Last year Tales of the Cocktail (“TOTC”), the legendary New Orleans-based festival for bartenders, mixologists, and lovers of libations, went on tour for the first time and was hosted in Vancouver. It was such a success that it has returned for a second year to celebrate the city’s emerging cocktail culture.
Held once again at the stunning Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, the festival continues to grow with several new events including five tasting rooms, Meet the Maker, a specialty coffee bar and the Mott’s Clamato Caesar Bar.
Toasted at events throughout the four days will be Jacob Sweetapple’s Roaming Buffalo Punch, the official cocktail of Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver 2012. The Vancouver mixologist’s bourbon, Cointreau and cognac concoction was chosen by a panel of cocktail experts from more than 50 submissions by Canada’s most accomplished bartenders.
Last year I interviewed Jay Jones about TOTC coming to Vancouver. Jay is Consulting and Founding member of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association and Lead Bartender at Market by Jean-George at the Shangri-La. He was also recently named Canada’s Top Bartender by EnRoute Magazine. He told me previously that hosting this smaller festival, based on the New Orleans event, reflects Vancouver and also Canada’s growing cocktail culture. “We’re known for our hospitality, natural beauty, restaurants, chefs, wine, and environment, and now you can add ‘great cocktails’ to form a complete package.”
Events
These are just a few of the events lined up each day:
Sunday February 12, 2012
Registration and Cabaret St. Germain Welcome Cocktails as well as the Hollywood North Official Party presented by PMA Canada and William Grant & Sons.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Coffee Bar presented by Amarula Cream, Frangelico, Irish Mist and Tullamore Dew. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Little girls in party dresses, patent shoes, and some with a tiara or rose filed into the Queen Elizabeth Theatre last night for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Audience members young and old were atwitter, having read the book or watched the cartoon movie growing up. I had actually just watched the Disney movie on a recent flight so several lines and queues were fresh in my mind.
After the prologue with the Beast and the enchantress the ensemble’s first musical number with the townspeople seemed like it could have used a bit more hustle and bustle — and a few more props. Quickly thereafter, the vocal performances of Belle (Emily Behny), Gaston (Logan Denninghoff), and the ensemble, which sounded impeccable, were enough to fill the stage.
Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Gaston, Lefou, the Silly Girls and Tavern Patrons soon wowed the crowd with a lively rendition of Gaston, working their hearts out impressively clinking cups in unison.
In the castle, the audience loved the personality and quirks of Madame de la Grande Bouche (Jen Bechter) and I’m fairly certain that many swooned at Lumiere’s performance (Michael Haller). I actually overheard: “I’m totally crushing on Lumiere. I think the woman behind me is too.”
I found some of the costumes to be spot-on, successfully transferring a cartoon inspiration to stage, while others made it a bit difficult to figure out what object the character was supposed to be transforming into (unless you’ve seen the movie).
When it was time for Be Our Guest the audience was blown away, and I literally jumped in my seat. It had style, sparkle, and a great big bang. The cast was amazingly energetic and this was definitely the showstopping number.
The crowd began to root for the characters whose plight to become human again seemed more engaging than in the film. Numbers like Something There, If I Can’t Love Her, and A Change in Me, garnered sniffles from the seats and I heard my mother reach for tissues to wipe away tears. The emotional element was definitely there, helped along by the powerful vocals of Beast (Dane Agostinis).
Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Children will enjoy the colourful performances of Lefou (Andrew Kreup), the humour, and the imagination that made everyone cheer in support of a characters like Cogsworth (James May) and Mrs. Potts (Julia Louise Hosack). I’m sure the little girls in their princess dresses left filled with wonder and excitement after the bright and colourful production.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast will on the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre until February 12, 2012. Tickets are still available through Broadway Across America.
The BCAA Booster Challenge is back for 2012 as they look for the most energetic, positive, and crowd-rallying individuals to lead a whole cheering section at Rogers Arena.
From changing flat tires to giving jump-starts, BCAA is known for doing nice things for people who need help. So it’s in that spirit that we introduce our next Canucks ticket challenge: Do something nice for a Leafs fan.
Photo courtesy of the BCAA Booster Challenge
You read that right… do something nice for a Leafs fan, snap a photo, and upload it for your chance to win. Hold their door, shovel their walk, give them a foot rub, or simply hold a sign with words of encouragement for our rivals to the East. The person with the winning photo will get two tickets to the Canucks/Leafs game on February 18, 2012 and perform the duties of the BCAA Booster guy or gal.
Just for entering, you’re also eligible for their secondary prize of two tickets to the March 1st game against St. Louis. Entries are due by 12:00pm next Tuesday, February 14, 2012. The BCAA Booster winner for the Leafs game will be announced on Friday, February 17th.
That’s not all. For promoting the “Do Something Nice for a Leafs Fan” contest BCAA has offered up two lower bowl tickets for the Canucks/Jets game on March 8th and I’m passing those along to one lucky reader. Help us spread the word about the BCAA Booster Challenge and you could win my tickets to the game. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Post a comment naming the last random act of kindness you saw or performed (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
Get your photos in for the “Do Something Nice for a Leafs Fan” contest by February 14th. I’ll draw a winner for my pair of Canucks/Jets tickets at 10:00am on February 16, 2012.
Update The winner is Aaron B.!
Within just a few days last autumn I spent the night at a ghost town hotel followed by a chilly overnight stay in a tipi at Blackfoot Crossing. The experiences were unforgettable and surreal all at once.
I was on a media trip in the Alberta Badlands, a few hours outside of Calgary, with two other journalists. We visited the Atlas Coal Mine, took a Wild West Tour, went fossil hunting at Dinosaur Provincial Park, and drank at the Last Chance Saloon. Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park was our last stop before heading up to a conference in Edmonton.
Blackfoot Crossing, the Historic Site of the signing of Treaty No.7, is of National and International historical and archaeological significance. It is a designated national Heritage Site and is recommended to be a World Heritage Site. The success of the Treaty No.7 Commemoration in 1977 intensified the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation’s vision of building a unique world-class tourist attraction designed to engage visitors in authentic cultural experiences with the Blackfoot people. The Siksika people are proud to present Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park to the world.
On the main level there is a theatre that shows a short film loop providing, history of the Siksika and Blackfoot Crossing, as well as a gift shop, conference centre, library, and cafeteria. Down a pair of staicases, as the building clings to the side of a rocky cliff, there is a large gallery and interpretive centre. Displays showcase traditional costumes, photographs, and instruments, along with historical proclamations and records.
An hour quickly passed before we convened in the parking lot where we got whisked away to on an ATV to the tipi camp at the bottom of the hill. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
February is the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada‘s “Heart Month” and while they emailed me weeks ago, I haven’t been able to compose myself enough to write about the topic until now.
It’s been exactly a year since my Oma was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack. I met my family in her room at the hospital and didn’t know what to expect. My Oma was indestructible, at least I always thought so. At 89 she would be out in her garden pulling up weeds with her knuckles, making jams and jellies in her kitchen, and keeping up around the house with her great-grandchildren. That day she looked weak and worried. They had to move her to another hospital for a procedure and given a few other conditions, and her current state, we had no idea what to expect. She had another heart attack that sent her into a coma.
We spent days in shifts, rotating in and out of the ICU. I held her hand and listened to the chilling amplified sounds of the device that was helping her heart beat. I’ll never forget that sound as every time I heard one beat, I held my breath until I heard another. I counted dozens of wires attached to devices and pouches at her bedside, her hand and arm swollen from the needles. She had never been admitted to a hospital in her life.
Eventually she was moved out of the ICU and woken up. She enjoyed bragging to us about how she pulled through and how much better she was feeling each day. She had inside jokes with nurses, told them about all of her kids, and watched vases and baskets of flowers light up her window sill. We all knew the much-needed emotional lift wouldn’t last as she had a complication that meant she was never going to get better.
I can’t tell you how much time had passed until she started a steady decline. We suspect she had another stroke. My mother and aunt were constantly at her side and when my sister, cousin, brother, or I would visit we’d take her hand in ours. It would be warm from the previous child’s touch. She passed away in April.
Someone in Canada has a heart attack every 7 minutes. Strokes happen every 10 minutes. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in Canada and the cause of 1 in every 3 deaths.
This month, if you haven’t already, please take some time to look through the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s online resources. You can take a risk assessment test on the website or through the My Heart & Stroke Health mobile app. You can volunteer, donate, learn to smart tips for eating right, or perform a healthy action.
To promote Heart Month and all of the actions you can take, the Heart and Stroke Foundation is offering up a prize pack valued at $150. This includes a live or virtual nutrition counseling session with a HSF registered dietitian, a heart-healthy cookbook, pedometer, measuring spoons, water bottle, and reusable HSF bag. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at 10:00am next Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Update The winner is DB!
