Art. Wine. Tuange. Theatre. And hot bodies.

FUSE is back once again. And for the second time in my memory of the VAG, the partay won't stop until the early 'morn. Six in the 'morn to be exact. Come see some KRAZY! DragonballZ-infused anime, mixed in with the art of female Canadian modernists. Arowbe will be holdin' it down too along with July Fourth Toilet in the music department (loving the 'stache). And the nifty-est event of the night in my honest opinion will be the 12_Hour Comic Draw, where a comic book will be conceived from start to finish over the entire event by the talent of local artists. This among a plethora of other entertaining performances guaranteed to at least make you think "WTF".

And so the MB blogging stick has been passed on to me. Another short one until it's passed back to the experts.

Bummer for Mr. Bumstead on Denman. His son was bloodied up, on his b-day, gasp! Perhaps the shirtless Mantique shopper was having a fit of 'roid rage?

Hope those roving cops ATVs don't become taser trigger happy, or human BBQs on Kits Beach may become a common occurrence. Now here's a choice quote: "The Taser has become a tool of convenience...'Drop the beer!' No? Zap!"

Gas prices this, gas prices that. I'm personally pro-carbon tax, but of course, my opinion is affected by the commuting options available to me in the area where I've chosen to live. Put me in the middle of the 'burbs, and my opinion may change. Or better yet, put me in an opposition party. But why drive, when I can get my dose of endorphins while being a happy cyclist. With the blood flowing, perhaps some ideas will flow on how to spend the cool hundy that's in the mail.

Speaking of money in da bank, how much do I need before I'll think about dropping my jay-oh-bee? News1130 with a special investigative report on why a lotto 6/49 jackpot won't do shit for you in this city. How much does a person need?"Probably like $5-million, then it would give you time to travel and you could go back to school and upgrade your skills and that and not be stressed about your financial situation. For a million dollars you could barely buy a condo in Vancouver." Wow. How messed up are our views on money. Better get started and study the lottery guide.

Everyone's favourite predecessor to Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, Ed the Sock, has been tossed in the washer. So I guess Simi Sara finally filed a harassment suit. Hope she's using Larry "the Sledge" Rosen.

"'[Vancouver] seems like a beautiful city but it has an ugly heart,' said one friend. 'It has mountains and shiny sky scrapers, but doesn't take care of its own people. It's about looking good not being good.'" How about looking scary? A strange closing line on a Tyee article about the scariest place on Earth.

Photo by Duran Cheung.

So here we are with another edition of Pictures from the Pool, where this time, I feature a couple of neat fast shutter speed photos from the seemingly endless BR Flickr Group. Coincidentally, both feature people riding things, and both (completely unintentionally) are taken near my old 'hood of East Van.

So I'm sad to report that Jon and Sean have both been simultaneously obliterated by asteroids. Shame. Most of you may be sad (some I'm certain are celebratory), but Morning Brew must continue! So I guess this will be my inaugural Brew, booyah. Some big shoes to fill. Seeing as how I now have the supreme power of the interconnected network of tubes in my shiny new Kits digs, it's time to get crackin' son.

Speaking of my new pad, it's amazing that I was able to find a place to rent among the throngs of other renters on the market, without encountering any notorious Craiglist scammers. Now, all I need to worry about are these folks. (Thanks to Darryl for that last link. Let's just hope your 360 overheats on them at least. Plus, last laugh's on them when those HD-DVDs depreciate like a rock!)

It's been a while since we last featured picks from the plethora of superlative photos available in our Beyond Robson Flickr Pool. So let's go with a couple complementary pictures that have been taken in an area that used to be under water.

On the left is a exquisite shot titled "An Intro to Spring", taken by BR Flickr Pool member kennylouie. Being a huge fan of cityscape shots that balance the available luminance of the sky and city lights, I can safely say that kennylouie's nailed it in this wonderful example of perfect timing. Reflections, clouds, colours and shapes are all themes in this unique capture of Vancouver's world-famous skyline. Kenny uses a Canon 20D and has quite the collection of beautiful high dynamic range (HDR) photographs.

And over on the right side is a photograph deftly shot by bluechameleon named "silhouettes on main street". The black and white emphasizes the fantastic composition and framing of both the humans waiting in the station and the birds resting on the tree. Also note the excellent juxtaposition between the geometric lines of the girders and the haphazardly pointed tree branches. Keep in mind, she shot this and many others with a simple Canon A640, proving it's not what you have, but how you use it.

The talent I've seen in this pool seems absolutely limitless. Keep them coming people! Thanks again to all the members of the BR Flickr pool - we'll try our best to keep these photo posts going. In the meantime, if you haven't done so already, visit Ami's Flickr game!

Zach Condon, the baby faced bandleader of Beirut, untucked his rotary valve trumpet from under his arm during the sold out show this past Thursday at the Commodore Ballroom. Our casual maestro deftly conducted his players with a flick of the wrist here and a sideways wave of the hand there. Between songs, Condon would huddle with his band mates while the crowd deliriously applauded each tight picture-perfect performance.

Whatever strategy was spoken in the huddles, it was absolutely sound. The Eastern European vibe came through in unbreakable fashion along with Beirut's genuinely happy aura. Take your pick, the musical arsenal was large: accordion, violin, ukulele, mandolin, clarinet, baritone sax, French horn, trumpet, drums and the kitchen sink. Beirut immediately jump started the crowd with "Nantes" from their latest LP, The Flying Club Cup. Condon crooned gracefully while his troop energetically pumped out the mini-orchestral glee. There were about eight members in all that night, but they milled around with bursting liveliness that didn't lend well to counting.