ND STILL on the
subject of Christmas
parties...

One of the most fun parties of
the year included a protest — a
protest of the death of Superman.

West Van native Nicola Parker,
president of Lois Lane Com-
munications, -held a wonderful

’ bash at her Granville island office
— and did she pay attention to
detail.

Everything about the party was
‘related to the era of Clark Kent. In
Clark's day, there was no such
thing as nutrition, of course, so

‘ guests chowed down on hot dogs,
served by a sidewalk vendor,
cheesies and popcorn — plus
loads of Kryptonite punch.

A smoke-filled ‘‘newsroom”

. was the scene of hours of poker,
and the Christmas tree baubles
were covered in ’50s cartoons.

The protest? Before feaving,
each guest was required to sign a
petition, to be mailed to DC Com-
ics, to bring Superman back from
the dead (although I'm told he

- could still be alive — they say his
body’s in the morgue but no one
has actually seen it).

kkk

You wanna be an ultra-chic
photographer these days, you got-
ta throw ultra-chic parties. ;

. Two of Vancouver's most pro-
minent snapmeisters — Howard '
Fry and Philippe Martin-Morice
— did just that, hosting about 100.
at their Gastown studio.

Hundreds of balloons were hung
from the ceiling, the music was
superb and drinks were served by
the hunkiest bartenders in town —
hired, presumably, from
“Musclebound Men R Us.”

One bartender even became the
subject of a “party buzz,’ when,
for about 10 minutes, everyone
was whispering “’He’s not gay!,’’
“Really? Wow! Is he married?” -

! Just like in the movies...
There were a few Northshoreites
mingling with the hip crowd of ad
agency execs, creative directors .
and models — North Van‘s Laura
- Vandriel was there chatting with
North Shore News fashion

NEON RIDER producer Danny
Virtue received one of ‘the
sought-after invitations to
agent) Sam Feldman’s well-
. attended party.

. reporter Carol Crenna; and
graphic designers Norman Four-
nier and Dave Webber fondly

: remembered the days when they
were partners.

Great party — and everyboily
brought something for the food
bank, so the Christmas cheer was
shared,

Definitely the hottes
in town this year was the one to
super-agent Sam Feldman’s party
' at the Soft Rock Cafe. The phone
lines were humming with calls
fram people trying to get their
. hands on the little green card re-

Louise Aird
BRIGHT LIGHTS

quired for entry.

it wasa goed party — the band
was excellent — but it was so :
crowded, mingling was more than -

a little difficult.

I ventured from my seat just
ance, spotting'a none-too-talkative
Jim Byrnes, jovial Neon Rider
producer Danny Virtue, Van-
couver’s nicest agent (yes. there is
such a thing), Corby Coffin and,
naturally, Sam Feldman, who ap-
peared to be having a good time.

Not much else to say, really —
except that, for those of you who
couldn’t get a ticket, don’t feel
bad. It was not the place to be
discovered. There were a lot of
producers and casting agents, but
they appeared to be there just to.
have fun.

kkk

The World's Largest Office Party
(WLOP) was something to behold
— 1,800 people showed at the
Hyatt Regency to, well, party.

A total of $16,000 was raised for
UNICEF and the CFMI Variety Kids
Farmyard. |

The interesting thing is that,
while Vancouverites were having
their WLOP, so were revellers in
40 other cities — every Hyatt
Hotel in North America held a
bash to raise money for UNICEF.

With that many peuple, it’s hard

_ to spot anyone you know — think

Richards On Richards times 20 —
so there’s not much to tell.
1 do suggest, however, that

“ every single woman in the Greater

Vancouver area attend this party
next year. The place was a sea of
men...

kik ks

And while a small group of
social climbers labors to establish
a spectacularly unnecessary Inter-
national Arts Centre, Kim Camp-
bell was opening Granville Island’s

” Performance Works, a new facility

provided by CMHC to fill the ..
“desperate need” of dancers, ac-
tors, playwrights and musicians for
space in which to present their
work,

Performance Works is CMHC’s

. Christmas present to the local arts

community and is billed as a
“versatile, affordable venue’
although it appears that one ‘has lo
bring one’s own stage and seats ...
but never mind.

I'm told that the expansion of
Emily Carr College, which will take
the form of a separate new build-
ing across from the existing one,
will begin this year.

So Granville Island will have a
world-class art college plus Aris
Umbrella, four theatres, a few
dozen craft studios, two book
stores and numerous food and
beverage outlets — wouldn’t you _
agree that Granville Island is an
arts centre?

This is what the aforementioned
group wants for Vancouver — just
like the one in Landon. Two dif- . :
ferences — London needed one.
And London has a population of |
10 million.

The only thing missing from ;
Granville tsland is a cinema and it

“would be a lot easier to move

Pacific Cinematheque to Granville
island than to create ancther
Granville Island elsewhere.

Wednesday, January 6, 1993 - North Shore News - 15

2 BLACKCOMB
DAY PASSES WITH

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Photos Loulse Aird

LoIs LANE Communications President Nicola Parker held a “Save, ‘Superman”” Christmas party at
her office in Protest of the Man of Steel's death. . :

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Dave Webber (efi) and Norman Fournier (right) turned up at the ultra-ci
studio party of photographers Philppe M Matin-Morice (centre) and Howard Fry.

PLUS TAXES