they’re asking for taxidermy lends, but only heads

Ray and I are going to Ravishing Beasts this evening, the taxidermy exhibit curated by Rachel Poliquin at the Vancouver Museum, tucked away under the Planetarium. (Ravishing Beasts runs until February 28th, 2010.) I was meant to go to the opening night with Fitz, but missed it. My own mistake, and one that’s still bothering me. Perhaps tonight I will excise my feelings of failure in the glassy eyed embrace of a room sweetly full of stuffed meat.

Vancouver Halloween lead-up

I’m driving down with Matthew and Sarah tonight to Seattle and plan to sew raw red sequins onto my white hallowe’en bustier all the way. We’re going to The Chapel tonight, a church converted into a night club, to dance under fire-spinners. Good times.

For those sticking around in Vancouver, there’s also fun things to do:

  • The Leaky Heaven Circus presents HOWL: A Haunted Hall.
    Friday, October 23rd: 7 – 10pm
    Saturday, October 24th: 7 – 10pm
    Sunday, October 25th: 2 – 5 pm

    At the Russian Hall (600 Campbell Avenue), sliding scale. Cash only at the door please. The Haunted Hall can be entered at any time during the above slots. During a tour of the Haunted Russian Hall, subjects will be subjected to a variety of frightening ordeals to awaken their deepest phobias. Studies will be conducted and trepidations will be calculated on a demographic map of the city. A panel of Child Psychologists (aged 8 through 14) will counsel you through a debriefing session at the end of your journey through fear. All ages welcome. Costumes are a plus.

  • Harm’s Road + Creaking Planks at the Rickshaw.
    Friday, October 23rd:

    Harm’s Road and The Creaking Planks compete for the title of Most Delightfully Ridiculous! Don’t relax your standards of ridiculousness for a moment! DEMAND that they deliver, and they SHALL!! Bonus points for COSTUMES! Come early for the Costume Contest! There will be kooky prizes and adoration for the winners!
    Tickets $10 at the door at The Rickshaw Theatre: 254 E Hastings at Main.

  • Midnight Movies at the Rio: Hedwig & the Angry Inch and Velvet Goldmine.
    Friday, October 23rd: midnight!

    The Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway at Commercial Drive Broadway Skytrain) & Black Dog Video present a Friday Midnight Musical Double Bill of HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH and VELVET GOLDMINE. Dress in costume and win fabulous prizes! Hosted by Burgundy Brixx! Admission is $10 ($8 in costume).

  • Ed Wood’s Orgy of the Dead – LIVE! Ghouls, Girls, and Gore! by the Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society.
    Friday, October 23rd & Saturday, October 24th: Doors 8pm – Show 9pm.

    If you’re a fan of Burlesque, horror, sexploitation, b-movies or just plain fun you’ll love this feature production from Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society. The eighteen member, all star cast will make you squirm in your seats. At the WISE Hall – 1882 Adanac St. – just off Commercial Drive. Tix $25, on-line, from select retailers and at the door.

  • Sex & Death: A Festival of Short Plays by Don Nigro.
    Friday, October 23rd: Doors at 7:30, show at 8pm.
    Saturday, October 24th: Doors at 2:30 pm and Show at 3:00 pm. Doors at 7:30, show at 8pm. (Saturday’s showings will present all six plays in the festival. All other showings will present four.)

    Spectral Theatre Society and the UBC Players are excited to announce their co-production of “Sex and Death: Six Short Plays by Don Nigro”. Creepy, thrilling and sexy shorts by one of America’s premier playwrights, co-presented by Vancouver’s premier creepy, thrilling and sexy theatre society! Subject matter may not be suitable for all ages. Seating is limited so be sure to purchase your tickets ahead of time.

  • EVIL DEAD: The Musical at the Vogue.
    Friday, October 23rd – November 14th: 8 pm

    Blood, guts, gore, and laughter! Evil Dead: The Musical, the smash hit show from Toronto, New York and Calgary has all the makings to be this decade’s Rocky Horror Show. Based on the wildly popular cult movie series (Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Army of Darkness) five vacationing college students looking for fun break into a secluded cabin in the woods. There they discover instead The Necronomicon, an ancient flesh-bound book containing blood-inked spells with the power to summon the demons of Candar. It’s up to Ash, the meek S-mart Housewares employee, to fight off the demons any way he can. Or…he’ll be dead by dawn. (All to song and dance!) But dear audiences, BEWARE! If you sit too close to the stage, in the area we like to call: “The SPLATTER ZONE,” you are bound to leave the theatre covered in blood. Ask for the Splatter Zone by name when you book your tickets!

    Tickets, (including Splatter Zone Tickets), start at $25, available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.ca or call 604.280.4444.

  • BLOODSHOTS Canada 2009 48-Hour Horror Filmmaking Challenge
    SHOOTING: Friday October 23 – 7:00pm – Sunday October 25 – 7:00pm
    SCREENING: Wednesday October 28 – 8:00pm at the Anza Club (3 W. 8th, Vancouver)

    The people who brought you Vancouver’s CINEMUERTE FILM FESTIVAL (1999-2005) are getting set to bring you the 6th annual BloodShots 48-Hour Horror Filmmaking Contest – 25 Teams of filmmakers all fighting against the clock to make the best horror film they possibly can. There will be celebrity judges, fabulous prizes and several tons of fake blood! At 7:00pm on Friday October 23, registered participants are given envelopes containing a horror subgenre (in past years this has included haunted house, giallo, backwoods horror, necrophilia film and more!), a weapon, a prop and a line of dialogue. They then have 48 hours to return their finished 2-7 minute film on DVD! Prize for Best Hallowe’en Costume at Screening.

  • Sin City Halloween Warm-Up Fetish Party at Club 23 West.
    Saturday, October 24th: 9 pm

    Due to overwhelming demand, Sin City presents the kinkiest PRE-HALLOWEEN party in the city, warming up for the main event : SIN CITY FETISH HALLOWEEN on Nov 1 at Celebrities! We’ll be presenting a special Halloween-themed photo booth at this party, so make sure and get some saucy photos to mark the occasion! Absolutely no streetwear or regular daywear! As always, we’re always on the lookout for people to showcase their awesome outfits and ideas, and any fetish outfit as per the dress code outlined in the main group listing will do – and will be absolutely appreciated! Special pass for 3 off cover. Otherwise, it’s $12.

  • Renegade Parade of Lost Souls a community action.
    Saturday, October 24th: 7:00 – 10:30 pm

    The Public Dreams Society, that has historically put on The Parade of Lost Souls annually, on the Saturday prior to Halloween, is not hosting it this year. instead, it’s up the community as a group of free citizens to make it happen! Dress in costume! Make music! There will be fire performances at the tennis court. Grandview Park, Commercial Drive.

  • choooocooolaaaaate

    Just got this in an e-mail:

    In case you haven’t heard, the West Coast Chocolate Festival is back with a list of exciting events that will run from Oct 15-Nov 10. Some of the more popular events to be featured are the Chocolate High Tea; Wines, Liqueurs and Chocolate; Single Malt Scotch and Chocolate; the Cooking with Chocolate seminar at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts and the Chocolat ce Soir at Horizons Restaurant with Chef Garrett and Maître Chocolatier Wim Tas of ChocolaTas. Perfect for chocoholics or just a nice night out on the town. More info can be found on the festival website at www.chocolatefestival.ca.

    I”m still proud of this picture

    China's finale
    China’s finale, 2007

    It’s that time of year again! Come on down for The Celebration Of Light, Vancouver’s annual pyro-festival.
    Tonight’s competitor is Canada, with the theme of the Wizard of Oz.

    I’m going to go down right after work to lay out the big purple blanket for everyone at the usual spot here, right by the water at first beach, just off east of the water slide.

    Show at 10, camping starting at 6. I’m bringing cherries, feel free to bring whatever or whomever you like.

    dressing red as candy blood

    Tonight at the Anza Club! Springtime Lullabye!
    Jess Hill’s costume party music video debut!

    “It’s true! As of yet there has been but a whisper in the wind of the coming of wonderful things. The magic people are busying themselves excitedly with the creation of an evening of dream and inspiration, song, poetry, burlesque, and decor. Minds, bodies, and spirits will then make a dream come true as we raise funds for the production of Jess Hill’s upcoming album: Orchard.”

    doors at 8, show at 9. tickets $10 at the door.
    Lullabye’s start at 9pm sharp. So don’t be late.

    The night will feature la musique of Jess Hill, Tarran the Tailor, Maria in the Shower, CJ Leon, Chelsea Johnson, and Sneetch, burlesque performances by the fine feathered ladies in Booty Burlesque and the one and only Rad Juli, and mad poetics by The Svelte Ms. Spelte and RC Weslowski.

    The theme is dreamland so do please let your imagination dress you. After all anything goes, it’s your dream.

    PERFORMERS:

    Jess Hill: Hauntingly beautiful, the shadow singing with her crows, the blond-haired, blue-eyed, guitar-riffing sweetheart of East Van, Jess Hill will be playing with her band The Dreams of All and Sundry featuring arrangements for strings by Aaron Joyce and electro-acoustic foley artist Lee Hutzulak.

    Tarran the Tailor: An enchanter of hearts, eyes, hips, and toes Tarran combines boombox and banjo to cast Cajun-style charms on his enraptured audiences. His organic beats seem a perfect fusion of musical technologies from the past, the future, and the land of East Van.

    Maria in the Shower: A fascinating troupe of soul-singing mimes! Their engaging performances mix theatre and cabaret, horn and voice, musicianship and character into an unforgettably ecstatic happening.

    CJ Leon: Clever as a crow with cadaver in his throat, CJ is bleaker and funnier than Hell with classical guitar accompaniment.

    Chelsea Johnson: Soulful and true, when she rocks the mic, the world rocks too.

    There will also be performances by the folk = fun act Sneetch, the hot and fiery Booty Burlesque, the naturally Rad Juli, the scarecrow prophet of East Van The Svelte Ms. Spelte, and surrealist poet and the current Vancouver Poetry Slam Champion RC Weslowski.

    where to be on Sunday

    WAYFARERS OF THE GYPSY MANSION
    a musical bazaar of sorts with
    HUMANWINE, THE BLACKBIRD ORCHESTRA, NATHANIEL JOHNSTONE, TOY BOX TRIO, MEISCE, FINN VON CLARET, and DJ Q.

    “These are the times, my friends. And these are the days. Where the world becomes malleable, palpable. When novelty and genius are within our reach. We are cautioned against being passionate about these things by tales of progress turned to greed and of technology turning on us. And yet, the golden light is just right, the clocks are synchronizing, the stars are in alignment.

    This is what we celebrate tonight. We celebrate these transient times, with these transient artists.” – c. lantz

    Sunday, May 10, 2009 3 pm to 10 pm
    The Little Red Studio
    750 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA
    ALL-AGES, $15 donation

    Wearables, craftables, and edibles provided by a plethora of local and regional artisans. (ex. Sock Dreams will be arriving from Portland to vend excellent foot/legwear.) We will take a dinner break (with DJ) at 6:30 pm – please bring your own sack meal, a picnic to share, or food can be acquired from two of our vendors. Vegan options available. Adult beverages can be purchased by 21+ individuals.

    Spread the word. All are welcome.

    [Another fine event brought to you by the incomparable Libby Bulloff and Willow Brugh.]

    I have three tickets, one for me, one for David, one for Nicole

    Chris Gilpin sent a message to the members of “The Vancouver Poetry Slam Finals featuring Shane Koyczan”:

    ——————–
    Subject: Saturday is the last day of online ticket sales!

    Saturday (that’s today!) is the last day of advance online ticket sales for Finals Night on Monday at the Rio Theatre. Demand has been greater than anticipated, and tickets are going fast. To get yours, go to

    http://vancouverpoetryhouse.com/vanslam/153/

    As of midnight tonight, we’ll be shutting down the online advance ticket sales, which are only $11, and you’ll have to pay $15 at the door.

    And hey! did you see the feature article that the Vancouver Sun put out on our feature performer for Finals Night, Shane Koyczan:
    http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=1462404&sponsor=

    He’s kind of big deal. Just sayin’. You really will be kicking yourself if you miss this show.
    ——————–

    like a wicked dream that leaves you feeling torn out of beautiful paper

    Shane’s show last night blew us all away. I truly think it’s one of the best things he’s ever crafted for the stage. Jordan’s music hit perfect notes, Shane’s performance was exquisite, there was drama, and hope, and cruelty, and love, and everything balanced. You have to go. You must. There’s only a couple of shows left, but they’re essential.