Live music picks from Wednesday, March 11 to Tuesday, March 16, 2010

This weekend, while lying in a sunny grass field off Victoria and 38th, I realized that the whole area is a bit like that new guy in class with the James Dean-style haircut and worn leather jacket -- it's scruffy, edgy and a little off-beat, just enough to stand out from the crowd (ie, the south Granvilles and Cambies, yawn.) Also, although it has some of the same interests as me (good Mexican food, Vietnamese people, weird meat shops and locals) there's just something about it that remains elusive and intimidating.

Maybe its the baffling mishmash of ethnic foods or the way the street looks like it will continue infinitely into the horizon, kind of like Queen's street in Toronto when you get close to the Eastern European area. Perhaps it lies in the fact that I have never been invited to even one house party in the area. Or perhaps it's the faded brightness of street-side buildings and the lack of condominiums or height of any kind in the surrounding market-style vicinity. Either way, upper Victoria St. continues to leave me feeling somewhat bewildered as a non-Vancouver native.

However, it's the kind of bewilderment that I know is easily solved, at least when it comes to the elusive new guy in class, by going out for a few drinks to ease the situation up a bit. So, for the Victoria-Fraserview neighborhood, I decided to initiate the virtual equivalent of those drinks -- a bit of quality old-fashioned Wikipedia e-stalking to find out exactly what this Victoria neighbourhood is really all about.

What they have in mind is a superstar architect designing a superstar building that will be twice as big as the current building. This is a surefire way, it seems, to build international attention to your gallery, as seen with Toronto's addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Royal Ontario Museum, both done by internationally renowned architects and the focus of much debate in Toronto.

The VAG has rejected a site at False Creek, and has their eyes set currently on the parking lot near the Queen Elizabeth Theatre -- the site of the Vancouver Olympics Livecity Downtown concert and pavilion grounds. The catch? The land is so valuable that the VAG may have to share it with (what else?) condominium buildings, which would definitely put a crimp in the VAG's plans to have a stand-alone architecturally eye-popping building. It's not surprising though, as Vancouver's cultural attractions are usually attached in some way to a condo tower through density transfers, so perhaps in some cynical way it is almost fitting for Vancouver's art gallery to be dependent on condo towers.

Province slashes gaming grants to arts, culture, sports groups. Hey, that gold medal game was great huh?

How does The Guardian like us now? Cypress Bowl re-opens for business Tuesday. That makes no sense. Did you have to airlift snow during the Olympics? And is there so little so pack that potential water shortages are forecast this summer?

Where it was once cool to loudly champion women's rights, many women now balk at being labeled a "feminist." In many eyes, the feminist movement should have ended with emancipation, the right to work outside of the home, university degrees and the rise of the mini-skirt. "They have equality and jobs, what can they possibly want now?" some ask. There are men and women who feel the gender equality campaign has made "enough" progress.

But when we witness the Canadian Women's Ski Jumpers in court numerous times unsuccessfully fighting to have their sport instated in the Olympic Games, when journalists comment on the fashion sense of our female politicians before their political abilities, when women are still struggling to make the same wages as men, and girls still feel a boob job will get them happiness, it is hard to be satisfied with this so-called level of equality.

Could Vancouver and Seattle bid for World Cup? Holy shit people relax, its Boxing Day and you're already thinking about next Christmas.

ORN Spokesperson Destroys Journalists Recordings. In fighting monsters it is important not to become one yourself.

Unpopular HST will create jobs, better pay in B.C: report. I guess if the unpopular premier won't do it, somebody has to.

Whether we're drawing mustaches on attractive models pictured in ads on bus stops, scrawling 'F$#@ THE POLICE' in alleyways, leaving the public with a well-thought out quote written on the wall, or spray-painting our graffiti tags because we're 18 and looking for trouble, us Vancouverites sure have a lot to say when we can say it anonymously.

I remember reading an Adbusters piece about Sao Paulo's radical move to completely ban outdoor advertising in its streets. The law was put in place by a conservative mayor based on his mandate to rid the city of "visual pollution," and involved the take-down of "over 15,000 billboards, 1,600 oversized signs and 1,300 metal ad panels" (see photos here). Adbusters described the city as a "battlefield strewn with blank marquees and partially torn-down frames." I couldn't help but wonder what our city would look like without our advertisements. Would blank billboards become covered in these types of hand-written words, street art and graffiti? Or would we have no compulsion left to leave our mark without ads and signs to provoke that creativity (and cheekiness)?

Click for more examples after the jump of what Vancouverites have to say.

Despite being a newb, Massive Attack's new album, Heligoland, has become my commuting soundtrack. This may sound weird to some but I really appreciate my transit time. It's a time when I can listen to music that eases my mind as I pass by the interesting and beautiful scenery of Vancouver. One particular song from this album , "Paradise Circus", is now a favourite of mine when commuting. It's like a soft lullaby you would sing to a distraught unwanted lover and the vocals are basically beautiful whispers; eerily perfect for ears amidst transit.

Massive Attack is planning on coming to Vancouver on May 29th. They will be playing the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. Even better, Beyond Robson has a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky reader. Just tell me your favourite song to listen to while commuting (bus, car, skytrain, seabus, or train) by commenting below. It doesn't have to be a Massive Attack song either. Just whatever song you're into right now. We will randomly select a comment and send an email to the author (aka winner).

CONTEST WILL CLOSE MARCH 11 AT MIDNIGHT

In the meantime, everyone will be making a fuss about how those teens died because they were on the 'party drug' ecstasy. Not much I'm afraid will be made about the fact they are a product of the Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society. Put that on a fucking inukshuk and sell it for a couple grand.

B.C. doctors offer to pay for OR nurses. Yeah, because that's the way our health system should work. "So Mr. Hot Shot M.D., you want a nurse to do all your dirty work? Well then you better pay up, Dr. Fancy Pants."

Shipwrecked sailor ate lichen to survive Vancouver Island wilderness. Hey did you know that lichen is a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus and an algae? Holy shit I'm bored, can we bring back the Olympics?

It's a heated debate between two camps of people, both with strong opinions and valiant champions. First, there's Camp One, a group of people who claim that Vancouver is a "no fun" city without any interesting music venues or culture to speak of. This camp's complaints are well-documented (in community newspapers, on films like the aptly-named "No Fun City" and in the citing of restrictive late-night city bylaws) and their voices are loud. They often proclaim that they plan to leave Vancouver for "greater" cities (usually Montreal or NYC).

Then there's Camp Two. This camp fondly remembers epic, pseudo-illegal "venues" like the Red Gate, Emergency Room, Plank Gallery, the Loft and No Tofu. For many, these places have never existed. However, for those who have been to their late-night $5 dance parties featuring ironic names like "Jack Your Body," the experience is totally refreshing; it's also specially-made for a generation raised on the Internet and captivated by things that are fresh and somewhat treasonous. These illicit prop-ups are the ever-evolving gems of our city, sprouting up indefinitely in alleyways, basements and warehouses, and consistently showcasing an emergent form of multimedia culture that is quintessentially Vancouver-based. Their collective product? A crazy, unique conglomeration of urban influences and art-house principles that has created an entirely new and subversive form of fun-making.

The Tyee

Arts Funding Less Than Advertised Says Advocates

Wakey, Wakey Taxpayer!

In Tight Times, Campbell Gov't Chooses to Help Big Banks

'Hangover Budget' Pleases Few

Vancouver Sun

Budget 2010: the basics, the details, the nuances

Sure, there are plenty of religious folk here, but in many corners of the city it's taboo to present yourself as such. If you do wear religion on your sleeve, especially in the public forum, you risk an onslaught of cynical looks from the many Vancouverites who see religion as intellectually naive. Here, for better or for worse, religion is often relegated to the margins of public culture.

Oddly, free lunches at Hare Krishna and Sikh temples are as trendy as ever. But that's beside the point. It seems we've taken our mom's advice to be polite and avoid taking religion to heart. Instead, Vancouverites are finding incredibly creative and culturally unique ways to find common ground between one another.