The Publics

Although it’s sold out at my favourite magazine spot, I’m pretty sure you can still pick up Adbusters #78 at select stores throughout whatever city you may be living in. If not, there is of course, always, les internets. I wrote a couple articles for the issue as well as an untitled piece of speculative short fiction. The story explores our intensifying relationship with the ‘net and the increasingly bizarre forms of social interaction that taking place all over the web.

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Japan and Iran both have excellent snacking cultures that exist on opposite sides of the snack spectrum. As the Japanese are naturally inclined towards mass production and hi-tech innovation, their snacks come in a variety of easily consumed forms that range from complex potato chip flavours (fried mayonnaise, raw egg, etc) to biscuity micro-snacks like Pocky and Pretz. The Persians on the other hand favour healthier and more natural snack forms like sangak w/ tahini humous, peeled walnuts and unripe plums.

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Big ups to everyone who came out to The Cheaper Show on Saturday, it was a massive success and a damn good party. Here are some samples from the series of prints I produced for the show, entitled Vandal City. This series sold out, but I’ll definitely be doing a sequel in the near future, which will be the product of what I think will be a very hype collaboration between myself and two other Vancouver-based artists, so stay peeled.

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I’ve been going to this place for a few years now and somehow its been able to retain its off-the-grid appeal. I guess scenesters and other miscellaneous party crashers don’t like late nite BBQ but I don’t know how I’d get through my workweek without a healthy dose of sticky-icky neon orange Korean chicken wings drenched in hot sauce and jalapeños.

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Vancouverites often lament the social malaise caused by their city’s distinct lack of culture (whether perceived or real), but once in a while a handful of inspired individuals come together to actually make something exceptional happen. In this case, that something is The Cheaper Show, a one night only exhibition of work from 150 local and international artists and photographers, with all pieces selling for 200 bones a pop. The show takes place on June 21st, from 7pm to Midnight at 142 Waterstreet (the old Storyeum building).

Gene is a tight little coffee spot located on the corner of Kingsway and Main in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. The style is a post-café minimalism with some serious attention payed to the quality of product, which includes vegan cookies, antipodes water and the best Americano in the city.

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I don’t know whether this is a case of subconscious biting or willing something into existence through sheer mental force, but ever since I changed The Publics logo to that pyramid eye thing, I’ve been seeing this tag (shown above) pop up all over the streets of Vancouver. In all honesty, I can say that I did not consciously recognize the existence of this dude (Egypt) or dudette or whatever, before I threw up the new banner, but the phenomenon has last left me intrigued and puzzled. To further the mysterious-ness of “Egypt” I was talking to a Japanese friend of mine who just returned from Tokyo and she claims to have seen something similar in the back alleys of Shibuya, a world-famous locale for up and coming writers. And so, I propose a contest.

To whom ever can send me documentation of “Egypt” pre-dating its existence to a period of time before I changed my header will go this amazing device shown in the photograph above: An Apex television set. Yes, it is colour, and you can watch movies or play video games on it provided you have the required peripheral devices for such activities. Alternatively, for my international readers - if you’ve seen the “Egypt” tag in your country, take a photo of it and email it to me, that could also possibly win you the set, but only if you are willing to pay shipping and handling.

Send your submissions to: publics.info@gmail.com

Erika really loves pink. She has a pink iPod, eats pink ramen, takes pink bubblebaths, wears pink glasses, speaks pink Japanese, reads pink books, sings pink songs. Her dreams are pink and so are her nightmares. It’s style taken to the level of philosophy - pink thoughts for a pink world.

“Pinkify your life” - Erika

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Little Saigon is where it’s at. No, you won’t find many decent night clubs or bars there and the restaurant selection is quite limited, but nonetheless, Little Saigon is the spot. Although most of the cafés aren’t really open to the general public for certain, understandable reasons (wink wink), the few that do welcome outsiders are worth the trip.

Besides a delicious selection of well-priced Phở, Little Saigon is unsurprisingly the best place in town to get Vietnamese coffee. If you’ve never had this French/Viet treat, it’s a very strong coffee blend produced through a single filter that is mixed with sweetened condensed milk and hot water. The end product is a tasty, rich and creamy drink that puts the mediocrity of Vancouver’s mega-chain lattes to shame.

Like the collective visions of some fashionable techno-Haida lost in Harajuku, the illustrations of Edinburagh via Berlin via Vancouver artist Acorn are concise examples of disassociated splendor. With fine lines of pencil, ink and brush, the characters that flow forth from Acorn’s chosen mediums are immediately alive - soft-pedaling their dreamy naivety on an always unassuming viewer.

Currently enjoying the well priced wine of Barcelona, Acorn returns to Vancouver this April, much to the delight of freshness-starved Vancouverites who have been forced to make due with the day-old donuts of this city’s too-often stale and soggy art scene.

Be sure to check out the limited-edition (100 copies) “Ink Advance” which features a collection of drawings from Acorn, GhostPatrol & Miso.

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