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Archive for November, 2011

2011 Grey Cup – BC Lions vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Vancouver, Canada

November 28, 2011 Leave a comment

Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA writes

The 2011 Grey Cup was played in the brand new BC Place this year but the teams playing in the Final surprised most people. Winnipeg finished with only 4 wins last season but went on to win the Eastern
conference this year. BC started the season 0-5 but then won 11 of the next 13 games to finish top in the league. I would say that this was the most anticipated and most exciting game this year (very closely followed by the game a few weeks ago when McCallum scored the game winning Field Goal).

BC Place was packed and the fans were rabid for the cup. Both teams started off slowly with plenty of punts and field
goals, finishing the first half 14-9 in favor of BC. Nickelback played during the half time show to 50,000 appreciative fans.

The 3rd quarter started similar to the first half with both teams punting and only putting up a few points. Travis Lulay (the Most Outstanding Player of the year) put together some very impressive pushes during the end of the 3rd quarter and the beginning of the 4th quarter to put BC up by 15 points (31-16) but right near the end of the game, Buck Pierce (ex
BC Lion) gambled on 3rd and Long to get a first down which allowed him to then find Terrence Edwards for a 14 yard touchdown pass.

All of a sudden the game was close (only a touchdown and 2 points apart) and the fans were getting silent. BC’s Defense stopped an attempted Onside kick (very complicated) and were able to give Paul McCallum very good field position to kick his 4th field goal of the game to put the Lions up 34-23 and that was enough as BC went on to win its 6th Grey Cup and
first since 2006.

Travis Lulay was awarded the Grey Cup MVP with his very impressive 320 yds passing and 2 touchdowns with n0 interceptions.

Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside – Forum & discussion led by the desmedia collective in Vancouver

November 26, 2011 Leave a comment
Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside

Nov 26, 2011 | 2pm
FREE

Audain Gallery

The Audain Gallery will be hosting a panel discussion by the desmedia collective. desmedia will host Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside, a public forum where DTES artists and residents will be invited to discuss the successes and challenges of, and possible futures for, cultural collectives in the community.

About desmedia

desmedia (downtown eastside media), a collective of artists committed to working on engaged collaborative arts projects with other residents and members of the DTES, began running drop-in workshops in May 2000. Describing their project as a “living archive”, desmedia challenged the “dominant media’s over-arching image of the DTES”, and facilitated the production of painting, video, photography, and text. Exploring ways of documenting life, histories, and the vitality and creativity of the area, the workshops provided an opportunity for the possibilities of self expression, reflection and self representation.

Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside
Panel discussion by the desmedia collective

On the occasion of this exhibition, desmedia will reassemble their complete archive in the Audain Gallery, including a workstation, shelving, videotapes, paintings, and related ephemera, and discuss potential collective models and the dissolution or morphing of desmedia (and their archive) into another form. desmedia will host Collective Futures in the Downtown Eastside, a public forum where DTES artists and residents will be invited to discuss the successes and challenges of, and possible futures for, cultural collectives in the community. Although present in the gallery, the desmedia archive will not be available for public access, only on display.

Speakers included:

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre

Gallery Gachet

Vancouver Moving Theatre/Heart of the City Festival

Lower Mainland Painting Co.

Red Gate

AHA Media

Enterprising Women Making Art

Lifeskills Film & Video

Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts

W2 Community Media Arts

DTES Artists Space Coalition

Points/questions for Panel participant’s response

How do you work collectively, what methodology/structure/practice and
guidelines?

What is the collaborative practices you do?

How do you engage your art practice as a collective with the DTES and
DTES residents? What support can you offer to participants living with
barriers to their practice; marginalized artists, homelessness, and
health issues?

What are the best practices/strategies that you have found in working
collectively in the DTES?

What are the challenges, difficult issues you have faced in carrying
out your work? What support/services are you accessing in the
community to further your skills in this regard?

If you have developed an ‘archive’ or body of work, how do you deal
with the issues of ownership, copyright, presentation/distribution,
and access? What if the participants change their minds a few years
down the line and want to change the way material is used that they
participated in producing or that includes them/their representation?

How can we work together to build alliances, to overcome fractures in
the community and to build on our strengths? How can long-term
resident’s voices, histories, and practices be included and what
weight do they carry in relationship to new projects and spaces?

What would you propose we do to work on creating a sustainable art
collective that is focused on providing support and opportunities for
DTES residents and members of the community, as well as being open to
people dropping in?

The Grand Cariboo Opry with Barney Bentall & Guests’ annual fundraiser in support of the Potluck Café Society in Vancouver

November 23, 2011 Leave a comment

Grand Cariboo Opry

The Grand Cariboo Opry with Barney Bentall & Guests is an annual fundraiser in support of the Potluck Café Society. The Opry is a highly entertaining classic variety show experience hosted by Barney Bentall, who works through humourous monologues (think Prairie Home Companion) and fronts a big band consisting of the Legendary Hearts and many other talented musicians, augmented with lap steel, fiddle and piano. Everyone plays and everyone sings….sometimes all at once! The show is chalked full of music, humour, warm wit and unique sponsorship promotions reminiscent of another era. Hope you will join us for an evening at the Opry!

The 6th Annual 2011 Grand Cariboo Opry

Shabusen Restaurant on Burrard St in Vancouver

November 22, 2011 Leave a comment

Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA says of Shabusen on Burrard St in Vancouver

We had the privilege to eat at a very unique restaurant today in Downtown Vancouver. ShabuSen, a Korean BBQ and “All you can eat Sushi” restaurant sits in a fairly easy to find location and the food and the experience were excellent!  We arrived at 1pm, were immediately seated, and were able to browse the easy to read menu while drinking delicious Jasmine tea. We ordered and our food came quickly. Bowls of raw beef, pork, and chicken (to cook over the BBQ that was in the middle of the table), plates of Gyoza (or dumplings), salmon and tuna sashimi, and California rolls, made up our delicious lunch. We enjoyed grilling pieces of beef, pork, and chicken over the BBQ with big metal tongs so that our chopsticks would not get contaminated. The pork was spiced with chili and quite spicy, the beef was tender and delicious, and the chicken was moist and tender.

I recommend Shabusen as it is a great place to eat and I would most certainly return when I find the time.

Helping Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents vote in Vancouver’s Civic Election on Nov 19, 2011

November 20, 2011 Leave a comment

From 8 am to 8pm, we helped many Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents be able to get to the polling station and vote for the new Vancouver City Council