The Vancouver International Film Festival is presenting three music films about conquering adversity and triumph where nobody would think of making it. These three stories are an an example of the determination and the hardships that these artists had to endure to achieve their dreams. The characters of the documentaries did reach their objectives and set an example for you to never give up, specially if you live in a first world country like Canada. Their message is not only about success, its also about their struggle for a better world.

But before going anywhere, I stopped by a friend’s place for a visit where I was offered this ginger tea with mushrooms. I had to go to a magazine anniversary party, Tropidelica at the Waldorf and the release party of Tyranahorse at the Cobalt. When I hit Nanaimo street, two or three blocks later my head exploded. By the time I went to the celebration I was feeling disconnected from the world.

The Granville Island was full of white, the sky was glittering, the streets were covered, magic was in the air. The lingering sound pierced through the local. The sound came out of a trumpet, the guitar dressed the song with a melody, the bass is free of chains and the drums go on building the piece with jazz elements as the instruments engage in a nostalgic discussion, trumpet and guitar get hysterical.

We got there armed with a six pack and video cameras. The girls were about to start playing Their songs are short and powerful, punk rrrriot grrrls style. Two guitars a bass and drums plus the singer conforms this quintet of girls.
Listen to the podcast of Thunderbird Radio Hell with Joyce Collingwood here

What a surreal play. This was the most interesting thing I have seen in a long time. Where to start? Its not even a traditional theatre play, it is more like a musical performance, more concert than theatre, like slam poetry with music. It was written as a play by late French playwright  Bernard-Marie Koltes. This version has LIVE music by Polish band the Natural Born Chillers, and also includes a short film, a collage of images. “Its a commentary” said the director Radoslaw Rychcik who is Polish as the rest of the crew that presented this work of multidisciplinary art. The short film is a chaotic collage of human behaviour.

Hungarians are famous for the high number of sunshine hours, good wine, pálinka and peculiar sense of humour. One might think that such a fame could only mean a bunch of happy people who enjoy life no matter what. But don’t let yourself be fooled.

I met Michelle Rainey working on an article for Canamo several years ago. She was a beautiful and articulate woman that helped cement the marihuana movement in Canada. She was struggling with lymphatic cancer and melanoma, but she also had to live with Crohn’s disease which is an inflammatory bowel disease which is disabling and difficult to treat. She got relief from Cannabis and since meeting Marc Emery she decided to join the fight for legalization becoming Emery’s business partner. She was just 39 years old. In her short life she was a very accomplished woman being an advocate for medical marihuana patients, doing a show for POT TV, caimpaining for the BC Marihuana Party and touring in the Cannabus along Brian Taylor, then president and current mayor of Grand Forks. She also was involved with the magazine Treating Yourself in Toronto and Cannabis Culture in Vancouver.

VanMusic is proud to sponsor the Swedish film Song for Tomorrow to be screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival on Wednesday October 6th at the Park Theatre at 400PM and on October 9th at the same location at 715PM
A truly honest, very charming, and ultimately moving work about the odd relationship between two indelible characters (and performers), Song of Tomorrow is a stellar debut from the award-winning Swedish shorts’ team DoubleJonas (Jonas Bergergård and Jonas Holmström). Stig Manner lives a rough and unglamorous life buying and selling things to flea markets. It is a continuous struggle to manage from day to day. His bohemian friend, the wandering singer Janos, prefers to live free of all the demands of society, but is there to help him out.
Stig believes that Janos is a great undiscovered talent and decides that the way out of his situation is by marketing Janos as a brilliant new artist, by which both of them can be successful.

We were wet, we danced and jumped, we explored, we climbed a mountain and crossed a river, we traveled on shrooms with Mary Jane, we camped and made new friends and met old ones. Oh yeah, there was music too…

It is noon and I am drinking beer in a market in Manchester. I am also eating chilli con carne at Enrique´s Burrito stand, which is a bad idea because I will probably be farting all the journey. My bus leaves in a couple of hours, 21 hours to Amsterdam. I have a joint and my luggage and I am ready to rock and roll.

Among the victims of this predatory capitalism system and its displacements are the children. Mostly defenseless kids that are left aside because of poverty, disease or that become orphans due to the wars and the colonization of the so called third world. Many of these kids end up as soldiers, some are handicapped or orphaned, many of them die. The lucky ones are the ones that get to keep their life and escape unharmed. Few of these kids get adopted in the industrialized nations and are brought up as Europeans or as North Americans. The Indiaan is the story of one of these kids

Eyjafjallajokull!

Can you say Eyjafjallajokull? You better because now it has become part of history. The Icelandic volcano grounded thousands of airplanes and shut down airports across Europe. But I survived the volcanic eruption, eventhough I was in Manchester. One of the world´s capital of music, better known as Madchester, the cradle of sounds like Joy Division, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Stone Roses, Oasis, among others. The volcano spat ash and glass harmful for the planes, it can get inside and kill the engine plummeting the passangers to a certain death. …

Fate of the mascots.

What happened to the mascots of an important sporting event that took place in Vancouver during the month of February?
Sumi, the orca, went  to New Foundland for a holiday to spend some of its well deserved, hard earned money only to be blunderoged by a hunter that took him for a seal. Shame!
Quatchi, the sasquatch ended up in the Downtown Eastside shooting heroin after a date gone bad. He now lives in the streets and sleeps under a bridge close to Crab park. Pity!
The bear with wings …

The vehicle was returned in perfect condition except for a 1 centimetre chip on the windshield caused by a stone or rock. I had an estimate done by a professional windshield repairman called Too Nice Autoglass who saw the vehicle and said the regular charge for that repair was 50 dollars, Speedy and other companies charged between 50 and 80 dollars including labour

The songs exploded, the place was full. All 40 spectators were there. Mostly rocker kids and a couple of sinister fellows, which I think were pretty responsible for my after party treatment, but I generally don´t notice bad looking, bold, big guys. Not my type.