JULY/AUGUST 2000
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Page 11
ARISE SIR SEAN!
EDINBURGH - "Its one of the proudest days of my life," the 69-year old actor Sean Connery said after he was formally knighted by Queen Elizabeth in a ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. He said, "I think it is a great honour for Scotland."
Connery, made famous as 007 master spy James Bond, was honoured for services to film drama at a ceremony he specifically requested take place in his home city. Decked out in full Scottish regalia, he was accompanied by his wife Micheline and brother Neil.
As he knelt, the Queen touched his shoulders lightly with a sword. Then, he arose and bowed as the Queen placed a small red sash bearing his medal around his
neck. Later, he said the Queen had asked how often he came to Scotland. Although Connery is a native of Scotland, he now resides in Marbella, Spain. Asked by reporter if he would be coming back to Scotland, he broke into a grin and said, "I haven't gone yet."
Connery is fiercely proud of his Scottish roots. One of the two tattoos he had done during a three-year stint in the Royal Navy says "Scotland Forever." His support for the Scottish National Party and an independent Scotland, is reported to have resulted in him being denied a knighthood in the 1997 and 1998 honours lists. The actor donates £4,800 a month to party coffers.
As a child, Connery lived in a four-storev tenement in Edin-
burgh's Fountainbridge and once worked as a milkman on a horse-drawn float. His close friend, former world champion racing driver Jackie Stewart, said the honour is well deserved. He said, "He has certainly earned it and he has certainly been a great ambassador for Scotland and Great Brit-
Connery's film career, which spans more than 30 years, includes Dr No, Goldfinger, The Name of the Rose, First Knight, Hunt for Red October and Highlander.
To mark his 70th birthday on August 24, there will be open-air screenings in Princes Street Gardens of his best-known Bond films as part of the 54th annual Edinburgh International Festival.
Michael Caine Comes in From the Cold
LONDON - Screen veteran Michael Caine led a host of celebrities receiving awards in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The 67-year-old British actor became Sir Michael, as was widely predicted, when the list was published. A clearly delighted Caine says that his knighthood beats his acting awards - as he was given the honour just months after claiming he was shunned by the establishment.
Shortly after picking up his second Oscar, as best supporting actor in The Cider House Rules, the
67-year old actor took one of the ultimate awards in the British movie industry, a BAFTA fellowship. In a moving speech as he received the top honour, Caine said he never felt he belonged in his own country.
He said, " I've made a lot of spy movies but I never made The Spy
Who Came In From The Cold, although I should have done because I never really felt like I belonged in my own country in my own profession."
In the past year, however, he has picked up a string of lifetime achievement awards for a career that spans 45 years as an actor, with roles in more than 100 films. With his knighthood, Sir Michael can look back at his career with some degree of satisfaction. He knows that he has achieved a level of success about which most in his profession can only dream.
On the Irish Film Trail
DUBLIN - Ireland has launched a "film trail" in a bid to capitalize on a movie boom in a country whose unspoiled countryside has long attracted film-makers and stars. The trail, through scenic County Wicklow, takes walkers through locations featured in movies such as Michael Collins, Braveheart, Angela's Ashes, and Dancing at Lughnasa.
British actress Jane Seymour took time out from filming her latest movie Yesterday's Children to launch the trail. Seymour, known for her television series Dr. Quinn. Medicine Woman, was filming Yesterday's Children at Ardmore Studios at the coastal town of Brav, just south of Dublin.
Seymour, who shot to stardom in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die opposite Roger Moore, plays an American woman who discovers through hallucinations and flashbacks that she was Irish in a past life and sets out to trace her former existence.
Tom Row-ley, from Ireland's Millennium Committee which helped fund the project, said he expected the film trail to be a huge attraction for both movie enthusiasts and tourists.
"Visitors will have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of some of the legends of the cinema as they visit the places where memorable scenes were shot," he said.
The trail is self-guided with storyboards along the way and it
is hoped that touch screen information kiosks will be added later. Movies made in the area and featured in the trail also include My Left Foot, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Far and Away.
The Irish film industry has experienced a boom in the last decade as tax relief and government funding - as well as the dramatic landscape - making it a popular location for directors.
Renovations for Abbey Theatre
Irish Arts Minister Sile de Valera has revealed that she is in discussion with Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy to make £50 million available to renovate Dublin's Abbey Theatre.
Although several proposals have been considered, the favoured option is to pull down the existing building which opened in 1966 and put up a new one in its place.
The building has been criticized for failing performers and audiences alike because of poor acoustics, bad design, and disappointing appearance.
Minister de Valera said the Abbey is of great importance and has a special place in the history and cultural life of the country as the National Theatre of Ireland.
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The Irish Heath1
BISTRO & IRISH HOUSE
The Irish Heather is proud to present its new dinner menu
Small Plates Perfect as appetizers or in combinations as tapas
Basket of Bread (small $3 large $4)
Irish wheaten bread and foccacia baked fresh daily in our kitchen Champ $3 (V)
Irish comfort food at its best, the Northern cousin to the Souths colcannon. a mash of floury potatoes, salty butter, milk and chopped green onions
Seasonal Vegetables $3 (V)
Whatever fresh & local vegetables we can find that are in season, served as simply as possible so as not to mar their delicate flavour. Askyour server
Daily homemade soup $4.50 (V)
Always homemade, always vegetarian & often vegan
Chicken Brochettes $4.50
Marinated in yellow curry with an horned yogurt
Musk Ox Brochettes $4.50
Skewers of naturally organic, wild Arctic Musk Ox, with balsamic reduction
Classic mimosa Salad $5
A refreshing salad of butter leaf lettuce, diced onion with chopped free range eggs and Dijon vinaigrette
Jameson Cured Salmon $6
Atlantic salmon house cured in Jameson Irish whiskey, herbs & spices Served on a potato fail with horseradish mayo.
Black n Mash $5.95
Pan-fried locally produced black pudding, with Hennessy fortified pears, on a dollop of Champ
Pot of drunken mussels $8.50
fresh East Coast mussels steamed open in organic Red Branch ale & shallots
GameTerrine $6.50
A course game pate, made weekly. Askyour server for details Cheese Plate $10 (V)
A selection of four local & imported cheese, don t expect a large portion as this kind of cheese is more expensive than filet mignon
Curry Chips (V)
Our very addictive Heather fries hand cut, skins on, twice fried & served with a meatless curry sauce $5.50 or $4.50 without the curry
Oysters on the half shell (1/2 doz. $9 or 1 doz. $16) Oysters freshly shucked & served with a mignonette sorbet
Larger Plates
All are served with potato and
seasonal vegetables unless otherwise stated
Chicken $14
Sliced chicken breast with tomatoes olive paste, fresh basil and puff pastry, served upside down
Lamb $15
Three loin of Lamb chops from our local Gulf Islands, with a roasted garlic jus & fresh mint/rosemary reduction
Salmon $15
Beautiful wild B C Salmon marinated in dark sugar, Irish Whiskey and baby dill, with a fruit salsa
Halibut $15
l.ocal halibut, served on a bed of fresh herbs with citrus butter sauce
Pheasant $13
A handsome portion of wild pheasant, served in a Blackbush demi-glace with wild mushrooms
Beef $17 ,
A 6 oz. organic fillet from The Diamond Willow Ranch in Alberta. This is a great piece of freerange meat, finished in a light creamy goats cheese sauce
Buckwheat Crepe $13 (V) A delicious vegetarian dish of a buckwheat crepe filled witb wild mushrooms, finished in a light curry sauce
Bangers & Mash $11
Champ with Irish style pork sausages, finished in a cream Dijon mustard sauce (does not include seasonal vegetables)
Steak Sandwich $11
Organic Sirloin tip, tenderized, grilled rare with anchovy butter and served with Heather Fries (does not include seasonal vegetables or champ)
217 Carrall Street, Vancouver BC V6B 2J2 Phone (604) 688-9779 for reservations Visit our website at: www.irishheather.com