Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling

Yeah, that's right. I went to watch some local wrestling at the Russian Community Centre here in Vancouver, and you know what, it was AWESOME!! It was the Pacific Cup tournament held by Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling.



The crowd was totally into it. In the heart of Kitsilano, one would never expect to find a crowd of people chanting out, "El Phantasmo!" to the masked wrestler of the same name entering the ring. These people were regulars, as they had their crowd favourites! There was Billy Suede whose high flyin' antics made the first several rows scramble out of the way when he threw his opponent out of the ring and into the audience! There was also the mohawked Randy Myers who got the crowd cheering him on as he cut off some of his hair in order to meet the weight requirements.

It was a great night out, and it was nice to see such an enthusiastic crowd. I was pleasantly surprised too when only a few people started chanting homophobic slurs like "Bunch of Faggots" or "You're a Homo!" and the rest of the room did NOT join in for that, so good on the rest of the crowd. That was nice to see. Oh and the wrestlers? Yeah, there were definitely some hot ones running around with hard bodies in tight trunks!

But overall, the wrestlers had amazing abilities in the ring, making everything look completely real and totally painful. I'm sure they were all hurtin' later on, but these are skilled pros so maybe they know how to do it without beating themselves up too much. The best part was the humour that some of the wrestlers brought to the ring. Their showmanship was amazing and definitely makes me want to go back for more!!

Pet Shop Boys Are Coming to Vancouver!!

OMG. OMG! O M G!!!!!!!!!



September 19 at the Centre for Performing Arts

YES!!!!!!

FUSE

Last Friday I finally checked out FUSE, which is an event that's been taking place at the Vancouver Art Gallery for several years now. It takes place on select Fridays starting at 8pm, running to 2am and features performances from local artists and groups, while a DJ spins tunes throughout the night. And of course, you also get to walk around and look at the current exhibits in place.



Right now, Reece Terris' Ought Apartment installation takes up the entire staircase, with each floor representing a different decade of style and design, from the ground level 60s inspired home to the 2nd floor 70s shagalicious digs, up to the 3rd floor's 80s explosion of pleather, carpeting, and marble.

Models dressed up according to their respective decades roamed the installation, including a friend of mine who looked fabulous both in her 60s June Cleaver-esque dress as well as in her 80s hairsprayed up-do. Local dance troupe The House of La Douche performed to RuPaul's "Put The Bass In Your Walk" while the men's choir Chor Leoni serenaded the crowd. Later on, an electric celloist dazzled the crowd in the main lobby, while the hipsters upstairs were busy belting out tunes like "Jet" and "I Will Always Love You" in the "ironic karokee lounge."

The exhibits themselves were mediocre - uninspiring photography showings. The Ought Apartment installation is currently the best thing at the Art Gallery right now. Keep your eye out for the next FUSE event.

Afterwards, we made our way to the cafeteria which is constantly buzzing during lunchtime with the downtown business crowd, but on this particular evening had transformed into a makeshift bar with the hip and not so hip coming together to drape themselves along the steps of the gallery, wine glasses in hand, laughing and conversing on a perfectly warm soon-to-be summer night.

Palace of the End

I'm 2 for 2 so far! That is, 2 good plays one after the other this week! As well, this play, Palace of The End, was the second play I've seen at the PAL Theatre located on the top floor of an apartment building in Coal Harbour. And like the other production I saw at PAL, this too was excellent, so I'm 2 for 2 on that as well!



Palace of The End is a heavy piece, made up of 3 distinct monologues based on the true life stories of 3 people. The first one was my favourite - the female soldier who was photographed making fun of Iraqui prisoners. The actress who played her did a PHENOMENAL job! Her part was engaging, interesting, well-written, humorous, sad, moving, and downright amazing.

The second monologue belonged to a British weapons instructor, who was the one to reveal to the world that there were indeed no weapons of mass destruction to be found. His bit was somewhat boring, mainly because he didn't get to move around much on stage and there weren't enough points of humour to keep the audience going. With three heavy monologues to sit through, I needed a bit more variation within each of them to keep me interested. I couldn't wait for his part to be over.

Finally, the third monologue was just as good as the 1st one, that being an Iraqui woman who was tortured by Saddam Hussein during the 70s for being a Communist, and then later killed during the war when an American bomb blew up her home. Her performance was elegant, precise, poised, sweet, sad, startling, and methodic.

Definitely worth seeing, so go check it out! I was fortunate enough to go to the Free Preview last night. Free theatre, with this calibre? You really can't go wrong. Palace of The End runs until June 6, and there is a 2 For 1 showing on Saturday night (tomorrow)!

Fat Pig

Neil Labute's Fat Pig is currently playing at the Performance Works theatre on Granville Island. If you're familliar with his stuff, you'll know that it's usually pretty dark and uncomfortable.

Fat Pig is the tale of Tom, a young man who dates Helen, a heavy set woman, only to be made fun of by his peers and pressured into leaving her. It's an exploration of society's views on physical beauty, love vs popular opinion, and standing up for oneself, or at least, the struggle to do so.

I wanted to see this off-Broadway in New York a few years ago, when Felicity's Keri Russell was in it, alongside Jeremy Piven and Andrew McCarthy. I didn't know the woman who played Helen, though, and the show was only just beginning as I was leaving. So I'm glad I was able to see this local production of it!

The performances of all the actors were great, considering the set was pretty stark and the direction had the actors either sitting down at a table or even down on the ground. I've always been told that a good director never makes his/her cast sit on stage, as it depletes the energy. But that just shows how remarkable these four actors were, being able to convey emotion and give great performances from their respective disadvantage points.

Fat Pig plays until May 30th, with cheaper matinee showings, or if you prefer, like me, attend a 2 For 1 show - the next 2 For 1 is Tuesday, May 26.

John and Beatrice

Friday night I went to see Pi Theatre's production of John and Beatrice, which is a dynamic and fun play about a lonely woman who places an ad for man to come over to interest, move, and seduce her. John shows up to take on these three challenges. Can he do it? But what exactly will his reward be?

Held in the unique location of PAL Theatre down in Coal Harbour, one walks into an apartment building (what else is there in Coal Harbour?) and journeys on up in the elevator to the top floor, where you will find waiting for you a theatre! Talk about your theatre in the sky!

I loved this experience, from the location to the play itself. Definitely a must-see if you're a theatre buff in Vancouver!

Let's Go See The Killers and Make Out in the Bleachers...

ady Gaga really said it best, didn't she?

Last night's Killers concert was well, Killer. Brandon Flowers rocked the house. He was so high energy, so damn adorable, and we were all putty in his hands.



Brandon's actually a thin guy, not to mention tiny. So, my dreams of him sweeping me off my feet have been a bit dampened, but not much. His singing voice is swell, and he's quite the talent, jumping from guitar to piano to keyboard, all while singing and running around the stage like a child hopped up on candy. Standout songs included the opener "Human" and their new single "Spaceman."

They did all their hits and then some, which had the entire floor flowing like an ocean wave and jumping in unison. We watched as one girl crowd-surfed her way to the front not once but THREE times. It was a mosh pit I'm glad I wasn't a part of! It was nice to sit right next to the stage and stare at Brandon with no one jostling me! It was a great crowd - everyone was into it, nobody chattering away during the show (though it was so loud I probably wouldn't have heard them), and I even forgave the pot smoker in front of me who asked me to take his photo, cause he was nice and he was cute, but mainly cause he was cute.

The Killers put on an electrifying show!! Complete with pyrotechnics and falling sparks!! Brilliant!