Budgie s Delivers Amazing Burritos, Not Screaming Infants

Jason Webb, OP Contributor

id you empty your bank
account just to satisfy
your cravings for hook-

ers and blow? I understand. As a
fellow student, I can appreciate
the day-to-day struggle of filling
your head hole by relying on your
meagre resources, but hookers
and blow will not dull the edge of
ramen noodles and Chef Boy-R-
Dee. Trust me on this. Years of
poor personal hygiene (that’s what
I like to call it) have transformed
me into the shambling wreck that
haunts these very halls. The les-
son is clear: low funds are no
excuse for bad eats.

Let’s take Budgie’s Burritos for
instance. Nestled on a nonde-
script stretch of Kingsway and
Main, just a couple of steps away
from AntiSocial Skateboarding,
this little gem will erase any

] a
RPGS = did §=—ENbEPHAINMENG =

notion of returning to your regu-
larly scheduled intakes of
debauchery and sin. At least until
you visit them again. Their menu
is like old-school Mission Hill,
with burritos rolled up in 12-inch
tortillas alongside your choice of
pinto or refried beans, then rice,
Monterey Jack cheese, and salsa.
To round out this work of art,
you have six varieties of other fill-
ings,

The “Mr. Jones” (named after
Vancouver artist Keith Jones) is
your basic lettuce and sour cream
entry and is priced at a measly
$4.50. Then there’s the “Blair
Stanley:” firm tofu drenched in a
roasted red pepper and chipotle
sauce, for only $6.00. I must warn
you, these burritos will kick your
ass. When I peeled off the tinfoil
from around my lunch, I discoy-

ered a burrito roughly the size of
a newborn infant. There are also
tacos, quesadillas, and tamales
too. Dollar for dollar, Taco Del
Mar does make a mean burrito of
equal worth, but I would argue
that local, independent eateries
have the added bonus of prepar-
ing food with style and devotion,
and it shows when your order is
handed over the counter with a
smile and a nod.

You can eat it onsite or you
can walk to the park a few blocks
east and find a picnic table under
a tree. All right now, tiger, put
down that hooker and go get a
burrito.

Budgie’s Burritos
44 Kingsway
604.874.5408

  

 

Breakfast Cereal, Creator Control, and a Thousand Blooming Flowers

Jason Webb, OP Contributor

14 | www.theotherpress.ca

 

ey, did you hear? Tony the
H Tiger is dead. Thurl
Ravenscroft (what a cool

name!) was the recognizable voice
behind the beloved cartoon tiger. The
man shuffled off this mortal coil on
May 22 at the age of 91, and I was sur-
prised that he played such a large part in
pop culture. Ravenscroft sang, “You're
a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” for How the
Grinch Stole Christmas, as well as voicing
other characters in many Walt Disney
movies, and even theme parks! This
event confirms one inevitable conse-
quence of living on this planet: things
do indeed change. If you pour half a
litre of chocolate milk into a bowl of
Frosted Flakes, your breakfast will
eventually erode into an unrecognizable
sludge. The world in front of our eyes
will fade away, and simply clinging to
what we think is permanent seems fool-
ish in light of its transience.

Comic book artists and writers are
not immune to change. Hell, change is
needed in a medium that often grows
stale with complacency, like when DC
and Marvel release the same garbage
for months whenever sales are up.
When the readers stop buying their
titles and start reading other stuff, like
books for instance, then desperation
sets in and the corporate heads begin
mining the underground for new talent.

   

And don’t get me started on the seman-
tics of “underground.” This overused
word is almost devoid of meaning these
days, since the media penetrated all the
scenes many years ago. They couldn’t
very well leave anyone alone, particular-
ly comics.

However, the inherent vibrancy of
independent art played a part in the
transformation that occurred in comics,
particularly in the 90s. Illustrators in
the DC and Marvel camps were finding
that their work was slipping out of their
control, as the Big Two laid claim to the
artists’ works and often censored
scripts that didn’t fit the corporate
model. So, with inkwells and pens
tucked under their arms, artists began
taking the cue from their underground
comrades and taking control of their
creations. The best and most visible
example of this was Image, jumpstart-
ed by disgruntled artists like Todd
MacFarlane and Rob Liefield in 1991 to
put out titles owned and operated by
the creators.

Of course, that meant we all had to
endure a decade of Jim “ I Draw My
Characters As Though They’re
Screaming All The Time” Lee saturat-
ing the market, but the move was a step
forward for creator control. Of course,
if Tony the Tiger has taught us any-
thing, even this supposed coup would

June 8/2005