Victoria Archives | Otaku No Culture

Contest Alert: My Friend Monster!

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

unnamedmonster My Friend Monster is having a delightful little contest. And for this contest all you have to do is to suggest the name for a new “super” monster. If your name for the new monster is picked from a list of entries, you will win a pair of tickets to Victoria’s Ultimate Hobby and Toy Fair.

This fair is presented by Cherry Bomb Toys and will take place on April 27, 2014 in Victoria, British Columbia at the George R. Pearkes Community Recreation Centre.

My Friend Monster was started in 2009 by artist Terri Wild and is the premier friend placement agency for handmade monsters. You can follow My Friend Monster on their official Facebook page.

Finding Family Ties with Game Cycle

Game Stop 1 — Otaku no Culture’s James
Shaw is always on the hunt
for something to buy.

Ontario-based operation Game Cycle has traveled west, as far west as it can, to give sailors and Esquimalt residents an outlet to buy, sell and trade videogames and movies. This store has been in operation for over a year now, and it’s an independent extension of the Ontario run business. And according to regional manager Justin Hembree, the traffic from the local community has been good.

“We get a lot of regulars through, a lot of locals,” says Hembree, “and the military comes in.”

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[Victoria, B.C.] Sherlock Holmes faces Vampires at Craigdarroch Castle!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Holmes&Lens1 (1)

Craigdarroch Castle
1050 Joan Crescent
Victoria, BC V8S 3L5

Ticket Reservations:
250-592-5323

Showtimes:
April 3-5 and 9-12 at 8pm.

Two of the greatest icons from the Victorian age may well get to square off in the hallways and byways of Craigdarroch Castle this Spring. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are off to solve “The Case of the Sussex Vampire” in Giggling Iguana Productions’ latest site specific offering playing April 3-12.

Okay, so there is no Dracula, but this adventure takes place, interestingly enough, in different season of the 2014 year than as a Halloween treat. “The Case of the Sussex Vampire” is adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tale of the same name by Tony Hubner and Iguana founder Ian Case. Previous works Case adapted includes E.A. Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” H.G. Wells‘ “The War of the Worlds,” and Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”

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[Victoria, BC] The Victoria Film Festival from a Geek’s Perspective

Half of the Otaku no Culture team is definitely getting excited for the Victoria Film Festival, running from Feb 7th to the 16th at various venues, for the huge variety of films offered. On my Friday night wish to hit list is The Congress, a sci-fi product that looks like it blends elements of Cool World, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Matrix together. When actress Robin Wright (The Princess Bride) plays herself as a starlet struggling to help her young son, she gives up her rights to be on film for a digitized version. Just what happens is a look into a not too distant future if Hollywood has their say. Il Futuro is a must since it features Rutger Hauer. It’s been a long time since I last saw him on-screen. I remember him best in Blade Runner, so what I’m after to see, based on my geeky interests, are consistent.

I would like to see the gala film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, that night in hopes Colm Meany might be in town. He’s one of those underrated stars that I can truly appreciate and I like to meet him and say I really enjoyed all the work, like Law & Order the The Commitments, he has done outside of the Star Trek universe, but that’s unlikely. When considering this film played in European theatres last year and it’s not a world premiere, the chances for the stars to show up is very slim, but the director might be around.
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[Victoria, BC] Family Hijinks At Winterlab!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Winterlab 2014 is a nearly week-long show in Victoria, BC that is in full swing, with plenty of fun for fans of live theatre. It takes place at the Intrepid Theatre Club, Metro Studio and even a “secret location” to make those cold nights seem warmer with the exercise going on. But to understand more about what this program is all about, all anyone has to do is to ask theatre-goers who are familiar with what Fringe theatre is.

In this case, The most innovative theatre artists from across the Great White North take over spaces both traditional and unconventional with work that will stretch the imaginations, engage the senses and spark conversations. Multi-disciplinary artists from Halifax, Vancouver, Whitehorse and Victoria converge on the city to share amazing live performances and inspire curious artists of all ages to create their own. Puppets, projections, popcorn, parties and spacesuits.

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Finding Geekdom at Saturday Games

By Otaku no Culture

Saturday Game House
101 – 1551 Cedar Hill Cross Rd.
Gordon Head Municipality
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
(250) 412-9472

E: I can’t help but start to hum along to the song, “Hot Patootie” by Meatloaf from the Rocky Horror Picture Show whenever I talk about Saturday Game House. This operation is relatively new. They cater to the board game crowd and to youths looking for something to do after school.

But when it comes right down to it, is there anything to do in my municipality of Gordon Head? Whatever happened to Saturday night when you dressed up sharp and you felt alright? There’s no rock n’ roll show anywhere nearby and a few naysayers might point out that the University of Victoria’s Farquhar Auditorium hosts the odd concert, but that’s beside the point.

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