Category: General

Thanks to Mr Beck for pointing me at this:

It’s all been strange and mysterious and lovely, and it makes me want to do it all over again. And now, almost 20 years later, I am. I’ve decided, in collaboration with the other bold souls who “started it all,” to do a new project that is strong enough for our diehard audience, and also gentle and easy to swallow for those that are new to movie riffing. Wait for it….wait for it…. meet Cinematic Titanic!

…It’s going to be powered by the original cast of MST3K! Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein and yours truly, along with some friends who came along later to make the show great: the beloved Frank Conniff and the scathingly brilliant Mary Jo Pehl.

We’re very busy writing and doing preproduction right now – so the website is tiny, but the big thing right now is to sign up for the newsletter so we can keep you informed about the fine movie riffing we’ve got planned for you.

I know this guy who went in to record one line of dialogue for a toy commercial. He actually worked for about 20 minutes, and spent another 2 hours waiting for his turn with the other voice actors. Not very professional to say this on a blog but he got paid ~$2100 including a 2 year “buyout”, after paying his agent’s cut. This is about the same that an average illustrator for roleplaying games makes in 2 months. Isn’t that heinously outrageous and outrageously heinous? Of course one could say that the amount paid for the gig balances for the actor’s time going to numerous auditions for which he never got the role, and other expenses like headshots, resumes and so forth; and one could say that it also balances other arts of dubious cultural significance which the actor may have worked hard on for little or no pay. Either way, isn’t it interesting? Nice work if you can get it.

Below I have listed the restaurants that I have found (so far!) that serve Shark Fin Soup in the Lower Mainland. I have a very strong feeling that I have only scratched the surface of this list, but it all starts with demand!

If there is a demand for shark fins, then sharks will continue to be slaughtered!

Take action today by not eating in these restaurants… Maybe even write a letter or two!

Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant
1132 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 1S2

Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant
Main Floor, Marine Building, 355 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 2G8

Fortune House Seafood Restaurant
247 – 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC, V5H 4M1

Dun Huang Seafood Restaurant
705 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1J5

Chinatown Floata Seafood Restaurant
Chinatown Plaza, 400-180 Keefer Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 4E9

Kirin Mandarin Restaurant
1166 Alberni Street, Vancouver, BC, V6E 3Z3

Kirin Mandarin Restaurant
2nd Floor, City Square, 555 West 12th Avenue (& Cambie Street), Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3X7

Kirin Mandarin Restaurant
2nd Floor, Three West Centre, 7900 Westminster Highway (& No. 3 Road), Richmond, BC, V6X 1A5

Kirin Mandarin Restaurant
2nd Floor, Henderson Place, 1163 Pinetree Way (& Lincoln Avenue), Coquitlam, BC, V3B 8A9

Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant
3888 Main Street, Vancouver, BC, V5V 3R8

Yun Mei Restaurant
2436 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6M 2A7

Szechuan Chongqing Seafood Restaurant
205 – 1668 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V6J 1X6

Spicy Court Chinese Restaurant
5638 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3A5

U-Bento Japanese Restaurant
2568 Arbutus Street, Vancouver, BC, V6J 3Y2

Please add to this list if you find more establishments that serve Shark Fin Soup! Or if you know that any of these restaurants are no longer serving, let me know… I am all for celebrating that!!!

Post: 14-Jun-07 01:10 PM by john
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Fisherman’s Terrace Seafood Restaurant
3580 – 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC, V6X 4J7

Shota Sushi and Grill
5688 Yew Street, Vancouver, BC, V6M 3Y3

Nikkyu Japanese Restaurant
3302 Main Street, Vancouver, BC, V5V 3M7

Neptune Seafood Restaurant
100 – 8171 Ackroyd Road, Richmond, BC, V6X 3K1

Post: 23-Jul-07 10:07 AM by john
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Not only does T & T Supermarket carry frozen shark fin and other shark derived products, in their seafood section they also have “live” rockfish, lingcod and kelp greenlings in stagnant tanks that look diseased.

Here are their store locations:

Central City (Central City Shopping Centre)
3000 Central City, 10153 King George Highway, Surrey, BC, V3T 2W1

Chinatown (Keefer & Abbott)
179 Keefer Place, Vancouver, BC, V6B 6C1

First Ave (First & Renfrew)
100-2800 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5M 4N8

Richmond (President Plaza)
1000-8181 Cambie Road, Richmond, BC, V6X 1J8

Osaka (Yaohan Centre)
1000-3700 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC, V6X 3X2

Coquitlam (Coquitlam Centre)
2740-2929 Barnet Highway, Coquitlam, BC, V3B 5R5

Metrotown (Metropolis at Metrotown)
147-4800 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC, V5H 4J2

Surrey (100th Avenue & 152nd Street)
101T-15277 100th Avenue, Surrey, BC, V3R 8X2

They have stores in Alberta and Ontario as well.

Post: 23-Aug-07 10:00 AM by john
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New name, same tired menu… Formerly named U-Bento, i Sushi Japanese Restaurant continues to serve shark fin nigiri.

i Sushi Japanese Restaurant
2568 Arbutus Street, Vancouver, BC, V6J 3Y2

I just had a rather bodacious idea. Wouldn’t it be neat to create a play, the setting of which would be an operating theater, and the venue of which would be…an operating theater! There must be one in town somewhere. Maybe at Riverview or one of the older hospitals? I think that would be really cool.

That, in a nutshell, describes the show we had in Chilliwack last night. The performance was not great, and the crowd and venue were…atypical but interesting. There are shows that you know are good, and there are shows that are so ridiculous that you just have to say “what the hell — if it can’t be good, it can be stupid.” And stupid is usually fun. There is something to be said for just giving up caring about remembering lyrics correctly and instead just doing goofy shit. Memories that last a lifetime! So yeah, not our best show but definitely an amusing time was had by all. Special thanks to Don for driving me and Mario out there, and for taking video with his camera that I hope to post here and on the Thickets youtube group.

photos courtesy Don Chambers

Because sometimes you just want to watch a young James Earl Jones count to 10.

Right about now is the start of Saturday Oct 20, which is the start of the annual 24 Hour Comics Day…

…an annual event where cartoonists around the world each try to create 24 pages of comics in 24 hours.

Last year, over 1200 cartoonists took part at events in 17 countries.
On October 20th, 2007, cartoonists around the world will face the 24 hour comics challenge. To help these cartoonists, some comic book stores, educational institutions, libraries, businesses, and comics clubs will host special 24 Hour Comics Day events. They’ll provide cartoonists with a space to work, access to food and drink, and camaraderie.

I really wish I had the time to participate! Stupid awesome rock band making me go to Chilliwack this weekend. If anyone who is interested in this CAN do so, Elfsar is hosting an event, as follows:

Elfsar Comics & Toys Annual Fundraiser begins Saturday morning at 10am – and you can still be a part!!

Participating in the global and international 24 Hour Comics Day for the fourth consecutive year, Elfsar is proud to go one step above giving creators the opportunity to flex their comic making muscles. Using their talent to give back to the community, the participants who will be at Elfsar
for 24 hours straight, each creating their own 24 page comic, will be in effect raising monies for Vancouver Food Bank.

All participants are reminded to bring their paper, sharpest pencils, finest inks and any of their favorite snacks. (Don’t worry we will be providing one good meal to get them through the full event) Spectators are welcome to come by ANYTIME as the store will be open for the entire 24 hours!

Donations for The Vancouver Food Bank will also be accepted throughout the event and anyone wishing to support our creators in other means can drop off anything from bottled water to snacks as well.

24 Hour Comics Day – the most challenging story making event in the world begins tomorrow at 10 am (doors open at 9) and ends Sunday at 10 am! The full details can be found on our website! Look forward to seeing you there!

From the store that’s more than just selling you comics and toys,

-Elfsar Comics

ELFSAR COMICS & TOYS. 2007 OUTSTANDING COMIC RETAILER AWARD FINALIST! FEATURED IN BEST OF VANCOUVER 2006 & 2007! www.elfsar.com (604) 688-5922
Open 7 Days a Week
1007 Hamilton St. (Open Late) Wed – Fri 10:30 – 9:00
Vancouver, BC Mon, Tues & Sat – 11:00 – 6:00
Canada V6B 5T4 Sundays – 12:00 – 6:00

A few choice quotes from this blog article called “Why Chiropractors are Idiots…”

…not everything that feels good or makes us happy is medicine. …Feeling good is not the same thing as being well, an important concept that gets obscured in the expanding dust cloud from the stampede to well-being.

Your well-being, your opinion of your disease, your spirituality, and your ability to laugh and spread happiness and sunshine are completely useless in the face of a real disease. This is why there are no Complementary and Alternative Medicine emergency departments. That is, because their patients self-select for credulity. To open up your CAM practice to random patients with real complaints would put the lie to most of what you do, not to mention opening you up to all kinds of legal jeopardy for practicing fake medicine.

Every month, when I can, I am part of the Vancouver Comic Jam. Ever since the Jolly Alderman on Cambie shut down (thanks, Olympics!) they’ve had no luck finding a place to go. Have a read of Ed’s email and see if any ideas pop into your head (there’s also a Facebook group here)

So, it’s two days until the jam and I have still not been able to secure a venue. I’ve followed up on all of the leads that have been sent my way but none have panned out – either the place is already booked or they have some sort of event going on already.

I’m still looking, but things are not looking good for this month.

HOWEVER, someone brought to my attention that this Saturday is ALSO 24 Hour Comic Day. So, instead of meeting at one venue, why don’t we have pockets of people meeting all over during the day (an idea suggested by someone else here) and then meeting later in the eve at a pub to celebrate. This way, we can have smaller groups pushing each other to create their 24 hour comic.

The easiest thing to do, might be to comment here or go over to the Crown Commission message board (www.crowncommission.com/phpbb2) and discuss in the VCJ October thread. Arrange where you guys want to meet. Suggest pubs and I guess we can all meet up at whatever seems to be the better idea.

As for venues — I’m still looking. I’m open to all suggestions. I have a couple places that might work for November, but nothing for this month. What I would ideally like to do is find a cafe that is licenced and maybe closes earlier on a Saturday. I could pay for a staff member if they’re willing to open up for us. OR, if there is a hall/meeting space/centre/theatre/whatever, that could be rented for a couple hundred bucks (or less) on a regular basis. It would have to be someplace that would allow us to serve booze.

Please, keep the ideas coming.

Ed