July 2007 Archives
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So you think you can sing? | Vancouver Asian Film Festival Singer/Songwriter Challenge
William Hung wannabes need not apply...but if you have killer songwriting talent and a set of pipes that make angels cry, the VANCOUVER ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL SINGER/SONGWRITER CHALLENGE was made just for you.
Created by The Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) to highlight the talent of Asian singers/songwriters and bands (you don't have to be from Vancouver), the winner of this challenge "will have the opportunity to demonstrate their musical talents in front of a live audience and music industry professionals at the annual ARC 2 INTERTAINMENT'S Summer "Stripped" Benefit Charity Concert Series (www.strippedseries.com/2007)"
Check out some candidates on VAFFMusic YouTube group www.youtube.com/group/vaffmusic
YOUTUBE viewers will vote on their Top 3 favourite entries. Voting will end August 10, 2007. The Top 3 will be announced, and these participants must be able to travel to Vancouver (at their own expense) to meet with Arc2 Intertainment's event judges. The judges will determine the final winner who will be performing at this amazing event! (INFO HERE)
Posted by Tamiko | July 30, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Pride in the City! | Pride Parade and Queer Film Fest | Vancouver | August 5- 28
Vancouver's Pride Season is upon us and numerous upcoming events promise good queer fun for every community. The program represents the entire multi-ethnic, diverse GBLT community--from family-oriented fare to kink, and spans literary readings, dances, dinners, auctions, performances by women musicians (Chicks with Picks!), a First Nations Pride BBQ, amateur drag events, a kosher vegetarian dinner to welcome Shabbat, and much more.
That flagship (pun intended) event—the Pride Parade—marches forth on August 5th, but celebrations will continue well into August.
The 29th Annual Vancouver Pride Parade on Sunday, August 5, 2007 from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Parade route runs from Denman Street to Pacific and Beach Avenues, and on to Sunset Beach.
Parade Grand Marshals this year include hunky Olympic gold-medal swimmer Marky-Mark Tewksbury, a passionate advocate and supporter of special Olympians, sick children, people living with AIDS, and the values of inclusivity and openness. Tewksbury is a dedicated athlete, speaker, author, and gay activist... and he looks pretty good in a pair of Speedos.
See Vancouver Pride Society's Pride Calendar for more details and a complete listing of events.
Posted by nikki reimer | July 29, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Powell is a Howl | Powell Street Festival | Vancouver | Aug 4-5
With no end in sight to Vancouver's civic outdoor workers/garbage collectors strike, pockets of the city are becoming enveloped with an acrid air suggestive of overripe strawberries and cholera. But no matter, shows must go on and so it will for the 31st annual Powell Street Festival, which takes place Saturday, August 4th and Sunday, August 5th. The festival celebrates Japanese Canadian arts, culture and heritage dance, music, film and video, visual arts, martial arts, amateur sumo, crafts...and what everyone goes for--the fabulous food (takoyaki fight!). Events will be held at Oppenheimer Park, the Firehall Arts Centre and the Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall. Click HERE for event details.
And did you think the Powell Street Festival Society would stop at a street festival? Please. The Society has also partnered with the Pacific Cinematheque to present "Kibatsu Cinema," a celebration of the odd and the eccentric in Japanese pop culture and contemporary Japanese film. Films include the obscenely popular Linda Linda Linda and Roddy Bogawa's I Was Born, But... a personal and poetic documentary about the filmmaker's punk past. More on the films HERE.
Posted by Anu | July 27, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Proof that Bollywood has always been Cool and Hip | Jaan Pehechan Ho | Mohammed Rafi
Groooovy! Although the '60s song & dance number Jaan Pehechan Ho had a brief Renaissance in 2001 when it was profiled in the cult film Ghostworld, the surf-rock/bollywood flavoured hit must be continously celebrated over and over again for its sheer funkiness and infectious kitschy Hawaiian beats (Check it out HERE or go under the cut for the video).
Jaan Pehechan Ho (a Hindi phrase roughly meaning "We should get to know each other") was first featured in the opening sequence of the 1965 Bollywood film Gumnaan (a remake of Agatha Christie's And Then They Were None). The dance features singing by Bollywood legend Mohammed Rafi and hip-swaying dancing by Laxmi Chhaya. Ooh, dig the clothes! Enjoy!
(Source: www.mohdrafi.com by Meri Awaaz Suno).
Posted by Tamiko | July 27, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: Flashback
Daft Punk could be Playing at Your House!
The Mayor of Vancouver should do two things this week: sit down with outdoor city workers and try to come to a conclusion about the strike, and declare this week "City-wide Daft Punk Week"!
With the Makeout's "I heart Daft Punk" dance party happening at the Royal Unicorn Cabaret on Wednesday, those that are heading down to Seattle for the Daft Punk show this weekend will be even more psyched. For those of us who can't get away this weekend, be one of the lucky few in Vancouver to witness the worldwide premier of Daft Punk's Electroma this Saturday at midnight.
Daft Punk's Electroma, and party afterwards
Saturday, July 28th @ Midnight
111 E. Pender Street, Vancouver
For info on how to get your name on the guestlist, go to www.salbourg.com
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500 Years of Women in Western Art | morphing magic
(A bit "old" on the web circuit, but what the heck): When you don't have time to museum-hop across Europe, this mesmerizing morphing video of 500 Years of Women in Western Art (HERE or look under the cut) can hold you over in a pinch. Featuring works of art from the 12th century to the 1900s, the artists' include da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Albrecht Durer, Hans Holbein the Younger, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Rubens, El Greco, Manet, Ingres, Renoir, Gaugain, Matisse, Klimt, Dali, and Picasso...and many more.
To see full list of artists and the titles of their portraits of les belles femmes, check out the complete compilation at www.maysstuff.com.
The music? Johann Sebastian Bach's Suite No. 1, BWV 1007 In G Major- Sarabande, performed by Yo-Yo Ma.
Posted by Tamiko | July 25, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Zhang Ziyi's kisses cause quite a stir | insight into gossip in China
Fodder for gossip. Apparently, Miss Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon herself, ZHANG ZIYI, is dating a non-Chinese man, and it's causing quite a stir in China (Source: Zhang Ziyi's mixed relationship - 10 Mar 2007 - Dim Sum: British Chinese Community website here):
"...it was a big splash when the gorgeous Zhang Ziyi was spotted watching the NBA intimately with a mysterious Western man! They kissed in front of the cameras, in the front row of the VIP seats. This caused a huge wave of speculation. There were some early speculations of "who is the man?" Some said he is a C-list French actor, some said he is a young entrepreneur and neighbour of US president George Bush...but the latest reports indicate that he is actually the New York investment mogul Aviv Vivi Nevo--an Israeli, aged 41, and one of the richest man in New York."
It gets better...
"Men in China have started an online campaign about her betrayal of Chinese men. It is such a phenomenon that the whole page of www.sina.com.cn has a special collection of responses from the society, with more than a dozen of articles and debates of whether the relationship is genuine, or what the reason is that she has to throw herself to a foreign rich man --is it just for the fame in Hollywood? See http://ent.sina.com.cn" (in Mandarin).
Sometimes....people really need to just get off the computer and have a life...on that thought----peace out!
Posted by Tamiko | July 23, 2007 | Comments (2)Tags: Commentary, People
Cannaba it is | UN says Canadians use marijuana at 4 times the world average
British Columbia has a solid international reputation for being the 'Amsterdam of Canada' (come on, it's true), so it's not all that surprising The 2007 World Drug Report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says 16.8% of Canadians aged 15 to 64 smoked marijuana in 2006. The world's average? It's 3.8%...which means Canadians use marijuana at 4 times the world average, making Canada the leader of the industrialized world in cannabis consumption.
Canada ranks 5th in the world for marijuana use, behind Ghana, Zambia, and Papua New Guinea and Micronesia. This shouldn't come to a surprise for a country that has an official Marijuana Party, and where 'good bud' doesn't refer to 'good beer'...but always results in good times.
(Source: CBC - July 9, 2007 - Canada tokes at 4 times world average: UN ; & Media Awareness Project - Oh Cannaba! - 12 July 2007)
Posted by Tamiko | July 22, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: Commentary, Current Events, News
Mad TV's BOBBY LEE | Live August 3, 2007 | Vancouver
As Kenneth Park in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, Mad TV's BOBBY LEE stole the halfway show in spades. Funny brownies and boob squeeze notwithstanding. Hee.
Hilarious to the core (if you haven't watched Mad TV, then find yourself a copy of The Kims of Comedy), BOBBY LEE's coming to Vancouver to perform standup on Friday, August 3rd at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Vancouver.
BOBBY LEE with Paul Bae & Jeffrey Yu
Friday, August 3rd, 2007 | 8PM till 11PM
Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
A FULL BAR WILL BE AVAILABLE (ages 19+, 2 pieces of ID required) (TIX HERE)
Tags: People
Bridget Jones? She's got it easy | the "Brown" Bridget Singletons
(Source: Bridget Jones? She's got it easy by Yasmeen Khan @ BBC)
"For British [South] Asian females, who are facing a shrinking pool of eligible men, Bridget Jones had it easy. I can personally vouch that for every miserable, white Bridget Jones singleton out there, there is a brown Bridget having a worse time.
Many young British [South] Asian women, be they Muslim, Sikh or Hindu, are struggling to find a life partner. Alongside their white peers they have delayed marriage, putting education and careers first. Brown Bridgets, however, have more to moan about, working around religious and cultural limits leaves them with a small pond to fish in when it comes to finding their Mr Right.
'I'm independent and successful and it's daunting to think I might have to up sticks and move to another town to move in with my in-laws as soon as I'm married.' "
Posted by Tamiko | July 17, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: Commentary, Life
Nikon's Small World | world photomicrography | You Vote!
Think you have an eye for photography? Then pop over to the NIKON'S SMALL WORLD website to vote for your favorite image created through photomicrography. Photomicro-what? Nikon's Small World competition was founded in 1974 to recognize excellence in photography through the microscope (aka. photomicrography).
2007 marks the 32nd anniversary, with over 1,500 science-based images submitted from 63 countries. Small World is regarded as the leading forum for recognizing art, proficiency and photographic excellence. The photos were already evaluated on originality, informational content, technical proficiency, and visual impact by a panel of distinguished judges in May of this year.
Now it's your turn to vote for your favorite @ www.nikonsmallworld.com.
Posted by Tamiko | July 13, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Jamaica to Toronto | Tonight in Vancouver | July 12, 2007
There must be a connection between hot weather and good music. As the temperature stays up around 30 degrees in the Vancouver area, tonight at 9 p.m. The Yale will be smokin' with the soulful sounds of various notable Jamaican-Canadian artists.
Jamaica to Toronto is a collective of singers, songwriters and musicians who landed in Toronto from Jamaica and the West Indies in the mid-60's. Grounded in reggae, ska and rocksteady, these artists hit the studios and recorded 45's and LPs. Decades later, Matt Sullivan, owner of the Seattle record label Light in the Attic, as well as DJ/Journalist Kevin Howes rediscovered these forgotten artists and decided to reunite them on stage.
Jamaica to Toronto debuted at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre to a sold-out show last year. Their show tonight at The Yale will be the Western Canada premier. Presented by Vancouver Folk Fest, tickets can be purchased online at www.thefestival.bc.ca or at Zulu, Highlife and The Yale. So take your hot sweaty self down to The Yale early, 'cause this sort of musical line-up doesn't come around often. (INFO UNDER THE CUT)
Posted by Michelle D. | July 12, 2007 | Comments (1)Tags:
Andy Everson | contemporary Northwest Coast Art
The beautiful Comox Valley is home to the internationally-renowned Canadian artist ANDY EVERSON. His gorgeous works reflect his drive to uphold the traditions of both the K'omoks and Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations.
Self-taught, he began drawing Northwest Coast art at an early age, Andy's first serious attempt wasn't until 1990 when he started designing and painting chilkat-style blankets for use in potlatch dancing. From these early self-taught lessons, he has tried to follow in the footsteps of his Kwakiutl relatives in creating bold and unique representations that remain rooted in the age-old traditions of his ancestors.
The ability to create and print most of his own work has allowed Andy to explore and express his ancestral artwork in a number of contemporary ways. (Website @ www.andyeverson.com)
Posted by Tamiko | July 11, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: Aboriginal, People
Transformers | A Generation of Globalization | More than Meets the Eye
Toys are never just toys. They're embedded with all sorts of cultural references and subtle ideology. Most often, the marketing is so overwhelmingly seductive, there isn't time to consider whose culture is at the core of our eye-candy. It's pretty obvious that the record-breaking release of the live-action movie The Transformers on July 4th, was driven by a powerful sense of nostalgia for all those who received their very first Transformer in 1984 (everyone remembers their first). If you're into the whole Transformer thing, you're going to see the film anyway - so skip the reviews. One of the earliest examples of globalization on North American culture, The Transformers is more than just a toy-concept that has become a global icon: it's symbolic of Japan's cultural influence on our imaginations.
Wired Magazine: Issue 15.07 features the making of the Michael Bay's film and a bit about the history: "How a few little-known Japanese action figures changed the way we play." So true. Check out the Transformer overload that WIRED News created on Flickr (232 photos).
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Brokeback Hogwarts : HARRY POTTER Dojinshi reveals life behind closed doors
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens in theatres on July 11, 2007, and the last book will arrive at the end of July, so in anticipation this may be interesting...
(ARCHIVE): Harry and Cho Chang? Forgetaboutit. Ever thought about Harry's raw feelings for Draco Malfoy? Ron's unrequited love for Harry? Sirius and Lupin in the dark hallways? Before Brokeback Mountain, there was the HARRY POTTER DOJINSHI. DO-what? Dojinshi (magazine clique/literary group) are self-published Japanese works such as manga (comic books), novels, and games, in which its creators re-work actual published works into a different plotline. Because Dojinshi are based on other artists' published work, its creators maintain a low profile which makes their product a much-coveted and limited item.
Many of the HARRY POTTER DOJINSHI are considered Yaoi or shonen-ai dojinshi, which feature male homosexuality; its target readers are heterosexual adult women and gay men (More info under the cut).
"CARNIVAL II 2002" (by Ronru Pearl): Refers to the Prisoner of Azkaban timeline. Draws out Ron's unrequited love for an oblivious Harry Potter, who remains clueless as Ron tries everything to acquire Harry's love.
"TACTICS" (by Mitsugu Fujii / G-Zero): Hermione notices Harry's been acting weird…and it's because she doesn’t know that Harry is torn as he secretly visits Draco Malfoy for trysts which have to remain secret. Surprise: Draco is the submissive!
Posted by Tamiko | July 10, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: Sexology
Tata Young | Thai-American spans the Asian market
"People who go to her concerts don't go to listen to her music but are wasting a lot of money to see breasts, hips, a belly and a butt that can dance," complained moral advocat and retired Senator Rabiabrat Pongpanich in Thailand--well, at least he acknowledged she can dance! The her he's referring to is hapa Thai-American singer TATA YOUNG, one of the most popular singers in Thailand who's rising up the popcharts in Asia...and abroad. But, er, the name Tata Young...it's a little pornstar, no?
Her second English-language album, Temperature Rising was released in August 2006, and includes songs composed by Paul McCartney as well as Natasha Bedingfield. But today Tata Young is still known best for her addictive hits, "Sexy, Naughty, Bitchy" (to go with the pornstar name, presumably)--circa 2004: playing out of every speaker in Shibuya, Tokyo ...which had to be renamed "Sexy, Naughty, Cheeky" in Malaysia (hee); and her Hinglish version of the song Dhoom Dhoom for soundtrack to a Bollywood movie, Dhoom. Watch the videos under the cut...
Posted by Tamiko | July 8, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: People
Global Habitat Festival | Friends of Live Earth | Saturday, July 7, 2007 | Vancouver
"Inspiring Solutions to Climate Change" -- on the heels of Live Earth comes GLOBAL HABITAT FESTIVAL, a Friends of Live Earth outdoor music festival in Vancouver this Saturday, July 7, 2007.
Featuring live music, an eco-village and live coverage of the monumental global event Live Earth. Global Habitat Festival aims to raise public awareness about solutions to climate change and inspire people to be part of the solution by making meaningful and lasting changes in their lives.
The line-up includes eclectic solo performers, indie rock and DJ's all from the West Coast (list).
Also, Live Earth's 24-hour global coverage will be broadcast live on a large screen. And the eco-village will feature interactive booths, demonstrations and displays of environmentally-friendly technologies and techniques.
INFO: Website @ www.globalhabitatfestival.com | Saturday, July 7, 2007 | Robson Square, Vancouver | 12:00 noon - 9pm | Rain or Shine
Posted by Tamiko | July 6, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
All Over the Map | Summer Outdoor Dance & World Music @ Granville Island
For the 4th year in a row, New Works presents ALL OVER THE MAP, a summer outdoor dance and music series at Ron Basford Park, Granville Island, every Sundays at 2pm for FREE.
This year's line-up includes a blend of music and dances from all over the world. Performances include local favourites Uzume Taiko (July 8), Sweetpea Swing Band with the Night and Day dancers (July 14), Westcoast Music Award winners Tango Paradiso (July 29), Punjabi-Celtic fusion specialists Delhi to Dublin (July 22), who will be accompanying Violet Moore Irish Dance, Guinean Dance and Music Kocassale Dioubate and Friends (Aug 12), and Indonesian Dance and Music (Aug 19).
Performances take place on Sundays in July and August at 2pm at Ron Basford Park, on the calm East side of the island. Families, friends and individuals are invited to sit under the shade of the trees and enjoy an exhilarating one hour show. All shows moved indoors in case of rain. (Info HERE).
Posted by Tamiko | July 6, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Hinglish | the emergence of this hybrid mix of Indian dialects and English
Older crossover words between English and the languages of the Indian sub-continent are already known to us, including shampoo (derived from the word for "massage") and pyjamas (meaning a leg garment), caravan, bungalow, bandana and bangles (Hindi words). But what about Hinglish? Hinglish is a hybrid of English and South Asian languages (Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali) used by the young Desi population in South Asia, the UK, and North America.
A new language of globalisation, Hinglish will soon be heard even more as demographics show there are more English-speakers in India than anywhere else in the world. The spread continues through satellite television, Bollywood movies, and the Internet, and more people are being exposed to Hinglish each day trhough ads: Coke has used it for its slogan "Life ho to aisi" (Life should be like this); Pepsi has used "Yeh Dil Maange More" (The heart wants more); and Domino's Pizza asks "Hungry kya?" (Are you hungry?)
Hinglish acts as the bridge between two cultures, "a distinct hybrid culture for people who aspire to make it rich abroad without sacrificing the sassiness of the mother tongue. And it may soon claim more native speakers worldwide than English. British linguist David Crystal, from the University of Wales, has recently projected that at about 350 million, the world's Hinglish speakers may soon outnumber native English speakers." (Full Article @ BBC News -
It's Hinglish, innit? - Sean Coughlan)
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Chinked-out | the New Face of Chinese Music | Wang Lee Hom
American-born talent making it big in Asia isn't anything new. Coco Lee, of course comes to mind. But pop-superstar Wang Lee Hom continues to impress Asian Canadians as the "new face" of Chinese music -- especially for pioneering an innovative sound and political voice that Wang calls Chinked-out. "Having established as one of the most important, influential and prolific artist in Chinese music, never repeating himself, Wang continues to invent and experiment with new sound and new voice." (from Wikipedia).
In 2003, Wang began to use chinked-out to describe his new sound: "Derived from the historically derogatory racial slur chink, used to out-down Chinese people, chinked-out repossesses the word, turns its negative connotations upside-down, and uses them as material to fuel the new sound of this music. The term describes an effort to create a sound that is international, and at the same time, Chinese." (Lee-Hom Wang, Shangri-La, translated by Claudia on wangleehom.com)
The latest chapter of Chinked-out Heroes of Earth (蓋世英雄) features innovative fusions with Peking Opera and Kunqu. "Beside the Plum Blossoms" (在梅邊) dealt with fast kunqu melodies - where in the last 50 seconds Wang raps 250 words. "Heroes of Earth " is a fusion of R&B, Hip Hop, Pop and Chinese Peking
Opera elements. See music videos after the jump.
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