fare fel to the sta {\- MEL EDGAR photo Myles Bigelow, barber at Barber & Co on Main Street, straight shaves a customer yesterday and said his stache gets positive attention. Stache-shaving festivities are happening tonight at the Biltmore in celebration of the end of Movember, with live bands and prizes By MEL EDGAR hhether you have a little fur- ry one, a big curly one, or a lopsided one — moustache that is — you are welcome to enjoy it for a few days longer as Mo- vember draws to a close. One way to celebrate the month-long event for prostate and testicular cancer and men’s mental health, is to attend the fifth annual Movember Mo-Off at 8 p.m. this Friday at the Biltmore Caba- ret, where you can hear some music and flash your stache in a battle for Mr. Movember. “Tt doesn’t seem to be that hard to put facial hair and bands together,” said Mo-Off organizer Savannah Well- man. “It’s kind of a fun way to bring at- tention to a cause that’s not necessarily a fun subject.” The event will feature live music, a barber station, photo booths and priz- es. Best Mustache contestants will be nominated by the women in attendance and voted on by audience members. “Sometimes it’s a nice full mous- tache, sometimes it’s kind of a crazy shape,” said Wellman of previous win- ners. “People respected the effort be- hind it.” Movember came to Canada in 2007, and last year, according to Movember Canada, there were 173,420 partici- pants and $33.9 million was raised for men’s health. Wellman, who estimates with a full house the event could raise over $2,000, said people like to have the excuse to give growing moustaches a try, see what they look like and have the cause behind it. Movember compatriot Myles Big- elow, a barber at Barber & Co, said he’s been getting nothing but positive atten- tion from his Movember moustache. “Tt just seems like girls are more re- ceptive,” said Bigelow. “It’s one of the symbols of being a man.” Whether you keep your Movember glory or exorcise yourself of it in hor- ror, for a $15 ticket you can try your luck at the title of Mr. Movember. 66 It’s kind of a fun way to bring at- tention to a cause that’s not neces- sarily a fun subject SAVANNAH WELLMAN EVENT ORGANIZER May the burlesque be with you 66 I get to play the coolest character in the cool- est three movies of all time STEPHAN BLAKLEY PLAYS HAN SOLO A Star Wars-themed bur- lesque show is featured to- night and tomorrow at the Rio Theatre on Broadway By JES HOVANES Hope and The Empire Strips Back, the Geekenders are back at the Rio theatre this weekend re-staging the fi- nal instalment of their burlesque trilo- gy, Star Wars: Reveal of the Jedi. Their goal is to expose people to as- pects of culture that they may not oth- erwise think to explore. Burlesque for people that may not initially feel com- fortable with the genre, theatre for people that may normally only watch movies. Prices: their smash hits A Nude “We do strictly what we call nerd- lesque and that’s burlesque routines with a specific pop culture reference,” said director and performer Fairlith Harvey, aka Trixie Hobbitses, who plays princess Leia in the production, adding “audiences can expect a really warm loving tribute to Star Wars that celebrates fandom love and geeky jokes and all sorts of body types and genders and it’s just this big ball of sexy love,” Stephen Blakley, Han Solo in the pro- duction, says that people who love the movies will not be disappointed in the burlesque re-imagining. “We try to stay honest to the themes of the show - we try to hit all the mo- ments of the movies wherever we can... the iconic stuff we try not to change.” On playing Solo, he is undoubtedly stoked even if this version has Solo wearing sequined pants tucked into riding boots. “Whether he is your fa- vourite character or not, he is undeni- ably the coolest character. And I get to play the coolest character in the cool- est three movies of all time.” Both Harvey and Blakley said that this show is particularly difficult to de- scribe because it is unique in both the theatre and burlesque worlds. But the first two episodes played to sold out au- diences so they are definitely hitting a nerve somewhere. And because youre all wondering, Harvey confirmed “Yes, there is a gold bikini and it is soooo sparkly. There are over 1,000 rhinstones on the slave Leia outfit.” Star Wars: Reveal of the Jedi plays Nov. 28-29 at the Rio Theatre on Broad- way. ZEMEKISS PHOTOGRAPHY/SUBMITTED photo At last year’s Star War’s themed burlesque show, The Empire Strips Back, over 2,000 flooded into the Rio Theatre to watch the show. NATASHA CHANG photo The Fragrant Wood Gallery is located at 2447 Granville St. Art for mental health Proceeds from a local art exhibition will help fund art supplies for a non-profit By NATASHA CHANG work at Fragrant Wood Gallery in Vancouver to raise funds and awareness for individuals with a men- tal health disability. “Nature in the City,” the exhibition, runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 10. and the gallery is sharing 20 per cent of pro- ceeds to The Kettle Society in support of the non-profit’s John Watson Memo- rial Art Fund. The fund strives “to enhance and en- courage the creative endeavours of in- dividuals with a mental health disabil- ity” and their road to recovery, according to their website. Twelve local artists from various genres of art will be displaying paint- ings, wood assemblages and photo- graphs. Alice Gu, Fragrant Wood Gallery’s manager said, in keeping with The Kettle Society’s mission in promoting inclusion and community, the “Nature in the City” theme depicts the idea that “nature connects us with Mother Earth, the source that sustains us” and to benefit from taking care of our natu- ral environment. Gu recognized The Kettle Society’s need for funding in their art fund and their beneficial value to the communi- ty, and was driven to help make a dif- ference and raise mental health aware- ness. “This is the first event of this magni- tude that Fragrant Wood Gallery has embarked on.” Jackie Novik, curator of the John Watson Memorial Art Fund said, the proceeds going to the art fund will be used to promote and support artwork, mainly art supplies, for the members of The Kettle Society. “Tt provides up to $100 per year per member,” she said, “to engage in cre- ative endeavour of some kind.” “The Kettle does not offer therapy, but the art by its nature is therapeu- tic,” Novik added, “people that I know who I’ve asked has said that they felt very creative after it, they feel really calm, stimulated.” This benefit is a combined effort for the society, said Jaz Pawa, whose art will be featured at the exhibit. “Pm hoping that this might turn into an an- nual function.” L: artists are exhibiting their art-