FREE | DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021 Volume 55 | Number 2809
LARA ST. JOHN Never tires of Vivaldi’s hit
LAST-MINUTE GIFTS It’s not too late…yet!
VACCINE VIEWS Hogan’s Alley Society is leading a research project to delve more deeply into Black people’s experiences and intentions when it comes to COVID-19 immunizations
BEER RELIEF • BILLIE EILISH • CAMERON WILSON • NUTCRACKER
CHILL.
Enjoy stress-free reading without the noise on CreatorNews.
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DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
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CONTENTS
REAL ESTATE
Assembly lifts asking price well over the assessed value
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By Charlie Smith Cover photo by puckons/Getty Images Plus
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d LONG GONE are the days when one could buy a detached home in Vancouver for less than a million dollars. But if price were the only consideration, a determined buyer could find one below this psychological level. Let’s take 5 Sennok Crescent as an example. The property has a 2021 assessment of $2,379,900. But this rancher-withbasement home recently sold for only $727,000. The property is located near the
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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
ARTS
Lara St. John started playing the violin at the age of two, and while it might not have sounded great back then, it’s winning her kudos now. By Steve Newton
20 MUSIC
With no history of acting, and little to suggest that she’s gifted at comedy, Billie Eilish surprised everyone by killing it on SNL.
The homes at 241 and 225 West King Edward have a combined assessment of $4,671,100.
By Mike Usinger
3.72 times the assessed value? The answer lies in the listings. “Investors/Developers Alert,” the text began. “Cambie corridor project. 2 lot assembly in prestigious westside. 1 1/2 blocks from skytrain station,” the listings continued. This simply means that the two properties are located near King Edward Station of the Canada Line. More important, an investor or developer can potentially have a new multistorey building at the site based on the City of Vancouver’s Cambie Corridor Plan. To do this, a buyer needs to purchase the two lots together. The properties are still waiting for “investors/developers”. Details of the nearly six-month-old listings can be found on the realtor.ca site. g
e Start Here 13 BEER 22 CLASSIFIED ADS 21 CONFESSIONS 14 DANCE 12 FINANCE 13 FOOD 19 MOVIES 11 MUSIC GIFTS 8 ORNAMENTS 4 REAL ESTATE 21 SAVAGE LOVE 19 TELEVISION
D etached HOME FOR $727K The listing says a patio, pool, and hot tub at 5 Sennok Crescent are ideal for entertaining.
COVER
Hogan’s Alley Society is leading a research project delving into how people in the Black community feel about COVID-19 vaccinations and vaccine hesitancy.
by Carlito Pablo
ast summer, a realtor talked about how some words have the magic property of creating a lot of wealth. These powerful words are land assembly and rezoning. “You write the magical words ‘land assembly potential’ in the listing description, crank the Vibrance fi lter on your iPhone 11 to max, and wait for the buyers to arrive,” said Adam Major of Holywell Properties and real-estate site Zealty.ca. If sellers get as much as three times the assessed value of their homes, especially those in Vancouver, then good for them. “That’s ambition, baby!” Major said in a June 27, 2021 report by the Straight about East Vancouver listings. Around that time, two properties on the West Side of Vancouver came on the market. The detached homes at 241 and 225 West King Edward Avenue were listed on June 21, 2021. Each had an asking price of $8,695,000. That’s a total of $17,390,000. What’s notable is that the sum is 3.7 times the combined assessment of the two properties. The home at 241 West King Edward has a 2021 assessment of $2,291,100. The one at 225 West King Edward Avenue has an assessed value of $2,380,000. Combined, that’s a total assessment of $4,671,100. So what justifies the asking price that is
December 16-23 / 2021
Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, UBC, Southlands, Kerrisdale, and Dunbar. It was listed on September 24 for $828,000. Not only does the single-family residence include four bedrooms and four washrooms, but it also comes with a patio, pool, and hot tub, which listing agent Dexter Realty described as “perfect for entertaining”. So, what’s the catch? The listing states that the home is a nonprepaid lease property. The annual lease payment is $21,008. As well, the lease is subject to increases in 2035 and 2055. Was the $727,000 deal a good one, considering that the buyer also has to pay an annual lease of $21,008? Well, that depends on who’s talking. Houses in the neighbourhood that are not on leasehold land list for anywhere between $4 million to $20 million. The lease for 5 Sennok Crescent ends in 2064. g
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
by Carlito Pablo
e Listings 18 ARTS
Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 55 | Number 2809 #300 - 1375 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6H 0B1 T: 604.730.7000 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com DISPLAY ADVERTISING: T: 604.730.7020 E: sales@straight.com
CLASSIFIEDS: T: 604.730.7000 E: classads@straight.com SUBSCRIPTIONS: 604.730.7000 DISTRIBUTION: 604.730.7032
EDITOR Charlie Smith GENERAL MANAGER Sandra Oswald SECTION EDITORS Mike Usinger (ESports/Liquor/Music) Steve Newton SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Jeff Li ART DEPARTMENT MANAGER Janet McDonald
e Online TOP 5
Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.
1 2 3 4 5
RCMP refuses to release mug shots of Surrey mayor Doug McCallum. Former Sun editorial-page editor blasts ex-colleagues in 11,000-word article. Kurt Cobain’s childhood home is on the market in Washington state. Two physicians speak at rally in front of B.C. politicians hanged in effigy. COVID-19 in B.C.: 1,129 new cases reported over a three-day period. @GeorgiaStraight
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HEALTH
Race-based health data can mean better policies
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by Charlie Smith
arlier this year, Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, made it clear that race matters when it comes to outcomes related to COVID-19. This was the case even though race-based data is not consistently made available across Canada. “For example, surveillance data from Toronto and Ottawa indicates that COVID-19 cases are 1.5 to 5 times higher among racialized populations than nonracialized populations in these two cities,” Tam said in her statement, delivered on February 21. “Data from First Nations peoples living on reserve also point to higher rates of infection with SARSCoV-02 compared to the general population (currently 69% higher).” Moreover, Tam stated that there are “troubling examples of anti-Black racism that continue to this day” within Canada’s health-care system, “particularly involving racial bias on the part of health professionals and systemic racism within institutional practices”. “This is compounded by the low proportion of Black health-care practitioners in Canada,” she added. “This continued generational systemic racism and mistreatment within the health system has led to considerable wariness within racialized communities, and a significant lack of trust in these systems and institutions. This lack of trust has contributed to significant COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the Black and Indigenous, as well as other racialized communities.” Now a Vancouver-based Black community group, Hogan’s Alley Society, is leading a research project to delve more deeply into COVID-19 vaccination experiences in Black communities in B.C. Through a survey on its website, HAS is asking Black people about their intentions with regard to COVID-19 vaccines, as well as their thoughts about immunizations, vaccine hesitancy, and the B.C. Vaccine Card program. HAS spokesperson Stephanie Allen told
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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
Data from Ontario showed that a higher incidence of COVID-19 cases in Black and Indigenous communities may have bolstered distrust in the health system. Photo by Getty Images.
the Straight by phone that the survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and it’s available in English and French. It’s being funded by the B.C. immunization committee. “I think one of the things that was very concerning to us, early days, were the anecdotes—more the qualitative kind of feedback we were getting from community members that were deeply distrustful about vaccination,” Allen said. She pointed out that this distrust is related to people’s personal and family histories with health-care professionals, as well as the troubled relationship that Black communities have had in the past with public-health agencies. The most notorious example is the U.S. Public Health Service’s study in 1932 to record the natural history of syphilis. Working with the Alabama-based Tuskagee Institute, the study tracked 600 Black men, including 399 with syphilis. The research subjects were not told about the nature of the study, which meant that they did not offer their informed consent. The Black men in the study did not receive penicillin to treat their syphilis, leading to a class-action suit, which was settled in
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
1974 with a $10-million award. In 1997, then president Bill Clinton formally apologized. When the pandemic struck, Allen said that some people in her community were put on edge very quickly, in part due to this history. “So we saw this rising discourse as well—among community groups, among families—of fear, of real distrust,” she said. “And yet we had enough evidence to know, especially from Ontario, that Black communities were getting disproportionately impacted by COVID.” Allen added that the same is true in the U.S.: a significant distrust of vaccines yet a high impact from COVID-19. The dangers were elevated for those working in frontline jobs without adequate sick leave. “The socioeconomic marginalization that Black communities face has put them in higher risk,” she said. Allen said that a town-hall meeting was held for the Black community with the Black Physicians of British Columbia to answer people’s questions. The goal was to convey credible information to the community from sources they could trust. That led HAS to form a partnership with the principal
investigator for the study, Dr. Gina Ogilvie, a Black physician and senior public health scientist at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, as well as a Canada Research Chair in Global Control of HPV at UBC. Ogilvie is well aware of the Tuskagee study and other health-research projects that have sowed distrust in marginalized communities. She sees the partnership with HAS as a way for the Black community to help gather data that can shape, direct, and guide policies going forward. “So I think we need to learn from history but I also think we need to take that history and allow it to shape our future,” Ogilvie said. “And so I’m excited about repositioning Black folks—Black health—at the front of the conversation, and maybe in the centre of the conversation. I think that’s what we’re trying to do here.” She noted that there has been a “massive gap, particularly in Canada” in collecting race-based health data. And this has impaired the ability of policymakers and health leaders to address “co-embedded inequities” within the health-care system. “I think what’s clear after this pandemic is that everyone now understands this as a critical issue,” Ogilvie said. Allen said that the existence of disaggregated race-based data makes it possible for community-based organizations to made a case for better policies. But this isn’t as easy to do when this data hasn’t been collected, which is another good reason for HAS to lead this research. “We’re hopeful that we can use these findings to have very specific and targeted policy conversations at the provincial level, at the regional level, and with health authorities, and really start to see policies change and adapt,” Allen said. “You know, the First Nations Health Authority is a great model for how the needs of Indigenous peoples are being centred and addressed in health care. We’re just hopeful that we can start to build similar capacities for Black communities in B.C.” g
GIS loss or drastic reduction? You can seek help from your MP
“Many seniors in my riding have been asking for urgent help because they can no longer afford food or are facing eviction due to the loss or drastic reduction of their Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). It is heartless and unconscionable for the Liberal government to treat low-income seniors this way. Seniors who applied for CERB or other pandemic benefits under the Service Canada stream can submit an urgent request to adjust the amount of their GIS based on their estimated income. However, seniors who applied under the Canada Revenue Agency stream have no process available to address this urgent situation. If you are an impacted senior, bring your concerns to your local Member of Parliament. The Liberal government should treat all seniors equally, no matter under which Ministry stream they applied for CERB. I, along with other NDP MPs, are calling on the government to exempt CERB or pandemic benefits as income when calculating GIS eligibility for low income vulnerable seniors.” Jenny Kwan, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East Many low-income seniors recently found that their monthly old age pension (including OAS, CPP and GIS) have been sharply reduced by several hundred dollars, and this situation would continue in the following months. With a few hundred dollars less in monthly income, these seniors find themselves left in dire situation, struggling to make ends meet.
such as annual bus passes. When the federal government launched the CERB program, it never warned the applicants that collecting CERB would affect their GIS and other low-income benefits in the future, nor did the government provide any universal appeal process for the affected applicants.
More than 80,000 low-income seniors across Canada who applied for CERB during the pandemic, have been hit by the sudden loss or drastic cut of the GIS because the government considers the pandemic benefits as income for GIS purposes. As a result, some seniors also lost other low-income benefits
GIS recipients are supposed to be able to earn up to $5,000 before their GIS is reduced. In addition, 50% of the next $10,000 of income will also be exempt. That means seniors should be able to earn up to $10,000 while still receiving benefits under the GIS. Yet somehow this exemption does not apply to CERB or EI-CRB income.
The federal government calculates the amount of GIS for the coming year in July each year, so the reduced amount of GIS will remain for one year. It will not be adjusted until the government makes another evaluation and calculation in July next year. Seniors facing GIS loss or reduction can seek help from MP in their riding, asking the MP office to submit an urgent request to recalculate their 2020 income, as well as urge the government to fix the flawed policies.
Appeal the GIS decision if you applied for CERB through Service Canada
Seniors who applied for CERB through CRA have no way to appeal
Seniors who applied for CERB through Service Canada can request an urgent reassessment of their income for 2020 through their MP’s office. It takes two to three weeks to get results. The seniors’ GIS can be restored or increased for most cases.
For seniors who applied for CERB under the Canada Revenue Agency stream, at this time there is sadly no way for them to appeal the GIS decisions, or recalculate their income for 2020. This reduced GIS will continue for one year, unless the government changes the related policies. Seniors can share their concerns regarding this systemic injustice with their MP, and urge the government to correct the unfair policies.
Jenny Kwan, MP Constituency Office 2572 E Hastings St, Vancouver (appointments mandatory during pandemic) | Email: Jenny.Kwan@parl.gc.ca | Tel: 604-775-5800 Find your MP and their contact information by your postal code: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
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GIFT GUIDE
Ornaments provide a miniature look at Vancouver
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by Charlie Smith
ast Vancouver resident Rhonda Nowak has some very good reasons to be looking forward to the holiday season this year. And it’s not only because this is an especially busy time for her small business, Vancouver Christmas Ornaments, which offers a collection of blown-glass, miniature statues of Vancouver landmarks. She can also celebrate her dramatically improved health after being diagnosed with cancer in 2020. “It was a really tough, tough year, but people have been so kind,” Nowak told the Straight by phone. “And I think I got a few sympathy purchases last year, but now people are buying them because they actually love them!” As she approaches her fifth Christmas retail season, she has a new product that people can hang on their trees: one of the small ferries that take people across False Creek. She’s added this to a line of ornaments that includes the East Van cross, Science World, and the Gastown steam clock. For animal lovers, she’s created a statue of one of the lions that stands at the south end of the Lions Gate Bridge. Vancouver Christmas Ornaments also
Science World and a False Creek ferry are just two of the small blown-glass statues created by East Van resident Rhonda Nowak and marketed by her company, Vancouver Christmas Ornaments.
sells statues of a spirit bear, a sockeye salmon, a dogwood flower, and a crow, which has become a de facto symbol of East Vancouver, thanks to the Eastside Culture Crawl. They sell for between $20 and $25 each and are available at vanchristmas.com. The crow was Nowak’s homage to the dearly departed Canuck the crow. “Bless his soul,” she said. Nowak worked for many years in communications but lost her job in a restructur-
ing a couple of years ago. She was looking for a new job when she received the cancer diagnosis. Because she couldn’t sell her statues at Christmas markets last year, friends and former coworkers launched a Facebook campaign on her behalf. They even paid for the advertisements, enabling her to earn enough to offset any loss of income. “I am just so thankful for everyone who supported me this last year or two,” Nowak said. “I get emotional about it.”
In creating her designs, she relies on reference photos, prepares the drawings, and scales the models to size. She then chooses the finishes and the colours and has them manufactured elsewhere. Making blown-glass statues of Vancouver landmarks is quite a leap for someone who used to make their living working for a large company. So where did she come up with the idea? “I was actually in counselling and my counsellor said, ‘If you can do anything you wanted to do, what would it be?’ ” Nowak recalled. She replied that she would create a business of blown-glass ornaments showing off aspects of Vancouver and B.C. “He said, ‘Don’t tell anyone.’ I kind of was taken aback. He said, ‘That’s a fantastic idea. Don’t tell anyone. You should just go do it because someone else will do it,’ ” she said. “And then I thought, ‘Okay, I am going to.’ Life is short. You’ve got to be doing something you love. “Especially after I had my diagnosis,” Nowak added. “It was just like a wake-up call. You know, you can’t be in a job that brings no joy. I’m now in a job that brings a lot of joy.” g
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Palette Skills creates pathways for Canadians to gain employment in the fast-growing tech industry
Palette Skills can create new pathways for mid-career workers, university graduates with some work experience, newcomers, women reentering the workforce, and people facing barriers to work.
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(This story is sponsored by Palette Skills.)
espite having one of the most educated and diverse workforces in the world, an overwhelming number of Canadian companies struggle to find highly skilled talent. In order for our country to succeed in building an innovation economy, this employment gap must be closed by connecting trailblazing companies with suitable talent. Even though Canada’s unemployment rate remains high, companies are having a difficult time recruiting the team members required for growth. Longtime social entrepreneur and computer scientist Arvind Gupta recognized the need to address this gap, sparking the idea for Palette Skills, a nonprofit that provides rapid training and upskilling programs to Canadians. Each program is designed to help participants gain employment in the fastest growing industries, like tech and cybersecurity. “We just aren’t getting the right people into these innovative companies—and the right talent is crucial if companies want to succeed,” says Gupta, CEO and cofounder of Palette Skills. When establishing the nonprofit, funded in part by the Government of Canada, he started with the question: why are we relying on new postsecondary programs and skilled foreign workers to meet talent demands when we live in a country with such a highly
educated population? In response to this question, Gupta reflected upon the measures it would take to move Canadians into these innovative industries and the minimum intervention required. “We found a way to customize training for several groups of people, providing them with the knowledge and experience that hiring companies are looking for. In one week, someone who wasn’t considered ‘hireable’ can become the hottest talent these companies have seen. We show companies that these people can do the job, they just require a little extra training,” says Gupta. Palette Skills can create new pathways for mid-career workers, university graduates with some work experience, newcomers, women reentering the workforce, and people experiencing major barriers to finding work. It also seeks to help workers move from disrupted industries into faster growing and more stable sectors. An impressive 96 percent of participants who complete the SalesCamp or Cybersecurity Training program through Palette Skills receive a job offer. SALESCAMP
Over the past decade, Canada has become one of the largest tech hubs in the world, which is why the nonprofit created the SalesCamp training program. Through public-private partnerships, Palette Skills designs industrydriven training and upskilling programs that
expand the talent pool for companies competing in today’s digital economy. Palette Skills has been running the B2B tech sales course in Ontario for the past two years but has recently expanded to B.C. The second cohort of the virtual bootcamp-style program will begin in January 2022, with two more programs happening in February and March. A significant part of the program involves direct engagement with hiring managers and tech companies. “These experts provide hands-on exercises that cover the sales cycle, lead generation, and closing a deal,” says Gupta. “They get to see how well the participants can perform and fasttrack them through the hiring process. It’s a real win-win; participants get to learn from the best and hiring partners get to access outstanding talent.” Palette’s hiring partners represent a diverse variety of industries, including financial services, soft ware as a service, education, and more. They include companies that range in size from small startups with fewer than 10 staff to large corporations with more than 5,000 employees. The first iteration of the B.C. program included participation from companies like Klue, Traction on Demand, Trulioo, and Visier. In the program itself, participants receive four weeks of sales training. The first six days offer full-time live and online instruction,
followed by three weeks of part-time workshops. Topics covered include sales foundations, confidence building, career-development planning, and more. Participants also get access to ongoing networking events and job-search support to help them succeed after graduating the program. This fast-paced, intensive program is funded by Innovate B.C. Palette Skills is motivated by the strong belief that when equipped with the right tools, workers of all genders, ages, and backgrounds can develop the skills necessary to succeed in the future of work. “We have to believe that Canadians can do these jobs,” says Gupta. “I know we always say that people are the best resource, but I’m not sure we always believe it. Canadians can be part of this knowledge economy that we’re building if we create opportunities for them to enter. Otherwise, we are sending the message that these new types of well-paying jobs aren’t for them, they are for somebody else. If you believe people can do great things when they put their mind to it, then we have to build a bridge.” g Visit www.paletteskills.org/bcsalescamp/ to apply to the Palette Skills SalesCamp BC program. If you would like to become a hiring partner and access a growing talent pool of skilled, qualified, and diverse candidates to help your company grow and succeed, go to www.paletteskills.org/partners/.
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
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GIFT GUIDE
Flip the script with a rocking present to yourself
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by Mike Usinger
ormally, gift guides help you pick out gifts for that person who has everything, including a lifetime’s supply of shoes, socks, and reasonably priced but-not-too-shitty cookware. Things get a little trickier where music is involved. Nothing says “You blew it” like watching an Adele fan gamely proclaim “Oh, I love this.....” after opening the life-size KISS casket you thought would be perfect. So you know what? Forget giving the gift of music to someone who probably won’t appreciate it. Instead, give yourself something this year, starting with offerings from the following fine local bands and music-oriented businesses. Go ahead—you’ve earned it.
JOE KEITHLEY THROBBLEHEAD
Here’s how you know you’re more famous than the next Dennis Lyxzén or Jim “Pennywise” Lindberg: AGGRONAUTIX decides that one punk rock Throbblehead in your likeness is not enough. D.O.A. obsessives will recall Joe “Shithead” Keithley first being honoured with an AGGRONAUTIX figurine eight years ago, the 7-inch collector’s item capturing him in his circa-2010s glory with blonde hair and his signature jean jacket. The American Throbblehead makers are following that up with a new limited-edition figure paying tribute to the ’80s era version of the punk forefather. You know what that means: darker and spikier hair, grungier jeans, and Keithley’s famous Gibson SG. The new
Gifts you’ll love to find under the tree this holiday season (mostly because you bought them) include a Joe Keithley Throbblehead, Rare Americans playing cards, and a Light Organ T-shirt.
Throbblehead is something you’ll have to wait for, as it won’t technically be on shelves until early 2022. But pre-orders for the limited-edition figurine are now open, which means you’ll have a purchase-confirmation slip from AGGRONAUTIX to slip into your stocking. ($US39.95 from aggronautix.com)
times. But back to that hoodie, where Rickshaw Theatre is emblazoned on the front, and a punky-looking skeleton pulls an amp, guitar, and snare in an old-school rickshaw on the back. Who needs Banff’s Emerald Lake when they’ve got you and your hoodie to look at. ($35 at rickshawtheatre.com).
RARE AMERICANS PLAYING CARDS
30 YEARS OF MINT RECORDS T-SHIRT
Some bands are a little more skilled at the merch game than others. Why limit things to a basic T-shirt in white, bone white, and off-white when there’s a whole world of products to stamp your band’s name upon: tea towels, water bottles, mechanical pencils, and electric chainsaws. Vancouver breakout kings Rare Americans have become full-blown internet sensations since forming five years ago. For proof of that, hop on YouTube where 2019’s clip for “Brittle Bones Nicky” has a seemingly impossible 58 million views, and the new “Walkin’ n Talkin’” has clocked 3.5 million in just a month. The Rare Americans site is chock full of everything from hoodies, T-shirts, and coloured vinyl to playing cards, beach towels, and lunch boxes. Go with the playing cards, for no other reason than they’ll make your nightly solitaire games a little more colourful this holiday season. ($4.99 at rareamericans.com) RICKSHAW THEATRE HOODIE
Ever been hiking in Banff, a neon-emeraldgreen lake to the left, and signs warning of grizzly bear sightings dotting the majestic forest to your right. And despite such an abundance of natural beauty, you find yourself approached on three different occasions by folks who want to know what the Rickshaw Theatre is, and where they can buy the Rickshaw hoodie you happened to be wearing. No? That’s okay because trust us, it happened. Not only is the Rickshaw one of Vancouver’s most-loved rooms, it also has some of the greatest merch in the city—the venue’s virtual-store features trucker hats and toques, bandannas, jacket patches, and scarfs. The Rickshaw facemask is every bit as sensible a gift as socks in these most weird of 10
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
Stop and think about all the homegrown gold Mint Records has given Vancouver since first arriving on the scene in 1991. Legitimate icons Neko Case and the New Pornographers released their first records on the plucky indie founded by CiTR vets Randy Iwata and Bill Baker. Mint’s been home to Nardwuar the Human Serviette’s Evaporators, garage legends the Smugglers, postpunk heros the Organ, and hardcorenoize agitators lié. Need a few more names? Start with the Buttless Chaps, Carolyn Mark, cub, Tankhog, Tennessee Twin, the Pack a.d., Supermoon, and the wildly underrated the Gay. For those reasons and more, Mint is pretty much cooler than you’ll ever be—and that’s saying something. Celebrate one of the Vancouver indie scene’s most enduring labels with a 30 Years of Mint Records T-shirt, featuring a design by Nada Hayek. ($14.99 at mintrecs.com) LIGHT ORGAN T-SHIRT
Lets stick with record labels for a second, because whether you’re talking Mint, SubPop, Epitaph, or SST, labels are sometimes every bit as rad as the bands that record for them. Vancouver’s Light Organ has no shortage of critical darlings, including, but not limited to, Fake Shark, Hotel Mira, the Zolas, Twin River, and Mauvey. Chances are you already own merch (hoodies, bucket hats, thongs) from each of the above, but, if you don’t, what are you waiting for: load up! And while you’re on the label’s site pick up a crazy cool Light Organ T-shirt, which you can put in your wardrobe rotation between the vintage Matador Records and 4AD Ts you heisted from your parents’ attic the last time you were home for Christmas. ($25 at 604shop.com) g
GIFT GUIDE
Last-minute gifts that can impress and amuse
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environment a favour by keeping these garments out of landfills. The Michael Jackson jacket is but one example of what’s available at Mintage Mall (245 East Broadway). Other vintage goods can be found at the Front Supply Co. (1641 Venables Street), BCSPCA Thrift Store (5239 Victoria Drive), and many other such stores across the region.
ooking for last-minute gifts? You’ve come to the right place. Check out some recommendations below from Georgia Straight staffers.
SEXY CANDLE
There is a shop in East Vancouver, Jackson’s General Store (1490 Kingsway), that continually stocks goods from makers all across Canada. Owner Mike Jackson delivers unique on many levels, whether it’s for foodies and bookworms in your family or if you’re looking for great ideas for the men on your list. Which one among them wouldn’t want a sexy candle under the tree? by Janet McDonald
THE EVERYWHERE BELT BAG FROM LULULEMON
You may wonder: “How much can this small bag add to my loved one’s life?” Well, the answer is incalculable. But we can assure you they’ll wear it while walking the seawall, to the brewery, and in every other scenario where they need to tote around their tiny belongings. The Everywhere Belt Bag is exceedingly convenient, unbelievably comfortable to wear, and was made for all genders.
by Janet McDonald
A sexy candle from Jackson’s General Store, lululemon’s The Everywhere Belt Bag, a Michael Jackson jacket from Mintage Mall, and a funny book from Calendar Club will do the trick.
In the fashion world, belt bags are really having a moment. The versatile pouch can be worn across your body or around your waist. If the lucky recipient of your gift is lacking the energy to sling it over their shoulder, it can also be carried by hand. What makes the Everywhere Belt Bag even hotter is the variety of colours that it comes in. Think from eye-catching shades like warm coral, pink lychee, and yellow serpentine to the basics like asphalt grey and black. Made from a water-repellent fabric, the bag is perfect for those who have to commute or walk their dog in the pouring rain.
It’s also a great option for those working with a strict Secret Santa budget of $50, as it costs a very modest (for lululemon) $38. by Rachel Moore
MICHAEL JACKSON JACKET
Vintage is hotter than ever for many reasons. Whether you like modern midcentury furniture or a beautiful silk scarf from the 1950s, one of these finds is always extra special. Typically, the materials and fabrics are of higher quality, made with natural fibres, are not treated with chemicals, and do not contain plastic. More importantly, you are doing the
EFFIN’ BIRDS
Science has proven that swearing is good for you, and Canadian artist and fellow bird lover Aaron Reynolds has created a calendar for the potty mouth in your family. The calendar contains a series of beautifully illustrated bird images with NSFW quotes. (This is something for your home office, not a backdrop for Zoom meetings.) It is raunchy and beautiful, and you will find plenty of expletives that reveal your true feelings. The calendars come in both wall and desktop styles and can be found at Calendar Club stores in local malls, plus big bad-boy retailer Amazon. Shop Canadian and have a fucking awesome holiday with your family. by Janet McDonald
GET YOUR HANDS READY FOR BOXING WEEK
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w w w.sanmarcojewellers.com DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
11
FINANCE
TD Economics: rate hike won’t halt price increases
H
by Carlito Pablo
omebuyers might want to buckle up, because the Canadian housing market may be in for quite the ride in 2022. Interest rates are widely expected to start increasing next year. One might expect that higher interest rates would cause housing sales to go down, with lower prices following not far behind. However, a recent TD Economics report suggests otherwise. “Only time will tell, but we are not convinced that higher rates will be enough to prevent another year of elevated sales activity and home price increases in 2022,” bank economist Rishi Sondhi has stated. TD Economics released Sondhi’s paper
online on December 8, the same day the Bank of Canada announced that it is holding its interest-setting overnight rate at 0.25 percent. However, the central bank also indicated that it may move rates higher “sometime in the middle quarters of 2022”. In his report, Sondhi noted, “Given the rapid increase in home prices we’ve seen during the pandemic (and the attendant erosion in affordability), it’s logical to wonder whether looming rate hikes will have a larger-than-normal impact on housing demand, and thus prices, moving forward.” The economist stated that TD expects three rate hikes in 2022, followed by three more in 2023. A sign of the times: this Vancouver home at 1592 Nanton Aveue sold on November 25 for $5.3 million, or almost a milllion bucks over its assessed value of $4,382,000 in 2021.
Indeed, we expect strong economic, employment and income growth…in 2022. – TD economist Rishi Sondhi
These increases would bring the overnight rate to 1.75 percent from the current 0.25 percent level, which the Bank of Canada has maintained since March 27, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Higher interest rates are likely on the way and our rate forecasts imply that they will exert a moderate drag on housing demand,” Sondhi wrote. “However,” the bank economist continued, “a supportive macro backdrop, alongside stress tests that offer ample room for rates to rise before buyers are crowded out, should keep activity holding above pre-pandemic levels next year.” Sondhi explained what a “demand supportive” economic backdrop means. “Indeed, we expect strong economic, employment and income growth to take place in 2022,” he wrote. Moreover, “population growth is likely to improve”. In addition, Sondhi noted that Canadian households are “holding significant excess savings…some of which could be funneled into down payments”. Particularly, the economist referenced a November 3, 2021, paper by his colleague, Sri Thanabalasingam, which cited estimates of the record amount of household savings during the pandemic totalling as much as $300 billion. Also, “a large chunk of the Canadian 12
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
population has aged into what has historically been prime homebuying years”, which are between 25 to 39, and thus “offering demographic support to demand”. “Finally, expectations of future price gains may continue to stoke demand, by causing potential buyers to act now rather than later,” Sondhi wrote. As for the mortgage stress test for borrowers, the TD economist noted that its current level is “affording ample room for rates to rise before they start crowding out potential buyers”. Starting on June 1, 2021, the new mortgage qualifying rate for mortgage applications is based on the higher of either the benchmark rate of 5.25 percent or the rate offered by a lender plus two percent. Sondhi recalled that rates for variable-rate mortgages were about 1.5 percent in September and around 2.2 percent to 2.3 percent for fixed-rate five-year housing loans. “This would imply that interest rates on variable and 5-year fixed rate mortgages would have to rise by about 175 bps [basis points, equivalent to 1.75 percent] and 100 bps [one percent], respectively, from their September levels before they replaced the 5.25% stress test rate in the qualification process,” Sondhi explained. He noted that TD expects that increases in mortgage rates will “still fall below the current stress test qualification threshold”. Overall, these factors are expected to “help keep sales elevated, offsetting the impact of higher rates”. “And this healthy demand environment, coupled with the fact that markets are extremely tight, should help sustain positive Canadian average home price growth next year”, Sondhi wrote. So the bottom line is that “another strong year for price growth is in the cards for 2022”. g
Local sugar shack reveals its new year’s maple menu St. Lawrence restaurant has hosted a west coast version of Quebec’s famous and traditional sugar shack meals for three years now
R
by Martin Dunphy
ailtown’s St. Lawrence restaurant has released the menu for its annual tribute to Quebec’s “maplesyrup season”. Every winter and spring, cabanes à sucre (sugar shacks) showcase the fruits of Quebec’s forests with “sugaring off” activities and other fun related to the making of maple syrup. Some families travel to actual working sugar shacks to watch the syrup-making process, enjoy sleigh rides and petting zoos, listen to toe-tapping music, and taste maple taffy on snow, among other traditional treats. Other cabanes are more like pop-up restaurants for the special season. St. Lawrence, with chef-owner JeanChristophe Poirier’s blend of Québécois and classical French cuisine at 269 Powell Street, has hosted its own table d’hote cabane à sucre menu since 2020. After the restaurant’s winter closure (from December 31 to January 24), the menu until the end of February will feature dishes inspired by Quebec’s sugar-bush bounty (available by online reservation, Tuesday to Sunday, until February 27, for $75 per person). This year’s menu sees lots of options in starters, mains, and desserts. To begin, there is a choice between very traditional split-pea soup with smoked bacon, maplesmoked trout with scrambled eggs, pâté
St. Lawrence’s table d’hote sugar-shack menu features four choices per course.
with maple syrup and Grand Marnier, and crêpes with mushroom ragout, herbs, and cheddar. A traditional main, tourtière (this one with venison and red-wine sauce), shares the bill with maple-glazed pork short rib, scallops-and-beef-cheeks croquette, and aged duck breast with sausage braised in apple cider. Finally, desserts don’t stray far from traditional fare here, with classic sugar pie and vanilla ice cream to choose alongside maple mille-feuille, a maple crème caramel with apple and Chantilly cream, and Quebec cheeses with brioche and jam. g
FOOD / BEER
Helping Hands Pilsner puts charity first in a major way
A
by Mike Usinger
ll too often, special beer releases that are billed as raising money for charity don’t exactly go all in. You know the drill, and it goes something like “One dollar from every two-four sold will go toward _________ [insert charity here].” That makes the new Helping Hands Community Pilsner something of a very welcome game-changer. The beer is a collaboration spearheaded by Coquitlam’s Mariner Brewing. When it hits Metro Vancouver liquor stores in four-packs after being canned on December 16 and 17, Helping Hands will carry a suggested retail price of $10.99. Of that $10 will go the Abbotsford Disaster Relief Fund. And, yes, you read that right: $10. The remaining $0.99 will presumably be split by the large team of good-spirited folks who did everything from the brewing to the packaging and distribution. Abbotsford is, of course, one of the many British Columbia communities hit hard by the record-breaking rains of this past November.
Helping Hands Community Pilsner featured help from multiple brewery employees.
More than 70 stores are expected to carry Helping Hands Community Pilsner across the region, meaning you’ll be able to show your fellow B.C.ers you care whether you live in Champlain Heights or Chilliwack. While Mariner Brewing might have played the role of team captain, there were plenty of other folks who stepped up for the collaboration. Main Street Brewing provided the yeast and brew days and Hops Connect ponied up the hops, with Field House donating the malt. Blue/Meta designed the label, with Summit Labels labelling the cans. Mile 37 handled the canning, and Parkside Freemont took on distribution. g
N elly’s UP FOR SALE Kitsilano diner Nelly’s, a family-owned grill, is going on the block for $349,000.
d VANCOUVER CITY COUNCILLOR Colleen Hardwick
has praised Nelly’s Grill as a “local institution, and for good reason”. “The food is consistently great. The service is exemplary, especially for a diner,” Hardwick wrote more than two years ago on the 2061 West 4th Avenue establishment’s Facebook page. “And,” the first-term councillor noted,
“the ambiance is Kitsilano to the core.” “Love Nelly’s!” Hardwick declared to the delight of the breakfast and brunch spot. “Always great to see you!” Nelly’s Grill posted in reply. The restaurant prides itself as a small, family-owned business that has been serving Kitsilano for many years. Located east of Arbutus Street, the place is famous for combining two breakfast favourites for its legendary fried-chicken eggs Benedict. However, the owners are ready to move on. The Restaurant Business Broker Agency of realtor Jean Seguin has listed the business of Nelly’s Grill for $349,000. The listing notes that the 48-seat restaurant has a liquor licence. Lease is $7,800 per month. g
by Carlito Pablo DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
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ARTS
Film takes viewers behind scenes of Nutcracker
N
by Charlie Smith
athaniel Craig knows what it’s like to dance through pain. In an interview with the Straight, the 22-year-old recalls what it felt like doing repetitive jumps in the Russian dance scene in the Goh Ballet’s 2018 version of The Nutcracker. “I had quite bad shin splints the entire time,” Craig says. “And I just had to take myself up and push through it.” This year, Craig endured a minor musclestrain injury in his right ankle, but he again bravely soldiered on through rehearsals of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous twoact ballet. He’s one of five young dancers whose moves are featured in The Reality of a Dream: A Nutcracker Documentary, a new film by Vancouver director Ryan Mah showing what goes on behind the scenes of the annual Goh Ballet production. “It was really fun to be filmed in rehearsal and get to sort of showcase that part of the process,” Craig says, “because so often, all that the audience gets to see is the polished, perfect, finished product.” The director of Goh Ballet Academy, Chan Hon Goh, is no stranger to the sacrifices that Craig and the other dancers made in preparing for The Nutcracker. As
In director Ryan Mah’s The Reality of a Dream: A Nutcracker Documentary, Nathaniel Craig (above) and other dancers reveal how strong and precise they must be during rehearsals.
a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada for many years, she also had to push herself to the limit. “When it’s not obvious to people that you’re going to do particularly well—or that you’re the right fit for a certain role or a certain character—it takes all the more determination and strong will, day in and day out,” Goh tells the Straight by phone.
“You know, it’s really up to them. And that’s something I have to say for Nathaniel: he’s really kept at it despite the challenges.” The dancers in the film come from a wide range of backgrounds. Douglas Oliveira de Souza is a Black refugee from Brazil who’s found solace and developed his identity through dance. He says in the film that his friends in his home country
used to tease him and his father thought he would become gay if he danced. Another dancer in the film, Yinuo (Shino) Liu, bluntly states “my sport is ballet”, which again speaks to the gruelling nature of this art form. Two other young dancers, Theepika Sivanarithan and Natalie May Dixon, are also shown in the film, pushing themselves to be exceptional. “I realize how important it is for them to have role models—to have this courage to go for something that maybe they haven’t seen before,” Goh says. “I really love encouraging that. So that’s something very special.” She’s impressed that Craig has been so bold as to do pointework and try to master classical Chinese dance. Craig says that he’s done parts for boys, but mainly in the Chinese classical dance he has danced solos in a full female costume. “That would have been true to the tradition of classical Chinese dance in the early 20th century,” Craig says. “They didn’t allow women to perform. So it would be men doing all of the roles. It’s been very interesting.” g Supported by RBC, The Reality of a Dream: A Nutcracker Documentary is available for free online until January 10 at GohNutcracker.com.
CHRISTMAS àXÀR CHOR LEON I
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Organized by the PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montréal, and presented in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery
14
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
ARTS
Lara St. John never tires of Vivaldi’s one big hit
I
by Steve Newton
basically the best thing he wrote. I don’t know why he didn’t write anything else like this, because it’s so much further ahead than his other concertos. Like he wrote, I don’t know, hundreds of violin concertos, but none of them even stand close to this one.” So if Vivaldi doesn’t really do it for St. John, who would her number-one classical composer be? “That’s so hard to say,” she replies. “I mean, obviously, we all have to sort of bend at the knee for Johann Sebastian Bach, but I’m also a big fan of a lot of Beethoven, and a Stravinsky person. It’s kind of like if you think of visual art, you can have a favourite painter, but maybe not every painting they do is your favourite. So it’s a little bit like that for me. And I would not say that I gravitate towards the romantic period; I’m not a big Brahms fan, or Schumann, or anything like that. “I would much rather skip directly over to 20th century,” she adds with a laugh. g Lara St. John joins the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on December 17 and 18.
Virtuoso violinist Lara St. John will be performing on her prized 1779 “El Salabue” Guadagnini violin when she joins the VSO for Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Photo by Adrienne Lloyd.
Sometimes familiarity doesn’t breed contempt. – Lara St. John
1702 Lyall Stradivarius violin for two years from the Canada Council for the Arts and an anonymous donor. “So I played on that for a little while,” she recalls, “and then the same donor had this Guadagnini come through the shop— [George] Heinl & Company of Toronto— and for me it was almost like we had been separated and now we’re back together. It was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is my fiddle!.’ Anyway, it took a little while, but I gave up the Stradivarius in order to have this Guadagnini. And people were kind of like, ‘Well, why would you do that? The Stradivarius is worth twice as much?’ And it’s like, ‘I don’t care anything about what it’s worth; I care how it sounds!’ So it no longer belongs to the anonymous donor. It is now mine, but it took me 23 years to make it mine, so there ya go.”
That 1779 “El Salabue” Guadagnini of St. John’s will be the one she’ll play at the Chan Centre while performing Antonio Vivaldi’s iconic The Four Seasons, a piece she’s played numerous times but never gotten tired of, either as a performer or a listener. “Sometimes familiarity doesn’t breed contempt,” she points out. “I mean, I think that a lot of people are just like, ‘Oh, I heard that when I was doing this.’ It’s so familiar. People enjoy just going to hear the whole entire thing. And obviously they’re based on stanzas, on various poems, so what Vivaldi did, which I think is super interesting, is he used the string instruments to imitate, for example, birds, to imitate heat. In the second movement of ‘Spring’, there’s a little dog barking while the shepherd sleeps under a tree—like, all these little things that he manages to evoke. It’s so descriptive, and I think that that’s really fun for people. They’re like, ‘Oh, these are the cuckoos now; it got really hot!’ and ‘Oh, here comes the storm!’ This kinda thing.” The way St. John raves about the powerful effect of The Four Seasons, you’d think Vivaldi might be one of her alltime favourite composers. But she views the Italian Baroque musician as more of a one-hit-wonder. “These Seasons are sort of his particular hit,” she says, “and also, I think it’s
LIVONA ELLIS REBECCA MARGOLICK
Rebecca Margolick (L), Livona Ellis (R ), photo Faviola Perez
t’s no big surprise when accomplished musicians like top-ranked Canadian violinist Lara St. John mention that they started playing at an early age. But it’s still a little hard to believe that St. John first laid her hands on the instrument when she was just two years old. “It’s a little crazy,” she admits on the phone from her New York City home, “and, of course, it can not have sounded good. But, I mean, I played my first concerto when I was four years old, and made my European debut at nine, so things went really quickly very early in my life. And then things have just kind of continued along those lines. I basically travel around the world and play music.” The night before our chat, St. John flew in from Istanbul, where she was doing a concert, and before that she was performing in South America. She’ll continue her travels when she treks out to Vancouver to perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on December 17 and 18. Looking back on her childhood musical experiences, St. John explains that her starting at two had more to do with her stay-at-home mom needing a way to keep her and her older brother occupied than hoping they’d become virtuoso violinists one day. “My brother was four, and I was two and a half, and she was getting really sick of having us running around and underfoot,” St. John says. “So these violin lessons came to town—this was in London, Ontario—and she sent my brother to one, and he came home with a little violin. And I was just one of those sisters that was like, ‘There’s no way my brother is gonna get something that I don’t have.’ So I got an even smaller one, and then it just went from there.” Although St. John took to the instrument very early, it wasn’t as if she had any violin heroes she was trying to emulate. Although she does profess an early fondness for Fritz Kreisler—”I remember my parents had records of his, just such charming playing”—she didn’t grow up idolizing masters of the instrument. “I have heroes, but they’re not necessarily violin [players]. I was, and still am, a big Glenn Gould fan. And also there’s a lot of singers that I’m a big fan of. I mean, ‘cause basically—I wouldn’t have known this then—but we’re basically just an imitation of the human voice, right. We can go faster and we can go higher, but it’s all about the voice. So, for me, I learned a lot from keyboard players—like organists— but especially singers.” Quickly developing a fierce talent on violin, St. John took the top prize in several competitions and in 1997 won the use of a
FORTRESS + FOUR SOLOS December 17-18, 2021 Scotiabank Dance Centre
thedancecentre.ca Presented by
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
15
ARTS
Cameron Wilson prepares to fiddle with Chor Leoni
T
by Charlie Smith
he word eclectic doesn’t even begin to describe the range of musical styles arranged, composed, and performed by Vancouver violin virtuoso Cameron Wilson. He was with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for 17 years. He’s written music for and performed alongside legendary CBC Radio storyteller Stuart McLean. Wilson has played with pop star Bryan Adams, children’s entertainer Charlotte Diamond, hard rockers Nickelback, and famed poet George Bowering. And he’s done musical parody. That’s to say nothing of all the jazz, mariachi, Celtic, and Beatles music that he’s performed. “I’ve just been exposed to a lot of different kinds of music—all kinds of music,”
Wilson tells the Straight in a phone interview. “When I was 13, I heard Stéphane Grappelli play. I really like swing-jazz music, I like rock ’n’ roll, and I like country music. And I like the old-time music that my parents grew up on.” His dad was a fiddler from the Ottawa Valley who couldn’t read music but loved playing tunes by Don Messer and Ned Landry. Wilson says that when his family moved to Edmonton, he was exposed to the Suzuki method, created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki. “It was the first Canadian city that had the Suzuki string program,” he states. “A lot of violinists and cellists and string players are from that era.”
Sp
e Dallbin nc din e g
BORN TO MANIFEST
SE PRENDRE
Laced with krump, popping, and martial arts styles, Joseph Toonga’s dance performance is a kinetic expression of defiance, with racial identity as the site of both oppression and pride.
Two women come together in an acrobatic dance that evokes tenderness and tension. A psychodrama played out in physical terms, Se prendre is a truly haunting experience.
JAN 25-27 | PERFORMANCE WORKS & SELECT ONLINE PRESENTATIONS
JAN 29-31, FEB 2-4 | WATERFRONT ESTATE DEER LAKE
JOSEPH TOONGA OF JUST US DANCE THEATRE (UK)
LION LION (MONTREAL)
PRESENTED WITH SHADBOLT CENTRE FOR THE ARTS
LA GODDAM VOIE LACTÉE MAYDAY (MONTREAL)
Five women conduct a pagan mourning ritual in this wildly eccentric performance. From the rich colours, trance-like dancing, and animalistic utterances emerges something truly cathartic: a ceremony for our grievances. FEB 4-6 | SCOTIABANK DANCE CENTRE PRESENTED WITH THE DANCE CENTRE
Jan 20 - Feb 6, 2022
16
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
PUSH FESTIVAL .CA
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
I’ve just been exposed to a lot of different kinds of music… – violinist Cameron Wilson
On December 17, 18, and 20, Wilson will premiere six new arrangements in the return of Chor Leoni’s popular Christmas concerts. Wilson’s links to the men’s choir go back to when it was conducted by its founder, Diane Loomer, performing with the singers in a tent at Bard on the Beach. He also arranged music for Chor Leoni’s Cadillac Cathedral shows following Loomer’s death in 2012. He’s thrilled that he’ll be back playing live with Chor Leoni, emphasizing that artistic director Erick Lichte has the choir singing at a very high level. In light of the pandemic, Wilson says, he is never going to take playing in front of an audience for granted. “It’s been such a part of my life, performing in front of people, getting energy back from an audience, just feeling a connection with an audience,” he says. “When that was taken away…it’s a part of your soul that’s just been taken away.” It’s hard to sum up a career as varied as Wilson’s. But when asked for the highlights, he most certainly includes his times performing with McLean. They were introduced by Denise Ball, a former executive producer at CBC Radio, when Wilson was a member of the CBC Orchestra. Wilson arranged music for McLean’s History of Canada recording, then followed up by writing and arranging music for another McLean story called “I Remember Wayne”. It’s loosely based around a family that lived next door to hockey great Wayne Gretzky. “It was fantastic,” Wilson recalls. “We found out we had similar tastes in music, too. Right toward the end, before he passed away, he invited Joe Trio to do a western tour with him.… It was just great working with him because he had a really great sense of humour.” Another highlight for Wilson was gathering Vancouver musicians at the Cultch to re-create the Beatles’ White Album on its 30th anniversary. That was in 1998. Then Wilson revisited this 20 years later with different musicians at St. James Community Centre. “It just goes to show what an incredible array of musical talent we have right
Cameron Wilson can lay claim to being B.C.’s most versatile musician, based on his history.
here in Vancouver,” he says. “I don’t think people realize how many great artists there are in town.” A third pinnacle was a retroactive musical guide called Green Eggs and Cam, featuring music he had written for different groups. “It was all over the map,” he says. “That’s kind of me, anyway—some classical and some not so classical.” Then there have been the good times with the VSO, Hard Rubber Orchestra, and so many others over the years. “You think of a violin as a lead instrument, or an instrument that plays solos or is in the forefront,” Wilson says. “But when I’ve been involved in group situations, I often say to people that the violin is an amazing accompanying instrument too, because you can do so many things with it that enhance what other people are doing. It doesn’t have to stick out and be a lead.” g Christmas with Chor Leoni will be performed live at 8 p.m. on December 17; at 2 p.m., 5 p.m., and 8 p.m. on December 18; and at 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on December 20 at the newly restored St. Andrew’sWesley United Church (1022 Nelson Street).
This Christmas, Give the Gift of Music.
Hear it. Feel it.
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Fri & Sat, 8pm | Chan Centre 17/18 LIMITED AVAILABILITY
Paul Shaffer Live!
DEC
FEB
11/12
THIS WEEKEND!
Lara St. John
Traditional Christmas DEC
18/19
Fri & Sat, 8pm Orpheum
A VSO holiday tradition returns. The incredible Canadian musical-maverick, Lara St. John, leads and shares a personally curated selection of festive music from around the world.
Charles Richard-Hamelin
Chopin, Berlioz, Ravel & Bologne
JAN
Dec 18 | 4 & 7:30pm | Orpheum Dec 19 | 4pm | Orpheum
This (almost) all French concert features award-winning Canadian Chopin specialist Charles Richard-Hamelin in a ravishing program led by Maestro Tausk
THIS WEEKEND! The annual festive tradition returns this Christmas with host Christopher Gaze. Celebrate the season with music brimming with Christmas joy. Christopher Gaze
JAN
8/9
Paul Shaffer, former music director to David Letterman, shares symphonic renditions of his favourite pop, R&B, and jazz tunes plus anecdotes and reminiscences from a remarkable career.
28/29 Fri, Sat, 8pm | Orpheum
FEB
Haydn & Mozart with Jens Lindemann
25/26
Paul Shaffer
An Ode to Joy: Beethoven’s 9th Fri & Sat, 8pm | Orpheum
Beethoven’s magnum opus performed by your VSO, renowned soloists, the Vancouver Chamber Choir with music direction of Kari Turunen, and under the baton of Andrew Crust, conductor.
Sat, 7pm | Bell Centre, Surrey Sun , 2pm | Chan Centre at UBC
Precision, presence, and style come together as Canadian trumpet legend Jens Lindemann leads the VSO in a thrilling and virtuosic performance.
Some of the most celebrated and stunning movies of all time on the big screen at the Orpheum, accompanied live by the VSO.
Jens Lindemann
JAN
14/15
Ludwig van Beethoven
Rocketman Live in Concert
Steven Page with the VSO
Mar 18, 19 | Orpheum PRESENTATION LICENSED BY
Fri & Sat, 8pm Orpheum
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert
Canadian icon Steven Page returns to the VSO for a heartfelt performance of some of the greatest Canadian music ever written.
Jun 10, 11 | Orpheum
Christie Reside
STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI PRESENTATION LICENSED BY
Symphonie fantastique JAN
21–23
Fri, Sat, 8pm | Orpheum Sun, 2pm | Orpheum
Berlioz’s dramatic and fantastical tale, plus VSO Principal Flute Christie Reside featured in Swiss composer Frank Martin’s haunting Ballade.
Steven Page
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Singin’ in the Rain — Film with Orchestra
Apr 22, 23, 24 | Orpheum
May 13, 14 | Orpheum
VancouverSymphony.ca 604.876.3434 DEC 17, 18, JAN 9 CONCERT SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
DEC 18–19 TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CONCERTS ENDOWED BY
MAY 13, 14 VSO POPS SERIES SPONSOR
JAN 15 VSO POPS CONCERT SPONSOR
JAN 21, 22 MASTERWORKS GOLD SERIES SPONSOR
JAN 23 SYMPHONY SUNDAYS SERIES SPONSOR
JAN 28, 29, FEB 25, 26 MASTERWORKS DIAMOND SERIES SPONSOR
TICKETS AND GIFT CARDS MAKE MEDIA SPONSOR
BROADCAST MEDIA PARTNERS
SHEAHAN AND GERALD MCGAVIN, CM, OBC
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
THE PERFECT STOCKING STUFFER
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
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ARTS LISTINGS
ONGOING
EAST VAN PANTO: ALICE IN WONDERLAND Theatre Replacement’s ninth annual East Van Panto sees Alice follow the White Rabbit into a topsy-turvy version of East Vancouver. To Jan 2, York Theatre. Tickets from $35. DOLLY PARTON’S SMOKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS CAROL A musical rediscovery of joy and compassion through understanding the true wealth that comes from connection. To Jan 2, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. Tix from $43. SNOWFLAKE Festive hit by playwright Mike Bartlett about generational conflict, fathers, and daughters. To Dec 23, The Red Gate Revue Stage. $16-32. VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS MARKET Annual Christmas market at the Olympic Cauldron features local artisans and festive regional refreshments. To Dec 24, Jack Poole Plaza. Tix from $7.99. SANKOFA: AFRICAN ROUTES, CANADIAN ROOTS Exhibition explores the relationships between traditional and contemporary African art and Black Canadian art. To Mar 27, 2022, 10 am–5 pm, Museum of Anthropology at UBC. SPEED AND SPLENDOUR: BY SEA TO ASIA Exhibition explores western perceptions of Asia through travel posters and ephemera from early- to mid-20th century. To Feb 27, Vancouver Maritime Museum. $13.50 adults/$11 seniors. A SEAT AT THE TABLE Exhibition explores historical and contemporary stories of Chinese Canadians in B.C. and their struggles for belonging. To Dec 31, 10 am–4 pm, Museum of Vancouver. $10. CANOE CULTURES :: HO'-KU-MELH Work of 20 Indigenous artists and carvers curated by Indigenous artist and cultural historian Roxanne Charles. To Jul 3, Vancouver Maritime Museum. $13.50 adults/$11 seniors. CHARLENE VICKERS | ANCESTOR GESTURE Painting, sculpture, performance, and installation by Charlene Vickers. To Jan 2, Contemporary Art Gallery. SHO ESQUIRO: DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY Solo exhibition by designer, artist, and activist showcases meticulously crafted couture gowns, textiles, paintings, and photographs. To Jun 5, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. SCULPTORS' SOCIETY OF BC Sculpture exhibition by members of the Sculptors' Society of B.C. To Dec 20, Italian Cultural Centre. Free. THE HUMAN VOICE City Opera Vancouver presents an online adaptation of Cocteau and Poulenc, starring Isaiah Bell. To Dec 31, Online, cityoperavancouver.com. Free. OG PUNK Dina Goldstein's photographs of key figures from the punk scenes of the late 1970s and 1980s in Vancouver and Victoria as they are today. To Jan 2, The Polygon Gallery. POSITIVELY PETITE MINIATURE EXHIBITION Annual exhibition showcases miniature artwork created by over 30 local artists. To Dec 16, Place des Arts. WINTER TREASURES ARTISAN MARKET Sale of handcrafted gifts, pottery, jewelry, glass, and art. To Dec 22, Port Moody Arts Centre. HOLIDAY ARTISAN SHOP Handcrafted housewares, accessories, skincare, décor, cards, and ornaments made by local artists and artisans. To Dec 18, 9 am–9 pm, Place des Arts. CROWS OF COMMERCIAL DRIVE Nine local artists combine for a celebration of Commercial Drive crows. To Dec 31, 11 am–5 pm, Arts Off Main Gallery. Free. ART BOX HOLIDAY ARTISAN MARKET Unique items and gifts handcrafted by local artisans including jewelry, cards, seasonal items, decor, and apparel. To Dec 19, 12-4 pm, Silk Purse Arts Centre. STEVEN SHEARER Exhibition curated by Polygon Gallery director Reid Shier marks the first major Canadian survey of Shearer’s work since 2007. To Feb 13, 2022, Polygon Gallery. By donation. THE POLYGON GALLERY ANNUAL HOLIDAY POPUP SHOP One-of-a-kind gifts created by mostly local, women-led, and BIPOC makers, artisans, and creatives from Vancouver and around the world. To Dec 26, Polygon Gallery. SNOW WHITE: A METRO THEATRE HOLIDAY PANTO Metro Theatre presents its holiday musical pantomime.
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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
Graham Clark performs a 24-hour standupcomedy marathon on December 17 and 18. To Jan 3, 7:30 pm, Metro Theatre. From $25. DANCEHOUSE PRESENTS BABEL 7.16 Digital dance event featuring the work of Belgian choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet. To Dec 19, online, dancehouse.ca. THE IMPROV CENTRE'S HOLIDAY SPECIAL An improvised twist on a holiday TV variety show. To Dec 24, 7:30-9 pm, The Improv Centre. $20-30. COURTNEY BARNETT Australian indie-rock singersongwriter and musician. Dec 15, 7 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $46 (plus service charge). THE NUTCRACKER: TCHAIKOVSKY MEETS ELLINGTON Symphony 21 presents Tchaikovsky’s timeless Nutcracker Suite alongside Duke Ellington arrangements for jazz orchestra. Dec 15, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. Starting at $25.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16 KORA NIGHT WITH ZAL SISSOKHO West African rhythms featuring kora player Zal Sissokho. Dec 16, 7 pm, WISE Hall. $30. HOME ALONE IN CONCERT Screening of the 1990 Christmas comedy classic Home Alone, with live music by the Vancouver Symphony. Dec 16-17, 7 pm, Orpheum Theatre. Both performances SOLD OUT. ALICE IN WONDERLAND: A PANTO A classic pantomime written by Crystal Weltzin. Dec 16-26, Surrey Arts Centre. $24.99-34.99. FESTIVE CHRISTMAS CANTATAS Early Music Vancouver presents some of the most popular Christmas music of Germany in the 18th century by Johann Kuhanu and J.S. Bach. Dec 16, 7:30 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. From $17.75. VANCOUVER WELSH MEN'S CHOIR PRESENTS 'SING WE NOW OF CHRISTMAS' An evening of heartfelt Christmas carols, old and new. Dec 16, 7:30 pm, Centennial Theatre. $18-$33. FESTIVE CANTATAS: BACH'S CHRISTMAS ORATORIO For this performance of Cantatas IV and V from the Christmas Oratorio, five Canadian soloists join the musicians of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. Dec 16, 7:30 pm, Chan Centre for The Performing Arts. From $17.75. LOCARNO: SHINE BRIGHT NEW WEST Worldmusic group led by singer-guitarist Tom Landa. Dec 16, 7:30-9:30 pm, Anvil Centre. Adults $35, students/ seniors $25. A BROADWAY HOLIDAY Festive hits from Broadway shows like Let it Snow, Sleigh Ride, and White Christmas. Dec 16-23, 8-9:30 pm, Gateway Theatre. $29.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17 24 HOURS OF COMEDY Vancouver comedian Graham Clark performs a 24-hour standup-comedy marathon to raise funds for the Little Mountain Gallery Eviction Fund. Dec 17, 8 pm, to Dec. 18, 8 pm, Little Mountain Gallery. $22.23. EUGENE RIPPER'S FAST FOLK UNDERGROUND HOLIDAY HOOTENANNY Canadian punk-folk musician is joined by Sparky Spurr, Evan Symons, and Nippleback. Dec 17, LanaLou's Restaurant. $15 advance, $20 at the door. NUTCRACKER SUITE - FLAMENCO TABLAO Live flamenco dance in an intimate cabaret-style theatre.
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
Dec 17, 7-8 pm, 9-10 pm, Flamenco Tablao. $20 adults, $10 Children. LIVONA ELLIS + REBECCA MARGOLICK The Dance Centre and BC Movement Arts present dancers Livona Ellis and Rebecca Margolick in an evening of four solos, plus the world premiere of their duet Fortress. Dec 17-18, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $34/$25. A WINTER'S TWIST Lamondance presents a reimagining of the beloved classic Romeo and Juliet. Dec 17, 18, 7:30-9:30 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. $30. VIVALDI'S FOUR SEASONS Canadian violinist Lara St. John joins the Vancouver Symphony in Antonio Vivaldi’s most iconic work. Dec 17-18, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. CHRISTMAS WITH CHOR LEONI The Chor Leoni Men's Choir presents the joyous live return of its holiday concert in the newly restored St. Andrew’sWesley United Church. Dec 17-20, 8-6:30 pm, St. Andrew’s-Wesley United.
Jamesy present their Christmas comedy classic. Dec 22, 7:30-9 pm; Dec 23, 3-4:30 pm, Centennial Theatre. From $29 ($19 students).
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18
CONTACT WINTER MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring headlining performances by Excision, Eric Prydz, Slander, and Loud Luxury. Dec 29-30, Vancouver Convention Centre. Two-day passes start at $139.99 (plus service charges). THE IMPROV CENTRE PRESENTS: YEAR IN REVIEW An improvised look at the year’s top stories. Dec 29-31, The Improv Centre. $20-30. TRIOLOGY Jazz trio performs arrangements of classic standards and original tunes. Dec 29, 7:30-9:30 pm, Anvil Centre. $35 adults, $25 students/seniors.
VANCOUVER CANTATA SINGERS: CHRISTMAS REPRISE XVIII Program of traditional carols and contemporary holiday compositions for unaccompanied choir. Dec 18, Holy Rosary Cathedral. QUILLS DON'T TWEET 2 Bernard Cuffling and Anna Hagan present the latest instalment of their ode to letter writing. Dec 18-19, Pal Studio Theatre. $32. ROYAL CITY YOUTH BALLET: THE NUTCRACKER Royal City Youth Ballet dances the two-act classical ballet, with score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Dec 18-19, 1 pm, Massey Theatre. $36-47. WINTER HARP Holiday concert featuring new and traditional Christmas carols. Dec 18, 3 pm, The ACT Arts Centre. $49. ALAN AND BRAYDEN LIU The Vancouver Classic Guitar Society presents guitarist Alan Liu and pianist Brayden Liu in their first concert together. Dec 18, 7 pm, Pyatt Hall. $25-35. KEITHMAS XII Various Vancouver bands and musicians perform at a tribute to Keith Richards. Dec 18, 7 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $25 (plus service charge). TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS Host Christopher Gaze joins soprano Rachel Buttress, conductor Karl Hirzer, and the Vancouver Symphony in a program of favourite Christmas carols. Dec 18, 7:30 pm; Dec 18-19, 4 pm, Orpheum Theatre. Tix $43.24 to $64.67. ROSA MYSTICA Musica intima weaves together spoken word and song in a musical exploration of motherhood. Dec 18, 7:30 pm, Christ Church Cathedral. $40/35/10. DALANNAH GAIL BOWEN The Rogue Folk Club presents local blues, rock, and soul vocalist. Dec 18, 8 pm, Mel Lehan Hall at St. James. $10 livestream, $20 in-person. TITS THE SEASON! LATE SHOW Performances by local drag, burlesque, circus, and variety performers, with headliner Jimbo from Canada's Drag Race. Dec 18, 10 pm, Rio Theatre. $30-80.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19 WINTER HARP: NORTH VANCOUVER Harps combine with flutes, violin, rare medieval instruments, percussion, poetry, and song to evoke the Christmas spirit. Dec 19, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. VAN DJANGO 9TH ANNUAL COOL YULE A festive Christmas mix of jazz standards, nostalgic favourites, classical elements, and pop tunes. Dec 19, 8-10:30 pm, Mel Lehan Hall at St. James. $10 livestream, $25 in-person.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21 WINTER HARP 2021 Harps combine with flutes, violin, rare medieval instruments, percussion, poetry, and song to express the Christmas spirit. Dec 21, 7:30-9:45 pm, St. Andrew's–Wesley United Church.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22 FESTIVE CANTATAS: BACH CHRISTMAS ORATORIO | EMV'S DIGITAL CONCERT HALL For this performance of Cantatas IV and V from the Christmas Oratorio, five Canadian soloists join the musicians of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. Dec 22, 7:30 pm, online, earlymusic.bc.ca. Free or by donation. O CHRISTMAS TEA: A BRITISH COMEDY James &
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23 RUPLOOPS Interactive, live-looping performance, using vocal percussion and rhythmic rhymes with an arsenal of eclectic instruments from around the globe. Dec 23, 2-3 pm, Anvil Centre. $20 adults, $10 student.s SCRAWNY SHOW Standup comedy show features headliner Yumi Nagashima. Dec 23, ANZA Club. $8 advance/$10 at the door. DING DONG! Musica intima performs new arrangements of seasonal favourites by Joni Mitchell, the Chieftains, and Dolly Parton, featuring members of local folk band Mad Pudding. Dec 23, 8 pm, St. James Community Square. $30/10 rush tickets.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30 AXÉ CAPOEIRA Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music. Dec 30, 2-3 pm, Anvil Centre. $20 adults, $10 students. BLACKTHORN Canadian Celtic-folk band performs with A Shot of Scotch Vancouver Highland Dancers. Dec 30, 7:30-9:30 pm, Anvil Centre. $35 adults, $25 students/seniors.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31 NEW YEAR'S EVE VARIETY SHOW New Year's Eve variety/circus show features acrobats, jugglers, aerialists, and live music by the Tim Sars Band. Dec 31, 7:30 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. From $29.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 1 ALICE IN WONDERLAND: A PANTO A classic pantomime written by Crystal Weltzin. Jan 1-2, 3:30 pm, Massey Theatre. $24.99-34.99.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 7 THE (VERY) FIRST VIENNESE SCHOOL Musical journey through the court of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II led by ensemble Quicksilver. Jan 7, 7:30 pm, Christ Church Cathedral. From $32.25. VANCOUVER SPECIAL COMEDY Standup comedy show featuring comics seen on Netflix, Disney+, Just for Laughs, and CBC’s The Debaters. Jan 7, 9:30-10:45 pm, Slice of Life Gallery . $20.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 9 OPEN STAGE #2 Program of dance works by Anya Saugstad and Artists, Lamondance, Linda Hayes, Rachel Maddock, and Tomoyo Yamada. Jan 9, 7 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $25/$20.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20 OUR FATHERS, SONS, LOVERS AND LITTLE BROTHERS Play based on the murder of Trayvon Martin that's a protest for all Black life beyond headlines and hashtags. Jan 20-22, Firehall Arts Centre. From $15.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3 SHAUN MAJUMDER, THE LOVE TOUR Comedian and actor performs his newest standup show. Feb 3, 7:30 pm, Massey Theatre. $56. ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the eventsubmission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don't make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.
MOVIES / TV
Whistler fest films are now on video across Canada
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by Charlie Smith
he Whistler Film Festival wrapped up its in-person screenings at the all-season resort on December 5. But movie lovers can still enjoy most WFF offerings via the Internet until December 31. “We’re online across Canada,” WFF executive director Angela Heck told the Straight by phone. “So people can tell their friends if they’ve seen something awesome.” On December 13, the WFF began offering the video-on-demand premiere of Drinkwater. It’s a coming-of-age comedy directed by Stephen Campanelli, a longtime camera operator for Clint Eastwood. Set in Penticton, this quintessentially Canadian film stars Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as Hank Drinkwater, a selfcentred father to his awkward and occasionally bullied teenage son, Mike (Daniel Doheny). Mike strikes up a friendship with a girl named Wallace who moves in next door (Louriza Tronco), and together they run, cycle, and drive through some spectacular Okanagan scenery. Anyone who orders this and other films has 48 hours to finish watching it after hitting “play”. The WFF splits the revenue of its online films 50-50 with the moviemakers—a practice that it began last year to help them through challenging times. “We’ve always been a filmmakers’ festival
Giovana (Renata de Lélis) has to stay in a flat with a man whom she just met after a toxic cloud makes it dangerous to venture outdoors in Brazilian director luli Gerbase’s The Pink Cloud.
and actively promote Canadian independent voices in cinema,” Heck said. The WFF was an early advocate for gender parity in its ranks of directors. This year, according to Heck, the WFF achieved exact parity between male-directed feature films and features directed by women and nonbinary people. There is a majority of women and nonbinary directors once the shorts are included in the count.
“That really signals a shift in the industry,” Heck said. One of the woman-directed films is $avvy, Robin Hauser’s well-regarded documentary on the need for women to pay attention to their finances. The WFF presented the Canadian premiere in Whistler and it’s now available online. Another woman-directed film that had its Canadian premiere at the festival is
Katie Boland’s We’re All In This Together. Based on a novel by Amy Jones, the film focuses on a Thunder Bay family, with Boland playing twins who don’t get along. Another women-directed film that will be available online is Valerie Buhagiar’s Carmen, which is set in Malta. It revolves around a middle-age woman breaking free of the church and discovering romance. “It’s absolutely beautiful and lyrical and very calming in a chaotic time,” Heck said. Other female-directed films include Rebecca Campbell’s exposé on federal fertility-industry restrictions called The Secret Society and Iuli Gerbase’s pre– COVID-19 lockdown film The Pink Cloud. “We’ve taken a very, very deliberate approach in making our entire programming representative,” Heck said. The WFF also takes pride in its selection of films by francophone directors. Heck pointed to Luc Picard’s Confessions of a Hit Man as one of these movies worth watching. (This film is not available to online viewers in Quebec.) In addition to being the director, Picard plays Gérald Gallant, a paid real-life assassin who worked for Quebec biker gangs, in what the festival is calling “Canada’s own version of The Irishman”. Information about more than 60 online features and shorts being screened is available at WhistlerFilmFestival.com. g
Vancouver’s Gia Metric sashays out of Drag Race
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by Ramona Leitao
iewers knew someone would be eliminated during the Canada’s Drag Race reunion episode. This despite half the episode dedicated to a wholesome reunion between the final four— Kendall Gender, Gia Metric, Icesis Couture, and Pythia— and the eliminated queens, with Brad Goreski hosting and Suki Doll winning Miss Congeniality. There was slight shade given to the final four during Stephanie Prince’s reads but it seemed to be done out of love. And then came the lip-sync battle finale to cross someone off the list. Each queen had to pick up a lipstick to find out which song they would lip sync to. The queens who had the same song would battle against each other. The winners of Round 1 would qualify for the finale, while the losers would have to battle it out a second time to avoid elimination. Gia Metric and Kendall Gender—members of the “Brat Pack”—had to face each other in the first round. They performed to RuPaul’s “Main Event”, and it was definitely a close call. The eliminated queens that were watching believed Gia had the dance moves locked down while Kendall was better with her words and facial expressions, especially by the end of the song. Icesis Couture and Pythia were next, which was stressful as well, especially since they were the eliminated queens’ top picks for who should be the winner. It’s also
I have no control over what anyone thinks of me. – Gia Metric
In Episode 5 of Canada’s Drag Race, Gia Metric served up some robotic artificial intelligence. Photo courtesy of Bell Media.
important to note that Pythia has never had to lip-sync battle for their life. The two performed to RuPaul’s “Born Naked”, with Icesis dominating the battle. Pythia and Gia Metric went neck and neck in the last round, lip synching to RuPaul’s “Call Me Mother” and doing the most with their moves. In the end, it was Gia Metric who had to sashay away—
but not without one last speech. “To be here is a dream come true,” the Vancouver-based queen said. “This is not the last of me.” And it definitely is not. Chatting about their elimination the morning after, Gia Metric spoke candidly about their time on the show. “I have no control over what anyone thinks of me,” Gia Metric said. “What I want them to think of me or see me as is just a hard worker and a master of my craft…I put a lot of love—but a lot of fun—and a whole lot of me into everything that I brought to the competition. “I really hope that that’s what people see and take away, because that’s truly all you can ask for.” g DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
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MUSIC
Billie Eilish shows a surprisingly sunny side on SNL Queen of doom pop sends her fans a message that there’s more to life than wallowing in one’s misery
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by Mike Usinger
ith nothing to prove to anyone, Billie Eilish stepped well outside her comfort zone this weekend to show she’s exactly the pop star the world needs right now. The 19-year-old made her second appearance on Saturday Night Live, this time not only as the musical guest but as the host. As she noted in her opening monologue, acting isn’t exactly her thing. That was made clear to Eilish in 2013, when her actress/screenwriter mother Maggie Baird wrote a semi-autobiographical film called Life Inside Out. Playing the role of Baird’s child was her real-life son Finneas O’Connell, who, of course, happens to be Eilish’s brother and main musical collaborator. For whatever reason, Baird saw no need to let the world know she had a daughter. Based on what we saw on SNL, she should have. A decade from now—which is to say about the equivalent of about 10 days in Internet-time—Eilish’s hosting gig on SNL will be remembered as a triumphant reinvention. That she was flat-out great from the moment she walked out on stage for her opening monologue was, no matter how big one’s fandom, something of a surprise. Hitting one’s lines isn’t always easy when you’re live on national television, as past hosts like Paris Hilton and Justin Bieber have shown in the most painfully uncomfortable of ways. Being funny is even harder when your day job doesn’t consist of making folks laugh. And God knows that Eilish’s public persona hasn’t exactly been built around endless mirth, merriment, and a sincere belief that it’s good to be alive. Do a Google image search and you’ll get endless shots that suggest funerals, rainy days, existential angst, and soul-sucking depression are just a few of the singer’s favourite things. Eilish doesn’t just look like someone ran over her dog, she looks like someone ran over her dog, threw the Hummer in reverse, and then ran over it again just to be sure. But that public image has been a welcome departure from the way that pop stars—from Britney Spears to Katy Perry to Ariana Grande—have traditionally been packaged. Assuming you’re not the prom queen or captain of the football team, being a teenager isn’t easy. The genius of Eilish is that she looks like a freaks-and-geeks lunch-table lifer—someone born with black nail polish, a Nine Inch Nails hoodie, and an expression that says everything isn’t, in fact, going to be okay. 20
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
When Billie Eilish comes to visit, those who have just purchased a new sofa, chair, or loveseat tend to obsess over the fact that she clearly hasn’t been declawed. Photo by Carla di Felice.
God knows that Eilish’s public persona hasn’t exactly been built around endless mirth and merriment.
As she’s said at various times in interviews, she’s a hard-core believer that shit’s messed up (Rolling Stone), being hurt and scared is okay (Billboard), and depression is sometimes a way of life (Vogue). This has, of course, all manifested itself in the anti-pop darkwave songs she writes with Finneas— hits which have taken home a boatload of Grammys, shipped multi-platinum, and made her a post-Prozac Nation icon. The great thing about SNL then? That would be Eilish making it clear that she’s got more to offer than 13 flavours of doom. Much, much more. Her opening monologue made an against-type statement that sometimes it’s okay to be happy. Eilish strode out in a ruf-
DECEMBER 16 – 23 / 2021
fled white dress that was Harajuku anime meets Mrs. Claus on New Year’s Eve, and then proceeded to happily riff on everything from her penchant for baggy clothes to the pressures of teen stardom. If you were paying attention, keeping a straight face wasn’t always easy for her, the singer occasionally cracking herself up— even when recounting how her mom never saw fit to include her in Life Inside Out. Shining through it all—especially when her mother joined her onstage wearing a Finneas T-shirt—was love, gratitude, and genuine happiness. A wise career move? Not exactly. But at this point in the never-ending fucking pandemic that messed with us all, world-
beating positivity is a little more welcome than wallowing in one’s own misery. From there, Eilish gave every indication that, if the whole music thing doesn’t really work out, she might have a future on stage or in the movies. You know how SNL has often given outside-the-box hosts like Bieber, Hilton, Lance Armstrong, and, ug, Donald Trump, little more to do than stand around and grin while chipping in a line or two? That wasn’t the case Saturday, where she was mostly front-and-centre—playing a middle-aged white woman giving Chris Redd booty-shaking hip-hop lessons for a holiday pageant, and unleashing her inner high-school psychopath in a Christmascard segment. If one of the marks of a great actor is doing a lot without a lot of dialogue, Eilish passed that test in a digital short where a kind-hearted teen reaches out to an elderly—and batshit crazy—neighbour one building away. On the music side of things, Eilish—accompanied by Finneas on guitar—started out quiet and introspective on “Happier Than Ever” and then shifted into fullblown catharsis. “Male Fantasy” then made a good case that there’s power in subtlety. The greatest moment in the show came late, with Eilish and Kate McKinnon touting the endless pleasures of the fantastically depressing “Business Garden Hotel & Suites & Hotel Room Inn”. As they rattled off the perks of a place where “rooms provide every comfort required by law” (including tiny soap in plastic, band-aid coloured blankets, and a “short glass wearing a hat”) we got true, unscripted comedy gold. Some of the greatest-ever Saturday Night Live bits have been ones where those on stage end up breaking character because they can’t stop laughing. Hello, David Spade and Christina Applegate losing it to Chris Farley’s triple-caffeinated motivational speaker Matt Foley in “Van Down by the River”. Billie Eilish still does hopelessly sad better than anyone else filling stadiums and topping the charts. But SNL showed she’s more than capable of looking into the light. Halfway through “Business Garden Hotel & Suites & Hotel Room Inn” McKinnon had Eilish laughing to the point where delivering her lines took a Herculean effort. And it was amazing. Over the course of four minutes, the post-millennial pop Princess of Darkness was having so much fun on Saturday Night Live that it sent a message: no matter how bleak things get, there’s hope for us all. Right now, the world couldn’t need that more. g
SAVAGE LOVE
FWBs don’t need to know about Internet videos by Dan Savage
new flirtation. Why am I hesitating?
are ready (a quick coffee, not a dinner). You can do this!
is you might be hesitating, BALKING, because your soon-to-beex-husband stomped on your heart and turned your life upside down less than six months ago. And you’re doing great: you got a new place to live, you got a new job, and you recently got back on the apps. Maybe you’re not ready to start dating again right this minute, but getting back on the apps is a sign you will be soon. Lowering the temperature with the guys you’re connecting with online might help (be chatty, not flirty), as will keeping the stakes low on those first dates when you
b I RECENTLY READ this in your column: “PIV or PIT or PIB.” Okay, I know PIV (“penis in vagina”). But the other two? I’ve been reading you for years and I’m stumped on this!
- Balking At Love, Knowing I’m Nervous, Gah!
Hmm… my guess
- Posting Intimate Content
obligation to tell your casual sex partners that you have an OnlyFans account where you share photos and videos you make with your other casual sex partners. OnlyFans seems like something you should be able to share with your FWBs, but “you should be able to” ≠ “you are obliged to”.
You’re under no
b CIS-HET BLACK woman. I have been working on myself for a while and a side effect of that is now I have standards and I am unwilling to settle for mediocre partners. For me, a quality partner is a cis or trans man (a penis haver) who is an ally to equality movements (sex, gender, race, et cetera), emotionally healthy, kink-positive, and can afford their own life. Where does one find a person who meets these criteria?
I’ve tried Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, and FetLife, et cetera, with no luck. - Never Gonna Settle
settling down without some settling for. If you’re lucky, you’ll meet someone who comes close enough to what you want—an employed penis-having person, for instance, who’s an ally to equality movements everywhere but isn’t exactly kink-positive but has an open mind and could get there. Or an emotionally healthy, kink-positive penis-having student who isn’t rolling in dough right now but has a realistic career plan. And where do you find that guy? Well, you might get lucky and find him on one of the sites you’re already on—keep those profiles up and updated—or you might get lucky and meet him through friends, at work, in a bar, et cetera. Keep at it, NGS, because you never know when your bad luck is going to run out.
There is no
b I’M A 34-YEAR-OLD female and my husband (of only two years!) blindsided me by asking for a separation on my birthday in June and a divorce via text message a month later. We owned a home and ran a business together. Needless to say… this all sucks. I’ve had to start my entire life over again. I’ve settled into a new home with a new job and I’m trying to be a badass about the whole situation. But it’s been a lot. I’ve gone back and forth on when to start dating again. I feel mounting pressure to “get back out there” and I’m on the apps again but I bail about a week into every
could’ve worked this one out on your own, CATCH, if you’d given it a moment’s thought. Besides vaginas (PIV), where else do penises go? PIT stands for “penis in throat” and PIB stands for “penis in butt”.
Hmm… you probably
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The Georgia Straight Confessions, an outlet for submitting revelations about your private lives—or for the voyeurs among us who want to read what other people have disclosed.
Scan to conffess
Dan advises a nonmonogamous couple with an OnlyFans account that they do not have to tell their FWBs about posting their anonymous sex videos and pictures. Photo by Getty Images.
b MY WIFE AND I are in a great ENM marriage. We have two couples that we are friends with and get together regularly for sex, and we each pursue solo FWB relationships. During COVID, we started posting pictures on Reddit, which were well received. This morphed into my wife starting an OnlyFans account, because why not? So, at what point do we spill the beans to our FWBs? We don’t show our faces on OnlyFans, we use fake names, and we only post content made with people that know it’s going up on OnlyFans. Is this just “our secret” and doesn’t hurt anyone, so, who cares? Or do our FWBs have a right to know?
- Creative Acronyms Totally Confound Him
Why me? Lately, I’m so afraid to be happy. Every time I get happy and things go well, something bad always happens to me. It’s weird. I often ask myself, why me? Then a voice says “Nothing personal. Your name just happened to come up.”
The best times times with a lover… I ever had were days spent locked up in a bedroom making love intercepted by takeout and funny videos/movies. Add a good dose of pillow talk. I dont care to hear about how that could be wrong anymore. I want that and him back… i could die happy back in those moments. Thank you
PPE It’s exhausting wearing a mask. I wish I could be myself and vulnerable with more people. I want someone to hold space for all of me. Or to just hold me. Or reach out to me. I’m so deeply lonely it scares me sometimes, but I haven’t given up hope. Thankful for my counsellor.
Last Christmas Was so awful, with my family, that I know that this Xmas, and every other going forward, can only be better. Even if I’m sitting alone in front of the TV with a TV dinner.
Turn off the radio I accidentally talked to myself at work in front of some coworkers. They didn’t notice. Or did they? Now I feel silly. Note to self: turn the radio off.
Visit
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So long as you’re using sterilized sounds and sterile lube, you and your husband should be able to safely enjoy sounding on the regular. Besides upping his risk for the occasional UTIs, there’s not much risk of harm—so long as you don’t force it, you stop if there’s pain or blood, and you have access to an autoclave.
from previous page
I could’ve gone with PIM (“penis in mouth”) and PIA (“penis in ass”), I guess, but why not go for the rhyme? (Oh, and ENM means “ethical nonmonogamy.”) b I JUST DISCOVERED your column. I’ve been reading you for a month. Four weeks, four disgusting columns. I do not give a rat’s ass about the sex lives of strangers. If you do not reevaluate your content, I shall not continue to read.
b SOMEONE ASSIGNED MALE at birth, with Companion male genitalia, but on estrogen to feminize their appearance and identifies as transagender. Curious how to identify their sexuality. They are only attracted to people who identify as women or femme-nonbinary. So how does someone without gender define their sexuality if they are only attracted to one gender identity?
- Disgusted
finished reading your letter, D, and you’re reading my response now, you’re gonna want to stop reading now. Because you’re really not gonna like the next couple of letters.
If you just
b I AM A 24-year-old woman in a mostly happy marriage. My husband is not interested in oral sex. At all. Not giving it, not receiving it. In previous relationships, this was the way I most consistently achieved orgasm. I miss this type of intimacy so much I’m now curious about the legality of putting peanut butter on myself in hopes that my dog would come up to me on his own—unforced—and lick it off. I imagine this to be no different legally than a dog eating something out of your hand. I haven’t done it. But I am curious about your opinion. If you have other recommendations on how to get the specific sensation of oral sex when you don’t have a willing partner, I welcome your advice. - Disgusting Obsession Grosses Girl Out
old and your sex life with your husband is so miserably unsatisfying that you’re seriously thinking about trick-
You’re 24 years
- Narrow Attractions Complicate Multifaceted Identity
“It’s complicated.” Dan Savage answers a grab bag of readers letters this week, including one from a woman with an entirely new take on “service” dogs and another about the safety of long-term urethral probing.
ing your dog into eating you out, which is illegal in lots of places. (Since I don’t know where you live, DOGGO, you’ll have to google it yourself.) My advice: put down the peanut butter and back away from it. Then get a divorce, get a lover (a human one), or get yourself one of those new clit-sucking sex toys that—according to the reviews I’ve read by clit-having people—do a pretty amazing job of simulating the specific sensations of oral sex. Hell, get all three! b I HAVE A question about urethral sounding. My husband wanted me to do this to
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DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES • Keep site clean • Punctual to site • Precisely measure, cut, shape and assemble what is required • Operate power hand tools QUALIFICATIONS • Must provide clean drivers abstract • Knowledge of the construction and renovation field • Should have at least two years experience on construction sites • Has drivers license and/or form of transportation
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- Making Enquiries About Taking Urethral Sounds
a well-lubed stainless-steel rod into someone’s urethra— is an actual medical procedure with legit medical purposes (also easily googled!), but some people enjoy recreational sounding, both for how it feels (good, I’m told) and what it symbolizes (penetrating a penetrator’s penetrator).
Urethral sounding—sliding
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him for two years and I finally did. It was interesting! But I’m wondering what kind of harmful effects this could cause if we were to do it long-term.
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Also, I’m pretty sure lumping all “women or femme-nonbinary” people into a single “gender identity” is incorrect. (And would lead to a Title 9 complaint at Oberlin.) I mean, I’ve personally and biblically known gay men who identify as femmes and there are lots of femme-nonbinary people out there—AMAB, AFAB, ACAB—who would object to being lumped into a single category with mere women. It’s all so very, very complicated. Which is great, of course, because we can’t talk about climateMassage change and the growing threat of authoritarianism all the time, right? g
Follow Dan Savage on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. Email questions to: questions@savagelove.net. Find his columns, podcasts, books, merch, and more at www.savage.love.
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