As I’m heading out to the Canucks game and will not be following all the election night action on Twitter, here’s a super handy-dandy Google map to keep track of the results as they flow in from sea to sea.

I also published a slightly different version of this interview over on E!Online

This fall the Hanson Brothers will take to the ice in the 3rd movie in the Slap Shot series: Slap Shot 3: The Junior League. The film was shot around Metro Vancouver and features comedy and hockey legends along with a promising young cast.

Vancouver-area actor Hunter Elliott has been in the film and television industry since he was 11 years old, “this is my biggest release so far, and I’m pretty excited.”

Photo credit: Rannie Turingan on Flickr
View the rest of Rannie’s shots of Ryan and Hunter

Elliott stars in Slap Shot 3 along with Ryan McDonell who also started his career in Vancouver and has recent Battlestar Galactica credits. To go from floating in space to shooting at the rink in South Surrey was pretty surreal, albeit an “amazing experience”.

When Elliott got the call about being cast in the film, he was “through the roof with excitement,” noting that it was one of the best days of his life, knowing he’d be a part of this franchise. “I pretty much grew up on Slap Shot, my dad played hockey in high school and got a scholarship for Brock University for goal tending so I have a pretty intense hockey background.”

Elliott and McDonell were paired up with veterans such as Leslie Neilsen. “When he comes on screen he’s got such character to him and it’s really – he’s an hysterical man,” commented McDonell who also praised Lynda Boyd, who plays his mother in the film.

Slap Shot 3 also sees roles and cameos from hockey stars such as Doug Gilmour, who McDonell admits was one of his childhood icon, “sitting behind a bench and watching them do the scenes was pretty surreal.”

Both needed to touch up on their hockey skills for the part and as Elliott stated, “When you have such motivation you work so hard at it, it’s not just a movie for me – I learned so much aside from learning how to skate – about the emotion of hockey – it was incredible.”

When asked, they both agreed that Slap Shot is “the only true hockey movie,” and McDonell added, “It’s this version of 70s hockey where there was this whole element of the fighting and the grittiness of it.” However, as this latest version is a family movie, “hopefully we get some more kids signing up to play hockey in Canada out of it too.”

Slap Shot 3 will be available on DVD November 25th …and for the record, they are also both Vancouver Canucks fans.

I also published a slightly different version of this interview over on E!Online

Photo credit: Vancouver Pantages

Hastings Street is one of the most historic strips of roadway in Vancouver and it it currently home to a large piece of Vancouver’s theatrical history that was supposed to undergo a renovation and revival for 2010.

“The Pantages Theatre, during its heyday it hosted stars like Charlie Chaplin, Jack Dempsey and Babe Ruth. Also, a nephew of the original Mr Pantages, Peter Pantages, took over the theatre in the 1920s and also founded Vancouver’s Polar Bear Club. [Miss604]”

At the turn of the 20th century Vancouver was just starting to boom. Building on up the backs of the industry workers, loggers, and Klondike gold rushers there needed to be some form of entertainment and Mr. Pantages was just the man to provide it. The original Pantages Theatre opened in 1908 and went through many iterations, which once involved being called The State in 1919 featuring burlesque acts. Through all of its phases The Pantages was indeed Vancouver’s vaudeville beacon and another of the same name was opened down the street (on Hastings) in 1917. [Miss604]

Unfortunately the refurbishing of the Pantages, planned since 2005, will no longer be taking place.

There are for sale signs up at one of western Canada’s oldest theatres, the Pantages near Hastings and Main in downtown Vancouver. The 100-year-old venue could soon be sold and demolished, meaning a significant part of Vancouver’s history would be lost. [CTVbc]

Local publicist Rebecca Coleman adds her personal and professional experience to the story.

This theatre is magic. I don’t know any other way of describing it. Being in there was amazing. Even though the theatre is derelict and falling down, the energy is incredible. The history of that building, and its potential impact its resident companies, specifically, and the Vancouver arts community in general, is immense.

Coleman also gives more background about the plans that were proposed for the Pantages and adjacent buildings.

In 2005, developer Marc Williams bought the property and the four adjoining ones to the west. The plan was to gut and restore the 650-seat theatre (which has incredible acoustics), build a new lobby, a new entrance, an art gallery, and 130+ units of social housing.

On April 16, 2008, after many, many tours, meetings, and getting people on board, we had a press conference announcing Williams’ $26 million development plan. It was attended by media, members of the arts community, and the Downtown East Side, and it was a huge success. [The Art of the Business]

I was personally looking forward to Pauline the opera about Pauline Johnson’s life that Margaret Atwood was even involved with. This, on top of my appreciation for Vancouver’s history and support of reviving the Downtown Eastside community, makes the news of the property sale all that more disappointing.

If you would like to learn more check out the Pantages website or Facebook group and consider signing the petition to get the attention of Vancouver City Council.

According to Rebecca Coleman, “Vancouver needs the Pantages. The Arts community desperately needs more performance space. The Downtown East Side would benefit both from the social housing, and access to and involvement with cultural events in their own neighborhood.”

Update From the Heritage Vancouver Society: Feb 23, 2011: There is no viable proposal to save the Pantages. It continues to deteriorate beyond the point of repair. Its imminent interior demolition is expected, but as of this update, no demolition permit has been issued by the City.

Update From the Heritage Vancouver Society: April 6, 2011: It’s official – a demolition permit has now been issued by the City for both the Pantages Theatre and adjacent sites.

While watching the “halibut battle” on Iron Chef tonight I was reminded of an email I received inviting me to the 1st Annual BC Sustainable Seafood Chowder Competition taking place tomorrow at the Vancouver Aquarium.

Come, watch and taste the creations of five of BC’s finest chefs during the first Annual BC Sustainable Seafood Chowder cook-off. The winner will be working with Raincoast Trading Ltd to develop their winning chowder into a retail product. Who should win? We invite you to join us to help our judges decide. [Vancouver Aquarium]

Competitors include: William Tse (Goldfish Pacific Kitchen), Jonathan Boerboom (Nu Restaurant), Jack Eng (Coast Plaza Hotel), Quang Dang (C Restaurant), Ross Johnston (Fairmont Waterfront Hotel). “The winning recipe will be used by Raincoast Trading in a new sustainable seafood chowder product.”

The judges will be: Julian Bond, Executive Chef (Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts), Guy Dean (Albion Fisheries), Kim Stockburn (Raincoast Trading), Sid Cross, Co-founder (BC Chefs Table Society), Sophie Liu (Global TV).

The event will be in celebration of November being declared Ocean Wise Month, “Ocean Wise is the Vancouver Aquarium’s newest conservation program committed to helping consumers make ocean-friendly seafood choices. Ocean Wise works directly with restaurants and markets helping them to make sustainable seafood purchasing decisions, in turn, those items are highlight for consumers through the use of the Ocean Wise symbol.”

If you’re looking to learn more about the Ocean Wise program, or would like to add some value to your trip to the Aquarium tomorrow, consider checking out this inaugural (and tasty) event which starts at 11:00am.

I only have one more trip to the polls this fall. Federal election done (won by Hedy Fry in Vancouver Centre), BC by-election done (won by Spencer Herbert in Vancouver-Burrard), and now I just have to catch up on my civic politics for the Vancouver Vote on November 15th.

I’d like to conduct some interviews, like I did for the by-election, and find out more about the candidates. So far I’ve been invited to Vision Vancouver events (and checked out their swanky new website with interactive map) and I’ve been sent campaign videos from COPE, which are amusing.

If you would like to learn more about the upcoming civic elections in Vancouver or your area (since the entire region will be voting for their municipal government) let me know what you’d like to me to cover. To start, here are some basics:

Candidates for Mayor of Vancouver
Britten, Patrick C. – Nude Garden Party
Buday, Golok Z.
Caissy, Menard D.
Emery, Marc
Hansen, Mike
Hatoum, Joe (Maple Ridge)
Jimenez, Angel L.
Kaplan, Leon
Krawczyk, Betty – Work Less Party
Kuah, Jeff (Burnaby)
Ladner, Peter – NPA
Maxwell N Bur, R.H.
Ritchie, Bill
Robertson, Gregor – Vision Vancouver
Yee, Scott

You can also view biographies along with candidates for councillor, candidates for park commissioner, and candidates for school trustee over on the Vancouver Votes website.

Also, if you have enjoyed my election coverage so far (covering many levels of government) please consider visiting the VoterMedia website, where you can check out other great election blogs.