I have had such a challenging week with 6 major project dropping at the same time (book chapters, journal articles revise-and-resubmit, and a final report and presentation, amongst other things) that I completely forgot about Mexican Independence Day. My parents live relatively close to Dolores Hidalgo, where the “Grito de la Independencia” marked the beginning of the Mexican Independence War.
While I have been living in Canada for many, many years, I still feel very Mexican. I’m proud first and foremost of my family, my friends, and the successes and accomplishments of many of my fellow Mexicans. I celebrate the wonderful culture, cuisine, customs. I know some Mexicans who live in Canada (or other countries) and who left Mexico embittered and angry. I didn’t. I love Mexico and feel perfectly fine when I visit my parents.
One of my former childhood friends unfriended me on Facebook because, according to him, I had forgotten where I came from and grew up. That’s completely untrue and it does hurt me. I love Canada, and it has adopted me and welcomed me with open arms. But I have done A LOT of work for Mexico. In fact, my research has contributed substantially to the development of Mexican environmental policy in the fields of hazardous waste management and water governance. I feel deeply insulted that someone would think that I don’t feel proud of Mexico.
I celebrate Mexico and Mexican culture, despite the challenges and bad reputation that it’s getting from mainstream media worldwide. Mexico is a wonderful country and I would appreciate it if people realized that.
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the National Ballet of Canada is currently on tour with many exclusive pieces for the Vancouver crowd.
Vancouver Premiere: the second detail, choreographed by the great ballet provocateur William Forsythe, opens the evening with attitude, featuring an electronic score and hard-edged, playfully physical choreography that will inspire all who attend.
Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances features a timeless score by Chopin. This extended pas de deux has been heralded as “sheer magic” by The New York Times and an “unforgettable tribute to Chopin” by Ballet Magazine.
Vancouver Premiere: Choreographed by James Kudelka, The Man in Black is a celebration of American working-class grit and of the man whose voice embodied it, Johnny Cash. The choreography, like the six Cash songs that inspire it, is an ode to the human spirit.
Vancouver Premiere: Choreographed by Canadian Crystal Pite, Emergence is a riveting work that captures the hidden world of insects through innovative choreography that has won awards and critical acclaim across the country.
Credit: Will Shively. Used with permission.
We are very excited to host a giveaway for what promises to be an amazing show. We have a pair of tickets to the Sunday, September 25th matinee presentation. To enter, tell us about your favourite ballet in the comments. For an extra entry, tweet the following:
Told @hummingbird604 my favorite ballet to enter to win tickets to @nationalballet w @balletbc at http://is.gd/slrwnb You can enter too!
We will draw a winner at random on Thursday, September 22nd at 2PM. Good luck!
What: National Ballet of Canada When: September 23rd to 25th Where: Queen Elizabeth Theater, Hamilton at Dunsmuir More info: <a href=”http://balletbc.com”>Ballet BC
I love the Vancouver International Fringe Festival (or “The Fringe” for short) because you never know what to expect, and the plays are constantly weirder and more extravagant. The Seminar is no exception. The play includes a freakishly choreographed chant “Choose to Change,” a plethora of insults hurled at the audience, multimedia, and a surgery. The 3(ish) characters, plus assorted audience members, fill the stage with games, dances, and presentations. The idea of marketing a life-changing full-body makeover surgery is marketed to an audience of guinea pigs. The characters are freakish, but somehow endearing and hilarious.
People who you should take to see this performance:
-Lovers of TV shows like The Swan or Extreme Makeover
-People who can take a beating to their self-esteem
-People who love to make fun of the beauty industry
People who should not see this performance:
-Anyone who is pro-cosmetic surgery
-Anyone who is ultra sensitive / can’t take a joking insult
-Anyone who take their looks, weight, beauty, etc. very seriously and idolize models or pop stars
-Anyone who is squeamish at the sight of blood and/or surgeries
I totally enjoyed my time at this show and I would recommend it! It’s tour is coming to a close, so hurry if you still want to see it!
Disclaimer: Jessica attended the show on a Super Pass graciously provided by the Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2011 organizers. We were not otherwise compensated for our review, nor was a positive one expected. Raul always maintains editorial control over content published on Hummingbird604.com.
Another stop in the Abbottsford Circle Farm Tours was the Tanglebank Country Gardens, a beautiful family-owned-and-operated set of gardens. We had a lovely visit and a wonderful tour of the site gardens, as well as a personalized mini-workshop on herbs planting. Lovely place that I will have to visit again soon. I had never actually experienced, other than the Butchart Gardens, and the actual Queen Elizabeth Park gardens, a personalized tour of a garden such like the Tanglebank Country Gardens. Very pretty, and it was really sweet to learn that all the family is involved in the business itself.
Tanglebank Gardens is a “boutique” style nursery situated in beautiful rural West Abbotsford, BC. We are committed to provide unique, quality products that inspire and encourage people to cultivate exceptional beautiful garden landscapes.
I think this is a wonderful place that people should visit to learn more about herb planting, flowers, and plants in general. The owners are incredibly sweet and they do make an experience out of your visit.
Disclosure: My visit to Tanglebank Gardens was one of the stops of a media trip for Circle Farm Tours. You can read all of my Circle Farm Tours coverage here.
1 in 5 Canadians has suffered, at some point, of any form of mental illness. 4,000 Canadians per year end their life through suicide. 3% of Canadians live with a persistent or severe form of mental illness. About 1% of Canadians will experience bipolar disorder (or “manic depression”). And yet, mental illnesses are still VERY stigmatized. People are afraid of talking about their depression or bipolar or borderline personality disorder or anxiety, mostly because society ostracizes anyone who manifests a form of mental illness. It’s really hard to establish a conversation around mental health.
Photo credit: David Cooper. Used with permission.
Even more challenging is to portray mental illness (in this case, bipolar disorder) with any degree of mastery in theatre, let alone a musical. And The Arts Club’s production of Next To Normal, whose opening night I attended tonight, not only succeeds but goes beyond any expectations I could have had. Powerful voices, extremely good performances, a really beautiful, poignant and realistic portrayal of bipolar disorder and a cast where every single actor is the main protagonist, simply because the supporting actors pull off an extraordinary performance, all these elements make of Next To Normal a must-see production.
Mental illness stories NEED to be told, and The Arts Club succeeds in creating a powerful message of unconditional love and understanding while meticulously working at portraying bipolar disorder and the devastating effects it has on the family of Diana (a Caitriona Murphy that gives us her all, with a powerful and well-projected voice that can range from subtle to scream within seconds). Haunted by ghosts of her past, we see her interact with her son Gabe and daughter Natalie in a very complex set of circumstances. Eric Morin gives a stellar performance as Gabe, with pipes that rival some of the best singers I’ve heard out there. Diana has lived with bipolar disorder triggered precisely by some trauma in her early years. Along with Gabe, Dan (Warren Kimmel in an outstanding portrayal of the eternally-loving, always-understanding husband) and Diana have a daughter, Natalie (Jennie Neumann, who at times steals the show as the daughter struggling with keeping a next-to-normal life while her mother goes in and out of the hospital). The family members love each other but coping with Diana’s bipolar disorder has proved challenging for a long, long time.
While it is a musical, the stories told aren’t easy to handle and beautifully haunting songs with powerful voices and a superb musical accompaniment made the audience (my guests included, Anabelle and JT) cry quite a lot. I spent the vast majority of the second act crying, to be quite honest. Without being too mushy, I felt that I witnessed poetry made musical theatre.
Colin Sheen (whom I loved in Hairspray) is an adorable boyfriend to Natalie, and demonstrates that he is capable of siding with some of the top actors in this town. He’s definitely playing in the big leagues. Matt Palmer, also a Hairspray alumnus, is convincing at the psychiatrist. As I mentioned, I think everyone in this musical-theatrical performance simply outdid themselves. In fact, The Arts Club outdid themselves. At the end of the performance, a packed Stanley Industrial Alliance Theatre audience gave the actors a standing ovation that made them come back after they had already said their goodbyes.
Next To Normal is perhaps the best performance I have ever seen in all my years of attending theatre in the city of Vancouver. The degree to which The Arts Club and specifically Bill Millard, the Director of Next To Normal, treated with respect, love and emotion the task of telling a challenging story of love in the face of mental illness in such powerfully convincing way that I think I’m going to have to come back for another 2 hours of crying. Next To Normal shows us the realities, challenges and (in some ways) triumphs of love over an illness that affects more than 1% of the population of Canada. If there is a theatre show this year YOU MUST see, it’s Next To Normal at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Theatre.
Playing until October 9th.
Anabelle, JT and I attended on my media tickets courtesy of The Arts Club. I would totally have paid out of my own pocket as mental health is a key cause of mine. This review is neither paid for nor expected, but I think everybody should educate themselves on the realities of mental illness (to be more understanding, we need to be more educated about the issues). As always, I retain editorial control of whatever is published on my blog.
This was probably the most interesting theatre experience I have ever had. Picture an episode of Mr Bean: 20 minutes of mimed dark humour. This was exactly that. In a post-apocalyptic world, it’s every man to himself. As the men in this one-scene-act play do what they must to survive in a flooding city at the end of the world, elements of black and white film and overdramaticization are a huge theme.
The idea of having the audience watch from a bridge and be surrounded by the characters and the very setting of the play is totally fantastic. Lots of couples were there on dates, and since it’s fairly short and concise, it leaves lots of time for dinner and drinks!
The topic is also a conversion-sparker: “the end.” I must say that I totally enjoyed the miming as well. It was layered on a very well-chosen soundtrack, and as a music enthusiast I’d say that made all the difference.
Disclaimer: Jessica attended the show on a Super Pass graciously provided by the Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2011 organizers. We were not otherwise compensated for our review, nor was a positive one expected. Raul always maintains editorial control over content published on Hummingbird604.com.
September brings with it colored leaves, back to school and… the new theatre season! We’re excited here on Hummingbird604.com because we LOVE theatre, and we have another great giveaway for you.
The acclaimed Broadway musical The Light in the Piazza is coming to Vancouver September 20th, and we’ve been given a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky reader.
The Light in the Piazza tells the story of Clara, a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman, who is holidaying in Florence with her mother Margaret. While sightseeing she loses her hat in a gust of wind that lands at the feet of a handsome Florentine, Fabrizio. In this brief episode there is a spark and an immediate romance begins. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep them apart. As the play unfolds, a secret is slowly revealed; in addition to cultural differences, Clara is not all that she appears. Can the young couple’s immense love overcome the shadows of the past?
We’re really excited about this musical: it won 6 Tony Awards and has been lauded by critics all over the US. Don’t miss the chance to see what promises to be one of the greatest shows this fall.
Credit: David Cooper
To enter the giveaway, tell us your favourite love story in the comments. It can be a movie, a book, a TV show, a play or a musical–whatever you like. For an extra entry, tweet the following:
Told @hummingbird604 about my fave love story http://is.gd/EZnYc1 2 enter 2 win a pair of tix to Light in the Piazza. What’s yours?
We will draw a winner on September 16th at 2PM. Make sure to give a valid email address and watch your inbox and Twitter feed. Good luck!
What: The Light in the Piazza
When: September 20th to October 9th; previews September 15th to 19th
Where: Norman Rothstein Theatre, 41st and Oak
More info: Tickets Tonight or 604.684.2787
Given my background in leather science (and the fact that I have written a number of research papers that feature prominently cowhides, visiting a dairy farm is like putting me (a kid) in a candy store (almost literally). We had a chance to visit Birchwood Dairy in Abbottsford, although sadly we were not able to visit the actual milk production factory. For someone with a chemical engineering background with a minor in food science (you’re finding out a lot about my background here, aren’t you?), and with a degree in leather science, this was a really fun visit.
Hopefully next time I visit I’ll have a chance to see the actual milk production area. You can see my Flickr photo set here.
Disclosure: My visit to Birchwood Dairy was one of the stops of a media trip for Circle Farm Tours. You can read all of my Circle Farm Tours coverage here.
On Sunday afternoon, Anabelle and I had an intern adventure through the Village at False Creek to visit the Portobello West market. We had heard that it is a great place to shop, meet local designers and artisans, and get inspiration.
African Beads at Portobello West market. Photo by Jessica Brodeur
As we approached, we were handed free entry tickets (that saved us a whopping $2.00) but we were very thankful and thought this was a great way to promote the market. I think my favourite little booth was the Cocoa Nymph’s chocolates, mostly because I love the tasters and I’ve heard a lot about this place, so it was nice to chat with the girls.
The clothes were definitely beautiful, everything was designed locally and showcased Vancouver’s amazing creative talent.
The main theme of the entire market seemed to be jewelry. Everyone had a stall selling handmade jewelry of some sort! I even found some fascinators, which I have been looking for in the back of my mind for a little while. Mostly everything was a hand-crafted item, and the prices were quite reasonable.
Cocoa Nymph chocolates at Portobello West. Photo by Jessica Brodeur
Jewelry at Portobello West market, Photo by Jessica Brodeur
This is definitely a great way to spend part of a Sunday afternoon, it’s held in the Creekside Community Centre and it’s a great little community market.
Recently, a number of friends of mine have been tweeting, nostalgically, about how they prefer the smell of a book. Or how someone else laughed or commented with snark at someone who dropped their electronic reader (e-reader, like the Amazon Kindle) and said “real books don’t break“. Unfortunately I haven’t had the time to search for solid statistics (this report on the state of the book industry in Canada is more than 4 years old).
But even if book sales decline, books aren’t really going to “die”, and the industry won’t die either. Yesterday, I was interviewed by The Ubyssey on Access Copyright and Open Access (I use e-journals and electronic, open access readings for my courses, and don’t use books). So you could say I’m one of the contributors to the decline of the book publishing industry.
Nevertheless, as I was exercising this morning, it occurred to me the impossibility of doing scholarly research online only, without any print materials. When I am writing an academic research paper (or when I was writing any of my books, or my doctoral dissertation years ago), I need to have enough surface to spread books, journal articles and notes and then assemble my thoughts and ideas.
Note the physical impossibility of having 25 e-readers on a desk and keep them open on a specific page. Same for journals. That’s what I love about libraries, and especially UBC libraries. I can grab some desk space or a table, open a few books on the topic I’m writing about, spread my printed journal articles and notes, and assemble my research and thoughts. You CANNOT, physically, do that with ONLY electronic resources. And if you say you can, you know you are wrong.
There is a place for print books, there is a place for printed materials and there is a place for libraries. And I know that libraries are transforming themselves and moving to more electronic resources. That’s awesome because even I have benefited from that – I do a lot of VPN’ing into my library and look for electronic journals. But when it comes down to the writing, I need the physical access to multiple books in one location. That’s what libraries, in my opinion, are for. And that’s why I think the death of the printed book is a myth, and why I love libraries SO MUCH. I am pretty sure that, for as long as someone needs to write a scholarly book or journal article, or school paper, or even report, there’ll be a need for libraries and print books.
Despite how crazy my life has become since I started working with Raul on Hummingbird604, I can’t deny that I get to do very cool stuff and meet very nice people. So it’s in this grateful frame of mind that I represented the blog at the Okanagan Crush Pad wine tasting event at the new Boneta restaurant in Gastown on September 12th.
Disclaimer: I like wine but I’ve never been trained in tasting it, so I won’t use the fancy wine words that wine critics use. I wouldn’t be using them right anyway, so it’s fair that I remain within my humble abilities as a wine drinker: I can discern between a good and a bad wine. And I’ve tasted a few that day that definitely go in the “good” category.
The story of Okanaga Crush Pad
During the tasting, I was introduced to Leeann Froese, who manages the media relations for Okanagan Crush Pad and organized the event. She told me the story of Okanagan Crush Pad.
Think of Okanagan Crush Pad as a kind of coworking facility for making wine. Vineyard owners can use the facilities and services provided by Okanagan Crush Pad, thus eliminating the need to build their own wine-making facilities and hire a complete winemaking and business team. They offer services ranging from vineyard management and winemaking to licensing, marketing and sales.
The facilities are modern and high tech and they even invited graffiti artists to paint on the concrete walls of the buildings. So cool!
The wines made at OCP are terroir-focused and from high quality grapes. They focus on small lot production, so the wines are rather exclusive. They have three brands going at the moment: Haywire, Bartier-Scholefield and Bartier Bros.
The wines
I tasted five wines out of seven; the tables also featured a little amuse-bouche that complimented each.
The first wine I tasted was The Goal, a robust red by Bartier Bros. I can see it definitely working with my favourite lamb and pork recipes. (Retail: 30$)
Bartier-Scholefield offered two table wines: a white and a rosé. I’m a definite fan of rosé, so I tried that one first. I liked it: not too sweet yet refreshing, with the right amount of acidity. The white was good too, and the pairing with the pâté was perfect. (Retail: 22$ for the white and 20$ for the rosé)
The last brand was Haywire, and it offered three wines, two of which I tasted: the rosé and the pinot noir. I like this rosé as well, and even though I didn’t get to taste the food pairing (oysters), I can definitely see myself enjoying it on the patio. (Retail: 21$)
But the star of the afternoon for me was definitely the pinot noir. Accompanied by a delicious duck confit, the pinot noir is a subtle red that instantly enchanted me. I don’t know much about depth and flavours, but this one definitely has something special, even though I can’t describe it. I would suggest it for your next wine and cheese party: it’s sure to be a hit. (Retail: 27$)
Opening Harvest Party
Lucky for you, you might not have to order the wine through the online store before tasting it. From September 28 to October 9, the Okanagan Crush Pad is opening its doors to the public for visits and will offer food and wine pairings featuring these three brands.
The facilities will be open every day between 11am and 5pm, and wine and food pairings will happen from Wednesday to Sunday from 3pm to 5pm. If you happen to be in the Okanagan (or want to go on a wine road trip), it’s a great place to stop by. Contact them for direction and more information.
Raul was invited to the event but since he was teaching, he couldn’t attend, so he sent Anabelle to represent the blog. The food and the wine were free, but we were not paid to write a review nor were expected to post one. Raul maintains editorial control at all times.
I don’t actually follow Jeff Jarvis, but as I told the audience of the HTCE panel yesterday (which featured Darren Barefoot, Gillian Shaw and Dennis Pang), I’m surprised that he would *just* have caught on to the fact that liveblogging is a skill, like any other skill, and that it should be paid for. The funny thing is – liveblogging for hire has been available as an employable skill for a long while. Some of this city’s most known bloggers like Rebecca Bollwitt, Tris Hussey, Lorraine Murphy and of course myself, we all have liveblogged for long, and we’ve been hired to liveblog too.
What gets me is that I have preached to anyone who would listen to me since, at least early 2008, that it was important to value liveblogging as a skill and that we should not devalue it by giving it away for free. With the transformation of mainstream media and how it now necessitates to adapt to the fast-paced, changing world of social media and instantaneous news delivery, mainstream media organizations now realize that they NEED to have someone who is a good liveblogger. AND PAY FOR IT.
It amazes me that things that we’ve been routinely doing for a long while now (and that I’ve preached for a long time) are now being seen as a “trend of the future”. Really? With the advent of social media, content curation, content creation and liveblogging should be valued EVEN MORE. I would rather read a good liveblog than a poorly curated livestream of tweets. Right now I can totally see how much Minna is struggling to curate the live tweets of Freelance Camp Vancouver 2011. It probably would have made sense to have the sessions liveblogged.
Hopefully people will catch on to the fact that good copy writers, excellent content curators and brilliant livebloggers are scarce. And that if brands and corporations and companies need good content (to digest and consume or to publish) they will need to pay for it.
This is a really weird area of town, the north-of-4th-Avenue area between Granville and Burrard. It’s not Kitsilano per se, but it’s also not really what most people would recognize as Fairview Slopes. But the number of hidden gems I found within this area in the course of attending the recent Standing Armed presentation of their Spring/Summer 2012 collection is unbelievably high. Apollonia Greek Restaurant is a little gem that produces some of the best Greek food this side of Takis Taverna, Stepho’s and Bouzyos.
It wasn’t really my discovery, it was really Anabelle’s. She had dinner there and I just landed for a quick appetizer (although Anabelle gave me her salad, I ordered an appetizer of Keftedes (Greek meatballs) that was really, really tasty and filling. The price point at Apollonia is pretty decent and it’s not going to break your wallet.
I’m sure I will get flack because the meat balls look a bit overcooked on the top. Personally, I like them like that. I’m glad Anabelle invited me here for dinner as I am sure I could have not come here had she not discovered this little gem. I’ll definitely come back, most likely bringing JT for dinner.
The name of this play sort of gives away the entire dark-comedy theme: Suicides, and Vegas. Produced by MW Productions, this play is set in a modern world where two women find each other randomly on the internet, both with the intention of dying soon, but not alone – they band together and hit up Vegas. Critics acclaim the play to be “Clever,” “Engaging,” and “Beautiful.”
“MW Productions, a Denver-based production company, will tour the World Premiere play Suicide(s) in
Vegas throughout Canada this summer, from Montreal to Vancouver.
Written by Evan Placey, Directed by Margaret Whittum, Starring Elinza Pretorius & Amber Green.
Runs September 9th to September 17th.
False Creek Community Center, 1318 Cartwright Street, Granville Island”
This play has a lot of hype at this year’s Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2011–and for good reasons. Big Shot is a compelling solo play featuring six different characters whose destiny all meet at one fateful moment on the SkyTrain.
The narrator is a boy who loves cinema; he is coming back home after seeing a movie somewhere in Vancouver. The most interesting thing about Big Shot is that it uses movie language to show what theater can do that movies can’t.
The writing was excellent: gripping, poetical and emotional. The writer/actor did a good job of depicting all the different characters, not only physically but also through their words. Each scene slowly builds up to the final moment and weaves all the different strands together. As you gain more and more information, you start to see the picture: inevitable, tragic, real.
John Lachlan Stewart is an actor to watch–literally. I thought his physical acting top notch, easily switching between a recovering drug addict, an 8-year-old boy and an old Japanese man. I was especially impressed with his delivery of Japanese–I don’t understand the words but I’ve watched enough animes to know the natural flow of the language, and this was very close. By the sweat on his shirt at the end of the play, you could see that John was totally into his characters.
The set–well, there’s no set actually. The only prop is a black blazer. I think any object or background would have distracted from the physical performance. The lighting was right on and the sound design, used parsimoniously, had the desired effect of enhancing certain moments or character traits.
The play left me breathless and moved. Even when you see the end coming, its inexorability is hypnotizing. There’s nothing you can do but watch when it all finally together in a final scene that could rival even the best movies. But this play is not a movie, and that’s the best thing about it. It’s all a movie cannot be; it shows what theatre can do and still does despite its decline in popularity. Thanks to festivals like the Vancouver International Fringe Festival, there is still a space where these artistic issues can be explored.
My boyfriend, a playwright himself, fan of solo plays and physical acting, was impressed. I can’t think of a better endorsement for Big Shot. A definite must-see at this year’s Fringe. Here’s some video from the play we found on YouTube.
Disclaimer: Anabelle attended Big Shot on a Super Pass graciously provided by the Vancouver International Fringe Festival organizers. We were not otherwise compensated for our review, nor was a positive one expected. Raul always maintains editorial control over content published on Hummingbird604.com.
My friend Angie Quaale is the owner of Well Seasoned, in Langley BC. I had actually never had the chance to come visit, but since Angie was having her Annual Customer Appreciation Day, I had an opportunity to stop by along with Cassandra, Chelsea and Jayne and just browse through the fair. It was a great day and had a chance to bump into people who either read my blog or follow me on Twitter. Very cool. These are just a few photos of the event.
Our shop is a real foodie’s paradise – we carry the finest in gourmet foods with a specialty in hard to find ingredients, spices, sauces, condiments and cookware. Gourmet essentials for the serious home cook include 25 varieties of salt, more than 50 imported oils & vinegars, fresh vanilla beans, chocolate, cocoa and a fantastic selection of locally produced gourmet foods. Like our customers, we are passionate about good food!
Well Seasoned offers cooking classes, and a number of other events. And, not surprisingly, it offers also Mexican food supplies! I must come and visit more often. You should read Angie’s blog too, she’s quite funny and insightful.
Disclosure: My visit to Well Seasoned in Langley was one of the stops of a media trip for Circle Farm Tours. You can read all of my Circle Farm Tours coverage here.
Edith Piaf left a hard pair of shoes to fill. Her vocal range, beauty, and emotion left an imprint on French history and music forever. This story, written and featuring Melanie Gall, lives up to the high standard of Piaf’s voice and music.
I arrived at the play wondering who would play Piaf and what the setting would look like. Portraying Paris in the 1930s would be difficult but could be beautiful. Interstingly enough, I saw neither of those things.
The featureless background actually works itself perfectly into the performance as the costumes do all of the work.: beautiful silks and sequins, contracted with Simone’s humble blue skirt and sweater. As for Edith, she doesn’t directly appear at all. Although this is the story of her life and times, the character is actually Simone, her step-sister.
Although Melanie Gall could have pulled off Piaf if she wanted, she was humble enough to write herself in as the sister and narrator. I think it was best that Piaf remained imagined instead of seen, as some of the story became extremely tragic and despairing, something maybe best not portrayed directly.
The songs were sung absolutely beautifully. Only at one point did I notice a mistake, and it was inconsequential. My favourite of Piaf’s songs, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, was as gorgeous as it could get. Melanie Gall`s voice was strong and clear, yet somehow softer than Piaf`s original voice. I loved when the two voices were overlapped at one point, with the original record playing in the background. The audience was totally into the music, and Gall encouraged interaction as she spoke to different audience members throughout the monologue.
I would certainly recommend this play to anyone, especially opera lovers. Although the subject matter is extremely difficult and sad, there is humour and light-heartedness within the presentation. I didn’t leave feeling upset, but rather having enjoyed my evening.
Disclaimer: Jessica attended the media premiere of The Sparrow and The Mouse on a Super Pass graciously provided by the Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2011 organizers. We were not otherwise compensated for our review, nor was a positive one expected. Raul always maintains editorial control over content published on Hummingbird604.com.
I only work with brilliant people. Or, as I said at Freelance Camp Vancouver 2011, I refuse to work with stupid people. I know, this sounds horrible. I felt horrible as I said it, publicly. But it’s true. One of the keys to my success is that I surround myself with, I immerse myself within, a bunch of really smart people. I trust my friends and colleagues to do what they are supposed to do because I know they have my back. They know my standards of work quality. And I have such limited amount of time that I need to invest it the best way I can.
I’m very successful not only because I work very hard, but in large part, because I have a framework of trusted colleagues, friends, co-authors and partners on whom I rely. I co-author papers with only some of the top scholars in the world, with great co-authors, and with some of my very best students. I collaborate in consulting projects (or teaching projects, as I did with my good friend Lisa Thomas-Tench when we co-taught Marketing and Economics, or with my good friend Rebecca Bollwitt when we co-taught seminars for WorkSafe BC. Same thing in my current project for the City of Surrey with my friends and colleagues from Invoke. I co-wrote the winning proposal with another very close friend and brilliant woman, Grace Carter). That’s how I keep winning and succeeding: by relying on the great work of others, and by contributing sound, solid work.
I co-authored a book with Arieanna Schweber not because she is one of my closest friends. I did it because she is brilliant. Admittedly, that was one of the key elements of how I got to work with Arieanna (because we are friends). But I chose to be her co-author because I knew she had A LOT of experience building online communities. We are really good friends, but beyond that, we have a lot of mutual respect for each other’s body of work.
I co-organize Mental Health Camp Vancouver with Isabella Mori not only because she’s one of my best friends. I do it because I know we GET each other. We have each other’s backs. We KNOW how we function, we KNOW what we need to get done in order to achieve success in our shared project. And she has my full respect with regards to mental health and social media.
Isabella and Raul Credit: Karen Hamilton (Tiny Bites) on Flickr
I have Jonathon Narvey and Shane Birley as my co-organizers of the Vancouver Blogger Meetup because they are both trusted, respected bloggers who have proven to be as engaged and devoted to the Vancouver blogging community as I do (both of them were, in case you didn’t know, part of this year’s and last year’s organizing committee for Northern Voice 2011).
I chose 2 brilliant young women as my interns (Anabelle and Jessica) from all the applicants I had because they are smart, and they are as engaged with the arts community as I am. Their commitment to my causes is a direct reflection to their commitment to working with me and their similar philosophy to me. And that rocks, because that’s how we’ve been able to provide support and coverage for the arts community.
(You can see how hard we’ve worked to support the arts community as much as we’ve been doing in the past 6 weeks.)
And the list continues…
The projects I do with the people I work with are a direct reflection of how much respect I have for their work. It’s an explicit endorsement of how much I value what they bring to my life, not only as friends but as colleagues. This doesn’t mean that I can’t respect the work of others or that I won’t collaborate with others, but it does mean that if I have a series of offers to collaborate in projects, I will choose those where I can find the most reward and the highest return on investment.
And it’s not the return on investment on my money: it’s return on investment on the brain cells I use. So that’s the first of my 6 tips on how to manage yourself as a project. Work with the smartest people you can. Surround yourself with bright people.
If you are or know someone who is a dog lover, there is an event coming up in Vancouver just for you! Pedigree is a community-based organization for the adoption of dogs. They are having a free Adoption Drive and Tour on October 1st at the TD Plaza in Vancouver. The purpose of the event is to spread the word about the program, adoption options for pets from the Langley Animal Protection Society.
Another goal is to show people dogs coming out of shelters can be kind & make good pets. The event has a couple of information seminars and activities, including the screening of a new film about two dogs out of shelters, called the Canadian Pedigree Adoption Tales. For each person that stops by to watch the film, $1.00 will be donated towards helping dogs in shelters find good families up to $150,000 to the 30 partner shelters located in Canada, where the donation will be split between each partner shelter who will receive a maximum of $5,000 CDN in 2011 to help them care for shelter dogs.
There will also be information about volunteering, adoption, and some hands-on activities for the entire family.
The makers of Pedigree want to show Vancouver residents that shelter dogs are good dogs, and are bringing the Pedigree Adoption Tour, to Toronto Dominion Plaza on October 1, 2011.
What: Pedigree Adoption Drive Campaign Adoption Tour
When: October 1, 2011: 11a.m.-5 p.m. Where: Toronto Dominion Plaza; 700 West Georgia Street Why: To learn about the importance of dog adoption from the Langley Animal Protection Society, and see first-hand that shelter dogs are good dogs. Price: Free Who: Everyone. Public event Website: www.mypedigree.ca
I had to “SoundHound” this song to find out the name, even though I’ve been addicted to it for a really long time. Yes, David Bowie is substantially older than me and he is definitely not of my generation but I grew up with his music and I absolutely love this song. This is an extended dance remix of the traditional Blue Jean, but I love it just as much as I do the original song. For your listening pleasure.
I attended the Saturday afternoon presentation of Fortunate Son, which we previewed last week. Given how Raul had enjoyed previous productions from the same company, I was expecting something a bit more interesting than what I was given.
If you forgot, the play is about the first few hours after Pierre-Elliot Trudeau’s funeral, as lived by his eldest son Justin Trudeau and Trudeau’s best friend Cal. It’s not a bad idea in itself, but the text could have used a few more drafts. It was clunky and repetitive at some points, and could have used a bit of editing.
Québecers have a complicated relationship with Trudeau. He started the Révolution Tranquille and then imposed the war measures law during the FLQ crisis. My mother tells me about the tanks roaming the streets of Montréal when she was a teenager, and I understand why most of us are reluctant to consider him a “great” Prime Minister.
That was a long preamble just to say that I found the text overly glorifying. Justin couldn’t help himself but admire and glorify his absent father, despite a lonely childhood. It might pass for Trudeau-ites, but it became bitter in my mouth. The text was a bit too heavy on emotions and tried hard to pull on the viewers’ heart strings. The play got the opposite reaction from me as it tried a bit too hard.
There were bits of French put in here and there, as an afterthought it seems, unfortunately so badly pronounced that it made me cringe. I can’t blame the actor for this, but it could have done away with it altogether. This kind of lip service to bilingualism bothers me–either do it or don’t. Weirdly, there were also more mentions of Vancouver than either Montréal (where the play happens) or Ottawa.
On top of an overly saccharine script, the acting was competent at best, especially on the part of Drew Stanilard, who played Justin. It might have been the text or the fact that he was playing someone who’s alive and publicly active, but I felt there was something forced about the performance. Michael Armstrong as Cal fared a bit better, but overall I didn’t find their dynamic really convincing.
Overall, the play left me a bit bored. Yes, it’s an interesting subject, but it really felt glorifying to me. There was almost no criticism of Trudeau’s reign, only a vague feeling of anger from his son who felt abandoned all his life. It seemed that the play sinned through too many good intentions: it wanted to work through both the personal and political consequences of Trudeau’s death for Justin, but these two topics didn’t work well together and we’re left with a clunky mess of factual exposition and emotional reactions.
Fortunate Son might be a play to see if you’re interested in the history of Trudeau’s reign and the values of the Liberal Party. But there are some things you just can’t be objective about: for me, I can’t swallow having Trudeau thus glorified for his political life. As for Justin, his ultimate fate in the play left me cold; we all know he just got elected for the second time as the MP of the Papineau district on May 2nd.
Disclaimer: Hummingbird604.com was personally invited to see the play and Anabelle got in with a Super Pass courtesy of the Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2011 organizers. We were not paid to write a review, nor was a positive one expected. Raul maintains editorial control at all times.
Well, here it is! My first Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2011 review! The season is officially open, so get ready for an avalanche of Fringe-related stuff in the next week or so on Hummingbird604.com.
I’ve never been to the Firehall Arts Centre before… but then I haven’t been many places in this town yet, so it’s not so surprising. The space was nicely set up, with a piano in the corner for the musician who plays ALL the music by herself. The decor was minimal but effective: two chairs, two side tables and a background showing views of Vancouver.
The story is simple and accessible: a Vancouver suburban couple, together for ten years, realize how they’ve grown apart and try to figure out a way to reignite the spark. He goes to work and the gym, she goes to her psychoanalyst and a movie. They meet at lunch time, each lying about meeting someone at a restaurant although they’re both going alone, separately. Outside of the couple, there’s a “trio”, the equivalent of a chorus, who set up the story and make comments throughout the opera.
Photo credit: Vince Hemingson. Used with permission.
The story is a bittersweet blend of humourous and sad, funny and tragic; we all know this story, some of us have seen our parents go through this (me included) and yet the open ending leaves you with a sense of hope. It’s a sad but realistic view of a couple’s life after a decade of marriage.
In most operas, the plot is really simple and is just a vehicle for the music anyway, so let’s focus on that. First, the jazzy music is from a single piano, played live by a very talented musician. It can’t be easy to manage five people singing to your music, so kudos. The singers were all very talented, but unfortunately the space of the Firehall Arts Centre isn’t the best to showcase opera voices. I do understand, however, that very few companies can afford an actual concert space, and the Firehall is small enough that the voices aren’t lost.
Lighting and effects were very simple, almost minimal; the addition of the background screen helped contextualize each setting so we would know where each character was. The chorus participates actively in the funniest scenes like the gym and the movie. The kids in the audience seemed to love those!
If you’ve wanted to try an opera but never dared go to one because it seemed inaccessible, Trouble in Tahiti is probably the best introduction. It’s in English, it’s accessible and it’s very short (40 minutes). For more seasoned opera and musical lovers, Trouble in Tahiti is very rarely performed and so it might be your only chance to get a glimpse of Leonard Bernstein’s (creator of West Side Story) early work.
The show left me touched and sad, a good sign that the singers conveyed the emotions well. I had a great time and I recommend it to opera newbies and buffs alike.
Disclaimer: I (Anabelle) attended the media premiere of Trouble in Tahiti on media tickets graciously provided by Vancouver Concert Opera Co-operative. We were not otherwise compensated for our review, nor was a positive one expected. Raul always maintains editorial control over content published on Hummingbird604.com.
When my Mom and I went to Costco this year to buy coffee, we got Nabob. I have always loved their coffee. Imagine my surprise when I got invited to the celebration of the 115th Anniversary of Nabob Coffee Company in Vancouver. I did NOT realize it was a Vancouver icon!
The first Nabob coffee is created by carefully selecting the world’s highest quality Arabica beans to create a unique blend. Nabob’s coffee history begins with a new product called Tradition. Nabob sources more than 60 percent of its coffee beans from Rainforest AllianceCertified™ farms. These farms have met standards for holistic farm management, which benefit the environment, workers and communities.
Congratulations to Nabob on their 115th Anniversary! I’ll continue to drink their coffee even more so now that I know they are a Vancouver tradition in business!
This Friday, September 9th marked the opening night in Canada of Warner Brother‘s new epidemic film Contagion. Interested in a medical thriller revolving around an air-born virus? A story of world-wide chaos and panic? Jude Law, wink-wink, nudge-nude? Hummingbird604.com has 4 double passes to giveaway!
To enter: leave a comment with your favourite pandemic drama film. I (Jessica) might have to cheat and say that mine is TV series’ Heroes circa season 2, with the Shanti Virus. Contest closes September 13th at 1PM.. You may have read Raul’s review (Jessica and Ana and Raul went all to see the movie).
The film brings together a stellar international ensemble cast, including Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose,” “Inception”); Academy Award® winner Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting,” the “Bourne” films); Oscar® nominee Laurence Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Matrix”); Oscar® nominee Jude Law (“Cold Mountain,” “Sherlock Holmes”); Academy Award® winner Gwyneth Paltrow (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Iron Man”); and Academy Award® winner Kate Winslet (“The Reader,” “Titanic”).
In the past few weeks, I have slowly but steadily been regaining more time for myself. As I reflect on the talk I gave at Freelance Camp Vancouver 2011, I have begun to ponder what exactly did I do with my time to this day. The past week I have somehow found time to blog on my research site about scholarly applications of social media (in teaching and in research).
I have found the time to write a literature review, edit a grant proposal and meet with students and colleagues. AND prepare my lectures. AND be on top of my work, consulting, and writing.
Doing many things at once and wearing many hats (e.g. being a “Renaissance man”) has taken its toll on my ability to spend extended periods of time reflecting and thinking hard about issues. If I want to create scholarship that will further our understanding of environmental policy and public policy, I need to be able to spend extended periods of time concentrating and thinking hard about the issues.
When I first recruited Anabelle and Jessica as my interns, I told them that my goal was to buy myself 30 hours a week of time for my scholarly research. That’s precisely my goal, and they have been amazing at taking on many of the tasks that managing Hummingbird604.com has presented me with.
I have been pondering a number of things and trying to find the time to do them all: Redesign Hummingbird604.com (specially re-theming it, something I’ve been thinking of doing for more than a year now); edit my academic CV to reflect more accurately what I do; re-shape my consultancy website. Map out my scholarly research agenda for the next 5-10 years. All of these things require time for me to sit down, alone and just THINK.
In an era where I am continuously bombarded with information, I have decided to trim down on a number of things. I am going to unfollow a substantial number of people (sorry folks, the fire hose approach is not working for me). I’m going to spend less time being active on social media, and social media events. And I’m going to start redirecting efforts towards my scholarly research agenda.
All of these changes to my life are a reflection of one of the tips I gave when I spoke at Freelance Camp Vancouver 2011: I am a tyrant with my time.I have a right to be. Now, a caveat and clarification: the fact that I decide to spend LESS time on social media doesn’t mean I have failed to manage my life WITHIN social media. Much to the contrary. I have worked in the space, put in the hours, done my time and gained a lot of insight into how I want to use social media and how much time I want to spend on it.
Now, it’s time to apply the lessons I’ve learned and stop trying to do EVERYTHING. There’s only one Raul and my goal is to keep him (me) sane. Finding the time to slow down and just THINK is exactly working towards that objective.
