Author Archives: Ed Sum

02.08.16
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2016 Victoria Film Festival Opening Weekend Recap & What’s Coming

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The 2016 Victoria Film Festival (VFF) started off with a great bang with the Friday night screening of My Internship in Canada, a very funny political satire by Philippe Falardeau (Congorama). This movie explores how democracy should really work instead of who can sway prevailing opinion.

CTV Arts Reporter Adam Sawatsky introduced this film and Exantus, one of the two leads. He was present for this screening. Kathy Kay, festival chief, welcomed film enthusiasts who came down for this movie and party. On a blustery evening packed with many events around town (including a broader movie festival at Cineplex theatres and a Jim Brynes concert up in Sidney), competition is getting tough. The VFF is a fixture for cinema buffs to enjoy and I was here instead of anywhere else!

The night continued strong with a Gala party at the historic Promis building, located off Government street. Filmmakers, performers and attendees of the festival mingled.

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02.06.16
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[VFF ’16] The Sandwich Nazi, A Documentary Review

viff2015sandwichnaziLa Charcuterie
19080-96th Avenue Unit 8
Surrey BC V4N 3R3
(604) 882-0881

Saturday, Feb 6th 6pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas St,
Victoria, BC

A trip to the industrial neighbourhood of Port Kells in Surrey, BC is needed to experience Salam Kahil’s capricious if not salacious behaviour in The Sandwich Nazi. Yes, the allusions to Seinfeld are there, and if the two had to be compared, Kahil is funnier. The size of the sandwiches he makes must be noted. They look huge and to finish it in one sitting must be a feat!

Kahil, an immigrant from Lebanon, is the focus in director-producer Lewis Bennett’s documentary. He was once a male escort and while the first act spends too much time on his escapades, thankfully all that changes halfway when viewers learn there’s more to him than meets the eye.

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02.04.16
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[VFF ’16] Going Behind the Counter with The Sandwich Nazi, An Interview with Lewis Bennett

viff2015sandwichnazi

The Sandwich Nazi
Saturday, Feb 6th 6pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas St,
Victoria, BC

Although a car is needed to get to Surrey, BC to visit La Charcuterie Delicatessen, a deli and Scandinavian grocery store in an industrial neighbourhood known as Port Kells, thankfully to get taste of what goes on there can be seen around the world. The Sandwich Nazi is an aptly titled documentary that looks at the scandalous life Salam Kahil, the owner and operator of this establishment. At Two Hungry Blokes, we’re eying the size of those sandwiches that’s made than the owner’s ballsy attitude. Until we can get there, Ed had the opportunity to communicate with Lewis Bennett, who decided to turn the life of this deli operator into a hilarious film!

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01.27.16
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Meat and Bread’s Simplicity Spreads!

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Meat and Bread
721 Yates St.
Victoria, BC

This small franchise operation has one great thing going for it. They source their ingredients locally. Whether the operation is running in Seattle, Vancouver or Victoria, just who they look to begins with finding that right bread to put their roasted meats into. The Victoria-based operation gets theirs from Crust Bakery on Fort which is a few blocks away. I should’ve checked what kind of bread that was because I’m craving more of this to toast up at home!

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01.21.16
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LANtasy Wants the Fun in Fandom to Return in Victoria, BC!

Lantasy_Logo_white_h100pxMarch 12-13, 2016
Pearkes Arena, Victoria BC

Tickets: $30 weekend pass
or $15 per day.

LANtasy‘s motto is “Play Games, Have Fun” at their upcoming event taking place March 12th and 13th. For the fandom living in Victoria, BC, hopefully everyone can put the incidents of 2015 behind them. The final quarter of that year was less than positive: GottaCon (GC) announced they were closing their doors and Island Fantasy Convention did not happen. The reaction by the community was not kind with how the latter event was handled. However, with a new year Tsukino-Con remains strong and the technical crew behind GC decided to continue the legacy the broad-spectrum gaming event represented.

Jeff Pedlow is one of the department heads. He says this show will exist to bring people together and his group really loves the gaming community that exists here. Despite the name, they are not playing favourites over what kind of activities are being offered at this show. Yes, there will be a heavy Local Area Network (LAN) gaming presence, but there is more to the show than just that — board gaming, miniature gaming and RPGs are offered. People will be encouraged to come in costume (cosplay). Essentially, this event will be just like GottaCon in their early days. In what’s for certain, Pedlow says that his group does not take any money from the event and their goal is to throw community-centric gaming events for everyone living on the island. As their Facebook page shows, there are qualifying events taking place in and out of the Capitol Region that will lead up to the finals at LANtasy.

“If we grow in size, that’s always great, but our primary concern is throwing fun events for the community to come out and enjoy,” said Pedlow.

Even though this event is two months away, perhaps fandom should start planning. In addition to their FAQ about this event, Otakunoculture talked to Jeff about other lingering queries:

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01.20.16
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Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre needs Outdoor vendors!

The choices of decent food that one can buy at stadium events are often inferior to that of what some nearby diners can offer. Not many arenas have a large dedicated space for a proper kitchen, much less a proper area for cooking gourmet foods for more than one operation. Rogers Arena and BC Place Stadium in Vancouver offers great variety while Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria has the Lion’s Den Restaurant upstairs, Ali-Baba Pizza and basic concession downstairs. After attending a few events at this venue over the past few years, I feel disappointed. Is there other snacking options that a picky eater can find? No.

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