Month: November 2006

out the door to work any minute

Heart of the World:


Originally uploaded by Foxtongue.

I’m still writing, (and re-writing and re-writing), both the pitch and the business plan, trying to make them as absolutely perfect as I can before I release them into the cruel wilds of the world. When I’m done, I’ll be putting the pitch up both here and on the website and asking people to spread it around more than I can alone. (With thanks to Katie for already putting up my messy rough-draft). The business plan will be up there too and very likely sent out to whomever asks for it. The more people know about this, the more likely it is we’ll be a success.

The realtor called back, has told me there’s no violations on the building, the plumbing and electrical are up to spec. Hydro is approximately $500/month and taxes are $14,849 a year. He doesn’t know about the insurance. On Oliver’s advice, I’m going to be making a legal offer on the place this week, possibly tomorrow, giving us a deadline of December 1st, with a completion date of January 15th.

People who would like to buy shares, the details on that are being finessed as quickly as I can in the hours around my day-job. I’ve got a lawyer looking at it for me and hopefully he’ll have definitive information for me to give you on that by the end of the week.

On a more socially accessible level:

Pacific Cinematheque is running a Russian Sci-Fi exhibition, and I’m planning on attending the Thursday night screening of Ruslan and Ludmila at 8:45 pm. It’s being billed as “A mad, enchanted combination of The Wizard of Oz, Die Niebelungen and The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T,” which sounds practically compulsory. It promises a lush, fantastical pre-cursor to Jan Svankmajer, Terry Gilliam, and Tim Burton. Tickets are $8.50 with memberhip, (double bills are $10.5)0, and membership, if you don’t already have it, is another $3.

Friday night I’m going to HIVE. Billed as a multi-faceted performance installation, it’s really a giant funky warehouse party with a bar/cafe in the middle, put on by eleven of BC’s best-known independent theatre companies, many of whom I’ve worked for or am delighted to be friends with. (Boca del Lupo, Electric Company, Felix Culpa, Leaky Heaven Circus, neworldtheatre, The Only Animal, Radix, Rumble Productions, Theatre Replacement, Theatre SKAM, Western Theatre Conspiracy). How it works is that the space is divided into 11 performances areas, intimate little toy theatres, each under the complete control of a company. David Bloom, (Felix Culpa), for example, has told me that he’s going up with our friend Alex and performing The Trojan War in Approximately Ten Minutes.

please remove your jesusland politicians, VOTE! (thank you)

American citizens: If you experience any irregularities in voting today, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE, the hotline for the National Campaign for Fair Elections. EFF lawyers and many others are standing by across the country to take legal action to remove malfunctioning voting machines, keep polls open, etc.

“No reason to be scared of other people. We’re the ones who carry the flame, the light.”

Sunday – we were still a city burning, but now on the horizon, as if the time between us were embodied in distance, impulsive steps out into a desert. Persepolis, though his name might be the name of my next god-child, I was never certain if I would wake next to him again. Enchanting, built of admirable social immunities, a strange ruin painted with glyphs that I desperately want to run my fingers over. Even in the bed, under familiar strings of lights that sang starlight like blood-cells, wrapped around a body that felt like evolution’s most satisfying proof, I didn’t know if he would keep me safe in the morning. He did today. I know I want him to again.

33 writers. 5 designers. 6-word science fiction. The old meme is back, what’s yours?

Saturday – a different house, one letter different. I literally vaulted over him to get out of bed when I realized we’d slept through the alarm. Over and out, into the rest of my clothes and up the stairs, without even saying goodbye, leaving only a kiss brushed quickly on his cheek, too quietly to wake him fully. My last glimpse of him, through the closing bedroom door, was one of a selkie trying to hide under blankets. It was only at the bus-stop that I realized I was going to be fine, I wasn’t even close to being late. Tea could have happened, breakfast even. I wondered, belatedly, if I should have woken Mark-with-a-K for his audition and mildly cursed the erratic illusion of clarity that comes from waking in unfamiliar surroundings. Early mornings after late nights, working seven days in a week, it wears – I left my mother’s umbrella behind in my abstracted rush.

more on heart of the world when I am awake

a full moon & burning effigies, it’s a pity about the rain

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
‘Twas his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God’s providence he was catch’d,
With a dark lantern and burning match

Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah!

A penny loaf to feed ol’ Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.

Burn him in a tub of tar,
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we’ll say: ol’ Pope is dead.

There’s people meeting at nine o’clock at the granville skytrain station to go watch v for vendetta to celebrate guy fawkes day. I’m not going ’cause they’re not burning effigies or collecting pennies for fireworks, but you’re more than welcome to join them. look for boys with attractively odd hair. that’s probably them.

Heart of the World inside (I am not the girl in the photo)

Inside of the theatre is a neglected microcosm, thoroughly dreamlike and unexpectedly specific. The foyer is much of what you would expect, rag painted light blue and carrying the dim scent of dropped-rail fluorescents, but farther in, however, are surprises. It’s a 300 seat theatre, complete with a balcony with box seats, and though there’s a very certain air of shabby mistreatment, everything’s quite intact. The heavy velvet curtains still swing with a glorious weight and the stage, as much as we could see of it, seems undamaged.

Unfortunately, the realtor was astonishingly unhelpful on the matter of light-switches, which left significant portions of the building lost in a sinister darkness. Backstage, for example, an immense space, three stories tall. I tried to use my camera flash to see, only to discover a maze of chairs and miscellany piled a decade high, impossible to navigate without a steady light. Under the stage was more darkness, this time obscuring a suite of blank rooms I presume used to serve as the proper backstage area, the green room, and where the old caretaker used to live when it the The New York.

They let him live there in exchange for janitorial services. Silva talked to him in 1986, when we lived in the building adjacent, and discovered that he used to be an architect, but blew his mind out when he took a tab of acid that turned out to be something else entirely. He said to her, “I remember when I used to be smart, but I’m not anymore.”

I didn’t brave many of those rooms, only the ones easiest to find lights in, as stepping so blindly into the darkness felt as perilous as it very likely was. I might have been the first person to explore them in years.

Upstairs was far more promising to investigate. The booth, though ridiculously cluttered with celluloid heaps of Bollywood spools, oddly shaped reel tins, and strange burlap covered boxes marked AIRMAIL MUMBAI, is entirely in working order. The equipment looks to be possibly from the fourties, which is modestly intimidating, but the bulb’s been replaced recently enough to alleviate worries about sudden burnout. (What an annoying bill that would be. Ouch.) All in all, it looks to be perfect. (Even down to the fact that the bolt on the booth door is a screwdriver.)

My only concerns will likely be dealt with once I get my hands on both the floor-plans and the current owner’s financial records form the last three months. That will let me A. find the damned lights, and B. finish a proper business plan to interest financers with.

In the meanwhile, this is the rough-draft of my blurb that I’m going to want everyone to whore around – if you have any suggestions to improve it, please don’t hesitate to tell me:


Built in 1910, the Raja Theatre has recently come up for sale. When it was the New York – before it spent a decade as a Bollywood house – the theatre was a fabulous venue known for hosting an astonishing number of fantastic shows, diverse and interesting, such as Neil Young when he toured with Sonic Youth and Krispin Hellion Glover. It is my hope to buy the building and re-open it as the Heart of the World, a multi-arts cultural venue that recaptures and surpasses its previous glory.

Heart of the World is to be an art house repertory, showing everything from original work, (support your artists, people!), to old films where the copyright’s run out, and double-bills like Marc Caro nights, (Amélie, Delicatessen, City of the Lost Children), everyone’s favourite director they never knew the name of. It will also be available for both acoustic and amplified concerts, plays, short performances, and coffee house cabaret evenings. The stage is quite big, and once we dig it out from the decade high pile of uprooted chairs and miscellaneous boxes, it will be beautiful again. I’d also like to have podcasts of performances available on-line for download and use the foyer as a small art gallery of paintings and photography from artists both local and international.

I am attempting to find investors, and if you want to help, please contact me at Foxtongue@shaw.ca with your name and your specialties. Even if you think you’ve got nothing to offer, I’m sure we can find a place for you. Every bit of help is appreciated and work, depending on category, will be paid in shares.

If you think you could help with financing, either by a small donation or by a larger contribution, here’s my plan:

An investor, which could be you or someone you know, buys the theatre outright under contract with me that I eventually pay them the full amount, but that I only end up owning a controlling share, just over half the property. I take care of the taxes, the etceteras, and I make the venue work. I run the place and ultimately we are both in the enviable position of making money with a good thing. The investor is guaranteed to make a profit no matter what happens – even if I default, they still own a considerable asset, one that will be worth more by then from all the work I’ll have put in.

Basically the investor gets all their money back, I get the controlling share, and we both get a really awesome venue that not only enriches Vancouver culturally and opens space to artists, but which promises to provide a steady income.

harping on because writing’s my only vice


parents to blame
Originally uploaded by Foxtongue.

Been hard to find inspiration lately, what with the constant flow of people who are happier leaving me than helping me rebuild. Instead of standing up to them, I’ve learned to be weak and it’s ruined my interpretation of language. I need a reinstallation of faith, someone to give me a space to fall apart where I know they’ll pick me up again. Too young to be sad about better days, I’m beginning to walk as if I’m an emotional catastrophe anyway. Devastation Jhayne’s been my on-line name for far too long. This project, I think it will give me the impetus to forgive myself for not being able to forgive them.

WorldChanging: An encylopedic user’s guide to the technology and social movements of the 21st Century being used to make the world a better place.

It feels strange to be considered ‘higher risk, with good growth potential’. This goes through and I suspect it might be a little like being reborn to be so suddenly justified in my belief that Vancouver can be a good place culturally if only we’re willing to stand up and put the work in. Force this place to grow up a bit, fighting against the Yaletown soullessness we seem to be stuck with. There’s no sense of history here, we’re too new. I feel it’s a shame hardly anyone seems to remember The Pink Slipper, The Town Pump or the Starfish Room, venues that were closed, (some of them, like the Pink Slipper and The Main St. Candy Shop, torched by arsonists who were never caught), and never replaced. It’s like we’ve got gaps no one’s seeing because they’re just part of the landscape. It’s like our absence of meaningful architecture. There used to be great places here for all sorts of live performances, local and otherwise, but now it looks like we’re even going to lose The Vogue? Bloody crime, all around. Even more reason to get my place going, a performance theatre like the Cultch used to be.

Current global consumption levels could result in a large-scale ecosystem collapse by the middle of the century.

And now, to bed, to sleep until it is time to peer into what hopefully will end up being my theatre.

“heart of the world” update

I’ve made an appointment to look over the property tomorrow morning at 9. Silva, my godmother, (and possibly a realtor friend), are also coming. According to Mr. Dempsey, the realtor in charge of the sale, the property comes with all of its equipment, it won’t be gutted. (Which is good, as that kind of thing is obscenely expensive, and would make the space exceptionally painful to get working as a cinema again).

Oliver’s been helping me poke at the place as much as can be done on-line and tonight I got the realtor to confirm that the licenses are indeed weird. Instead of being zoned as a Commercial space, it’s zoned for multi-family residential, which means the license is currently non-conforming, (this is so perfect is sort of hurts my brain). As long as I keep operating as a theatre without a break of more than 6 months the non-conforming use can continue indefinitely and I may get to legally live in it. Jack Dempsey says it’s entirely likely I could just move in without the city being able to complain. Also, he thinks the building may have actually been built in the twenties, not the 50’s as initially supposed, so there’s a good chance that the building has been grandfathered enough that it doesn’t have to be up to code. (Which is almost more exciting than legally-living-there VS illegally-living-there, ’cause we all know I will either way, right?). That last bit of information is a little too shaky for me to trust on faith, if only because it all sounds too good to be true, so I’m going to be looking more into that after I take my actual peek through the building tomorrow. I don’t know about licenses for live performance yet, but I’ll be asking. (Course, if you know, pipe up. “For a good time, call me”).


cresttint
Originally uploaded by abrietta.

More good news: The current owner of the building owns a string of other businesses and is selling this one because apparently he’s simply too busy to keep a handle on it and his other theaters and his pharmacy. He’s not sloughing off a bankrupting business because it’s drowned under debt or liens. Tax, I’m told, is $1400, though I don’t know enough to know what that means yet. I feel safe assuming it has nothing to do with the business and everything to do with the land. Hydro, operating costs, etcetera, he couldn’t give me over the phone, as the owner of the property hasn’t called him back yet, but the realtor says he can get them to me easily enough.I’m hoping to look at the place’s last three months of numbers with an accountant who can tell me what they mean. (If anyone is or knows of a good accountant who can help, that would be grand, all I have are lawyers). Educated guesses are telling me that the cost will very likely be something akin to $5000 a month. However, the realtor tells me that there’s some flexibility regarding the price, though not much. The property went up for sale about a year ago with a list price of over a million dollars. No one bit. This time, though, now that it’s nominally cheaper, there’s a few people looking interestedly, one of which who wants to do the similar things as I do, so now it’s a bit of a race. If I can show up with a good bid before he can raise his financing, I’ll win.

All of this essentially means one thing; I was right, my biggest hurdle will be the actual purchase.

However, with some help, I’ve found out how to do it.

Here’s the trick: Find someone, (a personal investor, a corporation, whatever), with money and have them completely buy it, 100%, in agreement that I will pay them back for all of it, (slower than if it were through a large down-payment), but only end up owning a little over half. I take care of the taxes, the etceteras, and I make the venue work. I run the place and eventually pay them back. That way they’re completely guaranteed. Even if I default and fail to pay them back, they still own a considerable asset, one that will be worth more by then from all the work I’ll have put in. Me and, of course, all you lovely people who will have been paid in shares of the company. (I’ve been told that that’s how a teenage fantasy artist in Seattle became a millionaire. She painted the original Magic Cards, you see, but the company was too tiny and broke to pay her in cash then, so they paid her in shares. Now, I’m not hoping to be as grand and lucky as all that, but hey, maybe they’ll be worth box seats). As to cash-flow, I’ve got enough people lined up who’re willing to perform pro bono or pay for the privilege of walking the boards at the old New York that I’m pretty sure I can run a month of entertainment for practically free. This, of course, tells me nothing about the numbers, but I guess I’ll find out soon enough how much I’ll have to make monthly to keep it viable. Until then, I don’t want to plan too far ahead, if you know what I mean.

Basically the investor, they get all their money back, I get the controlling share, and we both get a really awesome venue which eventually should provide some income, which makes it more in their interest to help me out and keep me involved.

I was thinking of pitching that to someone like Electronic Arts, some Big Money that wants to be cool, though they’re not, maybe, the best first choice. Alex Peake suggested Relic, as apparently they go in for the movie thing. That’s the next step after tomorrow, finding appropriate money-lenders. That and writing out the business plan.

Happen to know anyone filthy rich and friendly to young, emerging arts types? Grants take too long to be useful now Those are for later, once I’m lucky enough to have scary gobs of debt to pay off.

Related: there’s going to be a public hearing regarding the plan to turn the Vogue Theatre into a dinner club & bar.

On a lighter note, one less insane and probably more conversational, here’s a Chapman Stick video I had on earlier.