WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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1. Violent broads run amok in the desert and get up to all sorts of trashy trouble in Russ Meyer’s ultra campy and stylish 1965 cult classic Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, which screens June 21, 8 p.m. at the Rio Theatre as part of the Friends of Dorothy film series. Presented by Xtra West!, the event is hosted by Ryan Steele and Amy Gee, with a performance by Raye Sunshine. Tickets $8 at the door. For more info, go to riotheatre.ca. 2. The increasingly hip-a-fied streets of Gastown fill with the sounds of live music June 21, 5 to 10 p.m., for the second annual Make Music Vancouver. Aiming to, deep breath, “create engagement within the community on a multitude of levels, promoting environmental awareness and an appreciation of the arts,” the free event features more than 150 musical acts performing everything from rock to classical, jazz to heavy metal. What about Celtic-funk with a side of didgeridoo, you and your weedy roommates may be asking. Well, you’ll have to check it out for yourselves, bro. More info at makemusicvancouver.ca.
4. There was a time, way back when we were slimmer and care-free, that Anacortes, Wash.-based singer-songwriter Phil Elverum released his textured, lo-fi indie pop goodness under the moniker The Microphones. But since 2005, he’s been calling his musical project Mount Eerie, which was the name of The Microphones’ final album. Confused? Don’t be. All your questions will be answered when Mount Eerie performs June 21 at the Rickshaw in support of the beautifully lush release Clear Moon. Hungry Cloud Darkening, Motorbikes and the Dyeing Merchants open. Tickets at Red Cat, Zulu or liveatrickshaw.com.
kudos & kvetches Surface’s up
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3. If we reach back far enough into the spaghetti-like jumble of gray matter that is our memory, we can recall at least a dozen all-ages shows in the mid to late ’90s where we saw the venerable Vancouver punk-pop band Gob holding court. We don’t know what happened to them the last decade, or why bands like Blink 182 or Sum 41 (which now employs singer/guitarist Thom Thacker) rose to the top of the heap, but Gob is back in action and playing Venue, June 21. Time to feel old. Tickets at Red Cat, Zulu or ticketweb.ca.
Good news, technology lovers: On Monday, Microsoft announced it will launch its own tablet called Surface to go head-to-head with Apple’s iPad. Oh yeah, it’s going to be an old-fashioned, socially challenged nerd-on-nerd throw-down. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled Surface at a press conference in Los Angeles. And if we know anything about Microsoft product launches, it was off the hook. Remember when Windows XP was announced and an orgy practically broke out? Other names considered for the new tablet included Façade; Magic Shallow Rectangle; We Know, We’re Really Late to the Party; and Seriously, Do We Really Need All This S***? But in the end, marketers felt Surface hit that perfect mix of literalness and vagueness needed to attract a docile, easily coerced population. Surface’s launch coincides with the emergence of Windows 8, the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system, which is expected to hit stores in the fall. “We believe that any intersection between human and machine can be made better when all aspects of the experience, hardware and software,
are considered and working together,” Ballmer told members of the audience, who were mostly staring at their phones playing Angry Birds. Then Ballmer reached into a metal cage, pulled out a live lab rat by the tail and swallowed it whole before walking off stage and stepping into his teleporter.
Knockin’ on Cranbrook’s door
Good news, music lovers: Iconic mumbler Bob Dylan is on the road this summer, and he’s stopping in British Columbia. Sadly, he won’t be shuffling into Vancouver, or bringing some much-needed culture to the rednecks of Surrey—we kid, Surrey is full of inbreds. Nope, after hitting such musical hotspots as Lloydminster, Alberta, followed by a pit stop in Lethbridge, the artist formerly known as Robert Zimmerman will bring the noise to the sexily named RecPlex in Cranbrook, or as Dylan likes to pronounce it, “Ce-be-de-cran-if-you-canread-braille-boogie-brooknargle.” Of all the places in this beautiful province that his entourage could have picked, they settle on Cranbrook? Was Vanderhoof booked? How about Salmon Arm? Or Spuzzum? What about Horse Fly? Needless to say, we’re a little perplexed by
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the selection of Cranbrook, but we’re like that with most things Bob Dylan-related.
Motor away
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Good news, street festival lovers: Thousands took to the cordoned-off streets of Vancouver this past Sunday to enjoy Car Free Day on Commercial Drive, Main Street and in the West End. There was food, face painting, bicycle demonstrations, dancing, stilt walkers and plenty of information kiosks promoting things we felt too overwhelmed to pay attention to. But you know what else Car Free Day had plenty of? Non-residential cars taking up all the nearby residential parking spaces. Apparently Car Free Day is so popular that families from near and far feel inspired to drive across town to attend. Driving along Vancouver’s streets so you can enjoy a stretch of car-less Vancouver street? At this point we would normally quote C+C Music Factory’s “Things that Make You Go Hmmmm...,” but we’re saving that for when Vancouver holds an Irony Free Day and we’re going to reference the 1990 hit ironically. It will be awesome. k&k@vancourier.com Twitter: @KudosKvetches