Rouge - really?

SOOOOO....apparently I was at Vancouver's premier event of the year (last years invite is the image as I could find no suitable pics available on the net and as we know, no pics of myself at the event will be posted) - the place to see and be seen....be treated like a VIP and experience a very unique event experience - "better than in years before" - the 6th annual Rouge party at Robson Square- an event that gets out the film industry glitterati and wanna-be's strutting their stuff for the Malcolm Perry's of this world.

The Straight published this blurb about the event on Thursday:

Industry types paint the town rouge
Movie Notes By Craig Takeuchi
Publish Date: July 19, 2007
A who's who of the local film industry will transform the Robson Square skating rink into a major networking event. The fifth annual installment of Rouge will feature a bevy of hosts, including actors Babz Chula, Jay Brazeau, Joely Collins, Suleka Mathew, and Gabrielle Miller; creative director Helen duToit and Canadian Images programmer Terry McEvoy from the Vancouver International Film Festival; Whistler Film Festival director Shauna Hardy Mishaw; Brightlight Pictures producers Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson; BC Film Commissioner Susan Croome; Insight Film Studios CEO Kirk Shaw; Leo Awards president Walter Daroshin; media personality Terry David Mulligan; Urban Rush hosts Michael Eckford and Fiona Forbes; and numerous other producers, directors, writers, and industry figures.

I wonder where the press get their attendee lists? Not that I was really looking, but I did not see over half of the people mentioned above....I know for a fact Babz was at her soon to be daughter-in-laws/my good friends engagement party in Montreal...although Gabrielle did look fetching in her gold mini dress and Joely looked equally fab in her new bob and engagement ring...my "date" who was there to network, see and be seen, introduced us.

Now don't get me wrong, I was a teeny bit excited to see Will from Will and Grace, but really - does a Eric McCormack sighting make up for the fact that the dj was worse than a MuchMusic highschool dance party circa 1988, (Please lord, tell me there was some mix up or last minute replacement because no self-respecting Celebrities dj -as advertised-would have spun out the schlock we had to hear before the final hour when a tired but danceable top 40 line-up finally hit the airwaves) the balloon arches reminded my friend of a 1980s wedding he attended and the canapes looked as tired as the bar staff? They were generally overwhelmed and unable to deal with the meandering undulating line-up of desperate party-goers hungry for something to make their surroundings look better - myself included. And those teeny-tiny plastic wine cups? Seriously???? come on...this is the creme de la creme of the Vancouver film scene right? and we can't rent glassware??? or at least have nice throw-away cups? There may be people here from elsewhere - LA....or gasp! - Toronto! and this is what we got to give? That....and a really lame slide show of Rouge years past flashing before us on giant screens in the corners...the couches looked old...and the bathrooms - I suppose those could not be helped due to venue...but more could have been done...Although I love, love, loved the hoola-hoop girl - she was working it - shout out!!!!

Gotta say for $10 less, the All-White Party I attended in June had better food, better music, a better venue and better glassware!!! http://www.jetsetcrew.com/ and they didn't start out as real career-minded party planners...some of those organizers were there - wonder what they thought?

Thing is, I have heard nothing but great things about the event planners Richards and Chan - http://www.richardsandchan.com/ who certainly look they they put on good parties, are respected in their field and I am all about the fellow sistahs as entrepreneurs....so I blame the rain....something must have short circuited the party...lines were crossed, colour combos were replaced...dj's were temporarily 'auditorally' challenged....and noone was told that they should not show up to the party as they would otherwise show up to set --- i.e. in runners, dirty t-shirt and jeans - really - would it kill you to dress up once - it is night time-huh?

Thank god for being there with a group of people I enjoy most heartilly as that can make any situation fun...even the one that begins with "So?....what are you doing now?"...at times a painful and soul-searching question for the used to be full-time, now very part-time actor....but I had an A-list comeback...."Actually, soon I'm opening my own gallery - hope to see you there!" (insert giant Hollywood smile here ;-)

The Summer Party

What smells of summer more than tennis and polo?

Granted I am not enamoured of either pastime, but I'm willing to see who is and pay $50 to do so...especailly if there's a free drink and plenty of food included, not to mention entertainment - and I'm not talking about the music roster...but the parade of skin and bronzer that will no doubt accompany this event. Not as cool as spying Hollywood stars at the Vanity Fair party as I did earlier this year...but just as cheesy.

If there's something I admire its original party planning in the City of Vancouver - http://www.blogger.com/www.jetsetcrew.com where you usually have to be in the know or be part of some niche group in order to experience any real cool event in the City. While Toronto basks in the glory of hosting the largest arts festival in North America this summer, www.luminato.com/ and already boasts a litany of multi-day festivals that block major streets and bring out the mulit-cultural masses, Vancouver tries to decide whether or not it should hold the Fireworks Festival again. All the while making sure noone should dare compliment the experience with a bottle of white - things might get out of hand. I remember marvelling at the mixture of precision and laissez-faire attitude that Toronto's summer festivals were run by - major streets for blocks on end closed to traffic for days...with nary a complaint - enjoyment for the whole family! And here we're applauding the addition of one more day to the Car-Free Festival on Commercial Drive! :-O Wooohooo! http://www.blogger.com/www.thedrive.ca/eventdrivefest.shtm

How the hell are we going to hold the Olympics? While New Yokers encourage the picnic-going public to bring their best bottle of pinot to the park http://www.blogger.com/www.bryantpark.org - Vancouverites are strip searched at the skytrain station before heading down to our internationally-enviable beachfront. In case you have not noticed - I like a nice beverage - and yes, my event doesn't really compare to a festival in a park...but it all relates back to summer...the freedom to enjoy your socializing outdoors - and what accompanies that better than a festive spritzer?

So, yes it is technically behind a gated archway on a manicured lawn at Gabriola Mansion on Davie Street but I am excited for my private party being held on public - or in this case a semi-public venue where you can sip cocktails to your hearts content...no one is going to 'throw one down' and if they do I'd love to see the tennis rackets swinging out against the cricket mallets!

The culture gods

Okay so I had to steal yesterdays front page of the Review section of the Globe and Mail at my one of 3 coffee shops near the office...and not because Justin Timberlake was on the cover re: his concert 2 nights ago in TO (who cares that it was his birthday yesterday, like, every radio station had that as an announcement) but I digress...it was because of this article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070201.wmuseums01/BNStory/Entertainment/home
I find this article at once alarming, hilarious and totally hypocritical...Three issues to discuss

1. While other mid to large cities or small communities struggle to provide services and venues for their cultural offerings...Abu Dhabi is building a cultural Disneyland to shed its perceived associations with terrorism. WTH?

2. And the Canadian firm fronting the plans are well known globally and locally – they are experts in their field and have established many benchmarks in cultural and museum planning. They work all over the world on multi-million dollar projects all the time. I wonder then how they can justify paying educated, creative and student-loan strapped individuals on their staff less than it requires to live modestly in a metropolitan city and then ask them ‘You don’t have a dog to go home to at night or anything, do you?’ – i.e. you are in for some long underpaid hours and you better like them. As rewarding as the work may at times be, anyone can tire of being underpaid and underappreciated. And I am talking shockingly so….which leads me to:

3. I often wonder about the gap in salary that Master’s degrees can offer…I have a friend who works long hours, she is not passionate about the work, but she makes 6 figures and travels a dozen times a year for pleasure while those with a congruent degree struggle to make ends meet at a job that they feel makes a difference, and that they began with passion. As long as employers and the economy continue to undervalue liberal arts degrees, we will continue to get underpaid while the MBA’s and LLB’s of the world toil at what they hate but gain an enormous and disproportionate amount of the ‘collective pot’.