Welcome to the Georgia Straight’s 16th annual Best of Vancouver issue

by The Georgia Straight Staff on September 21st, 2011 at 3:53 PM

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This was the Vancouver kiss that went global. Jay Leno cracked jokes about it on The Tonight Show. TopTenz.net ranked it third on its list of the world’s top viral pictures and Internet memes. Esquire simply asked if it was the greatest kiss of all time.

Australian Scott Jones wanted to be sure that his Canadian girlfriend, Alex Thomas, was okay after she was pushed to the ground during the Stanley Cup riot. Photographer Richard Lam snapped the image, and Vancouver became the only city ever known for getting it on in the middle of mayhem in the streets.

The couple helped preserve Vancouver’s image as an urban playground—even an oasis of hedonism. In a moment, they removed much of the stigma caused by the most shameful episode of the year. That, friends, makes Jones and Thomas worthy of headlining the Georgia Straight’s 16th annual Best of Vancouver issue. Let’s have more of that smooching in public whenever the Canucks make the Stanley Cup finals.

The kiss seen round the world wasn’t the only thing about Vancouver worth celebrating in the past year. Our editorial team has spent months on the lookout for good deeds, weird urban details, and various howlers to include in this week’s blockbuster edition. Sometimes the best is simply the best. Elsewhere, it’s the funniest. Or the tastiest. Or the rudest. Or the most outrageous.

Every year, we also shine a Best of Vancouver spotlight on communities that ordinarily don’t attract much media attention. Communities come in many forms. Sometimes they’re based on geography. But on other occasions, a community can be based on a common heritage, religion, sexual orientation, or area of interest. This year, we’re focusing on Japanese Canadians, who’ve come together to help the victims of a massive earthquake on the other side of the ocean, and urban aboriginal people, who are asserting themselves as artists, political activists, and community organizers.

Fans of local music know that one of the highlights of this issue is the Best of Bands feature. Here, you’ll find a dozen different acts engaged in some ridiculous antics. For these, you can thank our ever-imaginative photographers.

For this issue, we were helped enormously by our readers, who completed more than 10,000 online ballots to tell us everything from their favourite politician to the best place to buy cheap drinks. There are over 250 readers’ choice categories, dealing with a vast number of topics. The people have spoken. Now it’s time to enjoy the results.

Comments

9 Comments

Elven Prince

Sep 22, 2011 at 7:56am

Dat ass!

david thompson

Sep 22, 2011 at 8:24pm

a kiss during an embarassing riot? lame to the kiss and lame to the riot.

James G

Sep 23, 2011 at 4:07pm

The "Best of Vancouver" issue names the impending destruction of the Georgia and Viaducts as a welcome item on the horizon. It goes on to say that it will decrease traffic on Commercial Drive, detoured by a "no entry" sign at Venables. Likely, moving such a sign up Venables to Clark would have the same effect but that never occurred to the whoever wrote the item. Strangely, the suggestion that 30 new residential towers on the land vacated by the viaducts would result in more traffic didn't occur to the author, who also conveniently "forgot" to remind everyone that big developers are major campaign contributors to Vision.

I wouldn't be surprised to find it was written by Councilor Brownshirt, aka Andrea Reimer. She started out as merely the candidate who rode with Critical Mass, showing contempt for the rule of law and support for the use of social thuggery to enforce political opinion. From there, she was reputed to have claimed that her goal on City Council was to make changes that were so costly that democratic reversal by the electorate would be unaffordable. Just lately she was the hack sent to meet in-camera with residents of social housing to tell them they will have to pay the costs of her half-wit "Green" agenda or face eviction.

They say Ernst Roehm had no children ... well, no natural ones maybe but those born of the dragons' teeth of his attitudes are alive and well and serving Vision Vancouver. Usually the only difference is that the shirts have changed from brown to green but for one City Councilor, the brown is clearly showing.

Charlie Smith

Sep 25, 2011 at 11:30am

Janes G.,

I can assure you that this was not written by Andrea Reimer. It was the personal opinion of a staff member who lives in East Vancouver. I asked the staff to submit their "Best of Vancouver" items, and this was among the many that were published.

Charlie Smith

James G

Sep 25, 2011 at 3:59pm

@Charlie Smith

Yes, I do believe you. I admit to trying to maximize the potential of user-comment in a different way. I knew the header would draw interest and as some at 'the Straight' may recall, I have an issue with the viaducts imminent demolition.

Since the item seemed to cheer on the viaducts demolition in order to push traffic from the Drive to neighboring roadways, I used the opportunity to link that comment to Councilor Reimer and present the Drive's favorite elected representative in a bit of a different light.

It was merely a segue, if an unfair one. Not only did I suggest that such an item would be allowed as agit-prop for Vision in the Straight, I also compared a sitting councilor to one of history's most despicable political enforcers. It was way over the top and I do regret -- suggesting Ms. Reimer had WRITTEN anything.

Darrell 'Saxmaniac' Zimmerman

Sep 26, 2011 at 10:56am

While I appreciate the free publicity (check out www.freetransit.ca), I need to make some clarifications. First of all, my PR department has been working night and day to brand me as an 'Uber Saxophonist' and Volatile protester ( I resent the use of the word heckler). And secondly I did not run in the last municipal election, it was in 2005 when Sam Sullivan made me his bitch. I have never lost an election to Gregor Robertson and don't plan to in the near future. I am available for an interview with the Straight to discuss my whole platform.

Jacked

Sep 27, 2011 at 7:35pm

Take down those UGLY viaducts! They were a mistake in the 60's and a huge waste of available space. We survived the Olympics without them and we can work around them, really. People who actually live downtown resent their existence and negative history.

James G

Sep 28, 2011 at 2:02pm

@Jacked

Did you even realize the current Georgia viaduct was not the first one? The first was built to allow trains to roll unfettered beneath traffic. The history you refer to is the attempt to tie in the rebuilding of the viaducts to the plan to establish another bridge crossing Burrard Inlet and pave straight through Chinatown to do it. Many worthy politicians including Mike Harcourt launched their careers opposing the plan and it was squelched and is replaced by the existence of the Seabus. The viaducts as they exist today were completed before Chinatown rallied to prevent the demolition of their neighborhood and that remains as a positive history lesson of public involvemnet.

We survived the Olympics without them? Really? I live on East Hastings and the "we" you refer to in downtown don't include the residents hereabouts. Major thoroughfares in Hastings Sunrise became a virtual parking lot of unmoving traffic.

The viaduct demolition and construction of 30 residential towers played no part whatsoever in Vision's last municipal election campaign. If it had, they would have seen considerable weakness in their East Side vote. What is campaigned on this time should be telling but I agree that the issue should be put to the public. Not the phoney Vision "we know what's best, (where the developer money is) and rush for the wrecking ball" style but to referendum. It was good enough for Seattle to put up to the public and is good enough for Vancouver.