Westender January 12 2017

JANUARY 12-18 // 2017

EVERYTHING VANCOUVER

Westender.com

@WestenderVan

ON THIN ICE: BACKYARD RINK-TACULAR + DRINK YOUR WAY THROUGH DRY JANUARY + CACAO CUISINE LEAVES DINERS SEEING STARS

PuSh Festival

Our picks of PuSh, plus South Africa’s ‘Macbeth’ and an experimental ‘As I Lay Dying’ PLUS: COSY AREA RUGS // BEAUTY GOES TECH // FRENCH WINES // THE VIPER SESSIONS

Who’s the best?

Besides us, of course!

Take part in our 2017 Best of the City Readers’ Choice Awards poll for your chance to win great prizes, including an electric bike from Motorino and jewellery from JFG Designs.

VOTE AT WESTENDER.COM

IT’S TIME TO UNFUNK JANUARY.

January is officially the funkiest month of the year. The holidays are over and it’s just a big fat month of the blahs. Which is why we’re doing our first-annual “UnfunkJanuary” event. To help get you up here to get The Goods, you can save up to $52 a day with a 5-day Edge Card (unrestricted) until Jan 30th. Take it from us. Because with over five metres of snow so far, we’re experts on unfunking.

Oh yeah, here’s a hashtag: #UnfunkJanuary. Photo by Eric Berger of Jonathan Hadley.

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2 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

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Start fresh with 6GB of data.

Looking to hit the reset button on your wireless plan? Right now, get 6GB* of data for just $40 per month, including unlimited Canada-U.S. calling and global texting. Happy 2017!

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freedommobile.ca Learn more at freedommobile.ca. Promo 40 plan is available for a limited time, and is subject to change or cancellation without notice. *6GB of data includes 3GB of bonus data per month. Bonus 3GB of data will only be applied to the plan until January 31, 2018. May not be combined with any other in-market offer, with some exceptions. Additional terms and conditions apply. LG V20 is a registered trademark of LG Electronics Inc. Screen image simulated. The Freedom Mobile name and logos and other words, titles, phrases, marks, logos, icons, graphics are trademarks of, or are used under license by, Freedom Mobile Inc.

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January 12 - January 18, 2017 W 3

@WESTENDERVAN

NEWS // ISSUES

INSIDE THIS WEEK isn’t passable to vehicles with appropriate tires, driving cautiously.

Homeowners, on the other hand, have hadWEEKS to clear snow and ice from in front of their residences. And they only have, what, about ten metres of concrete or asphalt to contend with?

Unless we get freezing rain, or standing water freezes overnight, ice is not an issue if the clearance is done in a timely fashion. Ice forms through the pressure of pedestrians walking over the snow; and melting and freezing over time. Road salt is nice, but it’s not essential if you’re on top of things. [...]”

–Acorn Godtree

RANT//RAVE email: rantrave@westender.com ALL RANTS ARE THE OPINION OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND DO NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF THE WESTENDER. THE EDITOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT FOR CLARITY AND BREVITY, SO PLEASE KEEP IT SHORT AND (BITTER)SWEET.

to clear that?? total set up it sounds like/cash grab. seriously some city workers were busy handing out parking tickets use these people to help salt/ sand the streets instead” –Kuljeet Kaila

FROSTY RESPONSE

Editor’s note: Your responses came fast and furious at the news last week that the City would begin issuing $250 tickets for uncleared sidewalks (“City taking 36 property owners to court for not clearing snow,” Jan. 5, 2017).

Here is a selection of comments from our Facebook page.

“Has the city salted the roads yet... Because I rearended a car today at a stop sign at a street that’s been a sheet of ice for the last week. And I know that that street is dangerous and I’m careful as hell..

Had the city been doing their job I would not have to pay

PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT: Offers valid until January 31, 2017. See toyota.ca for complete details. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between Toyota prices, rates and/or other information contained on www.getyourtoyota.ca and that contained on toyota.ca, the latter shall prevail. Errors and omissions excepted. 1. Lease example: 2017 Corolla CE Automatic BURCEM-A MSRP is $18,005 and includes $1,615 freight/PDI and fees leased at 0.99% over 60 months with $525 down payment (after application of the $1,000 customer incentive), equals 260 weekly payments of $38 with a total lease obligation of $10,377 (after application of the $1,000 customer incentive). Applicable taxes are extra. Lease 60 mos. based on 100,000 km, excess km charge is $.07. 2. $1,000 customer incentives available on select 2017 Corolla models and can be combined with advertised lease rate. 3. Lease example: 2017 RAV4 LE FWD Automatic ZFREVT-B with a vehicle price of $29,330 includes $1,885 freight/ PDI and fees leased at 2.49% over 60 months with $1,550 down payment (after application of the $1,000 customer incentive), equals 260 weekly payments of $65 with a total lease obligation of $18,414 (after application of the $1,000 customer incentive). Applicable taxes are extra. Lease 60 mos. based on 100,000 km, excess km charge is $.10. 4. $1,000 incentive for cash customers is available on select 2017 RAV4 models and cannot be combined with advertised lease offer. 5. Lease example: 2017 Tundra 4x4 Double Cab SR 4.6L Automatic UM5F1T-A MSRP is $40,390 and includes $1,885 freight/PDI and fees leased at 2.49% / 60 months with $0 down payment, equals 260 weekly payments of $107 with a total lease obligation of $27,738. Applicable taxes are extra. Lease 60 mos. Based on 100,000 km, excess km charge is $0.15. 6. Up to $2,000 incentive for cash customers is available on select 2017 Tundra models. 7. Customer incentives on 2017 Corolla and RAV4 models are valid until January 31, 2017.

Incentives for cash customers on 2017 Corolla, RAV4 and Tundra models are valid until January 31, 2017 and may not be combined with Toyota Financial Services (TFS) lease or finance rates. If you would like to lease or finance at standard TFS rates (not the above special rates), then you may be able to take advantage of cash incentive offers by January 31, 2017. Cash incentives include taxes and are applied after taxes have been charged on the full amount of the negotiated price. See toyota.ca for complete details on all cash incentive offers. 8. Weekly lease offers available through Toyota Financial Services (TFS) on approved credit to qualified retail lease customers of new and demonstrator Toyota vehicles. Down payment and first weekly payment due at lease inception and next weekly payment due approximately 7 days later and weekly thereafter throughout the term. 9. ®Aeroplan miles: Earn 5000 Aeroplan miles. Miles offer valid on vehicles purchased/leased, registered and delivered between January 1 and January 31, 2017. Customers must be an Aeroplan Member prior to the completion of the transaction. Offer subject to change without notice. Some conditions apply. See Toyota.ca/aeroplan or your Dealer for details. ®Aeroplan and the Aeroplan logo are registered trademarks of Aimia Canada Inc. Visit your Toyota Dealer or www.getyourtoyota.ca for more details. Some conditions apply; offers are time limited and may change without notice. Dealer may lease/sell for less. Each specific model may not be available at each dealer at all times; factory order or dealer trade may be necessary.

“can we give the city tickets for doing a shitty job clearing streets?? or how about clearing and dumping snow onto sidewalks when clearing bike lanes - how are people supposed

650 bucks out of my pocket for a cracked bumper this morning so f*** you and your $250 fines maybe get out there and start Salt in the f****** roads” –BradleyTodosyuk “I like how every single comment is about the City not doing an effective job clearing snow and ice from sidewalks in front of their properties (really? where?) and not doing an effective job clearing streets.

The major roads are doing fine, thank you - and I haven’t seen a side street yet that

• Read more comments at Facebook.com/WestenderVan W

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COROLLA SE SHOWN MSRP incl. F+PDI $23,720

News5 Vancouver Shakedown5 Science Matters5 Style File6 A Good Chick To Know6 Nosh7 Fresh Sheet7 The Alchemist9

By The Bottle9 The Growler10 What’s On11 Cover Story12 Arts12 Music13 Reel People14 Real Estate14 Movie Review17 Sex with Mish Way18 Horoscopes18 Classifieds19

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PUBLISHER GAIL NUGENT GNUGENT@GLACIERMEDIA.CA EDITOR KELSEY KLASSEN EDITOR@WESTENDER.COM DISPLAY ADVERTISING SALES@WESTENDER.COM 604-742-8677 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 604-630-3300 CLASSIFIEDS@VAN.NET

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COVER: ‘MOUTHPIECE’ BY TORONTO’S QUOTE UNQUOTE COLLECTIVE IS ONE OF OUR PICKS OF THE 2017 PUSH INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL. BROOKE WEDLOCK PHOTO WESTENDER IS A DIVISION OF LMP PUBLICATION LIMITED PARTNERSHIP. ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND CANNOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. THE NEWSPAPER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY ADVERTISING WHICH IT CONSIDERS TO CONTAIN FALSE OR MISLEADING INFORMATION OR INVOLVES UNFAIR OR UNETHICAL PRACTICES. THE ADVERTISER AGREES THE PUBLISHER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ERROR IN ANY ADVERTISEMENT BEYOND THE AMOUNT PAID FOR SUCH ADVERTISEMENT. WE COLLECT, USE, AND DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR PRIVACY STATEMENT WHICH IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

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A Healthy Gut for a Healthy Life

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4 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

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Westender.com

NEWS // ISSUES

@WESTENDERVAN

YOUR CITY

When Vancouver gives you ice, make an ice rink Grant Lawrence Vancouver Shakedown

@GrantLawrence

Can you remember a Vancouver winter like this?

Sure, there have been some big snow dumps followed by cold, sunny weather, but rarely do they last more than a week, right? I had to claw through my memory, back to the 1970s, to remember something similar – when it got cold enough, long enough, that they opened up Lost Lagoon for public skating. My entire family took advantage of that snap, skating time and again on the downtown lake, when I was just a kid.

Jump ahead 40 years (40 years!) and now I’m the dad with a three-year-old who’s obsessed with skating and hockey. He repeatedly asks me to build him a “backyard rink,” and I explain to him that Vancouver is just too warm.

Then, about a month ago, when that first cold snap struck, I thought, “Well… maybe, just maybe, I could pull it off for the kid.” I am not handy, so I went online and watched a few rinkmaking videos from the east. The easiest method I found is to buy some long two-by-six planks and the biggest tarp you can find.

Thanks to several tips culled from Instagram, where I was posting my progress, I screwed the planks together into a frame and laid the tarp over top (a mistake; in retrospect, I should have put the tarp down first, then the frame, so the water could

Grant Lawrence and his son, Josh, on their backyard ice rink.

Contributed photo freeze at a right angle against the boards). I filled it with an inch of water from the hose. Within an hour, it was already frozen. Huh! I should mention there were as many detractors on social media as there were helpers. Many told me an outdoor rink in Vancouver could never be done.

Undaunted, I added an inch of water a day (which, itself, was a hassle, since I had to bring the hose inside to thaw it out between floodings).

By day three, my son Josh’s dream had come true: He was skating on his very own backyard rink.

It worked! And it sure attracted a lot of attention. On day four, Bob Kronbauer, from VancouverIsAwesome. com, did a story about the rink and posted a video of Josh skating. By day five, other kids were trying it out, and we borrowed the neighbour’s outdoor fireplace for après-skating rink-side s’mores. By day six, the rink was on page three of the daily paper as well as

the nightly news. Needless to say, my family was taken aback by all the attention. “If you build it, they will come.”

Too right.

We enjoyed about a week of action on the rink before it started to thaw, but by Christmas Eve it was frozen again and we enjoyed a Christmas Day skate in the bright sunshine.The snow and ice on NewYear’s Eve thickened it even further, allowing for even more skating fun, which was so much more than we ever would have imagined. At last count, the VancouverIsAwesome video of Josh had over 100,000 views.To put that in perspective, my band’s videos have about 60,000 views.

Sure, it sucked that the sidewalks were slick and the roads were dicey and the city was slow to respond, and it was very challenging for seniors and the disabled. But if this kind of winter only happens once every 40 years, I hope you enjoyed it while you could. My son sure has.

Drop the puck! W

CITY SHORTS // CAR OWNERSHIP DECLINING IN CITY OF VANCOUVER

Vancouver has seen a steady decline in the percentage of residents who own cars at a time when the cost to operate vehicles in the city has risen and the number of parking stalls has shrunk.

Insurance Corp. of British Columbia (ICBC) data showed that 270,000 passenger vehicles were registered in the city ofVancouver at the start of 2016.That’s 3.8 per cent more than at the start of 2012, butVancouver’s population during that same period rose 5.2 per cent to 666,996, according to BC Stats.

These statistics jibe with a trend that the City ofVancouver has identified in its annual surveys of 2,500Vancouverites conducted by CH2M and Mustel Group. In 2015, the city’s survey showed that, for the first time, 50 per cent of

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the trips thatVancouverites made were by foot, bus or bicycle.That is up from 47 per cent of trips using those modes in 2013.

Simon Fraser University city program acting director AndyYan is eager to see the results of the 2016 census, which asked about transportation modes. He expects that data to be released in November and be more reliable than the city’s survey, given the census’ large sample size.

Still,Yan said he believes that car use inVancouver is on the decline and that recent rapid-transit expansions, such as the Evergreen Line to Coquitlam, will encourage even more people to get out of their cars, along with the rising cost of operating a passenger vehicle.

ICBC projects that insurance premium hikes will be an average 4.9 per cent in 2017.

Gas prices have recently re-

bounded to around $1.35 per litre, but that’s still lower than all-time-high gas prices above $1.50 per litre in 2014.

Parking costs, however, have been on the rise.The city has introduced parking meters in more areas of the city while simultaneously removing parking spaces to make way for the Mobi by Shaw Go bike-share program. A new fee-calculation mechanism, whereby different parking spots will have varying hourly rates depending on demand, is to be rolled out in the first quarter of 2017.

The average price hike for a parking spot is yet to be determined but a 2016 staff report to city council noted that parking revenue to the city would rise in 2017 from the anticipated $55.1 million in 2016.

• Story courtesy of Business inVancouver

Cities have yet to harness the sun effectively, but solar roads could be the solution. iStock photo

We can learn so much from nature David Suzuki Science Matters @DavidSuzuki

If you fly over a forest and look down, you’ll see every green tree and plant reaching to the heavens to absorb the ultimate energy source: sunlight. What a contrast when you look down on a city or town with its naked roofs, asphalt roads and concrete sidewalks, all ignoring the sun’s beneficence! Research shows we might benefit by thinking more like a forest.

Solar roads could be a step in that direction.

Roads, sidewalks and parking lots cover massive areas.

Using them to generate power means less environmental disturbance, as no new land is needed to house solar power operations.

A French company, Colas, is working with the French National Institute for Solar Energy to test its Wattway technology under various conditions, with a goal of covering 1,000 kilometres of existing highway with thin, durable, skid-resistant crystalline silicon solar panel surfacing over the next four years.

They estimate that could provide electricity for five million people. Although critics have raised questions about cost and feasibility, it’s not pie-in-the-sky. The technology is being tested and employed throughout the world.

Rooftops are another place to generate power using existing infrastructure. Elon Musk’s company Tesla is making shingles that double as solar panels.

Although they cost more than conventional asphalt shingles, they’re comparable in price to higher-end roof tiles, and can save money

when you factor in the power they generate.

These developing technologies show that, as the world continues to warm, we can and must move beyond our outdated ways. In Canada and elsewhere, the political approach to climate change has often been to avoid discussing it — in part by firing government scientists or vetting their public statements — and maintaining the status quo by lavishly supporting unproven and risky technologies like carbon capture and storage that keep us tied to fossil fuels for years to come.

It’s nonsensical to dig up and melt oilsands bitumen, transport and burn it, and attempt to capture the emissions and stick them back in the ground, where nature had already stored the carbon. Nature took millions of years to do it, but we aren’t a patient animal.

US science writer Janine Benyus coined the term “biomimicry” to describe technologies based on nature’s ability to solve problems or exploit opportunities. It’s an important concept because it requires humility and respect for natural processes rather than the imposition of our crude but powerful technological innovations.

Every species shares the same challenges: how to get energy and food, avoid predators and disease (even bacteria get viral infections), what to do with waste and how to reproduce. Over long periods, numerous strategies to solve these challenges have evolved. We are a species magnificently adapted for survival, with a massive brain relative to our body size. Unlike any other species, we have the ability to ask questions and seek answers. We can find a treasure trove of solutions in

the ways other species have dealt with challenges.

Biomimicry has inspired applications ranging from producing energy through artificial photosynthesis to building lightweight support structures based on the properties of bamboo.

By learning how nature works and how to work within it, we can overcome many problems we’ve created by trying to jam our technologies on top of natural systems. Fossil fuels were formed when plants absorbed and converted sunlight through photosynthesis hundreds of millions of years ago, then retained that energy when they died, decayed and became compacted and buried deep in the Earth, along with the animals that ate them. Rapidly burning limited supplies of them is absurd, especially when they can be useful for so many other known and possibly yet undiscovered purposes.

Surely, with our knowledge and wisdom we can do better than rely on the primitive idea of burning things to stay warm and comfortable without regard for the consequences — pollution of air, water and land with its related impacts on health, as well as climate change, which is putting humanity’s survival at risk.

Our economic systems don’t often encourage the most efficient and least harmful ways of providing necessities. They aim for the quickest, easiest, cheapest and most economically profitable paths. We can do better than that. Harnessing the sun’s power and learning how nature solves challenges are good places to start.

• David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Learn more at DavidSuzuki.org. W

January 12 - January 18, 2017 W 5

STYLE // DESIGN

WESTENDER.COM

FASHION 2

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Five finds: Area rugs add new life to home décor Jennifer Scott A Good Chick to Know

@Jennifer_AGCTK

When cold weather keeps us indoors, there’s no better time to refresh our décor. Cooler temperatures rejuvenate the love for textiles within the home, and this week’s Five Finds rounds up the best of my favourite home décor item: the area rug. Neutrals provide a perfect palette for the floor, as they allow us to play with pattern and texture while maintaining a look that suits almost any space, from flat weaves with a graphic appeal to historically inspired pieces.

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the Willenz area rug takes a fresh approach to tradition by eliminating both corners and round edges to create a unique geometric style and threedimensional effect.

2. CERES DOVE & ANGORA

Available at The Cross Decor & Design (1198 Homer). $625 for 5’ x 8’; other sizes available The intentionally distressed elements of the Ceres area rug show respect to its Turkish influences; with a blend of grey-tone geometric symmetry beautifully interrupted by a seemingly paint-spattered teal pattern, the textile creates a modern take on tradition for area rugs.Whether your décor is minimalist, modern or traditional, the Ceres offers itself as an upscale, globally chic floor covering.

3. AERIAL ’48

1. WILLENZ IN STONE

Available at Vancouver Special (3612 Main). $945 for 88.6” x 63”; other sizes available Designer Sylvain Willenz completed his education at the Royal College of Art in London, and has since spent his life travelling between Brussels, the US and the UK. Drawing on his global inspiration,

Available at Burritt Bros Carpet and Floors (8385 Fraser).

Prices upon request A stunning introduction to Burritt Bros’ new River Design Quarter collection, the Aerial ’48 area rug embodies the impressive landscape of the design house’s new digs in the River District.The abstract imagery within the rug was inspired by a City of Vancouver archival photo depicting the 1948 flood of the Fraser, and is an aerial view of the farmlands and river, preindustrialization.The river in the pattern is created by a

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low-loop Chinese silk, while the surrounding landscape is made up of Himalayan wool; the contrast in materials and pile height offer a subtle yet stunning sense of movement within the rug, reflective of the area it is honouring.

4. TRACE MAT BY FERM LIVING

Available at Vancouver Special or FermLiving.com Monochromatic colourblocking creates the punchy effect of this rug. Playing within the tonal ranges of soft to striking grey, the Trace offers a playful geometric pop to any room. Its smaller size of 24” by 40” allows the mat to be ultra-versatile, suiting virtually any space, from the entryway to the kitchen or even as a fun bedside rug, while machinewashability makes the mat a practical addition to the home.

5. AGUA ASGAR RUG DRIZZLE

Available at The Cross Decor & Design. $475 for 5’ x 8’ This rug offers my favourite effect: tie-dye in a subtle neutral palette.We’ve seen beautiful dyeing techniques from around the world make their mark in décor this past year, and the Agua Asgar Rug Drizzle pays homage to that in a fresh, muted colourway.

This flat-weave piece is made in India of 100 per cent wool, allowing it to be dirt and stain resistant, and easy to care for. W

Top beauty innovations of 2017 Aileen Lalor Style File @AileenLalor

We’re not talking makeup trends here (FYI: ’80s, glitter and braids). Rather, these are our predictions for products and categories that will be making waves through the next year – the high-tech, innovative, space-age stuff we can’t wait to try.

MORE FANCY DEVICES

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen cleansing brushes, home lasers and LEDs, ultrasonic devices and more. And as the tech gets more advanced, the devices are able to do more.

One of the latest (launched in September 2016) is Tria’s Positively Clear 3-Step Acne Skincare Solution. This ‘zit zapper’ uses blue light to kill acne-causing bacteria without drying out or damaging the rest of your skin. The science behind it is good: Dermatologists have used blue light in acne treatment for decades. The device comes with a cleanser and spot treatment. $199, at Triabeauty.ca.

ULTRA-CUSTOMIZATION OF PRODUCTS

This has been a growing trend for the last couple of years – brands like Skin Inc allow you to mix your own serum, while Nyx, RMS and The Estée Edit have topcoats that can be applied over any lipstick to adjust the colour.

Now, things are getting really smart. Last year, Lancôme introduced Le Teint Particulier in the States. It’s a customblend foundation that’s mixed for you on-counter and will arrive in select department stores here in May 2017. A couple of years ago,Toronto

6 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

1. At Bite NYC Lip Lab in Toronto, you can sit down with a consultant and blend your own unique colour, texture and flavour of lipstick.

2. Tria Beauty Positively Clear 3-Step Acne Skincare Solution, $199, TriaBeauty.ca.

3. Plume Lash & Brow Serum, $95, at PlumeScience.com, Project Skin MD and Murale.

4. Laneige Two Tone Lipbar in Magenta Muse, prices unavailable, at Sephora in 2017.

Contributed photos

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brand BITE Beauty launched its NYC Lip Lab, in which you can make a personalizedfrom-scratch lipstick colour.

Now it’s gone for rapid expansion: Last November and December, it opened a further two stores in the States, plus one in Toronto, with more to come in Canada.

NATURAL BRANDS GET TECHNICAL, AND CANADIAN COMPANIES ARE BEST IN CLASS

In days of yore, natural, cruelty-free and organic brands were nice to use, but didn’t promise the dramatic results of their hi-tech counterparts. Now, those brands are starting to move into the cosmeceutical space.

Montreal-based Nannette de Gaspe’s latest ‘Techstile’ masks are all-natural, but deliver dramatic and long-lasting results. 2017’s innovation is the Plumping & Lifting Infusers – dry pads that you stick inside your bra or pants that promise to boost your bum and breasts ($225, at Holt Renfrew from February).

Calgary’s Plume hopes to rival prescription-only Latisse with its Lash & Brow Serum ($95, at Plumescience. com, Project Skin MD and Murale). Latisse boosts lash growth, but can cause itching, redness and staining of the skin and iris. Plume Lash & Brow Serum is 100 per cent natural, causes none of those side effects, genuinely boosts lash growth (we’ve tried it) and, unlike Latisse, can be used during pregnancy or by people undergoing cancer treatment. In March, the brand will launch an eyebrow product, Nourish & Define Brow Pomade, which colours the brows and also contains the same actives as the serum, so will have longterm brow-boosting effects.

ASIAN BRANDS KEEP INNOVATING

The best and most innovative product of recent years, from cushion foundations to BB creams, have been from Asia. The cushion trend has expanded now to blushers and eye makeup and, most recently, an ultralong-lasting, sweat-resistant eyebrow product from Korean brand Laneige. There are no plans to bring that to North America, but Laneige will be launching the second iteration of its cushion foundation at some point in 2017. There’s also much excitement about the brand’s forthcoming Two Tone Lip Bar, which gives a very cool ombré effect. If you can’t wait for that, fellow Korean brand Iopé has the Dual Lip Blender ($32, at Aritaum).

And Hong Kong is now getting in on the act with startup Molly Cosmetics Shop’s SiliSponge, a silicone alternative to makeup sponges that blends foundation perfectly without absorbing it, so there’s no product wastage and it’s easy to clean. The downside? It does look like a silicone breast implant – a talking point if left out in the bathroom. $16, at Mollycosmeticsshop.com.

WEARABLE BEAUTY IS A THING

Last year saw the introduction of La Roche Posay’s UV patch – a band aid that changes colour when exposed to UV rays and uploads data to an app that keeps tabs on your level of UV exposure. Also in the pipeline are hairbands that promise to make your locks grow, and devices that will allow you to measure levels of hydration or pollution, so you can see if your skincare really does live up to its claims. W

Westender.com

EAT // DRINK

@WESTENDERVAN

DINING OUT Eat the January blues away with these special events ANYA LEVYKH @foodgirl friday

Cacao delivers a five-star dining experience Anya Levykh Nosh

@FoodgirlFriday CACAO

Bauhaus chef Stefan Hartmann is offering a “surprise” tasting menu until the end of February that delivers five courses for $75.Wine pairings available for an additional $60. Bauhaus-Restaurant.com

1898 W. 1st 604-791-5370 CacaoVancouver.com Lunch: Tues.-Fri., 10am-4pm Brunch: Sat.-Sun., 9am-4pm Dinner: Wed.-Sat., 6-11pm (by reservation only)

The Gluten Free Expo is back, Jan. 14-15 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. With more than 500 products, as well as a cooking stage, seminars and speakers, the event is a mecca for those seeking not only gluten-free, but also soy-, dairy- and sugar-free options. GlutenFreeExpo.ca

Well, this is nice: My first review of 2017 is about a restaurant where I had one of the best meals of the past year. Twice. I’m going to take it as a harbinger that this year is going to be a tad more positive than the previous 12 months.

That this is thanks to chef Jefferson Alvarez is perhaps not surprising. Alvarez is a chef whose food I’ve long admired for its daring and innovation, yet also its simplicity. As executive chef at the now-closed Secret Location (just the restaurant; its retail component has taken over the entire space), Alvarez pushed plenty of boundaries, with results that ranged from mind-blowing to, at times, slightly mundane. But you could never doubt his damn-near-obsessive dedication and courage.

At Cacao, his first ownership venture (in partnership with mother-and-daughter duo Marcela and Andrea Ramirez), Alvarez is serving up a version of casual pan-Latin cuisine that digs deep into his Venezuelan roots – for example, fresh arepas: small corn-based

On Monday, Jan. 23, the next edition of the Greasy Spoon Diner supper series (in support of A Better Life Foundation) takes place at Save on Meats. Chef Mark Singson, founder of FAM Inc., is the featured chef for the evening.Tickets $95. GSMarkSingson.Eventbrite.ca The seventh annual Hot Chocolate Festival takes place Jan. 19-Feb. 14, with dozens of establishments offering special hot chocolates and hot-chocolate-themed treats. HotChocolateFest.com Dine Out Vancouver returns Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Check in next week for our coverage of the festival! DineOutVancouver.com W

Left: Cacao owners Marcela Ramirez and Jefferson Alvarez. Right: Albacore ceviche with mint oil and arepa crisp. Dan Toulgoet photos pitas. On a recent visit, they were stuffed with king oyster mushrooms and soffritto, a reduction made of garlic, onion, tomato and paprika.

They were served on a piece of tree bark, and tasted as beautiful as they looked.

While you can order à la carte, I strongly recommend going for the three- or fivecourse tasting menu, both of which are a steal at $45 or $75, respectively. Expect to get a little more than you bargained for, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Alvarez is a chef who enjoys exploring the possibilities of a single ingredient, like with his sturgeon chicharron ($14), which features puffed, crispy skin and charred fish coated in activated charcoal, decorated with dots of paprika aioli, crispy shallot and paper-thin radish. Or the corn cachapas ($12) of puffed, poached, crispy and soft kernels of various species, a housemade

cheese that is bruléed, and arepa crisps. It’s a textural symphony that offers something slightly different with every bite.

Larger dishes depend less on textural contrast than bold flavours that focus on a few key ingredient, like a seared filet of branzino ($22), in which shatteringly crisp skin covers butter-soft flesh and sits over a piece of delicate green plantain on a bed of pico de gallo. Lamb leg ($28) is crusted in coffee and cocoa, and braised until it falls

apart at the touch of the fork.

Bar manager Sergio Grandolfo, who worked with Alvarez at Secret Location, takes a similar approach to both his cocktails ($10) and zero-proof beverages ($5).

While the Pisco Sour was a dream, with El Gobernador cider and aquafaba rounding out Angostura and lemon, it was the hooch-free honeydew-and-thyme concoction – made by cooking the melon for several hours, then blending it with thyme, lemon and sugar – that really blew me

Food: !!!!!

Service: !!!!!

Ambiance: !!!!!

Value: !!!!!

Overall: !!!!!

Dave’s

TRAVEL PICKS OF THE WEEK 1-855 55 TRAVEL (1-855-558-7283)

Dave Frinton Co-President CruisePlus.ca

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 Proceeds help underserved schools experience the magic of Science World.

away with its refreshing, nottoo-sweet palate and heady nose. It was also a perfect pairing for most of our dishes.

If you can, stop by for lunch or brunch to try the casual arepas and brunch dishes like bison short rib and eggs, or gluten-free waffles. W

CruisePlus.ca Visit CruisePlus.ca/Top20 for all of this week's offers!

Purchase tickets online at:

10 NIGHT WAIKIKI & CRUISE PACKAGE April 20, 2017

$1,899 CAD, pp

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12 NIGHT GLAMOROUS RIVIERA June 1, 2017 Onboard Riviera

$6,999 CAD, pp

PACKAGE INCLUDES: Roundtrip Vancouver air, 2 nights Rome (4 star hotel), 10 night cruise in a veranda stateroom, $50 pp onboard credit, transfers, free internet and taxes – PLUS your choice of an extra $300 pp onboard credit, 3 shore excursions or beverage package.

14 NIGHT BRITISH ISLES CRUISE & STAY May 22, 2017

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*New bookings only. Fares are per person in the currency noted, based on double occupancy, are capacity controlled, subject to availability at the time of booking and may be withdrawn without notice. Optional & locally payable supplier charges may apply and are not included. Amenities, if offered, are available for the first two in a stateroom or hotel room only & based on double occupancy unless specifically stated otherwise. CruisePlus reserves the right to correct any human or electronic errors in the offers above. CruisePlus Management Ltd. Consumer Protection BC License #: 3325-0.

Westender.com

January 12 - January 18, 2017 W 7

“The greatest of the great! It must be experienced.”

— Christine Walevska, “Goddess of Cello”, saw Shen Yun 5 times

ALL-NEW 2017 SHOW WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA MADE IN U.S.A.

An Inspiring Journey Through 5,000 Years of Civilization

5

REASONS YOU NEED TO SEE SHEN YUN THIS SEASON

1. Because millions have seen it and loved its uplifting energy.

2. Because classical Chinese dance has 5,000 years of history and opens your eyes to wonders.

of its unique live orchestra 3. Because that blends East and West. it features groundbreaking 4. Because animated backdrops that immerse you in the action.

5. Because each year Shen Yun

performs an entirely new program, and if you miss it, you won’t be able to see it again.

“Five stars... The top! I have reviewed over 4,000 shows, none can compare to what I saw tonight."

“The spirit of hope, beauty, and blessing... It’s a fabulous gift to us.”

Richard Connema, renowned Broadway critic

Sine McKenna, award-winning Celtic singer

“Exquisitely Beautiful. An extraordinary experience for us and the children. ”

“I just wish there is a way that I could cry out to mankinds, they owe it to

Cate Blanchett, Academy Award–winning actress

Jim Crill, veteran producer, saw Shen Yun 5 times

“One big poetic event...It was so inspiring, I think I may have found some

“Exciting to watch and really inspirational.”

Robert Stromberg, director, and Academy Award–winning production designer for Avatar

Stewart F. Lane, Six-time Tony Award-winning producer

themselves to experience Shen Yun”

new ideas for the next Avatar.”

A Gift from Heaven PACKED THEATRES AROUND THE WORLD. AUTIENCES DEEPLY TOUCHED THE PEOPLE of ancient China have long held that their magnificent culture was a gift from heaven. Art was primarily a means to explore the connection between humankind and the higher universe. Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture.

Its stunning beauty, purity, and tremendous energy leave audiences greatly uplifted and deeply inspired.

Experience the arts connecting heaven & earth!

Experience Shen Yun!

Lincoln Center, New York

Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.

Royal Festival Hall, London

QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE • JAN 29–31

National Arts Centre, Ottawa

Jan. 29 Sunday 7:00 pm TICKET BOOTHS Jan. 30 Monday 2:00 pm Oakridge Centre (near The Bay) Jan. 31 Tuesday 7:30 pm Downtown Best Buy Tickets start at $85 Building (3rd floor)

Call 888-974-3698 Visit ShenYun.com/Van Shen Yun—Not Made in China 3 shows only. Tickets are selling fast. Buy now to avoid missing out.

8 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

Westender.com

EAT // DRINK

@WESTENDERVAN

WINE & COCKTAILS

The upside of committing to Dry January Joanne Sasvari The Alchemist

@TheAlchemistBC

Wine-and-cheese pairings bring France into your home Michaela Morris By the Bottle @MichaelaWine

I’m not typically swayed by the “shelf-talker” or “on-pack” promotional tags in wine and liquor stores. However, when I saw a bottle tag offering 10 per cent off cheese at Les Amis du Fromage (with a $50 purchase at said store), I was lured in. Someone had found my Achilles heel.

As my love of both cheese and wine was born in France, I often pay homage by pairing together examples from this illustrious culinary nation.

I’m not suggesting anything revolutionary here – France is home to some of the world’s most heavenly matches.The Loire Valley’s tangy goat cheese is sheer perfection with her steely Sauvignon Blanc

(think Sancerre and PouillyFumé).Then there’s Alsace’s pungent washed-rind Munster, which is best enjoyed with an equally full-flavoured Gewürztraminer. Perhaps the greatest of all partnerships is a piece of salty blue Roquefort with a lusciously sweet botrytis-affected Sauternes from the region of Bordeaux.

While the two hail from different areas within France, they offer the most delectable study in opposites attracting.

With hundreds of cheeses and just about as many wine appellations, France provides endless combinations. Get an assortment of both, and just enjoy mixing and matching. I’m a big fan of whites with cheese – given the chilly season, my recommendations here are richer and wintry.

Continued on next page

Call this the month of reckoning. After a festive season of giddy indulgence, many of us are rediscovering the gym, swapping shortbread for lentils, and giving up booze throughout the 31 long, dark days of January.

Starting the NewYear dry isn’t a new idea – the Finnish government launched a Sober January as far back as 1942, as part of the war effort – but the idea really started taking off in 2012, when the UK charity Alcohol Concern made it an official thing. By 2016, the agency reports, one in six Britons was taking part in Dry January.

On this side of the pond, Ontario’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health leads the official Dry January campaign in Canada; you can register at DryJanuary.ca, but most people just go ahead and do it without ceremony.

It’s not a bad idea: Cutting back on booze can help you lose weight, save money, sleep better and focus more sharply at work.The Dry January site even has an – ahem! – sober-

The Salted Vine’s Pomegranate Green Tea Punch is one of many non-alcoholic standouts at the Squamish hot spot. Contributed photo ing calculator that lets you see how much you’ll save by reducing your alcohol intake; for instance, if you cut out just one glass of wine a night, you may save $90 and nearly 6,000 calories in a month.

Even better? If you’re not drinking, you don’t have to worry about driving, and that means this is the perfect month for a road trip. If you happen point your car up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Squamish, David Warren is waiting for you with a whole

list of delicious non-alcoholic concoctions.

Warren is the bar manager at the Salted Vine Kitchen + Bar, the mountain town’s first truly gourmet restaurant.

It’s helmed by a trio of former Araxi alumni, including executive chef Jeff Park, sommelier/director Pat Allan, and Warren, who previously worked at the Galiano Oceanfront Inn and Spa, as well as the Oak Bay Beach Hotel in Victoria.

Here,Warren has complied an impressive list of boozy cocktails named for local hiking and biking trails, like the mezcal-based Two Stroke Smoke, which comes with an “oil slick” of Fernet Branca.

But he’s also concocted some exciting non-alcoholic drinks that go well beyond the boring old cranberry-and-soda.

“I just think that a lot of people, by choice these days, don’t want to drink,” says Warren. “It’s nice to have a drink that’s still got that wow factor. It’s nice to have that delicious drink that makes you feel part of the party.”

Many of his drinks are based on tea – “I’m from Victoria,” he explains, with a laugh – as well as the drinking vinegar known as a shrub.

If you haven’t yet discovered the joys of the shrub, you’re

in for a treat. Originating in 17th-century England, when vinegar was often used instead of citrus juices (especially for preserving foods), it’s a legitimately old-school drink made from a syrup of fruit, sugar and vinegar. It’s easy to enjoy just stirred with soda water, and it’s even better in a cocktail, with or without alcohol.

Warren makes several different shrubs, including a pineapple shrub with chilies that plays a starring role in his Pomegranate Green Tea Punch.This is a long, cool drink that’s fruity and spicy, with a beautiful balance of sweetness and acidity, and a surprisingly deep complexity for a drink without a spirit base. “We also do punchbowls, and we can do those in a non-alcoholic version,” he says, noting that he’s planning to expand his non-alcoholic cocktail list this spring. It’ll make for something refreshing to enjoy on the sunny patio after a day of scaling the nearby Stawamus Chief or riding the local trails – even though Dry January will be long over by then. W • See this week’s Pomegranate Green Tea Punch recipe at Westender.com

F IRST R ELEASE Central City Brewers + Distillers launches

Lohin McKinnon Single Malt Whisky Lohin McKinnon combines brewing prowess of awardwinning Brewmaster Gary Lohin and talents of Distiller Stuart McKinnon

is made from the finest Canadian malted barley and pure B.C. water.

Lohin McKinnon is the beginning of Central City’s burgeoning single malt whisky portfolio that includes aged and small batch limited releases using finishing casks and peat-smoked malt.

The Canadian whisky industry has just been redefined with the launch of Central City Brewers + Distillers highly anticipated Lohin McKinnon Single Malt Whisky. One of only a handful of single malt whiskies released in British Columbia, Lohin McKinnon is Central City’s first ever whisky, backed by their legacy of brewing award-winning beers.

“

Matured in premium oak barrels, this smooth and refined small batch whisky

Lohin McKinnon has excellent aroma with rich, darker, fruity notes, subtle vanilla, and is pleasantly woody. The liquid is great, with a touch of green apple skins, buttery notes, woody and softly textured mouth feel.

Mike Nicholson Canadian whisky expert



Lohin McKinnon (750 ml bottles, 43% alc./vol) is now available in BC liquor stores.

Visit www.LohinMcKinnon.com for more information.

Westender.com

January 12 - January 18, 2017 W 9

EAT // DRINK

WESTENDER.COM

WINE / CRAFT BEER Continued from page 9 As for reds, my preference is for fruity styles with soft tannins. And just make sure there’s at least one sweet wine in the lineup. (Hopefully, you’re not on a January cleanse or haven’t misguidedly sworn off wine or cheese for the year.)

2015 Paul Mas Viognier • Pays d’Oc • $12.49 (BC Liquor Stores) Bursting with peach, ginger and white blossoms, this excellent-value Viognier is a weightier white without being tiring. It can take on a wide range of cheeses, from a mild blue like Fourme d’Ambert to strong washed-rind specimens like Livarot.

2014 Chartron et Trébuchet Cuvée de la Chapelle • Pouilly Fuissé AOC • $34.99 (BC Liquor Stores) A rich Chardonnay, good with a runny Brie or a nutty, aged Comté. Flavours of pineapple and preserved lemon, with a judicious dollop of creamy butter, are offset by invigorating acid. It lingers on the finish with a touch of toasted nut skin and vanilla.

2015 Louis Bernard Côtesdu-Rhône • Villages AOC LTO • $14.49 (regular $16.49) (BC Liquor Stores)

Attention deal-hunters: This is the above-mentioned culprit. Not only does it come with that 10-per-centoff coupon for Les Amis du Fromage; it’s currently $2 off the regular price, too.With straightforward raspberry and red-plum flavours – as well as soft, approachable tannin – it’s easygoing with a young and supple Saint-Marcellin or a semi-firm Morbier and Tomme de Savoie.

2014 JP Brun Terres Dorées • Moulin-à-Vent AOC • $26.49 (BC Liquor Stores) Beaujolais’ Gamay produces some of the most delightful, food-friendly reds.This Cru example offers pure, red summer berries, bright acidity, subtle stoniness and savoury minerality. Lovely with hard cheeses like Cantal or Beaufort. Also works with a mild Camembert.

2009 Domaine Baumard • Quarts de Chaume AOC • $49.99 (375ml) (BC Liquor Stores) Here’s a real treat from the Loire Valley, crafted with Chenin Blanc grapes affected by benevolent noble rot. Incredible sweetness is balanced by racy acidity, while complex flavours of quince, dried apricot, honey, mint and candied citrus peel make it thrillingly delicious with Roquefort.

Prices exclusive of taxes. W

Brew Kid on the Block: Mayne Island Brewing Company ing seven days a week right now – four days selling wine and three days brewing beer.

Robert Mangelsdorf The Growler

Is there a tasting room onsite? Will your beers be available off the Island?

We do have a tasting room that’s open on Saturdays and Sundays right now. We haven’t lined up retail sales yet, but we’re looking at that.

@TheGrowlerBC Mayne Island Brewing Company founder Michael Garratt used to make his living selling wine, but his true love has always been beer.To that end, he and his wife, Annette, opened their own brewery earlier this month, on their property on tiny Mayne Island, in the hope of winning over locals with their hand-crafted ales. Garratt’s modest operation includes a tasting room and bottle sales, and is just the second commercial brewery to operate in the Southern Gulf Islands (Saltspring Island Ales being the other).

We caught up with Garratt to find out more about one of BC’s newest – and smallest – craft breweries.

First off, congrats on opening!

What was the process that led you to where you are now?

It’s been a bit of a battle for us, as there’s not really anyone who’s done this on a small-ish island before.

It’s taken two years to get to opening our doors, and it feels great now we’re there.

Mayne Island Brewing is just the second commerical brewery to set up shop in the Southern Gulf Islands. Contributed photo What got you interested in craft beer enough to open your own brewery?

I’ve been in the business of selling wine for the last 15, 16 years, but I’m a home brewer.

So, I’d give out my beer as Christmas presents or gifts, and people told me they’d be interested if I ever sold it commercially. I have no formal education in brewing, but I’ve been home-brewing for years.

My wine warehouse is across the street from Four Winds, and I’d take them some of my beer, and Brent [Mills] was encouraging. Jack [Bensley] and Aaron [MacInnis] at Main Street Brewing have

been a big help, too.

How has the local support been so far?

It’s been great! [...] When we released our Blackberry Saison, the locals bought it all out the first week we had it.

How big is your operation?

What size batches are you brewing?

The brewery is 800 square feet, including the office and our onsite store.The brewing area is about 600 square feet itself. I’m brewing 140-litre batches twice a week right now, so my goal is to sell 280 litres of beer a week. I’m work-

What beers will you be offering?

We have three beers that we’re rotating through. Right now, we have a blonde ale that’s 6.0% ABV, a Britishstyle brown ale, and a saison we’re calling the Mayne Island Forager. Some of the ingredients are foraged here on Mayne Island; we’ve done that with blackberries, juniper, nettles. We’re doing 330-millilitre four-packs and 750-millilitre bottles. All of our beers are bottle conditioned, which is the way the Europeans have been doing it for generations.

What makes Mayne Island Brewing unique?

We’re a small family operation and everything we make is hand-crafted. The whole family helps with the bottling – even the labels are put on by hand! W

WE VALUE YOUR PROPERTY AS MUCH AS YOU DO. If you’re among BC’s approximately 2 million property owners, you should receive your 2017 property assessment in the mail early in January. If you haven’t, call us toll-free at 1-866-valueBC. Access and compare property assessment information using our free e-valueBC service on bcassessment.ca. The 2017 assessments are based on market value as of July 1, 2016.

If you have questions or want more information, contact us at 1-866-valueBC or online at bcassessment.ca. The deadline to file an appeal for your assessment is January 31, 2017.

For more property information, assessment highlights and videos visit

bcassessment.ca We Value BC

10 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

Westender.com

ARTS // CULTURE

@WESTENDERVAN

WHAT’S ON THURSDAY, JAN. 12 MUSIC TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD Orchestra The traditional folk troubadours celebrate 10 years of music, adventure and storytelling, sharing the stage with Omnika, the Tailor and Megang. 8pm at Rickshaw Theatre. Tickets $20 at TicketFly.com T.I. Atlanta rapper and actor brings the Us or Else tour to town, with special guests Ninetyfour and CP. 8pm at Commodore Ballroom. Tickets $55+ at Ticketmaster.ca TRIBUTE 4 BOWIE An openmic tribute to the legendary musician, a year after his passing.

Amateurs welcome. Sign-up at tribute4bowie@gmail.com. 7pm at Biltmore Cabaret.

DYLAN CRAMER AND RON JOHNSTON An intimate concert of jazz stylings, featuring Cramer on saxophone and Johnston on piano. 7pm at Roedde House Museum (1415 Barclay).

Tickets $15 at BPT.com

FRIDAY, JAN. 13 MUSIC DAVID BECKINGHAM Vancouver singer-songwriter, guitarist and Hey Ocean! co-founder plays in support of his solo release, Just When the Light, with special guest Twin Bandit. 8pm at St. James Community Hall. Cover $10-$15.

FRUIT BATS Chicago folkrockers play an early show, with special guests Springtime Carnivore. 7pm at The Cobalt.

Tickets $17 at MyShowPass.com

THEATRE/DANCE IT’S JUST DRAG Joan-E and Shanda Leer host a fabulous evening of over 30 local performance artists, featuring special guests Roxxxy Andrews and Naomi Smalls from RuPaul’s Drag Race. 8pm at Commodore Ballroom.

Tickets at Ticketmaster.ca

Westender.com

Joe Pug, Jan. 14

THIS IS OUR YOUTH This funny, painful and compassionate snapshot of the moment between adolescence and adulthood follows 48 hours in the lives of three lost young souls in the big city at the dawn of the Reagan era. 8pm at Havana Theatre. Tickets at BPT.com.

Runs until Jan. 14.

COMEDY BRENT MORIN Connecticutborn, LA-based comedian, actor and writer – with appearances on Chelsea Lately, Undateable and his Netflix show I’m Brent Morin – performs with opening sets from Dino Archie and Gavin Matts. 8pm & 10pm at the Comedy Mix. Tickets $20 at TheComedyMix.com

THEATRE/DANCE

SATURDAY, JAN. 14

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S THE EMPIRE STRIKETH BACK Celebrate the Star Wars universe with a live reading of this Shakespearean spin on the space saga, in a manner that would make Bard proud. 5:30pm at Seven Dining Lounge. Admission by donation.

MUSIC

SUNDAY, JAN. 15

KRYSTLE DOS SANTOS Edmonton-born, Vancouverbased vocalist brings her earthy retro -soul jazz vibes to the stage. 10pm at Guilt & Co. Admission by donation.

MUSIC

THIS GUN FOR HIRE Five-piece metal-rockers from Vancouver hit the stage with special guests the Waning Light. 7:30pm at Red Room Ultra Bar. Tickets $13 at the door.

FROM DAWN TO DUSK An extensive pallet of colours is on view in a dazzling dialogue of virtuosity from Ravi Shankar’s enchanted dawn through to the dusky, autumnal mood of late Brahms. 2pm at Pyatt Hall. Tickets at VancouverSymphony.ca

JOE PUG Singer-songwriter from Maryland plays an early show, with special guest Courtney Marie Andrews.

7pm at The Cobalt. Tickets $15 at Red Cat, Neptoon and MyShowPass.com

JEFFERY FOUCAULT US midwestern singer-songwriter plays tunes from his latest release, Salt as Wolves. 8pm at St. James Community Hall. Tickets $26 at Red Cat, Tapestry, Highlife, Rufus’ Guitar Shop and RogueFolk.BC.ca

ELISA THORN’S PAINTING PROJECT Vancouver harpist performs material from her debut album, Hue, music written and inspired by the abstract paintings of her father, Bruce Thorn. 9pm at China Cloud. Tickets $10 at the door.

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR Opera Pro Cantanti presents its fully staged and costumed production of Donizetti’s bel canto-style operatic masterpiece. 3pm at Cambrian Hall. Tickets $18 at the door, cash only.

FAREWELL THE GAGGED Farewell show for the oldschool Vancouver hardcore punk band, with special guests the Shit Talkers, the Strugglers and Death Sentence. 8pm at WISE Hall.

COMEDY THE SUNDAY SERVICE The awardwinning improv comedy troupe brings their highenergy commitment to

comedy with a little slapstick shtick, carrying the audience through a kaleidoscopic trip where scenes barrel into tangents and stories smash together. 9pm at Fox Cabaret.

Tickets $7 at the door.

in support of their latest LP, Ill, with special guest Flor. 8pm at Alexander Gastown. Tickets $12 at Red Cat, Zulu and TicketWeb.ca

THEATRE/DANCE

MACBETH An adaptation of Verdi’s opera (itself based on Shakespeare’s tragedy) that incorporates African musical idioms with a focus on percussion, in Italian with English surtitles. 7:30pm at Vancouver Playhouse. Tickets at VancouverOpera.ca. Runs until Jan. 21.

DANCE ALLSORTS Contemporary dance collective WAREHAUS performs a three-part series – Warp and Weft, Untitled and New Works – under the direction of Akeisha de Baat and Megan Hunter, incorporating technical systems with their unique artistic vision. 2pm at Waterfront Theatre. Tickets at EventBrite.ca

THEATRE/DANCE

TUESDAY, JAN. 17 COMEDY TEEN ANGST NIGHT A comedic reading series hosted

by Sara Bynoe, exploring the stories of our old teenage notebooks, as performers share original material written in their adolescence.

8pm-10pm at Cottage Bistro.

Tickets $10 at the door.

THEATRE/DANCE Krystle Dos Santos, Jan. 14

MONDAY, JAN. 16 MUSIC SYMPHONIC DANCES Young conductor Otto Tausk returns to the Orpheum stage, conducting a program that includes Rachmanioff’s sumptuous Symphonic Dances and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, performed by violinist Simone Lamsma in her VSO debut. 8pm at Orpheum Theatre. Tickets at VancouverSymphony.ca CATE LE BON AND TIM PRESLEY LA-based Welsh singer-songwriter tours in support of her latest release, Crab Day, co-headlining with the American singersongwriter playing tunes from his solo release, The WiNK. 8pm at Fox Cabaret. Tickets $16 at TicketWeb.ca GREAT GOOD FINE OK New York-based indie-pop duo tour

HAPPY DAYS A darkly comic eulogy to the human spirit, this production is a skillfully written, bewildering mystery at the heart of our relentless march toward oblivion. 8pm at Studio T, SFU Woodward’s. Tickets at SFU.ca. Runs until Jan. 28.

OIL PRESSURE VIBRATOR Performer Geumhyung Jeong tackles this piece – part performance, part lecture – in a production that will challenge your notions of sexuality, technology and the body, not to mention theatre itself. 8pm at Studio D, SFU Woodward’s. Tickets at TicketFly.com

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18

THEATRE/DANCE THE NETHER A detective story set in the future explores the nature of virtual realism, fantasy and morality – both in the imagination and the outside world – in this Fringe favourite from Jennifer Haley.

8pm at Firehall Arts Centre.

Tickets at FirehallArtsCentre. ca. Runs until Jan. 28.

THURSDAY, JAN. 19 MUSIC HOLY FUCK Toronto electronic collective play tunes from their latest release, Congrats, with special guests Peregrine Falls and Mesa Luna (DJ set).

8pm at Fortune Sound Club.

Tickets $20 at Red Cat, Zulu and TicketWeb.ca DIRKSCHNEIDER German heavy metal singer, formerly of Accept, performs with special guests Holocaust, Lord, Turbo Vixen and Iron Kingdom. 7pm at Rickshaw Theatre. Tickets at Red Cat, Neptoon, Highlife, Zulu and TuneStub.com THUS OWLS Dark sounds from the Swedish-Canadian couple of Erika and Simon Angell, with special guests Marin Patenaude and Handmade Blade. 8pm at WISE Hall. Tickets $15-$20 at BrownPaperTickets.ca TINY KINGDOM LAUNCH PARTY Celebrate the launch of the new local music community, with performances from Sadie Campbell, the Wooden Horseman and Andrew Phelan.

8pm at Biltmore Cabaret. RSVP to Do604.com for free entry.

Thus Owls, Jan. 19

MUSIC A BOOGIE WIT DA HOODIE Bronx rapper tours in support of the release of his EP, TBA, with special guest Illyminiachi. 8pm at Rio Theatre. Tickets $25 at TicketWeb.ca. All-ages show.

January 12 - January 18, 2017 W 11

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PUSH FESTIVAL

Worlds–and centuries–collide in ‘As I Lay Dying’

SABRINA FURMINGER @sabrinarmf

There doesn’t seem to be much overlap between the works of 19th-century Russian writer Anton Chekhov and 20th-century American novelist William Faulkner – which is why Dean Gilmour thought he should stick to Chekhov in the first place.

Gilmour is the co-artistic director of Theatre SmithGilmour, a Toronto-based company that has performed numerous Chekhov adaptations in its 30 years.The Dora Award-winning company has an entire Chekhov cycle under its belt: Chekhov longs…

In the Ravine, Dr. Chekhov: Ward 6, Chekhov’s Heartache, and Chekhov’s Shorts, the last of which played 22 sold-out weeks in six cities in 20002001 – a run that included Vancouver’s Firehall Arts Centre.

So when Gilmour first read Faulkner’s 1930 novel As I Lay Dying – the action of which is set in Depression-era Mississippi – he was deeply moved by the text. He just didn’t think it was stageable.The novel is a complex stream-of-consciousness tapestry, narrated by 15 characters over 59 chapters.

There’s a river, a coffin, a flood, and an arduous journey over difficult terrain. “When we first read it, we didn’t think it was doable,” says Gilmour, on the phone from Toronto.

“We had done a lot of work with Chekhov, and it seemed so far away.”

Regardless, As I Lay Dying “hovered around in the atmosphere” aboveTheatre SmithGilmour, until a few years ago, when Gilmour and co-artistic director Michele Smith finally went into a rehearsal hall to read Faulkner’s words out loud. “When you’re reading it [silently], it’s a tough read – it’s trying to figure out what’s hap-

Faulkner’s complex masterpiece gets the experimental treatment at the PuSh Festival this month. Katherine Fleitas photo pening from everybody’s point of view. But once we read it out loud, we realized that, in fact, there was such a compelling story underneath the stream of consciousness.Then we started to attack how we could tell the story on the stage.”

The result is an adaptation that wowed critics and audiences in Toronto (author Michael Ondaatje called it “a wonderful and vivid translation… [You] will swear you have seen live horses and rivers in flood and barns on fire as well as the strangest and most heartbreaking family”) and is currently in the midst of a national tour.

On January 19, As I Lay Dying begins its Vancouver run at the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre, as part of a partnership between the Arts Club Theatre Company and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

As I Lay Dying follows the Bundren family as they embarks on a 40-mile

Our picks of PuSh KELSEY KLASSEN @kelseyklassen

Sometimes a show grabs your eye because you’re familiar with the artist who created it and you want to see more.

Other times, it’s a hunch based on the particular presenting partner, or you just love the premise.With that in mind, here are five shows from the 2017 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (Jan. 16-Feb. 5) that promise to enlighten, intrigue and provoke (or, even better, accomplish all three).

funeral procession to bring their mother to a final resting place and fulfill her dying wish. From the press release: “Through their calamitous journey, each member struggles with the promises made to the departed, revealing secrets and confronting their own selfish desires along the way.”

Gilmour directs the production and appears as Anse Bundren, the Bundren patriarch, as well as several other characters; Smith portrays Addie, the Bundren matriarch whose death powers the narrative. Julian De Zotti, Nina Gilmour, Eli Ham, Ben Muir and Daniel Roberts round out the cast.

As I Lay Dying functions on several levels, says Gilmour: as a play, as a movement piece, as a meditation for its audience and players. “When we do a show, our goal is to mobilize the audience’s imagination.”

The company works on a bare stage, “and there are

If you didn’t catch Lizée during November’s Modulus Festival, now is your chance.

The master turntablist (and Music on Main composer in residence) reunites with the six-piece Standing Wave Ensemble for two evenings of mind-bending visuals and avant-garde electro-acoustic music. For fans of: MTV on strings. Jan. 30-31 at the Fox Cabaret.

already be aware of my love of “tiny” performances. So, naturally, I was drawn like a moth to a magic lantern by Volker Gerling’s flipbook production, Portraits in Motion.

Flipbooks, for those who had no childhood, are made up of pictures that change slightly from one image to the next to convey movement as you flip the pages.With Portraits, Gerling uses this centuriesold “thumb cinema” format to animate his photography as he recounts the story behind each moment in time.

For fans of: Analog arts. Jan. 24-26 atYork Theatre.

PORTRAITS IN MOTION

MOUTHPIECE

SCULPTRESS: THE MUSIC OF NICOLE LIZÉE

Longtime readers will

12 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

As conversations around

echoes of the world that we’re evoking, but we really want it to be evoked in the audience’s imagination.We don’t have a set that is the barn or the porch that they’re sitting on.We want the audience to dream and to remember, and we want to bridge that distance between their imaginations and the world that we’re evoking. It’s an actor’s theatre that we’re passionate about: the actors play multiple roles.

We root our work in the actors’ ability to transform.”

Gilmour was struck by the similarities between the peasants of Chekhov’s fiction and Faulkner’s Rust Belt inhabitants. “Chekhov came from a peasant family and he knew this peasant mentality. And, interestingly enough, Faulkner is writing about the same thing: this peasant, rural life in Mississippi where he grew up, with the same ear for how people talk and how peasants think.”

The St.Thomas, Ontario, native also hears echoes of his own grandparents in As I Lay Dying (“It’s not exactly the same vocabulary, but you can hear this way of speaking and this way of thinking that is Middle America, and very rural”), as well as of presentday residents of the American South, which, in today’s highly fraught geo-political landscape, makes Faulkner’s Depression-era tale hella relevant. “It’s the South after the Civil War, and there are these whites who are disenfranchised all of a sudden, because of this huge shift in America between the North and the South,” he says. “I think the people who have voted for Trump are the ancestors of the Bundrens. I think that’s where they came from.”

• As I Lay Dying runs Jan. 19-Feb. 12 at the Arts Club’s Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre (162West 1st Ave.).Tickets at ArtsClub. com. W

sexism and equality dominate the headlines, many women have ceased keeping their so-called private and public personas separate, in favour of speaking plainly about their 21st-century thoughts and wants. It might not sound revolutionary, but generations of “politeness conditioning” stand in the way of this being an easy or natural act.Which makes Quote Unquote Collective’s exploration of one woman’s duel with assertion, submission and identity all the more compelling. Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava play two halves of the same woman as she prepares for her mother’s funeral.They

Owen Metsileng as the titular character. Nicky Newman photo

Modern ‘Macbeth’ MICHAEL WHITE @westendervan

Romeo and Juliet is his most famous work, Hamlet likely his most iconic (if only for the epochal “Alas, poor Yorick!” monologue spoken to a deceased court jester’s skull).

But Macbeth is Shakespeare’s foremost masterpiece – a vicious, unsentimental portrait of power-mongering in the political arena that, to its eternal credit (and to mankind’s eternal shame), has never lost its timeliness.

Indeed, recent months seem to have been directly inspired by it.

The Bard’s tales have often been given an audacious makeover to more closely resemble modern times and to attract younger audiences.

Baz Luhrmann’s MTV-ified 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet, which grossed almost $150 million worldwide, is probably the most successful remodel. But the staging of Macbeth created by South African theatre company Third World Bunfight, which makes its Canadian premiere at the 2017 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, may be the most creative yet this century.

Presented in collaboration with Vancouver Opera and the Italian Cultural Centre, this Macbeth – based on Verdi’s opera – relocates

speak in unison, but as their different personas collide, cracks develop and gaps widen. For fans of: Women who speak their mind. Jan. 31-Feb. 4 at The Cultch.

SWEAT BABY SWEAT

Jan Martens introduced himself to Vancouver in 2015 with a mesmerizing yet gruelling performance that forced his dancers to jump for 70 minutes straight.The Belgian taskmaster returns for PuSh with a different kind of workout: Sweat Baby Sweat – his heartbreakingly beautiful portrait of hetero love.

For fans of: The eroticism of exhaustion. Jan. 18-20 at Scotiabank Dance Centre.

the story from 17th-century Scotland to the modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo, where governments, the military and corporations have been complicit in countless deaths in pursuit of commerce. Debuting in Cape Town in 2014, Third World Bunfight’s Macbeth has been staged in Europe, Australia and South America, garnering rave reviews everywhere. (The London Telegraph gave it its highest rating.)

Joseph Bardsley, of Vancouver Opera, anticipates a similarly ecstatic reception here, which is partly why this is the production that finally brought about VO’s long-mooted collaboration with PuSh. “We’ve always been looking for that opportunity – the right piece that would be challenging, musically interesting, that would please opera-goers and PuSh attendees in equal measure, and would also be a really meaty piece for us to devote our energy to,” he says. “Third World Bunfight is very well regarded in Europe, in South Africa, in a lot of the world, and so there was an appetite to try to bring something of theirs – Macbeth, ideally – to Vancouver.”

Continued on next page

DIRTSONG

Presented with Coastal Jazz and making its first appearance in Canada, this Australian tour de force is one of the biggest ticket items at PuSh. Created by multi-disciplinary collective Black Arm Band, Dirtsong celebrates the connection between Australia’s indigenous peoples and the earth via a deeply researched assembly of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander songs, as well as dramatic interludes and striking visuals. For fans of: Continuing the conversation around truth and reconciliation. Feb. 4 at Queen ElizabethTheatre.

• Tickets and info at PuShFestival.ca W

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MUSIC Continued from page 12

Earthbound trio creates cosmic collaboration KRISTI ALEXANDRA @kelseyklassen

It’s not so much a band as a collaboration between three individual artists – at least that’s the message affirmed by Local Creature & Alien Boy, the trio responsible for The Viper Sessions.The forthcoming album features the songwriting of Local Creature (Eric Campbell & the Dirt, No Sinner) and Alien Boy (Vader Ryderwood), performed alongside the violin stylings of Viper (Emily Bach of Dirty Spells).The genre?

“Folk-rock from outer space,” says Campbell, resolvedly.

It falls into line that the album is the product of an expertly curated art piece – one with a theme that would make Neil deGrasse Tyson blush. None of the three-piece breaks character on it, either.

“It’s as if we were all strangely beamed down into this one location for mysterious purposes,” Campbell explains.

“This project has its own weird and natural beginning – a big accident with its own origin story.”

That “one location” is ex-Vancouverite Ryderwood’s new Montreal loft – lovingly referred to as the Mothership – where the three musicians recorded their otherworldly debut.The result is an eight-track collection of well-constructed ballads, some that recall Leonard Cohen (perhaps it’s that Montreal influence), and many of which deal with feelings of being an outsider. How’s that for being an alien?

“Being a band that just hangs around in a jam space isn’t a very compelling story,” Bach concedes. “I felt like I was beamed into a totally different world, because I went to Montreal expecting to just play shows – and I play so many shows with so many different bands – and as soon as it was like, ‘We’re not doing that,’ it was totally different and it was totally amazing.”

For Campbell, the story follows a different vein. “For me, I was floating in the unknown and I had no idea what I was doing. I had come into this

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structure here [in Vancouver], so I went out there to fall in love with life again, and whatever form that was in would be okay.”

Ryderwood, meanwhile, holds fast to the story of having been beamed into his new hometown. “On the plane, he [Ryderwood] looked at the guy sitting next to him and, in his mind, he just blinked and he asked the guy, ‘Have we left yet?’ And the guy was like, ‘Um, we’re here.’ Five hours of Vader’s life are just missing,” says Campbell, laughing.

“I was done living in Vancouver for a while, anyway, and I was beamed down here pretty rapidly,” Ryderwood acknowledges.

The one sentiment that runs through our conversations, however, seems to be that they “were all aliens in Montreal” in the summer of 2016.The album reflects that theme, with songs like “Closer to the Sun” and “Never in My Time.” “[Never In My Time]… I wrote as kind of a protest song on what I saw happening in the world,” says Ryderwood. “It was based on moving to this new place and not being sure what I was doing.”

Other tunes, such as “Devil’s Easy,” were partially written during the recording process. “We had one microphone, and we would just use that one mic and the songs just wrote themselves as they were being produced,” Ryderwood recalls.

“Just another gift from the mothership!” Campbell chimes in. “We put many thing out there into space and it got shipped right back down to us – immediate response.”

While Local Creature & Alien Boy are currently living worlds apart, the response to TheViper Sessions is shaping up to be nothing less than stellar. W The Viper Sessions comes out Jan. 19 on cassette and CD, and will be available at Red Cat, Dandelion, and Neptoon Records.

The witches of ‘Macbeth’, reimagined by Third World Bunfight. Nicky Newman applicable to events [going on] today and provide audiences with a lens to see themselves and our current world.”

BC community’s Mormon polygamists. “We saw a real uptick, not just in operagoers who are curious about whatever we’re doing, but people who were drawn in by that topic. We actually had members of those plural families coming down to see the show. Works like this are a reaffirmation of the value and potency of the art form.”

• Macbeth runs Jan.1617 and 19-21 atVancouver Playhouse.Tickets and info: PushFestival.ca W

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Local Creature & Alien Boy. Leah Trottier photo

In Macbeth, Bardsley and his colleagues see a work that can cross barriers, filling seats with veteran opera buffs as well as curious novices.

“As Vancouver becomes an increasingly diverse, cosmopolitan, socially conscious city, there’s an increasing interest in work that depicts how we live today as a culture and as a society.Vancouver Opera is very aware of the fact that our art form – for it to be vital and for it to survive – it has to be

Another example of that contemporary focus was VO’s recent staging of the ambitious new opera, Dark Sisters.

“In 2015, we produced the Canadian premiere of [New York composer Nico Muhly’s] Dark Sisters, which is about plural polygamy.

It’s quite a tough story, frankly, and in BC there was a huge connection to what was happening in the news in Bountiful,” Bardsley says, referencing that year’s media firestorm around the

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FILM & TV

‘Sunnyhearts’: starring a community centre near you Sabrina Furminger Reel People @Sabrinarmf

Community centres are designed to serve an array of needs: educational, social, athletic –but unless you’re taking an Intro to Improv class, they’re probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think “venue for guaranteed belly laughs.”

For Vancouver actress and screenwriter Sonja Bennett, few places on Earth are as hilarious as Vancouver’s community centres, rife as they are with absurd scenarios and bizarre interactions.

“There are a lot of warring camps,” says Bennett, who wrote and starred in 2015’s Preggoland (about a 30-something who fakes a pregnancy to fit in with her social group) and whose recent writing credits include an episode of CBC’s hit new comedy series

Kim’s Convenience.

“It’s parents against nonparents, or fast-lane swimmers versus slow-lane swimmers, or yoga versus spinners. And to me, the more I thought about it, community centres are a microcosm for a lot of the conflicts that play out in the city.”

She chuckles as she recalls bearing witness to a showdown between a tai chi instructor and a step class teacher (“that’s another reason I love community centres: it’s the only place you can actually go to a step class) warring over music levels in a shared gym.

“I thought the community centre would be the perfect environment to explore the conflicts that we run into every day.They bring a very diverse demographic, which makes them juicy for conflict.

You have people in their 80s side by side with teens in the same space doing different things, and that’s what I really love about it.”

And so Bennett – who taught a pottery class at a community centre when she was in university, despite describing herself as completely unqualified to do so – channeled her fascination with the peculiarities of community centre culture into Sunnyhearts Community Centre, a locally shot web series that hitYouTube and Telus Optik last month and continues to roll out new webisodes every Monday.

Sunnyhearts Community Centre stars Bennett as Bernice, the new program manager of the fictional centre.

Each webisode in the eightwebisode first season follows Bernice as she attempts to navigate some absurd situation unique to community centre culture. “The original pitch was, ‘Think 30 Rock in a community centre,” Bennett says.

The series begins as Bennett’s character arrives for her first day on the job with a positive attitude and a framed

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The comedy series – about a Korean-Canadian family that runs a Toronto convenience store – has been renewed for a second season.

Bennett says it was pure coincidence that Kim’s Convenience star Andrea Bang appears in Sunnyhearts, too (as Sunnyheart’s sardonic receptionist, Lucille). Bennett, Bang and co. shot Sunnyhearts in January 2016; Bang was cast in the CBC hit shortly thereafter.

Still, Bennett has enjoyed some unintentional crossmarketing as a result – at least, within her own family. “When we drive past the Kim’s Convenience bus ads, my son’s like, ‘Look, it’s the girl from Sunnyhearts!’” She laughs.

“To my son and my son only, Andrea Bang is the girl from Sunnyhearts, not from Kim’s Convenience.”

• Stream Sunnyhearts Community Centre on the Convos With My 2-Year-Old YouTube channel. Follow Sonja Bennett on Twitter @sonjabennett123 and @SunnyheartsCC. W

Even though Bennett has written for both film and television, scripting content for the web wasn’t exactly easy.

“We did a lot of research on the sweet spot of length for web stuff, and three to five minutes seems to be the sweet spot, and to tell a story that has a beginning, middle, and end with a character arc in that time takes a hell of a lot of discipline,” says Bennett, who was nominated for a Leo Award for Best Screenwriting in a Motion Picture for Preggoland. “This was probably harder for me to write than anything else I have [written].”

2016 marked another first for Bennett: first television writer’s room experience, by way of the Toronto-shot Kim’s Convenience; Bennett is credited as a story editor on all 13 episodes of the first season, and also wrote the sixth episode. “The writer’s room was really democratic and gentle and amazing,” says Bennett.

“I’d read the play [by Ins Choi], and I was very moved by it. It was a dream first gig.”

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photo of Oprah, only to encounter a lobby full of agitated parents battling each other for highly coveted spaces in swimming classes.

Subsequent webisodes tackle gym grunters, horking in steam rooms, change-room etiquette, and what happens when you’re taking a Zumba class taught by your estranged husband’s new girlfriend.

The series is funded by Telus Optik and co-executive produced by Preggoland’s Dylan Collingwood. Among the co-producers and codirectors are Matthew Clarke and David Milchard, the duo team behind the 103-millionhits-and-counting web series ConvosWith My 2-Year-Old. Sunnyhearts Community Centre features a parade of BC film and television stars, including Viv Leacock (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency), Jill Morrison (Package Deal), Lisa Durupt (Murder, She Baked, and Bennett’s costar from Preggoland), Olivia Cheng (Marco Polo), and Stephen Lobo (Continuum).

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Locally shot web series ‘Sunnyhearts Community Centre’ stars Sonja Bennett (centre) and the kooky characters of your typical community centre. Contributed photo

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16 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

Bastion Development, completing spring 2016.

PROXIMITY features 9’ ceilings & gourmet kitchens that include: Caesarstone counter tops with FULL SIZE Fisher Paykel, Bosch & GE appliances. Sleek Hydrocork vinyl flooring throughout. Spa inspired bathrooms, featuring Moen fixtures. Chill in the Club House or outside in Communal garden plots. Be a part of the new thriving community and lifestyle that is South East False Creek. Steps from the seawall, shopping, dining and recreation. PROXIMITY to everything in False Creek. Sales Center open noon to 5pm every day but Friday.

1 bedroom penthouse at Keefer Block. 502 Sq.Ft., balcony, parking & locker. Great central location.

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ARTS // CULTURE

MOVIE REVIEW

Janelle Monae, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer in Hidden Figures. Contributed photo

A crowd-pleasing history lesson HIDDEN FIGURES

Starring Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Costner Directed by Theodore Melfi The fascinating true story of three African American women who played instrumental roles in one of NASA’s greatest missions gets the Hollywood treatment in the crowd-pleasing Hidden Figures.

Taraji P. Henson leads a formidable ensemble cast as Katherine Johnson, a brilliant mathematician and physicist (she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year) whose trajectory calculations were vital to astronaut John Glenn’s historic launch and Earth

orbit. The problem: This happened in 1962, when the United States was steeped in racial tension, women’s inequality, and a space race with the Soviet Union.

These elements are handled admirably (albeit sanitized) in the film, and give the plot a deeper sense of context.

Henson has strong support from Octavia Spencer and singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe, as well as Kevin Costner (as stalwart Space Task Group director Al Harrison), the perpetually affable Glen Powell (as John Glenn), and Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali, who offers an endearing romantic subplot.

When it comes to biographical films, Hidden

Figures is fairly by-the-book.

There is nothing particularly remarkable about its direction or script. However, as serviceable as director Theodore Melfi’s execution may be, the movie benefits strongly from a well-paced, straightforward approach, fine acting, and plenty of memorable moments.

Pharrell Williams served as co-producer and contributed several new songs to the soundtrack. The contemporary tunes don’t always mesh with the plot’s time period, but, like a microcosm for the film itself, they give a vibrant sheen to an aging story while providing accessibility for today’s audiences. W – Thor Diakow

Don’t stop retrievin’!

Vote for your favourite pet supply store and more in our 2017 Best of the City Readers’ Choice Awards poll.

Vote in at least 50 categories for your chance to win:

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604-551-4190

W NE

• Rare bachelor west of Denman • Stunning mid-century building • Cozy Cottage-style interior • Beamed ceiling, moulding • Separate sleeping area • Updated bathroom-walk in tub • 1 parking Co-op NS NP NR 35% down

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HOMES TO SUIT YOUR LIFESTYLE

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G TIN S I L

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Vote online at westender.com/contests.

604-714-1700

LOST LAGOON

(valued at $1950)

Voting closes at 12pm on Friday, January 20. Prize winners will be chosen randomly from the qualified voters and notified by email. One valid entry per email address.

SUTTON GROUP - WEST COAST REALTY

PARTY OF ONE?

A selection of jewelry from JFG Designs

*prizes may not be exactly as shown.

STEPHEN BURKE 301-1508 W BROADWAY

A Motorino LTf folding electric bicycle

YOUNG FAMILIES?

G TIN S I L

• OPEN 1133 sf sub penthouse • 2 king-SIZE BR’s both ensuite • Plus sep flex space for den • Bright Open plan NW corner plan • Large wraparound deck for BBQ’s • Expansive City and mountain views • Lower Cambie Village/ Canada Line

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• TWO 2 bedroom + flex stratas • 804 sf and 832 sf corner suites • Great central West End location • CozyGas fireplace, WD possible • Close to West End schools • Handy to shops & transportation • Require some TLC. Under 500k ea.

COMING FEBRUARY

GET A HEAD START ON THE SPRING MARKET. CALL ME TODAY. Westender.com

January 12 - January 18, 2017 W 17

LIFESTYLES //

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SEX

Ask Mish: All in the family Sex with Mish Way

@MyszkaWay I am a 46-year-old, self-made businessman from Texas who moved to Los Angeles about six years ago. Since moving here I haven’t been able to find someone who really fulfills all my needs. Being single and living in Los Angeles has presented numerous opportunities and I’m having a hard time finding the right one.

I know that I have a lust and craving for women.

Mainly women that are usually younger than I am. I frequently indulge in various strip clubs throughout the city. I am not ashamed of this. I like to spoil the girls; so what? Eight months ago, I met this stripping duo.

They are sisters and they are lovely. Our patron/customer relationship has spilled over into casual meet-ups and dinners outside of the work environ-

ment. As we started to see more and more of each other, the gifts I would give both of them got more and more lavish and we eventually started a sexual relationship. Not all three of us at the same time, but with each sister separately. They both seem to be okay with this and it has been strictly sexual up to this point.

Thanksgiving comes around and they invited me over to their mother’s house for a nice dinner and I graciously accepted. The dinner was fantastic and the company was great. This is where it gets tricky… mother and I hit it off.

She doesn’t know that I have such a deep relationship with her daughters, but she took a liking to me and to be honest, I took a liking to her as well. As time went on, we went out to dinner, saw more of each other and even became sexual with one another. I am having strong feelings for this woman and would like to continue seeing her as an actual relationship,

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HAVE YOU BEEN FORCED TO SWITCH YOUR MEDICATION? BC PharmaCare has expanded its Reference Drug Program as of December 1, 2016, which means that if you use PharmaCare, your medicine might have been switched with a different product at the pharmacy.

Patients affected by this policy of medication substitution are those who take medication for high blood pressure (hypertension), angina, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or heartburn, ulcers, high cholesterol, muscle pain, or arthritis.

Has this policy caused you any issues, have you experienced any medical problems, new or increased costs, or other concerns (i.e., more trips to the doctor/hospital)?

WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Our survey is open January 9-28, 2017 from Monday to Saturday, 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM Call 604-800-8251 or 1-800-313-0737 www.betterpharmacare.org 18 W January 12 - January 18, 2017

but she doesn’t know I am still seeing her daughters and her daughters don’t know I am seeing their mom. Can I be a stepdad, boyfriend, sugar daddy and lover all at the same time? Do I need to talk to everyone about this or do I keep it hidden? Please help.

Isn’t this nebulous, vergingon-incest-but-not-quite-there kind of thing what all straight men wish would happen to them, instead of in the porn they are jerking off to? I doubt your situation will end with a family orgy, everyone walking away totally unscathed.Then again, you may have just had Thanksgiving dinner with three unicorns. (Are you sure this didn’t happen in Florida?

It feels very Florida.)

Here are some scenarios I imagine playing out when you tell them: 1) The daughters are upset because they will no longer receive lavish gifts from you in exchange for sex, etc.Though they are not in love with you, they like you, and although it may be strange that you have fallen for their mother, the loss of luxury will be the hardest hit. You stay away from the strip club, get in good with mom, embrace a woman your own age, and, for the next decade, family holidays are fucking weird.

2) The daughters get upset because this means their mother stole their man.

Did your dad ever steal your girlfriend? Imagine if he did.

This scenario does not cause so much of a rift between the women and you, but between the women alone. (In fact, the daughters may even vie harder for your attention, like a Freudsponsored race against the woman who birthed them.)

3) Mother and daughters are down.You live in vergingon-incestuous-but-nevercrossing-over polygamy and father many children.The gossip spreads like wildfire.

(You aren’t ashamed of your unusual fortune.) Hollywood takes a whiff.TLC gives you a reality show. Again, only in Florida could this end well.

Look, this situation is fullblown mental, but you knew that, didn’t you? The biggest thing here is that you tell them before they tell one another.

At some point, news will crawl from the very intimate grapevine that connects mother to daughters. (The medical term is “umbilical chord”.) I suggest you keep seeing Mom. Pursue normalcy. Instead of hitting the strip club and buying last season’s Micheal Kors bags for the daughters, use that money on Mom.Tell the girls that Santa has to head north and let them down easy.Your relationship withMmom started out of genuine interest, not monetary transactions.

• Read the rest of Mish’s advice atWestender.com W

Free Will Astrology

By Rob Brezsny In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is a huge holy tree that links all of the nine worlds to each other. Perched on its uppermost branch is an eagle with a hawk sitting on its head. Far below, living near the roots, is a dragon. The hawk and eagle stay in touch with the dragon via Ratatoskr, a talkative squirrel that runs back and forth between the heights and the depths.

Alas, Ratatoskr traffics solely in insults. That’s the only kind of message the birds and the dragon ever have for each other. In accordance with the astrological omens, Aries, I suggest you act like a far more benevolent version of Ratatoskr in the coming weeks. Be a feisty communicator who roams far and wide to spread uplifting gossip and energizing news.

You have a divine mandate to love bigger and stronger and truer than ever before. It’s high time to freely give the gifts you sometimes hold back from those you care for. It’s high time to take full ownership of neglected treasures so you can share them with your worthy allies. It’s high time to madly cultivate the generosity of spirit that will enable you to more easily receive the blessings that can and should be yours. Be a brave, softhearted warrior of love!

I love and respect Tinker Bell, Kermit the Frog, Shrek, Wonder Woman, Runner, and Calvin and Hobbes.

They have provided me with much knowledge and inspiration. Given the current astrological omens, I suspect that you, too, can benefit from cultivating your relationships with characters like them. It’s also a favourable time for you to commune with the spirits of Harriet Tubman, Leonardo da Vinci, or any other historical figures who inspire you. I suggest you have dreamlike conversations with your most interesting ancestors, as well. Are you still in touch with your imaginary friends from childhood? If not, renew acquaintances.

“I never wish to be easily defined,” wrote Cancerian author Franz Kafka. “I’d rather float over other people’s minds as something fluid and non-perceivable; more like a transparent, paradoxically iridescent creature rather than an actual person.” Do you ever have that experience? I do. I’m a Crab like you, and I think it’s common among members of our tribe. For me, it feels liberating. It’s a way to escape people’s expectations of me and enjoy the independence of living in my fantasies. But I plan to do it a lot less in 2017, and I advise you to do the same. We should work hard at coming all the way down to earth. We will thrive by floating less and being better grounded; by not being so inscrutable, but rather more knowable.

Here’s my declaration: “I hereby forgive, completely and permanently, all motorists who have ever irked me with their rude and bad driving. I also forgive, totally and forever, all tech support people who have insulted me, or given me wrong information as I sought help from them on the phone. I furthermore forgive, utterly and finally, all family members and dear friends who have hurt my feelings.” Now would be a fantastic time for you to do what I just did, Leo: Drop grudges, let go of unimportant outrage, and issue a blanket amnesty. Start with the easier stuff – the complaints against strangers and acquaintances – and work your way up to the allies you cherish.

There are some authors who both annoy me and intrigue me. Even though I feel allergic to the uncomfortable ideas they espouse, I’m also fascinated by their unique provocations. As I read their words, I’m half-irritated at their grating declarations, and yet greedy for more. I disagree with much of what they say, but feel grudgingly grateful for the novel perspectives they prod me to discover. (Nobel Prize winner Elias Canetti is one such author.) In accordance with the current astrological rhythms, Virgo, I invite you to seek out similar influences – for your own good!

Now would be an excellent time to add new beauty to your home. Are there works of art or buoyant plants or curious symbols that would lift your mood? Would you consider hiring a feng shui consultant to rearrange the furniture and accessories so as to enhance the energetic flow?

Can you entice visits from compelling souls whose wisdom and wit would light up the place? Tweak your imagination so it reveals tricks about how to boost your levels of domestic bliss.

In 2017, you will have unprecedented opportunities to re-imagine, revise, and reinvent the story of your life. You’ll be able to forge new understandings about your co-stars and reinterpret the meanings of crucial plot twists that happened once upon a time. Now check out these insights from author Mark Doty: “The past is not static, or ever truly complete; as we age we see from new positions, shifting angles. A therapist friend of mine likes to use the metaphor of the kind of spiral stair that winds up inside a lighthouse. As one moves up that stair, the core at the center doesn’t change, but one continually sees it from another vantage point; if the past is a core of who we are, then our movement in time always brings us into a new relation to that core.”

The Tao Te Ching is a poetically philosophical text written by a Chinese sage more than two millennia ago. Numerous authors have translated it into modern languages. I’ve borrowed from their work to craft a horoscope that is precisely suitable for you in the coming weeks. Here’s your high-class fortune cookie oracle: Smooth your edges, untangle your knots, sweeten your openings, balance your extremes, relax your mysteries, soften your glare, forgive your doubts, love your breathing, harmonize your longings, and marvel at the sunny dust.

I recently discovered Tree of Jesse, a painting by renowned 20th-century artist Marc Chagall.

I wanted to get a copy to hang on my wall.

But as I scoured the Internet, I couldn’t find a single business that sells prints of it.

Thankfully, I did locate an artist in Vietnam who said he could paint an exact replica. I ordered it, and was pleased with my new objet d’art. It was virtually identical to Chagall’s original. I suggest you meditate on taking a metaphorically similar approach, Capricorn.

Now is a time when substitutes may work as well as what they replace.

“It is often safer to be in chains than to be free,” wrote Franz Kafka. That fact is worthy of your consideration in the coming weeks, Aquarius.

You can avoid all risks by remaining trapped inside the comfort that is protecting you. Or you can take a gamble on escaping, and hope that the new opportunities you attract will compensate you for the sacrifice it entails. I’m not here to tell you what to do. I simply want you to know what the stakes are.

“All pleasures are in the last analysis imaginary, and whoever has the best imagination enjoys the most pleasure.” So said 19th-century German novelist Theodor Fontane, and now I’m passing his observation on to you. Why? Because by my astrological estimates, you Pisceans will have exceptional imaginations in 2017 – more fertile, fervent, and freedom-loving than ever before.

Therefore, your capacity to drum up pleasure will also be at an all-time high. There is a catch, however: Your imagination, like everyone else’s, is sometimes prone to churning out superstitious fears. To take maximum advantage of its blissinducing potential, you will have to be firm about steering it in positive directions.

Jan. 12: Tim Horton (87) Jan. 13: Liam Hemsworth (27) Jan. 14: Faye Dunaway (76) Jan. 15: Pitbull (36) Jan. 16: Kate Moss (43) Jan. 17: Betty White (95) Jan. 18: Estelle (37)

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Due to space restrictions, there is no puzzle this issue.

Do you have a reliable van & valid drivers’ licence?

You could make extra money delivering Westender on Wednesdays/Thursdays.

This delivery is to stores, apartments & boxes in the Vancouver area.

Papers are available for pickup on Wednesdays and delivery must be completed by noon on Thursdays.

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3079, James Greenwood, 2305 Grant St, Vancouver, BC 3081, James Greenwood, 2305 Grant St, Vancouver, BC 3083, James Greenwood, 2305 Grant St, Vancouver, BC 3039, Caitlin McMahon, 525 East 44th Ave., Vancouver, BC 0751, Robert Bamford, 50 West Cordova St., Vancouver, BC 3453, Brittany Plante, 15968 80A Ave., Surrey, BC 0422, Slobodan Vujaklija, 10871 Dennis Cresent, Richmond, BC 0274, Van Yu Ho, 5595 Killarney St., Nanaimo, BC 1540, Joel Ashton Hartmann, 4865 Henry St., Vancouver, BC 3325, Michelle Rey, 1580 Maderial Coart., Vancouver, BC 0304, Atish Ram, 512 East 29th Ave, Vancouver, BC 3135, Allan Brown, 3288 East 26th Ave., Vancouver, BC 1131, Rhoda Harker, 325-12148 224th St., Maple Ridge, BC

A sale will take place at the storage location on Thursday, January 19th, 2017. Viewing 10:00AM12:00PM. Sealed bids will be opened at 12:30PM. Room contents are personal/household goods unless noted otherwise. Bids will be for entire contents of each locker unit.

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We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

U-Haul Moving Center Vancouver claims a Landlords Contractual Lien against the following persons goods in storage at 1070 SE Marine Dr., Vancouver, BC, Tel: (604)325-6526. Auction is subject to cancellation at anytime without notice.

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January 12 - January 18, 2017 W 19

WEEKLY SPECIALS Prices Effective January 12 to January 18, 2017.

100% BC Owned and Operated

PRODUCE F E R M E N T E D

MEAT

BC Grown Organic Green Cabbage

BC Grown Organic Red Russian Garlic from Mountain Meadow 85g bag

2.16kg

Rodear Grass Fed Forage Finished Lean Ground Beef

Organic Green and Black Kale from Mexico

value pack

2/5.00

.98lb

2/4.00

5.99lb

17.61kg

3.98

7.99

DELI

GT’S Organic Raw Kombucha assorted varieties 480ml

+deposit +eco fee • product of USA

24% 3/9.99

SAVE

1L • product of Canada

30% 3.99

assorted sizes product of Sweden

Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Beverages

assorted varieties

SAVE

UP TO

25% 6.99 to 13.99

Kiju Organic Juice

assorted varieties

4 pack • +deposit +eco fee product of Canada

405-430g product of Vancouver

38% 7.99

Maple Hill Organic Free Range Medium Eggs 1 Dozen • product of Abbotsford

product of Canada

SAVE

6–8 pack product of Canada

1.69/100g

4.39

BAKERY

skim, 1, 2 or 3.25% 1L • +deposit product of BC

27%

Organic 100% Whole Wheat or Wholegrain Bread 530g

2.99

3.99 Earth’s Choice Organic Beans

SAVE

assorted varieties UP TO

SAVE

Maison Orphée Classic Oils assorted varieties

500-750ml product of Italy, Mexico and Argentina

398ml product of North America

SAVE

38% 3/4.98

33% 1.99

4.99

31% 2.79 to

assorted varieties

95g

1.89L • product of USA

Avalon Organic Milk

Buy One Get One Free

assorted varieties

assorted varieties

Nature’s Path Organic Hot Cereals

assorted varieties

reg price 3.69

Plum-M-Good Organic Thin Rice Cakes

35%

Rocky Mountain Artisan Flatbread Pizza

SAVE

454g product of Canada

27% 11.99

Buy One Get One Free

Nature Babycare ECO Diapers and Training Pants

SAVE

SAVE

Buy One Get One Free

237ml • product of USA reg price 6.99

Choices’ Own Vegetable Lasagna

assorted varieties

assorted varieties assorted sizes product of USA • reg price 10.29-10.49

Wildbrine Kimchi Live Shots

assorted varieties

Level Ground Organic Fair Trade Coffee

Wildbrine Fermented, Salsa, Kimchi and Organic Sauerkraut

Liberté Kefir

SAVE

assorted varieties

6.99lb

GROCERY SAVE

Choices’ Own Turkey Sausages

15.41kg

1pint package

4.98

While quantities last. Not all items available at all stores. We reserve the right to correct printing errors.Product may not appear exactly as depicted.

13.21kg

15.41kg

Imported Sirloin Tip Roast or Steaks

Medley Mix Cherry Tomatoes

170g / 6 oz

F O O D S

value pack

6.99lb Organic Raspberries Grown in Mexico

F E R M E N T E D

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

34%

7.99 to 10.99

4.99

WELLNESS Platinum Naturals Multivitamins Assorted Varieties

Assorted Sizes Excludes Bonus Bottles

20% off

Renew Life Ultimate Flora Probiotic Bonus

60 Capsules + 12 Capsules Free

54.99

with Choices' in-store Nutritionists and Dietitians

Regular Retail Price

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein Assorted Varieties

Assorted Sizes

20% off Regular Retail Price

TALK & TASTE: FERMENTED FOODS

ver | 604-770-2868 6:30pm Choices North Vancou • Monday, January 16, 3:30 | 604-263-4600 - 1:00pm Choices Kerrisdale • Saturday, January 21, 11:00am | 604-541-3902 3:00pm Choices South Surrey • Thursday January 26, 1:00 | 604-744-3567 - 8:30pm Choices Abbotsford • Thursday, January 26, 5:30 Event, ute group session. Free Sign up for a FREE 30 min ber listed with the num the call r iste reg registration required. To ets.com/events. rmation visitchoicesmark host store. For more info

Andalou Face Care Products

Brightening, Age Defying, 1000 Roses Sensitive, Brightening, and Quenching Assorted Varieties Assorted Sizes

25% off Regular Retail Price

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