In case anyone was wondering what had happened to me over the last few weeks, I’ve been more than completely occupied in the making of a mini-documentary on Kickstand, a lovely community bike shop in East Van. I can’t post it and won’t be able to for a number of…

John Kastelic and Tony Kastelic — violists/singers — Salt Thief Coming up the stairs from the Granville Street Skytrain platform I hear voices singing. As I get closer, the low alto of violas becomes audible beneath the voices. Then I see them. …

Jordan MacKinnon of The Bike Co-op Jordan MacKinnon looks up from the drive train of his “do-everything” winter bike, Moonshine. The rear wheel spins, high off the ground in the repair stand at Our Community Bikes, clicking healthily as Jordan frames his thoughts. “What makes a city,” he says, starting…

Brandy Fedoruk and Rebecca Ann Dolen of The Regional Assembly of Text and its lowercase reading room. Inspiration often comes when you least expect it. Somewhere in my family history someone bought an Oliver typewriter. It is the size of a dozen laptops stacked atop one another and weighs enough…

Chris Brayshaw of Pulpfiction Books Chris Brayshaw looks at me sideways. There’s something intriguing ticking around behind his eyes. “Do you want to see a secret thing?” We’re sitting in the Gene Coffee Bar at the corner of Main and Kingsway, half a block from Brayshaw’s bookstore, Pulpfiction Books. The…

A meditation on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Early morning, April four / Shot rings out in the Memphis sky / Free at last, they took your life / They could not take your pride.” — Pride — U2 The text you see me scribbling in this video is…

Elisa Thorn — Harpist I meet Elisa Thorn at Prado Cafe on Fraser Street’s rapidly developing 25th Avenue corridor. When I arrive, I spot her by the window. She looks deadly serious. How Elisa looks like on the outside, however, is not usually how Elisa is on the inside. “How…

Jesse Cooper of Our Community Bikes Within thirty seconds of meeting Jesse Cooper at Our Community Bikes, he’s already introduced me to Sunny Nestler of the Bike Co-op. “You two should know each other,” he says, and fills Sunny in on why I’m standing in a bike shop with a…

Ben Coli of Dageraad Brewing It was November a few years ago when I popped into the Beer and Wine on Denman and Barclay, a rare take-out meal in hand. In bag, actually. A rain-soaked, olive oil-saturated paper bag that was dangerously close to giving up altogether. Ducking into the…