The Georgia Straight - Hopscotch - Nov 9, 2017

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2 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 3

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8 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

CONTENTS

Burnaby. Chris Morley photo.

14

EDUCATION

Are you in the mood to give your career a jolt?

It’s a great time to head back to school after the December holidays because that’s when many institutions are accepting new groups of students. > BY CHARLIE SMITH

21

COVER

Dax Droski and Adam Bloch have decided to inject new spirits, in a literal sense, into Vancouver’s annual Hopscotch festival. > BY GAIL JOHNSON

25

ARTS

Drew Hayden Taylor wasn’t thinking the Sixties Scoop when he wrote Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth, but it’s there.

START HERE 23 41 30 13 38 40 31 11 43 20 10 29 32

The Bottle Confessions Dance Green Living I Saw You Local discs Music Real Estate Savage Love Straight Stars Straight Talk Theatre Visual Arts

> BY ALE X ANDER VART Y

TIME OUT

35

MOVIES

Disney star devours My Friend Dahmer; offbeat Infinity Baby glories in immaturity; nonactors save Gabriel and the Mountain; Bad Moms Christmas is covered in pubes.

37

33 Arts 41 Music

www.cityuniversity.ca

SERVICES 41 Careers 11 Real Estate

MUSIC

Having reviously recorded on a Craigslist 8-track and in a decrepit Ladner barn, DIY darling Dead Ghosts is back in the studio. > BY KATE WILSON

41

COVER PHOTO

CLASSIFIEDS

Automotive | Education | Services | Travel Marketplace | Employment | Real Estate Property Rentals | Music | Announcements Callboard | And more...

AMANDA SIEBERT

GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight

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NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 9

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PERFORMANCE REALTY

On a rainy Thursday (November 2) morning, federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh took a walk around the Downtown Eastside. He met with members of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and frontline staff working for the nonprofit Portland Hotel Society, and he received a brief training session in overdose response at one of Vancouver’s new bare-bones injection facilities.

“When you see what is going on, on the ground, when you see it with your own eyes, it really gives you a different perspective,” Singh told the Straight while on his walk with Don Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver Kingsway.

Singh, a former leader of the Ontario New Democrats who has trained as a criminal-defence lawyer, was elected leader of the federal NDP on October 1. During that campaign, he made national headlines when he called for the Trudeau government to decriminalize all drugs, including cocaine and heroin.

At an overdose-prevention site that faces into an alley near the intersection of East Hastings and Columbia streets, Singh explained why he supports a policy that so many view as radical—removing criminal penalties for personal possession—and why he has stopped short of calling for full legalization.

“To me, mental health, addiction, and poverty do not sound like a criminal-justice problem; they sound like a social-justice problem,” he said. “They should be treated as such. We can’t solve a health crisis or a social-justice crisis with the criminal-justice system.”

This year, it is projected that more than 1,500 people in B.C. will die of an illicit-drug overdose. That compares to an average of 204 deaths each year from 2001 to 2010. So far in 2017, the synthetic opioid fentanyl is associated with more than 80 percent of fatal overdoses.

While decriminalization would save taxpayers money on policing, the courts, and prisons, it would leave Canada’s illicit-drug supply in the hands of dealers and organized crime.

Alternatively, advocates for legalization argue that a regulated supply of opioids distributed via Canada’s

WOULD VOTERS SUPPORT A TRUE GREEN MAYOR?

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh recently met with Vancouver drug users. health-care system would minimize the risk of fentanyl and therefore reduce overdose deaths.

Singh conceded that decriminalization would leave fentanyl and more dangerous substances such as carfentanil on the streets. But he said the country isn’t ready for full legalization.

“We have to get past that first hurdle, decriminalization,” he said.

“I’ve really just focused first on decriminalization. I haven’t looked beyond that. It’s a massive thing….

People aren’t all there yet.”

On November 1, Andrew Scheer, the newly elected leader of the federal Conservative party, told the Globe and Mail that he remains opposed to the decriminalization of hard drugs.

Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau has similarly ruled out removing criminal penalties for the personal possession of drugs like heroin.

“We’re not looking at decriminalization or legalization of any other drugs other than what we’re doing with marijuana,” Trudeau told Global News while in Vancouver last August.

Singh maintained that addiction cannot truly be treated as a healthcare issue until decriminalization happens.

“It’s clear it’s something that we need to do,” he said. “And I will work towards it.” > TRAVIS LUPICK

The Green Party of Vancouver wants to know if the city is ready to elect its first Green mayor. Although the ballot is the only poll that matters, Greens are interested in getting a feel of the public pulse ahead of the 2018 municipal election.

Green councillor Adriane Carr confirms that her party is “definitely open to the possibility of running a mayor”.

“But we would not proceed with that until we actually do some surveying of some sort, some kind of polling that determines the degree to which the public is willing to support a mayoralty candidate,” Carr told the Straight in a phone interview.

What’s clear to Carr is that the Vision Vancouver party of Mayor Gregor Robertson is no longer a viable brand after ruling the city since 2008.

“The mood of the people is for change,” she said. “I think they’re disappointed, and that’s an understatement. But they’re disappointed in the fact that Vision hasn’t come through on their big promises, specifically to end homelessness and to do something about affordable housing.”

In another interview, pollster Barb Justason was asked about the odds of the Greens successfully running a mayoral candidate. According to the principal of Justason Market Intelligence Inc., it depends on whether or not they can field a “good name”.

“They have to consider carefully whether their most high-profile candidate, which would be Adriane Carr, you know, is she willing to risk her seat to pursue that job or does she want to remain as councillor?”

Justason said by phone.

In the 2014 election, Carr got the highest number of votes cast for councillor. Three of the six other Green candidates that year won seats on the park board and school board.

Although the Greens didn’t capture the one council seat that came up for grabs in the October 14 byelection this year, their three candidates for school board took the top three spots.

As for Vision mayor Robertson, Justason said: “Certainly, for a lot of the electorate at this stage, he’s overstayed his welcome.” > CARLITO PABLO

The Georgia Straight | Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly | Volume 51 Number 2601 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 SECTION EDITORS

Janet Smith (Arts/Fashion) Mike Usinger (Music) Steve Newton (Time Out) Adrian Mack (Movies) Brian Lynch (Books) Amanda Siebert (Cannabis) EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Doug Sarti ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Gail Johnson, John Lucas, Alexander Varty

r

STAFF WRITERS

Tammy Kwan, Lucy Lau, Travis Lupick, Carlito Pablo, Craig Takeuchi, Kate Wilson SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Jennie Ramstad 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 DIGITAL PRODUCT MANAGER

Chet Woodside LEAD WEB DEVELOPER Jeffrey Li WEB DEVELOPER Tina Luu (On Leave) JUNIOR WEB DEVELOPER Riva Ridley WEB ADMINISTRATOR Miles Keir

ART DEPARTMENT MANAGER

Janet McDonald

SENIOR DESIGNER David Ko PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Mike Correia PRODUCTION

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AD SERVICES ASSOCIATES

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DIRECTOR OF ARTS AND SPONSORSHIP

Laura Moore SALES DIRECTOR

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CONTENT AND MARKETING SPECIALIST

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ADVERTISING + PROMOTION ASSISTANTS

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR

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CREDIT MANAGER Shannon Li ACCOUNTING SUPERVISOR

Tamara Robinson

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10 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

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52 FACIAL

Glee Todio (with husband, Laurence, and their son) discovered that becoming a homeowner and a Canadian citizen made her feel like she belongs in this country.

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lee Todio will always re“One of the lessons we learned member the summer of from Mang [Mister] Tony is, ‘Do not 2017 with fondness. On feel pressured, because there’s always July 22, she and her young that one unit that is meant for you.’ ” family moved into a Surrey condo They later found a one-bedroom that she and her husband bought. It condo in the Guildford area that was was their first home purchase. listed for $280,000. Their offer below A couple of weeks later, Todio the asking price was accepted. took her oath as a Canadian citizen.

In 2016, the Canada Mortgage and Reflecting on what happened last Housing Corporation issued a report summer, Todio says that these two that looked at the experiences and exmilestones made her more rooted pectations of first-time homebuyers. in her new country. “It felt like I’m Entitled Newcomer First-Time Home home; I finally belong,” Todio told the Buying Experience, notes that all purGeorgia Straight in chasers have basica phone interview. ally the same reaTodio and her sons. They want husband, Lau- Carlito Pablo to stop paying rent rence, are both 34 and build equity. years old. They have a three-year-old They also feel financially stable enough son. She recalled that before they be- to carry a mortgage. “Unique to newcame homeowners, she would wonder comers was the notion that buying a at times what would have happened if home was an important step towards they had stayed in the Philippines. ‘getting settled’ in a new country and “But once we bought the home, city,” the report says. and then I got my Canadian citTodio’s husband arrived in Canizenship, that question mark wasn’t ada with the rest of his family in there anymore,” Todio said. “So it 2009. His mom came ahead as a was that moment that…it finally caregiver for the family of her sissank in my mind that Canada is ter (Laurence’s aunt). Todio and her my home and, you know, I’m a full- spouse have known each other since fledged Canadian now.” childhood. They got married in the Todio works as a business analyst Philippines in 2011, and Todio moved with a professional-services company. to Canada the following year. Their Her husband is a freelance drafter. Be- son was born in Canada. fore moving into their Surrey condo, Todio’s only misgiving is that they the young family were renting a base- waited too long to make a purchase. ment suite in the same city.

“Three years ago we wanted to buy a According to Todio, owning a home, and we keep reading articles home was one of the priorities she saying that the market will burst… and her husband had set for them- and…prices will drop,” she said. It selves. She explained that they were didn’t happen, and prices kept rising. raised in families that value homeTodio said they could have bought ownership. When they were ready, a place bigger than the 619-squarethey asked for help from her hus- foot condo they got. “It’s still a blessband’s family to augment the amount ing that now we’re in the market.” they had saved for a down payment.

According to Todio, they may Todio recalled that they made of- have started small but it’s a step tofers on three other properties but ward owning a bigger home later. were outbid by other buyers. LookHomeownership and citizenship ing back at these unsuccessful ten- have made a difference for her. ders, Todio said they were lucky to “Last year, if you ask me where I’m have Tony Lim as their realtor. from I’d most probably respond with He counselled the couple not ‘Philippines’,” Todio said. “But now to go into bidding wars because if you ask me the same question, I’d this would cost them more. say ‘I’m from Canada.’ ” -

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NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 11

CANNABIS

Sunrise prides itself as Connoisseur’s Choice (This article is sponsored by Sunrise Wellness Foundation.)

T

he local cannabis industry sometimes comes under criticism for not following the rules. Unlicensed shops continue operating in various parts of Metro Vancouver, sometimes paying huge fines to remain in business. And this can irritate its neighbours.

Not Sunrise Wellness Foundation.

One of its managing directors, Walter Sorto, says the organization will always comply with municipal and, eventually, provincial bylaws.

“We will only operate within the bounds,” Sorto insists. “We embrace regulation. We wouldn’t operate if there weren’t regulations.”

There are two Sunrise Wellness dispensaries in Vancouver—one at 258 West Broadway and the other at 2943 Kingsway. Sorto said the company’s mission is to provide safe access to high-quality products made from cannabis produced by B.C. growers. These include creams, tinctures, capsules, and other derivatives.

“Our motto is ‘The Connoisseur’s Choice’,” Sorto says. “We pride ourselves in that. We carry flowers and extracts that no one else will carry.”

For example, Sunrise Wellness carries flowers and extracts from some of B.C.’s best producers, such as Brindle Farms, RPM, Temple of Calyx, Heavenly Daze, and ConcentratedEx. Sorto adds, “Once we are allowed to buy from LPs, we hope to add flowers from the likes of Tantalus Labs as well.

“When you come into our dispensary, it’s going to be clean,” Sorto promises. “It’s going to be transparent. It’s going to be welcoming. Our staff are knowledgeable. They’re friendly. We want to get to know you on a first-name basis.”

Staff training and education set Sunrise Wellness apart from other dispensaries. Training includes

One of the managing directors of Sunrise Wellness Foundation says his team embraces regulation of local dispensaries.

participating in CannaReps Workshops, a training mentorship program focused on understanding cannabis products, as well as the role and the ethics of providing access to cannabis.

Sunrise Wellness is a member of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries (CAMCD), which is a nonprofit promoting a regulated community-based approach. It emphasizes that dispensaries must be transparent and follow best practices to provide the highest standard of care.

Sorto points out that being transparent is one of the best ways to improve the reputation of cannabis dispensaries. The “canna-curious”, as he calls them, are welcome to drop by and staff will explain how different products are used. Sunrise Wellness also provides “Cannabis Basics,” a monthly, handson workshop for those seeking more

in-depth knowledge about cannabis and its many uses.

“One of the first things we want to do is actually understand why they’re coming in,” he reveals. “What brought them in? What conditions are they trying to manage? What experiences have they had in the past?

“By asking these questions, we can understand why they want to use cannabis,” Sorto continues. “Then we can better inform them of the choices that they can make.”

If people simply state they want an indica or sativa, staff will inquire about what effect they’re seeking. This can come through the following questions: “Do you need it for sleep? Do you want to relax? Are you trying to manage pain or another symptom?”, and so on.

“Once you start to understand what their needs are, you can better inform

them of the choices available,” Sorto says. “If a person has a negative experience on cannabis, I don’t think it’s their fault. I think it’s the fault of the person who recommended whatever product they’re selling.”

Cannabis has been shown to be effective in addressing symptoms associated with a wide range of conditions. At Sunrise Wellness staff require a confirmation of a diagnosis before making cannabis products available to address issues relating to the following list of diseases and conditions: ADHD, AIDS/HIV, arthritis, asthma, brain and head injuries, cancer, cerebral palsy, chemotherapy treatment, chronic pain, colitis, Crohn’s disease, depression, eating disorders, eczema, emphysema, end of life–palliative care, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, irritable bowel

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“We still ask you for your medical documents,” Sorto says.

The Sunrise Wellness managing director doesn’t fit the profile of a stereotypical cannabis entrepreneur.

With an undergraduate degree in political science and a master’s of business administration from SFU, he understands everything from modern marketing to the power of lobbyists. And he’s aware that each has played a role in stifling the use of cannabis in the past.

Sunrise Wellness’s other managing directors also come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. “Dominic and Max, both from Vancouver, established Sunrise Wellness in 2014 and have a deep understanding in the production of cannabis,” Sorto states. “Robin, originally from Kelowna, is a guru on extracts as well as production.

Ehren, originally from Hawaii, is focused on municipal and provincial matters as the VP of CAMCD, and Manny, originally from Mexico, is focused on the member experience. It is through this diversity that gives us strength and allows us to connect with our community.”

All the Sunrise Wellness directors have a personal goal of giving back to the community, creating a positive space for cannabis access, and a commitment to continuously learning new ways cannabis can benefit society.

Sorto adds, “Our mission is to provide access to quality B.C. cannabis and its derivatives to all walks of life. Whether you are a young professional, a mother of two, or a booming boomer, Sunrise Wellness welcomes you!” -

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GREEN LIVING

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NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 13

EDUCATION

Education options for a world in transition > B Y C HA RL IE SM I TH

A

re you in the mood to give your career a jolt? In January, many postsecondary institutions and training schools are welcoming new groups of students into their programs. Some have even launched new courses for those in the mood to upgrade their skills to keep pace with the rapid pace of change. Below, check out a sample of what is being offered.

CENTRE FOR DIGITAL MEDIA

At the Vancouver-based Centre

2 for Digital Media, reality takes

many forms. Students can create things in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), to name just three examples.

According to the school’s director, Richard Smith, students in the master of digital media program are also discovering how to create an appealing ambiance in which these various realities can be presented. This is to ensure that it’s not a jarring experience when people cover their eyes completely with a Vive or Oculus headset and enter a parallel universe.

“It’s kind of like the early days of cinema, where people were just trying new things,” Smith explained to the Georgia Straight by phone. “They weren’t quite sure where it was going to go and what was going to be really popular—and what would be a flop.”

In movie theatres, patrons are prepared for the experience by walking into dimly lit auditoriums. They get comfy in stadium-style seating and then see large curtains open up, exposing the screens. In a similar vein, students at the Centre for Digital Media are experimenting with ways to get users in the mood for VR or AR. VR involves creating an entirely new 3-D immersive world; AR, on the other hand, superimposes computer-generated images on the existing world to provide new insights, as with Pokémon Go. A third R, mixed reality, involves inserting computergenerated enhancements or sensory inputs, such as smells or sounds, into an existing environment.

“Mixed reality is where you contrive to change not only what people see but also the things around them,” Smith said.

Examples are the sudden appearance of tables or chairs on a stage in the midst of a play, which the audience could see by wearing headsets.

The implications of this technology are monumental in everything from education to entertainment and from security to technology. Apple CEO

Centre for Digital Media students have been early adopters of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality.

Tim Cook has predicted that people will “have AR experiences every day, almost like eating three meals a day”.

If true, this will create phenomenal opportunities for entrepreneurs who learn how to harness this technology.

Smith cited one example: surgical education. “Think about medical students dealing with cadavers,” he said. “There are only so many cadavers in the world. If you can do some of that in a virtual world…that could save money, that could save time, and actually—I was just reading a study on this—it can save on the ‘ick’ factor.”

Unlike many graduate programs, the Centre for Digital Media does not choose students with a specific area of expertise. Rather, it accepts people with a broad range of talents so that when they come together, they can learn from one another to create digitally oriented things in groups.

“We have technical people, artistic people, social and cultural people, and business and science people, and so on,” Smith said. “Being effective on a team, managing people, and being managed are all part of our curriculum. They get lots of opportunities to practise that in their course work and in their big projects.”

The school emphasizes “active listening”, Smith said, so students can really understand the problems that they may be encountering and trying to solve after they graduate. Education takes place from Monday to Friday during the day on a full-time basis.

“We pack what’s basically a two-year degree into 16 months,” Smith said. -

In today’s wired world, marketmanagers, designers, and other professionals sometimes feel they’re at the mercy of IT departments.

With that in mind, Lighthouse Labs will launch a new part-time course to help people in the workforce learn how websites and web pages work. The Gastown tech-training school’s cofounder and head of education, Khurram Virani, told the Straight by phone that the six-week evening front-end fundamentals course will be offered twice a week in January, starting at 6 p.m., in three-hour classes.

“The technology that they’ll be learning is HTML and CSS,” Virani explained. “They’ll learn coding with languages like JavaScript to make their web pages more interactive. As well, they’ll be using libraries like jQuery to make the web page even richer.”

Students will also learn how to make the most of a WordPress website after discovering how web pages are rendered.

Lighthouse Labs has attracted nationwide attention for its daylong HTML500 events, which are Canada’s largest free learn-to-code sessions. It already offers full-time web-development and iOS-development boot camps to kick-start careers as web developers. There’s also a part-time intro to web development course in the evenings.

The head of marketing and sales at Lighthouse Labs, Tiffany Chester, told the Straight by phone that

2 ers,

front-end fundamentals is ideal for those who need to understand the languages and processes of the Internet so they can communicate better with developers, colleagues, customers, and contractors. It can also help them make better use of tools like WordPress or Shopify.

“We help people skill up for the new reality,” Chester said. “Courses like this new front-end fundamentals have a broad appeal to a whole variety of different professionals.”

She noted that much marketing takes place nowadays in the digital arena through platforms such as Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Hootsuite. “Unless you know a little bit about it, you’re in no real position to make intelligent decisions that actually might have a big impact on how you operate in a couple of years’ time,” Chester emphasized. “Learning the very basics of code, marketers will be better able to work with analytics, with their agencies, with their tech teams.”

According to Virani, the front-end fundamentals course zeroes in on how users experience websites. The intro to web development, on the other hand, provides a high-level view by also focusing on what happens on the back end of websites.

LASALLE COLLEGE VANCOUVER CULINARY ARTS

B.C.’s dining industry is a behe-

2 moth. According to Restaurants

Canada, it posted sales of $13 billion last year and employs 174,200 people.

see next page

ry?

da con

Se sto P o ng t

LIGHTHOUSE LABS

“With the labour shortage right now, there’s a huge demand for cooks in the industry,” Benjamin Faber, director of the International Culinary School at LaSalle College Vancouver, told the Georgia Straight by phone. “It’s a really good time to be in hospitality overall. There’s a lot of work available.”

But if someone aspires to become an executive chef or restaurant manager, they’re going to need a deep understanding of various factors that can make or break an establishment. And that’s where LaSalle College Vancouver enters the picture.

Faber said his school offers sixmonth certificate and one-year diploma programs to full-time students in culinary arts and in baking and pastry arts. There are also one-year diploma programs in event management and in hospitality and restaurantbusiness management. An advanced diploma in culinary-arts ownership takes a year and a half to complete.

“About 35 percent of our program is theory-based, where we are in a classroom with the instructor,” Faber said.

In these classes, students learn such things as designing, building, balancing out, and costing menus.

In advanced programs, they explore human resources, organizational leadership, and catering. And in the management programs, they also develop their own business plan.

“If they wanted to open up their own business, they could go and take that document to investors,” Faber noted.

Because it’s a culinary school, LaSalle students spend plenty of time in the college’s two instructional kitchens. Students also operate their own restaurant on campus called the Second Floor Bistro, which is open for lunch on Thursdays and Fridays. It offers them a chance to see how the industry operates from a multitude of perspectives.

“They focus on the marketing for the restaurant,” Faber said. “They do the menus. They do the costing. They all work front of the house and they all work back of the house.”

This work is supervised by a diningroom manager and a chef instructor.

Faber said that employers in the restaurant industry are seeking people who are versatile, which is why culinary students learn the basics of baking and pastry-making. And baking and pastry-arts students learn the fundamentals of classical cooking techniques before they move on to their specialization.

In their advanced classes, baking and pastry-arts students are taught

Your journey starts here

Goi

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14 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

Your Guide Through Post-Secondary Education

about such things as artisan breads, chocolate work, and wedding and display cakes.

“You have got to have the foundation in order to build up,” he stated.

“We help them to understand that you have to make a really good chicken stock in order to make a really good chicken soup. They get a lot of that training. Then it’s just having an understanding and a realistic expectation of what they’re about to step out into in the industry so that, hopefully, when they do graduate and they do get jobs that they’re not in over their heads.”

CAPILANO U BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

Having an appreciation and

2 understanding of other cultures

is a precious commodity these days in the business world. A Harvard Business Review article in August cited a McKinsey Global Institute report noting there will be 3.5 billion people employed by 2030. And that is expected to result in far more skilled workers crossing national boundaries.

The importance of studying and living in other countries is also recognized by Halia Vallardes, dean of Capilano University’s faculty of business and professional studies.

An expert in international logistics and trade, Vallardes told the Straight by phone that she once read a study showing that 53 percent of people who studied and lived abroad cited this experience as having helped them secure a job offer.

It’s one of many reasons why she’s such a fervent advocate for Capilano University’s international management graduate diploma. This unique one-year educational opportunity combines one semester of international business education at the North Vancouver campus with a semester at the University of Hertfordshire in southern England.

In addition to the graduate diploma, those who complete the program also receive a master of science in international business degree from the

Students enrolled at LaSalle College Vancouver’s International Culinary School will graduate into a robust job market in B.C.’s restaurant industry.

British university. “Just by being in this program and living in two countries within a year, you are developing your cross-cultural management skills,” Vallardes emphasized.

She was born and raised in Mexico and obtained her master’s degree in international business at Texas A & M, where most of the other graduate students in her program had also come from other countries. She maintained that it’s “extremely important” to be exposed to people from abroad to truly understand their cultures.

“My former classmates right now are CEOs or VPs of international companies worldwide,” she said.

“Those connections nobody can take away from you. That can land you a better job.”

She also said that an education in international business can help someone launch a consulting career, become an entrepreneur, or gain employment in the import-export business.

Capilano University is accepting applications for the fall of 2018 for the graduate-diploma/graduate-degree program. Anyone with a bachelor’s degree is eligible if they demonstrate English-language proficiency.

Because it’s a master of science

program, Vallardes said some course work is more quantitative than traditional business education. In addition, students learn how culture impacts operations, motivation, performance, planning, and execution.

“Instead of taking just human resources, you take international human resources,” Vallardes said.

“Instead of taking a course in management, you take a course in international management.”

Students also gain insights into all trade treaties that Canada has signed, as well as how companies can take advantage of economic integration between countries. The capstone is writing either an international business report or an international business plan.

The program offers opportunities to secure co-op work, which can enable students to stay longer in the U.K. and generate an income there.

The same is true for international students who come to Canada.

VCC CONTINUING STUDIES

Vancouver chefs such as Tus-

2 cany-born Umberto Menghi and

Calabria-born Pino Posteraro have set the bar high for Italian cuisine in our

town. But residents will have a chance to learn from Italian masters in the kitchens at Vancouver Community College’s downtown campus.

Near the end of January, VCC will accept another batch of students for Cucina Italiana—Italian Master Class Series, which is offered through VCC continuing studies. The dean, Gordon McIvor, told the Straight by phone that students are not only going to learn new culinary skills, they’ll also get the full-meal deal when it comes to Italian culture, all courtesy of charismatic head chef Giovanni Trigona.

“These courses are really designed more for the entertainment value as opposed to training people to become chefs,” McIvor acknowledged.

VCC has partnered with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada West to offer five three-hour evening classes over a five-week period. They focus on the culture of Italian cuisine from a specific region.

Each evening is devoted to a region’s pasta, pizza, and breads, the pairings of Italian wine and food, and even gourmet gelato. There’s a 20-percent discount for those who enroll in all five courses, though they can also be taken individually.

VCC’s senior program coordinator of continuing studies, Claire Sauvé, told the Straight by phone that what sets the Italian Master Class Series apart is how it weaves together traditions, customs, regional history, and Italian food.

“There are certain classifications of ingredients from Italy, depending on their regional authenticity,” Sauvé explained. “An even higher measure of authenticity is if the ingredients come from a particular region and have been 100 percent prepared in that region. So they are really focused on regional delicacies.”

McIvor attended a session this fall and recalled how much joy there was in the room. “It’s almost like a party,” he recalled. “If people are looking for an active evening, I think it’s something they would enjoy.”

The Italian Master Class Series reflects how staff in VCC continuing

studies sometimes seek partnerships before embarking on new programs.

Along the same lines, VCC continuing studies will offer an accessibilitycertification course in the spring in partnership with the Rick Hansen Foundation.

“The training is to become an accessibility assessor—to go into buildings and assess how accessible the buildings are,” Sauvé said.

This can involve measuring the width of stairways or doorways and making recommendations to engineers about any retrofitting that needs to be done. But it also incorporates accessibility for people who are visually or hearing impaired, those who have companion dogs, and even people with strollers. “It’s a holistic view of accessibility,” Sauvé noted.

CAPILANO U BACHELOR OF TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Imagine enrolling at a local university to study tourism and finding out that it includes a six-month work term at Walt Disney World. Or signing up and discovering that it involves travelling to Vietnam to learn about a communitybased tourism project. Those are just two possibilities for students seeking a bachelor of tourism management at Capilano University.

“Our mission is to inspire and educate every day,” program cochair Stephanie Wells told the Straight.

She said the co-op work term is accredited by the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education, describing it as a “cornerstone” of the degree.

Students accumulate 500 hours of work experience after selecting where they want to learn from a long list of high-profile employers that have a relationship with Capilano University.

“Once students secure their co-op work term, they create learning work outcomes,” Wells explained.

There are two streams within the four-year bachelor of tourism management program: a hotel and resort concentration and an adventure

2 regional

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Education options

from previous page

concentration. The hotel and resort specialization has eight courses designed for that industry, including sales and marketing, revenue management, and hotel financial management. The latter concentration emphasizes sustainable and environmental perspectives, as well as an understanding of risk management.

The next intake of students will take place in January, and high-school grads must have a C+ in English and have sufficient math skills.

Tourism’s gross domestic product in B.C. grew every year from 2007 to 2015, according to the latest data from B.C. Stats, rising 31 percent over that period to reach $8.3 billion. Total employment in this sector reached 127,700 in B.C., which means there is no shortage of opportunities.

“We have a grad who’s an owner of a sightseeing tour company, so there are certainly some of those more traditional avenues,” she said. “We have graduates who are front-desk managers in hotels, who work in sales within hotels. They’re working in meetings and events and selling Vancouver as a destination.”

She also said that professional sports teams such as the Vancouver Canucks and Vancouver Whitecaps attract tourism, creating opportunities in this area.

Wells pointed out that a bachelor of tourism management degree gives a graduate a full sense of the interrelationships within the tourism sector.

“We think of tourism as being very front-facing—the face of the city when people come to Vancouver—when a lot of the work is done behind the scenes, whether it’s sales or night audit or product development.”

The rising popularity of social media has added a new wrinkle to the degree program. Next year, Capilano University will offer an upperlevel course called applied digital strategies in tourism.

In the meantime, Wells said, there’s no shortage of school spirit

York University’s Ian Garrett designed the set and energy-capture system for a dance show called vox:lumen, which was performed entirely off-grid.

among tourism students. There are two groups in the department, the Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Student Association (TRESCA) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), which are involved in various community activities.

YORK UNIVERSITY THEATRE

Sustainability is often associat-

2 ed with healthy ecosystems and

ethical consumerism. But at York University in Toronto, this concept is also being applied to theatre production in ways that might surprise the most ardent environmentalist.

There’s even an associate professor of ecological design for performance, Ian Garrett. His professional credits include designing the set and energycapture system for vox:lumen, a groundbreaking dance show performed at night in the Harbourfront Theatre in the late winter of 2015. It was powered entirely by off-grid renewable energy.

“Even though we were in a perfectly good theatre, we opted out of using its electrical system and instead we designed a solar-capture system that was outside the theatre to charge batteries—essentially, marine batteries and inverters inside the theatre—and designed all of our systems around only using energy we could capture,” Gar-

rett told the Straight by phone.

York is the lead educational partner in Climate Change Theatre Action, which has been launched to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Garrett said this project commissioned 50 playwrights to write five-minute plays on a wide range of environmental topics, which are being read over a six-week period at 200 sites around the world.

“It’s bringing the arts into the centre of conversation as a way to help people—for lack of a better way—to cope with one of the largest issues of our time,” he explained.

These are just some of the ways in which York’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design is challenging conventional wisdom about what theatre can be in the 21st century. “The type of student we’re interested in is a hungry theatre animal—somebody interested in finding different ways of exploring,” Garrett said. “We’ve been recently evolving a lot of graduate programs with that same sort of core ethic.”

York’s theatre graduates include Thea Fitz-James, who conceived Naked Ladies. Other theatre alumni from York include Vancouver lighting designer Brad Trenaman and socially conscious clown artists Morro and Jasp.

Garrett said that York has a solid

foothold across various artistic disciplines and first-year theatre students share a common touchstone—collaborative practice—that informs their approach. And he emphasized that research serves as the “spine of all of the programs”.

There’s another advantage that comes with studying theatre at York: Toronto has a thriving theatre scene.

“It’s the third-largest Englishspeaking theatre community in the world, behind London, England, and New York,” Garrett noted. “There is everything from traditional mountings of Shakespeare to new devised theatre modalities, crossover with dance movement, and improv. Any sort of different genre or practical type of approach is represented somewhere within Toronto.”

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

Postsecondary administrators

2 around the world pay attention

to the QS ratings (an annual private international ranking of universities). And this year, officials at Concordia University were thrilled when their city, Montreal, topped the list of best student cities in the world.

“One of the things we continuously hear from students in Montreal is it’s an affordable city,” Concordia’s director of student recruitment, Matthew Stiegemeyer, told the Straight by phone. “There’s good housing. There’s good opportunity to live right downtown and engage with a variety of festivals and cultural experiences. We’ve got the Mount Royal Park in the middle of the city.”

In recent years, Concordia has also been making a big push into trying to tackle social issues, integrating technology to assist underserved areas. A large university such as Concordia, with its 46,000 students, can have a significant impact.

“It’s been kind of an exciting time to see that trickle down to the undergraduate experience,” Stiegemeyer said.

This is manifesting itself in a multitude of ways, including through

Concordia’s District 3 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It brings together resources from government, the corporate sector, research, and academics to help student innovators and entrepreneurs launch new concepts with confidence.

According to Stiegemeyer, it is “helping students realize their business plans and develop how to put their ideas into the marketplace”.

“We don’t get trapped into traditional silo thinking,” he said. “We’re working across disciplines.”

Concordia offers undergraduate degrees in a wide variety of disciplines, including urban studies and urban planning, journalism, contemporary dance, and businesstechnology management. It’s also known for its progressive student body, which pressed in 2014 to become the first university in Canada to begin divesting from fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, Concordia’s entrance requirements are not as onerous as those at UBC and SFU. For example, Stiegemeyer said, it’s possible to gain admission to some bachelor of arts programs with a high-school average of 70 to 75 percent. Business and engineering programs require higher averages, in the 80-to-85-percent zone, he added. Those who can’t make the cut in areas with more demanding admission standards can upgrade their grade-point average on campus and transfer into their desired program.

“We’ve maintained that as an easy route for people who basically come in and prove they’ve got what it takes to get into the John Molson School of Business or one of our engineering programs or actuarial math,” Stiegemeyer said.

Even though Concordia has two campuses, four faculties, a school of graduate studies, and many centres and institutes, there are still opportunities to enjoy a smaller-university feel. Stiegemeyer cited a program on religion and culture as one example: it has a small cohort of students who remain together for three or four years. see next page

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16 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

UBC FACULTY OF EDUCATION

UBC’s associate dean of teacher Wendy Carr, has made it her mission to help educators play an important role in addressing a national mental-health crisis. “We know that a good portion of these mental disorders are detectable in the adolescent years,” Carr told the Straight by phone. “Teachers at that level, in particular, can play a role if their mentalhealth literacy is developed.”

The UBC faculty of education has jointly prepared a learning resource for teacher candidates with experts at St. Francis Xavier University, the University of Western Ontario, and Dalhousie University. Carr said the resource covers four broad areas: increasing knowledge of mental disorders, understanding what can go wrong, reducing stigma, and learning where and how teachers can seek help for themselves and others. This English-language curriculum is free and is available online for preservice teachers across Canada.

“They can do it as part of a program in some universities,” Carr said. “They can also do it as a self-guided set of teaching and learning resources.”

Carr explained that it has emerged out of work that UBC academics have been engaged in with Dalhousie researcher and psychiatrist Dr. Stan Kutcher, a leading authority on youth mental health.

The Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that more than three million Canadians between the ages of 12 and 19 are at risk of suffering from depression. Accord-

There’s no shame in someone with diabetes taking regular medication, she stated, so why should it be any different for someone suffering from depression? And while there is a great deal of attention placed on the impact of sleep and nutrition on mental health, Carr said that research “quite conclusively shows that exercise and music have a far greater effect”.

2 education,

KPU CANNABIS COURSES As the federal government plans on legalizing recreational cannabis next year, one B.C. regional university is ramping up its workforce training in this area. In late 2015, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) launched its Cannabis Professional Series to provide education for people working in this sector. Offered through continuing and professional studies, there are three courses: plant production and facility management; marketing, sales, and drug development; and financing a cannabis enterprise in Canada.

These courses are delivered online over 12-week periods. This makes them accessible for people who want to upgrade their skills and understanding while remaining employed.

“Our instructors are all currently employed within the cannabis industry in Canada,” KPU’s director of emerging business, David Purcell, told the Straight by phone. “Discussion topics are posted at the front of the week and the learners go log in to the portal.

With the discussion topic, there are recommended readings as well as recommended research portals.”

Students respond to questions on

2

Concordia University’s Loyola Campus is in Montreal’s west-end district of NotreDame-De-Grâce, which is a commercial hub for the city’s anglophone residents.

ing to a report to the Mental Health Commission of Canada in 2011, mental illness imposes a $51-billion burden on the country every year.

Carr is hoping that policymakers will recognize that equipping teachers with the tools to recognize problems in the classroom will not only save lives and improve health outcomes but also pay economic dividends.

“There are lots of things that teachers can notice much earlier than a health professional or a parent,” she said. “It’s not their job to diagnose or to become a go-to caregiver; it’s their job to help that student find help.”

The learning resource offers teacher candidates insights into a broad range of issues, including psychosis, depression, and human brain development.

Through case studies, teacher candidates also learn to pay attention

to behavioural changes, even subtle ones such as gradual withdrawal or a decline in personal grooming.

While the focus is on mental-health literacy regarding students in the secondary years, there’s a stronger emphasis on social and emotional learning for teacher candidates who plan on working at the elementary level.

“We’re not training psychiatrists or health professionals,” Carr emphasized. “We’re trying to develop some understandings of a basic nature, with the sense that there is so much more to know and so much more to learn. And hence the need to reach out to professionals who are fully trained in this area.”

She noted that one of the biggest barriers to seeking help is the stigma associated with mental illness, which this learning resource tackles head-on.

the portal, which can be seen by the instructor and other learners.

With the prospect of cannabis legalization, KPU is preparing to launch two new courses next year.

The first is for would-be cannabiscultivation technicians, and will teach students how to grow the plant to reach its full potential.

“They really start with seed selection and cloning and go all the way through the cultivation, propagation, harvest, trimming, and transport of the plants themselves—all within the regulations,” Purcell said.

It’s divided into two sections.

Theory will be delivered online, similar to the existing courses. The second part will be presented face to face at the Langley campus.

“We will have space where students will actually be able to interact with the plants, get their hands in the dirt, and learn how it actually happens by doing it,” he stated.

The second new offering next year is a retail-cannabis-consultant course.

Purcell pointed out that cannabis consultants will benefit from having a deep understanding of the difference between cannabis extracts such as THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol), along with the impact of different potencies of sativa and indica strains. “We’re certainly not suggesting that anyone gives anyone medical advice,” he emphasized.

“It’s really about ‘How do we best sell this product in the most responsible manner that we possibly can?’ ” The three existing continuingstudies and professional-training see next page

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Education options

from previous page

courses offer graduates certificates of completion, but they’re not accredited. Graduates of the cannabiscultivation-technician and retailcannabis-consultant courses, on the other hand, will receive accredited certificates. That could have career implications if there’s ever a cannabis regulatory framework requiring accredited people to work in certain occupations within the industry.

“Our ultimate goal is to offer degree programming in cannabis,” Purcell said. “Obviously, that’s a very long process.”

Meanwhile, the existing plantproduction and facility management course focuses on the federal Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. It also offers insights into the production of cannabis plants, covering such areas as root health, pest and fungal problems, and the types of nutrients that help the plants thrive. The facilitymanagement component addresses environmental considerations such as lighting, humidity, and temperatures in greenhouses and outdoors.

“It’s been very, very successful,” Purcell noted. “We have a number of graduates who have come out of it.”

ASHTON COLLEGE IMMIGRATION PROGRAMS

Two decades ago, anyone could

2 open an office and call themselves an immigration consultant.

The director of immigration-practitioner programs at Ashton College,

Kwantlen Polytechnic University is preparing for the federal government’s looming legalization of marijuana by expanding its cannabis education.

Ron McKay, remembers those days: he had returned from Japan, where he processed immigration applicants for the Canadian government. He later became the first president of the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants and, more recently, has served as chair of the profession’s regulatory body.

And over the years, he’s seen the educational requirements sharply increase for anyone hoping to become a regulated Canadian immigration consultant (RCIC). McKay told the Straight by phone that initially an applicant needed 140 hours of training.

Then it was boosted to 320 hours, and recently it went up to 500 hours.

“I believe the next step is probably a one-year full-time program,” he stated.

The regulatory body requires RCICs

to complete 16 hours of continuing professional development each year. Ashton College helps them meet this obligation through seminars and courses.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Ashton College and the 10th anniversary of its immigration-consultant training program. According to McKay, a wide variety of people are choosing to enter the profession.

Many are immigrants with an interest in the subject or they want to learn how to do the paperwork to bring family members to Canada. Others were professionals in their home countries. Then there are human-resource professionals who recognize that an understanding of the immigration system enables them to help foreign nationals work in Canada. Parliament-

ary assistants have also gone through the program at Ashton College. “I’ve been told that at a lot of the MPs’ constituency offices, 70 percent of their work can be dealing with immigrants to Canada,” McKay said.

Early next year, Ashton College plans to launch a 240-hour program to train immigration-processing assistants. According to McKay, graduates would assist RCICs and lawyers by completing applicants’ forms.

They could use this training as a ladder to become an immigration consultant in the future because course credits could be applied to the 500 hours of training that’s required to be an RCIC. A full-time option includes four hours of classes, five days a week, from Monday to Friday. Students do their assignments later in the day.

Part-time students might attend two evenings a week and perhaps even a Saturday morning. This takes longer to complete but it won’t interfere with a student’s day-to-day employment.

There’s also an option to study online.

educators, and managers. “It’s fundamental,” he says. “It has to do with how you construct relationships with others in the world.”

But it’s sometimes hard to maintain relationships, which are at the core of ethical interactions, when people are scurrying around like hamsters on a treadmill. Henley himself finds that he’s incredibly busy in his job, sometimes having up to eight or 10 tasks to perform in a single day. They could incude coaching a dissertation student, attending a leadership-team meeting, dealing with a property manager, and even speaking to the media. And that can take a toll.

“It’s a tremendously condensed and challenging schedule sometimes,” he admits.

When Henley looks at the natural world, he sees a different story unfolding at this time of year. The days are growing shorter and plants are falling back into the earth. But as less energy is being expended in the environment, human beings in metropolitan areas never seem to slow down. He suggests that people’s engagement in work and work-related activities may be at an all-time high as they try to cope with increasing complexity and a demonstrably higher rate of change.

“From a certain point of view, the ethical issue is: are we harming ourselves by this sort of unequivocal obsession with productivity even though the rhythm of the [natural] world, if we were to look at it and experience it, would tell us otherwise?”

The mania for efficiency could

CITYU IN CANADA

Arden Henley, principal of

2 Canadian programs at CityU in

Canada, enjoys pondering provocative questions affecting humankind.

Ethics and ecology both factor in a big way into the master’s degrees in counselling and education and bachelor of arts in management offered at the downtown Vancouver campus.

In a phone interview with the Straight, Henley points out that ethics is integral to the work of counsellors,

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have different outcomes for men and women, according to Henley. He leaves the question open as to whether or not this 21st-century rat race is actually a form of discrimination. “Are we sort of driving women to fit into and behave in a world that’s biologically suited for men but perhaps not so suited for women?”

This, in turn, has caused him to wonder if university administrators have a responsibility to consider these issues in how they construct their institutions and communicate their insights to the broader community.

“Many people in their day-to-day lives simply do not have this opportunity or privilege,” he points out.

At CityU in Canada, Henley and the faculty try to cultivate a sense of community for students with an inclusive and welcoming approach. It’s an ethical counterweight to the blistering pace and shortcuts that people sometimes feel they have to take to meet modern-day imperatives.

By relying on the cohort model, CityU in Canada creates a “minicommunity of practice” for its counselling and education students. This enables them to learn together and from one another while creating a supportive network.

“They feel connected,” Henley says.

“They feel like they belong. They feel like they’re a person.”

This approach manifests itself in the way master’s students in education present their capstone project.

At CityU, it takes the form of a portfolio presentation, similar to what one might expect at an arts school but not so much at a professional school.

“One of the things that students over and over again talk about is how the learning has impacted their own evolution as a person and their relationships,” Henley says, “and how that evolution, in turn, is important for the practice of the competencies and skills as an educator.”

CityU in Canada’s newest offering, its bachelor of arts in management, emphasizes social and environmental responsibility. To Henley, this should not be seen as an afterthought when

but not over such a lengthy period of time that by the time these students go to work everything has changed.

Students are assigned to do projects—such as creating websites or devising digital-marketing campaigns—for nonprofit organizations and high-tech startups. This part of the curriculum helps build capacity in the community while students learn how to engage with clients. Eikerman calls this a win-win situation.

“RED Academy is more than just a school,” he said. “It’s an ecosystem of technology and thinking. The community is just as much of a teacher as our teachers are in the classroom and our clients are when they get students to work on a project.”

Vancouver Community College’s apprenticeship training for hairstylists is now a Red Seal program, which signifies excellence in the skilled trades.

managers need to demonstrate greater sensitivity to societal challenges.

He emphasizes that building community within academic institutions has very pragmatic benefits and it shouldn’t be written off as new-agey.

“If people evolve personally, they actually do a better job.”

CityU in Canada will hold an information session on its bachelor of arts in management degree from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday (November 15) at its Vancouver campus (789 West Pender Street, third floor).

RED ACADEMY

The growth of B.C.’s tech econ-

2 omy has been astonishing. Ac-

cording to the Vancouver Economic Commission, there are now 75,000 people working in the tech industry in Vancouver and 101,000 across the province. It generates a whopping $23 billion in revenue in B.C., and Vancouver is home to three of Canada’s four tech unicorns worth more than $1 billion: Slack, Hootsuite, and Avigilon.

This has created an almost insatiable need for skilled workers, which is something that RED Academy founders Colin Mansell and Mandy Gilbert anticipated when they

founded their West Broadway school in 2015. Now with campuses in Toronto and London, England, RED Academy appears to be evolving as rapidly as the industry it serves.

“We’re at the point where technology is exponentially accelerating,” RED Academy managing director Sean Eikerman told the Straight by phone. “As technology advances, it’s going to be even more important to be digitally literate.”

He said he can foresee a time when RED—it stands for “redefining education”—will no longer teach HTML and CSS, which has been a basic building block of website development. According to Eikerman, the current preference is JavaScript, and who knows what is on the horizon when artificial intelligence starts wiping out conventional job categories?

RED Academy has made its mark through training in web and app development, digital marketing (Mansell formerly headed up Drive Digital), and UX and UI design. It has carved out a middle ground between short-term boot camps and the one- to four-year programs offered by public postsecondary institutions. Eikerman said that at RED, instructors want to give students enough depth to find employment—

VCC TRADES, TECHNOLOGY, AND DESIGN

For more than 50 years, Van-

2 couver Community College has

been one of the city’s foremost careertraining sites, educating multitudes of students in fields ranging from health sciences to hospitality to fashion design. Earlier this year, it added two new diplomas in the areas of computer-aided drafting (CAD) and building-information modelling (BIM).

One offers this credential to people who graduate from the CAD and BIM architectural-technician program; the other diploma is for CAD and BIM civil-structural-technician grads. The next intake of students will take place in January.

Brett Griffiths, VCC dean of trades, technology, and design, told the Straight by phone that each is a full-time day program lasting two years. Those who have already passed the 10-month certificate programs in these areas can apply these credits toward the diploma.

So what types of jobs would be available for graduates? “Those would be working with companies that specialize in BIM,” Griffiths said. “So they would be working on bigger-scale projects at a higher level that would incorporate drafters from those different specializations.”

Future employers for these students could include consulting engineering and architectural firms, and fabrication and development companies.

When asked what attributes will help a student succeed, Griffiths replied: “Have a fairly decent background in math and physics.” He also said it helps to have strong communication skills because graduates will be working in team-based environments. And it doesn’t hurt to have some experience in construction.

According to Griffiths, buildinginformation modelling involves overlaying civil structural designs with architectural designs in 3-D. This provides a more complete picture of what a building will look like. Members of a program advisory committee informed VCC officials that BIM technologies are becoming more common. So it made sense to Griffiths to offer students an opportunity to learn these skills.

“That’s one of our goals here: to ensure people are…going to be ready for employment when they leave here,” he said. “So, really, it came from industry.”

These aren’t the only relatively new diploma programs in the area of design at VCC. The visual-communications-design diploma, which was launched earlier this year, is open to applicants who have obtained a design certificate in this area or in digital graphics. Griffiths said the new diploma focuses a great deal of attention on UX, UI, and website design. Students develop projects that create solutions for clients, and the next intake is in January.

“They do photography work,” Griffiths said of the students. “They do layouts. They do proofing. They do paper-based projects as well as digital projects.”

He also expressed pride in VCC’s apprenticeship training for hairstylists.

It was recently approved as a Red Seal program, which is a Canadian standard for excellence in the skilled trades.

“Our first intake for the apprenticeship program for the Red Seal program will be in January,” he said. -

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ould you use more help from the stars? Saturn, Uranus, Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune are conspiring on your behalf. Good timing supports action-taking, creative endeavour, new adventures, and lifestyle transitions. The stars are now moving along an easy-rolling, easy-access track.

On Saturday, Saturn trines Uranus for the last of three exact meet-ups.

This transit has spanned the entirety of 2017. While Saturn and Uranus are coming to the end of their association in the element of fire, they are by no means finished with their create-it, accelerate-it agenda. Not by a long shot. Rather, they are now completing an experiential learning curve and information-gathering first phase. No doubt you are likely to feel you have done plenty of living and growing.

Saturn in Sagittarius and Uranus in Aries have been busting up the concrete on the past while also reinventing the course of the future.

Although that’s a big deal, when you stop to think about it, you are likely to recognize you have been able to acclimatize and adjust with greater ease despite the challenges. See it as a measure of your inner progress.

Setting creativity, passion, opportunity, drive, or necessity onto a Jupiter freshly into its one-year tour of Scorpio assists you/us to make a fuller commitment to your soul’s desire to build it better.

Saturday’s Saturn/Uranus optimizes on the synchronicity of right time, right place. Venus in Scorpio conjuncts Jupiter on Monday and trines Neptune on Thursday. It’s about the feel, the sexy. A fluid, lucrative, and reward-generating week lies ahead for exploring options, money dealings, and affairs of the heart.

LEO

July 22–August 23

You can coast and enjoy the ride or take charge, apply yourself, and gain even more. Saturn/Uranus keeps progress, profit, and opportunity on a steady flow. A new interest, plan, investment, or initiative is likely to prove a natural fit. Travel, a move, a renovation project, or a new moneymaker is well timed. Venus/Jupiter starts the new week with a bonus or an extra.

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

August 23–September 23

There’s no need to sweat it or to force what isn’t coming naturally. Go by feel, by heart. If you aren’t certain on which choice is best, take a pause and watch for time to reveal your right play. For the most part, the stars set onto a smooth and productive sail through the week ahead.

Saturn/Uranus enhances relationships, problem-solving, and communication tracks.

September 23–October 23

Business and pleasure are a great combination through the weekend. A trade show, weekend workshop, open house, sports event, or social get-together delivers the goods. Spontaneity can too.

Sunday/Monday keeps you totally immersed. Venus/Jupiter pumps up everything to do with feelings, trust, relationships, renovation projects, and money (investment, earning, spending). The week ahead is great for creative projects, sales, and marketing ventures.

October 23–November 22

Saturn/Uranus, at peak on Saturday, keeps the work and the working it out on a natural rollout.

Things can fall into place quite readily. It doesn’t take much to get a good ARIES idea or plan up and running. Looking March 20–April 20 good, feeling good; the Midas touch.

It’s shaping up for you now, Venus teams with Jupiter at the start and you can expect it to keep going. of the week and Neptune near the end.

Hitting peak on Saturday, Saturn/UraSAGITTARIUS nus place you at the gateway of so much November 22–December 21 more to come. Saturn gives you someThursday can be a turnthing more tangible to go on. Uranus serves as a rekindle and heat-up influ- ing point regarding a relationship, a ence. Enhancing creativity, intimate future plan, or a budding prospect. relationships, and moneymaking po- A piece of news or something you tentials, the week ahead keeps you on run across can put a smile on your face or a glow in your heart. Saturn/ a total immersion program.

Uranus, Venus/Jupiter, and Venus/ TAURUS Neptune keep you making the most April 20–May 21 of it through the week ahead. MonFor the past two-plus day, pump up on vitamins. Mercury/ years, Saturn in Sagittarius has Neptune can make you vulnerable. likely pushed you through a tough CAPRICORN move-along. While substantial loss December 21–January 20 has been in the mix, what’s most imWhen it comes to anyportant is what you’ve gained in the process. Saturn/Uranus helps you to thing new, you often need to spend move from hanging on to holding time with it before you establish your steady while you continue to build comfort zone. In the works for this and grow. Sunday/Monday, Venus/ past year, Saturn/Uranus at peak now Jupiter sets money and relationship speed up your process. They produce a right-time, right-place feel. They matters into fuller swing. also assist you to entertain, explore, GEMINI or segue with natural ease.

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20 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

May 21–June 21

Now through the weekend, the stars set up a productive, lucrative, or social backdrop. Take your pick or combine all three. Saturday, conversation and good ideas are on the ready dial-up; inroads are easily made.

Venus/Jupiter extends good timing and easy going for the entire week ahead. Watch for plans and goals to take on a natural life of their own.

CANCER

June 21–July 22

It’s going to be a smoothgoing weekend for working it out, solution-finding, or getting the job done. Improvement projects, enrichment efforts, and necessary upgrades are well timed. Over this next week, you can gain favour with a lover or one in charge. You’ll also see progress regarding a health issue, job hunt, legal matter, or approval process. Venus pumps up creativity, romance, lust, and desire.

AQUARIUS

PISCES

January 20–February 18

Uranus continues in retrograde motion until January, but rather than hold you up, it stokes a good fire.

At peak with Saturn, now is an optimum time to get it/yourself up and rolling, to restructure or reprioritize as is warranted. Even the tough stuff comes easy. This next week is optimized for career, marketing, money matters, and relationships.

February 18–March 20

This past year of Saturn/ Uranus has kept personal reinvention at the forefront. New priorities, interests, and prospects have cropped up along the way. What’s next? At peak on Saturday, Saturn/Uranus has you in good position and timing it right.

The week ahead enriches the heart or the wallet. Venus enhances inspiration, luck, and reward. -

FOOD

Hopscotch goes beyond whisky and beer > BY GA IL JOHNSON

W

hen Hopscotch started out in 1995, the craft brewing scene had yet to come to life, and the single-day festival dedicated to whisky and beer featured fewer than three dozen vendors. Along with those beverage industries, the local fest has grown up over the years.

The 2017 fete lasts nearly a full week, wrapping spirits, cider, wine, and cocktails into the mix, and at its signature weekend tasting event plays host to more than 130 exhibitors with about 400 products available for tasting.

Given Vancouverites’ love and knowledge of so many types of artisanal drinks, it’s hard to remember the days when the beer selection at most bars and restaurants was limited to a handful of pale-yellow pours.

“Twenty years ago, beer was beer,” says Adam Bloch, Hopscotch executive producer, speaking to the Straight on a conference call with associate producer Dax Droski.

“That’s not the case anymore. There are so many different brands, varieties, flavours, and accents—chocolate, peach, grapefruit, cinnamon, bacon… On an educational level, the festival gives people an opportunity to really learn what’s out there, and on a micro level, to learn what makes every one so different.”

Adds Droski: “Hopscotch is known for being Scotch- and beerfocused, and whisky is very much the event’s anchor, but we’ve gone in the direction of adding other spirits because people want to try a number of different artisan products. On the educational side, people have the opportunity to try products that they may never pick up on their own. It’s a festival of libations.”

While Bloch and Droski are running the popular fest together for the first time this year, neither is new to putting on massive, successful, funfuelled events. Bloch’s involvement in Hopscotch, in fact, goes back well over a decade, to when it was being helmed by Dave Barnett. Bloch— who had moved to Vancouver from Toronto, where he finished an economics degree, via Los Angeles, where he had pursued acting—had met Barnett at the Media Club, and the two became fast friends.

Having started producing events to make money to support his film work here, Bloch, eager to be part of Hopscotch, helped get the word out by handing out flyers. As time went by, he started doing more and more, so it only made sense for him

Hopscotch Festival executive producer Adam Bloch and associate producer Dax Droski. Amanda Siebert photo.

to take over when Barnett was ready to move on to other things.

Bloch met Droski years ago after the latter had left Ontario for B.C. in 2000 with the intention of completing a business degree. A musician, he played in several bands and, along with a DJ pal, ended up putting on blowout year-end college parties at the now-defunct Purple Onion. He went on to start his own events and “brand activation” company called Parade Agency as well as Cocktails

2

and Canapes Catering and Events.

Droski is also a partner in the Deighton Cup, an annual gala held at the Hastings Racetrack in partnership with the Social Concierge.

The two friends bring different talents to the table; Bloch, whose dad was an accountant, describes himself as the one with the mathematical mind who pores over numbers and details; Droski, who helps companies with branding strategies, is the ideas guy.

“Sometimes we butt heads,”

Bloch says. “He’s the dreamer, I’m the realist, but we find a way to meet in the middle.”

Together, they’ve taken guest feedback from past years seriously to revamp the fest in several ways, aside from expanding it to include spirits, cider, wine, and cocktails. One is changing the format of the Grand Tasting Hall—the flagship event taking place on November 24 and 25—so that there are distinct sections: Beers From Around the World, Whisky

Where to start at the 22nd annual Hopscotch Festival

With dozens of satellite events, dinners, and tastings, it can be hard to nail down your road map for the 22nd annual Hopscotch Festival of Whisky, Beer and Spirits. Here are a few suggestions to pare down your options.

GRAND TASTING HALL (November 24 and 25 at the PNE Forum) Hopscotch’s premier experience, this is a fest within a fest. Alongside live music and plentiful food options, look for hundreds of products to experience, from makers like 4 Mile Brewing Co., Aslan Brewing Co./Maui Brewing Co., Auchentoshan (whisky), Bench 1775 Winery, Bridge Brewing, Forty Creek Distillery, Glendalough, Glenfarclas, Indigenous World Winery, Merridale Cidery and Distillery, Ole Smoky Moonshine, Red Racer, Woodford Reserve (bourbon), and many, many more.

WHISKY 101 (November 20 at the Salty Tongue Café) Vancouver-based whisky educator Lynn Coulthard heads

this ultrapopular event. Certified by the World Masterclass of Whisky, she’ll go over the differences between the main types of whisky (such as rye, bourbon, Scotch single malt, and Scotch blend) and ideas on how to serve and enjoy them—with tastings, natch.

WOMEN AND WHISKY (November 21 at the Salty Tongue Café) This master class celebrates the women behind

such whiskies as Laphroaig, Cardhu, Glen Garioch, and others.

MASTERS OF WHISKY (November 22 at the Salty Tongue Café) This session is described as an “upper echelon”

tasting, giving attendees the chance to sample some of the best whisky in the world. Specifics are still being finalized, but last year’s session included sips of Glenfarclas 25, Benriach #10300 Tawny Port, Glenlivet 21, and others, with each bottle fetching more than $200 at the liquor store.

THE GLENFIDDICH DINNER (November 23 at Hook Seabar) Beth Havers, Canadian brand ambassador for

Glenfiddich, will host a four-course dinner paired with various Glenfiddich whiskies, including some from its “experimental range”.

PREMIUM IRISH WHISKIES OF MIDLETON (November 26 at the Salty Tongue Café) East Cork’s Midleton Dis-

tillery has been making and safeguarding single-pot still whiskey for almost two centuries. Its varieties include Powers Signature Reserve, Redbreast 15, and Midleton Very Rare, which attendees will get to sip and savour.

> GAIL JOHNSON

Corner, the Rose Garden (wine), Spirits of the Globe, and Craft Cocktails, for instance. Each will have a different feel, too; look for live music at the beer section by jazz-funk band Electric Monks and a more mellow vibe where spirits are being sampled.

There’s also a strong focus on B.C. products, including the tasting hall’s Local: B.C. Craft Beer Pavilion presented by the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild.

“We really wanted to emphasize the local aspect,” Bloch says. “There are so many amazing B.C. breweries; they definitely needed their own space.”

Then there is the tasting hall’s food.

Look for Pawn Shop’s tacos, Dixie’s BBQ brisket, and BKH jerky and Singaporean short ribs, and bites from La Pentola, Steel Toad Brewing, and other eateries. There will also be a hotdog showdown that will see Juno Kim, a creator of successful pop-up restaurants, face off against other local chefs.

“We really wanted to up the restaurant game this year,” Droski says.

“We’ve changed it up and really taken it up to a whole new level.”

While the substance is there, the new Hopscotch doesn’t forgo style, either.

The fest outgrew its original digs at the Rocky Mountaineer Station, having moved the Grand Tasting Hall to the PNE Forum. However, the two overseers say the venue will be entirely unrecognizable once people step inside.

Think magnificent, tall drapery and just the right lighting, the latter being provided by Atomic2 Lighting, which works with major film companies.

In addition to Hopscotch’s Grand Tasting Hall (for which about 3,000 attendees are expected each evening) the fest features dozens of other events, including master classes and dinners. (See sidebar.) And despite the festival’s firm focus on alcohol, it’s not intended as a place for public drunkenness. The PNE has easy access to public transit, Bloch notes, and Hopscotch is hoping to once again be part of the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch’s Get Home Safe program. “Our number one priority is safety,” Bloch says. “You shouldn’t drink and drive, and it’s not a festival to come and get drunk.”

Holding the fest in their hands for the first time, Bloch and Droski couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come.

“There’s such a buzz about the festival,” Droski says. “Consumer palates have completely changed, and people want to learn about what they’re drinking.” The Hopscotch Festival of Whisky, Beer and Spirits takes place November 20 to 26 at various Vancouver venues.

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NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 21

FOOD

Crafting whisky with love > B Y LU C Y LA U

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lthough Liberty Distillery was one of the first places in Vancouver to produce handcrafted vodka and gin, it was another spirit that owners Robert and Lisa Simpson had in mind when they dreamt up the facility and its accompanying tasting lounge in 2010. “The big, big picture at Liberty has always been the whisky program,” Lisa, a former pastry chef and management consultant, tells the Straight during an interview at the Granville Island spot.

That Liberty didn’t launch its debut whisky until 2016—three years after the establishment opened its doors—isn’t the result of any blunder or delay. Crafted from fermented grain mash and traditionally aged in charred wooden casks to acquire its rich, golden-brown hue, whisky, by definition in Canada, must be aged for at least three years before it can be labelled and sold as such. It’s during this time that the whisky matures, the barrel drawing out undesirable flavours while imparting ones that will come to define its nose and palate: primarily vanilla, buttery, and woodsy notes.

Knowing that, it becomes clear that Liberty’s first whisky, the Trust Whiskey Single Grain, has been a work in progress since 2013. It was only last year that the libation— produced from 100-percent organic B.C.–sourced barley and tripledistilled for a smoother sip—was extracted from its cask, offering the Simpsons, Liberty master distiller Raymond Prior, and local imbibers their initial taste of and look at the small-batch spirit.

Boasting hints of caramel and almond with a long, lingering finish reminiscent of an Irish whisky, bottles of Trust quickly sold out. The following spring, Liberty presented its Trust Whiskey Single Cask Madeira—a similarly robust spirit with a slightly honeyed aroma not unlike that of warm Christmas cake—to keep up with what industry folks see as a growing thirst for locally produced whisky. Propelled by the explosive success of craft beer in B.C., which inspired an understanding of and appreciation for the word craft in the regional lexicon, a demand for similar alcoholic beverages—manufactured in limited runs and with care, imagination, and B.C.–grown ingredients—has emerged.

“Craft doesn’t mean bad, craft means exceptional,” states Lisa Simpson. “And there are so many different styles. It’s a whole adventure in itself to go out and experiment with different types of whisky and all those [flavour] profiles, rather than having everything fit into one big-box category.”

Dustan Sept, marketing director at the Surrey-based Central City Brewers + Distillers, which unveiled its first small-batch whisky last year,

Liberty Distillery’s Robert and Lisa Simpson make Trust Whiskey Single Grain and Single Cask Madeira from B.C.-grown organic barley. Amanda Siebert photo.

compares the growing popularity of whisky to that of gin. In the same way that that herbaceous spirit has come to be embraced by younger generations and inventive bartenders, so too has whisky—especially homegrown varieties—come to occupy a permanent space in liquor cabinets and on bar carts of the under-50 cohort.

Once B.C. distilleries up their whisky production, it’s only a matter of time before those bottles are incorporated into cocktail lists around town. “I think there’s a lot to tell from a local spirit,” Sept asserts by phone. “People want to engage with local businesses and support those in their own backyard.”

For Tyler Dyck, CEO of Okanagan Spirits Distillery, the appetite for whisky is one that will always outstrip the supply. With manufacturing facilities based in Kelowna and Vernon, the craft distillery is the oldest in Western Canada and has been producing fruit-based liqueurs and brandies since 2004. It expanded to include gin, vodka, and whisky in its lineup two years later, paving the way for the development of Okanagan Spirits’ award-winning Laird of Fintry, billed as B.C.’s first single malt.

Its initial release in 2013 attracted so much interest—from approximately 900 consumers—that Dyck and his team were forced to sell their 300 bottles by lottery. “It was a way to make it fair, so we weren’t giving it to our friends or whatnot,” Dyck explains.

Okanagan Spirits continues to employ this system for its once-a-year Laird of Fintry release, the quantity of which has steadily increased since.

It also produces three other varieties of whisky, including a corn-based bourbon, and a Master Distiller series that features experimental hopped, peppered, and wood-fire

Bestt pprivate rivvate ri va liquor store

iterations. Unlike most distilleries, Okanagan Spirits does not regulate the environment in which its barrels sit, allowing the wooden casks to be stressed in fluctuating temperatures so that their contents take on unique qualities in taste, colour, and aroma.

“In the Okanagan, we get really big, hot summers, so we get these big, rounded flavours,” says Dyck. “The grains that are grown here are going to have different flavour profiles, too, and that’s something that we think should be celebrated.”

With more than 30 licensed artisanal distilleries now operating in B.C.—many of them launched in 2013 or later, thanks to legislative shifts that made tasting rooms possible—Dyck is confident that local imbibers will be seeing an abundance of craft whiskies in the near future. In fact, he knows of a number of B.C. distillers who currently have whisky aging in barrels.

Elsewhere, East Van’s Odd Society Spirits is selling whisky by the cask and the soon-to-be-open Resurrection Spirits (1672 Franklin Street) has perfected a white rye whisky that will debut at the 22nd annual Hopscotch Festival’s Grand Tasting Hall, which takes place on November 24 and 25 at the PNE Forum.

There, attendees will be able to sample a staggering assortment of regionally and internationally produced whiskies, plus rums, gins, wines, and more from 130plus vendors, including the aforementioned distilleries. However, if you ask the Simpsons, Sept, and Dyck, it’s the stuff crafted close to home that, over time, will resonate most with Vancouverites. “As time passes and more distilleries open up, it creates this wealth of energy,” says Lisa Simpson. “The snowball starts growing.” -

Live social.

Drink local.

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Kicking things up with higher-tier Chablis

T

wo weeks ago, I shared tales of my recent venture to Chablis, the iconic French wine region where one can find some of the best Chardonnays on the planet. We stepped through the appellations of Petit Chablis and Chablis, and this week we’re going to kick things up a bit by looking at a trio of wines from producers worth searching out and climats (or subappellations) of the higher-tier Premier Cru Chablis and Grand Cru Chablis appellations.

France are wines of the sun, often generous with well-ripened fruit. Here, he says, they find their sun in the soil; it’s from the earth that Chablis wines source most of their character. He treats that soil with respect, too: most of his wines are farmed organically with biodynamic practices. This recommended Premier Cru Montmains comes from the slightly cooler left bank of the Serein River, although the vineyard is southeast-facing on the hillside. (Montmains JEAN-MARC BROCARD translates as “mediumCHABLIS PREMIER CRU sized mountain”.) So alMONTMAINS 2015 though there is striking Kurtis Kolt ($47.99, B.C. Liquor Stores) cool-climate acidity, it is As my ride pulled up to Brocard’s domaine, it rounded out with lively citrus fruit and yelwas early in the day and a fog had settled on the low plums. Those soils bring such a nice tang vineyards surrounding his estate. The leaves on of river rock, and maybe even a hint of nori the recently harvested vines had a lovely yellow as well—begging for pretty much any kind of autumnal hue; I was already pretty darn charmed seafood you feel like dishing out. by the place before opening the door. I was immediately introduced to Jean-Marc Brocard, DOMAINE PATTES LOUP CHABLIS PREwho whisked us outside to a balcony overlooking MIER CRU BUTTEAUX 2014 ($60.49, Everyhis vineyards to offer his lay of the land. He dis- thing Wine) Thomas Pico is the guy at the helm cussed the region’s hallmark Kimmeridgian of Domaine Pattes Loup and very much part of soils, full of fossilized oyster shells, which bring the local terroir. Not only did he grow up in the the area’s telltale crisp minerality to each glass of Chablis hamlet of Courgis but he has followed Chablis sipped anywhere in the world. Needless his grandfather and father in the family wineto say, that classic food and wine pairing of oys- making business. While his family’s historic ters and Chablis is automatically a given, since estate is Domaine de Bois d’Yver, Pattes Loup is the result of his taking eight hectares of the they’re already paired up in the vineyard.

Brocard shared that the wines in the more family land in 2005 and converting it into orsouthern, hotter regions of the Languedoc in ganic vineyard shortly thereafter. Though his

LA CHABLISIENNE CHABLIS GRAND CRU CHÂTEAU GRENOUILLES 2013 ($109.99,

The Bottle

Chablis winemaker Jean-Marc Brocard (left), with his son and a canine companion.

B.C. Liquor Stores) Operating since 1923, La Chablisienne is a cooperative winery sourcing fruit from the 280-odd growers behind it, delivering quality wine from all four Chablis appellations via the steady winemaking hand of Vincent Bartement. All seven of Chablis’s Grand Cru climats are located on the Serein River’s right bank, allowing long afternoon sun. The wines from these climats are generally rounder and a tad more fruit-forward than those from other appellations, and it’s not uncommon to see oak fermentation or aging incorporated into the final product. Grenouille is indeed what many may remember from their grade-school French lessons.

It’s the French word for “frog” and likely a reference to the climat’s close proximity to the river and its amphibious residents hopping around the vineyards over the years. With vines averaging 40 years of age and southwest exposure, this is prime land for wines offering plenty of charisma that improve with a good half-dozen years of age on them. This is a white worthy of decanting, which will unfurl plenty of toasty French oak, a few slices of warm brioche, a dollop of orange marmalade, a splash of lemonade, and a pinch of flaky sea salt lightly sprinkled throughout.

father scoffed at him for the shift to organic farming (particularly in his first year, when he lost much of his fruit to frost), Pico has been consistent in his focus on minimal-intervention farming and winemaking. As a result, his wines are remarkably honest, fresh, offering incredible purity and focus. The Butteaux climat—on the left bank, not far from where he grew up— is fairly steep-sloped and south-facing, with high concentrations of limestone in that Kimmeridgian soil. Wet rock, salty sea air, and flinty Of course, with a focus on Premier Cru and notes swirl out of the glass, with fresh-squeezed Grand Cru Chablis, things got a little pricey this mandarin orange flooding the palate, coasting week. Next week everything’s under 15 bucks, on a very light cradle of marzipan. so feel free to splurge in the meantime! -

#UNLEARN WHISKY WITH GLENFIDDICH’S BETH HAVERS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH

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N. Vancouver, the inaugural exhibition, asks how a specific locale can be reflected through existing and newly-commissioned artworks by artists from Vancouver and beyond.

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ARTS

It’s no mystery to Drew Hayden Taylor why B Y ALEX ANDER VAR T Y

Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth, first produced in 1998, remains the most popular of his plays: the story it tells is as relevant now as ever.

It’s a story of family. It’s a story of loss. It’s a story of truth, and of reconciliation. Most intimately, it’s the story of Janice, an adopted Indigenous woman who has found economic success but not happiness in Toronto, and her blood sister Barb, who managed to stay with her birth mother in Otter Lake, an Aboriginal community that bears more than a passing resemblance to Hayden Taylor’s home reserve. And, most pressingly, it’s a story about the “ ’60s scoop”, in which Canada’s paternalistic government removed tens of thousands of Indigenous children from their birth families and gave them to strangers—mostly white strangers—to raise.

Even in Indigenous communities, the consequences of the scoop are not fully understood, Hayden Taylor says. “When I wrote the play,” he explains on his cellphone from Toronto, “I was surprised to discover about the scoop-up. I had no real knowledge of it, but I had been dating a woman who had been adopted, and I had many friends in the Native community who had been adopted, and I was sort of unconsciously aware of a lot of adopted Native people who I kept running across in my travels—disproportionately more than in the non-Native community.”

Once Hayden Taylor started researching the play, he soon found out why.

“It astounded me,” he says. “I thought ‘Why don’t I know this? Why don’t most people know this?’ So I thought ‘Maybe I’ll deal with it by writing a short story,’ which was on the front page of the Globe and Mail on Christmas 1990. Then I adapted it into a play called Someday, which was very successful, and then I wrote a sequel to it called Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth.”

Reflecting on the ’60s scoop

When he wrote the play, Drew Hayden Taylor says he was surprised to discover the scoop-up of Indigenous children and wanted to let people know about it.

removed from their “That was one of the strongest influences I had culture, from their in my development as a writer,” he adds. “I went family, from knowing from being a campfire storyteller to a contemporwho they are and where ary storyteller, which involves telling stories for they came from.” the stage, for the screen, and for the page.”

Drew Hayden Taylor talks about Only Drunks and Children Tell This was not Hayden At the moment, Hayden Taylor is “23,000 words Taylor’s experience, into” a First Nations horror novel that draws on the Truth, and the story of adoption now hitting headlines however. The fair- traditional Ojibwa stories of a malign forest monIn 2005, 400 Kilometres completed the trilogy, haired, blue-eyed playwright often jokes that his ster, the wendigo. The National Arts Centre has but Only Drunks and Children remains Hayden mixed Ojibwa and Caucasian heritage makes him recently premiered Sir John: Acts of a Gentrified Taylor’s most produced script. This year alone, it’s “an Occasion”, but is just as quick to point out that Ojibway Rebellion, which examines Canada’s first been staged in Kamloops and Gananoque, On- he grew up and still lives on the Curve Lake reprime minister, John A. Macdonald, from a First tario; a mounting has just opened in Thunder Bay; serve, near Peterborough, Ontario.

Nations perspective. And he’s hard at work and the Firehall Arts Centre’s new version opens “I never knew my father, who was on a new play for Toronto’s Tarragon Thethis week. (Intriguingly, Columpa C. Bobb, who my white half,” he says. “I was raised Check out… atre, Cottagers and Indians, which looks STRAIGHT.COM played Barb in the Firehall’s 1998 production, is by my mother, on the reserve, surat settler resistance to the replanting of Visit our website back, this time to direct.) rounded by an absolutely huge exthe wild rice plants that once fed his anfor morning-after Has Hayden Taylor had to adapt his script to tended family, so for all intents and cestors—and an entire ecosystem. reviews and local changing times? purposes I was raised Anishinabe.”

Serious topics all, but not so serious arts news “No,” he says, with a mixture of pride and reIt’s that sense of community, he that, like Only Drunks and Children gret. “The script holds together remarkably well. adds, not any experience of loss, that Tell the Truth, they don’t tell their hard It doesn’t feel particularly dated; it still deals with made him a writer. “During the sumtruths with considerable warmth. relevant issues and the emotions involved. It’s still mer my grandparents would have these huge “I remember having a conversation with somequite in the now. The only thing I noticed when bonfires where all our extended family and one from the Blood reserve in Alberta who told I was watching it recently is that I used the word friends would come over, and they’d sit around me that, in his opinion, humour is the WD40 of Indian a bit more frequently than I would today. the bonfire, telling funny stories. And when it healing,” Hayden Taylor says. “I thought that was “I mean, things have changed a certain extent,” was time for me to go to bed, I’d go home and so cool it was almost T-shirt–worthy. So that’s he says. “There’s the compensation package that’s I would go to sleep still hearing the funny stor- sort of become my personal mantra: I want to being given to some adoptees.…But, still, an apol- ies being told—and the laughter permeated my celebrate the Indigenous sense of humour.” ogy and money doesn’t make everything go away. unconscious and my subconscious to the point You’re still dealing with the intergenerational that I found myself wanting to share and tell Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth runs at the effects of it. It had much the same effect as the humorous, funny stories, from and about the Firehall Arts Centre from Saturday (November 11) to December 2. residential schools: you had an entire generation people I grew up with.

THINGS TO DO

ARTS High five

1

BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH (November 11 at the Orpheum) The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra tackles one of the world’s most famous pieces.

2

IMPROV WARS—THE LAUGH JEDI (To November 18 at the Improv Centre) The VTSL Star Wars parody channels the Force for intergalactic yuks.

3

SEONG-JIN CHO (November 12 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts) The South Korean pianist shows his phenomenal Chopin chops.

4

TRACEY MACDONALD (November 9 to 11 at Comedy MIX) A fresh female voice in standup takes self-effacing to hilarious new heights.

5

WIVES AND DAUGHTERS (November 9 to 25 at the Frederic Wood Theatre) Discover a play by an 1860s feminist-before-her-time.

Editor’s choice YOU’VE BEEN SUMMONED We dig the vibe of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s upcoming late-night art party, Fuse: A Conjuring, where musicians, sound artists, and more create a world of magic and alchemy. Seek out the rooftop pavilion, where musicians from the electronic label Genero, including DJ Yu Su and Minimal Violence, help build the mood. Elsewhere, relax at one of the velvetenwrapped pop-up bars created by the Toronto-based sommeliers Grape Witches (shown here); and at the Shadow Bar, immerse yourself in a room of projected shadows and reflections that have been designed by Vancouver-based artist Erika Lövgren Holt. Fuse: A Conjuring is at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Friday (November 10).

Five events you just can’t miss this week

In the news PRIZE WRITER Local playwright Marcus Youssef has won Canada’s richest and most prestigious theatre award. The Neworld Theatre artistic director has been named the recipient of the 2017 Siminovitch Prize, an award of $100,000, at a ceremony at the National Arts Centre. As part of the award, Vancouver theatre artist and Delinquent Theatre co–artistic director Christine Quintana, whom he has chosen as his protégée, will receive $25,000 out of the total amount.

Youssef is best known for writing and cowriting Winners and Losers, King Arthur’s Night, Leftovers, How Has My Love Affected You?, Ali & Ali, Adrift, Peter Panties, Jabber, and A Line in the Sand. He had made it onto this year’s shortlist alongside Evelyne de la Chenelière, Hannah Moscovitch, and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard. “The final deliberations were intense, but in awarding the Prize to Marcus Youssef, we were absolutely delighted to be able to celebrate a mid-career artist whose work was already of the highest calibre and was, in fact, changing the face of Canadian theatre,” said jury chair Bob White in the press announcement. NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25

ARTS

Champs find ballroom bliss > B Y G A IL JO HNS O N

L

AERIOSA CO.ERASGA JULIANNE CHAPPLE KAREN JAMIESON & MARGARET GRENIER KAREN JAMIESON DANCE DANCERS OF DAMELAHAMID LESLEY TELFORD INVERSO MAHAILA PATTERSON­O’BRIEN MARISSA WONG TWOBIGSTEPS COLLECTIVE MEREDITH KALAMAN SHAY KUEBLER RADICAL SYSTEM ART WEN WEI DANCE ZIYIAN KWAN DUMB INSTRUMENT DANCE

Julianne Chapple: Self Portrait/photo Andi McLeish.

THE 11TH BIENNIAL

DANCE IN VANCOUVER November 22-25, 2017 Scotiabank Dance Centre

Tickets ticketstonight.ca Info thedancecentre.ca

“Faced with such excellence, a mere critic can only abandon paper and pencil and listen to this heroic but deeply moving artist with awe and amazement”

ife’s busy for most university students, but for Zika Trajkovic and Scarlett Liaifer, it’s especially so: when they’re not cramming for exams, the two spend hours and hours each week in the dance studio, nailing styles like cha-cha, samba, and rumba, rehearsing for amateur competitions that take them around the world.

Their specialty is Latin ballroom, and they’re currently the best in B.C. It’s a title they’re hoping to defend at DanceSportBC’s upcoming Snowball Classic, an annual world-ranking ballroom-dance competition.

Trajkovic is in his second year of civil engineering, while Liaifer is finishing off a science degree with a major in chemistry and already filling out applications for med school. The Vancouver natives discovered ballroom when they were in elementary school, after having taken classes in other dance forms, such as ballet and jazz. It took no time for each of them to fall in love with it.

“I started dancing at age six, initially doing ballet,” says Trajkovic, 19, talking to the Straight from campus via speakerphone alongside Liaifer.

“I started ballroom a year after and switched over. Latin ballroom is just more exciting, more energetic, more active, and more appealing to me.”

Says Liaifer, who was in ballet slippers by age three and learning ballroom at age eight: “I love the costumes and the music and all the glitz and glamour. And the competitive nature of it is awesome.”

The two have been dance partners for the last four years, training primarily at Broadway Ballroom with coach Maryana Dudchenko, a former Canadian amateur champion who started dancing at age four in her native Kharkov, Ukraine. They frequently travel for training, while coaches from other parts of the world often fly in to give them lessons. This summer, the couple competed in the Empire DanceSport Championships in New York; just this past weekend they travelled to Los Angeles for the Hollywood DanceSport Championships.

Just as at those competitions, when they hit the floor at the Snowball Classic, they’ll be joining several other couples, simultaneously performing the five styles that make up Latin ballroom: cha-cha, rumba, samba, paso doble, and jazz. The dancers must also compete in ballroom’s standard discipline, which consists of waltz, tango, slow foxtrot, Viennese waltz, and quickstep. Pairs that impress the judges the most will return to the

When they’re not doing the cha-cha, local Latin ballroom masters and Snowball Classic competitors Zika Trajkovic and Scarlett Liaifer are cramming for exams.

floor to dance the styles all over again.

“Competitors who reach the championship finals will dance the equivalent of 60 minutes of the 800-metre dash,” says Pinky Wong, Snowball Classic chairperson. “The championships are a test not just of skill and artistry but also of superb fitness and stamina.”

As anyone who has found themselves glued to So You Think You Can Dance or Dancing With the Stars can relate, the event, for viewers, is a thrill.

The moves are mesmerizing (especially in a group setting, where couples swirl and bend in dangerously close proximity to each other), and the costumes dazzle. Liaifer hasn’t chosen her Snowball dress yet, but expect bright colours, fringe, rhinestones, and three-inch heels. (The shoes are handmade in Russia, specially designed to help reduce the risk of injury and minimize impact on the spine.)

Despite the fact that Vancouver’s ballroom dance community is small, it’s inclusive and supportive, Liaifer and Trajkovic say. And those American Idol–style dance programs have helped boost the sport’s popularity over the years.

“Those shows also give certain insight to audiences who have never been

to a competition before as to what they could expect to see,” Wong says.

DanceSport was granted full recognition by the International Olympic Committee in 1997, Wong notes, and negotiations are underway with the IOC to admit DanceSport as a medal sport in the Summer Olympic Games. The Snowball Classic itself has only grown since it was first held in 1989, going from a small one-day competition to the first world championship of its kind in North America in 2003, spanning three days. This year, the event features international open championships and more than 300 athletes in various age groups, from juvenile to senior.

Liaifer and Trajkovic say their years of dancing have helped them both grow up, in a sense.

“It teaches you how to be disciplined, how to be responsible, how to have good time-management skills,” Liaifer says. “You have to develop this work ethic if you want to succeed. The Snowball Classic is a good opportunity to show off our skills in our local community.” The Snowball Classic is Saturday and Sunday (November 11 and 12) at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.

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26 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

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In The Ridiculous Darkness, 41 players take the stage for a show that mashes together Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness, and world events. Wendy D photo.

Cast of 41 ventures into The Ridiculous Darkness > BY JA NET SM IT H

A

dapting celebrated young German writer Wolfram Lotz’s The Ridiculous Darkness—a satire that throws Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now into a blender with current events— would probably have been enough of a challenge for Vancouver’s Alley Theatre. The radio play won the 2015 prize for German play of the year, and bringing its wild trip to the stage involves all kinds of creative interpretation. Alley Theatre is even installing a mini zipline and a moving boat in the Annex space for the show.

But on top of that, the troupe is adding eight community groups to its six professional actors—from the Downtown East Side Street Market Society to the Afghan Benevolent Association of B.C., Realwheels Theatre, and the East Van Powwow Crew.

It’s a project that’s turned into an epic adventure. But when three key members of the creative team— adapter and actor Daniel Arnold, plus codirectors Marisa Smith and Nyla Carpentier—gather in the downtown Vancouver Public Library atrium to discuss their massive undertaking, they agree that they have now moved on from feeling overwhelmed.

“We’re amazingly past the point of ‘Can we do this?’ ” Arnold tells the Straight. “It has turned a corner into ‘How wonderful it is to jump across a place of not knowing and get to the other side.’ ” It must be noted that, as he’s saying this, Arnold is wearing a giant cardboard head on top of his own noggin, one that depicts a smiling Lotz himself. It will later be worn by various members of the acting crew in a play that will often switch roles and go meta. You might even say the massive project has gone to Arnold’s head.

“We knew from the get-go that not only would this be incredibly timeconsuming but incredibly uncomfortable,” Arnold says of creating The Ridiculous Darkness. “But that is the show: people are going into foreign territory and it’s going to get very uncomfortable and they’re even going to go crazy in some ways.”

Lotz’s elaborate satire of our postcolonial world begins with a Somali man on trial for piracy, then morphs into the story of two German soldiers sailing on a boat down the “Hindu Kush river” in search of a rogue colonel. Just like the soldiers in Francis Ford Coppola’s famous film, they start to lose their grip on reality, and their stops along the waterway become ever more surreal. During the voyage, Lotz aims his barbed absurdities at western insensitivities to nonwestern cultures and people from war zones.

Alley Theatre has put a further spin on all of this by working in representatives of eight different cultural and nonprofit groups—41 performers

in all—imbuing The Ridiculous Darkness’s global perspective with distinctly local relevance. “What we wanted to do was ‘by the city, for the city’,” Arnold explains of Alley’s first foray into such a large cast.

Arnold and Smith got the idea from a massive show in New York City that they saw performed by Broadway actors with different community groups, from Filipino nannies to drag queens. They said the production stuck with them for days.

Here, that means Theatre Terrific and RealWheels performers living with disabilities become farmers and miners of the coltan used in cellphones; a variety of local marching bands become the members of a military camp; and Tetsu Taiko drummers pound out the rhythms of a “guru camp” along the journey, according to Arnold.

“This way it’s a Vancouver infusion, trying to turn the camera lens around,” Smith explains. “It’s about understanding language barriers and cultural barriers and how we move past that. And working with community groups: they really enriched us. They bring their own unique flavours to the show.”

The groups have had a lot of input into the script and how it’s staged, she adds. “Because the piece is contentious, that’s something really important about it: we’re honouring people’s experiences. It’s important to learn how it’s resonating with them.…That has been so important to us: to always have fresh eyes in the room, because sometimes you are dealing with such contentious subject matter.”

“We’ve all been inf luenced,” confirms Carpentier, a Tahltan/ Kaska powwow dancer and theatre artist. “With all of the complexities of culture we ask for understanding of each other. In the end we can simply understand each other if we take the time to ask the questions and listen.”

With that in mind, talkbacks with each of the community and cultural groups follow The Ridiculous Darkness; there are also workshops and other events.

The massive process of staging the play has transformed its participants, and its creators hope it might get audiences to question their own biases and preconceptions, too. “Through working with the Downtown Eastside groups and offering these stories and ideas, and just hanging out and getting to know them—for me it’s just confirmed you need to treat people as equals, as human beings,” reflects Carpentier. “You start thinking of ways to support people, versus shutting them down.” Alley Theatre, in partnership with Neworld Theatre, presents The Ridiculous Darkness at the Orpheum Annex from Saturday to next Sunday (November 11 to 19).

NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 27

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lmost 40 percent of Canada can be described as Arctic or subarctic, yet those vast tracts of land are home to less than one percent of our population.

Most of us will never see the midnight sun, paddle the vast lakes of the North, or see snow geese on their nests. But this week we will be able to experience some of the sights and sounds of that terrain, thanks to From the North, a touring program headlined by Quantum Tangle.

It’s a diverse bill, encompassing both dance and music in forms both modern and traditional. But if anything unites the tour’s artists, it’s their love of what surrounds them every day.

“Our natural environment plays such a huge role in our lives,” explains Quantum Tangle singer Tiffany Ayalik, reached with her musical partner Greyson Gritt at an Ottawa tour stop. “It’s extreme warmth, extreme cold, extreme beauty. The weather and the landscape are just so upfront and inescapable that I think a lot of us are very inspired by the land that we come from.”

The Yellowknife duo’s sonic environment includes computerized beats, in addition to Gritt’s acoustic guitar and Ayalik’s electronically looped throat singing. But even when the two venture into the multimedia realm, the land still plays a starring role.

“One piece that we’re performing is called ‘Igluvut’,” Ayalik says. “It’s sort of a love song to the igloo and all of the amazing things that it represents, and how this fascinating, ingenious piece of architecture has been protecting and housing Inuit for thousands of years. And there’s a beautiful film that we project behind us while we sing that was created by my sister and my mom. It shows everyone in my family all joining in and creating this igloo out on the lake.…So that’s a really beautiful moment for us,

Greyson Gritt and Tiffany Ayalik draw from Arctic nature in their soundscapes.

because we’re singing about family.”

Life in the Arctic is not always idyllic; as has been well reported, a suicide epidemic is sweeping through northern youth. A solution, so far, has been hard to come by—but both Ayalik and Gritt believe that it’s possible to find strength by looking back while moving forward.

That’s what inspired “Amautalik”: the text/sound piece is based on a traditional legend about a forest giantess who imprisoned wayward children in an antler cage on her back. It’s also a powerful metaphor for the prisons of poverty, addiction, and despair. “‘Amautalik’ is a way to remind young ones that there are things up in the woods that can be scary,” Gritt says. “A lot of these things have taken on even more metaphorical meaning, especially after residential schools and the generational trauma that has run through all of our families.”

But isn’t that just like the Arctic?

The winter darkness is real, but it’s balanced by the perpetual light of family and lore. From the North is at the Cultch on Friday and Saturday (November 10 and 11).

Valour and loss fuse in Chor Leoni’s “Vimy Ridge” > B Y A LE XAN DER VAR TY

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t’s a natural enough impulse: you’re a student in Paris, and you run into some of your fellow Canadians, and then on a free weekend you find yourself driving out to Nord-Pas-de-Calais to tour Vimy Ridge, the site of one of the First World War’s most decisive battles.

The fight for Vimy Ridge found Canadian forces routing an army of German occupiers at a cost of 3,598 Canadian lives. Military historians generally cite the battle as a significant factor in the development of Canada’s national identity.

But for Lizzie Hoyt, one of those Canadian students, standing in the shadow of Walter Seymour Allward’s sculptural memorial only gave rise to questions. What if? What if you had lived back then, and your husband, lover, or brother had died in the trenches? How would loss have coloured your life?

Those questions eventually gave rise to a song, “Vimy Ridge”, which in turn became the Winnipeg folk musician’s most requested composition.

She’s sung it at Remembrance Day ceremonies and on Vimy Ridge on the 95th anniversary of the battle.

“We had an amazing day there,” Hoyt recalls, in a telephone interview from her home. “You can walk through the trenches that they maintain, the tunnels underground. And although it’s hard, sometimes, to put your finger on exactly what inspires you, but definitely just being there, seeing the land still undulating because of all the explosions that had been there.”

“Vimy Ridge” so perfectly marries valour and loss that when Chor Leoni artistic director Erick Lichte first heard

it, he knew that he would have to add it to the all-male choir’s upcoming Remembrance Day shows. And once that was settled, he turned to choir member, guitarist, and No Island bandleader Keith Sinclair for an arrangement to turn one woman’s view into a more universal lament.

“I’d never heard the song before, but I was captivated immediately,” Sinclair says in a separate telephone interview. So captivated, in fact, that he’s done his best to stay true to Hoyt’s version—given that he’s had to turn one woman with a band into something suitable for 50 men, accompanied by acoustic guitar, to sing.

“The hardest part, for me, was figuring out what key to put it in,” Sinclair explains. “And on Lizzy’s recording, there are a few different instruments that we don’t have the luxury of having for this performance, so we kind of mimic some of that with the choir.

“What’s most important, though, is that I really want the words to be heard,” he continues. “It’s not about showing off, not about ‘Oh, here’s how low our basses can sing, and aren’t our tenors pretty singers?’

There’s a time and a place for that, but it’s really about telling the story.”

Hoyt, for one, is pleased with how her story will be told. “I love to arrange, myself, so it’s pretty cool as a songwriter to get to hear what another arranger does with one of your creations,” she says. “And I thought it was beautiful.” Chor Leoni plays two Remembrance Day concerts on Saturday (November 11): 1:30 p.m. at West Vancouver United Church, and 8 p.m. at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church.

ARTS

Smart People time-travels to Obama-era racism TH E AT RE

set allows for seamless transitions between locations. But the staging also means that no matter where you sit, there will be long chunks when you’re looking at someone’s back.

Diamond’s text-heavy script gets a bit repetitive on the subject of Brian’s research (which is never entirely credible—Jackson points out some pretty major holes). But it’s a fascinating bit of time travel to watch all the characters believe that Obama has no chance of winning the election. Remember about a year ago, when none of us believed a certain candidate would win?

And so the issue of race is at the forefront of American discourse again—in a much uglier, scarier way. I’m bracing myself for the next J. Philippe Rushton.

SMART PEOPLE

By Lydia R. Diamond. Directed by David Mackay. A Mitch and Murray production, in association with Anne Marie Deluise. At Studio 16 on Saturday, November 4. Continues until November 18

Remember J. Philippe Rushton?

2 I do. I had just finished my de-

A FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE PRODUCTION

gree at the University of Western Ontario when the tenured psychology prof gained notoriety in the late 1980s for his “research” linking race to intelligence and crime. Western eventually suspended his teaching privileges, but he continued to publish.

Twenty years later, on the eve of Barack Obama’s first election, we meet Brian White, the Harvard researcher at the heart of Smart People. White (yup) is also studying race, but with a very different motivation: he’s a white liberal who wants to use neuroscience to prove that all white people are genetically programmed to mistrust and fear darker-skinned people. (It’s never clear what he thinks proving this will actually accomplish.) Brian gets romantically involved with a colleague, Ginny, a tenured Asian American whose research and clinical practice focus on empowering Asian women. He also shoots hoops with an old friend, Jackson, a black medical resident, and hires a black actor named Valerie to help with clerical work in his office.

Playwright Lydia R. Diamond introduces us to all four characters at the top of the script; in David Mackay’s in-theround staging, each occupies a separate corner of the playing area. We see Valerie struggling in rehearsal, Brian haranguing a class of undergraduates, Ginny giving a conference presentation, and Jackson being disciplined at work. The word these monologues have in common is context, a concept central to Diamond’s multifaceted

> KATHLEEN OLIVER

KURIOS In Smart People, Kwesi Ameyaw’s medical resident, Jackson, treats Katrina Reynolds’s Valerie for a head wound. Shimon Karmel photo.

exploration of race politics.

Stereotypes aren’t just fodder for research; they inform every interaction.

When Jackson treats Valerie in the ER for a head wound sustained during rehearsal, she is exasperated by the suspicion her injury has aroused: “What does a black woman have to do to make you believe she hasn’t been beaten?” We later see the actor, who’s much more comfortable doing Shakespeare or Ibsen, at an audition, struggling to make “black English” sound convincing. When she tells Jackson that she’s volunteering for Obama, he is dismissive: “That’s your whole black card?” he asks.

Ginny is just as complex: she may be living the stereotype of the Asian overachiever in her career, but she is far from submissive when dealing with retail clerks, for instance. This complexity allows the aptly named Diamond to stud the play’s dialogue with jewels of wit. “Tuna casserole carries no class or cultural implications,” says Valerie,

defending a potluck contribution.

When Brian explains his research to Valerie—“I want to prove that all white people are racists”—she retorts, “It’s pretty hot when a white guy says that.”

That the characters are likable and engaging despite the fact that they’re all pretty arrogant and self-absorbed is a tribute to Mackay’s solid casting. Tricia Collins is convincingly in control as powerhouse Ginny, Kwesi Ameyaw wears Jackson’s frustration like a garment he can’t shed, and Katrina Reynolds gives an exquisitely textured performance as Valerie, finding all the humour and vulnerability in the script’s most fully developed character. Aaron Craven plays Brian as a nice guy convinced of the merits of his research, but doesn’t imbue him with the unapologetic charisma that the character seems to call for.

In-the-round staging is an appropriate choice for a play that is constantly calling perspective into question, and David Roberts’s minimalist modular

A Cirque du Soleil production. At Concord Pacific Place on Thursday, October 19. Continues until December 31

Kurios—Cabinet of Curiosities itself from the Cirque du Soleil masses not just by its strong, steampunk-styled look, but by the way it puts new twists on the array of acrobatics. In the case of the show’s best sequence, it literally turns things upside down—creating a trick of the eye that, like so many other moments here, might please surrealist painter René Magritte himself.

On one level, the scene is a chairstacking balancing act like those you’ve seen in other shows. Here, it takes place at a raucous dinner party, with one mustachioed member of the group climbing and handstanding his way to the top. But wait: at the very peak of the tent is an identical party of people hanging upside down enjoying their meal—and the acrobat’s equally dapper doppelgänger descending with his hands toward the floor.

Just as awe-inducing—for its artistry as much as its physical feats—is

2 differentiates

a gorgeously strange conjoined-twin straps act, where the high-flying brothers swing from one arm and stay linked with the other. Then there’s the contortionist act that finds parrotfishspotted creatures forming ever more elaborate sculptures on the palm of a mechanical hand straight out of Metropolis; you lose track of where heads and limbs start and end as they melt into an amorphous mass.

Yes, Kurios is a parade of circus acts, but it creates one of the most strange, fully realized dream worlds that Cirque’s ever conjured here. (The Old World–infused Corteo is the only one that comes close.) Kurios harks back to the age of electricity—antique incandescent light bulbs add an atmospheric warm-sepia glow—but also plays with turn-of-the-last-century circuses and the futurism that fuelled talents like filmmaker Fritz Lang, writer H.G. Wells, and inventors like the Wright brothers. (Primitive flying machines abound.) The costumes are among Cirque’s best, including the legion of robots that look cobbled together from a Jules Verne nightmare, an accordion man who wheezes as he walks, and a top-hatted fellow whose bathysphere belly opens to reveal a live occupant.

Gramophones become hats; bouncy metal springs become skirts; and reptilian frills flutter as men fly high from a massive trampoline.

The entire look of the show feels beautifully low-tech—the antithesis of some of the glitzier, Vegas-style spectacles you might associate with the Quebec megatroupe. There’s no more magical example than the hand theatre, projected on a hot-air balloon, that uses a simple fishbowl of water, tinsel, and the world’s tiniest sneakers to breathtaking effect.

It’s one of many unexpected, exuberantly oddball moments from a company that thankfully still remembers how to keep it weird. > JANET SMITH

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NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 29

Ballet BC opener upends form

Brea Balletot Nutctrhes Ne h ack o e in e iL f

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DANCE PROGRAM ONE A Ballet BC production. At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Thursday, November 2. No remaining performances

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Ballet BC’s bold season-opendouble bill fed two extremely different parts of the brain.

It also stood as a vibrant lesson in the diverse ways choreographers are upending ballet right now, and in the wild interpretive powers of our premier dance company.

Let’s start backwards, with the second piece, because it was packed with more sweet surprises than a piñata—not the least being the troupe’s comic-acting skills. As we learned with his previous effort, Walking Mad, Swedish choreographer Johan Inger loves absurdist touches, offbeat props, and earthy, all-too-human movement and emotion. With B.R.I.S.A., he took even more whimsical risks.

B.R.I.S.A. opened with the dancers shuffling, heads down, like introverted zombies, treading set paths along the stage’s central carpet. Slowly, through the small actions of certain members of the group they started to open up, interact, and find their bliss. Much of this was accomplished through the discovery of the titular breeze—through fans, hair dryers, and other unexpected devices.

Inger has said the work is about the winds of change, how small events can spark political and social revolutions—all underlined by Nina Simone’s soulful battle cries on the soundtrack. Okay, but the piece is also about sex, isn’t it? It was huge fun watching Kirsten Wicklund when a group of guys blasted her with their blowers, their gusts rippling up her skirt and long hair: she was in ecstasy, at first signalling them to ease off, then begging them

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Ballet BC standout Brandon Alley arches backward on the carpet in Johan Inger’s whimsical ode to bliss, B.R.I.S.A. Michael Slobodian photo.

to do it more. Brandon Alley was hilarious, stopping to look down at his device, forming a wide grin as he awakened to what he’d just achieved with his “instrument”.

The work was so playful that it was easy to forget how demanding it was. Inger loves to centre the dancers low, pushing them into groin-tearing lunges. He alternates everyday gestures with technical grace, even making a few nods to folk dance, and then sends, say, Alexis Fletcher (another dramatic standout here) rolling violently across the carpet.

With some audience members left bewildered, Inger had clearly just staged a subversive little act of his own.

While Inger put his own humorous, theatrical spin on contemporary ballet, Cayetano Soto meticulously took ballet apart and resculpted it into new, dizzyingly abstract forms. The Catalan choreographer’s premiere, Eight Years of Silence, was a rich, virtuosic appeal to the serious dance lover. And this troupe is getting ever-better

at pulling off his crisp, f lickering, tornado-fast movement.

Soto’s work can be dark, and this is no exception: the dancers performed in dully metallic body suits against a grim grey curtain amid dim lighting. The overcast mood was heightened by the melancholy strings of Peter Gregson’s score.

As usual, the highlight of Soto’s work was the partnering, a swirl of scissoring and splitting legs, the women’s limbs bending crane-flylike up and backwards around the men’s necks.

The piece was supposed to be about facing our fears, particularly of death.

But Soto explored those anxieties through dancers who always maintain an icy remove—an approach that might leave some viewers cold.

Still, whether you prefer his more abstract visual artistry or Inger’s earthier diversions, it was likely there was something you’d like on the program. One might even have blown you away. > JANET SMITH

A SYMPHONIC TRIBUTE TO THE

MUSIC OF PRINCE MONDAY, DECEMBER 4 8PM, ORPHEUM. ONE NIGHT ONLY! William Rowson conductor Mackenzie Green vocalist Nisan Stewart drums/music director Jairus Mozee guitar Andrew Gouché bass Kevin Randolph keyboards Aubrey Richmond violin/vocals

A Symphonic Tribute to the Music of Prince invites audiences to experience the musical legend like never before. Featuring a powerhouse band and the full Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, it includes most of Prince’s greatest hits: Let’s Go Crazy, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, Purple Rain, 1999, Delirious, and many more. This authentic and affectionate tribute features original members of Prince’s band, the New Power Generation, including bassist Andrew Gouché (who played with Prince on the last show before the artist’s untimely death in April of 2016), and the inspired and authentic performance of L.A.-based vocalist Mackenzie Green.

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ISCM opens with exciting sounds, downbeat mood MUSIC LIFE REFLECTED A National Arts Centre Orchestra production. An ISCM World New Music Days and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra copresentation. At the Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts on Thursday, November 2. No remaining performances

Should it ever make it to the small screen, Life Reflected will be stunning and unusual television.

Its combination of symphonic music, visual imagery, dance, spoken word, and social commentary would provide an intelligent and provocative oasis in the medium’s bleak landscape of reality shows, sport programs, and talking heads. The overall package, assembled by National Arts Centre Orchestra artistic director Alexander Shelley and creative producerdirector Donna Feore, draws upon the talents of artists as diverse as writer Alice Munro and actress Monique Mojica, not to mention featured composers Zosha Di Castri, Jocelyn Morlock, Nicole Lizée, and John Estacio. And on the opening night of the largest contemporary-music festival Canada’s ever seen, all four of its scores were immaculately performed.

So why did it seem to fall just a little flat? I’ll be puzzling over this for weeks—as, I suspect, will other audience members. But, for now, a few random thoughts: Live orchestral music does not need visual accompaniment. Good music provides a narrative all its own. Here, the images mostly seemed superimposed on the music, and the effort of watching them somehow made the music smaller (the exception being Lizée’s homage to astronaut Roberta Bondar, Bondarsphere, in which the composer’s own audiovisual collage

2

effectively amplified the sound).

We’re used to the Orpheum. In concert, the NACO sounded lean and quick, but less viscerally present than our resident symphony. That’s probably the venue’s fault; acoustically the Centre is dry and muffled compared to Vancouver’s grandest public space.

What should have been a gala was anything but celebratory. Three of the four stories told here—Lizée’s piece again being the exception—proved decidedly downbeat. There’s “a lot of killing” in Di Castri’s Munro-inspired Dear Life; the teenage protagonist of Morlock’s My Name Is Amanda Todd dies by her own hand; and Estacio’s I Lost My Talk, which sets a short text by the late Mi’kmaq poet Rita Joe, deals with the painful and ongoing legacy of the residential-school system.

Estacio’s piece was a particularly odd choice to end this intermissionless, hour-plus evening; Mojica’s onstage reading of Joe’s plainspoken words left many listeners pondering their own complicity in this shameful public failure. There was also a disconnect between Estacio’s blustery, conservative score, the projected images of Tekaronhiáhkhwa Santee Smith’s ritualistic choreography, and the night’s intent of celebrating new forms.

Which were here; don’t get me wrong. Di Castri’s orchestral textures were extraordinary, blending instruments in a kind of acoustic synthesis that resulted in gorgeous, newly discovered tones. Morlock has a gift for emotionally affecting music, and My Name Is Amanda Todd came across as the essence of tenderness and compassion. Lizée sometimes relies too heavily on pastiche, but Bondarsphere’s combination of low-fi electronics, vintage news broadcasts, and sophisticated timbral play was every bit as dizzying as a real ascent into space. > ALEXANDER VARTY

Erick Lichte

CHOR LEONI MEN’S CHOIR 25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

ONE LAST SONG 25th Annual Remembrance Day Concerts

November 11 1:30 PM | WEST VANCOUVER UNITED CHURCH 2062 ESQUIMALT AVE, WEST VANCOUVER

8 PM | ST. ANDREW’S-WESLEY UNITED CHURCH 1022 NELSON ST AT BURRARD, VANCOUVER

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ACTION AT A DISTANCE (VANCOUVER) WELLS HILL A SPECIAL CELEBRATE CANADA 150+ EVENT CHOREOGRAPHY BY VANESSA GOODMAN

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SPEAKING OF DANCE CONVERSATIONS Marshall McLuhan and the Global Village Moderated by Richard Cavell (author of ‘Remediating McLuhan’) TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017 7PM | FREE SFU GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS

NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 31

ARTS PRESENTS:

Friday, November 17th, 2017 | 8:00 pm | VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE

The art world’s original selfies Portrait of the Artist pulls in a few big names from the Queen’s Royal Collection V IS U AL AR T S PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST: AN EXHIBITION FROM THE ROYAL COLLECTION At the Vancouver Art Gallery to February 4

Portrait of the Artist opened

2 in London, England, in Nov-

Tickets & More info

www.vlacc.ca

ember 2016. The first show to focus on the rich history of artists’ portraits and self-portraits in the Royal Collection, it was installed in the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, and accompanied by a handsome and illuminating publication.

The works on view, spanning some 500 years, called forth a number of themes, including the increasing status of the artist in the western world from the Renaissance forward and the growing desire by those with wealth and power to acquire depictions of these individuals, now deemed creators rather than mere artisans. The show also illustrated the shifting relationship between artist and collector, the use of self-portraiture as a tool of self-promotion, and the impact of photography on traditional portrait painting. Quite a hefty program.

A smaller and somewhat diluted version of that exhibition is now on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The big names are here—from Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, and Rembrandt van Rijn to Lucian Freud and David Hockney—but not so much the big paintings. (In some instances, this has to do with the Royal Collection’s strict regulations about transporting the works.) Instead, we have some major paintings by minor artists and, with a few exceptions, drawings, prints, and photographs by major artists. Also on view are engravings and mezzotints done

Brit artist David Hockney executed this Self-Portrait using an iPad.

“after” original paintings.

Still, there are enough interesting works in the VAG show to keep the viewer engaged. Among them are Dürer’s woodcut of himself and his friends in a bathhouse, with its strategically placed and obviously phallic water tap; a chalk drawing attributed to Annibale Carracci, filled with tender, teenage selfregard; Julia Margaret Cameron’s romanticized photograph of George Frederic Watts; and Hockney’s digitally deft self-portrait, created on an iPad. The very beautiful red chalk drawing of the elderly Leonardo by his pupil and companion Francesco Melzi was made between 1515 and 1519 and is described here as “the only reliable surviving portrait” of the great man. Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s black and white chalk drawing of himself, probably executed in the late 1670s, is a penetrating study of an old man calmly preparing himself for death. One of the most significant

paintings here is of and by Sir Joshua Reynolds, created about 1788, again late in his life. The leading portrait painter of his time and place does not flatter himself, and the combination of round eyeglasses, curly white wig, and consternated expression gives him the appearance of a lost sheep. The exhibition catalogue describes this work as a depiction of “a man of intellect…capable of thinking great thoughts”. Hmm. The poor soul had lost much of his hearing and would, in the following years, become completely blind. Perhaps a lost sheep with only his thoughts to console him?

The work that anchors the show (and its publicity campaign) is Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), created in the 1630s and presented to Charles I while the Italian artist was living in London. It is an inspired and virtuoso painting, although perhaps slightly misleading as representative: the show and the collection are (surprise!) overwhelmingly dominated by male artists. Still, as the curators point out, only a woman could have depicted herself as La Pittura, the allegorical and always female personification of painting. Happily, Gentileschi did not follow all the iconographic dictates of the time: she refused to render herself mute with a gag tied over her mouth (painting being an art that communicates to us without words). Instead, she shows herself with large hands, muscular forearms, and an expression of concentration, holding the tools of her art and poised to create. That Gentileschi was a survivor of rape— and of a torturous public trial of the crime—makes her self-portrait all the more powerful. > ROBIN LAURENCE

RACHMANINOFF’S ROMANTIC

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2

“A big, energetic, and engaging exhibition” Georgia Straight

SATURDAY & MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25 & 27 8PM, ORPHEUM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26 2PM, ORPHEUM Lawrence Renes conductor Barry Douglas piano* (Cherniavsky Laureate pianist) RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor* PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major

S E P T 3 0 , 2 0 1 7 T O J A N 1, 2 0 1 8

Renowned Irish pianist Barry Douglas is a Vancouver favourite, and he brings a combination of power and grace to the piano that few can match. Douglas performs Rachmaninoff’s lush, Romantic Piano Concerto No. 2, quite possibly the best-loved and most famous piano work of all.

Generously supported by:

Cathy Zuo Phil Lind The Timothy C. Kerr Family Foundation John Kissick, burning the houses of cool man, yeah No.5 (hang the DJ), 2016, oil and acrylic on canvas, Courtesy of Katzman Contemporary

PRE-CONCERT TALK 7:05PM, NOVEMBER 25 & 27, FREE TO TICKETHOLDERS.

BARRY DOUGLAS MASTERWORKS GOLD SERIES SPONSOR

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TICKETS: vancouversymphony.ca 32 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

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ar ts/ timeout THEATRE 2OPENINGS TWO VIEWS FROM THE SYLVIA Kol Halev Performance Society presents

THEATRE MUSIC COMEDY ET CETERA GALLERIES MUSEUMS

< < < < < <

two original one-act musical plays about Vancouver’s iconic Sylvia Hotel. Nov 8-12, 7:15, Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St.). Info www.sylviamusical.com/.

WAITING FOR LEFTY Red Giant Theatre Society presents The Group Van Theatre’s production of the 1935 play by American playwright Clifford Odets. Consisting of a series of vignettes, the play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers planning a labour strike. Nov 8-11, 8-9 pm, GO Studios (210112 E. 3rd). Tix $15 (plus service charges and fees), info www.brownpapertickets.com/.

THE RIDICULOUS DARKNESS North American premiere of Wolfram Lotz’s radio play that combines Heart of Darkness with Apocalypse Now. Nov 11-19, Orpheum Annex. Info www.ridarkness.ca/.

ONLY DRUNKS AND CHILDREN TELL THE TRUTH Indigenous playwright Drew Haden Taylor’s work is an account of the Sixties Scoop, in which Indigenous children were taken from their homes and placed with non-Indigenous families. Nov 11–Dec 2, Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova).

Info www.firehallartscentre.ca/.

2ONGOING KING CHARLES III The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Mike Bartlett’s political satire about what happens when Queen Elizabeth II dies and her son Charles ascends the throne. To Nov 19,

Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville). Info www.artsclub.com/.

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT Align Entertainment presents Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical about the rags-to-riches story of Joseph, his brothers, and his coat of many colours.

To Nov 18, Michael J. Fox Theatre (7373 MacPherson Ave., Burnaby). Tix 27-39, info www.alignentertainment.ca/.

on the web!

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

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No. 2 in A Minor and Schubert’s Quartesatz and Der Hirt auf dem Felsen. Nov 8-9, 7:30 pm; Nov 12, 2 pm, Pyatt Hall (843 Seymour).

Info www.vancouversymphony.ca/.

MUSIC

UBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: SIBELIUS, BEETHOVEN, TCHAIKOVSKY Maestro Jonathan Girard leads the UBC 2THIS WEEK Symphony Orchestra and soloist Robert Silverman in a performance of works by SCHUBERT AND BRAHMS The VSO and Sibelius, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky. Nov violinists Jae-Won Bang and Ann Okagaito, violist Tegen Davidge, cellist Zoltan Rozsnyai, 10, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix $8, info soprano Robyn Driedger-Klassen, clarinetmusic.ubc.ca/symphony-orchestra. ist Jeanette Jonquil, and pianist Terence Dawson perform Brahms’s String Quartet see next page

NEW WORKS PRESENTS

DANCE ALLSORTS

KASANDRA FLAMENCO ENSEMBLE November 19 2017 Performance 2:00pm Free Workshop 3:15pm Roundhouse Community Arts Centre 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver Artist in Photo: Kasandra “La China” Photographer: Sanka Dee

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Experience a trans-continental journey that explores the richness, vitality and diversity of Canada’s alpine landscapes.

NEW Audain Après Hours 10 am – 5 pm Mon, Wed, Sat, Sun; 10 am – 7 pm Thu, Fri; Closed Tue 4350 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, BC 604.962.0413 audainartmuseum.com

Jock Macdonald The Black Tusk, Garibaldi Park, B.C., 1932 (detail) Oil on canvas, 71.0 x 90.8 cm Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery Gift of Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa, VAG 2004.24.1 Photo: Rachel Topham, Vancouver Art Gallery

NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 33

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9 ¡ 1 , ' $ 1 6 , 3 5 ( 6 ( 1 7 6

The 12th Annual Louis Riel Day A N E V E N I N G O F M Ă&#x2030; T I S D A N C E , M U S I C & C U LT U R E

ONE LAST SONG Chor Leoni presents a Remembrance Day concert that features Kurt Bestorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prayer of the Children, a new setting of In Flanders Fields by Michael Betteridge, The Last Post, and Rupert Langâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kontakion. Nov 11, 1:30 pm, West Vancouver United Church (2062 Esquimalt).

The concert also runs Nov 11, 8 pm, at St. Andrewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s-Wesley United Church. Tix $1040, info www.chorleoni.org/.

BEETHOVENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FIFTH Alexandre Bloch conducts violinist Blake Pouliot and the VSO in a performance of Mendelssohnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ruy Blas: Overture, Bruchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Scottish Fantasy, and Beethovenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. Nov 11, 8 pm, Orpheum Theatre (601 Smithe). The event also runs Nov 13, 8 pm, at the Bell Performing Arts Centre, info www.vancouversymphony.ca/.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2017 8PM The Cultch Theatre - 1895 Venables St, Vancouver

Featuring: Yvonne Chartrand & the Louis Riel MĂŠtis Dancers, Eloi Homier, Kathleen Nisbet & Friends $24 Adults $20 Students / Seniors / Children under 12 Ticket sales: tickets.thecultch.com 604-251-1363

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2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS MEI LANFANG BEIJING OPERA TROUPE Combining music, drama, martial arts, and acrobatics, Beijing opera was declared as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanityâ&#x20AC;?

by UNESCO in 2010. Directed by maestro Ye Shaolan and starring Li Hongtong. Dec 22, 7 pm; Dec 23, 2 pm; Dec 23, 7 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix $38-268 (plus service charges and fees) at www. megaboxoffice.com/, info 604-343-6260.

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2ONGOING THE COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa, 604-684-5050, www. thecomedymix.com/. Comedy club with pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Wed at 8:30 pm, and featured headliners Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. 2TRACEY MACDONALD Nov 9-11 2JULIAN MCCULLOUGH Nov 16-18 YUK YUKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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. 2DARREN FROST Nov 9-11 2JON REEP Nov 16-18 VANCOUVER THEATRESPORTS LEAGUE Some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most daring and innovative improv. Improv Wars: The Laugh Jedi (Thu, Fri, and Sat, 7:30

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HEY LADIES Waaaaay back in the fall of â&#x20AC;&#x2122;15, a ragtag group of women got together and put on a regular monthly show featuring all genres of comedic performance, from standup to sketch to storytelling to burlesque to improv to music to dance and then some. Okay, it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t all that long ago and the performers were hardly ragtag, but still, two years is nothing to sniff at in the world of live entertainment. So The Lady Show is celebratingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the promise of cake! Celebrated actors and comics Morgan Brayton, Diana Bang, Fatima Dhowre, and Katie-Ellen Humphries welcome Kerri Donaldson and Allie Entwistle from the improv/sketch duo Brunch Comedy to this special birthday bash, along with interdisciplinary humourist Jan Derbyshire.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all happening at the Red Gate Revue Stage on Wednesday (November 8). pm); #NoFilter (Thu, 9:15 pm); Ok Tinder (Fri and Sat, 11:15 pm); Rookie Night (Sun, 7:30 pm); TheatreSports (Wed and Tue, 7:30 pm; Wed, 9:15 pm; Fri and Sat, 9:30 pm). Nov 8-15, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Info www.vtsl.com/.

2THIS WEEK

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VERDIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REQUIEM The VAM Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Bach Choir perform Verdiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funeral mass. Nov 12, 2 pm, Orpheum Theatre (601 Smithe). Tix $15/10, info www.eventbrite.ca/e/vamsymphony-orchestra-verdis-requiemtickets-37318743366.

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JOHN MULANEY Emmy Award-winning writer and standup comedian performs on his sold-out Kid Gorgeous tour.

Presented by Just for Laughs. Nov 10, 7 pm, 9:30 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix $39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

ET CETERA 2THIS WEEK FIGHT FOR BEAUTY Exhibition features public art projects undertaken with worldclass creatives, architecture from architects who are artists in their own right, and fashion by some of the greatest designers in recent history. To Dec 17, Fairmont Pacific Rim (1038 Canada Place). Free admission, info www.fightforbeauty.ca/.

KURIOS: CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Cirque du Soleil presents a new production that takes you into the curio cabinet

of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space, and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him. To Dec 31, Concord Pacific Place (88 Pacific). Tix from $49, info www.cirque dusoleil.com/kurios/.

FROM THE NORTH Gala evening brings together musicians, visual artists, media artists, storytellers, dancers, and Dene and Inuit athletes from the territories. Includes performances by Borealis Soul, Dakhka Khwaan Dancers and Dash, Iva, Nahga, Quantum Tangle, Riit, and Sophie Villeneuve. Nov 10-11, 7:30 pm, The Cultch (1895 Venables). Tix $25, info www.north150nord.ca/.

FUSE: A CONJURING Explore how artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; materials and processes create a magical art experience. Nov 10, 8 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby). Tix $29, info www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/.

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS SEASONS: A MAGICAL MUSICAL Prepare to be immersed in this inspirational and heart-warming epic production that includes choreographed contemporary dance, stunning magic and illusion, and a spectacular original score performed by the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra.

Nov 25, 8 pm, The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts (777 Homer). Tix from $38, info www.magicalmusical.ca/.

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

2ENTANGLED: TWO VIEWS ON CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN PAINTING (exhibition offers insight into two distinctly different modes of painting that have come to dominate contemporary painting in Canada) to Jan 1

MUSEUMS THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604-822-5087, www.moa.ubc.ca/. 2AMAZONIA: THE RIGHTS OF NATURE (exhibition features Amazonian basketry, textiles, carvings, feather works, and ceramics both of everyday and of ceremonial use, representing Indigenous, Maroon, and whitesettler communities) to Jan 28

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 donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

MOVIES REVIEWS MY FRIEND DAHMER Starring Ross Lynch. Rated PG

America’s fixation on serial killers mostly con-

2 centrates on the procedural aspect of playing

god. My Friend Dahmer sticks to the psychological context that helped create an unusually sensational criminal, eventually convicted for killing at least 17 young men (mostly of colour) and having sex with and/or partially devouring their bodies.

None of that happens in this smartly crafted indie feature, based on the graphic novel by John “Derf” Backderf, who hung out with future killer Jeffrey Dahmer in their last year of high school, in late-’70s Ohio. Of course, you don’t need to know that writer-director Marc Meyers filmed in actual locations, including the Dahmer family home. But this matters because it’s an exceptionally creepy hideaway off a busy road, on the edge of dense woods. The isolation makes it possible for him to collect roadkill and dissolve the corpses of silent lambs in acid, courtesy of skills learned

The killer beside me

Ross Lynch breaks type big-time after four years on Disney’s Austin & Ally, making a meal of his latest role as one of America’s most notorious serial killers.

Locker. Kunis’s wealthy mother (Christine Baranski, doing her haughty shtick) doesn’t just take over redecorating her daughter’s house in a silverJohn “Derf” Backderf’s fact-based graphic novel comes to and-blue scheme, but hires a life in a chillingly effective adaptation of My Friend Dahmer gospel choir for door-to-door carolling and a live camel for from his chemist father. (“I’m trying to quit,” the a cocktail party. And Hahn’s aesthetician, Carla, doesn’t just wax the pubic region of a well-endowed lad promises, at one point.)

Said dad is played by The Good Wife’s Dallas Rob- male stripper but explicitly maps her way back to the erts as a meek, stuttering fellow, bullied by his hard- poop chute. (Cue one of the most cringe-inducing drinking, mentally unstable wife (Anne Heche). pickup scenes in the history of film.)

The problem is that so much about Lucas and Daily tensions take a toll on their introverted son, played in a breakout (if rigidly controlled) perform- Moore’s script feels fake here: start with an unlikely family outing that amounts to an extended ad for a ance by young Disney veteran Ross Lynch.

Young Jeffrey stalks school hallways with sunk- trampoline-park chain, then go on to the little kids en chest and hoodie of blond hair hanging over his saying “oh my fucking god”, penis-shaped cookies aviator glasses. Unsure of his own sexuality, he’s suddenly appearing at a church gingerbread-housecurrently fixated on a middle-aged doctor (Mad making class, and the fact that most of these women Men’s Vincent Kartheiser) who jogs his stretch of don’t appear to have worked a day in their lives.

This might all be fine if the guys writing this highway. The kid is notably passive, but when he defuses a school situation by imitating his mom’s had taken a page out of the equally offensive but heavily palsied interior decorator, he’s embraced blackly comic Bad Santa and didn’t insist on goby the punky cool kids. They’re led by the com- ing for the treacle at the end.

At least Hahn, Susan Sarandon as her waste-case pulsive sketcher called Derf, played winningly by Alex Wolff—another former child star (alongside grifter mother, and Cheryl Hines as Bell’s creepily his brother Nat). They adopt this weird mascot, but clingy mom do amusing work despite the script.

But Lucas and Moore’s ideas of what women feel warn him to stay away from the local pot dealer, like they have to live up to seem rooted somewhere “because that guy’s a total psycho”.

Aside from its dead-on period feel, the well- back with June Cleaver. And if the pube-happy, malepaced movie’s main pull is the banality of the be- stripper-gawking, eff-bomb-dropping antics these haviour on display. It’s not aberration that stands women rebel with are what She Power is supposed out but the effort to blend in. “You want to seem to look like these days, then getting hammered at the normal, right?” Jeff asks a geeky girl when he mall food court suddenly doesn’t look so bad. > JANET SMITH needs a beard for the prom. His little brother, by the way, turned out just fine. > KEN EISNER GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN Starring João Pedro Zappa. In English and Portuguese, with English subtitles. Rating unavailable

BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS Starring Mila Kunis. Rated 14A

To get the most out of Gabriel and the MounFor a movie that pretends to be against extain, you need some background. The most cess—three exasperated moms are going to impressive thing about this long-form travel diary “take Christmas back”, dammit—this sequel real- is that Brazilian filmmaker Fellipe Barbosa (who ly doesn’t know when to stop. made 2014’s Casa Grande) went to the same AfriSailing on the surprise success of their 2016 hit can countries his friend Gabriel Buchmann visBad Moms, The Hangover writers Jon Lucas and ited on an almost year-long trip, before the latter Scott Moore are back and ready to get more crassly lost his way on a Malawi mountainside and perover-the-top with Bad Moms Christmas. So in- ished there, alone, in 2009. stead of just being happy with their three central It’s an intense portrait of courage and stupidcharacters—Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, and Kathryn ity, and also a sympathetic introduction to the real Hahn—getting wasted at a food court, the writers people our hubristic hero (played by João Pedro Zaphave them then dry-hump the mall Santa and steal a pa) met and genuinely befriended in his truncated gigantic, sneaker-adorned Christmas tree from Foot journey. English is the lingua franca that connects

2

2

the Kenyan farmer, Tanzanian truck driver, and Rwandan customs officials he meets along the way, among many others. These nonactors still seem pleasantly baffled that this odd fellow came into their lives briefly and still has some resonance today. The only other professional on hand is Caroline Abras, as Gabe’s Brazilian girlfriend, shocked to see how monomaniacal the guy has become on his travels. (Curiously, these are the film’s flattest scenes.)

The new movie has been compared to Into the Wild, about another naif who thought he was well prepared for survival. But this doesn’t have a structure built around a diary or any other singular source. The result is more kaleidoscopic, and the colours extend to all the impressive places and cultures our pale-faced protagonist wandered through. (And to the most outrageous versions of “native garb”, making him look like Barney Rubble while most locals wear jeans and T-shirts.) At 130 minutes, however, the dynamic is quite repetitive: Gabriel arrives, pushes his way into people’s lives, sometimes obnoxiously, and even so makes a positive impression. Ultimately, the movie does have subtle things to say about colliding worlds, class privilege, and human unpredictability.

> KEN EISNER

JIGSAW Starring Tobin Bell. Rated 18A

After a typical cop/action–show opening

2 where a fleeing scuzzball criminal gets shot

and captured, the eighth film in the Saw franchise takes on the expected torture-porn traits. Five freaked-out individuals are shown in a big room with steel buckets on their heads and thick chains running from the metal rings around their throats into a wall embedded with buzz-saw blades. As usual, the raspy voice of Jigsaw announces that it’s game time, and that each captive will be given a chance to confess to and atone for past sins—or die tryin’. The blades whir, the chains pull, and the dumbest among the bunch gets taken out first.

While Jigsaw’s busy making up for lost time, a street-tough detective (Canuck film vet Callum Keith Rennie) gets on the case when the first victim’s body appears in the morgue. “He looks a little pail,” quips a foxy coroner’s assistant, setting the tone for hokey one-liners to come. When they remove the bucket we see that the guy’s been halfdecapitated lengthwise, which is always the worst way to lose half a head.

The rest of the film flits back and forth between the police investigation and the torment of Jigsaw’s

M AR TIN STARR I NTO I NFI N I TY >>> Martin Starr laughs long and

2 hard when the Straight asks

what in the hell his film is supposed to be about, exactly.

“You’re still trying to figure it out,” he replies, after collecting himself a little. “Well, it’s gonna be awhile.”

Any viewer will come away from Infinity Baby wondering the same thing. The relentlessly droll comedy begins with the premise, such as it is, that stem-cell research has led to the accidental creation of human babies that don’t age, a blunder that has, naturally, been converted into a sales opportunity by the well-known global corporation responsible.

(Stick around for an after-credits sequence to find out which one.)

Enter Starr and the great Kevin Corrigan (The Get Down) as Malcolm

and Larry, respectively, two slovenly Infinity Baby delivery guys who are also, it gradually transpires, life partners. Not that the relationship seems all that solid, since Malcolm is more the heterosexual type while Larry leans largely toward gay alcoholic bully.

“For me, the character was a moral compass for a movie that had no moral direction at all,” Starr explains, calling from Los Angeles (in the “small, crooked, penis-shaped state” of California).

“I’ve played someone who’s naive,” Starr continues. “But I think he’s not just naive; he lacks the basic understanding that I think most people wake up every day and explore their world with.

He doesn’t quite have that. And he isn’t like a victim. He enjoys the

The Silicon Valley star provides the moral centre to crazed Infinity Baby.

relationship that he has with Larry.

So I was like, ‘I dunno where to pull this from in my experience.’ Those are things that made me wonder if

see next page > BY ADRIAN MACK

I could do this.”

Starr and Corrigan deliver a deeply entertaining two-hander full of weird and surprising rhythms and, like the rest of the film (which opens Friday [November 10] ), moments you couldn’t possibly anticipate.

Elsewhere, Nick Offerman feasts on his role as sociopathic corporate boss Neo, while Kieran Culkin has just as much fun as the relationship-phobic man-child Ben. Perhaps best of all is Megan Mullally’s turn as Ben’s monstrous bitch of a mother, Hester, whom he uses to shoo off girlfriends once the thrill is gone (immediately, on average).

Everybody here is an infinity baby, in the sense that none of these characters is much of a fully formed or terribly responsible adult. It’s all very much in tune

☞

with the sensibility we’ve come to expect from Austin-based indie auteur Bob Byington, with whom Starr has been trying to collaborate for some time now.

“He’s an odd character, in a great way,” says the Silicon Valley regular, reporting that he and his director have possibly been working the offbeat chemistry a little too much.

A Q & A following a screening of Infinity Baby at the Milwaukee Film Festival in October prompted tweets complaining that Byington and Starr “could not have hated being in Milwaukee more”.

“They just didn’t understand, perhaps, our humour,” he says with a chuckle. “I had a great time.

People don’t realize how much effort it takes to get in an airplane and actually go to Milwaukee.” -

NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 35

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playthings, but doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get half decent until the titular baddie, aka serial killer John Kramer, shows up in the flesh about two-thirds of the way through.

Tobin Bell has always been the best thing about the Saw moviesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;even better than those wicked torture devices. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an electrifying presence, and his performance, a twist ending, and a final, hilariously over-the-top gore effect make the last half-hour of Jigsaw quite entertaining.

On the way out of the theatre after an advance screening I overheard a guy behind me saying that he liked the ending but wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t impressed by the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s showcase death machine, a large, funnel-like contraption with spiralling red blades powered by a motorcycle. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help myself, turning around and adding my two bitsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth in a three-word comment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yeah,â&#x20AC;? the stranger cheerfully agreed, â&#x20AC;&#x153;bogus meat grinder!â&#x20AC;?

> STEVE NEWTON

INFINITY BABY Starring Kieran Culkin. Rated PG

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writer-director

2 (and sometime actor) Bob Byington has explored the limits of sly laughter in films like Harmony and Me and Somebody Up There Likes Me, featuring a repertory company of resourceful farceurs like Nick Offerman and Kevin Corrigan.

They show up in Byingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest no-budget delight, actually written

by Turkish American Onur Tukel, but in the same style, which you could maybe call magic unrealism.

Offerman plays the owner of a strange tech company that accidentally

R e v o l u t i o n a r y

R i s i n g

came up with a gene that produces children who never age. And Living in Oblivionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corrigan is possibly his worst employee, although what the company is selling is pretty murky.

Apparently, they pay you to take the babies for three-month periods. Or something. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry: they only poop once a week!

The Corrigan characterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partner in this enterprise is played by Martin Starr, and a Silicon Valley vibe hangs around the edges, although the tech town here is Austin, by way of Slacker, with its Frank Lloyd Gone Wrong architecture grounded in low-contrast black-and-white. Corrigan and Starrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s duoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they might be a romantic couple, too, but still arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;answer to the bossâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nephew Ben, played by Kieran Culkin in a part that should be infuriating but simply amuses at every turn. This aging Peter Pan seemingly relies on his mother (Megan Mullally, married to Offerman in real life) to discourage girlfriends from getting closer. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no sooner dumped Master of Noneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NoĂŤl Wells this way than he meets a bigger challenge in a lovable ditz played by Bansheeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funny Trieste Kelly Dunn.

Meanwhile, people drink too much, hurt each other, and occasionally have to go to an underground bag man (Office Space great Stephen Root) to fix potentially fatal problems. Does any of it matter? Of course not. At 70 minutes, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just enough â&#x20AC;&#x153;plotâ&#x20AC;? to keep the perfectly matched cast sniping at each other with quips that feel ad-libbed but are actually tightly scripted. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe being selfish and irresponsible isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the best way to live,â&#x20AC;? someone muses to himself.

The moment passes quickly. > KEN EISNER

The Soviet Fi lm Vanguard The Cinema That Shook the World

Nov 2-19 Outskirts Fragment of an Empire Aelita, Queen of Mars A Sixth Part of the World NEW MOSCOW The Tailor from Torzhok Bed and Sofa

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Director Joseph Kahn, writer Alex Larsen (aka Kid Twist), and star Calum Worthy in attendance!

NEW RESTORATIONS! Nov 10-11 â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the three most important & influential horror films ever made.â&#x20AC;? - Sight & Sound

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

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ROADKILL

CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN CINEMA

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Profoundly shocking ... One of the most original, outspoken voices in young Iranian cinema.â&#x20AC;?

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LANTOURI Nov 12 & 13

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#ittakesavillage 36 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 16 / 2017

MUSIC

Despite their reputation

as darlings of the Vancouver underground, the five members of Dead Ghosts have recently become, well, ghosts on the local circuit. But there’s a good reason for the band’s quietness.

Formed nearly a decade ago in North Delta, the garage-rock group grew out of founders Byran Nicol, Drew Wilky, and Mike Wilky’s desire to hang out and play music with a “bunch of skaters and cool people”. After the trio uploaded a few demos to Myspace—this was 2008, after all—a producer from Iowa reached out and asked if they wanted to do a single. He turned out to be uncommonly well-connected, and traded the resulting 7-inch with a number of distributors until the record ended up in the hands of a label. Then came the group’s first full-length album, the self-titled Dead Ghosts.

“We got really lucky,” Nicol, the group’s frontman, recalls on the line to the Straight from a Vancouver back alley. “When we started playing, we were just messing with recording, and generally goofing around. We had no vision at all. We maybe wanted to play house parties or something—that was the limit of our aspirations.”

From beyond the grave The low

Even more than the band’s previous albums, its new offering will spotlight a strong DIY ethic. Nicol recounts the members of Dead Ghosts have been keeping a past experiences profile, but the Vancouver band is very much alive group’s of laying down its second Defying their own expectations, by 2015 the album on an 8-track picked up from Craigslist, group had released two more albums—Can’t and putting its third on tape in a freezing, fallGet No and Love and Death and All the Rest— ing-down barn on the site of a blueberry farm and embarked on a number of lengthy tours in Ladner. Those unorthodox recording techacross Europe and Western Canada. Playing a niques, he suggests, are why he’s surprised that distinctive brand of swaggering, blues-infused the band has so many followers—but he’s quick lo-fi rock, the five-piece quickly won over to point out that Dead Ghosts makes music pritransatlantic fans and scored fresh fodder for marily for itself. their lyrics with their punk-rock antics.

“We’re really recording ourselves on this al“We were in Torino in Italy,” Nicol recalls. bum,” he says. “The first couple were half done “We ran into this band called Movie Star Junk- by us, and half done by studio engineers—whenies, who are an Italian rock ’n’ roll garage group. ever we’d get money we’d go in. Early on, we They took us out on the town to all these crazy, didn’t know enough about what we wanted so off-the-wall places. One of the first spots we we needed someone who could push the butturned up to was an illegal bar where they made tons and connect the cables. We still don’t know bizarre, high-alcohol drinks which were totally exactly what we’re doing, but Drew has a studio not legal. They just gave you a plastic cup and now, so we go there. We’ve got a lot faster.” you dived right in. I don’t know if there were Despite its newfound recording chops, though, hallucinogens in these drinks, but you had one Dead Ghosts won’t be trading in its gritty, distortsip and your whole body was just throbbing in ed vocals and ’70s-infused guitar washes anytime pain. Then we set off walking around the town, soon. Still influenced by Crypt Records’ seminal drinking this insanely strong shaman drink. It Back From the Grave compilation series, Nicol’s was basically this really fun night. We ended up manic energy and guitarist Drew Wilky’s earat a rave in a park. That was the basis for the worm riffs are a welcome throwback to a musical song ‘Drink It Dry’ from Love and Death.” era that focused less on production than solid Touring was a constant for the group in its early songwriting. Taking to the stage as part of Festeryears, with the band trying to cram experience in val—a multivenue, three-day minifestival billed before, as Nicol suggests, its members stopped as “loud and fuzzy music for weirdos”—the frontbeing so young. Now shifting its focus to play- man is excited that this show will be one of the ing in Vancouver once every three months or so, group’s last before it drops the new album. the group has a reasonable justification for toning “We’re on with Meatbodies from Los Angeles,” down its live schedule.

Nicol says. “We played with them before at a To“We’ve started working on our new album,” fino Brewery party in front of about 500 people. the frontman reveals. “If we want to play a One of the guys had a massive beard, and was show, we have to stop that rhythm of doing shaving it off while crowdsurfing. At the end of a bed track and perfecting the song. So far, their set, the whole stage was just soaked in beer the record is sounding really good. We’re still and covered in beard hair. It was a pretty incredfiguring out a clear vision for it, but we have 12 ible moment. I’m excited to see them again.” songs that we’re really stoked on, which are all > KATE WILSON really, really different. It’s definitely sounding a little more poppy in a sense—a little cleaner.

But also way weirder. We’re getting more com- Dead Ghosts plays the Cobalt as part of Festerval on Thursday (November 9). fortable with the recording process.”

CHECK THIS OUT You gotta see VINTAGE TROUBLE

Dead Ghosts’ upcoming new album will feature 12 songs that the band proudly describes as both “a little more poppy” and also “way weirder”.

Soul music is a unique field. While people can like metal, or enjoy folk, the greats of the genre need to have soul. Unlike hip-hop or country, soul is not just a thing that a person does—it’s the essence of who they are. That’s something that Vintage Trouble has taken to heart. Transporting listeners back to the ’60s with vocals that oscillate between silky-smooth and aggressively gritty, singer Ty Taylor is as at home on the group’s gospel-backed, blues-infused stompers as its Otis Redding-esque ballads. His emotive voice is what ties together the band’s genre-spanning approach to making music. Having played with everyone from AC/DC to the Rolling Stones, the group is famed for its sweat-inducing stage show. Taylor in particular has the charisma of James Brown in his heyday, with the group’s soul ’n’ roll able to touch audiences of all generations. Vintage Trouble has the rare ability to win over crowds with its new material as much as its old, bringing thumping grooves and topnotch songwriting to the stage. Currently on the road drawing material from three fulllengths, including 2015’s 1 Hopeful Rd, the Tinseltown quartet plays the much-loved Rickshaw Theatre on Sunday (November 12). -

Sister act Ibeyi makes positive music to counter the dark times Traumatic as the past year has been for those

2 who are tolerant, progressive, and generally

interested in making the world a better place, it’s important to remember nothing gets better by giving in to the dark side.

That was very much on the minds of twins Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz when they were working on Ash, the second full-length from their genre-mashing electro project Ibeyi.

Reached in New York on a conference call, the sisters acknowledge that the album, although recorded in London, England, was in many ways coloured by the sea change that was starting to take place in America last fall, the optimism and decency of the Barack Obama years giving way to Trumpian anger and hostility.

“While we were recording the American election was going on, so there was this tension in the air,” Lisa-Kaindé notes. “Actually, I think you can feel that in the album. It gave us a lot of energy and a big want to do an album that would sound big and strong and powerful and visceral.”

The Diaz siblings were raised in Paris, France, after being born in Cuba, their dad being Buena Vista Social Club collaborator Miguel “Anga” Diaz. Coming from a country that’s endured decades of isolation and economic hardship has made them more aware than most that you don’t give up the fight when the going gets tough.

With Ash, they’ve produced a record that manages the difficult trick of being thoughtful without being preachy. Songs incorporate everything from chillout-room hip-hop to downtempo electronica to hymnal folk and deal cleverly with issues such as gender politics and racial profiling. “No Man Is Big Enough for My Arms” sets snippets of Michelle Obama speeches to space-drift keys and a soul-sister backing chorus, “Numb” retools Afrobeat in the foggy back alleys of Bristol, and “Me Voy” is reggaeton at its most dialled down.

What shines through is that the Diazes never sound anything less than thrilled to be alive.

Asked if they’d be as optimistic if they were writing Ash today, Lisa-Kaindé doesn’t miss a beat with her response. see next page

MUSIC Let’s talk about STRANGE DAYS AHEAD Jack White has told Billboard he’s putting the finishing touches on a third solo album, which he cryptically describes as “bizarre” and great for “reroofing the garage”. Yes, folks, even the man who saved rock with the White Stripes has given up on saving rock.

BACK AT ’ER Eleven years after her debut, Paris, Paris

Hilton is hard at work on a follow-up that she promises will deliver a whole new sound. Unfortunately, she’s promising a mix of deep house and electro- and techno-pop, instead of what we were all hoping for: the sound of silence.

BUTT OUT In an attempt to curb lowlifes hawking nude pics of her, Sia released one of them herself, tweeting a blurry shot of her butt—which is just as well, since no one knows what her face looks like anyway.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE Famous philanthropist Bono

has been named in the Paradise Papers leak for evading tax on his investment in a Lithuanian shopping centre. We expected it of Trump’s cabinet members—but really, Bono? You too?

Fresh and local THE DEEP COVE TO LOVE THE END OF THE WORLD

The title of the Deep Cove’s debut reads like a self-help book someone needs to write for our endlessly terrifying times. The quartet fittingly goes the hippie route on To Love the End of the World, but not in a new-agey way.

Instead, expect the kind of retro reverb-bathed ’60s psych that guarantees an invitation to Austin’s Levitation fest. The paisley-hued sludge of “Other Gods” and the dreamily disorienting “Capricorn” is potent stuff—and great for wasting an afternoon with two ounces of Purple Rockstar. Lest one have something better to do than take root on the sofa with a bag of Chips Ahoy!, To Love the End of the World isn’t all cellophane flowers and marmalade skies. Spin the bong-water stomper “Deeper and Darker” and you’ll be inclined to hit the garage with a six-pack of Rolling Rock and a couple of Nuggets-fixated friends.

Feel free to call in sick tomorrow and get busy firing up the amps— you’ve got a great excuse: namely, the fact that the end of the world is on the horizon. NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 37

Ibeyi

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from previous page

“I think it would be the same, or even more positive,” Naomi says. “In dark times we really need to realize that we can change things. In order to change things, you have to stay hopeful.”

The women of Ibeyi could have been forgiven for being anything but. There have been moments in their lives that should have left them angry at the world around them.

Consider the electro-strafed nightmare “Deathless”, inspired by LisaKaindé being stopped on the street

by Paris police for no cause when she was younger. (Sample lyrics include “Do you smoke?/What’s your name?/ Do you know why I’m here?” and “Sweet 16, frozen with fear.”)

Rather than stay upset at a system that sees nothing wrong with judging people by the colour of their skin, Naomi suggests the world might be a better place if we all reached out to our fellow humans rather than being afraid of them.

And that is what she loves about Ibeyi: that she and her sister can look out onto the dance f loor and see people from different social, political, and economic backgrounds coming together as one harmonious, joyful mass. Music is indeed a powerful tool.

“It’s funny—you can be in Paris in your neighbourhood, your lovely neighbourhood, and then hear about Fox News describing it as a no-go zone,” Lisa-Kaindé says. “The presenter says ‘I’ve been to Afghanistan, I’ve been to Iraq, but really I’m scared in this neighbourhood in Paris.’ Because it’s your neighbourhood, you know they are lying. But then it becomes the truth.

“It always boils down to education, and going to places you don’t know, and to being curious,” she continues.

“Fear takes that away from us—it destroys the curiosity of the other. Maybe the fact that we grew up between Cuba and Paris—two completely different worlds—is why we are not afraid of ‘the other’. We all, as human beings, need to unify again and realize that we’re not that different.” > MIKE USINGER

> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < DONUT STRESS THE SMALL STUFF

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THE BIRDS AND THE BEE(T)S

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 6, 2017 WHERE: Cartems Donuts on Main St.

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 4, 2017 WHERE: The Birds & The Beets

You work at the Cartems by my house, and are usually quiet but your music selections are spot on. We talked about tattoos before and I wish I had the courage to ask you for more then just a donut.

Maybe next time ;)

Was at a communal table catching up with a friend over coffee, and was wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide hat. You and your friends sitting at a table by the window, and when you were on your way out, you leaned over to me and said‚ "Roll Tide!" in my ear. We had a quick interaction, but then you were gone out the door. Wishing I'd said more, but was so flustered. You were adorable, and I'm hoping to find you again. Football and chill?

SECOND LOOK

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 5, 2017 WHERE: Tacofino, Gastown I stared at your feet as you crossed the road and thought, “Maroon Doc Martins, nice.”

Then I looked up at your face and said “pretty” out loud. You didn’t hear me. Phew. I had dinner with a friend, and later, on my way out, I noticed you behind the counter on the take out side. We smiled at each other and when I looked back for a second glance, you waved. I waved back. That was really nice.

LAUREN IN THE MIDDLE

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 3, 2017 WHERE: CAMBIE VILLAGE Hey there. We shared a cab to Cambie /Broadway. Wanted to finish our conversation but had to dash. Was hoping you and your birthday friend were going to join us for a drink. If you are up to continuing the chat - lets do a coffee or a cocktail.

THE BEAUMONT STUDIOS

s

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 28, 2017 WHERE: Beaumont Studios Hey MADONNA and ANGUS! Its Alex Rose and Slash from the Beaumont Halloween bash. We are sorry the evening ended and we didn’t grab your number. We really enjoyed hanging with you guys and would love to do it again.

Cocktails??

AT MY FIRST RUGBY GAME! CANADA VS MAORI

s

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 3, 2017 WHERE: BC Place You were there with a friend and your dad... I was sitting beside you and you helped me to hold my food and drink while I was taking my jacket off! We were siting so close to each other, the space was so tight for you, I didn't mind at all! Then you started explaining me all about the game. We left before the game finished and I didn't have the courage to invite your for a drink!

BEAUTIFUL ASIAN WOMAN AT WOODWARDS A FEW DAYS AGO

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 1, 2017 WHERE: Woodwards Atrium I watched your gorgeous self leaving Nesters after it was closed. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. You left to the east and when you returned on the way to LD you looked back, I smiled. When you came out you said “That’s beautiful” I told you that you were gorgeous and asked if you were single you said no, but something tells me something different... I need a muse, I think you would inspire me in every way.

BLARNEY STONE KURT FROM THE BOX FACTORY

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 21, 2017 WHERE: Blarney Stone & Our Couch We (two Irish girls) met you and “@$$hole sunshine” outside the Blarney Stone. You were intoxicated. We shared a taxi and you ended up staying on our couch in Kitsilano. Where the party at?

DAWKINS HARRIS ORPHEUM

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 2, 2017 WHERE: Orpheum

Ibeyi plays the Commodore on Wednesday (November 15).

Rodriguez says outsider status unites Troubadours Despite news of another mass

2 shooting in Texas, there are also

great things emerging from the Lone Star State—such as the Texas Troubadours tour, which is taking Carrie Rodriguez, Ruthie Foster, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore to the West Coast this week. When the three walk out onto

Having been born in Cuba and raised in Paris, France, Ibeyi’s Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz bring a unique global perspective to the songs they write.

the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts’ stage, they’ll be representing the new Texas, where an African-American singer-guitarist, a Chicana songwriter and fiddler, and an old white cowboy can happily coexist.

It probably doesn’t hurt that the cowboy’s a Buddhist.

“We were rehearsing the other day and Jimmie actually said ‘Man, we don’t even have to sing anything.

We just have to walk out on-stage and we’re making a statement,’ ” Rodriguez tells the Straight from her Austin home. “So it’s great—and also, musically, we’re having a great time finding the commonalities and figuring out how to play on each other’s songs, because we are all quite different.”

But maybe not that different, external trappings aside. “All three of us probably share some feelings of being an outsider, in certain ways, and that comes through in our songs,” she adds. “So we find common ground in that.”

For B.C. audiences, Rodriguez is probably the unknown quantity in this triple-threat concert package. The deeply soulful and often quite political Foster has long been a local favourite, thanks to regular Vancouver Folk Music Festival and Rogue Folk Club appearances. The 72-year-old Gilmore is part of the same generation that produced legends like Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, not to mention his bandmates in the Flatlanders, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock.

Despite having seven solo releases to her name, Rodriguez is a relative newcomer—and even she admits that she didn’t really come into her stride until she released Lola, in 2016.

“I don’t know if I was ever 100 percent myself until I made Lola,” she explains. “I mean, I’m proud of my body of work, but I think I’m just finally finding something that’s honest to who I am, and how I grew up,

and what I grew up listening to.”

It’s not just that Lola marks the first time that she’s sung, on record, in Spanish. It’s more that she’s fully embraced her family’s musical heritage: not only is her dad, David Rodriguez, a fine songwriter in his own right, her great-aunt, Eva Garza, was an acclaimed singer and actor during the 1940s and ’50s.

“She was in Mexican films and had gold records, and she was a family legend,” Rodriguez says. “My grandmother talked about her often when I was growing up—‘Oh, my famous sister Eva! She knew all the movie stars!’

So I never took her that seriously until I was in my early 20s and actually got a recording of her music. I was completely blown away, and since then I’ve wanted to share her legacy.”

Singing in Spanish apparently calls for a more open and emotional approach. “Sometimes it’s not pretty,” she notes. “Sometimes I’m singing these deadly Spanish love songs, and there’s parts that are raw.”

That approach works just as well for Rodriguez’s own songs—especially those, like Lola’s tough-buttender “Llano Estacado”, that read as news bulletins from America’s contested southern frontier.

“When I was writing those songs, we were getting many Central American kids and mothers coming through illegally, and they were all being held in these huge detention centres—and this was pre-Trump,” she reports. “So the songs are even more current now, even more relevant. It’s bizarre.

“It’s all out in the open now, and it’s ugly,” she adds. “But I think getting it all out is the only way to move forward.” > ALEXANDER VARTY

Carrie Rodriguez, Ruthie Foster, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore play the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Wednesday (November 8).

You came up to me and said “marry me” while I was out front talking to my buddy. My friend said I was taken but that wasn’t true. I was in a rush to get inside as my other buddy was in line and I had the tix. Would love to talk, you are beautiful.

GINA WITH THE BLUE HAIR

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s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 24, 2017 WHERE: Virtuous Pie Main St. Was having dinner at Virtuous Pie and we shared the same table. We exchanged a few words before you got your pies and I asked to grab the Sriracha.

I would have loved to talk a bit more with you but you seemed too deep in conversation with your girlfriend. Grab a pie sometime?

GIRL WITH PUMA HEADPHINES DOWNTOWN

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 27, 2017 WHERE: Downtown I was in my Viking costume talking to my friend then you came along and we chatted for quick min. My buddy jokingly told you to take me home and I said "no". Now when I said no it wasn't because I wasn't interested, it was because it was quite forward and I didn't want to make things uncomfortable for you. We parted ways. I'm not asking to go home with you, but I am asking, "go for coffee?" ;)

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ 38 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

Celebrate the Georgia Straight’s

50th Anniversary

with a limited edition Bob Masse poster!

Available for a limited time and is signed by the artist Bob Masse and Georgia Straight’s publisher Dan Mcleod

Visit straight.com/shop to buy the poster

THU NOV 9 FRI NOV 10 SAT NOV 11

Boogie Nights presents the return of

Camaro 67

Live Acts and The Live Agency present

BEST IN VANCOUVER BAND COMPETITION 1pm-4pm

Blues brunch w. rob montgomery 4:30pm-8:30pm

saturday sessions the original jam session 9pm-late

BEST IN VANCOUVER BAND COMPETITION SUN NOV 12 NIRVEMBER ROCK BAND KARAOKE The Railway Stage presents

Nov 13 The Take Back w. KHINGZ & MIC FLONT Nov 14 Drag Club w. MISTY MEADOWS v CLEOPATRA COMPTON Nov 16 Boogie Nights w. BAZOOKA

@RailwaySBC

579 Dunsmuir St

NOVEMBER 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 16 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 39

MUSIC

TR ADE GREY DAYS FOR

Holy Hum transcends grief LOCAL RECORDINGS

come through on every track. While Loewen propels the momentum with his rib-rattling beats and forays on piano and theremin, Grdina’s style on all manner of plucked string instruments draws from a rich tapestry of experimental and worldly influences, imploring fans of King Crimson, Primus, and Ali Farka Touré to take note.

HOLY HUM All of My Bodies (Heavy Lark)

While on tour in Alberta over the

2 winter of 2011, Andrew Lee—the

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multidisciplinary artist behind Holy Hum—got a call from his father. He revealed that he was very sick with a rare and aggressive form of thyroid cancer.

Lee turned the van around, cancelled the remaining shows, and spent the next month at his dad’s bedside, sitting for hours in various hospitals until his father passed away.

The background to All of My Bodies goes some way towards explaining its incredible power. Paralyzingly emotive, the 11-track album explores what it means to lose a loved one, how to live a good life, and how to come to terms with death.

The record is, in a word, transcendent. Rich soundscapes engulf the listener from the opening seconds, as heavily reverbed synth drones swell around muscular drum hits and Lee’s velvety tones. “You reached out your hand to mine/You said this moment here/Turn it into a song for me,” he croons on the title track with a passion that is unflinchingly authentic.

It’s not easy tackling the complexity of losing a parent, and it’s more difficult still to capture one’s grief in song. Lee does this by oscillating between rawness and resignation, interspersing vocal-heavy numbers with instrumental tracks to convey the depth of his feeling both in and outside of language. Understandably, All of My Bodies is not an easy listen.

Tracks like “White Buzz” challenge Lee’s audience to endure the depth of his frustrations with heavily distorted, atonal noise solos, while even the softer “Ready to Have It” (a song underscored by smooth clarinets and melodic string harmonies) is demanding in its immensity.

While difficult, All of My Bodies is both urgent and necessary. Falling somewhere between modern classical music and a Mogwai-esque soundscape, the album verges on a modern masterpiece. Andrew Lee’s father would be proud. > KATE WILSON

REDS

SHAH DJS PRESENTS ABSTRACT SONANCE - NOV 10

Our Freedom Day (Independent)

There’s a completely legit case to

2 be made that the likes of Green

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FOOD. DRINK. LIVE ENTERTAINMENT. *** VISIT US ONLINE FOR UP TO THE MINUTE LISTINGS, DRINK SPECIALS AND MORE www.thebackstagelounge.com ***

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40 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT NOVEMBER 9 – 16 / 2017

Day, Good Charlotte, and Blink-182 ruined it for everyone. Who in the fuck wants to form a punk band to smash the state or soundtrack an Anarchists Anonymous meeting when, by sweetening the mix a little, you can dream of massive royalty cheques, private jets, and sold-out hockey rinks?

Pop-punk is the last thing that Reds give a shit about on Our Freedom Day. This is old-school thrashamatic punk for those who’ll argue that Tim Armstrong is more principled than Billie Joe Armstrong will ever be. Only four of the 12 tracks make it past the two-anda-half-minute mark, with “O.F.D.” wrapping up in a tightly wound one minute and six seconds.

As much as lead singer DK tends to sound like a gutter punk who gargles with uncut lye and whiskysoaked Lucky Strikes, Our Freedom Day isn’t afraid to make the odd sonic diversion. The guitars are more classic-emo sheen than Never Mind the Bollocks on “White Lightning”, while the occasionally heavenly closing track, “Umbilical”, starts out by alternating between acoustic guitar and mournful cello.

Further bonus points go to Reds for putting out the album on glorious 12-inch vinyl rather than shitty old compact disc, and for lyrics that actually seem like they weren’t written on the back of a Player’s Light pack after a couple of pulls on a glue bag. Take a listen to the impressively snotty “As It Is” and its unflinchingly honest lines “I’ve got no ambition to make it in your world/Your

> ALAN RANTA

DJ FOREST WALKER Project Arbutus (Independent)

In a world where aggressive fu-

2 ture bass is the go-to for big clubs, Holy Hum’s Andrew Lee tackles some tricky topics on All of My Bodies.

design is fundamentally screwed/ A month on the streets would do you good.” That’s probably aimed at the suits on Howe Street, but goddamn if it doesn’t somehow seem equally applicable to the likes of Green Day, Good Charlotte, and Blink-182. >MIKE USINGER

TOUGH AGE Shame (Mint)

It is a tough age, indeed. During

2 the recording of their sophomore

and groove-driven house and techno are en vogue in the underground, it’s a bold choice to produce an album that borrows more from trance—a genre tied closely to the ’90s—than the trends of the day. But instead of creating a record that’s a homage to the past, DJ Forest Walker—or Jordan McCuaig, to his mom—has neatly dragged the sound into 2017, thanks to a healthy dose of trap music.

A concept album of sorts—as far as a lyricless electronic record can be—his debut full-length, Project Arbutus, weaves a narrative across its 14 tracks. Each song offers a different mood or chapter, and is described by enigmatic, space-themed titles like “Solar Flare”, “Orbital Decay”, and “Event Horizon”. It might seem a little lofty and inaccessible, but the music is anything but.

The record is named after the organic world—namely, the trees that thrive on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast—but the album has a distinctly sci-fi feel, with cold, impersonal synth lines and minor chord progressions scoring the majority of the tracks. Sounds like the gritty, distortion-drenched lead in “Trackers II” and trap music’s ticky drums capture the feel of the urban jungle rather than verdant forests— but that coolness serves to highlight the moments that have real warmth.

Album standout “An Endless Fog”, for instance, is filled with lush pads and rich, suspended chords that drift behind a jazzy saxophone riff. The only track to feature vocals, it adds a human touch to a record dominated by synths. “Cascade”, too—a song that blends a Top 40–esque beat with electric guitar and piano lines—adds a new timbre to the proceedings, and is nicely complemented by funky stomper “The Lookout”.

McCuaig has an ear for rhythm, and is able to manipulate drum sounds to become the focal point of the song, rather than just its framework. It’s that innovation that lets Project Arbutus capture the themes of the past while sounding undeniably fresh.

album, 2015’s I Get the Feeling Central, founding Tough Age members Jarrett Samson and Penny “Agamemnon” Clark were, like so much of the city’s great talent, compelled to make the move from the increasingly unaffordable Vancouver to Toronto, and change has been a constant ever since.

Most notably, Tough Age has streamlined from a quartet to a trio, adding on drums the notorious Jesse Locke, with whom Clark plays in Century Palm, but Clark’s increased workload on vocals cannot be overlooked. She takes the lead on “Me in Glue”, a thrashy garage-rocker that puts Tough Age in line with the Courtneys, and the sizzling reconfiguration of “Ghost” by the Drearies, taking it a little more up-tempo and a lot tighter than the original.

Even in flux, Tough Age continued its career trajectory with Shame, moving farther away from the literal garage sound towards more polished productions, without sacrificing an iota of energy. Some 20 tracks were recorded for this album, tastefully edited down to the eight essential cuts. The false start and chuckle on “Piquant Frieze” add to the live-offthe-floor feel they were going for, and achieved most spectacularly on the closing title track, which progs out for 10 of the album’s 32 minutes, end> KATE WILSON ing on an experimental simmering of effects and hum that puts you right there in the studio with them. Shame FAITH HEALER is all pleasure, no guilt.

Try ;-) (Mint) > ALAN RANTA

PEREGRINE FALLS Peregrine Falls (Drip Audio)

Although they’ve collaborated

2 in various projects for the bet-

ter part of two decades, percussionist Kenton Loewen and guitarist Gordon Grdina are probably best known to fans of Dan Mangan, having made significant contributions to his critically lauded 2011 album Oh Fortune as well as 2015’s Club Meds, the latter of which saw their efforts, among sympathetic members of Vancouver’s experimental music scene, credited to Blacksmith. Peregrine Falls is a whole other kettle of fish.

Peregrine Falls’ eponymous debut was coproduced and released by Drip Audio head Jesse Zubot. Those expecting the warm, introspective insight of Mangan will be lost on this record. This is pure, unfiltered Loewen and Grdina, condensed into a barrage of hard-rocking riffs and pounding drums that assault the senses in the best way possible.

The record is largely instrumental and improvised, which works fine considering that the duo’s palpable chemistry and hard-earned skills

When

Faith

Healer’s

2015

2 debut album, Cosmic Troubles,

was recorded, it was basically a solo project by Jessica Jalbert. She chose the pseudonym in an attempt to avoid the quaint singer-songwriter label that she was saddled with for her previous album, which was put out under her own name. That concern is a thing of the past with Try ;-).

Everything about Try ;-) is bigger. While producer, performer, and fellow Mint artist Renny Wilson heavily contributed to Cosmic Troubles, he became an official bandmate on this one, and he owns it. The production sounds far more distinguished on Try ;-); there’s far less aping of ’60s studio tropes and way more of a dedicated ’70s psych-pop polish, with more synths and a wider stereo feel to the downtempo balladry and surreal indie rock.

Throughout the record, Jalbert’s voice sounds dreamier, drawing out emotional nuance and resonance more than simply labelling it. In effect, although their tremendous effort is apparent, it sounds like they’re trying less hard to be eclectic and being more themselves. > ALAN RANTA

music/ timeout CONCERTS < CLUBS & VENUES <

CONCERTS 2JUST ANNOUNCED A UKULELE NIGHT TO REMEMBER Ruby’s Ukes presents music by Ruby and Smith, as well as Ruby’s 70-Piece Ukulele Orchestra. Partial proceeds go to Ruby’s Ukes Ukulele Outreach. Nov 17, 7:30 pm, York Theatre (639 Commercial). Tix $25, info www.thecultch.com/events/ukulelenight-remember/.

FROM NEW YORK: JEREMY PELT QUINTET The newest of esteemed trumpet player and composer Jeremy Pelt’s musical projects, this young group has a unique chemistry that comes to life within each of Jeremy’s original compositions.

Presented by Coastal Jazz. Nov 24-25, 8 pm, Frankie’s Jazz Club (765 Beatty). Tix $25, info www.coastaljazz.ca/.

DVSN Canadian R&B duo, composed of Daniel Daley and Nineteen85, performs on its Morning After World Tour 2018.

Jan 21, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix on sale Nov 10, 10 am, $32.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

LIGHTS Canadian electropop singer-songwriter performs on her We Were Here Tour 2018, with guests Chase Atlantic and DCF. Jan 30-31, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix on sale Nov 10, 10 am, $40.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

BRUNO MAJOR London singer-songwriter tours in support of latest release A Song for Every Moon. Feb 17, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Fox Cabaret (2321 Main).

Tix on sale Nov 10, 10 am, $13 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat, Zulu Records, and www.ticketweb.ca/.

THE JIM CUDDY BAND Canadian country-rock band performs on its Constellation Tour. Feb 22, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix on sale Nov 10, 10 a.m., at www.livenation.com/.

THEORY OF A DEADMAN Canadian rock band tours in support of sixth studio album Wake Up Call. Feb 25, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Nov 10, 10 am, $39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

BIG WRECK As part of the Straight Series, the Canadian rock band performs of its In Loving Memory of 20th Anniversary Tour. Mar 1-2, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Nov 10, 10 am, $40 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

ANDY GRAMMER American pop-rock singer-songwriter and record producer performs on his Good Parts Tour. Mar 20,

EMPLOYMENT

DOMESTIC/HOME SUPPORT

CAREGIVER NEEDED

Qualified caregiver required immediately to take care of an older lady with dementia. Will be requiring about 5 hours per day, between Sat. & Mon. and Wed. & Fri.Hours and wage negotiable.

Please email neilsnothot@gmail.com

DERMOT KENNEDY Dublin-based hiphop/R&B singer-songwriter tours in support of debut EP Doves and Ravens. Mar 29, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Cobalt (917 Main).

Tix on sale Nov 10, 10 am, $18 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

2THIS WEEK

CLUBS & VENUES BACKSTAGE LOUNGE Arts Club Theatre, 1585 Johnston, Granville Island, 604-6871354. Hot Jazz Jam night on Tue. 2TOY ZEBRA Nov 9 2ABSTRAKT SONANCE Nov 10 2VALTER Nov 11 2BABY HARRY Nov 17 BILTMORE CABARET 2755 Prince Edward, 604-676-0541. 2MANDOLIN ORANGE Nov 8 2SON LITTLE Nov 11 2HAMILTON LEITHAUSER Nov 14 BLUE MARTINI JAZZ CAFE 1516 Yew, 604-428-2691. Live jazz, soul, and blues.

Closed on Mondays.

TEXAS TROUBADOURS American southern-roots band featuring Ruthie Foster, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Carrie Rodriguez. Nov 8, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Info www.chancentre.com/.

COBALT 917 Main, 778-918-3671. 2THE ELWINS AND FAST ROMANTICS Nov 11 2FOREIGN BEGGARS Nov 16

HALSEY American electropop singersongwriter. Nov 11, doors 6:30 pm, show 7:30 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way).

Tix $79.50/59.50/39.50/29.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

COMMODORE BALLROOM 868 Granville, 604-739-4550. 2CHILDREN OF BODOM Nov 8 2THIRD EYE BLIND Nov 9 2HEADSTONES Nov 10 2THE DEVIL MAKES THREE Nov 12 2GWAR Nov 13

UNO THE ACTIVIST Hip-hop musician, with guests Thouxanbanfauni and WARHOL.SS. Nov 12, Celebrities Nightclub (1022 Davie). Tix $20, info www.bplive.ca/.

FORTUNE SOUND CLUB 147 E. Pender, 604-569-1758. 2ROY WOODS Nov 16 2HOT CHIP DJ’S Nov 23

on the web! www.straight.com

FUNKY WINKER BEANS 37 W. Hastings.

Evil Bastard Karaoke Experience seven days a week.

WATERPARKS Rock band from Houston, Texas, tours in support of debut full-length album Double Dare, with guests As It Is, Chapel, and Sleep on It. Nov 14, doors 5:30 pm, show 6:30 pm, Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway). Tix $20 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

SONGBIRD NORTH: WHERE WRITERS SING AND TELL Shari Ulrich hosts a night of live music by Colleen Eccleston, Keenan Lawlor, and Chris Ronald. Nov 14, 7:30-10 pm, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews). Tix $18, info www.songwriters.ca/.

NOW SOCIETY 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION The New Orchestra Workshop Society presents music by NOW Workshop Groups and pianists Kris Davis, Rory Cowal, and Lisa Cay Miller (Nov 15), Trading Places: Échange d’Improvisateurs (Nov 16), NOW Society Ensemble (Nov 17), and NOW Orchestra (Nov 18). Nov 15-18, 7-11 pm, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews).

Tix $10-30, info www.nowsociety.org/.

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS JAY-Z The American rapper and businessman performs on his 4:44 tour in support of latest album 4:44, with guest Vic Mensa.

Dec 11, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way).

Tix at www.livenation.com/.

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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 I am scared Now you can out people with a tweet, label someone a misogynist, slander judges who make judgments, and defame someone without the lift of a finger or evidence. Is anyone else worried about how this is used for justice but how it is also definitely being used for injustice? We simply do not know the facts. It’s a popular mob.

RAILWAY STAGE AND BEER CAFÉ 579 Dunsmuir, 604-564-1430. Comedy Tue, darts Wed, live music Wed, Thu, Fri, and all day/ night Sat. 2CAMARO 67 Nov 9 2BEST IN VANCOUVER Nov 10

Sing!

RICKSHAW THEATRE 254 E. Hastings, 604-681-8915. 2PROPAGANDHI Nov 8 2NE OBLIVISCARIS Nov 9 2FESTERVAL NIGHT TWO: DEAD KENNEDYS Nov 10 2SILVERSTEIN Nov 11 2VINTAGE TROUBLE Nov 12 2BLOODLETTING NORTH AMERICA TOUR XI Nov 15

I miss singing in a choir. But I hated rehearsals and worse, performances. I just want to sing Christmas songs with a bunch of people who can sing and do harmony. Is that too much to ask?

ST. JAMES HALL 3214 W. 10th, 604-736-3022.

2TOM PAXTON AND THE DON JUANS Nov 9 2GIVE PEACE A DANCE Nov 10 2JAWS OF LOVE Nov 11

Is it possible to be in love with two people at once? Is it really just infatuation if I’ve felt this way for over a year?

Over active heart Afraid to break up

VENUE 881 Granville, 604-646-0064.

2SCOTT HELMAN AND RIA MAE Nov 9 2DANCE WITH THE DEAD Nov 11

I need to leave a long term relationship where I live with my partner. But I’m afraid because I don’t have a place to go after I tell him it’s over. I’m also a coward and don’t know when to talk about it. I feel so stuck but I’m the only one holding myself back.

VOGUE THEATRE 918 Granville, 604-5691144. 2LANY Nov 9 2SONREAL Nov 10 2DANIEL CAESAR Nov 12 2ILANA GLAZER AND PHOEBE ROBINSON Nov 16 2HILLTOP HOODS Nov 18

CONTACT Winter music festival features performances by Marshmello, Armin Van Buuren, Adventure Club, Carnage, Tchami, Rezz, Alan Walker, Mr Carmack, Malaa, Cash Cash, Ekali, Destructo, Ghastly, Henry Fong, and Whipped Cream. Dec 26-27, BC Place Stadium (777 Pacific Boulevard). Tix at www.contact-festival.com/.

TIME OUT MUSIC 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.

WANTED: TILE SETTERS

EVIL BASTARD KARAOKE EXPERIENCE

1038 Main Street IVANHOE PUB

IVANHOE PUB 1038 Main, 604-608-1444.

Pub with live bands on weekends and open jam night Sun from 4 to 8 pm. No cover. 2HARPDOG BROWN Nov 9 & 11 2RHYTHM STREET Nov 10 2SONS OF THE HOE Nov 12 2BEATEN PATH Nov 17 2FRONT PAGE BAND Nov 18

WISE HALL 1882 Adanac, 604-254-5858.

2THE TIRED SUNDAY CHOIR AND FRIENDS Nov 12 2PETUNIA AND THE VIPERS Nov 13 2PLANET PINKISH Nov 15

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savage love

> BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a 40-year-old bi man. I’ve been with my 33-year-old bi wife for three years and married for one. When we first met, she made it clear that she was in a long-term (more than three years) “Daddy” relationship with an older man. I figured out six months later that her “Daddy” was her boss and business partner. He is married and his wife does not know. I struggled with their relationship, since I identify as open but not poly. Eight months later, she ended things with him because it was “logically right” for us (her words).

But she cheated with him four times over the course of two years. In all other aspects, our relationship is the greatest one I’ve ever had. I do not doubt her love for me. My wife has met her biological father only a couple of times and her stepfather died when she was 16—the same year she went to work for her “Daddy”. Their nonwork relationship started 10 years later, when she was 26. It’s a complex relationship, and he is not going anywhere, as they now own a business together. While I don’t think cheating has to be a relationship ender, dishonesty always has been for me. The final complication: I have a cuckold fetish. I believe it might be possible to meet everyone’s needs, so long as everyone is honest. I will admit that, in the heat of passion, my wife and I have talked about her having “two daddies”. Do I consider allowing this, so long as everyone is honest? Is mixing business and personal matters going to blow up in our faces?

Do I ignore the part of my brain that wants this guy’s wife to know?

You don’t need my permission to consider this arrangement—allowing the wife to have two daddies—because you’re clearly already considering it. (You’ve moved on to the bargaining and/or writing-letters-to-sex-advice-columnists stage of consideration, the final stage before acceptance.) What you want, DADDIES, is my permission to do this, not just to think about it. Permission granted. Could it all come to shit? Anything and everything could come to shit. But your wife has been fucking this guy the entire time you’ve been together, and you nevertheless regard this relationship as the greatest one you’ve ever had. It stands to reason that if things were great when she was honest with you about fucking her boss (at the start) and remained great despite being dishonest with you about fucking her boss (the last two years), you three are in a good position to make this work now that everything is out in the open.

As for your other concerns: most of the poly people I know started out as either monogamous or “open but not poly” (people evolve); we find out about secret workplace romances only when they blow up (skewed samples make for skewed perceptions); and you need more info about the other man’s wife before you issue an ultimatum or pick up the phone yourself (their marriage could be loving but companionate; he could be staying in a loveless marriage for good reasons; they could have agreed to a DADT arrangement > DISTRESSED ABOUT DECEITFUL regarding affairs). But again, DADDYNAMICS INVOLVING ENTANGLED DIES, you’re asking if something that SPOUSE seems to be working in practice might

Think about it this way, DADDI: actually work in practice. And I’m when a straight woman calls her man thinking, yeah, it probably could. “baby”, no one thinks, “OMG! She’s I’m a 31-year-old gay man who into raping babies!” When a straight looks 45. Most men interested in me guy says he picked up a “hot girl”, no are surprisingly up-front about ex- one thinks he’s talking about a sexy pressing their desire to include a fath- fourth-grader. When Vice President er-son element. Even men older than Mike Pence calls his wife “mommy”, me call me “daddy” unprompted. I try no one thinks… Well, Pence might be not to be judgmental, but this repulses a bad example. (That man is clearly me. People who are into other forms of a freak.) But my point still stands: out-of-the-mainstream sex approach pet names—used casually or during their kinks respectfully and establish sex—aren’t to be taken literally. mutual interest and obtain consent in advance. Why aren’t I given the same I have a sugar baby who is consideration when it comes to incest a mature post-op trans woman. role-play? And where does this come She is very attractive but also very from? Were all these men molested by high-maintenance. (She has OCD.) I pay her $300 per anal sex event; their fathers? > DESPERATELY AVOIDING I help with bills, food, et cetera; DISCUSSING DISGUSTING INCEST and I spend every weekend with her. I probably spend $15,000 a year Whoa, DADDI. Just as gay men on her. I’m happy most of the time who call themselves or their part- (the sex is great), but does this arners “boy” don’t mean “minor” and rangement sound fair? > DADDY ASKING DAN aren’t fantasizing about child rape, gay men who call themselves or their partners “daddy” don’t mean “bio- Divide the money you’re spending logical father” and aren’t fantasiz- annually ($15,000) by the number ing about father-son incest. Daddy of weeks in the year (52), DAD, is an honorific that eroticizes a per- and your anal-sex-event–packed ceived age and/or experience gap; it’s weekends are only costing you about authority and sexual domin- $288.46 a pop. Seeing as most sex ance, not paternity and incestuous workers charge 10 to 20 times as deviance. If being called “daddy” much for a full weekend, I’d say turns you off, you should say so and you aren’t spending too much. (If your partners should immediately this arrangement is unfair to anyknock that “daddy” shit off. But one, DAD, it’s unfair to your sugar you shouldn’t assume every gay guy baby.) Now, if you’re only pulling who calls you “daddy” is into incest in 30K a year, spending half your and/or was molested by his bio dad, pretax wages on a sugar baby is because 99.999 percent of the time unsustainable. But if that 15K represents a small percentage of your that’s just not going to be true.

annual income, DAD, you should give your sugar baby a raise.

I’m a 30-year-old woman who

has always been more attracted to older men. I was with a guy last year who liked to be called “Daddy”, which was hard because he was six years younger. But now I’m secretly sleeping with someone who’s 34 years older than me. It’s not just sex—we have so much in common and we’re falling in love. I don’t know how long I can handle being a secret, but I don’t know if I can come out of hiding because of the age difference. He’s not as ashamed and would be more open if I wanted to be. Thoughts? > ASHAMED SEX HAS ALL MY EMOTIONAL DAMAGE

You haven’t been with This Old Dad long enough to determine if you have a future together, ASHAMED, so you can kick the coming-out can down the road another six months. If it turns out you two are emotionally compatible as well as sexually compatible, and you decide to make a life together, then you’ll have to go public. And if you find yourself worrying about being judged due to the age difference, just think of all the homos out there who went public despite their partners’ genital similarities.

If we could stare down disapproving family members and small-town prudes, ASHAMED, so can you. On the Lovecast, sex and weed with David Schmader!: savagelovecast. com . Email: mail@savagelove.net .

Twitter: @fakedansavage. ITMFA.org.

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