Category Archives: Vancouver

Reading is Sexy Calendar Launch

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It’ll be a dark and stormy night, and all the crew will be gathered in …

the suburbs????

Reading is Sexy back cover

Reading is Sexy back cover

Yes, join Lorraine Murphy, founder, president, and diva of the Shebeen Club along with other Vangroover literati for the launch of the first annual Reading is Sexy Calendar!

From the Facebook invite:

Eat, drink and be merry all in celebration of literacy and the fact that I AM MAKING MY DEBUT IN A CALENDAR!!!! (along with the sizzlingly sexy Monique Trottier, Lori & Richard Yearwood, Patrick Tubajon, Raul Pacheco, Ian A Martin, Rayne, Lorraine Murphy, Mark Leiren-Young, Monica Hamburg and Ian Ferguson). Special thanks to Robert Shaer and Tris Hussey, whose photography has made this calendar a piece of art.

And aside from using this as an excuse to convince my literary buds to peel off the layers for the camera, it was done in the name of literacy. Thats right, we shot this calendar to raise money for The International Dyslexia Association.

So come hang out with us at my favourite wine and cheese bistro, enjoy a drink and some nibblies, get your calendars signed by the models, listen to a few of our authors reading from their works, and for those of you that are a bit more daring, dance the night away with moi.

The event is free and everyone is welcome. The more, the merrier!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Of course there is. More, even, than the chance to rub shoulders (and other body parts, if you play your cards right) with the sexiest writerly types in all of the Wild, Wiled West!

So put on your best literary party duds, whether Baudelairian finery or spoken word funkitude, and join us:

Thursday, 03 December 2009 at 7pm
Gudrun Wine and Cheese Bistro
150-3500 Moncton Street
Steveston, BC

Yes, it’s bus-accessable!

By the way, the super-sexy book I’m reading is a special calf-bound book of whiskies of the world, specially borrowed from the bartender for the occasion. I had a couple of Vanity Fairs in my bag, but they weren’t quite as posh and retro-looking as that book. Also, I highly recommend posing for calendars: the drinks are free!

Meet Pamela Masik, artist of The Forgotten: Vancouver’s Missing Women

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(from Twitter, obviously, via the very handy Tweetshots utility)

NOV27, 7-10pm LANGLEY ARTS TALKS: Pamela Masik, artist of the painting series The Forgotten: Vancouver’s missing women. Talks beside Fort Pub, Glover Rd $7 OR$5/members

From her website, more information on the project:

THE FORGOTTEN is a large-scale, powerful series of portraits of women’s faces. Sixty-nine portraits, to be precise – the number of women from Vancouver’s downtown eastside who have been missing for more than a decade. The majority of them have now been identified, yet the public’s knowledge of them has, for the most part, consisted of small police photos aligned in a grid on a poster, showing most of them as blurred and haggard representations at their worst.

At one time these women had multiple faces and roles in the community. They left thousands of memories and historical details. They were mothers, friends, wives or daughters. They had run from abusive relationships, they were drug addicts, mentally challenged, or had families to support and little means to do it other than prostitution. Many were First Nations people. At this point, 26 of the missing women have been identified as slain by Port Coquitlam farmer Robert Pickton.

And here is my own post about my run-in with Pickton. My book, by the way, is called Terminal City: Vancouver’s Missing Women, so I already feel we’re on the same page. I highly recommend checking out the video on her website.

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A BENEFIT FOR POET MARC CREAMORE

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Got this via Facebook. Sounds like a terrific event and a good cause.

As a born socialist and also a Canadian who’s had cancer, I’d like to let you know that no, BC Medical does not cover all your costs. In fact, for many long months I was on an immune system booster that cost $1700 an injection, and had to be taken twice a month; it was not covered until my life savings had been eaten up completely and I was forced onto medical welfare. Even ambulance rides are no longer covered, remember. And when you are ill and in treatment, there are many small things, like neck pillows, special meals, and support services, that can make all the difference between enduring and living.

$20 for poetry, community, a good time, a burger and a beer. Can’t beat that with a shoplifted copy of On the Road. Geddit?

Cottage Bistro by berglind_hafsteinsdottir

Cottage Bistro by berglind_hafsteinsdottir

Wednesday Nov 25th
Pandora’s Collective Presents
A BENEFIT FOR FELLOW POET MARC CREAMORE
Pandora’s Collective and folks in the poetry and music community are holding a Benefit for our friend Marc Creamore, who is battling lung cancer. Marc has been an active part of Vancouver ‘s poetry community for many years. Join us in support of Marc and his family at this evening of poetry, music, spoken word and shared memories.

Tickets: $20 at the door includes entertainment, a burger with fries and beer. After costs, all proceeds go directly to Marc and his family.
There will also be door prizes, and Marc’s published poetry books will be available for sale.

6:00-6:30 Brief Introductions by Bonnie Nish and Ruth Kozak followed by
Poetry and ♫♫ David Campbell
6:30-7:00 Spoken Word Al Mader The Minimalist Jug Band
7:00 – 7:30 ♫♫ Jess Hill
7:30 -7:45 Spoken Word CJ Leon
7:45- 8:15 Spoken Word and Poetry Steve Duncan and Diane Laloge
8:15-9:00 ♫♫ Sandy Bone
9:00- 9:30 Open Mic
9:30-9:45 Spoken Word & ♫♫ CR Avery
9:45-10:15 Poetry Daniela Elza and Robin Susanto
10:15-10:45 ♫♫ Hi-Rise Dex (Kempton Dexter)
10:45-11:15 Spoken Word Bill McNamara and RC Weslowski
11:15-12:00 Open Mic Closing Words.

There will be an open mike for poets and friends to share their words with Marc.
Time: 6 – 12pm
Location: The Cottage Bistro
4468 Main Street @ 29th Avenue
Hosts: Bonnie Nish and Ruth K ozak
RSVP if possible
Contact: blinsh_pandoras AT yahoo DOT ca
www.pandorascollective.com

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Join or Die: that’s all she wrote

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Are you a member, sir/madam?

marriedtothesea.com

You can join us in real life tonight at 7pm at the Shebeen, just behind the Irish Heather, or you can join us virtually on Facebook, you can click the Gimme!Gimme! button on the sidebar to get us delivered to your inbox, or you can join the growing list of RSS subscribers to TheShebeenClub. But you can’t just sit there. I mean, look at that snake. You don’t want the Dorothy Parker of the Downtown EastSide here to open a can of whoopass on you, do you?

Thought not.

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Friends with Benefits Book Launch Tuesday

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Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits

That’s the day AFTER our fabulous Shebeen Club Pre-Holiday Party, which will be the world’s greatest warmup for the launch of Darren and Julie’s book, Friends with Benefits.

Friends with Benefits is a guide to social media marketing, from two of the best in the business.

In any disagreement among social mediaites in Vangroover, I’ll be right there, taking the low road, while Darren and Julie will generally be leading a pied piper train on the high road. They are total professionals who have been making a living at social media marketing since before Facebook was a twinkle in an undergraduate’s eye. And since they’ve been doing it while globetrotting, they obviously know a thing or two about work/life balance as well.

The details:

One of the many benefits of being our friend…

We would love you to join us for the launch of “Friends With Benefits”, our book on social media marketing.

We’ll do a brief talk at some point in the evening, followed by a short reading from the book. We’ll also be available to personally inscribe the many, many copies you’ll surely be purchasing to give out as Christmas gifts.

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

7-11pm

Autumn Brook Artists Gallery

1545 West 4th Avenue

Vancouver, BC

Sundry details:

* Appetizers will be served

* Convenient cash bar

* Autographed copies of our book will be available for purchase for $20

* There’s lots of street parking around, or you may want to consider parking on Granville Island and walking up to the gallery. Otherwise, the location is served by many lovely bus routes. [it’s practically beneath the Granville Bridge, so you can get to it with ease from anywhere downtown, either by bus or take the little aquabus across to the Island for dinner and hit the gallery after]

And here’s Darren speaking at BookCamp Vancouver earlier this year about the experience of giving birth to the book (insert “labour of love” pun here if desired):

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