Category Archives: News

2024 Best Oscar Short Documentary Nominee |
The Last Repair Shop

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Porché Brinker plays violin in The Last Repair Shop, which tells the story of technicians who repair public school musical instruments in Los Angeles free of charge, and the kids who play them.

Only one documentary short nominee this year has the full balance of human interest, social relevance and aesthetic appeal that tends to make a winner.

It’s the Oscar-nominated The Last Repair Shop, directed by Halifax filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, who won two years ago for The Queen of Basketball, a New York Times Opinion production, and the composer Kris Bowers, who was nominated with Proudfoot for A Concerto Is a Conversation, another Times Opinion documentary.

This time, both have made their documentary with The Los Angeles Times.

“In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. In the film, you’ll meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to schoolchildren in Los Angeles.”

The Last Repair Shop is a great film, a moving, elegiac and engaging must-watch if you’re a family, a teacher or are dedicated to public education.

The entirety of the film is available on YouTube, or on Disney+. If you have a Smart TV, you’ll absolutely want to watch the film on the bigger screen.


Steve Bagmanyan is the supervisor of the L.A. Unified School District’s Musical Instrument Repair Shop

In The Last Repair Shop, the repair shop of the title fixes instruments for the city’s school district, the film relating the story of the L.A. Unified School District’s Musical Instrument Repair Shop — the last public school district in the U.S. to service musical instruments free of charge — where 11 technicians service about 6,000 instruments each year for more than 1,300 schools across the city.

Steve Bagmanyan, supervisor of the repair shop: “Music can do wonderful things. Music can change lives. Music can take you off the streets. Music can fill you up with joy, with happiness.”

The opening text says the service has been offered to students for decades.

The Last Repair Shop presents the recollections of four specialists (in strings, brass, woodwinds and piano), who share their experiences of immigration, of coming to terms with being gay and even of opening for Elvis in a bluegrass band, a long-term payoff of buying a $20 fiddle at a swap meet.


Porché Brinker in Ben Proudfoot’s Oscar-nominated documentary short film, The Last Repair Shop.

Schoolchildren further testify to how music affects their lives. The contrast gives The Last Repair Shop a gentle inter-generational poignance, as it makes an uninflected case for the importance of financing public school music education.

It’s not just the students whose lives have been changed by music.

The people who repair the instruments all have their own stories to tell — whether it’s about travelling the country with a $20 fiddle from a flea market, leaving home to chase the American dream, growing up gay in the ’70s, or even surviving ethnic cleansing.

And at the centre of each story is music, and a desire to repair — and to heal.

“We all have broken relationships, broken promises. The world is, in many ways, broken. And I think what these people stand for is an optimism that sometimes you can make things whole again with enough effort and care and patience,” Ben Proudfoot says.

“You can’t fix everything that’s broken. But sometimes you can. And for that one time out of 10 where you can, it’s worth doing. And I think there’s not too many lessons better than that.”

The Last Repair Shop is a love letter to the role of music in public education, a testament to seeing how broken something may be — and fixing it anyway.

And it’s a tribute to those who toil away, largely without recognition, in service of the important task of helping the next generation realize their dreams.

#VanPoli | Our Collective Journey Towards Indigenous Reconciliation

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In contemporary discourse, acknowledgment of reconciliation at the commencement of gatherings of people — when such gatherings take place in Parliament, the Legislature, or at meetings of municipal Councils, or more informally at other types of political meetings, in churches, at housing co-operative meetings, or even when people gather to take in a screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival’s VIFF Centre — has gained considerable attention and importance.

The land acknowledgment serves as a recognition of past injustices and a commitment to moving forward with mutual respect and understanding.

Today on VanRamblings, we’ll explore the significance of the reconciliation acknowledgment in fostering inclusivity, building relationships, and promoting healing within organizations and communities.

One significant catalyst for the reconciliation acknowledgment was the global recognition of the need to address the historical and ongoing impacts of colonization on Indigenous peoples. This recognition was spurred by advocacy efforts from Indigenous communities, grassroots organizations, and allies pushing for truth, justice, and reconciliation.

In Canada, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established in 2008, played a pivotal role in raising awareness about the legacy of residential schools and advocating for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. As part of its Calls to Action, the TRC called on governments, organizations, and individuals to recognize and respect Indigenous rights, cultures, and traditions, through the acknowledgment of traditional territories and treaties.

By acknowledging the traditional owners of the land and recognizing the histories of colonization and marginalization, a space is created where all participants feel valued and respected. This acknowledgment extends beyond geographical boundaries, encompassing the acknowledgment of past wrongs against Indigenous peoples, marginalized communities, and minority groups.

The voicing of the land acknowledgment signals a commitment to equity and diversity, creating an environment where everyone’s voice is heard and valued.

Acknowledging reconciliation at the outset of meetings builds trust and strengthens relationships among participants. It demonstrates a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths and engage in meaningful dialogue about the legacy of colonialism, oppression, and discrimination.

The land acknowledgment also opens the door for honest conversations about privilege, power dynamics, and systemic injustices, fostering empathy and understanding among individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Through the reconciliation process, relationships based on mutual respect and solidarity are cultivated, laying the foundation for collaborative action and social change.

Reconciliation acknowledgment is an essential step towards healing historical wounds and addressing intergenerational trauma. By acknowledging past injustices and their ongoing impacts, it validates the experiences of those who have been marginalized and oppressed.

This acknowledgment is not merely symbolic but serves as a tangible commitment to truth-telling, justice, and reconciliation. It provides an opportunity for healing and restoration, allowing individuals and communities to confront the legacies of the past and work towards a more equitable and inclusive future.


Canadians grieve the finding of the mass graves at the Kamloops Indian residential school, the 215 children lost to their families when they were taken by the government, but also for their lost lives.

Joanne Mills, the Executive Director of the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre, has expressed concern about overuse of the the word reconciliation.

“Reconciliation in Canada is more about the acknowledgement that there were wrongs, but there isn’t a lot of action attached to it. It’s difficult to be talking about reconciliation while one party is in power and another is still asking for rights from the former.

There definitely isn’t an equal power distribution. We’re not coming to the table as peers, we’re still coming to the table as have and have-nots,” she says.

Joanne Mills says for reconciliation to take shape, there needs to be an honest attempt to restore to Indigenous people what was taken at the time of colonization.

“I just don’t want to talk about the stereotypes anymore. People should go and educate themselves and learn the truth,” Mills says.

Mills says inequality remains in areas of provincial jurisdiction, such as the high rates of Indigenous kids in foster care in B.C., access to education and over representation of Indigenous people in prison.

B.C. has seen changes in elementary and secondary school curriculum to include more education about Indigenous people, but there have been bumps along the way. Some teachers say they are at a loss on how to teach Indigenous content. Others say they lack sufficient resources.

The adoption of reconciliation acknowledgments reflects a broader societal shift towards acknowledging and confronting the injustices of the past, promoting dialogue, understanding, and working towards an inclusive and equitable future. While the genesis of the reconciliation acknowledgment vary across contexts, its underlying principles of recognition, respect and reconciliation remain universal.

#Tech | CES 2024 | Cutting-Edge Products, TVs, Rabbit R1, and More

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Top left: Rabbit R1 | Bottom: 2024’s LG OLED TV are transparent TV sets you can see — and see through.

Year after year, the annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas each January brings with it all sorts of amazing demos, gizmos and hi-tech concepts that you won’t be available to buy for years, if ever.

But if you’re looking to snag some fabulous and futuristic products from CES 2024, don’t fret. In today’s Tech column, VanRamblings has gathered a few cool gadgets you can purchase right now, or put a dent in your bank balance very soon.

CES 2024 Best in Show | Best TV | LG OLED M4 | $3400

When it comes to innovative or life-changing new tech, it takes a lot to be the best of the best. Today we’ll provide some insight into the products that emerged out of CES we think have the power to improve everyday life.

LG’s 2024 OLED TVs come with upgraded AI upscaling utilizing precise pixel-level image analysis, that effectively sharpen objects that may appear blurry.

All driven by the discerning judgment of the AI itself, LG’s signature OLED M4 TV delivers a clearer, more vibrant viewing experience. An ingenious artificial intelligence (AI) processor adeptly refines colours by analyzing frequently used shades that best convey the mood and emotional elements intended by filmmakers and content creators. Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro splits pictures into blocks and fine-tunes brightness and contrast by analyzing variations in brightness where light enters the scene, creating images that look more three-dimensional.

In addition to its 97″, 83″ and 77″ models there’s a more normal-size 65-inch LG OLED M4 version that could actually fit into your home — and cost less, too.

VanRamblings bought CES 2023’s Best in Show Samsung NeoQLED Tizen Smart TV on Black Friday. Priced at $2999 last March, we picked it up for only $1250!

CES 2024 Best in Show | Best Gadget | Rabbit R1 | $199

Set to become all the rage among the tech-forward crowd later this year, and predicted to catch on with the tech-oriented general public soon after, the Rabbit R1 is a lot like a phone in terms of its looks, and in some of its features: it has a camera and a SIM card slot, and it supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. What’s different, and what makes the Rabbit R1 special, is the interface: instead of a grid of apps, you get an AI assistant that talks to your favorite apps and does everything for you.

For example, you could get the R1 to research a holiday destination & book flights to it, or queue up a playlist of your favourite music, or book you an Uber. In theory, you can do almost anything you can already do on your phone, just by asking.

We’ve seen next-gen personal assistants depicted in movies like Her, and the R1 is trying to make that a reality — leveraging the latest AI capabilities to replace the traditional smartphone interface with something a lot more intuitive.

CES 2024 Best in Show | Gaming Device | XREAL Air 2 AR glasses | $489

 

The XREAL Air 2 Ultra AR glasses offer the most advanced augmented reality wearable experience from the brand to date with hand and head tracking meeting spatial anchoring across a full 6DoF (six degrees of freedom).

Augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), extended-reality (XR), whatever you want to call it, 2024 is lining up to be a big year for this tech with the popularity of the Meta Quest 3 expanding and Apple’s release of its Vision Pro headset.

CES 2024 Best in Show | Bemis BB-1200 Bidet Toilet | $399

If you’re less about TVs and AI, and more about something weird (and potentially practical), then there’s always the new Bemis BB-1200 Bidet Toilet. That’s right, it’s a smart toilet seat, capable of supplying unlimited warm water, a heated seat, air dryer alongside a remote and smartphone app to control it all.

You can really control everything from nozzle position to water pressure and seat temperature. There are even two user pre-sets so your preferences are saved and ready to go when you need it most. It sounds silly, but if it makes your bathroom experience a little more comfortable (especially in the cold winter months), then you shouldn’t dismiss it quite so easily.

The BB-1200 will be available this spring, and will set you back $399. Just make sure your bathroom has an outlet near the toilet to power everything.

CES 2024 Best in Show | Best Home Product | Family Hub+ | $2499

Samsung has gone all-in on artificial intelligence across its phones and home appliances. This includes a new AI Family Hub+ technology that is designed to bring together different appliances.

It is initially being built into the new Bespoke 4-door flex refrigerator, unveiled at CES 2024. This includes internal cameras and AI vision capable of identifying individual food items. It can then suggest recipes based on what you have in stock.

CES 2024 Best in Show | Roborock Zeo One | $1699

The Roborock Zeo One is an all-in-one washer / dryer combo machine that pulls double duty. It’s part of a relatively new breed of laundry combo machines that are just beginning to proliferate. Needless to say, the concept is compelling: you pile a load of laundry into a single machine where it’s washed and dried. But the Zeo One adds even more innovation to the mix.

A favourite feature: smart dosing. Instead of adding detergent and fabric softener with each load, you can fill the reservoirs and go for months without worrying about adding anything to your laundry.

The Zeo One also dries clothes using much less heat than a conventional dryer.
The Zeo-cycle drying system uses a large honeycomb-shaped disc with more than 20,000 holes to absorb moisture, using sensors and an AI algorithm to monitor the drying system more than 100 times per minute. By keeping the heat low, the Roborock Zeo One prevents damage to delicate garments like wool sweaters.

The Zeo One even collects lint and disposes of it automatically through a water line, so you never have to clear a lint trap.

CES 2024 Best in Show | Health Device | BeamO | $249

Withings’ BeamO might be the only health checkup device you need in your home, a first-of-its-kind 4-in-1 health checkup device meant to replace four essentials that should be in every home, combining an ECG, pulse oximeter, stethoscope, and thermometer into a single compact device. With it, you can monitor your heart and lung health, as well as your temperature.

There are those in the medical profession who believe the BeamO will revolutionize the measurement of the core vitals carried out during medical visits from the comfort of one’s own home. This crucial data will provide a vital overview of overall health or warning signs of potential areas of concern. Instead of measuring these stats a couple of times a year in a clinical setting, it will be possible to assess them every day. BeamO will be the thermometer of the future, providing the ability to assess temperature and observe the state of the heart and lungs.

Of course, a parent can also use the device to perform a checkup on a child.

In the future, the company says the BeamO will detect signs of infection and even possible cardiovascular issues such as atrial fibrillation (AfiB).

The Withings BeamO will be released this coming June, and will retail for $249.

#SaveOurParkBoard | A Passionate, Reasoned, Well-Attended Town Hall

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This past Thursday afternoon, Green Party of Vancouver City Councillors Pete Fry and Adriane Carr, and One City Vancouver Councillor Christine Boyle organized a spirited Town Hall — with more than 200 passionate, reasoned citizens in attendance, who oppose the elimination of an independent, elected Park Board — the event taking place in the Joe Wai Room, on the main floor of Vancouver City Hall.


Vancouver City Councillors, l-r:  the Green Party’s Pete Fry and Adriane Carr + OneCity Vancouver’s Christine Boyle

One of the most compelling speakers of the afternoon was Terri Clark, Vancouver Park Board’s Public Affairs Communications Manager from 1973 through 2008.

“In all my years at Park Board, our General Managers worked productively with Vancouver City Managers Fritz Bowers (1977-1990), Ken Dobell (1990-1998) and Judy Rogers (1999-2008). Ours was a relationship of mutual respect and co-operation.

Necessary funds were always provided by the City for the upkeep and maintenance of Vancouver’s parks, pools and community centres, in order to best serve the public interest.

               Photo credit: Elvira Lount
First row, above: l-r, Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby | John Coupar, former Park Board Chair | Tricia Barker, Commissioner, last term | Laura Christensen, current independent Commissioner; Bottom row, l-r. Michael Wiebe, former Commissioner, former City Councillor | Sarah Blyth, former two term Commissioner | Brennan Bastyovanszky, current independent Park Board Chair.

Recent maintenance problems at the Aquatic Centre or Kits Pool would never have been allowed to happen in Mr. Bowers’,  Dobell’s and Judy Rogers time as City Manager at Vancouver City Hall.

In September 2009, before Susan Mundick, Park Board’s General Manager (1998-2009), announced her “retirement“, City Manager Penny Ballem had stripped Ms. Mundick of all her duties, stating she would “help park board choose Ms. Mundick’s replacement”, a selection process City Hall had never previously been involved in.

If our pools and community centres are in disrepair today, as Mayor Sim has pointed out, such a circumstance arises from City Hall’s decision to cut Park Board out of any and all maintenance decisions, ceding those responsibilities to the City, which over the past dozen years has largely ignored the needs of what was once a world class parks and recreation system of which we were proud.”

Several past and current Park Board Commissioners addressed those who had gathered at City Hall last Thursday, including: Michael Wiebe, who spoke about the role of Park Board Commissioners in preserving the natural environment; past Park Board Chair, John Coupar, who addressed the role of Park Board in creating a livable city;  both Sarah Blyth and Tricia Barker reminded those present that “Ken Sim and his ABC Council were not given a mandate to abolish the Vancouver Park Board”; while formerly ABC Vancouver but now independent Park Board Commissioners Brennan Bastyovanszky, Scott Jensen and Laura Christensen committed to continuing their work in the community to preserve the invaluable 135-year legacy of an independent, elected Vancouver Park Board that serves the interests of all British Columbians and “those who visit our beautiful city”.

Several speakers referenced an article in The Vancouver Sun, written by Canadian gardening legend Brian Minter, who writes …

“The Vancouver Park Board maintains 242 parks that comprises 11% cent of Vancouver land. In addition, Park Board maintains 22 kilometres of seawall at Stanley Park, and walkways along False Creek. Park Board’s mandate includes 10 ocean beaches and a freshwater lake beach. Not only are they responsible for the city’s recreation programmes, services and community centres and facilities, park infrastructure comes under their jurisdiction.

In a time of significant climate change with the huge challenges of heat and drought, and the drive to expand green spaces, a high priority must be placed on the viability of parks. The importance of green spaces, the many proven benefits to both our health and wellness are well-documented, as our needs continue to grow.

The Vancouver Park Board is one of our region’s most important public assets and needs dedicated people and citizen engagement to ensure the long-term viability of  B.C.’s, and indeed, Canada’s, most spectacular green spaces, for generations to come.”

And then there’s the disposition of the 242 Vancouver’s parks, one hundred of which do not a have a protected park designation.


Former ABC, now independent PB Commissioners, l-r: Laura Christensen, Brennan Bastyovanszky, Scott Jensen

Perhaps the most articulate and moving participant in Thursday afternoon’s Town Hall was Laura Christensen’s month-old daughter, who cried throughout most of the proceeding, voicing the despair clearly felt by her mother — to whom Mayor Ken Sim had committed his support, when he asked her to run as a Park Board Commissioner on his ABC Vancouver slate — and the despair and frustration of those who had gathered together in common cause to, as one speaker, said “fight ABC’s undemocratic initiative to abolish our cherished, independent Park Board.”