Browsing “Undrudgery Series”

Vancouver is arguably the most beautiful city in the world to live in. For most, the goal is simply to live IN it. We all have to work, and work hard to keep up with Our Lady of VanCity, but there are a select few who know the score. Why not live in the world’s most liveable city and hold down one of the raddest jobs she has to offer? We all know somebody who goes to work smiling. What are these jobs and how do people get them? More importantly, are they as awesome as they sound… VOL.7 HIGHLIGHTS: Bomb Girls, French 75 and a genuine use of Jeepers!

Contributed

Actress Jodi Balfour found herself wandering Gastown one night with friends, out of roles and decent coffee. So, alongside fellow South African siblings Jonathan (23) and Lee Snelgar (29), she opened Nelson the Seagull. The café at 315 Carrall Street was their answer to ‘Where do you get a perfect cup of coffee in this city?’ and also turned a popular saying on its head. In Balfour’s case, when one door opens, so does another. In addition to satiating Vancouverites with  fresh breads, baked goods, and a homey spot to sit down and unwind in 2011, Balfour, 24, balanced life as the star of Bomb Girls in the Global TV Second World War drama.

photo: Kate Brown; Gastown Blog

I stopped by the café after hours, assuming it would be Balfour and I sitting with a cup of tea in a darkened corner, watching the cobblestone streets glow in the rain. Imagine my surprise when I came upon a long table dinner, complete with raucous laughter and delicious aromas.

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Vancouver is arguably the most beautiful city in the world to live in. For most, the goal is simply to live IN it. We all have to work, and work hard to keep up with Our Lady of VanCity, but there are a select few who know the score. Why not live in the world’s most liveable city and hold down one of the raddest jobs she has to offer? We all know somebody who goes to work smiling. What are these jobs and how do people get them? More importantly, are they as awesome as they sound… VOL.6b HIGHLIGHTS: Maple syrup whiskey, sexism and cocktail sailing tours

photo: Kelsey Klassen

We’re back! Take a moment to get reacquainted with Danielle’s fascinating, encyclopedic knowledge of alcohol’s history and diverse uses from Part 1. When we left off, the bartender was explaining the inspiration behind her apothecary-style cocktail menu at the Keefer.

Photos: (L) Contributed, (R) Kelsey Klassen

What’s your favourite drink on the menu at the Keefer?

It’s so hard because it changes. They’re all so different and dependent on your mood. For me, talking about classic cocktails, generally if I’m going to sit down and have a drink it’s more a spirit forward cocktail. So my top 3 favourite drinks are the Martinez, the Sazerac, the Manhatten – these are all very spirit forward, they don’t have any juices. They’re all just spirits and bitters. In a more lighter mood something like a Hemingway daiquiri or the gimlet.

On the Keefer list though, one of my favourites is called the Bold Fashioned. Just a simple twist on an Old Fashioned. You take house-made bitters and coconut water syrup with bourbon, a little bar spoon of the syrup and three dashes of bitters stirred, and then a lemon twist.

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Vancouver is arguably the most beautiful and expensive city in the world to live in. For most, the goal is simply to live IN it. We all have to work, and work hard to keep up with Our Lady of VanCity, but there are a select few who know the score. Why not live in the world’s most liveable city and hold down one of the raddest jobs she has to offer? We all know somebody who goes to work smiling. What are these jobs and how do people get them? More importantly, are they as awesome as they sound… VOL.6a HIGHLIGHTS: Underage drinkMAKEing, homemade bitters and the world’s wealthiest bartender

Photo: Kelsey Klassen

The first thing you see when you enter Danielle Tatarin’s modern apartment is the booze. Bottles of hard alcohol line every surface of available counter, shelf, and window ledge the way people collect potted plants (if you happen to be legendary botanist John Bartram). The light from the tall windows trickles through the blinds, refracting off the intricate glass surfaces of the spirits, giving the room a soft grey glow, now identified as the colour of hangover…

Tatarin’s impressive collection, currently at about half its usual size, is not for personal use per se. The rare, high-proof and highball destroying diversity is a necessity in her line of work – which happens to be regularly reinventing the seasonal cocktail menu for her Chinatown bar, The Keefer; teaching classes on drink making and the history of spirits through Designer Cocktail; traveling the world in search of new distilleries to support; founding and presiding over the Canadian Professional Bartender’s Association; and winning contests like a boss. Yet she looks young enough to still be ID’d.

The interview was so interesting that I have divided it into two parts – The Story and the Questions.

Photos: (L) Contributed, (R) Kelsey Klassen

This is the biggest personal stash of alcohol I’ve ever seen!

It’s about half the size it was. My ex-boyfriend and I split it up, and then my old roommate drank a bunch of it. I have a bottle that is signed by Bill Samuels, the owner of Maker’s Mark, and I came home one day just as a girl was going to make a drink with it. I was like, “You have to leave right now.” Who opens a signed bottle? It had a wax seal I dipped myself. At least she didn’t get to pour [laughs]

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Vancouver is arguably the most beautiful and expensive city in the world to live in. For most, the goal is simply to live IN it. We all have to work, and work hard to keep up with Our Lady of VanCity, but there are a select few who know the score. Why not live in the world’s most liveable city and hold down one of the raddest jobs she has to offer? We all know somebody who goes to work smiling. What are these jobs and how do people get them? More importantly, are they as awesome as they sound… VOL.5 HIGHLIGHTS: 2010 Olympics, Rolling Stone Magazine & Gonzo Porn

Contributed

Award-winning travel writer and TV screenwriter, Rolling Stone contributeur and newsfeed humorist Ken Hegan was a given for this series. We first met through another writer friend, Dave Dormer (sorry Dave – you don’t get to travel for a living) and I was immediately intrigued by the Voice of Treason business card that was added to the top of my stack. A quick peek at his website revealed CTV, Discovery, W, The Comedy Network and CBC as a few of the television networks he’s contributed to. I don’t have a TV, so I can’t attest to his small screen skills, but his most recent gig as an MSN and National Post travel writer is a constant source of amusement (and jealousy) for his readers and has allowed his razor sharp sense of humor to shine. Effortlessly capturing the farcical nature of travel the way we’ve all experienced it, Hegan is one of the most entertaining writers I follow.

Hegan was also a writer on CTV’s Open Essay of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, a risky choice for the network, given he can apparently “kill people with a single glance” and has “tens and tens of fans.”

Contributed; centre: Dino Antonio

How did this writing thing happen?

When I was a teenager, my dream job was becoming a world-famous Rolling Stone journalist like Hunter S. Thompson. I loved his muscular writing style. At his best, he was lethally smart, sharp, and comedic. So I decided I really wanted to write comedic articles. I figured since I hadn’t gone to journalism school, I’d have to try five times as hard. That meant that I’d write a fresh fun article every couple of weeks. Then I’d polish it until it was so tight and funny, newspaper/magazine editors would have to say yes.

So I did it. I got up early or stayed late after work at my day job. For months and months, I kept writing fresh articles and faxing them to every newspaper in Vancouver and across Canada, like The Province, Sun, Globe and Mail, Vancouver magazine, and the Georgia Straight. I sent the same article everywhere. Soon the Sun started printing my stuff and the impact was immediate. My sarcastic style generated a lot of letters to the editor.

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Vancouver is arguably the most beautiful and expensive city in the world to live in. For most, the goal is simply to live IN it. We all have to work, and work hard to keep up with Our Lady of VanCity, but there are a select few who know the score. Why not live in the world’s most liveable city and hold down one of the raddest jobs she has to offer? We all know somebody who goes to work smiling. What are these jobs and how do people get them? More importantly, are they as awesome as they sound… VOL.4 HIGHLIGHTS: Secret supper clubs, winning and subliminal boobs.

photos: Kelsey Klassen

You know the guy who does that addictive Secret Mommy stuff you heard at the Biltmore a few weeks ago? How bout the owner of Ache Records, the experimental record label that boasts Death From Above and Hot Hot Heat releases, whose displays you’ve seen in Scratch Records, Zulu Records, Red Cat Records, Audiophile, Zoo Zhop and Dandelion Emporium. Do you remember staring at the designs for Said the Whale and thinking, ‘Oh that’s by the same guy whose art I saw on Main St. last night?’ (Obviously)

If I didn’t already know the well dressed gentleman waiting for me at the bar in Nuba, this week’s Undrudgery might not have existed. I would have never made the connection between the prolific Vancouver artist, musician, designer, illustrator and businessman if I hadn’t seen him in action myself. Andy Dixon. Now you know.

I sat down with Dixon and some 1516 to find out how all this happened.

photos: Kelsey Klassen

When did you start down this path?

It’s not that easy to trace back in those terms. I’ve been playing music since I was 12 in bands and stuff but that didn’t make any money until we started touring, and then it was just enough money to pay for that tour. But then I had to go back to high school so I didn’t really have to worry about it.

What was the band?

d.b.s. – kind of a kid punk band. When the band started gaining in popularity, one of the things we had to deal with was album art, t-shirts….I was the most artistically inclined. I was that quintessential kid that just drew all day and made comic books and shit so I was elected to do that and I started to really like that process of coming up with a visual representation of someone’s music.

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Vancouver is arguably the most beautiful and expensive city in the world to live in. For most, the goal is simply to live IN it. We all have to work, and work hard to keep up with Our Lady of VanCity, but there are a select few who know the score. Why not live in the world’s most liveable city and hold down one of the raddest jobs she has to offer? We all know somebody who goes to work smiling. What are these jobs and how do people get them? More importantly, are they as awesome as they sound… VOL.3 HIGHLIGHTS: Guerrilla knitting, Regretsy and the perfect gift

photo: Kelsey Klassen

The bright blue sign of the RIZE Pop-up space stands out starkly against the grey Vancouver sky – POPPING UP THIS MONTH: KOVE West Coast Knitwear. Having seen pop-up’s in cities around the world, I’m excited to see what my old friend from high school has chosen to do with hers. Nearing close, Kyla Leslie is chatting with a customer when I walk in, about whether kove knitwear could be unisex. Eyeing the piece the woman is holding (a thickly ribbed cowl made out of a light grey wool and acrylic yarn) I decide a man would look dead sexy wearing one of those.

Leslie has been busy since I last saw her. A self professed “corporate school drop-out, having a mid-life renaissance,” she has taken an age-old tradition passed down by the women in her family and blended it with a keen eye for west coast style to create the stunningly beautiful, and successful accessory line, kove. Since being listed as a featured seller on etsy, Christmas Giftlisted by the Vancouver Sun and featured by our own DIYVR to name a few, she has seen demand for her patterns soar.

photos: Kelsey Klassen

What’s the difference between crochet and knitting?

The tools. Materials you can use whatever, it’s just a different technique. With knitting, you always have your stitches on two hooks, crochet there’s one hook and you’re dealing with one stitch at a time. Crochet is easier than knitting to keep your tension. And it’s a bit more forgiving too. If you make a mistake you can go back to that spot.

All my stuff is crochet. I’m faster with it and like it better.

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Vancouver is arguably the most beautiful and expensive city in the world to live in. For most, the goal is simply to live IN it. We all have to work, and work hard to keep up with Our Lady of VanCity, but there are a select few who know the score. Why not live in the world’s most liveable city and hold down one of the raddest jobs she has to offer? We all know somebody who goes to work smiling. What are these jobs and how do people get them? More importantly, are they as awesome as they sound… VOL.2 HIGHLIGHTS: Marmot Basin, Battlestar Galactica and the floor of the Commodore (again)

photo: Christine McAvoy

Laurie Logan greets me for an afternoon patio at Chill Winston. By the time she walks from the sidewalk to the table she’s been recognized by a passerby and sidetracked over to talk.

Last time we saw each other, she was extroing BC band Redgy Blackout off stage toward a lights-and-camera rig and an interview for the 100.5 The Peak PEAK Performance Project concert series. I had left the Red Room with two bands still to play, all competing for the Jim Pattison sponsored $100.5K prize  and Logan had been right in the thick of the guitar smashing, mask and mustachioed, sweaty t-shirted, unavoidably delayed mix as a smiling veteran presence. Eyes scanning the industry-heavy crowd, her blonde hair stylishly short and not a lock out of place, she turned to me as I was making my exit, “Tired?”

“Mmmm,” I replied. “Have to work in the morning.”

“Ohhhh….. Yeah, this is gonna go for a while.”

photos: Kelsey Klassen

How did you get into being a radio host?

I graduated from Radio & Television Arts at NAIT in Edmonton in 99ish. But I haven’t been working in radio the entire time – I did some radio and then some TV.

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