The Georgia Straight - Holiday Baking - Dec 13, 2018 by The Georgia Straight

FREE | DECEMBER 13 - 20 / 2018

Volume 52 | Number 2657

TAMARA TAGGART

Aims for Liberal nomination

TRANSIT CAMPAIGN

Should kids ride for free?

RICH HOPE Keeps it greasy for Keithmas

Holiday Baking Several pastry chefs, including Mon Paris Patisserieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Elena Krasnova, share tips on how to create a delicious festive season

PRIDE || CHELENE KNIGHT || WINTER MOVIES || WINTER HARP

2 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 / 2018

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DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 3

CONTENTS

December 13 – 20 / 2018

23 COVER

Local chefs share tips, secrets. and tricks to ace your holiday baking.

By Gail Johnson Cover photo by Kristina Napolskihi

T H I S M O N T H AT 9

NEWS

Former CTV News at Six anchor Tamara Taggart is eager to make a leap into national politics. By Charlie Smith

27 ARTS 3

It’s easy to forget that John Williams, the composer who did the music for Star Wars, also scored Home Alone.

FLOOR

By Mike Usinger

33 MOVIES

THURSDAY 8:00PM – 12:00AM FRIDAY & SATURDAY 9:30PM – 1:30AM

A strong lineup of winter releases and festival goodies should keep us off the phone and in the theatre. By Adrian Mack

35 MUSIC

Much-loved local vet Rich Hope decided to make a good old-fashioned rock record with I’m All Yours— which explains the gloriously greasy results.

DOUBLE DOWN KEYS RETRO FRIDAY DECEMBER 14

By John Lucas

EVE RY SATURDAY DECEMBER 15, 22, 29

e Start Here 22 25 21 37 18 17 33 14 39 17 29

KRYSTLE DOS SANTOS DECEMBER 21, 27

ONE AND A HALF DECEMBER 13, 20

BOOKS THE BOTTLE CANNABIS CONFESSIONS HOROSCOPES I SAW YOU MOVIE REVIEWS REAL ESTATE SAVAGE LOVE TECHNOLOGY THEATRE

e Online TOP 5

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

1 2 3 4 5

e Listings

31 ARTS 37 MUSIC

ALEX MAHER DECEMBER 28

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 52 | Number 2657

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Flooding shuts down SkyTrain service at Columbia Station. Photos: A look inside the largest Starbucks Reserve Bar in Canada. Extraterritoriality at root of China’s call for executive’s release. Robson Square plaza project to get $5.4 million in city budget. Ex-Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig detained in China.

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The Georgia Straight is published every Thursday by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. Copies are distributed free every week throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, North and West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond. International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0709-8995. Subscription rates in Canada $182.00/52 issues (includes GST), $92.00/26 issues (includes GST); United States $379.00/52 issues, $205.00/26 issues; foreign $715.00/52 issues, $365.00/26 issues. Contact 604-730-7087 if you wish to distribute free copies of the Georgia Straight at your place of business. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Vancouver Free Press, Best Of Vancouver, Bov And Golden Plates Are Trade-Marks Of Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. SUBMISSIONS The Straight accepts no responsibility for, and will not necessarily respond to, any submitted materials. All submissions should be addressed to contact@straight.com. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40009178, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to The Georgia Straight, 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C, V6J 1W9

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NEWS

Campaign calls for free transit for kids under 18 by Carlito Pablo

Viveca Ellis runs the All On Board campaign for the B.C. Poverty Reduction Coalition.

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fter the examples of New Westminster and Port Moody, other Lower Mainland municipalities, including Vancouver, are expected to hop on a campaign for affordable transit. Called All On Board, the movement is calling for free transit for children and youths below the age of 18. The campaign is also advocating for an income-based sliding scale in the pricing of transit passes for adults, as in Calgary. Moreover, All On Board is asking for a suspension of ticketing of minors for fare evasion. In addition, the movement is suggesting community service instead of fines for adults who do not pay fares. “We have affordable childcare, affordable housing, but when it comes to transit, it’s one price for everybody, whether you make $200,000 or you make $700 a month,” campaigner Viveca Ellis told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. Ellis came up with the idea for the All On Board drive as part of her advocacy as cofounder of the Single Mothers’ Alliance B.C. She is currently running the campaign for the B.C. Poverty Reduction Coalition. Ellis noted that Metro Vancouver has fallen behind some jurisdictions in North America in terms of providing equitable access to transit. That could change if the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation asked TransLink to adopt a “poverty reduction equity mandate”, according to Ellis. “Right now, TransLink has nothing in their mandate that says they have to care about poverty,” she said. Ellis feels encouraged by the selection of New Westminster mayor Jonathan Coté as chair of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation. Free transit for children and youths under the age of 18 was one of the 50 campaign calls issued by Coté when he successfully ran for reelection as New Westminster mayor in the October 2018 municipal election. On December 3 this year, New Westminster council adopted a motion by Coté ally and councillor Nadine Nakagawa endorsing the All On Board campaign. Port Moody followed the next day, with council approving a similar motion filed by councillor Amy Lubik. The two measures suggested that the B.C. government and TransLink should develop a plan for free transit for minors and reduced transit fares for adults. In April 2017, Calgary started implementing a sliding scale in transit fees for three low-income categories. For 2018, a single person

earning less than $12,669 pays $5.15 for a monthly pass; up to $21,537 in income, $36.05; and earnings of as much as $25,338, $51.50. In Seattle, low-income transit riders get a discount. For example, an individual earning a yearly income of no more than $24,120 is entitled to a 50-percent markdown for every single trip. Moreover, Seattle city council approved legislation last June providing free transit passes for all public-highschool students and low-income students in middle schools. Ellis recalled that in Vancouver the All On Board campaign was supported during the October 2018 election campaign by candidates who eventually prevailed at the ballot box: mayor Kennedy Stewart; councillors Jean Swanson and Christine Boyle; and school trustees Barb Parrott, Jennifer Reddy, and Allan Wong. Ellis anticipates that a motion endorsing All On Board may be brought before Vancouver city council in early 2019. According to Ellis, All On Board is also working with councillors in Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam.

TOF alk THE WEEK

Shilo Jones zeroes in on a crooked deal. Photo by Mark R. Mason

THE REAL-ESTATE craze may be on the wane in Vancouver, but it’s still a fertile subject of discussion. On Thursday (December 13) at the Vancouver Public Library’s Carnegie branch, Kelowna writer Shilo Jones will offer his zany take by reading from his acclaimed novel On the Up. Three of his characters—Jasminder, Carl, and Mark—are aiming for freedom, status, and wealth by investing in a condo project in North Vancouver. There’s even a potbellied pig in the plot. Spoiler alert: it’s an animal, not a housing flipper!

DECEMBER 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 7

8 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 / 2018

NEWS

Taggart will seek federal Liberal nod in Kingsway

by Charlie Smith

ne of Vancouver’s most famous residents hopes to become a member of Parliament. Former CTV News at Six anchor Tamara Taggart told the Georgia Straight that she is seeking the Liberal nomination in Vancouver Kingsway. Taggart, a mother of three, is a long-time advocate for people with disabilities, a cancer survivor, and a recipient of the Order of B.C. “It comes down to being a voice,” Taggart said in a phone interview. “I can’t be a voice for people with disabilities and not be a voice for other people who are marginalized and vulnerable and dismissed. That’s just not who I am.” The riding has been held since 2008 by Don Davies, the NDP health critic, who succeeded former Conservative cabinet minister David Emerson. Taggart said that she has never met Davies, who has been pushing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to abandon the war on drugs and decriminalize narcotics in response to the overdose crisis. In recent months, Taggart has been waging her own campaigns on social media to eliminate lead from drinking water in Vancouver schools and to promote more inclusive attitudes toward LGBT kids in B.C. schools. She said that her family lived in Vancouver Kingsway for many years until the boundary was changed before the last election. She’s married to 54-40 guitarist Dave Genn, emphasizing that they know the riding “really well”. “It’s very diverse,” Taggart noted. The former anchor was born and raised in Vancouver. She revealed that her husband’s mother was born in an internment camp for Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, which has heightened her family’s sensitivity to racial discrimination. She hopes that by running she can inspire her two daughters to see that it’s possible to pivot from one career to another and take on a new challenge. When asked why she wants to become a Liberal candidate, Taggart replied that she’s been thinking a great deal about her future since she lost her job at CTV in April. She said the Liberals “align” with her values—and that’s reflected in the government’s new Accessible

Q&A

VANCOUVER

ADVERTISING

legend Frank Palmer’s colourful life story is told in a new book, Let’s Get Frank: Canada’s Mad Man of Advertising, by Robin Brunet. Earlier this month, we sat down with Palmer, chairman and CEO of DDB Canada, to talk about his almost 50 years in the industry. Q. How did you get into the advertising business?

A. When you get into the book, you’ll see that I wanted to be a professional wrestler, a cop, and a comedian. It turned out that I ended up working in advertising, where, I think, you have to be a bit of everything. You’ve got to be a bit of a comedian and be a bit tough. But you also have to have a mindset to look for different clues that somebody else wouldn’t look for. If I had success in the business, it was always from hiring better people—looking for better people—and hearing about something that nobody else had heard of. Being a detective, like Columbo.

Holiday Hits Order of B.C. recipient Tamara Taggart has taken a leap into federal politics.

Canada Act, which promotes far greater inclusion for people with disabilities. Taggart’s son Beckett has Down syndrome. “I care about the environment,” she said. “I care about gender equity, livability, affordability.” In addition, Taggart said she’s been particularly impressed by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is also a mother of three. “She just seems like such a badass,” Taggart said with a laugh. “Everything about her energy, to me, seems inspiring.” When the Straight asked Taggart if she wanted to comment on pipelines, she replied “Not yet. We can talk about that another time.” Taggart said that she still has to get the green light before she can become a candidate. This means she will have to undergo credit and criminalrecord checks. And she doesn’t know if anyone else is going to seek the Liberal nomination in the riding. “If somebody contests it and they want to run too, then I have a challenge on my hand,” she said. “That’s okay.” The Liberals held Vancouver Kingsway from 1997 to 2006, first with Sophia Leung and later with Emerson. After the 2006 election, Emerson crossed the floor to the Conservatives. Following a massive backlash in the riding, Emerson didn’t seek reelection in 2008.

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Santa Arrives...

HEALTH

OERC exits alarm advocates

by Travis Lupick

wo top officials have left B.C.’s Overdose Emergency Response Centre (OERC), prompting several of their colleagues to suggest their departures signal problems within the province’s coordinated response to the overdose epidemic. For the past year, Dr. Patricia Daly served as executive lead of the OERC and Miranda Compton was the organization’s director. Now they’ve both resumed full-time positions with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). In a phone interview, Leslie McBain, an OERC committee member and cofounder of the advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm, said both women did an “amazing” job and should have had their contracts renewed.

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“What does it say? I’m not sure,” she told the Georgia Straight. “But I think it’s got to be frustration.” In a separate interview, Garth Mullins, another OERC committee member who also works with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), expressed a similar sentiment. “I can only read this as a vote of nonconfidence in the OERC,” Mullins told the Straight. He suggested the departures are symptomatic of larger issues within the organization and the province’s high-level response to the opioid epidemic. “This thing was launched with great fanfare a year ago under the Incident Command System, a universal hierarchy and blueprint for

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handling emergencies,” Mullins said. “I thought this was great. That this is what we needed to do. But then they never gave the incident commander—who, in this case, was Dr. Patty Daly—they never gave her the authority or the resources to go in, act fast, and implement.” Daly is chief medical health officer for VCH and Compton is the regional health authority’s director for prevention and addiction programs. The OERC was established in December 2017, and both Daly and Compton’s OERC contracts were written for terms of one year. Both McBain and Mullins praised Daly and Compton, emphasizing that they would have liked to continue working under them. “They did everything they possibly could,” McBain said. “Both of them know very well what is needed here, and they were just hooped. They were not given the agency or the funding. Their work was not prioritized by the Ministry of Health.” Daly was travelling and unavailable for an interview. Reached by phone, Compton said that their departures were planned long in advance. Pressed on whether the nonrenewals could be taken as a no-confidence vote in the OERC, Compton responded: “That’s not what this is. I signed up for a one-year secondment, which started December 1 of last year, when we launched the centre. I never envisioned it for more than a year. It was an opportunity to work at the provincial level and to get to know what other regions are doing and other government structures.” Compton emphasized that both she and Daly will continue with active roles in VCH’s response to the crisis, which killed more than 1,450 people across the province last year. Judy Darcy, B.C.’s minister of mental health and addictions, told the Straight that a smooth transition is underway. “We are looking for the right candidates to fill their shoes right now,” she said. Responding to claims that the OERC’s leaders lacked the authority necessary to mount an effective response to the overdose epidemic, Darcy credited the team with a list of accomplishments. Specifically, she noted that the OERC has divvied up grants to the 20 cities worst affected by the crisis. “Community action teams have been really critical in getting all of the things we decided on as responses happening on the ground,” Darcy said. McBain described Daly and Compton as two of B.C.’s best health professionals. “They worked tirelessly; they worked to the point,” McBain said. “And I know our [fatal overdose] numbers for 2018 are going to be terrible.”

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NEWS

Pride finances improve sharply

by Craig Takeuchi

lthough the Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) ended the 2017 fiscal year in a deficit, some tough decisions and resourcefulness helped them climb out of it. The financial statements for the 2018 fiscal year (ending on August 31, 2018), prepared by independent auditor BDO Canada LLP, were presented at the VPS annual general meeting held on November 24 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre. As the VPS started the 2018 financial year with a deficit balance of $136,368, the nonprofit society took a number of measures. According to the report, after the society met with the City of Vancouver about invoices from the 2016 and 2017 Pride events, the city agreed to a deduction of $55,000. Meanwhile, on April 4 the VPS announced that the Davie Street Party—a multiblock street party held before the parade that includes several stages, vendors, and entertainment—would be cancelled for 2018.

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Although the Davie Street Party was one of the VPS’s most popular events, it was also one of the most expensive, with city and regulatory costs at approximately $79,500 for that event ($37,000 of which went to policing, security, and traffic management). Accordingly, cancelling the party proved to be not only a major costsaving move but one that allowed a reallocation of resources that resulted in increased revenue at other events. In 2017, the Davie Street Party accrued expenses of $209,271 and generated revenue of $217,505, with a surplus of $8,234. With the Davie Street Party cancelled, the focus shifted toward other events, including Pride Premiere, held around the Vancouver Art Gallery. Although expenses for Pride Premiere mushroomed from $15,651 in 2017 to $67,540 in 2018, revenue also surged upward: from $15,790 in 2017 to $94,490 in 2018—an increase of almost 500 percent. After expenses, Pride Premiere generated only $139 in 2017, but it garnered a significant surplus of $26,950 in 2018.

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Overall, revenue increased from approximately $1.56 million in 2017 to $1.8 million in 2018—a growth of almost 14 percent. For overall revenue over expenses, the VPS had a deficit in 2017 of $238,626, but it achieved a surplus in 2018 of $181,752. Accordingly, although at the end of the 2017 fiscal year the VPS balance was at a deficit of $136,368, by the end of 2018, the VPS balance was at a surplus of $45,384 (prior to indirect expenses). In other VPS matters, the VPS affirmed it will take the same approach to police participation in the 2019 parade as it did in 2018: police will be able to participate but without uniforms, weapons, or vehicles. “As a board, we’re really pleased with the number of folks that showed up this year,” VPS cochair Michelle Fortin stated at the AGM, regarding police participation in the 2018 parade. “It was the largest contingent this year for them…and right now, we’re really pleased with the level of participation and the type of participation.”

THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!

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DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 13

HOUSING

House prices keep dropping

by Charlie Smith

rices of single-family homes in Vancouver show no signs of recovering after a free fall during the past year. The November statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver show that detachedhome prices in Point Grey were down 17.9 percent from the same month in 2017. This was based on seven sales. There was only one sale of a single-family home in Quilchena last month, and it sold for 16 percent less than the average sale price in that neighbourhood in November 2017. Both these areas are heavily affected by the NDP government’s property surtax on homes valued at more than $3 million. Other factors affecting home prices include tighter mortgage rules, rising interest rates, and a hike in the foreign-buyers’ tax from 15 percent to 20 percent in the most recent provincial budget. In South Granville, single-familyhome prices were off by 15.5 percent; in the Arbutus area, they were down 12.3 percent; and the price was off by 12.1 percent in Oakridge. Detached-home prices were also down in every East Side neighbourhood, including South Vancouver (–10.8 percent), Knight Street (–8.3 percent), Main Street (–8 percent), Collingwood (–7.9 percent), and Fraser Street (–6.2 percent). According to the Better Dwelling website, these price drops are the largest since the Great Recession, which followed the global economic meltdown in 2008. The REBGV’s benchmark for the West Side was down 10.3 percent on an annual basis, whereas on the East Side, prices of single-family homes were off by 6.5 percent.

14 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

F orum OF THE WEEK

VPL’s Champlain Heights branch will host a forum on rental affordability.

AFFORDABILITY is a word not often associated with housing in Vancouver. It’s tough to live in a city where the rental vacancy is below one percent. A housing fact sheet released by city hall last year indicated This has coincided with an almost 25-percent increase in listings on an annual basis for detached homes in the region. B.C. Assessment said earlier this month that homeowners can expect decreases in assessments of five to 10 percent over the past year for their single-family homes in Vancouver, South Surrey, White Rock, South Delta, Richmond, and the North Shore. In other areas—notably the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan, and the North—assessments for single-family homes could increase from five to 15 percent. Meanwhile, condo prices rose on a yearly basis by 6.8 percent in Marpole, 5.7 percent in South Cambie, and 3.5 percent in Oakridge.

that 18,445 renters—or seven percent of all households—in 2010 were spending at least 50 percent of family income on shelter costs. Short of crossing Boundary Road, there are ways to make things work. A forum organized by the Vancouver Public Library aims to provide tips on finding rental and affordable housing options in the city, like social housing and residential co-ops. The event will be held in partnership with the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House at the Champlain Heights library branch (7110 Kerr Street) on Saturday (December 15), from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

However, sale prices of condos fell by 10.5 percent downtown, 4.5 percent in Southlands, 3.3 percent in Kitsilano, and 2.4 percent in Yaletown compared to November 2017. East Side condo prices ranged from an 11.5-percent increase on an annual basis in Killarney to a 2.7-percent decline in the Grandview and Hastings East areas. All B.C. homeowners will receive their annual property-assessment notices in early January. “When properties similar to your property are sold around July 1, those sales prices are used to calculate your assessed value,” assessor Tina Ireland said on B.C. Assessment’s website. “Our job is to make sure your assessment is fair and accurate as compared to your neighbours.”

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Beer Lover GIFTS FOR BEER LOVERS For the beer aficionado in your group take a festive trip to Granville Island Brewing. Choose from a selection of wintery brews including Mocha Porter, brewed with JJ Bean Coffee, and Lions Winter Ale. For a premium offering, look for their Cellar Series line of beers, which can be cellared for up to three years. You’ll also find flavourful gift packs and cozy sweaters. Visit GIB.ca to learn more. Granville Island Brewing 1441 Cartwright Street GIB.ca

DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 15

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Gifts That Keep Giving NJOY PLUG This is the Cadillac of plugs. The beautifully designed stainless steel nJoy Plug is heavy enough to make you flex your pelvic floor, which can lead to stronger orgasms. Hang some mistletoe from the handle, and voila. Festive!

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BI STRONIC FUSION The Bi Stronic Fusion is like a futuristic rabbit vibe. It's a rechargeable silicone waterproof thruster that vibrates. Remember when the Terminator came back, but he was a way better Terminator than the last time? That's this toy. Made in Germany.

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HIGH TECH

A smarter way to sort garbage

by Kate Wilson

anada leads the developed world in the production of garbage. Every citizen discards 720 kilos of waste annually—twice as much as the Japanese generate. Canada even tops the U.S.—the poster child for overconsumption—by seven percent. Even worse than the sheer amount of waste produced, however, is how the country deals with it. Like many western societies, Canada ships much of its problematic garbage to poorer nations to bury. Although China had been the destination of choice, its recent ban on accepting foreign garbage has countries scrambling to find new places to send trash—with India and Pakistan at the top of the list. For Pakistani-born Hassan Murad and Indian national Vivek Vyas, both grads of SFU, solving the waste crisis is personal. After cofounding the startup Intuitive AI, the pair used their knowledge of artificial intelligence from internships at heavyweight companies like Tesla and International Submarine Engineering to come up with an innovative solution. “When you walk up to a bin, you see four or five options to recycle,” Murad tells the Georgia Straight by phone during a break between investor meetings in Toronto. “You look at the labels, and they’re really confusing. One might show a coffee cup, but then the sticker on the product might say it’s compostable. And then you get more confused if there’s still liquid or something else inside. That’s why we created Oscar, an AI sensor that attaches to any bin.” Named after trash-loving Sesame Street character Oscar the Grouch,

the technology uses a camera and ultrasonic sensor to see a person approaching a trash can. Intuitive AI’s algorithm then focuses on the items they have in their hand, predicts with very high accuracy what the piece of garbage is, and tells the person via a small screen the correct section of the bin to put it in. The system is sophisticated enough to determine the component parts of each item—so, in the case of a coffee cup, Oscar nudges an indi-

It’s like a little child that we’ve created, with thousands and thousands of data points – Hassan Murad, CEO of Intuitive AI

vidual to throw away the sleeve, cup, and lid in different openings. “As you’re walking up, about five, six metres away, the AI starts predicting,” Murad says. “It’s like a little child that we’ve created, with thousands and thousands of data points. We’ve had to train it very, very quickly by showing it millions of images and pieces of sensor data so that it can recognize that even though the banana you’re holding has gone brown, it’s still a banana and needs to go in the compost bin.”

On top of their creation’s obvious social impact, the pair believe that big money can be made by sorting trash more efficiently. Not only can the camera see exactly what items are entering a bin—a way for a company to save up to $10,000 on the process of auditing its waste— it can also identify the branding on the packaging. The pair hope to leverage that data to work with fast-food and coffee-shop giants to offer coupons to those who use Oscar to recycle. But the company’s biggest profits, they believe, will come from optimizing waste removal in large institutions. “Recycling properly saves money,” Murad says. “It saves the building money, the city money, and the taxpayer money. Take airports, for example. Janitorial staff map their routine of cleaning out bins based on inbound and outbound f lights. With Oscar, if it sees a big inf low of garbage or a lot of people passing by, it tells them that they need to look at those particular gates. That’s very important when you have 200 janitors who are spending 40 percent of their time cleaning out garbage bins. And it’s the same in malls or universities.” The Vancouver company is already fielding offers. More than 60 businesses, Murad says, have expressed interest in buying or piloting Oscar, including Fortune 500 brands. Before they make their technology available to the public, however, the pair want to make sure it is as accurate as it can be. “More than 80 percent of waste in developed countries can be recycled on a daily basis, but only one percent is,” Murad says. “This is a way to change that.”

> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < PUSHING YOUR CART MADLY AT NO FRILLS ON SUNDAY

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 9, 2018 WHERE: No Frills on Fraser Pushing your cart madly at No Frills on Sunday. Well, not quite as madly as I pretended you were. You have long red hair, are athletic, and were wearing jeans that showed who you were. You know who I am.

CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU. YALETOWN BREW CO.

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 8, 2018 WHERE: Yaletown Brewing Co. I was there with my friends, you were there with yours. You: sitting right across the bar where I was standing practically the entire time. I kept looking over and at one point we locked eyes for a while, you smiled I smiled back. I wanted to say hi, however I didn’t want to intrude as you were deep in conversation. I’ve never regretted anything my entire life until last night, which brings me here. I want to get to know you, walk with you, talk with you. There was just something about you that I can't explain; simply charming.

MORNING 211 BUS DRIVER - CHRIS

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 29, 2018 WHERE: Driving Toward Burrard Station

SALT AT BON’S

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 8, 2018 WHERE: Bon’s Off Broadway There were two of you at your table. I’d met eyes with one of you once or twice so I suspect it was you who noticed me scoping out other tables for a salt shaker, but maybe the one who noticed was the one who passed yours over to us... Whoever it was, I really respect how observant you were and I really appreciate your action. The salt took an already glorious meal to the next level. It’s 2018 and I understand not all kindness equals flirting but just in case - it’s worth noting that despite appearances, my lunch partner was not a date. Keep on being awesome either way, though! Thanks again.

14/10

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 6, 2018 WHERE: Downtown & Kitsilano Bumping backs on the crowed 14 this evening, your quiet demeanur caught my eye. When we finally sat beside each other I couldn't come up with any words to say to you. Then, I could feel your eyes watching me as I got off the bus. So... looks like we're in the same neighbourhood. Coffee?

DAZZLING DRESS ON THE #22

I saw you for the first time on the #27; you were my driver. We flirted daily but I was too shy to say anything and then you disappeared. I was secretly hoping that you would ask me out. I kept kicking myself for not engaging you in conversation but then I chanced upon you two weeks before your route ended on #95 in August of this year. I managed to introduce myself and again, you disappeared without warning. I have spotted you driving the 211 since October and keep thinking of you. I don't think that you read these, but I keep hoping that we will meet again and that I won't be so tongue-tie.

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 29, 2018 WHERE: 22 Bus I see you on the #22 often. Often too crowded for small talk, but I really wanted to comment on that amazing dress you were wearing that day. Gorgeous. Let’s chat sometime.

CONVEX MIRRORS

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 3, 2018 WHERE: New Westminster You were the installer attending our parking garage. I liked your demeanor and our brief interaction. If you are single... coffee?

MAIN & 14TH THEN AT BREWERY CREEK

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 8, 2018 WHERE: Main Street I saw you and your dog at the intersection of Main & 14th then again at a Brewery Creek. You were with your dad? You had a toothpick in your mouth, we made final eye contact and I smiled at you as you were standing at the door, about to leave. You have warm eyes and I found something attractive about your energey. I saw you and I'd like to see you again.

WOMAN ON THE #3 MAIN BUS

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 3, 2018 WHERE: Main and 12th Avenue We ran into each other getting on the #3 Main bus earlier tonight at Main and Hastings. You got off at Main and 12th Avenue. As we sat across from each other, we exchanged a few glances. After you got off the bus, we continued the glances through the bus window. If my stop wasn’t so far away I would have got off the bus to say hello to you!

AT THE SANDS

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 1, 2018 WHERE: Downtown We danced and had such a good time. You had to leave before I could get your number. Such a shame.

SSI-VIC

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 1, 2018 WHERE: Fulford-Swartz Bay Ferry J: Dec 1, morning ferry from Fulford-Swartz Bay. Near the end of the trip you got a bit worried you were on the wrong boat the trip went so fast. We chatted on the boat, I showed you the ‘shortcut’ to upstairs, then we chatted more outside while we were waiting for our connections. Wish I’d passed along my number. S

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HOROSCOPE

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ercury, freshly into Sagittarius, sets buying, selling, performing, travelling, and fun into a fuller swing. Having just now transitioned out of Scorpio’s dark tunnel, this is a game-for-it, inspirational, and positive-thinking transit. Through the start of the new year, Mercury has the potential to bring good news or better results. The big day is fast approaching. It will be over in a f lash, too. Looking beyond the holidays, Mercury in Sagittarius focuses added attention on the future and its prospects. Jupiter in Sagittarius, a recently launched one-year transit, is already on the mission. Thanks to Jupiter’s relationship to Neptune for the better portion of the year ahead, there is a big question mark drawn on the front door. While the unknown can keep fear and insecurity going strong, the future is never written in stone. It is up for creative design. We stand to gain when we look for the light rather than the dark. Wherever you go, travel hopefully. That is not to say that we should place blind faith in the unknown or in others, but by staying “open for business” and maintaining a philosophy that all things are possible, potentials and opportunities will naturally expand. We also gain a more active hand in designing reality. Today’s investment is your best wager on tomorrow’s gain. Thursday to Saturday midday, it is easy to get lost in the moment. The moon transiting Pisces can make time evaporate. Saturday evening through Monday, the Aries moon picks up the pace. Aim for straightforward and quick. Tuesday/Wednesday, go easy on it and on yourself

LEO

July 22–August 22

Keep plans open-ended Thursday/Friday and don’t hesitate to cancel out or let it go if it isn’t f lowing with ease. Saturday through Monday, the moon in Aries loans you an ability to get a better lock on it. Mercury, freshly into Sagittarius, provides you with a positive boost. You’ll have no trouble making the most of it, for them and for you.

VIRGO

August 22–September 22

Mercury, freshly into Sagittarius, is on the final stretch to the holidays. Whether you are going all out this year or look to avoid the big deal, you can’t help but find yourself in the thick of it. Try not to pile it up on yourself with too much looking back or forward. Thursday onward, the stars are onto a smooth go.

LIBRA

September 22–October 23

You’ll find yourself even more on the go thanks to Mercury freshly into Sagittarius. The lineups are longer; the traffic is heavier; the crowds are everywhere; and the expense is on the increase. Even so, it’s not with the kind of tension that is so typical of this time of year. In fact, the week ahead should keep you moving along quite well.

SCORPIO

October 23–November 21

Venus continues in Scorpio, but Mercury has just moved on. Both keep you in the good books with those you love and those you serve. What you put out and what you get back, yes, it’s a win-win. Thursday to Saturday, your stars are optimized for going with the ARIES f low and making the most of it. March 20–April 19 Time evaporates. Sunday/Monday You’ll pick up better speed keeps you going strong. regarding plans, activities, and SAGITTARIUS communication tracks while MerNovember 21–December 21 cury tenants Sagittarius (through It doesn’t take long for you the start of January). Saturday through Monday, your batting to make a comeback. Mercury in average is as good as it gets, thanks Sagittarius supplies you with an to the transiting moon in Aries. energy boost, although Thursday Tuesday/Wednesday, take your time; to Saturday you may feel in the stay the course. As you can, clear mood to hang out rather than to get the clutter and get ready for a full- at it. Save the full steam ahead for Saturday night through Monday, sprint January. when you’ll feel better ready to dive TAURUS into it. A (mostly) smooth-going April 20–May 20 week lies ahead. Thursday/Friday are easyCAPRICORN going. The moon in Pisces keeps December 21–January 19 inspiration, action, and conversaMercury in Sagittarius can tion running along a f luid track. Saturday through Monday, you’ll inf luence you in one of two ways: have more get-up-and-go. Tues- either it can further immerse you day/Wednesday are your best for even deeper into the holiday exmaking the most of it. Venus and tras or it can see you ready to put Mercury still have further to go your getaway plan into action. No before you feel you have a clearer matter what you have on the go, sense of it or them. Continue to go the stars keep you moving along at a good pace for this next week. by feel.

GEMINI

May 21–June 21

Whether you travel for the holidays or not, you will be going more places and seeing more faces in the coming weeks. Mercury’s advance into Sagittarius creates a shift of attention or momentum. While you still have plenty to get at, you can find that you don’t have to work at it quite as hard, that things take on a life of their own.

CANCER

June 21–July 22

Feeling overwhelmed or uncertain of what comes next? Something can be growing beyond your control. Try not to let fear-based emotions get the better of you. Attitude is everything. If you want to rewrite the future, put your best effort into the here and now. Thursday/Friday, go with the f low. Saturday through Monday, simple and quick does the trick. Tuesday/Wednesday, put creativity into play. 18 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

DECEMBER 13 TO 19, 2018

AQUARIUS

January 20–February 18

Whether to do with moneymaking or making the most of socializing, fun, and time off, Mercury in Sagittarius sets you up to cash in on the best that December has to offer. On a cautionary note, it’s easy to overspend or overdo it. Now through most of the week ahead, your timing and intuition serve you well.

PISCES

February 18–March 20

The moon in Pisces makes for a smooth go of it Thursday through Saturday. Let the creative muses play or simply let the day run on its own. Saturday night through Monday, you’ll be ready for more action. To Wednesday, go at your own pace but aim to get your shopping done to avoid the lastminute crunch.

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

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22 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

ousing precarity isn’t an abstract term to Vancouver poet, editor, and writer Chelene Knight. Her memoir, Dear Current Occupant, recounts growing up in 20 different homes in the form of letters to people now living in those dwellings. On December 8, this riveting work that is tinged with optimism was honoured with the City of Vancouver Book Award. Knight, programming director of the Growing Room festival, received the award at the Vancouver Public Library’s central branch, along with a $3,000 cash prize. The other finalists were Georgia Straight writer Travis Lupick (Fighting for Space), Erín Moure (Sitting Shiva on Minto Avenue, by Toots), and Rachel Rose (Sustenance: Writers From B.C. and Beyond on the Subject of Food). In a news release, the city’s general manager of arts, culture, and community services, Sandra Singh, noted that Vancouver has a “deep and connected literary community…that brings forth rich and diverse voices”. “With the Book Award at its 30th year, we continue to champion creativity and connection through stories that encourage reflection in ourselves,

our communities, and our shared city,” Singh said. The first winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award was Paul Yee for Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver. Other winners have included Wayson Choy for his landmark novel about growing up in Strathcona, The Jade Peony, and Downtown Eastside poet Bud Osborn for Keys to the Kingdom. Knight, managing editor of the feminist journal Room, spent time in a multitude of neighbourhoods as she grew up, including the Downtown Eastside, where her mother still lives. In Dear Current Occupant, Knight writes about how much she worried about her mom. “There are so many stories of struggle and abuse and neglect,” she told Lupick in an interview with the Straight earlier this year. “I think that a lot of young girls think, ‘Well, that’s my path. This is what I’ve seen, this is the way I grew up, and this is the only way to go.’ “I’m showing folks that, ‘Yes, this is kind of rough stuff, but…there is light at the end of the tunnel. You can go through all of these things and still be bloody amazing.’ ”

food

For Christmas baking, keep it simple by Gail Johnson

Left to right: Elena Krasnova of Burnaby’s Mon Paris Patisserie, Remi Ho of Origo Club, and Steven Hodge of Temper offer tips on holiday baking. Elena Krasnova photo by Erich Saide; Remi Ho photo by Amy Ho

hile Elena Krasnova was growing up in Volgograd in what was then the Soviet Union, there were no such things as buttery croissants for breakfast or elegant chocolates for dessert, items she now crafts daily at her Burnaby pastry shop, Mon Paris Patisserie. It was during the perestroika period, a time of economic chaos, and bare necessities were scarce. At home during the holidays, however, there was cake—always cake. “At Christmas, we always had Russian Napoleon cake,” Krasnova says on the line from her shop. “It’s like the French millefeuille cake, only we use puff pastry and pastry cream. Every house made it a little bit differently. It was a big part of the holidays.” With up to 16 layers in the Russian version, a Napoleon cake is not a last-minute dessert, nor one that tops the list among home bakers pressed for time during the lead-up to the holidays or who are just learning to make sugar cookies. Holiday baking, however, is for many people as integral to the festive season as Advent calendars and stocking stuffers. Here, Krasnova and other top local culinary talents share their tips on how to bake your way to a delicious Christmas. Although she carries delicacies like bûches de Noël and milk-chocolate Rudolphs at this time of year, Krasnova says gingerbread men and women remain one of the most popular treats. She urges people not to be intimidated by making the royal icing used to decorate them. “It’s very easy, just egg whites and icing sugar,” she says. “Be sure to have the egg at room temperature before you add your icing sugar. Whip it until it’s good for piping.” Shortbread is a great go-to for novice bakers because it’s so straightforward; the classic recipe has just three ingredients: butter, icing sugar, and flour. “It’s a very easy recipe to make,” Krasnova says. “Then you can play around with it: you can add pistachios, cranberries, hazelnuts, different kinds of dried fruit, or chocolate.” Most cookie dough can be made ahead of time and frozen until you’re ready to decorate and bake, Krasnova says; it’s even better if you can gather the family together to make it a group effort. For accuracy and consistency in baking, she suggests using kitchen scales rather than measuring cups and spoons. And as any pro will tell you, use high-quality ingredients for better-tasting goods. Above all, keep it simple. “Have fun with it,” Krasnova says. “Don’t stress yourself out. On Instagram, people tend to go overboard. Just use little decorating accents. The trend is ‘Less is more.’ ”

Ryan McDonald, executive chef at Urban Fare, agrees that attempting to replicate what you see on social media can lead to baking disaster. “Avoid everything on Pinterest,” he says with a laugh. For best results, cut butter into cubes and leave them on the counter for two to three hours before using so that they reach room temperature. “Otherwise, you end up with dense dough,” McDonald says. He also prefers to use fresh rather than frozen berries, as the latter can add liquid to batter and lead to less impressive results. It’s okay to take creative shortcuts, too, McDonald says. In recipes that call for cream, swap eggnog (which he does when making Christmasbreakfast French toast out of brioche or panettone); in those that call for maple syrup, consider adding spices such as anise or nutmeg. Christmas dessert at his house calls for pie: banana cream, apple, and cherry, all made by his mom, an avid baker. “Make the dessert the day before,” he says. “Anything you can do the day before, do it. You always think you’ll have enough time and enough room, but you never do.” CHEF CAREN MCSHERRY, who owns Gourmet Warehouse, says simplicity is where it’s at. By no means does doing away with ornate decorations or extravagant desserts mean that you or your guests will be any less delighted. For example, she makes classic butter cookies, which consist of sugar, flour, and vanilla. (See Straight.com for recipe.) Rather than using cookie cutters, she uses a piping bag to squeeze out little logs about the size of her pinkie finger onto a cookie sheet. Once they’re done baking, she dips the ends in melted white chocolate and toasted pistachios. “Ditch the sucky star shape,” she adds. “And ditch the freaking fruitcake; it’s so 100 years ago. Those chemically coloured fruit are nasty.” If you’d like to serve tarts but don’t have the time or inclination to make your own pastry, buy frozen ones, ideally from a local shop like Tartine Bread and Pies, McSherry suggests. “Pastry is one of the hardest things to do, and people shy away from stuff they can’t make. “Get the empty shells, get a great jar of lemon curd, one made with butter,” she says. “Take a cup of lemon curd and a cup of Italian mascarpone; dollop that into prepared shells and put a blackberry or blueberry or raspberry on top of each one. Or crush up amaretti biscuits and mix together with mascarpone for a little bit of texture. Dollop that into the shells, put sliced bananas over the top, and about an hour before serving, put dried sugar on top and brûlée it. A lot of people have a kitchen torch they’ve never used.”

If you have an affinity for stollen, a German home bakers that their creations need not achieve fruit-and-nut loaf, McSherry suggests purchas- aesthetic perfection. ing it from a reputable place like Thomas Haas “Focus on the taste and not the look,” Ho Chocolates or Temper Chocolate and Pastry says. “Don’t worry about what your baking rather than adding something so time-consum- looks like but how it tastes in your mouth. Use ing to your to-do list. “Don’t feel bad about buy- great ingredients.” ing things,” she says. “Just get the best quality so Gizelle Paré, East Van Roasters’ pastry chef they don’t taste like shite.” and head chocolatier, says food and baking Another easy treat from McSherry’s arsenal have always been at the centre of all family that’s guaranteed to please: corn flakes with gatherings, her mom being Chinese from Peru toasted, slivered almonds and melted chocolate. and her dad French-Canadian. She recalls Stir it all together, put teaspoon-size growing up helping her mom make drops on parchment paper, and, alfajores, which are dulce de just before the chocolate is set, leche sandwich cookies. sprinkle some gold flake on These days, she often top. “People love these,” finds herself cravMcSherry says. (See ing cake during the Straight.com for recipe.) holidays. “I’ll usuAlthough Christally make some kind mas dessert at her of coffee cake that home might involve isn’t too sweet or something on the complicated that I lighter side—such as can enjoy with a cup plum pudding, crème of tea,” she tells the – Remi Ho caramel, or lemon Straight. tarts—McSherry loves Paré loves to bake the idea of putting out a cookies to give away big plate of cookies. Guests as gifts; chewy gingercan take as many or as few as molasses cookies are always they like, and it’s not an overbearon her list, as she finds gingering dessert. bread cookies too dry. “Put the cookies on Grandma’s silver platCookies and squares are great for beginner ter, with greenery or pine cones between the bakers to start with since the methods are usualrows,” she says. “Always make sure to have a ly uncomplicated and the recipes forgiving, Paré glass of port or Sauternes with it. It’s a good says. Skilled bakers will have more options, espeway to relax after turkey dinner.” cially if they can successfully make puff pastry. Temper chef-owner Steven Hodge has a pas- Regardless of what level you’re at, her advice is to sion for cookies too, especially ginger and linzer give a baking session the time it requires rather cookies. Having grown up helping his mom than rushing through it. bake, he remembers apple pie being served dur“Whenever you’re tackling a new recipe it’s ing the holidays. This year, he’ll likely have stol- important first to read the recipe all the way len and panettone on hand at home. through before beginning,” Paré says. “That “For beginner bakers, keep it simple, like al- way you can organize yourself, making sure mond shortbread,” Hodge says. “You can make there are no hidden steps that you may be different shapes, and all you need to do is coat it overlooking and that you have all the necesin granulated sugar. It’s amazing with milk or tea. sary ingredients and tools. “For advanced bakers, try to make a chocolate “If you’re an advanced baker, the sky is the yule log,” he says. “The key is making a sponge limit,” she says. “Dare to experiment and try that is thin so it’s easy to roll the cream in. Dust it new recipes. There are so many resources and with icing sugar and shaved chocolate.” instructional videos out there, you can make relatively anything at home. Try making some REMI HO, pastry chef at Origo Club in Rich- canelés. But be patient, especially if you’ve never mond, loves making bûches de Noël as well, made these recipes before. They may require a saying they’re as important to a holiday meal as few attempts before you get them right. turkey itself. He loves the technical side of pastry“For me, holiday baking is all about spreadmaking, with galettes des rois—a frangipane tart ing joy to my friends and family,” Paré notes. with pastry, butter, and ground almonds—being “Whatever you make, make it with love and it another festive favourite. That said, he reassures will be well received.”

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Kitchen gifts for gadget lovers by Tammy Kwan

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Top row, left to right: Le Creuset’s Mickey Mouse French oven; Joseph Joseph’s Shell digital scale; All Clad’s 6.5-quart slow cooker. Bottom row, left to right: Marcato’s Atlas pasta machine; Dash rapid egg cooker; Cuisinart’s stainless-steel ice-cream maker.

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DISNEY MAGIC

THE

OPEN

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2015

ost people who are reading this story may have moved past the concept of Santa and his bag full of toys, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get the same giddy excitement in our veins when opening up a holiday gift— especially when it’s an item that you’ve had in your online shopping cart for the past three months. If you know an aficionado or two of the culinary arts, we’ve rounded up a few items that may even score you invites to some tasty home-cooked meals. From a slow cooker to a pasta machine, here are six kitchen gadgets that make great gifts.

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They say the kitchen is where the magic happens, and we don’t disagree. If you know a few hobby chefs obsessed with cooking and a bit of Disney, go for Le Creuset’s Mickey Mouse round French oven ($399). The famed French cookware company has partnered up with one of the world’s biggest brands to create this whimsical enamelled castiron product. Bright red and adorned with Mickey-shaped embellishments and a stainless-steel knob, this cookware is ideal for slow cooking, braising, and roasting. We can guarantee that die-hard lovers of the house of mouse will appreciate this gift, even if they rarely whip up meals. Find it online at www.lecreuset.ca/. PRECISE MEASUREMENTS

Ever make a dish that didn’t taste quite right because you decided to measure the ingredients by hand? To avoid potential culinary disasters, go for Joseph Joseph’s Shell compact digital scale ($79.98). This sleek and

futuristic-looking product features an integrated measuring bowl, LCD display, and various controls. Convenient for weighing liquids, solids, and multiple ingredients at once, this versatile gift will make baking and cooking much more efficient. Who knows? You may even receive a batch of holiday cookies in return. Find it at Ming Wo (various locations). COOKING SLOW

There’s nothing better than coming home to a fully prepared meal such as garlic-Parmesan chicken, buffalo ranch wings, or paella—all of which can be easily made with one specific cookware item. Give the gift of culinary ease with All Clad’s 6.5-quart slow cooker ($189.99), which comes with a black ceramic insert and digital display. Fully programmable and dishwashersafe, this popular product can slowly cook everything from appetizers to entrées to desserts. Once you wrap up this baby, the hardest part will be deciding whether to keep it for yourself or become another person’s favourite gift giver. Find it at the Gourmet Warehouse (1340 East Hastings Street). FRESH PASTA

Italian-food lovers will agree that fresh pasta is the Holy Grail, thanks to that cuisine’s large array of gourmet offerings. Marcato’s Atlas Wellness 150 pasta machine ($99) is likely on many food lovers’ wish lists—made with light alloy, its aluminum rollers don’t release heavy metals and resist corrosion. This cookware can create everything from fettuccine to ravioli to lasagna, which can definitely impress guests. It simultaneously serves

Tree of Giving

UNTIL Dec. 22

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Extensive Wine & Bar List 1830 Fir St. Vancouver | 604.736.9559

Pick a card from the Tree of Giving at Kingsgate Mall and help make a needy child’s wish come true this Christmas! Without your help, so many dreams will go unanswered. Take a card from the tree located near Mark’s – it tells you the age and gender of the child and their special interests. Find a suitable gift and place it (unwrapped) in our Tree of Giving House with a the card attached. Our elves will ensure it is delivered in time to create Christmas memories. Thanks to the generosity of our community over 1,200 gifts were collected last year.

24 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

VERSATILE EGGS

Know an egg-obsessed individual? Surprise them with the Dash rapid egg cooker ($28) in a fun aqua hue, which can add a bit of charisma to dull-looking kitchens. We wonder why this invention—known to cook perfect eggs in less time than needed to boil water—hasn’t gone mainstream. Equipped with a boiling tray that can hold up to six eggs, and a separate nonstick poaching tray that can poach two eggs, this is a versatile goody that can also make omelettes and scrambled eggs. Receivers of this gift will never be able to cook eggs the old way again. Find it online at www.chapters.indigo.ca/. FROZEN DESSERT

Ice cream never goes out of season, and Vancouverites often attest to that fact by eating frozen treats around town even when the temperature drops below zero. Cuisinart’s stainless-steel ice-cream maker ($99.95) is the perfect gift for frozen-dessert fanatics and can create everything from ice cream to frozen yogurt to sorbet. It features a doublewalled insulated freezer bowl and can make two quarts of frozen treats in a single batch. A clear-plastic lid at the top allows for mix-ins like nuts and chocolate chips, and recipes are also included. What better way to say “Happy holidays” than with a present that practically screams “Make me some ice cream!”?

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as a great arm workout, because it features a hand-operated cutter that will require the user to exert energy. Find it at Cook Culture (various locations).

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FOOD

Exclusive wines for the big day

by Kurtis Kolt

’m all for decadent holiday feasting. I love all of it, and the more old-school, the better. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, roasted Brussels sprouts, carrots, and gravy, gravy, gravy! This, of course, is the latter course of a day that will likely start with a greasy fry-up for breakfast, followed by nonstop noshing on cheese, charcuterie, nuts, Toffifees, After Eights, and anything else within arm’s reach. Due to the nature of the day, I’m generally inclined to opt for refreshing, lively wines to counter all of that richness and culinary debauchery. A little elegance and freshness can go a long way. Also, since these holidays are indeed a special occasion, I’m going a bit deeper into the ol’ wallet. Sparkling wine should always be on hand this time of year, no? LaurentPerrier Cuvée Rosé NV (Champagne, France; $95.99 for 750 millilitres, on sale for $91.99 through December 29, or $229.99 for the 1.5-litre format) is a consistently tasty pink fizz made from 100 percent Grand Cru Pinot Noir. A bit of a rarity when it come to rosé Champagne, its colour and style come from 48 to 72 hours of skin contact during the winemaking process. It’s aged on the lees for five years (six years if you’re springin’ for the magnum), and there’s a lovely creaminess to it, with rose petals and brioche mingling in the aromatics, then a palate basking in huckleberries, Rainier cherries, and raspberries, with a pinch of nutmeg and a kiss of basil. Any salty or fried hors d’oeuvres will hit the spot. While we’re thinking pink, a recent entry to the local rosé market is Culmina Family Estate Winery Bobbie Burgers Rosé 2017 (Okanagan Valley, B.C.; $35). Okay, real talk: this is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it opportunity.

To celebrate Culmina’s five-year anniversary, the Triggs family proprietors collaborated with famed British Columbian artist Bobbie Burgers to create a label featuring her hallmark lively floral bursts. The bottle is gorgeous, and so is what’s inside: 100 percent single-vineyard Cabernet Franc provides plenty of red fruit, which is rounded out by ripe peaches, blood orange, and a smudge of lime leaf. What ups the game here is nine months spent in French oak, which rounds things out with a light toasty note and a kiss of vanilla. My wife commented that this is a rosé that fans of white Burgundy would be attracted to: well-built, stunning fruit, and perfectly integrated oak. This is as limited-edition as it gets: only one barrel was made, and it’s only available at the winery. Another exclusive, much closer to home, is Ochota Barrels “Texture Like Sun” 2018 (Adelaide Hills, Australia; $49.99 for 750 millilitres or $124.99 for the 1.5-litre format), which is only available at Kitsilano Wine Cellar. This charismatic blend of Pinot Noir, Grenache, Gamay, Mourvèdre, Pinot Meunier, Gewürztraminer, Fragola, Riesling, and Chardonnay somehow harnesses the best attributes of each variety, culminating in an electricpink wine bursting with Gala apple, pomelo, red currants, lingonberry, Italian plums, and a hint of fresh thyme. Shimmering in the glass, with cracking minerality and juicy acidity, this is certainly a wine to keep things merry and bright. While we’re here: Kits Wine Cellar has the exclusive for the whole Ochota Barrels lineup available in B.C. Whether we’re talking Gamay, Pinot Meunier, or any other of the colourful labels in winemaker Taras Ochota’s lineup, I recommend the whole slate.

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS & MORE!

D rink OF THE WEEK TOUTED AS a health tonic a few centuries ago, flips make up a class of cocktails that today’s mixologists love to tinker with. “This velvetysmooth, creamy holiday libation is an homage to the 1600s, when sailors would drink a mixture of sugar, rum, and beer heated up, giving it the frothy consistency that the modern-day flip uses egg to achieve,” says Chiara Fung, premium bartender at the Westin Bayshore’s H Tasting Lounge. “The Nutcracker black tea infuses flavours of hazelnut and sweet vanilla into the cocktail, working with the nutmeg to create a festive sip with a rich, chocolate-y finish.” 0.5 oz Bulleit rye 0.5 oz Sailor Jerry spiced rum 0.5 oz cane syrup 0.5 oz Tealeaves Nutcracker tea 3 dashes Ms. Better’s chocolate bitters Whole egg Mix all ingredients in a shaker glass, add a full scoop of ice, and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Double-strain into a martini glass and garnish with nutmeg. by Gail Johnson

VOTING CLOSES ON DECEMBER 21ST Vote now and enter to win a two-night getaway to Victoria courtesy of Helijet and the Fairmont Empress. Prizing for two includes: round-trip airfare, accommodations and afternoon tea. Visit straight.com for details

2019

DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 25

TICKETS:

.ca

604-876-3434 COMING UP AT THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY

FRI/ SAT

FROM JOHN HUGHES

HOME ALONE®

IN CONCERT: FILM WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA Watch the holiday classic on the big screen at the Orpheum with the VSO playing John Williams’ beautiful score live.

FESTIVE CANTATAS

A MONTEVERDI CHRISTMAS VESPERS

David Fallis music director

DEC A TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS 12–22 VARIOUS VENUES & TIMES

The Lower Mainland’s most beloved music tradition, the VSO’s Traditional Christmas concerts, feature heartwarming music associated with Christmas, carols, and plenty of audience sing-alongs.

IN CONCERT: FILM WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA

DEC VIVALDI’S FOUR SEASONS! 21-23 Hailed as one of the most significant artists of his generation, young American violinist Benjamin Beilman makes his VSO debut leading a performance of Vivaldi’s timeless classic, The Four Seasons, in an enduring VSO Holiday Season tradition.

JAN 1

SALUTE TO VIENNA NEW YEAR’S CONCERT

STRAUSS SYMPHONY OF CANADA FEATURING THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY Usher in the New Year with Vancouver’s beloved 23 year tradition of waltzes, polkas and operetta hits with European singers, ballroom dancers and ballet.

JAN WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’: 11/12 FROM SWING TO ROCK

VSO POPS Trace the musical path from the golden age of swing through the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, including chart-topping hits by Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. You’ll be In the Mood to Sing Sing Sing!

VSO AT THE MOVIES PRESENTED BY

THE VSO’S TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CONCERTS HAVE BEEN ENDOWED BY A GENEROUS GIFT FROM SHEAHAN AND GERALD MCGAVIN, C.M., O.B.C.

SUPPORT AT THE CHAN CENTRE BY

SALUTE TO VIENNA PRESENTED BY

26 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

VSO POPS SERIES SPONSOR

VSO POPS RADIO SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSOR

AT THE CHAN CENTRE

DEC23 "Nothing less than splendid, one of the best musical treats of the holiday season." Vancouver Sun

Tickets from $36 | earlymusic.bc.ca rlym | 604.822.2697 This concert is generously supported by the Drance Family and Sharon E. Kahn

arts Arts

HOT TICKET

The harmonies behind Home Alone

Conductor Julian Pellicano joins the VSO to highlight John Williams’s essential movie score by Mike Usinger

MIXED NUTS (December

14 to 16 at the Vancouver Playhouse) If you love dance and prefer your traditions with a twist, check out Arts Umbrella’s annual extravaganza, in which it deconstructs and reimagines The Nutcracker. Think everything from pointe shoes to hip-hop and ballroom, with as many surprises as your Christmas-morning stocking.

GOOD TIDINGS! A GOOD NOISE GOSPEL CHRISTMAS (December

14 and 15 at Christ Church Cathedral, December 17 at St. John’s Shaughnessy Church) The 90-voice Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir celebrates its 15th season by welcoming jazz-blues singer Maureen Washington to its seasonal show. Prepare for rafter-shaking renditions of “O Holy Night”, “Joy to the World”, and the Staples Singers’ “Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas.” Don’t plan to stay seated.

MUSIC IN THE MORNING

(December 12 and 13 at 10:30 a.m. at Koerner Recital Hall at the Vancouver Academy of Music, and December 14 at 11:30 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral. “Mesmerizing”, “moving”, and “impeccable” are just some of the words that pop up in reviews of Sarajevo-born, New York City–based pianist Pedja Muzijevic. He’s in town this week to give Vancouverites a taste of his versatility, virtuosity, and interpretive skills. Among the program’s highlights: three of Domenico Scarlatti’s colourful sonatas and Robert Schumann’s kaleidoscopic Carnaval.

Winnipeg conductor Julian Pellicano (left) figures he’s seen the classic Christmas comedy Home Alone (starring Macaulay Culkin, right) more than 40 times.

hanks partly to his being an in-demand conductor, and partly to his being a father of two small children, Julian Pellicano figures that he’s seen Home Alone somewhere in the neighbourhood of 40 times. His love for the John Hughes–penned holiday season classic—which dates back to his own childhood—is as a result multifaceted. “I was 10 years old when it came out, so I thought it was hilarious and amazing,” Pellicano says, on the line from his home base of Winnipeg. “I now have two kids myself—my oldest daughter is eight and she thinks it’s just the funniest thing. This will be my third time doing a run of concerts with his movie as a matter of learning it and conducting performances, and I’m certainly not sick of watching it.” And a big reason for that is the music. While most of us tend to associate the film with Macaulay Culkin’s famous aftershave scene or his shooting Joe Pesci in the nutty buddies with a pellet gun, for Pellicano the work of legendary composer John Williams is as essential to the movie as the slapstick humour. He’ll be leading the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in recreating Williams’s score when Home

Alone screens as part of the upcoming VSO at the Movies series. “I don’t know if people really think of the music from Home Alone in the same way that some of the other John Williams scores—the music from Star Wars or E.T.—are so iconic,” says Pellicano, the resident conductor at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. “But what he brings to this film, which is kind of a cute Christmas movie, is the same level of skill and artistry that he brings to his more famous works. You’ll hear that in the score. It’s really ingenious in the way that it’s constructed—the orchestration is spectacular. That it’s such great, highquality music is one of the reasons why orchestras love doing this movie.” After getting his start playing everything from grassroots world music to punk rock as a percussionist, Pellicano went on to study at schools including the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and the Yale School of Music. His career trajectory has seen him perform around the globe, lead workshops for young classical students in Canada and the U.S., oversee operas like The Marriage of Figaro, and collaborate with the worldrenowned Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

What he brings to this film is the same level of skill and artistry that he brings to his more famous work. – Julian Pellicano

He is also no stranger to turning well-loved movies into livemusic spectacles, having led orchestras to classics ranging from Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights to The Wizard of Oz to E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial. For those unfamiliar with how the performances work, films are screened in versions with the orchestra tracks removed. Those parts are then filled back in by live performers. “So the whole idea is to try and get a good balance between the

orchestra and the dialogue,” Pellicano explains. “If we do it right, you kind of end up really focusing on the film. When they are married together it becomes a really great experience—you aren’t necessarily distracted from the film. Obviously, there’s an orchestra on-stage, but I hear from audience members who say ‘I was so engrossed in watching the film, and then I noticed that there were 80 musicians on-stage and they sounded amazing.’ “Sometimes you end up going back and forth between the film and the orchestra,” he continues. “With these performances you kind of become aware of what it takes to have all this music in a movie. What I always hope and what I’m trying to do is have an audience be aware of how much the music really adds to a film. Cinema is one of the main places where people hear orchestras regularly. These shows really raise an awareness that what you hear is music being made by live musicians, not by some machine.”

The VSO at the Movies brings Home Alone to the Orpheum on Friday and Saturday (December 14 and 15).

Winter Harp marks 25 with sea sounds

by Alexander Varty

inger, songwriter, harp virtuoso, flutist, record producer: Lori Pappajohn has excelled in many roles during her 25-year tenure as leader of Vancouver’s Winter Harp, best known for its annual celebrations of Christmas and the solstice season. And with the release of the band’s 14th CD, Call of the Sea, she’s added yet another accomplishment to her résumé: swimsuit model. But it’s no ordinary bathing costume that she’s wearing on the cover of the new record, shot on a pristine Hawaiian beach. Instead, it’s a scarlet mermaid’s tail, as elegant as a ball gown and a whole lot more practical. If, that is, you’re a swimmer. “Have you ever tried a monofin?” Pappajohn says from her home in New Westminster, referring to the sleek fishtails worn by competitive free divers. “They’re fantastic. Instead of just snorkelling on the surface, you can go right down so fast. And you get down there, and you’re just swimming face to face with the little fish and the octopus and the turtles and everything. And ’cause we had these monofins, I said ‘Well, why don’t we have a mermaid tail?’ And when I Googled ‘mermaid’, I was just amazed.” Pappajohn was pleased to discover that she wasn’t alone in her undersea fantasy, and set about making herself a set of more elegant diving costumes, in red, magenta, and emerald

Harpist Lori Pappajohn attempts to summon the magic of an oceanic encounter on Call of the Sea.

green. And once she started spending more time underwater—singing and playing flute, she notes, help her to hold her breath for up to two-and-a-half minutes—she discovered that she needed a soundtrack. Thus Call of the Sea was born, after an almost five-year gestation. “I had to keep putting it aside, because I was always doing Christmas CDs,” she allows. “So we’d put it aside, and we’d put it aside, and then this year I said ‘Okay, we’re finishing this up.’ ”

The end product is suitably immersive—and as romantic as that cover shot of Pappajohn on the Maui sand, if not quite as otherworldly as the CD’s gatefold spread of the musician swimming with a pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins. “Usually the dolphins are in one area, and you can just go hang with them,” she says. “But not that day: they were on the move. And by move, I mean move. But when we finally found them, at one point there were probably 20 dolphins, I would say, about 20 feet below me, and one dolphin left the pod and came right up to me. He stopped—he was upright in the water—and looked me right in the eye, and in that moment, I swear to God, he said ‘What the heck are you?’ And then he went back down and rejoined his pod.” In part, Call of the Sea is Pappajohn’s attempt to summon the magic of that oceanic encounter. Several tracks draw on what the Winter Harp bandleader calls the “pre-Raphaelite poetry” of Thomas Moore, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and the appropriately named Walter de la Mare, while three of the melodies are sourced from Celtic music, another of her abiding interests. As to how this new material will fit in with what she has planned for Winter Harp’s 25thanniversary concerts, which will be held across the Lower Mainland through December, Pappajohn says, plainly, that it won’t. The seasonal concerts will rely on Winter Harp’s well-loved

blend of original material, medieval rarities, and familiar carols, played by an ensemble that includes both Irish and concert harps, flute, hurdy-gurdy, violin, and percussion. But there is a link between aquatic adventure and winter, however unlikely that might seem. The connection, Pappajohn says, is that both involve diving deep, tapping one’s inner resources, and then emerging triumphantly into the light. “Taking a breath [before diving] is like filling a storehouse with all the food you’ll need for winter,” she explains. “And then diving is like going into winter—you go into the depths of the water, and then there’s a point where you have to come out, and that’s spring. And the further you go into the water the darker it is, and when you’re down there, it’s another world. “And, you know, if you don’t come up for air…” she adds, laughing. “So, yeah, I can see the analogy between the two, absolutely.” Not everyone’s going to be able to swim with the dolphins over Christmas, but there are few better ways to plunge into the solstice season than with Winter Harp.

Winter Harp plays the Blueshore Financial Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday and Thursday (December 12 and 13), and St. Andrew’s–Wesley United Church on Saturday (December 15).

DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 27

CHOR LEONI MEN’S CHOIR ERICK LICHTE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

CHRISTMAS WITH CHOR LEONI

ARTS

Telepresence brings virtual reality to concert by Alexander Varty

December 14 | 8pm December 16 | 8pm December 17 | 5pm & 8pm ST. ANDREW’S-WESLEY UNITED CHURCH

December 15 | 3pm WEST VANCOUVER UNITED CHURCH

chorleoni.org | 1.877.840.0457

28 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

Artists Kiran Bhumber and Nancy Lee use VR in new ways. Photo by Ashley Sandhu

e can’t quite explain what you’re going to see if you go to Telepresence, an adventurous virtual-reality undertaking at the Western Front next week, but we can promise you this: it won’t be like anything you’ve seen before. The brainchild of media artists Kiran Bhumber and Nancy Lee, with assistance from trumpeter JP Carter and assorted coders and programmers, it aims to upend the conventions of the traditional concert in at least a couple of innovative ways— including breaking down the barrier between stage and seating. “In general, the way contemporary music is performed, or jazz or electronic music, is very staid and performer-separated,” Bhumber explains, in a conference call with Lee and the Georgia Straight. “You’re in your role as a performer or as an audience member. And what Telepresence does is it allows a new space [in which] to experience a musical performance. And the way that happens is by using VR, but also by having the live performer and the audience members in the same stage area.” “Virtual reality is kind of a new medium, but conventionally it’s used in a very visually centred way,” Lee adds. “In gaming or in cinema, it’s really focused on the visual element. So we really want to reverse that hierarchy between the audio and the visual, centre the focus and the attention around sound and music, and create a visual element in the virtual environment that will evoke a deeper listening.” At the Front, Carter, his electronically augmented trumpet, and his listeners will find themselves ringed by a multichannel sound system; given the musician’s highly creative use of looping, reverb, and extended techniques, that should be enough to ensure an immersive environment. Beyond that, each listener will be given a virtual-reality headset that places them, visually, in an abstract,

interactive landscape that in some ways mirrors the music. There’ll be an abstract three-dimensional representation of the musician and generative images that presumably will have some sort of synaesthetic component, plus an unspecified “game object” element—and audience members will have a measure of control over at least some of these. “Some elements of the virtual environment will be sound-reactive to JP’s performance,” Lee explains. “In terms of the reactivity of that, that depends on the position of the audience member’s head and how far it is away from JP’s trumpet—so there are small interactive elements that are visual, and that will be live.” Meanwhile Carter will be “conducting” the listening and viewing experience, in a way. “We kind of have a few different choreographic elements with him,” Bhumber says, “but it is more on the improvisational side. He really does play to how people are moving in the space, and what we’ve seen in some instances of his performance is that he will play a certain timbre, and that will change the audience’s position—how their body is positioned, and also how their gaze is positioned.” And there’s another way in which the usual concert hierarchy is upended: although other applications of virtual-reality technology can feel alienating, the idea here is that everyone’s cocreating the event. “What we find really interesting is how people are able to connect with each other before the performance, and how people can debrief with each other after the performance, too,” Lee says. “Being able to see how this system that we’ve built for the collective VR experience can facilitate this kind of social interaction, that’s an area that we’re definitely observing.”

Telepresence takes place at the Western Front on Friday and Saturday (December 14 and 15).

ARTS

Musicals rule holiday stages

Songs drive It’s a Wonderful Life, Beauty and the Beast, and Bah Humbug!

Greg Armstrong-Morris, Erin Palm, and Nick Fontaine aim for vintage magic in It’s a Wonderful Life (left); Jonathan Winsby and Michelle Bardach help reinvigorate the Arts Club’s glowing rendition of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Photos by David Cooper.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

A new musical adaptation by Peter Jorgensen. Arrangements and orchestrations by Nico Rhodes. Directed by Peter Jorgensen. Based on the Frank Capra film. Musical direction by Angus Kellett. A Gateway Theatre production. At the Gateway on Friday, December 7. Continues until December 31

d IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, an

excellent movie, and an okay stage musical. Frank Capra’s 1946 classic is a feelgood Christmas film wrapped around a searing critique of capitalist greed. Its protagonist, George Bailey, dreams of travelling around the world, but is repeatedly thwarted by circumstance; he ends up stuck in his hometown of Bedford Falls, defending the family building-and-loan business from the predations of corporate tycoon Mr. Potter. One Christmas Eve, facing a financial crisis, middle-aged George decides to end his life—but is saved by the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence. Peter Jorgensen’s adaptation is faithful to its source material; though he’s dressed it up with period songs (Gershwin et al.) and a couple of Christmas carols, he doesn’t gloss over the darker edges of George’s story. Still, the show struggles to find a compelling emotional centre. The film’s George was played with flustered charm by Jimmy Stewart— a tough reference point for any actor. Nick Fontaine’s square-jawed handsomeness and buttery singing voice suit the period, but his George goes from grumpy to angry to furious without much discernible warmth underneath. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of that from Erin Palm, whose voice and presence as his wife, Mary, are pure sunshine. And Greg Armstrong-Morris works some heavenly hilarity as Clarence: he’s obliviously matter-of-fact about his age (293), sulky about not having earned his wings yet, and delightfully campy as he runs through some classic show-tune moves while singing “Heaven on Earth”. For most of the first act, he has little to do but stand by and watch the action; when he finally interacts with George partway through Act 2, the play livens up considerably. Brian Ball’s set references the young George’s architectural ambitions, with blueprint lines and measurements on the walls. But its cavernousness works against the intimacy that the play needs, and the doorway at its centre is unforgivably awkward. The large cast works magic with Nico Rhodes’s intricate choral arrangements, and musical director Angus Kellett ably leads a 10-piece orchestra. But the songs themselves

aren’t wonderful enough to be reprised superb, from the Beast’s royal-blue as endlessly as they are here. overcoat adorned with jewels, to the by Kathleen Oliver fine details such as the sequins on Belle’s yellow ball gown. The one letDISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE down is the set design, which features BEAST a very crowded castle. Two large proBook by Linda Woolverton. Music truding sets—the Beast’s West Wing by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard and Belle’s room—awkwardly comAshman and Tim Rice. Directed by pete for real estate. When the Beast Bill Millerd. An Arts Club Theatre gives Belle her tour, he has to walk Company production. At the around in a circle, as there’s nowhere Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage else to go. on Wednesday, December 5. Still, this production of Disney’s Continues until January 6 Beauty and the Beast keeps alive the cherished story, characters, and FROM THE first rose-petal fall to songs, but with renewed energy and the joyous finale, the Arts Club’s pro- attitude—something that both childuction of Disney’s Beauty and the dren and adults will enjoy. by Vince Kanasoot Beast glows with the story’s message of love and forgiveness, infused with fresh elements. Originally staged in BAH HUMBUG! 2005 by director Bill Millerd, this pro- Adapted from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol by Michael duction has evolved to stay relevant. The show features a strong, feisty Boucher, Savannah Walling, and Belle, played by Michelle Bardach, Jay Brazeau. Directed by Renae who’s initially rough around the Morriseau. An SFU Woodward’s edges, specifically in her stubborn- Cultural Programs and Vancouver ness and rash decisions. She’s fearless Moving Theatre production, in in her responses to the Beast, aggres- partnership with Full Circle: First sively shutting him down in his din- Nations Performance. At SFU ner invitations and making it clear Woodward’s in the Goldcorp Centre she has no intention of playing nice. for the Arts on Sunday, December 9. She gradually develops throughout Continues until December 22 the show, growing just as much as the FROM BLACKADDER to Bill Beast in her compassion and maturity. When Bardach sings “A Change Murray, there have been countless in Me”, she all but blows the roof off adaptations of Charles Dickens’s A with her tremendous soprano belt, Christmas Carol. But this is the first but it’s her character development one I’ve seen set in our own backyard. In this version of Dickens’s classic that brings sincerity to the song. As the Beast, Jonathan Winsby has tale, Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Byrnes) a human tenderness underneath his is a sketchy real-estate investor and animal surface. He caresses the soft operator of pawn shops and singlephrases near the beginning of “If I room-occupancy hotels. He lives in Can’t Love Her”, with gentleness and the Downtown Eastside, but is not of heartfelt emotion, before he builds the Eastside. He has no time for his into his phenomenal tenor voice, neighbours or local charities. Echoing making this song both poignant and a famous line of the original, he offers exhilarating. And the initial relation- an alternative to the local shelters: “Are ship between Winsby and Bardach is there no prisons?” Meanwhile, his long-suffering so heated it verges on sexual chemistry—which makes their eventual clerk, Bob Cratchit (Tom Pickett), is an addict in recovery and Bob’s son romance all the more believable. As the arrogant hunter Gaston, the Tim (Stephen Lytton) faces demons hysterical Kamyar Pazandeh is confi- of his own. The production strikes all the famdent in his sexuality, taking pleasure moving his hips, strutting across the iliar Christmas Carol notes: Jacob stage, and flexing his muscles. The Marley, the three ghosts, the tombtwist here: his sidekick, LeFou, played stone, all viewed through a very Vanby Ali Watson, is a female. And she’s couver lens. It’s full of local references, no caricature of the animated film. from Save On Meats to Oppenheimer Watson has spunk and confidence; Park, and it’s inflected with First Nashe’s not a complete doormat for tions imagery. The show sits in a kind of awkward Gaston. Another change: the teacup Chip, played by energetic youngster spot between play and musical revue. Elizabeth Ford, is a girl. And why not? There’s little in the way of set or staScott Augustine’s updates on Val- ging, and the performers’ blocking is erie Easton’s original choreography quite static. Things are enlivened by are also refreshing. The attack of the muralist Richard Tetrault’s lovely prowolves has an exciting contempor- jections, rendering familiar locations ary feel to it. But Augustine keeps in woodcut style. The songs carry the show, with the the feel-good moments, such as the fun “cup choreography” sequence in music a mix of traditional, original, “Gaston”, and the Broadway pizzazz and popular. One of the oddest parts of “Be Our Guest”, complete with of the original story is when the creepy kids, Ignorance and Want, climb out kick lines and pirouettes. Barbara Clayden’s French-aristoc- from beneath the robes of the Ghost of see next page racy-inspired costume designs are

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DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 29

A HEARTWARMING HOLIDAY MUSICAL FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

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IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE Dec. 6 – 31, 2018

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GatewayTheatre.com , H GatewayThtr Nick Fontaine. Photo: David Cooper.

Stephen Lytton plays Tiny Tim in the timely, Downtown Eastside–set Bah Humbug!; Arshdeep Purba and Munish Sharma perform a delicate dance of metaphor, myth, and brutal reality in Bombay Black at the Firehall. Photos by David Cooper.

from previous page

Christmas Present. In this production, Jenifer Brousseau and Jason Sakaki play the two kids, scrambling out to sing a couple of verses of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”. Likewise, the ensemble offered a touching cover of Randy Newman’s homage to precipitation, “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”. Like the original story, Bah Humbug! ends on a very earnest, Up With People–type note. While I know it’s Christmas and all, it was a little hard to carry that hope back up into the chilly reality of the Downtown Eastside. Still, proceeds from the show, which has run for nine yuletide seasons, support the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival—an event that partners with 50-plus of the neighbourhood’s organizations. Last Christmas I watched a very traditional rendering of A Christmas Carol, and while it was superior in stagecraft, it felt largely irrelevant to contemporary life. Bah Humbug! may be too much on the nose, but its intrigue lies in the opinions and ideas it has about our city in 2018. by Darren Barefoot

BOMBAY BLACK

By Anosh Irani. Directed and produced by Rohit Chokhani. At the Firehall Arts Centre on Thursday, December 6. Continues until December 15

d AS THE AUDIENCE sits in dark-

ness just before Bombay Black begins, bells jingle down the aisle. It’s the first of many moments that throw us into the black and open us up to sounds, words, and our imaginations. When the lights come up, we see the sound is coming from ghungroos, the musical anklets of a young female dancer who is now twirling on the stage. Director Rohit Chokhani is playing with one of the central themes of

ARTS UMBRELLA DANCE COMPANY

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photo: Paul Henderson

30 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

Anosh Irani’s bleak and violent but magic- and myth-fuelled script. The story (by the playwright and author of books like The Cripple and His Talismans and The Song of Kahunsha) is about a mother who makes a living out of her seaside apartment by selling men private dances with her daughter. The one rule: look but don’t touch. When a mysterious blind man arrives to buy a session, secrets start to unfold, and their lives change forever. Chokhani puts us, again and again, in the dark—a state of “blindness” that reflects the male character. The blackouts are especially effective when the blind man, Kamal (Munish Sharma), tells the dancer stories that transport both of them out of their depressing realities. The stripped-down staging highlights the actors’ abilities in three complex roles. Irani’s script rides between the poetic and the crude. It’s also full of metaphors, with the myth of the celestial nymph Apsara (the dancer’s namesake) woven through it. But the cast manages to make it all flow naturally. The most memorable is Nimet Kanji’s Padma, a money-hungry, embittered woman who essentially pimps her own daughter. Reprising the role from Chokhani’s hit Vancouver Fringe Festival production of the same script last year, Kanji nails her character’s acid-strength sarcasm—“Scratch my back and… I’ll scratch your eyes out!” This is a woman who wields an iron bar to smash the fingers of anyone who might touch her breadwinner, and whose favourite pastime is the highly metaphorical act of feeding raw meat out the window to hungry seagulls. Munish Sharma finds a gentle strength in Kamal, and Arshdeep Purba, the only newcomer to the three-person play, manages Apsara’s tricky transformation, giving her more depth as the story goes along. Purba also dances mesmerizingly. The way the second act handles revelations of her past trauma, and her mother’s resentment around it, are a bit problematic. And more could be done, on the sparse set of bench, bureau, and screens, to evoke the essential location of Bombay (now known as Mumbai)—the chaotic city filled with former villagers who have fled here to escape secrets, poverty, and public shaming. In this unusual and complex script, Irani manages to work in myriad ideas: the horrifying treatment of women in India and elsewhere in the world, metaphors about seeing and blindness, and rich mythology. The biggest surprise may be that, amid all this, we also get a relatable and often funny story about a damaged mother and daughter’s relationship. Like everything else in this production, it’s a complicated and unsettling mix of the dark and light. by Janet Smith

A CHARLIE BROWN HOLIDAY DOUBLE BILL

Directed by Carole Higgins. A Carousel Theatre for Young People production. At the Waterfront Theatre on Sunday, December 2. Continues until January 6

CHARLIE BROWN and his Peanuts gang are looking fabulous these days. Carousel Theatre for Young People’s A Charlie Brown Holiday Double Bill has brought

Charlie and his crew to the stage of the Waterfront Theatre in a largerthan-life theatrical experience that kids and parents alike will enjoy. The program features two oneact shows: the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and a stage adaptation of the TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. In You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, we see Charlie and his friends, including Snoopy, Lucy, Sally, Linus, and Schroeder, tackle some puzzling questions, such as whether eating peanut-butter sandwiches leads to loneliness, how to stay motivated when your baseball team always loses, and whether it’s possible to let go of your security blanket. Along the way, they take time to celebrate some of life’s small wins, including suppertime, celebrating Beethoven’s birthday, and simply enjoying a pleasant evening. In A Charlie Brown Christmas, we follow Charlie as he tries to find his holiday spirit by directing his gang’s Christmas pageant. All the hallmarks of the classic TV special, such as the song “Christmas Time Is Here” and the adorable dance number “The Auditorium”, where the characters rehearse for the pageant, are brought to life with great energy and enthusiasm. Thanks to Al Frisk’s colourful set, we’re transported to a whimsical world of disproportionate props, such as gigantic versions of lunch bags, pencils, and Snoopy’s feeding bowl and, on the other end of the scale, Schroeder’s mini piano. Music director Arielle Ballance sits at a bright-yellow piano, which adds a fun splash of colour to the set. Barbara Clayden has nailed the costume designs, making all the characters instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the Charlie Brown cartoons and comics. Details down to mittens attached to the kids’ jackets are delightful to see. Young audiences will be in awe of director Carole Higgins’s clever staging, along with Amanda Testini’s choreography. Highlights include a skating scene, where the characters effortlessly glide across the stage on their “ice skates”, as well as a scene where Charlie and his pal Pig Pen build a snowman right before our eyes. As Charlie Brown, Andrew Cownden does an excellent job: displaying Charlie’s insecurities, innocence, and loneliness, making him an enjoyable protagonist to root for. The entire cast, including the three musicians who also play characters, are a pleasure to watch, performing with great animation and detailed characterization, down to their little shuff les. One standout performer is Cecilly Day as Snoopy. Her playfulness and enthusiasm are endearing, including the way she barks, howls, naps, and reacts to Charlie when he returns home. She has a fantastic singing voice to match and attacks “Suppertime” with charisma and humour. Complete with snow falling onstage, and a “Holiday Megamix” that includes a number of classic tunes, A Charlie Brown Holiday Double Bill is an excellent way for families to get into the seasonal spirit. by Vince Kanasoot

ARTS

Show roasts holiday specials by Guy MacPherson

COMING SOON

COMEDY MERRY KISS-MAS

A Vancouver TheatreSports production. At the Improv Centre on Granville Island on Wednesday, December 5. Continues to December 24

d I MISS the Christmas Queen. For four festive sea-

sons, Vancouver TheatreSports brought us the dastardly Grinch-like monarch in a fast-paced panto that featured a who’s who of Christmas characters. But in improv comedy, to hell with traditions; all things must change. And so the offering this December is Merry Kiss-mas, a send-up of those dreadful Hallmark holiday movies nobody watches or cares about. Or do they? On paper it’s an okay idea, but on the night I went, there was little to no connective tissue to the theme. The first half was a series of short improv games, each one inspired—or so they said—by cinematographic gems such as Christmas in Homestead, A Christmas Melody, The Princess Switch, Christmas Incorporated, and the classic A Shoe Addict’s Christmas, but once the action started, as funny as it was, any link was tenuous at best, whether to the actual film or to the holiday season itself. This is what makes reviewing improv comedy so difficult. The show hangs on the abilities of the performers, and VTSL always has fantastic improvisers, as they did on this night, with host Margret Nyfors and players Michael Teigen, Lauren McGibbon (whose sign-language interpretations stole the show), Ken Lawson, Denise Jones, and Jamie Chrest. So the laughs were there. And isn’t that the most important thing? It’s just that the overall structure was not one to infuse the audience with the joy of the season—at least not this Christmas shopper. The second half was a long-form “movie” starring an audience member, on this night called Garrett’s

Merry Kiss-mas could up the seasonal content of its comedy, though it is properly stuffed with laughs.

Retirement Christmas, based on a brief interview with the game civilian. It’s tricky using laypeople for fear they’ll either clam up entirely or try to do too much, but Garrett was perfect. There were some inspired suggestions from the crowd. Garrett’s real-life Tinder date wanted Teigen to play the love interest, which gave the show the panto feel that had been missing (although host Nyfors looked at the three other female cast members and remarked that “they’re still stealing our jobs”). The set was beautifully constructed, showing a village featuring a wintry Molly’s General Store and a town hall, but it wasn’t utilized in either half of the program. It felt like this show could run at any time of the year. Hallmark movies aren’t just seasonal, after all. So bring this back in the summer and let’s get The Return of the Christmas Queen here next year.

ARTS LISTINGS a

ONGOING CURIOUS IMAGININGS Immersive sculpture exhibition by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini. To Dec 15, Patricia Hotel. Tix $16-40. DOUGLAS COUPLAND’S VORTEX Radical art installation takes an imaginative journey to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,. To April 30, 2019, Vancouver Aquarium. $22/39. TITANIC: THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION Exhibition focuses on the legendary RMS Titanic’s compelling human stories through more than 120 authentic artifacts and extensive room re-creations. To Jan 11, 2019, Lipont Place. VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS MARKET Yuletide celebration features over 80 vendor huts. To Dec 24, Jack Poole Plaza. Tix $12/11/5. THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT: REFLECTING ON NORTHWEST COAST ART to spring 2019 MARKING THE INFINITE: CONTEMPORARY WOMEN ARTISTS FROM ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIA to Mar 31 SHAKEUP: PRESERVING WHAT WE VALUE to Sep 1 BILL REID GALLERY OF NORTHWEST COAST ART BODY LANGUAGE: REAWAKENING CULTURAL TATTOOING OF THE NORTHWEST to Jan 13 INTERFACE: THE WOVEN ARTWORK OF JAAD KUUJUS to Jan 9 MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER WILD THINGS: THE POWER OF NATURE IN OUR LIVES to Sep 30 HAIDA NOW: A VISUAL FEAST OF INNOVATION AND TRADITION to Dec 1, 2019 IN/FLUX: ART OF KOREAN DIASPORA to Jan 6 VANCOUVER ART GALLERY A CURATOR’S VIEW: IAN THOM SELECTS to Mar 17 GUO PEI: COUTURE BEYOND to Jan 20, 2019, DANA CLAXTON: FRINGING THE CUBE to Feb 3 THE METAMORPHOSIS to Mar 7 CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY DOVE ALLOUCHE: NEGATIVE CAPABILITY to Dec 30,

a a

12-6 pm KAMEELAH JANAN RASHEED to Mar 17, 12-6 pm

THE POLYGON GALLERY LOOKING AT PERSEPOLIS: THE CAMERA IN IRAN 18501930 to Jan 13 HANNAH RICKARDS: ONE CAN MAKE OUT THE SURFACE ONLY BY PLACING ANY DARK-COLOURED OBJECT ON THE GROUND to Jan 13 BATIA SUTER: PARALLEL ENCYCLOPEDIA EXTENDED to Jan 13 KEVIN SCHMIDT: RECKLESS to Mar 10

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY’S OFFSITE POLIT-SHEER-FORM OFFICE to Mar 31

CHRISTMAS BOUTIQUE Finely handcrafted ornaments and decorations by artisans in our community. To Dec 22, Place des Arts. WINTER TREASURES ARTISAN MARKET Boutique-style show featuring locally handcrafted gifts, art, décor, and fine crafts. To Dec 23, Port Moody Arts Centre. Free. MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s holiday confection filled with classic Jane Austen charm. To Dec 30, Granville Island Stage. Tix from $29. MERRY KISS-MAS New Christmas parody melts TV tropes and Christmas clichés together. To Dec 24, The Improv Centre. Tix from $15.75. BLIND DATE The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Rebecca Northan’s fly-by-the-seatof-your-pants fusion of clown, improv, theatre, and social experiment. To Dec 30, Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre. Tix from $29. ANONYMOUS ART SHOW FUNDRAISER Purchase original art by local artists. To Dec 22, 7 pm, Cityscape Community Art Space. Free. DOUBT: A PARABLE Seven Tyrants Theatre presents John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer

Prize-winning drama. To Dec 14, 7 pm, Tyrant Studios. Tix $32. A CHARLIE BROWN HOLIDAY DOUBLEBILL Carousel Theatre for Young People presents “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”. To Jan 6, Waterfront Theatre. Tix $35/$29/$18. ROYAL CITY YOUTH BALLET PRESENTS THE NUTCRACKER Full length Nutcracker ballet. To Dec 23, Various Lower Mainland venues. ALL TOGETHER COLLECTIVE POP-UP SHOP Works by Amy Stewart, Shira Gold, and Crissy Arseneau, To Dec 24, 11 am–6 pm, Granville Island. Free. EAST VAN PANTO: WIZARD OF OZ When a pipeline bursts, Dorothy and Toto are flung to the magical Land of Oz, a.k.a. Nanaimo and Hastings. To Jan 6, 7 pm, York Theatre. $10-$69. TREASURE ISLAND Seasonal pantomime. To Dec 16, The Theatre at Hendry Hall. Tix $12/$6. THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE Reimagining of C.S. Lewis’s classic tale of hope, change, and sacrifice. To Dec 29, Pacific Theatre. Tix $20-$36.50. DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST The Arts Club Theatre Company presents the beloved fairy-tale musical. To Jan 6, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. Tix from $39. LITTLE DICKENS: THE DAISY THEATRE Ronnie Burkett’s raucous, adults-only take on the beloved holiday classic A Christmas Carol. To Dec 22, 8 pm, Cultch Historic Theatre. Tix $24-$69. BOMBAY BLACK A searing play set in the bitter reality of present-day India. To Dec 15, Firehall Arts Centre. Tix from $20. HOLIDAY BAKING TIME Tim Webb and Kim Selody’s family-oriented play in which young audience members are invited to become

see next page

DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 31

ARTS LISTINGS from previous page

bakers and join in. To Dec 16, Presentation House Theatre. Tix $10-20.

the work of eight graduates. Dec 12, 6 pm, Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Free.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE New musical adaptation of the holiday classic by Peter Jorgensen, based on the Frank Capra film. To Dec 31, Gateway Theatre. Tix from $29.

FUTURE SHOCK Visiting author Shilo Jones and local writer Charles Demers discuss their new novels. Dec 12, 7 pm, Vancouver Public Library Central Branch. Free.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER “The worst kids in the history of the world” take over the annual Christmas pageant. To Dec 16, 7:30-8:30 pm, Havana Theatre. Tix $24/$18.

A VERY CAMPY CHRISTMAS Seasonal sketch comedy for the woke non-binary. Dec 12, 7-8:15 pm, The Heritage Grill. By Donation.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12 MAKE IT! VANCOUVER’S HANDMADE HOLIDAY MARKET Over 250 exhibitors in one location. Dec 12-16, 5 pm, PNE Forum. Tix $8 (kids under 12 free). ENCOUNTERING AFFINITIES Celebrating

RUPI KAUR Indian-born Canadian poet, writer, illustrator, and performer. Dec 12, 8 pm, Orpheum Theatre. Tix $79.50/59.50/49.50/39.50. WINTER HARP Ensemble of singers, harps, flute, violin, medieval instruments, and percussion. Dec 12, 13, 8 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Tix $39/$36.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13 PHOTOCLUB VANCOUVER MEMBERS EXHIBITION Black and white photographs in many genres. Dec 13–Jan 11, 2019, Sidney And Gertrude Zack Gallery. Free. CAG CURATORIAL TOUR WITH KIMBERLY PHILLIPS Join CAG curator Kimberly Phillips for a tour of the current exhibitions. Dec 13, 6-7 pm, Contemporary Art Gallery. Free. HERE FOR NOW VOL. 2 Mixed-discipline group art presentation. Dec 13, 7 pm, Warehouse at Eastside Studios. $20. CHANGE PLAY An evening of creative music and puppetry. Dec 13, 7:30 pm, WISE Hall. $1520 or PWYC, cash @ door. PHIL HANLEY Local comedian performs three nights of standup. Dec 13-15, The Comedy MIX. Tix $15/$18/$20. JOKES PLEASE! Standup comedy show hosted by Ross Dauk. Dec 13, 9-10:45 pm, Little Mountain Gallery. $7.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14 MIXED NUTS Arts Umbrella presents classic holiday dance with a twist. Dec 14-16, Vancouver Playhouse. Tix from $25. KING ARTHUR’S COURT Join Arthur in a whimsical tale as he grows from a boy to a king. Dec 14–Jan 5, 2019, Metro Theatre. Tix from $28. SANTA IN SPACE Seasonal pantomime. Dec 14–Jan 5, 2019, Deep Cove Shaw Theatre. $16. THE PANTO—KING ARTHUR’S COURT Family holiday musical pantomime. Dec 14– Jan 5, 2019, Metro Theatre. Tix from $28. MUSIC IN THE MORNING Performance by Pedja Muzijevic and Noon with June. Dec 14, 11:30 am–12:30 pm, 12:45-1:45 pm, Christ Church Cathedral. Tix $38/$42/lunch $25. MAKER MARKET HOLIDAY EDITION Smallbatch and handmade goods. Dec 14, 5-10 pm, The Ellis Building. STORYTELLING FOR THE MODERN WORLD Winter tales by Nan Gregory, Patricia Smith, and Beth Hutchinson. Dec 14, 7 pm, Canadian Centre for Peace. $7. A CHRISTMAS CABARET Ring in the festive season with the Postmodern Camerata. Dec 14, 15, 7-10 pm, Canadian Music Centre. $55. AFTER VANCOUVER A post-apocalyptic improv comedy play. Dec 14, 8 pm, Little Mountain Gallery. Tix $8/10. CHRISTMAS WITH CHOR LEONI Chor Leoni presents its traditional holiday concert of seasonal songs. Dec 14-17, St. Andrew’s–Wesley United Church. Tix $20-45 (students $10). THE CRYSTALLINE CABARET’S WINTER PAGEANT Live show featuring burlesque dance and drag. Dec 14, 10:30-11:30 pm, Havana Theatre. $20.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15

i f fe s t . c a iffest.ca Italian Film Fest Vancouver

PRESENTED BY

SPONSORED BY

WOMEN’S WINTER FAIRE Works by over 50 women artisans. Dec 15-16, 11 am–5 pm, Heritage Hall, 3102 Main st. By donation. CHRISTMAS WITH CHOR LEONI Chor Leoni presents its traditional holiday concert of seasonal songs. Dec 15, 3 pm, West Vancouver United Church. Tix $20-45 (students $10). NUTCRACKER SUITES Karen Flamenco Dance Company performs Tchaikovsky’s work. Dec 15-29, 5-6 pm, The Improv Centre. Tix $10/$15. A HOLIDAY GLOW Vancouver City Singers perform under the direction of Holly Denney. Dec 15, 7:30 pm, Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church. $20/$15. 25TH ANNIVERSARY WINTER HARP Holiday concert featuring medieval and contemporary instruments. Dec 15, 7:30 pm, St. Andrew’s–Wesley United Church. Tix $25-40. LIGHT OF LOVE The Marcus Mosely Chorale presents its Christmas concert. Dec 15, 7:3010 pm, Highlands United Church. Tix $30/$25.

Q&A Q. How does it feel when you perform it, given your special lineage, and what do you love about the piece?

THIS YEAR’S CHRISTMAS with Chor Leoni concerts at St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church on Friday, Sunday, and Monday (December 14, 16, and 17), plus one at West Vancouver United Church on Saturday (December 15), feature a rare personal connection to Joseph Mohr, author of the classic seasonal piece that ends the program, “Silent Night”. On the song’s 200th anniversary, we ask the choir’s baritone Greg Mohr about his claim to fame.

Q. What is your family connection to Joseph Mohr, the writer of “Silent Night”, and how did your relatives find out about it? A. I remember hearing the story

from the time I was a small child. But we always really wondered if it could be true that we were related. Finally, one of my dad’s cousins spent time in Germany and Austria and researched the family tree. He confirmed that Joseph Mohr is my great, great, great, great, great, great uncle (six greats!). GRAHAM CLARK’S QUIZ SHOW Local comic hosts a comedy show that cherry picks the best segments of game shows. Dec 15, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret. Tix $10/$12. THE COMIC STRIP Standup comedy by Ari Matti, Andrea Jin, and headliner Sam Tonning. Dec 15, 9 pm, Tyrant Studios. Tix $18. THE DIRTY BETTY SHOW! NUTCRACKER EDITION! Comedic variety show with an all-female cast. Dec 15, 10-11:30 pm, Little Mountain Gallery. Tix $8.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16 CHRISTMAS JOY Christmas concert with 60-voice choir and full orchestra. Dec 16, 9 am, 11 am, Canadian Memorial United Church. Free. FAMILY CHRISTMAS CONCERT Laudate Singers’ annual concert for kids and families. Dec 16, 2-3 pm, 4-5 pm, West Vancouver Memorial Library. Free. CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS The West End Chamber Choir performs music both sacred and secular. Dec 16, 2:30 pm, Coal Harbour Community Centre. By Donation. A CHRISTMAS STORY IN DUNBAR A cappella ensemble musica intima performs. Dec 16, 3 pm, St. Philip’s Anglican Church. $15-$30. EAST VANCOUVER IMPROV LEAGUE Instant Theatre presents a battle between two groups of Vancouver improvisers. Dec 16, 7:30-8:30 pm, Havana Theatre. Tix $12.

A. I become quite emotional whenever we sing “Silent Night” at Christmas Eve worship services at church or with Chor Leoni in concert. I often need to stop singing for a few moments and I just stand there listening to the beauty of this music and the simple, poetic words that speak about peace and hope and God’s love for the world. There is something about the words that distills our hopes and dreams, our fears and longings, into such simple words and phrases. It is the vision of a world no longer at war, of people living in a time of calm following the depths of a sea of despair following the Napoleonic Wars. Yet peace is not just the cessation of war. It is a prayer for peace in the midst of struggle, peace in the heart and soul and mind of each person.

Q. How will it be performed by Chor Leoni on “Silent Night”’s 200th anniversary year?

A. Christmas with Chor Leoni will close with “Silent Night” as an audience sing-along. It will be sung by candlelight and accompanied by guitar, just as the original performance was. The hope is to send everyone out humming it!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 17 NASTY WOMEN COMEDY: FROSTED TIPS Improv and sketch comedy. Dec 17, 8-10:30 pm, Biltmore Cabaret. Tix $10/$14.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18 LETTERKENNY LIVE: THE ENCORE Comedy show based on TV series. Dec 18, 6:30 pm, Orpheum Theatre. Tix $39/49/79.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19 IMPROV AGAINST HUMANITY: HO HO HORRIBLE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Live comedy performances and game show. Dec 19, 8-10 pm, Rio Theatre. Tix $12. MUSIC FOR THE WINTER SOLSTICE Music by composer-in-residence Nicole Lizée and past composers-in-residence. Dec 19-20, 8 pm, Heritage Hall. Tix $39/32/15.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20 TOBIAS HARGRAVE Comedian performs three nights of standup. Dec 20-22, Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club. Tix $10/$20. ARTS EVENTS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the event-submission form at straight. com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

Paula Kremer, Artistic Director

CHRISTMAS REPRISE XVI SATURDAY DECEMBER 22, 2018 2PM 40-% 065 Holy Rosary Cathedral 646 Richards St. Vancouver

SATURDAY DECEMBER 22, 2018 7:30PM Queens Avenue United Church 529 Queens Ave. New Westminster

Tickets: vancouvercantatasingers.com or 604-730-8856

32 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

MOVIES

The big screen and the winter light

by Adrian Mack

espite the assertion recently made by Netflix’s Ted Sarandos that people will “love Roma on their phone”, do note that the streaming giant still elected to open Alfonso Cuarón’s instant classic in select cinemas—including Vancouver’s Vancity Theatre. The big-screen movie house will always rule. Here are some of the titles we can look forward to seeing this winter inside their natural habitat.

Coming to a theatre near you AQUAMAN The scaliest of the Justice

CAPERNAUM To be clear: Nadine

Rebel Wilson sustains a bump to the noggin. The big questions: will this movie survive Wilson’s recent tangle with the woke Stasi of America 2018, and why does anybody ever go on Twitter anyway?? February 14

Labaki’s gut-wrenching tale of a hardened Lebanese preteen who sues his horrible parents is not a Middle Eastern remake of the 1984 Drew Barrymore/Ryan O’Neal/ Shelley Long romp Irreconcilable Differences. January 11

NEVER LOOK AWAY Art, love, and

20th-century totalitarianism form the backdrop to director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s highly regarded latest. February 22 RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR This wild Hungarian effort is surely the only animated feature ever built around classic 20th-century art and CIA mind-control experimentation. February 22

REPLICAS Keanu Reeves takes on the

government, common morality, and nature itself when he tries to resurrect his family after everyone is wiped out in a road accident. January 11

GLASS Director M. Night Shall-I-go-

on brings together 2000’s UnbreakLeaguers gets his own fish-out-of- able with 2016’s Split and, whoa—do water tale, with Jason Momoa starring you think it’ll have a crazy twist endalongside Amber Heard and his own ing? January 18 triumphant head of hair. December 21 STAN & OLLIE The trailer looks SHOPLIFTERS Director Hirokazu great, but they already had us at Steve Kore-eda’s acclaimed drama about Coogan and John C. Reilly heavily a poverty-stricken Tokyo clan was a made-up and presumably brilliant big favourite at VIFF. December 21 playing Laurel and Hardy in their declining years. January 18 WELCOME TO MARWEN Steve Carrell stars in this based-on-a-true story COLD WAR Another VIFF (and that with Robert Zemeckis behind Cannes) winner; bring your hankies the camera, is sure to be a BIG CINE- for this masterful black-and-white love story pitched over 16 years against MATIC EVENT. December 21 Europe’s darkest days. January 25 IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Following his Oscar winner Moonlight, SERENITY Anne Hathaway comes to Barry Jenkins is reportedly looking ex-husband Matthew McConaughey at another statue or three for this for help with her abusive partner in adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 this pedigree thriller written and directed by Steven Knight (Locke, novel. December 25 Peaky Blinders). January 25 VICE Will Ferrell’s writing partner Adam McKay continues on his FLARSKY Reuniting with both 50/50 surprise journey as social-commen- director Jonathan Levine and his tating Oscar heavyweight with his beard, Seth Rogen plays a journalist insanely buzzy portrait of a certain whose childhood babysitter becomes Mr. Cheney. Merry Christmas, Dick. a powerful political player. Charlize Theron joins the fun along with Andy December 25

Barry Jenkins’s If Beale Street Could Talk opens in Vancouver on Christmas Day.

Serkis and Bob Odenkirk. February 8 THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART It’s Emmett to the rescue

when Bricksburg is trashed beyond recognition by the bastard Duplo invaders and everything is anything but awesome. February 8

WHAT MEN WANT While Mel Gib-

son ponders his Wild Bunch remake (please don’t), Taraji P. Henson is among the gender-swapping bunch riffing on the mad Australian’s romcom from 2000. February 8

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL Artifice tri-

CAPTAIN MARVEL It’s Brie Larsen’s

still is actually catching Satoshi Kon’s animated spectacle, first released in 2003, when it screens in time for the holiday break. December 21 and 22; all-ages show December 24 FANNY AND ALEXANDER—THE COMPLETE VERSION In the words

of Ingmar Bergman, “the sum total of my life as a filmmaker” is presented by the Cinematheque for the first time in Vancouver in its fivehour cut. December 23 and 27

BEST OF 2018 Your experts at the

Vancity Theatre round up 10 of their favourites, starting with Phantom Thread and hitting Foxtrot, First Reformed, and… er, Paddington 2 along the way! December 27 to January 3

turn to get sucked into the MCU’s CHILDREN OF MEN In the wake of tireless service to the MIC. March 8 the mighty Roma, Alfonso Cuarón’s stunning sci-fi downer from 2006 reUS Writer-director Jordan Peele re- ceives two screenings at the Vancity turns to the “social horror” genre fol- Theatre. December 28 and 30 lowing his phenomenal debut, Get Out. Lupita Nyong’o, Elizabeth Moss, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK The Cinematheque bridges the holiday and Tim Heidecker star. March 15 season with five screenings of Peter BODY AT BRIGHTON ROCK The Weir’s gauzy mystery film, seen here debut feature from horror upstart in its 1998 director’s cut. December Roxanne Benjamin (who script- 28 to January 2 ed Southbound) concerns a park ranger trying to protect a remote THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS crime scene. Expectations are high With everything coming up Orson for this one! Release date unknown Welles these days, the Vancity Theatre starts the new year with the Special screenings, festivals, and great man’s (slightly compromised) deep cuts second masterpiece. January 1

umphs over art as Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron team for a CGI– TOKYO GODFATHERS An article heavy adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s linked on the Vancity Theatre’s website argues that this tale of three manga. February 14 fringe-dwellers and the abandoned ISN’T IT ROMANTIC? The rom- baby they find is “the best Xmas film com goes meta after movie fan of all time”. It’s a good read. Better

VANCOUVER ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL Among the goodies is the full

250-minute cut of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, getting its Vancouver premiere at the Vancity Theatre. January 4 to 12

In the mix in Mexico’s Roma

Director Alfonso Cuaron’s dreamlike memoir is one of the year’s very best

The Oscar-winning filmmaker’s latest observes the lives of a middle-class clan in the Mexico City neighbourhood of the title.

REVIEWS ROMA

Starring Yalitza Aparicio. In Spanish and Mixtec, with English subtitles. Rating unavailable

d A FARAWAY jet is reflected in

water splashing across the smooth tiles of a Mexican courtyard—a poetic juxtaposition of flight with earthbound roots, especially when you realize that the cleansing is aiming for random mounds of dog shit. A neglected canine is just one family member seemingly trapped in the mostly comforting confines of a middle-class home in the pleasant quarter of Mexico City called Roma. The title refers to Alfonso Cuarón’s childhood home and to the postwar style of Italian neorealism he both honours and undermines in this dreamlike childhood memoir. Set at the end of 1970, this is a highly aestheticized labour of love for the almost impossibly eclectic writer-director, who made the Brit-styled A Little Princess before his Spanish-lan-

guage breakthrough, Y Tu Mamá También. He also shot and edited the 135-minute movie, in wide-screen black and white, unsweetened by incidental music but boasting phenomenal sound design to go with the dialogue-light storytelling. This sustained, grey-toned reverie centres less on the family, with three children gradually awakening to the absence of their father, and more on that brood’s dependence on the help. Played by newcomer Yalitza Aparicio, who came to a casting call never having heard of Cuarón, Cleo is cleaner, housemaid, shopper, and indispensable shoulder to the children and, as things get worse, their mother (Marina de Tavira). She speaks Spanish with them, but Mixtec—a collection of Indigenous languages in the impoverished Oaxaca region—with roommate and fellow servant Adela (Nancy García García), who mostly sticks to the kitchen. The upstairs-downstairs structure makes you think the tale will alternate between two worlds. But when the camera leaves this cozy

urban enclave, it’s to follow Cleo, both on her daily chores and into more extreme apparitions. There’s an emphasis on the quotidian, including the expected results when she meets a handsome young man (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) with an intense interest in martial arts. But just as you think you’re entering telenovela territory, you get bravura sequences including a f lash earthquake, a massacre of student protesters, a man shot from a cannon, and wealthy New Year’s Eve partiers putting out a forest fire with drinks still in hand. The nonrealistic influences of Fellini and Tarkovsky are evident here, and Cuarón’s surrogate clan makes frequent trips to the cinema. One sequence, from the 1969 space opera Marooned, obviously leads to the director’s Gravity. But this beautiful new movie—probably the best of the year—is far more than a collection of memorial fragments; the politics of race, class, gender, and art are expertly swirled in the menudo pot of modern life. Taste it. by Ken Eisner

see next page

DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 33

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8 West Clinic 8west.ca As “Simple”, Riley Keough meets the wrong guy (Matt Dillon) in The House That Jack Built.

from previous page

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT Starring Matt Dillon. Rated 18A

d IT WAS THE U.K. film critic Phil

Hardy who brought José Mojica Marins (a.k.a. Coffin Joe) to the attention of the English-speaking world, making a convincing argument for the Brazilian horror auteur’s grimy canon as the work of a sadistic psychopath seeking therapy through his art. Oh, how ardently Lars Von Trier must desire an equivalent critical diagnosis! After blowing his load (snicker) with the five-plus hours of 2013’s Nymphomaniac, the Danish bad boy surprises no one with this pivot from explicit sex to extreme violence, clumsily dressed up with some lame hooey about the pathological compulsions that drive art and creation. Jack actually borrows its structure from the previous film, with a Pacific Northwest serial killer (Matt Dillon) boasting his crimes to an off-screen companion named Verge (voiced by former angel Bruno Ganz) in a series of five hateand-gore-drenched vignettes. We’re left to wonder who Jack’s trying to impress here. Maybe Verge is the pastor who walks him to the electric chair? In any case, we’re already in unreliable-narrator territory with the film’s opening set piece, in which Uma Thurman goes out of her way to make a super-vulnerable nuisance of herself prior to getting her face destroyed with a tire jack. Victim two (Siobhan Fallon Hogan, formerly of SNL!) is no less of a dimwit when she welcomes Jack into her home based presumably on a weakness for menacing weirdos pretending to sell insurance. Jack is a wannabe architect contemptuous of engineers, and the film certainly isn’t interested in the engineering of drama; just shock and disgust and the projection of Von Trier’s incoherent ideas, most painfully achieved by the killing of two children. The way our hero desecrates one of their corpses is nightmarish and profane in a way that would make the average Blumhouse hack turn to jelly. Arguably just as nauseating is the non elective double mastectomy suffered by Riley Keough, recently seen playing “Capable” in Mad Max: Fury Road. In a typically tin-eared joke, Von Trier calls her “Simple”. (On the other hand: a routine concerning Jack’s OTT battle with OCD is genuinely funny.) These sequences are handsomely separated by Verge and Jack’s philosophical debates, illustrated with clips of Glenn Gould (why?), a Cannesbaiting detour into Nazi aesthetics, and even a section compiling clips from Von Trier’s own back catalogue. It’s here that shots from Antichrist and Melancholia foreshadow the outlandish, unforgettable beauty of Jack’s epilogue, a truly extraordinary succession of baroque images in which we find ourselves seduced finally by Dillon’s epic performance, and wherein Von Trier’s own indomitable humanity makes its last-minute appearance. Indeed, after all that we’ve sat through, Jack’s sendoff turns out to be a moving salute to a damned soul still tragically possessing the spark of innocence. It’s a pattern unique to this filmmaker: in the moment, we’re only roused from our exasperation, revulsion, and occasional bouts of napping to deride Von Trier’s laughable tics and excesses. And then, somehow, we spend the next week craving more and hating ourselves and wondering if his latest is actually a masterpiece. by Adrian Mack

34 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

music

Rich Hope whips it out for Keithmas

by John Lucas

ou could say Rich Hope is a busy guy. The long-time local musician’s day gig is really two jobs in one: he’s not just a senior barber at the Belmont, he’s also the owner of the deliciously old-school Mount Pleasant shop. He’s also a parent, which anyone with kids will tell you is a full-time vocation in itself. All of which helps explain why it took him nine years to follow up his last long-playing album, 2009’s Rich Hope Is Gonna Whip It On Ya. Well, that and the fact that—as he admits when the Straight reaches him between haircuts—at first he didn’t see much point releasing another oldfashioned LP in the digital age. “Just after 2009 the streaming services were really starting to happen,” he says. “I thought I should just do songs. We were getting back into the age of the single, you know, so it just felt like, ‘Let’s do a single.’ And then we were doing the Blue Rich Rangers project, my country thing. We just felt like making some songs for that, so we did, like, five of them. I wasn’t worried about making another album. I just felt more like making some songs and putting them out for people. After the Blue Rich Rangers stopped, I just thought, ‘Yeah, let’s go make a rock record.’ ” Hence I’m All Yours, which came out in October. Across its 10 tracks, Hope indulges his love for the genres that have shaped him as an artist— witness the droning electric blues of “La Iguana”, the organ-fuelled garage-rawk rave-up that is “5 Cents a Dance”, the brassy vintage R&B of “Some Kind of Love”, the cosmic country of “Blow Away”, and the throat-shredding, foot-stomping carnal gospel of “Runnin’ Shoes”. Stylistically, I’m All Yours might be all over the map, but it’s a map well-travelled by Hope and his crack sidemen, bassist Erik Nielsen, keyboardist Matt Kelly, and drummer Adrian Mack, whom Hope credits with encouraging him to bring all of his influences to the table: “When we were first talking about doing it, Adrian said ‘I think you need to make a Rich Hope record. You need to make one that’s all the things that you are.’ So, in an effort to do that, we didn’t try to do anything, you know what I mean?”

Local rocker Rich Hope explores everything from cosmic country to throat-shredding gospel on his long-awaited new album, I’m All Yours. Photo by Phaelen Kuehe

Hope and company made the record with Felix Fung at his Little Red Sounds studio. Fung has become a producer and engineer of choice for many in the Vancouver music scene thanks to his reputation for capturing the authentic sound of a band playing together in one room, and for getting the best possible performances from musicians by facilitating a relaxed and creative atmosphere. “I’ve always kinda done stuff live off the floor,” Hope says. “But just the experience and the way we set it up was a little bit different than I had done it before. We just sort of baffled stuff and made sure there were spots in the room where it wouldn’t bleed too much, but if there was a little bleed we didn’t care. Just the way we were all in one spot, and he [Fung] was sitting right there, it was very comfortable.” The next time Hope and his band hit the stage, don’t expect to hear anything from I’m All Yours. That’s because their next gig is the headlining slot at Keithmas, the annual celebration of both Christmas and the December 18 birthday of the

Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. The ninth edition of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank fundraiser will also feature performances by La Chinga, Little Destroyer, Sore Points, Oswald, Chris and Cora, the Rentalmen, Elliot Way and the Wild North, Ford Pier Vengeance Trio, and War Baby. All will be performing songs by the Stones (or solo Richards numbers). By this point, Hope has worked his way through a big chunk of that catalogue; he has played every edition of Keithmas since the event’s inception. Fire up YouTube and you’ll find clips of him playing everything from “When the Whip Comes Down” to “Shattered” to “Far Away Eyes”. As for this year’s set, well, Hope is keeping his lips zipped. “What songs are we doing? Oh, it’s kind of a secret,” he says. “There’ll be horns, though. I’ll tell you that much. And it’ll be greasy.” Horny and greasy, then. Richards himself would surely approve.

Rich Hope plays Keithmas IX: A Food Bank Fundrager at the Rickshaw Theatre on Saturday (December 15).

Q&A

Q. Why do the songs on I’m All Yours sound so raw and immediate?

A. They weren’t things that we’d had around for years. Some of them we wrote right on the spot. Other stuff was sketches that were around. So I wanted to get that really precious time where the band learns it, and then you know it and you play it with excitement before you’ve lost that. And it helps when you haven’t been playing stuff on the road for months and months and months. Q. What are your favourites from past Keithmases? A. We did “I Got the Blues” last year, which I’ve always wanted to

sing with a horn section. Man, it was just one of those things that was really resonant when I sang it, like “Wow, I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time.” And it was also really fun the year before to do most of the Some Girls record, because it’s so fun to play. It’s got a bit of that punk rock ’n’ roll aspect, and it was the biggest band I’d assembled. It was fun to not play guitar on some songs and just run around and sing, because I hadn’t done it as much.

Q. What’s your five-year career plan? A. Oh God, I don’t have a five-minute plan. I just make records I want

to make, you know what I mean? I’m lucky enough that I’ve got people who are interested in helping me put them out.

Calpurnia gives props to local legends by Mike Usinger

here’s an argument that rock ’n’ roll could not be deader as this decade comes to a close, with anyone under the age of 30 singularly obsessed with everything falling under the umbrella of urban music. That makes Calpurnia something of an oddity. To talk to the Vancouver band’s four members (who are still years away from being able to order a drink legally in these parts) is to listen as they reel off a laundry list of acts that are stubbornly sticking to the guitar as their main musical weapon of choice: Tame Impala, Pup, Mac DeMarco, Twin Peaks, Ariel Pink, and Grizzly Bear. Ask them to dig into the vaults for older inspirations, and they’ll cite the Beatles, the Velvet Underground, and some Seattle band called Nirvana as essential influences. Local fixations include the Evaporators, fronted by no less than Nardwuar the Human Serviette, who might at this point know more about Vancouver’s fabled first-wave punk scene than those who were there. That the kids of Calpurnia—singer-guitarist Finn Wolfhard, guitarist Ayla Tesler-Mabe, bassist Jack Anderson, and drummer Malcolm Craig—come off as older than their years on their debut EP, Scout, isn’t by accident. The band’s exposure to a time it never knew comes partly from encounters with local legends.

Vancouver band Calpurnia’s young members sound older than their years on their debut EP, Scout.

“This is kind of crazy, but I just realized this right now and it kind of blew my mind,” says Tesler-Mabe, on a conference call with her bandmates from London, England, where they’ve just wrapped a BBC session. “Bill Napier-Hemy, who played in the Pointed Sticks, was actually one of my first teachers at rock camp.” Not only that, but the guitarist also jammed with the kids of Napier-Hemy and

his wife, Jade Blade—the latter’s musical past included fronting seminal all-female firstwave punkers the Dishrags. This causes Wolfhard to chime in with “I love all these kind of little ins that we’ve learned about and made in the Vancouver music scene.” A considerable amount of the exposure and hype that’s surrounded Calpurnia has been tied in to the fact that Wolfhard is one of the stars of the smash Netflix series Stranger Things. But a couple of initial singles, followed by the wonderfully accomplished Scout, immediately made it clear the band is anything but the third coming of Keanu Reeves’s Dogstar. The EP’s alt-countrified kickoff track, “Louie”, finds the sweet spot between Greenwich Village– years Bob Dylan and the Exile on Main Street– era Glimmer Twins. “Greyhound” plants one foot in the paisley underground and the other in the fabled college-rock mecca of Athens, Georgia, and “City Boy” sounds like it was made for a mixtape slot right between the Flaming Lips and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Calpurnia started with Wolfhard jamming with Craig after the two met on the set of a video for Toronto agitators Pup—where they played younger versions of the band’s members. TeslerMabe eventually entered their circle at a program

called Before They Were Famous Rock Camp. “I went there not knowing anyone at all,” the guitarist says. “I’d done the program many times so was just happy to show up and meet people who loved music. Luckily for me, both Finn and Malcolm were there and I met them. I remember thinking they were both really, really funny, and genuine down-to-earth guys who loved music.” Craig adds: “We bonded over a lot of Nirvana, classic rock, and grungy stuff.” Tesler-Mabe, who got hooked on guitar playing Rock Band on PlayStation 3, eventually brought her friend Anderson into the fold when a bassist proved the missing piece of the puzzle. “We thought, ‘Okay, if this first show goes okay we should become a band, because we all really like each other and this is all working really well,’ ” Wolfhard says. “And it did, so we were like, ‘Let’s keep this going.’ It was kind of terrifying going on-stage for that first time, but it was also the best feeling in the world.” Much of what has been written about Calpurnia since then has followed the narrative that the band’s members are singularly fascinated with the decade when John Hughes was king, and shoes were pointy and black. That’s anything but accurate. see next page

DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 35

MUSIC

Vile is okay with being weird a

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TALKING WITH Kurt Vile is much like listening to his songs. His long, meandering guitar riffs are the musical equivalent of his speech, ambling around topics that are occasionally peppered with anecdotes from the road. Through those journeys, he repeats himself often, capturing the same spirit as his colloquial, stream-of-consciousnessesque lyrics that make his music both instantly relatable and deliciously psychedelic. It’s a style that has arrested the ears of alternative-rock lovers since the release of his first solo album, Constant Hitmaker, in 2008. Vile’s idiosyncratic playing began commanding attention even as the popularity of guitar-based music started to decline, earning him a spot as an opener for some of the most iconic bands both one and two generations ahead of him. Dinosaur Jr. and the Flaming Lips booked him onto their tours, while John Prine and Neil Young tapped the performer to warm up their crowds—a testament to Vile’s ability to create music accessible to all. But despite the artist’s presence on high-profile stages and as a staple on the major-festival circuit, Vile has never been popular popular in the mainstream. While the single “Pretty Pimpin” from his last solo record, b’lieve i’m goin down…, topped the U.S. Adult Alternative list, most of his releases have failed to log a position in the charts. That’s never been something that’s worried the artist, though—and a point he’s keen to make about his latest album, Bottle It In, which he released in October. Rather than try to re-create the success of his best commercial hit, Vile was keen to write the songs he does best—the rambling earworms that sell out venues around the world. “I didn’t feel like I had to write another ‘Pretty Pimpin’,” he tells the Georgia Straight on the line from a San Diego tour stop. “Maybe an abstract pressure to come back with my best thing yet, and I definitely did that. But I wouldn’t say there’s a ‘Pretty Pimpin’ on this record—and it wasn’t like I needed it. I’ll have another form of a hit at some point, you know? And this record has weird hit potential. The songs are more weird. And that’s okay.” The first single, “Loading Zones”, is an inner monologue that dips from the mundane moments of getting shopping done to musing about the need for an exoskeleton. The next, “Bassackwards”, is a head-nodding odyssey that clocks in at close to 10

Kurt Vile says he felt no pressure to write another hit like “Pretty Pimpin”.

minutes, composed almost entirely of the same two-bar riff. “One-Trick Ponies” is the most mainstream of the three, layering harmonies over an easygoing country backing, and spotlighting Vile’s choice to pack this record with a more comprehensive selection of sounds than his previous, more minimalist offerings. “I wanted to put a classic Kurt Vile record out,” he says. “In weird ways, even though there’s strategic instrumentation on my previous album b’lieve i’m goin down…, I would call that a stripped-down album too. I wanted to come back and make some kind of epic psychedelic [record], a culmination of ‘Who the hell knows what’s going to come out when I go into the studio.’ I wanted to do something out-there, but still reachable.” by Kate Wilson

Kurt Vile and the Violators play the Commodore on Sunday (December 16).

GALLAGHER’S FRIENDS PAY TRIBUTE TO A GUITAR GREAT

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“I think it’s cool that we’re not trying to sound like a ’70s rock band, or an ’80s rock band,” Craig offers. “We’re more into touching on all the different influences that we collectively have, and then bring those influences to our own music.” FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY It’s more accurate to say that he DEC 14 DEC 15 DEC 16 and his bandmates are in love with rock in general, a big part of the apHIGH TIDE LIVE MUSIC peal being the quick learning curve. Forget spending weeks on YouTube CHRISMTAS WITH learning how to make beats that EDITION MIKE WETERINGS sound like something from the QUALITY HOUSE MUSIC Migos crew; it only takes a couple of KRONENBOURG RED TRUCK BEER CAESARS $6.75 days to be able to stumble through $5.85 $6.95 (20oz) GROLSCH $6.25 “Louie Louie”. Calpurnia has already JUGS $16.50 (1664, Blanc, Fruit) RED TRUCK BEER taken things far beyond the garage, GROLSCH $6.25 $5.85 the group proving there’s plenty of life left in rock ’n’ roll. WEDNESDAY THURSDAY TUESDAY “What makes rock so cool is that it’s so accessible,” Anderson says. “You DEC 20 DEC 18 DEC 19 can take three chords and any crappy acoustic guitar and be ready to rip. BACKSTAGE FISH & All of us can say that we wanted to CHIPS & play guitar or drums right from when BEER $14 we were little. It was the case where it was ‘Oh, there’s a guitar lying around PARKSIDE PILSNER BACKSTAGE LAGER the house—I think I’ll pick it up and $5.85 $3 (10oz) try it.’ There was a spark in all of us JUGS $16.50 ONION RINGS $6 right from the beginning where this POUTINE $12 MOZZARELLA STICKS is what we wanted to do.”

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36 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018

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answers the phone at a tour stop in Morro Bay, California, he’s still ensconced in that vinyl-spinning life from the ’70s. He and his mates in Band of Friends—guitarist Davy Knowles and drummer Ted McKenna—have just returned from a local record store, where Knowles splurged on LPs by Greg Lake, Chicago, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, and—since Christmas is coming—Perry Como. “Davy likes his music,” notes McAvoy, a 66-year-old veteran of the bottom end. “He’s a big vinyl fan, so we’ve got a little record player set up in the dressing room. Davy bought about 10 vinyl, so he’s looking forward to playing them tonight. We listen to everything, you know; it’s very diverse. My son turns me on to some new music every now and then. I can’t remember the names, but he does turn me on to them.” The 31-year-old Knowles is the kid in the group. You may recognize his name from Back Door Slam, a band from the Isle of Man that drew raves from blues-rock fans in 2007 with its debut release, Roll Away. McAvoy had played with McKenna, 68, for many years—including on tour and in the studio with Gallagher on late-’70s albums like Photo-Finish and Top Priority—but only recently hooked up with Knowles. So did the shit-hot picker just call McAvoy up one day, profess a deep love of Rory, and ask if he could help re-create his tunes? “No, it wasn’t that at all,” replies McAvoy. “We were just looking out for some different guitar players, because we use a guy named Marcel Scherpenzeel in Europe, and it’s always nice to play with different people. But it was just by chance, because last year my sister saw this thing on YouTube, and it was Davy doin’ ‘Bad Penny’, one of Rory’s songs, just on guitar from his kitchen for Rory’s birthday. She sent it to me, so I just made contact with Davy and asked him ‘Do you fancy coming out and doing a bunch of shows?’ ” Anyone lucky enough to have seen Gallagher in concert knows that one of McAvoy’s strong points—besides delivering smokin’ hot bass—was his ability to motivate the Irish guitar legend, to push him to new heights on-stage. “[We were] pushin’ each other,” recalls McAvoy, “that’s the way it was. And that’s the way it still is. I push Davy, Davy pushes me. And Ted pushes both of us.”

Calpurnia plays the Vogue Theatre next Friday and Saturday (December 21 and 22).

MUSIC LISTINGS MASS APPEAL STARTING 5 Hip-hop show featuring Fashawn, Stro, Ezri, Cantrell, and 070 Phi. Feb 12, 9 pm, Biltmore Cabaret. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $15. VINCE STAPLES California rapper, with guest JPEGMAFIA. Mar 22, 9 pm, Harbour Event Centre. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $35. COM TRUISE American electronic musician, with guests Jack Grace and ginla. Mar 28, 9 pm, Fortune Sound Club. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $20. STEEL PANTHER Eighties-style hair-metal band from the States plays three nights. Apr 11-13, 9:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $42.50. METRIC & JULY TALK Canadian indie-rock bands play a coheadlining bill. Apr 18, 8 pm, Pacific Coliseum. Tix on sale Dec 14, noon. WINTERSLEEP Indie-rock band from Halifax. Apr 26, 9:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom. On sale Dec 14, 10 am, $30/four-packs $100. ALEC BENJAMIN American singer-songwriter. May 2, 8 pm, St. James Hall. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $20. RODRIGUEZ Singer-songwriter from Detroit. May 12, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $115/85/65. OCEAN ALLEY Rock band from Sydney, Australia. May 30, 9 pm, Imperial. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $20. AMANDA PALMER Alt-rock/dark-cabaret singer-songwriter from the States. Jun 6, 7:30 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $49.50/40. JUDAS PRIEST Heavy-metal legends from Britain, with guests Uriah Heep. Jun 17, 7:30 pm, Abbotsford Centre. On sale Dec 14, 10 am, $109.50/89.50/59.50. JOHN PRINE American folk singer-songwriter, with guest Kathleen Edwards. Aug 6, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tix on sale Dec 14, 10 am, $75-130.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12 SHAKEY GRAVES Americana artist from Austin, Texas. Dec 12, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tix $55/39.50/29.50. FUCKED UP Hardcore punk band from Toronto performs tunes from latest album Dose Your Dreams. Dec 12, 9 pm, Fox Cabaret. Tix $15. ALLEN STONE American soul/R&B artist, with guest Nick Waterhouse. Dec 12, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix $30.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13 URBANA BIG BAND Eighteen-piece jazz orchestra led by Robin Schier, Dec 13, 7 pm, Alice MacKay Room. Free. ROEDDE HOUSE JAZZ SERIES Fran Jaré, Saul Berson, and the Paul Blaney Trio. Dec 13,

Mind EMPLOYMENT Body & Soul Laser

7-9 pm, Roedde House Museum. Tix $15/$12. TENACIOUS D American comedy-rock duo composed of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, with guests Wynchester. Dec 13, 7:30 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tix $79.50/59.50/39.50. CALEB KLAUDER & REEB WILLMS The Rogue Folk Club presents duo from the Foghorn Stringband. Dec 13, 8 pm, St. James Hall. Tix $12-24. DWEEZIL ZAPPA American rock guitarist, son of Frank. Dec 13, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix $79 (VIP)/$49.50.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16 SUNDAYS FOR SINNERS MUSIC SALOON & SOCIAL Ana Bon-Bon’s soulful countryblues. Dec 16, 4:30-7:30 pm, The Princeton Pub & Grill. Free/tip jar. TOR MILLER Indie-pop singer from Brooklyn. Dec 16, 8 pm, Biltmore Cabaret. Tix $25. MARIA HO QUARTET Local jazz vocalist celebrates Christmas. Dec 16, 8-10 pm, Frankie’s Jazz Club. Tix $16. KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS Indie-rockers from Philadelphia, with guest Jessica Pratt. Dec 16, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix $36.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18 SAWDUST COLLECTOR Weekly performance series at the Gold Saucer. Dec 18, 9-11:45 pm, The Gold Saucer. Tickets $5-$10.

AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS Does someone else's drinking bother you? Al-Anon can help. We are a support group for those who have been affected by another's drinking problem. For more information please call: 604-688-1716

Support Groups

Battered Women's Support Services provides free daytime & evening support groups (Drop-ins & 10 week groups) for women abused by their intimate partner. Groups provide emotional support, legal information & advocacy, safety planning, and referrals. For more information please call: 604-687-1867

Women Survivors of Incest Anonymous A 12 Step based peer support program. Wed @ 7pm @ Avalon Women's Centre 5957 West Blvd 604-263-7177 also www.siawso.org

REDD KROSS Alt-rock band from Hawthorne, California, with guests the Dale Crover Band. Dec 15, Biltmore Cabaret. Tix $19.99-$24.99. KEITHMAS IX Ninth annual Christmas tribute to Keith Richards raises funds for the Vancouver Food Bank. Dec 15, 7 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $20. SOLD OUT. ROOT DWELLERS CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE Featuring the Long War and opening act Kel Roman. Dec 15, 8 pm, Kings Cafe and Wine Bar. Tix $20.

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Infertility Awareness Assoc. of Canada (IAAC) provides educational material & support to individuals or couples experiencing infertility. Meetings: 7 pm the 2nd Wed of the month. Richmond Library & Cultural Centre, 7700 Minoru Gate. Info 523-0074 or www.iaac.ca

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15

Anxiety? Depression? Free Mental Wellness Support Group held on Saturdays (10:30 am – 12:30) Promotes a holistic approach to healing (body, mind & spirit). Networking and interactive learning experience in a safe, non-judgmental environment. For more information call 604-630-6865 or visit www.mentalwellnessbc.ca

Healthy & loving relationships alluding you? CODA: Co-dependency Anonymous 12 step Recovery: 604- 515-5585

GOOD TIDINGS! A GOOD NOISE GOSPEL CHRISTMAS An evening of gospel, soul, and jazzy Christmas favourites. Dec 14-15, Christ Church Cathedral. Tix from $10. WINTER BREAKOUT 2018 All-ages hip-hop festival. Dec 14, 6 pm, Pacific Coliseum. Tix $99/$149 VIP. THREE DAYS GRACE Canadian rock band performs on its Outsider tour, with guests Nothing More and Bad Wolves. Dec 14, 7:30 pm, Abbotsford Centre. Tix $40/54.50/74.50. COOL YULE WITH VAN DJANGO A festive Christmas mix of nostalgic favourites, jazz standards, pop tunes, and sing-alongs, all delivered in swinging gypsy-jazz style. Dec 14, 8 pm, St. James Hall. Tix $13-26.

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Anorexics & Bulimics Anonymous 12 Step based peer support program which addresses the mental, emotional, & spiritual aspects of disordered eating Tuesdays @ 7 pm @ Avalon Women's Centre 5957 West Blvd - 604-263-7177

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BC Balance & Dizziness provides information & support for persons with balance, dizziness & vestibular disorders. Bi Monthly info meetings @ St. Paul's Hospital. Call for info. 604-878-8383 www.BalanceAndDizziness.org Distress Line & Suicide Prevention Services NEED SOME ONE TO TALK TO? Call us for immediate, free, confidential and non-judgemental support, 24 hours a day, everyday. The Crisis Centre in Vancouver can help you cope more effectively with stressful situations. 604-872-3311 Drug & Alcohol Problems? Free advanced information and help on how quit drinking & using drugs. For more information call Barry Bjornson @ 604-836-7568 or email me @livinghumility@live.com ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION Looking to start a parent support group in Kitsilano. Please call Barbara 604 737 8337

TENACIOUS D (December 13 at the QE) We know a little kid who loves “Tribute”, and we almost bought him a Tenacious D ticket until we remembered they also have a song called “Fuck Her Gently”.

Scan to confess

WINTER BREAKOUT (December 14 at Pacific Coliseum) Headliner Lil Uzi Vert will prove, despite evidence to the contrary (we’re looking at you, Lil Xan) that you can have “Lil” in your name and still be talented.

Brr

REDD KROSS (December 15 at the Biltmore) No band has ever been more brilliant at infusing bubblegum pop with the spirit of first-wave punk than Redd Kross, whose McDonald brothers remain eerily ageless.

Don’t be Ageist.

PETUNIA AND THE VIPERS (December 17 at the WISE Hall) Sixty-five years ago Hank Williams flamed out in the back of a car on December 31. Get a start on remembering his death with Petunia and the Vipers, whose “Lonesome” the country giant would have loved.

and all the places we never went. I was reminiscing on those first moments in a relationship. When you are both excited and a little guarded, learning about each other and showing each other new things. I didn’t get to have that with you. And it makes me sad.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19 PLAY. PIE & PINT Rio Samaya performs Latin flavoured tunes, followed by a pie and beverage. Dec 19, 12 pm, Centennial Theatre. Tix $25/$22/$15.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20 UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER PARTY Fundraiser featuring house band Groove & Tonic supports Make-A-Wish BC & Yukon. Dec 20, 8 pm, Venue. Tix $33.50/$55. MUSIC EVENTS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

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I am not from BC. Overall I like living here, but sometimes I consider moving to another city in Canada where the rent isn’t so high. But then I remember about winter, and I think to hell with that. Everywhere else is too damn cold.

You’re going to be 40-50 in the blink of an eye.You’ll be shocked how fast the years went by.

All the Things We Never Did

Smoko Ok I’m done with this. You get 2 15 minute breaks and a 30 for lunch. Figure you’re smoke breaks into this. If you can’t go more than an hour without one then that’s your addiction not mine, so don’t take it out on me. If that’s the case then I insist on being able to drink at my desk so I’m not a total ass.

Tired of useless crap at Christmas? Buying eachother presents that will just go to the back of the closet then thrown away? Consider donating to a homeless charity or thrift shop. Your buck will go a long way and you never know who it’ll help at the right moment. During your next trip to Costco get a few extra pairs of socks or toiletries & drop em off somewhere they’ll be put to good use.

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SAVAGE LOVE

Sex-shaming bro is the bad guy by Dan Savage

b STRAIGHT AND MARRIED but not boring, and heading to my parents’ house for our first family Christmas since my asshole MAGA brother “stumbled over” the Tumblr blog where the wife and I posted about our sexual adventures. (Pics of MMF threesomes and cross-dressing/pegging sessions, plus some dirty “true enough” stories.) My brother has always been an angry screwup, so he leapt on the chance to make me look bad by sending the link to my parents, siblings, and even some close family friends. Our Tumblr blog is still up because we aren’t ashamed. Any advice? - Totally Uncool Malicious Bastard’s Lame Reveal Your Tumblr blog isn’t going to be up for much longer, TUMBLR, as the company that owns Tumblr—Verizon—is ashamed of your blog and the millions of others like it. Tumblr announced last week that all “adult” content is banned as of December 17. And the definition of “adult content” is pretty broad: “photos, videos, and GIFs of human genitalia, femalepresenting nipples, and any media involving sex acts, including illustrations”, although they will allow genitals and those wicked “femalepresenting nipples” in images of classical art. (No contemporary junk or lady nips allowed.) This is not just a blow to people who use Tumblr for porn—and that’s most people who use Tumblr—but also to the sex-work community. Sex workers had already been driven off most other online platforms by anti sex-work crusaders, and now sex workers are being driven off Tumblr as well. Forcing sex workers off the Internet won’t end sex work, the stated goal of anti sex-work crusaders,

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but it will make sex work more dangerous—which tells us everything we need to know about the motives of anti sex-work crusaders. While they claim to oppose sex work because it’s dangerous, they push policies that make sex work more dangerous. Sex workers weren’t just advertising online, they were organizing—in addition to honing and making the political argument for decriminalizing sex work, they were screening potential clients and sharing information with each other about dangerous clients. Just like anti-choice/ anti-abortion crusaders, anti sexwork crusaders don’t want to “protect” women; they want to punish women for making choices they disapprove of. (As a general rule: if what you’re doing makes people less safe, you don’t get to claim you’re trying to protect anyone. It’s like claiming you only set houses on fire to drive home the importance of smoke alarms.) Anyway, fuck your sex-shaming/ smut-shaming brother, TUMBLR. As for the rest of your family, you and the wife should slap smiles on your faces and act like you’ve done nothing wrong—because you haven’t done anything wrong. Your asshole brother is the bad guy, and any family members who wish to discuss how offended they were by your Tumblr blog should be directed to speak with your brother, as he’s the one who showed it to them.

you should identify as someone who doesn’t give a shit what her sisters think (because you shouldn’t). If good straight guys and “free sexual women” in opposite-sex relationships don’t identify with hetero- Give It To Me Straight sexuality and/or hetero-romantic P.S. I have a straight male friend who orientations, GITMS, all the shitty says he’s a lesbian trapped in a man’s straight people will conclude that body. What do you think of this? they get to defi ne heterosexuality (which they don’t). People don’t choose to be straight— some poor motherfuckers are born b I’M A GAY man in my mid-20s, and that way—any more than hetero- I’m getting more serious with a guy I romantic bisexuals choose to be met a few months ago. I was surprised hetero-romantic bisexuals. You can’t to eventually learn that “Michael” is help who you’re attracted to, GITMS, in his late 30s, since he easily passes primarily or otherwise, and the for my age. I’m comfortable with the contempt of family members can’t age gap, but I’m struggling with how change a person’s sexual or roman- to present this to my parents. Relitic orientation. Your sisters should gious and conservative, they were understand that, since they most cordial but distant with the last guy likely wouldn’t be with women if the I dated (who was my age). I’m afraid contempt of family members had the age gap with my new boyfriend will create even more discomfort for that kind of power. As for describing yourself as a them and that Michael will sense it gay man trapped in a woman’s body when he comes along to visit for the and your straight male friend de- holidays. I’m considering lying to my scribing himself as a lesbian trapped parents if Michael’s age comes up. in a man’s body… Unless the two I’ve challenged my parents’ attitudes of you are trans—in which case, for many years—but at this point, you could be homos trapped in the I’m willing to trade honesty for the wrong bodies—your friend is just chance to be treated even a little another straight guy mortified by bit more like a “normal couple” at the mess straight people (mostly Christmas. Is it selfish to ask Michael white, mostly men) have made of for permission to lie about his age? the world. You’re also mortified by I’m nervous to even share my feelstraightness, GITMS, or at least the ings with him for fear it will give the sexual inequality that often comes impression I’m embarrassed by him. - Awkward Gatherings Expected Given bundled with it. But instead of your Age Peculiarity straight male friend opting out of heterosexuality (which he can’t do) or you framing your attraction to Tell one lie to make your relationmen as a gay thing to get your sisters ship seem more acceptable to your off your back (which you shouldn’t parents and you’ll be tempted to tell have to do), your friend should iden- them more lies—and I don’t know tify as straight (because he is) and about you, AGEGAP, but not having imagine my sexuality as a gay man’s sexuality in a woman’s body, and I try to explain it to them in this way. I’m not a secret right-winger or someone kidding around by asking this question. This is a real issue.

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DECEMBER 13 – 20 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 39

40 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT DECEMBER 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 / 2018