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Yesterday, Mike Gillis took a bold step into his rapidly shortening future as GM of the Vancouver Canucks by firing head coach Alain Vigneault. Of course, Vigneault had already been fired a couple of hours beforehand by hockey media on the other side of the country, and the whole thing went as suavely as a Grade 8 breakup, complete with phone rumours. But Gillis eventually finished the job, and the next glorious chapter in Canucks history opened with the removal of the winningest coach the organization has ever known.
If you're headed to tomorrow's sold out Mumford & Sons show, here are some pointers you should take into consideration.
Holland Park is Surrey's newest urban park, located at 13428 Old Yale Road. At over 10 acres, it is a welcome green space in the city's emerging City Centre neighbourhood.
Part of the Concerts in the Park series, this event will feature a bike valet, two onsite beer tents, and two first-aid tents. As always, the rush level on the SkyTrain will be quite high, so plan accordingly.
For more information and directions, check out Holland Park's website.
There's great news for Victoria's queer community and cinephiles.
The Victoria Film Festival announced on May 23 that it will be launching the inaugural Reel Queer Film Festival, to be held June 28 to 30. The festival will be presented in partnership with Out in Schools, the Camosun College Student Society, and the Victoria Pride Society. All proceeds will benefit the programming of these organizations.
Films will include a number of documentaries, including two by Vancouver filmmakers: Gwen Haworth's chronicle of her gender transition, She's a Boy I Knew, and Bob Christie's documentary Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride; and A Jihad For Love, about homosexuality and Islam.
Ever wonder what a Metro Vancouver transit police officer eats for lunch? Or what kind of criminals they bust on the SkyTrain? Or how much they get paid?
Well, the chance to grill the Transit Police Service online about who they are and what they do has arrived.
Chief Neil Dubord and Const. Graham Walker—who handles social media duties for the service—are taking part in an AMA event on the popular website Reddit.
When Metallica played Vancouver last August, the Bay Area metal masters made a big deal about how they were going to be filming the show for an upcoming 3-D concert film.
Well, today the band released a trailer for the flick, Metallica Through the Never, which will be released exclusively on IMAX on Sept. 27, before hitting regular theatres on October 4.
It's pretty kick-ass.
Every weekday, the Straight highlights a great local shot as the Photo of the Day. Interested in submitting your photos for consideration? Check out our Flickr group.
David Gonzalez, a remodeler in Elbow Lake, Minnesota, got quite a surprise when he found a copy of Action Comics #1 inside some old newspapers used for insulation.
Action Comics #1, of course, is famous for featuring the first appearance of Superman, the part-time reporter and super-powered man from Krypton. Printed in 1938, copies of this issue routinely fetch high prices at auctions.
Unfortunately, due to a tear on the cover sustained during extraction, this copy's quality was rated at 1.5 on a scale of 10. Even taking that damage into consideration, online-auction bids on the rare comic book have reached US$127,000.
Here's a topic you won't see addressed in North American mainstream media outlets: are cities increasingly being built for the rich?
But it's the subject of intense discussion at various demonstrations around Vancouver.
Fortunately, there's the Internet to broaden our understanding of this issue.
A mainstream media outlet in Germany, Spiegel Online, features an interview with Marxist social theorist David Harvey, who believes urbanization is being driven by the need to make use of surplus capital to benefit the wealthy.
His book Rebel Cities looks at this phenomenon.
A day after a right-wing French historian killed himself inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a feminist protester has sent a message of resistance.
The historian, Dominique Venner, committed suicide in front of tourists in the historic church to protest the legalization of gay marriage in France.
Femen, which is a militant European women's-rights group, gathered the media at the church for its response.
A woman pelled off her top with the statement: "May Fascism Rest In Hell" across her chest and stomach.
Across her backside were the words: "In Gay We Trust."
She proceeded to pull out a toy gun and then brought it to her mouth.
Femen's website calls upon European Nazis to follow Venner's example and do the same to themselves.
Dix blames himself NDP Leader Adrian Dix held his first news conference yesterday since his party lost the May 14 election. Dix said his campaign was responsible for the surprising defeat by not making a good enough case that the B.C. Liberals should have been replaced.
