Category Archives: The Shebeen Club

Vancouver’s Monthly Literary Gathering. My baby. No open mic, no hand-holding, no American beer.

forget NaNoWriMo: NaDruWriNi is where it’s @

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Dorothy Parker sometimes gets distracted

from Gawker comes word of NaDruWriNi, which isn’t officially called that but should be: ’tis the National Drinking and Writing Festival, ’tis, but even we Canuckistanis shall co-opt it, for lo, we are very co-opterative up here at the socialist roof of the world, and lo, we drink more than they do, so there.

Alas, the glorious day has passed, but as they point out on the site, the next Festival is a mere 51 lost weekends away. Think of it as physical training and carry a notebook small enough to fit in your pocket so it sticks with you when you lose your purse, as you surely will around word 2,800, if I can believe what my shockingly disreputable friends tell me.

The Round Table itselfNaturally, you’ll want to pay attention to your choice of booze. Feeling feline? Go with gin. Working on a piece about the high life? See if you can’t round up a crystal Champagne flute and magnum of Cristal, or at least a couple of straws and a jug of Cribari. Working on a murder tale? Well then, what’s their poison? Kimveer Gill had Jack Daniels for breakfast his last day on Earth; Christian Brando had three Negronis and then shot his sister’s lover; Robert Frisbee drank something like seven French 75’s and a bottle of wine before bludgeoning the poor, foolish little old lady who paid for his cocktails.

Yeah, just a little something to set the mood.

I would post excerpts, if only I could read the handwriting. Click and decipher for yourselves. This is what Gawker found, from last year, and it’s representative:

observation #5

i was going to write about
an old man i saw
but am now so drunk
that i cannot concentrate enough
do do so
or remember him
h9old on
giveme a sec.

Hemingway, obviously not the one who's buying

PSA: extras for the Battle in Seattle

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“Battle in Seattle”, an independent film about to go into production in the Vancouver area, is seeking activists with a passion for taking it to the streets when the cameras are rolling. Based on one of the most incendiary political uprisings in a generation, Battle in Seattle takes an in-depth look at the five days that rocked the world in 1999 as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest of the World Trade Organization. The film was written and will be directed by Stuart Townsend and will star Charlize Theron as a pregnant bystander who loses her baby during the riot.

We are offering an incentive of $12 a head to grassroots organizations who can provide us with a group, the hope being that that money can be of benefit to their community and cause. We need a great number of background performers, and would like to have as diverse a group, in ethnicity, age, gender and background as we can find.

The scene that needs the most people will be shooting on the weekend of November 4th and ideally, we would like to have a pool of extras we can call on throughout November. All food is provided, and we will be shooting almost entirely on weekends.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of the production of a film that will tell a story of profound global importance, a story the mass media suppressed and a story that is itself a movement for cultural transformation. We deeply appreciate your participation.

Feel free to forward this poster to all who might want to be included.

Best regards,
Tatiana
Battle In Seattle Productions
tachijacobsen@gmail.com

Follow up:

At last, I have received the schedule.

We need extras the 4th, 5th, 6th, 25th and 27th of November, The biggest days are the 25th and 27th, with the 27th (which is, inconveniently, a Monday) needing 150 people. Even if you can only get people for one or two days (prioritizing the big ones if possible) that will still get the incentive, and be a great help to us.

the grinding devolution of the glorious communist dream

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In which we observe an experiment in Communal Anarchy descending, in the course of one growing season, into mere Existential Hedonism. Ain’t that always the way? Sigh…

Heartlessly stolen from Up In Ontario. This should give you some idea of the kind of city we live in.

The Tomato Man stand, Trout Lake Farmer’s Market, early in the tomato-pimpin’ season.

The Tomato Man(ifesto)

and by the end of the season that had been replaced by:

Tomato Manifesto, slutting around version

Nobody wants to be the last tomato left at closing time.

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Hug me till you drug me, honey;
Kiss me till I’m in a coma:
Hug me, honey, snuggly bunny;
Love’s as good as soma.

the anthem for my novel

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Trent Reznor, hottieAnd yes, it is Nine Inch Nails; the song is called Not So Pretty Now, and it’s about celebrities on the long slide downhill. Apparently they rarely perform this song, and it’s not on any CDs they’ve put out, which in a way makes it perfect; esoteric is my middle name, and obscure is the right counterpoint to the book.

It’s also, upon close listening, Trent Reznor‘s autobiography to a certain point, which makes it all the braver of him to keep playing it. The beefy Marine look is, indeed, not as pretty as the skinny, shaggy emo boy look (and was, I had thought, trademarked by Henry Fucking Rollins anyway) but then the middle-aged hobbit look I’m rocking at the mo isn’t quite as marketable as the teenaged Jodie Foster I used to be, so I should talk.

Rosie Cotton needs a workout as bad as I do!

But the lesbians still offer to buy me drinks.

Did anybody else see Bugsy Malone?

Shebeen Club October Meeting: Creativity Tips for Writers

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the bar of the ShebeenCross-posted on the Shebeen Club website too. 

What: The Shebeen Club : Creativity Tips for Writers
When: 7-9pm, Tuesday, October 17 (3rd Tuesday of each month)
Where: The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 217 Carrall Street in Gastown
Why: Up your creativity with one of the world’s best creativity catalysts
Who: Contact lorraine.murphyatgmaildotcom for more information
How(much)? $15 includes dinner and a drink

Background: Each month The Shebeen Club gathers to catch up, gossip, eat, drink and learn about literature in all its many versions. We’ve featured Ann Vicente, maker of fine art books, actor and speech coach Jesse Jhames reading James Joyce, and many talented local authors including Robert Chaplin, James Sherrett, Sylvia Lim, comicbook empresario Sandford Tuey, and poet Lucan Charchuk, among many illustrious others.

Heir to the popular Stammtisch, created by Christoph Kapp of McGraw Hill, the Shebeen Club revives the warm camaraderie and vicious rivalry that has characterized all great literary meetings from the days of the Algonquin Round Table to last week at Gawker. The pen is mightier than the sword, so every third Tuesday of the month ditch the remote, stuff a messenger bag with manuscripts, adjust your berets, and head down to the Shebeen.

The Procedure: Sink into a warm velvet banquette and enjoy our programme: your basic meet-and-mingle from 7-7:30, followed by a riveting, yet brief presentation, followed by Q&A and then breaking up into casual groups for wandering, boozy reminiscences of the time you snubbed Jay McInerney in the airport. A fine dinner of bangers and mash or vegetarian pasta from the kitchen of the Irish Heather, plus one glass of wine, beer or pop are included in the $15.

This Month: Our next Shebeen Club meeting is this Tuesday, October 17th from 7-9pm, and our featured speaker is Linda Naiman, internationally-known creativity instructor.

Linda Naiman will present strategies for cultivating creativity used by writers, artists, entrepreneurs and scientists, to help you keep your own creativity fresh and alive. Topics include: The distinction between creativity and problem-solving, the right-brain myth, the genius myth, and principles that encourage creativity.

This is an exercise-based workshop, so be ready to participate! Pencils and notebooks out, ladies and gentlemen!

Bio: Linda Naiman is founder of Creativity at Work.com , a Vancouver-based coaching, consulting and training group at the forefront of transformational change in organizations. She is co-author of Orchestrating Collaboration at Work, and is known internationally for pioneering arts-based learning and development in organizations. Her work has been documented in several books: Art-based Approaches: A Practical Handbook to Creativity at Work (Chemi 2006), Wake Me Up When the Data Is Over: How Organizations Use Stories to Drive Results (Silverman 2006), and Artful Creation: Learning Tales of Arts-in-Business (Darsø 2004). Her work has also been featured in The Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail, and Canadian Business Magazine. Linda is an associate business coach at the University of British Columbia, and an adjunct faculty member of the Banff Centre Leadership Lab. She holds a BFA from California College of the Arts, and a diploma in Graphic design from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.
For more information, contact: Lorraine Murphy, raincoaster media ltd www.shebeenclub.com or  lorraine.murphyatgmaildotcom 778-235-0592