Gary Stephen Ross (Editor) & Kim Peacock (Publisher) Finished At Vancouver Magazine

by Andrew Morrison | Oh noes. I’ve only just learned that Van Mag’s editor, Gary Stephen Ross, and the publisher, Kim Peacock, were let go the other day. According to a leaked internal memo, interim leadership has fallen to TC Media group publisher Caroline Andrews.

The memo didn’t mention why they were dumped (the consequence of a “well thought-out restructuring”), but I can’t imagine it was an easy run for either of them. Like other leaders of long-established print outfits in recent years, they had to deal with the advent of social media, the recession, the skepticism of increasingly empowered advertisers, and the whittling impact of a local blogosphere of occasional quality and influence (aka The Four Horsemen of the Old Media Apocalypse). I thought they’d done as good a job as could be expected under such freakishly unprecedented circumstances but, alas, via Malcolm Parry:

Western Living and Vancouver magazines’ publisher Kim Peacock and editorial director Gary Ross arrived at their offices Monday and were promptly shown the door. Transcontinental Media senior VP Pierre Marcoux’s subsequent memo noted the two “have been instrumental in developing and transforming our Western brands and have both been great contributors to the team. I wish to thank them for their contribution and hard work over the past years.”

Gary and Kim had been running the magazine since 2006, right when I came on board as a judge at their restaurant awards and began making occasional contributions to the magazine. Gary taught me a few things and made several of my stories better (he is as gifted an editor as he is a writer), and Kim kindly tolerated my occasionally fatuous, self-important bone-picking about food coverage, online presence, the awards, you name it. They made a big impact on my career, and I’m eternally grateful for that. I hope that they both go well and land lucratively, wherever that may be.

The View From Your Window #133: And The Reveal Of Yet Another Vancouver Ghost Sign

From R.J.R | East Hastings (Hastings-Sunrise) | Vancouver, BC | 6:15pm | SHARE YOUR VIEW

Some of the buildings across the street came down today to make room for a London Drugs expansion. Lo and behold… another ghost sign emerges: “Coast Dry Cleaners – Phone High. 6063″

We love posting the photographs that reveal the views from our reader’s windows. Whether it’s a back alley in the fall or a sandy beach in high summer, we’re always stoked to see what you see from home, work or while on the road. Some of our all-time favourite reader submissions below… Read more

Seen In Vancouver #367: Inside The Making Of The Next “This Is East Van” Photo Book

As we’ve noted before, locals Erin Sinclair and Rob Forbes are busily making a second book to follow up on the success of This Is East Van. The new one is again based on photos submitted by community members keen to share their individual visions of East Vancouver. You can follow their progress on Twitter and Instagram, but we’ve asked them to keep us updated with captioned images, too (without giving too much of the finished product away). Here are the newest 14 shots that they’ve sent our way…

EVERYTHING SEEN IN VANCOUVER

The View From Your Window #132

From S.S. | Dunsmuir St. | Vancouver, BC | 6:30am | SHARE YOUR VIEW

We love posting the photographs that reveal the views from our reader’s windows. Whether it’s a back alley in the fall or a sandy beach in high summer, we’re always stoked to see what you see from home, work or while on the road. Some of our all-time favourite reader submissions below… Read more

Northern Zulu Sessions: Scenes From The “Tennis” Show At Kitsilano’s Zulu Records

Scout Magazine and Northern Transmissions are proud to present the fourth instalment of The Northern Zulu Sessions, a series of in-store concerts at West 4th’s Zulu Records that showcase local and international talent. The films are a collaboration by Warmland Films, Zulu Records, and Overgrowth Productions. This week, it’s Tennis!

VANCOUVER AT WORK #10: Inside The “Workshop Collective” Of The East Village

S.F | Designer | Workshop Collective | East Village (formerly Hastings Sunrise) | 2:15pm

With Vancouver At Work, we invite Scout readers to send in photos of their work spaces, be they home offices, corporate cubicles, artist studios, fishing boats, bars or kitchen lines. It’s a lot like our View From Your Window feature, only you tell us your initials, your title at work, your place of work, the neighbourhood, and the time the photo was taken with “Vancouver At Work” in the subject line. Photos and info should be sent to scoutmagazine [at] gmail [dot com], and need to be as high res as the sender can manage. Cell phone shots will do if they are no smaller than 588px wide. Now get snapping!

MORE VANCOUVER AT WORK

Smoke Break #952: New Yorkers Remind Us To Say “Thank You Mom” This Mother’s Day

(via) As if we needed a reminder, but still…thank you, Mom, for “getting me out of trouble when I burned down that forest.” Pass it on…

HEADS UP: Sons & Lovers “Summer Reading Pop-Up Shop” At Revolver Coffee On May 20

Dig books? Of course you do, and the folks at Sons & Lovers Books are doing a pop-up sale at Revolver Coffee on Cambie next Sunday, May 20th from 1pm to 4pm (cash only). They’ll be decorating the coffee shop with a curated selection of 200+ titles, all of them used classics dripping with character and charisma. Expect plenty of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Salinger, Wilde, Lawrence, Austen, Bronte, Eliot, Plath, Steinbeck and such. George and Robyn have great taste. See you there!

YOU SHOULD KNOW: About The History Of Vancouver’s Long Love Affair With Bowling

by Stevie Wilson | Long before Vancouver was synonymous with hockey riots, we were civilized, happy people who enjoyed life’s finest sport: bowling. Remnants of the city’s love affair with this sport are still visible and, more importantly, accessible. The Commodore Lanes at 838 Granville is currently the oldest surviving bowling center in Canada, and its history reveals much about Vancouver’s affections for The Big Lebowski’s sport of choice.

Opening its doors on September 7th, 1930, The Commodore Lanes was originally named “Commodore Recreations”. Inspired by the success and excitement surrounding Toronto-based Tommy F. Ryan’s 1909 move from ten-pin to five-pin bowling (Canada’s first), owner Frank Pavin introduced five-pin to Vancouver, and it was an instant hit. With Pavin came Mitz Nozaki, a young Japanese-Canadian who had been in the bowling trade since he was 13, working for Pavin as a pinboy (hand-setting the pins!) at Gastown’s Abbott Lanes, a ten-pin joint. Inspired to create new five-pin lanes to suit the sport’s sensibilities of weak-wristed Canadian players (we didn’t like how heavy the other balls were), Pavin was also one of the first to allow women to play the gentlemen’s sport, with a special promotion that let ladies play for free in the mornings.

The Commodore Lanes quickly became a popular spot among locals, and soon grew to attract the likes of celebrities such as Roy Rogers, Clark Gable, and Buster Crabb, to name just a few. The Commodore was also the first to rent out bowling shoes; a well-liked alternative to the ‘blackies’ typically worn over street shoes. Pavin and Nozaki are remembered by those who knew them as hard-working, dedicated bowlers who transformed the sport into one of Vancouver’s favourite pastimes. In fact, Nozaki is said to have been absent from the lanes for just one occasion: his forced internment in the Japanese camp at Sushwap’s Blind Bay for the course of the Second World War.

When Frank Pavin passed away in 1962, Nozaki purchased the Commodore Lanes and went on to become one of the most influential names in Vancouver’s five-pin bowling scene. With the rise of monthly newsletters and annuals such as Strikes ‘n’ Spares, Vancouver Bowling News, and PNE Bowling, tournaments became increasingly popular, including several held at the Commodore Lanes well into the 1980s. Until 1983, the lanes were home to numerous games and tournaments played by the Vancouver All-Star League, a 3-player, 4-game scratch pinfall league (home to the best of the best of the city’s bowlers). In 2004 at the age of 91, Mitz Nozaki passed away, a legend among Vancouver’s bowling community and the Commodore Lanes.

So the next time you’re feeling wound up about the Canucks losing (again), try your hand at some five-pin over at the Commodore Lanes. It’s cheap, it’s fun, and best of all, it’s historical! And if none of that tickles you, they also serve beer.

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Stevie Wilson is an historian masquerading as a writer. After serving as an editor for the UBC History Journal, she’s decided to branch out with a cryptic agenda: encouraging the people of Vancouver to take notice of their local history and heritage with You Should Know, a Scout column that aims to show you the things that you already see. Just nod your head and pretend you’re paying attention.

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Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

Nic Bragg over at Kitsilano’s Zulu Records once again present his weekly Scout feature, the Zulu Report. Within, staff from the West 4th music store provide The Track, the song that is on heavy rotation that week; The Playlist, which is pretty self-explanatory; The Gig, the must see show of the week; and The Glance, which details the best gigs on the immediate horizon. From their ears to yours, enjoy…

THE TRACK

AESOP ROCK Zero Dark Thirty

Sonically this latest Aesop offering is really, really interesting. Ian Mattihas Bavitz (a.k.a. Aesop Rock) has always kept the lyrical side of his game super fresh but we at Zulu are absolutely blown away by the potent combo of beats, samples and overall production verve that accompanies his lyrical fury! Check this “Roving packs of elusive young, become choke-lore writers over boosted drums, in the terrifying face of a future tongue”… major throw down to those at his heels. Vancouver’s hip hop scene is super tight and has deep ties to the Rhymesayers crew, so we can only hope that when Rock takes to the road in support of July’s Skelethon from Fifth Element that he hooks it up at Fortune! Tight sounds. Read more

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