Vancouver Fan Expo Gender Benders

OK, so this post is a little late. But with the recent historic moment in queer geekdom, I thought it appropriate to make a gallery of gender bending cosplays from this year's Vancouver Fan Expo.

Nope, drag queens weren't the only ones challenging the gender norms at FanExpo this year. There were tons of fabulous girls dressed out as their favourite characters in varying degrees of femininity and masculinity.

Drag at conventions is hit-or-miss, even in liberal Vancouver. The yearly anime convention, Anime Revolution (formerly A. Evolution) has had a bad track record with its queer programming, especially with their yearly "trap cosplay contests". Seriously, am I the only one who finds major offense with that term? What's wrong with drag or even crossplay contest?

Luckily, Fan Expo was more about the fans and boy did they come out in hoards! More galleries [here] and [here]. Plus the full gallery on [Flickr].

Marvel Makes Queer Comic Geek History

Northstar and Kyle celebrate their marriage
[Cover for Astonishing X-Men #51]

Today in Astonishing XMen's New York, a Canadian mutant superhero named Northstar is getting married to his same-sex civilian partner Kyle.

Wait... WHAAAAAAT?!?

Marvel comics undoubtedly makes queer comic book history today by not only playing host to the first wedding of its kind, but by unapologetically placing the happy event on the cover of Astonishing X-Men #51.

Vancouver Sisters Celebrate Exequatur

Join queer nuns from around the world in witnessing an important moment in Canadian queer Sistory! The Abbey of the Long Cedar Canoe, the local chapter of the global order of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, celebrates becoming a fully professed house. They are the first fully professed house of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in Canada for over twenty five years.

The celebration, known as an Exequatur Party, will be held at 3:00pm on Saturday, August 4th in the Davie Village (location TBA). With tons of glitter and fabulous outfits, the Vancouver Sisters be taking their lifelong vows to spread universal joy, expiate stigmatic guilt and be of service to their community. They will also declare three leaders in Vancouver’s queer communities as Saints, the Order's highest honour. The Exequatur Party will be preceded by a screening of the Kevin O’Keefe film Bad Habits, which documents the return of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Canada.

Drag Talk w/ Amanda Pushawn

Amanda Pushawn

She's flashy, over-the-top, and her wigs are one of a kind! Local Vancouver queen Amanda Pushawn has been doing drag for nine years and she's been performing for a lot longer. Now Amanda is bringing a complete rarity to Vancouver, a live drag show complete with a full band in a... wait for it... dinner theatre setting! And yes, by live we mean she'll be singing with her own classy set of pipes!

No one's going to be lip-syncing for their life at Priscilla @ Priscilla's. Instead, expect to see a high energy show with lots of classics from the timeless movie. "I Will Survive," "Color My World," and "Downtown," to name a few. And of course, what's a drag show without some fabulous costume changes?

We chatted with Amanda over the phone to get more details about the exciting night and to talk more about how Aussie drag differs from the kind of drag we're used to seeing in North America.

Updated! Pride show July 26.

PRISCILLA @ PRISCILLA'S

Priscilla's Restaurant

1047 Davie St

$5 at the door

For reservations, call 604 687 3333

Swordigo - 90s throwback platformer a worthwhile, addictive app

Remember that action adventure platformer you used to play in the mid-90s? You were good enough to get through most of the game. But every now and then, the game would throw you a challenge that was unrelenting and unforgiving. That challenge would have you, and possibly your brother or your best friend, cursing repeatedly until the sweet, sweet satisfaction of finally reaching that legendary weapon or secret area.

Swordigo (Touch Foo) for the iPhone/iPad is pretty much that game. Except now, instead of waiting all day to run home and play the game, you can now take it everywhere with you! I've played Swordigo on a long ferry ride, during quiet moments while camping, in the lunchroom at work, and pretty much every time I manage to get a seat on the bus.

CATWalk for Life

The Vancouver Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are gonna be bringing it in heels to the AIDS Walk for Life!

For every $1k we raise, we pledge to walk 1km in heels at the Vancouver AIDS Walk

The entire walk is 10km long, so if we reach our goal of $10,000 we'll be providing 23 persons with HIV/AIDS with access to better healthcare for a full year! (Also we'll be extra tall for the whole walk)

Proceeds from the AIDS Walk go directly to support Positive Living's  Complimentary Health Fund (CHF). For up to $35 per month, the CHF supports health-related expenses not covered by other funding sources (more details below).

To sponsor Sister Sweet CherriBum in the walk, click [here]

To join the Vancouver Sisters AIDS Walk team, click [here]