Vancouver TNA

The way I understand things here in Vancouver, one of the finest food experiences one can have in this city is at West.

I've not dined there yet, but I'll make it in one day as I do like to try out as many Vancouver restaurants as possible. And, they say that West is the best. I don't really know who "they" are, but apparently "they" are the experts.

West is in the South Granville neighbourhood where I just went for a stroll. Next door to the restaurant is a women's clothing shop known as TNA. Hmmm... TNA. Ok, I'll just go ahead and state the obvious - it's a rather unlikely name for a place to buy ladies clothes, n'est-ce pas?

It's not a store I shop in, but according to a comment recently posted on StyleForum.net there might be another dude in Vancouver who is considering shopping either there or at another Vancouver original, Lululemon.

Here's his posting under the topic "Guys who wear Women's pants: Have you ever tried TNA or Lululemons?"
Every girl I ask says that Lululemon and TNA make the most comfortable pants (They're like tight yoga pants). Now, I don't personally wear women's clothing, but I'm really curious (without going through all the trouble of doing it myself), if any guy has tried those pants on, and if they're comfortable at all for the male figure? If they are comfortable, does anyone see any problem wearing them for the comfort factor (Privately of course. I wouldn't personally like seeing another man in them)? P.S. I'm straight for anyone who's wondering. Simple curious question.

Wow. Have you ever known someone's identity to be so threatened by his own desire to expand his own personal knowledge about comfortable clothes? I digress…

Back to South Granville where the windows at TNA really caught my attention. Check out these pics of the window display at the store. It's kind of like Sesame Street meets street-level retail.

Whatever you want to call it, this window display in South Granville is a great example of the creative minds hard at work here in Vancouver.

Btw - if you want to know more about West, click here. And if you want to know more about other restaurants in Vancouver, click here.

Whoa, Nellie!

Yup, that Nellie Oleson - the nasty, blond girl from Little House On The Prairie who terrorized Laura Ingalls and the rest of the kids in Walnut Grove for eight glorious television seasons.

Alison Arngrim is the actress who portrayed Nellie Oleson, ringlets and all. Arngrim was just here in Vancouver to appear at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Way up, at the very TOP of the hotel.

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is well-known for great service, a fabulous lobby and one of Vancouver's top restaurants and lounges. There's even talk of a ghost in there, too. However, what many people don't know is that it also has a rarely-used Rooftop restaurant, reserved only for special events.

I didn't know their Rooftop restaurant even existed until I saw it for myself. And here's some proof ... the actual menu from the good 'ol days. Check out the prices - only 1 dollar for caviar or a salmon steak!

(That's a scan of an actual menu from the restaurant - many thanks to local historian Danny for sending it to me)

The Rooftop restaurant was the site of a swishy-do the other night - the Vancouver Men's Chorus 3rd annual Legacy Gala & Auction fundraiser. And the headline entertainer at this fun, charity event was Nellie Oleson herself... a.k.a Alison Arngrim. These days she's a stand-up comedian and I gotta say, she's pretty darn funny.

Alison Arngrim's show is called Confessions of a Prairie B!#*h. Let's break it down: her act is actually very, very funny and really, really crude. This here blog is a family show so I'm going to refrain from relaying her jokes to you, but if you're really curious, check out YouTube and just search for a video clip of this show by entering "Confessions...(rest of name)". But here's a pic of her in action the other night - you can clearly see how easy it is to re-work an old gimmick.

She riffed for a good hour on things like growing up in Hollywood with a father who managed Liberace for a living, a mother who voiced the animated Casper the Friendly Ghost, and being called very bad names by every girl at her school after they saw her play the nasty Nellie Oleson on primetime TV.

She had some good dish on other Little House cast members. She said that while the late Michael Landon (Pa Ingalls) was a great man, he was also a great drinker. And, while "Nellie" was definitely the nasty one on the show, the nasty one in REAL life was the actress who played poor, blind Mary!

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver was a fantastic venue for this event and I have no doubt will help it continue to become one of Vancouver's must-attend

annual fundraisers.

Here are some pics from the Rooftop restaurant. The first one here shows Vancouver's famous Robson Street, stretching left to right in the photo...

And the next pic shows the shadow of one of the gargoyles adorning the exterior of the hotel, with Sears department store all lit up in the background. A very interesting perspective that was completely new to me despite the zillions of times I have seen both the gargoyle and the store sign.

For dessert, we were treated to an exclusive item on the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver menu, the Chocolate Saxophone with Passion Fruit Mousse, Fruit Coulis and Fresh Berries. Y-U-M. Here's how it is presented:

Last but not least, my friend Andrew and I were lucky enough to have our pic taken with the legendary Nellie Oleson:

---

To Qila, With Love

I've been in a pretty good mood these days and I think it's partly because Vancouver has been nice and sunny lately. So the other day I thought I'd take advantage of the good weather and head down to one of my favourite places in the city - the Vancouver Aquarium. I've always loved it there because I'm utterly amazed by marine life and their whole underwater world. It's SO the opposite of our life here on dry land, and I find it all quite fascinating.

My fascination with what's going on beneath the surface was solidified a few years ago when I became a PADI-certified open water scuba diver down in the Caribbean. I'll never forget my first dive. It's an absolutely *insane* feeling to know that you are Breathing. Under. Water. And, everything is so colorful down there that you find yourself believing that every colour ever invented must have found its origins along a reef somewhere. Especially if you dive in tropical waters. I know that sometimes when you look at photos taken underwater it just kinda looks like it's all one colour, usually blue-ish green. But trust me - when you're actually under the water it's more colorful than you can possibly imagine.

The Vancouver Aquarium houses not only marine life, but lots of others as well - reptiles, exotic birds and, I believe, a sloth. Here's some pics of what I saw:

The Vancouver Aquarium also keeps several beautiful Beluga whales (the white ones). And it's just been announced one of the Belugas is pregnant! The lucky girl is Qila (pronounced Kee-lah). Apparently she had herself a whale of a time recently with one of the males and soon she's gonna have a baby beluga.

No word yet on the baby shower although I'm just so relieved that there won't be a decision to make on if I should buy her something pink or blue. I have a feeling it won't matter too much in the all-white world of the beluga. But one thing troubles me ... considering the current pastime of monitoring the physical progress of pregnant famous females (Angelina or J. Lo anyone?) I have a question - how on earth does one play "spot the baby bump" with a beluga? I'd be happy to hear any thoughts you have on that...

One final thing - last year a couple of sea otters at the Vancouver Aquarium gained worldwide fame after a video of their escapades was posted on YouTube by a visitor to the aquarium. There's no question that it's pretty darn cute, and alot of other people must agree since the video has been viewed nearly 10 million times already! Here it is:

There's Salmon Going On Around Here

Unless you live in Vancouver or visit frequently, you could easily mistake that ubiquitous rumbling noise you hear in the city for an earthquake. After all, Vancouver's latitude and longitude place this city squarely in tremor territory. But really, that rumbling you hear is the collective pangs of a hungry citizenry.

Indeed, Vancouverites are always hungry to explore the fabu-licious food scene here and we feel zero guilt when we choose to relinquish the pots and abandon the pans to let someone else to do the cooking.

The other night me and the gang decided to try Salmon House On The Hill, a restaurant I'd never yet been to but always wanted to check out. The Salmon House is actually located in West Vancouver, just above the Upper Levels Highway.

Perched on a slope near the British Properties subdivision, this restaurant has one of the *best* views of the city you'll find anywhere - twinkling lights as far as the eye can see with the still, black waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay to reflect it all.

Inside the Salmon House, we found quite a comfortable wood décor featuring enormous, traditional, First Nation carvings on the walls. Here's what it looks like from the perspective of the fork on our table:

The Salmon House lounge also has an amazing glass carving set into the wall, along with a few other interesting pieces of wall art:

Even though the dinner menu offered chicken and lamb, of course I had to try their classic alder grilled salmon. Here's what it looked like moments before it disappeared...

Back to the Salmon House decor for a moment, there was also a traditional wooden canoe suspended from the vaulted ceiling, presumably hanging there as a reminder of how the First Nations people were enabled to catch pacific salmon. It's either that, or it's a clear sign of what not to sit under in case that rumbling you hear is *not* from a hungry person after all.

If you'd like to know a bit more about Salmon House on the Hill, click here.

My Top 10 for Vancouver 2007 (Part Two)

(in no particular order)

Who Let the Air Out?

Whether you live in Vancouver or not, there's a good chance you'll recall that 2007 was kicked off, not with a bang, but with a rip. A great, big, giant RIP in the inflated ceiling of BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver.
BC Place is where the BC Lions regularly kick butt in the Canadian Football League and it's also where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
But last January, all of that was followed by a question mark after a nasty wind storm tore a gigantic hole in the roof of BC Place. And if course it was all captured on video. Behold…

It was a big change to Vancouver's skyline when BC Place deflated because day after day, year after year it was just always there… looking like a big white marshmallow. But I'll always remember how strange it was to ride the Skytrain past BC Place and look out the window at a stadium without a roof! Only its circular foundation and main structure remained… sans roof. It deflated in a way that Barry Bonds' ego should.

My Arresting Encounter with The Police

A little later into 07, Vancouver started to buzz about a reunion tour by one of the most popular bands of all time, The Police.
Sting and the boys would be kicking off their first tour in almost 25 years right here in Vancouver. Not only that, but the band planned to rehearse right here in our city. The Police were soon spotted around town and eventually I saw them too. I was out for dinner with some friends one fine evening at Cin Cin. I looked up from my menu and there he was… Sting and the rest of The Police and their large entourage, all eating dinner and drinking red wine. To find out what happened between me and a member of The Police, click on THIS!
When all was sang and done, The Police reunion tour was recognized as the highest grossing concert tour of 2007.


Snap, Crackle, Pop

Summer in Vancouver is nothing without the Celebration of Light - the largest and definitely most-spectacular fireworks festival and competition on planet Earth. Over the course of 4 nights in July and August, at least a quarter of a million Vancouverites make the annual pilgrimage to English Bay, site of this yearly festival.

I make a point of watching each night of competition, every year, year after year. The Celebration of Light is one of the best things you'll ever find to do in this town. It's free, it takes place in a fantastic outdoors location, there's great music and, of course, there's about 2 hours of stunning fireworks that will leave your jaw on the ground and your imagination feeling as plugged in as when you were 5 years old.
2007 was a fantastic year for the Celebration of Light because Canada won the competition! For my nightly accounts of the Celebration of Light, click on THIS! and read "Let There Be Light". Then, click on THIS! and scroll down near the bottom to read "You Light Up My Life" and "Light My Fire".

Say I'm Your Number One

Also, in the summer of 2007, Vancouver was once again honored by The Economist Intelligence Unit as the #1 Most Liveable City in the world. Shortly after my town received this tremendous accolade, I had an experience which only confirmed in my mind that The Economist hit the bullseye with their assessment. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had and definitely makes 2007 memorable for me. This is a must-tell story so click on THIS! and read my post "Most Liveable City" at the top of that page.

Meet the Mascots

In November, VANOC (VANcouver Olympic Committee) revealed to the public, at long last, our mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Vancouverites greeted these 'chosen ones' with a mixture of incredulousness and disapproval (felt by many grown-ups) and adoration (the feeling of most kids). But really, the mascots are all about merchandising so as long as the kids love 'em, the parents will buy 'em. Case closed. Personally, the more I see 'em, the more I like 'em - maybe I'm just a big kid.

So that's pretty much 2007 as I recall it. Before the year was out though, another change would move my life in another direction.
As much as I loved living in South Main, fate dealt a new hand and so I returned to South Granville, a neighbourhood where I have previously lived at 3 different periods of my life. Unlike South Main, my next neighbourhood comes with more than one Starbucks (quel surprise), a DKNY shop and lawn sprinklers programmed to spritz the grass in the middle of the night so as not to wet the fine footwear of neighbourhood dwellers on their way to and from Meinhardt's or Williams-Sonoma.
South Granville also offers Gallery Row which is a several-blocks-long stretch of fantastic art galleries and antique shops sure to inspire any New Year resolutions to spruce up your home. Click on THIS! and scroll down a bit to read "She's a Brick House" for the brief history of a very cool heritage building on South Granville .

P.S. I know this is a Top 10 of 2007, but a few other events made the year memorable for me:
A trip with my Mom to the Okanagan for a family wedding was a good time for both of us. I gained a whole new respect for her ability to out-drive an 18-wheeler and its driver who decided to play chicken with us on a pitch-black mountain pass at high speed. Phew! Am I ever glad we made it out of that one!
Also, a trip to Mayne Island with a bunch of good friends made for a fab min-vacation together.
One more... I attended the Tori Amos concert in December with my sister and some friends and while it rocked us to heaven and back, it was made even better by the fact that we got to check out Tori's sound check before the show to hear a private performance of two great songs. Oh, that was good times.
Last but not least, the other event that stood out for me in 2007 was meeting Emmy-award winning actors Christian LeBlanc and Tracey Bregman from The Young and The Restless at a charity event last summer. More good times indeed.

So, that's it - I hope you enjoyed 2007 as much as I did and let's all hope for an even better 2008!

My Vancouver Top 10 for 2007 (part one)

(in no particular order)

Boy N The (New) Hood

2007 began for me in the rock-on neighbourhood of South Main. Or Mount Pleasant. Or whatever you want to call it, but please, I beg of you, do not call it SoMa… utter absurdity, that is.
I took up residence at 14th and Grandma. I called it that because my new home was at the corner of 14th avenue and Sophia street, and that is also my Polish grandmother's first name (Sophia, not fourteenth). I had moved there December 14, 2006 and welcomed 2007 in this great 'hood.
I was so down with this place. Within blocks of my apartment was: a very cool coffee shop with a double-sided fireplace, Vancouver's awesomest record store "Neptoon Records", one of Vancouver's most random nightspots "The Anza Club", Vancouver's coolest-named restaurant "Slickety Jim's Chat 'n Chew", and Planet Bingo where the city's hardest-core gamblers whiled away the hours, dabber in hand. Here's a moment in time at the corner of 14th and Grandma:

Stanley Park Seawall Re-opens

The night I moved into 14th and Grandma, I was startled awake at 3am by what sounded like an 18-wheeler coming through my brand new bedroom window. But it was the wind. FEROCIOUS wind. More ferocious than the Ice Bear death match now playing in The Golden Compass. This was a wind that clear cut its way through Stanley Park and left Prospect Point looking like Mother Nature had gotten bored and decided to conduct a logging experiment.

11 months later, on November 16, 2007 the grand, beautiful and very-missed seawall around Vancouver's Stanley Park re-opened to walkers, joggers, cyclists and general looky-loo's. Here's our terrific seawall, back in top form:

Extreme Makeover films new episode on Cambie street

As I grew to love all that makes South Main a little bit 'o fab, it was inevitable I would also occasionally find myself in nearby neighbourhoods, like Cambie Village. This is where Vancouver temporarily looks like a postcard from Baghdad. The city's underworld has literally been exposed thanks to one of the most massive infrastructure projects this city has ever seen - the Canada Line, a light rail transit system from Vancouver International Airport to downtown Vancouver. Check it out… the construction goes 4 or 5 stories below ground:

A Mid-Summer Night's Stench

Smack dab in the middle of summer 2007 in Vancouver, the city's unionized civic workers, including garbage collectors, went on strike. Vancouverites endured this job action for about 12 weeks. So did our tourists and visitors! All because it went down right in the middle of our high-season for tourism.
I sure hope if you came here during that time that you still enjoyed our beautiful city despite some parts looking like the anti-thesis of Good Housekeepping. I also hope when I write a Top 10 for 2008 it doesn't include living in harmony with a rat population explosion.
Thankfully, Vancouver has now regained its stunning and pristine gorgeousness (much like me after an early night and a close shave - neither of which seems to happen anymore).

Becks-couver

Vancouver said hello to The Beckhams - twice - in 2007. First, in October, soccer hero and Armani underwear model David Beckham came to town with the L.A. Galaxy for an exhibition game with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Rarely does our BC Place Stadium see most of its 60,000 seats filled. If David Beckham is a soccer bandwagon, Vancouver jumped it faster than this city shuts down when it snows.
But it didn't end there. On December 2nd, Beckham's Stepford wife, Posh, spiced up VanCity on the opening night of the Spice Girls reunion tour. Poor Posh, though. She translated Canada's lack of paparazzi culture into Canada's lack of knowing who she is - so, she arranged for photogs to get shots of her shopping on Robson street. Word! That's the proof, peeps - at times, certain celebs don't want privacy.

That's the first half of my Vancouver Top 10 for 2007. More to come...

Tonsil Town part two

About ten months ago, I went to the Marpole Curling Club in Vancouver. The idea was to try curling for the first time. "Beyond terrible" would be a charitable way to describe my performance. I had no aim and I fell over. Alot. I found curling to be sorta similar to bowling except way less fun and way more awkward and way colder and way off my list of things to ever try again.

While it was a memorable experience (thanks to the fun gaggle of Americans I was with), I haven't really thought about it much since that day last February. Until today. Today the Marpole Curling Club was credited in the brilliant and hilarious new film, Juno.

I saw Juno today down at the 'ol Tonsil Town. I gotta say, it's been a stellar week for me at Tonsil Town. The other day I blogged about it being my favourite movie theatre in Vancouver (even though its proper name is Tinseltown, I prefer to call it Tonsiltown for no other reason than to be a dork).

Not only is Tonsiltown the bestest theatre ever, it also has the desirable, consistent tendency to show the bestest movies as well - like Juno.

This movie is open-hearted hilarity from start to finish. Juno is the name of the lead character, a 16 year old girl who unexpectedly becomes pregnant. She's played by Ellen Page (she's from Halifax, Nova Scotia). Her character is impregnated by Bleeker, an orange-Tic Tac-addicted, long-distance runner played by Michael Cera (he's from Brampton, Ontario). Go Canada.

Props go to the supporting cast, too. Allison Janney plays Juno's stepmom and is perfect in the scene where she tells off an ultra-sound technician. Rainn Wilson shows up right at the start of the movie as a convenience store clerk and is also perfect while telling Juno, who madly shakes her home pregnancy test kit, that it's not an etch-a-sketch and the results won't change no matter how much she shakes it.

Some of the scenes in Juno reminded me of some of the streets in Vancouver. Scenes showing residential streets with stucco bungalows erected probably in the 50's or 60's. Their familiarity made me feel even more at home with Juno than I already was. Then, because we stuck around for closing credits, we learned that Juno was filmed right here in Vancouver. Nice! That's what got me thinking about the Marpole Curling Club again - the film makers "thanked" it in the credits.

I'm fairly certain that of all the films I've seen that were made in Vancouver, Juno is the best of those. Plus, Juno's soundtrack is overwhelmingly well-chosen for this film. It's a perfect sonic match to the tone, pace and vibe of the story and the characters. I've already downloaded it and I'm listening to it right now.

For your viewing and listening pleasure, here's a clip of Moldy Peaches performing Anyone Else But You (from the soundtrack) at the Juno premiere. A sweet tune, indeed. The song itself begins at 2:25 into the clip, but the part before the song actually starts is quite funny and worth watching.

---

Tonsil Town

Tinseltown ain't just down south in California, ya know. It's right here in Vancouver and just so happens to be the name of my favourite movie theatre in this town. Or as me and my peeps like to call it... Tonsil Town.

Tinseltown (88 West Pender Street) has the most comfortable seats, the most leg room, the best "on-a-slope" theatre design which totally prevents your view of the movie screen from being obstructed by someone else's big, fat head. And when Tinseltown first opened, it also had Vancouver's most reasonable prices to see a movie. It is a movie house of superlatives, Tinseltown is.

One thing though, the prices have gone up. I went today and paid $7.75 for a matinee (back in the day you could see a matinee there for 5 bucks!)

Tinseltown now offers "Super Tuesday" when every seat for every show is $8.75. Not horrible compared to some other theatres in town. Mind you, way back when, Tuesdays at Cineplex Odeon were actually known as Two Dollar Tuesdays.

What's the bigger crime - that prices have risen so much or that I can remember that far back?

The movie I saw is Into The Wild, directed by Sean Penn who also wrote the screenplay. I realize it's taken me awhile to get around to seeing this one - it was released this past September. Anyhoo, this film is going down as one of the absolute BEST movies I've seen in 2007 (right up there with Superbad and Knocked Up).

Into The Wild tells the true story of Christopher McCandless who, after graduating college in 1990, went completely off the grid in order to live his life completely off the land. In Alaska, to boot! Through a narrative from his sister, we hear some likely reasons why this 23 year old guy abandoned his old life for a new one. But the film itself is centered on his earnest effort to live a pure life, to be with nature, to be with himself, to find himself and, ultimately, to find love.

For me, Into The Wild brings new meaning to the phrase 'motion picture'… it's incredibly moving - like a cinematic Ex-lax.

Really though, I cannot deny that I was affected a great deal by the story of this guy's time living in the far north, his struggle to stay fed, his endurance of harsh weather conditions and his profound, beautiful connections with nature and wildlife.

Into The Wild is deeply touching and most of all reveals the power of forgiveness. I cannot recommend it highly enough, if only because it's not everyday one can be touched deeply for less than ten dollars.

If fingers were thumbs, all mine would be enthusiastically pointed straight up. Word.

When I left the theatre, a sobbing wreck of my former self, I came across several fantastic, framed photographs lining the corridors of Tinseltown. The photos are of all the big Hollywood stars from the golden age. I took pictures of a few of the pictures to show you. I was already in a sentimental mood so I couldn't help but notice how the essence of these photographs perfectly matched my introspection.

Do yourself some good - pop down to Tinseltown and see Into The Wild - it's unforgettable. As a bonus, the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is flawless and so are the supporting performances by Catherine Keener and Hal Holbrook - have a look at the trailer...

Holy Guacamole

My first trip to Mexico is etched in my memory for lots of reasons, although the divine taste of perfect guacamole resides near the top of the memorable heap. Out for dinner at an open-air restaurant in old Vallarta, I witnessed the 60 second miracle that is fresh-made guacamole.

A member of the wait staff wearing a crisp white oxford and pressed black pants appeared beside our table with a trolley carrying avocado, lemon, cilantro, tomato and onion. With mortar and pestle in hand he spent one short minute mashing these ingredients together for the best guacamole I've. ever. had. Until that day, I had no idea what guacamole was actually supposed to taste like.

Fast forward to lunch at Cobre the other day, with a mouthful of guacamole, and I was reminded of that first trip to Mexico.

Cobre (52 Powell Street) is Spanish for copper and it's yet another new restaurant in Vancouver's always-improving Gastown district. It opened last July. Once the sole territory of those who ask for (and clearly need) a lot of spare change, Gastown is now like fertile F&B soil giving life to a totally decent new restaurant every month or two.

The cuisine at Cobre is nuevo latino, a self-bestowed descriptor. Nuevo Latino features ways of eating inspired by places like Argentina and Mexico, Cuba and Brazil.

This Gastown restaurant is a really comfortable space - red brick walls surround you, exposed wooden beams are up above and appealing, colour-filled canvases have been placed around the room.

The menu includes so many Spanish words that I started to feel like Madonna singing La Isla Bonita - trying my best to get the pronunciation down pat, but nobody's really buying it. And that's just the pronunciation. Forget about what the words actually mean!

Thankfully, Cobre offers a printed glossary of food terms from the menu containing the English translation. A very handy tool indeed. The glossary is also on their website if you want to bone up on your Espagnol before you head down to Cobre.

Once I understood what my lunch choices were, I started with the tuna ceviche featuring local albacore. It was served on a small, tasty pile of cold, purple potatoes.

Next was crispy chicken taquitos, assembled like a taco log cabin with fantastic guacamole. I can't honestly say the guac was as good as that unforgettable experience in Puerto Vallarta, but it was pretty darn good.

As for the taquitos? They were okay, a little bland but well-placed beside a pool of hot sauce. Here's a pic of the taquitos and the guacamole (I don't know what's wrong with my camera phone right now, but for some reason this picture makes the taquitos look like they're floating on an ice sheet although really it's just a white plate).

Dessert was a fabulous creation with caramel and pineapple - here's a picture of it from above which really doesn't make it look nearly as scrumptious as it was.

We had a really good time at Cobre - our server approached us with ease and subtlety while our food went down very well. So when you're in Gastown, look beyond the souvenir shops for another reason to chill in Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood.

Familiar Terri-TORI

"…slapstick comics, and dewy-eyed soubrettes, nimble magicians and world-famed musicians, wise-cracking jugglers and sweaty acrobatic teams, standup comedians and dignified divas, and the fabled names of the movies." - Chuck Davis

These are the just some of the types of entertainers that have graced the stage at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver. And Monday night, one of the most unique names in music took to that same stage - Tori Amos.

Truth is, I'm a wee bit of a fan to say the least. I've seen Tori Amos in concert 6 times now; this was the second time I've seen her at The Orpheum.

The Orpheum Theatre is one of Vancouver's grandest and most-storied entertainment venues. Here's a great description of it from The History of Metropolitan Vancouver: "All around the theatre, on every floor, are ornamental grace notes-murals, paintings and other art work, decorated wall fabrics, tiling, fancy balustrades, gilded mirrors, ironwork, ornate chandeliers, sconces, corbels, tapestries, plush carpeting, varied and exotic architectural embellishments-a never-ending feast for the eye."

We bought special (read: expensive) tickets for the concert - they included admission to the sound check. There were about 25 of us and seating was unassigned. Sitting in row 3, I watched Tori come on stage. She only said "hello" and 'this is what it looks like when we rehearses'. I was beyond thrilled to see this very private performance.

After the two songs, she still didn't say a word. She just sat on her piano bench for a few moments adjusting something. Our "VIP" group got up in complete silence and began to exit the theatre. It was so weird and awkward that nobody said anything! I couldn't stand it anymore so, I said aloud "thank you" and she waved back. She gave this cute little wave that looks like she's using her hand to teach a child how to count to 5, 10, 15… you know the wave.

Tori Amos is the epitome of rock star. Citing Led Zeppelin and Nirvana as influences, she breathes a fiery life into her instrument of choice - a Bosendorfer piano (some models sell for nearly 2-hundred thousand dollars!) The way she straddles her piano bench could easily receive NC-17 rating if the MPAA were in the room.

Tori is quite obviously a fan of Vancouver. During the show, she said "it's awfully nice to be here, you never know, I might be here more often." With that, she launched into a charming little ditty: "If things keep going like they've been going, Canada I'm coming home." It was pretty cute, much like Tori herself. Check out this 1 minute improv for yourself (it was filmed 2 rows behind my seats):