Category — Vancitylove Collective

THE MAIN STREET MAGAZINE TOUR
Thursday, August 19, 2010, 6:00–10:00 p.m.
mainstreetmagazinetour.ca

Celebrate our local arts, cultural and literary magazines, with poets Jennica Harper and Elizabeth Bachinsky as your guides.

VANCOUVER – The Main Street Magazine Tour is a free event that invites participants to explore the local literary landscape, set against Vancouver’s eclectic Main Street neighbourhood. Known previously as the Main Street Literary Tour, the event now shines a spotlight on the arts and culture “magascene,” with presentations by FRONT, OCW Magazine, Ricepaper, Room, Sad Mag and subTerrain—all Vancouver-based publications. The tour starts at the Rhizome Café (317 E. Broadway) on Thursday, August 19 at 6:00 p.m.

From there, poets Elizabeth Bachinsky (EVENT magazine poetry editor and author of God of Missed Connections, 2009) and Jennica Harper (winner of the 2009 National Magazine Silver Award in Poetry and author of What It Feels Like for a Girl, 2008) will lead two tours that traverse the area at Main Street and Broadway, stopping in at local haunts for 30-minute encounters with city’s arts, cultural and literary publications.

“What’s fun about this event is its spontaneous, grassroots nature,” says Heidi Waechtler of the Magazine Association of British Columbia, the organization that coordinates the event. “We’re showcasing literary arts magazines out in the community, in spaces you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see poetry readings or improv, such as a vintage clothing store and a hair salon. The tour makes visible the intersection of magazines with our communities and our everyday lives—how they both reflect and shape our culture.”

The Magazine Association of British Columbia (formerly known as the British Columbia Association of Magazine Publishers) was established in 1993 to represent, connect and promote the diverse British Columbia magazine industry by uniting and fostering the immense talent, knowledge and skills of its more than 80 member publishers. For more information about the association, visit bcmags.com.

TOUR ITINERARY

Thursday, August 19, 2010
6:00–10:00 p.m.

Meetup point: Rhizome Café (317 E. Broadway), 6:00 p.m. Select Tour A or Tour B—or mix and match!

TOUR A
· Room magazine presents poetry by Casey Wolf and Elena Johnson. (Kafka’s Coffee & Tea, 2525 Main St.)
· subTerrain magazine, source of Strong Words for a Polite Nation, presents readings from issue #56. (Pulpfiction Books, 2422 Main St.)
· Slam poetry by Fernando Raguero collides with improv by members of The Exploding Sandwich, Hip Bang! and Pump Trolley, presented by the recently relaunched OCW Magazine. (F As In Frank Vintage Clothing, 2425 Main St.)

TOUR B
· Ricepaper magazine celebrates the launch of 15.3, the Food Issue, with a reading of a tasty new play by Linda Mei, featuring Adrienne Wong and Fiona Tinwei Lam, followed by delectable poetry by Ray Hsu. (Rhizome Café, 317 E. Broadway)
· Visit the FRONT magazine reading room and meet artist Heidi Nagtegaal, who’s combed through 20 years of the magazine’s archives to produce a limited number of one-of-a-kind presents for tour-goers. (The Western Front, 303 E. 8th Ave.)
· Sad Mag presents a conversation with salon owner Jim Dreichel and Burcu Ozdemir (of Burcu’s Angels) on drag culture, gay and lesbian culture, and the history of Main Street. Hosted by drag sensation Isolde N. Barron. (Mine:Stylesource, 177 E. Broadway)

Afterparty: Rhizome Café, 8:20 p.m. onwards. Readings by Elizabeth Bachinsky and Jennica Harper, prize giveaways, magazine sales and music.

Tonight my good friend Marisa and I took to the Regional Assembly of Text for a special letter writing night. The CBC was there filming a doc, so basically we were stars. Typing stars. 

Oh yeah, our monthly Letter Writing Party is taking place a week early this month so we can write our mushy, ooey gooey love letters in time for Valentine’s Day. E-mail me for the locale. Julia the Chemist (a famous commenter around these parts) is hosting it at a lovely Queen’s Park apartment. 

Clickity clack, that’s that.

A couple of sneaky sneakers (namely, my dear friend Aurora and the hubby) arranged for me to get a facial at Vida Spa this morning. I thought I was going to hit up the lovely Christmassy stalls at Granville Island, sip JJ Bean java, and peruse Paper-Ya (and we did, afterward.) But instead, Ms. Aurora carted me on a convoluted route through downtown, arriving at the Wall Centre Hotel to meet another friend, the inimitable Sara! — for a delectable hour of pampering. Bliss. 

The day was made complete with the purchase of Julie Morstad’s ABC flash cards which I’ve been eyeing for years (Madeleine’s first Christmas was the perfect excuse!)

as well as…

A family outing to the library where Michael cleaned out the Soups, Thai and Indian cooking section and I brought home John Carey’s “What Good are the Arts?” 

And, finally, a dinner of pesto linguine and avocado-topped greens. 

A delightful day, indeed.

My latest column exploring fashion and theology is up in Comment Magazine. Madeleine was my inspiration as I considered ‘The advent of personal style.’ Enjoy!

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Also, speaking of fashion, the following invite arrived in the ‘ol inbox this morning. Paul Hardy presents at Vancouver Fashion Week tomorrow. I can’t wait! Paul’s shows never disappoint. 

I hope to bring you back pictures…

I’m going. Who’s in?

Letter Writing Club tonight! Do not delay. The typewriters go quick. And it’s free. 

7 PM @ The Regional Assembly of Text — 3934 Main Street.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

It’s that time again. The Regional Assembly of Text hosts their monthly letter writing club the first Thursday of every month. No need to sign up ahead of time. Everyone welcome. No cost. Supplies (and yummy treats) provided.

I’ll be sad to miss it. Instead I’ll be accompanying my stepdad to a father & daughter dinner at the Vancouver Club.

Vancouver, how I love thee. Let me count the ways…

1. Strolling through the ravine behind my house and running into Steve and his friend at Choices Market.
2. Visiting with a friend on a lovely outdoor patio and having a perfect stranger politely interrupt the conversation to mention he loved my idea for a story I’m developing about my fear of strollers. “They’re like hummers!” he exclaimed in front of his construction worker buddy. Yes, yes they are.
3. Running into an old colleague of my mom’s (now with the VAG) strolling along Broadway, just as I got off the #99 bus. Book recommendations exchanged. (Stanley Park is now next on my list.)
4. Exploring Granville Island in fantastic company (Aurora!) and running into three friends over the course of an afternoon. Paper-ya indulgences were not avoided. Also, made a new friend at Edible BC and discovered Backyard Beans. 
5. Friday night BBQs. Especially steak. 
6. Getting a free frappuccino/Vivanno/latte every time I’ve visited my neighbourhood Starbucks in the last two weeks.
7. Having rad friends BRING US a Greek dinner!
8. Running into Vicky, giving her feedback on her new website and discovering I have a friend who is an upholstery expert (among many other things)! 
9. Visiting with amazing friends, namely: Jenn, Avital, Miranda, Anneli, Marisa, and Laura…
10. Enjoying complimentary tickets to The Stanley — Les Miserables, tomorrow night.