Dear Readers, Our March issue is full to the brim with film, featuring some of the fantastic film events heading our way this month. We are incredibly excited to host a Canadian premiere of “Plant This Movie“, a documentary film on global urban farming movement, for which director Karney Hatch from Portland Oregon will be in attendance for a Q&A after the film! This will be on Friday, March 20th at 7pm at Kerrisdale Community Centre as well as Saturday March 21st at 7pm at Kitsilano Community Centre. Please don’t miss it.  Another exciting features are Paralympic athlete Andrea Holmes’s “Favourite Leg“ at the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, filmmaker Oliver Hockenhull‘s compassionate and pioneering film “Citizen Planet: Cybernetic Governance in the Anthropocene“, and filmmaker Pia Massie‘s new “Screening+Discussion Series” around the theme of love/resilience at Kerrisdale Community Centre staring this Spring. Aren’t we lucky to “meet” those very committed individuals who are passionate about making a difference to the lives of people and seeking a deeper connection to place and community, and more sustainable ways of life? March is a month of “planting the seed” of community and creativity, so to speak! As a member of the Residence Advisory Committee of Vancouver Foundation’s Neighbourhood Small Grants, I would like to encourage all community members to apply! The deadline is March 31st! Last but not least, “Hanami” (cherry blossom viewing) is in full swing here. Please mark your calendar to come on out for the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival happening in KERRISDALE on Sunday April 26th! We will surprise you!   Cheers! Keiko Honda, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief and Chair of Community Engagement  ...

(From Left), Taylor Lecky (staff writer), Keiko Honda (Editor-in-Chief), Linda Poole (Executive Director of Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival) Special thanks to Noriko (photography) and Visual Space (film location)     Dear Readers, We are already in the second month of 2015.  In Japan, February 3 marks the yearly Setsubun celebration (literally means “division of seasons”), implying the day before the first day of spring (surprisingly, despite the chills!). Traditionally people in Japan throw roasted soybeans inside and outside their houses to drive away evil spirits and misfortune, chanting “Out with the Demon! In with Fortune!“. Why not take another moment to reflect beyond the New Year’s Resolution? What we can do today to improve, energize, thrive, grow and love more? I think the deepest reflection is actually an ongoing process. I first met Linda Poole in the planning committee meeting of Vancouver – Yokohama Golden Jubilee (1965-2015), for which I am very excited to share some of what’s been happening with all of you as time goes by. Meeting Linda was like the cherry blooming front finally come around! Her passion is so contagious that I am running a sakura fever, and so will you! This year for the first time, Kerrisdale Community Centre’s Centennial Park will be hosting the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival on April 26th. Please mark your calendar and be sure to attend!! In addition, in this issue, our “one-of-a-kind creators” feature will inspire you with some great wood work artist, Russ Gray, a youth leader, Maya Reisz, and a fashion designer and beyond, Terry Sasaki – a new addition to our Best Of list!  Last not but least, our AGM is just around the corner! Please mark your calendar for February 18th,7:30pm.   Happy February and Happy Valentine’s Day!   Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief Chair, Community Engagement Kerrisdale Community Centre Society          ...

    Dear Readers, Good luck to a New Year, New Goals, and New Opportunities! What are your New Year’s resolutions? I have parenting goals, relationship goals, health goals, friend goals, budgeting goals, reading goals, hobby goals, work goals, and even pleasure goals….for all facets of life………I am getting after it…….Failure is a given…..Another chance to start, of course…. After all. life IS improvisational, as we never know exactly what is coming, but having a plan is comforting. In choosing an entrepreneur, Dr. Lee Van Horn, an emerging writer, Rachelle Chartrand, an artist Mariko Ando, and community connectors, Katherine Allen & Laura Kosciecha as our feature for the January issue, we found ourselves in good company. I see a creative abundance in all areas of life, including realizations of ourselves.  As Dr. Van Horn said in his interview, “In your community, there are a million ways to give back and the only reason you don’t see them is because you are not looking. After all, it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness”.  The key, again, is effort. Kudos to Bernie Percy and Mary Dopson, 2014 recipients of the Volunteer Award of Kerrisdale Community Centre. We awarded two awards to long time volunteers who have made great contributions to our community. I would like to highlight here some noteworthy achievements: Bernie Percy joined the knitting group 12 years ago and leads the group. Bernie was born in Dublin, Ireland, one of 10 children.  Bernie is very proud of her involvement with the Book of Kells, an ancient book from Ireland which dates from the 6th Century BC.  There were a few replicas made and Bernie organized a committee to purchase the only copy in Canada.  It is now on permanent display in the UBC library, and it is the most popular...

Dear Readers, In this last issue of 2014, reflecting its theme of community, we searched some of the larger-than-life voices in our city – influential filmmaker Pia Massie, eclectic home-school teacher Peter Lambert, Kerrisdale Community Centre’s beloved programmer, Kristi Douglas, and visionary urban garden project leader, Cinthia Page – to share their causes and passion.  Our hope, and theirs, is to offer a reminder that this holiday season, we lucky Vancouverites have many ways to actualize our dreams into the reality of our life. Look no further!  Recently, with my 9-year-old Maya, I participated in the Kits Banner Painting, which is funded by the City’s Neighboughood Matching Fund. The banner designs were selected through a contest that is open to all members of the community to represent their hopes and dreams.  So fascinating how this city compels Vancouverites to get involved in a myriad of self-expression opportunities. Finally, on behalf of Kerrisdale Community Centre Society, I would like to give a big thanks to our dedicated staff writers, a bright UBC grad and soon-to-be-graduated, Haley Cameron and Dave Wheaton, whom I am humbled by their talent, drive, enthusiasm, and work ethic. They certainly have kept raising the bar by delivering all interesting articles for the whole year of 2014.  Sorry to see them leave the Team, but I wish Haley and Dave all the best for the future! With December only 2 weeks away, the holiday planning will soon be in full swing! I hope everyone will enjoy the fun and festivities of the season.     Warm wishes, Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief Chair, Community Engagement, Kerrisdale Community Centre...

    Dear Readers, Now that our (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner parties are happily over, but being grateful for what we have is something we all know we should do a bit more often……And yet, encouragement to be ‘grateful’ is not always the kindly act it seems. It may sound like we should be content with how things already are, as my 9-year-old, Maya, said to all the invitees at the Thanksgiving dinner table, “I am so grateful for bread-and-butter, nothing else matters!”,  politely opting out of eating healthy dishes on the table. Awww, kids these days. How about ambition, expectation or aspiration?  How do we know that we’re not settling for less?  Do you feel sometime that the moment of gratitude for simple joys in life is somehow at odds with a central human nature to strive for excellence? Life is like a puzzle, indeed….. October issue is on the theme of artist’s long and winding way lying in between the vision and the act; featuring long timers like Etsuko Inoue, Dr. Richard Niles, and Salome Nieto, all have been my sources of inspiration, and then young Craig Lee, an artist in the making.  Salome recently introduced me to this wonderful quote by Tatsumi Hijikata, a creator of Butoh dance:  “Again and again we are reborn. It is not enough simply to be born of the mother’s womb. Many births are necessary. Be reborn always and everywhere. Again and again.”  I will hold on to this insight when I think of gratitude and taking on bigger challenges….    And on that note, everyone, Happy October! Happy Halloween!     Keiko Honda, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief...

Dear Readers, In September, Kerrisdale Playbook will celebrate the nomination for “Best Online Magazine 2014” by Western Magazine Awards*, after giving birth 2.5 years ago.  Perhaps, “celebrate” isn’t the complete word. On this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to my team, our contributors, our readers and our communities – without whom this magazine would not have been possible.  It is in that spirit of community (indeed, “It is always about community”) that this month’s features will undoubtedly provoke some sensitivity and inspiration towards building our communities stronger and deeply human through arts and cultures.   How do the arts build communities?  Find out here 😉 I delightedly present these working artists who are resourceful and experienced in solving problems and visualizing solutions – Debra Sparrow, a Musqueam First Nation weaver, John MacLachlan Gray, a writer-composer-performer, Valerie MacGregor-Rempel, a humanitarian/social photojournalist, Tim Sullivan, a contemporary abstract artist, and Mary Bennett, a community engagement leader – with the hope of unleashing your creativity and opening up a channel for you to thrive in hitherto unknown and unpredictable ways. I also say “Bravo!” to Kitsilano Community Centre Collaborative Garden, the prime example of what happens when people bring great ideas to life. Our hope is that these stories will inspire others to take action. Small steps taken by many people add up to big changes in the well-being of our community. You probably will be moved when you read some of the stories here.  If so, you might write to the authors of those stories just to tell them that. At its most dynamic, it affects someone or something.  It effects change.  For the better, we hope. We hope you enjoy reading this season’s Playbook as much as we enjoy creating it for you.  Happy September! Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief     *Western Canada’s largest independent publisher, Canada Wide...

Dear Readers,   Oh, June….. Summer is coming! If summer were a leisurely time, I would love to catch up on my own reading. Recently when my brainy friend alluded to Bloomsday, little did I know that I am now hosting Ulysses readings on June 16th to finally catch up with Joyceans (better late than never)!  In James Joyce’s Ulysses, he writes:  Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love. But always meeting ourselves.   In this epicenter that Joyce outlines, all that is as true today as it was more than 100 years ago.  And in our June issues, we here at Kerrisdale hope to capture all those figures from all walks of life to connect us with a sense of where we’ve come from, a journey of self-discovery:  Salomé Nieto on her own vision of contemporary dance with elements inspired by two powerful physical traditions, Japanese Butoh and her Mexican roots; Sudè Khanian on her exploration of the world of optical illusions where Qi meditation meets her Iranian roots;  Noriko Nasu-Tidball, our beloved Playbook photographer, on her journey to capture ordinary people in extraordinary ways with her strong sense of Japanese heritage, and a success story by Leigh Boyle, a talented young woman on fire!    Speaking of summer, don’t miss our Crossroad Cafe: A Complete Guide to BC Campgrounds: Thursday June 19 7:00-8:30pm.  Call 604.257.8100 today! Playbook will be back in the late summer with spectacular Arts Issue.  Here is to a sweet summer, like the one James Joyce had, the summer of 1904 (find out here if you are interested) !    Keiko Honda, Ph.D., MPH Chair and Editor-in-Chief Community Engagement, KCCS...

Dear Readers, Introducing the May 2014 issue, I turn to Joseph Campbell’s quote for a sense of camaraderie. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege!  ~ Joseph Campbell Recently I spent a delightful few hours with a Canadian writer Joy Kogawa over lunch. No surprise to me. Her clear and palpable compassion and dedication toward humanity comes from her personal pain and unlimited imagination. We quickly focused our attention on creative collaborations in the face of of platitudes about reconciliation, whether sorting our personal relationships or both sides of the nuclear energy issues. She pondered what collaborative actions would come out by individuals and groups if we realized a potential risk to our own existence. Imagine our capability to transform an enemy into friend…..What seemed out of the question now seems possible, even probable. Joy continues touching many lives by asking relentlessly hard questions that matter. This being our compassion-theme Issue, I’d like to shed light on the inner trials faced by artists; Kagan Goh, a published author, award-winning filmmaker and an established spoken word artist whose personal mission has been to educate people about mental health issues and fight the stigma against the mentally ill, Shannon Selin, a Canadian writer of historical fiction, asking “What if Napoleon escaped and made it to America?”and keeping curiosity alive beyond the history textbooks. Since Mom-and-Pop storefronts are alarmingly disappearing in Vancouver, one shop that caught my eye was The Bake Shop, setting the pulse, life, and texture of their communities. And last but not least, nothing better and more delightful to support young emerging talents in art!  “15 EMERGING YOUNG ARTISTS. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.” will be showcasing 15 original paintings created by newcomer gifted youth. All are welcome! Please check our...

Dear Readers Spring is here! A time of birthing. It feels like the city has come back to life with Sakura in stunning full bloom. Like flowers, when we are in full bloom, we are like a magnet attracting ideas, people, and opportunity to us, with beauty, power, and purpose. So here we are, this month our feature offers a roundup of true achievers in full bloom from around the globe who’ve called Vancouver home, some of whom I proudly consider friends. Architect Gregory Henriquez, whom I’ve known through our mutual friend, plays serious parts on the creation of a new landscape for how we engage in community and life, Yayoi Hirano, one of the finest and rarest mime-dance artists and Noh mask makers that Japan has produced, continues her quest to blend of Japanese and Western transitions, Mary poppins-esque Sara Troy, having made a name for herself as DIVA, has found her groove in life both personally and professionally, and Executive Director of KOM Community Policing Centre Tony Bulic, a citizen of both Canada and Croatia, contributes to the richness of the harmony, the aliveness, and the safety of our community beyond imagining. I hope this issue will support you in blooming in the richness of who you are! Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief              ...

  Dear Readers, On March 8th, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation remarked International Women’s Day to celebrate and acknowledge the 2014 Remarkable Women honourees who reflect the theme of the Year of Reconciliation. I was very humbled to be chosen and deeply grateful to the City of Vancouver and everyone who have so generously blessed me with their extraordinary gift as a loving human being.  It was an amazing and surely overwhelming experience. I feel that this award was not made to me as an individual, but to the true values of community, resilience, and innovation. I am very appreciative for this opportunity to share my passion for building a creative and caring community where we all celebrate our birth right as an artist. I am so grateful for the wisdom of my friends and colleagues who have opened their hearts and expressed their unique experiences from following their passion and intuition. In the March issue, I am pleased to present the stars of our community who make Vancouver a world city: a truly remarkable woman and environmental leader, Olivia Fermi whose grandfather, Nobel prize laureate Enrico Fermi was a physicist working at the heart of the top-secret effort to build the first atomic bombs, Rev. Jeremy who continues to expand our humanity through a community of acceptance, respect and support, and Debbra Mikaelsen and Philip Solman, the brilliant and gifted couple who put together thousands of interesting and dynamic pages of Edible Vancouver – my favourite magazine!    Thank you for the International Women’s Day 2014, which I will always remember.  Going forward, I will try to live up to the standard of excel­lence I know this award stands for.  Thank you very much.   Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief  ...

Dear Readers, I am delighted to introduce the new collection of articles, which challenge us to consider afresh what it means to give our best to what matters to us the most…those goals, relationships, and efforts. We intend to make “Kerrisdale Playbook” a regular publication and to use it to keep you in touch with news and developments happening in the community, while creating a platform for conversations and exploration. The launch of the “Kerrisdale Playbook” in January 2012 was a major step for the Kerrisdale Community Centre Society (KCCS) – as part of our first “online” community engagement effort! Looking back, I am impressed by the progress made in the last two full years. Something is shifting; real hope for strong social connections is starting to emerge! I am now much more confident of our ability to isolate what matters most and the means and motivation to give our best to that….. And we have learned a great deal about people bringing whatever they value the most to our society, such as passion, empathy, creativity, and community. Finally may I thank all of you who contribute to the “Kerrisdale Playbook” and to its fruition and beyond. I would also like to add my thanks to my team who is the energetic powerhouse behind the scenes.  I am keen to respond to the interests of our readers and look forward to your feedback and comments on our articles.  Happy readings and Happy Valentines’ Day!   Keiko Honda, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief and Chair of Community Engagement, KCCS   February...