Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting!

Dear Vancouver, if you've never been to an ECCW event, then do yourself a favour this weekend and go to Vendetta on Saturday night, (Doors at 7:30pm) at the Russian Community Centre in Kits!

ECCW is Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling and it is a BLAST! The wrestlers are extremely entertaining, as I had written for The Georgia Straight's Best of Vancouver issue back in 2009.

Last year I attended for my birthday and got to meet some of the wrestlers, which was awesomesauce! (Thank you to Ref Bill Taylor for the intros!) It's definitely a fun night out, where the audience gets completely into it and the wrestlers love the attention you give them, whether it's good or bad!

Be warned however, if you sit in the front rows - get ready to leap out of your seat in case a wrestler comes flying through the ropes at you!!

Need a Valentine?

Looking for a Valentine this year?

Read Dating returns to the Vancouver Public Library, this time for adults age 35 - 55.



I went to their GLBTQ session back in November and met some cool folks. The age range for that was 18-35, so this group (for men and women) should be a bit more diverse with the bigger age range!

It's called read dating because it is in the form of speed dating, however you are asked to bring along your favourite book (or cd) and that helps as a jumping point for conversation. It's a cool event, and I'd highly recommend it if you're looking to meet some new people, or just to get some new book recommendations!

Are you single and between the ages of 35 and 55? Do you enjoy reading? Want to meet others who are interested in the same thing? Come to our fun and casual Read Dating event for up to 17 dates in one night.


Read Dating 35-55
A program for adults
Monday February 13
6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Free. Registration required.

Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level
Central Library
350 West Georgia Street

Hiroshima exhibit at Museum of Anthropology

I went out to UBC the other day to check out the Museum of Anthropology's Hiroshima exhibit. It's a smaller exhibit than what I expected, but moving nonetheless. Photographer Ishiuchi Miyako captures images of artifacts that survived the bombing of Hiroshima, including items that have been recently donated. In fact, to this day, items continue to be donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. With 48 photographs collected here, the exhibit runs at the MOA until February 12.

No. 2 at The Cultch

Thank goodness for the PuSh Festival. Without it, Vancouverites may not have gotten the privilege to see the show No. 2, which opened last night at the Cultch. And what a loss that would have been.

Madeleine Sami stars in this one-woman show and turns out a tour de force performance, encapsulating nine different characters amidst a bare black backdrop. It's just her and a chair, but oh what a journey she will take you on! From the grandmotherly matriarch who is ready to name her successor, to a baby boy named Moses who karaokes off-key. Along the way, Sami brings to life a stoic grandson who has worked all night but is ready to help his grandmother out with preparing for the day's festivities. There's also the hard-working grand-daughter Charlene, not to be confused with the model/actress grand-daughter Hibiscus, both characters distinguished with ease thanks to Sami's talent. Throw in some hip-hop dancing, an old priest, a gangsta wannabe, and a British girl, and despite the solo spotlight, that stage is packed.

Madeleine Sami flows seamlessly from character to character with total ease and fluidity, aging forwards and backwards and changing genders, all in the blink of an eye. Her performance brought the audience to their feet in a well-deserved standing ovation that lasted through three encores for the actress. I don't think I have ever seen a Vancouver audience that thrilled before! It was wonderful to see people really appreciating good theatre and giving that love back to the performers and the people who created it. Well done, Vancouver! And well done, PuSh festival and the Cultch! Thanks for adding to my month of discovering amazing theatre in our city!

If you haven't had a chance to get out to see any PuSh performances, then shame on you! But it's not too late. No. 2 plays until February 4 at The Cultch, so get your tickets quickly! No. 2 is a number one choice at the PuSh festival, if you're looking for suggestions!

Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade 2012

I didn't make it out to the Chinese New Year Parade on Sunday, but my friends Chris and Calvin braved the rain and sent me these photos! Thanks for the photos, Chris!

Enjoy! Happy Year of the Dragon!!

Look it's my favourite Vancouver newsanchor, Global TV's Chris Gailus!

And if you still haven't partied enough for the new year, check out CIBC's Lunar New Year Lantern Aquarium, taking place Feb 1 - 5 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This free event runs from 12pm - 8pm!

Do you have photos from an event? Send them my way if you like!

Saraswati Puja

On Saturday, I woke up to a freak snow/slush storm! Did you? It was gross out. But I had plans to head over to Burnaby to attend a celebration of the Hindu goddess Saraswati. The weather wasn't bad enough to deter me, thankfully. And thank goddess I went! It was a wonderful time, a joyous celebration, and there was amazing Indian food to be had!

Seriously, that chutney was AMAZING.

Here's some information from a handout they passed to me:

As "Diwali" - the festival of light - is to Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity, "Vasant Panchami" is to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, intelligence, and arts. Celebrating the festival of Saraswati Puja is known to bless individuals with intelligence, wisdom and knowledge. Goddess Saraswati is the mother of wisdom and music. The festival has much importance for students and people in intellectual fields.

Mata Saraswati is worshipped with yellow flowers, sindoor, water offerings, incense, lamp, etc.

Hindus regard Vasant Panchami as the birthday of Goddess Saraswati. "Vasant" comes from the word "spring" as this festival signifies the beginning of Vasant Ritu (spring season) and "Panchami" from the 5th day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Magha, when it is observed. Hindus celebrate it with great fervor int emples, homes and even schools and colleges as students utter the Saraswati Mantra prayer before the idol of the goddess of knowledge and arts.

Thank you to Smita for inviting me to this amazing event!

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea

It was a jocular crowd on Friday night when I went to check out Pacific Theatre's production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. Written by John Patrick Shanley, the same playwright who brought the Tony-award winning and Pulitzer Prize winning Doubt to the stage, this was a huge undertaking for the little theatre that could.

As the first part of their "Shanley Series", Pacific Theatre will be doing two of Shanley's plays this season, the other being Doubt (March 2 - 31). I'm so excited about this duel programming; thank you Pacific Theatre for helping to bring more great works to Vancouver's arts scene!



Danny and the Deep Blue Sea has no intermission, and is a two-person powerhouse play about two strangers who meet in a bar and reveal their deepest darkest secrets, fears, and hopes to one another. It's a one night stand to the extreme. Full of swearing, violence, and sexuality, this isn't the type of show you'd expect to find in a church basement. This only goes to prove Pacific Theatre's daring to push the envelope within its community. And the audience is all the better for it!

I didn't start this blog so I could rave about everything I saw. But the past three plays I've seen in this city, including Danny, have all been exceptional and worthy of a Broadway stage. The two actors in this show, Lori Triolo and Aleks Paunovic, are directed by Jason Goode and give amazing and emotionally draining performances. The intimate theatre made me feel like I really was in some dingy bar and feeling the pain of these two characters.

The show has been on since January 20th, but it doesn't show any signs of slowing down. Friday night's attendance was quite high, considering the production ends this week. So if you haven't seen it, and you get a chance for a night out, you don't want to miss out on Danny and the Deep Blue Sea! On now until February 4 at the Pacific Theatre.