SHELF LIFE I D7 BIKING IN NEW ZEALAND I D10STYLE✰ EDITOR DOMINIC PATTEN 604-605-2615 dpatten@png.canwest.com

D3

TUESDAY, SEP T. 25, 2007

SOLOSUCCESS

NEW EDDIE VEDDER AND OTHER CDs I D6

artsclub.com604.687.1644

Now PlayingUntil Oct 14!Tonight at 7:30 ARTS&LIFEFRESHSHEET

SMASHING LIVEThey were superstars in the

1990s and now the reunitedSmashing Pump-kins are back outon tour. Lastnight Billy Cor-gan and gangbrought theirangst, their rageand their guitarsto the PNEForum. Go towww.vancouver-sun.com for a review of the showand a photo gallery. The review willalso run in The Sun on Wednesday.

STRIKE EFFECTSaturday’s Vancouver Flamenco

Festival has been moved to theWaterfront Theatre from the Vancou-ver Playhouse due to the civic strikeand a second night has been addedon Sept. 30 due to the lesser capac-ity of the new venue. A second festi-val event scheduled at the CellarJazz Cafe on Sunday has been can-celled. More details at www.flamen-corosario.org.

Also, Loreena McKennitt will nowperform Sept. 30 in the Pontiac The-atre Bowl at GM Place, rather thanat the Orpheum Theatre. Ticketmas-ter will contact all ticket holders togive new seat locations. Full refundsare also available at point of pur-chase. For more details log ontowww.loreenamckennitt.com.

WATSON WINS POLARISTORONTO — Canadian indie

artist Patrick Watson of Montreal isthe winner of the 2007 PolarisMusic Prize.

“Music’s not a competition, sothis is a bit strange, but it’s such anhonour,” Watson said Monday nightafter being announced as the win-ner.

“I’m very happy to accept this,very happy.”

Watson won for his album Closeto Paradise.

The second edition of the annualaward delivered $20,000 to the win-ner, as well as critical recognitionand a boost in exposure.

GISELLE - The National Ballet isbringing what has been called“the ballerina’s Hamlet" to town.We've got a preview peekbackstage.

WEDNESDAYARTS & LIFE

Vancouver Community Collegefashion arts graduate VictoriyaBorysenko’s U-neck empireevening dress with Julietsleeves and balloon cuffs in100-per-cent silk chiffon andpolyester.

BY JOANNE BLAIN VANCOUVER SUN

If all you know about Michael Korscomes from seeing him put youngdesigners through the wringer as ajudge on Project Runway, you’re

definitely more of a television junkiethan a fashion addict.

Kors has been designing cleanand classic clothing for womensince the late ’70s and launchedhis own label in 1981, while hewas still in his early 20s. Hehas since added menswear,accessories and fragrances tohis three collections, whichrange from a high-end l inefavoured by celebrities such asCharlize Theron, Madonna andCatherine Zeta-Jones, to the moremodestly priced Michael collection.

Well-heeled Vancouverites have longbeen able to slip into something special fromthe top-of-the-line Michael Kors collection atHolt Renfrew. But this month, Vancouver hasbecome home to one of Canada’s first twofreestanding Michael Kors “lifestyle” stores,featuring a mix of accessories from all his col-lections and an edited selection of clothingfrom the Michael line.

To mark today’s official opening of theOakridge Centre store, Kors gave an exclu-sive interview via e-mail to The VancouverSun.

Q: You started in the fashion business when youwere so young, so what’s it like to now be con-sidered one of its established names — or, if Idare use the term, one of its elder statesmen?How do you stay inspired? A: Well, I like to think that I am the oldest “youngdesigner” working, but that might just be mydenial kicking in. The thing is, the minute you thinkyou have “made it,” you’re finished, so I try toremain curious about everything. I am the ultimate pop-culture sponge. I read every-thing from the Wall Street Journal to the trashiestcelebrity tabloids. If you are curious, you willalways be inspired.

Here comes the

judgeDESIGNER I Project Runway’sMichael Kors opensnew store here

Red vinyl trench by Michael Kors (right).

Just so I’ve got this straight, it’slegal to publicly smoke ahookah in Vancouver, just so

long as you’re not doing it whilewatching a live Ultimate FightingChampionship match.

Okay, let’s say you’re not evena pothead, or an habitue of thecity’s recently anointed “fruit-fla-vored” tobacco lounges.

You’re still left with this riddle:What is the difference between

boxer Muhammad Ali’s debilitat-ing Parkinson’s disease, NHLerSteve Moore’s fractured neck,pro wrestler Chris Benoit’s mur-derous addled brain and UFCchamp Randy Couture’s brokenarm?

Um, well, only that Couture’s isthe lesser of the sport-inducedtraumas, and that he and his pro-fession are no longer welcome inthese here parts.

UFC is a mixed martial artssport that combines man-to-mancombat skills such as boxing,kick-boxing, karate and wrestlingand has lately been referred to as“human cockfighting.”

It’s the sport that was tem-porarily banned last week byVancouver city council, after thecity allowed seven previous livefights and after deciding it’s justtoo violent and could be a legalliability, and thus might be betteroffloaded to the provincial gov-ernment.

Is UFC violent? Yes. Do itsfighters get hurt? Yes.

Just like professional hockeyplayers, who are regularly kayoedfrom the ice, and often a career,with high sticks and crushingblows that leave behind brokennecks, skull fractures, spinal cordinjuries, concussions, and eyedamage including blindness.

The rate of hockey injuries andfatalities, in fact, are one of thehighest in any sport, amateur orprofessional, and if we’re sointent on referring to ultimatefighting as “boxing on Red Bull”then perhaps we should be call-ing ice hockey “assault on therocks.”

UltimateFighting ban

reeks ofsnobbery

The martial-arts sport isno more violent than hockey

BY REBECCA WIGODVANCOUVER SUN

“I’m going to teach you a reallynice fun rhyme to use when thebaby needs a jiggle,” Jane Cobbsays to the seven moms and onedad who have brought theirbabies — roly-poly little bundles,ranging in age from five weeks toseven months and wearingsleepers, onesies and bibs — toVancouver’s Ravensong Commu-nity Health Centre near Broad-way and Ontario streets.

The song turns out to be Shoo

Fly, Don’t Bother Me. “Do you know it?” asks Cobb,

motioning for the parents tostand in a circle and hold theirbabies so that they face out.

Mimicking her delighted tones,the grownups sing the simplesong softly and with feeling. Atthe end, they walk into the mid-

dle of the circle because, as Cobbputs it, “it gives the babies a treatto see each other.”

What’s under way here is oneof the Vancouver Public Library’sMother Goose programs, whichget much of their funding fromThe Sun’s Raise-a-Reader cam-paign. These free classes —which will start up again whenthe civic workers’ strike isresolved — teach the time-testedlullabies, action songs and tick-ling rhymes that hasten parent-child bonding and kindle a loveof words in small children.

“This experience with oral lan-guage, heard from the parent ininfancy, is exactly what babiesneed to hear in order to learnhow to communicate with others

Hands-on teachinghelps parents bondwith their babies

Nursery rhymes start infants towards literacySee CITY ONLY D4

See CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS D7

SHELLEY FRALICVANCOUVER SUN

COLUMNIST

STEVE BOSCH/VANCOUVER SUN

Children’s librarian Jane Cobb works with babies and mothers. See LULLABIES HELP D5

CORGAN

PAPARAZZI

D5ARTS & LIFE THE VANCOUVER SUN, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2007

S O L U T I O N S F O R S M A L L B U S I N E S S : V O I C E • D A T A • I N T E R N E T • W I R E L E S S V O I C E A N D E - M A I L

(1)Offer ends December 31, 2007 and is available only to new customers in serviceable areas. Offer cannot be combined with any other Rogers offer. Subject to change any time without notice. $60 savings over 12 months ($5/month off regular price). Regular price is $49.95/month.Equipment courier fee ($9.95) may apply and taxes and modem purchase ($99.95) are extra. (2)Bandwidth activity limit applies. TMNorton AntiVirus and Norton Personal Firewall are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. andother countries. TMTrademarks of Rogers Communications Inc. used under license. ®YAHOO! is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc., used under license. All other trademarks, brands and/or logos are the property of their respective owners. © 2007

Visit a local Rogers retailer,rogers.com/portable or call 1 877-208-4718

NOW YOUR OFFICE ISWHERE YOUARE.

WORK WHEREVERYOU WANT WITH PORTABLE INTERNETFROM ROGERS YAHOO! HI-SPEED INTERNET.

Do all the things you do online – at the office or at home – withPortable Internet. Huge spreadsheets, graphic-rich presentations,and video files are all easily uploaded and downloaded with its truehigh speed connection. Use in over 100 cities across Canada – justplug it into any power outlet and you’re ready to go. Now youroffice is wherever you are.

PORTABLE INTERNET from

ONLY$4495

/mo for thefirst12 months1

Unlimited hours of use2

No roaming fees

BY PETER BIRNIEVANCOUVER SUN

As Shakespeare said in his 18th son-net, summer’s lease hath all too short adate. Especially this year, and so we’realready waving adieu to Bard on theBeach. That cheering you hear fromunder the tents at Vanier Park is thesound of a theatre company overjoyedat its success.

This season, which ended on theweekend, saw a bum planted in everysingle seat for every single presentationof all four Bard productions. That’s notsome magical statistic from a Bulgarianelection — Bard on the Beach is indeeda huge success, and the envy of everyother stage company in Canada.

“This season has been a triumph,”says artistic director Christopher Gaze.“It is the season we have dreamed aboutsince Bard began — to have our loyalBard audiences flock to see the showsand delight in the productions and fillour theatres night after night. Vancou-ver has nurtured Bard and we in turnacknowledge our community and theirguests and friends from far and wide fortheir dedicated commitment to us.Thanks, thanks and ever thanks!”

Thanks went the other way as well,with audiences applauding solid pro-ductions of The Taming of the Shrew,Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and Tim-on of Athens. Attendance hit a stagger-ing total of 86,000, which is up from lastseason by about 6,000. Coincidentally,there were just 6,000 people for Bard’sfirst season, a 1990 production of A Mid-summer Night’s Dream.

The festival’s gradual growth has beencarefully staged, ramping up to encom-pass two productions in 1991, three in1999 and a full quartet in 2005. Studentmatinees, Bard-B-Q on the Celebrationof Light fireworks nights and four per-formances of A Merry Evening of Operawere among the other facets of Bardthat keep expanding its profile in thecommunity.

Gaze announced that Bard on theBeach’s 19th season, which will run fromMay 30 through Sept. 22, 2008, will onceagain mix audience favourites withShakespeare’s more challenging works.In the mainstage tent, David Mackaydirects Twelfth Night and James FaganTait helms King Lear — with Gaze him-self as the foolish monarch.

On the studio stage, young actress andsound designer (with her partnerAlessandro Juliani) Meg Roe tackles herfirst directing role with The Tempest,while Kim Collier of the Electric Com-pany brings her unique set of skills toTitus Andronicus, the most blood-drenched work in the canon.

Go to bardonthebeach .org forupdates, but you’ll have to wait untilMarch to buy tickets.

Through the dark days of winter, Bardfans can warm themselves with the firstline of Bill’s first sonnet:

“From fairest creatures we desireincrease, that thereby beauty’s rosemight never die.”

pbirnie@png.canwest.com

Bard’s drawof 86,000

a ‘triumph’It’s ‘the season we have dreamedabout,’ says artistic director Gaze

STEVE BOSCH/VANCOUVER SUN

Giving their babies a solid start, mothers learn from librarian Jane Cobb how to calm their totswhile giving them a head start singing and reading to them at this early stage.

and be ready to learn to read whenthey get to school,” says Cobb, alongtime children’s librarian andthe VPL’s coordinator of MotherGoose programs.

With her is Victor Or, who hasdelivered a Cantonese version ofthe similar Man in the Moon pro-gram, for babies and dads, at thelibrary’s Renfrew branch. WhenCobb teaches the group the hyp-notic Iroquois lullaby Ho, Ho,Watanay, he offers a Cantonesetranslation.

VPL Mother Goose and Man inthe Moon programs have 10 ses-sions, each lasting 90 minutes.Mother Goose programs take placein eastside community centres andhealth units.

Preference goes to single momsand those dealing with poverty orpostpartum depression.

The sessions build a communityof support around vulnerable fami-lies and reach immigrants in their

own languages. Cobb considersthem the most innovative, forward-looking programs the library con-ducts.

Demand is huge, so the VPL’sMother Goose programs aren’tadvertised. One place to call forinformation, when Vancouver pub-lic libraries reopen, is the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program’sprovincial office, 604-660-0675.

Man in the Moon programs, bycontrast, are held in VPL branchlibraries. They’re easy to sign upfor.

Meanwhile, the North VancouverDistrict Public Library’s MotherGoose programs, unaffected bylabour woes, are starting this weekat all three branches. There are stillsome spaces in the one at the Park-gate branch.

Mother Goose and Man in theMoon are built on the fact that par-ents who talk, sing and read to theirchildren from infancy (or evenbefore) give their kids a tremen-dous advantage.

“All the research points to [the

importance of a child’s] earlyyears,” says Cobb. “If you give peo-ple the tools they need from thebeginning, there’s no need forremedial work later on.”

Besides teaching parents tocalm their babies through song,Cobb has trained more than 900librarians and child-care profes-sionals to deliver Mother Gooseprograms.

She also wrote and publishedWhat’ll I Do with the Baby-o? It’s acatalogue-sized book giving thewords to some 350 classic nurseryrhymes, songs and stories forbabies, along with useful informa-tion about child development andearly literacy. Parents can learnsome of their tunes from theaccompanying CD.

Illustrated by Kathryn Shoemak-er, What’ll I Do With the Baby-o?costs $39.95. Order from Black-sheeppress.com, where Cobb’s ear-lier book — I’m a Little Teapot, atrove of stories and songs forpreschoolers — is also available.

rwigod@png.canwest.com

Lullabies help babies learnFrom D3

IAN LINDSAY/VANCOUVER SUN FILES

Bard on the Beach artistic directorChristopher Gaze.