Susan Boyle & Adam Lambert

I don’t usually watch or have much interest in reality television, but this year’s seasons of American Idol and Britain’s Got Talent stood out for me. I have to admit I only say two episodes of American Idol this year — the last two — and before that, I hadn’t watched the show since 2002. But for whatever reason, Adam Lambert drew me in. I even ended up watching most of his previous perfomances on Youtube, just to see what all the fuss was about. I didn’t like everything I saw — a lot of the performances were overly schmaltzy and theatrical. But there were two standout performances that I feel made him the best contestant in Idol history (neither of these was ‘Mad World’, which I actually thought was a little too sappy) — ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘If I Can’t Have You’.  Especially with ‘Whole Lotta Love’, Lambert proved that he could be and is one of rock music’s most talented vocalists.

But really the whole point of this post is to examine why he lost American Idol and why Susan Boyle, another stunning vocalist, today lost her bid on Britain’s Got Talent. The voting patterns evident on Idol seemed to be a classic division between red states and blue states in America, a pattern that has been evident in the country since the Civil War. One thing that’s been noted is that the majority of Idol’s voters are located in the south, and have a tendency to vote for contestants from the same area (five out of the last eight winners have been from the south). Of course, there’s also the Danny Gokey factor. Gokey’s voters were more likely to be conservatives that would be more drawn Kris Allen’s modest singer-songwriter vibe rather than Lambert’s flambouyant, sexually ambiguous rock act. I think more than anything, Kris Allen’s win shows the continued power of the Christian right in America, the same force that won the 2004 election. Regardless, both Lambert and Allen were deserving of the title and both will hopefully have successful careers.

Susan Boyle’s loss on Britain’s Got Talent, however, is a different story. Here was somebody sprung into the spotlight from a poor rural town in Scotland, forced to face the scrutiny of the British press (which is far more fierce than the American press). She became a global phenomenon, appearing on Oprah and Larry King Live. But then the pressure started to get to her, resulting in an altercation with the press last week — I have to wonder how that may have affected her outcome on the show. But then, the show itself if an odd creature. It’s impossible to compare the talent of a dance troupe to that of a singer and try to declare a ‘winner’. So again, much like Adam Lambert, Susan Boyle will continue to have a career, regardless of the outcome on the show. Did she deserve to win? Maybe. I don’t think she was as good as all the hype and publicity she received, but she had a strong voice. More than anything, hearing her voice was a silver lining for millions of people dealing with a global recession. It was something that people instantly connected with as something uplifting and positive. I think she’ll hold a place in music histroy for that feat alone.

Adventures with the German consulate — Part I

I got a response back from Anja at the German consulate in Vancouver. From what she’s telling me, it sounds like I should be able to get my German citizenship but it is a 2 to 4 year long process (!). I need to provide as many documents as I can to prove that my grandparents were in fact citizens of Germany, and then come in for an interview at the consulate. After that, my mother needs to apply for the issuance of a certificate for German citizenship for me before the consulate can issue my German passport. Apparently, this process can take up to four years to complete. Hopefully I will find out more information on Monday. I just hope I can find the documents the consulate needs. I’m not sure that my family even has my grandparents birth certificates, but I know they have their marriage certificate and I’m pretty sure they have their German passports lying around somewhere.

Whatever, this will all be worth it in the end. I mean, if I can get my citizenship, then I can live and work anywhere in the EU for the rest of my life. That would be incredible.

Obtaining German citizenship

I’ve restarted my quest to get my German citizenship in preparation for hopefully relocating to Europe next year. I’m not sure that I am allowed to get it. Everything I’ve been able to find online is conflicting — some sources say I should be able to get my citizenship without a problem, I just have to fill out a couple of forms and prove my German heritage. Other people say that it is absolutely impossible and I should give up trying.

See, the problem is that my parents were both born in Canada, so I am trying to claim citizenship through my grandparents (on my mom’s side). And since both of my grandparents are now dead, I don’t have very much information or any of their documents. I am pretty sure that my grandparents had both Canadian and German passports, which would mean that they would have had both Canadian and German citizenship. But my mom thinks that they gave up their German citizenship when they became Canadian citizens (apparently, at the time there was no such thing as dual citizenship). So now I’m confused.

Anyways, I sent a letter to the German consulate, hopefully they can help me figure this thing out.

ION Magazine’s 6 year anniversary party

ION is having their 6th anniversary party this Saturday. It should be pretty incredible — their parties are always awesome. It’s cool to see how much the magazine has grown and evolved over the years. It’s one of the few truly fashionable street magazines in Vancouver, and just seems to be getting better every year. This year promises to be their best ever after undergoing a redesign and expanding their staff to include some of the best creative talent Vancouver has to offer (Kris Krug, Toyo Tsuchiya, Tyler Quarles, etc.).

Anyways, the party’s on Saturday at 180 East 2nd. You can buy tickets online at http://ionsix.eventbrite.com/for $12. Check out ION’s website at www.ionmagazine.ca(you can view PDF’s of their past issue’s online).

Arthur Erickson dead at 84

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that famed Canadian architect Arthur Erickson has died after suffering from Alzheimer’s. He was 84 years old.

Erickson was easily my favourite Canadian architect, along with Bing Thom, and I’ve always had the utmost respect for him. He changed the way buildings were designed in Vancouver and had a great influence on shaping the city in the 1960’s.

Here’s the Vancouver Sun article: http://www.vancouversun.com/Travel/Renowned+architect+Arthur+Erickson+dead/1614035/story.html

Mink Magazine

I’ve got a new gig working for Mink Magazine. They are an online Australian publication featuring interviews with people inviolved in art, music and fashion. Check out the site at www.minkmagazine.com. It looks like this will be a lot of fun!

I’ve been going through a few ideas of people I would want to interview. The first person that came to mind is Ryan Walter Wagner. He’s a local music photographer and he’s got an opening next Thursday at Little Mountain Studios, exhibiting photos he took at various karaoke nights. Should be interesting. His website is www.ryanwalterwagner.com.

Another guy that came to mind right away is my!gay!husband!. He’s a local DJ and club promoter, and he’s currently organizing the Olio Festival. We should have tons to talk about.

Private ferry service coming to Vancouver?

According to the Vancouver Sun, a new private passenger ferry service may soon link the North Shore to downtown Vancouver, Jericho Beach, Belcarra, Deep Cove, Granville Island and Bowen Island.

It’s an interesting idea, but will it work? The Bowen Island route would likely be successful, as long as they were able to offer similar or  lower fares than BC Ferries. If they are trying to target UBC students and teachers with the Jericho Beach stop, it seems like an odd location. Spanish Banks would make a lot more sense, since students would still have to take a bus to get from Jericho Beach to UBC. I don’t see there being much demand for the Belcarra or Deep Cove routes unless they ran from downtown, rather than the North Shore.

Regardless, the North Vancouver city council seems pretty gung-ho about the idea, so it’ll be interesting to watch and see if anything actually develops. I think it’s good news for Metro Vancouver — one more reason to leave the car at home.

Read the article here: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Passenger+ferries+link+North+Shore+with+rest+Metro+Vancouver/1582945/story.html

Lack of efficient travel in BC

I’ve been thinking a lot about how easy and efficient travel is in Europe and even parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, especially when you compare it to traveling in Vancouver and Canada (and the US too). 

In BC, aside from driving, there is no easy way to travel long-distance from point A to point B.  Your only options are Greyhound buses, which I’ve found to be overpriced and inconvenient. For instance, traveling from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria without a car requires that you take two local transit buses, walk on the ferry and then take an additional bus from Sidney to Victoria. The trip takes around five hours. It’s remarkable that there is no express bus that goes directly from downtown Vancouver to the Tsawassen ferry terminal.

I do feel that Vancouver and the rest of BC has a lot of potential for rail travel across the province and into Alberta, as well as a high-speed link from Vancouver to Portland, OR.  The high-speed rail to Portland seems to have gotten strong support from Obama, so maybe this is something that we will see happen within the next fifteen years. But what about regular rail service within the province? It would be nice to have an option to travel to the Okanagan or to Whistler or even to Calgary by rail, rather than car or bus. I’m not talking about high-speed rail, this would just be be regular passenger service along existing tracks so it should be fairly easy to implement. I’m reminded that fifty years ago there were passenger trains that ran throughout North America. What happened to them?

Getting ready to travel once again

I’m back into the mode of researching and preparing for another trip, this time to Prince Rupert, BC. Taking the ferry from Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert on the north coast of the BC mainland is a trip I’ve wanted to take for a number of years. I plan to take it slow, beginning in Victoria and working my way up to Port Hardy, making sure to visit as many of the wonderful communities along the way as I can.  I’ve travelled throughout southern Vancouver Island, but I’ve never been north of Qualicum Beach, so I’m excited to visit the north and see how it compares. The Comox Valley should be incredible, especially in July, so that is one highlight that I’m really looking forward to. Of course the ferry trip should be amazing, despite its length (the crossing from Port Hardy takes 27 hours). The views of the Inside Passage should be breathtaking.

Then there’s Prince Rupert. I’ve always felt that this town has an incredible potential to become one of the leading cities in BC, if not in Canada. It’s port is the second largest on the the westcoast of Canada (after the Port of Vancouver) and is perfectly located to take advantage of increased trade with Asia. Unfortunately, this potential has not yet been realized. Though the port and cruise ship terminal have both undergone multi-million dollar expansions, the economy is still suffering and the population is still dwindling. Population in Prince Rupert has declined by nearly 4,000 since 1991. Adding fuel to the fire is the global recession. An article in the Globe & Mail from May 8 (http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090507.wbrethour0508/BNStory/robColumnsBlogs/home) announces that the construction of phase two of Prince Rupert’s port has been delayed until 2010, due to the economy. I’d like to do more research on Prince Rupert and see if I can find statistics on how the recession has affected Prince Rupert’s hopes of recovery and expansion.

From Prince Rupert, I plan to drive back to Vancouver via Highway 16, the infamous “Highway of Tears”. The Highway of Tears is the site of 40 unsolved murders/abductions that have occured over the last twenty years. The victims have primarily been women that were hitchhiking along the highway. Is this the work of a serial killer? A lot of people seem to think so, but the police have very few leads to go by. It will be interesting to drive along the highway myself and hopefully talk to local authorities and family members of the victims. Check out http://www.highwayoftears.ca/ for more information on the missing persons and a background on the Highway of Tears story.

Couchsurfing

I’ve been doing some research on couchsurfing as a method of travel and the possible repercussions it could have on the travel industry. While I haven’t yet tried it myself, I will try it when I go to Europe next spring. From what I’ve heard, it seems like a fantastic way to travel on a low budget and is a good way to meet locals and gain an inside perspective on local life and culture. As a writer, this is especially important — I wonder if other writers have couchsurfed and what their experiences have been? It’s amazing to note that couchsurfing.com has over a million members and there are surfers on every continent from North America to Antarctica. People from every background and culture joined together to provide hospitality to foreigners — an incredible thought.

Another side of this is what, if any, effect could couchsirfing have on the budget travel industry and on the viability of hostels around the world? The patrons of hostels are usually the same people who would be most interested in couchsurfing with a local host. If offered a choice between staying for free with a local and getting an authentic view of local life, or spending between $10 and $50 a night to stay in a dorm in a hostel, it seems more logical to choose the former. Of course, the upside to staying at a hostel is the opportunity to meet other travellers. As couchsurfing.com expands their member base, could they potentially overtake the hosel market?

Olio Festival

I received a message on Facebook the other day about a new music, art and comedy festival that a few of my friends are starting in Vancouver. Named Olio, the festival will bring together members of Vancouver’s burgeoning creative community and take place August 13 – 16 at various venues and beaches throughout the city. It’s organized by a friend of mine, concert promoter Jason Sulyma (My!Gay!Husband!) and another friend Rachel Zottenberg will be curating the art openings. Rachel is the owner of grace-gallery on Main Street and has been one of the leaders in Vancouver’s new creative community. Jason of course is one of Vancouver’s top DJ’s and promoters, hosting Glory Days each Saturday at the Biltmore, 1/2 Alive monthly parties, and Blastramp each Thursday at the Boourbon.
I think it’s really exciting to see the creatives in Vancouver come together to produce an event that is sure to be outstanding. Vancouver has changed and evolved so much over the last five years and this is the perfect outlet to showcase the considerable talent in this city. I don’t have too much information on the lineup or any potential artists that may be participating, but it should be spectacular. The fundraising launch party will be happening at Richard’s on Richards this Friday, May 15th. For more info, see Olio’s website at www.oliofestival.com.