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OK, so this appears to be a very quiet forum, so I'm going to take a bold step and talk up what I and my wife Sarah have done since arriving in Vancouver from England on Feb 1st. If you don't like culture, look away now... First, there's a great series of free talks at Vancouver Central Library on all kinds of subjects. We've heard about improvised music, writing romance novels, singing the songs of Strauss, and the life of a Zen Buddhist monk. The chairs get a bit uncomfortable if the talk goes on past about an hour and a quarter, but the music talk in particular was excellent, and is part of a sub-series called "Music Of The Whole World", presented by the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, which continues on April 3. Website: http://www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca The VICO performed a great concert at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre last Friday and Saturday. Improvised music isn't for everyone, and some of the intros are a bit grim, but it was generally likeable. Website (with details of their forthcoming library talks): http://www.vi-co.org Every Sunday at 4pm there's "Jazz Vespers" at the St Andrews Wesley Church at 1012 Nelson. We aren't religious so the service, while well-presented, isn't exactly why we're there, but the music we heard was good. It would probably be polite to make a small donation. Website: http://www.standrewswesleychurch.bc.ca/jazzvespers.htm Likewise, the Gregorian chant during Compline (9:30pm every Sunday at Christ Church Cathedral on Burrard and West Georgia) is rather restful, even if some of the songs aren't strictly Gregorian chants. This one is donation-free. Website: http://www.cathedral.vancouver.bc.ca/worship/compline.htm The Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby is running a short season of dance shows with a discount for seeing all four, but you've missed the first one so no discount for you. We saw it on February 10th. It was called "Orientik/Portrait", and it was very interesting (I say that a lot when reviewing things which I liked but which would take a long time to go into in depth). Haters of modern dance should not apply, as the series is unlikely to be any more accessible. We like modern dance, mind you, but a little taiko drumming didn't hurt. Website: http://www.shadboltcentre.com Its official name is the H.R.Macmillan Space Centre, but you can just call it Vancouver Planetarium. It's just over the other side of False Creek, and every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening there's a $10.50 laser show set to music. So if you'd like to see an extended visual meditation on Pink Floyd's "The Wall", get over there on a Saturday night. The planetarium is probably interesting in the daytime, too. Warning! There is a giant scary crab statue, resembling something from Half-Life 2, towering about 20' over the front of the entrance. Way to terrify the tourists, people! Website: http://www.hrmacmillanspacecentre.com That's what we've done - along with joining a choir and having plenty of meals out. Eating out in Vancouver is much, much, *much* more pleasurable than eating out in England. Mmmmmm...! Restaurant recommendations later, maybe. And March looks like being just as busy for us. Welcome to Vancouver! ~ Gil |