Category Archives: Pop Culture

Buy Nothing Day vs the Siren Call of All the Black Friday Specials

November 22, 2018Diversions, Food & Health, Pop Culture, Vancouver, VanRamblings, Web & TechRaymond Tomlin

Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest against consumerism.
Founded in September 1992 by Vancouver-based artist Ted Dave, and subsequently promoted annually by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz, the founders of Adbusters magazine, Buy Nothing Day was designed as a means to examine the issue of overconsumption.
Early on, a decision was taken to hold Buy Nothing Day on Black Friday, the Friday of the American Thanksgiving long weekend, one of the ten busiest shopping days across North America, the day that signals the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and the day when retailers across North America discount consumer goods by 50% or more.
Although Black Friday is not an official holiday, many American states designate Black Friday as a holiday for state government employees. For many non-retail employees and schools who will celebrate the Thanksgiving long weekend (Thanksgiving in the United States is a more important holiday down south than Christmas), since 1952 Black Friday has marked the beginning of a four-day Thanksgiving weekend — the net result: to both increase the number of potential shoppers and boost the economy.
If you’re like me, your social media feeds are likely rife with posts imploring you to not to buy anything this upcoming weekend, to boycott Black Friday, and not give in to consumerism. God knows we’re a society of waste, we focus far too much on acquisition of consumer goods over building community, and our landfills are laden high with perfectly well-functioning consumer items that have been discarded for no reason other than waste.
Still and all, if you’re a pauper like me, a senior living on a fixed income of under $20,000 annually, or if you’re a minimum wage worker just barely getting by, yet you’ve had your heart set on finally buying the much-talked, and indispensable Instant Pot (on sale all over town at around $65, rather than its usual price of $130), or if you’re looking to make your first foray into Smart Home technology — because, why should the Smart Home be just the preserve of the wealthy? — or if there’s a sweater or a jacket that you see discounted at 70% off that you’ve had your eye on, would it really be an offense against God and all that is right and proper to treat yourself to a consumer good that you have long desired and can now afford.

Not being a particular follower of fashion, and as much as we agree with the principle behind Buy Nothing Day, we also see that there’s a class issue involved. All well and good if you’re earning the average $65,000 median wage for those resident in Metro Vancouver, and whether you pay $129.99 (plus tax) for the Instant Pot, or the one-day Black Friday sale price of $64.99 (plus tax) makes no never mind to you, for seniors and others living on a fixed income, or for the working poor, the $72.80 (including sales tax) saving for the most popular Instant Pot model, the 6-quart Duo, or if you’ve got a large family, the $102.03 (including sales tax) saving on the 8-quart Instant Pot model, that’s a chunk of change in savings for those who’ve been waiting for the Instant Pot to go on sale — and the only day that happens is, you guessed it, Black Friday, in 2018 … on November 23rd.

Word to the wise: if you want that Instant Pot at the sale price, there are some conditions that have to be met. Whether it’s Canadian Tire, Best Buy, Walmart or Real Canadian Superstore, Instant Pots at the sale price are in short supply — retailers bring in only 100 Instant Pots to each store, which means that if you want one, you’re going to have to line up no later than 6am to get one, cuz let us assure you, there’ll be a great many folks waiting in line to purchase their new Instant Pot at a 50% or better saving.

The Breville Smart Oven Pro Convection Toaster Oven, on sale at Best Buy at $240 (a $134.39 saving, including tax), reliable, long lasting, great for seniors and singles, a virtual replacement for your oven & a kitchen appliance people swear by, including me.

Now, we’ve written at length about the Instant Pot, and why it has become an essential kitchen tool — we feel the same way about our Breville Smart Oven Pro Convection Toaster Oven — which, by the way, is on sale for $126 off (including tax) its regular price, at Best Buy, the best deal in town for the Breville, the virtues of which one customer extols here.

Do you remember how we were writing about the Smart Home above?
Well, the Google Home Mini is on sale Black Friday, all over town for only $35, rather than at its regular $80 price — which makes for a pretty skookum $50.40 in savings (including tax), if your looking to tech enhance your life. Not bad. The Google Home Mini does all the same things the Google Home pictured in the ad above does, and much, much more (because more functionality is added each and every month by Google).
At $40 (last year, on sale), we bought a Google Home Mini during the holiday season — partly because we’re a tech-y guy, partly out of curiosity, and partly because it was on sale, and we are a parsimonious guy.
So, what do we use our Google Home Mini for?
To turn the lights off and on. When we’re away, using the Google Home app to turn up the thermostat while we’re on our way home, and to turn on the lights in our sensuous hovel just prior to opening the door to our home. We listen to BBC News, news from the American networks, CBC news and podcasts, and all of our other favourite podcasts, to check on the temperature and the weather forecast, as an alarm, and to listen to our favourite music or be introduced to new music.
In the holiday season, we use the Google Home Mini to automatically turn our balcony holiday light display on at 4pm, and off again at 8am. We use it as an aide when we’re cooking — and, if we were of a mind, to turn on our 4K TV to the Netflix, or the channel we want to watch or record.
Could we live without our Google Home Mini? Yes. Do we want to? No.

Here are some Black Friday Flyers

Walmart Black Friday flyer;
Best Buy Black Friday flyer;
Canadian Tire Black Friday flyer;
Real Canadian Superstore Black Friday flyer;
London Drugs Black Friday flyer.

The Sharp 55″ 4K Smart TV, at $450, at the Real Canadian Superstore (also on sale at Visions Electronics, for $448) seems like a pretty sweet deal, if you’re in the market for a 4K Smart TV. Here’s an even-handed review.

Now, we’re not saying that you should purchase items that you don’t need — we’re a firm believer in the stripped down, simple life. Still and all, if you’ve got your heart set on something, and you either need it, or really, really want to have it, and you’ve saved up your sheckles to buy it (we don’t buy anything on credit ourselves), we’re saying “why deny yourself”?

The Music of One’s Life | Kasey Chambers | The Captain

November 18, 2018A & E, Jude and Megan, Music, Pop Culture, VanRamblingsRaymond Tomlin

As the year draws to a close, the thoughts of music lovers everywhere is the anticipation of the discovery of new music made extant through the publication of the various year-end lists by respected music critics of the best new, under-the-radar music releases of the previous 11 months.
Such was the case during the holiday season in 2000, when the then not-discredited Charlie Rose had on the then not-discredited longtime New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones on his show to discuss the best albums of 2000. Mr. Frere-Jones found himself able to talk about one artist and one artist alone: Kasey Chambers, a then 23-year-old woman raised in the southern Australian outback who, he insisted, had released the best album of the year, the best country album he’d heard in years. Mr. Frere-Jones could not help himself from extolling Ms. Chambers’ many virtues as a singer-songwriter, going on to insist that Mr. Rose, and his other guests around the table that evening — and everyone tuned into PBS’ The Charlie Rose Show first thing the next morning repair to their local record store to secure, or order, Kasey Chambers’ début album release, The Captain.
Enthusiasm exhibited by a usually taciturn critic is a rare commodity at the best of times — critics being a cynical lot, by nature — leaving the viewer of that evening’s episode of The Charlie Rose Show no option other than to purchase The Captain first thing the next day — which, of course, I did.
Kasey Chambers’ music is timeless, as is the case with every song on The Captain. If you’ve not heard The Captain prior to this, you can listen to each of the songs on the album through YouTube, after which I assure you, you’ll want to download the entire album, and make it a part of your music library, and the soundtrack of your life, going forward. Important, really.

Click or tap on this link to listen to & savour Kasey Chambers’ The Captain in its entirety

Kasey Chambers was born in Mount Gambier, the second most populated city in South Australia (urban population: 28,684) early on the Friday afternoon of June 4th, 1976, the younger sister of brother Nash, who was born in 1974. Kasey’s parents, Diane and Bill, were musicians, itinerant farmers and hunters, who wanted nothing to do with big city life.

Mount Gambier’s crystalline Blue Lake

As money was often tight, on the few occasions when the family came to town, given that all members of the family were fine, well-respected musicians, arrangements were made for the family to play a series of concerts, the monies earned enough to pay for supplies until the next time the Chambers family came to town. By 1986, when Kasey was only 10, the family had formed a band called the Dead Ringer Band, so-named because Nash and Kasey looked like younger versions of their parents.
From the outset, it was clear to anyone that heard Kasey Chambers that she was a preternatural talent, Kasey Jo Chambers providing vocals and writing songs for a series of albums released by her parents between 1987 and 1993. When interviewed by the press — word of Kasey’s talent spread quickly across Australia, almost from the outset — she often cited Emmylou Harris as one of her primary influences, recalling that Harris’ music was frequently played by her parents, ever since she was a child.
Kasey Chambers recorded her début solo album, The Captain in July and August of 1998, with her brother Nash producing, and her father Bill on guitar (her parents were in the throes of divorce, so mother Diane played no role in the recording of the album). Joining the family on the recording were American country musicians, Buddy Miller and Julie Miller, who added guitars and vocals to four tracks. The Captain was released in Australia in May 1999, and worldwide, in June 2000 by Asylum Records.
And, as is often said, the rest is transcendent & salutary musical history.
Cry Like a Baby went on to win the country music Song of the Year award in 2000, The Captain winning the same award the following year. The next year, Kasey Chambers toured across the globe as the supporting and opening act for Lucinda Williams, who was touring to support her breakthrough, multi-award winning album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
At my insistence, my friend J.B. Shayne (not a fan of country music) and I attended the Lucinda Williams concert at The Vogue in late 2001 — a three-hour concert that blew the roof of the venue — J.B. commenting to me afterwards, “That was like attending a Doors concert. I don’t think I’ve ever heard better musicianship. Lucinda Williams and her band (two drummers / percussionists, two lead guitarists, a rhythm guitarist, a slide guitarist, an organist, and a pianist) are probably the finest band I’ve heard in years. It’s maybe the most stoned concert I’ve ever attended.” And so it was.
Kasey Chambers, of course, was the opening act — and proved to be everything and more that I’d promised J.B. Within minutes, she had the audience in the palm of her hand, clapping, cheering, shouting, and head over heels in love with this Aussie girl who just knocked their socks off, not only performing most of the songs off The Captain, but previewing songs from her new album, Barricades & Brickwalls, produced by her brother Nash, the song Not Pretty Enough going on to win CMA Song of the Year.

The Music of One’s Life, The Gift of Music from My Son

November 11, 2018A & E, Music, Pop Culture, VanRamblingsRaymond Tomlin

From the late 1960s on, I have been gifted with having a series of publications publish my music reviews. My love for music started much earlier than that, though — in all likelihood, probably from the womb, because my mother loved music, our home filled always with the popular music of the day, which seemed to give my mother life, and succeeded almost always in bringing joy into our home.
The gift of the love of music was passed on to my children, by both their mother and me, both of us from an early age finding succour and sustenance in music that embedded itself into the lifeblood of our lives.
My son, Jude Nathan Tomlin, extended our family’s love of music beyond mere singing in the home, or playing music on the home or car stereo: Jude makes music, and has traveled the world as a progressive house D.J., playing his own special brand of house music. Most, if not all of his music collection is on vinyl, because he (and many others) experience the sound of music that emanates from vinyl as fuller, warmer and more intimate.
Over the years, every now and then, Jude would run across a piece of music that was not intended to be digitized, and had not been digitized, but as he knew that almost all of my music is either on CD, DVD or mp3, Jude would take pity on his poor dad and convert the vinyl “song” he had discovered into a high quality mp3 to add to my music collection (although he’d find the juxtaposing of the words “high quality” and “mp3” a curious construction indeed, and mutually exclusive concepts … still and all …).
Even today, I could not find Transglobal Underground’s remix of Dub Tribal’s Elastic Reality anywhere as an mp3, or on YouTube, so I uploaded the “song”, which you’ll find at the top of today’s Music Sunday column.
I recall one day not all that many years ago, when Jude arrived home from his travels, his sitting down at my computer, whereupon he added Transglobal Underground’s remix of Dub Tribal’s Elastic Reality to my iTunes music collection, and subsequently to my iPhone’s 5000+ song collection of music. I find the song calming, as does Jude, and as he knew I would.
Jude continues often, if less often than previously, to provide me with the gift of music, as he did some years ago with the second song on today’s Music Sunday roster, an historical piece of music by The Art of Noise, featuring the late British actor John Hurt performing the narrative vocal, the song about Claude Debussy, titled, The Holy Egoism Of Genius.

Arts Friday | Burning & Madeline’s Madeline | Vancity Theatre

November 9, 2018A & E, Cinema, Diversions, Pop Culture, VanRamblingsRaymond Tomlin

The 37th annual Vancouver International Film Festival — home to all that is good, great and life-changing in independent film, and award-winning film from countries spanning the globe — wrapped one month ago.
For many, the Festival closing for another year is cause for despair, for where else other than VIFF will lovers of film discover authentic cinema?
As we have written many times previously on VanRamblings, Tom Charity is the year-round programmer of the Vancouver International Film Festival’s Vancity Theatre, on Seymour just north of Davie & across the street from the expansive, much-cherished community amenity, Emery Barnes Park.
Eleven months of the year, the good and great Mr. Charity programmes the very best in independent and world cinema, home to transcendently lovely films of import, award winning cinema that finds a home in the gorgeous, comfy and intimate 175-seat Vancity Theatre. For our new Mayor and ten new Vancouver City Councillors, the Vancity is not only our — which is to say, the citizens’ — cinema, it is your cinema. Why, your cinema?
The home of the Vancouver International Film Festival, and the creation of the Vancity Theatre, occurred consequent to a demand by the city of Vancouver with the developer of the overshadowing Brava condominium complex that a constituent element of the Brava development, as the developers’ community amenity contribution, would be the realization of a year-round home for VIFF, and the creation of a city and a neighbourhood state-of-the-art cinema, which came to be known as the Vancity Theatre.
As our new City Council’s point person on the arts, and as a member of our community who fought hard for the preservation of the east side’s Rio Theatre, Councillor Michael Wiebe — who, on occasion, we have seen in the audience of the Vancity, as we have seen other of our newly-electeds, as well as recent and past members of Council — should, from time to time, remember that the Vancity Theatre is their home, as it is home for so many of us who look to VIFF for cinematic insight into the human condition — and you know what, the Vancity Theatre always, always comes through.
As is the case today, with two outstanding films that have captured the interest of cinéastes everywhere, and this year have taken the globe, and film festivals across the globe, by storm as ineffable, astonishing and triumphantly inventive cinema of the first order, compelling, extraordinary and intoxicating cinema magic that demands your attention & attendance.

Madeline’s Madeline, Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour Street. Now playing.
Friday, November 9th, at 6pm
Saturday, November 10th 2018, at 5pm
Sunday, November 11th, at 8pm
Wednesday, November 14th, at 4pm
Thursday, November 15th, at 1pm
Written and directed by Josephine Decker and starring remarkable newcomer Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline is a stunner, a hit at Sundance earlier this year, cinema considered by many critics to be one of the best films of the year. Described by IndieWire’s David Ehrlich as …

“… an ecstatically disorienting experience that defines its terms right from the start and then obliterates any trace of traditional film language, achieving a cinematic aphasia that allows Decker to redraw the boundaries between the stories we tell and the people we tell them about, Madeline’s Madeline emerges as one of the boldest and most invigorating American films of the 21st century, a dazzling hall of mirrors, a mesmerizing and unshakeable cinematic experience that demands your attention.”

Madeline’s Madeline opens at 6pm tonight at the Vancity Theatre.

Burning. Opens tonight at 7:50pm, at the Vancity Theatre, on Seymour.
Saturday, November 10th, 2pm
Saturday, November 10th, 6:50pm
Sunday, November 11th, at 5:10pm
Wednesday, November 14th, at 1pm
Thursday, November 15th, at 3pm
Friday, November 16th, at 8:30pm

Lee Chang-dong’s masterful thriller and Cannes FIPRESCI Prize winner, Burning is South Korea’s 2018 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar entry, and a film sure to end up on a raft of critical top-10 lists, cinema that shudders with ravenous desire, a meticulous and mysterious slow-burning thriller that transforms into a masterful look at jealousy, class, and revenge that, despite its 148 minutes, quickens its pace as it moves along, all the while torching genre clichés, Burning emerging as a subtle, teasing mystery that develops into a full-blown thriller, and cinema that leaves a lasting, scorching blister that purifies the soul. Clearly, then, a must-see film.