The View from the 58th....

Last night I found myself up on the 58th floor of Vancouver's tallest building, the Shangri-La hotel. I was there in attendance for the launch of Shinan Govani's book, Bold Face Names.

Lainey from LaineyGossip had invited me along, but I thought she just wanted to meet up quickly with me beforehand, not realizing she wanted me to be her Gay Date for the evening! So, there they were, everyone looking fabulous, and I was all schleppy in my jeans and ratty sweater and in bad need of a haircut. "It's a Vancouver crowd," Lainey assured me.

It was a bit of a frantic evening as I was technically still at work. Lainey insisted on meeting me at promptly at 5, and I wasn't off work till 5:30. I managed to sneak out of work for 20 minutes and one cocktail and 58 flights later, I was back at work finishing up my shift.

At 5:30, I hightailed it back to the Shangri La because I didn't want to shrug off my duties as the Gay Date. I went back, had another cocktail, mingled a bit, and left an hour later - since I had dinner plans in the works, too, and a friend had already been waiting and starving for an hour for me!! Whoops!

I grabbed a swag bag on the way out, which contained the book, a thinly veiled fictional account of the life of a gossip columnist (the author is a gossip columnist). So, looking forward to reading it!!

Viva Les Pet Shop Boys

Here are the boys doing a cover of Coldplay's Viva La Vida on Saturday night:

We Were Never Being Boring

Wow, Saturday night's Pet Shop Boys concert was brilliant!! Fantastic show!!







When the Pet Shop Boys sang Jealousy, I was instantly resonating with the song and its lyrics....

Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would...
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy

I never knew time passed so slow
I wish I'd never met you...



The Pet Shop Boys didn't sing What Have I Done To Deserve This, which caused me major sadness. I was also looking forward to Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money). The set was so simple and effective, though, made up entirely of white cardboard boxes, which would collapse and crumble and then get rebuilt again into different shapes and walls, which was used as a projection screen. At the end, they were lifted into the air and spiraled like hanging mobiles. So good!!!

One of my favourite songs in the entire world is by the Pet Shop Boys, and when they sang it, I was in heaven. Here's Being Boring:

Saturday Morning Cartoon Party!

This Saturday, the Rio Theatre will be host to another Saturday Morning Cartoon Party! Tickets available now online! I've never been but have been wanting to go, so will most likely check this out. Wear your pajamas, bring a bowl for discounts on the sugary cereals (Frankenberry, BooBerry, and more!!) and come enjoy the retro cartoons from 10am - 12pm, to be followed by a screening of the classic, The Neverending Story!

Swarm 2009!!

Time for the annual Fall art gallery hop known as Swarm!!

It takes place this Thursday and Friday around town and if you haven't swarmed before, it's one of the most interesting experiences you can have here in Vancouver! From the amazing artwork one can come across to the neighbourhoods you get to explore that you might never have before (i.e. the Downtown Eastside).

I've been looking forward to this all summer!!

I Wear Tight Clothing, High Heeled Shoes, That Doesn't Mean That I'm a Prostitute!

Last night I went to our local fair, the PNE, along with a few hundred other feygelahs, to spend an evening with some familiar funky divas: it was a free summer concert by EN VOGUE!!!! With Corn Dogs in one hand and a bag of mini-donuts in the other, I was ready for some Dawn Robinson, Cindy, Terry Ellis, and Maxine!!! Bring it on Girls!!!

When they sang Don't Let Go, I totally wanted to dedicate that to The Guy! lol! "Don't you wanna be, more than friends?" I love their video for this, look at the rage they have in their eyes. Also, all of them seem to get their time in the spotlight and can each hold their own singing-wise. Too bad Dawn had to go and break up the group by leaving it, otherwise who knows how well they could've maintained their success?

En Vogue - Don't Let Go
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From their classic Hold On and the soulful Giving Him Something He Can Feel to the Salt-N-Pepa rap duet Whatta Man and the diva-esque My Lovin' You're Never Gonna Get It, the girls covered all of their big hits and several covers of oldies!

And of course, who can forget their anthem, Free Your Mind?



A fantastic evening!!!

Love for the new Skytrain Line!

I am loving the new Skytrain line that just opened up this week. Monday was a gong show when the Canada Line opened its doors and allowed passengers to ride for free for the day. The line ups were city blocks long to try to get on, so I didn't bother. Instead, I waited for the next day when I could just hop on with my transit card and boy was it glorious! Roomy and spacious, clean and odor-free! I managed to get a seat, I didn't have to sit next to someone that smelled like booze or urine, and I didn't have to stand on the platform waiting for 3 trains to pass me by before being able to get on one!

Yesterday Philip and I escaped downtown on our lunch break and took the new line all the way out to Richmond and hopped off for some authentic Chinese food. I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of the new stops was at the River Rock Casino, so the next time I have a concert to attend out there, I can just hop on the train to go!

I hope the trains stay nice and clean but I'm sure the grafitti artists and vandals will begin their work soon enough. Still, it's convenient and about time!!