start your Halloween early: Cheesecake Burlesque Revue presents Hallowe’en show “Boooooo-bs!”

Get warmed up for Halloween at the Lucky Bar tonight as the wonderful ladies of Victoria’s Cheesecake Burlesque Revue twirl their  special kind of treats and tricks. Their 4th annual Hallowe’en show, aptly named “Boooooo-bs!” takes place on Thursday, October 29th at Lucky Bar. Their Halloween show includes new acts along with beloved classics like their version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, will thrill and delight!

Audience members are encouraged to dress as their ghouliest self and get all of those parties started early with a monstrous good time.

Audience members are encouraged to dress as their ghouliest self and get all of those parties started early with a monstrous good time.

Doors 8:00, Show 8:30 Sharp!!!
$15 adv/ $18 door
Advance tickets available at Lyle’s Place or at

www.cheesecakeburlesque.com

Again details:

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Time:

8:00pm – 10:30pm

Location:

Lucky Bar

517 Yates Street

Victoria, BC

Spooks n’ Spokes Ghost Ride – October 30

The Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition is running a Spooks n’ Spokes Ghost Ride – October 30

This easy 20 kilometre night ride on Friday, October 30 will teach you about the spirits who live in some of the castles and finest homes of Victoria.  Riders are encouraged to wear costumes and decorate their bikes! The ride departs from the fountain at Centennial Square at 6:30 p.m. and ends there at about 9:00 p.m.

You must have front and rear lights for your bike to participate!

all details: http://www.gvcc.bc.ca/

7&8 Nov Art of the Cocktail – fundraiser for the Victoria Film Festival

Coming up in the first week of November ( 7 & 8, 2009) is The Art of the Cocktail. It is a  two day festival celebrating the art, craft, and tradition of the cocktail. This is a fundraiser for the Victoria Film Festival, which like all arts in BC has been hit by funding cuts. There are three parts to this festival. First is The Tasting Room where you can taste spirits and cocktails, collect recipes and watch demonstrations. Pick a tasting time!

• November 7 Saturday 1 – 4 PM
• November 7 Saturday 7 – 10 PM
• November 8 Sunday 1 – 4 PM

Tickets for The Tasting Room are on sale now and can only be bought in advance.

In addition to The Tasting Room there are a large range of  workshops for which tickets are $20 each. Finally there are a range of dinners at some of the best restaurants around town. For all the details check out the VFF website.

Urbanite: October 23, 2009 | 8:00pm – 11:00pm

The most recent Urbanite was inspired by the gallery’s current exhibition Vision Into Reality: West Coast Modernism. There was a very good turnout and the crowd seems to be getting younger. (About half of the attendees were in their 20s). There was music by DJ Longshanks (regular at the Lucky Bar), 1950s inspired cocktails and drinks and informative tours of the Vision in Reality exhibition. Unfortunately there was no interactive art making this time. I really loved the collage table at the World Upside Down Urbanite in August. The great little brown bags marked “Home,” “Love” and “Fear” that were filled with little trinkets including fake fur, hearts and stars were imaginative and fun.

Urbanites are held three times a year. If you are interested in art and have not got along to one yet I would thoroughly recommend checking one out. Admission to an Urbanite is $12 non-members or $10 for gallery members. Drinks are usually $7-8.

Details on the gallery website or check them out on Facebook

 

more spooky fun: Ghost walks at St Ann’s academy

SWPL tells us that “When it comes to holidays, there are few that white people like more than Halloween.” So for those of you who know Victoria well it should come as no surprise that there is lots of Halloween activity occurring around Victoria. In addition to the plays I posted about yesterday for the next week and a bit you can join in more spooky Halloween fun by taking one of the Ghostly walking tours of St. Ann’s Academy and Grounds. The walks are happening on Friday 23 Oct, Sat 24 Oct, and Friday 30 Oct at 6PM & 8PM. The 90 minute guided tours will start at the entrance to the chapel. You can pick up tickets in advance at St Ann’s Caademy 835 Humbolt Street Ph 250 – 953-8829 email stanns.academy@gov.bc.ca

Creepy Craigdarroch showing 15-31 Oct

Halloween is coming soon and that means that Giggling Iguana productions are once again playing at Craigdarroch Castle. Last year year they presented The Picture of Dorian Gray and this year they are presenting The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Based on last year’s experience I would say that there is lots to recommend these productions. The rather gloomy Victorian-era mansion is the perfect location for a Halloween play. The director fully utilizes the castle’s unique setting by moving the audience through different rooms as the play progresses. These productions also give adults the chance to dress up and play with their ‘dark’ side. Virtually all of the audience last Halloween were wearing costumes which added a lot of fun to the atmosphere. On the less positive side the production last year was  not 100 percent professional. While some of the actors were great, a couple were a little amateur.  Despite this shortcoming I think we’ll be adding this play to our fall schedule. Check it out from now until Halloween!

Details:

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Opens 8pm Thursday, October 15 To October 31
Craigdarroch Castle, 1050 Joan
Tickets $22-$25 (advance only)
250-592-5323

See also article in this week’s Monday Mag: http://mondaymag.com/articles/entry/creepy-craigdarroch/arts/

Buy cheap MEC gear: Sunday Oct 18

You may have noticed that a MEC outfit is the official uniform here in Victoria. As Victoria is white person capital of Canada it also stands that MEC is one of the most popular places to visit on the weekend. You will find the place buzzing every weekend of the year. [See stuffwhitepeoplelike.com outdoor-performance-clothes] This weekend you can purchase cheaper MEC gear by visiting the MEC used gear sale. MEC members sell items and MEC also brings along their own used gear. For all details see:

http://gearswap.tumblr.com/

Antimatter Film Festival Oct 9 to 17

Antimatter Film Festival starts tomorrow night!

Antimatter Film festival

The Antimatter Film Festival kicked off with Small World on Friday, Oct 9 at Open Space (510 Fort Street). The excellent opening feature was a multi-media excursion through disney. Artists and local musicians interpreted Disney classics with assistance of shopping carts, painted acoustic guitars, accordions, smoke machines, quirky costumes, tinfoil, and pretty lights. A very fun night to kick off Thanks Giving weekend!

Antimatter continues through Oct 17 with screenings, performances and video installations. Short features are organized into themes including “warming trend: environmentalism alarm bells pealing out for hope; “O’er the land”; “Ju suis une bombe: aesthetic actions promulgate gender confusion/diffusion…”

Full schedule and info at http://www.antimatter.ws or pick up a program guide at any south island Serious Coffee location.

Plant winter salad greens

I love having fresh lettuce on hand in my garden during summer. Now that fall is here it’s time to plant some hardy winter greens that I can use in my salads this winter. This year I’m trying two new greens. The first is Miner’s lettuce which is native to the area. Its heart shaped leaves (see picture) have a fresh taste. Miner’s lettuce should be direct seeded in early fall. Apparently it does not transplant well.

Miner's Lettuce

The second green is Ox-eye daisy, or the common daisy that grows by the side of the road, in BC, as well as all over Europe, Australia and the US. Apparently the ox-eye is considered a noxious weed by BC agriculture because if cows eat it their milk takes on a bitter taste. The leaves of the ox-eye daisy can be eaten in winter when the plant is not flowering. The leaves have a bitter taste so generally you would want to use them to accompany other more subtle tasting salad greens. You can buy seeds for these salad greens from Sooke Harbour House Garden ($5.95 for 200 seeds).

Shop the wild festival Oct 3&4

Market open 10 am to 4 pm each day

For the last two years I’ve wanted to attend the shop the wild festival but for one reason or another I’ve missed it. This year we are going as I’m going to be out there picking apples in the morning. The shop the wild festival is a free event (always nice!) and according to the website there are over 35 exhibitors who will be providing “wild mushrooms, jams and syrups, alder smoked salmon, natural body care products, eco-furniture, native plants, artisan wood products” and more! There will be a interesting lunch (see menu) available from 11.30 to 3pm both days. There will also be talks on mushroom identification, Forest Herbal Walks with Folk herbalist Sheila Wray who will be taking people through the forest at Royal Roads University. For more details check out the website: http://buybcwild.com/2009-exhibitors