East of Main

After a long 6 and a half years the newly erected complex at 1 Kingsway is opening its doors tomorrow Friday December 11, 2009. East of Main heard the news this afternoon from the VPL Twitter feed [Thank you!]. For the neighbourhood and I’m sure for the tenants it was a long awaited wait - as it was planned to open more than two years ago but had been delayed numerous times.

To learn more on the background and evolution of the facility the City of Vancouver site has all the information.

What is 1 Kingsway? It is a brand new facility on land that the City of Vancouver purchased in September 2001 and will feature a new $4.75 million community centre, library, day care (which opened last week), rental housing, and underground parking. For further information and updates click here.

Photo Credit: City of Vancouver

Questions still left answered:
1. What will happen to the old Mount Pleasant Community Centre at roughly Main & 16th? and to the outdoor pool that many residents and children in the neighbourhood have fond memories?
2.  What is the plans for the Rental Housing? How much will it be rented out for?

We’d love to hear from you if you know anything on these two items or have other comments / suggestions to this development.

We at East of Main are excited on this new addition to the neighbourhood and hope the City continues to service the diverse needs of our East Vancouver community!

Our friends at TckTckTck designed this amazing app. It seems super cool, but we’d like your feedback. Feel free to test out “Tck in a box” + let us know what you think! Continued →

East of Main had the honor of being selected to attend Vancouver’s first ever TED talks on November 21, 2009: TEDxVancouver.

It was truly an amazing eye-opening experience. I especially had a great time hanging out with all the minority crowd - Raakhi Sinha + Gurpreet Sian [SouthAsian Arts],  Lara Honrado + Alden Habacon [Mango], and Charles Tsai [Ashoka] - Thanks for the company!

There were 10+ influential speakers speaking on a variety of topics themed around being: Playfully Young, Globally Young and Emotionally Young. Speakers included Greenpeace founder, Patrick Moore and District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. Added bonus was having Cris Derksen on the Cello and Shamik doing his beatbox skills [check out duet video here -Thx KK]

Photos of the event and videos of the speakers are constantly being uploaded, so keep checking back!

Okay, so now onto the Twitter Reflections: Continued →

The moment West Coasters have been waiting for… SNOW!

Despite us loving the rain and the temperate climate, all the skiers and boarders out West wait all Fall for the start of another season. And this one is looking like it will be a great one.

Vancouver’s 3 local ski mountains are opening EARLY this year, almost record breaking start times for all of them. Cypress and Grouse have both opened Today, November 13, 2009 and Seymour will be opening next Friday Nov.20. Continued →

This used to be Kishu Island. Photo by Andriy Mishchenko, EastOfMain.com & Photic.ca

Half of the block on the southwest corner of Main & Broadway went up in flames early this morning. Speculation is rife in the hood. What happened? How’d it start? EastOfMain sent our 10am photos of the aftermath to the Georgia Straight. As of 5pm, most of the ruins have been levelled with a bulldozer that remains parked there. Just crazy!

Ever wondered what the heck was the difference between a Gyro, Donair or Shawarma?

photo credit: ambassador.rit.edu

Well East of Main went exploring and met up with Karim, the Owner of Mediterra - a Mediterranean restaurant within the AMS Student Union Building at UBC.

He gave the quick and dirty… Nothing!

They are just the different terms for the same food item - a bread-wrapped meat dish. It is called a Gyro in Greek culture, a Shawarma in Lebanese/Middle Eastern, and Donair in Turkish traditions.

The meat is placed on a spit and is grilled. The fatty parts ensure the meat stays juicy. In addition spices are added to the meat to give it a unique and tasty flavor. Continued →

Are you into dance / electronica / nu disco? Well then, I would like to introduce you to Pat Lok. Pat spins nu disco and electronica on Thursdays and Saturdays at Shine. If you haven’t already, come by there for some great dancing. Or download his mixes [FREE!] from DJPatLok.com

I’ve heard Pat spin lots over the last few months, and I like the music more and more each time. Pat’s genres are really in tune with what I like … it’s hard to explain exactly what that is, but it has a lot of synth, very catchy dancy beats, people singing in high key, all permeated with that lovely 80s Madonna feeling. + a dash of Care Bears. Continued →

Be Proud to be Canadian. Not because of the actions our political leaders are taking but because of fellow Canadians who’ve taken action.

While Harper is having back-door dealings to further expand the tar sands, eating donuts + is trying to lead the anti-Kyoto movement at the UN talks, ordinary Canadians (thousands upon thousands) joined the international rallying for climate action.

Saturday Oct. 24th 2009, the world saw the largest day of action ever, part of the www.350.org | www.tcktcktck.org campaign for climate action.

According to the 350.org organizers, Canada had the second highest number of events in all of the world. Around Canada there were hundreds of events including the one our colleagues organized in Ottawa - where 2000+ came out. Continued →

Here at East of Main, we get real excited about Vancouver’s film fest each year. Hours of circling and double-circling the program + a healthy dose of gut instinct (trust us, our VIFF hunches have been pretty much right on in the past) = our hand-picked flicks. “Regular” movies go first; we will follow up with selections from the documentary program.

Autumn (Sonbahar)
Director: Özcan Alper, Turkey
A strong debut for first-time filmmaker Alper. A political dissident, just released from one of Turkey’s repressive prisons, returns home to the seaside. His interactions are limited to seeing an old friend until he meets a Georgian prostitute in a nearby town. A bit like Gus van Sant, Alper uses long, unhurried shots of the surroundings to (in large part) tell the story.
Sat. 10/10 @ 12:00 PM ($9) | Tue. 10/13 @ 6:40 PM ($11) | Wed. 10/14 @ 9:15 PM ($11)
VIFF Screenings & Tickets

Backyard (El Traspaito)
Director: Carlos Carrera, Mexico
A timely drama that sheds some light on the ongoing disappearances of women in Juarez, Mexico. A lone detective fights against ever-increasing odds to unravel this mystery. Subject matter that hits close to home for BC viewers, with local tragedies still very resonant - the Highway of Tears, Pickton murders, and ongoing disappearances from the Downtown Eastside. Early reports say both the cinematography and actors’ performances in Backyard are top-notch.
Wed. 10/07 @ 9:30 PM ($11) | Sun. 10/11 @ 12:00 PM ($9)
VIFF Screenings & Tickets Continued →

Apollo Ghosts. 2007 photo by Kelly Froh.

Friday was another busy day for East of Main at the Olio Festival - 4 venues, 5 shows. Thoroughly enjoyable and whoever’s in charge of this fest was wise to put all this stuff close by together. By bike, it was a breeze to get around.

Apollo Ghosts - Friday @ Anza Club

Wasn’t really sure what to expect from this set. Like many of the other Olio shows, the crowd was small, but intimate and the show was slow to get started. This one’s energy didn’t kick in for a while.  But once it did, we were carrying around the singer on our arms (like a crowdsurf minus a huge crowd) and doing a huge bonga-line all around the floor. This group’s brand of indie rock is infectious, you can tell they’re not trying very hard, just being themselves and enjoying playing for others. Check out Apollo Ghosts on Myspace Continued →