Thundering Fundraiser

The Shebeen Club
Presents

 Who: Al Mader, Spoken Word Phenom and One-Man WonderBand! What: Thundering Fundraiser for T Paul Ste. Marie!  When: 7-10 pm Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 (3rd Tuesday ea month)
Meet & Mingle 7-7:30
Listen & Learn 7:30-8
Poetry Slam Dancing and other Tipsy Cultural Mashups 8-10 Where: The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 217 Carrall  Why: Because Vancouver’s proudly homegrown talent regularly beats the best in the world. Because that talent grew in an environment pioneered by T Paul, founder of Thundering Word Heard. And because T Paul recently suffered a brain aneurysm and needs a helping hand rent-wise, there being little in the way of pensions and sick leave for Entrepreneurs of the Word, Spoken or Otherwise. How (much)? $15 before June 16th, $20 thereafter, includes dinnerAll profits for the evening will be donated to the T Paul fund.Instead of our usual door prizes, we will do a T Paul 50/50 draw

Info & tix: lorrainedotmurphyatgmaildotcom

 New Format: Our new, lower admission price includes your choice of bangers and mash or vegetarian pasta, plus a glass of beer or wine.  

Bio: Al Mader is a vocalist and washtub bassist for the (one-man) Minimalist Jug Band, and has scuffed around the country for many years.

If Lou Reed passed out on the grave of Johnny Cash and dreamt of Jack Kerouac the soundtrack to his dream might sound vaguely like Al.

He’s shared stages with the likes of Nick Cave, They Might Be Giants and The Cowboy Junkies.T Paul says he started Thundering Word Heard with the idea that he wanted to create a place where both music and spoken word could come together and be given a place that was their own. And he has done just that. After three years the room is still full every Sunday night even on a long weekend. It takes a lot of time, commitment and a big heart to keep putting on something like this every single week. But it has paid off. Thundering Word continues to be a great success and T Paul’s reputation as a host and organizer continues to grow as well.    “ I have my hands in a million and one things that all seem to have the center in that hub Thundering Word Heard.” 

why I love Vanity Fair

Tina, alarmed! If I had her career I'd be alarmed too!The fact that they print jokes like these, secure in the knowledge that at least some of their readers will get all of the punchlines.

El Greco walks into a bar.
The bartender says, "Why the long face?"

Christo walks into a bar and starts draping everything in orange silk.
The bartender says, "Hey man, there's a ten dollar cover charge!"

Picasso walks into a bar.
The bartender says, "Why so blue?"

Henry Moore walks into a bar and asks for a drink.
The bartender says, "You need a drink like you need a hole in the head."

Thomas Eakins walks into a bar carrying an oar.
The bartender says, "Are you out of your skull?"

Toulouse Lautrec walks into a bar and asks for a drink. When he gets it he asks the bartender, "Can I pay you tomorrow? I'm a little short."

China: Olympic Fuckup

Via Japanprobe, video proof from the Chinese Marathon that China can't pour water out of a boot if the instructions are printed on the bottom.

Good luck with instituting their "no spitting" "no smoking" and "no critical thinking" initiatives in time for the Olympics.

r-e-s-p-e-c-t: the Chinese Aretha of Canal Street

From Overheard in New York, via Gawker:

No, Seriously — Let's Hit It

Old Chinese lady: Ex-see-cus-see me.
Old Chinese lady: Ex-see-cus-see me!
Gangsta: Man, what are you excusing me about? Fuck you!
Old Chinese lady: Fuck me? Ok, take-a off the pant.

Stairway in silence.

Old Chinese lady: Ex-see-cus-see me!
Gangsta: Sure thing, ma'am. I'm sorry.
Chinese kid: And that's why we respect our elders.

–Canal St station

wardrobe 911 or is that 1985?

Let no-one claim I am not artistic. Yesterday I came into a much-needed five bucks, for doing nothing more than sitting in a sunny office with three other DTESers, spouting off opinions about the people who are allegedly paid to help us get jobs. It took an hour. Five bucks for an hour of opinionating about Welfare service providers: I could be a millionaire before I run out of things to say.

But did I take that five dollars and get myself a nutritious lunch, or a week's worth of veggies at Sunrise Market? Oh no I did not. I walked myself over to Yaletown, confirmed that my hairdresser would extend credit, got my hair done to Malibu blonde perfection, then settled my linen-clad ass in the cushy sofa at Starbucks for a few hours. Sometimes you've just got to go West Side, ya know?

So what does this have to do with Worker #3116? Well, the next thing to get revamped is my wardrobe. Pulling out my jeans the other day, I realized that over 50% of them are – get ready – pegged. I shit thee not. Cuz yeah, nothing in the world is as flattering as jeans that skim the hips, then pouf out and billow around the legs down to the ankle, where they nip in smartly. Yeah, that cut would make Heidi Klum look like a cankled camel. So it is time for some new jeans.

Here is what Worker #3116 has to say about eighties jeans:

Clown Coffee is wearing these retarded jeans today that look like something I would have worn in Junior High with the cuffs pegged. They got me thinking about those Bugle Boy commercials where people would go out of their way to imply that they were sexually attracted to you, when really they were just sexually attracted to your horrible jeans. And I was thinking about how those ads would look today.

2006 Bugle Boy Jeans Ad #1
Nightclub. Nelly plays in the background. Scantily clad women gyrate, people drink expensive cocktails, the men all have five o’clock shadow and their shirts half-unbottoned. A man stands by the bar in his Bugle Boy jeans. He sees a woman in hot pink eye-liner with a razor-cut hairdo sitting on a velvet couch, checking him out. She runs a hand along her upper chest. Beads of sweat have collected on her upper lip. The man tries to play it cool, but he looks over and the sexy woman is still checking him out. The bartender sets down the man’s Smirnoff Ice, and as he goes to pick it up the woman’s fingers graze the back of his hand. Nervously, he looks up. “Hi…” he manages. The woman smiles seductively. “Are those Bugle Boy jeans you’re wearing?” she asks. Confidently, the man nods. “Why, yes, they are,” he says. “TOLD YOU BITCH, PAY UP!” the woman shouts to her friend, still sitting on the velvet couch across the crowded bar. “YEAH, BUGLE BOY JEANS, CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE IT?” she yells as she recrosses the room to get the bet-payoff from her friend.

And so on, and so on. I need new jeans NOW!