Archive for November, 2010

For 12 hours on a cold and rainy September Sunday, 60 resilient photographers braved the elements to capture their interpretations of 12 randomly drawn themes with only 12 exposures of 35mm film. The rolls have been developed and judged and in Part 9 of 16 presenting the results of the 2nd annual 12×12 Vancouver Photo Marathon is Marathoner #06’s winning photo for Theme #05: Ultimate.

“The image is well shot, and really speaks about companionship and the need for connection,” said 12×12 judges Adam & Kev of Masumi Kikuchi’s interpretation of Ultimate. “In a time when people now have more digital friends than real ones, we found this one to be grounding – a bit of a reminder that your Facebook status isn’t the most important thing in life.” “Doesn’t everyone want a puppy and a big rock?” added fellow 12×12 judge Erin Cebula.
To see the rest of Masumi Kikuchi’s photo series, click HERE.
The annual 12×12 Vancouver Photo Marathon is a not-for-profit community-building initiative that celebrates the art of film photography. For more information, visit www.VancouverPhotoMarathon.com

THE PASTE UP WEEKLY is an extension of our monthly events listings. We know that there are a lot of awesome events, happenings and goings on in Vancouver and we wanted to feature some of the best and most unique events for the upcoming week. This month’s full event listings can be found here.

The Tattoo Project: Body , Art, Image

Where & when: November 26th – 28th @ Performance Works, Granville Island, 7PM – 11PM

Cost: Free Admission.

Why you should go: The first of its kind, THE TATTOO PROJECT, is the result of 3 days of shooting with 12 photographers and 100 tattooed models. This experimental exhibition and final scene of the highly?anticipated documentary film, THE TATTOO PROJECT, promises to bring out the city’s most outspoken members of the subcultural art community. Already confirmed are longtime editor of Skin&Ink Magazine, Bob Baxter, the godfather of modern American tattooing, Lyle Tuttle, and performances by Melody Mangler and the Screaming Chicken Burlesque Revue.

Cool extras:  Opening reception November 26th.  Art available for purchase and proceeds from the sale of a special Tattoo Project Calendar go to support DTES Vancouver’s Ray-Cam Community Centre.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

$60 Worth of Edible Goodness from Edible Gardens!

Edible Gardens will be on hand at the upcoming One of a Kind Show and Sale, December 9-12 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Read more about Edible Gardens HERE.

It all started with a vision and a weathered red mailbox for the husband and wife team behind Edible Gardens, Leigh and Michael. Leigh always had a passion for organic gardening, and at her small South Surrey community plot by the sea the company began almost 14 years ago. Growing specialty herbs and edible flowers, Leigh discovered innovative infusions in both oils and vinegars that eventually garnered a blue ribbon and resulted in orders being left in the red mailbox that graced her garden gate…

The distinctive fruits and delectable flavors from savory balsamics like Roasted Garlic and Ginger-Fig to sweet Apricot Chipotle or Honey Balsamic are unique and delicious. This year they launched a new line of Balsamic Reductions: Classic is thick, rich and dark with the sweet overtones of mission figs; Fig and Fire has a sweet heat kick from habanero peppers that delivers a punch. Both are exquisite as dressing for salads, mixed with oil for dipping breads, as a glaze for grilled veggies or simply as a satiny finish for ice cream. “We strive to develop unique innovative packaging to go with the distinctive and creative flavors”, says Michael. “It’s about being ultra-premium inside and out”.

You can check out their full line of delectable products at booth C50 in the Flavours Section at the One of a Kind Sale and pick up some goodies for yourself.

Or you could win an amazing holiday gift pack by entering our giveaway… …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Oprah is everywhere. Including Chapters on Robson.

Bob enjoys his brew all festive-like, with ye olde Egg Nog.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince you to get your paws on Vancouver’s own Ethical Bean, then perhaps the seal of approval from Oprah will.

Ethical Bean coffee is featured as a “Favourite Thing” in this month’s O Magazine, which is actually a really huge thing. They are the only coffee company and the only Canadian company to be included in this influential edition, which is awesome!

What the heck is a “slug” of coffee?

Earlier this year, the Vancouver staple became one of the first Canadian companies to include emarks on an item you can purchase in a grocery store, thus allowing you to actually track the history of your beans – including where they were grown and who picked them. Ethical Bean is “committed to quality, fairness, and transparency” in addition to supporting local and international NGOs like compassionfruit.org and child-aid.org and even … Vancouver is Awesome!

Go HERE to read more about our donor drive and how you might be able to win your own year’s supply of Ethical Bean!

The scene at the awards reception inside Club 560.

Last week Bob posted about V.I.A. friend Kaitlin Fontana (profiled in Tragedy Plus Time, which you can read HERE) being honoured with a Mayor’s Arts Award.

Kaitlin was recognized as an emerging artist in the Literary Arts category by none other than Evelyn Lau, one of Vancouver’s most important and recognizable scribes.

Kaitlin had everyone chuckling over her comments about Mayor Gregor‘s foray into the Movember ring.

Congratulations to Kaitlin and all the winners for their many achievements and their valuable contributions to Vancity’s rich and varied cultural life. You’re awesome and we thank you!

Kaitlin Fontana, Evelyn Lau.

Every day we share a single photo from our Flickr Pool shot by one of our faithful and talented readers (that’s you!).

PiscesDreamer is always putting good shots in the pool and today is no exception. Break Time has a really great feel to it. Thanks.

If you enjoy the content of VancouverIsAwesome.com please consider making a donation to keep it going. A lot of really good people donate a lot of time to keep showing the positive side of this great city. Plus, you could win all kinds of great prizes. I like the look of that Arc’Teryx jacket!

Also I’m happy to announce the winner of the Flickn Best photo contest! Morisawa81 just edged out some other great contenders. His shot will now appear in print in the VancouverIsAwesome/Discorder collab this December. Congratulations!

Dano

Shaun Huberts is a Vancouver-based musician who is currently the bassist for Tegan and Sara. I recently met him at the Creativemix conference where he told me all about this great new book he’s working on called How To Pack Like A Rock Star, and I couldn’t not share with you. Below are a couple never-before-seen images from the book that Shaun was kind enough to let us release, as well as an intro to the project, written by him. We’ll remind you when the book is about to come out and until then…

Words and photos by Shaun Huberts

Am I seriously writing a book about packing a suitcase? YES, but that’s only the half of it…

The main idea behind the book How To Pack Like A Rock Star is to show and teach a new way to pack your bags for travel, BUT the best way to describe it is “a photo-driven, nerdy-cool, how-to book, full of groundbreaking suitcase packing ideas from over 30 different musicians world-wide!” In short, I’ve shared my specific packing method with various touring musicians around the world and have asked them to share their thoughts and comments on whether they agree with me or not. It’s a combination of my patent pending packing methods (just kidding, i couldn’t patent it, but I tried…), supplemented with an assortment of advice from the real packing professionals of the world, Rock Stars. And while everything comes from a traveling musician’s perspective, it’s all just as easily useful to anyone interested in travel, or a behind the scenes look at real life within the music biz.

How to Pack Like A Rock Star is a book that’s meant to be enjoyed; It’s meant to be fun; full of great stories, great photos and even dare I say educational? It really will be a book unlike anything out there. Whether or not you will ever care about packing a suitcase more efficiently, the amount of amazing musicians involved in the project and what they have to say is sure to entertain you! I can’t quite tell you who is all in the book at this point but I can say that there are over dozen unique and never before seen photos of some world class musicians shot specifically for this book in conjunction with comments from many other well known bands and artists. To give you a better idea of what to expect, here is a shot of Tegan and Sara with a suitcase explosion on them…

This is how I pack for tour, but how does your favorite musician do it? Stay tuned to find out…
www.howtopacklikearockstar.com

UBC Botanical Garden is Canada’s oldest continuously operating university botanical garden. The original mission of the garden was research into the native flora of British Columbia. Over the past nine decades, our mission has broadened to include research, conservation, teaching and public display of temperate plants from around the world, particularly Asian, alpine and native plants. We’re also home to the Greenheart Canopy Walkway. Come visit us – we’re located at 6804 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC. You can find more info at ubcbotanicalgarden.org

Maple Collection rated 2nd in conservation importance worldwide

Of the 200 or so taxa of maples (Acer spp.) and close relatives known worldwide, over 10% (26) are considered endangered or critically endangered. In a recent assessment by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the collection of maples curated by the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research was ranked number 2 in conservation importance worldwide in public gardens, second only to Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum.

Although maples are a common sight in Canada, many species in China and Japan are under threat. Due to UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research’s strong relationships with its Asian counterparts and their scientists, the Garden has been able to procure a number of these valuable species through partnered expeditions for wild-collected seed. Vancouver’s mild maritime climate and the horticultural expertise of the Botanical Garden researchers and staff have proven an exceptional combination in growing these maples for conservation and research. For links to more information click HERE.

Feature garden: BC Native Garden

The BC Native Garden is one of the longest established features of the Botanical Garden. Most of the plants in this garden are native to the immediate vicinity—the Maritime southwest of BC—and these plants are located in a diversity of habitats. The pond at the lower end of the garden displays a huge variety of aquatic and marginal plants, including many, often aromatic, bog species. This area is also known for its assorted populations of birds, amphibians and insects, many of which can be seen going about their activities in or near the water. In the autumn, colourful berries, as well as seed-rich dry fruits are abundant in the Native Garden, and foraging birds are a constant feature now. The Native Garden is filled with subtle colours and aromas, as well as the objects of avian attention, and the birds themselves, so make sure to have a look the next time you’re here.

Click HERE to visit on online photo gallery that our workstudy student Alivia Prattas took on a recent walk through this area of the garden.

The garden has some great courses and lectures coming up like THIS ONE about how plants inspire technology and THIS ONE we featured on DiYVR about wreath making.