Twenty Questions With Mayor Gregor Robertson

Once or twice a week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers (a Rorschach test, for sure).

Today, it’s the turn of Mayor Gregor Robertson…

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Scout Q&A

Default drink: Happy Planet juice

Book you’re reading: “Community: The Structure of Belonging” by Peter Block

Last place traveled: Mexico with my family

Worst cliché ever: “Let the chips fall where they may”

Your ancestry: Scottish

The thing that makes you the angriest: Homelessness

Ice cream flavour: double chocolate

The trend you wish you never followed, but did: I used to have really long, shaggy hair back in the day. Not a good idea.

Sport you gave up: Rugby

Mac or PC: Mac

Favourite sports team: Canucks.

Best concert experience ever: Manu Chao at the Commodore last year

The dish you’re proud of: My homegrown salads.

Town you were born in: North Van.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Star Trek. Can’t go wrong.

First memory: Dropping plastic toy soldiers with parachutes off my Dad’s apartment in the West End.

Album that first made you love music: The Beatles, Abbey Road.

The career path you considered but never followed: Doctor.

Biggest hope: To see the end of homelessness in Vancouver.

Favourite book as a child: Lord of the Rings.

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Biography

(from VoteVision.ca) A successful businessman, community activist, and politician, Gregor is bringing a new brand of leadership, action and vision to City Hall.

In 1990, two events changed the life of Gregor Robertson: his wife Amy became pregnant with their first child, and he was soaked with chemical herbicide on an industrial farm. Those two events changed the way he viewed the world and launched him on a leading path of responsibility and sustainability – first as an organic farmer and sustainable business leader, and now as the Mayor of Vancouver with a vision of change.

Later that same year, and ahead of his time, Gregor started an organic farm near Fort Langley. That venture soon led him to create Happy Planet Foods, and over the next decade, he helped grow the company into one of Canada’s leading organic food businesses, showcasing sustainability long before it was a buzzword.

His business success earned him the Vancouver Mayor’s Environmental Award for exemplary achievement in 2003 and the Ethics in Action Award in 2004. Later that same year, Gregor was named one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” by The Globe and Mail. Throughout those years, Gregor remained committed to organic quality and fair trade, proving that commercial success and sustainability can go hand in hand.

But as a successful entrepreneur committed to social responsibility, Gregor became increasingly aware of the government’s neglect of small business, the environment, and the problem of homelessness. In 2005, he made the decision to enter politics and was elected MLA for Vancouver-Fairview and served as the Opposition Critic for Small Business and Co-Chair of the Caucus Climate Change Task Force. He also led a successful campaign to protect affordable rental housing in Vancouver, helped put a copy of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in every public high school, and has been a tireless advocate for small businesses impacted by the Canada Line construction. Gregor also introduced and championed private members’ bills mandating clear food labeling and the reduction of carcinogens, toxic substances and genetically engineered food.

He is now bringing his brand of business, environmental and responsible leadership to city hall.

Gregor lives in Vancouver with his wife Amy, and their children Terra, Satchel, Jinagh and Johanna. He is an ardent bike commuter, and in his spare moments he plays soccer and the tuba.

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended Bond University in Australia and the University of Victoria before receiving her graduate degree in Library Sciences from The University of Toronto. She lives by the beach in Vancouver and enjoys wandering aimlessly through the city’s shops and streets with her best friend – a beat up, sticky, grimy, and uncooperative camera.

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Robert Chaplin On Girlie Post-Modern Martinis

Q&A With Andrey Durbach

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…

Andrey Durbach is the executive chef and co-owner of Parkside, La Buca, and Pied-a-Terre restaurants, and the author of the children’s book Delicious Chicken Soup.

Default drink of choice: Cold beer

Drink you’ll never have again: Instant coffee

Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: Choker necklace

Favourite wine varietal: Sangiovese

The person you can imitate: My French Bulldog, Withnail (and yes, I know he’s not a person).

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: I’d change the rain into sunshine

Bartender who could sell you anything: Charles Forsberg

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: Ice cream

Cheap place for dinner: Phnom Penh

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Cioffi’s; the privacy; the views.

Last place traveled: Montreal

Biggest fear: Rats

Cliche that you use too often: It’s not a cliche, but I do swear a lot

Best sneaker in the world: Lacoste

Best bar stool in the city: Don’t have one

What are you proud of: Maintaining a vibrant and meaningful relationship with my wife while working my entire adult life in the time sucking, soul crushing, pressure cooker of the restaurant industry

The thing that makes you the angriest: People who think that 8:30 is too late for dinner

Saddest thing about Vancouver: The shitty architecture

Talent you wish you possessed: I wish I were mechanically inclined

Musical instrument you long to play: The mixing board

Sport you gave up: Football (the one you play with your feet)

The game you’re best at: Sauce station on Saturday night

Mac or PC: Mac, of course

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: In the back of a Honda civic doing a 720 across three lanes of traffic on an iced up I-5

Best concert experience ever: Talking Heads, Burning Down the House tour

Describe your tattoos: A half sleeve Ganesha, in full regalia, seated on a lotus flower surrounded by an aura of conch shells, very detailed and brightly coloured.

The dish you’re most proud of: Green pea, mint and ricotta agnolotti with ragu of lamb cheeks

The thing that makes you the most nervous: Irrational people

Town you were born in: Winnipeg

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Yes, Minister

Quality you admire most in yourself: My capacity for independent thought

Album that first made you love music: Joe’s Garage by Frank Zappa

The career path you considered but never followed: Air traffic control

The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: China

The thing you’re addicted to: Manchester United Football Club

Q&A With Kurtis Kolt

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose, with the minimum response being 20 answers.

Kurtis Kolt is the General Manager at Gastown’s Salt Tasting Room and has been in the Vancouver wine and food industry for the better part of two decades. Working alongside legends at The Fish House, Beach Side Cafe, CinCin and Liberty Wines honed his front of house skills, food knowledge and wine experience. He is certified by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, The Wine Academy of Spain and is currently enrolled in the Winemaking program at UC Davis. Kurtis’ managing and wine-directing experience has launched two local restaurants, Main Street’s Aurora Bistro and Gastown’s Salt Tasting Room onto the international culinary map, securing many appearances in both local and international print media and television. Both restaurants won gold as Best New Restaurant in the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards and were named one of Canada’s Top Ten New Restaurants by enRoute Magazine in their respective years. Along with receiving a Gold Award for his much-acclaimed wine program at Salt Tasting Room from the Vancouver International Wine Festival, Kurtis has received the Premier Crew Service Award from Vancouver magazine. He’s also not half as serious as all of this makes him sound.

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Gene (coffee spot at Main/7th). Proximity to downtown. Abundance of cheap eats.

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: My (roughly) annual Big Mac. An umami wonder.

Drink you’ll never have again: A chocolate milk called Tayo. It’s made from potatoes and it’s awful.

Bartender who could sell you anything: Sophie Taverner, Josh Pape, Jay Jones, Mark Brand, Nick Devine, David Wolowidnyk or Wendy McGuinness.

Book you’re reading: The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, McSweeney’s Issue #28, plus the Sunday New York Times is religion for me.

Last place traveled: Yaletown. We had an overnight stay at the Opus Hotel and it was fantastic.

Biggest fear: Being without my wife, Wendy. We’ve decided it’s best if we die together when we’re very old in a plane crash or something.

Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: Jack A. Kolt grew up in a small Manitoba farm town and worked on the Canada Pacific Railway. He started the Canadian Polish Athletic Club as a way of getting disadvantaged youth into sports and involved in their community. His motto was “Building boys is better than mending men.” He led an orchestra and started my father on a very successful career as a musician and a teacher. He has a street named after him in Winnipeg. He was devilishly handsome, smoked cigars, and dressed like a dandy. He was a voracious reader, an avid gardener and had a great sense of humour. He lived to be 89 and passed away peacefully after a casual and warm visit with my parents. His funeral was standing room only. I cried way more than I expected to.

Best bar stool in the city: Chambar, tucking into a Mussels Congolaise with a fresh glass of Stella Artois.

What are you proud of: Being a part of an exciting, dynamic, progressive wine and food scene in Vancouver with so many fantastic, passionate peers and colleagues.

Best fine dining restaurant in the city: Vij’s is the best restaurant in this city, regardless of dining level…

Food your mom makes better than anyone: These crazy Sour Cream Cookies that she found in an old Mennonite cookbook that are unbelievably delicious.

Local person you admire most: Personally: my wife. Professionally: Barb Philip MW. Culturally: Rich Hope.

The thing you’re most ashamed of: Whenever I’ve let my wife down.

Best concert experience ever: Yo La Tengo w/ Lambchop in Hoboken, New Jersey during our first trip ever to New York.

First memory: Being in nursery school, and sneaking into the church it was attached to. I’d never been in a church before. There was a janitor at the opposite end and I assumed he was God.

Quality you admire most in yourself: I’m pretty easygoing and very rarely angry.

Album that first made you love music: No clue, but it would have been something of my parents’ when I was really young. Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, The Mamas and The Papas, something like that. I always hate it when people say something like The Smiths, The Pixies or The Velvet Underground to give themselves cred. It’s like, REALLY? You were into The Pixies when you were 4, huh?

The career path you considered but never followed: I wanted to get into the non-profit sector, something literary and culturally based, a community centre of sorts. I got close, but it became too risky, finance and fundraising-wise. I met too many people doing similar things who struggled and were tired and had completely lost out on their life-balance and time with loved ones.

Biggest hope: You know, I’m just so happy Obama got elected. Clung to that one for four years.

Q&A with Anthony Nicalo

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…

A chef by trade, Anthony Nicalo has spent his lifetime examining the connection between fine food and its farmed roots. Now, he carefully chooses exquisite, naturally farmed wines from small sustainable farms to include in the Farmstead Wines selection. The delicious wine in every bottle that bears the Farmstead seal meets a rigorous certification program, ensuring that each wine is not only naturally farmed and handcrafted, but is made with truly sustainable practices. These are rare, artisan wines of world class quality and consistency. To learn more, visit http://www.farmsteadwines.com.

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Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Moccia, Donald’s Market, and short drive to Cioffi’s.

Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: I’ve always liked the look of a men’s button down in the morning.

Favourite wine varietal: depends on what I am eating, but usually something with varietal character, balanced, un-spoofulated with nice acidity. Nebbiolo and Riesling are good bets.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: People who are friendly but not nice. You don’t have to fake it just because you are on the West Coast. There are too many authentic, nice people in Vancouver to let the phonies have a say.

Bartender who could sell you anything: I don’t usually require a hard sell.

Cheap place for dinner: Nuevo Leon. Whenever I am in Chicago, I eat there at least once. They make their own tortillas and the lengua lampreada is fantastic. And it is BYOB!

Book you’re reading: Hot, Flat & Crowded by Thomas Friedman, Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki and The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I simply cannot read one book at a time.

Last place traveled: Mexico. My wife was there for work and if I didn’t go it would have been over a month since I saw her. On the way, I met someone from the Austrian Embassy in Mexico City that wants to import Austrian wine- nice bonus.

Cliche that you use too often: Wine is grown, not made. But I don’t think it has quite reached full-on cliche status because I am usually the only one saying it.

Dead film actor you wish was still making pictures: Al Pacino. I know, I know, but the 70s and 80s version has left the building.

Best sneaker in the world: Seriously? We figured out 20 years ago that it wasn’t cool to make sneakers in sweat shops, but we happily drink wine sprayed with loads of chemicals and processed with powders, enzymes and industrial yeasts. Our standards for things we eat and drink should be at least as high as what we wear on our feet.

Your ancestry: American Mutt (Russian, danish, french, english, german) but everyone thinks I am Italian

Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: Paternal grandfather? Mediocre father, mediocre grandfather, lived long time. My maternal grandfather is another story. Papa Bill was brilliant, hardworking, salt-of-the-earth, good father, fantastic grandfather, died young.

Sport you gave up: I still haven’t completely given up soccer. And don’t plan to – goalkeepers can play a long time.

The number of fist fights you’ve been in: I’ve broken up a number of them. A kid punched me in 5th grade, but I just told him he should walk away quickly.

Cologne/Perfume you loathe: Too much of anykind. Especially at restaurants, wine tastings, etc.

The dish you’re most proud of: A few years ago, I made dinner for a friend and a girl he liked. The menu was my usual seasonal, simple approach. It worked. The objective of any chef should be to cook so well that you actually get other people laid.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: My lovely mother-in-law turned me on to Allo-Allo. I find it hilarious.

First memory: Planting seeds in my Papa Bill’s acre garden and driving the tractor with my Grandma Judy sitting on the back. I would always try to hit the bumps.

Album that first made you love music: Run DMC “Raising Hell”

Default junk food of choice: Wine, cured meats, cheese.

Biggest hope: Changing the way the world thinks about farming, food and agriculture. We will never be sustainable until we regain our respect and connection to the land. And sustainable is not just some green marketing bullshit, it is the ability of planet Earth to sustain human life.

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photo: Pete Roggeman

Meet Chef David Hawksworth

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…

Today we talk to David Hawksworth, formerly the executive chef at West Restaurant and now the owner/chef of the highly anticipated Hawksworth at The Georgia Hotel, currently under construction on West Georgia (full bio at the bottom).

Three things about your neighbourhood (Yaletown) that make you want to live there: easy walking distance to everything, it’s vibrant and has lots of old brick.

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: bread.

Favourite wine varietals: Bordeaux.

The person you can imitate: I can’t but I wish I could, Christopher Walken.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: Hotter summers, and colder winters.

Bartender who could sell you anything: Nick Devine.

Cheap place for dinner: Kintaro or Gyoza King.

Last place traveled: Cabo San Lucas.

Biggest fear: Failure.

Cliche that you use too often: I will do it tomorrow.

Your ancestry: British.

Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: Electrician from Hull, Yorkshire. Was in WW2, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy, the Fleet Air Arm consisted of 20 squadrons with 232 aircraft. He also lived in Australia, moved to Canada in 1970. Died from Asbestos poisoning at the age of 77.

Best bar stool in the city: Irish Heather.

Dumbest purchase ever: Any stocks in 2008.

Saddest thing about Vancouver: The downtown east side. It breaks my heart every time I’m there. It’s shocking, almost third world.

Food your mom makes better than anyone: Christmas Cake and Yorkshire Pudding.

Talent you wish you possessed: Mind reading.

Musical instrument you long to play: Piano.

Mac or PC: Mac…there is only one choice.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: Head on car crash in Oxford, UK.

The thing that makes you the most nervous: everyone ordering at once.

Town you were born in: Vancouver.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Black Adder.

The career path you considered but never followed: Fireman.

The first three things you do every morning: Get my son out of bed, try and make him giggle, feed him before he goes ballistic!!

The thing you’re addicted to: Entourage

Biggest hope: That it all works out!

Luckiest moment of your life: Meeting Annabel!!

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David Hawksworth’s bio:

Poised to launch his eponymous and eagerly anticipated restaurant at Vancouver’s newly renovated Hotel Georgia late in 2009, David Hawksworth first emerged as one of Canada’s leading culinary talents as Executive Chef of West restaurant. Launching the restaurant in 2000 to immediate acclaim, critics cited his decade of European experience, from esteemed Michelin-starred restaurants; Le Manoir aux Qaut’ Saisons, L’Escargot and The Square, as significantly influencing the depth of technical ability, brilliant execution and inspired combinations that define his dishes.

His seven-year tenure at the helm of West (2000-2007) saw the restaurant rise to become a perennial winner at the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, with Hawksworth named Chef of the Year in 2005. After being propelled to the forefront of the city’s dining scene, he went on to attract attention from further a field and garner high praise from defining publications such as Food Arts, Bon Apetit, Wine Spectator and Food & Wine magazine. Hawksworth has traveled extensively as a guest chef, most notably showcasing his cuisine at the Masters of Food & Wine, Carmel and twice at James Beard House, New York City.

And his star continues to rise; 2008 witnessed his induction in to the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame, nominated by his industry peers, he is the youngest chef ever to have received this honour. David Hawksworth is currently consumed with research and planning for his new, independently owned restaurant. He also sits on the board of the Chefs Table Society of British Columbia and donates his time to a number of charitable causes including the annual Chefs for Life culinary extravaganza. He is excited to be unveiling a new and defining dining experience to the city next year.

Q&A: Olympian Nikola Girke

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…

This week, we talk to Vancouverite Nikola Girke, one of only a handful of athletes who has made the transition from one sport to another to compete in two different events at two different Olympic Games (470 Sailing at the 2004 Games in Athens and Windsurfing in Beijing this past summer). She is a five time Canadian Women’s Windsurf Champion, an avid surfer, and a wonderful dining companion.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: I used to live in Maui and became quite a proficient surfer. On this particular day my friend and I decided to go out at Ho’okipa to surf at Lanes, which is just left of the point of Ho’okipa and a bit less full-on. It was fairly big that day but not out of our league…yet. We paddled out and decided that we’d catch the shoulders of the waves as the peaks were scary and there were too many people trying to catch the peak. Both of us were on long boards which meant that we weren’t able to duck-dive through the wave, and that we were waiting to catch the waves a little further out than the guys on the short boards. This alone, put us the the position to be further outside and in prime position for the larger sets that would come through. I was getting pretty anxious, hoping and praying that I’d just catch the next wave in, all the way to shore, and then call it a day. Luckily, I caught a nice wave that took me right to the beach – what a relief but at the same time that ride was so incredibly exciting. The adrenaline of it all made me want to do it all over again. My friend caught the next wave and together we decided to go out for just one more wave. I was paddling back out in front of him, and was paddling at speed when I saw an “outside” set. Already in waves that seemed like the size of houses, the waves that were coming in the distance were enormous. There was nowhere to go but keep paddling out to sea. If I stayed where I was then, I would have been in the impact zone and just been pounded. I paddled in a fury. I made it over the first wave, pfewf, was able to look back and see that my friend had made it too. Then I looked ahead – in front of me was the biggest wave I have ever faced and it was nearing it’s breaking point. My paddling stepped into the next gear – turbo overdrive. I was now paddling up the wave as it was already starting to feather and all I needed to do was get over it….The top of the wave broke over me, my board and I went through the wave, my leash got pulled tugging me back and I thought I was going to get taken by the wave backwards, but luckily the surge stopped and I landed hard on the other side. I looked around in relief to see only one other guy had made it over this wave. Both of us were absolutely exhausted and relieved. My friend did not get through, along with about 30 others that got absolutely worked. Spooked beyond belief, he went in. Now it was my turn to make it in….but that meant I had to catch a wave in. I chose well and was able to ride a wave almost all the way in. Once in, we took pictures and continued to watch as monstrous waves continues to crash, glad we weren’t out there anymore. We reckoned that the wave that almost took me down had an 18 foot face at least, something I never want to experience again….!

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: diverse, convenient, great food.

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: cinnamon buns

Favourite Vancouver bridge: Lions Gate Bridge.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: less rain.

Cheap place for dinner: Kam’s Place on Davie. They have great food and with the Georgia
Straight coupon it’s a 2 for 1 deal.

Book you’re reading: Jan Wong’s China.

Last place traveled: China.

Biggest fear: failure.

Your ancestry: German.

Dumbest purchase ever: I buy things that are too small for me thinking that I’ll fit into them soon.

What are you proud of: I don’t quit – my ability to stick with projects to the end.

The thing that makes you the angriest: having people put words into my mouth.

Saddest thing about Vancouver: the downtown east side.

Food your mom makes better than anyone: Our traditional Christmas dinner: goose or duck, potato dumplings, red cabbage, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts, gravy. She makes it for Thanksgiving and Easter too!

Talent you wish you possessed: the ability to sing.

Mac or PC: Mac.

Three things of no value that you will keep until you die: my teddy bear Felix, pictures, my late father’s journal.

Biggest hope: to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2012.

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Visit Nikola’s website at NikolaGirke.com

Q&A With Miss604

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure.

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Rebecca Bollwitt has been blogging about Vancouver since 2004 on Miss604.com, and podcasting since 2005. She has recently been listed as one of the top “Web influencers in Vancouver” by NowPublic and the Vancouver Sun and has a weekly segment on-air with Talk 1410am, discussing the latest in the Vancouver blogosphere.

In 2008 she co-founded sixty4media, offering social media consulting services from custom WordPress themes as well as event liveblogging, blogging tutorials, and freelance web writing.

Default drink of choice: Water

Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: Geeky T-shirt (ThinkGeek.com style)

Favourite wine varietal: Viognier (Right now at least)

Cheap place for dinner: Robson Market

Last place traveled: Las Vegas for BlogWorld

Dead film actor you wish was still making pictures: Chris Farley

The thing that makes you the angriest: Mean people

Ice cream flavour: Dark chocolate with raspberries (from Marble Slab)

Talent you wish you possessed: A good singing voice

Sport you gave up: Rugby

The game you’re best at: Scattegories or playing along with Jeopardy

Mac or PC: Mac

Canuck you would trade away in a heartbeat: Jovonovski and Cloutier are already gone

Saddest thing about Vancouver: The child poverty rate

Town you were born in: Surrey, BC

Album that first made you love music: Pearl Jam – Ten

Three local websites you visit every day: News1130.com, BeyondRobson.com, VancouverHistory.ca

The first three things you do every morning: Hit snooze, check email, put on coffee

Your ancestry: My mother was born in Germany, and my father in England

The thing you’re addicted to: Internets

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photo credit: Duane Storey

Q&A With Barbara-Jo McIntosh

photo - Hamid Attie

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure.

Barbara-Jo McIntosh is one cool lady whose passion for books and food combine at her popular book store, Barbara Jo’s Books To Cooks. An award-winning food professional with over 25 years experience in the food and hospitality industry, she is the author of the bestselling Tin Fish Gourmet and a passionate supporter of Vancouver’s gastronomic community. In 2003, Vancouver magazine honoured her with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her many contributions to our culinary scene.

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Uva, Orpheum, Screening Room

Default drink of choice: Whisky.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: Drug scene.

Book you’re reading: Paris Edition by Waverly Root.

Last place traveled: Paris.

Biggest fear: Dying before I can speak French fluently.

Most regrettable purchase ever: my Renault Five – Le Car.

Talent you wish you possessed: Patience.

Musical instrument you long to play: Violin.

The game you’re best at: Scrabble.

Mac or PC: Mac Wannabe.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: Toss up between the food poisoning in NY or being mugged in NY and I still love NY.

Best concert experience ever: my first-Carole King and James Taylor.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Vicar of Dibley.

First memory: My mother and father bathing me in the kitchen sink.

Song that first made you love music: [Ravel's] Bolero

The career path you considered but never followed: Social worker.

The first three things you do every morning: Yoga-eat-email.

Favourite book as a child: A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Biggest hope: To spend alot of time with a wonderful man.

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photo by Hamid Attie

Vancouver Blogger: Sean Orr

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure.

Sean Orr is one of Vancouver’s best and most read bloggers, and a daily read of mine over at Beyond Robson.

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Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: At all times there is the chance to see either or the most beautiful woman in the world or the craziest person in the world, bricks, proximity to Salt

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: My entire diet consists of meal replacement shakes and charcuteries.

Default drink of choice: Espresso.

Drink you’ll never have again: Alcohol.

Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: Pjay-jays.

Worst job ever: I once worked at a precast concrete plant for like a day. I kept breaking these thousand dollar planters trying to take them out of the mold, so they sent me to varnish the finished pieces. I liked that better. I was busy painting away and kind of going to the music, lightly tapping the hollow concrete planters, when the boss-man, this crazy viking storms in, and screams “I didn’t hire no monkey drummer” and I got fired. Oh also, Milestones.

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to run away: The gauntlet of popped collars and puking anorexic Asians along Water Street, the Steam Clock, human shit.

Two things you’d like to change about Vancouver: Everything and nothing.

Cheap place for dinner that never lets you down: Budgies Burritos.

Book you’re reading: Voltaire’s Bastards in lieu of the financial crisis.

Last place traveled: Toronto. That place rules. Patios everywhere, restaurants, an actual working class, brownstones, Italian girls, streetcars….

Biggest fear: Locked in syndrome.

If you could rename yourself: Are you kidding? I have the best name in the world. I don’t even do anything but people seem to remember my name.

Best sneaker in the world: What did Suzuki answer for this one? That’s my answer too.

Publication you’d like to see go out of business: Oh I would never wish that on the Province.

Under what circumstances would you join the army: Over my dead body.

Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: Well. His name was Captain L.P.S. Orr and he was an MP in the British House of Commons for South Down in Northern Ireland and he was also the Grand Master of the Orange Order. My Dad marched for Catholic civil rights against his own father. In ’77 they came to Canada. Then I was born and named the 3 most catholic names, Sean-Michael David! Suffice to say my dad was cut out of the will, but he taught me to stand up for what I believe in.

Best bar stool in the city: the concrete butt seats in the Salt Cellar.

Dumbest purchase ever: I once bought a 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado. That thing has a 455 cubic inch engine and I could never possibly afford to drive it. It rotted into my parents driveway until they called the Kidney Foundation and they came and took it.

What are you proud of: My brother just made a record, St. Just Vigilantes. Its really good.

The thing that makes you the angriest: Oh there is just so much to chose from.

Saddest thing about Vancouver: everyone’s turned inwards.

Ice cream flavour: Cheesecake.

Make of automobile that you feel tempted to throw rocks at: Police.

Food your mom makes better than anyone: Shepherd’s Pie.

Talent you wish you possessed: Invisibility.

The trend you wish you never followed, but did: Acid.

Musical instrument you long to play: Guitar.

Sport you loved as a kid: CFL.

Grooming products: Nope.

The game you’re best at: Boggle.

Mac or PC: Mac.

Pick another country you wish you could vote in: Oh come on, is there any other one?

The number of fist fights you’ve been in: 20.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: I had a manic episode last year after starting to drink after getting bed bugs and I was at the corner of Main and Hastings, and I thought I needed to get hit by a car, I thought I needed to die in order to… actually I still don’t know why, but all of a sudden everyone could read my thoughts and I thought I was Joan of Arc starting a revolution and I was wearing VGH pajamas and a International Situationist t-Shirt and I might have predicted an earthquake, then I got arrested. They thought I was on heroin or meth because of all the bed bug bites.

Local person you admire most: John Graham.

The thing you’re most ashamed of: Stealing.

Best concert experience ever: Too hard. Cave Singers at Hawks House was fun, the first time I saw Bison, the secret show at prospect point this summer with Basketball, No Gold, and Secret Mommy; Lollapalooza…

Cologne/Perfume that makes you want to puke: The one that old ladies wear in airports.

Magazine you read religiously: Watchtower?

If you have any, describe your tattoos: I have a tattoo that says “tattoo”, and S on my ear, an original Jeremy Riley, a Dali watch on my wrist, and a PAID stamp on my other wrist.

The dish you make that you never screw up: Sandwich.

Town you were born in: Surrey.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Seinfeld.

First memory: waking up my brother at 6am for ‘beddest’.

Quality you admire most in yourself: I like that I make myself laugh.

Album that first made you love music: No Control.

Default junk food: People think I eat too many chocolate bars.

The career path you considered but never followed: Geologist.

The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: France.

Three websites you visit every day: Don’t Dad, CBC, puppycam.

The first three things you do every morning: Make coffee, roll joint, go back to sleep.

The thing you’re addicted to: Oh probably the internet.

Favourite book as a child: Atlas.

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