Archive for November, 2011

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

Continuing a little from the theme established in yesterday’s post, here is another photograph taken in the dead of night – or perhaps just before dinner time. Something that has always fascinated me about night photography is what photographers are willing to wait in the dark for just to see how it looks photographed, and sometimes you can’t really be sure until you see the end result.

Mark Marilla shares some tasty and minimal night photo action with us tonight – and by the title I gather that this was taken with medium-format film, denying the photographer the convenience of the instant feedback one gets with a digital camera. Big props for that in my books however – but I’m just a medium-format film kind of guy. Here is mfscan015

Gary

I recently read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneurs equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I get the idea, 50 coffees is far easier than practicing something for ten years, and while I’m far from lazy I’ve decided to set out on a fairly simple mission: over the next 50 weeks I’m going to invite 50 interesting Vancouverites, most of whom I have never met before, to go for coffee. I’m going to use this as an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also using it as a platform to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #11 Name: Meriko Kubota Occupation: Manager of Partnerships & Public Engagement Beverage: Green tea

Meet Meriko Kubota. Manager of Partnerships & Public Engagement at the Vancouver Foundation, a non-profit organization that distributes over $40 million each year across BC. Established in 1943, essentially what they do is work with the public to help get philanthropic donations into all types of charities in the community. Meriko manages a number of the programs that they do, including the Neighbourhood Small Grants Program, the Generation Green Awards (of which I was on the Public Engagement Committee for), the DTES Small Arts Grants program, Enterprising Non Profits and other arts and culture grants for charities across the province. She’s the first of these 50 Coffees I’m taking you on where I actually knew the person before hitting them up for a meeting, and I am proud to introduce her as my friend.

We sat down at the JJ Bean at Woodwards and to be perfectly honest I don’t remember much of the work stuff we talked about but I do remember her telling me that her and her dude (also a friend of mine) recently got a canoe and that when it’s not out on the water they store it in the parking stall where she used to park her scooter. Those are my kind of Vancouverites right there.

You might not have known it but you’ve already seen the fruits of her labour in your community. Being aware of them I see them all the time and I look forward to seeing more in the future. Now you can too.

Not much for the limelight, Meriko enjoys being shrouded behind the green tea

It is our PLEASURE to announce the latest collaboration to happen in the wonderful world of Vancouver’s indie music scene….

Sing It Forward – An Evening of Acoustic Performances presented by 100.5 The Peak, Hootsuite, The Vogue Theatre & us here at VancouverIsAwesome.com, and benefiting the St James Music Academy for kids.

This ALL AGES show is taking place on December 21st at the Vogue Theatre, it will feature tons of artists including:
Hey Ocean
The Zolas
Aidan Knight
Members of Said The Whale
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald
Vince Vaccaro
Adaline
David Vertesi
Rococode
The Belle Game
Aaron Nazrul
*Special Guests*

>>>TICKETS are $20 and GO ON SALE DECEMBER 1st at Zulu Records and The Vogue Box Office<<<

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! To get you psyched up for the show we will be releasing videos every Wednesday and Sunday leading up to the day of the event – showcasing some of the artists performing AND the incredibly talented kids of the St James Music Academy. And as always the videos are going to be shot by some our favourite videographers in the city…

FIRST UP is Zach Gray of The Zolas (and the SJMA) shot by our friends at Amazing Factory.

Check back Sunday for the next video and get your tickets ASAP!

A Vancouver time travelogue brought to you by Past Tense.

In April 1947 the price of a chocolate bar in Canada skyrocketed from a nickel to eight cents, apparently caused by a sharp increase in the price of cocoa beans. Kids in Chemainus on Vancouver Island were the first to raise a stink by picketing their local candy store. Ladysmith followed (pictured), and in no time at all the campaign spread across the country. Children in Fredericton reportedly pooled their resources and made huge batches of homemade fudge to get them through the crisis. In Victoria, kids managed to shut down the provincial government by storming the legislature over the issue, and in Burnaby, a bicycle parade was held that blocked traffic on Kingsway for two hours. Retailers complained that sales of candy bars plummeted by 80% almost overnight.

Just when the protest was at its height and victory seemed within reach, the thrill-kill Toronto Telegram published an editorial claiming the campaign was just another Communist conspiracy and that these kids were dupes of Moscow, as if affordable chocolate bars would signal the first stage of a proletarian revolution. “Communist youth organizers,” alleged the Telegram, “have been instructed to use every possible means of developing and encouraging the chocolate bar agitation.”

The intense anticommunism at the time meant that support for the protest withered almost instantly. In Vancouver for example, the 2500-member Sat-Teen Club withdrew its support under pressure from city officials, police, and the clergy, stating that “mob demonstrations and strikes are not consistent with the ideals of the club.”

Was it a Communist conspiracy? Norman Penner, the head of the National Federation of Labour Youth – the main coordinating body of the national campaign – was the son of a founding member of the Communist Party of Canada who went on to become a prominent Marxist historian of the Canadian left. But despite such associations, it’s unlikely anyone in Moscow influenced or even knew about the strike.

Source: Photo from the Vancouver Sun, 26 April 1947

Vancouver is home to a thriving fashion industry made up of individuals committed to its growth and success. Get to know these personalities in The Inseam and discover what makes the Vancouver Fashion scene so awesome.

Photo: courtesy Tiffany May

According to Lindsay Walsh, clothing has the power to change one’s character. It is fitting then, that she chose to name her collection Standing Armed. Although it has only been in business for a year and a half, the label has made waves in the local fashion scene for its classic, easy and feminine appeal.

I meet Lindsay in her charming Gastown studio, where we chat about her beginnings, her travels and her latest collection.

Valerie Tiu: Can you tell us a bit about your background?

Lindsay Walsh: I’m originally from Vancouver, but I went to design school in Toronto. I graduated from Ryerson in 2005 and when I finished school, I was a little …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

It’s a new dog once a week! Click here to find out how to get your dog posted if you haven’t sent in your photos yet!

Today’s dog featured in Dogtown Vancouver is Lewis, Leanna C’s pup. Here’s what she had to say about him…

NAME: Lewis. BREED: Magical (Mix of Australian Cattle Dog, Lab and Beagle). HOOD: Vancouver. FAVOURITE SNACK: Cookies. OTHER INFO: Lewis is 2 years old and his nickname is Snoots. We think he is a breed all to his own. If you’re interested in adopting a pet, check out our Happy Tails feature. If you adopted your pet from the SPCA and would like to share your awesome story on Happy Tails, send an email to Rory.Blanchard@novusnow.ca.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Read All Over celebrates the bookworm in all of us, showcasing readers in Vancouver and the books they love most. Dennis E. Bolen is a novelist, editor, teacher and journalist, first published in 1975 (Canadian Fiction Magazine). In 1989 Mr. Bolen helped establish the international literary journal sub-TERRAIN, and served there as fiction editor for ten years. He has acted as a community editorial board member at The Vancouver Sun, sat on the boards of a literacy advocacy organization, a literary collective and a theatre company. He has written criticism, social commentary, arts advocacy and editorial opinion for numerous journals and newspapers in Canada.

Do you have a favorite story with Vancouver connections?

The Ravagers by Donald Hamilton. This is a slight, cheap and fast spy novel, part of the overlong-running Matt Helm series. It was released in 1964, I read it sometime around 1967. The story concerns Russian agents embedded in Canada; Matt Helm is sent to Vancouver to look into things, ends up on a cross-country road trip with a gun to his head. I was knocked out that a mainstream mass market paperback thriller could use Canadian locations; it inspired me to do Hamilton several better, by making the Canadian West Coast a full character of tightly-written, entertaining fictional stories.

The one book you always recommend is…

Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West – a singular example of how a book can be wildly extravagant in all aspects—description, character eccentricity, historical sweep, violence—and be as elegant a piece of writing as anything the greatest poet of the world could ever produce.

…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!)

A good friend of mine was lamenting on Facebook today how it couldn’t possibly be any darker outside until night-time officially arrived – and that was at 2 in the afternoon. But if you look on the bright side of things (no pun intended) and see the possibilities in low-light photography, you might end up with some lemonade from those lemons. Pouring rain? Can’t help you there – cameras just don’t deal well with water.

hougee saw some potential in a low-light situation recently at Lost Lagoon and shares with us the photograph you see below – from a slightly drier day. Ever the romantic, hougee’s camera titled it P1080541.

Gary