MARCH 5-11 // 2015
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MADE IN CANADA
2 W March 5 - 11, 2015
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NEWS // ISSUES
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INSIDE THIS WEEK
You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld
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News4 Vancouver Shakedown4 Fashion5 Shop Talk5 A Good Chick to Know5 Nosh6 Fresh Sheet6 By the Bottle7 Follow Me Foodie8 The Growler9 Music10 Reel People11 Movie reviews11 Cover story12 What’s On14 Arts16 6 Real Estate17 Drive22 Play Outdoors22 Whole Nourishment23 Horoscopes25 Sex with Mish Way25
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ARTICLE ACCURATELY CAPTURES ISSUES FACING CHINATOWN
Each week I think of writing to to comment on the issue... so I finally decided to write to say that I have been reading the Westender since 1984 and that I have thoroughly enjoyed the last four issues, apart from Grant Lawrence’s disappointing piece on the Olympics. I don’t think he realizes the devastating effect they had on small businesses in Vancouver, and to everyone living east of Oak Street. Apart from that, the issues have been very interesting. I was especially impressed with the article “Chinatown’s Last Stand” by Kelsey Klassen (Feb. 19, 2015).Thank you for this excellent article. I have lived between Chinatown and what was Japantown, since 2000.The neighbourhood has changed drastically and is losing much of the character that was present for the past 40 or so years. I am very interested to read about the importance of the history, culture, language and experiences of the Chinese/Asian people who settled in this area and that
they feel their history, culture and language slipping away, much as indigenous people have explained to me when I visit Alert Bay on Cormorant Island (or when I talk to any indigenous person in BC). The article is an important reminder that it is not all about buildings, property and money. –Kim Patrick O’Leary I’m emailing to let you know that I loved your recent article in Westender about Chinatown. As a more recent immigrant to Vancouver, Chinatown has become one of my favourite neighbourhoods because so much of the history there informs my community’s present day experience. It gives me so much pride to visit the neighbourhood and learn more about and pay homage to the legacy that the earlier Chinese in Vancouver built. It’s sad that as of late, the richness of that history may be under threat. I work for Roedde House Museum in the West End, a fully interactive “Victorian Time Capsule” as I like to call it.We are a living museum (nothing roped off!) and an
arts venue (we do monthly classical and jazz concerts in our parlour, one of Vancouver’s “oldest concert halls”). Back in the 1890s, it was home to Vancouver’s first bookbinders and printers, the Roedde Family. A year ago, I heard about Ho Sun Hing Printers, the first Chinese-English print shop in Vancouver, closing its warehouse down. I was inspired to create an exhibit about Mr. Roedde’s industry contemporaries in Chinatown.The exhibit grew into a three-part display about three immigrant family narratives at the turn of the 20th century who created their own respective sites of commerce, culture, and community. Your article speaks to my personal passion for Vancouver’s rich history of immigration as well as the work that we try to do here.Thanks for sharing Chinatown’s story. And in case anyone hasn’t been down to Roedde House yet, we’d love to have you over for a visit! –Alyssa Learn more about the Roedde House Museum at RoeddeHouse.org
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March 5 - 11, 2015 W 3
NEWS // ISSUES
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YOUR CITY A few Best of the City picks of my own Grant Lawrence Vancouver Shakedown @GrantLawrence Atira Women’s Resource Society’s proposed social housing project would be built from shipping containers and be located at 420 Hawks.
7-storey shipping container social housing eyed for DTES NAOIBH O’CONNOR @naoibh
Atira Women’s Resource Society’s proposal to build a sevenstorey building constructed with shipping containers goes to an open house March 2. The project at 420 Hawks would create 26 social housing units – 20 studios and six twobedroom suites – for women and children. Atira completed a 12-unit complex made from shipping containers at 502 Alexander in 2013. Janice Abbott, the nonprofit organization’s CEO, said the Hawks Avenue site is ideal because it’s close to parks, a school and a community centre. It’s also next to the Rice Block, a 38-unit single-room occupancy hotel for women that Atira has run since 2007. The Rice Block has two staff who work 24-7. “So if there’s a crisis or issues in the building, there’s staff readily accessible,” she said. The previous owner of
the Hawks Avenue property sold it to Atira at a significant discount in 2009. It’s zoned light industrial so it must be rezoned for the project to go ahead. Abbott anticipates the cost per unit will be between $76,000 and $80,000, about the same as Atira’s first shipping container building. “Keep in mind, we’re really at the preliminary stages.We don’t know if this design is going to be approved.There could be other costs associated with this process.We just don’t know yet. It’s really early,” she said. While it’s believed to be cheaper to build using shipping containers than with traditional materials, Abbott cautions the organization has only completed one project. “It was definitely cheaper, but it’s hard to base future projects of these kinds of buildings based on just one project,” she said. “What we hope to do with this second project, and we’re thinking
about a third project now, is demonstrate that this kind of construction is less expensive and solid. But we need to do more than one project to be able to say that with any kind of authority.” Abbott said it’s too early to talk about the details or exact location of the third project under consideration. As for the Hawks Avenue project, Abbott said Atira hasn’t detected any major opposition, but she has spoken to members of the Strathcona Residents’ Association, who indicated they want commercial space in the building to create a more vibrant, animated shopping district around Hastings Street. “Which we hadn’t considered, but we’re certainly open to looking at,” Abbott said. Abbott expects the rezoning will take about 10 months, during which time Atira will have to secure grants and financing. –Courtesy ofVancouver Courier
Now that the crumbs have fallen on the Westender’s jampacked (and 18th straight) Best of the City issue, I hope it’s safe to serve up some of my own personal Best of the City picks, all in an effort to create your perfect Vancouver meal that won’t break your bank. I just thought it would be best to politely wait a week, so as to not conflict with your votes.
BEST SALAD
For your starter, the greatest salad in Vancouver can be found right in the heart of downtown, at Finch’s (353 West Pender at Homer).The line up can be annoyingly long (though they do offer order-ahead service), the staff is cooler than you and they know it, and the décor somewhat resembles a garage sale at the end of the day, but once you receive that beautifully presented prosciutto and vine tomato salad with a hard boiled egg on top, circled by leafy green lettuce and sprinkled with cracked pepper ($11.45), all is forgiven.
BEST TACO
For your second course, behold one of the culinary reasons I was swayed to move to Hastings-Sunrise:Tacofino (2327 East Hastings at Nanaimo).The place is always swarmed, but I swear it’s worth it. All you need to do is get a seat, then order two fish tacos ($12) and a jug of beer.
The tacos are stuffed with crispy local lingcod as fresh as if I caught it myself in Desolation Sound, complimented with cabbage, and salsa fresca – but hold the mayo (at least on my tacos). It’s a perfect West Coast treat, and yes, that’s Canucks president Trevor Linden chowing down in the corner!
BEST PIZZA
For your main, let’s go to Main. Allow me to settle the age-old Vancouver argument once and for all.The best pizza in town can be found at a cute little hole in the wall on what was once one of the most notorious blocks in the city. Pizza Farina (915 Main at Prior, right beside the Cobalt Motor Hotel), famously “opens at 5pm until the dough runs out”. Farina serves beautifully thin, fresh, light, delicious pizza that should be scrumptiously enjoyed as soon as it comes out of the oven for maximum taste bud impact.Trust them and get the special ($16), with arugula on top, even if you can’t decipher any of the other Italian ingredients. Fair warning: if you leave their front door open, prepared to get yelled at.
BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE
For dessert, you should know that chocolate chip cookies are my favourite food, and I consider myself a life-long connoisseur. I am in constant in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I have scoured Vancouver for years for the very best, and keep coming back to the same place.The all-time greatest chocolate chip cookie can be found at… The Dish (1068 Davie near Thurlow). Go early so they aren’t sold out, then sink your chompers into these absolutely delectable three-bite cookies ($1 each) that are fresh-baked every day, using oatmeal, lots of love, and a super-secret ingredient the owners won’t reveal. I’ve been known to buy two-dozen of these heavenly morsels at a time, and those cookies are one of the main reasons I was reluctant to move out of the West End. Those are my Best of the City picks for delicious eats that won’t have you in a barrel and suspenders after paying the bill. Feel free to share your favourite quality budget bites with me on twitter, or in the comments section at Westender.ca. W
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STYLE // DESIGN
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STYLE NIKI HOPE @nikimhope
STUNNING SCARVES EVOKE 1970S POOLSIDE GLAMOUR
Vancouver designer Mona Sultan offers nostalgic thoughts of tropical getaways and 1970s sun-kissed glamour with her spring/ summer scarf collection. The collection was inspired by photographer Slim Aarons’ glamorous vintage poolside shots. Sultan uses her own photographs of palm trees, tropical plants, and swimming pools. The photos were then superimposed and blown up, fused with collage techniques and free hand brush strokes, to finish with a touch of edge. The scarves are printed on satin silk in vibrant colours. Sultan launched her namesake brand of luxury scarves in Vancouver in 2012.
CATCH MOV FASHION EXHIBIT BEFORE IT ENDS
This is the last week to catch the exhibition From Rationing to Ravishing: The Transformation of Women’s Clothing in the 1940s and 1950s. The show chronicles jumpsuits to evening gowns, featuring rare examples of haute couture and Vancouver-made clothing and accessories that reflect how the Second World War changed society. Get there quick – the show runs until Sunday, March 8 at the Museum of Vancouver at 1100 Chestnut St.
CHECK OUT KPU FASHION GRADS
Kwantlen Polytechnic University is hosting a grad fashion show on Thursday, April 9 at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond. The 2015 fashion show celebrates BC’s emerging designers and the culmination of their four years of study. The 2015 graduating class will showcase their final collections on the runway with more than 1,500 guests expected to attend the event.
MOTHERHOOD ON THE RUNWAY AT DOLCE & GABBANA
Dolce & Gabbana celebrated motherhood on the runway in Milan last week with a fall/winter 2015 show called Viva la mamma. In the playful display three models carried their children and one model walked pregnant with her second child. The inspiration for the collection came from the designers’ relationships with their own mothers. Dolce & Gabbana is available at Holt Renfrew in Vancouver.
Westender.com
Home is where the art is: Dana Mooney
the future look of your industry? What do you see gaining popularity? In the art/painting world of Interior design and decorating, I predict that we will see more and more loose, imperfect art. Colors bleeding into each other and watery brushstrokes and contrasting saturation are what I’m getting into!
Jennifer Scott A Good Chick to Know
@Jennifer_AGCTK I love when an artist has defined their signature style; not simply having strong artistic talent, but defining and refining an approach to creation that carves out their niche within the industry. This month’s feature artist, Dana Mooney, clearly understood her own style before she even began her career, which has allowed her to quickly and successfully make a name for herself within Vancouver’s art scene. I first met Dana a number of years ago when we both had primary careers in the fashion industry – Dana was a prominent Vancouver makeup artist for commercial productions. One of my favourite elements of Dana’s work now is that I see a strong reflection of her makeup artistry within her pieces; the presence of brush strokes and movement of paint remind me of where Dana began exploring art within makeup. The pop colour abstract approach that Dana takes to her painting makes working with her art a lot of fun for designers. Dana has a super positive personality, which can be seen through her work, and it is this outlook that clients love to get to
Some people collect old cameras and typewriters, do you collect anything? I don’t collect anything! I live and work in under 450 square feet.There is no space for collecting. Plus I like a clean backdrop when I’m making art.
Artist Dana Mooney in her West End home studio. Rob Newell photo know and collaborate with for commissioned pieces. Tell us a little about who Dana Mooney is. I’m an artist in Vancouver, living and working from my space in the West End. I’ve had a few different creative careers so far in my life including makeup artistry and interior decorating, but I am now painting full-time, which has been my passion all along. How did you get started as an artist? I have always painted for
fun, but it wasn’t until I was working at an interior design store six years ago in Vancouver that I was able to start selling my work consistently. I was lucky to have that exposure and look into the interior design market, seeing first hand what people were interested in having in their homes. Last year was the beginning of my full-time career as a painter. I credit working both as a freelance makeup artist as well as working in the interior design industry for my sense of running a creative small business. I’ve learned the
amount of drive, motivation and hustle that it takes to make it as an artist, especially in the first few years. Do you have a favourite place around the city that inspires you? Living in the West End allows me to have the ocean and seawall as my backyard. It’s always beautiful and always inspiring. What colour best describes your personality? Neon coral. What are your predictions for
Who is your idol or mentor? I don’t have one idol or mentor, but I look to all of my friends and acquaintances who are running their own businesses, juggling their lives and making it happen. The support, discussion and constant inspiration from them keeps me focused and inspired on my own path. Do you have a favourite creative website? No specific website, Instagram is my jam (@ danamooneyart) If you weren’t an artist, what do you imagine you would be doing? I would be working as an interior decorator. I love it and always will. W
Nordstrom’s Vancouver opening inching closer NIKI HOPE @nikimhope
Nordstrom recently announced a manager for its Vancouver location and put out a call for job seekers, signalling that the mega-retailer is marching towards its much-anticipated September opening at Pacific Centre. The fashion giant, known for customer service that includes personal shopping, announced last week that it has brought on Chris Wanlass, a 23-year company veteran, to oversee the store that also has to fill more than 1,000 retail positions. “We are working hard to bring the Nordstrom experience that (shoppers) might know from the United States to Canada,” Nordstrom spokesperson John Bailey told Westender. Nordstrom’s opening follows on the heels of another retail giant – Target, a lowerprice point chain that had a massive roll out, then massive failure in Canada. The billion-dollar fiasco ended with full-scale closures and bankruptcy of Target’s Canadian division. One of the complaints was that Target’s Canadian stores (more than
The Pacific Centre Nordstrom will open in September 100) didn’t measure up to their US counterparts. Bailey said he couldn’t comment on Target’s failure, but noted that at Nordstrom the goal is to curate their stores according to the taste of each market. “Our focus is on serving one customer at a time and getting to know and understand customers in each of the cities that we are going to open stores in,” Bailey said. Nordstrom’s foray into Canada started last fall, when it opened its first crossborder store in Calgary. A
second location opened in Ottawa last month. Vancouver is next with the official opening date set for Sept. 18 at Pacific Centre, then three stores in Toronto over the next two years. It’s too early to say which of the hundreds of designers Nordstrom carries will be on the racks at the Vancouver location, according to Bailey. “It’s probably too soon for us to share some of those details as our buyers are currently in the process of determining what those brands will be,” Bailey said. “Our
buyers have made regular trips to Vancouver to learn as much as they can about the customer who might be shopping with us when we open our store, but we won’t know until we open our doors on Sept. 18 what we got right and what it is that we can work upon. And so we hope that customers will be vocal, and they will let us know. We will work hard to listen and make changes in real time so that we are offering customers the best merchandise, tailored specifically for them.”
What is known is that Nordstrom Pacific Centre will run over three storeys and 230,000 square feet. Along with clothes for women, men, and children, it will have a cosmetics area, restaurant, and coffee bar. The focus at Nordstrom is on offering variety – a range of price points, designers, and looks, Bailey explained, saying their typical customer appreciates a mixed bag of retail options. Another advantage to having a Nordstrom in town is that shoppers can take their returns to a nearby location. “If, for instance, someone came to Seattle and picked something up and got it home and realized it didn’t fit them the way that they had hoped, they could return that to their local store,” Bailey explained. For many eager shoppers, the hope is that they will no longer have to make the lengthy trip south to get that “Nordstrom experience” in Seattle, where the company started as a shoe store in 1901, and instead will find all of their favourite designers right here at home in Vancouver. W
March 5 - 11, 2015 W 5
EAT // DRINK
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DINING OUT
Jamjar serves up “folk” Lebanese on the Drive Anya Levykh Nosh
@FoodGirlFriday JAMJAR
2280 Commercial 604-252-3957 JamJarOnTheDrive.com Open daily, 11:30am-4pm, 5pm-10pm. The cuisine of the Middle East can often seem interchangeable between regions, but within every country and ethnic group, there are distinct culinary traditions that serve as cultural markers. In Morocco, one of those markers is the use of preserved lemons. In Lebanon, there is the making of jam. Thanks to the country’s gentle climes, fresh fruit is available year-round. Families take the excess and preserve it, which they then share with other friends and neighbours. It’s a wonderful expression of the generosity for which the Lebanese are famous. Jamjar on Commercial has
Anya Levykh Fresh Sheet
@FoodGirlFriday Jack Evrensal, founder of theToptable group of restaurants, has announced he has left the organization. Evrensal sold the restaurant group – which includes West, BlueWater Café, Cin Cin, and Thierry inVancouver, as well as Araxi inWhistler – to the Aquilini Group last year and stayed on in a consultant capacity to oversee a smooth transition. In other Toptable news, the group has announced a new restaurant to the line-up, coming this summer.The restaurant will be inWhistler, and under the direction of Araxi executive chef JamesWalt BC Tree Fruits has announced the launch of BC
Dinner plate features Makanik (custom made beef and lamb sausages), roast potatoes, cabbage salad, and mint labneh (pressed yogurt). JamJar chef/owner Bakhos Mjalleh. Rob Newell photos. taken that homey concept and expanded it to a menu of earthy and rustic dishes, with some innovative touches that seem to owe their inspiration more to the East Side than to the Middle East. Classic hummus gets reinvented with unusual flavours, like the beet and agave version I tried one night. This particular iteration was almost too sweet and could have
used more beet in the flavour profile. Plain chickpea hummus was an improvement, and tasted like it had been made to order.You can get individual plates for $7 (add a dollar for seasonal varieties) or try the original and two seasonal variations as a trio for $9. The saj (a Lebanese flatbread, perfect for scooping up the hummus) is baked in-house and comes in a
large round for a buck. There are so many cold and hot mezze (appetizers) to try (all around $4-$9.50), that it makes sense to take advantage of their combo plates, which give you smaller portions for $2-$4 when you order three or more. Falafel was a bit hard and dry, but makali (deepfried cauliflower and zucchini) was excellent, as were the potatoes tossed in garlic
Tree Fruits Cider Co. The first offering, labelled “Broken Ladder,” is a six-apple blend that will be on BCLS store shelves April 1, as well as at private store and restaurants/pubs. BCTree.com
Wise seafood, brunch items, vegetarian salads, dessert and a new burger. EarlsRestaurants.com
Gastown’s Blacktail will be hosting a special collaborative dinner. Chef Geoff Rogers of Blacktail will be joined by chef Nick Nutting of Wolf in the Fog (Tofino), chef Cam Dobranski of Brasserie and Wine Bar Kensington (Calgary), chef Murray McDonald of Fogo Island Inn (Newfoundland) and chef Scott Vivian of Beast Restaurant (Toronto). These chefs will join forces to create a six-course menu with an exclusive focus on game meats, matched with cocktails, craft beer and local wine pairings. Tickets $175 per person and include dinner, taxes, gratuity, reception cocktail and canapés. Blacktail.ca
Chilliwack has a new barbecue competition. On March 22, come out for the first annual Barn Burner BBQ Competition at The Farm Store inYarrow (4540 Simmons Rd.).This free family event will feature cooking demos, entertainment and samples from top barbecue chefs. BarnBurnerBBQ.ca Earls Kitchen has announced the addition of two more chefs to its collective, now comprising David Wong, Ryan Stone, Brian Skinner, Hamid Salimian, Jeff McInnis. Look for new items like bibimbap, Ocean
Legendary Noodle
Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods has opened a second location in the Marine Building downtown at 355 Burrard.The new 60-seat space is fully licensed and will be open daily for lunch and dinner.TractorFoods.com Cartem’s Donuterie is opening a second location at Main Street and East 6th. Baking operations will remain at the West Pender location, but expect more seating and likely similar lunch specials. Hopefully, being neighbours with Brassneck Brewery will lead to some interesting partnerships. Doughnuts and beer? Hells yeah… On Thursday, March 19,
On Saturday, March 28, the third annual #dinnerpartyYVR, the charitable cooking event where hobby chefs open their doors to lo-
Proud to serve the West End! Best Traditional Poutine West of Montreal!
and cilantro (batata harra). You can include salads in the combo deal, including the decent tabbouli ($10), with parsley, bulgur, tomatoes and onions, or the much better tomato and artichoke salad ($9) with cumin and sumac. The mains are good value here. Lamb shank ($18) was outstanding and just melted away from the bone at the touch of the tines. The large side of yogurt-onion sauce was lovely, laced with garlic and mint, perfectly complementing and cutting the richness of the meat, and excellent for drizzling over the aromatic rice. Stewed and grilled chicken breast ($16), from Rossdown Farms, was another winner, tender and well-flavoured with tomatoes, chickpeas, cumin and coriander. Don’t forget the cocktail list here. It’s a surprising and welcome addition. The Tabbouleh Caesar ($11) was tarted up with parsley and cucumber, while the Hibiscus Bloom ($10) was a palate refresher that remind-
ed me of a Pimm’s Cup, with organic hibiscus, gin, tonic, lime and cucumber. I only tried dessert once, a tiny bite of baklava for two dollars, but it was a pleasant finish to a rich meal; not sickeningly sweet, but light and fresh, with a crispy phyllo covering and good interior chew. Portion sizes can be a bit precious here in some dishes, which is slightly at odds with the concept of Lebanese hospitality, but when you factor in the quality of the ingredients (almost all locally and sustainably sourced) and the care taken in the dishes, it seems a reasonable trade-off. W Hear Anya Levykh every Monday on CBC Radio One’s On the Coast and find her on Twitter @foodgirlfriday and Facebook.com/FoodGirlFriday.
cal diners for a home cooked meal, all to benefit the charity of their choice, is back. More than 50 hobby chefs are participating this year, with special dinner events all over the city. Check out available seatings online. DinnerPartyYVR.com
local BC’s micro-distilleries, is back on April 18 at the CBC studios. Two public tastings are available, at 4pm-6pm and again 7pm9:30pm. Come and taste small-batch spirits from 23 of the province’s leading artisan distilleries, as well as complementary beverages from Bittered Sling Extracts, Walter All-Natural Craft Caesar Mix, SIP Soda and Dickie’s Ginger. Food bites from Koko Monk Chocolates, Forage Restaurant, the Donnelly Group and more. BCDistilled.ca
ICYMI…Dining Out for Life is back March 26 to make a difference, one bite at a time. On this day, dine out for breakfast, lunch and dinner and support people living with HIV/AIDS in our community. From Whistler to White Rock, participating restaurants will donate 25 per cent of the day’s food sales in support of Friends for Life and A Loving Spoonful. DiningOutForLife.ca BC Distilled, the second annual festival celebrating
Food: ★★★★★ Service: ★★★★★ Ambiance: ★★★★★ Value: ★★★★★ Overall: ★★★★★
Joe Fortes has launched a late-night menu with happy hour pricing, available nightly 9:30-11pm. Menu items include fried oysters, shrimp ceviche, truffle parmesan fries, beef carpaccio and desserts. Also on offer are $5 drink specials. JoeFortes.ca W
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WINE
Vancouver’s favourite breakfast destination for over 10 years.
New wine laws could open legal can of worms Michaela Morris By the Bottle @MichaelaWine
If you were polled about being able to buy wine in grocery stores, I’m betting there’s a good chance you’d say yes. The convenience is just too seductive. Imagine picking up all of your fixings for dinner and an inexpensive bottle of delicious wine at the same time. I hate to burst your bubble, but it isn’t going to happen the way you think. Despite the announcement that supermarkets will be able to sell wine on their shelves as of April 1, bottles aren’t going to magically start appearing in each and every grocery store. In fact, a limited amount of licenses will be granted on a lottery basis according to a number of convoluted regulations announced Feb 26. You can check out WineLaw.ca if you care to wade through these. The policies are such that you can probably forget about there being such a store in Vancouver. Reportedly only two stores comply with provincial guidelines but apparently these are across from a church so Vancouver bylaws won’t allow this. You could try driving to another municipality for this ‘convenience’. Even there, you’ll actually need to find a supermarket that possesses one of these lottery licenses. And, if you have a hankering for something from France, California, Australia or anything else that isn’t from BC, you’ll be required to go to a separate part of the store (essentially a storewithin-a-store) and pay for your wine at a separate till before or after purchasing the rest of your groceries. Do I sense your frustration is building?
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SP E C R E T T A L ULTIMATE P Preferential treatment given to BC wines (like those produced in the Oliver wine region, shown here) could violate NAFTA, according to wine industry lawyer Mark Hicken . Wine BC photo But wait, an exception has been made for 100 per cent BC wine. Somewhere between the soup and pasta aisles, you might find an oasis of bottles from our local vineyards. Although this won’t happen in those grocery stores that already have a store-within-a-store. You’ll need to find another supermarket that offers this. And don’t expect rock bottom prices. Supermarkets south of the border focus on large volume brands and are able to grind down producers in order to achieve astronomically low prices. Our homegrown wine isn’t cheap to begin with and most of our wineries craft wine on a small scale. Very few wineries are in the position to play the supermarket pricing game. Singling out BC wine for sale on regular supermarket shelves may seem advantageous for our local industry. However, it is highly possible that this overt preferential treatment will come
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under international scrutiny. While BC Wine Institute CEO Miles Prodan claims that allowing BC wine exclusively on grocery store shelves does not violate any international trade agreements, wine industry lawyer Mark Hicken disagrees. Preferential treatment for BC wine was granted under NAFTA for only a small number of stores that existed as of November 1987. These are the free standing VQA stores. According to Hicken this simply wouldn’t be extended to wine sold on regular supermarket shelves; “That is just too dramatic a difference in the retail distribution channel and I just don’t think that there is any way that that would survive a trade agreement challenge.” And if this issue is challenged, it could open up a whole can of worms. BC wine enjoys a few other advantages over international wine that would be subjected to review as well.
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March 5 - 11, 2015 W 7
EAT // DRINK
DINING OUT
Hi-Five owner and sammie slinger Corbin Winfield feeds the late-night Gastown crowd from a tiny 100-square-foot kitchen. Mijune Pak photo
From grilled cheese to greasy spoons Mijune Pak Follow Me Foodie
@FollowMeFoodie
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Join us everyday for $4 happy hour and $6 appetizers! Our appy hour just became a whole lot happier! Everyday, from 2–5pm & 8pm till late, enjoy $4 Happy Hour beverages & a selection of appetizers for only $6. Ask us also about our daily drink specials.
whitespot.ca Valid for dine-in only at participating White Spot Restaurants. Not to be combined with any other promotional offer. Plus tax.
GRANVILLE & DRAKE 718 Drake Street 604-605-0045
GEORGIA & CARDERO 1616 West Georgia Street 604-681-8034
8 W March 5 - 11, 2015
DUNSMUIR & HOMER 405 Dunsmuir Street 604-899-6072
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OAKRIDGE CENTRE 41st & Cambie 604-261-2820
Greasy spoons have their place and they do the job when the craving hits. The most notorious places to go for midnight munchies in downtown are Fritz European Fry House, Megabite Pizza, and Tsui Hang Village. A line-up is almost guaranteed at any of the above if your night out is around Yaletown, Davie, or Granville Street. But how about Gastown? If you’re walking out of a bar on Water Street, you’re likely not going out of your way to satisfy a midnight craving. Well, that’s personal, because I would, but for most, convenience is key and the closest thing you can stumble to or first thing you smell is good enough. There are plenty of pubs and bars in Gastown, but surprisingly limited options for pizza, gyros, kebabs, and poutine, so where do you go for a late-night bite? Well now you can go for a grilled cheese sandwich at Hi-Five. The tiny late night spot opened only a few weeks ago by Corbin Winfield, one of the owners of 6 Acres, in a 100-square-foot space on 22 West Cordova. If you don’t spot the take-out window, then keep an eye out for the line-up, otherwise you’ll probably walk right by it. While there’s never a bad time for a grilled cheese sandwich, if you want to get your hands on a Hi-Five sammie, you’ll have to do it between 8pm and 2am, Thursday to Saturday.
While Hi-Five is clearly looking to capitalize on the late-night drinking crowd, these sandwiches are good even if you’re sober. The menu features four grilled cheese sandwiches and a 6 Acres mac ‘n’ cheese, each for under $6. From a more sophisticated “Art Basil” (with Gruyere, fontina, basil and honey), to the signature “Melter Skelter” (which is more trailer-park-style, with pepper jack cheese, pickled jalapeño, cilantro and barbecue chips), the menu is fun without being overthe-top. My tip? Ask for more barbecue chips to be tucked in the sandwich and add bacon for $2. On that note, another tip! Chef Scott Jaeger of The Pear Tree Restaurant in Burnaby is saying good bye to fine dining and hello to The Greasy Spoon – for one night only. On March 9, Chef Jaeger will be hosting The Greasy Spoon Diner Supper Series, a monthly pop-up, at Save On Meats to benefit The Better Life Foundation. All proceeds go to Jaeger’s charities of choice, which are Growing Chefs and the Strathcona Food Program. This four-course dinner with local craft beer and spirit pairings is $95 and almost sold out with a 5:30pm seating and an 8pm seating. If you’ve dined at The Pear Tree, one of the top restaurants in BC, then you’ll know to expect: refined food made with flawless execution. W Find out more about Mijune at FollowMeFoodie.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @followmefoodie.
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EAT // DRINK
BEER
E XC E P T I O N A L I TA L I A N C U I S I N E
Join us for Every Thursday, Friday & Saturday starting February 12th, 2015. Come and hear some of the finest Jazz musicians in the country.
Victoria is the Big Cheese of BC beer, OK? Stephen Smysnuik The Growler
@StephenSmys
Victoria Beer Week starts this Saturday, and if you’re not going, I’m going to assume you are missing the eff out, dude! I write “assume” because I actually have no idea if the festival is any good. I haven’t been, and sadly, won’t be able to attend. It certainly looks good, though.There are what appear to be nifty events being held at groovy venues around the city. Passionate and intelligent beer people have organized it all, so I’ll stand by my completely uneducated assumption that Victoria Beer Week is good and worth buying tickets go. Honestly though? I’m endorsing the festival because Victoria is the Real Deal as far as Beer Towns go. It’s far more entrenched in beer culture than Vancouver, and only partly because they’ve been doing it longer. Nothing against Vancouver’s beer scene in any way, but this city really is in the
toddler phase of its Beer Town development. I’ve read more than a few articles that claimed Vancouver has replaced Victoria as the Beer Capital of BC, which makes sense, I suppose, since we now have more breweries, more beer events, more bars with more taps, and a more muscular marketing network in which to argue this point. But we’re masquerading as the Beer Capital, folks.We haven’t earned it yet.Victoria’s roots are soaked in beer. We need to recognize this. Obviously, people in every city love beer. I think Victoria was in a unique position to become the Beer Town, given its roots as an English settlement, and the fact that it’s still a very English town in a lot of ways. Unlike Vancouver, there’s been no major cultural influence to erode the flavour the city was initially injected with. And what are the English if not enthusiastic beer drinkers? I think this has a lot to do with the city’s cultivation and embrace of craft beer early on.That city makes some of the most creative, if not the best, beer in Canada.
Driftwood and Phillips Brewing alone are unimpeachable. I will hear no arguments to contest. I should point out that I lack a nuanced understanding of Victoria history, Victoria municipal law, or history or law in general. I’m looking at this from an extremely general perspective – so general and ridden with holes that an eighth grader could smash my argument to pieces. I’m OK with this. Arguments about this, I’m willing to hear. I’m basing this on observations that I’ve made and conversations that I’ve had with people that live there – people my age who have grown up the past 10 years in a culture that values beer and are far more educated in it, en masse, than in Vancouver. It’s an entrenched lifestyle on the Island, because it’s been one of the few cultural movements created there. Victoria has a more refined, more pure tradition of beer that needs to be respected and understood. You hear that? Respect Victoria, kids. Go there. Love it. W
#dinnerpartyYVR offers home cooks a chance to give back ANYA LEVYKH @foodgirlfriday
If cooking is an act of love, then on March 28 there will be a whole lotta lovin’ going on throughout the Lower Mainland. Created by Annika Reinhardt, founder of Social Bites, and Crystal Henrickson, #DinnerpartyYVR allows home cooks to show off their culinary skills while supporting their charity of choice. All of the proceeds go directly to charity, with beverages donated by Serendipity Winery and Howe Sound Brewing, and $100 gift cards from Whole Foods donated to each chef to help with their food costs (Whole Foods is also donating the desserts for the after-party). The dinners all take place
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in the chefs’ homes and include gluten-free, vegetarian, lactose-free and even pescetarian dinners. Most cooks are offering four to eight spots at their table. The ethnic diversity of the cuisines being cooked up is equally wide-ranging, spanning Greek, Persian, Spanish, French, Russian, Malaysian, Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, Lebanese, West Coast, and barbecue, among others. How to take part? Visit the website, where you can browse through each chef’s detailed menu and book seats based on availability (some dinners have already sold out). All dinners take place between 6pm and 8pm and are a minimum $40 per seat. Each ticket includes one glass of Serendipity
FEATURING:
Wine or Howe Sound beer, and entrance to the after-party at the Meccanica presentation centre, with live entertainment, cash bar, and desserts offered by donation. Registering for a dinner also enters you into a draw to win a seat at presenting partner Cressey’s dinner party prepared by chef Clement Chan of Le Tigre and 12-year-old Liam Lewis, a #dinnerpartyYVR veteran and its youngest-ever hobby chef. Now in its third year, the event has more than doubled in size since its inception, with more than 50 hobby chefs participating.To date, #dinnerpartyYVR has raised more than $15,000 for local charities and this year, organizers expect to double that amount. Find out more at DinnerPartyYVR.com. W
Feb 12 - 14 Olly Gannon Trio
March 5 - 7 Cory Weeds Quartet
Feb 19 - 21 Steve Kaldestad
March 12 - 14 Mike Allen Trio
Feb 26 - 28 Cam Ryga Trio
March 19 - 21 Jodi Proznick Trio
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To the Trenches! Museum digs into history
All aboard! Restore a part of BC’s rail history
In 1917, nearly 3,600 Canadian soliders died in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. But they did not die in vain. The meticulously planned and executed assault became a model for other battles. On April 11, Port Moody Station Museum is honouring their memory with a special exhibit that recreates life in the trenches of WWI.
GOAL
5K
$
RAISED
1.3K
$
The Northern Summit was Pacific Great Eastern’s premier business car, transporting dignitaries, including WAC Bennett and Princess Margaret, across the province in style. The West Coast Railway Association is restoring the car to its former glory to be part of the Railway Heritage Park in Squamish.
GOAL
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$
RAISED
700
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To donate to these campaigns or to start your own, go to FundAid.ca. It’s that easy. March 5 - 11, 2015 W 9
ARTS // CULTURE
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MUSIC
Loss and resilience inspire The Dodos latest LOUISE BURNS @_louiseburns_
“The existential crisis is still looming – eight years in, 10 years in, its like, ‘Oh, I’m still doing this?’ Its kind of shocking.” Meric Long, one half of San Franciscan art-folk-rock duo The Dodos, is somewhere in New Jersey. Long and his bandmate Logan Kroeber are making their way to New York, on tour to support their sixth studio album Individ. I reach him by phone and immediately congratulate him on the band’s 10-year anniversary, which is, it turns out, a media-generated fact that may or may not be true. “A lot of people have been saying that, and it’s funny, kinda hazy… It’s not really going to be 10 years this year, but everyone has just rounded it up,” says Long, a touch exasperated. “When the band started, we weren’t looking past the next couple months. Every time we’d finish a record, we’d always think, ‘Alright, that’s our last one,’ but there’s always something that keeps it going. It’s like the piece of bacon hanging in front of our faces…” Existential crisis avoided, for now. When The Dodos first emerged in 2005, their sound was more folk than anthemic, more woody than wild, thanks to their acoustic guitar-and-drum set up. But after 10(ish) years as a band, evolution is inevitable. With each album and tour cycle, they’d steer further and further away from their roots, bringing in different musicians, instruments and approaches. With Individ, the band has come full circle, embracing the resilience that brought them so far in the first place. “We were trying to bring in other instruments, bring in different people, try different things.. It’s been resistant,” says Long of their
Meric Long and Logan Kroeber of The Dodos released their sixth studio album earlier this year. The band play Fortune Sound Club on March 12. Chloe Aftel photo career. “It’s been hard to actually get away from that. So this record is like, OK, fine. We’re just going to do the thing that we do, and it’s not going to be anything groundbreaking but we’re gonna just stick to it.” While Long may downplay his latest release in typical indie-rock fashion, there is something to be said about resilience, a common theme on Individ. They began exploring the idea as adaptive, changing and evolving, a reaction to some of the most tumultuous years in the band’s personal and professional history. In 2013, the band released Carrier, an album that came out one year after the death of occasional touring guitarist and contributor Christopher Reimer (of Calgary’s Women). It was
an event that shocked the entire music community. Long was also dealing with his own personal tragedies, including the loss of his father. “The resilience that I was thinking of was more like a stubborn, ‘I’m here, and I’m going to bother you just by being here. Try to protest or make a big scene, I just exist.’” As for Reimer, “We only knew Chris for a year, but he made a very strong impression on us as a musician as well as a person,” says Long. “We had a different person touring with us every record cycle, I felt like that was going to stop with Chris. I thought he was somebody we were going to continue to collaborate with. I think about him all the time. He was a rad dude. He
had a strong voice, musically. He didn’t question it.” Musically, Individ can be as woody and percussive as their 2008 breakthrough album Visiter. Then, like the flick of a switch, they become anthemic, sounding like a joyful army of polyrhythmic drumming and metallic guitar, all while retaining their natural ability to sound effortless, something they have become celebrated for. “We put a lot of work into it. If you’re [using] sculpting as an analogy, I see it like we’ve been working with the same chunk of rock, but over the years gotten more detailed,” says Long. “From a distance, it probably looks [more or less the same], but from where we’re standing at, doing this for so long, we’ve become way more and Lisa-Kaindé are only 20 years old, but have made one hell of a self-realized debut album. –Louise Burns
they mix acute modern influences with Afro-Cuban music and the religion of Santería. The album begins with “Ellegua (Intro)”, a sort of prayer to the Orisha (a godlike figure in Santería) of beginnings, or a crossroads. “Oya” quickly follows, where Lisa-Kaindé sings “Take me Oya” repeat-
edly in a trance-like state over a ghostly French horn. “Think OfYou” is a love letter to their father, using samples of his drumming and lyrics recalling his memory, “we hear laughter and we think of you”. The album varies from downtempo, melancholy balladry (“Stranger / Lover”) and soulful sentiment, all sung in a mixture ofYoruba and English.When things get heavy (“Mama Says”) they refrain from garish instrumentation and keep it subtle, relying on hand claps, glitchy beats and piano. A toast to the past and a step into the future, Naomi
REVIEWS // IBEYI
Ibeyi (XL) Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Díaz are a French-Cuban duo who make music under the name Ibeyi, theYoruba word for “twins”.They also happen to be the twin daughters of the late, great Miguel “Angá” Diaz of Buena Vista Social Club and Irakere. Needless to say, their self-titled debut is incredibly expressive, unique and fully formed. With Lisa-Kaindé’s Nina Simone-meets-Björk vocal delivery over Naomi’s electronica/jazz/hip-hop production,
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detail-oriented.” As the old saying goes, hard work pays off. In fact, last year the band even had the chance to play in honourary Canadian/first lady of new country Neko Case’s backing band while on tour with Case last year. “[Her bassist] couldn’t play three or four shows, so [we] got called in to play bass. It was literally two hours before show time. We all took two or three songs and learned the parts, and were in her backing band for a week. It was really fun.” We continue to chat about touring in South East Asia, the woes of listing West African Ewe drumming as an influence on your myspace page (forever casting the band into “world music” purgatory) and the continuous existential crisis
Rating: ★★★★★
PURITY RING
Another Eternity (Last Gang) Whilst listening to this album during a visit to my parent’s place, my mother entered the room and asked me, “Is this Britney Spears?” No mom, this is Another Eternity, Edmontonian synth pop/”witch-house” duo Purity Ring’s highly anticipated fol-
low up to 2012’s Shrines. While vocalist Megan James is no “Womanizer”, she definitely has a squeaky, saccharine quality to her voice, bringing images of Britney to the uneducated ear. But, naturally there is more to Purity Ring than their sparkly facade. Lead single “Push Pull” is a
of choosing a life of art. One thing still remains – through the ups and downs, the beginnings and endings, The Dodos have mastered the art of catharsis. Here’s to another 10 years, boys (give or take), two resilient masters of their own universe who choose creativity over catastrophe. “It’s inward, deeper into the rock, chiseling away and thinking [of] smaller details,” says Long. “The more detail we carve out, the more details [are] revealed to us at the same time.” W The Dodos play Fortune Sound Club on Thursday, March 12, with guests Springtime Carnivore. Tickets $16 at Red Cat Records and FortuneSoundClub.com. Doors at 9pm.
gorgeous exploration in young love lost, creating tension by using polyrhythms, sampled percussion and infectious melodies and occasional three part harmonies. In “Stranger Than Earth”, James sings, “I wasn’t thinkin’ bout you” repeatedly, bringing to mind Frank Ocean’s 2012 hit, all while mixing it in with big-ass Dance Mix ‘95 synthesizers and rogue wave beats. Mixing visual lyrics with moments of poetic finesse and brighter, carefully crafted production, Purity Ring have delivered a great pop record. –Louise Burns Rating: ★★★★★
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FILM & TV
WIFF thrives despite gender gap Sabrina Furminger Reel People @Sabrinarmf
Women make up half of the Earth’s human population, but that’s pretty much where gender equality begins and ends. In countless fields, disparities between the genders abound – as it does, quite staggeringly, in showbiz. According to a recent eye-popping statistic from the Motion Picture Association of America, women buy half of all movie tickets sold, but they’re not directing 50 per cent of films. Industrywide, women constitute only four per cent of feature-film directors, 11 per cent of writers, and 13 per cent of editors – and this, despite the fact that movies with female protagonists make big bucks at the box office (Twilight, The Hunger Games, Maleficent, and, yes, even 50 Shades of Grey come to mind). In Hollywood North, the gender gap begins at the funding level, according to Carolyn Combs, executive director of Women in Film and Television Vancouver (WIFTV). “In 2013,Telefilm Canada funded 59 feature film projects, and of those 59 feature films, 82 per cent were directed by men, and 18 per cent were directed by women,” says Combs. Which is bad, but what’s even worse is the way that the funding was distributed. “94 per cent of the funding went to films directed by men, leaving six per cent of all Telefilm funding into feature films for projects directed by women,” says Combs, whose not-for-profit organization exists to support and encourage female filmmakers in a challenging industry. According to Combs,
REVIEWS // THE LAZARUS EFFECT
Starring Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde Directed by David Gelb
“This is too much weird shit,” blurts out one of the maverick medical researchers in this latest cautionary tale about playing god. If only that was the case. In actual fact, the only thing remotely odd is the calibre of talent involved. In front of the camera are DIY maven Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde (coming off impressive turns in Her and Drinking Buddies) and Community graduate Donald Glover. Meanwhile, documentar-
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Telefilm and similar funding bodies would probably argue that women simply aren’t applying for the funding, but “anecdotally, I know that that’s not true, because I do know women who are applying, and get rejected. So perhaps women are not applying in the same numbers, but why aren’t women applying? Once you’ve been rejected over and over again, you lose faith in the system.” It was in this climate of wacky gender statistics that WIFTV held their first Women in Film Festival 10 years ago. It began as a showcase for short films by BC’s women directors, but has expanded to screen feature-length documentaries and narrative works by local, national, and international filmmakers, as well as intense question and answer sessions, master classes, community panels, and an awards gala. The industry-wide statistics are disheartening, but WIFF’s own numbers reveal audience and filmmaker interest. For this year’s fest, WIFTV received more than 500 submissions from all over the world. Last year, audience attendance rose by 45 per cent. “What I’m noticing here in Vancouver anyway, is women are getting together and forming a strong community to support each other in our filmmaking,” says Combs. And while the line-up for this year’s WIFF (which kicks of this week and runs through the weekend) is jam-packed with shorts and features, there’s one glaring omission: Not one single feature-length narrative film from a BCbased director. “You need money to put together a feature film,” says Combs. “We have lots of shorts this year from BC women.There’s no lack of talent. I think it’s just a lack of financing.” One feature that would ian David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi) handles directing duties. Alas, the intrigue inspired by this seemingly enviable line-up is snuffed out once it becomes apparent that this is just another bland tale about supposedly smart people doing exceptionally stupid things. Frank (Duplass) and Zoe (Wilde) head a small team who are buried in a suitably dingy subbasement and endeavouring to bring the dead back to life.When they finally succeed with a dog, do they pen the zombie canine to allow for further observation? Hell no. Instead, it’s brought back to their home where it looms over them while they
The Lesson Freedom Babies
have qualified – Ana Valine’s award-winning Sitting on the Edge of Marlene – couldn’t be screened in the festival because it has a distributor (and it wrapped its Vancouver theatrical run earlier this week). Regardless, Combs is excited for this milestone WIFF. “What you see in all of the films are strong women characters, strong leads who are taking agency in their lives to create positive change, either for themselves or their families or their communisleep. Given such suspect decision-making, it’s hardly surprising that when Zoe – who, for someone so skittish, spends a lot of time sitting alone in the dark – is fatally electrocuted, Frank makes like he’s never seen Flatliners and insists that they wrest her back from beyond the grave. As minor body horror (My, what ink black eyes you have, Zoe…), PG-rated jolts (My, what Carrie-like telekinetic abilities you’ve developed, Zoe…) and over-directed fantasy sequences (My, what a dark secret you harbour, Zoe…) fail to quicken the pulse, it becomes painfully apparent that there’s simply no resuscitating a film that was DOA. –CurtisWoloschuk
Bed Bugs
ties,” says Combs. WIFF kicks off with Margarita, with a Straw, an uplifting coming-of-age feature from Indian filmmaker Shonali Bose. Other features include Lady Be Good (USA); A 5-Star (Iran); Behind Closed Doors from France (“The female character in that goes through quite a transformative experience. If I tell you what it is, then I’ll give the film away”); The Lesson from Bulgaria (“The main character’s idea of what’s right and
WILD TALES
Starring Ricardo Darín, Óscar Martínez Directed by Damián Szifrón Shame on you, Hollywood. That’s just one of the reasonable reactions after being spat out the other side of Argentine writer-director/ ringmaster Damián Szifrón’s cinematic equivalent of an amusement park ride, branded “It’s a Chaotic World After All.” Carved up into six darkly comic, deftly constructed vignettes, Wild Tales bursts with the sort originality, energy and sheer entertainment that’s sorely lacking from the lion’s share of bloated blockbusters.
wrong changes throughout the film”); SeguirViviendo (Mexico); Highway of Tears (Canada); and Relative Happiness (Canada). Shorts from local filmmakers include Pauline Egan’s Through the Pane, Bedbugs: A Musical Love Story, Mattress, Freedom Babies, My Favourite Leg, In the Deep, The Goodbye Girl, Happy and Gay, and Chanterelle Rain. “There isn’t a ‘women’s film,’ or a women’s theme,” says Combs. “Women just Whether it’s a man using a commercial aircraft to wreak revenge on anyone and everyone who’s ever wronged him, a road rage episode that sees the players taking turns assuming the Wile E. Coyote role or an engineer (South American star Ricardo Darín) taking his pound of flesh from an unscrupulous towing company, the players featured here all have the capacity for cruelty. Part of the delirious thrill of Szifrón’s film comes from guessing just how long it will take each of them to succumb to savagery and rip the veil of civility to shreds. While the anthology’s final chapter – in which a fairy tale wedding goes off the rails
make great films, and we need to be more supportive of our BC women filmmakers.” And new for 2015: no need to chug your wine in the lobby moments before a screening is about to start. You can now bring wine (and popcorn) right into the theatre with you. W WIFF runs until March 8 at VIFF’s Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour). More at WomenInFilm.ca.
and descends into mayhem – may be its longest, it uses its extended runtime to continually shift power dynamics and ensure that viewers are kept off balance. Furthermore, it illustrates that Szifrón seems to view such hallowed institutions as a sham fit for derision. Granted, he also reserves scorn for figures of authority, who are routinely portrayed as utterly corrupt. Factor in the unrelenting class conflict and it’s apparent that Szifrón has much to say about Argentina’s current ills. Fortunately for casual viewers, he doesn’t so much sugar the pill as douse it in Pop Rocks. W –CurtisWoloschuk
March 5 - 11, 2015 W 11
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Vancouver’s Terri Tatchell was nominated for a screenwriting Oscar for her work on husband Neill Blomkamp’s District 9. The couple again teamed up to write the screenplay for Chappie, which opens this week. Neill Blomkamp photo
Natural Born Storyteller Oscar-nominated screenwriter Terri Tatchell brings Chappie to big screen Sabrina Furminger Reel People @Sabrinarmf
If it’s possible to get to know people from the things that they create, then what do Terri Tatchell’s creations tell us about her? On the one hand, there is Neverland Tea Salon, the sunlit Kitsilano tearoom Tatchell co-founded with Vancouver theatre artist Renee Iaci in 2013. Aromatic teas (some quite rare) are poured into shabby chic cups and served to thirsty tea lovers at converted sewing tables. The bustling tearoom is whimsical and welcoming, and a recent recipient of a Top 10 Award from OpenTable. And on the other hand – make that a sleek robotic hand, covered with grime and gripping a flamethrower – there’s the wild science fiction that tumbles forth from Tatchell’s imagination and
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into the multiplexes: District 9, for which the Vancouver screenwriter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Chappie, which kicks off its global theatrical run this week. “Apparently, people walk in [to Neverland] because of District 9, and they go ‘Um, what’s Terri like? How does this match that?’” Tatchell laughs. It’s Saturday morning, Oscar weekend. Tatchell is seated at the back corner table of Neverland Tea Salon; as soon as the interview is over, Tatchell will be off
to pack for the epic Chappie press tour that will take her and her husband – District 9 and Chappie co-writer and director Neill Blomkamp – to four cities on three continents. So which of the two hands is Terri Tatchell? Is she Neverland Tea or District 9, shabby chic or Chappie? “There are so many different facets to every individual woman, and it’s important to embrace all of them and not be ashamed of any of them,” says Tatchell. And there you have the cornerstone of the Terri Tatchell brand: Diversity.
“You know how you remember all of the slights you’ve been given in your life? Well, many years ago, a local film industry woman said to me, ‘well, aren’t you a jack of all trades, master of none,’” Tatchell smiles. “I will never forget that. Now, my goal is to be a jack of all trades and master of the ones I choose to be.” When Tatchell – who was born in Toronto but moved to Vancouver when she was two months old – was young, she lived for stories. “I had a little record player and I had a record of Danny Kaye doing fairytales, and I
would listen to it over and over again,” she recalls. “I was seeing a movie in my head as I listened to the records.” Tatchell – the daughter of an elementary school teacher and a BC Tel staffer – didn’t know that storytelling could lead to any type of profession. “I did not know anybody with a creative job,” says Tatchell. “I did not know it was a possibility.” And so, at that critical juncture in Grade 12 when a student must plot out a course for post-secondary studies, Tatchell chose law.
“It was a toss between a lawyer and a journalist, and I think I would have loved either, but I went to SFU for psychology and criminology, because criminals really fascinate me,” she says. As Tatchell juggled schooling with a part-time job in a local law firm, she quickly learned a hard truth about the legal profession: It wasn’t for her. “I was like, ‘oh, it’s not how it is on TV, I do not want to be that articling student in that room making no money,’” says Tatchell. But it was while she was working in a law firm that she met (and was soon employed by) the late Bob Scarabelli, president and CEO of Rainmaker. Scarabelli – an industry legend during his lifetime – helped spark Vancouver’s journey to its present status as a leader in the visual effects industry. Tatchell was Rainmaker’s first employee. Tatchell left Rainmaker after a year (“I don’t think I was the best assistant in the world. Bob offered me another position in the company, and I decided to move on”), but she’d be back – and one giant step closer to her current position as a teaswilling, Oscar-nominated storyteller.
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COVER
Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Dev Patel, director Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell attend a fan event for Chappie in Berlin last week. Contributed photos Her proclivity for storytelling is evident in the zigzag trajectory of the interview. Tatchell unfurls her story like a spider spinning a web: rapidly and full of intricate detail, but without any obvious chronology, until you step back and behold a dazzling mosaic. Tatchell’s mosaic includes additional spates of soulcrushing employment in law firms and a bank, motherhood, divorce, and then the epiphany that she was destined to write stories for the screen – which led her to relevant courses at Langara College and Vancouver Film School, and ultimately back to Rainmaker (telling Scarabelli that she would return to her old job, but only if she got to do PR and read scripts, too). “I don’t believe in regrets; I think we go on our paths for a reason,” says Tatchell. “I think I’m constantly evolving and changing and learning, from myself and everyone around me, and I look at my life as a movie, and I love watching my own movie. I do! It’s like, what’s going to happen next? God only knows.” And it was during her second stint at Rainmaker that her collaboration (both romantic and professional) with Blomkamp began. “He had left [Rainmaker] three weeks prior to my coming there, but he wanted to come back and film a short film in the garage, and he had to ask me,” says Tatchell. “That was the first time we talked on the phone.” The life that Tatchell and Blomkamp have built together reads like a Hollywood screenplay: From music video
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director and burgeoning screenwriter to A-list sci-fi tastemakers, developing some ideas independently, and others together – the most notable to date being 2009’s Oscar-nominated District 9. “He took me on a different path,” says Tatchell of Blomkamp. “I was never focused on Hollywood. I was very Vancouver-focused. I wanted to make my own films here.” In some ways, the Oscar nomination set her back: Not in the industry, but in her confidence level. “It paralyzed me a little bit,” says Tatchell. “It was too soon. And if I had just been alone trying, would that have happened? Probably not. But
would I have aspired to that? Probably not.” Being a screenwriter – and in particular a female screenwriter – compels her forward. “I don’t like it when someone says I can’t do something, whether or not it’s because, number one, I’m Canadian, and number two, I’m a woman, and number three, science fiction, and number four, R-rated,” says Tatchell. Which brings us to Chappie, the idea she developed with Blomkamp about a mechanized police droid from the near future who is stolen, and reprogrammed to experience independent thoughts and feelings.
Chappie stars Sharlto Copley, a mulleted Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Yo-Landi Visser (of Die Antwoord), and Dev Patel. Tatchell doesn’t think she’ll write with her husband again any time soon (he’s hard at work on the Alien reboot anyway). She’s juggling numerous projects of her own, including an adaptation of Vancouver author Susin Nielsen’s popular Word Nerd, as well as Neverland, whose beginning is, in Tatchell’s mind, forever intertwined with Chappie. “Chappie started shooting a week after Neverland opened, so those two are married for me, and I feel like I grew so much during that time in my
sense of self and my confidence and my willingness to fail,” says Tatchell.
“I’m proud of Chappie. There isn’t a frame I would change.” W
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WHAT’S ON Th/05
Fr/06
Sa/07
Kindness, March 7
Su/08
Mo/09
MUSIC
MUSIC
MUSIC
MUSIC
MUSIC
CARIBOU The Canadian composer, producer, recording artist known to his parents as Dan Snaith plays two shows in support of his latest release Our Love. 7 & 10:30pm at Commodore Ballroom. Tickets $35 at Ticketmaster.ca
CRAIG CARDIFF Ontario folk singer appears in support of Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) with special guest Colby Ramsay. 8pm at CBC Studio 700. Tickets $20 at Highilfe, Red Cat, Prussin Music, Rufus’ Guitars and RogueFolk.bc.ca
KINDNESS Brit-pop singersongwriter known to his parents as Adam Bainbridge on tour to support his latest release Otherness with special guest Pell. Early show, 7pm at Biltmore Cabaret. Tickets $17 at Red Cat, Zulu, Beat Street and TicketWeb.ca
IN FLAMES Swedish metal band on tour in support of their latest studio release Siren Charms with special guests All That Remains and Wovenwear. 6:30pm at Vogue Theatre. Tickets $35 at NorthernTickets.com
SALES Minimalist guitar pop duo from Florida named “Ones to Watch”, and one of the most blogged artists yet to release a full LP. 8pm at Biltmore Cabaret. Tickets $10 at Red Cat, Zulu, Luke’s General Store and TicketWeb.ca
ALAN DOYLE The pride of Newfoundland and member of Great Big Sea kicks off Celtic Fest in support of his second solo effort So Let’s Go. 8pm at Vogue Theatre. Tickets $35 at NorthernTickets.com and Ticketmaster.ca
BIG SUGAR Canadian blues-rock band perform an acoustic show in support of their new release Yardstyle. 8pm at Vogue Theatre. Tickets $29.50 at LiveNation.com
MATUTO NYC based blues band bring their Pan-American sonic symphonies drawing on Brazilian folkloric rhythms and deep Americana to the Rogue Folk Club. 8pm at St. James Hall. Tickets $24 at Highlife, Red Cat, Prussin Music, Rufus’ Guitars and RogueFolk. bc.ca
COMEDY
SWEATER BEATS FilipinoAmerican producer bring his debut headlining North American Sweater Weather tour through Vancouver with special guests Falcons and Hoodboi. 9:30pm at Fortune Sound Club. Tickets $15 at ElectroStub.com
THE TWILIGHT SAD Scottish rock band on tour to support their latest release Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave with special guest Port St. Willow. 8pm at Biltmore Cabaret. Tickets $15 at Red Cat, Zulu, Luke’s General Store and TicketWeb.ca
THE LAUGH GALLERY WITH GRAHAM CLARK Legendary weekly stand up show of East Vancouver’s biggest and brightest comics. 9pm at Havana Theatre. Tickets $5 at Eventbrite.ca
VANCOUVER BIKE SHOW The best place to shop for bikes, see the latest trends in cycling, meet the manufacturers from leading brands and get great deals. 10am5pm at Vancouver Convention Centre East. Tickets at VancouverBikeShow.com. Runs until March 8.
THEOPHILUS LONDON Trinidadian-born, Brooklyn-based rapper/ singer appears in support of his second full length album Vibes with special guest Father. 8pm at Fortune Sound Club. Tickets $39.25 at Ticketmaster.ca
SISTER JUDY A popular university theology professor is rocked when a brilliant new student challengers her notions of love and devotion. 7:30pm at Revue Stage. Tickets at ArtsClub.com. Runs until March 21
THEATRE/DANCE
EVENTS
THE OUTDOOR TRAVEL & ADVENTURE SHOW Find your next adventure at the largest show in Western Canada offering pre-season deals on outdoor gear and amazing travel destinations. Reps from all corners of the globe will be on hand to assist you in booking your next great escape. 10am-5pm at Vancouver Convention Centre East. Tickets at OutdoorAdventureShow.ca. Runs until March 8.
RIBCAGE: THIS WIDE PASSAGE The little known queer story about displacement and identity and the meaning of history is a true account of Esther Brandeau, a Jewish woman from the French Basque region who arrives in eighteenth century Quebec City as a Christian male labourer. 3pm at Firehall Arts Centre. Tickets at FireHallArtsCentre.com.
THE BEAUMONT STUDIOS KIDS SPRING BREAK A unique opportunity to learn, play and create with artists from an eclectic array of disciplines as they join together to bring their passions for teaching children to life with a powerful arts experience for the week. 8:45am-4pm daily until March 20. Tickets at TheBeaumont.org
THE COMPETITION IS FIERCE Itsazoo Productions presents this story of two white collar workers as they battle for a high stakes raise and the affections of a rebellious female co-worker. 8pm at Shop Theatre at Renegade Studios. Tickets at BrownPaperTickets.com. Runs until March 22.
SICK BOSS MONDAYS AT THE LIDO Every Monday night in Mount Pleasant there’s avantgarde, improvised jazz and rock accompanied by warped analogue visuals, good beer and German pretzels. 9pm at The Lido. Admission is always free.
MATT BRAUNGER Portland, Oregon native with a series regular role on MADtv, hour-long comedy special Shovel Fighter and former regular roundtable guest on Chelsea Lately. 8:30pm at The Comedy Mix. Tickets $15 at TheComedyMix.com
THEATRE/DANCE THE COMPETITION IS FIERCE Itsazoo Productions presents this story of two white collar workers as they battle for a high stakes raise and the affections of a rebellious female co-worker. 8pm at Shop Theatre at Renegade Studios. Tickets at BrownPaperTickets.com. Runs until March 22. CADRE A mesmerizing work from South Africa that examines what happens when the future you meet is not the one you were expecting in a story of dreams and change in a country in times of turmoil. 8pm at Historic Theatre. Tickets at Tickets.TheCultch. com. Runs until March 7.
CHEAP & FUN BEGINNER GUITAR CLASSES Learn basic chords, strumming patterns and play along with others at the same level. 12:30pm at the Gathering Place Community Centre. Drop in is free, runs every Thursday until April 2.
COMEDY EMO PHILLIPS Chicago standup comic known for his use of paraprosdokians, spoken in his signature falsetto invoking the “wisom of children” in his comedic delivery. 7pm & 9:30pm at Yuk Yuk’s. Tickets $20 at YukYuks.com
THEATRE/DANCE NORDOST Produced and performed by an all female cast and crew, this story of the harrowing 57-hour hostage crisis in Moscow’s Dubrovka Theatre examines contemporary issues through past events. 8pm at Havana Theatre. Tickets at BrownPaperTickets. com or at the door. Runs until March 7.
EVENTS VANCOUVER UKULELE FESTIVAL Experience what makes the ukulele so magical at the sixth annual festival featuring workshops and live performances with the biggest international line-up yet. Various venues across Vancouver until March 8. Tickets at RubysUkes.ca
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KEVIN DEVINE AND THE GODDAMN BAND Brooklyn indierock outfit on tour in support of their latest releases Bulldozer and Bubblegum. 7pm at Media Club. Tickets $17.50 at TicketFly.com
COMEDY MATT BRAUNGER Portland, Oregon native with a series regular role on MADtv, hour-long comedy special Shovel Fighter and former regular roundtable guest on Chelsea Lately. 8pm & 10:30pmat The Comedy Mix. Tickets $20 at TheComedyMix.com
THEATRE/DANCE DIE FLEDERMAUS Love and sweet revenge.. while waltzing! Be prepared to laugh, because in high society Vienna, every night is party night, and Strauss’ melodyfilled music is effervescent and intoxicating. 7:30pm at Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tickets at VancouverOpera.ca CADRE A mesmerizing work from South Africa that examines what happens when the future you meet is not the one you were expecting in a story of dreams and change in a country in times of turmoil. 8pm at Historic Theatre. Tickets at Tickets.TheCultch.com. MOZART & SALIERI David Newham’s adaptation of Pushkin’s classic is the story is told through the eyes of one composer and his struggle to accept his own artistic limitations in the shadow of the world’s greatest composer. 8pm at Jericho Arts Centre. Tickets at TicketsTonight.ca. Runs until March 14.
EVENTS
CELTIC FEST An expanded festival in its 11th year promises twelve event filled days of music, dance, family fun, spectacle and discovery complete with a theatre production, whiskey tasting, St. Paddy’s day parade and a tribute to The Pogues. Various venues across Vancouver until March 17. Info at CelticFestVancouver.com
CHEAP & FUN NAT BAILEY WINTER MARKET Check out the farmer’s market winter edition with vendors hawking everything from locally grown vegetables and fruit, fresh meat and seafood, artisan cheese and bread and live music. 10am-2pm at Nat Bailey Stadium.
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COASTAL FIRST NATIONS DANCE FESTIVAL An annual celebration of cultural expressions, indigenous stories, songs and dances featuring artists from Arizona, Alaska, Yukon, Washington and throughout BC. At the Museum of Anthropology (UBC). Tickets at TicketsTonight.ca
THEATRE/DANCE
15TH ANNUAL CHUTZPAH! FESTIVAL Awe-inspiring dance, insightful theatre, first-rate hilarious comedy and engaging music highlight this year’s festival with world class performances and workshops by international, local and Canadian artists. Runs until March 15 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre and various venues. Tickets at ChutzpahFestival.com
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COMEDY
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ARTS // CULTURE
WHAT’S ON Tu/10
Th/12
We/11
MUSIC
MUSIC
MUSIC
WOLF ALICE Indie rockers from London, England on tour to support their latest EP Creature Songs with special guests. 8pm at Biltmore Cabaret. Tickets $12 at Red Cat, Zulu, Luke’s General Store and TicketWeb.ca
BROODS New Zealand electronic pop duo appear in support of their debut album Evergreen with special guest Mikky Ekko. 8pm at The Imperial. Tickets $18 at Red Cat, Zulu and TicketWeb.ca
THE DODOS American indie rockers from San Fran on tour in support of their latest release Individ with special guests Springtime Carnivore. 9pm at Fortune Sound Club. Tickets $16 at Red Cat, Zulu and BPLive. ElectroStub.com
THEATRE/DANCE THE MOUNTAINTOP Dr. Martin Luther King’s last night on earth in a Memphis hotel is re-imagined in this lively drama that looks both to the past and the present. 7:30pm at Granville Island Stage. Tickets at ArtsClub. com. Runs until March 14. WHAT YOU’RE MISSING A bright new comedy from Vancouver born playwright Tamara Micner about the streams of implications for two young people in love, living in the shadows of two different histories – the Eastern European and Chilean Jewish experience. 8pm at Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre. Tickets at ChutzpahFestival.com
ART PIGA PICHA! Originally conceived and presented in Nairobi in 2009, this North American premiere of the exhibition features a photographic portrayal of societal transformation in Kenya from the 1910’s to the present. 10am-5pm at the Museum of Anthropology. Runs until April 4
CHEAP & FUN URBAN GRIND Get your heart rate going or kick-start your workout routine with a climb up the Harbour Centre stairs to the iconic Lookout, where a refreshing complimentary beer and DJ entertainment serve as your reward. 4-6:30pm at Harbour Centre. Admission is $5.
Beardyman, March 11
LIDO Norwegian electronic music producer/hip-hop artist/rapper/ songwriter aka Peder Losnegard on tour in support of EPs I Love You and I Love You Too (Remixes). 8pm at Electric Owl. Tickets $10 at Red Cat, Zulu, Beat Street and TicketWeb.ca BEARDYMAN English beatboxer/ musician appears in support of his latest release Distractions. 9pm at The Alexander. Tickets $20 at Red Cat, Zulu and TicketWeb.ca
THEATRE/DANCE THE WEIR The inaugural theatre event of the Celtic Festival, set in a rural Irish pub is the story of a group of locals who on a particular evening find a visit from a new lass in town kicks off a round of spooky storytelling as much about missed connections, as personal hauntings. 8pm at The Roadhouse (Formerly Ceili’s). Tickets at BrownPaperTickets.com
ART THE RIGHT TO REMAIN This exhibition enlivens Human Rights stories of ancestors of the indigenous peoples who have lived in the neighbourhoods of the Downtown Eastside, a sacred place with a legacy of struggle and displacement, for generations. 12-6pm at Gallery Gachet. Runs until April 12.
TRASH TALK AND RATKING California hardcore band on tour in support of No Peace shares the bill with NYC hip hop group on tour in support of So It Goes. 8pm at Korean Hall. Tickets $17.50 at Red Cat, Zulu, Beat Street and TicketWeb.ca
THEATRE/DANCE SNAKESKINS A multi-media, poly-sensorial experience, Montreal’s premiere dance company, Par B. Leux presents a provocative meditation on new growth through the shedding of old skin. 8pm at Roundhouse Community Centre. Tickets at VIDF.ca SHAKESPEAREAN RHAPSODY The Carousel Theatre for Young People stages this magical introduction to Shakespeare with the tales of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest full of comedy, tragedy, magic, and zaniness for young audiences. 2pm at The Waterfront Theatre. Tickets at Tickets.CarouselTheatre.ca. Runs until March 29.
ART THE BOX OF TREASURES: GIFTS FROM THE SUPERNATURAL A collection of sacred masks and regalia revealing beings from the forest, sea and supernatural realm created for Kwakwaka’wakw potlatches by artist and traditional Chief Beau Dick, Gigame Walis Gyiyam and other master carvers. 11am-5pm at Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. Runs until Sept. 27.
CHEAP & FUN BEGINNER GUITAR CLASSES Learn basic chords, strumming patterns and play along with others at the same level. 12:30pm at the Gathering Place Community Centre. Drop in is free, runs every Thursday until April 2.
Fauré Requiem
The Good Friday Concert
8 pm Friday, April 3, 2015 Orpheum Theatre
Vancouver Chamber Choir | Pacifica Singers | Vancouver Youth Choir Vancouver Chamber Orchestra | Jon Washburn, conductor Our annual Good Friday concert highlights the Romantic masterpiece Fauré Requiem and two very special Baroque works – the touching Seven Last Words of Heinrich Schütz and the tragic Jephtha’s Daughter by Italian master Giacomo Carissimi.
1-855-985-ARTS (2787)
www.vancouverchamberchoir.com
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March 5 - 11, 2015 W 15
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BOOKS/THEATRE
The Death of Small Creatures Kelsey Klassen BC Book Club @KelseyKlassen
THE DEATH OF SMALL CREATURES
By Trisha Cull (Nightwood Editions)
There is a moment about a quarter of the way through The Death of Small Creatures, where you realize the book title is not just a metaphor for battling inner demons. AuthorTrisha Cull has just killed a puppy, and reveals this just far enough into her personal account of bulimia, bipolar disorder and substance abuse, that the fact that she was six years old when it happened doesn’t change your opinion of her.You now share fully in the repulsion she has for herself; mission accomplished. It’s hard to believe that just a few years prior to writing this moving, poetic, disturbing memoir, she was an alcoholic, freebasingWellbutrin (pill casings and all), getting high on NeoCitran, smoking crack and crystal meth, cutting herself, starving herself, overdosing,
and disassociating from everyone who cares about her. Exploring her mental illness and addiction in the context of three major romances in her adult life, Cull is an unreliable, haunting narrator.There is Leigh, her much older husband, who may or may not be exacerbating her self-worth issues; Richard, a Seattle man she meets through her blog; and Dr. P, the therapist who becomes the object of her obsession when she is her most suicidal. Recounting her struggle to cope through shifting memories, letters, blog entries, and clinical notes from the psychiatric hospital inVictoria in which she was committed twice, it can be hard to follow her decline, or even why it is happening.There is very little to ground you in the story except the horror of it, but eventually Cull establishes some familiar territory: conversations with her sister, vacations with Leigh, the bunny room where she goes to be high and spend time with her two pet rabbits, and the psychiatric hospital. The reader’s best chance of emerging from The Death of Small Creatures is to abandon all hope of following the
timeline of addiction, disappointment and self-abuse, and just immerse themselves in it as Cull has. A graduate of the University of British Columbia’s MFA CreativeWriting Program, Cull is an accomplished author. Her work has been published in Descant, subTerrain, Geist and PRISM, and a scan of the dates reveals that she was producing award-winning poetry while at the centre of this emotional storm. As you plunge into Cull’s apathy, at times the weight of the hopelessness and selfhatred makes it hard to move even one more word forward, but without the volume of evidence and the sheer minutia of her daily struggle – watching George Stroumboulopoulos on CBC, forgetting to get blueberries for her rabbit Caravaggio – you would hardly believe it to be true. There is a final, heartbreaking moment of symmetry when Caravaggio dies due to Cull’s lethargic neglect. Trapped underneath the couch, Cull fails to realize in time that he is unable to move, eat, free himself... Flash to Cull herself, lying face down on the rabbit room floor, paralyzed by
drugs and depression for days on end, fur and kibble stuck to her face, while her husband angrily leaves and comes home, leaves and comes home from work. It’s an unflinching reminder of her vulnerability, and that ultimately we are all custodians for the small creatures in our lives – the helpless and the hopeless. W •The Death of Small Creatures ($22.95) will be out on Nightwood Editions April 18.This review is based on an advanced reading copy and is not the final version of the book. Book Club questions: • Animals play an important role in Cull’s life and are frequently included in the book.What do you think they symbolize? •What did you find more shocking, the fact that Cull went to smoke crack with Dave as soon as she was discharged, or the fact that she was able to overdose in the hospital? Let me know your thoughts onTwitter @kelseyklassen, or kelsey@westender.com.
Nordost tells the story of three women involved in the Dubrovka hostage crisis of 2002. Contributed photo
Moscow hostage crisis interpreted for stage On Oct. 22, 2002, 42 Chechen militants stormed the DubrovkaTheatre in Moscow and took the crowded room hostage. At the end of the 57hour stand-off, 170 people had lost their lives. Produced and performed by an all-female cast and crew, Nordost tells the harrowing story of this siege and its shocking culmination from the perspective of three very different women. Troika Collective, the company behind last year’s sold-out Chernobyl:The Opera, presents this North American
premiereTorsten Buchsteiner’s award-winning play. “At a time when terrorism, rebellion, and imperial military muscle (not to mentionVladimir Putin) are once again dominating headlines,” says the press release, “Nordost invites audiences to examine contemporary issues through past events.Who are the ‘others’, known to us only through their violent acts?” W • Nordost runs March 4-7, 8pm, at HavanaTheatre (1212 Commercial).Tix $20/$17 at BrownPaperTickets.com
You made incredible things happen! Community schools are the heart of many neighbourhoods. They provide safe places where children and youth can join after-school programs and where families can find the support they need. Margaret arrived in Canada as a refugee when she was six years old. She has benefitted from community schools all her life and now she is paying it forward. She graduates from high school this year and the sky’s the limit. “I believe that everyone is a hero and can save the world.” United Way funds community school initiatives in Burnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Surrey and Vancouver. They were featured at this year’s Scotiabank & United Way Community Spirit Awards.
Margaret, student and Winnie Leong, Scotiabank
You help make our work possible. Thank you. 2015 United Way Community Schools Initiative video was proudly presented by Scotiabank
16 W March 5 - 11, 2015
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West End Specialists Nobody knows the West End better! MLS Diamond Master Medallion Award 2014
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OFFER PENDING
OPEN SAT & SUN 2-4PM 2905 West 37th Avenue, $4,988,000
• Brand New 5,383 SQFT 7 Bdrm, 8 Bath Home • Stunning Architectural Craftsman-Style Masterpiece • 4 Bdrms Up, 1 Down, Plus 900SQFT 2 Bed, 2 Bath Legal Suite • Three Car Garage • Beautiful Landscaping, Built-in Water Fountains & BBQ • Stunning Oak Floors, High-End Appliances,Wok Kitchen • Fully Automated Technology, High Efficiency Boiler, LED Lighting • Incredible Location Near Best Schools and Right on Bike Route • Super Hot Mackenzie Heights/Kerrisdale Location • Completion February 2015
Crest Westside Ltd.
BY APPOINTMENT 11366 96th Avenue, N. Delta, $588,000
• Gorgeous Contemporary/West Coast Renovation • Great Family Home – South Facing Private Backyard • 5 Bedroom, 2 Bath, Pool, Hot Tub, FencedYard • Five Min to Annieville Elem., Delview Sec., Parks, Shopping,Transit • Basement Bedroom With Sep Entrance - Could be Mortgage Helper • Sep Powered 10 Feet by 20 Feet “Artists Studio” Great for Home Business! • ExceptionalValue ForYoung Families!!! Welcome Home!
Prepare to be MOVED™.
214-605 Como Lake Avenue, Coquitlam, $183,000
• Investor &Young Family Alert! • Rentals Now Allowed and No Age Restrictions! • Large 924SQFT 2 Bed, 2 Parking, 1 Block to New Burquitlam Skytrain at Lougheed Mall! • Nicely Renovated and South Facing • Heat, Hot Water and Free Laundry Included in Maint. Fee • Pets Allowed, 1 Storage Locker - Solid,Well managed Building!
KITSILANO NEW LISTING
OPEN SAT & SUN 2-4PM 210-2320 Trinity Street, $368,000
COMING SOON
• Beautiful Partially Reno’d 2 Bedroom 900SQFT With Wood Fireplace! • North West Corner Suite – Best Location in Building. • Quiet Side of Solid Building With Lions, Stanley Park & Harbour Views on Quiet Lovely Street • Building Backs Onto A Park • Parking & Storage Included. • Pets & Rentals Allowed! • Hottest Neighbourhood Up and Coming!
Call Us Today for a Confidential Needs Assessment and Market Analysis
202-2475York Avenue, $438,000 • Attention Gardeners & Beach Bums! • Best Condo in “York West” - 3 Blocks From Kits Beach! • Large 1 Bed & Den/Office 730SQFT • Nice Renovations, Great Floorplan. • South Facing With Huge Sunny Patio Deck & Garden • 1 Parking, 1 Storage Pets & Rentals ok. • This one is Hot! Welcome Home.
604-787-5568
www.MichaelDowling.ca March 5 - 11, 2015 W 17
LIFESTYLES //
WESTENDER.COM
REAL ESTATE
Unaffordability in BC “extreme” Real Estate Opens TYLER ORTON @reporton
Housing affordability in BC improved slightly in 2014’s fourth quarter but prices in Vancouver continue to drag down the province’s overall affordability, according to RBC’s quarterly housing trends report. RBC’s affordability measure – which shows the proportion of median pre-tax household income required to cover a mortgage payment – dropped between 0.1 and 0.7 percentage points in BC between the third and fourth quarters. “Nonetheless, afford-
ability remained poor in the province due to the persistence of extreme levels of ‘unaffordability’ in segments of the Vancouver market,” RBC chief economist Craig Wright wrote in the March 3 housing report. The RBC affordability measure determined it would cost the average detached bungalow owner in BC 68 per cent of his or her household income to cover mortgage payments in Q4 compared with 68.7 per cent in Q3. The affordability of a standard two-storey home in BC improved by 0.3 percentage points to 72.5 per
cent and condo affordability improved 0.1 percentage point to 33.1 per cent. Across Canada, the affordability measure was 42.7 per cent for a bungalow, 48.1 per cent for a two-storey home and 27.4 per cent for a condo. The report noted affordability remained uneven throughout different markets in BC, as Victoria, Kootenay and the Okanagan posted declines at the same time Vancouver and the Fraser Valley recorded gains. “Despite extremely stretched affordability conditions facing homebuyers, (Vancouver’s) housing mar-
ket found renewed vigour in 2014 with resales reaching close to a three-year high by the fourth quarter,” the report said. “Unsurprisingly, this situation heated home prices in the area to the point that Vancouver reclaimed a spot among Canada’s markets exhibiting the fastest-rising price increases (alongside Toronto and, until very recently, Calgary and Edmonton).” W –Courtesy of Business in Vancouver
MackenzieHeights
West End 1503 - 1740 Comox 1 bdrm, $379,900, Sun 2-3 305 - 1535 Nelson, 2 bdrms, $369,900, Sun 2-4 1838 Nelson, 2 bdrms, $659,900, Sat/Sun 2-4
CARNEY’S CORNER
17
2905 West 37th Ave, 7 bdrms, $4,988,000 Sat & Sun 2-4
17
Yaletown
18
17
1002 - 1199 Marinaside Crescent, 2 bdrms Sat & Sun 2-4
18
EastHastings Village 210-2320Trinity St, 2 bdrms, $368,000 Sat & Sun 2-4
17
OFFICE FOR SALE 504-1160 Burrard
$328,000
• Excellent location across from Saint Paul Hospital in Vancouver • Burrard Health Centre, Medical Office Building • Spacious corner unit, bright four offices and private reception area. Large waiting room insde the hall and pharmacy in the lobby.
THE IDES OF MARCH are upon us! Spacious one bedroom with office and balcony in older well maintained built as condo strata is size of today’s two bedroom suites! 9 foot ceilings add to feeling of space and loft style post and beam construction add to flexiibility in reno and design. Updates include expanded kitchen, stone counters, wood and slate flooring, fresh paint and more. Great storage, underground parking plus guest parking and option to install laundry. Cat welcome. This is a one of a kind in conveniently central West End. $369,900 OPEN SUN 2-4 AT 305-1535 NELSON
WEN
West End Neighbours
Discover the equity of your home or office.
Free evaluation certificate. 25% referral fee paid on any deals.
urban residences_modern living | seller’s & buyer’s agent specialist
AnnLok
New info always available on the website; an opportunity for community to stay in touch and keep up on local issues. www.westendneighbours.ca
TALK TO LIZ CARNEY 604 685-5951/603-3095
Call Harry Mohamadi 604-626-2424 harrymoha@yahoo.com
cell 604.767.0959 | office 604.714.1700 www.annlok.com | ann@annlok.com Medallion Club Award Member Sutton West Coast Realty | 301-1508 West Broadway
liz.carney@century21.ca • www.vancouvercondo.com Century 21 In Town Realty • 421 Pacific • 1030 Denman
presales | assignments | resales | investments specialist
Over 10 years experience working for You.
In Town Realty
1002-1199 MARINASIDE CRESCENT – AQUARIUS I BY CONCORD PACIFIC ONE OF DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER’S BEST LOCATIONS! 45 foot freehold strata titled marina slip in False Creek’s Quayside Marina. 24 foot beam for easy docking. Prime location. 24 hour security. Rental return better than a condo and no walls to paint! No hassle investment. $399,000 • E16-1088 Marinaside Crescent
BREATHTAKING OCEAN AND MOUNTAIN VIEWS!
200 feet of private freehold low bank OCEANFRONT totaling 3.22 acres with a 1,200 sq. ft. 2 bedroom / 1 bath cottage. Just 20 minutes by boat from Deep Cove in North Vancouver. Perfect weekend retreat. Gorgeous property, very peaceful and quiet. Get it before it is gone. $599,000 • 16E of Croker, North Vancouver
Call MICHAEL ROBSON
for your private appointment
604-671-7256
michaelrobson@shaw.ca www.vancouvercanadarealty.com
Prompton Real Estate 201-179 Davie Street, Vancouver
There is more online westender.com 18 W March 5 - 11, 2015
FIRST PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE: SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MARCH 7 & 8, 2-4PM WATERFRONT Breathtaking 180 Panoramic unobstructed views of False Creek & 1st class marina! • Just a few steps to the seawall for miles of seaside recreation • Location, Location, Location! • Urban Fare, Roundhouse Centre, Starbucks, Provence Restaurant, endless retail and steps to Yaletown District • Rarely on the market, SE corner 1335sq.ft. 2 ultra spacious bedrooms, master suite with walk-in closet, huge den (can be 3rd bedroom), solarium (great for an office!), 2 full bathrooms, 5 piece master ensuite with separate shower, large outdoor balcony overlooking marina, gas fireplace, gas stove, front loading washer/dryer, hand grooved hardwood floors – gorgeous floorplan! • Peaceful views overlooking lagoon too! • Resort Amenities: Indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, 24hr concierge, outdoor gazebo, clubhouse, gym, theatre & more • 1 parking & huge locker! • Don’t miss out! • Please call for more information. GROUP WEST COAST REALTY
false creek north | yaletown | coal harbour | vancouver
Westender.com
REAL ESTATE //
@WESTENDERVAN
DEXTER ASSOCIATES REALTY 604-689-8226 604-263-1144 Kevin Skipworth Managing Broker
Layla Bamford
Nicole Cannon
Jennifer Devlin
Christopher Dohm
Sandi Fratino
Erica Fremeau
www.dexterrealty.com
Jeff Holmes
Megan King
Kavi Lehdar
Johan Leung
Clarence Lowe
Travis Mako
Bob Moore
Sean Murty
Brad Pacaud
Kris Pope
Tyrone Robinson
Christine Saulnier
Nadine Ramos
Mike Rooney
Michael Shaw
Simmy Sandhu
Gurdeep Melany Daryl Stephens Sue-Johnson Suarez
Larry Esther Michael Traverence Twerdochlib Webster
Laurel Wood
Gloria Chamberlain
604-250-9177
604-263-1144
christine.saunier@gmail.com www.christinesaulnier.com
3208-1495 RICHARDS ST.
$608,000
713-1333 HORNBY ST.
$249,900
VIEW - AZURA 2 Compact and beautiful with gorgeous English Bay view from this high floor, 1 bedroom with large den. Balcony, in-suite storage plus parking and locker. Kevin Skipworth
VIEWS TO ENGLISH BAY. Bright SouthWest top floor unit. Completely updated with re-designed kitchen & full-sized appliances. Breakfast bar, sleeping nook & easy care finishes. Enjoy the view from large bay window with skylight and balcony. Great investment property.
Cathie Cline
604-689-8226
Matt Magee
604-263-1144
skipworth@dexterrealty.com www.skipshomes.com
1501-212 DAVIE ST.
Sheila Sontz
604-790-6589
cline@dexterrealty.com
NEW LISTING
matt@mattmagee.ca
$738,800
Steps to the seawall and all that Yaletown has to offer, this beautiful 2 bedroom plus den apartment in Parkview Gardens, with 1260 SF offers amazing views of False Creek and the city. Amenities include swimming pool, hot tub, sauna and gym. Conveniently located steps to the Canada Line, 1 block from the seawall, Urban Fare, restaurants and shops in the heart of Yaletown.
101-1250 BURNABY ST.
loftsvancouver.com
Check out our website, www.dexterrealty.com for current market condition updates.
$195,000
INVESTOR ALERT! PRICED TO SELL AND A GREAT LOCATION JUST A FEW BLOCKS TO THE BEACHES AND SEAWALL. Fantastic studio apartment with great income potential. With light renovations and a bit of paint, this suite could be a fantastic revenue property. A great well-run concrete building that has undergone many updates & improvements and a great rooftop pool for summer entertaining. This is a leasehold prepaid non-strata so your maint. fees inc. tax, heat, hot water and all the other mentioned items.
Commercial Real Estate Needs? Dexter Associates Realty’s
commercial team will answer all of your questions and will help with all your commercial needs. Whether you need office space, somewhere to set up your business or retail store, or are looking to buy an investment property we can help you. Call us at 604-689-8226 today.
Details & Photos of all lofts for sale in Vancouver
Ed Gramauskas Cell: 604-618-9727
STEPHEN BURKE
SUNNY WEST OF DENMAN
SUTTON GROUP - WEST COAST REALTY 301-1508 W BROADWAY
604-714-1700
www.stephenburke.com
604-551-4190
E L L I N G TO N
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1020 HARWOOD Westender.com
1743 sq. ft. plan + 257 sq. ft. terrace Spacious 3rd bedroom for office or guests Bring your house-size furniture along Rainscreened/warranty/new plumbing New common areas, gym ,pool 2 parking, pet
• • • • •
Spacious 1160 sf. NW corner plan 2 bedroom, 2.5 baths custom plan Sub-penthouse w/Bay & mtn views 2nd BR w/ built-in wall bed & office Rare-2 side by side parking stalls
• • • • •
Concrete strata 2 Bedroom 2 Bathroom Sunny Southeast corner suite View from LR, DR, Kitch & 2nd BR Gorgeous kitchen with stainless steel Open plan w/Sileston counters
$1,250,000 1010 BURNABY $850,000 1838 NELSON
• • • • •
Rich ‘American walnut’ engineered floors Gas FP feature wall, cozy dining room alcove Generous Living space. No rentals allowed New plumbing, roof, rainscreen Warranty. 1 parking, 1 storage, 2 pet OK
$659,900 March 5 - 11, 2015 W 19
20 W March 5 - 11, 2015
Westender.com
28 LA HOM ST E MO S S NT OLD H!
DOWNTOWN’S MOST AFFORDABLE LUXURY BURRARD + GEORGIA
$1,500 / SF
Burrard SkyTrain
DOWNTOWN
HOWE + GEORGIA
$1,400 / SF
Vancouver City Centre SkyTrain
UBC Robson Square
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PACIFIC + HOWE
$1,400 / SF
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SAME LUXURY LIFESTYLE AT A FRACTION OF THE PRICE:
SELECT
STARTING FROM
· BESPOKE CABINETRY FROM FRIUL INTAGLI OF ITALY
1 Bedroom
$346,900
· HEATING & COOLING FROM JAGA OF BELGIUM
1 Bedroom + Flex
$370,400
· NEIGHBOURHOOD OASIS IN THE HEART
2 Bedroom + Flex
$598,900
Executive Suites
$833,400
OF DOWNTOWN
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HORNBY & HELMCKEN AT THE VANCOUVER LAW COURTS 164 CITY HOMES FROM $346,900 · ADDITIONLIVING.COM PRESENTATION CENTRE OPEN DAILY 12–5PM, EXCEPT FRIDAYS 1149 HORNBY STREET · 604 620 6692 THE DEVELOPER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES WITHOUT NOTICE. PRICES AND AVAILABILITY ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. RENDERING AND VIEW ARE APPROXIMATE ONLY. E.&O.E.
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March 5 - 11, 2015 W 21
LIFESTYLES //
WESTENDER.COM
DRIVE
2015 Lexus NX a bold new crossover DAVID CHAO @westender
Lexus is the latest manufacturer to enter the evergrowing luxury compact SUV segment. By creating a stylish, this-looks-like-atransformer vehicle called the NX, it’s trying to make a real impact in this fiercely competitive market. The NX is eye-catching, comfortable and comes with Lexus’ reputation for reliability. Rivals include the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, though the NX is actually bigger and roomier than most of these cars. The NX is available in two models: the NX 200t which is the first Lexus with a turbocharged engine, and the NX 300h which has a sophisticated hybrid system.
DESIGN
The Lexus NX is loosely based on the Toyota RAV4 mechanically, but the design is much more dramatic and it is so different from the RAV4 that you can’t see any resemblance from inside or out. The first thing you notice about the NX is the gaping trapezoidal front grille. Lexus’ trademark “spindle” grille dominates the front, which protrudes quite far ahead of the front axle but it’s actually surprisingly appealing. Intricately detailed LED headlights sit high on the NX’s shoulders.The separate daytime running lights are sharp and accent the striking grille. Moving along the side, the doors are nicely sculpted and the rounded roof gives the NX a balanced appearance. At the back, the threedimensional taillights add some drama; the edge of the lights actually stick out from the body making the car look wider than it really is. The spoiler over the window and dual exhausts make it look aggressive. The cabin is driverfocused and available with impressive level of onboard technology. Passengers will appreciate how spacious and comfortable the NX is in comparison to other compact SUVs.
PERFORMANCE
As mentioned, the NX
Not only is the NX quiet and comfortable, but it’s also filled with intelligent technology. Contributed photo kick-down function to improve acceleration. And, the hybrid battery is split into two separate pods for better weight distribution. While the handling is crisp and linear, there is something absent from the NX’s driving characteristic. Perhaps its ride is too smooth; perhaps the steering is too numb – not sure the exact reason but the NX excites its drivers from the outside but not so much when it’s driven.
200t is the first Lexus with a twin-scroll turbocharged engine. The 2.0-litre Atkinson cycle four-cylinder delivers 235 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque which is pretty good but not class-leading. Being an all-new engine, it is packed with modern technology which includes the turbo that is built into the exhaust manifold – this helps reduce turbo lag to almost unnoticeable levels. Mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, the NX 200t offers sporty dynamics with all-wheel drive and a lock-up torque converter. A three-setting Drive Mode Select system (Sport, Normal and Eco) allows drivers to modify vehicle responsiveness. Since the NX 300h weighs more and has less power, it feels less peppy than its stablemate. The Lexus Hybrid Drive system is built around a 2.5-litre Atkinson cycle four-cylinder and delivers 194 total system horsepower and 152 lb-ft of torque. Mated to an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission and all-wheel drive, the NX 300h provides smooth acceleration yet 7.4L/100km combined fuel efficiency. Also, this is the first Lexus Hybrid Drive to feature a
ENVIRONMENT
The cabin of the NX has a lot going for it and feels more expensive than the price suggests. The dash is covered in stitched material and nearly every other surface is soft and/or padded with high level of accuracy. Interior measurements of the NX are very similar to the RAV4. However, as with the exterior, the NX is more sport-minded as indicated by the tighter seats and wide centre console. The front seats are very supportive and comfortable. To provide further comfort and versatility, the rear seats split 60/40 and they even power recline and power fold. These are niceto-have features that soon become must-have items.
Not only is the NX quiet and comfortable, but it’s also filled with intelligent technology. For example, it’s available with a Wireless Charging Tray and a 6.2inch head up display – the largest in the Lexus range. The new optional Remote Touch Interface controls the navigation, climate control and connected devices. It works better than older designs found in other Lexus models and uses Haptic feedback when the cursor is over one of the on-screen buttons. Still, just give us an actual touch panel because no matter which automaker attempts to make these more user friendly, they are awful to use in general. The cargo capacity in the NX is less than the RAV4, thanks to its sloping roof. Capacity is 0.5 cubic metres in the NX 200t, and 0.475 cubic metres in the NX 300h.
FEATURES
The NX 200t has a starting price of $40,950, and the NX 300h starts at $58,850. Standard equipment includes a leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, heated exterior mirrors, auto dimming rearview mirror, backup camera, smart key system,
and Bluetooth capability. Additional features, available as options or on higher trims, include ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, clearance and backup sensors, dynamic cruise control, lane keeping assist system, blind spot monitoring, precollision system, rear cross traffic alert, rain-sensing wipers, and auto high beam. Fuel efficiency numbers (L/100km) for the NX 200t are 10.8 city, 8.8 highway and 9.9 combined.The NX 300h returns 7.1 city, 7.7 highway and 7.4 combined.
THUMBS UP
The new design certainly turns heads. Also, the new turbocharged engine is exciting and provides strong performance and admirable fuel economy.
THUMBS DOWN
The engine is raspy and the steering is numb, making the new NX a good performance vehicle but not great one from handling perspective.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you are looking for a unique, high-tech-oriented and reliable crossover that is also eye-catching, give the Lexus NX some consideration. W
Stephanie Florian Play Outdoors
@PlayOutdoorsVan
No wonder the makers of Botox are laughing themselves all the way to the bank.Today, the pressure on women to be wrinkle free has never been greater. But could it be that aging gracefully is actually as easy as it sounds?Well, aging ski babes Nancy GreeneRaine and Pat Cody are in-theflesh proof the key to winning the war on aging is to find an outdoor sport you love. Although one prefers to play in the snow and the other in water, they both radiate the same message: Use it or lose it. To Canadians, Nancy GreeneRaine is a celebrity ski icon who was voted Canada’s female athlete of the 20th century. A senator and Sun Peaks Resort’s own celebrity mountain mama at age 71, Greene-Raine is living proof that skiing is a sport that can be enjoyed through the ages. Following in the footsteps of her Olympian mom, Greene-Raine is a gold medalist who now calls the Kamloops resort home. “It offers great terrain; trees, gullies, powder…but ultimately skiing is about who you are with,” she says.The key to staying young is being active. Her ultimate workout is skiing nonstop down the black diamond Intimidator run. Greene-Raine says she knows she’s been lucky living the ski dream. “I’ve had a magical life, that’s why I have no wrinkles.” How many grandmas do you know who can still slalom water ski at age 80? Meet Pat Cody, a Vancouver native and water betty who continues to rip up BC’s lakes behind her 20-foot Ski Nautique. Cody says her family chose to prioritize play. “Work hard, play hard…we bought a boat before we bought a house,” she sparkles. Cody represented BC in the first Canada Summer Games in Halifax in 1969 and today her family still lives on the water. “We’re still skiing, slalom, tricking (but not too tricky) and body surfing” she says. For women like Nancy Greene-Raine and Pat Cody, living an active lifestyle is a choice. Skiing is a lifetime sport GreeneRaine explains and the key to staying young at heart forever. My own mother is still a hottie at age 68 and swears 1,000 hula hoops a day keeps the cosmetic surgeon away. Do find a sport you love and do make a lifetime commitment.These women are beautiful and the few wrinkles are just along for the ride. W
TECHNICALLY, DOWNTOWN NISSAN IS “DOWNTOWN-ISH.” ®
2nd Ave. between Cambie and Main. 22 W March 5 - 11, 2015
Westender.com
LIFESTYLES //
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People with knee osteoarthritis needed for a research study!
HEALTH
The truth behind the gluten-free “fad” Patty Javier Gomez Whole Nourishment
Thinkstock photo
@WholeNourishBC First thing’s first. I am glutenfree because I have celiac disease and I miss the taste of delicious gluten-packed beer. When I first got the news that gluten had a vendetta against me and was slowly plotting to kill me, I was bummed. Like, what did I ever do to you gluten? I thought we were cool. Guess not. When I finally came to terms with the fact that I needed to lead a gluten-free life, my first thought was, what the hell do I eat now? A girl can only eat brown rice and veggies for so long, ya know? So I had to get creative with my food, and this is what actually what sparked my love of nutrition and set forth a series of events that would lead me on the path of becoming a nutritionist. A few years ago, there was no gluten-free aisle at grocery stores or gluten-free options at restaurants. Gluten-free was unexplored territory and even my own parents thought I had put myself on a weird diet. Because of the ongoing popularity and trendiness of going gluten-free, it sucks a little less to be celiac these days. But on the downside, there are a lot of funny looks and snarky remarks when asking about gluten-free options at a restaurant. Take it from me, people, it’s inconvenient for both of us, please don’t make my food experience any harder that it already is. I’m not trendy, I’m allergic, so pass me the damn crumbly piece of gluten-free bread and let me go on with my day. However, to the insufferable fad dieters who have jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon: so you read an article telling you that gluten is evil and now
you are gluten free. Good for you!You have joined half the population that have started a fad diet for no good apparent reason. It’s like taking insulin shots when you don’t have diabetes (OK, that was an extreme example, but you get my point). Gluten-free diets are made and recommended for people who have celiac disease or some sort of serious sensitivity (yes, there is such thing as a food sensitivity, and, yes, it differs from an allergy and, yes, it’s complicated). So please stop making us sick people look like trendy gluten-snobs due to our very specific (and medically necessary) dietary needs. So what is gluten? Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, so, no, it’s not in potatoes and it’s not to be confused with
starch. Gluten found in flour of baked good is what helps it from crumbling, that’s why some gluten-free products suck so much and don’t really bind together that well. These days there are some great gluten-free products on the market, but beware, gluten-free doesn’t mean healthy. Remember that when something is taken from a food it needs to be replaced with something else, and companies love to add sugar and crazy preservatives and additives that have no business being on earth in the first place let alone in food for you to ingest. When in doubt, here is my tip: If you can’t pronounce it, avoid it and do your research. What about celiac disease or sensitivities? Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the absorptive surface
OPEN M-F ■ 9AM- 4PM ■ APPOINTMENT PREFERRED
ROBSON N MEDICAL Dr. Peter J. Marr
Family Physician + Associates
F AMILIES
of the small intestine is damaged, making it impossible for people to absorb nutrients, so yeah, it’s kind of a big deal. There is no cure, only relief by avoiding the nemesis that is gluten altogether. Symptoms vary from bloating, cramping, fatigue and anemia to name a few. Being celiac sucks. But wait there is another complicated part to this puzzle! It’s called “gluten sensitivity”. So your blood tests or biopsy have come back negative for celiac but you still feel like crap?You may have a gluten sensitivity. Now with a sensitivity things get tricky, your symptoms can take a few days to show up which makes them harder to diagnose and impossible for people not to judge you and it sucks just as much as a full blown allergy. So the next time you meet a person who is using a glutenfree diet because they heard it’s a great way to lose weight, kick them for all of us who are legitimately suffering (but not really, because I don’t condone violence). W
RECIPE ONLINE
Visit Westender.com for a recipe for a great glutenfree potato leek pie.
There is more online westender.com
The Motion Analysis and Biofeedback Lab at the University of British Columbia is seeking volunteers aged 50 and older with knee osteoarthritis to participate in a study involving a knee radiograph, three 2-hour visits at UBC to assess walking characteristics, and a four-month supervised walking exercise program. Inclusion criteria: 50 years of age and older diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis Exclusion criteria: use of a gait aid previous knee or hip replacement significant neuromuscular impairment (i.e. Parkinson’s, previous stroke, diabetes) Visit www.ubc-mablab.ca or contact Natasha (604-822-7948 or mablabstudies@gmail.com) for further details!
Rolfing is Manual Therapy which strengthens the body’s structural integrity and functional resources. Rolfing can help you move again.
Discover the freedom that balance can bring! OFFERING TREATMENT FOR:
• Scoliosis and Sciatica • Pain relief and management • Stress reduction • More efficient movement • Better balance
Ask me how I can help you achieve your optimal health.
STEPHEN G. INABA
Advanced Certified Rolfer Registered Massage Practitioner
#730-1285 W. Broadway 604-738-1012 integrative.ca / stepheninaba.com
CHILDREN MEN WOMEN
NEW PATIENTS WELCOME
SENIORS + PRE-NATAL
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604 669-5669
■
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All new consultations will receive one complimentary:
In-office Medical Pedicure with Foot Massage or
One Laser Treatment for Pain Management
BIKE STORES
March 1 to April 1, 2015
Custom Made Foot Orthotics
$395
DR. SYD ERLICHMAN
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VISIT OUR TWO LOCATIONS AT: 1400-750 West Broadway Vancouver, B.C. 604-876-7744
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• Foot Care • Corns • Calluses • Warts • Abnormal Toenails • Sports, WCB and ICBC Injuries • Bacterial and Fungal Infections • House and Hospital Visits • Custom Made Foot Orthotics
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www.Reckless.ca March 5 - 11, 2015 W 23
Vancouver Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary
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March 2015 Forget the weather outside. In March it will be raining royalty in Vancouver. Unfortunately Queen Noor of Jordan had to cancel her visit, but we have all the events of the Dogwood Monarchist Society coronation week to keep us royally entertained. At a less regal level there will be republican influences at the Vancouver Celtic Festival and The Vancouver Men’s Chorus will proclaim that “Singing Can be a Drag.” In a similar vein, check out the Strut Launch Party fundraiser. LOUD Business hosts networking events, morninng, noon and evening in March. Don’t miss ours mini LGBT business and community expo and lunch on March 13th. Details of for all these events are shown in our March Events guide.
2015 INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARDS Wednesday, March 4, 11:00 am The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel 900 Canada Place http://bit.ly/1ATrACT
VANCOUVER CELTIC FESTIVAL March 6-17 Various locations www.celticfestvancouver.com
GAY-FRIENDLY BREAKFAST NETWORKING A LOUD Business Event
Wednesday, March 11, 7:15-8:30am The Edge Social Grille & Lounge 1100 Granville Street loudbusiness.com/networking/events
MARCH NETWORKING LUNCH & LGBT MINI EXPO A LOUD Business Event
Friday, March 13, 11:45am Best Western Plus Chateau Granville 1100 Granville Street loudbusiness.com/networking/events
OUT OF TOWN SHOW Dogwood Monarchist Society
Friday, March 13, 8:00 pm The Junction, 1138 Davie Street Tickets: $10 www.mothercourt.ca/Coronation
CORONATION 44 - A GATHERING OF NATIONS AN EVENING IN PARIS Dogwood Monarchist Society
LOUD Business (formerly the GLBA) is a not-for-profit association founded on our three pillars: Networking, Community and Philanthropy.
Saturday, March 14, 5:00 pm Celebrities Nightclub, Davie St Tickets: $35 www.mothercourt.ca/Coronation
Check us out at www. LOUDbusiness.com, join us at one of our events. Come out and be LOUD!
VANCOUVER MEN’S CHORUS PRESENTS: 8TH ANNUAL SINGING CAN BE A DRAG Saturday, March 14, 8:00 pm Columbia Theatre 530 Columbia St, New West http://bit.ly/1JDfSBV
THE CLUTCH PRESENTS “TRANSMIGRATION”
March 17-21, 8:00 pm The Historic Theatre at the Clutch 1895 Venables Street thecultch.com/events/transmigration/
GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS: CLEAR WRITING TIPS WORKSHOP Thursday, March 19, 8:30am Library Square Conference Centre 350 West Georgia Street http://bit.ly/1Ao1xTG
GAY-FRIENDLY BREAKFAST NETWORKING A LOUD Business Event
Wednesday, March 25, 7:15-8:30am The Edge Social Grille & Lounge 1100 Granville Street loudbusiness.com/networking/events
DINING OUT FOR LIFE 2015 A fundraiser for people living with AIDS/HIV in BC
Thursday, March 26, lunch & dinner Over 80 participating locations. diningoutforlife.com/vancouver
STRUT LAUNCH PARTY Fundraiser for Foundation of Hope Saturday, March 28, 6:30pm The Junction, 1138 Davie St www.foundationofhope.net
BOOK YOUR AD NOW IN THE ANNUAL DIRECTORY.
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Free Will Astrology By Rob Brezsny To depict what lay beyond the limits of the known world, medieval mapmakers sometimes drew pictures of dragons and sea serpents. Their images conveyed the sense that these territories were uncharted and perhaps risky to explore. There were no actual beasties out there, of course. I think it’s possible you’re facing a comparable situation. The frontier realm you are wandering through may seem to harbor real dragons, but I’m guessing they are all of the imaginary variety. That’s not to say you should entirely let down your guard. Mix some craftiness in with your courage. Beware of your mind playing tricks.
I love the song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” by Pink Floyd. Other favorites are Tool’s “Third Eye” and Yo La Tengo’s “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind.” But all of these tunes have a similar problem. They’re more than ten minutes long. Even before my attention span got shrunk by the Internet, listening to them tested my patience. Now I have to forcefully induce a state of preternatural relaxation if I want to hear them all the way through. In the coming days, Libra, don’t be like a too-much-of-a-good-thing song. Be willing to edit yourself. Observe concise boundaries. Get to the point quickly. (You’ll be rewarded for it.)
Whenever I close my eyes and seek psychic visions of your near future, I see heroic Biblical scenes. Moses is parting the Red Sea. Joseph is interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. Jesus is feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. What’s the meaning of my reveries? Well, this psychic stuff is tricky, and I hesitate to draw definitive conclusions. But if I had to guess, I’d speculate that you are ripe to provide a major blessing or perform an unprecedented service for people you care about.
Sneaking around isn’t necessary, Scorpio. There’s no useful power to be gained by hiding information or pursuing secret agendas. This is not a time when it’s essential for you to be a master of manipulation who’s ten steps ahead of everyone else. For now, you are likely to achieve maximum success and enjoy your life the most if you are curious, excitable, and transparent. I invite you to embody the mindset of a creative, precocious child who has a loving mommy and daddy.
In a New Yorker cartoon, Tom Gauld outlines “The Four Undramatic Plot Structures”: 1. “The hero is confronted by an antagonistic force and ignores it until it goes away.” 2. “The protagonist is accused of wrongdoing, but it’s not a big thing and soon gets sorted out.” 3. “The heroine is faced with a problem but it’s really difficult so she gives up.” 4. “A man wants something. Later, he’s not so sure. By suppertime he’s forgotten all about it.” In my astrological opinion, Gemini, you should dynamically avoid all four of those fates. Now is a time for you to take brave, forceful action as you create dramatic plot twists that serve your big dreams.
In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest. It took them seven weeks to climb the 29,029-foot peak. In 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh got into a bathyscaphe and sailed to the lowest point on the planet, the Mariana Trench at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It took them four hours and 47 minutes to go down 36,070 feet. Based on my analysis of your astrological omens, I think the operative metaphor for you in the coming weeks should be the deep descent, not the steep ascent. It’s time to explore and hang out in the depths rather than the heights.
“To be happy is to be able to become aware of oneself without fright,” said heavyweight German philosopher Walter Benjamin, a fellow Cancerian. I am happy to report that there’s a good chance you will soon be blessed with an extraordinary measure of this worryfree self-awareness. And when you do – when you are basking in an expanded self-knowledge infused with self-love and self-appreciation – some of your chronic fear will drop away, and you will have at your disposal a very useful variety of happiness.
The African country of Ivory Coast has two different capital cities. Yamoussoukro is the official capital, while Abidjan is the actual capital, where the main governmental action takes place. I suspect there’s a comparable split in your personal realm, Capricorn: a case of mixed dominance. Maybe that’s a good thing; maybe it allows for a balance of power between competing interests. Or perhaps it’s a bit confusing, causing a split in your attention that hampers you from expressing a unified purpose. Now would be a favorable time to think about how well the division is working for you, and to tinker with it if necessary.
“As you get older, the heart sheds its leaves like a tree,” said French novelist Gustave Flaubert. “You cannot hold out against certain winds. Each day tears away a few more leaves; and then there are the storms that break off several branches at one go. And while nature’s greenery grows back again in the spring, that of the heart never grows back.” Do you agree with Flaubert, Leo? I don’t. I say that you can live with such resilient innocence that your heart’s leaves grow back after a big wind, and become ever-more lush and hardy as you age. You can send down such deep, strong roots and stretch your branches toward the sun with such vigor that your heart always has access to the replenishment it needs to flourish. The coming weeks will provide evidence that what I say is true.
I’ve gone on three book tours and done my spokenword show in scores of bookstores. But one of my favorite author events took place at the Avenue C Laundromat in New York City’s East Village. There I performed with two other writers as part of the “Dirty Laundry: Loads of Prose” reading series. It was a boisterous event. All of us authors were extra loose and goofy, and the audience offered a lot of funny, good-nature heckling. The unusual location freed everyone up to have maximum amusement. I see the coming weeks as a time when you, too, might thrive by doing what you do best in seemingly out-of-context situations. If you’re not outright invited to do so, I suggest you invite yourself.
“I will not wait to love as best as I can,” says writer Dave Eggers. “We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.” That’s your keynote for the coming weeks, Virgo. That’s your wake-up call and the rose-scented note under your pillow and the message scrawled in lipstick on your bathroom mirror. If there is any part of you that believes love will be better or fuller or more perfect in the future, tell that part of you to shut up and embrace this tender command: Now is the time to love with all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor of California in 2003, the state had the eighth largest economy in the world, right behind Italy and just ahead of Brazil. Schwarzenegger had never before held political office. When Cambodian doctor Haing Nor performed in the film The Killing Fields, for which he ultimately won an Oscar, he had no training as an actor. He was a novice. Will you try to follow in their footsteps, Pisces? Is it possible you could take on a role for which you have no preparation or seasoning? According to my divinations, the answer is yes. But is it a good idea? That’s a more complex issue. Trust your gut.
Kim Gordon’s lessons in love lost Sex with Mish Way
@MyszkaWay At 20-years-old I made my second trip out to NewYork City. After five days crashing on my friend’s couch, I took the bus to Montclair, New Jersey to visit my favorite aunt, her husband and their two kids.They had recently moved from England to Jersey for my uncle’s high power job. My uncle spent long days in the city working but was always there as a father. He worked in the music industry and we shared the same taste in bands.We could always talk music, plus he was smart and easy to be around. He was the perfect juxtaposition to my aunt who was always making jokes, teasing and talking about her travels. My aunt was a school teacher who had spent her 20s teaching children in Africa.That’s where she met her husband when she was hitch-hiking in the 1970’s. On the second night into the Montclair trip I was laying in the spare bedroom they had set up for me and reading. It was 11pm. My aunt suddenly came bursting into my room in her night gown. She buried herself into the blankets beside me. She was sobbing. I had never seen her cry before. “He’s going to leave us,” she choked out. “Everything is fucked up.” My aunt had always been so strong. Everything in her life and marriage appeared perfect to me. I did not know what to say. I was going through my first real break-up at the time, and suddenly my heartbreak seemed minuscule compared to the potential of her losing her husband of more than 20 years. I let her cry and just listened. She waved her hand over to the bookshelf which was cluttered with family photo albums. An entire wall of their history. “Might as well just burn them,” she said. “It’s all going to be gone anyways.” Her boys, my cousins, were young then. But still old enough to understand when the divorce
finally happened.When it did a year later, it was devastating. I bring this up, because I recently finished reading Kim Gordon’s memoir Girl In A Band. Gordon is best known as the bassist for SonicYouth, a noise rock band she started in 1981 with her husband Thurston Moore. Gordon emerged from the NewYork art scene, made a name for herself as the iconoclastic, stoic Mother of Cool who did everything from co-designing her own clothing label X-Girl, producing Hole’s debut album Pretty On The Inside and publishing books of her art. Gordon and Moore were the “it” couple of rock. In my 20s, I looked up to them as this impossibly perfect union of creativity, business and true love. In 2011, the gossip swirled that Moore had cheated on Gordon. Fans were curious.Were mom and dad done? A few years later, they announced their divorce (and the end of Sonic Youth), then both started to open up in interviews about the end of their relationship. It was real. “The couple everyone believed was golden and normal and eternally intact,” Gordon wrote in Girl In A Band, “who gave younger musicians the hope they could outlast a crazy rock-’n’-roll world, was now just another cliche of middle-aged relationship failure – a male midlife crisis, another woman, a double life.” Though the book chronicles Gordon’s entire life from growing up in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Toronto and settling in NewYork, the last part of the book addresses what conspired between her and Moore. A story fans all wanted to hear, even if they would not admit it (human beings are gossip-hungry creatures pretending we have too much tact to care). After 30 years being a band, 27 years of marriage and 17 years of raising a child, they split. Moore had an affair with a publisher who first took an interest in courting Gordon to edit a book on mix tapes but she declined working with her. After finding some texts on his phone, the couple tried to fix it with counseling, but Moore kept lying and secretly seeing the other woman. Although Gordon could have thrown her
ex-husband and his new girlfriend under the bus tastelessly, she did not. She spoke about him with grace and little distain or envy for his mistress. I heard Moore is mad about the book. I know that divorce happens. It happens more than people stay together. However, there is something wrenching about couples splitting up after decades together. After an entire lifetime, one person decides they can’t do it anymore.That they do not want any of it. I never thought about these things until I found the person I decided to spend my life with. I admired the strength of my aunt, picking up the pieces of her life after they had been shattered, and Gordon who had to deal with the loss of her band and husband under the prying eyes of the public. The rejected move on because they have to. We are expected to handle the loss of a relationship with grace. It’s really hard to take the high road when you are so emotionally bruised that all you want to do is scream at your ex, attack the person who meddled in your marriage and then, drink yourself into a grave. Being self-aware, calm and together when your world has become chaos is some next-level zen shit that most of us can barely muster. Swans are monogamous birds who develop relationships that can last years, sometimes for their entire lives. But swans mate for survival, not romance.They are birds, after all, so things like migrating, territory, incubation and reproduction take president over the human concept of love. Humans like to believe we mate for love, but we are just as basic as the swans on so many levels. But swans don’t have to worry about the aftermath of loss the way we do.They don’t have to say, “I’m fine”, and remember to be graceful in public.They don’t have to bite their tongues.They don’t have to sit in a cold conference room while a divorce lawyer mediates an agreement for once-shared assets. They don’t have to feel the feelings and face everyone else’s curiosity and pity.The rejected are strong because they have to be. W
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Spring Break Cooking Camp! Kids in the Kitchen With Project Chef March 9 to 13 | for Kids Aged 8 to 14 / Choices Annex | 604-736-0009 This spring break, keep your kids busy in the kitchen at an interactive cooking camp run by Project CHEF (Cook Healthy Edible Food). It’s the chance for your young ones to learn about healthy food: where it comes from, what it tastes like, how to prepare it and how to enjoy sharing it around a table. The chefs at Project CHEF work to reconnect children with the food they eat, helping them discover the process of and pleasure in cooking and sharing food together. Camp runs March 9 – 13, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm. Cost is $325 plus GST. Fee includes instruction, lunch and snacks and recipe book. To register and prepay for this spring camp, visit choicesmarkets.com or call the number listed above. To learn more about Project CHEF visit projectchef.ca. Proceeds from this camp will benefit Project CHEF.
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