With the Vancouver municipal election less than two short weeks away, VanRamblings will post various election-related polls in the coming days.
To begin, we’d appreciate some input into your choice for Mayor.
Antony and the Johnsons: The Next Big Thing
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Today, we’ll continue our recommencement of activities on VanRamblings by introducing you to a plaintive, soul-stirring artist who we believe creates gorgeously transcendent music that possesses the potential to heal some of the acrid hurts which wound us daily.
Recent much-deserved winner of Great Britain’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize and considered by many to be the next big thing, below VanRamblings offers both a recent NPR interview and review, as well as a downloadable song from the new CD, I am a Bird Now, by Antony and the Johnsons.
NPR interview and review
Antony and the Johnsons — Hope There’s Someone
Antony and the Johnsons on the David Letterman Show
VanRamblings Returns To The World of Blogging
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For the past while, VanRamblings has been looking for a way to return to regular publishing. Having recovered from the loss (once again) of a long lost and much missed love, and nearing the end of seven months of regular contract work with Canada Mortgage and Housing — not to mention, working on the process towards bargaining of a first contract with Cardinal Transportation — the time has come to re-commit to VanRamblings.
Regular visitors to the site may expect frequent updates from here on in.
In the coming days we’ll cover the gamut, and introduce you to some quite wonderful trip-hop music, cover the Vancouver municipal election, post on the deserved travails of Wal-Mart, write about the dastardly deeds of Nestle’s, ponder the use of acronyms in relation to text messaging, offer thoughts on the riots in Paris, bring you up-to-date on the latest computer tech news, reflect on the meaning of the blogging revolution, explore the history of anarchism, and preview the coming Christmas movie season.
Let’s face it: no one ever said that VanRamblings’ interests aren’t eclectic.
Vancouver International Film Festival 2005
Vancouver International Film Festival Returns to Form
Brace yourself: The Vancouver International Film Festival — 16 days of more than 300 films, dozens of guests and countless sleepy-eyed patrons who’ll catch up to seven films a day — got underway with its 24th edition earlier today. And while its opening-night film, Water, Deepa Mehta’s long-awaited final instalment of her elements trilogy, is a fictional feature, there’ll still be more than 75 non-fiction films at this year’s event.
Among the local filmmakers who’ll appear at VIFF is Aubrey Nealon, whose feature début, A Simple Curve, will receive its Vancouver première. “In a year marked by an impressive range of strong western Canadian features, Nealon’s warm and witty film stands out as a well-crafted and fully realized gem,” enthused Canadian Images programmer Diane Burgess at the opening press conference, held earlier this month..
During the first two-thirds of its 24 years of existence, the Vancouver International Film Festival has gone through a long process of development in which it has varied wildly in terms of venue, format, emphasis, length and number of films. But by the mid-’90s, it hit upon a satisfying template that Festival director Alan Franey thought “worked for VIFF,” and which it’s been repeating, with slight variations, ever since: 300-plus films over 16 days at five basic locations.