June 30, 2006
Life
Watch WORLD CUP 2006 in the RIDGE THEATRE for FREE!
Have to watch the World Cup on the big screen? Then go to the Ridge Theatre HERE on Arbutus for 2 more days of World Cup soccer matches on their large screen with digital sound. Oh, you know it’s free, right? Although, donations are accepted to the Vancouver Youth Soccer Associations.
WORLD CUP at the Ridge Theatre
3131 Arbutus Street, Vancouver
(604) 732-3352
* Saturday, July 1st, 8:00am : ENGLAND vs PORTUGAL
* Saturday, July 1st, noon: FRANCE vs BRAZIL
June 28, 2006
Life
SPATIAL POETICS V – Experimentation, Innovation and Collaboration of Asian Canadian Artists
Powell Street Festival Society presents the Fifth Annual Spatial Poetics, an interdisciplinary event which celebrates collaboration, experimentation and innovation in the use of text, visuals, music, and performance by an eclectic line-up of Asian Canadian artists. The end result will be a diverse collection of new works exploring community, identity, boundaries, and the nature of performance by emerging and established Asian Canadian artists.
SPATIAL POETICS V
Saturday, July 8, 2006, 8pm
Video In, 1965 Main Street
Tickets at the door: $10 / $8
Information: 604.683.8240 / www.powellstreetfestival.com
Premiering new pieces will be three groups of talented and inventive artists:
* Dance artist Aretha Aoki will collaborate with visual artist Scott Malin in If Our Eyes Had Teeth
* Trolley Bus (aka Bryan Mulvihill) will facilitate a site-specific performance of a tea ceremony, otherwise known as World Tea Party, with members of the Urasenke Tea School
* Artist Lindsay Sung will also curate a selection of shorts by local, Canadian, and US videomakers,.
* Sepideh Saii, Maya Ersan and Jaimie Robson will present a piece that combines silhouette puppetry, animation, video and sound.
This is the opening event for the 30th Annual Powell Street Festival honouring the Japanese Canadian community, held in Oppenheimer Park and the Firehall Arts Centre on August 5-6, 2006.
More:
Powell Street Festival website @ www.powellstreetfestival.com
June 27, 2006
Life
KANPAI! Long Weekends @ Tokyo Lounge – Dance while helping with a Global Cause
KANPAI! Long Weekends @ Tokyo Lounge only happens during, duh!, long weekends...the last one on May 21st had over 350 folks in attendance. Don’t miss out on Kanpai July 2nd (Sunday), this time around affiliated with Acupuncture Without Borders (AWB) Canada’s Fundraiser.
Kanpai! Tokyo Lounge Vancouver
Acupuncture Without Borders (AWB) Canada’s Fundraiser.
Sunday, July 02, 2006 | 10:00 PM - 3:00 AM
350 - 1050 Alberni Street, Vancouver
PRICE: $10.00
MIN. AGE: 19+
Buy tickets: awbcanada@gmail.com
Sponsored by Kirin and Malibu Rum, On Point produces KANPAI! Long Weekends @ Tokyo Lounge, and they’ve brought on DJ's Proper Villains / Eric Zee / Mark Reyes w/ Special Guests, who’ll be spinning HipHop/Funk/Ol Skool and more.
Also, you are automatically entered into the AWB prize raffle. Win free Yoga, Gym Passes, Acupuncture Treatments and more. AWB Canada aims to bring self-reliant health care to impoverished regions. AWB members are acupuncturists, medical doctors, dentists and students who share a passionate commitment to bringing health care to those currently unable to access treatment.
More:
Acupuncture Without Borders (AWB) Canada’s blog @ www.awbcanada.blogspot.com.
Acupuncture Without Borders’ Global website @ www.acuwithoutborders.org.
Life
Diversity in the sky – CIRCUMHORIZONTAL ARC is the rainbow’s flashier cousin
The sky spans over countries, across borders, and hovers over ALL of us. It’s cool when the sky shows us its diversity…sometimes its grey (somber?), sometimes its bright blue (happy?), sometimes its yellow (mellow?), sometimes its red (passionate?), sometimes its pink (coy and flirty?), sometimes its orange (brilliant!), and every night its navy (sleepy?).
And sometimes, when the sky is feeling fantastic after a cleansing shower it will produce a colourful rainbow. Or better yet a fiery rainbow called a CIRCUMHORIZONTAL ARC when the sky really wants to show off.
This one appeared on June 3rd in northern Idaho, USA, near the Washington State border. The rare arc occurs when light passes through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds and ice crystals (crack open that geography textbook!), and only occurs when the sun is very high in the sky. The fiery rainbow spans several 100 square miles of sky and primps and shows-off for about an hour.
More:
*Original source from Victoria Gilman @ www.nationalgeographic.com.
*For a more scientific explanation of a CIRCUMHORIZONTAL ARC, go to Atmospheric Optics (HERE).
June 26, 2006
Life
Fashion borrows from Bollywood, Turks, & Geishas – Tunics, Dolman sleeves, and Kimono tops
Fashion borrows elements from nature, the streets, dance, architecture, music, youth culture, oh, everywhere, including ethnic communities. We’ve heard detail-oriented terms to describe clothing such as “safari”, “island-style”, “hip-hop”, “urban”, “French Riviera”, “Asian-inspired”, and the like.
“Asian-inspired” used to mean cheongsam appliqués on clothes such as eyelet enclosures and bright floral satins, but these days you’ll find “Asian-inspired” clothes equal kimono-style (like the pink one by VOX). Kimono-style refers to a top or dress with loose, flowing sleeves, often a wrap-around, or cinched with an obi-inspired belt, or perhaps the fabric has a kimono print with a Japanese flavour to it. A kimono top is often than not attached to a rather dismaying name such as “Ms. Arragato [sic] Floral Print Kimono Top in Fair Orchid”. Cringe…so much for an open-minded international flavour.
Dolman is another “ethnic” term borrowed by the fashion world to describe a type of sleeve. Not to be confused with the grape-leaf wrapped pupus (appies) from Greek cuisine—that would be Dolmades—Dolman is a loose garment with narrow sleeves of Turkish origin. A Dolman sleeve (like the top by ABS by Allen Schwartz) describes a “full sleeve that is very wide at the armhole and narrow at the wrist”—think vintage ‘70s sweaters and you’ll picture it in a jiff.
Speaking of '70s-style, last summer kurtas and kurtis were all the rage, borrowed from the traditional clothing worn in northern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Scratching your head? It’s probably because you’re more familiar with the anglicized name—the tunic. Ah yes, the loose shirt in flowy fabric. Although the modified version we're familiar with more resembles the kameez, the shorter version of kurtas/is which have side seams (chaak) left open below the navel to give the wearer greater freedom of movement.
More:
How to sew your own DIY (Do-It-Yourself) kimono top? Go to Deborah Merlo’s Kimono Top DIY: www.deborahmerlo.com.
Try sewing dolman sleeves: sew dolman sleeves.
Check out the other definition of Dolman…a uniform jacket with spangles: dolman jacket.
Read Lola Patel's article "Indian Tunic Makes a Comeback" @ Red Hot Curry.
June 24, 2006
Life
Turnhere.com – a global traveling experience thru short films
Traveling, or dreaming of traveling? You don’t necessarily have to leave the house to transport yourself to Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem, or party in Hongdae in Korea, or how about diving in the Honduras island of Roatan, or catching the pre-game sights and sounds of a Chicago Cubs’ game, or even catch the perfect wave in Malibu.
For a taste of cool places around the world, check out www.Turnhere.com (HERE) for short films about historic places, parks, nature, shopping districts, sports events, beaches, restaurants, concerts, and more. You’ll find digital videos which “convey authentic experiences of places and leisure activities in cities and neighborhoods around the world."
More:
*Check out a short film by Shumin Ma featuring Lamarck-Caulaincourt in Paris, France—the unspoiled part of Montmartre @ www.turnhere.com/city/paris.
* HERE for Filmmaker Sebastian Vignieri’s take on the perfect wave in Malibu, California.
June 23, 2006
Life
Jazz Fest spotlight: Seu Jorge
"The samba is our truth, our peculiarity, our gold medal, our faith, our brasilian standard."
Most of us know him as Knock-Out Ned from City of God and/or the samba guitar guy from the crew of Steve Zissou in the Life Aquatic (where he did exclusive Portugese/Samba covers of David Bowie songs) but he is the man many regard to carry on the heart and soul of samba, bossa nova and other Brazilian styles into this current young millenium.
He's from the favelas of Rio, a big fan of both Romario and Stevie Wonder and standard samba legends and institutions like Nelson Cavaquinho, Estacao Primeira da Mangueira, Zeca
Pagodinho. And like his fellow countryman Sergio Mendes said, samba and bossa nova are all about "the same beats we inherited from Africa. Its that same common denominator that brought samba to Brazil and jazz to America" and many hope he carries that on into our popular consciouness of today in Brazil and beyond.
Seu Jorge plays the Center tonight
777 Homer street
7:30pm
Hit here for more on the history on samba.
Jazz Fest profile
Seu Jorge offical site
Cru CD review
The newest music to come out come out of the Rio favelas: baile funk
Jazz Fest highlights, free shows and listings
June 22, 2006
Life
A Cruise Ship Promoting Peace: PEACE BOAT @ the World Peace Forum Vancouver
Imagine a floating global village that circumnavigates the world to promote peace and development initiatives…or come visit the real thing as PEACE BOAT berths at Canada Place on Wednesday, June 28th on its 53rd voyage. The 30,000-ton passenger liner arrives just in time for the World Peace Forum (June 23-28) when it docks in Vancouver after visiting 17 countries, including Viet Nam, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Ireland, Jamaica, and El Salvador.
A unique non-profit organization, PEACE BOAT offers educational programs on its 3-month around-the-world voyages, organizing lecture series, cross-cultural dialogues, interactive peace-building workshops, and humanitarian aid projects onboard and in the countries it visits.
PEACE BOAT, an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, was founded in 1983 by a group of Japanese students who wanted to meet directly with people in the Asia-Pacific who had suffered during Japan’s past military aggression in order to build reconciliation and peace for the future.
Cool, eh? So, check out the following programs held onboard PEACE BOAT on June 28th:
*10:00am-12:00pm: “Making the Earth Whole: An Integrated Peace Agenda”
*12:30pm-13:30pm: “Travelling the World, Changing the World”. A presentation of Peace Boat’s history, current programs, and upcoming projects in North America (also featuring Japanese Taiko drumming and World Champion Street Performer Kim Chang Haeng who opened this year’s Oscars)
*7:00pm-8:00pm: World Peace Forum Closing Ceremony @ Vancouver Art Gallery.
::NOTE:: PRE-REGISTRATION is required to attend onboard events for port security purposes. Please send your full name and date of birth to event@peaceboat-us.org BEFORE MONDAY, JUNE 26. Valid ID will be required to board the Peace Boat.
More:
Website for Peace Boat: www.peaceboat.org
Website for World Peace Forum: www.worldpeaceforum.
Life
Desi Chick-Lit – Desi girls having fun with or without Bollywood show-stoppers
Desi is the term used by South Asians, including Indo-Canadians, to refer to themselves. Let’s take the example of “Desi Chick-lit” and one of its novelists SONIA SINGH.
Sonia Singh is a 1st-generation Desi, born and raised in the OC, California. After degrees in history and politics from CalState Fullerton, Sonia moved to Bombay, India where she wrote episodes for a Hindi soap opera. This stint led her to become Ms. Desi Chick-Lit with novels that are described as “Desi meets Sex and the City”. Move over Carrie, there's Maya and Raveena to share in the Manolos! Check them out:
In Goddess for Hire, Maya, an unemployed 30-year-old living with her parents in Newport Beach, California, discovers she’s the incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali.
In her popular novel Bollywood Confidential, Raveena Rai is an actress who’s been toiling for 8 years on Hollywood’s D-list until a young director casts her as the lead in his upcoming Bollywood film.
More:
* Buy Sonia’s books @ Amazon Canada HERE. Or find them where you live HERE.
*Read review of “Bollywood Confidential” by Pooja Makhijan in www.desilit.org.
*Sonia Singh’s website @ www.soniasingh.com
*Read about another Desi chick-lit writer Shyama Perera’s novel Do the Right Thing @
Reeta: South Asian Women Forum.
*Of course there was Kaavya Viswanathan’s How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got In, but...she got nailed for plagiarism. Read about it on www.slate.com.
*A blogger’s own life as Desi "chick" @ chicklitindia.blogspot.com.
June 21, 2006
Life
Jazz Fest 06 ~ JUNE 23 - JULY 2
Well, its that time of year again, all that jazz is around the corner from around the planet, you know the drill:
Check out the line-up by artist or venue.
Here's all the free street show listings:
GASTOWN, JUNE 24-25 (1st weekend)
Maple Tree Gastown Square
Steam Clock Gastown
Victory Square Gastown Stage
YALETOWN, JULY 1-2 (2nd weekend)
David Lam parkstage - one of the sweetest outdoor venues a show can have, right on the seawall, check out Moses Mayes here, July 2 @ 3PM
Performance Center Roundhouse
Performance Works @ Granville Island (JUNE 23 – JULY 2)
My picks:
The Pocket Dwellers (Toronto) - One the tightest, livest acts around period. A 7 piece cross between the Roots and JBs
Moses Mayes & the Funk Family Orchestra (Canada) - Expanding on Isaac Hayes style epic funk intstrumentals
Sekoya (Vancouver) - - Vancity's own future soul, nu-jazz, broken beat collective fronted by the amazing Amalia Townsend
Josh Martinez & the Pissed Off Wild (Vancouver) - punk ass, live hip hop, 2004 URB Next 100 list
Baaba Mal (Senegal) - One of modern Afrobeat's finest
Seu Jorge (Brazil) - the song and guitar dude from the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Jamie Liddel (UK) - the UK's answer to a modern Prince? One of the most talked about new acts of this year
Buck 65 (Halifax) - the noir Johnny Cash of hip hop
Neko Case (Vancouver) - Indie/folk/country rock darling, also of the New Pornographers
&
Tony Bennett (NYC, of course) - the one & the only
Life
Straight from Athens…Georgia, that is – KENOSHA KID at the Movies
REM aren’t the only thing outta Athens, Georgia. The little college town is also home to KENOSHA KID, a musical union resulting in a blend of new jazz and indie-rock. Catch their Vancouver show “KENOSHA KID AT THE MOVIES: An Evening of Jazz & Film on Thursday, June 22 @ Rime, as part of The 21st Annual TD Canada Trust Vancouver International Jazz Festival
KENOSHA KID AT THE MOVIES
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Rime, 130 Commercial Drive (between William & Napier) | 9:00pm-Midnight
ADMISSION: $5-10 sliding scale for most concerts.
Tel: 604.215.1130.
9pm - First Set: Music and Slide Show! “MIDNIGHT TIL NOON”
View over 300 slides taken within 12 hours in Athens, Georgia, as Kenosha Kid twists local rock flavours into its own unique blend of new jazz.
10pm Second Set: Live Movie Score! “HAMMOCK AND SLING”
~ video by Cindy Mochizuki ~ music performed by Kenosha Kid
Cindy Mochizuki is a Vancouver-based interdisciplinary artist working in video, installation, performance, audio, text and drawing. Each short takes the form of a palm-of-the-hand story.
11pm Third Set: Live Movie Score! “AUDIENCE CHOICE”
Selections will be made from a handful of fine silent films for the third set.
More:
*Info on Zula’s website @ www.zula.ca.
*Listen to a sample of Kenosha Kid’s song “Modern Times” HERE.
*Check out Kenosha Kid’s official website for more samples and info @ www.kenoshakid.com.
Life
TOKIDOKI is a global fusion of fashion, lifestyle, art and culture
A fusion of fashion, lifestyle, art, and culture embody the global vision of fresh innovative brand Tokidoki. Behind its trademark logo of a heart and crossbone reflecting “love, but love cautiously”, TOKIDOKI—which means “sometimes” in Japanese—design features laughing flowers, winking stars, rainbows, sultry ingénues, and fluttering songbirds.
If you think TOKIDOKI is reminiscent of stuff by Japanese designer Murakami, you’d be right. The brand’s artist, the Italian designer Simone Legno, is unabashingly charmed by Japanese culture. And much like Murakami’s décor of LV bags, TOKIDOKI has partnered with US-fashion brand LeSportsac to create a handbag and accessories line.
More:
*Visit TOKIDOKI brand’s website @ www.tokidoki.it.
*Check out LeSportsac’s TOKIDOKI stuff @ leSportsac Tokidoki.
*Read an interview with Simone Legno @ www.fusedmagazine.com.
*Buy some TOKIDOKI skins for your iPod @ www.iskin.com.
Life
The world’s best photographs in your pocket – Magnum in Motion video podcasts
You know that stunning photograph you saw in the paper the other day? It probably came from Magnum Photos, founded by the renowned French photographer Henri Cartier Bresson. This co-operate is known for its great diversity, and its bevy of photographers who chronicle the world and interpret its people, events, issues and personalities through their lenses.
Now Magnum's catalogue of the world’s events, industry, society, people, politics, news, disasters and conflicts is at your fingertips with MAGNUM IN MOTION. Watch Video Podcasts featuring Magnum’s catalogue of 1 million extraordinary photographs, blended with audio commentary, text and graphics.
So kick back, and peruse thru some of these Video Podcasts with your iPod:
* Requiem in Samba by Alex Majoli – favelas of Brazil.
* Chernobyl Legacy by Paul Fusco – dark legacy of Chernobyl.
* World of Changes by Thomas Hoepker - from the Cold War to September 11th.
* The Evacuation by Paolo Pellegrin - Israel and Palestine.
* Ghost Town by Thomas Dworzak - New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
* 7/7 The Longest Week by Thomas Dworzak - July 2005 terrorist attacks in London.
* Viet Nam At Peace by Philip J. Griffith - Vietnam War from 1966 to 1968.
More:
*Magnum in Motion video podcasts @ www.magnuminmotion.com.
*Found on Billy T’s article in The Cool Hunter.
*Look through Magnum Photographs @ www.magnumphotos.com.
June 20, 2006
Life
Get Greek
You gotta give it up to any group that can get major streets shut down in this town. This coming Sunday, the Greeks show us how its done on West Broadway in Kits with "Greek Day" and then the ouzo keeps its flow at the "Greek Summer Festival of East Vancouver" not for 1 day but for a whole week:
Greek Day in Kits
West Broadway (Kitsilano area)
Sunday - June 25
12 noon - 9pm
Rain or Shine, baby
http://www.greekday.com/
Greek Summer Fest of East Van
Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver
Sts. Nicholas and Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church
4641 Boundary rd (off 29th ave)
June 30 - July 9
Noon - 11pm daily
http://www.greeksummerfest.com/
June 19, 2006
Life
When the World Cups together
Hockey = (although increasing, as we just saw last Olympics) Basically a 6 nation cup
Soccer = 32 nations (that QUALIFIED) going for gold
We think we're so into hockey here but I'm pretty sure the Koreans (just in Vancouver) gave the whole city of Vancouver a run for their coin in bringing the ruckus after the Korean run in the 2002 World Cup and our hockey gold in the 2002 Winter Olympics, respectively.
And if you think about it, there's got to be way more kids here that actually play organized soccer than organized hockey yet when it comes to World Cup, we suck. Why? Take a look at the Hour's investigaton.
And did soccer save the Ivory Coast (who are in it this year) from civil war?
And what about the Olympics? Well the Economist tells us Why the World Cup is Better than the Olympics.
And leave it to National Geographic to give us a true perspective of the worldly spectacle that is the World Cup: the "Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup" (index)
Story by country:
IVORY COAST—The Way to Win Juju on the Field
ENGLAND—Faded Glory: Taming the Hooligans
BRAZIL—Ballet with Ball: A Love Story
COSTA RICA—Soccer Inc: Marketing Fanaticism
SPAIN—Morality Play: Soccer as Theater
ANGOLA—A Greater Goal: Healing a War-Torn Land
ARGENTINA—Ode to Maradona: Falklands' Revenge
CROATIA—Group Therapy: A Nation is Born
(Btw, thats me in the far left pic, 2nd from the right, Paris '98)
Life
Mr. Gisby’s Totally Gay Pet Shop – the comic strip that came out of the closet
Celebrate Toronto's 26th annual Pride Week 2006 from June 19-25. This year's theme is Fearless! Fearless is about "being bold, proud and true; it's about the courage to be open about who you are, and to celebrate people in our past and present who make it increasingly possible to live without fear." (Visit website HERE). Vancouver's Pride Week is coming up July 29-August 6 (visit website HERE).
Segue into...
Andrew Georgiou is Australia's most established queer comic artist, and this is his take on Garfield, the famous orange cat: “I wish he’d come out”.
Inspired by his lesbian dogs Chelsea and Hua-Hua, Georgiou had an epiphany to create his own queer comic strip about gay animals…and Mr. Gisby’s Totally Gay Pet Shop is now the most popular gay comic strip in print. Here you’ll find Randall Gisby and his pet shop full of cross-dressing gerbils, leather-fetish gorillas, dominatrix chickens, and poodles in drag.
Trust the tagline: “They’re Here ! They’re Queer! They’re House Trained!”
More:
* Mr. Gisby’s Totally Gay Pet Shop official website @ www.mrgisby.com.
*Read Andrew Georgiou’s blog @ www.queerty.com.
*Find some of Mr. Gisby’s pets on iPod shuffle covers @ www.shufflesome.com.
Life
Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto - POLYSICS and the Transformer
POLYSICS is a “new wave/synth-pop/rock band” straight outta Tokyo, Japan. The band was formed in 1997 when frontman Hiroyuku Hayashi decided to make music inspired by Devo, and took the name POLYSICS from Korg Polysix—his first synthesizer.
High-energy music, fused with synthesized and computer-generated sound create POLYSICS' music, described as ‘technicolor pogo punk’. Their music matches perfectly with their wild costumes, pulsating energetic live shows, and their lyrics which include a lot of broken English, a smidge of Japanese, and doses of their very won ‘space language’.
Okay, so now you know who they are. Why should you care? Because you’ll love POLYSICS' synth-version of the Styx song “Mr. Roboto”. You must, must, must check out POLYSICS’ video (HERE on YouTube) for their cover of “Mr. Roboto”, complete with, well, a Transformer-like Robot!
More:
*Official Artist Website @ www.polysics.com
*For POLYSICS’ label Tofu Records: www.tofurecords.com
*Polysics’ MySpace page: MySpace/Polysics
*Interview with Polysics from SFburning.
*Interview with Polysics from Now Toronto.
Life
LEGO®: Secrets of the Pharaohs
Even if you have bad memories of Lego® trapped up your nose when you were little—you’re out there, I know it!—and even if you dread science which you probably don’t because science is “in”—CSI, baby!—, get over it and get down to Science World to catch the LEGO®: Secrets of the Pharaohs exhibition from May 20 to September 4, 2006.
Lego®’s core philosophy is “that play is essential to a child’s growth and development,” so be a kid again or bring a kid and marvel at pyramids, a life-sized sarcophagus, a re-creation of Tutankhamen’s mask, plus much more, all made entirely from hundreds of thousands of Lego® pieces!
After all, I'm sure King Tutankhamun would've played with Legos® if he could.
More:
*Science World website for times and map: www.scienceworld.bc.ca
*Lego®’s website: www.lego.com.
*Lego®’s official Star Wars™ The Video Game website, just because it’s cool: legostarwarsthevideogame
*Lugnet site for Lego® lovers: lugnet
*How Lego® can help you in business: seriousplay
*International Lego® leagues for kids: firstlegoleague
*How Lego® can help education: legoeducation.
June 18, 2006
Life
Michelangelo meets Football – a celestial Adidas fresco in Germany
2006 FIFA World Cup 2006™ is a religious experience for many football fans who consider their favorite players as gods, so it’s not surprising to see this Adidas-initiated fresco painted on the ceiling of Hauptbahnhof train stain in Cologne, Germany.
It took Hamburg-based illustrator Felix Reidenbach approx 40 days to complete the 40x20 meter fresco. The fresco’s title is “+10” because it showcases 10 (nooo) football gods: Michael Ballack (Germany), David Beckham (England), Zinédine Zidane (France), Raúl (Spain), Kaká (Brasil), Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan), Lukas Podolski (Poland/Germany), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina) and Djibril Cissé (France).
More:
* Original source @ www.highsnobiety.com.
* Adidas press release @ www.press.adidas.com.
June 17, 2006
Life
Lady Vengeance is sweet – Korean director Park Chan-Wook’s follow up to Oldboy
Hate that cocky co-worker? Wish your neighbour would shut the F up already? Simmering with vengeance but no way to release it? This may relieve your pain:
“Numerous times I lie in bed at night and imagine the cruelest torture. I imagine the most miserable ruining of that person's life. After that, I can fall asleep with a smile on my face. As long as it stays in the realm of imagination, the crueler the better—that's healthy. I'd like to recommend it to you all as well. I hope my films can help in any small way to help your imagination become at least a little bit crueler.”
Who is this guy? He’s a guy Quentin Taratino idolizes--the HE is Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook (박찬욱). You can now catch a screening of Lady Vengeance (친절한 금자씨 or Chinjeolhan Geumjassi), the third installment of Park Chan-Wook’s revenge trilogy, which began with the cult hit Oldboy (올드보이) and continued with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (복수는 나의 것).
Lady Vengeance features a 32-year-old Lee Geum-Ja (Lee Yeong-Ae) who’s released from prison after a 13-year sentence. Geum-Ja was an unwilling accomplice (under threat to her newborn) to Mr. Baek (Choi Min-Sik) who abducted and murdered a little boy. Mr. Baek betrayed her while he remained free, so once out Geum-Ja turns into a stone-cold killer bent on revenge against him. Oh, she's also searching for the baby she left behind. Expect some black humour along with the chills and thrills!
Lady Vengeance (친절한 금자씨)
Granville 7 Cinemas
855 Granville St., Vancouver, BC - (604) 684-4000
In Korean with English subtitles. Rated 18A.
Opens Friday, July 16, at the Granville 7
More:
Official website of Lady Vengeance @ www.ladyvengeancemovie.com
View trailer of Lady Vengeance (choose WMP, Quicktime or Realplayer): trailers.
Review of Lady Vengeance in the Georgia Straight (here).
Read interview with Park Chan-Wook in “Vengeance dishes out poetic revenge” by Mark Leiren-Young in www.straight.com.
Life
Love condos? –Innovations in City Building Films aims to find out why
Video and other media productions are emerging as important tools to help urban professionals present their ideas to the public in a more user-friendly format. The “Innovations in City Building” film and video program will present a diversity of films on city building issues produced locally as well as from around the world as part of World Urban Forum 2006.
Film topics include:
* The exploration of “Vancouverism”, youth and families living in dense urban neighbourhoods in Vancouver
* Public participation in city design in Istanbul
* Watershed management in Brazil, and much more….
“Innovations in City Building” @ Vancity Theatre
Saturday June 17, 2006 |1:00 – 5:00
1181 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC
Ph: 604-683-FILM (3456)
::The event is open to the public and the admission is FREE::
For Vancouverites…check out Vancouver-based urban designer and landscape architect, Grace Fan and her film “City on the Verge” (30 mins) at the Vancity Theatre at 2:30pm. The film explores the current and future vision of Vancouver, through the stories and personal challenges of several Vancouverites including developer Robert Fung and Architects/Product Designers Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen.
Life
Alcan Dragon Boat Festival – If you’re not competing, you know someone who is, right?
Yup, this weekend is Father’s Day, BC Lions Football, Stanley Cup finals, World Urban Forum (website HERE), this and that and the other, and the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival—the longest running dragon boat festival in North America. No doubt, you know someone on one of the competing teams! So come out this weekend on June 17-18th to cheer them on, or at least get free Starbucks, at Creekside Park on False Creek.
Scrounge up the Thursday June 15th issue of The Vancouver Sun for the official programme if you can….otherwise visit the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival website (HERE).
More:
Tickets at all Lower Mainland 7-11 Stores and Ticketmaster (HERE).
June 13, 2006
Life
Commercial Drive Festival – Free of charge, of boring corporate stuff and free of cars!
The 2nd Commercial Drive Festival, volunteer-organized and grass-roots to the core, takes place this Sunday, June 18th from 12-7pm. While you catch a World Cup game at one of the Italian or Portuguese cafes, you’ll be able to participate in the festivities of this “glorious free-for-all street party thrown by the people of East Van FOR the people of East Van”.
The 2nd Commercial Drive Festival
Sunday, June 18, 2006 | 12-7pm
The festival’s motto—FREE OF CHARGE. FREE OF BORING CORPORATE STUFF. FREE OF CARS—is pure Commercial Drive. The Commercial Drive Festival will feature:
* East Van Chopperfest (notorious pedal-powered sound-system)
* Commercial Drive Merchant Market
* Organization info-tables, healing corner,
* Roving street performers, Stage performances, DJs, MCs, spoken-word, slam poetry
* Street hockey and games & Special Kidzone & Participatory Art
* World Cup activities with Vancouver Whitecaps @ Victoria Park.
* Spontaneous peculiar occurrences
* Soap Box for speechifying
The Drive Fest gladly accepts donations of cash, goods or services from people who support our community. We offer in return gratitude, recognition, and 2-for-1 bonus frequent-flyer karma points. Email: info@commercialdrivefestival.org
More:
*The website: www.commercialdrivefestival.org
* IMPORTANT!: PLEASE DON'T DRIVE TO THE DRIVE! Parking is VERY limited. Ride, walk, or take transit. The Drive will be closed to all motorized vehicle traffic from 1st to Venables from 10am-8pm. The #20 bus will detour along Victoria Ave
* Wanna volunteer? Email volunteers@commercialdrivefestival.org or 604-688-4228.
* This Festival is an alcohol-free event.
June 12, 2006
Life
June: Van-City's 2nd annual Portuguese Heritage month
Yo, better late than never. We're almost mid way thru the month of June and its our town's 2nd annual Portuguese Heritage month. Guess the timing couldnt be better with the World Cup under way and BCs most famous Portuguese-Canadian product, Ms. Nelly Furtado shakin her post-baby booty in the video all over the place.
The festivities are meant to celebrate all cultures with roots or connections to Portugal: from Brazil to Macao, from Angola to Goa.
Check out the Sergio Mendes piece aswell below...
Life
Sergio Mendes: the Bossa Nova boss is back
Does that rhythm the BEPs and that old Brazilian dude in the new Sergio Mendes 'Mas Que Nada' video sound familiar? Remember when the International Man of Mystery hits Vegas? Thats the original Mas Que Nada and now Sergio Mendes, one of the OG bossa nova cats from the 60s is back with his first disc in ages. He worked with will.i.am in bringing back the old sound into the new but found lots of common ground between what the 2 do.
“It turned into a wonderful marriage of rhythms because it’s all African rhythms and haunting melodies. It’s all about the same beats that we inherited from Africa. It’s that same common denominator that brought the samba to Brazil and brought jazz to America."
Mas Que Nada video (w/ the BEPs)
That Heat video (w/ will.i.am & Erykah Badu)
Video interview
June 11, 2006
Life
Don’t give it to someone you hate, but someone you love – FUKUCUP sends a message
A fine purveyor of SAKE, Fukumitsuya has been making SAKE since the 17th century. Samurais were drinking this stuff! The brand has been renowned for its 100% unadulterated sake without distilled alcohol—classic and traditional….that is until they released their version of the “one-cup” sake: The Fukucup.
Now, granted, the fine folks at Fukumitsuya didn’t intend to sell Fukucup outside of Japan, and their marketing department obviously wanted to target the young professionals by using “hip” romaji (alphabet instead of Japanese characters).
Looks like “F**k-U-Cup” though, huh? Don’t act like you didn’t see it, fool. Engrish is a wonderful thing. In Fukumitsuya’s defense, fuku 福 means “good fortune”, so Fukucup = Good Fortune Cup.
Arigatou.
More:
Commentary from Taro at 3 Yen News here.
Fukumitsuya’s English website @ www.fukumitsuya.co.jp/english.
Fukumitsuya’s Japanese site featuring the fukucup @ fukumasa.
June 08, 2006
Life
Go bananas! - TRIPMASTER MONKEY, a new Asian-Am webzine
Described as “yellow journalism served up fresh daily”, TRIPMASTER MONKEY is an Asian-American webzine outta NYC you should check out for some Asian-accented pop culture, US and international news, and offbeat topics. The folks behind the site—who are, by the way, young journalists from CNN, Bloomberg, NY Times and the like—describe the experience as “a lychee-martini lounge on the Web”.
Be a man? Be a monkey! Oh, that’s right, you already are…as pointed out in TRIPMASTER MONKEY’s specs (via Stephen Hawking): “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special."
Everybody now: This SH*T is BANANAS—B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
More:
For the Tripmaster Monkey webzine: www.tripmastermonkey.com. Oh, and here you’ll find out their name comes from Maxine Hong Kingston’s novel of the same name.
Life
There’s wine & bread, but CHOCOLATE DEITIES are tastier!
Eating chocolate is a divine experience for many, and the people behind CHOCOLATE DEITIES took it one step further and created confections on the concept that “chocolate is intensely divine and that making chocolate is a form of prayer and eating chocolate is an offering to the body and the spirit.”
Handcrafted CHOCOLATE DEITIES are made from fair-trade Belgian dark, milk and white chocolate in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Each one carries with it the story of that particular deity and implicitly a wish. There are CHOCOLATE DEITIES celebrate love & luxury, joy & happiness, compassion, peace & serenity, healing, and the fertility of the body and imagination.
Apparently, some people have difficulties eating a deity…so they place it on their altars as an offering (and once an offering is made to a deity, it can be consumed), or melt the CHOCOLATE DEITY to make hot chocolate for a Sun Day. Ah, okay…
At least checkout the CHOCOLATE DEITIES website—It’s quite educational!—to learn about gods and goddesses from Buddha, Ganesha, Ixchel, Kuan Yin, Krishna, the Thunderbird and more.
CHOCOLATE DEITIES
Website: www.chocolatedeities.com
118 La Bergerie Lane, Red Hook, NY, 12571, USA
Call 845.758.5519
Email: devichocolate@chocolatedeities.com.
June 06, 2006
Life
Bride-to-be? – Find something new or blue @ MAC Cosmetics
Wedding season is here and pretty brides are clamoring to be as gorgeous as they should be. MAC Cosmetics’ popular bridal section (HERE) debuts 6 new looks to inspire soon-to-be-brides…but that’s not the interesting part. What’s cool? The six model brides reflect the diversity of our cities and get this—the descriptions written about each look doesn’t glaringly rely on the models’ heritage, just the makeup.
For example:
The old-fashioned way -- “If you're Asian like Christine, your porcelain skin with its yellow tones will be complemented by fuschias and pinks that have blue undertones” (Yeah, because all Asians have porcelain skin)
The modern MAC way -- "A look of softly modern glamour where a bouquet of pink, plums, and fuchsias are used around eye, lip, cheeks, to warm up and accent the skin tones." (You have this skin tone, then these colours may make you happy).
How refreshing and modern.
More:
View a behind-the-scenes video of MAC makeup artists working on the bridal looks, here.
MAC Cosmetics website: www.maccosmetics.com.
Life
BIMPE IV (Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition) @ Granville Island
Bigger than a postcard, smaller than the average poster = miniature print. BIMPE IV, a miniature print competition, will be shown from June 6-25 at Federation Gallery, and July 3-30th at Dundarave Print Workshop, both on Granville Island.
BIMPE (Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition) is a miniature print (8.5x19 inches) competition held every 2 years, and hosted by New Leaf Editions and Dundarave Print Workshop, both on Granville Island. The intent of BIMPE is to facilitate international artistic exchange and to increase public awareness and appreciation for printmaking media.
On Sunday 21st May BIMPE’s Jury deliberated over 100s of prints, and finally came up with approximately 300 prints for the exhibition, including the 3 prize winners and 10 honourable mentions.
BIMPE IV
*June 6-25 (Opening reception 9th July 2006)
Federation Gallery
1241 Cartwright Street, Granville Island
*July 3-30
Dundarave Print Workshop
1640 Johnston Street, Granville Island
More:
Contact Peter Braune from New Leaf Editions: peter@newleafeditions.com or info@bimpe.com
New Leaf Editions, 1370 Cartwright Street, or call 1-604-689-9918
June 05, 2006
Life
The Party – Art Exhibition by Janet Wang
You’re invited to THE PARTY, where:
A woman is sitting, leaning over to whisper in another's ear.
A woman stands, arms crossed and defiant, backed into a corner, alone.
A woman starts to laugh uproariously, touching another's arm, either for support as she doubles over, or in collusion.
THE PARTY is an art exhibition featuring new work by local artist, Janet Wang. This is a series of sewn drawings and paintings, each portraying an individual woman at a fictional party. Each drawing focuses on the small gestures and postures adopted within the social realm.
THE PARTY – AN EXHIBITION BY JANET WANG | June 9 - July 5
Opening Reception: Friday, June 9 | 5:00pm-7:00pm
Featuring live music by Christa Couture
VANCOUVER EAST CULTURAL CENTRE
1895 Venables Street (at Victoria)
Gallery Hours: 10am - 6pm (Monday through Friday)
The Artist
Janet Wang now lives and works in Vancouver, after residing in the UK until late 2004 where she exhibited in Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh and London. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BFA in Fine Arts in 1999, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Leeds, 2001.
Currently she is based at Georgia Jackson Studios (505 East Georgia). Her primary medium is oil painting, although she also includes written, photographic and multi-media work.
June 03, 2006
Life
Hot & Sexy – 1st Saude! Brazilian Experience @ Bar None
Just in time for the FIFA World Cup, you can transport yourself to Brazil @ Bar None for its 1st SAUDE! THE BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE this Sunday, June 4th. The club’s usual décor of wood, brick and metal will be transformed into an Amazonian hot spot with “real lush greenery: palm trees, ferns, and exotic flowers,” compliments of Debut Event Design Inc.
Sip on a caipirinha (lime + sugar + cachaça, the Brazilian sugar cane liquor), and yell “Saude!” (pronounced “Si-ude”)—the Brazilian drinking term for “cheers!” or “good health!” or “good life!”.
Evoking Rio de Janeiro, sensual Latin vibes and house music will be mixed by DJ Jon O'Neil and double percussionists. Also, expect break-dancers and a Capoeria (the Afro-Brazilian martial art developed by African slaves) Dance Troop.
Best of all: Complimentary Brahma Brazilian beer for every guest!
SAUDE! BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE @ BAR NONE
Sunday, June 04, 2006 | 8:00pm - 2:00am
Bar None, 1222 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
PRICE: Invitation or Cover at the Door
MIN. AGE: 19+
More:
For tix, times, location, and contact, check out www.barnonenightclub.com.