Odd Society Spirits ~ a local craft distiller

New legislation from the provincial government has opened the door to small batch, craft distilleries. These small businesses can now operate without the excessive taxation and red tape of the Liquor Distribution Branch. To make the circumstance even better, these new craft distillers can provide on-site tasting rooms, possibly even offer tours of their operations, and become part of the fabric of neighbourhoods, offering drinks as one might expect on a visit to Scotland or other civilized nations.







Odd Society Spirits is one such craft distiller. It's located at the very end of Commercial Drive and one block east  along Powell Street. Not particularly a pedestrian venue, this is a destination,and so it should be, though at present, the Odd Society is in early days.




The stills, three distinctly different stills, are in, and the tasting bar is being readied, as is just about every thing else. It is all a labour of passion from Gordon Glanz and his partner, Miriam Karp.

Gordon is passionate about what he is doing, and it shows. Several years ago Gordon and Miriam went to Scotland where Gordon earned a Masters degree in distilling from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He then studied under the masters at Springbank in Campbeltown. Gordon termed it a mid-life crisis of sorts, but this is truly serious vision. Gordon loves talking about the stills, the process and the marvel that is in the spirits. There is both excitement and just a wee bit of transcendental panic in his voice as he shares his passion.

And the vision, his vision: small batches of spirits made entirely from natural ingredients, sourced in British Columbia, fermented and distilled on-site. Coming soon: whisky, vodka and gin. Visit the Odd Society website, sign up for their newsletter and join me, in the tasting room, sometime in August!

Touch Wood at VanDusen Garden

One of our favourite backyards is VanDusen Garden. This summer the Garden is celebrating the culture of wood with over twenty sculptures and installations by ten BC artists. The exhibition is called Touch Wood and encourages the actual touching of wood, though there are a number of signs suggesting otherwise.









The installations vary considerably, from bird houses to flying sea creatures.










There are several variations on the theme of community and gatherings of human-like creatures.













Amidst the beauty of the gardens the perception and experience of the art changes with the light and the weather, and with the vegetation itself.

Summer Sunsets

We are now, finally, into our second summer of the year. Six months ago we arrived in Buenos Aires, from the Yukon, and entered a wonderful world of heat and humidity. Returning to Vancouver in April brought spring, and after a cool and wet month of June, the heat has arrived on Canada's south-west coast, and the sunsets, are wonderful.

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City ~ The book & the movie

The book, first published in 2004, is Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn. The movie is called Being Flynn, directed  by Paul Weitz and starring Robert De Niro and Paul Dano, and it was released in 2012.

 Over 40 million people live in poverty in the US, subsisting for the most part, doing the menial jobs that keep the engine of economic life running in the greatest nation on earth. The book, and the movie, deals with the millions of people who fall even further below the poverty line: the homeless, the powerless, the forgotten. In the beginning of course, Nick Flynn's life, and that of his father, is nowhere near that point. The family, together in some fashion, does well enough; his mother has a regular job, supplemented by odd jobs, and his father, Jonathan, is around though often drunk.

Shortly after his birth, Nick's mother, giving up on her husband, took her two children and walked out. Nick would not see his father, never really knowing him in the first place, until well into adult life, and then under strange circumstances indeed, which is where the memoir begins: Nick works in a Boston homeless shelter and meets his father, a "guest".

Nick's life is predictable enough: a childhood of poverty, near-criminality, alcohol, drugs, and his mother's strange and disruptive boy friends. Ultimately Nick becomes semi-itinerant himself, drifting, always drifting, with drugs and alcohol close by. Bizarrely he has some contact with his father, one-way, through the post; Nick saves all his father's letters. In the film, Nick is played interestingly enough by Paul Dano, though the book presents a fuller, richer view of the young man's life and issues than can be handled by Dano in 100 minutes.

Jonathan is a delusional character, calling himself the greatest living writer in the US. He is a braggart and a wind-bag, endlessly waiting for the million dollar advance on his novel ("It's here somewhere"and oddly enough does appear near the story's end). Most of all Jonathan is a drunk and a con-man. De Niro plays him well in the movie, in fact it is one of De Niro's better recent performances, with the right balance of crazed humour and insane anger.

This is the story of two men and their converging lives. It is told in a fragmentary style that is quite appealing. Depressing, sordid and painfully real, the book features short chapters describing events in non-chronological order which captures the random craziness of the two Flynns wonderfully.

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (a phrase the senior Flynn uses to describe his time on the street) is a great read. Disturbing on a number of levels, it is a brilliant description of fathers and sons travelling  in dark places. The movie, Being Flynn, for some reason falling under the radar of critics and moviegoers alike, is highly entertaining and well worth finding.

That the story ends as well as it does is amazing.

Viva Java ~ Vancouver Coffee Shops Part 4

Across the bridge we find a coffee shop with a personality all its own, or that of its owner. I've followed Viva Java to three locations over the years and this one defies understanding. At the end of nondescript strip mall along busy Bridgeport Road, south of the casino, close to Costco and within walking of the Canada Line, but nowhere near anything in particular, we find Arti Hagop and his amazing coffee roasting operation.




It's a strange location to be sure but well worth the visit. Arti roasts organic beans every day and will blend them to your specifications (he has supplied coffee to the fussiest of film crews).







Arti has a reputation, and it's largely true: he doesn't always get along with  people. He is an independent thinker who loves coffee and knows the coffee roasting business. It is all about coffee with Arti, and the coffee is wonderful.










Become Arti's friend and you will be greeted by name, even after a lengthy absence. In my case, it's been about four years, and upon seeing me Arti shouted out an immediate, "Hello Jimmie-Man!"

I've always been Jimmie-Man to Arti, and one only argues with Arti if... well, if you don't want any coffee today. Years ago, he earned the nick name The Coffee Nazi and it still applies. He seems to  have softened just a bit, though it still helps if you know what you want before you order.




No fancy desserts or croissants here, and that isn't important. What is important is the great coffee, along with Arti's special blend of humour and commentary on world events, and for freshly roasted beans: there's nothing to compare with Viva Java.

Viva Java is located at 2900 Smith Street, Unit 9, in Richmond BC.

Photos by Jeem . Copyright 2013 by Jim Murray.