Flavours of Argentina; Traditional Food, Drink, Music and Dance

Join us for an afternoon of entertainment, food, drink and a silent auction to raise money for next summer’s tango performance festival. We open with a short concert of tango music performed by Margaret Dzbik’s TrioTango.  Following singer Hector Flores does tango a Capella, which signals the beginning of the silent auction. Argentina Empanadas will be served throughout the afternoon as well as Argentinean tea, yerba mate.  Accordionist David Mazoff will perform and accompany dancers in a demo of styles of tango dance. Come early if you wish to take in a free dance lesson.

• · Sunday March 6^th 3:00-5:00 (3:00-3:30 concert)

• Location: Martin Bachelor Gallery, 712 Cormorant St (across from City Hall)

Tickets: $20 in advance; $25 at door; available from Martin Batchelor Gallery, Pemberton Holmes 150-805 Cloverdale Ave (cash only), or by mail (cheque)- call 778 432-0112

• · Members tickets: $15 advance, $20 door, available from June Waters 778 432-0112, or Tara Sundquest at Sunday classes and milonga at Martin Bachelor Gallery (membership $10)
• · Free dance lesson (1:45)

TRIOTANGO; Margaret Dzbik, Eugene Shifrin, James Young

Help Make it Happen

Passion for tango is busily preparing for next summer’s Festival concert. We have invited well-known Canadian tango performers and international guests. Our festival, the Victoria Tango Festival, gives local BC artists opportunities to work with acclaimed Canadian or international tango performers and guests. This exciting festival will take place once again this summer and each year we rely on the community, individuals and businesses, to donate services, items, or gift certificates for a silent auction. Last year our silent auction fundraiser was held at the View Art Gallery and was a significant source of funding towards the festival. We are proud of our role in nurturing tango and we thank those who donated Items or services and the work of our team of volunteers.

On Sunday March 6^th we are holding a silent auction, Flavours of Argentina, with Traditional Food, Drink, Music and Dance. We need to have items that can be auctioned on their own or in combination with others (to make a gift basket for example.)  Donations range from:

$20    combined with other items or gift certificates to make a gift basket or lot

$50    matched with another item or certificate of similar value

$125 alone or combined with one other appropriate donation

$250 /$450 stand alone auction items

 
Can you help us achieve excellence in the arts, build community spirit and enrich our quality of life? With your help we can promote cultural diversity, an exciting downtown arts scene, and a flourishing tourist business in the City of Victoria.

For pick up of donations or with questions contact; Angele Munro, 250 744-9487.

Some of Donations we have received thus far: Ballet Victoria, Pacific Opera, Med Grill, Bamboo Fabric Throw, Wine Gift Basket, Flower Arrangements, Wine and Cheese basket, Picnic Basket, Videos, Video Rental, Dance Store certificate, Piano Concert Soiree, lap top computer, concertina/bandoneon.

So, for the next little while, the pickings will continue to be very slim here. I’m very involved with a Victoria BC civic issue, which you can read about on the web pages two friends and I maintain as a public service: JohnsonStreetBridge.ORG. Things are heating up around the issue of whether or not the city will pass a bylaw to borrow a whopping $63million for a new bridge right downtown – we’re already shouldered with $45million debt and are staring at government-mandated sewage treatment, estimated to cost billions of dollars. It’s a big deal.

In addition, we have some changes planned for MetroCascade – we realize we need to sort categories better and figure out how to present events and information in an even better way for our users.

The other thing going on is personal: my youngest is leaving for the University of British Columbia in …oh, about a week. Getting everything set up seems to involve a lot of running around and checking off lists.

After Labor Day, we’ll be back on track.

But do look for blog posts on JohnsonStreetBridge.ORG, follow us on Twitter, and if you live in Victoria, consider coming to a public meeting tomorrow evening at 7pm at Central Library. That’s Aug. 25, Central Library in Victoria BC (map). Doors open at 6:30.

(Posted by Yule)

I have been taking a hiatus, but finally got around to posting one yesterday.

Since I own the bully-pulpit (as it were), that curation was all about Johnson Street Bridge news continued…, which is potentially the biggest issue facing taxpayers in the City of Victoria, and which is getting lots of coverage from several bloggers – including another site I’m involved with, Johnson Street Bridge DOT org. That site has many useful links, including a blog, of course.

In fact, Mat Wright just posted another entry in the wee hours today. It’s called How not to Communicate Redux: Johnson Street Bridge Victoria BC and asks some tough questions about the site called johnsonstreetbridge.com (not .org), which we have to assume was registered by the City of Victoria as part of its “communications” strategy around this project.

Mat’s analysis and questions are a must-read for how not to do municipal / governmental communication.

(Posted by Yule Heibel)

I’m talking about the intention to demolish Victoria’s Johnson Street Bridge.

In response, I’ve been very involved with creating a website called JohnsonStreetBridge DOT org, writing blog posts for it, helping with getting a letter out to Mayor and Council, and generally spreading the word about what we’re doing. Please check the links and get informed. This is a very big issue.

Also, take a look at Bernard von Schulmann’s blog posts, out today: The Johnson Street Bridge Replacement, Johnson Street Bridge – a bit more, and (my favorite, because it digs deep into the policy and funding issues) The bridge once more.

In fact, Bernard’s last post prompted me to leave a comment:

Months ago a friend asked, “Who is driving the planning bus at city hall?” He wondered whether it was the politicians or the staff.

Looking at the JSB proposal, I’m thinking, “They shot the driver and the bus is going over a cliff.” (And we – Victoria taxpayers – are sitting in it.)

Like I said, click the links – read and get informed.

I hope to be back at curations tomorrow…

(Posted by Yule Heibel)

And the bloggers continue to weigh in: from Miranda Roach and a laid-back approach here to A Runner’s Tale‘s record of pain here; and back again to Trainharder Jarhead‘s ‘bring it on’ response here to a query from Victoria Klassen about what to wear. Victoria Dogs tells us humans how to keep canines cool in eight easy steps; Loose Moorings found that it even got too hot on the water; and Elizabeth McClung describes what it’s like to be confined to a wheelchair during a heat wave.

For another very different kind of heat check out Davin Greenwell whose photo is on the cover of this week’s Monday Magazine. It’s a terrific capture, and announces the upcoming Victoria Electronic Music Festival (VEMF). So hot, it’s cool.

Oh, and Vibrant Victoria reports on how Victoria’s Mayor Dean Fortin takes heat for hiring additional communication staff.

S-ss-sss-sssss-sssssssizzling!

Five Star Whale Watching has some stunning photos of Saturday’s thunder-and-lightning storm (thunder & lightning are not a typical summer occurrence here). You have to click through (and scroll down) – beautifully amazing.

Meanwhile, there were fires not just in the sky, but on land: several buildings burned, most notably a disused motel that had become a magnet for social disorder. Save Feral Human Habitat has an interesting take on the popular response (“let it burn”): Another empty building burns. Read it now and maybe change your mind. (Save Feral Human Habitat also has a blog post about its new tv station if your firelust runs to onscreen pixels.)

Next, take a look at Barbara Julian‘s provocative post, Let’s Get Rid of Multi-culturalism in Canada. Sounds rad to soft Canadian ears, but you go read this and tell me she doesn’t have a point.

Finally, Cafe Jabbaccino writes Dear Robbers, a post about being robbed – not just once, but twice. Hers is whence the “chainsaw enemas” line.

Ok, folks, there are many more Victoria creatives to explore on MetroCascade, so go take a look.

First off, I want to mention a new website and blog that folks in Victoria might want to know about, but I have to give full disclosure: I’m an author on that site. It’s Johnson Street Bridge, and it’s a site designed to inform the people of Victoria about the City’s plan to replace the existing Johnson Street Bridge – to the tune of at least $63million. (The city is hoping to get 2/3rds of that covered by the senior levels of government – Provincial and Federal – but brace yourselves, it will without a doubt get  more expensive, and there’s no guarantee that Province or Feds will step up to the plate.)

At present, I’ve got a couple of entries up on the site (start with Bad reason, 1; now there’s also a Bad reason, 2 up), as does Mat, who informs us about Johnson Street Bridge jobs! and reports on the City’s new advisory committee. Explore the rest of the site as well.

In other political news for Victoria, check out the commentary on the Province’s newly announced Harmonized Sales Tax. On Saturday, Sean Holman blogged Living in Harmony, and the day before, Friday, Mike from Vibrant Victoria wrote an informative post, HST to increase average Victoria house price by 3.4%, and Paul Willcocks posted his thoughts on The HST, Gordon Campbell and the Clark government: all three well worth checking out.

If all of this political stuff has your heart rate in the stratosphere, grab a dog – or check out Victoria Dogs, which blogged up a storm about how you and canines can help one another. Some of the entries go back to July 23, but most recently you can learn about walking rescue dogs – which might calm frayed nerves.

One problem with this summary of category updates is that it doesn’t tell us how often currently uncategorized authors are updating – which is why we also still need feedback from bloggers/ authors about which categories they want to be associated with.

In photos, take a look at TheLastSpot for some amazing photos of a cruise ship approaching and docking at Victoria’s Ogden Point.

In politics, read Amalgamate Greater Victoria‘s post about Victoria’s graying future and absence of younger (low-paid?) workers – and, different category but similar subject matter, check out Mat Wright‘s post on his involvement with the Victoria Johnson Street Bridge issue, Activism, Victoria Style.

The Hightech category is populated by quite a few job postings coming through VIATeC’s Twitter stream, VictoriaTechJob, so check that one out.

Interesting juxtaposition: check out 1889.ca for why we should junk the concept of pages when consuming content online, and Sean Holman on BC librarians developing a contingency plan in the event libraries are cut off from annual provincical government operating grants this year.

Policy Monitor Canada also reports on two BC-related issues: Notice of Public Consultation for Industry Stewardship Plan by Canadian WirelessTelecommunications Association (CWTA) (how to/ where to recycle your old wireless devices); and a pointer to the creation of a “2010 and Beyond” panel.

If politics are driving you up the wall, find the door instead and enter the nature category: try whale watching. Five Star Whale Watching reports on some amazing sightings, including photos. Check out Summer at its finest and the encounter with J-pod.

Or release pent-up energies through another lifestyle modification: try going on a manhunt – the game version played on city streets, that is. Manhunt!!! announced an upcoming game for next Sunday, July 26. Should give participants enough lead-time to polish their sneakers.