The time has come for Vancouver to once again participate in the globally recognized and celebrated Fashion Week. For 5 days, March 31st - April 4th, 2008, Vancouver will host an array fashion shows highlighting the many talents of international designers, stylists, choreographers and other industry pros. With this year's focus set on Business of Fashion, BCFW organizers hope to establish international relationships that will put Vancouver high on the list of global fashionistas.

Mixing business with pleasure is what the designers of this year's BC Fashion Week are striving to achieve. Unlike many of the unpractical couture fashion shows you see in magazines that have skirts billowing over the runway and shirts that leave nothing to the imagination, the goal of the designers visiting our city next week is to market a product that can be used everyday. For this reason, BCFW will display two levels of fashion: Ready-To-Wear and Diffusion (that is being described as somewhere in between everyday wear and couture).

As the Canadian fashion elites and international media of all kind begin to pour into our city, the BCFW committee is dedicated to proving that Vancouver has what it takes to become a major mecca for trends. In light of this, locations in and around the Vancouver area will begin rolling out their merlot carpets and polishing up their velvet ropes this week. By setting the standards of expectation high, the BCFW organizers hope the trends seen next week will be on the shelves of Vancouver's top shops come Fall.

February has arrived and as usual, Valentine's day decorations have started to pop up in storefronts and doctors offices everywhere.

But while some may look forward to a romantic evening filled with chocolate strawberries and bouquets of roses, I can't help but long for the exact opposite. Call me contemporary, but I like to think fun can be had without having to be swept off my feet or drowned in pools of cinnamon hearts. And I know I'm not alone.

In light of this adopted cynicism toward February 14th, I thought it fitting to compile a little list of low-cost but high entertainment activities that are an alternative to the Utopian notions of romance we are spoon fed by 'Sad'entines Day enthusiasts.

While it may seem that Vancouver's movie scene has been on the back burner recently, partly attributed to the Hollywood strike and partly due to the celebrity population dropping like over-zealous pill popping flies (too soon?), that doesn't mean that there are filmmakers out there giving up their dream.

Cowboy Smithx, 25, is an Alberta native who is still fighting his way through the many hurdles the film industry throws at him. Having just graduated from the First Nations Ensemble Performing Arts Program in April of last year, Smithx already has numerous accreditations attached to his name including over 100 public performances and an appearance on the CBC radio 1 eccentricity show.

On January 31st, this talented short filmmaker appears in Vancouver in an effort to raise money for his next big film project entitled Chance.

Promised entertainment for the evening, being held at the Vivo Media Arts Studios, will include some of Smithx previous works, short films by some talented guests (Missy Whiteman, Lisa Jackson) as well as a new documentary entitled Olympiad, that deals with the impact the upcoming Olympics has on Vancouvers Indigenous community.

A minimum 5 dollar donation is requested at the door, which seems insignificant once the math is done. 18 films divided by 5 dollars equals, erm, cheap. Personal opinions and outdoor food are acceptable, as there will be an open discussion and no chocolate wafer cookies to munch on.

Photo by iwona_kellie