Archive for April, 2011

Just kidding. Science World is actually undergoing some seriously amazing renovations right now which we’ll report on once they’re finished. We actually reported about them long before they started, did you go to those meetings when they were asking for feedback and opinions on their plans?

Without EXPO 86, Science World would never have existed! Join us next Friday when we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the World’s Fair that brought this icon of Vancouver to us at the Expo 86 25th Anniversary Lookback Party! Tickets and all of the info can be found HERE. And I will be sharing my small treasure trove of Expo 86 collectibles (and asking you to send in photos of yours) in the week leading up!

This series had its genesis when I began photographing Vancouver area location shoots last summer to get over a long post-Olympics funk. Film and TV productions like This Means War, Mission Impossible 4, Fringe and the new AMC series The Killing showcase our city in similar fashion and sometimes put a celebrity actor or two in the frame.

Popular romantic-vampire movie franchise The Twilight Saga is famous for a certain kind of hysterical fandom known as Twi-hards. During the ten weeks that Breaking Dawn, Parts 1 and 2, have been filming in the Vancouver area, I did encounter some unbalanced Twi-hards on Twitter but never heard of them disrupting production here. It would be too difficult.

Director Bill Conroy, producers and crew know how to foil fans and paparazzi from photographing and spoiling any scenes of the long-awaited union of teenage vampire Edward Cullen and his human beloved Bella Swan, played by real-life couple Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart (Robsten). Earlier this month, huge white tarpaulins covered the backyard of the Cullen house set near Squamish, where the wedding scenes were filmed, to prevent spoilers from aerial shots. And roadblocks and armed police (including RCMP) surrounded the set to prevent spoilers from the ground. Some joked that security for this fictional wedding rivalled that of the Royal Wedding in London tomorrow.

I steered clear of Breaking Dawn location shoots until a week ago Monday when the second unit set up in Stanley Park on the interior road between the Vancouver Aquarium and Brockton Oval  to film Kristen Stewart as newly-made vampire Bella doing fast vampire-running stunts on a greenscreen treadmill towed by a camera truck. When I arrived near the aquarium, set containment crew had already erected a huge black screen at that end of the closed road but I did manage to take a few photos from Brockton Oval of the treadmill before set containment crew started putting up several 12×12 black screens at that end. As I was walking away across a football field, a containment worker with a big black umbrella came out to discourage me from taking any more photos, even of set containment units.

So you can imagine how security tightened close to Kristen Stewart’s afternoon call time. A dozen containment workers started patrolling the woods on either side of the closed road to prevent papparazzi and fans from photographing Stewart as Bella.  One speedy pap — Justin King — did manage to evade them long enough to photograph Stewart from behind running on the treadmill (plus Bella’s never-seen-before wedding ring) before being chased out. And back at Brockton Oval, crew allowed some fans, including Christine Kilpatrick (@OLTV who offers On Location tours of Twilight sights) to watch Stewart running in her blue vampire dress on the treadmill shielded by a containment unit worker with an umbrella, as long as they kept their cameras in their pockets. I cannot stress how unprecedented this was to get to see cast at work.

Before any of the cast arrived in Vancouver in late February (Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart flew in by private jet and would have gone unpapped if they hadn’t had to go through customs where several photographers waited), it seemed there would be opportunities to see some …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

From May 6th to 15th, 2011 the DOXA Film Festival returns to our city (it never left! It’s a Vancouver-based festival) and Vancouver Is Awesome Inc is very proud to be a community partner for three nights of films which we’ll be spotlighting in the coming days!

In case you’re not familiar, DOXA is a fantastic, long running festival that showcases independent and innovative documentaries. Check out the DOXA web site for the full schedule and to purchase tickets and if you’re interested you can peruse the release below to learn about the films in this year’s festival that have a Vancouver slant to them.

The official word:

DOXA Shines a Spotlight on Vancouver
Vancouver, BC — In honour of the City’s 125th Anniversary, DOXA is very proud to present a special Spotlight on Vancouver comprised of a number of different programs including a mini-retrospective on Allan King, a First Nations Films and Filmmakers collection, a number of new films about the city, as well as some of the earliest images of the city ever committed to magic lantern slide. Together, these films and images create a kaleidoscopic portrait of this place we call home.

Curated by Graham Peat, A City’s Image reveals how differently we viewed our city as recently as 50 years ago. A picture postcard, Vancouver beckons the viewer to explore its multitude of pleasures, contrasting with more intimate stories of the city as it grows and abandons the old in Vancouver Honeymoon, The Outcast, West End ‘66 and Swingspan. Together, these films create an affectionate portrait of a city that once was.

Curated by Doreen Manuel, First Nations Films and Filmmakers depicts the struggles and triumphs of First Nations people through a collection of short films including Lisa Jackson’s The Visit, Cody, David Martin’s The Gathering, Kamala Todd’s Indigenous City and Our City Our Voices: Follow the Eagle, Kelvin Redvers’ The Making of a Haida Totem Pole, Beric Manywounds’ In The Name of North Star Woman, My Mother and Jenn Strom’s 12 Takes: Roy Henry Vickers.

Before Allan King became one the masters of Canadian documentary, he worked as …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

THE OPENING is all about introducing the fascinating, quirky and wonderful people working in and around the visual arts in Vancouver. Each week, we’ll feature an artist, collective, curator or administrator to delve deep into who and what makes art happen!

Black Field

Andrew Dadson (b. 1980) uses paint to explore the limits of physical and emotional boundaries, and just how far we’ll go to hide them. Using a wide array of materials, from lawns to Iraqi voter ink, his work finds these boundaries and stretches their definitions.

Clockwise l-r: Black Lawn, Black Bush, Black Yard, White Corner

In his lawn paintings, Dadson is visualizing the neighbourly border by filling in the space delineated by the border itself. Using water-based paint and a roller, he attempts to cover a square space in either black or white. Often this is in a residential context – from the lawns of places he has rented to the home of his parents. This has upset roommates and parents alike, even resulting in one roommate tearing a painted lawn up in a fit of annoyance. But more recently he was asked to paint the lawn at the Seattle Art Museum sculpture park. For him, the meaning …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

I had the pleasure of attending a press conference being held by Car2Go in the Salt building at the Olympic Village yesterday. On hand were Mayor Gregor, city councillor Andrea Reimer, parks board commissioner Sarah Blyth, Car2go Canada president and CEO Nicholas Cole, some other folks from both Daimler and Car2Go plus a bunch of local and international media.

Mayor Gregor and Han Tjan, Daimler’s head of corporate communications for North America

In a nutshell, Car2Go is a car-share service that currently operates free floating/on-demand fleets of smart cars in a few cities around the world. Vancouver is the first Canadian city they’re launching in and they’ve decided to base their national office here! They’re coming out of the gate with 225 cars in our city in June and up until the launch they’re waiving the $35 registration fee! Over the next 12 months they’ll also be donating $2 from every member’s annual fee (the annual fee is $2 plus tax) to Canuck Place. I’ve never been super good at math but you need not be a whiz to figure out that that’s a really good deal for everybody, especially the kids who benefit from the work of Canuck Place.

Below is the view from behind the wheel! As I mentioned, their service launches in June but we’ve partnered with Car2Go to showcase a bunch of the most awesome features of this new service. So stay tuned in the coming weeks as we familiarize you with the next big thing in transportation in our city! For now have a look around their WEB SITE and sign up for that free membership while it lasts!

Vancouver Is Awesome is proud to announce that we’ve partnered with the Vancouver Folk Music Festival as a media sponsor for this year’s festival taking place on July 15th, 16th and 17th in Jericho Beach Park!

And today is the big day: the unveiling of the lineup! This year’s roster of artists again promises to deliver what the VFMF is known for at home and internationally: exciting new voices, a range and diversity of amazing global music, hot names along with music that spans the spectrum from ancient traditions to the cutting-edge of 21st Century roots music fusions. Below are this year’s groups and artists in alphabetical order:

C.R. Avery (BC) www.cravery.com
Beats Antique (CA) www.beatsantique.com
Dustin Bentall Outfit featuring Kendel Carson (BC)
Dan Bern (CA) www.danbern.com
Elliott BROOD (ON) www.elliottbrood.ca
Jim Bryson and the Weakerthans Band (ON/MB) www.jimbryson.org
Buck 65 (NS) www.buck65.com
The Burning Hell (ON) www.wearetheburninghell.com
Kathryn Calder (BC) www.kathryncalder.ca
Rosanne Cash (NY) www.rosannecash.com
James Cotton Superharp (MI) www.jamescottonsuperharp.com
Samantha Crain (OK) www.samanthacrain.com
Dardanelles (NL) www.alphayayadiallo.com
Digging Roots (ON) www.diggingrootsmusic.com
The Duhks (MB) www.theduhks.com
Justin Townes Earle (NY) www.justintownesearle.com
Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble (MD) www.footworks.org
The Fugitives (BC) www.fugitives.ca
Dick Gaughan, Dave Swarbrick & Jason Wilson (ON/UK/Scotland) www.dickgaughan.co.uk / www.folkicons.co.uk/swarb.htm / www.jasonwilsonmusic.com
Mary Gauthier (TN) www.marygauthier.com
Graveyard Train (AU)
The Hawaiian Legends (HI)
Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks (CA) www.danhicks.net
Imaginary Cities (MB) www.imaginarycities.ca
Emmanuel Jal (Sudan/UK) http://emmanueljal.com
The Jayhawks (MN) www.jayhawksofficial.com
Diana Jones (TN) www.dianajonesmusic.com
Cassius Khan (BC) …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

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

Wow, what a game. I was stuck in a downtown classroom until 8:30 last night, and then rushed to a friend’s place in East Van to watch the rest of the game – and despite running a half a kilometer from the bus stop to their door, I arrived mere seconds after Alex Burrow’s missed penalty shot early in the third period. It was only this morning that I had even heard about the Double Rainbow that appeared over the city just around puck drop yesterday. Twitter was absolutely exploding with the Double Rainbow and how it was a good omen for the Canucks as they faced the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Seven.

But hearing about a rainbow and actually seeing it are two completely different things, and once I saw Travis Nicholson‘s photograph in the pool today, I knew it was more than fate. I wept openly, and asked aloud what it all means (actually I didn’t do either, but I never let the facts get in the way of a good story). So I am pleased to share with you today Travis’ photograph titled Stitched pano of the CANUCKS DOUBLE RAINBOW, taken from my balcony. Considering this photo appears to have been taken near East Broadway and St. Catherines Street, that would put one pot of gold at around 1st and Renfrew and the other one at approximately Victoria and Kingsway.

So bring on the Nashville Predators, Shane O’Brien and Mr. Carrie Underwood. And thank you Travis for contributing to the Flickr Pool.

Gary