So Elizabeth May has been making a fuss in the blogoshpere with her recent victory over the shadowy Canadian TV Consortium and her recent remarks that may or may not have been doctored (or at least taken out of context), in which she calls Canadians stupid. But as witnessed down south, any attention is good attention, even if you're just putting lipstick on a pig (No, I am not calling Elizabeth May a pig. She looks more like a beaver anyways).

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Green Party member and supporter, and I ran in the last Provincial election under the Green banner. I must say however, that I was essentially just a name on a ballot, as I was the last of a full slate of candidates and had no campaign budget. But in the upcoming battle for Vancouver Centre, the Green's aren't phoning it in.

Update: wacqueline posted an excellent link to a Vancouver Magazine article, outlining both Ladner and Robertson. It can be found here.

Since we learned a little bit about Peter Ladner last week, it's only fair to find out at least a little about the man who holds the top spot for Vision Vancouver. Once again, I can't say that I know the man, or much about him personally. I did see him buying various berries at the Kitsilano Farmers Market, so if that counts for something, there you go.

Instead of a Vancouver History today, I wanted to write about the current mayoral campaign. With all the Eby and Robertson boners flying around here at BeyondRobson, I thought I would ask the question on none of our minds: Who the F#@K is Peter Ladner?

Local "dashing young 20 something(s)... likely to be at Republic or Plaza on Saturday night", Vancouver Buzz, have come up with a scathing critique of my homeless plan. What homeless plan? Exactly. They also reject my comment, which took about a minute to write, without offering any of their own. Usually this kind of ad hominem attack doesn't need to back itself, its substance is purely vitriolic, but in this case I was goaded in an earlier post to "try to implement (your solution) and then come back and talk to me". I'm not going to list, as I did in the comments, the things I perceive as positive actions in response to Vancouver's homelessness, but I will repeat my assertion that, in response to the remark that "suggestions without action are just that... suggestions", the most valuable tool I have, is the power to create dialogue.

These are the fine people who have brought you such fine comments as "I'm sure the Mexicans don't mind $14/hr. How much would they earn in Mexico?", "The DTES needs to (sic) gentrification", "I'd like to make my debut by hailing the Liberal government with their pro-economic policies", and my personal fave; "The Urban Dweller is hoping that the homeless can get back on their feet, so he could kindly escort them to the nearest skytrain station. Next stop, the lower class suburb of Surrey! I feel that they should now go back to a place that is more akin to their natural habitat. What better place than the "armpit" of the Lower Mainland."

The East Van Podcast is back! In this episode, Jonny Vancouver checks out the East Van Culture Crawl, a yearly exhibition of East Vancouver artists that recently took place here in Vancouver, and interviews Phillip Stephen and Grant Mercs, two of the artists involved in the Crawl. Special thanks to Beyond Robson for featuring the East Van Podcast, and to everyone who went above and beyond to help us put this podcast together.

For the past 5 years Sean Devlin has been busy in Vancouver as both a comedian & filmmaker. This September he performed at the prestigious Bumbershoot Arts Festival. His first feature film, 2004's "Zach & Avery" is screening at The Vancity Theatre on Saturday November 3rd @ 2pm. You really have to click on the video, before we go on.

I enjoyed my very own copy of this cd so much, we decided to give you an interview with this smashing young lat before the screening takes place. Before that, I have a one or two tiny remarks on this film. First off it's filmed entirely in Vancouver, in some very familiar East Vancouver settings that will arouse nostalgia. But, most of all, what was absolutely overwhelming in the film was the brilliant humor and wit among characters that seemed to know each other so well, the button-pushing could only exist this extreme in theatre. But enough about me, and my take on this film. I want us to have a chat with this guy, so here it is. My questions for Sean were pretty straight forward, and he was a delight to talk to.

> (1) So Sean, what is Zach and Avery all about?

I wrote the film during my first year living in Vancouver. I think it is inspired by personal relationships as well as the city itself. I could continue, but you really have to see it for yourself...