Category Archives: Your Island Guide

Your guide to the best our islands have to offer.

08.17.15
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Ed’s Victoria Fringe Festival Picks of 2015

Fringefeaturedimage11

Various Venues
August 27 to Sept 6
Victoria, BC

Requires Fringe Button ($6)
Tickets range from $9 to 11
Available through Ticket Rocket or at the door

Just what kind of dreams may come from this year’s Victoria Fringe Festival? That’s just one of many themes I’ve noticed when flipping through the pages of the guide. When my passion in theatre is for the fantastic, that’s going to become the guiding force for some of the shows I plan on going to see. This year marks the 29th annual show, and I feel this year will be a hint of great things to come when the 30th rolls around next year. Okay, I’m thinking a year ahead, but I’m sure there’s some folks from Intrepid who’s already planning well in advance in how to make next year a big celebration. For this year’s fun, there’s a grand mix of style, and just what I’m looking for is varied.

Herein lies my picks for the 2015 year.

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05.25.15
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Feast Your Eyes on “The Dream,” A Culinary Movie Review

af-el-somni-poster-cat1Plays Sunday, May 31
Oak Bay Beach Hotel
Victoria, BC

Brunch: 11 AM
Film: 12:15 PM

El Somni (The Dream) is one of those films that is more of a visual exposition than a by-the-book style documentary about brothers Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca. After taking home the first place award in the 50 Best Restaurants in the World ceremony of 2013, just what can they do next is explored in this film. These siblings desire to create a new artistic culinary movement to engage the five senses — if not six to create a spiritual awakening — of a dinner can make or break their established careers. They’re reknowned chefs from El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain.

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04.30.15
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A Nerdy Events Guide to this May Weekend in Victoria, BC

Free_Comic_Book_Day

Not only will the city of Victoria, BC get an extra day of geekery on but also, not many cities can lay claim to having four days dedicated to various fun events taking place nearly all at the same time. Here’s a quick summary of what’s going on:

May 1st
Lego at the Library (2:30pm)
Greater Victoria Public Library
Juan de Fuca Branch
This event is technically for children ages 7-10 who want to have fun with the sets offered at the library. Registered participants are also encouraged to bring their own bricks so they can learn how to stack them up in other creative ways for a take-home project.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Movie Premiere (evening)
This movie will definitely delight Marvel Movie Universe fans. Not only does this film continue on from where the first film and Captain America: Winter Soldier left off, with hints of two mutants — Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch — being important in the film, but also this movie will set the stage for the third part of the saga cumulating to Avengers: Infinity Wars.

People going to the IMAX screenings on this day should, in theory, get a keepsake poster while supplies last.

May 2nd
Comic Book Day (starting 10am)
This North American wide event has become the norm. With the Greater Victoria Public Library Central Branch and at least two of the three three comic book stores participating in this city, the fun can be shared, if not spread around. When the stores have to restrict just how many titles readers can grab, all the smart collector has to know is to walk from store to store (and library) to get a good fill.

This year has comics that will introduce folks to the fantastic worlds featured in Doctor Who, the realm where there’s plenty of robots in disguise in Transformers (thankfully not the awful Michael Bay version), the pulps in The Phantom and the mutants in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A full list can be found on the official website.

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02.23.15
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[Victoria, BC] Chinese New Year Celebrations in the Heart of Chinatown

In my youth, Chinese New Year meant going to Victoria, BC’s Chinatown with my parents and watching the lion dances held at this special time of the year. I recall fond memories when firecrackers were handed out to my dad, and he would let me hold the incense stick to light the firecrackers. He tossed them close to where the dancers were and they exploded. When nobody was looking, he even let me light and throw a few myself. That excitement gave life to those dances from decades ago. These days, due to fire regulations and safety, what’s done is a tamer comparison of what I fondly recall. At least the purpose remained the same: the noise is meant to scare the evil away so prosperity can enter the businesses.

On a variable cloudy day, the sun came out to shine on today’s celebrations. That’s a good sign for what’s to come. And I got to hang out with very good friends while we enjoyed watching the lions dance around the block that cumulated to a martial arts demonstration by the Hung Fut Kung Fu club, which has been around since 1974. I’ll let the pictures I took speak for itself:

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02.09.15
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[VFF’15] Is the Food Tennis Pro Ate Big in Japan? A Review & Interview

bij_POSTERLittle known Seattle-based rock band Tennis Pro is having problems back home and in what they realize is that they are not getting the attention that they deserve. When Alex Vincent (AKA Alex Shumway) of Green River fame takes notice and offers them the chance to pursue recognition in the land of the rising sun, perhaps their fame will truly be “Big in Japan.”

This rockumentary blends actual concert moments with a fictionalized narrative to tell the story of what guitarist David Drewery, drummer Sean Lowery and bassist Philip Pearson faced while in this country. From total culture shock in not quite realizing where they are to showing off what this trio have to eat, perhaps it’s best lovers of Japanese food should not attend this film with an empty stomach. It will get some people wanting to try an ice cream hotdog or to attempt a ‘dangerous’ round of sushi roulette themselves.

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