So many stories I hear from the Downtown Eastside are the stuff of books. Take Push by Sapphire from which the movie Precious is inspired from for example; incest, family violence, neglect, poverty and the indomitable power of imagination. What’s your story? If you had to be a book, what story would you choose? In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the burning point of book paper is 451 degrees fahrenheit. At the end of the […]

The Savalls playing Diego Ortiz Tuesdays have become the days that I walk through the shadows of Vancouver. The best kept secrets are revealed to me on Tuesdays. Tonight I crossed the water to the North Shore to hear Jordi Savall, a rare and precious appearance by one of the most gifted players of the viola da gamba in the 21st century. The preview talk literally struck a chord with me as he answered questions […]

Albertine Phan is recent the winner of the Vancouver Observer blog entry contest. Her blog entry on overcoming addiction is featured in the VO Print Edition. Behind the walls of the city, boxes are lined up top to bottom, side by side perched on the armoires. Only the bathrobes, the bicycle and the wheelchair betray the obsessive compulsive order. Hydrogenated oil snacks, pudding in a cup, oatmeal, peanut butter, Granola bars and fruit leather. The […]