Verb Issue S237 (Apr. 26-May 2, 2013)

ISSUE #237 – APRIL 26 TO MAY 2

ARTS CULTURE MUSIC SASKATOON

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF KEVIN BERTRAM

FURRY FASHION Gerry Armsworthy is a “roadkill specialist”

WAIT WITH ME Q+A with 100 Mile House

PAIN & GAIN + REBELLE Films reviewed

SHOTGUNJIMMIEAND EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING

VERBNEWS.COMVERB MAGAZINE CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

2APR 26 – MAY 2

CONTENTSCONTENTS

FURRY FASHIONGerry Armsworthy is Saskatchewan’s “roadkill specialist.” 4 / LOCAL

CHANGING THE NEWSNew online morning show combines traditional with cutting-edge. 6 / LOCAL

CHANGING PERCEPTIONOur thoughts on when bullying be-comes something more. 8 / EDITORIAL

COMMENTSHere’s your say about government-prepared tax returns. 10 / COMMENTS

Q + A WITH 100 MILE HOUSEOn their new album. 12 / Q + A

NIGHTLIFE PHOTOS We visited The Odeon + The Colonial. 22-25 / NIGHTLIFE

LISTINGSLocal music listings for April 26 through May 4. 18 / LISTINGS

PAIN & GAIN +REBELLEThe latest movie reviews. 20 / FILM

ON THE BUS Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 26 / COMICS

BEHIND CLOSED DOORSSexy Laundry a hilarious play about life and love. 13 / ARTS

SOMETHING DIFFERENT This week we visit Saskatoon Asian Restaurant. 16 / FOOD + DRINK

SIMPLY SINATRASteve Lippia interprets American classics with the SSO. 13 / ARTS

ENTERTAINMENT

NEWS + OPINION

VERBNEWS.COM@VERBSASKATOON FACEBOOK.COM/VERBSASKATOON

MUSICThe F-Holes, Skydiggers + Jason Aldean. 17 / MUSIC

GAMES + HOROSCOPESCanadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 27 / TIMEOUT

EDITORIALPUBLISHER / PARITY PUBLISHINGEDITOR IN CHIEF / RYAN ALLANMANAGING EDITOR / JESSICA PATRUCCOSTAFF WRITERS / ADAM HAWBOLDT + ALEX J MACPHERSON

ART & PRODUCTIONDESIGN LEAD / ROBERTA BARRINGTONDESIGN & PRODUCTION / BRITTNEY GRAHAMCONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS / PATRICK CARLEY, ADAM HAWBOLDT + ISHTIAQ OPAL

BUSINESS & OPERATIONSOFFICE MANAGER / STEPHANIE LIPSITACCOUNT MANAGER / NATHAN HOLOWATYSALES MANAGER / VOGESON PALEYFINANCIAL MANAGER / CODY LANG

CONTACTCOMMENTS / [email protected] / 306 881 8372

ADVERTISE / [email protected] / 306 979 2253

DESIGN / [email protected] / 306 979 8474

GENERAL / [email protected] / 306 979 2253

ON THE COVER:

SHOTGUNJIMMIEOn everything. 12 / COVER


CULTURE

VERBNEWS.COMNEWS + OPINION CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

4APR 26 – MAY 2

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

hen an animal gets hit by a car and dies, one

of the first things that happens is the bowels evacuate, splatter-ing s**t everywhere. The next thing that happens is the animal starts to decay under the skin and in the stomach area.

Now, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize how messy and putrid one of these animals must be when you get up close and person-al. That’s why Gerry Armsworthy only collects roadkill in the winter months.

“When I first started picking the animals up I thought I could do it at any time of the year — bad idea,” says Armsworthy. “When they get

run over, if they split and it’s not freezing out, decomposition starts almost immediately.”

Armsworthy pauses, thinks about how to describe what it’s like when you pick up an animal

that isn’t frozen. “You know what it smells like when you go to the bathroom and defecate? That’s what it smells like when an animal

is run over and split open. The bow-els break. It’s messy.”

And that’s why Armsworthy only picks up frozen roadkill these days. And it doesn’t really matter what kind of animal it is: coyote, fox, badger —

you name it. As long as the roadside critter hasn’t been mangled by a 16-wheeler, as long as the fur is intact and usable, Armsworthy will put the

W

FURRY FASHION Saskatchewan roadkill specialist turns run-over animals into clothes BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

It took a while to learn. Broke a lot of needles, made a lot of mistakes.

GERRY ARMSWORTHY

LOCAL

@VERBSASKATOON NEWS + OPINIONCONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

5APR 26 – MAY 2

@AdamHawboldt

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Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

animal in a garbage bag, place it in the garbage-bag lined trunk of his Cadil-lac CTS and whisk it away.

Now you may be asking yourself: why is Armsworthy picking up all this roadkill? Is he a government worker assigned to the job?

Nah. Gerry Armsworthy is just a “roadkill specialist.”

The first time Armsworthy picked up a dead animal off the side of the high-way was about 20 years ago.

At the time Armsworthy was on the Shriners’ board of directors, traveling around the province visiting various clubs. He had also recently taken up the hobby of sewing and was learning to make leather slippers.

“I needed fur to put around the top of the slippers, but I didn’t have any fur. Didn’t know where to get any, either,” says Armsworthy. “But as I was driving around the province I was seeing all this roadkill — coy-otes, foxes, deer — and I thought to myself, ‘Jeez, all that stuff is going to waste, maybe I should start taking some of it home and use it.’”

And that’s precisely what he did. But one doesn’t simply take roadkill home and use it to make slippers. Things are a little more complicated than that. First you have to skin the animal, then you have to tan the hide, amongst other things. Armsworthy had no idea how to do any of this, so he checked out books from the library on

all the things he’d need to prepare the fur for sewing.

And in the beginning it wasn’t easy.“Once I read up on some stuff I

went to work on skinning,” says Arm-sworthy. “I quickly found out I wasn’t so good at that. But lucky for me there was a person who lives close by who skins and fleshes animals.”

Armsworthy chuckles and says, “Remember when I was talking about frozen animals? Well, by the time you go to skin them they’re thawed out and they don’t smell too nice. The guy who does my skinning has a constitution as tough as any you’ll see. None of it bothers him.”

With the skinning process out-sourced, Armsworthy taught himself how to tan hides. But before he could get the fur on the slippers there was one last little thing that had to be done: he had to learn how to sew fur.

“I found an old fella at Bregg Cleaners Tailors & Furriers, and asked him if he’d mind if I hung around the shop and watched him sew fur,” says Armsworthy.

The old fella told him it was no problem, and Armsworthy’s arm-chair apprenticeship was under-way. From there he bought a 50- or 60-year-old fur sewing machine and got to work on his slippers.

“It took a while to learn,” admits Armsworthy. “Broke a lot of needles, made a lot of mistakes. But if you do something wrong, you can just take it apart and start again. That’s the beauty

of fur, it’s hard to damage. I don’t dam-age too much these days, though. I can sew fur pretty good now.”

And it’s not just to slippers, either.

What started out as a passion for sewing has blossomed into a small business of sorts for Regina’s “road-kill specialist.”

These days, along with the seven sewing machines and a giant freezer he uses for storing carcasses, if you walk into Armsworthy’s workshop you’ll see things like slippers and mukluks, mitts and fur hats just like the ones the RCMP wear in the winter months. All of this he sells either at craft markets or through his made-to-order business.

But Armsworthy makes sure not to work too hard.

“I usually start in September and I’m finished by Christmas,” explains Armsworthy. “Then in January we go to Mexico for three months.”

After he returns to Saskatchewan, and once the warm weather hits, you’ll find Armsworthy out by his pool, cutting new patterns, and get-ting ready for the autumn — when the sewing and roadkill collecting begins again.


6APR 26 – MAY 2


LOCAL

CHANGING THE NEWS

or the longest time, media information has flowed one way — from

the top downThink about it. The sharp-dressed

television anchor with the perfectly coiffed hair telling you what happened in Saskatoon. The silver voiced radio host reporting the latest, breaking news from Regina. Newspapers and magazines writing stories full of quotes, telling the public what’s going on, and sometimes even what to think.

That’s just the way things work. The media provides the news and the public consumes it. It’s a time-honoured tradition.

It’s also a tradition that a new online radio show in Saskatchewan is looking to change.

The show is called Saskatoon Morning, and it’s not your typical morning show. Sure, there will be the traditional top-down flow of information from on-air host Leisha Grebinski. Every weekday morning at 6 a.m. Grebinski will be host-ing an on-line radio show at www.cbc.ca/saskatoon, giving all the up-to-date local news, traffic, and weather reports.

Now, you may be thinking, “what’s so special about that, outside of the fact it’s online?”

Well, that’s easy. You see, the program isn’t simply news and banter. There’s also an interactive component to it.

This interactive portion is hosted by Matt Kruchak, and how it works is like this: say, for instance, a local or provincial poli-tician was scheduled to appear on the show. First that politician does the interview bit, bantering with Grebinski and answering ques-tions. Then, when that segment is

over, the guest switches to the in-teractive portion to field questions from the audience, who would use their phones, iPads or computers to submit queries through the show’s new website.

“The website uses a program called Cover It Live — it’s a live software,” explains Kruchak. “And what you’ll do is log in, using Facebook or Twitter or whatever, then you can ask questions of

the guest, talk with other people on the live chat, post pictures. This live chat is something really innovative.”

So innovative that no other sta-tion around is doing it. This change excites both hosts, but it’s not the only thing.

“Another exciting thing about this is we’re trying to create a brand new habit for people,” says Kruchak. “What you’ll do is wake up in the morning … turn on your

laptop or press the power button on your mobile or some other device, and start chatting with us. You can be lying in bed, eating breakfast or having coffee, and chat with us. Engage in the news.”

The key word here is engage-ment. That’s really what this new morning program is trying to har-ness — public participation.

“The days of an anchor in a power suit delivering the news are

F

CBC releases an innovative morning show in Saskatchewan BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

The days of an anchor in a power suit delivering the news are on their way out.

LEISHA GREBINSKI

/VERBSASKATOON NEWS + OPINIONCONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

7APR 26 – MAY 2

@AdamHawboldt

[email protected]


on their way out,” says Grebinski. “What we’re creating is very much a two-way, three-way, four-way conversation. It’s not just about putting together a show reading the news and telling people what’s important. With the [interactive] portion people can tell us the news, tell us what’s important.”

Thus, adding a different direc-tion in which the news can now flow.

And that begs the question: what goes into making a potentially game-changing online morning program like Saskatoon Morning?

“A lot of work,” says Grebinski with a smile. And she should know.

For five years Grebinski, who is from Regina, was an associate producer of CBC Radio One’s The Morning Edition in Saskatchewan, with host Sheila Coles. After that

she spent some time co-hosting CBC Radio’s Daybreak in Prince Ru-pert, B.C. So yeah, Grebinski knows a thing or two about what it takes to run a show like this.

“I’ve been a radio girl, through and through. And putting this show together has been a lot of work,” says Grebinksi, her voice stopping and stressing the word ‘a lot.’

See, contrary to what some people think, morning hosts don’t simply go to work earlier than most of us, turn on the microphone, put on the headphones, read the news, banter amongst themselves, then call it a day. “That’s not the case at all,” explains Grebinski. “There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it. The day before you are trying to figure out what the big story is that people want to hear. From there you have to find guests to come on your show and talk. You have to do a lot of research, make a lot

of phone calls, do a lot of writing. There are a lot of hours involved.”

And sometimes all that before-hand preparation can be for naught if news breaks suddenly. “The thing about live radio is, things can change on a dime,” says Grebinski. “If we hear about those two explosions at the Boston Marathon, obviously we have to change the content.”

That makes developing a program like Saskatoon Morning a tricky task. Not only do you have to prepare diligently, even though that preparation may end up getting cut, but at the same time Grebinski and Kruchak are wading into uncharted waters with their new show.

“It’s unknown territory we’re in,” says Grebinski. “It’s not like we’re taking over an established show, which presents its own special challenges. But we’re start-ing with a blank slate here, and in a way that’s both a blessing and a curse. There are a fair amount of challenges ahead of us, but it’s all incredibly exciting.”

So exciting, in fact, that when Kruchak speaks about airing the first show, his voice rises and quickens in anticipation.

“The real challenge is the wait,” he admits. “We’ve been working so hard preparing this show and developing it, we just want to get in there and get going.”

He won’t have to wait long.The first online broadcast of

Saskatoon Morning airs on Monday, April 29th on www.cbc.ca/saskatoon, so tune in and help change the way news flows in this province.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ADAM HAWBOLDT / VERB MAGAZINE


8APR 26 – MAY 2


CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

IWe need to conceive of bullying in a different manner

think we’ve got to stop using the term bullying to describe some of these

things. Bullying to me has a kind of connotation … of kids misbe-having. What we are dealing with in some of these circumstances is simply criminal activity.”

Those are Steven Harper’s words following the tragic death of young teen Rehtaeh Parsons in Nova Sco-tia, spoken in Calgary a few weeks ago,. And like or loath the guy, you have to admit — he has a point. To be frank, labelling the kinds of activities alleged to have occurred in the Parsons case or other similar cases as “bullying” cloaks the hos-tility of those kinds of acts, dressing them up, as Harper noted, as simply “kids misbehaving.” And we think that’s wrong.

Generally speaking, we believe that any youths that are old enough to be prosecuted, whose bullying constitutes violent criminal activity, sexual criminal activity, or criminal harassment shouldn’t be treated as bullies. They should be treated as criminals.

The term “bullying,” frequently trotted out to identify any number of behaviours, conjures up a rather benign, perhaps even nostalgic image of kids in a schoolyardteasing one another, blowing spitballs, pushing each other into puddles. You know — the kind

of behaviour anyone would witness on the average elementary school playground. And we agree: that is, absolutely, bullying. Is it shame-ful, and should efforts be made to reduce it as much as possible? Well, yeah. Though to some extent this kind of bullying — the “kids misbehaving” type — seems to be a part of the human condition, educators, parents and the com-munity should continue to work

together to reduce it as muchas possible.

And in fact, at the moment, we are. Saskatchewan’s provincial anti-bullying strategy includes: a) “new policy directives that require all school divisions to ensure that every school in every community

has a program in place to address bullying,” b) “develop enhanced anti-bullying and suicide prevention and intervention services for our province’s young people by working with mental health service provid-ers.” and c) “seeking changes to the Criminal Code of Canada and the Youth Criminal Justice Act to specifi-cally deal with systemic bullying.”

And that’s all well and good, but that “kids misbehaving” behaviour

EDITORIAL

At the teen level the effects of what is often called severe bullying can be literally life or death…

VERB MAGAZINE

@VERBSASKATOON NEWS + OPINION

9APR 26 – MAY 2

CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

@VerbSaskatoon

[email protected]


isn’t what we’re talking about here. Occasionally, there comes a point when bullying becomes something more, when it becomes criminal activity. And it is at this point that we believe the full weight of the law should be brought to bear.

Now look. We aren’t advocating that some eight-year-old gets life in jail for threatening a friend, or anything like that. We understand children aren’t born with a perfect knowledge of what is and is not ap-propriate, and of course elementary school aged students still have plenty to learn on that front. But teens are a different story. At the teen level the effects of what is often called severe bullying can be literally life or death, and we think the legal consequences of such behaviour, proven in a court of law, should reflect that reality.

And we’re not the only ones who think this way. Apparently Darrell Dexter, Nova Scotia’s premier, feels the same — after all, he is meeting with Harper in light of the Parsons case to discuss possible changes to the Criminal Code of Canada. Look, we have enough existing laws to

address cyberbullying, which Media Smarts identifies as having six key features: insulting, targeting, identity theft, uploading, excluding and ha-rassment. What’s needed is for a shift in mindsets, a change in perception rather than a change to laws.

Think about it: what if an adult was to threaten another adult with bodily harm? Seek them out and torment them mercilessly at their home or place of business? Well, the situation would be treated as a seri-ous legal offence and prosecuted ac-cordingly, and rightly so. You simply can’t act in such a manner in the real world and not expect repercussions. So why the heck should it be any different amongst teens?

These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.


10APR 26 – MAY 2


COMMENTS

Text your thoughts to881 VERB

8372

ON TOPIC: Last week we asked what you thought about government- prepared tax returns. Here's what you had to say:

– Keep the government out of my taxes don’t trust them to do them properly. It doesn’t take that much to have an accountant do it for you stop vein so lazy!

– Haveing the gov’t prep tax returns makes sense but how will they pay for this it’ll mean hiring a bunch more people no?

– Prepared tax returns sound incredibly convenient, though cue the conspiracy theorists who will assume that this means they somehow will be losing out more money.

– How easy! You wait for the document and then basically click “i agree” and they send you your return. Netherlands has got it right with most things, and this especially.

– What happened to the good old days when people would prepare their tax returns themselves? It seems like people want everything done for them these days

– I don’t think getting your taxes done is as tiring a task as you described in your editorial, but the idea of having the govern-ment prep the returns for us and the ease of convenience of this method is appealing. So why not??

– Wait: there’s a better, more com-mon sense and more efficient

/VERBSASKATOON NEWS + OPINIONCONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

11APR 26 – MAY 2

POWERED BY THE CREW AT MOGA MOBILE

means of doing our taxes and Harperites haven’t yet? Wonder if they’ve been paid off by lobby groups....

OFF TOPIC

– I just read your review on 42…kinda disappointed you don’t have “Field of Dreams” Shoeless Joe as an honourable mention…oh well! good review none the less will probably check it out this weekend Darcy

In response to “Remembering Robinson,”

Film, #235 (April 12, 2013)

SOUND OFF – A few weeks ago open line discussion for the morning was drivers who plod along in the left lane and block traffic flow for those going faster. The big question for Toonerville this spring - does a left lane exist if you can’t see any painted lines

– Atch __ “living proof you can get more with honey than with vinegar”.

– Ears are very simple things 2 microphones. The brain does something extraordinary to this simple input to create hearing. It can create a model of space around us. Most of the time we listen to speech other sounds but we can also feel the sonic in a fin-gertip or skin like way with music and noises like nails on chalkboard styrofoam squeaks. Some you felt even that mention. Its all in your mind, hearing.

– Bombings in Boston, Ricin poison letter sent to Pres Obama, massive explosion in Waco, Texas today. April 19, 1993 the Waco siege ended with the deaths of 76 men women and children of the Branch Davidian cult. Good chance the topper, something big-ger, tomorrow.

– Chechnya! The Boston bombers were Balkan terrorists. WTF! Up tip now they’ve only hit Russia. I thought this week anniversary of Waco and the Oklahoma bomb-ing was American Fremen. Maybe Waco this week was an accident? Strange days Strange times! Vio-lent times!

– My heart breaks for Boston and the victims, but so impressed by the people that did whatever they could to help. Lived there for a couple years back in the 90s so hits close to home. Boston spirit is unquenchable, and I’ve no doubt they’ll pick right up.

– In the ancient relationship plants giving their seed speaders Diabe-tes would be dysfunctional. If you have a sweet tooth do your best to satisfy it with fruit.

– When a funny smell from your sofa thats been haunting you for months turns out to be one of your regular guests thats DOWNtown.

– Clean the city sidewalk in front of your house?? Why stop there?? Paint the traffic lanes on the road you might take downtown to drop your taxes for 2013.

NEXT WEEK: What do you think about changing the way we perceive of bullying? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation:

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

VERBNEWS.COMCULTURE CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

12APR 26 – MAY 2

Q + A

P

100 Mile House deliver their fourth record of infectious folk rock BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

[People] want to connect with music a little more.

PETER STONE

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DETOUR PHOTOGRAPHY / KERBY DESIGN

eter Stone met Denise MacKay at a bar in Toronto. He was

playing a show; she thought it was an open mic night. They played music together, got married, moved to Edmonton, and started a band. Since 2008, 100 Mile House has released four albums of transat-lantic folk — music that invests the ancient traditions of folk with a perspective that stretches to the ho-rizon. The band’s latest record, Wait With Me, is about leaving and about coming home — the most emotional moments in our lives. Fusing simple song structures with heartfelt lyrics, Wait With Me is the purest expression of what 100 Mile House can achieve. I caught up with Stone to talk about the band, the record, and growing up in England.

Alex J MacPherson: The story of you and Denise meeting and getting married is, I think, integral to the band. You write about home a lot, but in a sense home is wherever you are. At the same time, is that dynamic difficult to manage?

Peter Stone: It came pretty naturally. We sang together before we’d even spoken. It’s always been there.

We’ve always sung together. And we can take home with us, because we’re together all the time. I definitely think of it as an advantage. There’s a lot more fun to it than sort of bad moments.

AJM: And Wait With Me deals with the big themes: home, time, distance.

Did you intend to make a record that covered those themes, or was it a slow realization?wPS: It was kind of a weird one, this record, because we normally have a backlog of songs when we come to record a new record. Atthe beginning of 2012, we had pretty much the whole album written. And then 2012 was the hardest year we’d had as a couple, me and Denise, in the nine years we’ve been together. Just throughout that year a lot more songs came from the experiences we and

our friends and family were having. When we recorded the album, we had a whole new album. And by the end of that I did look back and go, ‘Yeah, there’s definitely a theme here.’

AJM: Why do you think this form, fairly well structured folk music, works so well with big themes and ideas?

PS: I’m not sure. I guess it doesn’t get in the way of the lyrics sometimes. A lot of folk music, and a lot of our songs, are very simple. Just like three, four chords. And maybe it suits this kind of music because the instruments behind the lyrics are doing something nice, but they’re not getting in the way of the message or the story you’re trying

to tell. It doesn’t get in the way of the words or the lyrics.

AJM: Your band is in the midst of this resurgence of folk music. Why do you think that’s happening right now?

PS: Folk music is almost becoming pop music again, if that makes sense. I think it’s just folk music’s turn, in the way that things go through waves. It could just be a cyclical thing, or it could be the fact that people are fed up with be-ing fed generic, sort of plastic-sounding music. They’re looking for something

that’s a little more raw. They want to connect with music a little more. You see the Lumineers on Saturday Night Live, and it’s a world away from seeing Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live – which is still a great thing, ‘cause he’s great, but maybe they are yearning for something a little more true.

AJM: The transatlantic dynamic seems integral to this band, but other than pure distance, what does your experience growing up contribute to the band?

PS: I think more than anything lyr-ics, because you always think about places where you’re not. And I find myself singing about London and England and home a lot, especially on

our last album, Hollow Ponds. But also I didn’t grow up around a lot of folk music, so I guess the music growing up would have shaped my compos-ing in some way: not necessarily a direct way that I can sort of draw a line between the two, but I’m sure the music I grew up listening to shaped my songwriting in some way.

100 Mile HouseMay 4 @ Vangelis$5

@MacPhersonA

[email protected]


WAIT WITH ME

@VERBSASKATOON CULTURECONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

13APR 26 – MAY 2

ARTS

M

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

@MacPhersonA

[email protected]


any people think Steve Lippia is an imperson-

ator, a celebrity lookalike with a voice like a cannon. This is a misconception. Lippia is an inter-preter, and the fact that his voice sounds similar to Sinatra’s so-norous baritone is nothing more than a happy coincidence.

“These songs are like treasures, and they should be well taken care

of,” Lippia says of the Sinatra tunes he is preparing to perform alongside the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. “My approach to the music, for the most part, is to treat it authentically.” Unlike jazz interpreters, who often make only passing reference to the original, Lippia thinks it is vital to preserve and protect the songs he cherishes.

Lippia has been performing pop standards for years. Although he often sings with a 10-piece band, he enjoys doing so with the weight of a full orchestra behind him. “It brings with it certain very different energies,” he says, pointing to the immense sound of a symphony orchestra. “The classical players have a slightly different inter-pretation of the music, because they really haven’t inhabited pop music as much. They both offer something very interesting in their own right.”

Lippia’s performance, which features songs from every period of

Sinatra’s storied career, from hard-driving, edgy big band numbers to elaborate ballads that show off every section of the orchestra, couldn’t come at a better time. “I’m so happy that it is flourishing,” Lippia says of the music, which has been embraced by a new generation of artists led by Michael Bublé. “It seems to find a rebirth being introduced to younger generations by artists who put their own twist on the music.”

Lippia thinks pop standards are resurgent because they wrap time-less stories and well-crafted lyrics in moving music. “Who ever gets tired of falling in love?” Lippia says. “Or lamenting the loss of love? I think that kind of thing will always sustain this music, even though more modern gen-erations have a tendency to eschew anything that came before us.”

But people will always be drawn to compelling stories, even if they

have been told and re-told for 50 years. “Because my voice isnaturally very similar to Sinatra’s, it might confuse people,” he says. “They might think I’m trying to be him or imitate him. Couldn’t be further from the truth. To quote a line from Linda Ronstadt: ‘You don’t have to be original. You just need to be authentic.’”

SSO Simply Sinatra May 4 @ TCU Place$35+ @ tcutickets.ca, SSO Box Office

SIMPLY SINATRA Steve Lippia on interpreting American classics with the SSO BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

T here is an old adage that politics, sex, and religion

have no place in polite conversa-tion. This is nonsense. Arguments about politics and religion are arguments about ideas, and ideas are what define us. But sex is dif-ferent. Everybody agrees that sex is important, but nobody wants to talk about it. Or even admit that it happens. Which is where Sexy Laundry comes in.

“It’s one of those things that people think belongs behind closed doors,” says Kent Allen, the Saskatchewan actor who plays Henry in the upcom-ing production of Michele Riml’s acclaimed comedy. “But the challenge of theatre is to bring the stories of hu-man beings to the fore, this being one of them.”

Everybody knows what happens at the start of a romance. Sexy Laundry explores the end of the journey, when complacency has driven away

excitement and enthusiasm. The play unfolds over a weekend in the life of Henry and Alice, a couple whose relationship has deteriorated over 25 years of marriage. Convinced that resuscitating their sex life will improve their life together, Alice buys a copy of Sex For Dummies and reserves a swanky hotel room. Sexy Laundry chronicles their attempt to get reacquainted.

““It’s about at what point, and to what degree, people make adjust-ments in their lives,” Allen says. “A two-degree tack doesn’t seem like much, but over a long period of time two people can end up very far apart. This is about a couple trying to get that ship back on true — and how complicated that can be.”

Unlike most dramas, which make no apologies for uncovering the uncomfortable and the taboo, Sexy Laundry uses humour and warmth to ease audiences into the realization

that communication is the essence of any relationship. “It’s gently handled,” Allen says. “Nobody’s going to be hit over the head with a stick in this play. And it’s not lesson-oriented. It’s a slice of life, it’s experiential, and it is about problems.”

More importantly, Sexy Laundry is a play about problems few people are willing to admit even exist. But with the guidance of two deeply relatable characters and one excellent script, the play reminds audiences that asking honest questions is the key to understanding our lives.

“Theatre takes life and looks at it,” Allen says. “As Shakespeare said, it’s the mirror to life. What we need is to find out the purposefulness of it all, and what do we learn when we get a chance to look at ourselves.”

Sexy LaundryNow through May 5 @ Remai Arts Centre$25+ @ Persephone Box Office

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS Sexy Laundry explores one couple’s attempts to get reacquainted BY ALEX J MACPHERSON


14APR 26 – MAY 2


ne of the most durable clichés in popular music is the story of the guy

who recorded an album in the wil-derness. These stories exist because they are compelling. People want to escape their lives; they want to cut off the static, the relentless flow of information. Artists who retreat to the woods in search of truth and au-thenticity are regarded as saviours: bearded and flanneled messiahs whose commitment to honest cre-ation is a counterpoint to the dis-sonance of the twenty-first century. The latest incarnation of this story is Everything, Everything, an album by Jim Kilpatrick, a songwriter from New Brunswick who performs as Shotgun Jimmie.

“I think it’s a natural instinct of the musician to want to be focused and put yourself in a situation where there’s less distractions,” Kilpatrick says from Sackville, New Brunswick, where he is taking a break after a string of suc-cessful shows in Ontario. “You have the freedom to just work on whatever it is — making paintings or making rock albums or whatever.” Last winter

Kilpatrick retreated to a cabin in Mani-toba. He brought a bunch of instru-ments, a batch of inveterately upbeat pop songs, and his favourite four-track recorder. “I knew that it was a cliché. But I also knew that it would be really,

really rewarding — and really fun. And maybe the experience of a lifetime.” He also knew that the wake left by cliché leads inevitably to truth.

Kilpatrick recorded virtually every sound on Everything, Everything himself. Most recording studios are in cities, or close to them, and extra instruments can be acquired on short notice. Kilpatrick did not have this luxury in rural Manitoba; he had to bring everything with him, to map out

the sound of the album before the tape began to roll. “I had to pick the colours to put on the palette,” he says. “I had to decide what ingredients I was going to put in the soup before I knew what kind of soup I was going to make.”

Besides his usual arsenal of guitars, one of the most important ingredients was a Korg synthesizer. Kilpatrick rented it because he knew synthesizers can produce a wide variety of sounds. The fact that he had no idea how to play it was not a problem. “I brought it with me to the cabin in the woods be-cause I wanted to learn how to use one of those things,” he says with a laugh. “And I ended up using it quite a bit.” Unusual as it may be for Kilpatrick to

O

EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING

I knew that it was a cliché. But I also knew that it would be really, really rewarding — and really fun.

JIM KILPATRICK


Shotgun Jimmie, a cabin in the woods, and a stunning portrait of life BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

COVER

/VERBSASKATOON CULTURECONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

15APR 26 – MAY 2


@MacPhersonA

[email protected]


use a synthesizer — his records tend to feature strong guitars and percussion wrapped up in tight pop structures — the Korg is far from the strangest instrument on Everything, Everything.

The guitar solo that opens “I Will Climb Mountains,” the only song on the album that sprawls past the five-minute mark, features more than just an overdriven tube amp. Half the sound is a dumpster lid, played by Kil-patrick’s brother. “I took a break from the recording to go do some flooring at my parents’ house, and we rented this dumpster to throw all the old carpet and stuff in,” he says. “My brother no-ticed that this door was really musical. He got me out there and we recorded it.” Kilpatrick was surprised by how well the frequencies produced by the dumpster lid meshed with the frequen-cies produced by a screaming electric guitar. “It might sound like two guitars, or one guitar really going wild, but there’s actually quite a bit of dumpster in there,” he says. “They get all mixed up together, but you can hear the low sounds of the door. And the chains that were hanging on the door.”

Kilpatrick also spent hours trying to record the sound of the ice on a nearby lake. “It was freezing and cracking and making these strange martian sounds,” he says. “I’d hear it in the middle of the night, drag myself out of bed, and put a microphone in the window. I tried putting a microphone outside. I tried everything to capture this sound of ice

making this alien whale music, and I just couldn’t get it.”

These experiments with kitchen wares, industrial containers, and frozen lakes illustrate Kilpatrick’s commitment to sonic exploration, but they only tell half the story. Most people expect albums recorded on the fringes of society to be ruminative, if not downright gloomy. Everything, Everything is the exact opposite. Its 16 tracks, only three of which run past

three minutes, are short and intense and chronically cheerful. “I think this record is not the sad guy going into the woods,” Kilpatrick says. “This album ended up being extremely positive in nature.”

The songs on Everything, Everything cover a lot of territory, from rolling acoustic pop to ‘50s-vintage rock and roll to lo-fi proto-punk. But they all follow a similar pattern. Rather than develop a riff over the course of several minutes, Kilpatrick leaves audiences wanting more. His songs present an infectious idea once, or maybe twice, before crashing to a halt. “I wanted to have short musical ideas and hooks that don’t necessarily reoc-cur, but maybe just happen once,” he says, adding that he considered titling the album Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Peace. “I really enjoy that on other people’s albums: when they have an incredible hook and you wait for it to come around again in the song cycle, and it just isn’t there.”

Besides keeping audiences inter-ested, the songs on Everything, Every-thing — like the songs on its critically acclaimed predecessor, Transistor Sister — reflect Kilpatrick’s reality, the bulk of which is spent on the road. “I went into writing the songs realizing that regardless of how they were recorded I was going to have to perform them,” he says, referring to the fact that most of his shows are solo, with little more than a guitar, a suitcase kick drum, and some effects for support. “And I know from per-forming that short songs suit people’s fancy. It’s easier to hit an audience with a bunch of short songs, and have all of them have a quick story or some sort of lyrical hook or me-lodic hook. I don’t want people to get bored.” After a brief pause he adds, “I would get bored.”

What separates Everything, Every-thing from the pop albums it borrows ideas from is Kilpatrick’s songwriting. Rather than write about big ideas like love and loss, he sings about the things we take for granted. The songs on Everything, Everything chronicle the minutiae of everyday life: the ordinary, the uninteresting, and the banal. What makes the record so strong is how it unfolds much like the moments that make up our own lives — sometimes pleasing, sometimes infuriating, always chaotic, always engaging. The

theme of the record is captured on “Growing Like A Garden,” which is reminiscent of the Shins: “An excel-lent example / Of the things you just can’t plan for / That just turned out to be true.”

Most people listen to music to forget their reality, if only for a few minutes. This is why stories about guys who record albums in the woods are so popular. But instead of produc-ing a record that fuses big ideas to an expansive musical vision, Kilpatrick’s wilderness retreat spawned a picture of the life he sought to escape. There are stories about waiting in line, get-ting day drunk, going to Sappyfest, worrying about Skype dates — stories about the things we never think of presented in wrenching detail. In the same way John K. Samson’s “Sun In An Empty Room” devastates with its simple description of sunbeams arcing across the floor of an empty apartment, the songs on Everything, Everything cast new light on the most

mundane moments. Our lives do not follow a continuous arc. They are confused and messy, agglomerations of thousands of disparate events and interactions. Everything, Everything attempts to find order in chaos, to extract meaning from the shards of memory and experience. By drawing on all of his own recollections and memories, in music and in life, Kilpat-rick created a mirror — a reflection of himself and of everybody else. Escap-ing the city to record an album in the woods might be a cliché, but finding art that casts new light on our own lives is not — and never will be.

Shotgun JimmieMay 10 @ AmigosTickets at the door


16APR 26 – MAY 2

FOOD + DRINK

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

LET’S GO DRINKIN’ VERB’S MIXOLOGY GUIDE

SINGAPORE SLING

What’s the first drink that comes mind when you think of Singa-pore? The Singapore Sling, of course. So here’s a recipe for this smooth, sweet cocktail that was invented in the Raffles Hotel in Singapore during the early 1900s.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 oz gin1 oz lemon juice1/4 oz sugar syrup1 1/2 tsp powdered sugar2 oz club soda1/2 oz cherry brandylemon slice + maraschino cherry for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Pour gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and powdered sugar into shaker with ice cubes. Shake well. Drain into a highball glass filled with ice, then add the club soda. Float the brandy on top by pouring it over the back of a bar spoon. Garnish with cherry and lemon.

T

Saskatoon Asian Restaurant serves up scrumptious laksa BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

Photo courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

@AdamHawboldt

[email protected]


he other evening, sitting in a dimly-lit coffee shop downtown,

I turned to my friend and said, “Guess what? I’m going to get some laksa tomorrow.”

“You’re going get what?”“Laksa.”“Uh,” he said, “how long have you

been constipated for?”Once I finished laughing (and

cleaning up spilled coffee), I ex-plained to him that I wasn’t talking about laxatives. What I was talking about was laksa — a spicy noodle soup that is wildly popular in both Malaysia and Singapore.

“Oh,” he said, still confused. “Is it any good?”

“Good? It’s better than good. It’s rich and hearty, sweet and spicy. Hands down one of the tastiest dish-es I had when I was in Singapore.”

And that’s no lie. Anyone who has ever eaten

laksa knows just how good it is. Whether you’re enjoying the sweetness of curry laksa or the tamarind-tinged sourness of Asam laksa, the soup (which you’ll find at street vendors pretty much any-where in Singapore and Malaysia) is unique and scrumptious and almost always amazing.

Problem is, since moving to Sas-katoon I haven’t been able to find laksa. Like, anywhere.

But all that changed when I found out about the Saskatoon Asian Restaurant on 2nd Ave. Word on the street was that they make a pretty mean laksa.

And here’s the thing about the word on the street — more often than not, it’s usually right.

So the day after having coffee with my pal, I hit up the Saskatoon Asian Restaurant for a bowl of that mouthwatering Malaysian mainstay.

It didn’t disappoint.In fact, the curry laksa at the

Saskatoon Asian Restaurant was as good or better than any I ate overseas. I kid you not. The broth was rich and sweet and spiced to perfection. There was an ample amount of vermicelli noodles and bean sprouts for filler. What’s more, the dish — garnished with sliced chicken breast, deep-fried tofu, half a hard-boiled egg and some laksa leaves — was authentic as all-get-out-of-here.

Needless to say, I was more than pleased with it.

The same goes for the spring rolls that I snacked on as a side dish. Light and crispy, these sa-voury bites offered a nice contrast the sweetness and spice of the

laksa — which, in case you’re won-dering, also come in vegetarian.

So the next time you feel like eating a rather unique dish, why not give the laksa at Saskatoon Asian Restaurant a try? Oh, and keep your eyes open for some other Malaysian dishes they’ll be adding to their menu. They’ll be coming soon.

Saskatoon Asian Restaurant136 2nd Ave. S | 306 665 5959

@VERBSASKATOON CULTURECONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

17APR 26 – MAY 2

MUSIC

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST

COMING UPNEXT WEEK

THE F-HOLES

No matter how the name of this band may sound to you, it’s prob-ably not what you think. See, not so long ago, members of this five-piece from Winnipeg were playing instru-ments with a lot of f-holes in them, thought it would make a cool band name, and The F-Holes was borne. Oh, and speaking of cool, these guys — James Mckee (trumpet/cornet, vocals), Patrick Alexandre Leclerc (vocals, upright bass), Eric Lemoine (banjo, pedal steel, electric bass, vocals), Blake Thompson (gui-tar, sax, vocals) and Evan Friesen (drums) — combine rockabilly, country and Dixieland into a high-energy roots-type sound that’s sure to get you out of your seat and moving your feet. What better way to spend a spring evening?

@ VANGELISWEDNESDAY, MAY 8 – $5

The 1980s was a special time for music in Toronto. With bands like Blue Rodeo and The Cowboy Junk-ies cutting their teeth on the city’s music scene, the singer-songwriter tradition was alive and well in the Big Smoke. This is also when the band that would eventually be-come Skydiggers began to form. It started with singer Andy Maize and guitarist Josh Finlayson, perform-ing as a duo called West Montrose. They soon added guitarist Peter Cash, drummer Wayne Stokes and bassist Ron Macey, and the Skydig-gers started to record albums. Now 12 records and a new line-up later, they’re still going strong. Skydig-gers will be hitting up Amigos Can-tina next week; tickets available at www.ticketedge.ca

SKYDIGGERS

What do song like “Why,” “She’s Country,” “Big Green Tractor,” “Dirt Road Anthem” and “Take a Little Ride” all have in common — other than all being Jason Aldean songs? The answer is they are five of the 10 Aldean songs that have hit #1 on the Hot Country charts. Not too shabby for a guy who has released just five albums. Born in Macon, Georgia, Aldean has tasted success since his first, self-titled record dropped in 2005. Since then he’s won Country Music Awards, American Country Awards, Billboard Music Awards, you name it. And with the release of his new album, Night Train, Aldean is at it again — making hits and winning accolades. Don’t miss the Night Train tour as it rumbles through Saskatoon. Tickets through Ticketmaster.

– By Adam Hawboldt

JASON ALDEAN

@ AMIGOS CANTINATHURSDAY, MAY 9 – $20

SASK MUSIC PREVIEWSaskMusic is excited to launch Music2Media, an innovative pilot project that allows Saskatchewan artists to upload their releases, high quality photos, bios and more, and choose which user groups they wish to allow access. Media and industry professionals, including community radio, provincial and national print media, major music bloggers and more will be able to login as needed to download or preview material. Further details will be posted on www.saskmusic.org > How To.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

@ CREDIT UNION CENTRETHURSDAY, OCTOBER 3 – $49.75+

VERBNEWS.COMENTERTAINMENT CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

18APR 26 – MAY 2

The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

APRIL 26 » MAY 4

26 27

3 41 229 3028

S M T

LISTINGS

W T

FRIDAY 26HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul

& lounge DJs. 9pm / No cover

JEANS BOOTS, PANDAS IN JAPAN, MEHTA / Amigos Cantina — Get ready for a pop

explosion. 10pm / Cover TBD

FRED BALLANTYNE / The Bassment — Bal-

lantyne will tickle the ivories. 4:30pm

ROMI MAYES / The Bassment — Sweet

blues rock. 9pm / $15/20

DJ AASH MONEY / Béily’s — Every Friday

night. 9pm / $5 cover

HARRY MANX / Broadway Theatre — One

of the best bluesmen working. 8pm / For

tickets call (306) 652-6556

KASHMIR / Buds — Western Canada’s pre-

mier tribute to Led Zeppelin. 10pm / $6

CHUBBY CHECKER / Dakota Dunes Casino

— This music mainstay wants you to come

out and do the twist. 8pm

BAND WARS IX / Fez on Broadway — Feat.

Evening Armistice, Six Blocks, Mostly Want-

ed, Jumbo, Hollow Between the Hills, and

Wrathed. 9:30pm / No cover before 9pm

DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose — Featuring local

turntable whiz DJ Eclectic. 8pm / No cover

DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — He’ll

have you on the dance floor. 9pm / $5 cover

SCMA SONGWRITERS’ SPOTLIGHT / Longbranch — A night of country songs and

storytelling. 8pm / $25

THE REBELLION, SHOELESS JOES / Lydia’s

— Rock and soul. 10pm / $5

DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws —

Round up your friends. 8pm / $5

CAILA ELLERMAN / Prairie Ink — A local

folk/roots artist. 8pm / No cover

THUNDER ROSE / Somewhere Else Pub and

Grill — Things are going to be a rockin’. 9pm

THE PLAN / Spadina Freehouse — Smooth

beats from a talented DJ. 9pm / No cover

REZ BOYS / Stan’s Place — Rock to get your

weekend started. 9pm / No cover

DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge

— Featuring Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and

Brad King. 10pm / $5

PARTY ROCK FRIDAYS / Tequila Nightclub —

Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD

GUNNER AND SMITH / Vangelis — Let’s rock

the night away. 10pm / $5

SATURDAY 27HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin

soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover

ROYAL CANOE + MORE / Amigos — This

place will be jumpin’! 10pm / Cover TBD

SOLSTICE / The Bassment — Singing jazz

standards from the ‘20s on. 9pm / $15/20

AUSTEN ROADZ + DJ CTRL / Béily’s — Every

Saturday night. 9pm / $5

SASKATOON FIDDLE ORCHESTRA / Broad-

way Theatre — With special guest Kim de

Laforest. 7:30pm / $17 (advance), $20

(day of)

KASHMIR / Buds — Western Canada’s pre-

mier tribute to Led Zeppelin. 10pm / $6

SCMA ROOTS CAFE / Dakota Dunes — The

best country music. 12:15pm / $10

NEW ARTIST CABARET / Dakota Dunes —

Featuring Aaron Pritchett. 10pm / $20

THE S.I.N. / Fez — A rockin’ band from

Edmonton. 9pm / Cover TBD

COLLECTIVELY GREEN / Grace Westminster

Church — An eco-friendly concert with

loads of musical guests. 10am

DJ KADE / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ

lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — He’s

able to rock any party. 9pm / $5 cover

COAL CREEK BOYS, BANJO VAN / Lydia’s —

Come out for a folkin’ good time. 10pm / $5


Round up your friends. 8pm / $5

DOUG BOOMHOWER TRIO / Prairie Ink —

Smooth jazz music. 8pm / No cover

THUNDER ROSE / Somewhere Else Pub and

Grill — Things are going to be rockin’. 9pm

DJ ALBERT / Spadina Freehouse — A DJ

who gets the party started. 9pm / No cover

REZ BOYS / Stan’s Place — Rock to get your

weekend started. 9pm / No cover



Brad King. 10pm / $5

SEXY SATURDAYS / Tequila Nightclub —


RANDI NELSON AND THE AMATI QUARTET / Third Ave. United Church — Works by

Mozetich, Foote, and more. 2pm and 7pm /

$15 (www.persephonetheatre.org)

SUNDAY 28VERONIQUE EBERHART TRIO / The Bassment

— Eberhart will mesmerize. 2:30pm /

$15/20

INDUSTRY NIGHT / Béily’s — Hosted by

DJ Sugar Daddy. 9pm / $4; no cover for

industry staff

DJ KADE / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it

up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

BEMUSED / The Refinery — A concert for

young kids. 2:30pm / Tickets at

McNally Robinson

SCMA COUNTRY GOSPEL SHOW / Third

Avenue Church — Some country gospel for

the soul. 1pm / $15

BLUES JAM / Vangelis Tavern — Offering

blues to rock and more. 7:30pm / No cover

MONDAY 29THE FAPS / Amigos Cantina — Also appear-

ing is Caves. 10pm / Cover TBD

JESSE ROADS BAND / Buds — High-energy

blues/rock from Alberta. 10pm / $6

METAL MONDAYS / Lydia’s Pub — Hard,

heavy awesomeness. 9pm

SYNAPTIC / Vangelis — A great night of

electronic fun. 10pm / No cover

/VERBSASKATOON ENTERTAINMENTCONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

19APR 26 – MAY 2

Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know!

GET LISTED

[email protected]

TUESDAY 30THE STORY OF JAZZ / The Bassment — Cel-

ebrate International Jazz Day. 8pm

JESSE ROADS BAND / Buds — High-energy

blues/rock from Alberta. 10pm / $6

DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce —

He rocks any party. 9:30pm / $4 cover

OPEN STAGE / Lydia’s — Check out Saska-

toon’s finest performers. 9pm / No cover

OPEN MIC / Somewhere Else Pub — Come

out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover

WEDNESDAY 1HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge — Fea-

turing DJ Chris Knorr. 9pm / $3 after 10pm

OPEN MIC / The Fez — Hosted by Chad

Reynolds. 10pm / No cover

DJ KADE / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights

it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

DR. J ‘SOULED OUT’ / Lydia’s — Hot funk

and soul. 9pm / No cover

WILD WEST WEDNESDAY / Outlaws —

Come ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4

CJWW KARAOKE / Stan’s Place — Your tal-

ent, aired on the radio! 9pm / No cover



Brad King. 10pm / No cover

RALEIGH + MORE / Vangelis — A night of

folk and indie.10pm / $5

THURSDAY 2IVAN AND ALYOSHA / Amigos — Folk-pop/

indie rock. 10pm / $11 (ticketedge.ca)

MOTLEY CRUE / CUC — The bad boys of

rock. 7:30pm / $29.25-116 (ticketmaster.ca)

THROWBACK THURSDAYS / Earls — Featur-

ing Dr. J. 8pm / No cover

THUNDER RIOT / The Fez — Come dance the

night away. 9pm / $5

DJ KADE / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights

it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax — It will be rocking!

8pm / $5

CHARLEY PRIDE / TCU Place — He’s a leg-

end. 7:30pm / $62.50-71.50 (tcutickets.ca)

TRIPLE UP THURSDAYS / Tequila — Featur-

ing DJ Stikman. 9pm / Cover TBD

NUELA CHARLES / Vangelis — Retro-fitted

jazz, soul, hip hop and R&B. 10pm / $5

FRIDAY 3HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul

& lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover

KEITH HARKIN / Amigos — A talented singer

from Ireland. 10pm / Cover TBD

BRETT BALON, DAVID FONG / The Bassment

— Some smooth jazz stylings. 4:30pm

ROOTS SERIES: EILEEN LAVERTY / The

Bassment — One of the most beautiful

voices on the prairies. 9pm / $18/23

GONG SHOW / Béily’s UltraLounge — The

first Friday of every month! 9pm / $5 cover

DEAD CITY DOLLS + MORE / The Fez — Un-

filtered rock. 9pm / No cover before 9pm

DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose — Some snappy

electronic beats. 8pm / No cover

DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — This lo-

cal crowd favourite rocks. 9pm / $5 cover

GRAHAM TILSLEY / Lydia’s Pub — Time to

get jazzed up and rock out. 10pm / $5


Round up your friends . 8pm / $5

IT’S TOO LATE, BABY / Prairie Ink — Covers

of James Taylor and Carole King. 8pm

THE REBELS / Stan’s Place — Come rock the

night away with this local band. 9pm

DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto — Featuring

Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King

playing all your requests, from Sinatra to

Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5

PARTY ROCK FRIDAYS / Tequila Nightclub —


SATURDAY 4HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin

deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No

cover

SHOOTING GUNS / Amigos Cantina — It’s

dark, it’s loud, it’s oh so good.10pm /

Cover TBD

CAIN/ANDREW DUO / The Bassment — A

piano duo that will make your jaw drop.

9pm / $15/20

AUSTEN ROADZ + DJ CTRL / Béily’s — With

over 25 years of DJ experience, Austen

Roadz throws down a high-energy top 40

dance party. 9pm / $5 cover

JOHNNY DON’T / Fez on Broadway — Also

appearing will be Eli, for short, and All

Mighty Voice. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saska-

toon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover

DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — Able to

rock any party, this local crowd favourite

has always been known to break the latest

and greatest tracks in multiple genres. . 9pm

/ $5 cover

SKYLAB / Le Relais — Featuring DJ Czech,

Moodfood and Klen. 9pm / $10

SOLID COLLEGE, FORTUNATE ISLES, GO FOR THE EYES / Lydia’s Pub — Three talented

bands, one low price. 10pm / $5

DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws

Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends

‘cause there’s no better country rock party

around. 8pm / $5

TWO TALL DUDES / Prairie Ink — Acoustic

versions of ‘70s and ‘80s music. 8pm /

No cover

THE REBELS / Stan’s Place — Come rock the

night away with with this local band. 9pm

/ No cover


— Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King

belt out classic tunes and audience requests,

from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5

SEXY SATURDAYS / Tequila Nightclub —


(ladies get free cover before 11pm)


20APR 26 – MAY 2

FILM

PHOTO: COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

W[Pain & Gain has] suspense, comedy, and decently realized characters.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

PAIN & GAIN

DIRECTED BY Michael Bay

STARRING Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne

Johnson + Anthony Mackie

130 MINUTES | 14A

@AdamHawboldt

[email protected]


hat’s your favourite Michael Bay movie?

Seriously. Even if you loathe the guy and think he’s responsible for everything wrong and rotten in Hollywood these days, there must be one of his mov-ies that you like — at least a little.

Is it The Rock? Bad Boys? Trans-formers? Pearl Harbour?

Whatever it is, it’s not as good as Pain & Gain, Bay’s new low-budget (well, low-budget for Bay —$25 million) caper movie.

Based on a series of articles that ran in the Miami New Times in the

late ‘90s, Pain & Gain is the stranger-than-fiction story of three dimwitted

bodybuilders from Florida who stop pumping iron long enough to hatch

a birdbrained plot that involves kid-napping, torture and extortion.

The ringleader of the group is this guy named Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg), a muscle-bound, fast-talking gym manager who wants to live the American Dream. He wants to be rich. He wants to be famous. He wants power.

Problem is, Daniel doesn’t really want to work for it.

So he comes up with a scheme to kidnap a wealthy client of his (the terrific Tony Shalhoub) and convince him by hook or bycrook (by that, I totally meantorture) to give him everything he has.

To do this he enlists the help of fellow dumbbells Adrian(Anthony Mackie), who isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in thedrawer, and Paul (Dwayne Johnson) an ex-con with a new-found love of God and a serious coke addiction.

As you’d expect, their plan has a few holes in it and things go wildly awry. Hilarity ensues.

Well, maybe not “hilarity,” but Pain & Gain is a pretty damnfunny movie. Surprising, right? I mean, the words Michael Bay andfunny aren’t what you’d callsynonymous. But the overblown, blundering nature of the charac-ters, the inclusion of funny folkKen Jeong, Rob Corddry and Rebel Wilson in the film, and the circular bickering between Daniel, Adrian and Paul all add up to a movie that’ll make you laugh.

At least until the final act, when Michael Bay suddenly realizes, “Oh crap, this is a real story about violent dudes who torture people,”

and decides to take the movie to darker, more serious areas.

Right. And remember when I said this is Michael Bay’s best movie? Well, I meant it. Sure, there are explosions and T&A (wouldn’t be a Bay film without those), but there is also a story, a plot, suspense, comedy, and decently realized characters.

There’s also a modicum of hip-ness to Pain & Gain. With its ever-shifting viewpoint and voice-over narration, the movie has a cool, kinetic energy that sucks you in. Then there’s the moment when the movie is reaching its apex of absurdity and the words “This is still a true story” flash on the screen.

Yet for all this you have to remember one thing: no matter how much this movie has going for it, it’s still unmistakably a Michael Bay film.

And that leaves you to wonder what a more subtle, nuanced direc-tor would’ve/could’ve done with this story.

A whole lot, I bet.

THIS AIN’T NO TRANSFORMERSUber-action director Michael Bay tries his hand at something different, and succeeds with Pain & Gain BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

@VERBSASKATOON ENTERTAINMENTCONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

21APR 26 – MAY 2

L

Instead of having music and scenes that “tell” you how to feel, Nguyen simply “shows” you a story unfolding.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

THE WITCH OF WARFrench film Rebelle lives up to its Oscar buzz BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

@AdamHawboldt

[email protected]


REBELLE

DIRECTED BY Kim Nguyen

STARRING Rachel Mwanza, Mizinga

Mwinga + Serge Kanyinda

93 MINUTES | N/A

et’s cut to the chase, shall we? No sprawling introduction, no detailed

lede. Just an honest, no-nonsense proclamation: the Oscar-winning flick Rebelle is good. Damn good. It’s one of those rare movies that has the ability to punch you in the gut with one hand while tug-ging at your heart strings with the other. The kind of movie that sticks with you long after the clos-ing credits roll.

Written and directed by Canadian Kim Nguyen, Rebelle (or War Witch in English) tells the story of Komona, a young girl who was kidnapped from her village in sub-Sahara Africa and forced to be a child soldier.

When we first meet Komona (played by Rachel Mwanza) she is on a homemade teeter-totter, an innocent kid at ease with the world. But her world changes when a rebel army led by Great Tiger (Mizinga Mwinga) storms her village. Then and there, Komona is given a choice: shoot her parents or watch them get hacked to death by a machete.

Not wanting her parents to suffer, Komona humanly shoots them, then is whisked off by the rebel army to become a child soldier. She and the other kidnapped kids are given AK-47s

and told to “respect your guns. They’re your new mother and father.”

From there, Komona descends further into hell. She is forced into months of vicious indoctrination, hard labour, and combat training, and that’s just the beginning.

Now stop for a minute. Let every-thing you just read sink it.

Pretty heavy stuff, right?

Under the supervision of many directors, a gut-wrenching story like this could have easily become senti-mental and overemotional. Luckily, Nguyen isn’t one of those direc-tors. He simply tells Komona’s story (which is inspired by true events) from a detached, observational, even dispassionate viewpoint.

And therein lies one of the main reasons Rebelle is so damn good. Instead of having music and scenes that “tell” you how to feel, Nguyen

simply “shows” you a story unfolding. The result is nothing short of a swift, breath-stealing shot to the jejunum.

Another thing that makes Rebelle remarkable is that Nguyen intimately understands a story like this needs bal-ance: there has to be some light shining through all the darkness. So he makes sure there is much more to this movie than the aforementioned horrors.

For instance, the story line about how Komona becomes a “war witch” is crucial to the plot and, at times, even gives the audience a slight breather from her misery.

And then there’s the storyline about Komona’s relationship with a young albino soldier named Magician (Serge Kanyinda), a pairing that really gives the film its artistic balance. But to say anything more about it would be unfair to anyone who plans on seeing Rebelle. And see it you should.

Films like Rebelle don’t come along every day. Even if you aren’t a fan of foreign films (it’s French, with subtitles), you don’t want to miss this one. Trust me.

Rebelle will be playing at Broadway Theatre on May 2.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MÉTROPOLE FILMS DISTRIBUTION


22APR 26 – MAY 2

NIGHTLIFE SATURDAY, APRIL 20 @

THEODEONThe Odeon Events Centre241 2nd Avenue South(306) 651 1000

MUSIC VIBE / Changes all the time, depending on the live actDRINK OF CHOICE / domestic beer or doublesSOMETHING NEW / Renovations to the bar, dance floor and stageCOMING UP / MGMT with guests on May 9, and Bay City Rollers starring Les McKeown on May 11


23APR 26 – MAY 2

Photography by Ishtiaq Opal

CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! These photos will be uploaded to

Facebook on Friday, May 3.

facebook.com/verbsaskatoon


24APR 26 – MAY 2

NIGHTLIFE SATURDAY, APRIL 20 @

THECOLONIALThe Colonial Pub & Grill1301 8th Street East(306) 343 8881

MUSIC VIBE / Eclectic, thanks to live karaoke performancesFEATURED DEALS / Flavoured vodka for $4.50, and import beers for $5DRINK OF CHOICE / Kokanee beerSOMETHING NEW / New kitchen opening soon; karaoke every night and DJs every weekend

@VERBSASKATOON ENTERTAINMENTCONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS FILM NIGHTLIFE COMICS TIMEOUT

25APR 26 – MAY 2

Photography by Ishtiaq Opal

CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! These photos will be uploaded to

Facebook on Friday, May 3.

facebook.com/verbsaskatoon


COMICS

26APR 26 – MAY 2

© Elaine M. Will | blog.E2W-Illustration.com | Check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!


27APR 26 – MAY 2

HOROSCOPES APRIL 26 – MAY 2

© WALTER D. FEENER 2013

SUDOKU CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY

A B

SUDOKU ANSWER KEY

A

B

8 9 2 5 6 1 3 4 75 4 7 9 8 3 1 2 66 3 1 7 4 2 5 8 97 2 4 8 1 9 6 5 33 1 5 6 2 7 8 9 49 8 6 4 3 5 2 7 11 6 8 2 9 4 7 3 52 5 9 3 7 6 4 1 84 7 3 1 5 8 9 6 2

5 9 6 2 3 1 7 8 41 3 8 7 4 5 6 2 94 7 2 8 6 9 5 1 37 8 1 6 9 4 2 3 53 6 4 5 2 8 1 9 79 2 5 3 1 7 8 4 66 4 7 1 8 3 9 5 28 5 3 9 7 2 4 6 12 1 9 4 5 6 3 7 8

9 75 4 7 9 3 6 4 2 8 97 4 8 1 6 5 3 5 2 9 3 11 6 8 2 4 7 1 8 3 5 6 2

9 3 4 8 5 6 2 9 7 2 6 9 7 1 4 3 5 6 2 8 1 5 7 8 6 7 1 8 5 3 9 4 12 4 3

ACROSS 1. Put through a sieve

5. Prevent from

getting away

9. Medium of exchange

10. Split ___ (worry

about minutiae)

12. Former right fielder for

the Expos

13. Canadian constituency

15. A rope has two

16. In a short time

18. Impair the perfection of

19. Make up a story

20. Once again

21. Few and far between

22. Lovable person

24. Assemble in a

mass meeting

25. Blissfully peaceful

and happy

27. Disgrace

30. Slacken gradually

34. Toothpaste container

35. Summit

36. Adversary

37. Be inaccurate

38. Make a reference to

39. Very much

40. Showy feathers

42. Nullify

44. Say the letters of a

word in order

45. Runs, but not fast

46. Narrative

47. Wise man

DOWN 1. It’s used on

circuit boards

2. Signs a contract

3. Lawyer’s charge

4. Cruel use of power

5. Deliver a punch

6. Water falling from clouds

7. Assistance

8. Having existed from

the beginning

9. Obsession

11. Tangle

12. Fuse metal together

14. Heavily overcast

17. Not care for properly

20. ___-de-camp

21. Contest between rivals

23. Calcium oxide

24. Get out of bed

26. Grieves over

27. Unit of movement

in dancing

28. Pitches a baseball

29. Sudden and unexpected

31. Recently

32. ___ the bill (pays)

33. Elaborate outdoor party

35. Passage between

rows of shelves in

a supermarket

38. Honeycomb

compartment

39. In excited eagerness

41. ___ culpa

43. Baseball abbreviation

TIMEOUT CROSSWORD CANADIAN CRISS-CROSS

ARIES March 21–April 19

If you find yourself getting frus-

trated this week, Aries, don’t get

bent out of shape. Don’t freak out. Just take

a step back and chill the hell out.

TAURUS April 20–May 20

Your energy is going to be low the

next little while, Taurus. Try not

to overexert yourself early in the week.

You’ll regret it later.

GEMINI May 21–June 20

Don’t be afraid to challenge your-

self. Push your boundaries this

week, Gemini. You’ll be surprised what

will come of it.

CANCER June 21–July 22

Romance is in the air this week,

Cancer. Unfortunately, not for you.

Don’t worry, though. Your time will come

soon enough.

LEO July 23–August 22

Feeling creative lately, Leo? If

so, focus all that energy on one

project this week. The end result be bet-

ter than you expect.

VIRGO August 23–September 22

Has your perfectionism

been getting the best of you,

Virgo? Don’t let it. Remember: no one

has all the answers.

LIBRA September 23–October 23

Whoa buddy! If you don’t watch

what you say or do, this week

is going to be full of conflict, Libra.

Tread carefully.

SCORPIO October 24–November 22

Sometimes our self-confidence

ebbs and wanes, Scorpio. It hap-

pens to the best of us. Be prepared for

some fluctuation this week.

SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21

Have you been striving toward

a goal, Sagittarius? If so, keep

striving. Good things are just around the

corner. If not, get your act together.

CAPRICORN December 22–January 19

Sometimes you are passive and let

people walk over you, Capricorn.

Not anymore — something may be asked of

you this week. Make your thoughts known.

AQUARIUS January 20–February 19

Your ethics and values will be put

to the test this week, Aquarius.

Stand strong. Don’t change your beliefs in

the face of adversity.

PISCES February 20–March 20

Try not to care if people judge

you this week, Pisces. Sometimes

a person just needs to be alone with their

inner crawlspace.

Verb Issue S237 (Apr. 26-May 2, 2013)

Documents

Transcript of Verb Issue S237 (Apr. 26-May 2, 2013)