My love affair with Vancouver began at an early age, and it took a summer to convince the man I love that it was also worthy of his affections — and worthy of a move from the Midwest to the West Coast.

We spent a summer at the beach, frolicking along the sand, following forest trails, and walking around the city at night to see how many stars we could spot between the neon. When local singer/songwriter Dominique Fricot, who I first met 2012, sent me his latest video for Granville Bridge, it brought me back to the summer of 2005 and the music video-worthy moments I experienced with John.

Since we met in 2012, Dominique placed 3rd in the Peak Performance Project, won Shore 104.3’s Best of BC award, performed at Squamish Valley Music Festival, held a 5th spot on CBC Radio 2’s Top 20 charts, and more.

“I’m in a very positive and optimistic space right now when it comes to love and songs about love,” Dominique told me. “When I wrote and released Haunted by Love (2012) I was in the middle of a break up and, what’s more, a break up that I didn’t want to happen.”

The break up song got quite a bit of airplay in Vancouver, and was another song that referenced the city itself, with Cambie and 16th setting the scene in the first verse.

“I still believe in an ebb and flow with love and or life so I think I’m just in a different phase of the cycle. Granville Bridge is about new love, the excitement and highs of feeling like you’ve found your soul mate. Haunted by Love is about losing somebody you believed to be your soul mate.

The video for Granville Bridge, made with WCMA Award winning director Mike Southworth of Collide Entertainment and costume designer Alannah Turner, stars Vancouver performer couple Siona Gareau Brennan and Alex Strong, and of course the city of Vancouver itself.

Photo by Francesca Tallone

“For me when I write a song it’s important for me to anchor emotions and melodies around images like landmarks or settings. Furniture one might say. I’ve lived in Vancouver for almost 15 years now so it’s quite natural for me to reference places that have provided the back drop for my experiences that I most often try to depict in my songs. When it came to the video, it felt naturally imperative to allow Vancouver’s scenery to play a major role in this song’s video.”

You can catch Dominique Fricot tonight at the Yale Songwriter Night (a Music Heals Fundraiser) and on Friday March 11th at the Fox Cabaret opening for Amelia Curran (a Van Folk Fest Event). Watch his other videos for Our Last Song and I Miss the 80s, and follow Dominique on Twitter. Granville Bridge is available on the album Sweet Little Fantasy.

Salt Tasting Room is launching the Italian Gas Station Experiment, but the concept of “drive through” and “greasy spoon” will be the last thing on your mind, and your palette. The food that Italian motorists refuel with is anything but boring, and Gastown’s premier destination for wine and cheese is traveling to Italy to share some delicious delicacies with you in Vancouver.

The Italian Gas Station Experiment at Salt Tasting Room

Salt has partnered with Port Moody-based Urbani Foods to offer complimentary samples of their products, which are inspired by the gas stations in one of Europe’s most beloved food spots. Running for the entire month of February, guests who order wine by the glass, flight or bottle will receive samples of these tasty snacks.

Guests can expect delectable fare such as Venetian tea sandwiches with cheese, salami and olive tapenade, fresh sausages sous vide in a jar, and their famous arancini risotto balls (also called ‘Polpette di Riso’).

For one month only, hungry guests will have the opportunity to savour Italy’s gas station fare without straying too far. Whether seeking a quick snack before dinner or the perfect post-work meeting spot, The ‘Italian Gas Station Experiment’ will surely welcome foodies from all over.

Photo credit: Viranlly Liemena.

The Italian Gas Station Experiment launched at Salt Tasting Room on February 1st, and is being offered on Mondays through Sundays from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

For more information or to book a reservation, call 604-633-1912 or visit Salt Tasting Room’s website.

Win a Salt Tasting Room & Urbani Prize Pack

In honour of The Italian Gas Station Experiment, Salt is offering up a $100 gift card for dining and Urbani has a bounty of product valued at $150 for one lucky Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win this prize pack:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Like, share or comment on this post on Facebook (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Follow Salt Tasting Room on Facebook and Twitter for more information. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, February 12, 2016.

Update The winner is Katherine!

I finished my workday yesterday by doing a quick search online for commentary about the play I was about to see at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville St). The most intriguing post was from cast member Scott Bellis: It’s opening night for #PrideAndPrejudice @theArtsClub. It’s a beautiful adaptation and we have a great cast. Plus I get to wear a dress.” With a story that is so familiar, it call comes down to the cast and crew’s production and after seeing that message I was certainly excited to see what was in store.

Pride and Prejudice at The Arts Club

It was a soggy Vancouver evening, where the pink glow from the Stanley’s marquee glistened off the tops of umbrellas that waited in the box office line. My mother and I picked up our tickets and enjoyed a quick dinner over at West (2881 Granville St) before returning for the show. I’ve read the novel by Jane Austen, and I’ve seen my share of Hollywood heartthrobs portray Mr Darcy on screen, but this was my first theatrical experience for Pride and Prejudice.

Cast of Pride and Prejudice. Photo by David Cooper

The set seemed to be pared down, a simple backdrop of watercolour paintings that set the scene, and two musicians — a violinist and guitarist — on the side of the stage that provided a score, and doubled as Mr & Mrs Gardiner. The simplicity of the design was in itself a feat, as Artistic Director Bill Millerd comments in his Bill’s Notes guide, Pride and Prejudice is one of the largest and most lavish plays The Arts Club has produced.

The play began and Janet Munsil’s adaptation bounced onto the stage with a string of jubilant Bennet daughters. With such a well-known work, there must have been challenges but I believe they were met with the lovely and lively portrayals by the cast.

Scott Bellis, whose post on Twitter piqued my interest earlier in the day presented the best Mr Collins I have seen. His interactions with Naomi Wright as Elizabeth Bennet were priceless and as @PeterCarlone commented on Twitter: “The exchange between Mr Collins and Elizabeth is tinder in a nutshell. #letMeSendyouAPicofMyEstate.”

Indeed Bellis did don a dress to play Mrs Reynolds at Pemberley, which the audience loved. All of the Bennet girls were delightful: Sarah Roa as Mary Bennet was perfectly and adorably bookish, Raylene Harewood and Kayla Deorksen were fun and flirtatious as Lydia and Kitty, and Kaitlin Williams was angelic as Jane.

Amanda Lisman was a perfectly snobbish Caroline Bingley, that made the audience both gasp and giggle on a few occasions, and Daryl King as her brother Charles Bingley was as smitten with Jane as you would imagine. David Marr as exasperated patriarch Mr Bennet, and Katey Wright as the noisy and foolish Mrs Bennet were also audience favourites.

Of course there is also Mr Darcy, Eric Craig, whom the audience judged harshly before he proved himself (swoon) worthy enough for our Elizabeth.

At times it was hard to hear the dialogue when actors turned to face one another at centre stage (full disclosure: we were seated in the right orchestra and I am hard of hearing on my right side). Other than that, I found the entire production rather agreeable.

What I thought was a simplistic set at the start of the play turned out be a beautifully choreographed and animated stage. The lighting of lanterns and chandeliers, and timed out placement of chairs around a dining table, added movement that was soft and pleasant, like the score. The warm lighting made me long for a stroll across the meadow to pluck spring flowers before I stepped back into the dark, cold, and rainy Vancouver night.

Pride and Prejudice is on now until February 28th. Tickets start at $29 with shows at 1:30, 2:00pm, 7:30pm, and 8:00pm on certain days.

The JFL NorthWest Comedy Fest is bringing some of comedy’s top talent to Vancouver this month including the incomparable Wanda Sykes.

Wanda Sykes in Vancouver

Where:
Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver BC
When:
Wednesday, February 24, 2016.
Doors 6:00pm Show 7:00pm.
Tickets:
On sale now

Wanda Sykes has been called “one of the funniest stand-up comics” by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America. Her smart-witted stand up has sent her career in many different areas.

Sykes’ first book titled Yeah, I Said It, published by Simon and Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004. Yeah, I Said It is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family and current events. In 2012 Wanda joined forces with veteran producer Page Hurwitz to form Push It Productions, a production company dedicated to creating quality, comedy-based programming for network and cable television outlets. The company’s diverse slate of projects includes sketch comedy, concerts, reality, talk/variety, and competition formats. Their first set of specials, Herlarious aired in summer of 2013 and January 2014 on Own and was the recipient of a 2014 Gracie Award.

Sykes was previously seen on several television shows over the past few years. She can currently be seen on the Amazon Prime show Alpha House created by Gary Trudeau about a group of Republican Senators who share the same DC rental house; Last year she made a return to HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm; she also spent five years on CBS’s New Adventures of Old Christine. In 2010 she starred on her own late night talk show on FOX, The Wanda Sykes Show. Other TV credits include Fox’s Wanda at Large which she wrote, produced and starred in; Wanda Does It on Comedy Central and on Crank Yankers as the voice of Gladys Murphy.

She can be heard in many animated feature films; Ice Age: Continental Drift as ‘Granny’; in FOX’s Rio as ‘the Goose’; in Dreamworks’ Over the Hedge and Paramount’s The Barnyard.

Sykes was also seen in the feature films Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty, in which she co-starred with Steve Carell; the New Line feature Monster-In-Law starring opposite Jane Fonda, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Pootie Tang, Nutty Professor 2; The Klumps, and Down to Earth.

I have a pair of tickets to give away to her show in Vancouver on February 24th, 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 random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Follow the JFL NorthWest Comedy Fest on Twitter and Facebook for the latest festival news and lineup announcements.

Update The winner is Patricia!

Have you ever tried to get your partner out to yoga with you? Or, are you and your partner both avid yogis? In either case, it just might be time to try Contact Partner Yoga at YYoga.

Yoga Date Night

After 7 years of sold out Yoga Date Night workshops, join Chris Brandt for what may be the final one! The 8th annual Yoga Date Night at YYoga will take place Friday, February 12th (at YYoga Downtown Flow) and Saturday, February 13th (at YYoga Kitsilano) from 8:00pm to 10:00pm.

These playful and intimate workshops are designed just for couples and are the perfect Valentine’s weekend date for you and your favourite yogi.

Experience Contact Partner Yoga – a practice that predates Acro Yoga, and that focuses on trust, support, and evolution between partners. This rich, nourishing practice explores duo asana, basic flying techniques, and finishes with luscious Thai Massage. New poses included. Open to all levels. There is even a yoga mudra that increases the power of orgasms – you can practice that as homework.

Only one mat per couple needed. Register online through YYoga or by calling the studios: YYoga Downtown Flow (604) 682-3569 or YYoga Kitsilano (604) 336-4599. The cost is $50 per person. Follow the events on Facebook for more information.