Author Archives: Geri Mayer-Judson

BCHL team offers free hockey game to vaccinated locals

Posted on by
Reply

Have you been vaccinated yet?  Are you a Tri-City resident?  If so, along with helping save countless lives, you’re also entitled to a free Coquitlam Express game!

Not any time incredibly soon, as it’s near the end of the season, and the BCHL team is not yet allowing spectators to attend games in person.

However, if you email in a photo of your vaccination card to Tali Campbell, Express general manager and vice-president, you’ll get a free ticket voucher.  More information on that can be found here.

For those of us who have yet to be vaccinated, fret not!  This promotion is running indefinitely.  In fact, you will even be able to physically bring in photo proof of your vaccination to the Express office when it reopens this August.  All vouchers given will be valid when restrictions are lifted.

It will not be mandated for all audience members to be vaccinated when the Coquitlam Express is once again playing for spectators.  This initiative is simply another way to motivate those who are eligible and able to get their shots, so that we can all do fun things like go to BCHL games as soon as we can.

The Coquitlam Express is currently 14th in the BCHL.  They sit at 5-10-0, though they pulled off an 8:2 victory against the Powell River Kings on Monday.  They face the Kings again May 9th at the Scotia Barn.

Image

(@BCHLExpress / Twitter)

The Express has counted several NHL greats on its roster since its 2001 inception.  It has fostered such talent as recent Flames acquisition Milan Lucic, Kyle Turris of the Edmonton Oilers, and New York Islander Mathew Barzal, just to name a few.

Considering the Krispy Kreme promotion offering one free donut per day with proof of vaccination doesn’t apply in Canada, I’d say that a free Express game for Tri-City folks is an even better alternative.

 

DOXA Festival brings docs to the drive in, and your living room

Posted on by
Reply

May 6 marks opening day of the 20th annual DOXA Festival!  As with every annual event over the last fourteen months, the folks behind DOXA have had to make a few changes to its delivery.

This year, all 86 films will be made available online with the purchase of a festival pass (there’s even a low income/student/senior rate available!).

In addition to on-demand access to all participating films in this year’s festival, passholders get to attend livestreamed events like Q&A sessions with filmmakers, a movie trivia night, and many, many more.

A selection of seven documentaries will be also screened in a drive-in setting at the PNE Amphitheatre between May 13 and May 15.  These screenings are rain-or-shine events, and tickets can be purchased here.  With the postponed opening of Playland, and the outright cancellation of the Pacific Northwest Exhibition fair this year, it’s awesome to see the PNE Amphitheatre getting put to good, safe use.

Just one of the films available for streaming is FIX: The Story of an Addicted City (dir. Nettie Wild).  The addicted city in question is our very own Vancouver.  Released in 2002, the film documents the fraught journey to opening North America’s first safe injection site.

This film remains just as poignant and important today, as even twenty years after filming, we remain in an opioid crisis with overdose deaths having skyrocketed last year.

Image

(@DoxaFestival / Twitter)

Personally, I’m looking forward to catching Love: The Last Chapter (dir. Dominique Keller).  The director actually moved into a seniors’ home in Calgary, and profiled six residents who found love in that seniors’ home.  The coolest thing about streaming that one at home is that nobody will be around to see me ugly-cry while I watch it.

The DOXA Festival is brought to us by The Documentary Media Society, a Vancouver-based non-profit organization that champions education of the public both through and about documentary films.

A fun fact about DOXA: it’s actually a Greek word (pronounced DOCKS-ah) that means ‘commonly-held belief’, or ‘popular opinion’.

 

Vancouver bunny café set to open this spring

Posted on by
Reply

There are very few universal truths out there, but the fact that bunny rabbits are freakin’ adorable is one of those truths.  Don’t you wish there was something like a cat café, but for bunnies instead?

Well, you’re in luck!  A bunny café is hopping into Grandview Woodland very soon.  That’s right!  Later this spring, you’ll be able to sip coffee while in the company of precious little bunny rabbits.

Michelle Furbacher, owner of Vancouver’s Catfé, has joined forces with Rabbitat Rescue Society to open The Bunny Café.  The idea is that patrons will get to hang out with bunnies (which is a great business model on its own), and the bunnies will also be available for adoption.

Who knows?  You might go in for a latté and meet the four-legged, fluffy love of your life.

Rabbit, Baby, Hair, Cute, Animal, Wildlife, Wild

(PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay)

While The Bunny Café does not have a set opening date at the time of writing, they’re currently hiring!  If you have customer service and bunny care experience, you are urged to apply for what I can only assume would be one of the best jobs ever.

Catfé, Michelle Furbacher’s first venture, has been operational since 2015.  Located in the International Village Mall downtown, it boasts the status of being one of Canada’s very first cat cafés.  Since then, over 800 felines have come through the café, and found their forever homes.

For now, The Bunny Café will operate primarily as a place to come hang out with adoptable bunnies in a COVD-compliant way, but in the future, Furbacher has her sights set on offering vegan and vegetarian food and drink options for guests.

While you wait for The Bunny Café to open, you can reserve some time to hang out at Catfé here.  To keep your finger on the pulse of The Bunny Café and when it might be opening, click here.

Just For Laughs is no longer just for Montreal this summer

Posted on by
Reply

Comedy fans outside of Central Canada are familiar with the FOMO that rolls around each July.  The annual Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal has long been a significant plane ride away for us West-coasters in search of yuks.

This year, though, comedy enthusiasts nationwide can be there, sort of.  Just For Laughs announced today that the annual festival is going to be delivered both selectively in-person, and online.  The festival runs from July 16 to 31, and features over 200 different performers.

The best part is that all the digital content from this year’s Just For Laughs festival will be made 100% free!

In light of international travel restrictions and ever-present COVID concerns, Just For Laughs has made the decision to broadcast stand-up performances from cities outside of Montreal for the first time ever.  We can expect to see performances from comedians in both Los Angeles and New York City.

While the lineup of performers is not yet publicly available, one can safely assume that it will be stacked with industry veterans and exciting newcomers.  One might even speculate that the lineup could be particularly impressive, given the decision to include performances from other locales.

Microphone, Comedy, Crowd, Event, Applause, People

(Michiel Ton / Pixabay)

In another exciting first for Just For Laughs, they will be broadcasting their JFL Awards Show for free online.  Usually for industry eyes only, the JFL Awards celebrate comedians who are outstanding in their field.

Laugh Out Loud Productions (LOL for short, of course), the multi-platform comedy brand founded by Kevin Hart has signed on as the official Just For Laughs programming partner for the second year in a row.  LOL strives to unite humanity through the common thread of laughter, and to amplify diverse comedic voices on multiple platforms.

I don’t know about you, but when things are going catastrophically wrong, my strategy is to laugh about it.  Streaming an abundance of Just for Laughs content for free seems like a good way to use that strategy!

Will 2022 be the year of cultural catch-up?

Posted on by
Reply

Dr. Bonnie Henry said in a briefing on Monday that large-scale, outdoor events are out of the question this summer.  And fall.  And winter.  Dr. Henry’s statement was simply a confirmation of an inevitable bummer that we all saw coming, but I think a lot of us were holding out hope that surely two summers in a row would not be dampened by the pandemic.

How naïve we were.

In the last fourteen months, we have seen a lot of beloved annual events be temporarily and rightfully kiboshed in the wake of the global pandemic.  You’d think we would be used to it by now.  You would think.

Lake Stage, Grandstand, Spectator Seats, Empty, Corona

(webentwicklerin / Pixabay)

But more than a year into this whole mess, I admit that I flinched when I saw that the Vancouver Pride Festival was cancelled for a the second consecutive year (although they have other virtual and/or small, ticketed events one can physically go to).  Pillars of normalcy being toppled over twice in a row delivers a different sting.

Along with Dr. Henry’s comments, yesterday’s rescheduling of the Honda Celebration of Light served to be another grim reminder that we’re not quite out of the COVID-laden woods just yet.

 

Although, there seems to be glimmering hope on the horizon.  The rescheduling seems a little more confident and less hesitant this time.

In both the United States and United Kingdom, where vaccination efforts have been more effective, live events are being booked for 2022.  Even coastal BC-based band Mother Mother has a lineup of shows in the US and UK as early as January 2022.

While I pessimistically wonder if Canada will ever see a reality where events can simply happen on their scheduled dates, I optimistically hope to play a lot of cultural catch-up around this time next year.

2022 could just be the year when we can all safely take in music festivals, fireworks, Pride parades and everything in between with two years’ worth of pent-up party energy.  Or two years’ worth of weird, ‘I’ve only talked to my roommate and my cat’ energy.  Either way, I’m looking forward!

Burnaby Festival of Learning goes virtual this year

Posted on by
Reply

The Burnaby Festival of Learning begins on May 7, marking its sixth year in operation.  Facilitated by Simon Fraser University and The City of Burnaby, the five-day festival is a celebration of the diverse Burnaby community.  The goal of the festival this year is community-building within Burnaby through learning opportunities on-the-ground, even if that ‘ground’ is virtual. The events this year are many, and extremely varied.

Image

(@FestivalLearn / Twitter)

There are a handful of online sessions you can attend that amplify Indigenous voices and perspectives.  Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee is delivering a virtual, one-hour introduction to decolonization of one’s own relationship to the land and community on May 10 at 11 AM.

The Burnaby Public Library is virtually hosting an Indigenous Voice speaker series, where attendees have the opportunity to learn basic weaving techniques (BYOY: bring your own yarn) all while learning about Coast Salish culture and the realities of reconciliation.

BCIT is even a part of the virtual action, hosting several online workshops.  You can learn about 3D printing, laser cutting, and living a zero-waste lifestyle in your home.

If you’re looking for something outdoorsy, the Burnaby Soundwalk has you covered.  On May 9 between noon and 5 o’clock PM, you can follow a planned walking route in Deer Lake Park for a safe, active and sonic experience.  There will be physical markers to help you find your way on this Soundwalk, and a map will be made available online.

Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby, British Columbia

(Wootcrisp / Pixabay)

Or if you want to take in some visual art, the Many Nations Mini-Galleries will be set up outside the South Burnaby Neighbourhood House.  These mini-galleries will house works from several Burnaby artists of diverse backgrounds.

Finally, if you feel like getting your virtual film festival on, the DOXA Documentary Film Festival brings you streaming access to Tell Them We Were Here (dir. Keelan Williams and Griff Williams) for the five-day duration.  Tell Them We Were Here is a 2020 documentary about notable Bay Area artists who have dedicated their craft and their lives to social activism and addressing inequality in their backyards.

Tickets are free, and they are per-event.  For a program of all events in this year’s Festival of Learning, click here.  Maybe I’ll see you on the Soundwalk!

Canada-wide pizza festival kicks off this week

Posted on by
Reply

Look, I simply can’t hide my excitement about La Pizza Week kicking off all across Canada this week.  Pizza is my favourite food, after all.  La Pizza Week started on May 1, but fear not!  It’s going on until the end of the day on May 7, so you still have plenty of time to snag a slice from any of the participating restaurants in the Metro Vancouver area.

Should you choose to take advantage of this grand excuse to order pizza, you have forty-nine featured pizzas to pick from in Metro Vancouver, but there are participating restaurants all over the province.  There’s a Google Maps link and a Skip the Dishes widget that come up when you click the pizza you desire, so you can see where the restaurant is and promptly order yourself some slices.

Then, after you acquire and eat your pizza of choice (or pizzas of choice, I’m not here to judge), there is a function on the website to rate your pizza as being bad, meh, or amazing.

At the time of writing, the Ten Rich Toppings pizza from Andreas Restaurant in North Vancouver has a spot in the top five.

Pizza, Pizzeria, Food, Alimentari, Restaurant, Eat

(Salvatore Monetti / Pixabay)

Another amazing thing about La Pizza Week is that an option was presented to each restaurant to increase the price of their featured pizza by just $1, and donate those spare dollars to Anorexia & Bulimia Québec, an organization that provides support for those who are struggling with eating disorders.

Not to mention, your local pizza places will undoubtedly appreciate the extra business these days.

The people behind La Pizza Week have also been responsible for Le Burger Week last September, and La Poutine Week this past February.  People Mover Tech is based in Montreal, and specializes in interactive food festivals like these.

I don’t know about you, but I have been eyeballing the Ocean Pizza from Minato Sushi, and the Pineapple Pulled Pork from Pizzeria Lucidia.  There, I said it.  Pineapple and pulled pork belong on pizza!

Realwheels invites you to ‘Tune In!’ to virtual shows about disability experience

Posted on by
Reply

Realwheels is a Vancouver-based theatre company committed to authentically representing the disability experience through their performances.  This month, they present Wheel Voices: Tune In!: a virtual, mixed-media production that aims to express disability experiences and foster understanding for these experiences.

Wheel Voices: Tune In! showcases a mix of original monologues, rap, spoken word, and choral music.  The show was scheduled to begin production exactly one year ago but, as with so many things, it was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The fourteen cast members have since been rehearsing the show remotely.

Wheel Voices: Tune In! will be available to view online on May 5 and 14 at 7 PM PST.  The May 5 show features ASL interpretation, and the May 14 show features audio description and captioning.

Image

(@Realwheels / Twitter)

These accessibility features are right in line with the core values held by the Realwheels company.  Realwheels advocates not only for their own performers and behind-the-scenes personnel, but for audience members with disabilities.

That’s not to say people without disabilities are unwelcome – another tenet in the Realwheels philosophy is encouraging dialogue between community members with and without disabilities.

This award-winning theatre company was founded in 2003 by Simon Fraser University theatre alum James Sanders, and theater professional Bob Frazer.  Sanders left Realwheels in 2014, but his mark on the Vancouver theatre scene and the community for those with disabilities has been indelible.

Since its inception, Realwheels has been dedicated to creating space and opportunities for performers who have disabilities.

Not only is there insufficient representation of people with disabilities in mainstream programming, but people with disabilities generally don’t portray characters with disabilities.  A 2018 white paper study concluded that only 22% of all characters with disabilities were represented by people who actually had those disabilities.

If you’re interested in supporting a local theatre company and learning more about the disability experience, pay-what-you-can tickets for Wheel Voices: Tune In! are available here.