In Pictures: The 2011 Mr. Olympia Expo

"I can't remember which makes you bigger.  I'll go ask Alice."

Visiting the floor of the Mr. Olympia Expo was like being part of an organized tour to another planet; one where all food comes in powder or pill form, the water is electric blue and actually makes you thirsty, and all the natives have bodies straight out of comic books or the magazines I hide under my mattress.

Click "Read On" to see my full photo set from the expo

In Pictures: Occupy Victoria

Today in Victoria, protesters came out in support of the Occupy Wall Street  movement.  My good friend Dan Eastabrook of Real Life, Real Light photography was on hand and has provided some of his photos for us here:

In Pictures: Sprawlapalooza, or That Time I Agreed With the Man in the Hemp Trousers

Reading is for suckers.  Click the video below to have the article read to you in my dulcet tones:

What is it that makes Victoria so special?  It could be any number of things I suppose: a mild climate, clean streets, or the Mr. Magoo-like way city hall overlooks the thriving sex and drug trades while fussing over how new downtown liquor licenses will affect public morality.  Perhaps it’s the way so many talented people nod knowingly when the discussion turns to the job market and how it’s harder to get into than Doris Day’s business back when the getting was good.  Or the heartstring-tugging way they wave goodbye, like kids on the way to a weekend at their mother’s, when’ve run out of money and steam and they light out for points east, taking all their enthusiasm and creativity with them. 

In Pictures: The 2011 Capital City Tattoo Convention

The 2011 Capital City Tattoo Convention was held at Victoria's Pearkes Arena on March 18-20.  I do not have any tattoos - I have a hard enough time committing to a pair of shoes - but I find body art fascinating and the convention didn't disappoint, with people sporting body mods, gaping holes where holes are not typically expected and subcutaneous ink galore.  There was also that most impressive of alternative culture traits - the triangular goatee.  It's special not only because it can't be grown by just anyone but because to sport one instantly makes you look like you should be playing guitar for Metallica or chasing Denzel Washington across the bayou in a fanboat.

The three-day event also featured tattoo artists from across Canada & the United States, along with vendors like Steve Drane Harley Davidson & a man selling organic coffee who could also wield nunchuks in an impressive fashion.  To his credit the nunchuks were not part of his sales pitch.

There was a constant line up of bands that played the festival beer garden over the weekend.  Some talented local groups, like Fast Machine (whose lead singer is known to cause an uncomfortable tightness in the trousers), Turnpike Bandits (whose lead singer wears uncomfortably tight trousers) & convention closer Black Hat Villain (who wore no trousers) blew the eardrums off an appreciative crowd. There were also a handful of performers like Bloody Betty & Russ Fox:  The Human Tacklebox

What follows is a photo recap from the final day of the convention, including a performance by the charming & erudite Russ Fox, a performance by Black Hat Villain and a handful of contestants in the Capital City Best of Show awards.