Vancouver Is Awesome #39 - December 31, 2020

NEWS + LIFESTYLE — AN EXTENSION OF VANCOUVERISAWESOME.COM

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VANCOUVE R IS AWESOME THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020

VANCOUVERISAWESOME.COM

The best New Year's resolution you can make will be to take the COVID-19 vaccine

I

don’t know about you, but a few months ago I got tired of hearing people say “2020, amirite?” any time something bad happened, pandemic-related or not.

It goes without saying that it’s been a turbulent and taxing year, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting like a meteor and upending the world as we once knew it.

Over the past ten months, life for most people in Vancouver has evolved from being newly-terrifying to actually feeling like the “new normal”, and that’s been a strange adjustment.

You’re not alone if you’re feeling fatigued and weary. However, 2021 will bring about the opportunity for us to collectively, and individually, press the restart button.

It won’t be due to some pl planned lanned d “great reset” that the conspiracy theory dimwits (who thankfully only make up about .1% of us) believe has been prescribed by a fictional, shadowy group with evil intentions; essentially you’re being given the chance to make the most impactful New Year’s resolution of your lifetime.

I hope that, like me, you’ll resolve to take the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available to you.

The wide distribution of it into the majority of our bodies will, in time, put an end to all of this and bring our world, our city, and our lives, into a new new normal.

Exactly what that normal ends up looking like is entirely up to you.

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Bob Kronbauer bobk@vancouverisawesome.com | 604-439-2688 DIRECTOR OF SALES Michelle Bhatti mbhatti@glaciermedia.ca | 604-630-3503 MANAGING EDITOR Lindsay William-Ross lindsay@vancouverisawesome.com able stock IIn n 2020 were you ab ble tto o ttake akke st tockk of what’s truly important in your life?

How much do you take those people, places, and things for granted, and what will you do to prioritize them?

The coming year will be a time of slow transition and regrowth for this great city of ours, and will certainly be more awesome than the last.

Cheers to your (our) good health.

REPORTERS Elana Shepert | Cameron Thomson Daniel Wagner | Graeme Wood | Jeremy Hainsworth Megan Lalonde | Mike Howell EDITORIAL CARTOONIST Geoff Coates LAYOUT Jodeen Hodgson SALES REPS Alison Clay | David Chiew | Gerald Regio Justin Chen | Maureen Laventure | Samantha Greco FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES PLEASE EMAIL advertising@vancouverisawesome.com FOR GENERAL EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES PLEASE EMAIL

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 VANCOUVER IS AWESOME

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It’s been a long, weird 2020 for the Vancouver Canucks

T

ime seemed to lose all meaning this year. For hockey fans, the usual rhythms were completely upended.

The 2019-20 season ended abruptly in March, called off as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across North Am America. m The playoffs were pushed back to August, a time thaat normally has no hockey at all. Instead of one offseason, wee had two, with uncertainty the entire time of when hockey wo ould return.

Bu ut 2020 is finally, mercifully, coming to an end, and the NH HL season is returning in 2021. Before we look forward, how wever, let’s take one last look at 2020 and the Canucks thin ngs that don’t feel like they happened within the last year, butt did. At least, I’m pretty sure they did.

In January, the much-maligned Loui Eriksson somehow beccame a sort of folk hero for the Canucks after a string of em mpty net goals and assists, to the point that he got “Luuu” chaants at games that are normally reserved for Vancouver spo orts stars like Lui Passaglia and Roberto Luongo. Yes, that acttually happened in 2020.

Laater that month, the Canucks had three representatives at Alll-Star Weekend for the fourth time in team history. Elias All Petttersson was initially selected, then Jacob Markstrom rep placed Marc-Andre Fleury, and Quinn Hughes was votted into the game by the fans in an online vote. Pettersson asttonished in the skills competition with the second-hardest sho ot by a forward in All-Star history, Hughes caught Wayne Grretzky’s attention with his slick hands, and the trio helped leaad the Pacific Division to victory.

In February, Daniel and Henrik Sedin had their numbers raissed to the rafters of Rogers Arena, which certainly seems likee it happened more than ten months ago. Markstrom maarked the occasion with a 49-save shutout of the Chicago

Blackhawks, and we should have made a bigger deal about that.

Speaking of a big deal, the Canucks beat the Boston Bruins 9-3 in February, the first time the team scored 9 goals in a game since 1996. The Bruins were first in the NHL at the time! Do you have any memory of that happening this year?

Do you remember the Canucks holding not just one, but two on-ice dog races featuring the players’ actual dogs?

Remember when Brock Boeser was supposed to be done for the season with a rib injury and the Canucks traded for Tyler Toffoli to take his place? Boeser, initially expected to miss 8 weeks, was back in the lineup a month later, just in time for the regular season to get cancelled, and Toffoli totaled just 17 games for the Canucks.

Long months without hockey meant all eyes were on the Canucks’ front-office drama when they let go of Judd Brackett, the team’s Director of Amateur Scouting, over issues of autonomy. A couple of months later, Brackett was hired by the Minnesota Wild for the same role.

When the NHL season resumed with the playoffs, the Canucks went on an unexpected run. Bo Horvat led the playoffs in goalscoring through two rounds. Thatcher Demko stepped in for an injured Jacob Markstrom and made 123 saves on 125 shots in three games, shattering the confidence of the Vegas Golden Knights. Hughes set a rookie record for playoff points. It was wild. It happened less than four months ago.

There’s been a semblance of normalcy since: the draft, free agency, and trades took place like a normal offseason. Sure, there have been odd things too, like Holtby getting stuck at the U.S.-Canada border with his two tortoises or it coming

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out that Adam Gaudette accidentally kicked his wife in the head at their wedding over the summer. But things are approaching normal: the next NHL season should be starting in a couple of weeks and those weeks should actually feel like weeks, rather than months. That light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer and it’s almost certainly not a train.

At least, I’m pretty sure it isn’t.

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VANCOUVER IS AWESOME THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020

VANCOUVERISAWESOME.COM

LOOKING BACK ON A YEAR OF

AWESOME EDITORIAL

E

ver since I was a kid growing up in Kelowna, I’ve had two dreams: to live in Vancouver, and to be a cartoonist. Not overwhelmingly elaborate dreams, sure, but I wasn’t an overly elaborate kid.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s idolizing some of the greats: Terry Mosher (Aislin), Duncan Macpherson, and in Vancouver, Roy Peterson and Len Norris.

Norris in particular drew Vancouver in an incredibly appealing, loving way. His drawings made me want to move here, and as soon as I was old enough, I did.

Vancouver’s beauty, diversity and tolerance are aspects I didn’t see a lot of in my hometown growing up, and I’m grateful for them every day. I also love some of the city’s more entertaining flaws—the hilarious self-importance of this midsized port city, for one.

We can take ourselves so seriously! I try to work this attitude into a lot of the cartoons I draw. I think of Norris, drawing his aging West Van Imperialists, when I draw my Main St. millennials.

Vancouverites are also famously cold to outsiders, for some reason. People who move here are always commenting about how “unfriendly” we are! Having lived here so long, I guess I’m part of the problem, but

I don’t think we’re unfriendly, so much as… soggy.

In hindsight, I think I picked a hell of a year to start drawing editorial cartoons. Funnily enough, in late 2019 as I was finding my voice during my first months with V.I.A., I often wondered what it was I was going to draw.

How did I want to represent the city’s issues? What subjects would I tackle?

It seemed that there were only so many cartoons I could draw about insane housing costs.

By the end of January, though, that problem was solved for me. Thanks, Global Pandemic!

From learning how to cope with quarantine to Dr. Bonnie Henry, from our Phase 3 flattened-curve summer to this winter’s moronic anti-mask rallies, Vancouver in 2020 has had no shortage of covid-related topics to draw.

I’m grateful to Bob Kronbauer and Vancouver Is Awesome for giving me the opportunity to draw for them. But mostly, I’m grateful to live in such an amazing city.

I’m just hoping 2021 will allow me to get back to drawing hilarious cartoons about how much everyone loves bike lanes.

By Geoff Coates

VANCOUVERISAWESOME.COM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 VANCOUVER IS AWESOME

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VANCOUVER IS AWESOME THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020

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enry is our newsmaker of the year Dr. Bonnie Henry ROYAL ROADS UNIVERSITY

mixture of public restrictions and permissions helped B.C. flatten the curve earlier than most everywhere and has kept the caseload more manageable, even as people spent more time indoors and were more susceptible to spreading the coronavirus.

Members of Glacier Media’s editorial team spoke with Henry across Zoom in early December, one week before the first vaccines arrived in B.C. You can watch the full discussion and read a transcript of it at www.bit.ly/drbonnie2020.

Tacofino rolls out new mini meal in sweet customizable ride

N

ot all kids' meals are created equal. While some restaurants reinforce the stereotype that the under-12 set can only manage chicken strips or buttered noodles, others give the kids the chance to stretch their taste buds with menus for the minis that mimic what the grownups are eating - only wisely scaled-down in portion size and price.

Happily, Tacofino has entered the fold of local restaurants now dishing up cool kids' meals - and they've even gone the extra mile to package them in a sweet cardboard mini food truck box that the kiddos can customize at home with crayons, markers, and stickers galore.

Tacofino's Food Truck Kids’ Kits offer kiddos in your take-out meal crew a choice of a Cheese (mixed cheese, flour tortilla) or Chicken Quesadilla (karage chicken, salsa fresca, lime crema, spring onion, flour tortilla) or Fish Nuggies (tempura Pacific cod, sauce on the side) along with Tortilla Chips and a Churro Butterscotch Cookie.

Priced at $8.50, the combo is a great three-item meal and looks utterly adorable in its food truck box, which stays clean thanks to the thoughtful packaging of the food.

My pint-sized dining companion took Tacofino's Fish Nuggies meal for a taste-drive - because like his mom, he can't resist that tender, sweet, tempura-battered fish Tacofino is known for - and his Kids' Kit earned major thumbs up from this seven-year-old Vancouver food nerd in training. Though I'm lucky he can hold his own when we feast off the regular menu just about anywhere we go, having this option at Tacofino is an absolute bonus and makes grabbing a casual meal for us both a lot easier.

As a B.C. family, we've collected our fair share of Pirate Pak vessels, and even packed home the yellow cardboard convertible that holds the kids' meals at Quebec chicken chain St. Hubert, but this colour-it-yourself Tacofino truck is an extra treat because it keeps those little hands busy a little longer. Talk about a happy meal for everyone!

The Food Truck Kids' Kits are available now to order for pickup and limited delivery at all Vancouver-area Tacofino locations and trucks, except its "Oasis" outpost on West Pender in the financial district.

By Lindsay William-Ross

WILLIAM-ROSS

I

t was an easy decision to make Dr. Bonnie Henry our newsmaker of the year for 2021. nd in community Henry, a physician with a background medicine, is a clinical associate professor essor at the University of British Columbia and was appointed provincial rovincial health officer in 2018. She has earned an internationall reputation for her leadership from the outset of the pandemic mic in guiding British Columbia and influencing other jurisdictions ctions on the measures needed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

ID-19.

Her candid, calm, empathic daily direction tion and a prescribed

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 VA NCOU VER IS AWESOM E

VANCOUVE RISAWESOME.COM

Here are the most ordered foods across Canada in 2020 According to data from food delivery app DoorDash, Canadians have big love for burritos, butter chicken, and chicken nuggets (or tenders, if you're fancy).

Similarly, in British Columbia, burritos and butter chicken take the top two spots, but then our love of Asian eats shines through, with miso soup and California rolls sliding into third and fourth place, respectively.

DoorDash also took a look at some trends nationwide, and found that our collective admiration for deep-fried pub grub is on the up; the mighty mozzarella sticks saw a whopping 1700% increase in popularity in 2020, while hot wings jumped 1400%.

And one more bite of data: DoorDash says the largest order on its platform in 2020 was $1,087 and it included Souvlaki, Gyros, Pastitso (Greek Lasagna), and more. Hopefully that was for one heck of a gathering sometime between January and mid-March, or a seriously socially-distanced backyard hangout!

Top Breakfast Food Orders

Top Dinner Orders

1. Hash Browns

1. Butter Chicken

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4. Breakfast Wrap 5. Iced Cappuccino

4. Miso Soup 5. California Roll

6. Sausage and Egg Breakfast Sandwich 1. Burrito 2. Poutine 3. Chicken Nuggets/Wings 4. Chips & Guac 5. Fried Chicken Sandwich

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Top 10 #Trending Foods on the Rise in 2020 (Compared to Data from the same year prior, 1/1/19-10/31/20 1. Mozzarella Sticks - 1700% increase 2. Hot Wings - 1440% increase 3. Hash Browns - 1130% increase 4. Quesadilla - 850% increase 5. Molten Chocolate Cake - 580% increase 6. Onion Rings - 400% increase 7. Nachos - 350% increase 8. Gyoza - 310% increase 9. Apple Pie - 265% increase 10. Dynamite Roll - 230% increase

Top Cuisine Picks Nationally 1. Japanese 2. Indian 3. Mexican 4. Chinese 5. Italian

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Top Lunch Orders

Take a look at some of the rankings for 2020 below.

British Columbia

6. Spicy Tuna Roll 7. Tuna Poke Bowl

B.C. loves burritos

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020 was definitely the year of ordering take-out and delivery here in Canada and around the world. So what are we putting in our virtual baskets the most for mealtimes?

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VA NCOUV ER IS AW ESOME THUR SDAY, DECEM BER 31, 2020

VANCOUVERIS AW ESOME. COM

CVA STR P43.1

Vancouver WAS Awesome

T

he day we started driving on the right side of the road Before traffic lights, police constables with white gloves and white batons directed traffic.

In this 1921 photograph, Constable Duncan C. McKinnon keeps order on the busy corner of Hastings and Granville Streets in front of the Canadian Bank of Commerce.

Order may have been a bit more challenging to keep several months later on January 1, 1922, as drivers of automobiles, street cars, and wagons had to adjust to driving on the right side of the road when the rule of the road changed at 6 a.m. that Sunday morning. Up until that point, drivers in B.C. drove British-style, as can be seen in this photograph.

The switch harkened both challenges and opportunities. Besides the obvious potential for serious accidents, the valuation of some

+

property came into question. Property on corners where street cars stopped could generally command higher rental rates from businesses.

When street car stops had to be relocated to opposite sides of the road, some landlords were set to lose, and others benefit. There was also the question of how horses would behave, and a slightly tongue-incheek article ran in the December 29, 1921 Vancouver Daily World detailing a horse’s views of the change.

The main benefit, however, was bringing B.C.’s rule of the road in line with most other Canadian provinces, as well as the United States. This was important given that motoring trips taken by tourists were growing in popularity. Out-of-province visitors would no longer have to constantly remind themselves to “keep to the left”.

By Bronwyn Smyth - City of Vancouver Archives

More stories on local news at VancouverIsAwesome.com

Awesome Instagram photo of the week

T

his image containing a thoughtf tfu ful u reminder in the form of a neon sign was cap ptured tu u by @vansunsetp tphoto. p As you can imagine, they generally share photos of stu tunn u ning Vancouver sunsets on their accounts, and this photo is a bit of a depart rtu ture u for them.

For a chance to have your photo featured here, tag your Instagram photos with the hashtag #vancouverisawesome.

To keep up with everything happening in your city tyy (and for more great photographs!)) follow us at @viawesome.

Join the discussion at facebook.com/VancouverIsAwesome

Acting students give back to community through scholarship

Each one of the 21 students in the Story Institute's diploma program is participating in the Purpose Scholarship, an award that if achieved takes $1,000 off their tuition. In order to earn the scholarship, each student must complete four hours of volunteerism each month for six months.

Michael Coleman, president and CEO of the Story Institute, says the scholarship has been running since the school opened in 2018 and has always had a full roster of students participating.

"So far we have yet to have a student who thinks that's a terrible deal," Coleman said.

Coleman described the accomplishments of the student’s as impressive in different ways. Some students are working directly with the Vancouver food bank, others have created their own grocery delivery and donation initiative, and others work closely with various autism networks in B.C. or with the BC SPCA. "It's a pretty cool thing to see," Coleman said. "I think we're in an unusual year where there's a lot of sadness and a lot of need for purpose so I think people are really gravitating to any

opportunity they can to do an extra little bit."

Although the scholarship only requires 24 volunteer hours in total, Coleman says the students often put in many more than that by helping their colleagues with their volunteering projects.

As to why the scholarship is based on volunteerism, Coleman says it is a way for young actors to understand the responsibility of the voice they are given by the nature of their work. Coleman added that the experience grounds students and can add to the authenticity of their craft - something the film industry sometimes struggles with, Coleman added.

“We want our students to understand it as a reflection of how the world sees itself on-screen,” he said. “This is a chance for them to truly be a reflection of the world they want to live in."

By Cameron Thomson

STORY INSTITUTE

S

tudents at a Vancouver acting school are making a difference in their community and furthering their authenticity as actors by participating in a volunteerismbased scholarship.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 VA NCOU VER IS AWESOME

VANCOUVE RISAWESOME.COM

B . C .’ S

BEST BOOKS

H

opefully, if there’s one thing you’ve had time for in this upside down year, it’s an escape into a great book.

Here’s a yearly roundup of the best books released by B.C. authors and publishers this year, just in time for your last-minute literary gift shopping. Let us rejoice in the glory of our regionally written words!

A Rainbow Like You by Andrea Fehsenfeld (Free Form)

Almost Famous and The Dirt.

foot on a plane. Instead, they crossed the Pacific on a cargo ship, and then travelled overland to the remote Zanskar Valley via bus, train, and riverboat. The resulting family adventure-like-noother is at times exciting, excruciating, and hilarious. It is also profound and sad, and, of course, ultimately rewarding.

It also serves as a stark reminder to never take travel for granted, and to live life beyond the screen – although, it must be said, in a twist of irony, that this adventure likely wouldn’t have happened had it not been funded by a reality TV show called Big Crazy Family Adventure, which you can watch… on a screen.

Finding Heartstone: A Taste of Wilderness by Cathy Sosnowsky (Caitlin Press)

If you’re desperately missing live music, Vancouver author and award-winning TV producer Andrea Fehsenfeld’s A Rainbow Like You is the perfect tonic. Her second novel is a wild odyssey into the world of a fictional touring rock band. A fast and colourful read, this book comes off like a cross between

And many of these touring hijinks are based on Fehsenfeld’s actual experiences as a diehard music fan, right down to the first key plot point: a young girl sneaks onto a famous band’s tour bus and goes for a long, unexpected ride. A very well written book capturing an era that currently doesn’t exist.

Blue Sky Kingdom

by Bruce Kirkby (Douglas & McIntyre)

OF

In this remarkably tidy but hard-hitting book, North Shore author Cathy Sosnowky has created an honest love letter to her damaged family, set in and around a hand-built wilderness lodge, hidden in the woods on the remote East Thurlow Island, somewhere off of Campbell River.

Woven like thorny blackberry vines, this true story of hippie idealism and family ties contains surprisingly terrifying tales: a squatter hermit, a cougar attack, a prison sentence, and the building of a dream to quell a nightmare. Highly recommended for coastal dwellers.

Imagine this: you suddenly realize that scrolling through your phone’s social media channels is a massive waste of time. That revelation eventually leads you to move your family from a small town in the Rocky Mountains to a Buddhist monastery in the Himilayan Mountains.

That is exactly what Kimberley author and adventurer Bruce Kirkby did, with his wife and two children, ages seven and three. Even more impressive is how they got to said monastery, never once setting

How To Lose Everything by Christa Couture (Douglas & McIntyre)

2020 loss of her leg, and a thyroidectomy that threatened to rob her of her singing voice.

And yet somehow, this Cree queer artist and mother not only perseveres but triumphs. This is a personal, poignant, and amazingly funny memoir about grief, resilience, and the redemptive power of music. A must-read.

Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press) Eve Lazarus is quickly becoming one of B.C.’s most entertaining and trusted historians. All of that is on display in Eve’s excellent new book Vancouver Exposed. It’s layered and stuffed like a Skookumchief hamburger with littleknown anecdotes about our immediate surroundings – some stories light, some very dark.

For instance, did you know that North Van boasts Canada’s oldest nudist club, in a private compound hidden somewhere in the North Shore mountains? Or that the Coach House Inn (now the Holiday Inn) once held the World Belly Flop and Cannonball Championships? During a time when we are staying closer to home than ever before, Lazarus reminds us that fascinating stories are everywhere, often right in our own backyard.

All of these books are available at Vancouver’s independent booksellers. Be sure to support a local author and a local business this holiday season.

By Grant Lawrence

Christa Couture is a brilliant singer-songwriter, whose music I have admired for years. She is also a survivor, who has gone through more grief and suffering than any one human should ever have to: the death of two sons, the

A Happy and healthy new year to all

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DOWN

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A16

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