The Georgia Straight - Fall Arts Preview - September 17, 2020

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020 | FREE

Volume 54 | Number 2747

REAL ESTATE

WHAT YOU GET FOR $500,000

VIDEO GAMES

NEW TITLES FOR AUTUMN

Choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino explores dance as prayer in his newest creation PLUS: visual arts, theatre, comedy, and festivals

AS I A N S N AC KS

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F I L M F E ST

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CA N N A B I S

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F I N A N C I A L L I T E R ACY

CANNABIS

Muse plans new outlet just as cannabis sales skyrocket

CONTENTS 9

COVER

September 17-24 / 2020

Vancouver performing artist and choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino explores dance as prayer in his newest creation, called Offering.

By Carlito Pablo

4

REAL ESTATE

Cover illustration by Hanna Lee Joshi

How much can you really buy for $500,000 in Vancouver these days? You might be surprised by the answer.

By Carlito Pablo

7

FOOD

Lisa Saepan, who is from Laos, and her daughter, Tamara Saechao, have found a Vancouver audience for Southeast Asian snacks.

By Gail Johnson

The Muse cannabis store at 460 Granville Street opened last month with a “Wake and Bake” celebration—but the baking component referred to free doughnuts, not getting ripped on weed.

d MUSE CANNABIS STORE wants to open a shop in Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood. The company has fi led a development permit application for retail cannabis at 999 Denman Street.

Muse Cannabis currently operates two cannabis stores: at 3039 Granville Street and a new outlet at 460 Granville Street. The cannabis retailer is a sister company of JAK’s Beer Wine Spirits, which owns liquor stores in B.C. JAK’s has been in the liquor industry for many years.

John Kettlewell started the company with a pub in 1981 and later transitioned to liquor sales. In the wake of pot legalization, the business moved to parlay its extensive experience in the highly regulated liquor industry into cannabis retail.

Thrive Liquor & Cannabis Advisors fi led the development permit application with city hall on behalf of Denman Street Cannabis. The application identified Paddy Mahony and Matt Kettlewell as owners.

Matt Kettlewell, meanwhile, serves as a partner and director of buying with JAK’s.

The application stated that the cannabis store will employ about 12 to 15 people.

“While security and safety are the utmost of importance, guests will not be made to feel as though they are being monitored,” an operational letter stated.

In addition, the application noted that the cannabis store’s environment will be “welcoming and well lit”.

“Guests will be able to browse within the space in a comfortable shopping environment,” the letter declared.

Canada’s gross domestic product shrank by 11.5 percent between April and June.

There are certainly signs of recovery, however. StatsCan’s Retail Commodity Survey for June states that after three consecutive year-over-year declines, retail sales rose 4.8 percent in June 2020, to $56.9 billion. Higher sales were reported in 13 of the 19 commodity categories.

Because you’re reading this in a weedfocused article, you’re probably wondering how cannabis sales fared. In June of 2019, Canadians spent $92 million on cannabis products. In June of this year, however, that figure had risen to $201 million. That’s a year-over-year increase of 119.3 percent.

According to StatsCan’s figures, cannabis sales can boast the highest year-over-year percentage increase of any of the commodities, retail trade commissions, or miscellaneous services that the agency tracks.

Nothing else even comes close, in fact.

The next highest? Sales of recreational vehicles, which soared to a new high, up 50.3 percent in June from the previous year. According to StatsCan, new recreational boats (up 51.6 percent) led this increase in sales.

“This category includes boats, canoes, kayaks and personal watercraft, as well as parts and accessories.”

Is there any link to cannabis sales there?

Perhaps not. On the other hand, it would be nice to think that those heading to the lake this summer stocked up on Birthday Cake Kush or Lime Green Skunk.

by John Lucas

by Carlito Pablo

e Start Here 2 CANNABIS 13 COMEDY 15 CULTURE DAYS 17 ESPORTS 14 FESTIVALS 5 FINANCE 6 LIQUOR 16 MOVIES 16 MUSIC 18 SAVAGE LOVE 12 THEATRE 10 VISUAL ARTS 8 WINE

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 54 | Number 2747 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 T: 604.730.7000 F: 604.730.7010 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com

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PUBLISHER Brian Kalish

COVID-19 cases stil at record high amid questions about wildfire smoke.

Fire breaks out at New Westminster pier, lighting up the night sky.

Indigenous drag queen Ilona Verley makes a splash in Vogue. @GeorgiaStraight

CIRCULATION MANAGER Giles Roy CREDIT MANAGER Shannon Li

SECTION EDITORS Brian Lynch (Books) Mike Usinger (eSports/Liquor/Music) SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy ASSOCIATE EDITOR John Lucas (Cannabis) STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) Craig Takeuchi (Health)

d AT THE END of August, Statistics Canada reported that the country’s economy took a serious decline in the second quarter of 2020. According to StatsCan,

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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EDITOR Charlie Smith

CANNABIS SALES RISE SHARPLY

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

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

3

REAL ESTATE

What can you buy in Vancouver for $500,000?

T

by Carlito Pablo

alk about million-dollar homes is hardly surprising in Vancouver.

In a place as expensive as this city, many properties, typically, exceed that price. But what if one can only afford half? How much house can $500,000 buy?

RBC’s online mortgage calculator shows what a 25-year mortgage of $500,000 with an interest rate of 2.29 percent means. For a borrower, the monthly payment comes to $2,187.88.

In the past three weeks, a number of Vancouver condo units sold at or below $500,000, based on tracking by real-estate site fisherly.com.

One is at 304–989 Beatty Street in Yaletown, which was listed by Oakwyn Realty Downtown Ltd. The 471-square-foot studio unit sold for exactly $500,000.

A buyer picked up the unit at the Nova condo development of Bosa Properties on August 28. It was listed eight days earlier for $529,000.

A West End condo at the Californian development sold for less than $500,000.

The 309–1080 Pacific Street property went for $488,700 on August 31.

The transaction came five days after

This West End condo, listed by Stilhavn Real Estate Services, took hardly any time to sell for $488, 700. That selling price was more than $40,000 over the asking price just five days earlier.

Stilhavn Real Estate Services listed the property on August 26 for $448,000. The condo measures 520 square feet.

A condo in the Collingwood neighbourhood sold for less than $500,000. RE/MAX Select Properties listed 2703–5380 Oben Street on August 27 for $499,000. The penthouse sold four days later for $490,000.

The 556-square-foot condo is part of the Urba condo development by Bosa Properties.

Current rules provide that a purchase of $500,000 or less requires a five percent

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down payment. That’s $25,000. In addition to a monthly mortgage, a condo buyer needs to pay strata fees.

Meanwhile, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) says mortgage debt is growing.

In a recent report, the federal housing agency noted that the rise in homeowners’ loans is due to mortgage deferrals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CMHC estimated deferred-mortgage payments at more than $1 billion per month.

“This significantly reduces influx of payments toward outstanding mortgage debt and is expected to contribute to increasing the total mortgage debt in the second and third quarters out of 2020,” CMHC stated.

The agency noted that, according to the Canadian Bankers Association, more than 760,000 borrowers either deferred their mortgage or skipped a payment.

The deferrals represent 16 percent of residential mortgages held by chartered banks.

According to CMHC, the total number of deferred mortgages is anticipated to be higher because “many non-bank financial institutions also allowed such accommodations”.

“Because of these deferred mortgage payments, plus the related additional fees and interest, we saw overall mortgage debt rise,” CMHC stated in the report.

But despite growing mortgage debt, CMHC reported that many borrowers continued to make their payments on time.

“Data from the credit rating agency Equifax Canada show that the shares of mortgage loans for which payments were delinquent for 90 days or more were still maintained at relatively low levels for all mortgage lender types in the second quarter of 2020,” the agency noted. g

ATTENTION FORMER MEMBERS OF POSITIVE LIVING SOCIETY THIS NOTICE MAY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS NOTICE OF CERTIFICATION AND SETTLEMENT On September 4, 2020, Justice Milman of the Supreme Court of B.C. approved the certification and the settlement of the class action commenced in 2017 by “John Doe 1” on behalf of 796 members of Positive Living who were sent an email on September 14, 2016 from membership@positivelivingbc.org regarding the subject “Service Relevancy Study for Positive Living BC”, and whose email address was included in the cc field of the email (“the class”). The Defendants Positive Living Society, University of British Columbia and Providence Health Care Society have agreed to payment of $1.225 M to settle the claims of the Class members against the defendants, and to delivery by Positive Living of a Letter of Apology dated March 26, 2020 and distributed by email or by post to a majority of Class members.

If you are a member of the Class, your legal rights will be affected by the certification of this matter as a class action, and by this settlement. Please read this notice carefully.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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TERMS OF SETTLEMENT Under the settlement, members of the Class who received the September 14, 2016 email from Positive Living, and who submit a claim form, are entitled to a share of the settlement fund. In exchange, all members of the Class who do not opt out of the Class are deemed to have released the Defendants from any claims relating to the email of September 14, 2016.

HOW TO CLAIM If you believe you are a Class member, complete the Settlement Benefi ts Claim Form online at www.mnp.ca/ positivelivingsettlement on or before March 31, 2021. Alternatively, the form can also be completed and submitted by post to the Claims Administrator on or before March 31st, 2021. Forms can be submitted to the following address: MNP Ltd. 1500, 640 – 6 Ave SW Calgary, AB T2P 3G4

Attention: Rick Anderson RE: Positive Living Class action settlement PRESERVING YOUR INDIVIDUAL CLAIM (OPTING OUT) If you are a class member but do not want to participate in the settlement, you must formally act to opt out of the Class by completing a Request for Exclusion available at www.mnp.ca/positivelivingsettlement or by calling 403537-8424 and submitting it to the Claims Administrator on or before March 31, 2021. If you opt out of the Class, you are not entitled to any part of the settlement funds.

FURTHER INFORMATION You may telephone the Claims Administrator, MNP Ltd., at 403-537-8424 or visit the Claims Administrator’s website in relation to the settlement at www.mnp.ca/positivelivingsettlement . You may also visit the website of Class counsel at Rosenberglaw.ca, under “Class Actions” – “Positive Living Privacy Breach Class Action” for more background information.

FINANCE

Black immigrant women advance financial literacy

T

by Charlie Smith

he first Black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, once said that freedom could not be achieved unless women were emancipated from all forms of oppression.

Mandela also declared that overcoming poverty was not a gesture of charity. “It is an act of justice,� the former president insisted. “It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.�

In that spirit, the Vancouver Eastside Educational Enrichment Society’s executive director, Adaeze J. Oputa, and financial-literacy expert Doriane Kaze are teaming up on an initiative to enhance the independence of Black immigrant, refugee, and migrant women.

They’re designing the first financialliteracy program for Black women in the region. It will help them learn about everything from management expense ratios to credit scores to the difference between saving and investing. “Knowing where your money goes, how to keep money during unprecedented times like today, and how to manage debt will help Black women achieve financial liberation,� Oputa said in a news release.

this situation since, among immigrant women, the average wage for nurses is higher than the average wage in other occupations,� Statistics Canada stated.

Black immigrant women had the same employment rate, 70 percent, as that of other immigrant women in 2016.

Statistics Canada also reported that in the 2016 census, 27 percent of Black children under 15 years of age in immigrant families were living in poverty. “Although there are many financial programs out there, there isn’t one that is tailored to and acknowledges the barriers that Black immigrant women experience and [is] presented by Black women with lived experience in these matters,� Oputa said.

They promise that the financial-literacy program for Black immigrant women will offer an “independent and unbiased financial curriculum� presented in an enjoyable and engaging manner.

And, yes, it will ensure that the financial verbiage will be translated into everyday language.

Participants in the focus group will receive a $20 gift card for their time. For more information and to register, visit VEEES.org. g

VEEES executive director Adaeze J. Oputa and financial-literacy expert Doriane Kaze plan to create an educational program to help Black immigrant women advance economically in Canada.

Canada. Kaze was born in Burundi; the Nigeria-born Oputa lived in the U.S. for several years before going back to her birth country, then moving to Canada.

According to Statistics Canada, the annual median wage of Black immigrant women between the ages of 25 and 59 was $35,900 in 2015. That compared to an average of $35,500 for other immigrant women. “The overrepresentation of Black immigrant women in the health care and social assistance sector partly explains

Oputa and Kaze will host a virtual focus group on Thursday (September 17) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to hear what Black women feel they need to know to advance their own financial security. “From working with different clients in the past, particularly Black immigrant women, I quickly realized that the jargon being used by financial institutions was creating a barrier for them,� said Kaze, who has degrees in economics and finance.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

5

LIQUOR

Alcohol has often fuelled the world’s best writers

A

by Mike Usinger

sked about his alcohol consumption way, way back in the day, Stephen King gave the kind of response you’d hope for from one of the most creative minds in fiction.

The question was “Do you drink?” And the answer was “I just said I was a writer.”

The modern-day (and now sober) Master of Horror isn’t the only one who’s contributed to the myth that writing and cocktails have traditionally gone together like ink and paper.

You want one of the greatest quotes of the 20th century? That would be one from Dorothy Parker, on the magic of her go-to drink: “I like to have a martini, two at the very most. After three I’m under the table, after four I’m under my host.” And before you start railing on about the devil’s nectar and the way that it’s ruined everything from Christmas to your cranium, consider that Parker lived to the ripe old age of 73, leaving a legacy that 99.9 percent of people who’ve walked this earth can only dream of.

King and Parker aren’t alone. Here’s a very short list of folks who’s creativity was deeply interwoven with drinking: Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson, Tennessee

Dorothy Parker enjoyed a good martini. Photo

by Bain News Service/Wikimedia Commons.

Williams, John Cheever, Raymond Carver, William Faulkner, John Berryman, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Charles Bukowski. Yes, there are a couple of heavyweights in there.

Six of those writers and their fondness for getting totally blotto in front of the typewriter are chronicled in Olivia Laing’s excellent 2013 The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking. The British author travelled across the States hoping to better understand the link between creativity and alcoholism.

One of her most revelatory observations is

this: “I was beginning to think that drinking might be a way of disappearing from the world.”

Funnily enough, she could have been describing the craft of writing.

No one writes anything while having coffee with a friend at Continental, or after-work cocktails with colleagues at the Cambie. It’s something that’s undeniably solitary in nature.

The ideas that become words tend to lurk somewhere in the shadows of the mind, rarely fully formed. Without sounding all newagey, if you can learn to disappear into yourself you eventually get the hang of grabbing those ideas, dragging them into the light, and shaping them into something useful.

And you know what’s great for disappearing into yourself? Assuming your drinking patterns aren’t modelled on Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas, the answer is alcohol.

Writing is also scary—ask anyone who’s ever had to show the first draft of a script or a novel to a friend. When you’re trying to be creative, it’s easy to let the voices that torment us all start wreaking havoc.

If you’ve ever rolled over in the morning and asked yourself “How did I get into bed with Brad Pitt last night?” (and ladies, that

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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goes for you too), you know that alcohol can lower your inhibitions and boost your confidence. And if writers have anything in common, it’s that they tend to secretly lack confidence while being entirely confident that they are entirely worthless as human beings.

The moral of all this? It’s that, used responsibly, alcohol can be your valuable crutch no matter how much you’ve convinced yourself you’ll never even write a grocery list worth reading.

Here’s a spin on a 1920s-era cocktail that you can make to celebrate the power of words and the beauty of a boozy escape.

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FOOD

Chao + Pan brings Laotian snack to Vancouver

F

by Gail Johnson

orget the fluffy, flavourless pork rinds loaded with preservatives that you find on grocery store shelves. Chao + Pan makes savoury pork crisps out of deep-fried pork ears—a taste of home for company cofounder Lisa Saepan.

Saepan was born in Luang Namtha, Laos, in 1965 and grew up during the Laotian Civil War. The conflict, a battle between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Army (both with outside support), was also known as the Secret War. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

“She remembers growing up during harsh living conditions, trying to run away from the Lao government,” her daughter and company cofounder, Tamara Saechao, says. “They had nothing. No money, no food. All they could do was try to survive.

Saepan, a self-taught cook, discovered her passion for food after immigrating to Canada. She began experimenting with different ingredients because she missed the flavours from back home and there wasn’t anything like it available here—and

They had nothing.

No money, no food.

All they could do was try to survive.

– Tamara Saechao on her mom’s childhood

Tamara Saechao (right) and her mother, Lisa Saepan, create three flavours of their Southeast Asian crunchy, deep-fried pork crisps: original; spicy, and chilli and lime. Photos by Chao + Pan

that’s how her pork crisps came to be.

Most pork rinds, or chicharrónes, are made of deep-fried pork skin and have a light, airy texture. Chao + Pan’s crisps consist of crunchy deep-fried pork ears.

The crisps come in three flavours: ori-

ginal, spicy, and chilli and lime.

Saechao says the snacks are gluten-free, carbohydrate-free, and keto- and paleofriendly. The company sources all its ingredients in Canada and doesn’t use fillers, preservatives, or artificial flavours.

If you’re not eating them as a midafternoon snack, serving suggestions include pairing the crisps with a papaya salad, using them as a topping on soups or salads, or simply enjoying them with an ice-cold beer.

You can find Chao + Pan pork crisps at various grocery stores throughout Metro Vancouver, including Meinhardt Fine Foods, 88 Supermarket, and Dragon Pinoy Mart, or you can order them online at chaopan.ca. The company only accepts returns and exchanges if the bags are unopened and if these returns and exchanges occur within 10 days of the delivery date. g

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

7

WINE

B.C. Liquor’s Bordeaux wine release to be a bit different

by Craig Takeuchi

FOOD

Tough times for restaurants on both sides of the border

by Charlie Smith

A late 2017 frost affected wines from France’s southwestern Bordeaux region, but B.C. Liquor Stores managed to obtain small amounts of desired bottles. ESPERANZA33/Getty Images.

E

very year, oenophiles congregate and queue up for the Bordeaux release event held by B.C. Liquor Stores in order to snap up highly coveted wines.

This year, like everything else, it will be conducted in a somewhat different manner.

For the health and safety of customers and staff alike, wine connoisseurs won’t have to physically line up for a portion of the event.

A pre-order system enabled wine lovers to request bottles online on a first-come, firstserved basis until midnight on September 13, prior to the release date on September 26.

Only products with bottle limits or limited SKUs were available online, and only one order was permitted per person.

Due to a late frost during the 2017 growing season, the overall volume of wine is lower than usual. Nonetheless, B.C. Liquor Stores master of wine and category manager Barb Philip stated in a news release that they were able to acquire “small amounts of our most desirable wines” thanks to relationships with châteaux and négociants in Bordeaux.

Philip recommends the Château Lilian Ladouys, St. Estèphe ($55); Château Ferran, Pessac-Léognan ($39); or the Chateau Clos Floridène, Graves ($45).

For those who have some extra pretty pennies, there’s the Duclot Bordeaux Collection Case, which includes 12 of the top Bordeaux châteaux (all 97 points or higher) for $18,000.

Participating B.C. stores will open at 7 a.m. on September 26. Customers had to choose a pickup date in order to help manage store traffic, and the pickup window runs from September 26 to October 4.

In Vancouver, the following B.C. Liquor Stores are participating in the 2017 Bordeaux release: 39th and Cambie (5555 Cambie Street), 8th and Cambie (2395 Cambie Street), Dunbar (3453 Dunbar Street), Alberni and Bute (768 Bute Street), Kerrisdale (2058 West 41st Avenue), and UBC Wesbrook Village (101– 3313 Shrum Lane).

In Burnaby, the following stores will carry the release: Solo (4455 Skyline Drive), Highgate Village (235–7155 Kingsway Avenue), and Northgate (103–3433 North Road). And in Richmond, it’s available at Brighouse (100–8100 Ackroyd Road) and Ironwood (3170–11666 Steveston Highway).

The release will also be offered at the Park Royal (785 Park Royal North) and Caulfeild (195–5335 Headland Drive) stores in West Vancouver. g

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

How sweet it was when an unlimited number of friends could gather around a communal dining table with oodles of finger food. COVID-19 put an end to that. Photo by Alex Haney / Unsplash.

L

ower Mainland residents are well aware of the growing list of eateries that have shut down since the World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11.

Among the casualties have been JamJar in the South Granville area, the Porthole in Steveston, and the Pear Tree in Burnaby.

But that’s just a fraction of what’s occurred south of the border.

On September 14, the National Restaurant Association reported that almost one in six U.S. restaurants has shuttered their doors either permanently or on a temporary basis. That adds up to 100,000 dining establishments employing about three million workers.

According to this industry group, this sector could lose US$240 billion in sales by the end of the year.

This data resulted from a survey of operators who stated that in August, sales were down 34 percent on average.

Last year in Canada, the food-service industry generated more than $93 billion in sales. An industry group, Restaurants Canada, forecast before the pandemic that this figure would exceed $100 billion this year.

However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has dealt a severe blow to the bottom lines of eateries across the country. In late August, the association suggested that revenues could fall this year by between $21.7 billion and $44.8 billion.

“Restaurants are likely to see further erosion in sales in the coming months with

patio season ending and possible consumer trepidation about indoor dining,” Restaurants Canada senior economist Chris Elliott said in an August 27 news release.

“A second wave of confirmed COVID-19 cases would potentially lead to sharply lower sales.”

On September 8, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that all bars, pubs, and restaurants must close by 11 p.m. to help stem the growing number of COVID-19 cases in B.C. In addition, these establishments must shut off all sales of alcohol by 10 p.m.

DINING DAYS

Wednesday (September 16) is National Guacamole Day. Friday (September 18) is National Cheeseburger Day. And Sunday (September 20) is National Pepperoni Pizza Day and National Queso Day. Where do all these food days originate?

According to the Nationaltoday.com website, it began with 20 cloves of garlic. The San Francisco–based public-relations and digital marketing agency TOP decided to celebrate happy hour with garlic-themed treats to celebrate National Garlic Day. That led to the decision to come up with a bunch of other days that, naturally, enhanced the business prospects of their clients. But it’s not all about food and beverages. This website also reveals that Talk Like a Pirate Day falls on Saturday. And who can forget Wife Appreciation Day, which arrives on Sunday? g

FALL ARTS

Offering explores the spiritual core of an art form With his company turning 20, Alvin Erasga Tolentino’s new work moves dance toward the transcendent

by Carlito Pablo

DANCE World premiere d Last year, Vancouver dancer and choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino started research for a new ensemble creation.

Called Offering, the work’s premiere in the fall of 2020 was meant highlight a milestone for his dance company. Co.ERASGA is marking its 20th anniversary this year, and Tolentino was looking forward to a celebratory time. He and the six dancers in Offering were supposed to get back together last spring for rehearsals.

“When I’m creating a big piece, an ensemble piece, they’re all weaving together, they’re all touching, they’re lifting, they’re moving as a group,” Tolentino told the Georgia Straight on the patio of an East Vancouver café.

Then the world went into lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The original idea for Offering needed to change.

“They said no touching, you have to be social-distancing, and so I had to figure out how to do the piece,” Tolentino said.

From an ensemble, Offering evolved into a collection of six solos.

The change goes deeper than form. In a world ravaged by a pandemic, Tolentino recalled wondering how humanity could continue to create art, and make it meaningful in the face of mortality. “And so I thought, ‘Is there a way that we can think of dance as a prayer?’ ” the artist said.

Perhaps there’s something more about dance than an artistic expression of human movement. According to Tolentino, it’s not so much about having to please the spectator, but about achieving a spiritual experience.

As Tolentino explained, it’s a matter of dance movements “being sent to another realm, to another space”. The artist went on to say that he wanted to explore the “relationship of the body into cosmology, and how and whether there’s such a thing”.

“Can the body do that in dance? Can dance do that? Can movements do that?

Can it be a prayer?” Tolentino asked.

The Vancouver choreographer asked the performers of Offering to think of a power that’s higher than humanly possible. He challenged them to imagine that they’re moving not only for an audience, “but that they’re dancing for this mysterious something”.

This brought coherence to the new concept for Offering. “Prayer allows you to be in the act of offering yourself,” he said, noting that a prayer constitutes a state of being “self less”.

Is there a way that we can think of dance as a prayer?

– Alvin Erasga Tolentino

Choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino says the pandemic crisis has prompted him, like many others, to turn inward in search of stillness and an understanding of Mother Nature’s message.

“Who knows whether your prayer has been answered?” he asked. “But you deliver it at that time. You had asked for something, or you say thank you. So in a way, it’s kind of like you’re giving yourself without a sense of return.”

In short, “It’s an act of faith.”

Tolentino emphasized that his notions of faith, prayer, and offering are not defined by belief systems of major religious institutions. The Manila-born artist goes back to the idea of alay, a Filipino word that literally means “offering”. He recalled that long before 16th-century Spanish colonizers introduced Christianity to the Asian archipelago that later became the Philippines, islanders had a concept of offering.

“When harvest happens or when they’re about to plant something, there’s a prayer, there’s an alay,” Tolentino said. Even “without the Christian premise”, human beings “believe in the cosmic, in the power of something bigger than us”.

“When we see something beautiful or when we are given something, we have a sense of gratitude,” Tolentino said.

With the pandemic, the Vancouver dance artist noted that the health crisis and its restrictions have prompted many to look inward. “Just the very idea of not doing anything, to be still, to be quiet, I think that’s really spiritual in a way,” he said.

It also reminds us of a higher power.

“I thought Mother Nature was so powerful to do that: to force us to really look at what we’re doing to the world, look at what we’re doing to the environment, and look at what we’re doing to one another,” Tolentino said.

Offering reunites Tolentino with performers Molly McDermott and Olivia Shaffer. Originally from Edmonton, McDermott has many years to her credit as a professional dance performer. Shaffer hails from Vancouver, and she is also choreographer who studied dance at SFU. Tolentino is also working with Metro Vancouver-raised Marissa Wong, who has performed in Montreal, Ottawa, and San Francisco. Rounding out the group of six are three Filipino Canadians: Joshua Ongcol, Marc Arboleda, and Antonio Somera.

Dubai-born and Vancouver-based Ongcol trained in street as well as contemporary dance. Arboleda’s background includes contemporary dance and theatre. Somera has performed internationally.

“They are diverse and unique, as each offers a distinct style and personal quality,” Tolentino said of the performers.

Tolentino danced for many years before founding Co.ERASGA in 2000. The company took the maiden name of his mother, now retired along with his father. Dance, the Vancouver artist said, has enabled him to explore his identity as an immigrant and an openly gay person, as well as contribute to cultural diversity.

Dance also transports Tolentino to a magical place. “There is a spiritual relationship in the power of dance that is sometimes not realized by artists,” he said.

It’s reaching that “space of almost like being in nirvana”.

“You lose yourself from dancing, sometimes,” Tolentino said. g Offering runs on November 28 and 29 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews). Details:[“For details, see/visit”] companyerasgadance.ca/.

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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FALL ARTS

Resourceful galleries display new ways of looking Even as institutions struggle with reduced budgets, artists and curators are shaping novel approaches

by Robin Laurence

From left: Elizabeth MacKenzie’s portraits refuse to settle (photo by Rachel Topham Photography); Kablusiak evokes homesickness and cultural displacement through sculpture and drawing.

VISUAL ARTS Critics’ picks d THE GOOD NEWS? Well, unlike performing-arts venues, still shuttered

by COVID-19, museums and galleries have reopened to the public—albeit with timed-entry and socially distanced admissions. The bad news? Many institutions are struggling with drastically reduced exhibition budgets, resulting in the postponement or outright cancellation of scheduled shows and the extension of those already in progress. The good news again? Curators are resourceful, organizing exhibitions from permanent collections, giving us a chance to view works that have been sequestered in storerooms and vaults for years, if not decades. New ways of looking at local and regional histories are emerging, novel approaches to art-world trends and tropes are taking shape. Expect an array of visual experiences, from the dazzling to the quietly engaging. (Expect, too, to prebook your visit to public galleries 10

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

and museums. Please see their websites before setting out.)

sibility that portraiture is dodgy and likeness may not occur.

ELIZABETH MACKENZIE/UNLIKENESS (To April 25, 2021, at the Teck Gallery, SFU Harbour Centre) Acclaimed for drawing installations that trouble our understanding of portraiture and the making of a likeness, Elizabeth MacKenzie presents us with two monumental black-and-white images, mounted opposite each other on the Teck Gallery’s east and west walls. (A more modestly scaled work greets visitors at the entrance to the space.) Originating in small drawings in which the artist floated and manipulated graphite pigment on stone paper, these imaginary portraits are intentionally ambiguous, refusing to settle definitively on gender, age, or ethnicity. As if to echo our strangely disrupted times, one of them is installed upside down and resembles the map of an unknown country as much as it does a human face. The Draw: MacKenzie plays with the ways our brains want to assemble abstract marks and gestures into representations of the familiar, the recognizable. She also conveys the pos-

KABLUSIAK: “UBLAAK TIKIYUAK” (To October 17 at Artspeak) Soapstone sculptures and drawings by Inuvialuk artist and curator Kablusiak evoke feelings of homesickness and cultural displacement.

Representations of personal belongings, everyday objects, and domestic scenes speak to Kablusiak’s sense of suspension between their ancestral home in the Mackenzie Delta and their current lodging in Mohkinstsis (Calgary).

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

KENT MONKMAN: SHAME AND PREJUDICE: A STORY OF RESILIENCE (To January 3, 2021, at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC) Through his astonishing history paintings, dioramalike installations, and images and objects borrowed from museum collections, Cree artist Kent Monkman critiques Canada’s colonial history and powerfully reenvisions it through Indigenous eyes.

(This exhibition was previously featured in the Straight.)

MADIHA AIJAZ: MEMORIAL FOR THE LOST PAGES (To January 3, 2021, at the Contemporary Art Gallery and off-site at the Yaletown-Roundhouse Station) Based in Karachi, Pakistan, the late artist Madiha Aijaz was esteemed for her quietly revelatory videos and photographs, probing the ways people inhabit public spaces in her native city. As seen in her CAG shows, her camera sought to record both the legacy of colonialism and the complexities of contemporary life in Pakistan’s most populous and ethnically diverse urban centre.

Her moving and still images document what she described as “contested, often fractured landscapes” and examine everything from the linguistic histories embedded in public libraries to the decaying state of the famed Khyber Mail railway.

The Draw: This is the first Canadian showing of Aijaz’s art, introducing us to her practice of wrapping the everyday in thoughtful regard. At the same time, it is a sorrowful farewell: Aijaz died in 2019 at the age of 38, just as she was reaching her creative stride. see next page

READING ART (September 25 to January 17, 2021, at the Burnaby Art Gallery) From medieval illuminated manuscripts to fragments of text incorporated into cubist collages, the written word has compelled artists in the West for centuries. In recent decades, text has played an ever greater role in international visual expression, its appeal being both formal and conceptual. Reading Art draws from the BAG’s permanent collection of works on paper, supplemented by loans from public and private sources, to both beguile and unsettle us. On the gallery’s main floor, artists such as Robert Houle, Oraf Orafsson, General Idea, and the Guerrilla Girls demonstrate the social and political power of language in art. Al Neil’s handscribbled words evoke a surrealistic commitment to automatic writing. John Baldessari’s I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art makes a humorous promise that he might or might not fulfill. Upstairs, the show continues with illustrations to famous literary works, including Salvador Dalí’s interpretation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Draw: The exhibition spotlights the BAG’s wideranging holdings of text-based art. It also alerts us to the witty, process-driven work of the late (and sadly overlooked) EstonianCanadian artist Enn Erisalu. Read on!

THE EYES HAVE WALLS: NICOLE ONDRE AND MINA TOTINO (September 30 to December 12 at the West Vancouver Art Museum) Small paintings and ceramic works by Vancouver-based Ondre

from the acclaimed FarEastFarWest collection of contemporary Asian art, and includes works by China’s Cao Fei, Lu Yang, and Zhou Xiaohu and Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul. (Third Realm was previously featured in the Straight.)

Nicole Ondre and Mina Totino blur disciplines in The Eyes Have Walls. Photo by Stan Douglas.

and Totino experiment with form and materials and blur distinctions between seemingly disparate disciplines. Both engaging and destabilizing, the two artists’ separate yet complementary art practices happily muddle our expectations.

1905 Ogden Ave,Vancouver | 604-257-8300

THIRD REALM (To November 8 at the Polygon Gallery) This important and ambitious show celebrates the creative explosion of media art across Asia during the period 2004-19. Curated by Davide Quadrio, it draws on photography, film, and installation

VICTOR VASARELY (October 17 to April 5, 2021, at the Vancouver Art Gallery) Acclaimed as the father of Op Art, a form of perceptual abstraction that gives the illusion of movement and depth, Victor Vasarely began his career as a graphic artist and designer in his native Budapest.

From Paris, where he moved in 1930, he also revealed his utopian-modernist commitment to making art accessible to a wide audience through ventures into architecture, sculpture, textiles, domestic goods, and the creation of multiple editions of two-dimensional works. The VAG’s exhibition of Vasarely’s paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and multiples from the 1960s and ’70s is organized in conjunction with the Centre Pompidou, Paris, with extensive loans from the Simonyi Collection, Seattle. The Draw: This exhibition provides us with the chance to reconsider a fleeting aspect of late modernism and especially to appreciate Vasarely’s aspiration to both disrupt art and democratize it. Through the companion exhibition, Op Art in Vancouver, we may also recall the movement’s impact on leading local artists, including Gordon Smith, Roy Kiyooka, Brian Fisher, and the ever-ballsy Joan Balzar. g

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SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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FALL ARTS

Theatres salvage the fall season with ingenuity

by Martin Dunphy

Vancouver’s Firehall Arts Centre will be embracing the longest day of the year with music and stories to welcome the returning light in Solstice Greetings (left). Meanwhile, the Cultch’s annual family favourite, the silly and seasonal East Van Panto, returns in digital form with Panto Come Home!, a compilation of the best bits from seven years’ worth of the annual East Van institution.

THEATRE

What’s on Vancouver stages d THE FALL 2020 theatre season is unlike any in recent memory. After cancelling summer productions when provincial Health Ministry guidelines made it unfeasible or impossible to continue, theatre companies had several months to model a reduced season or decide whether or not they would even make the attempt.

Happily for diehard theatregoers, there are some live productions in the pipeline this fall, albeit with restricted audience sizes and pandemic protocols in force.

Some companies are experimenting with virtual programs, and at least one is trying out some streamed audio-only efforts that recall the early days of radio drama.

Check websites for ticketing, streaming, and other details.

ARTS CLUB THEATRE COMPANY

The Arts Club, more than a half-century old, is one of Vancouver’s biggest performing-arts organizations, drawing a quarter-million people a year to its three stages. This fall, it will mount three live one-person productions (with both live and recorded online options), all limited to audiences of 50, and you can also browse video archives, watch live performances by individual artists, and participate in theatre workshops.

The three plays take place on the Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre and the Granville Island Stage (and, yes, there will be a Christmas production). New York City playwright Nilaja Sun’s one-woman 12

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

play One Child… kicks off the live trio at the BMO Theatre Centre from September 24 to November 8. The production—about a substitute drama teacher’s experiences with at-risk students in a hardscrabble high school in NYC’s Bronx borough—will rotate between leads Celia Aloma and Ali Watson for its duration.

Anosh Irani’s Buffoon is up next, and it, too, is a one-person show, with Kayvon Khoshkam and Andrew McNee splitting the duties for both matinee and evening performances. The production, mixing laughs with tragedy, concerns a boy born of circus performers who grows up learning to clown and eventually becomes a “true buffoon”. It plays at Granville Island from October 22 to December 6.

Finally, The Twelve Dates of Christmas takes the stage at the BMO Theatre Centre from November 19 to January 3, 2021.

Billed as “a fun, flirty alternative to holiday conventions”, the play stars Genevieve Fleming and Melissa Oei taking turns as Mary, a jilted woman returning to the dating scene in a series of seasonal encounters.

FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE

The Firehall, housed in a 114-year-old brick fire station in the Downtown Eastside, will present live productions, limited to 50 audience members, as part of its Salon/Saloon series. First up is a one-man show, Allan Morgan’s I Walked the Line, about the actor-playwright’s real-life 132-day stint on the picket lines with the B.C. Nurses’ Union. This Bread and Roses Theatre production runs from October 15 to 25.

Up next, from November 4 to 7, is a Firehall/Vancouver Moving Theatre coproduction of In the Beginning, Rosemary

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

Georgeson and Donna Spencer’s examination of the original, Indigenous residents of what we today call Vancouver. It is followed by the world premiere of a Firehall/ Search Party coproduction, The Amaryllis, which runs from November 12 to 22 and explores the quirky dynamics of a sisterbrother voice actor–agent team. Lastly, Solstice Greetings returns for the third year of its fall-to-winter segue of songs, stories, and “seasonal greetings”, from December 10 to 12 and December 17 to 19.

THE CULTCH

East Van’s beloved Cultch is going digital this fall, starting with the September 23 to October 3 return of the TRANSFORM Cabaret Festival, the Urban Ink/Cultch copresentation of unique Indigenous and non-Indigenous collaborations in theatre, burlesque, drag, comedy, circus, and music. Vancouver institution Veda Hille, with Theatre Replacement, takes charge next, from October 22 to 25, with Little Volcano, a storytelling and musical voyage through the life of the talented singerpianist.

Hille, the Cultch’s “pandemic artistin-residence”, returns with the popular musical revue do you want what I have got? a craigslist cantata from November 19 to 22, along with a local cast. This remounting features the original songs as well as a “new perspective” on physical distancing based on real-life Craigslist ads.

A yearly family fave, East Van Panto, will provide the bulk of the season (and seasonal) finale with Panto Come Home!, from December 17 to January 3, 2021. Hille and Panto standouts Donna Soares, Dawn Petten, Amanda Sum, and writer Mark

Chavez will fashion a “brand-new holiday extravaganza” out of the best of seven years’ worth of the beloved and silly homage to the venerable English holiday stage tradition.

STUDIO 58

Langara College’s professional-theatre training program is devoting its fall semester/season to digital presentations only. The draw for impecunious students and Studio 58 fans alike is the fact that all offerings are free.

The Doll’s House Project, livestreaming from October 4 to 10, involves an ensemble cast in a “stripped down staging with just voices, bodies in motion, and music” based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic play A Doll’s House and Ingmar Bergman’s stage adaptation, Nora. Next up is the 20th annual appearance of the Risky Nights Series of fourth-termers putting on a complete production, this time a project called fort, from October 22 to 25. It will be live on Zoom, with the audience participating in “a communal construction of their own personal fortified spaces”.

Final-term students team up with Langara film-art grads to create a web-series pilot every year, and this latest offering (coming in November, with dates to be announced) is called The Watch, described as a “mockumentary style comedy involving a rag-tag collection of citizens who come together to form a neighbourhood watch group”. Then, on November 20, a voiceonly Podcast Showcase will air, created by students collaborating with an illustrator, playwright, and voice actor to produce short dramatic scripts. And finally, an “enhanced radio play” titled Theatre: The Play will livestream from November 24 to 29. g

FALL ARTS

Venues offer laughter that’s more vital than ever

The star power and number of shows may be lower than normal, but the quality of comedy is still there

by Guy MacPherson

kicking addiction’s and cancer’s asses, Lett recently knocked out COVID-19, making him truly Hard 2 Kill. Target Audience: Lett has been a polarizing force in the comedy community over the decades (as detailed in the documentary feature made on him, Never Be Done: The Richard Glen Lett Story), but it’s a kinder, gentler Lett these days even with that gargling-withrazor-blades voice.

Suzy Rawsome is doing her damnedest to keep the comic spirit alive in Vancouver by putting on a series of performances at the Keto Caveman Cafe, notwithstanding an utterly dreary pandemic.

COMEDY Critics’ picks

d FEEL LIKE LAUGHING? Get in line. But keep your distance. The upcoming shows this season aren’t quite what they have been in years past, both in star power and in number, but the quality is just as strong.

We’ve lost Bob Saget, Miranda Sings, and Dara Ó Briain at least, but their shows will be rescheduled in 2021 (COVID willing).

In the meantime, there are a handful of venues and shows still operating in the city.

SHAWN FARQUHAR (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at the Hidden Wonders Showroom, in a secret location in New Westminster) Magician Farquhar does everything in twos: he’s a two-time world champion of magic, and has fooled Penn & Teller twice. Okay, maybe not everything, but that’s pretty significant. The Draw: You’ve seen him on TV; now see him in his own intimate theatre. It’s not often a performer of his calibre is available to locals throughout the year. After decades of touring the world, the Maple Ridge resident took out a three-year lease on his new home. Let the world come to him for a change. Target Audience: Who doesn’t love to be tricked? Farquhar has filled the show with new magical effects, all designed to be interactive yet noncontact.

JOKES PLEASE! (Thursdays at Little Mountain Gallery) This long-running comedy showcase is a Vancouver tradition.

Little Mountain Gallery is intimate at the

best of times. But filling the gaps between seats these days are extra laughs. The Draw: The always personable ringmaster Ross Dauk not only knows how to tell a joke (and not tell the same ones week after week), but he also has an eye for talent, stacking the show with four different quality comics each week. Target Audience: The hip, the cool, the alternative. You know who you are.

TALKING COMEDY AND MUSIC COMEDY (September 17 at Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy in New Westminster) The newest club in the Lower Mainland is currently the only operating one. Edmonton-based Bronson owns comedy venues here and in Edmonton, Minnesota, and Phoenix, doing his best to keep the laughs alive, if nothing else.

The Draw: Two of the best—and silliest—improvisers in the business are also both musically gifted. And by gifted we mean competent on the guitar. You may not recognize David Milchard and Ken Lawson with their shirts on—they’re

both long-standing, er, members of the Comic Strippers. Milchard also cocreated and starred in YouTube’s Convos With My 2-Year-Old. Target Audience: Fans of the straight-faced Milchard’s old duo It’s Good to Know People will get a kick out of his new formation with old rubber face Lawson.

DEREK SEGUIN (September 17 to 20 at Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy) Montreal standup Seguin charms one and all with his French accent as he delivers killer jokes. Who cares if his accent isn’t real?

His punch lines are. The Draw: Seguin is a regular on CBC Radio’s The Debaters and plays festivals all across the country.

He’ll play to smaller crowds than he’s used to (thanks for nothing, COVID!), but the House of Comedy can still seat 130 out of it usual capacity of 300. Target Audience: In a season of unpredictability—we simply don’t know if shows will keep going or be put on hold again—catch this guy while you can. He’s a legit heavyweight on the Canadian comedy scene. g

RAWSOME COMEDY PRESENTS (Wednesdays to Saturdays at the Keto Caveman Cafe) Suzy Rawsome is doing her damnedest to keep comedy alive during the pandemic, presenting all styles on various nights, from amateur to X-rated to all-women shows to just plain old regular standup. The Draw: We’ll pick one to highlight, but any night will suffice. On Saturday (September 19) at 9:30, a killer lineup with local hero Ivan Decker (who’s wisely spending time in his hometown rather than his new home of Los Angeles) headlining, along with the reliably hilarious Patrick Maliha, Jane Stanton, Dave Harris, and Mike Greenwood. Target Audience: The regularity of these shows gives one the comforting illusion that things are still the same.

HARD 2 KILL (To September 20 at Performance Works) Veteran standup comic Richard Lett knows how to put on a one-man show. A natural follow-up to his Sober But Never Clean that was both a heartfelt and hilarious look at his recovery from alcohol addiction, and One Nut Only, which detailed his bout with testicular cancer.

The Draw: The title says it all. After SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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FALL ARTS

Arts and literary fests forge empathy and friendship Despite a dreadful virus, programmers didn’t give up on the dream of elevating cultural appreciation

by Charlie Smith

Several Vancouver events are focusing some or a great deal of attention on decolonizing the mind. They include the Heart of the City Festival, which featured Leslie Nelson, Marr Dorvault, and Sam McKay, photographed by David Cooper, last year; author Lee Maracle at Word Vancouver; and TAIWANfest’s giant Sky installation, curated by Jessica Sung, by the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

FESTIVALS

TAIWANFEST

The show must go on d THE PANDEMIC HAS complicated all of our lives—and particularly for imaginative programmers who put on local festivals to enrich our souls and expand our minds. For many years, festivals have served as an effective counterweight to bigotry and parochialism by spurring curiosity about the world around us. They are like lanterns in a world increasingly overcome with darkness. And nowadays, they seem more necessary than ever.

WORD VANCOUVER

To September 27 Now in its 26th year, Word Vancouver’s programming is shaped by inclusivity, connection, collaboration, creativity, and integrity. And this year, thanks to Zoom, it’s freed from the challenge of persuading writers from afar to travel to live events at Library Square.

There’s an amazing virtual lineup of B.C. writers and poets, including Evelyn Lau, Wayde Compton, Charles Demers, Danny Ramadan, Lorna Crozier, and Eve Lazarus, among others. Plus, there’s a strong Indigenous component headlined by Lee Maracle.

And there are panel discussions on everything from war stories to children’s and young-adult books to publishing in a pandemic. For more information and to see the schedule, check out wordvancouver.ca.

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To October 3 Normally, TAIWANfest takes over a few blocks of Granville Street every Labour Day weekend. This year, however, there are more than 40 virtual events on VancouverTaiwanfest.ca, culminating in a closing concert with Vancouver’s Harmonia orchestra on October 3. Harmonia will be joined by Taiwan’s Chin-Ai String Orchestra, which is comprised of Indigenous children.

On September 14, TAIWANfest also unveiled the SKY installation, featuring eight giant columns on the plaza in front of Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Curated by Jessica Sung, each features enormous photos of the sky taken by artists in Canada and Taiwan.

VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST

October 19 to 25 Among the international headliners this year will be such acclaimed talents as Ayad Akhtar, Yaa Gyasi, David Mitchell, Megha Majumdar, and Marilynne Robinson.

Alongside will be renowned names from across the country, like Thomas King, Margaret MacMillan, and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, as well as a sparkling contingent from B.C.’s scene, including Ivan Coyote, Jillian Christmas, Sheena Kamal, Wade Davis, and Nancy Lee, to name only a few.

Top it off with an event featuring indie-rock icons Tegan and Sara Quin, and you’ve got a literary gathering with enough of VWF’s trademark range and flair to tide you over to when the festival can return to its traditional Granville Island venues.

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

HEART OF THE CITY FESTIVAL

October 28 to November 8 This year, the annual Downtown Eastside event’s theme is “This Gives Us Strength”.

That seems fitting, given the quadruple whammy of a pandemic, a never-ending overdose crisis, rampant homelessness, and poor-bashing bigotry on the rise.

Over 12 days, Heart of the City will present music, stories, poetry, films, readings, art talks, and visual arts either online on in pop-up outdoor settings. The Firehall Arts Centre and Vancouver Moving Theatre will copresent In the Beginning, in which storyteller, filmmaker, and performer Rosemary Georgeson joins director Donna Spencer to explore the history of Indigenous people in the surrounding neighbourhoods.

In addition, the festival will feature local blues maven Dalannah Gail Bowen and Indigenous actor Jenifer Brousseau.

Another treat: multidisciplinary artist Khari Wendell McClelland (the Soujourners/Freedom Singer) will curate an online event profiling local musicians.

EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL

November 2 to 9, 12 to 15, and 19 to 22 The popular visual arts, design, and crafts festival is being extended this year over a much longer period, thanks to the pandemic. That means art lovers will be able to plan to attend even more shows and, possibly, spend more money to help local creators.

According to the Eastside Culture Crawl website, there will be 158 artists presenting work in 26 buildings. Normally, visual

arts anchors the festival, but expect an onslaught of crafts, too, thanks to people being locked up at home for prolonged periods. One of the charms of the Crawl is discovering artists who may not have been featured in the media but who can leave you gobsmacked by their creativity.

When the festival starts, be sure to visit Culturecrawl.ca for a Google map to learn about all the locations.

CHUTZPAH! FESTIVAL

November 21 to 28 When new artistic managing director Jessica Mann Gutteridge assumed her position on February 24, she likely never expected what was to come. But the pandemic hasn’t dissuaded her from carrying on with the 20th edition of Chutzpah! The Lisa Nemetz International Jewish Performing Arts Festival.

This year, it will feature intimate shows at the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre, which will be livestreamed from the stage to a wider audience online. X-RAE podcast host, producer, and director Iris Bahr will host the festival after impressing audiences last year with her solo show, DAI (enough).

One highlight will undoubtedly be New York–based playwright Rokhi Kafrissen’s work-in-progress titled Shtumer Shabes (Silent Sabbath). According to the festival, it will focus on the discovery of a “lost” Yiddish play. Chutzpah’s full lineup of concerts, comedy, dance, and previews of theatrical worksin-progress will be unveiled next month. g With files from Brian Lynch.

FALL ARTS

Great outdoors ignited passion for printmaking

by Charlie Smith

B.C. CULTURE DAYS Art from nature d VANCOUVER ARTIST Edward FuChen Juan says most people don’t think of his country of birth, Taiwan, as a land of volcanoes and forests. But on the southern part of the East Asian island nation, where he spent the first nine years of his life, it’s mountainous and full of wildlife. Kind of like Hawaii, in some respects, he suggests.

“I grew up with monkeys and loquats,” Juan tells the Straight by phone.

As a child, he frequently hiked, bouldered, and climbed trees with his father, an avid outdoorsperson. And Juan also learned a great deal about the Taiwanese people’s struggle for democracy. The country was under martial law for 38 years— and nowhere was the appetite for freedom more intense than in the south. Both of his parents financially supported the Democratic Progressive Party, which remained illegal until 1991, by visiting secret locations to turn over some of their hardearned money for the cause.

“My mother was a political activist when she was younger,” Juan recalls. “She was a lawyer at one point in her life. She’s been in prison before for her politics.”

In 1993, the family moved to North York, Ontario. Because his parents’ English wasn’t very good, they spelled their surname as Juan.

“It should be spelled Ruan or Yuan,” Juan says with a laugh. And no, he’s not a descendant of Spanish colonizers of the island in the 17th century, though he does have a small amount of Indigenous heritage.

My mother was a political activist when she was younger.

– artist Edward Fu-Chen Juan

Vancouver artist Edward Fu-Chen Juan has been appointed as one of five ambassadors for B.C. Culture Days, which means he will be sharing insights into silkscreen printmaking live and online.

After graduating from high school, Juan obtained a bachelor of fine arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts and went on to do animation work for Pixar, Disney, and the Cartoon Network.

At first, his parents weren’t impressed by his career choice.

“I told my mother ‘I want to go to art school, I want to go into the film industry.’ ” Juan said. “My mother literally said this—I’ll never forget—‘That is not a job for you. It’s for white people. No one is going to hire you. You’re not white. You’re going to have to work twice as hard.’ ” Juan’s parents returned to Taiwan, where they operated a successful organic-

agriculture business for many years. And those early days in the southern part of the island still influence Juan’s work as a printmaker, papermaker, and visual artist. For example, he loves going into nature, particularly on Vancouver Island, to extract dye from plants and berries for his artworks. Some of these skills he learned from ongoing cultural exchange with artists from Oaxaca, Mexico. He further honed his talents with the nonprofit Malaspina Printmakers Society on Granville Island.

Juan described silkscreen printmaking as a “very contemporary” technique—just a century old—in comparison to Japanese woodblock printmaking, intaglio. or stone

etching. When asked how he makes paper, he responded that it’s actually quite complicated. He applies the dyes to the paper bases he uses: cotton or the palm section of Southeast Asian banana trees.

“It’s a beautiful material,” Juan says.

In a couple of years, a paper museum in Taipei will host a show of his work, which he’s preparing for. Taiwan became a democracy in 1996 and it’s currently ruled by President Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP, which his parents supported in the 1980s. “I’m looking forward to go back and doing an artist residency on my parents’ farm,” he says.

In the meantime, Juan is one of five B.C. artists who’ve been hired as B.C. Culture Days 2020 ambassadors. (The others are film student Coral Santana, painter and poet Damian John, theatre artist Molly Beatrice, and graphic designer Bambi.) In this role, he will offer four live and online presentations showing how he creates silkscreen prints. The first event, which is already full, will take place next Friday (September 25) at the Stanley Park Nature House at Lost Lagoon. For more information about Juan’s other shows, visit Culturedays.ca. g

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

15

MOVIES / MUSIC

VIFF journeys, from B.C. beaches to historical love

d THE VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL’S 39th edition offers the best of both worlds—online streaming perfect for cozying up at home with and select titles at theatre screenings for taking in the bigger picture.

Opening with the world premiere of Loretta Sarah Todd’s B.C.–based Monkey Beach (see below), all films stream online at VIFF Connect from September 24 to October 7 (unless otherwise indicated), with in-cinema screenings listed below.

To whet your cinematic appetite, here are some bite-sized reviews of select titles, with more available at www.straight. com/viff/, and more news, views, and reviews to come.

AKILLA’S ESCAPE (Canada) Charles Officer’s first feature since 2008’s Nurse. Fighter. Boy. stars Saul Williams as a mid-level drug runner trying to reclaim stolen merchandise—and maybe save a kid from the same path that swallowed his own future. Moving between present-day Toronto and 1995 New York, this is a tense, grounded spin on the gangland thriller. The film’s masterstroke is in its casting: Williams gives Akilla a confidence and unspoken authority that comes with knowing a world inside and out, and an exasperation with people who insist on making the wrong move when they don’t have to. > Norman Wilner AMMONITE (U.K.) Francis Lee’s Ammonite is going to draw unfortunate comparisons to Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Sciamma’s film was a masterpiece; Lee’s is merely a very good movie. What Ammonite really is, though, is a mirror image of Lee’s remarkable first feature God’s Own Country (which itself drew comparisons to Brokeback Mountain). It also has the sizzle of being a fictional love story involving real historical figures. Kate Winslet plays 19thcentury paleontologist Mary Anning who, one day, meets Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan)—and everything changes. Although Lee shapes the story through disdain and exasperation, the two women forge an understanding that grows into something deeper. This is, after all, a love story.

Cinematheque and Vancity, October 3 (6 p.m.). > NW

Grace Dove stars in Monkey Beach, Loretta Sarah Todd’s adaptation of the B.C.–based novel by Eden Robinson, set to open this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival; at right, Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan illuminate the U.K. period piece Ammonite.

CURED (USA) We may know the outcome but the details of how lesbian and gay rights activists waged a seemingly Sisyphean battle against the American Psychiatric Association are what fascinate in this comprehensive documentary.

With interviews and archival material from the days of shock therapy and lobotomies, filmmakers Bennett Singer and Patrick Sammon chronicle the LGBT uprising seeking to have homosexuality removed from the diagnostic manual of mental disorders. It wasn’t just a matter of finding a voice but also an ear that would listen. > Craig Takeuchi MONKEY BEACH (Canada) Writer-director Loretta Sarah Todd’s patient, meandering interpretation of Haisla-Heiltsuk author Eden Robinson’s novel demonstrates a deep understanding of family and community dynamics and a sense of place. In this supernatural mystery, a conflicted Lisa (Grace Dove) returns to her Haisla family in Kitamaat Village to face the haunting premonitions that she has long fled from—to save her brother (Joel Oulette). Although the overall effort is

uneven at times, there’s enough to appreciate here, including a scene-stealing Adam Beach as the mischievous Uncle Mick, Lisa’s struggle to reconcile traditional values with the current world, and—needless to say—the integral setting. > CT THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL (Canada) B.C. filmmakers Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott deliver a follow-up documentary to 2003’s The Corporation, which was based on Bakan’s book about how the modern corporation, were it an individual, would be diagnosed a psychopath. It’s now 2020 and the psychopaths have won. With brisk efficiency and news footage, repurposed promotional material, and interviews with experts, The New Corporation guides us through economic collapses and global decay, as corporations continue to dominate physical and virtual worlds. The thoughtful organization of information summarizes two decades of immoral, destructive conduct by businesses. Cinematheque and Vancity, October 2 (6 p.m.) > NW

Bob Sumner takes us to a kinder, less crazy world

I

by Mike Usinger

n the name of all that’s decent and holy, enough already. Because really, there’s only so much a person can take, even with the bottle there to dull the endless insanity.

In case that’s too vague, let’s start with COVID-19, the gift that keeps on giving.

Remember how, around six months ago, the pandemic seemed like the beginning of the end of days? Especially if you lived around Commercial Drive, where the only people roaming the largely deserted streets in March were those living on the fringes: Opera Man, Topless Woman, and Vito the Rug. For a while things almost returned to normal—hell, even restaurants were busy.

(And no, we’re not just talking the Lunch Lady.) But just when it seemed safe to go into the liquor store, all hell has broken loose again. COVID-19 is ripping across the province with a vengeance that’s somehow scarier than March.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

The“No shirt, No shoes, No service” sign at the front door included a note about cowboy hats.

And, impossibly, the grimness doesn’t stop there.

With wildfires raging hellishly out of control in Portland, Washington, and California, Vancouver’s air quality this September is making Kanpur, India, look

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

like the Rocky Mountains on a windswept, clear winter’s day.

The second the sun goes down, the skies look like the final reel of Mothra. And if all that isn’t bad enough, Superflux is out of its Coconuts beer until sometime in October. If only there was some way to rewind the clock to a kinder, gentler, and less frantic time.

That’s unfortunately not going to happen until Al Gore invents a time machine to go along with that Internet thing he gave the world a few years back.

So in the meantime, settle in with an Old Fashioned and get ready to be transported by Bob Sumner’s video for “Didn’t We Dream”.

On the visual side of things, trainspotters and trivia experts will recognize the backdrop as a former East Van convenience store famous for a cameo in Juno.

These days, the spot is better known as the cozily atmospheric antique store the Found & the Freed. You want retro? Think

everything from the vintage light bulbs to the old-school lettering on the front window. And, of course, antiques.

That makes a totally fitting setting for “Didn’t We Dream”. A sepia-toned exercise in classic Americana, the track walks a line between melancholy wistfulness and world-weary hopefulness.

As for the video, which can be seen on Straight.com or hopping on YouTube it flips between two worlds: clearer than 4K colour and heavily distressed black-and-white.

Which is more gorgeous? That’s all of matter of perspective. Much like what passes for life these days on the planet we all call home in these endlessly bizarre times.

The good news is that no matter how bad a day you’re having at this particular point in your life, “Didn’t We Dream” will convince you that, maybe, something good and beautiful is around the corner. All you have to do is hold on. g

ESPORTS

Season brings wave of new worlds and greatest hits

D

by Blaine Kyllo, John Lucas, and Mike Usinger

pean male box art fool you: you can create your own V, right down to the voice. Added bonus: Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Silverhand, a key character in the game. (PS4, PS5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)

id you know that September 12 was National Video Games Day? It’s true. Mind you, as Kotaku pointed out, no one is quite sure what that means, or even why such a thing as National Video Games Day even exists.

After all, if you’re reading this—which you are—you’re probably the sort of person who doesn’t need an excuse to commence the mashing of buttons.

So, it’s a made-up non-holiday, but who cares? National Video Games Day is a perfectly good excuse for a listicle. With that in mind, here are some of the titles we’re most stoked about, all of them coming out before the end of 2020.

HYRULE WARRIORS: AGE OF CALAMITY (NINTENDO)

SUPER MARIO 3D ALL-STARS (NINTENDO)

September 18 Because we all love a good deal, it’s hard not be jacked about Super Mario 3D AllStars. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of its cover-alls-clad plumber, Nintendo is bundling up three games in a single Switch package. That means you get Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Sunshine in one place, all featuring extra goodies. The catch is that you have to act fast, because this greatest-hits collection will only be available until March 2021, including both physical and digital editions.

(Nintendo Switch) STAR WARS: SQUADRONS (ELECTRONIC ARTS)

October 2 Ever wanted to pilot an X-Wing starfighter or a TIE bomber? Why not both? In this space-combat game developed by Montreal-based Motive Studios, you’ll fly into battle for both the New Republic and the Galactic Empire. Set after the Battle of Endor, Squadrons includes a single-player story mode as well as multiplayer “dogfight” and “fleet battle” modes. The PC and PS4 versions will be playable in virtual reality with various VR headsets. (PS4, Windows, Xbox One) NHL 21 (EA SPORTS)

October 16 Alexander Ovechkin becomes only the second hockey player to grace the global cover of the hockey sim for a second time.

(Jonathan Toews was the first.) The pandemic-delayed NHL season has pushed back the annual release, but developers at EA’s studio in Burnaby promise a more cinematic “Be a Pro” experience that lets you become a player and progress into a career in the “Chel”. (PS4, Xbox One) WATCH DOGS: LEGION (UBISOFT)

October 29 According to the game’s creative director,

With its tale of a mercenary working in a dystopian future version of California, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is just one of many intriguing titles on the roster for release in the coming months.

Clint Hocking, the Watch Dogs franchise is “about holding those in power accountable”. In Legion, the stage is a chaotic London, a city besieged by private armies, organized crime, and terrorists. Then there’s DedSec, the hacker resistance, working to liberate the people. Two things make Legion stand out. First, any character in the game can be recruited to be part of the resistance. Second, there’s a decidedly British sense of absurdist humour at the heart of it all. (PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X) ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA (UBISOFT)

November 10 Ubisoft Montreal led the charge with this latest chapter in the Assassin’s Creed franchise of action adventures, with a story revolving around the migration of Vikings to England. New to the series are “raids”, where you lead a small group of fighters in attacks to secure resources for your settlements, which will be key to your success.

(PS4, PS5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X) DESTINY 2: BEYOND LIGHT (BUNGIE)

November 10 It’s the game that never stops changing, and with Beyond Light, adds a new environment in Europa, the frozen moon of Jupiter. You’ll also get a new power to wield in the form of “Stasis”, which controls time through the manipulation of cold and ice.

That means three new character classes, the Hunter Revenant, the Titan Behemoth, and the Warlock Shadebinder. Bring on the Fallen. (PS4, PS5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)

YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON (SEGA)

November 10 This latest installment in the Yakuza series isn’t exactly new. It was released in January in Japan, so it hits the North American market this fall having already accrued a pile of good reviews and best-seller status. It sure sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe you’ll find the main story—a crime-family saga weaving together yakuza, Chinese triads, and Korean gangsters—doesn’t grab you. In that case, there are always more light-hearted side activities, including karaoke and kart racing. (PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (ACTIVISION)

November 13 Because nostalgia is a weird and totally irrational thing, the latest installment in this Call of Duty spinoff series will give gamers of a certain advanced age something akin to the war fuzzies. Remember Ronald Reagan? The Soviet Union? The Berlin Wall?

VHS? You probably don’t, but that’s okay.

Black Ops Cold War is part first-person shooter and part history lesson—with the emphasis definitely on the former. (PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) CYBERPUNK 2077 (CD PROJEKT RED)

November 19 From the developers that brought us The Witcher comes this first-person role-playing game that puts you in the shoes of a “V”, a futuristic mercenary in Night City, California. You’ll fight, race cars, hack stuff, shoot people, and generally carry on in the dystopia where corporations are in control and people look to improve themselves with cybernetic implants. Don’t let the Euro-

November 20 No, this is not the eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. (Nor, for that matter, is it a sequel to the 2014 Wii U title Hyrule Warriors.)

Rather, it’s a prequel, set 100 years before the Great Calamity. As such, you already know how this one is going to end—i.e., not well for our heroes—which admittedly takes much of the dramatic tension out of the narrative. Nonetheless, fans of the franchise will love that Age of Calamity has a two-player mode, and that they will be able to control Link, Zelda, and various other characters. (Switch) SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES (SONY)

Holidays 2020 In case you haven’t been dialled into what’s happening this century, the world has changed for the better despite the efforts of Donald Trump and his team in the White House. Who, other than perhaps Martin Luther King, would have dreamed that we’d one day have a black Spider-Man? We do, of course, in Miles Morales. Watch for an open-world experience set in a Big Apple that’s overrun with the kind of lunatics (hello, Don Jr. and Eric!) that Batman and Superman were supposed to clean up but clearly weren’t able to. (PS5) DIABLO IV (BLIZZARD)

TBA Imagine being so powerful that people will do all sorts of crazy things to avoid meeting you, such as abstaining from alcohol, declining to engage in premarital sex, and making every effort not to covet thy neighbour’s wife. Such is the clout of the man known variously as Satan, the devil, Lucifer, and the Mango Mussolini. Diablo IV is the latest installment in a slash-and-hack franchise that will feature the usual barbarians, Druids, and sorceresses doing their best to load up on mystical cheddar while trying to survive. Watch, however, for a open world with simple peasants like you and me front and centre. (PS4, Windows, Xbox One) g

MORE ESPORTS ONLINE AT ECENTRALSPORTS.COM

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

17

SAVAGE LOVE

Early commitment demands should raise red flag When major insecurities become weaponized, it is probably time to consider exiting the relationship

by Dan Savage

b I’M A STRAIGHT man who’s been dating a woman for not quite four months. In the beginning, things were light. But things started to get heavy quickly. Two weeks in, she revealed her very serious abandonment issues and then began asking me whether I really loved her and demanding reassurance that I wasn’t going anywhere and she wouldn’t be “just a single chapter” in my life. After a month, I met her seven-yearold son, her parents, and her ex. Then we had a pregnancy scare. She told me that if she was pregnant she would keep it because then I would have to stay. That alarmed me.

I voiced that we’d been dating for a very short time and this wasn’t a good time for either of us to have a child. She wasn’t pregnant, luckily. Even before this incident, my body had started to manifest signs of anxiety—upset stomach, sleepless nights, loss of appetite, etc. So, I summoned up all of my courage (conversations like this are extremely difficult for me) and told her that I couldn’t do this anymore. She started to cry and begged me to give her a second chance.

I wound up spending the rest of the weekend at her place and agreed to stay in the relationship. But I didn’t feel good about it.

When I finally got back to my place, I felt anxious, confused, hollow, and hopeless. I tried to end things again after speaking to my therapist, but she won’t take no for an answer and constantly brings up the promises I made her about really loving her. I hate this and I feel terrible for her son. Any thoughts on how to dismantle this thing?

Or do I just need to run?

- Passionate Reassurances Extracted So Soon Undoes Relationship Exit

to a reader in a similar situation…

“We need someone’s consent before we kiss them, suck them, fuck them, spank them, spoon them, marry them, collar them, etc. But we do not need someone’s consent to leave them. Breakups are the only aspect of our romantic lives where the other person’s consent is irrelevant. The other person’s pain is relevant, of course, and we should be as compassionate and considerate as possible when ending a relationship. (Unless we’re talking about dumping an abuser, in which case safety and self-care are all that matters.) But we don’t need someone’s consent to dump them.”

Voice that it’s over, PRESSURE, and then refuse to get drawn into negotiations about whether it’s over. It’s over. If she needs to cry on someone’s shoulder, she’ll have to call a friend. And if she brings up the promises you made after she “revealed”

As I explained

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appreciates but isn’t used to doing. She’s a very independent person, which I’ve never experienced before. It’s refreshing to know that my partner has her own friends but there are moments when I get stonewalled. Sometimes I get vague answers or no answers about where she is or who she’s with. She often tells me she “accidentally” turned off her notifications. Sometimes she will say she’s staying in and then I later find out that she went out. Maybe I’m taking things way too seriously considering the amount of time we’ve been together, but I feel I have to take things seriously since kids are involved.

- The Absent Girlfriend

The uncharitable read:

If a new partner reveals abandonment issues early on in a relationship and wants you to meet kids and exes, you should consider an equally early exit. Photo by Damir Spanic / Unsplash.

her abandonment issues weeks into this relationship, apologize for not being strong enough to resist her obvious—if possibly subconscious—efforts to manipulate you.

She shouldn’t have asked you to swear your undying love after you’d known each other for such a short time and you shouldn’t have made the promises you did. You failed her and yourself by not telling her it was too soon for that shit—too soon to say, “I love you”; too soon to know whether she would be a chapter in your life; too soon to meet her son (!), her parents (!!), and her ex (!!!).

Demands for premature reassurances of everlasting love, like all demands for premature commitments, are intended to make exiting the relationship more difficult. Not for the person making the demands, of course; they’re always free to go.

They make it more difficult for the person those demands are being made of to go.

And while I’m not calling your girlfriend an abuser, demands for premature commitments are often red flags for abuse; being asked to make a premature commitment after a few weeks or months—by moving in together or adopting a dog or (god forbid) getting married—makes it infinitely harder for a person to leave once the mask slips and they see the abuser lurking behind it.

Again, I don’t think your girlfriend is an abuser, but she weaponized her insecurities (“It’s nice to meet you; now let me tell you about my abandonment issues!”) to extract what amounts to premature commitment from you. And she involved her son in that effort, which is really unconscionable. And while that’s on her, PRESSURE, not you,

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020

you should’ve refused to meet her son so quickly and seen her desire to introduce you to him as a red flag.

Learn the lessons, PRESSURE: when someone you’ve only recently started dating says, “Will you love me forever?” the correct answer is never, “Of course I will!”

The correct answer is always, “I think you’re a wonderful person and I want to keep seeing you but we can’t know—at this stage—what the future will bring.” If they respond by saying, “You know what?

You’re right,” keep seeing them. If they respond by melting down and bringing up their abandonment issues, well, they’ve just demonstrated that they aren’t someone you would want a future with.

And finally, I’m #TeamAmanza on the issue of meeting a new partner’s children from a previous relationship. You should be seeing someone for at least six months to a year—you should be well out of the honeymoon phase if not quite into the farting-infront-of-each-other phase—before being introduced to your new partner’s kid(s). b I’M A 32-YEAR-OLD straight man dating a 31-year-old straight woman. We’ve been seeing each other for eight months and became “Facebook official” (if that’s still a thing) in June. We are both in our first serious relationship after being divorced from relatively long marriages. (Me: eight years, two kids. Her: 10 years, no kids.) My question is, when does suspicion—suspicion of cheating—become something you should bring up? I tend to spill everything that’s going on in my life, which she says she

your hunch is correct and your new girlfriend is being cagey about where she’s going and who she’s with because she’s cheating on you.

The charitable read: your new girlfriend is 31 years old, she was married for 10 years, and you’ve been dating for eight months.

Math has never been my strong suit, but assuming her marriage didn’t end five minutes before you met, TAG, your girlfriend married very young. Which means she spent her entire adult life—most or all of her twenties and possibly a chunk of her teens—having to answer to a spouse. She only recently began to experience the kind of autonomy most of us get to enjoy before we marry and settle down (if we marry and settle down), TAG, and she may be reluctant to surrender that autonomy so shortly after achieving it.

She may also have different ideas about what being “Facebook official” means.

Does that mean you’re monogamous? If it does, does she define monogamy the same way you do? Some other questions: was going Facebook official your idea or her idea?

Did you ask for a premature commitment?

You’re only eight months in—is it possible you involved your kids too soon?

You obviously need to have a conversation with your girlfriend—if you can get her on the phone—about your expectations and definitions. If you expect her to let you know where she is at all times and who’s she’s with, TAG, make that clear. But if that is what you expect, well, here’s hoping she dumps you. Because even if you lived together, even if you were married, even if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with you, your girlfriend would still entitled to a little privacy and her autonomy. g

Email: mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. This week on the Lovecast, America’s favorite mortician—Caitlin Doughty: www.savagelovecast.com.

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AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS Does someone else's drinking bother you?

Al-Anon can help.

We are a support group for those who have been affected by another's drinking problem.

For more information please call: 604-688-1716 Anorexics & Bulimics Anonymous 12 Step based peer support program which addresses the mental, emotional, & spiritual aspects of disordered eating Tuesdays @ 7 pm @ Avalon Women's Centre 5957 West Blvd - 604-263-7177 ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION Looking to start a parent support group in Kitsilano.

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JUNE 2 / 2020 GEORGIA SEPTEMBER 17 –25 24– /JULY 2020 THE THE GEORGIA STRSTRAIGHT AIGHT 19

We’re here for you, Vancouver.

Find the Georgia Straight throughout Vancouver, online at straight.com and on your favourite social media channel @georgiastraight.

Here’s what’s upcoming:

Sep 24 • Autumn escapes • Film festival • Mortgage advice

Oct 1 • Rental market • Budget cocktails • Mental health

Vancouver’s News & Entertainment Weekly 20

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

SEPTEMBER 17 – 24 / 2020