’t based on that socialization.”

“I don’t think we intended specifically on it being a comedy,” Whitehead says. “I mean, I’m a clown, so my brain is always in a bit of comedy land, but I think it was important to let it be just whatever came out.”

“And then it got funny,” Gan interjects. The pair laugh. “I personally have no concept of what people find funny, but people do find it hilarious.

There’s the swing, that comedy is just the other side of tragedy. That when you speak truth to things that we don’t speak about, there’s this catharsis that makes people laugh, because we can finally release into some truth and feel like a community.”

SPEAKING TRUTH to uncomfort-

able things is the foundation of Colette Kendall’s show, too. The awardwinning Hamilton-based artist created The Cockwhisperer… A Love Story in 2009, and has been reaping the rewards—and paying the price— of its title ever since. It’s not just about being provocative or bawdy; it’s about confronting sexism and hypocrisy, and finding humour in trauma.

24 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

Colette Kendall says she’s struggled to embrace her title, The Cockwhisperer.

“The title is sort of an inverse kind of Vagina Monologues,” Kendall says, over the phone from the Edmonton Fringe, where she, too, is performing before heading to Vancouver. “It helps me go through the narrative of my coming-of-age kind of story and basically how masculinity has been in my life, how I dealt with it, sexual-

show won’t make you German. But if cultural stereotypes are your thing, you’ll have lots of fun. Germans: uptight lovers of order, still guilty about the Nazis. Brits: self-centred colonizers. Canadians: polite. Standup comic Paco Erhard has lived in several countries, and he has a genial stage presence and good comic timing, but too much of his material relies on these overly familiar generalizations to be genuinely surprising. It’s crowdpleasing entertainment that has been packing houses for years, though, and Erhard notes how things have changed in light of the current U.S. administration: “For once, it’s not us Germans who are the world’s biggest assholes.” At the Waterfront Theatre on September 6 (6:15 p.m.), 8 (8:15 p.m.), 12 (5 p.m.), 13 (10:40 p.m.), 14 (6:55 p.m.), and 16 (1:15 p.m.)

also the basis of a video game that roommates Jeff and Sydney are playing to deal with the awkwardness of having slept together the night before. The game allows for a witty, sped-up perspective on human history, and Leard and Hayduk give tight performances, making the transitions between realities seamless. Once the central conceits are established, though, there’s plenty of zip and texture but few surprises.

At Studio 1398 on September 6 (8:30 p.m.), 8 (1 p.m.), 9 (9:30 p.m.), 11 A BRIEF HISTORY OF BEER Given (5:15 p.m.), 15 (6:30 p.m.), and 16 (3 Vancouver’s dynamic craft-beer scene, this show should have no p.m.) trouble finding audiences. If you love UNSCRIPTURED Travis Bernhardt beer, this one’s for you. If not, this leads the audience in an improvised drinking game wrapped in a cheesy church service: the object of worship sci-fi premise doesn’t have a lot to ofis derived on the spot from audience fer. Will Glenn and Trish Parry ham suggestions. There’s a hymn, a ser- it up as intergalactic time travellers mon on scripture, some prayer and on a quest to help the drink be less ritual—how wacky these get will misunderstood. There are some independ a lot on the audience. Bern- teresting history lessons, ranging hardt is fearless and quick to ride from the female-dominated arena the associational wave, but perhaps of beer production in the ancient not as far as he could; on the night world to the Industrial Revolution– I saw the show, his improv skills era London Beer Flood, but if you’re were decent, but not transcendent. not drinking along, the hour will So Unscriptured is a fun diversion, feel long. At Performance Works on but not quite a religious experience. September 7 (9:15 p.m.), 8 (2 p.m.), 10 At Carousel Theatre on September 6 (8:20 p.m.), 13 (6:45 p.m.), 14 (5 p.m.), (8 p.m.), 7 (6:15 p.m.), 8 (7:30 p.m.), 9 and 16 (12:15 p.m.) ity, misogyny, all of that. I had also come across the term cockwhisperer, which is this derogatory term for women that are sexually active, and I thought, ‘That’s misogyny, I’m gonna embrace this word!’ But it has been a struggle over the years.”

In creating these shows that challenge, subvert, and provoke, these feminist comedians are actively redefining and rejecting those heretofore narrow definitions of comedy, and it couldn’t come at a better time. When a show like Nanette, in which Gadsby eviscerates rape culture and the patriarchy at every turn, is the blockbuster hit at the beginning of the summer, and then, by the end of the summer, admitted sexual harasser Louis C.K. not-so-quietly returns to standup and huge applause, more feminist comedy that continues to do the work of demolishing systems of oppression is the only way forward.

“What we work really hard on, or at least for me with Ashley, it’s kind of dismantling those mechanisms within myself and how the heteronormative patriarchy festers in my bones and therefore how it manifests in what I do and how I take up space and what I think I should be doing and should not be doing and what success for me is,” Gan says.

“Our friendship itself is a bit of a statement against the patriarchy,” Whitehead adds. “We’re partners.

It’s more than just a friendship.…

We’ve been a team for quite a while now and, you know, we even joke about one day having kids together.

It can be whatever we want it to be, and it doesn’t need to be dictated by an outside source.”

That closeness resonates with The Lady Show members as well. “If I had tried to, in a lab, cook up the perfect group for me, this is what I would come up with, but I would never be able to be that forward-thinking,” Katie-Ellen Humphries says with a laugh.

“We’ve all been doing this for a long time, so we’ve found our niche overnight after 10 or 20 years of work,” Brayton adds. “We found each other and we’re doing comedy that we want to see and that makes us laugh. A lot.” Lip Service is at the Firehall Arts Centre on September 7, 8, 10, and 13 to 15; The Lady Show is at the same venue on September 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, and 16; and The Cockwhisperer is at the False Creek Gym on September 6, 8, 11, 14, and 15 as part of the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Waterfront Theatre

Waterfront Theatre

Jon Bennett: How I Learned to Hug

Small Town Boys

The Cultch

8 6 - 16

Every show at the Fringe Festival is selected by lottery or on a first come, first served basis.

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a sampling of what you can expect at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Festival.

For a full list of dates and times, pick up a program guide at Blenz Coffee locations or at VancouverFringe.com! Tickets for these, and all shows in the Festival, are available at VancouverFringe.com.

Low Vision Friendly d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Friendly

Jon Bennett Comedy Melbourne, Australia Playwright: JON BENNETT

Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / Intimate / LGBTQ+ Ä­ Ä­ &RDUVH /DQJXDJH Sexual Content / Nudity Multi award-winning Australian storyteller Jon Bennett is back! Not a love story but a story of love, loss, sex, and hugging told to a lady lookalike of Jay-Z whilst detained as a suspected terrorist in the Montreal Airport... a true story. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;National Post / Broadway Baby / Sunday Mail â&#x20AC;&#x153;It seems every year that we say Bennettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show is a must-see and this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no different.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Theatre in London

Sean Casey Leclaire Westborough, USA Playwright: Sean Casey Leclaire smalltownboystheplay.com

Funny / Intense / Poetic 14+ Ä­ Sexual Content A band of boys graduate from a high school in a rough and tumble town near Montreal. After a life-changing moment of violence and recovery, the narrator, one of the boys, follows the two older boys out west. The solo show asks uneasy questions. Does a homeless man shame us all? Is fear stronger than love? What is the power of vulnerability in men? â&#x20AC;&#x153;A timely â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;testosterone wash!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; ...

Riveting, fierce, equally tender and punch in the gut tough, absolutely hilarious!â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;PeoplesWorth

Hysteria Direct Theatre Collective Richmond, Canada Playwright: Jill Raymond

Funny / Intense / Intellectual Ä­ &RDUVH /DQJXDJH 9LROHQW Content / Sexual Content / Nudity All is not well in Fornicopia.

Questioning everything and answering nothing, the all-female Direct Theatre Collective pulls no punches in this sexy, unapologetic showdown. A darkly hilarious exploration of modern sexuality, social constructs, and cultural bias.

Featuring original live music, powerful imagery and the truth.

Maybe a dance party.

Revue Stage

Revue Stage

Revue Stage

Revue Stage

The Fancy Brain Show: The Reckoning

Forget Me Not - The Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Whodunnit

Poly Queer Love Ballad

SELF-ish

Roy & Janet

FBS Productions Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Francis Brian Shaw

Rob Gee Leicester, UK Playwright: Rob Gee robgee.co.uk

AnaĂŻs West and Sara Vickruck Vancouver, Canada Playwrights: AnaĂŻs West & Sara Vickruck anaiswest.com/poly-queer-love-ballad

Classy Little Bitch Productions Burnaby, Canada Playwright: Kuan Foo

Theatre Terrific Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Susanna Uchatius in collaboration with an inclusive cast theatreterrific.ca

Funny / Silly / Weird Ä­ &RDUVH /DQJXDJH

)XQQ\ 7HDU -HUNHU 3RHWLF 14+

In this world of uncertainty, its important to know the value of a little chaos.

From comic, slam poet, and psych nurse Rob Gee.

Blending the personal with the political with a good olâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; story about a cow, The Fancy Brain Show: The Reckoning is the fifth (and final) installment of the one-man-show series by comedian Francis Brian Shaw about the chaos within and around this strange and funny man.

Jimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife, a patient on a dementia ward, has died from what appears to be natural causes. Jim is a retired police detective and he smells a rat.

Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s determined to solve one last murder. The problem is he also has dementia. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a case worthy of the greatest detective mind, but his will have to do.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A vulnerable but fierce perspective ... an inclusive, uplifting philosophical vision of life as the ultimate crapshoot.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Raise The Hammer

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Smart, witty, and razor-sharp.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CBC

Naughty / Musical / Poetic / LGBTQ+ Ä­ Coarse Language / Sexual Content An intimate, edgy new musical, merging slam poetry with catchy pop-folk tunes. Nina, a polyamorous bisexual poet, meets Gabbie, a monogamous lesbian songwriter, at Cafe Deux Soleil. With two microphones, a loop pedal, and array of instruments, they struggle to reconcile their fierce mutual attraction with their opposing perspectives on love. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vickruck can belt a song, croon a song, and massage a song into existenceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and she can act, too.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Vancouver Courier (on Love Bomb)

SELF-ish follows Esther, a 35-yearold Korean-Canadian woman, examining herself in the face of a recent tragedy. Esther wakes up to the familiar tremor of existential angst ripple over her body like a pee shiver and takes us into her family dynamics, her crappy workplace and her present day angst. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kuan Fooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s script resonates especially for Asian-Canadian audience members. When Estherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tears finally come, Bang has no trouble digging deep, [...] itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard not to feel those same emotions.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;NOW Magazine

LOVE! A huge tiny four letter word!

Roy & Janet tackles love, person to person, tribe to tribe, human to nature.

Shakespeare, Ovid, The Twin Sisters (The Lions of Vancouver)... itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all connected!

Give us your hand, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll take you there!

Theatre Terrificâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 14th Vancouver Fringe Festival production. Join us!

Firehall Arts Centre

Inside Voices: A Musical In The Key Of P

Jasper in Deadland

The Lady Show

Lip Service

TrudeauMania

Awkward Stage Productions Vancouver, Canada Playwrights: Ryan Scott Oliver & Hunter Foster awkwardstageproductions.com

The Lady Show Vancouver, Canada Playwrights: The Lady Show theladyshow.com

Pulsive Party Vancouver, Canada Playwrights: Ashley Whitehead & Natalie Tin Yin Gan ashleywhitehead.ca/tagged/pulsiveparty

Walking Shadows Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Daniel K. McLeod

Funny / Weird / Intimate Ä­ Coarse Language / Sexual Content Veteran musical improvisers Jennifer Pielak and Peter Abando use the present-moment, their incredible chemistry, and their storytelling skills to let inner voices out to play.

This duo will make you wonder how they got inside your head in this silly, honest, and introspective musical that celebrates vulnerability and how weirdly the same we are.

Weird / Intense / Musical / LGBTQ+ All Ages When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re failing classes, kicked off the swim team, and your family is on the skids, life can feel like itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to hell. In a night of teenage desire, Jasper and her best friend Agnes consummate a years-long friendship. In the morning Agnes is gone. Jasper goes after her. Come meet us at the touch of water. Take a deep dive into Deadland. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jasper In Deadland is a journey of self-discovery that moved me in such a way that it brought tears to my eyes.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;New York Theatre Guide â&#x20AC;&#x153;An electrifying surge of theatrical energy!â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Entertainment Weekly Half price show on Sunday September 9 at 3:15pm.

Funny / In Your Face / Intellectual / Multicultural / LGBTQ+ Ä­ We put the JOY in feminist killjoy!

Sketch, stand-up, monologue, satirical news, and more starring Diana Bang (Assaulted Fish, The Interview), Morgan Brayton (CBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Debaters, Vancouver Fringe Festival Criticsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Choice Award), Fatima Dhowre (Winnipeg Comedy Fest, JFL NorthWest), and KatieEllen Humphries (Vancouver Comedy Joke of the Year Award, The Debaters). â&#x20AC;&#x153;You may not attend a comedy show in hopes of being taken on an emotional ride other than that of laughing so hard you cry; however, The Lady Show delivers powerful performances filled with commentary and satire.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Room Magazine

Firehall Arts Centre

Weird / Musical / Poetic / Multicultural / LGBTQ+ Ä­ $OO $JHV

Firehall Arts Centre

Jennifer Pielak & Peter Abando Vancouver, Canada Playwrights: Jennifer Pielak, Peter Abando & Alison Chisholm jenniferpielak.com

Firehall Arts Centre

)XQQ\ 7HDU -HUNHU ,QWLPDWH 0XOWLFXOWXUDO Ä­ 14+ Ä­ Coarse Language

Woodwardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Atrium

6LOO\ ,QWLPDWH 6KRFNLQJ /*%74 Ä­ Coarse Language / Sexual Content Will you come? Maybe-a-labia.

Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re pink! Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re passionate!

Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re practically perfect in every play. Through saucy song and aggressive choreography, this hilarious duo dives into cheeky vulva personas in search of acceptance of themselves and of each other.

Firehall Arts Centre

Funny / Musical / Poetic All Ages TrudeauMania, with music, dance, satire, and drama, looks at Justinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charismatic and brilliant father Pierre, from his rapid rise to the Prime Ministerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chair in 1968 on the eve of the Summer of Love, to his secret engagement to 21-yearold Margaret, to his darkest days in October 1970, when he invoked the War Measures Act, suspending civil liberties.

This show is Musically Directed by Gordon Roberts.

Review of our 2015 & 2016 Fringe show Just Watch Me: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The music ... is brilliant!â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Steve Edge, Rogue Folk Club

SEPTEMBER 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25

THE HILARIOUS MISFORTUNES OF ONE WOMAN’S FORTUNE

CANADIAN COMEDY

g/ª /gg/ªВ SOEURS Sept. 27 – Oct. 6, 2018 MainStage

By Michel Tremblay Translated by John Van Burek & Bill Glassco Directed by Diane Brown Produced by Ruby Slippers Theatre

Tickets from $29!

GatewayTheatre.com , H GatewayThtr Melissa Oei, France Perras & Agnes Tong.

Photo: David Cooper.

26 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

FRINGE FESTIVAL

Efron readies for Fringe future

As You Like It Lindsey Angell & Nadeem Phillip

AS YOU LIKE IT ADDED SHOWS TO SEPT 28

> BY JA NET SM IT H

L

aura Efron is preparing for her first, full-on experience as the new executive director of the Vancouver Fringe Festival—and she’s stocking up.

“I have been getting tips: to bring in a couple different pairs of shoes, a couple different changes of clothes, coats for different weather, and food supplies,” she tells the Straight over the phone on a brief break from the frenzy.

The long-time Vancouver arts administrator knows a bit about what she’s in for. After all, she got her start here as a volunteer at the Fringe in 1997—a gig she credits with leading to her nine-year stint at the Arts Club Theatre Company in multiple roles, and various cultural jobs since.

However, she says she’s gaining a new perspective on the theatre extravaganza that takes over Granville Island and other sites across the city for 11 days.

“It’s just a lot of moving pieces and it’s interesting to see the details from the inside, and which shows get put into which venues,” she says.

Efron has taken the reins at the Fringe at a time when it’s wrapping up its last three-year strategic plan and preparing to plot out its next phase. Efron wants to get through the full cycle of planning and carrying out this Fringe—in December she will have been at the fest for a full year—before she starts to make her mark on it, though.

“I am definitely shaping a vision over time,” she explains, and offers some hints at her areas of interest.

“One thing I’ve learned working at the Fringe is we have quite a demand from people wanting to take part that can’t. We see 250 to 300 applications, but 100 shows. How can we engage all these people in our community?”

She also wants to move the fest strongly toward more diversity,

M A I N S TAG E

The Vancouver Fringe Festival’s new executive director, Laura Efron, recommends an international, national, and local play from the vast array she’s organizing.

equity, and inclusion. “We really want to dive into that and make the Fringe more reflective of that at every level,” she stresses.

For now, though, she’s fully immersed in the programming at this year’s massive event, a typically wideranging, wild array—though she has noticed some big themes for 2018.

And as ever, she says, they capture how art reflects society. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a cluster of shows explore #MeToo issues, while another few take on Big Brother–type privacy ideas.

But there are also far-flung personal stories and random journeys. Amid all this, Efron has learned the best advice for tackling the scores of offerings: “I encourage people to trust their gut.”

Still, pressed to choose, she dishes on three buzzworthy shows— one national, one international, and one local.

ROCKO AND NAKOTA: TALES FROM THE LAND (At the Waterfront

Theatre September 7 to 9, 11, 14, and 16) “It’s a show from Alberta with a

story about a First Nations boy and his connections to his ancestors. It has a great storyteller, [Anishinaabe playwright] Josh Languedoc.”

FORGET ME NOT—THE ALZHEIMER’S WHODUNNIT (At the

Revue Stage on September 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, and 16) “It’s a murder mystery set on a dementia ward from the U.K.,” says Efron of the work by comic, slam poet, and psychiatric nurse Rob Gee. “And it’s being so well received, it’s being used as a training aid for mental health.”

POLY QUEER LOVE BALLAD (At the Revue Stage September 7 to 10, 14, and 16) Of the work performed and created by local spoken-word artists and singers Anais West and Sara Vickruck, Efron says: “It’s the latest Fringe New Play Prize winner, and it’s an edgy new play with slam poetry. It explores how challenging it is to know somebody else’s experiences, even when you’re really intimate with them.” -

AS YOU LIKE IT

H O WA R D FA M I LY S TAG E

MACBETH

TIMON OF ATHENS

LYSISTRATA Adapted by Jennifer Wise & Lois Anderson

+ + + +

— As You Like It, The Globe and Mail

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SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 27

ARTS

"...extraordinary

music...." "....world class artists..."

"....inspiring

"Prepare

venues..."

to be ENTERTAINED." - The Vancouver Sun

In the Arts Club’s production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Daniel Doheny plays 15-year-old math genius Christopher John Francis Boone.

Curious Incident star Doheny avoids labels > B Y JOHN LUCAS

D

aniel Doheny doesn’t seem to have any shortage of energy, which is a good thing, because he’ll be needing a bunch of it over the next few weeks. The local actor has landed the starring role in the Arts Club’s production of Simon Stephens’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Based on Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel of the same title, the play doesn’t give its lead actor much in the way of downtime.

“I have to do a lot, more than I’ve had to do in any other play,” Doheny says, calling the Straight en route to a rehearsal. “I’m on-stage the entire time and I have a lot of lines, and it’s in a British accent, so there’s sort of a heightened amount of attention and focus that needs to go into the dialogue. It just goes from scene to scene to scene, and I’m spinning around and dancing and stuff. It’s crazy. But it’s pretty great.”

Doheny is playing Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old math genius who takes it upon himself to investigate the mysterious death of a neighbour’s poodle while also uncovering a few secrets about his family.

Although it is never stated explicitly in either the play or the novel, Christopher is presumably somewhere on the autism spectrum; he most likely has Asperger’s syndrome, a notion supported by his characteristic combination of high intelligence and reduced ability to read social cues or empathize with other people.

“I actually did a lot of research about it,” Doheny says. “I read lots of books about autism, and some great books written by children with autism. There are some really great books out there written by autistic people. But the most helpful to me is to approach it and not try to think of Christopher as autistic, and not prejudge anything going on in his brain and just play every scene based on the dialogue and the text.

28 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

“I don’t see the need to really label what he has or even put it into a box,” the actor continues. “The writing is so good; as long as we do a good job of approaching it honestly and doing what the script already tells us to do, I think we can get our job done pretty well.”

It doesn’t hurt to have a living, breathing resource in the form of Jake Anthony. The local performer and autism advocate has been brought in to advise the creative team—including director Ashlie Corcoran—as a “cultural creative consultant”.

“He’s an actor himself, so he knows the process of doing a play,” says Doheny. “He’s basically there to answer any questions. He’s been great to have in the room. He’s been a wealth of knowledge, for sure.”

As far as acting goes, Doheny has been building up a pretty impressive knowledge base himself. The 2012 Studio 58 graduate is a veteran of several Bard on the Beach productions and has landed starring parts in a number of movies, including the recent Netflix films Alex Strangelove and The Package.

Not a bad CV for someone who, at 27, is still youthful enough to convincingly pull off a leading character who happens to be 15 years old.

“I look very young, from what I’m told, so that helps, and also it does kind of help that the character has a lot of trouble expressing himself and dealing with people,” Doheny says. “So there’s a lot of stuff already written in the script: he looks down, he doesn’t make a lot of eye contact, he’s very shy.

So I can just kind of inhabit those clues given to me in the script and then it’s good to go, it seems like I’m a 15-yearold because I’m shy—and I’m already an awkward person, so it’s not too hard for me to go into the body of someone who’s awkward. And I usually play people in high school anyway.” The Arts Club Theatre Company presents The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage from Thursday (September 6) to October 7.

LITERARY EVENTS

MUSIC

2THIS WEEK

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS THE MUTE CANARY & OTHER FAVOURITES BY RUDOLF KOMOROUS Turning Point Ensemble kicks off its season with the world premiere of a new one-act opera by 86-year-old Rudolf Komorous.

Sep 14-16, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 W. Hastings). Tix $33/20, info www.turningpointsensemble.ca/.

+ events/

t imeout

COMEDY THEATRE DANCE MUSIC COMEDY ET CETERA LITERARY EVENTS GALLERIES MUSEUMS

< 2ONGOING < COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard, Century < THE Plaza Hotel & Spa, 604-684-5050, www. < thecomedymix.com/. Comedy club with < pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Wed < at 8:30 pm, and featured headliners Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. Cover < $8 Tue, $10 Wed, $15 Thu, $18 Fri, $20 Sat. < 2DJ DEMERS Sep 6-8 2CHRIS GORDON

THEATRE 2OPENINGS

MARION BRIDGE Nicola Cavendish, Lynda Boyd, and Beatrice Zeilinger star in Daniel MacIvor’s play about three estranged sisters who make the trip home to Cape Breton to care for their dying mother. Sep 6-20, Kay Meek Arts Centre (1700 Mathers Ave., West Van). Tix $45/42.75/15 , info www.kaymeek.com/.

GRAHAM CLARK’S QUIZ SHOW Graham Clark hosts a comedy show that cherry-picks the best segments of game shows and presents them all in one bizarre event. Sep 7, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix $10 advance, $12 at the door, info www.hotartwetcity.com/ quizshow-foxcabaret/.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME The Arts Club Theatre Company presents a play about a 15-year-old who, when his neighbour’s dog is killed, challenges his own barriers to uncover the truth about the dog, his family, and himself. Sep 6–Oct 7, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville).

Tix from $29, info www.artsclub.com/.

ET CETERA

BARD ON THE BEACH Annual Shakespeare theatre festival features repertory performances of As You Like It, Macbeth, Timon of Athens, and Lysistrata.

To Sep 28, Vanier Park (1000 Chestnut). Tix from $24, info www.bardonthebeach.org/.

DANCE 2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS SCOTIABANK DANCE CENTRE OPEN HOUSE Participating companies and artists include Kababayang Pilipino, Karen Flamenco, Shot of Scotch, Helen Walkley, Polymer Dance, and Anderson Performance Clinic. Sep 15, 11 am–5 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie).

Free, info www.thedancecentre.ca/ open_house/.

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FLAMENCO FESTIVAL Flamenco Rosario presents performances by local and international flamenco artists, with free workshops and ticketed performances at various Vancouver venues. Sep 21-29, Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton). Free

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 750 Hornby, 604-662-4719, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/.

2CABIN FEVER (exhibition traces the cabin’s evolution through renderings, artworks, and commercial products, as well as architectural models, plans, and full-scale installations) to Sep 30 2DAVID MILNE: MODERN PAINTING (first major exhibition of Milne shown in the country

on the web!

NOW: A VISUAL FEAST OF INNOVATION AND TRADITION (exhibit guest-curated by Kwiaahwah Jones features more than 450 works by carvers, weavers, photographers and print makers, collected as early as the 1890s) to Dec 1, 2019

MUSEUMS

THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604-8225087, www.moa.ubc.ca/. 2ARTS OF RESISTANCE: POLITICS AND THE PAST IN LATIN AMERICA (exhibition illustrates how Latin-American communities use traditional or historical art forms to express contemporary political realities) to Sep 30

MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER 1100 Chestnut, 604-736-4431, www.museumof vancouver.ca/. 2WILD THINGS: THE POWER OF NATURE IN OUR LIVES (exhibition delves into the life stories of local animals and plants—how they relate to each other and how they connect people to nature in the city) to Sep 30 2HAIDA

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

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

www.straight.com

MARION BRIDGE

Sep 13-15 2KYLE BOTTOM Sep 20-22

2THIS WEEK

2ONGOING

GALLERIES

by Daniel MacIvor

YUK YUK’S COMEDY CLUB 2837 Cambie, 604-696-9857, www.yukyuks.com/ vancouver/. Comedy club with Top Talent Tue at 8 pm, amateur night Wed at 8 pm, and professional headliners Thu-Fri at 8 pm and Sat at 7 and 9:30 pm. Cover Tue $10, Wed $7, Thu $10, and Fri-Sat $20.

VANCOUVER FRINGE FESTIVAL Annual festival features performances by nearly 100 theatre artists and companies over 11 days. Sep 6-16, Granville Island (1398 Cartwright Street ). Info www.vancouver fringe.com/.

THE LIFE OF GALILEO David Hare’s new translation of the Bertolt Brecht masterpiece, directed by Michael Fera. Sep 7-30, 8 pm, Jericho Arts Centre (1675 Discovery).

Tix $22-$28, info www.unitedplayers.com/.

IAN WEIR Playwright, screenwriter, and novelist heads a lineup of The Writer’s Studio new and emerging local authors reading poetry, fiction. and nonfiction.

Sep 6, 8-9:30 pm, Hood 29 (4470 Main).

Free, info www.bit.ly/2P44WC4/.

in 30 years features close to 90 works in oil and watercolour, never-beforepresented photographs, drawings, and memorabilia) to Sep 9

Starring: Nicola Cavendish Lynda Boyd Beatrice Zeilinger

Director: Roy Surette

Sept 5-20, 2018

2THIS WEEK THE VANCOUVER PANCAKES & BOOZE ART SHOW Over 65 emerging artists showcase their work in a warehouse environment, with live music, body painting, multimedia displays, and free pancakes. Sep 6, 7 pm, Fortune Sound Club (147 E. Pender). Tix $10-13, info www. facebook.com/events/1901172463456731/.

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS WATER’S EDGE DAY A community celebration of Vancouver’s waterfront!

Free ocean-themed activities—canoe/ kayak tours, children’s entertainment, face painting, First Nations storytelling, Coast Guard vessel tours, entrance to the Vancouver Maritime Museum and more! Hosted by Georgia Strait Alliance.

Sep 15, 10 am–4 pm, Vanier Park (1000 Chestnut). Info www.GeorgiaStrait.org/.

BEASTLY HABITS: THE EXPLOITATION OF ANIMALS FOR FASHION Experience a fashion show under a blue whale skeleton! Presented by artist Catherine Stewart and fashion historian Ivan Sayers, featuring historical clothing and accessories. Sep 21, 7 pm, Beaty Biodiversity Museum (2212 Main Mall, UBC). Tix $20 museum members, $25 general public, info www.beaty museum.ubc.ca/beastly-habits/.

FRAN LEBOWITZ A celebrated wit and humourist whose razor-sharp observations target everything about contemporary society with brutal honesty. Presented by the Blueshore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Sep 27-28, 8-10 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). Tix $50, info www.capilanou.ca/centre/.

TICKETS: $15-45

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to $65 (plus service charge), info www. vancouverflamencofestival.org/.

Butter chicken, naan & Bhangra dance.

What’s on your table September 13th?

Join others across BC and host an event to share some food and talk about what matters most to you.

Sign up to be a host at onthetableBC.com MEDIA SPONSOR

SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 29

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

Scan to confess Dear woman walking the seawall I noticed you like I would notice any other human I was approaching but as we grew closer, I noticed you were crying beneath your sunglasses. I stopped in my tracks as you passed, wanting to ask if you were okay (not likely) or if you needed anything but so many thoughts stopped me: don’t give unsolicited help, in fact don’t assume... (con’t @straight.com)

Dog panic in Yaletown

Before entering the fray of the Fringe Festival, get your fill at nearby restaurants like the Afghan Horsemen (above).

Dear dog owner, your dog has been panic barking the last 3 hours, non stop. He or she has some serious separation anxiety. This is cruel to leave a dog like that unattended for so long. Annoyance aside, they sound like they are really suffering. Please consider if you should have this animal if you are unable to provide a mentally healthy environment.

Bus stop trash dumping What’s with all you morons who seem to think it’s cool to use the various bus stops around town as a place to leave your effing fast food trash etc. lying around. Disgusting and I’m sick of it. Stop already! Take it with you. And... don’t leave it on the bus either.

3 Dates I matched with 3 guys on Tinder so I decided to go out with them all in one week. Yes I know Yay Me!!! So the first guy comes to the date drunk and this was lunchtime so that’s a huge red flag. The second guy was o.k. he just talked about himself the whole time. Didn’t ask me a single question and kept on bragging about himself. I just don’t think... (con’t @straight.com)

Visit

to post a Confession

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How to dine by the Fringe

V

ancouver’s annual Fringe HOSHI SUSHI BAR AT THE SANDFestival returns this week BAR (1535 Johnston Street) Located (September 6 to 16), bring- inside a well-loved Granville Island ing a slew of theatre per- eatery, Hoshi Sushi Bar is an atformances and other events to the traction in its own right. Run by the city. Besides the standard theatre humble and talented master sushi etiquette, it’s never a good idea to chef Tsutomu Hoshi, the newly renoattend a show on an empty stom- vated sushi bar is on the Sandbar’s ach. A handful of food trucks will second floor. It only has 10 seats, so be on-site on Granville Island, but those who are able to snag a frontrow spot will get to if you have time watch chef Hoshi to spare, why not prepare dishes for enjoy a sit-down guests throughmeal? From auTammy Kwan out the restaurant. thentic Thai food to traditional Afghan dishes to His menu offers everything from Nashville fried chicken, here are five fresh sashimi—such as sea urchin, eateries near Fringe Festival venues albacore tuna, and sea bream—to nion the island and the East Side to giri to Japanese appetizers. After the meal, you won’t have to walk far to check out. catch your show.

Best Eats

AFGHAN HORSEMEN RESTAURANT (202–1833 Anderson Street)

The first Afghan dining establishment to open in Metro Vancouver, four decades ago, the Afghan Horsemen continues to wow its guests with its traditional, breathtaking décor. Filled with colourful lamps, pillows, and textiles, the space makes guests feel like they’ve been transported to an exotic country. Its menu caters to meat lovers and vegetarians alike, with dishes like pakawra (batter-fried potatoes with chaka [yogurt-based cheese] dip), lamb shoulder, chicken and beef kebabs, and sambosa (spiced mixed veggies and potatoes wrapped in dough and deep-fried). It’s also steps away from all the Fringe performances on Granville Island.

DOWNLOW

CHICKEN

SHACK

(905 Commercial Drive) It’s been a couple months since this Nashville hot chicken joint opened not far from the Cultch, near the corner of Venables and Commercial Drive, but it still commands lineups out the door every night. If you love spicy food and fried chicken, it’s worth the wait and you won’t be disappointed with this eatery’s menu. Guests can choose their chicken’s heat level, which ranges from mild to extra-hot, as well as “A Side of Milk”. Quarter birds and full birds are on offer, as well as popular fried-chicken sandwiches.

Pair it with sides like wings, coleslaw, corn bread, pickles, macaroni salad, and fries.

KIN KAO THAI KITCHEN (903

Commercial Drive) Don’t judge this tiny restaurant by its size, because its dishes are packed with f lavour. This no-fuss eatery focuses on authentic Thai creations—think street food or comfort cuisine. If you’re looking for a classic dish after a Fringe show at Havana Vancouver, go for its pad Thai. If you’re a little more adventurous, try pad see ew (chicken or tofu, wide rice noodles, gailan, egg, garlic, and fish sauce) or stir-fry with Thai basil (minced chicken, pork, or eggplant with garlic, long beans, Thai chili, onions, and oyster sauce). Pair your meal with Kin Kao’s rotating roster of craft beer, because you will definitely feel the heat if you don’t usually indulge in spicy food.

SOPRA SOTTO (1510 Commercial

Drive) This relatively new Italian restaurant has been attracting plenty of attention, which is no small feat in a neighbourhood that’s saturated with pizza joints and Italian eateries. Its Italiangrandmother cooking concept and farmer-style menu feature local ingredients, family favourites, and seasonal items. Diners can choose from a variety of dishes, including maccheroni al forno (baked macaroni in a creamy cabbageand-mushroom sauce), chitarrine al ragù (square spaghetti in Bolognese sauce), margherita pizza, and Italian cured meats, among other tasty things, which can be topped off with affogato or torta della nonna for dessert. -

OPEN HOUSE Takeʉthe opportunity to meet theʉmayoral and councillor candidates for the Vancouverʉmunicipalʉelection.ʉ Saturday, September 8th, 12-4pm @ West Point Grey Baptist Churchʉ 4509 W 11th Ave. Entrance from back alley.

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The old-school packaging brings cheap malt liquor to mind, but Julien Braud’s Forty Ounce Wines are crisp and fresh.

Forty Ounce wine is worthy

W

ith bottles and brand- While the classic packaging emulates ing highly (and not ac- that historical volume, they’re actually cidentally) reminiscent one-litre bottles (clearly marked on of old-school, cheapy the labels), but that translates to 33.82 products like Colt 45 and Olde English ounces of wine, which simply doesn’t malt liquor, the Forty Ounce Wines roll off the tongue as well. from French winemaker Julien Braud The Forty Ounce Rosé ($29 to $33) seem unlikely to be worthy of atten- is a blend of Gamay, Merlot, Cabernet tion. I’m here to clarify that they are, Franc, Grolleau, Pineau d’Aunis, and regardless of one’s potential dismissal Pinot Gris from the Loire Valley in of the packaging as being too hipster- France. Twist off the cap to unleash focused, or an unaromas of pink necessary nod to grapefruit zest brands favoured and apple blosby poverty-stricksom, then splash Kurtis Kolt en alcoholics. For into Rainier cherreal, research online uncovered some ries, crab apples, raspberries, and strong opinions on the packaging, way even a little citrusy star fruit. All that beyond “meh” or “LOL”. carries through the palate to great I’m not here to pontificate on length, with a dab of orange marmalbranding or marketing, though; I’m ade on the finish. At 12.5 percent alcohere to speak to the actual wines. hol, it’s light on its feet and eminently Hey, if millennials are embracing crushable from the first sip. While it’d this brand for the same reasons drink- do well with decadent seafood dishes, ing quality craft beer out of stubbies is the casualness and accessibility of the fun and Instagrams well, then they’re wine turn me more toward burgers, enjoying authentic, food-friendly hot wings, Cajun chicken caesar salwines from a lauded producer, and ad, or tacos al pastor. there’s nothing wrong with that.

Its local companion the Forty The project, launched by New Ounce Muscadet 2016 ($30 to York City sommelier Patrick Cappi- $34) is a card-carrying Muscadet ello partnering with Braud, has been Sèvre-et-Maine sur Lie appellation quite successful as it’s been released white, made entirely from Melon in various U.S. markets over the last de Bourgogne. Whiffs of gardenia year or so, and it has only recently en- and lemon blossom lead to waves of tered our market here in Vancouver. fresh lime, lemon, and white peach Not listed at government-operated crashing across the palate with juicy B.C. Liquor Stores, Forty Ounce Wines salinity, acidity, and cracking mincan be found in private stores around eral character. This is a no-brainer the city like Kitsilano Wine Cellar, for the abundance of flavour-forFirefly Fine Wines & Ales, Liberty ward Asian cuisine we enjoy in Wine Merchants, and Village Liquor this city, everything from sushi to Store on the North Shore. Oh, and you hot pot, to curries from Malaysia, can ignore the “Forty Ounce” thing. Thailand, India, and beyond.

The Bottle

Perhaps there’s a theme going on, because I recently received samples of another couple of large-format wines, these ones in a three-litre bag-in-box format. Both are $36.99, which would be $9.25 per bottle if they were in a traditional 750-millilitre format.

Bag-in-box can go many ways, so I didn’t exactly rush to give ’em a whirl.

My fears were unfounded.

Pasqua Colori d’Italia Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie 2017 is my favourite out of the two. The wine is clean and lively, with apples and pears everywhere, awash with fresh-squeezed lime and a few drops of honey. Hey, this wine isn’t gonna nab Best in Show at any competition, but it perfectly suits return trips to the fridge when tucking into casual Tuesday-night pasta, and it’s something to have on hand when friends drop by late Sunday afternoon.

Pasqua Colori d’Italia Sangiovese di Puglia 2016 is quite light for a Sangiovese, but if you’re looking for an easy, go-to light red for similar occasions as above, then it’s great to have on hand. Cherries, strawberries, and black currants are dusted with the tiniest pinch of white pepper, and particularly shine when it’s served with a bit of a chill.

Finally, a quick mention that last week’s The Bottle column featured two new biodynamic wines from British Columbia’s Summerhill Pyramid Winery, but in the print edition we accidentally swapped their image for two completely different bottles.

This has been remedied online; apologies to all. -

HAVE YOU BEEN TO...

SUMMER FARMERS MARKETS

SEVEN WEEKLY MARKETS ACROSS VANCOUVER! FROM APRIL TO OCTOBER

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT

WWW.EATLOCAL.ORG OR CALL 604-879-3276

> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < BABES ON BABES

r

We met at the Babes on Babes Queer Dance Party. I think your name is Kelsey (definitely starts with a K), you’re 24, sprained your ankle while landscaping over the Summer and you’re back in school next week, mid length blonde hair, was wearing Blundstones, absolute smokeshow. We were flirting and I started to feel nauseous from drinking too much. You so kindly got me some water, but I ended up having to leave suddenly and wasn’t well enough to come back for your contact info. I would love to take you out sometime. Wishing myself some luck here, hoping you or one of your friends sees this! Jess

SMILE ON 257 HORSESHOE BAY BUS

s

We were sitting in the back of the bus as we shared a few really nice smiles while three funny drunken people were chatting together in the last row. You said something to me before you got off the bus (Park Royal) but I couldn’t catch it because of a podcast I’d listened to. I’d like to see you again.

fassil.ca

Chickpea

THE SAVE-ON SALAD POSE

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 WHERE: Langley Save-on Foods Veg Aisle

ilovechickpea.ca

botanistrestaurant.com

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 24, 2018 WHERE: 257 Express Horseshoe Bay Vancouver

Fassil

Botanist

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 WHERE: Fortune Sound Club

ORIGINAL O RIIG GIINA G NAL 16 16 D DRAUGHT RAUGH HTT SEELLE LECT SHOTS, SHOT OTTSS, W ELL HI H HIGHB IGH GH HBBALLS SELECT WELL HIGHBALLS &H OUSE W WI WIN IINNNEE HOUSE WINE 320 ABBO OTT T S STT R E E T

2 2010 0 110 0 W E S T 4 TTH H A AV E

‘Twas noonish. In tan highheels and a gauzy black dress, your gaze lingered over the bagged salads in refrigerated veg. The studied, thoughtful pose you struck invited all to see you, so I did. See you, that is. I think this is what you had in mind. A very strong look, may I say. My buzz cut and t-shirt were rather less obvious. Enjoy the weekend.

Cheers.

INCANDESCENT SMILE ON THE LIONS

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s

FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI ROOM

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 WHERE: The Lions

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 31, 2018 WHERE: Alibi Room

I was coming down the Lions trail with a friend when we ran into you and some other folks going up. You asked if we had made it to the top, and I said we’d made it to the “medium” top, which made you laugh.

Your smile was amazing.

We were both at the Alibi Room on Friday night, you were the lovely woman with long hair and glasses. We kept giving each other glances. I wish there was an opportunity for us to chat.

FRIDAY NIGHT ON GEORGIASTREET BUS

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 31, 2018 WHERE: On city Bus on West Georgia You asked me if I wanted to sit down...I am older...our eyes kept locking...I got off at Denman before Stanley Park while some idiot was talking about acres and hectares...let’s wrap..contact me.

STUNNING SERVER AT JOEY

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 18, 2018 WHERE: JOEY BURRARD I’ve seen you more than once as I sit in the lounge often. You have a perfect smile with your hair and nails always on point, absolutely beautiful. I come there just to see you and bring you a coffee or smoothie occasionally. ♥ Will You Marry Me? ♥

JJ BEAN CAMBIE STREET

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 31, 2018 WHERE: JJ Bean/ Cambie Street I saw you this afternoon. We locked eyes a couple times despite you being at JJ Bean with another woman. You seemed interested, turning around multiple times to look at me...I was definitely looking at you. I left the coffee shop and went to the TD Bank across the street, you watched me cross the street and we smiled at each other. I’m good at keeping secrets, and I would love to see you again. If you happen to read this tell me what I was wearing...

CAFE LOKAL

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 31, 2018 WHERE: Cafe Lokal We briefly chatted about the upcoming Wailer’s show at the Commodore. I was hoping to continue, and introduce myself but you had to leave.

You- tall, dark and oh so handsome, me- sporty and blonde.

Would love to chat more about music over a drink sometime.

HUSTLE PIZZA DIAYA HATER

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s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 31, 2018 WHERE: Hustle Pizza Saw you at Hustle Pizza on Commercial Drive. You and your friend had a pie. We both agreed we dislike Diaya cheese on pizza. Maybe grab a slice?

MY FRIEND CHRIS

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 31, 2018 WHERE: You Tell Me. I only managed to introduce myself to you this past Tuesday and today was the last day of your route. You left me utterly speechless and I'm hoping that there's more here.

I only just bumped into you again after seeing you for a few months last year.

REGULAR ON THE 17

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 14, 2018 WHERE: #17 Chantel from NV your presence will be missed on the bus.

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 31

THE KILLERS • FLORENCE + THE MACHINE METRIC • ARKELLS • THE WAR ON DRUGS • ST. VINCENT • FATHER JOHN MISTY BLUE RODEO • MOTHER MOTHER • CHROMEO • BAHAMAS • MILKY CHANCE • STEREOPHONICS X AMBASSADORS • RODRIGO Y GABRIELA • COLD WAR KIDS • GRETA VAN FLEET DEAR ROUGE • BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE • MATT MAYS • CURRENT SWELL • WHITEHORSE BLACK PISTOL FIRE • MATT ANDERSEN • SAID THE WHALE • YUKON BLONDE • THE ZOLAS HEY OCEAN! • MIDNIGHT SHINE • DELHI 2 DUBLIN • BARNEY BENTALL THE JULIAN TAYLOR BAND • CRYSTAL SHAWANDA • BELLE GAME • THE MATINÉE LITTLE DESTROYER • THE BOOM BOOMS feat TA’KAIYA BLANEY WILLIAM PRINCE • SHRED KELLY • KELLY DERRICKSON • MURRAY PORTER SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS • DAYSORMAY • BITTERLY DIVINE • MOB BOUNCE HALEY BLAIS • ANDREW PHELAN • MISSY D • LITTLE CROW • THE CARNIVAL BAND • ZYNTH & CO A W E E K E N D O F M U S I C , C R E AT I V I T Y, A N D C U L I N A R Y E X C E L L E N C E F E AT U R I N G : O C E A N W I S E ™ C U L I N A R Y P R O G R A M L O N G TA B L E D I N N E R S E R I E S EDIBLE CANADA - OCE AN WISE AMBAS SADOR NED BELL J O Y R O A D C AT E R I N G - K I S S A TA N T O - S T. L AW R E N C E

THIS WEEK END! 7 8% 2 0 ) = 4% 6 / :% 2 ' 3 9 : ) 6 ɸƍ 7 ) 4 8 ) 1 & ) 6 PA S S E S , C U L I N A R Y A D D O N S A N D S H U T T L E S A R E O N S A L E N O W AT ɸS K O O K U M F E S T I VA L .C O M

I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H

32 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

MUSIC There was a time, not so long ago, when Angel Olson bid goodbye to her old self—and to the old songs her old self had written.

She’s over that now.

“I was like, ‘You go away. You’re Americana.

Now I must go and make a big-band sound with jazz and R&B and things. You go away,’ ” she says of the process that led to her 2016 breakthrough effort, My Woman. It was a necessary development, she adds on the line from Los Angeles, given that she had formed a gifted band full of long-time friends. But after compiling Phases, last year’s collection of B-sides, demos, and rarities, Olson discovered that her earlier incarnation as a solo artist had something to offer too.

“You know, it’s funny: I wrote a lot of those songs when I was in my early 20s, and listening to them and singing them now, I’m thinking, ‘How did I have the capacity to write these things?’ ” the 31-year-old songwriter reports. “I hadn’t had half the experiences I have now. So I don’t know… It’s interesting to be a writer and look back and think that sometimes it has nothing to do with how much you’ve experienced or how much grief has been in your life—it’s more just about the way you see it when it’s happening to you at all. Looking back to that and playing these songs again is like revisiting this other part of myself that I’d kind of put away.

2

Getting back to the basics

When she was compiling last year’s Phases—a collection of B-sides, demos, and rarities—Angel Olson realized that her younger self had something to say.

After years of making her sound bigger and bigger, Angel Olson has stripped it down for a solo tour “With the record [My Woman], I made the sound much bigger, and that was really fun and really exciting,” she continues, “but after that I didn’t really get to perform my older material, which was more lyric-based. My band and my sound just kept getting bigger and bigger—and I enjoy performing that way. I like the theatrics of it, and I like the hype, and the feeling of playing at a festival and knowing that, even if you’re travelling all over the world and you’re exhausted, you’re wanted—that for whatever reason you’re just hitting the tide the right way. That’s a good feeling, but I also miss more intimate settings, with audiences where I can actually share things that are a little more personal, and talk with people more.”

That’s the ethos behind Olson’s first solo tour in six years, which will touch down in Vancouver next weekend as part of the Westward Music Festival. “With these solo performances,” she says, “I end up talking with people way more, and talking about the songs, playing old songs and new material that’s never been released. I feel more connected to people, and it’s helping me like what I do more, in a different way.” > ALEXANDER VARTY

Angel Olson plays the Vogue Theatre on September 15, as part of the Westward Music Festival.

Ontario’s Jennifer Castle writes about death as a transformation Exorbitant real-estate costs aren’t just a

2 worry in Vancouver. A few years ago, folk-

country songwriter Jennifer Castle was driven out of her native Toronto as prices rose, pushing

CHECK THIS OUT

her to the sleepy shores of Lake Erie. There, living and working in a freezing 150-year-old church where she was forced to wear gloves at her piano, she found herself totally isolated.

“I moved into a rural situation,” she tells the Georgia Straight on the line from her Ontario home. “I was nearing the end of my 30s, and I was suddenly given a lot of time on my own.

I had just gotten off a tour, and I think all of those things wrapped up into a really in-depth moment for me, when I had the time to write, and I could really think about things.”

Castle isn’t sure what motivated the subject matter for the record that she created there, a 10-track album named Angels of Death. Nearing her 40s, she suggests, may have been a catalyst for the extended rumination on mortality, or the passing of her family dog, Ribbon, two weeks after her arrival at Lake Erie. More significant to the singer than pinning down the seed of inspiration, though, was her decision to write about death not as life’s final act, but as a factor in determining its course.

“Writing about death as a transformation was important to me from the get-go,” she says.

“The writer in me was acting a bit rascally, saying, ‘If death is a fact, how do I get out of this?

If I stand in opposition to this fact, how does that start to play out?’ So I thought about a more matriarchal concept of death—not compartmentalized into here and gone, good and bad, but more akin to mirrors. If you align with what you see in the natural world, life is more cyclical, and it’s constantly transforming. The patriarchal ideas of death are scary, and they’re not very kind to humans, or any living thing. It says that death is a punishment, and the fault of our lives. For me in my own life, it became time to bring it into a better place.”

BAD CRY Lil Xan claims that his recently ended relationship with Noah Cyrus was a phony affair arranged by her label.

For our part, we believe him, because what woman in her right mind would date Lil Xan of her own volition?

SKOOKUM As you might have heard, there’s a somewhat high-

profile multiday music festival called SKOOKUM (featuring Mother Mother, above) going on in the city this weekend (September 7 to 9).

But the fun doesn’t stop at 11 each night, when Arkells, Florence + the Machine, and the Killers finish their headlining sets. SKOOKUM After Dark will turn the spotlight on the clubs of downtown Vancouver, with homegrown acts like Hotel Mira, Hey Ocean, the Funk Hunters, and the Matinee taking to stages of rooms like the Rickshaw, the Railway Club, and the Imperial. All shows are available through addon single-purchase tickets; go to skookumfestival.com/ for more info.

And remember that you can sleep when you’re dead. -

> KATE WILSON

Jennifer Castle plays the Vogue Theatre on September 15, as part of the Westward Music Festival.

MUSIC Let’s talk about

You gotta see

Writing primarily on acoustic guitar and piano, Castle has created an ambitious folkcountry crossover, tingeing her clear, swooping vocals with accents from slide guitars and strings. Scattered across the record are references to departed artists, including Irish poet W.B. Yeats and Cuban-American multimedia creator Ana Mendieta, to showcase how individuals can survive beyond death. While the musician had previously been content with relative anonymity, Angels of Death—her fifth fulllength—represents Castle’s first steps toward embracing a well-deserved fame and legacy of her own.

“Previously, I thought that there was something that comes from being well-known that I’ve felt ashamed about, or secretive about,” she says. “I think I’ve always been too afraid of shining too much light on my work. For me, it’s almost like if I shine this big spotlight into this cave, can I still go into this cave, and is it still going to be a cave? Because I still need my own cave—I think we all do. That’s where I go to write. I’ve also seen a lot of people blow up and get huge, and then feel completely alienated from this thing that they had which was probably really good in their lives.

“I always write the songs for myself first—it’s the itch that I have to scratch,” she continues. “I want to protect beautiful, noncommercial elements of my soul. I feel protective of it because I love it, but I also think I should be a bit more of a big girl, and think that if there’s any way I can provide for my life, I’d like to also invite that into my life as well. It’s hard work to make ends meet. But I want to keep my writing as beautiful as it’s always been.”

FIRE WORKS Some Burning Man attendees have reported that they saw an image of the late Gord Downie among the flames when the festival’s Temple Galaxia was torched. In related news, everyone at Burning Man was fully, completely baked.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN U2 was forced to cancel a Berlin concert five songs in after singer Bono suffered a mysterious “complete loss of voice”. Medical experts are looking for an explanation, after which they’ll do the world a favour by contacting Chris Brown, Scott Stapp, John Mayer, and Lil Xan. SILENCE IS GOLDEN 2 Hours after Bono lost his voice, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl cancelled shows on an American tour.

Why? He “completely lost his voice”. Grohl joked he was going to stop making out with Bono. The smart money says he got a delivery meant for Chris Brown, Scott Stapp, John Mayer, or Lil Xan.

Fresh and local MOTH MOUTH SCENIC FASHION (LEISURE THIEF)

It probably wasn’t Moth Mouth’s intention to make such a thoroughly autumnal-sounding album. After all, Scenic Fashion is a document of a live performance the experimental electronic-music quartet (comprising Dave Leith, Lee Hutzulak, John Mutter, and Matt Skillings) gave in May of 2016. The shifting timbres of the title track, however, shimmer with all the colours of a late-September sunrise, while the 14-minute-plus psychedelic electro-dub nightmare “Everything We’ve Been Told” includes enough distorted voices and ghostly echoes to earn it a place on your Halloween playlist, somewhere between Skinny Puppy and Alien Sex Fiend. SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 33

SKOOKUM

DAVE ALVIN AND JIMMIE DALE GILMORE ON STAGE TOGETHER

WITH THE GUILTY ONES JON LANGFORD (The Mekons)

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The Straight’s picks to click > BY JOHN LUCAS, MIKE USINGER, AND KATE WILSON

T

WYCLIFFE GORDON WITH “A” BAND A TRIBUTE TO AFRICA AND NITECAP

he great thing about SKOOKUM—well, okay, one of the many great things about the festival that takes over Stanley Park from Friday to Sunday (September 7 to 9)—is that there’s more to it than just the names you know. Oh, sure, you’re there to see the Killers and Florence + the Machine and Metric and all the rest.

But you’ll also have a chance to discover your new favourite act among the lesser-known artists on the bill.

Check out our six picks below and you’ll be able to say you saw them before any of your hipster friends even knew who they were.

CAPU SPEAKER SERIES

DAYSORMAY (Forest Stage at 1:30

MOKOOMBA MOKOOMBA

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CAPU JAZZ SERIES TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO PAT METHENY TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO

BRIA SKONBERG WITH BAND PAT“A” METHENY GORD GRDINA NYC QUARTET

BRIA SKONBERG WITH “A” BAND KAT EDMONSON

GORD GRDINA NYC QUARTET MARTIN TAYLOR

KAT EDMONSON A TRIBUTE TO AFRICA

CHRIS POTTER CIRCUITS TRIO MARTIN TAYLOR

CHRIS POTTER CIRCUITS TRIO WYCLIFFE GORDON WITH FRAN LEBOWITZ

“A” BAND ANDHEDGES NITECAP CHRIS VANCOUVER SLOWCAPU MOVEMENT SPEAKER PANEL SERIES GABOR MATÉ

FRAN LEBOWITZ CHRIS HEDGES VANCOUVER SLOW MOVEMENT PANEL GABOR MATÉ

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Just a few of the lesser-known acts performing at this weekend’s SKOOKUM festival in Stanley Park (clockwise from top): R&B-inspired hip-hop queen Missy D; inflammatory rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids; Vernon’s daysormay.

capilanou.ca/centre | 604 990 7810

34 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

p.m. on Sunday The members of daysormay started making music together when they were still in elementary school—because what the hell else are you going to do when you grow up in Vernon?—and while they still don’t look much older than that, they craft impeccable alt-pop like well-seasoned pros. Killer tunes like “Human” and “Desolation Sound” make a good case that these boys would do well to relocate to Vancouver so they can rub elbows with the likes of Said the Whale, the Zolas, and We Are the City. Mind you, they probably have to graduate from high school first.

MISSY D (Meadow Stage at 2:30

p.m. on Saturday) Diane Mutabaruka grew up in Zimbabwe and other places in Africa and sometimes raps in French, but those cross-cultural selling points aside, her brand of R&B–flavoured hiphop will appeal to all of you who have the complete works of Missy Elliott, Jill Scott, and Lauryn Hill on permanent rotation. How

empowering and uplifting are Missy D’s jams? Let’s just say the title of her debut album, When Music Hits You Feel No Pain, is a pretty accurate description of the tracks found on it. She considers her music to be therapeutic, and if it works for her, it can work for you.

MOB BOUNCE (Meadow Stage at 9:15 p.m. on Friday) Regardless of what the Top 40 might tell you, there’s more to hip-hop than guns, cars, money, and misogyny. For those willing to embrace a more socially conscious musical fix, First Nations duo Mob Bounce is a gateway to a higher level of lyricism.

Frontman Craig Frank Edes (Gitxsan) and producer Travis Adrian Hebert (Cree/Métis) started off the project playing guitar and drums, but have since sprinkled their arrangements with elements of bigroom EDM. In performance, the pair showcase their cultural identity by dabbling in Indigenous chanting and sampling sounds from the wilds of British Columbia, making Mob Bounce one of the most unusual acts on the SKOOKUM bill.

BLACK PISTOL FIRE (Forest Stage at 8 p.m. on Friday) One of the undeniable realities of the live-music experience is that, no matter how great your songs might be, no one wants to watch you take root onstage while performing. On that front, Black Pistol Fire has built a reputation that’s more in line with Death Grips or Jack White than Art Garfunkel crossed with a 600-yearold California redwood. Forget coming off-stage simply sweatdrenched—the white-trash turboblues duo of drummer Eric Owen and singer-guitarist Kevin McKeown have been lauded for finishing up sets bloodied and bruised, jeans torn and T-shirts 50 shades of filthy grey. As Owen told the Straight

last year, “We’re basically fucking gassed after we play a show.” Stand back—you’ve been warned.

SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS (Mead-

ow Stage at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday) As names go, Snotty Nose Rez Kids is as brilliantly evocative and inf lammatory as N.W.A or Public Enemy. Coming straight outta Kitamaat Village on B.C.’s north coast, Haisla MC Yung Trybez (a.k.a. Quinton Nyce) and Young D (Darren Metz) offer proof that modern hip-hop has so much more to offer than Post Malone and XXXTentacion. Check out the G-funked anti–Kinder Morgan call to arms “The Warriors”.

Or the wickedly woozy “Skoden”, the video that starts with “Fuck Justin Trudeau” and then marries the past (longhouses and ceremonial masks) to the present (modern street protests) as Snotty Nose Rez Kids roll out lines like “My people getting mauled and put on by the dogs/And we’re still getting cuffed like outlaws.” Yes, someone is still willing to represent at a time when hip-hop is overrun with guns, cars, money, and misogyny.

JULIAN TAYLOR BAND (Forest Stage at 6 p.m. on Friday) Even more impressive than frontman Julian Taylor’s mighty fine dreadlocks is his band’s versatility.

A funk group first and foremost, the eight-piece stands apart from other outfits in its ability to fuse its choppy guitar chords and brass stabs with other genres. Hard rock, folk, hip-hop, and more augment the band’s records, creating a melting pot of sounds and feels befitting its Toronto home. With its deep roster of material, the group’s live set covers a dizzying amount of ground, from hip-shakers to tunes that will leave you weeping into your Budweiser. -

SKOOKUM

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“Their sound is both ethereal and purposeful, a combination of searing musicianship and tender vocals” - The Guardian

Florence + the Machine is one of the headline acts at the first-ever SKOOKUM, a music festival that belongs to the long tradition that gave us Woodstock.

A quick-and-dirty tour of music-fest history

A

t the risk of bringing up the audience something epic to the ghosts of the Grateful remember—namely, dodging flying Dead—a band currently guitar parts, bass drums, and empty beating a rotting horse cans of lighter fluid. under the money grubbing banner But, as fun as it is to watch Jefferof Dead & Company—what a long son Airplane singer Marty Balin get strange trip it’s been for the phenom- punched out by Hells Angels in old enon known as the music festival.

Altamont Speedway Free Festival footOne minute, you’re eating barley age, let’s bring things into the present. cake and dried eel while grooving Assuming that you know the to the exotic sounds of the aulos and Weeknd is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye’s kithara and singing a hymn to Apollo stage name and not a typo, chances at the Pythian Games at Delphi in are you’ve heard of Surrey’s now ancient Greece. The next, you’re din- well-established FVDED in the Park. ing on roasted rib-eye with Bordelaise This weekend sees the launch of the sauce and horseLower Mainland’s radish salsa verde second major while the Killers mult iday music power through fest: SKOOKUM. Mike Usinger “All the Things I’ve SKOOKUM is inDone” at the SKOOKUM festival in teresting because, like FVDED, it Vancouver’s gorgeous Stanley Park. represents something of a sea change It seems like only yesterday in the festivalgoing experience. For that your grandparents were roll- lack of a better and more gracious ing around in the mud like pigs at way of putting things, it might be the Woodstock. first time that a multiday West Coast What’s crazy is the way that music music festival has succeeded in makfestivals have evolved in a short time. ing things classy. Think long-table While the Pythian Games were in- dinners, on-site craft breweries and deed first off the mark, the modern- craft distillers, and pop-ups by topday outdoor extravaganzas we’ve flight restaurateurs.

Forget queuing up for a Mr. Tube come to know started in the ’60s, when peace, love, acid, and bushels of Steak and warm Molson Canadian marijuana got people realizing that it in a dust-swept field at the recent and was better to be trippin’ balls together unceremoniously departed Pemberton Music Festival—SKOOKUM than curled up in a fetal ball in bed.

Popular opinion is that Califor- will see the likes of the Main Street nia’s Monterey Pop Festival was the Brewing Co., Liberty Distillery, first time someone got the idea of Vij’s, and Hawksworth Restaurant setting up a bunch of generators and set up on the Brockton Oval grass in portable stages, and then convincing Stanley Park. Yes, you read that corpeople that nothing is cooler than rectly—Hawksworth Restaurant and taking a Day 2 dump in an over- Stanley Park.

With a lineup like that, one might flowing Porta Potty.

It makes sense that the three-day be forgiven for forgetting that SKOOMonterey blowout gets credit for pav- KUM (running Friday to Sunday [Seping the way for Woodstock, Glaston- tember 7 to 9] in Vancouver’s most bury, Lollapalooza, Coachella, and fabled green space—is actually about too many others to list here. It was at the music: the Killers, Florence + the the Monterey County Fairgrounds Machine, Arkells, Father John Misty, that the Who ended its set with Keith Metric, the War on Drugs, and a few Moon kicking the shit out of his drums dozen more, including St. Vincent, while Pete Townshend attempted to whose motherfucking “New York” is turn the stage into firewood with his easily the greatest motherfucking song Stratocaster. And that, determined to you’ll hear this motherfucking year.

What also sets SKOOKUM apart upstage the Who, Jimi Hendrix turned his Stratocaster into a campfire after from recent local festivals—not to fucking the living daylights out of his mention Woodstock, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, and Coachella—is Marshall during “Wild Thing”.

Given such landmark perform- its decidedly uban location. Someances, it’s no wonder that the Fan- where along the line, after the hightasy Fair and Magic Mountain profile Pemberton Music Festival Music Festival, which took place and Squamish Valley Music Festival one week before Monterey, seldom crashed and burned, it became clear gets the glory for being the true that high-wattage destination events rock-fest prototype. Blame Jeffer- were increasingly difficult to pull off.

Having to pay top American son Airplane, the Doors, the Byrds, and Canned Heat for not giving see page 37

C H A N C E N T R E AT U B C Tickets and info at chancentre.com

Pop Eye

AFTER DARK THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

RPM / SNAKES X LADDERS

THE IMPERIAL

The Funk Hunters with K+Lab (New Zealand)

TINY KINGDOM PRESENTS

THE RICKSHAW

THE RAILWAY STAGE

GUILT AND COMPANY

THE RAILWAY PRESENTS OPENING PARTY

Jesse Roper with Dana D (Vinyl DJ Set) Free with RSVP

Delhi 2 Dublin DJ SET, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Missy D, Phoenix Pagliacci & Lex Leosis of The Sorority with DJ Kookum

Little Destroyer Bad Animal with special guest Matt Mays

Hotel Mira Matchstick Skeletons with Bamboo Star

Hey Ocean 10 Year Anniversary Show with special guests

The Matinee with Carmanah

Soul Queen’s Tribute with the Julian Taylor Band

OUTLAWS & GUNSLINGERS

with Jim Cuddy, Barney Bentall, Whitehorse, Bazil Donovan, daysormay, William Prince plus many more

Scott Verbeek Quintet

with special guests

COINTREAU PRESENTS SKOOKUM AFTERPARTY

CHAMBAR

with Tom Middleton (UK) plus guests

ALL SHOWS ARE LICENSED 19+

ALL TICKE T S ON S ALE NOW! SKOOKUMFE S TIVAL .C OM

SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 35

BOOKS

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36 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

E

ven as rock ’n’ roll turned up the volume and chaos in the late ’60s, the MC5 seemed loud and wild. High-revving twin guitars, precision-machined rhythms, a ferocious look—the band had the swagger, grease, and roar of the muscle cars built in its hometown of Detroit.

This was only natural, according to guitarist and MC5 cofounder Wayne Kramer. His new memoir, The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5 & My Life of Impossibilities, creates a full, deeply personal depiction of the Motor City in its blue-collar heyday. As he explains to the Straight, the group he led couldn’t have come from anywhere else.

“There’s a fundamental sense of Detroiters that hard work is what we’re all about, and the people that worked in the manufacturing, automobile, and related industries generally worked hard,” he says by phone from New York, a stop on his tour for the book.

“It informed the MC5’s ethic in terms of the idea of high-energy music. The more we put into the band, the more sweat, the more physical energy, the better the audiences responded. And I think that was the key to us discovering this concept. The music that I loved, whether it was gutbucket funk or Chuck Berry or Little Richard, all had that energy to it. There was a commitment coming out of the artist, a visceral intensity, that other musics didn’t have. I mean, Bobby Vinton didn’t have it. Neil Sedaka didn’t have it. James Brown had it. So I think it only could have happened in Detroit.”

The day in September 1968 when the MC5 signed a contract with the major label Elektra, alongside an infamous band of Detroit protégés named the Stooges, has long been marked as the big bang that formed the musical universe we now call punk rock. But while that lineage is beyond dispute, it neglects essential parts of the MC5’s approach—especially, as The Hard Stuff makes clear, the love of free jazz and blistering improvisation shared by Kramer and MC5 vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson.

“I always found it kind of a disappointment that the more experimental side of the MC5 often got overlooked by the punks,” Kramer says. “You know, they picked up on the three-chords, thrashing rock ’n’ roll part, but they missed the, you know, ‘Let’s go beyond the beat and key’ part—the kinetic part.”

Driven by this sound and projecting an image of debauchery, sly humour, and revolutionary zeal that made the Rolling Stones look prim, the band rode up the face of a wave of youth counterculture and rebellion that was nationwide at the time. But Kramer’s own political imagination was, again, rooted in the place where he grew up, particularly in the “appreciation for unionism” that was widespread there.

On top of this was “the idea that we were an interracial city,” he points out.

“My mother opened the first interracial beauty salon in Detroit, and growing up with kids of colour was normal—that’s just how life was,” Kramer recalls of his childhood. “But [there was] also the fact that black people didn’t participate in the benefits of the auto industry and political advancement on the same scale that whites did. You know, blacks were completely shut out of Detroit politics, state politics. Blacks were the last hired and first fired. They always got the absolute worst jobs on the shop floor. They were roundly ignored in their grievances by mostly white shop foremen, and that caused the occasional outburst of violence on the shop floor. It wasn’t that unusual for somebody to just have enough and go off.…

You know, just the constant abuse. So yeah, I was aware of both things: that it wasn’t fair for people of colour, and that people of colour were my neighbours.”

In hindsight, certain moments in the MC5’s career as a group of self-

Wayne Kramer (right), shown here in the MC5’s heyday, says the band’s blazing stage presence grew out of its Detroit-based work ethic. Charlie Auringer photo.

fashioned radical insurgents (such as the photo session in which the band brandished rifles, only focusing the unwelcome attention of authorities) can look like youthful posturing.

But there can be no doubt about the MC5’s willingness to wade into the middle of a blaze, as it did when it turned up to play for hours at an antiwar demonstration during the famously riot-filled 1968 Democratic national convention in Chicago, while other acts on the bill fled.

This is doubly remarkable given that, only a year beforehand, Kramer had been offered a close look at the violence that police forces of the day were ready to inflict. As if establishing a keynote, The Hard Stuff opens with his description of the 1967 Belle Isle police riot in Detroit, when lines of officers swarmed concertgoers after an outdoor MC5 show and started swinging.

“Clearly, there was a rage building up in the Detroit police department, and they must have been rehearsing their tactics, because the level of force that they used to basically rid the park of a bunch of hippies and drunken factory workers was all out of proportion,” he tells the Straight. “I was stunned.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

To beat people mercilessly with nightsticks from horseback was like—you know…” He trails off for a moment.

“When I was growing up, my mother said, ‘Wayne, if you’re ever in trouble, you can go to a policeman. He’s there to help you.’ Well, not those policemen.”

THE INCIDENT WOULD be far from

you’ve got a full life going on and going to the clinic every day is a big pain in the ass—so you let it go. Had that happened in this country, we’d be a different country today….It’s really been an international embarrassment and shockingly destructive, the number of lives that drug prohibition has taken.”

Kramer’s own road out, mapped in considerable detail in The Hard Stuff, was much rockier and far more twisting.

“Of course, you put yourself in great danger,” he says of the years it took him to find sobriety. “And I did over and over and over again. I look back at it over the course of writing the book and I’m shocked and dismayed at some of the unbelievably terrible decisions I made. I have to write it off as, you know, I wasn’t in my right mind. I was under the influence and I was not thinking straight—because anyone in their right mind wouldn’t have done the things that I did.”

There’s a pained laugh with that last remark. But Kramer long ago pulled himself from the cycle of addiction and re-established music as the centre of his life. He lives and works in Los Angeles, composing scores for film and TV, and leading causes like Jail Guitar Doors USA, a nonprofit organization he founded with British singer and activist Billy Bragg to help rehabilitate prisoners by providing them with instruments and musical mentorship.

And he still wields his trademark star-spangled Stratocaster with pointed fury, most recently as leader of MC50, a group he’s assembled to mark the 50th anniversary of the old band—not to mention the alarming political parallels between the late ’60s and the present. It’s been making its way through a series of European festival dates and is heading to Vancouver in October.

“In the rock realm, the average person doesn’t know the story of the MC5, and I’m going to guess that the average music fan today doesn’t know the story of the MC5,” he says.

“It’s kind of an underground band— kind of a cult following. For example, with these concerts we’ve played this summer in Europe, my sense was that about half the crowd had no idea who we were. But we won them over because the music was so strong.

They didn’t need to know.

“I don’t want to be grandiose,” Kramer adds, “but I think that one of the reasons that interest in the MC5 has sustained all these years is that it was a bit more than a band. Yeah, we were a rock band and we played electric guitars, but we also addressed our audience’s concerns directly, and we tried to make sure that the music we created had a historical resonance that wasn’t a fashion, it was a style. And that it was something that would endure.” -

Kramer’s last brush with the law—indeed, a head-on collision was lining up. The Hard Stuff contrasts the brilliant arc of his band with the darkness that engulfed him in the years that followed the 1972 collapse of the MC5, run to ground by drugs and infighting. Disillusioned and wired to heroin, he entered a spiral of petty crime and dealing. Inexorably, as the quantities he handled grew larger and larger, his contacts reached farther and farther into the underworld. In 1975, an arrest on cocaine-trafficking charges sent him to federal prison for more than two years.

There, he says, he witnessed the early effects of the war on drugs that still rages in America, a policy he refers to in the final pages of The Hard Stuff as a “catastrophic failure”. He illustrates this for the Straight by comparing the morass of drug-related incarceration in the prohibitionist U.S. to a contemporary Swiss program that set up a network of clinics where addicts could acquire legal heroin as the initial stage in resurfacing from the drug.

“They come in with this terrible addiction, and the first thing they do is receive medically controlled doses of medication,” he says. “It’s treated just like any other prescription medication. And the first thing you can do is get a job, and then you can get a relationship, and then you start to have friends, and then you start to have ambitions, and then you start partici- The Hard Stuff is out now. The MC50 pating in the world, and pretty soon tour plays the Commodore Ballroom

CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD American blues/psych-rock band featuring former Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson. Nov 29, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Venue. Tix on sale Sep 7, 10 am, $27.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

Music-fest history

from page 35

THE GROWLERS Rock band from California perform on their Beach Goth Tour 2018. Sep 9, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix $35 (plus service charge) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

dollar for imported talent like Eminem, Muse, Kendrick Lamar, and VioANDREW W.K. American singer-songlent Femmes (featuring two original writer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer members!!) became harder after the performs tunes from latest album You’re SNAIL MAIL American indie-rock singerNot Alone. Sep 9, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, loonie started to plummet following songwriter and guitarist performs tunes The Imperial (319 Main St.). Tix $26 (plus from debut album Lush. Jan 27, doors 7 gains in 2008. Worse for the bottom service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/. pm, show 8 pm, The Imperial (319 Main line was having to move the army of St.). Tix on sale Sep 7, 10 am, $17.50 (plus THE DISTILLERS Australian-American folks needed for festivals far removed service charge) at www.ticketfly.com/. punk-rock band, with guests Starcrawler. from Vancouver. Jay-Z and deadmau5 Sep 10, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, THE CAT EMPIRE Australian ska and jazz were the folks you saw on-stage. WorkCommodore Ballroom (868 Granville). band performs two shows on its Stolen Tix $40 (plus service charges and fees) at ing behind the scenes were stage techs, Diamonds Tour. Mar 17-18, doors 8 pm, www.livenation.com/. site managers, security, cleanup crews, show 9:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Sep 7, 10 am, TREVOR HALL American folk-rock singercaterers, and shuttle-bus drivers. They CONCERTS $42.50 (plus service charges and fees) at songwriter and guitarist performs tunes numbered in the hundreds, making— www.livenation.com/. from latest album The Fruitful Darkness. because no one wants to sleep in a car 2JUST ANNOUNCED Sep 10, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, The 2THIS WEEK between Hickory Stix meals—for a Imperial (319 Main St.). Tix $25 (plus serI’M WITH HER Grammy-winning vice charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/. logistical nightmare.

Americana trio composed of Sara Watkins, SKOOKUM AFTER DARK More than And speaking of nightmares, ask Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan. Sep 20 acts perform at various Vancouver SAM SMITH English soul-pop singer-songanyone who ever camped at Pem- 30, Chan Shun Concert Hall (6265 Crescent nightclubs as part of the Skookum Festival. writer tours in support of his sophomore berton, Squamish, or for that mat- Rd., Chan Centre at UBC). Info www.chan Performers include the Funk Hunters, Matt album The Thrill of It All. Sep 10, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Mays, Hey Ocean, the Matinee, and Delhi ter Woodstock what it was like to centre.com/events/im-with-her/.

Way). Tix $125/85/55/35 (plus service char2 Dublin. Sep 6-9, various Vancouver sacrifice the comforts of one’s bed SEETHER South African hard-rock/ venues. Tix and info www.skookumfestival. ges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. for the convenience of not driving alt-metal band performs on its Poison com/, info www.skookumfestival.com/.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA Prog-metal quarthe Parish World Tour. Oct 22, doors 8 an hour (or three) to a destina- pm, show 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom tet from New York, with guests Protest the SKOOKUM FESTIVAL Three-day music Hero and Crown Lands. Sep 11-12, doors tion site each day. There are only (868 Granville). Tix on sale Sep 7, 10 am, festival features performances by 7 pm, show 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom so many hours you can yo-yo a $38.50/four-packs $120 (plus service char- headliners the Killers, X Ambassadors, (868 Granville). Tix $47.75 (plus service charand Florence + the Machine, plus fudgesicle before you have to give ges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. ges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

Metric, Arkells, the War on Drugs, St. BROCKHAMPTON American hip-hop colup and take care of business in a Vincent, Father John Misty, Blue Rodeo, GABRIEL GARZON-MONTANO R&B/soulportable crapper. Knowing that, if lective performs on its I’ll Be There Tour. funk singer-songwriter and multi-instruMother Mother, Chromeo, Bahamas, Nov 5, 9 pm, PNE Forum). Tix on sale Sep there’s even a drop of splash-back 8, 10 am, $49.50 (plus service charges and Stereophonics, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, mentalist New York City. Sep 12, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Fortune Sound Club (147 E. Cold War Kids, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Matt as you stand on the seat, you’re go- fees) at www.livenation.com/.

Pender). Tix $20 (plus service charges and Andersen, Matt Mays, Current Swell, Dear ing to have to kill yourself to erase MAC AYRES R&B singer, multi-instrufees) at www.livenation.com/.

Rouge, Said the Whale, Yukon Blonde, the the horror of the memory. mentalist, and producer, with guest Jack Zolas, Hey Ocean!, Delhi 2 Dublin, Barney ISLAND U.K. rock band plays tunes from What FVDED locked onto is the Dine. Nov 7, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Fox Bentall, Crystal Shawanda, Belle Game, album Feels Like Air. Sep 12, doors fact that—unless you enjoy listening Cabaret (2321 Main). Tix on sale Sep 7, $15 and the Matinee. Sep 7-9, Stanley Park. Tix debut 8 pm, show 9 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 (plus service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/. at www.skookumfestival.com/. to other people fuck in a tent three Main). Tix $15 (plus service charge) at www.ticketweb.ca/. feet away—there’s nothing better CHASE ATLANTIC Alt-pop band from FOO FIGHTERS American rock band composed of Christian Anthony (“Monkey Wrench”, “Learn to Fly”) perthan being able to head home for the Australia, 2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS and brothers Clinton and Mitchel Cave. forms on its Concrete and Gold North night after Future or the Chainsmok- Nov 21, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Fortune American Tour 2017-2018. Sep 8, Rogers WESTWARD MUSIC FESTIVAL MultiSound Club (147 E. Pender). Tix on sale ers have left you wanting more.

Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix at www.live day arts and music showcase features Here’s a question: after Florence + Sep 7, 10 am, $17.50 (plus service charges nation.com/.

Blood Orange, Kali Uchis, Rhye, Poppy, the Machine has finished enchanting and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

Angel Olsen, Honne, Kelela, Metz, Saba, FRANK TURNER AND THE SLEEPING Ravyn Lenae, Ella Mai, Mudhoney, Odds, SKOOKUM with “Queen of Peace”, HEADSTONES Guitar-rockers from SOULS English folk-punk singer-songwriter We Are the City, Tei Shi, Ramriddlz, Pell, Kingston, Ontario play two shows, with would you rather kick back in your guests and his band tour in support of upcoming the Matchstick Skeletons. Nov 24-25, Duckwrth, Buddy, Fatima Al Qadiri, Roni studio album Be More Kind. Sep 8, doors condo with a Château Cheval Blanc doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Commodore Size, Hannah Epperson, Jordan Klassen, Vogue Theatre (918 6:30 pm, show 7:30 pm, Milk & Bone, Nehiyawak, and Close Talker.

1947 nightcap? Or crawl into a sleep- Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Sep Granville). Tix $39.50 (plus service charges Sep 13-16, various Vancouver venues. Tix ing bag knowing full well that you’ll 7, 10 am, $42.50 (plus service charges and www.livenation.com/ . and fees) at at www.westwardfest.com/. end up having to take a leak some- fees) at www.livenation.com/.

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS Irish punk rockers THE PROCLAIMERS Scottish folk-pop MS. LAURYN HILL American R&B artist time around 4 a.m.? from the ’70s, with guests the Mahones. act featuring twin brothers Craig and performs on The Miseducation of Lauryn Exactly.

Nov 29, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Rickshaw Charlie Reid. Sep 9, doors 7 pm, show Hill 20th anniversary tour, with guests Man, you don’t have to be a Theatre (254 E. Hastings). Tix on sale Sep 8 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix Santigold, De La Soul, and Iman Omari. Sep $59.50/43.50/34.50/29.50 (plus service 14, 5 pm, Deer Lake Park (6344 Deer Lake Deadhead to realize that we’ve 7, 10 am, $39.50 (plus service charge) at Ave., Burnaby). Tix at www.livenation.com/. www.ticketweb.ca/. charge) at www.ticketfly.com/. come a long way. -

music/ timeout

SEAWHEEZE SUNSET FESTIVAL Performances by American DJ and producer Diplo and local DJ Felix Cartal. Sep 22, 4:30-11 pm, Brockton Point (Stanley Park).

Tix $45 at www.seawheeze.com/.

TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO Tord Gustavsen’s exquisitely crafted, melodic compositions are the work of a master pianist.

Presented by the Blueshore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Sep 29, 8 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). $30/$27, info www.capilanou.ca/centre/.

THE PACK A.D. Local garage-rock duo performs a free in-store concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its debut album Tintype. Sep 30, 2 pm, Neptoon Records (3561 Main). Free with RSVP, info www.facebook.com/ events/279398596169674/.

CHILDISH GAMBINO Singer, songwriter, and rapper from the States, aka actor Donald Glover, with guest Rae Sremmurd. Sep 30, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $139.50/89.50/59.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

JAY-Z AND BEYONCE American hiphop/R&B superstars perform on their On the Run II Tour. Oct 2, 7:30 pm, BC Place Stadium (777 Pacific Blvd). Tix at www.livenation.com/.

ARCTIC MONKEYS Indie-rock quartet from Sheffield, England, with guests Mini Mansions. Oct 25, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Pacific Coliseum (100 N. Renfrew). Tix $69.50/59.50/49.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

DRAKE Canadian rap superstar performs on his Aubrey and The Three Migos Tour, featuring guests Migos. Nov 3-4, 7 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix from $59.50 to $199.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE American pop– R&B singer-songwriter and former NSYNC member performs on his Man of the Woods Tour. Nov 8-9, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix for Nov 8 show SOLD OUT, tix for Nov 9 at www.livenation.com/.

NICKI MINAJ AND FUTURE Hip-hop artists co-headline on the Nickihndrxx Tour.

Nov 13, 6:30 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $55/77/97/123/183 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

TIME OUT MUSIC LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge.

Submit listings online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 37

Everybody Knows

Asghar Farhadi – Spain/France/Italy FRI. SEPT 28

One Night Only!

RZA: Live from the 36th Chamber of Shaolin TUE. OCT 9

Co-presented with

8:15 PM

ORPHEUM

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RZA brings the ruckus! The award-winning musician, film director and leader of rap group Wu-Tang Clan comes to live-score the Kung-fu flick that’s been one of his biggest influences: Lau Kar-leung’s The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Using a Wu-Tang catalog over two decades deep , he drops beats from opening scene to closing credits, amplifying the action of Lau’s martial arts classic. Hip-hop heads, Kung-fu film fans and anybody who wants to see some electrifying innovation, this is for you.

9:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

Making the most of a powerhouse cast, Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) weaves an involving web of deceit. When Laura (Penélope Cruz) returns to Spain for a wedding, she is reunited with a longtime family friend (Javier Bardem) with whom she was once romantically involved. As if this situation wasn’t tense enough, Laura’s daughter suddenly vanishes from the wedding reception and is nowhere to be found...

“Such flair, such muscular confidence… Farhadi’s storytelling has overpowering force.”--Guardian

Wash Westmoreland – UK FRI. SEPT 29

3:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

WED. OCT 3

3:15 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

Keira Knightley gives the performance of her professional career in Wash Westmoreland’s sparkling look at the early life of Collette, the French writer and feminist icon who turned fin de siècle Paris upside down with her liberal life and work. Costarring a perfectly cast Dominic West as Colette’s libertine first husband, the critic known as “Willy” who took credit for Colette’s first four novels, this is “a fun, frothy, feminist biopic about the relationship between sex and freedom.”--IndieWire

The Sisters Brothers

Shoplifters

FRI. SEPT 29

8:30 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

TUE. SEPT 30

3:30 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

FRI. OCT 2

6:30 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

SAT. SEPT 27

6:00 PM

RIO

SUN. OCT 7

5:30 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

THU. OCT 1

6:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

SAT. OCT 10

6:15 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

THU. OCT 1

9:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

SAT. OCT 3

3:30 PM

PLAYHOUSE

Jacques Audiard – France/Belgium/Romania/Spain

The great French director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, VIFF 09) makes his first foray into English-language filmmaking with a Western. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly as the eponymous Oregonian hired killers on the trail of a pair of gold prospectors (Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed), Audiard plays with genre tropes to beguiling effect: alongside the tense shootouts there is also a very funny thread of comedy (most of it coming from Phoenix’s affable yet stonecold killer) running throughout.

Cold War

Colette

Kore-eda Hirokazu – Japan

Pawel Pawlikowski – Poland/UK/France

VIFF favourite Kore-eda Hirokazu is back with the top prizewinner from Cannes 2018. This is a bittersweet story of love and crime, tear-jerking and provocative in equal measure. Where would little Yuri (Sasaki Miyu) be better off: her family home, where she’s abused, or with a ragtag family of petty criminals? That family, headed by Osamu (Lily Franky) and his wife Nobuyo (Ando Sakura), seems like the better choice, but that’s not the end of the story... “A rich, satisfying film.”

--Guardian

Shot in exquisite black and white, Pawel Pawlikowski’s (Ida) searing love story begins in the late 1940s when pianist Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), recording folk music in the Polish countryside, meets singer Zula (a riveting Joanna Kulig). What follows is an intense location- and time-jumping tale, based on the director’s parents’ story, fuelled by the music that both brings the couple together and drives them apart. “Visually stunning, passionate, wistful and thoughtful in equal measure.”

--New York Magazine

Dogman

Matteo Garrone – Italy/France

Matteo Garrone returns to the criminal milieu that made his name in Gomorrah with this spellbinding look at a sympathetic dog groomer (Marcello Fonte, Best Actor at Cannes) whose sideline as a coke dealer leads inexorably to greater criminal misdeeds--and tragedy. Tense, tough and thoroughly grounded in its seedy suburban Neapolitan locations, this is Garrone in peak form. “Terrific… A compelling opera of betamale criminal martyrdom… [This is] a movie with incomparable bite and strength.”--Guardian Schedule subject to change, visit viff.org for updates.

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38 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018

VIFF Passes + Ticket Packs at viff.org on sale now SINGLE TICKETS Online: viff.org from Sept. 6 In-person: from Sept. 13 Vancity Theatre 1181 Seymour Street, at Davie (Mon-Sat: Noon - 7pm, Sun: 2pm – 7pm)

MOVIES REVIEWS MY GENERATION A documentary by David Batty. Rated PG

For those unfamiliar with ’60s lore, or those

2 who were part of the cultural upheaval and

therefore need their memory cells recharged, My Generation is a terrifically entertaining overview of how colour came to drab postwar Britain, and class strictures finally began to fall away.

At only 85 minutes, there’s no way this swiftly moving clip show could cover all the bases. Good thing it has a stellar tour guide in one Michael Caine, doing double duty as himself today, reading prepared quips from this distance, and himself young, strutting down London streets—in perfectly matched clips from films like The Ipcress File and, of course, Alfie—back when England swung like a pendulum do. Roger Miller isn’t aboard, but everyone else is. Caine’s new-wave epiphany came, he recalls, the first time he went to the Ad Lib Club, and spotted “every single Beatle and every single Rolling Stone on the dance floor”.

Talkin’ about his generation

A well-known actor of a certain vintage is joined by Paul McCartney and a few of the other names and faces who made ’60s England swing in My Generation.

“This place just eats away at you,” says Keire Johnson, the only African-American and the most instantly likable of the pals profiled by talented Michael Caine reminisces about a time when Britannia ruled first-time filmmaker Bing Liu, who started videotaping his the airwaves, the screen, and pretty much everything else skater scene while still in midUnder the nifty direction of David Batty, who has dle school. Thus, we are also able to watch the blandly mostly directed TV docs about religious history, the handsome Zack Mulligan age from voluble, brightera is resurrected with archival footage and all the eyed Anglo preteen to beer-besotted lout, doomed— key songs—shout-out to music supervisor Tarquin alongside high-school sweetheart Nina and their Gotch—from the above-mentioned bands, plus luckless baby—to repeat the cycle of violent unrest he Donovan, Cream, and that most English of Eng- grew up with, in their huge, now-dilapidated houses.

The gap being minded here has to do with inlish bands, the Kinks. Paul McCartney, the Who’s Roger D-D-Daltrey, and photographer David Bail- come, of course, and also the distance between ey are among many alternate narrators heard, but childhood and being an adult. “We still have to seen only as their beautifully youthful selves. The fully grow up,” one says early on. “And it fucking film could have used some more female representa- sucks.” The F-bombs flow as freely as the Pabst tion on the soundtrack, although singer Marianne Blue Ribbon in this Rust Belt wasteland, and you Faithfull, designer Mary Quant, and protosuper- can see childlike consternation on the boys’ faces model Twiggy speak at some length about changes as they struggle to give more complicated answers to Bing’s increasingly frank questions. The gap in in fashion and sexual mores at the time.

This Generation probably takes on too much education yawns menacingly too.

It takes a while for quiet, scrawny Bing (who now when it tries to encompass outer developments, like Vietnam and the North American counterculture. lives in Chicago) to come out from behind the camThe lack of focus, in the end, is related to Caine— era, mainly to address his Chinese-born mother born Maurice Micklewhite in 1933—being a crucial about the abuse they both suffered at the hands of his decade older than most of the cohorts in question. American stepfather, now long gone. Keire’s volatile Writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who dad is also absent, but the kid somehow remains wrote for everyone on Brit TV from The Likely Lads cheerful through everything, and eventually packs to Tracey Ullman, are only a few years younger than up his boards and musical gear to start a new life in Caine, and the mists of time seem to have obscured another town, leaving Zack behind.

Remarkably, all three—a multiethnic microtheir mission a bit. Still, as long as some can gaze on cosm of American malehood—keep improving “Waterloo Sunset”, we’ll be in paradise. > KEN EISNER their skating skills, offering glimmers of curbhopping freedom unburdened by doubt, place, or MINDING THE GAP history. Painted on the topside of one of Keire’s decks: “This Device Cures Heartache.” As it hapA documentary by Bing Liu. Rating unavailable pens, the words were put there by Zack.

There’s a heavy, hollowed-out kind of hope > KEN EISNER at the heart of this on-the-f ly exercise in visual diary-keeping that says as much about TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR AND money as it does about the boys who grow up A BICYCLE before your very eyes.

Starring Ksenia Solo. In English, Italian, and Dutch, The second movie about skateboards released with English subtitles. Rated 14A this week, Minding the Gap trades Skate Kitchen’s Fablelike charm and a few edgy turns take sharp all-girl crew for a posse of troubled dudes some of the treacle out of this aggressively from Rockford, Illinois, dubbed one of the most dangerous midsized towns in the Disunited States. crowd-pleasing international coproduction, which

2

2

WEEK IN WIDESCREEN

2 Fassbinder EIGHT HOURS DON’T MAKE A DAY Only recently

rediscovered and restored, this miniseries was made for German TV by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who brings together his usual rep company—Hanna Schygulla and Kurt Raab among them—for an unusually warm, eight-hour tale of working class life in the early ’70s. Parts 1 and 2 screen at the Cinematheque on Friday (September 7). -

3

> KEN EISNER

MOVIES

The projector

1

manages to cram multiple ethnic stereotypes into a beautifully shot, if strangely silly, fantasy of love et cetera.

Dutch director Marleen Gorris, who released the Oscar-winning Antonia’s Line in 1995 and Mrs. Dalloway two years later, was supposed to direct Peter van Wijk’s script for Tulipani. When she had health problems, the task fell to Mike van Diem, who got his own foreign-language Oscar for 1997’s Character. Van Diem, who subsequently coauthored the script, begins things in 1980, perhaps just to ensure that no ugly cellphones will rear their story-killing heads.

Canadian ex–child star Ksenia Solo, who was born in Latvia, plays Anna, a red-haired Montrealer who heads to the old country when her Italian mamma suddenly dies. No sooner does Anna arrive in the quaintly cobblestoned Puglia region than her crimson locks arrest café keeper Immacolata (The Best of Youth’s Lidia Vitale) and grown son Vito (Michele Venitucci). They immediately regale her with tales of her real mother and the father she never knew. Well, first some farcical things happen to attract the attention of a jaded police inspector (’70s fave Giancarlo Giannini), who sits patiently through the f lashbacks-within-f lashbacks structure.

(A few scenes were also shot in Lithuania and Hamilton, Ontario, for more complication.)

Travelling another 27 years into the past, it turns out that future dad was a Dutch farmer called Gauke (Gijs Naber), who escapes an infamous f lood and rides his sturdy bike—hence the subtitle—all the way down the heel of Italy’s boot. Before that, actually, we find him copulating with a Botticelli-maned damsel (Anneke Sluiters) whose name he won’t learn until, oh, about 10 months later.

The bearded and bedraggled foreigner is taken in by Immacolata and son (played by Venitucci again, but with cast standout Gianni Pezzolla as the much littler Vito). Gauke buys a farm and starts growing tulips. Because, remember, he’s Dutch! Soon the local Mafiosi start horning in on his business, and it takes a tall, blond foreigner to put them in their place. That, and fart jokes.

The results, while variable, prove entertaining enough to encourage the suspension of critical faculties for just about 90 minutes.

What to see and where to see it

DGC B.C. Showcase

FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, Eric Stoltz, and Sean Penn bring the ultimate set of tools to Amy Heckerling’s classic from 1982, at the Rio Theatre on Thursday (September 6).

DEGRASSI HIGH: SCHOOL’S OUT!

See Joey Jeremiah (Pat Mastroianni) and Caitlin Ryan (Stacie Mistysyn) in the flesh when the Rio Theatre celebrates the 25th anniversary of Degrassi ’s finale, on Friday (September 7).

CRIES AND WHISPERS The mammoth

Bergman 100 retrospective at Cinematheque finally lands on the director’s red-drenched 1972 masterpiece, screening Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday (September 6, 10, and 11).

KEEPERS OF THE MAGIC Screening at Vancity Theatre on Friday (September 7), Vic Sarin’s ode to the art of cinematography headlines a short but nutritious series of features from the B.C. chapter of the Directors Guild of Canada. Also playing: Bye Bye Blues (September 7), Eve and the Fire Horse, On Putin’s Blacklist (both September 9), and more. SEPTEMBER 6 – 13 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 39

MOVIES

Cineplex puts North Shore on event horizon NORTH VAN THEATRE CHANGES Metro Vancouver

that of Cineplexâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event-based Park Theatre on Cambie Street.

Cineplex event cinema vicewill have a second Cineplex theatre devoted to event-based cinemaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this president Brad LaDouceur explained in a news release time on the North that the change Shore. On August is in response 31, Cineplex to an increase in announced that Craig Takeuchi demand for event Cineplex Odeon cinema programming. The theatre Park and Tilford Cinemas, located at 200â&#x20AC;&#x201C;333 Brooksbank Avenue in is one of 10 new event screens North Vancouver, will become dediacross the country, for a total of cated to one-night-only and series22 Cineplex event-based cinemas. based screenings, with a format like Screenings will include theatre,

Movie Notes

Actor Simu Liu will discuss Asian Canadian representation at UBC. concerts, classic films, dance, family entertainment, anime, travel,

Met Opera performances, limitedengagement presentations, holiday programming, archival TV series episodes, and more.

Fall film programming at the theatre will include showings of the Stage Series, featuring performances from Ontarioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stratford Festival; the In the Gallery series, featuring exhibitions by artists like Salvador DalĂ­, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Edgar Degas; performances by the Bolshoi Ballet and the Australian Ballet; Met Opera

performances including AĂŻda and Marnie; concerts by Jonas Kaufmann and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo; family films such as E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial and Show Dogs; and classics like Psycho.

Also on the North Shore, Cineplex announced in May 2017 that it is developing a new multiplex at West Vancouverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Park Royal shopping centre that will span over 44,000 square feet and will include adultsonly VIP cinemas. This new location is slated to open later this year.

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hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already noticed, issues around Asian representation have been in the spotlight of late, thanks to the success of Hollywood romcom Crazy Rich Asians (and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sequel in the works, to boot).

However, a number of TV series that broke through into the mainstream preceded its release, such as Fresh Off the Boat and, on this side of the border, the CBC sitcom Kimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Convenience, about a KoreanCanadian family that runs a convenience store in Toronto.

Season 3 of the series will air in the 2019 winter season, and production on Season 4 was green-lit back in May. One of the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cast members, Simu Liu, who plays Jung, will be appearing at an event held by the UBC Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies program. Liu, a former accountant who has also had roles on the TV series Taken and Blood and Water, will talk about diversity and representation on-screen.

The event, entitled Asian Canadian Representation and Media: Public Q&A With Simu Liu, is part of a yearlong celebration of the university programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fifth anniversary and is also related to a new course in the program, ACAM 250: The Idea of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Asian Canadianâ&#x20AC;? in Popular Culture, taught by professor John Paul (JP) Catungal.

This free event (which requires registration due to limited seating capacity) will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on September 27 at the Ross Beaty Lecture Theatre (Room 1013) in the UBC Earth Sciences Building (2207 Main Mall, UBC). To register, visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/asian-canadianrepresentation-and-media-public-qawith-simu-liu-tickets-49623226406/.

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Purdys Chocolatier purdys.com 40 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2018

Groundbreaking primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and conservationist Jane Goodall, who challenged male-dominated scientific communities with her chimpanzee research, will make an appearance at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

At 6:30 p.m. on October 4, VIFF and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada will present a charity screening of Brett Morganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2017 biographical documentary Jane, which uses archival footage and details Goodallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s career and research in Tanzania that began in the 1960s.

The event will include Goodall participating in a 45-minute talk after the film. Proceeds will go to the institute, which helps promote understanding and protection of chimpanzees and other apes.

Due to demand, the event has been relocated from the Playhouse to the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts (777 Homer Street).

The event is part of VIFFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Impact stream, which features films about topical issues affecting the world.

Among this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Impact films are The Serengeti Rules, about scientists who set out into wildernesses around the world to discover common rules governing nature, and Dolphin Man, about legendary French free diver Jacques Mayol (who inspired Luc Bessonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1988 film The Big Blue).

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VIFF will be held from September 27 to October 12. Full details about the Goodall event and the festival are available on the VIFF website (www.viff.org/ ). -

VIFF

Cannes hits, big names, filmmaking greats

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This year’s VIFF attendees will get a preview of Keira Knightley in Colette.

In the sure-fire hit category: Rosamund Pike and Jamie Dornan find themselves in A Private War (not to mention a Canadian premiere); Melissa McCarthy plays literary forger Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Robert Redford bows out of a 58year acting career in David Lowery’s

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The Old Man & the Gun. And finally, Colette sends Keira Knightley back to fin-de-siècle Paris in the role of pioneering queer writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.

The festival’s enhanced programming also brings mad genius Kid Koala to the Orpheum Annex for a three-night event starting October 5 called Satellite, in which visitors station themselves at turntables and effects boxes to join an “ambient vinyl orchestra”.

In a not-too-distant vein, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA will attend a Creator Talk at the Rio Theatre on October 9 to discuss his film work, including 2012’s feature debut as director, The Man With the Iron Fists. He’ll then move on to the Orpheum to perform a live soundtrack to Lau Kar-leung’s martial-arts classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.

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Paris Barclay will also be in attendance for a just-announced DGC Master Class Series, at the Vancity Theatre (October 1) and the Cinematheque (October 6), respectively.

Other titles to look out for: Lars von Trier’s serial-killer shocker The House That Jack Built had Cannes in an uproar this year, with attendees leaving the theatre in droves. A little less controversially, Edge of the Knife brings the first ever Haida-language feature to VIFF, while the Vancouver Grizzlies’ Bryant Reeves is remembered in Finding Big Country. Speaking of hometown matters, Bruce Sweeney also returns this year with his latest, Kingsway. -

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Along with Shadow from China’s great Zhang Yimou, these are among the titles revealed on August 30, when the Vancouver International Film Festival announced its program of special presentations for 2018.

We can look forward to equally weighty product from Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War), Olivier Assayas (Non-Fiction), Kore-eda Hirokazu

(Shoplifters), and Jacques Audiard— who rounds up Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, and John C. Reilly for his first American-made feature, The Sisters Brothers. All of these internationally renowned filmmakers have been closely watched over the years by the programming team at VIFF. From Canada: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky return with Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, while conservationist filmmaker Rob Stewart is remembered with his final film, Sharkwater Extinction, and Miranda de Pencier marks her feature directorial debut with The Grizzlies.

Actor Joel Edgerton also turns up on the other side of the camera for Boy Erased, starring Nicole Kidman, while Rupert Everett does doubleduty as director and star of the Oscar Wilde biopic The Happy Prince.

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savage love I’m a cis woman in my mid40s, and my significant other has a cuckolding fetish. My first response was “Oh, hell no!” But if I’m willing to have a threesome, how much further of a stretch is it, really? He does have some experience with this varsity-level kink, so he knows what to expect. I’ve asked him some questions, but some things I prefer to research on my own.

My questions for you: (1) I don’t get cuckolding. I’ve read all about it, but nothing about it resonates with me.

My SO really wants me to be into his fetish if I am going to act on it, but what if I’m just into being GGG? Can’t that be enough? (2) How should I go about finding appropriate candidates who would be into sharing this experience with us? I’m not really sure that I’d want someone with experience as a bull, because I don’t feel good about this playing out the way I’ve seen it in porn. (3) We enjoy cross-dressing and chastity play. How do I find someone who will be cool about my SO sitting in the room in a cock lock and lingerie?

(4) I kind of have a “type” (don’t we all), and I’m not certain my type plays into this kink. I prefer someone who is very dominant in public but submissive to me in the bedroom. This doesn’t seem to align with your typical bull behaviour. However, I do not enjoy being dominated. Do you think this matters? > CAN’T UNDERSTAND CUCKOLD KINK

1. Cuckolding isn’t that hard to understand: A cuckold gets off on their partner fucking other people and being humiliated or degraded by

> BY DAN SAVAGE

their partner and/or their partner’s playmates. Seeing as you already enjoy dominating guys and threesomes, CUCK, what’s not to enjoy about a cuckolding scenario?

2. Vanilla PIV intercourse rarely plays out in real life the way it does in porn. So whether you go with an experienced bull or find someone who’s unfamiliar with cuckold play but game, you don’t have to reenact whatever cuckold porn you’ve watched or read. Write your own script!

3. By using your words, CUCK. Tell any guy who’s interested in being your very special guest star (VSGS) that your SO is a cuckold and he’ll be there in lingerie with his cock locked up. If that turns a VSGS candidate off, then he’s not the right VSGS for you.

4. In most cuckold porn, the bull— the man who fucks the cuck’s wife or girlfriend (or boyfriend or husband) in front of him—is the dominant partner. But, again, you get to write your own script, and if you want your bull to be submissive, make that clear to your potential bulls.

Presumably? There’s no room for “presumablies” when you’re arranging to fulfi ll a varsity-level fantasy.

I’m guessing she’d rather not know who’s ravishing her before or during the big event, ETIQUETTE, and she may not want to know after. But you need to ask her what she wants— no presumptions—before you start making arrangements.

She might want to know everything in advance—including the identity of that stranger—or she might want you to decide everything. But you need to check in with her first: “Honey, I want to help you realize that fantasy—you’re tied to the bed, a stranger arrives, you’re ravished by said stranger—but I need to know how involved you want to be in the planning. Clear everything with you—where, when, who, how— or just make it happen?”

You may find that she wants to be surprised by who but not by when, ETIQUETTE, or by when but not by who—or by who but not by when, how, or where. Or she may want the whole thing to be a surprise. But you have to find out exactly what she wants before you make any plans.

And here’s a bonus pro tip for you: don’t reveal the identity of your VSGS immediately afterward. Because if it goes well, and your wife wants a repeat, you may be able to get a few more encounters out of your first VSGS. -

feeling it. I said okay, that happens, and I left. I’m totally confused. I’m a decent-looking guy, and the photo I sent is recent. I was freshly showered, so no hygiene or b.o. issues. Obviously, you can’t force yourself to be into someone, but could he have handled it better? Should he have followed up with a message apologizing? Should I reach out and ask him what happened, or is that just pathetic?

Then ask if you said or did something that made him feel unsafe.

If you did, BONDAGE, accept his feedback graciously—don’t argue with him or attempt to litigate what went down. Just listen. It may not have been your intention to freak him out by making, say, a few serial-killer jokes, but his impression is what matters, not your intention.

And who knows? A sincere effort > BONDAGE OFFER NOT to get a little constructive feedback DELIVERED AFTER GETTING EVICTED may leave him feeling better about you and up for playing the next Typically when this happens—photos time he’s in town. exchanged, hookup arranged, mind changed—it’s because the photos My wife has a fantasy where were out-of-date or were not repre- she’s blindfolded and restrained on sentative. Since we aren’t always the our bed. She hears the front door best judge of our own photos, BOND- open, followed by footsteps coming AGE, you should ask a friend who up the stairs, and then she’s ravished won’t bullshit you to look at your by… who? She won’t know, presumably, until it’s over. My question: in photos and give it to you straight.

If your no-bullshit friend clears fulfi lling this fantasy for her, where your photos, then reach out to Mr. anonymity and surprise are part of San Francisco. He had to make a the appeal, what do I tell her in adsnap decision when you arrived with vance? Do I discuss the entire scenthat bag of rope and duct tape: did he ario with her, so she knows exactly feel comfortable letting this stran- what’s going to happen, minus the ger render him helpless? In a vanilla identity of the very special guest star hookup, he could give it a little time (who would be a semiregular we’ve and back out after some foreplay— played with before, but she wouldn’t it’s a lot harder to back out when the necessarily know that at first)? That foreplay involves rope and duct tape. seems to eliminate the surprise eleSo send him a message via Recon. ment of the fantasy. Is it enough to Open by telling him you aren’t butt- tell her, without mentioning the sore or angry, and he had every right specific scenario, that I’d like to to change his mind, even at the last make one of her fantasies come true, minute—which means he has noth- and ask her to trust me? > ETHICAL THINKING IN QUITE ing to apologize for, so you aren’t UNUSUAL, ELABORATE TIED TIGHT owed an apology and you shouldn’t ENACTMENT message him if you’re seeking one.

I’m a 54-year-old gay guy liv-

ing in New York City. I’m into bondage, and I have a profi le on Recon with plenty of pictures showing what I’m into. A guy visiting from San Francisco cruised me. He asked me to send a face pic, and I did. He invited me to his hotel. He didn’t have any gear with him, so I stopped at a hardware store and picked up $40 worth of rope and duct tape on my way to meet him. But after 30 seconds of small talk, he said he just wasn’t

On the Lovecast , Dan chats with comedian Guy Branum about ass surgery: savagelovecast.com. Email: mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage. ITMFA.org.

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