Category Archives: Vancouver

halloween costume of the year

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Alex P. Keaton and his dream dateThere was a lot of competition for this year’s top spot. The Malcolm Gladwell, being Canadian, enjoyed home team advantage, as did the Alex P. Keaton. The Tara Reid, we imagine, was popular with a certain set (an unmatched, lopsided set), and looking around the Downtown Eastside it seemed clear to me that the most popular costumes by far were the Novelty Whore and the Hipster. Unfortunately, as this is the Downtown EastSide, nobody looked as if they were in costume; everyone here dresses like an extra from Hedwig and the Angry Inch anyway. Boys, if you’re dressed like Bing Crosby, you’re not in costume. Girls, if you’re dressed like the girl in a Benny Hill sketch and you’re on East Hastings, you’re not in costume, you’re in mufti (muff-ti?). But it certainly was amusing to watch the confused looks on all those women’s faces when the guys in the cars would try to strike a deal. That’ll teach you to wait for the light at Cordova and Columbia, missy!

But finally, we have a winner. Here, via BoingBoing, is the bestest little Halloween costume ever.

a tadpole of the Elder Gods

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.

fundraiser at Rare and Welcome to the blogroll Urban Diner

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happy meals from happy chefs (oh god, if they see this caption I'm toast!)Background on the event is here.

 The MC: Tamara Taggart, CTV

The Music: Adam Woodall

The chefs:

  • Robert Belcham (C, Fuel)
  • Brian Fowke (Rare One)
  • Sean Heather (The Irish Heather, Salt, Pepper)
  • Colin Johnson (Parkside)
  • Neil Wyles (Hamilton Street Grill)

The catch:

  • All local ingredients
  • All items made from ingredients procured the same day

The menu:

  • Champagne & canapes
  • cauliflower & truffle shooter
  • pumpkin ravioli • beurre noisette emulsion • amarettini-sage crumble
  • fenel risotto • neon squid • malt-cured oak-smoked bacon
  • duck soup • black beluga lentils & evergreen organic autumn vegetables
  • butter-sauteed sablefsh • tarragon • chantrelles & porcini • apple puree
  • Blue Goose organic beef • Dungeness mashed potatoes • red wine reduction
  • Okanagan apples five ways • Gala • Ambrosia • Granny Smith
  • local cheeses & charcuterie

Thanks to my good friends and sugar-daddy and -mommy Raj Taneja and Nina Sohi I was able to get to this, the finest meal I have had in many years. I’m cross-posting this from the Waiterblog forum because I am A) sick and B) lazy, and because I want to welcome Waiterblog‘s parent site Urban Diner to the blogroll. Like you didn’t know both of those fun facts about me already! But I’m already running into problems, as I imagine much of social and single Vancouver will be (before the latte hits) trying to keep my synapses routing me through the Urban Jungle of Urban Mixer, Urban Diner, and Urban Fare. We need a new word, yo, for verily, we are easily confused.

the glamourous aftermath

It was a fantastic event. Tamara Taggert was an enthusiastic and friendly emcee, and every one of the silent auction items was sold. The event raised a truly useful sum for a very good cause, and it was, quite frankly, the best meal I have had in years, course after course of it. An example: I could happily dine on the pumpkin ravioli with beurre noisette daily until June. The wines were up to the same rarified (ha!) standard, and were an education in themselves: I thought I didn’t like Chardonnay! The matchings were outstanding, and the Muscat comes in for special mention.

A big shout out to the Urban Mixers Nina Sohi, who bought me a ticket, and Raj Taneja, who bought me wine, for lo I am way poor; without these two I would never be able to sample the delights of a meal like this. I just had to get that out of my system.

Tina looked beautiful, and it added so much to the evening to have her there. Neil and Brian should have their own tv show: why not cut out the middle man? And it was delightful to share a table with Tara and her friend (whose name escapes me…did I mention the wine?).

neon squid, baby!

Trivia for fans of the Neon Squid: It’s actually a flying squid! It was marvelous, of course.

Tina’s family will now be able to hire a full-time nanny, enabling her to devote her vitality to fighting both the disease of breast cancer and the side-effects of aggressive chemotherapy, which can be dangerous and draining in themselves.

new Michael J. Fox hospital story

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Michael J. Fox, the hawtnessWell, it’s not new if you’ve been to Gawker or Defamer recently and trolled through the Fox-related comments, but it’s new to the larger world, and it’s original to my mother, so here it is, straight from the foal’s mouth.

My mother used to work at the Children’s Hospital here in Vancouver, and the story she heard (and she heard it the same day, from people in the room) was that Michael was getting a tour and saw one of their scanners. He was told that there was a several months long waiting list for scans, because they couldn’t afford to buy a new one.

He asked how much it was…something like $20,000 (this was in the Eighties).

He wrote them a cheque.

Also, his sister(? or in-law, can’t remember) gave Greenpeace $200 when I was doing door-to-door for them. She was very nice.