Alexis Mazurin was a youthful energetic ball of energy. I
remember him saying hi to me as bumped into each other at the steps of
CBC or the Library.
I can picture him as an amazing performer when I saw the Hot Sauce
Posse in action at Asian Comedy Night, produced by Vancouver Asian
Canadian Theatre.
It was shocking for me to learn that he had first suffered a severe
heart attack while attending Burning Man in the Nevada desert, and
finally made his transition after a long coma. Alexis was 27.
No doubt, many of us will feel this is tragic at such a young
age.
It is more tragic what the world will miss because of what Alexis will
not be able to create. In 1989, I almost died from a serious
cancer tumor when I was 29 years old, in 1989. Now 16 years
later, I am amazed at what I have accomplished, and been able to give
to the world. What Alexis could have given our communities in the
next 10 years, 20 years or 30 years…. will now be up to us.
Mon Oct 24th, 2005
3:30 pm
Vancouver Public Library
Central Branch, Alice Mackay Room
Admission is free and all are welcome.
This performance has come about as a result of the ongoing teacher's
strike so the library apologizes for the short notice. They ask people
to please pass this information on to anyone whom you think may be
interested in attended, including day camp groups.
I talked with soprano Jessica Cheung, who plays Naomi, tonight at
the Vancouver Opera reception/cast party following the openining
night of Turandot. Jessica says that the children in the schools
are really recieving the opera well.
In particular, the children really respond to “the bully” scene, and
when Naomi is trying to decide whether or not to give Mitzi her doll
back. Jessica reports that she is really enjoying the
performances and is looking forward to taking the production to
Vancouver Island next week.
For further information contact:
Barbara Edwards
Community Relations Librarian
Vancouver Public Library
programs@vpl.ca
604.331.4041
The lead singer, Audrey Stottler, performs her signature role as
Princess Turandot, a role she has performed at the Forbidden City
Imperial Palace in Beijing. Puccini did research authentic
Chinese melodies for his masterpiece opera, known for Nessun Dorma, one
of Opera's most famous tenor arias. But expect stereoptypical
portrayals of Chinese characters such as the court administrators named
“Ping”, “Pang” and “Pong.”
Goh Ballet and the Modern Dance
Company of Guangdong perform a special 10th Anniversary celebration for
the special sister province relationship between Guangdong, China and
British Columbia, Canada. Thius takes place tonight at the Centre
in Vancouver for Performing Arts.
Janice Wong visits Shelagh Rogers on Sounds Like Canada.
Here's
a message from my cousin Janice Wong, author of the book CHOW, about her upcoming interview on
CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada, with host Shelagh Rogers:
"Alicia got Sounds Like Canada on board! Yay!
If you happen to be near a radio on Friday morning at 10.30, Shelagh
Rogers will be talking to me about "Chow." I'm actually looking
forward to this one, though I have to do the interview at 6:30 a.m.!!
I'm just hoping to be coherent and not too froggy at that time of the
morning! Her producer is from Prince Albert too!
They want me to bring Chinese food into the studio at 6:30 in the
morning... I feel like I'm a Chinese take out delivery person, now!"
Maybe I should put them in Chinese take-out boxes, but I left
them all in my studio."
I have since suggested to Janice to
tell Shelagh that since having written CHOW, that she keeps discovering
new connections in both her ancestry and extended family… for
instance… Her Dad's cousin in Seattle, Carole, is married to Gary
Locke the former Washington State governor, and her father's cousin,
Henry, had married the aunt of former Governor General Adrienne
Clarkson.
“And
Shelagh…” Janice could say… “I have just discovered a
relationship between you and me… apparently we're family.”
“Me!?!?!?” Shelagh might exclaim
surprised, but very interested, because Shelagh's father had only told
her about two years ago, that there was First Nations Cree blood in
their ancestry.
“Yes, Shelagh… you and me… are both members of Clan Gung Haggis Fat Choy!”
Paul Yee was featured at the Vancouver Writers and Readers Festival on
Tuesday and Wednesday. He will be sticking around town, as he
will be launching his new book Chinatowns, published by Lorimer, at the
Vancouver Museum on Oct 25th. Janice Wong's book Chow will also
be featured.
Paul's new book is a pictorial history of Chinatowns across
Canada. Paul's first illustrated history book was Saltwater City:
an Illustrated History of Vancouver's Chinatown. This book won
the inaugural Vancouver City Book Award, and will be revised next
spring by Douglas McIntyre.
I first met Paul in 1986, when he chaired the Saltwater City exhibition
at the Chinese Cultural Centre. This was a wonderful celebration
of 100 years of Vancouver chinese history for Vancouver's
Centennial. I will look for some old pictures of Paul from the
project.
20 Reasons to save Joy Kogawa’s childhood home from impending demolition.
The house is on 64th Avenue in Vancouver, just East of Granville St. The family was removed from the house in February 1942 due to the War Measures Act. “National security” was the reason given for the internment of Japanese-Canadians, and the government of Canada sold their property and possessions without the owner’s permission.
Joy Kogawa is a novelist born and raised in Vancouver that has received the Order of Canada in 1986. Obasan is widely considered to be one of Canada’s most important and influential works ever created.
I present to you 20 reasons for saving the childhood home of one of Canada’s most influential writers.
1. “The destruction of the Kogawa Home would be a great loss of cultural heritage for Vancouver, for British Columbia, and for Canada. Although Canada scored high on the recent all-nations report card, it scored low on culture, history and heritage. Why destroy more of this precious asset?” – Margaret Atwood, Oct 13, 2005.
2. “Obasan, a novel that I believe is the most important literary work of the past 30 years for understanding Canadian history.” – Roy Miki – SFU University Professor and 2003 Governor General’s Award Winner for Poetry.
3. The only literary landmark in Vancouver, named for a Canadian author is the Pauline Johnson memorial in Stanley Park according to BC Bookworld publisher Alan Twigg. Johnson died in 1913.
4. Joy named Order of Canada in 1986
5. Vancouver born and raised author, up until age 5 – when the family was removed by the Canadian Government and put Japanese-Canadian families in internment camps during WW2.
6. Kogawa House is one of the few houses left in in Vancouver, that is identified as having been confiscated by the Canadian Government and sold without permission by the owners. It is the only such house with cultural and literary value, because of Kogawa’s literary works.
7. Kogawa House would be considered Heritage classification A, because of its cultural value. This is a new heritage designation in the city of Vancouver.
8. Writing and literary associations across Canada are joining in support of Kogawa House. This includes: Canadian Authors Association, Writers Union of Canada, BC Federation of Writers, Asian Canadian Writers Workshop
9. Obasan is studied in universities and colleges – It is this important that literary critiques about the book itself are published.
10. Vancouver Opera commissioned a touring production of “Naomi’s Road” – that premiered September 30, 2005, with composer Ramona Leungen and librettist Ann Hodges.
11. New edition of Naomi’s Road is re-published and expanded in May 2005. This followed the translation and expanding of the story in Japanese.
13. Book is historically relevant as it helped to support the Japanese redress movement, with redress resulting in 1988.
14. Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop awarded Joy Kogawa on September 24th.005 with the ACWW Community Builder’s Award.
15. Obasan was named 11th most influential novel by Quill & Quire.
16. Obasan was the 2005 choice for One Book One Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Library’s award winning program that encourages everybody to read the same book, and makes the book come alive with programming.
17. People are already making pilgrimages to Kogawa House… just like Anne of Green Gables cottage in P.E.I.
18. Vancouver City Council voted to plant a cherry tree graft from Kogawa House on City Hall grounds – planting will take place on November 1st, 2005 designated “Obasan Cherry Tree Day.”
19. “Reparations to Japanese-Canadians was an important action in an attempt to undo some of the grevious wrong that Canadians had carried out against a fellow group of citizens. As important as reparations were, however, there is a need for a more permanent symbol of the regret that all Canadians feel and share over denying a group of fellow Canadians their civil rights. The Kogawa House would magnificently represent that symbol.”
– Richard Hopkins, Professor, University of British Columbia.
Kogawa House: Can we save the house? Can we move the house?
Lots of developments happening…
Monday, we met with Vancouver Heritage Foundation, and discussed
strategies to save the house, and create a way for the present owner to
donate the house to the VFH. To preserve the house at its
present location will mean a purchase price of around $700,000.
To move the house will mean $50,000 + building a $200,000 foundation
later. What is cheaper?
The owner has not been willing to sell, so trying to save the house
from demolition and move it seems the best idea. There is a
proposed park that will commemorate the Japanese Canadian community at
Selkirk and 72nd Ave.
To avoid the demolition of the house, we have planned to go to City
Council to ask for a stay of demolition, due to the Heritage quality of
the house.
Initially that would have been Oct 20 – but the demolition application has not been submitted yet.
But yesterday, the owner may have had a change of heart… Gerry
McGeough, senior planner for City of Vancouver, may have brokered a
deal where the owner will delay demolition for 120 days, allowing us to
raise funds to purchase the house.
This is great news. The house may not be destroyed yet… and it gives us time to raise monies.
Because of these latest developments, Joy will not be interviewed for
CBC Radio Early Edition on Thursday morning. CBC wants to wait and see
what happens next!
I join Janice Wong for CHOW book launch at West Vancouver Library Oct 18, 2005 Tuesday
October 18th
7pm – 9pm
West Vancouver Memorial Library
I will be joining Janice Wong as a panelist for the West Vancouver
launch of her book, CHOW From China to Canada: Memories of Food +
Family. Jeannie Mah is unable to attend from Regina.
This will be lots of fun. Janice and I only discovered each other
about 2 months ago, when she e-mailed me and identified herself as a
relative from the Rev. Chan Family. We have enjoyed sharing our
mutual love for family history, and discoveries about who we know and
what stories about relatives we know.
I will be talkign about discovering Chinese restaurants on my travels
throughout North America, stories about Chinese restaurants, and how I
have integrated Chinese food into my Robbie Burns Chinese New Year
dinner, aptly named…. “Gung Haggis Fat Choy!”
Earlier on Tuesday she will be taping a tv segment for CityTV's
CityCooks with host Simi Sara. I have appeared two times on the
show with restauranteur/chef Joseph Lee to prepare haggis wun-tun, and
lettuce wrap.
VISION VANCOUVER fundraiser for Raymond Louie & George Chow
This was billed as a fun event, and I got to sit with friend David
Wong, and my cousin Hayne Wai. I also got to see lots of friends
and aquaintances in the community. Perfect for networking! (and
also to scout Floata out for the next Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner
planned for January 22nd, 2006)
It was a typical 12 course dinner affair with speeches, music and
entertainement and more speeches. Lots of Chinatown associations
were there in attendance. I greeted my Uncle Dan, and his friends
at the Chinese war veterans table. I saw Bong, a waiter from the
old Marco Polo restaurant – he was very happy that I recognized him and
insisted I say hello to my father.
I greeted Councillor Jim Green and gave him a brief update on the
Kogawa House situation. He warmly introduced me to candidate
Heather Harrison, and his wife Roberta. I also talked with
Raymond Louie's wife Tonya. I really like Tonya, she is one of
the best raffle ticket selling partners I have ever had. We first
met when she was on the board of the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month
Society in 2002.
Charlie Wu of the Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society was there, and I
greeted other members of the TCCS, that I knew. Charlie was
instrumental in helping to create the Vancouver International Taiwanese
Dragon Boat Races. Raymond also played a big role in helping the
boats be donated to Vancouver.
Nice short chats with Raymond and George Chow. They both thanked
me for donating some prizes. For some reason, George had asked me
to donate some haggis. I think it was because 50% of the
attendees were caucasian. But in the end, I think the two wee
haggi will find a home for Jenny Kwan's Scotch tasting party next month.
I managed to have a copy of CHOW donated for a raffle prize. This
generated some intrest, as they announced the Vancouver Museum book
launch for Oct 25th.
Finally… raffle and door prizes given out. My cousin Hayne Wai,
won box seats for a Canucks hockey game (Hmmm…. Where can we
get some for fundraiser prizes?)
Oh, the food and music? The Lion Dance is noisy – I don't think I'll
have that for GHFC. But I really liked the crab maw soup, and the
taro/duck dish.
CineCity looking for visible minority and aboriginal filmakers… Here's your chance!
Citytv is committed to supporting emerging and established Canadian
filmmakers. Through the CineCity: Vancouver's Stories initiative we are
continuing our commitment to the local film community by helping
emerging visible minority and Aboriginal filmmakers produce short,
dramatic films in British Columbia. These projects are supported
through development, production and ultimately, Citytv will broadcast
the finished productions.
In addition to yearly calls for submissions, CineCity participates in
supporting festival competitions and community events. Below you will
find information on some upcoming deadlines and events.
Citytv/Whistler Film Festival Short Script Competition Deadline Extended to October 28
The Whistler Film Festival is seeking submissions from
culturally-diverse B.C. screenwriters for its Short Scripts Competition
presented by Citytv’s CineCity: Vancouver’s Stories and co-hosted by
Alibi Unplugged.
Details:
· B.C. screenwriters are asked submit an 8 minute short-film scripts on the theme “Transformation”
· The screenwriter or two of three development team participants
(writer/producer/director), must be of visible minority or of
Aboriginal heritage to be eligible.
· Three semi-finalists will participate in a live script reading,
hosted by Alibi Unplugged on Saturday, December 3, 2005 a the Whistler
Film Festival
· One project will be awarded a $5,000 development prize from Citytv.
For complete guidelines and an application form: www.whistlerfilmfestival.com
LIVE SCRIPT READING – Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Citytv presents a CineCity Cold Reading Series Event
4 Brand New CineCity Scripts. Professional Actors. All in front of a LIVE audience.
November 16
The IronWorks
235 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC
