The Fish House Shrimp Festival

Comments 192 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The Fish House in Stanley Park serves up a 100% Ocean Wise menu on the edge of the city’s crown jewel, tucked between its sandy beaches, rhododendron garden, and forest trails. From September 15th until October 15th, Executive Chef Curtis Demyon and his team at this award-winning restaurant are serving up the Fish House Shrimp Festival.

The Fish House Shrimp Festival

Enjoy a creamy prawn bisque, battered prawn pakoras, or shrimp scampi from the appetizer menu or a shrimp po-boy, shrimp and clam penne, or prawn salad from the lunch menu. Dinner features include surf and turf, a prawn puttanesca, grilled prawns, and more.

On top of this expanded menu, the Fish House Shrimp Festival is offering a 3-course lunch ($29 per person) and dinner option ($39 per person) where you can select a featured appetizer, entrée, and dessert (both excluding tax and gratuity). The Shrimp Festival lunch menu is available Monday through Friday and the dinner is available seven days a week until October 15, 2013.

If you would like to experience The Fish House in Stanley Park’s Shrimp Festival I have a $100 gift certificate to give away thqt will cover two of the set 3-course dinners. Here’s how you can enter to win this prize:

  • Leave a comment on this post naming your favourite shrimp dish (1 entry)
  • Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
RT to enter to win a $100 gc for @fishhousesp’s Shrimp Festival from @Miss604 http://ow.ly/p8Y3g

Follow The Fish House in Stanley Park on Twitter and Facebook for more information about their menus and promotions. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 3:00pm on Friday, September 27, 2013. The gift certificate is only valid during the Shrimp Festival, to be redeemed by October 15, 2013.

Update The winner is Kristyn!

World Rivers Day 2013 Around Metro Vancouver

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

The 33rd annual BC Rivers Day celebration of World Rivers Day will take place in a number of communities between Friday, September 27th and Monday, September 30th, 2013. Free, family-friendly events will be hosted featuring everything from shoreline cleanups to live music, barbecues and boat tours.

Fraser River Waterfront Parks Fraser River Waterfront Parks

World Rivers Day Gala Event: Burnaby

Where: Burnaby Village Museum (6501 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby)
Date: Sunday, September 29, 2013
Time: 11:00am to 4:30pm
What: Burnaby will celebrate World Rivers Day in a major way with a gala event at the Burnaby Village Museum, which is bisected by the beautiful Deer Lake Brook. There will be a large array of attractions for young and old – and, along with the many attractions and interpretive displays already on site, there will be live birds of prey, a children’s fishing pond, face painting, music, entertainment of various sorts, a special “living with coyotes” presentation, children’s activities, streamside habitat restoration demonstrations amongst many other fun things to do.

RiverFest in New Westminster

Where: Fraser River Discovery Centre (788 Quayside Drive, New Westminster)
Date: Friday, September 27, 2013 and Saturday, September 28, 2013
Time: 4:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday and 11:00am to 6:00pm on Saturday
What: The Fraser River Discovery Centre invites you to join us in celebration of BC and World Rivers Day. In honour of the Fraser River, RiverFest will be held on the Westminster Quay boardwalk in New Westminster. The festival will consist of live entertainment; artists and artisans; community, environmental, and conservation organizations; and crafts and activities for children and their parents; River Tours, Work Boat Parade, Salmon Chowder Cook Off and live entertainment on the YVR Stage. This event is free to the public. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Andy Dixon: Pleasure Studies

Comments 1 by Michelle Kim

I first met painter Andy Dixon at a pool party in the Southlands a few summers ago.

AndyDixonThe host of the party was celebrating the completion of renovations that transformed his house into a re-imagined mid-century home reminiscent of Richard Neutra’s Kauffman House in Palm Springs — with its large glass sliding doors that opened the living spaces to an adjacent patio and pool, where Dixon was standing, with drink in hand, that Saturday afternoon.

In many ways, he the most appropriately dressed person at the party but also completely stood out–wearing what I can only describe as a re-imagined suit of luxury as though he jumped out of the pages of The Great Gatsby or a scene from Downton Abbey — only doused in bright colours, from head to toe. He was very sweet and humble and we chatted a bit.

Ever since then, I have been quietly following Dixon’s career as a painter and his work — characterized by bright and bold colours, primarily using oil and pastel on canvas. Last week, I attended the opening of his solo exhibit, Pleasure Studies, at the Back Gallery Project — a recently-opened new gallery space on East Hastings. This is where I learned that re-imagination and reconstruction are not just themes in Dixon’s work, but also his life.

Dixon began his artistic career as a musician in punk bands in the early 90s, and gained notoriety as a member of the punk band d.b.s. He also was a member of Red Light Sting, and moved on to do solo work, releasing an album entitled Secret Mommy. It was during his early years as a musician that he started to dabble into visual arts.

“I was in bands in high school and started painting my bands’ album covers. Other bands would be like ‘Oh can you paint ours’ and it sort of started from there. As these bands got larger, I did too.”

After participating in a group exhibit organized by a friend at the Misanthropy Gallery (Drawing for Cash: a Johnny Cash Tribute) in 2004, Dixon was asked by the gallery to put up his first solo show entitled “Crime” there. Since then, he has participated in at least a dozen solo exhibits (and more group exhibits), but it wasn’t until four years ago that Dixon decided to devote himself to painting full-time, feeling the need to take a step away from the music world. “I toured four months for years and it wasn’t packing the same punch as it used to,” he said.

AndyDixon2

For Pleasure Studies, which is part of an ongoing themes in his current work, Dixon explores desire and sensation by painting fictional characters of (for example) polo players, ladies lounging, and exotic pets. Through this work, Dixon is not just challenging his own preconceived beliefs around money and luxury, but also those of his peers and the audience.

“I grew up in the 90s punk scene and there is this big idea of selling out…that if money is your motivation that you were suddenly living an inauthentic life,” he said. “ It’s so easy to villainize people with money and this series is my way to challenge this notion.”

Pleasure Studies runs its final week this week at the Back Gallery Project (602 E Hastings) until September 27, 2013. Starting October 3rd, the gallery will be exhibiting work by Vancouver photographer Holly Marie Armishaw. Follow Andy Dixon on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about this work.

Vancouver Rock Balancing

Comments 6 by Rebecca Bollwitt

When strolling around the Seawall in downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park or along False Creek, you are bound to see seagulls or herons, perhaps a harbour seal, and most likely a fantastic west coast sunset. Another staple sight on the waterfront is balanced rocks. Stacked high, sometimes with sticks incorporated between layers of stones, these sculptures stay tall until knocked down by incoming waves.

Today in Vancouver: The Leader of the Band
Photo credit: Rikki / Julius Reque on Flickr

IMG_0027 Rock Man of British Columbia
Photo credit: AE Creations & Lance McCord on Flickr

Vancouver 2010
Photo credit: ko.ttur on Flickr

As for who is responsible for these man-made features, I have seen a few names pass by since I started reading about these balanced rocks in 2006. These include Ziggy (who started in False Creek in 2010), Terry Robinson (known as Rock Stacker on Flickr), Jozsef Roth (who balances rocks for charity at Granville Island or English Bay) and Kent Avery. Every now and then passersby will also join in to see how they can contribute.

Some are inspired by Inukshuk and others are just for fun — to see what’s possible and to entertain. In a video feature Kent Avery says: “It’s very soothing because you’re in a slowed down state of mind. You’re concentrating on that, you’re slow, there’s chatter going on in the background sometimes, there’s people yelling ‘Hey what kind of glue do you use’ but you just kind of have to focus that out.” To be clear no glue is used, just gravity.

2006_05_18__19_05_25
Photo credit: freddryk on Flickr

Balanced Rock Sculptures #vancouver #sunset 251 Balanced Rock Sculptures #365project #vancouver #atotd "A compliment to a stranger turned into dinner with an old acquaintance"
Photo credit: Claude Schneider & Claude Schneider on Flickr

Kent Avery rock balancing, Vancouver
Photo credit: strollerdos on Flickr

Rock Rally Inunnguaq
Photo credit: PiscesDreamer & PiscesDreamer on Flickr

I tried my hand at rock balancing when I was a teenager at summer camp and a few times as an adult, when time has allowed. It takes a while to find the right angles and balance points but if you can calm your mind and steady your hands, you’ll be surprised at what you can stack.

rock My humble rock balancing feat
Beginner basics: Me trying to balance a few rocks in 2005 + a few rocks I balanced in 2009.

Rock art along the seawall
The first rock balancing photo I took in 2006. I believe the sculptor was Terry Robinson.

I can’t imagine the focus and concentration that these volunteer, temporary sculpture builders must have. However, I sincerely appreciate the element of wonder they bring to our waterfront landscape.

Balanced Rocks
Photo credit: colink. on Flickr

Rock Balance
Photo credit: Daniel Mejia on Flickr

If you know of a rock balancer, or are one yourself, I would love to hear from you in the comments to share your story.

VIFF 2013 Opening Gala: Nebraska

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

Alexander Payne’s Nebraska will be opening the Vancouver International Film Festival this year with a gala screening on Thursday, September 26, 2013 at The Centre for Performing Arts.

After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Bruce Dern, Best Actor winner at Cannes) thinks he’s struck it rich, and wrangles his son (Will Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune. Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America.

Payne’s previous films include Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, and The Descendants and an early review from Robbie Collin of the Telegraph calls Nebraska “A bittersweet elegy for the American extended family…” and a “Resounding return to form from Payne.”

Tickets are now on sale for the Canadian Premiere of Nebraska at VIFF on September 26th (Opening Gala) and an additional screening on September 27th.

Other gala screenings this year will be All the Wrong Reasons for the Canadian Images Gala on September 27th; A Touch of Sin on October 3rd for the Dragons and Tigers Awards Gala; Down River for the BC Spotlight Gala on October 5th; The Face of Love, Arie Posin (USA), for the Closing Gala on October 11th.

Follow the Vancouver International Film Festival on Facebook and Twitter for more information and pick up your catalogue for everything you need to know about the festival this year.

Miss604 is a proud media partner of the 2013 Vancouver International Film Festival