July 2012 Archives - Roamancing

Birthday Celebrations & Travel Inspiration, Thanks to the Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival

July 26, 2012 by Emme Rogers 2 Comments

We have a long standing summer tradition at Ahimsa Media to celebrate our summer birthdays with those of us that happen to be in Vancouver at the time. You see three of our main team – myself, Alyzee Lakhani and Erica Hargreave all have summer birthdays, and often one of our seasonal storytellers also has a summer birthdays, like Hannia Curi this summer. Back in the old days this meant legendary parties in Erica’s backyard, hanging out by the fire pit and drinking fresh fruit margaritas with an eclectic mix of people, that often ended in great stories, including weddings. When Erica moved into a townhouse, these epic birthday celebrations nearly died, and they might have had it not been to the fabulous people at Burnaby Culture. You see for the past 4 years our summer birthday celebrations have moved to the Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival, and a damn good new birthday celebration this has become. Something we look forward to each summer.

With Erica’s actually birthday tomorrow (July 27th), I thought I’d share a bit of tease with her and you on what to expect at this year’s festival. Sharing this particular tease here as opposed to on Being Emme, as this couple of music videos by Amadous & Miriam also act as great travel videos of Mali.

Oh Amadou from their album Folio, featuring Bertrand Cantat, directed by Jessy Nottola.

Sénégal Fast Food from their album Dimanche à Bamako, produced by Manu Chao.

To learn more about Amadous & Miriam and their version of the blues, read on on this post on Being Emme.

Sweet Summer Night Kisses,

Emme xoxo

PS. In Full Disclosure: As always, the opinions and thoughts shared here are our own and honest ones. We are bought out by no one. In the spirit of disclosure, it should be noted that Burnaby Culture gives us a few Blues & Roots tickets each year, allowing us to celebrate our birthdays in the best possible way.

Filed Under: Africa, All Aboard!, Around the World, BC, Canada, Emme Rogers, Events, Music, Our Travelers, Perfect Dates, Roamancing, Travel TV, Tunes from the Road, Vancouver Events Tagged With: 2012 burnaby blues and roots festival, Amadou & Miriam, birthday celebrations, birthdays, blues, burnaby, Burnaby Blues, burnaby blues and roots, burnaby blues and roots festival, burnaby culture, Mali, summer birthdays, travel inspiration

Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist at Jericho Arts Centre

July 25, 2012 by Alyzee Lakhani Leave a Comment

Though there are only a few days left to see Ben Jonson‘s, The Alchemist, at the Jericho Arts Centre, I thought it was an important play-experience to share with theatre lovers in Vancouver. I say this simply because it is rare to find Renaissance theatre in the city that a) is written by a playwright other than Shakespeare, and b) feels like some sort of bizarre amusement park ride with elaborate schemes that go impossibly far, long tracts of fabulous lies improvised by lovable rogues, especially delightful word play and a few real explosions besides. Ensemble Theatre‘s production reminds us that Shakespeare was one of the many great playwrights of his time, Ben Jonson being another popular contemporary and rival.

The Alchemist tells the story of a few conning masterminds (Face, Subtle, and the beguiling Dol Common) working together to gip anyone who will believe into handing over their cash for the promise of boundless riches to come. All three undertake whirlwind of character changes throughout the play as part of their scheming. Each sorry client that knocks on their door is conned with individual attention paid to their particular dispositions, desires, and weaknesses.

I loved how the director and cast altered some of the characters to look like caricatures for the modern audience to laugh at. I particularly enjoyed the weed smoking surfer dude who fell for promises of lucky trading, all with the calm, good-natured optimism one can only put down to help from the magic root.

Dol Common spends most of the play in some very attractive lingerie, making sure the men do their part in the gold-getting scheme with a whip, and a tongue that acts much like one. As the professor that spoke at the talkback after the show pointed out, we are never invited to feel sorry for the characters getting cheated, as they do so while blinded by their own greed, or gullibility, or desire for an impossibly easy ride. Instead we laugh at them, enjoy their little weaknesses and overreaching ambitions, and recognize our own weaknesses in the easily-cheated folk. Rich or poor, none are immune to the promises of greater wealth and prosperity, even though it is delivered by means of some incomprehensible magic, explained in colourful pseudo-scientific, mystical language in the play. Freedom from the tyranny of hard work and tough circumstance unites many of the characters, including the alchemists themselves. Some are even drawn into their promises from easy circumstances for dreams of more, and even more plenty. Appetites grow to accommodate the offering, and this is the secret to the con artists’ success.

I think we don’t feel sorry for the defrauded because it seems to me that Face, Subtle and Dol earn every penny in the tireless, customized performances they give to everyone who approaches them with the hope for more. Sometimes they have to change in and out of character so quickly I can barely keep my head on straight. Face’s many hats and personas alone would have been enough to entertain me for several evenings. The cast is energetic and engaged in this spirited performance, and when I went the house was friendly, entertained and laughing as the plot lurched into areas of greater and greater improbability. I’d recommend this play to anyone who wanted to spend a light evening being amused, tickled, titillated frequently shaking with laughter. And to top all of that: somehow, the director and cast found a way to bring out a Dora the Explorer Snuggie as one of the props during one of the play’s more serious moments.

Thanks to Ensemble Theatre’s cast and crew for a highly amusing ride. Particularly memorable in the cast are: Tariq Lesie, Trevor Devall and Joey Bothwell (as Face, Subtle and Dol Common), William Hopkins (as Dapper the lawyer), Aaron Turner (as Drugger the dispenser), and Matthew Bisset (as Sir Epicure Mammon, a knight).

Ensemble Theatre‘s The Alchemist runs nightly at 8 pm until Saturday July 28 at the Jericho Arts Centre in Vancouver.

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Alyzee Lakhani, Around the World, BC, Canada, Events, Our Travelers, Theatre, Vancouver Events Tagged With: aaron turner, Ben Jonson, Ben Jonson plays vancouver, con artists, dol common, ensemble theatre, face, Jericho Arts Centre, joey bothwell, matthew bisset, renaissance theatre vancouver, shakespeare theatre vancouver, subtle, tariq leslie, the alchemist ben jonson, theatre talkback, trevor devall, william hopkins

Rent! in Vancouver with Fighting Chance Production

July 24, 2012 by Hannia Curi 1 Comment

The full cast! (Photo Credit: Jennifer Kuhl)

Last Thursday, I had the privilege of seeing Fighting Chance Production’s rendition of Rent performed on stage at the Waterfront Theatre. It was the first time I’d seen the musical on stage. My previous exposure was in the heat of my awkward teenage years (which are taking their sweet time leaving the nest), when my mother took me to see the film adaptation; we love going to the movies together and this was one of the many we’ve gone to see. I don’t remember why we chose this one, but I loved it. I bought the DVD when it came out, and I had the soundtrack. By the time I hit my second year of high school though, the shine wore off a bit and though I tend to retain a fondness for everything I liked when I was in middle school, I didn’t really think much about Rent apart from having some of the songs blaring in my mind every once in a while.

The disgruntled homeless. (Photo Credit: Jennifer Kuhl)

It was definitely a very different experience on stage! Ultimately, it was delightful, though it took me some time to stop visualizing the film and appreciate the stage production for what it was. I saw the show with Emme and when we were talking afterwardS she told me she didn’t like the film version of the show; I can’t say I think the same, since I did enjoy the film very much. The stage version is the source material for the film, but it was decently adapted and at least worked for me when I was younger. I saw a bit of it again to refresh my memory recently, and though it has its patchy bits, it mostly holds up well.

Brilliant view of the set. (Photo Credit: Jennifer Kuhl)

However, as it must have been for fans of the stage when the film came into being, I couldn’t really help but make comparisons. Mind you, the first thing that sparked comparison in my mind was the opening scene, and the stage version brought a lighthearted charm to the story’s opening scene that the film didn’t even attempt to capture. The film had the luxury of simply showing two of the central characters, Mark and Roger, living in their loft without having to give them a scene where they point out the amenities of the place, such as their illegal wood-burning stove, and describe the place in such a way that I believe they were trying to mockingly present it as one would a palace. Especially seeing as the set was rather minimalistic compared with the sets and location shooting options available to the film version, it helped bring the setting for much of the first act to life and, along with the little voice mail numbers that were either modified or did not make it into the film at all, brought a touch of sillyness to the show that I truly loved. The film (which, unlike the version of the stage incarnation I saw, actually opens with Seasons of Love and then segues into “Rent” right away) made use of Mark’s accumulating footage throughout the film and a spectacle out of the “Rent” number by having the performers burn up their eviction notices and let them fall gently from their windows; these were things I missed from the adaptation, though the flaming eviction notices possibly didn’t carry over because it could cause a major fire hazard. I would assume.

Chelsea Tucker as Maureen. (Photo Credit: Jennifer Kulh)

One thing I found worked better on stage than in the film was Maureen’s protest, a sort of Hey Diddle Diddle inspired allegory protesting her performance space being taken away to be transformed into a ‘cyber café’. This sequence was possibly the least beloved for me when I saw it on film, but on stage it somehow came off as… charming in its hokeyness. Part of it could have been Chelsea Tucker’s masterful rendering of the character; she nailed her almost comical primadonna attitude, in my opinion, and it was a joy to see her character on stage every time. But the stripped-down nature of the stage production and the different atmosphere made it a bit less unbearable than the larger-than-life treatment the performance gets in the film, complete with Maureen biking into the performance.

Emily Canavan as Mimi. She was sublime. (Photo credit: Jennifer Kuhl)

This brings me to part of the reason I was interested in seeing the show at all: I was curious to see how it would differ from the film and how it would be the same, what the adaptation changed and what it left out altogether. I would have been a little disappointed if everything was the same, really. At the heart of it, the story was the same and the messages, patchy on their own right or not depending on what came through strongest … I love the Rent’s core theme of treasuring your life and living with as much hope as possible even if your days are numbered, not so wild on the glorification of the ‘starving artist’ lifestyle. I almost cried at the end, as I did watching the film! (I rarely cry for real, so almost crying is as good as actually shedding tears as far as I’m concerned.) I can’t say which I enjoyed more, since they both had their ups and downs, but either way I had a good time at the show!

You can catch Fighting Chance Production’s version of Rent on stage at Granville Island’s Waterfront Theatre in Vancouver Tuesday to Sunday nights at 8 pm, now until August 18th, 2012 with matinees at 2 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Get your tickets here.

Souvenirs from a wonderful night.

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, BC, Canada, Events, Hannia Curi, Our Travelers, Theatre, Vancouver Events Tagged With: Chelsea Tucker, fighting chance productions, Granville Island, rent, rent the musical, Vancouver, vancouver theatre, waterfront theatre

The Rocky Mountaineer Boom De Yada

July 21, 2012 by Emme Rogers 8 Comments

I was just finishing up a post (that took me hours to write) on an adventure Brie and I had on the Rocky Mountaineer, when I lost everything I’d written. I don’t know if that has ever happened to you, but it sucks when it does. So instead of trying to rewrite that now, while I am feeling irritated, I am listening to a fun video and tune I discovered in my research today from the Rocky Mountaineer … boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada …

I do hope you enjoyed it too!

Now off for a rollerblade and to get rid of my irritated funk.

Filed Under: Alberta, All Aboard!, Around the World, BC, Canada, Emme Rogers, Our Travelers, Planes, Trains ..., Train Travel, Travel TV, Tunes from the Road Tagged With: boom de yada, rocky mountaineer, rocky mountaineer boom de yada

A Playland Adventure!

July 17, 2012 by Hannia Curi 3 Comments

Oh, beautiful!

For as long as I can remember, there has been a very special place in my heart for amusement park rides. It might be because the opportunity to go to the amusement park didn’t come very often; Winnipeg, where I lived most of my recent years, had a fair, the Red River Ex, that would come for a few weeks in June and then leave. I would either get a chance to go once during its run or not at all. It saddened my heart, since amusement park rides were probably the most exciting thing a regular ol’ scaredy cat like me would be willing to do.

Who’s scarier here?

Naturally, a trip to Playland in Vancouver would make me a very happy girl, and recently I did just that. With my friend Janice in tow, I was able to attain a thrilling amusement park experience!

Another highlight of my adventure!

In my previous amusement park experiences, we’d always have to either purchase a wristband along with admission, or buy strings and strings of tickets to actually go on the rides. Not so at Playland. Once you’re in, you can go to town and get on any ride you want (mostly) without any extra spending. True, it is a good idea to bring money for carnival games and food if that’s important, or one of those funky-looking drink containers everybody else seems to get, but the rides themselves are free in that sense. I thought this was absolutely wonderful, as I was expecting to spend a lot more than I actually did, assuming the rides were ticket-based.

The Wave Swinger, also known as Hannia’s Favourite Ride

As for the rides themselves, due to time constraints and wanting to do different things, we didn’t quite manage to sample each and every one. I think it would take the most dedicated ride enthusiast, someone who plans their trip out so that there’s enough time to actually hit every single one, to accomplish this. So writing this as a sort of ranking would be a little iffy, since we did only ride a select few. I think it is notable, though, that the actual names of the rides are of no consequence in the moment; Janice and I would just identify them by what they looked like, or just point at a contraption and go “that one looks fun.” And a lot of them do have names that may have required a bit of thought from someone at some point. However, I never really registered that the Wave Swinger had an official moniker; I just identify it as the ride with the swings that soar through the skies for a couple of minutes and one of my all-time favourite carnival features.

As a little girl, I would have sacrificed goats for all of these dolls.

I actually thought about how when trying to reflect on what I did that day, I had no idea what to call some of the contraptions I rode, save for the Hellevator. I probably remember that one more because, as foreboding as the name is, the ride itself isn’t that hellish. It definitely looks like it, as there’s a part where you’re whipped upwards at what looks like breakneck speed… but the sensation, to me, was actually quite pleasant, like I was floating. Still, while waiting in line, my friend and I heard two little girls disembarking while brazenly informing their guardian that they just talked the whole time, as if barely noticing the fact that they were being whipped into the air. We thought they were putting on airs, but… I realized that kind of ‘fearlessness’ only takes the chutzpah required to get on the ride in the first place to achieve. Another ride that surprised me was the Wooden Rollercoaster. I underestimated that one. Well, I tend to underestimate roller coasters in general, but somehow I never cottoned on to the fact that a high-speed roller coaster with steep hills and a metal bar keeping you fastened on to the seat would actually be pretty hair-raising. I remember, during one sharp descend, getting a flashback to the sign guests are treated to during the queue, warning that standing during the ride is prohibited and feeling terrible that the forces of gravity were causing me to stand. I guess the rule is there so no one will try standing before gravity hoists them upwards further.

Select artwork from the Crazy Beach Party ride’s Mural of Awesome.

Playland was a lot of fun! We did not manage to get on a few rides we planned to due to the park closing for the day, but as far as a day at the amusement park, it was a great time!

Making a lasting friendship.

(Also, Playland does provide a lovely list of their featured attractions with descriptions and images to go with them, for those who are, like me, burning with curiosity regarding what to call those special rides you know and love, as well as other features.)

PS. In Full Disclosure: As always, the opinions and thoughts shared here are our own and honest ones. We are bought out by no one. In the spirit of disclosure, it should be noted that on this trip our entrance to the park was courtesy of Vancouver Tourism.