The Scope issue 115 by The Scope

thescope

RPM CHALLENGE

record an album in february— just because you can

conversations with the visionary FOUNDER OF NTV

STIRLING

AND

GEOFF

thescope

VALENTINES

FREE MESSAGES OF LURV SUBMITTED TO thescope.ca/LOVE

FEBRUARY 2011

issue 115, volume 7, number 1 Online www.thescope.ca E-mail inbox@thescope.ca Listings listings@thescope.ca Mail The Scope PO Box 1044, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5M3 Phone 709-726-8466

Publisher/Listings/ Distro Manager Bryhanna Greenough publisher@thescope.ca Editor Elling Lien editor@thescope.ca Advertising Sales Elaine Pond (709) 699-7299 elaine@thescope.ca Advertising Sales Lisa Cook (709) 693-5028 lisa@thescope.ca Copy Editor Bryhanna Greenough

RICKY KING

Contributors Adam Clarke, Ryan Davis, Andrew Harvey, Nathan Downey, Lisa Cook, Elaine Pond, Natrix Ma, Angus Woodman, Mark Callanan, Taryn Sheppard, Sarah Smellie, Ricky King, Andrew Wickens, and Rob Brezsny. And more! The Scope is St. John’s arts and entertainment newspaper, published by Scope Media Inc. 22,000 copies of The Scope are printed monthly and distributed throughout the metro area. The Scope seeks to publish a newspaper that will entertain, inform, and foster cultural development in the St. John’s metropolitan area. The Scope claims absolutely no responsibility for any RPM Challenge songs written about WikiLeaks or All rights reserved. © 2011 Proudly independent and locally owned. Founded in 2006.

thescope.ca

my little cloud, being away from you feels like a thousand bee stings. i love you and miss you oh so much. i can't wait to see you again and kiss your constellations. be here, now? ♥ petey

5770 days with you, every one

Dear St. John's, I love you. I

Garrison Gal, Be my baby

I hope you enjoy quick sex with

of them a pleasure. Thank you

miss your hills, your music, and

mama. ♥ Gutter Guy

women with no self-respect.

for all that you bring to my life.

most of all your people. See

♥ doe

you in June! ♥ A Towny in Paris

Enjoy a lonely death and the Happy Valentine's Day Pooch!

STI's. Enjoy the fact that I'd

Loads of lurrrrr! ♥ Kitten

rather be alone then with a boy

10 things I love about you:

Ellen Loves you Juan. Never

your

forget, my puffy lipped prince.

happy

:) ♥ EP

every girl i've ever cheated on,

i love everything about you. ♥

played, dumped and or hurt. ♥

thomas

goofy

dancing;

your

hot body in a cold bed; your chocolate eyes; your vanilla scent;

your

get-up-and-go;

Endlessly

interesting,

like you. valentines

day..

sorry.. I love you, babe - You are the

your kitten-like nature; your

unbelievably smart, and so

loyalty; your generous mouth;

damn cute. You have the most

Happy Valentines Day Joel

your appetite(s); your massive

beautiful smile i have ever laid

North, your sweet voice makes

heart. How lucky am I? ♥ mitten

eyes upon. You keep me on my

my heart melt ♥ Secret Listener

COVER ART

me. Words will never be able to

man. ♥ Love, Micheal Pitt.

do you justice. I'm so happy to

are you ever not the best

hay i loved you a lot, you know. I love you DJ Benjy. Happy

be yours. Sure you knows I dies

here's hoping this valentine's

for ya missus ♥ Rosea Hillier

day sees you being snuggled

(iloveyou) ♥ a pirate Eric, I love you with everything

I love you. No matter what, I love you. ♥ N

toes and never cease to amaze Appy Vday Carlos...you the

light of my life! ♥ J-Bear

Valentines Day!! ♥ lovestruck

by the whole family ♥ your

I LOVE YOU! You make this

neighbour arjuna

world a better place. ♥ You

Cindy, You're the beat in my

in me! After 10 years it's only

heart, the blood my veins. I

gotten stronger; I'm so grateful

I admire your courage, your

I love you, Wizard-Grimace. ♥

love you. ♥ Daddio

to have you!! ♥ E&E

beauty and your ability to

Bear

neglect me. I Love you more Dear French 2101 boy, You are

Farts and hearts bummers,

than you can ever know. No

the most beautiful person. I

from your one and only. You

one can compare. I love you. ♥

i want to snorgle your porgle

would do anything for you to

know know me! ♥ bdg

Stephen Harper

Please, be my valentine? ♥

First kiss on an icy rooftop!

I choo choo choooose you!...

You sacrifice so much of your

Patently Waiting for a Sign

We coulda' died that night!

International Flavours ? ;3 ♥

life, in order for this to work.

But we didn't. And here we are

Winnie

(I'm in this forever, I love you)

I wish I could do better by you, 'cause that's what you deserve.

have a conversation with me.

♥ Slee

dear raoul, stop your navel

still, climbing to new heights!

gazing and give me a cuddle,

Here's to living on the edge...in

wouldja? ♥ smelly

life and in love. xo. ♥ a monkey

I'll be your Leanne Batersby

in love

if you'll be my Peter Barlow. Loaf? Loaf. xo ♥ Peesack

Cover design by Elling Lien. Photo by iStockphoto user tose.

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

hot tickets

February 2011

Some of our picks for the month.

spoken word

Slam Poetry & Storytelling February 3 & 4

Ever wonder what goes on at that little bar beneath the overpass near the Railway Museum on Water Street West? Yes, they have darts. But slam poetry? Here in town? Who knew! Brendan McLeod is coming all the way from Vancouver for an evening of performative poetry and storytelling with local poet Monica Squires. He's got a bundle of distinctions under his belt, including winner of both Canadian (2004) and World (2005) slam poetry competitions and the 2006 winner of the International 3-Day Novel Competition. He's been described as "a high energy storyteller equally at home with social and political commentary, family histrionics, surreal love poems, obscure adventure stories, and powerful personal stories." He'll be presenting a prepared full length work at the Station Lounge located at 7 Hutchings Street on Thursday February 3rd and Friday February 4th at 7pm. BRYHANNA GREENOUGH

thescope

FEBRUARY 2011

music

Queer Bash February 18

Fans of queer nightlife bummed by the Zone’s December 31 closure won’t have to wait until a new bar opens to fill the void. The Queer Bash 2011 White Party, taking place at the Majestic Theater, will feature DJs spinning electro, house, and top 40 tracks, plenty of dark corners, sexy white-clad go-go dancers, and prizes from Phoenix Tattoos. Though at this point it’s still a one-off, event organizer Jonny Joseph Reardon hopes to make Queer Bash a monthly occurrence, complete with big-name DJs. Having hosted similar events in Edmonton, Reardon says one of the goals of the White Party is to attract a more diverse crowd than just the club-going set while maintaining an upbeat party atmosphere. Queer Bash 2011 White Party goes down February 18 at the Majestic Theater, featuring DJs Logan Hudak (Halifax), Joseph X (St. John’s) and Klassy Dirt (St. John’s). Tickets are $20 and will be available at the door. NATHAN DOWNEY

music

theatre

designer drugs

oil and water

February 4

February 9-20

New York City electronic duo Designer Drugs’ brand of infectious, crunchy beats has been prescribed for over 50 killer remixes of such artists as Mariah Carey, Little Boots, Annie, and The Veronicas. Since Michael Vincent Patrick and Theodore Paul Nelson formed the group in 2007 they’ve become a fixture on the international DJ circuit and they’re bringing the good times to St. John’s. The group’s performance precedes the release of their debut LP Hardcore/Softcore, slated for a February 22 release. Designer Drugs perform at Evolve Nightclub and tickets are available at the door. NATHAN DOWNEY

On February 18, 1942, the USS Truxtun, a naval destroyer ran aground off the tiny Burin outport of St. Lawrence. In spite of local efforts to save them, over 100 sailors drowned in the wreckage. One of the survivors was Lanier Phillips, who was the first African-American many in St. Lawrence had ever seen. The story of the locals scrubbing Phillips, thinking his dark coloration was oil from the Truxtun, has grown since then into a Newfoundland legend. Governor General Award-winning playwright Robert Chafe presents this fascinating story in a new play featuring an a capella score drawing from both AfricanAmerican gospel and Newfoundland folk traditions. Oil And Water is directed by Jillian Keiley and produced by Artistic Fraud. It’s being staged at the LSPU Hall and tickets range from $7 to $28. NATHAN DOWNEY

Oh Gingerburns, I'm so glad I met you. You continually rock my world in many, many ways.

♥ Bayman Socks RIC

Oh Scotchy! I will miss you this

year on Valentine's Day, but I

KIN G

know that you will get this love note while I am at work and you are reading The Scope. xo

♥ Lady Fang OH!

Bravocado

with

Tofu

Strips, I have missed you. I long for your delisciousness in my mouth, savouring your aroma and the treatment of your nourishing warmth. We'll be together again, at the Sprout... the love affair will continue. ♥

not sure how to propose this: I want to live with you. ♥ A. GORILLA

Chris Right

now

I'm

kinda

I'm in love with you, Snorlax ♥

Katie Fitz, you're my heart.

LM, all I'm saying pretty baby,

Mew

After four years, you still put

La, La, Love you, Don't mean

pissed at you, actually. ♥

up with me putting my clothes

Maybe, xoxo LT -- LM

Don'tGimmeDat

I'm so glad I figured out you

on the stairs instead of in the

were a catch. ♥ The Girl From

laundry basket - it must be

Me and the Baby-boo are so

Rosa / You are blue. / Blue with

Down the Road

love! Let’s get married soon

incredibly lucky to have you in

the passion of the ocean, like

and have some babies, huh?

our lives. Thank you for being

the ocean, as one with. / Your

♥H

ours. We love you more than

eyes are from the sea; / Strong

anything else in the world.

/ Wild / Alive / Dangerous /

xoxoxoxoxox

Blue is the colour I see when

I'm so happy that you're my Valentine,

boyfriend,

my best friend. Love you

KG and PIZZA, I miss you guys!

more than life. Thanks for

XOXO ♥ JB

I dream of your face. / Next to

being the dishes-doer in our relationship. I'm the luckiest.

KWYK ♥ me

mitch, the secret is safe with

me / Touching me / In me ♥

me. ♥ secret admirer

rosa-maria

♥ Ryan the

My dearest Peesack. We made

Ships passing in the night for

Jay Dubs and the Shack - 0702,

mountains, climb high peaks,

it to 5 Vdays without killing

over a year. I'm so glad we

greatest of all days. Loves :) ♥

and leave all cares behind in

eachother or ending up in the

finally met for real. Your funny

the valley! ♥ Baby Cakes

fine hotel on Waterford Bridge

voices crack me up and my

Road. Bendy Fingers and Loaf

stomach does flip-flops when

forever. Love, your Ellen. ♥ Me

you kiss me. Buddy, I likes you.

Let's

Puss

run

away

♥ Missus

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

people thescope.ca/people

Lisa simms, floral designer Love it or hate it, Valentine’s day is on its way and beloveds from all over will be expressing their undying adulation with bouquets of fragrant flowers. We recently stopped to smell the roses at The Flower Studio on Military Road. Our interview with Lisa Simms gets to the heart of arranging flowers. How did you get interested in floral design? My grandmother was a gardener and my parents liked having a garden, so I think that's where it all stemmed from. I remember the lilacs and peonies. It was such a short season for them so when they did come out, they were especially beautiful. I started out just after high school working at Shady Brook Farms, planting flowers. I would transplant and nurture them. I think I appreciate the process, starting from the seed, watching it grow into a plant, and then turning into a beautiful flower. I did a night course in floral design, worked in Halifax at a flower shop for seven years, and went to design shows. What do floral designers do, exactly? When people think of a floral designer they may think that they just put flowers in a vase and that's it. But to me it's definitely artwork. It's living art. It changes. A tulip will grow an inch or so after they've been cut and put in water, so you even have to consider the height in floral arrangement and prepare for it. The work requires a certain amount of premeditation to consider how the arrangement will look at that perfect moment when it's in full bloom. Each flower has different characteristics you can manipulate. Calla lilies bend quite easily, for example, so you can massage their tissuey stems to wrap and twist them. You have to know the make-up of the flower, how it grows. The restrictions. It's not just an arrangement, it's an expression, but I'm not painting or using a canvas, I'm using flowers. I really like working with the texture. Even with different greenery, whether it's a fern or a large, flat tropical leaf, you have these amazing textures. I really connect with that. It's like, I feel the texture with my eyes sometimes! What is Valentine's Day like for you? It's definitely a busy time. But unlike Christmas, which is also busy for several weeks, Valentine's is just one day. You can't send flowers on the 15th. People won't be happy. [laugh] Everyone just thinks of red roses automatically, and, of course, they are very beautiful. But it's nice to steer away from the ordinary, whether it's a rose of a different colour or a tropical flower. I think orchids are amazing for Valentine's. They are more expensive, but they're stunning and they last so long. But, really, it comes down to making it personal. What is at the heart of what you do? To me it's not just a job. I need my senses stimulated! The interaction with people adds to the work. You can arrange flowers just for the sake of it, but when you put the emotion into it, considering the people and the occasion, it makes it more rewarding at the end of the day. Flowers are tied into very emotional moments in people's lives — whether it's sadness because of a loss, or happiness and love because of a wedding, or the birth of a new baby. So I try to put my heart and soul in every piece. And I just love flowers. Unpacking the flowers to see what has arrived is so exciting. And as the seasons change, so do the flowers. So you look forward to the peonies and lilacs in June, and then come the sunflowers in the summer. It's never-ending change, really. Interview and photo by Ryan Davis

lisa simms: "i think orchids are amazing for valentine's."

www.thepaperie.ca

36 Pippy Place 726-5323 SCRAPBOOKING INVITATIONS STAMPING GOURMET CUPCAKES & SWEET GREETINGS

One weekend only! February 12 & 13 – featuring yummy Gourmet Cupcakes from Sweet Love Bake Shoppe! Visit our booth at the Devotion Wedding Show on March 6 to see our beautiful custom wedding invitations!

thescope

FEBRUARY 2011

store front

Local small business news. Read more at www.thescope.ca/storefront development

KA-BOOM!

St. John’s is exploding! Development-wise, that is. Ward 2 Councillor Frank Galgay says there are 51 development projects on the books for 2011 – a value of over half-a-billion development dollars. “And climbing!” he adds. Projects include condos, hotels, subdivisions, and a new Canadian Forces Base. “This is the greatest movement of development in the history of the city,” says Galgay. It all means more tax dollars, more people, and more business. According to some housing market aficionados, it’ll also mean emptier pockets for downtown renters. “The vacancy is almost nil for residential rentals,” says realtor Harry Stone. “Rents have gone up quite a bit, in some cases they’ve doubled. We’re in a bit of a lull right now but I think it’s temporary. Affordable housing is going to become a real problem.” “One of the additional problems we have now,” Stone adds, “is the federal government introducing new regulations to cool off the markets in places like Toronto and Calgary. The effect here is that less people qualify for mortgages.” SARAH SMELLIE more development

ka-box store!

CBS is calling in the big box. Conception Bay South residents have long been making the fifteen- or twenty-minute drive to spend their dollars in the Wal-Marts and Kents of Mount Pearl, and CBS Mayor Woodrow French would rather they spend that money in their own community. “There’s very little business space in the town of CBS,” he says. “The region has about 50,000 customers, and we want to build a business base to service those customers.” He hasn’t heard any opposition to the development, nor does he feel it will hurt local businesses. “I don’t think there’s going to be an impact on the local business community. As a matter of fact, all of the response for them has been positive,” he says. “There will be small strip malls, thus creating a great opportunity for businesses in the town to relocate there. Perhaps they’ll inspire other residents to start their own small businesses.”

So far, there’s a Kent’s store set to move in. CBS is ready and waiting for others, says Mayor French. SARAH SMELLIE transportation

CAB COMPANIES HATED THE METROBUS STRIKE, TOO The Metrobus strike became a big pain in the arse—and wallet—for its users, and we were curious about how cab companies fared with the increase in business. “It drove me crazy!” says Jiffy and Newfound Cabs owner Tom Hollett. “We couldn’t service everybody. It was too much! Our staff was worn right out.” He did, though, find it heartening to see all the money-saving ideas stranded Metrobus users came up with. “Some students set up their own taxi sharing groups,” he says. “They got from their front door to the front door of the university, no stops, for cheaper than riding the bus. And we love driving the students, they’re so full of energy, always something going on.” Even so, he doesn’t think that there was a taxi driver on the road who wanted the strike to continue. “Our drivers made good money, no question, but they had a hard time taking care of everyone.” SARAH SMELLIE Restaurants

Wings taking off

The former Folly building, located at 5 Bates Hill, is now home to new sports bar. Wing ‘N It features a new coat of yellow paint inside, an extended bar area, flat screen televisions, Molson on tap, and a whole 93 varieties of chicken wing flavours, all inspired by airplanes. The menu includes combinations like honey garlic and blue cheese (“Blue Horizon”) and Caribbean jerk and pineapple curry (called “Dogfight”). Wing ‘N It is open for lunch, dinner and into the evening from 11am-11pm, to start. Owners Dave Deane and Glen McFarlane are so confident it's going to fly, they’re already aiming to open a second location near Centennial Square in Mount Pearl in April. Stay tuned. BRYHANNA GREENOUGH

SKC I'd marry you if you'd be

supernova mind-f***: vanety

to charissa, leisha, megan,

To my sexy Roller Derby family:

mine. But, I'm glad to send you

fabrick's blood runs thick /

kim and lori, yay loveliness

Despite the physical abuse

this valentine. Thanks for the

alien renaissance man, my fix

godesses

and the alcoholism, my love

lovely friendship we share.

/ softly hardcore in his bed /

loved day! ♥ secret admirer

Our love of food will never run

crush laurel leaves beneath

bare. ♥ The Lovely Long Lady

my head / make you come and

under

never part. I look forward to

make you mine / inside. closer.

appreciated fairly large big

many sweaty nights together.

who

all the time / it's not enough it

boned red headed cuddly

♥ Derby Love

doesn't know it yet...it'll be the

is too much / vibrations of you

protector or flattener of Grey

best when you find out.

form your touch / the magick

hunka bubba cat

Someone

out

there

xxxx

happy

feel

for you abounds. We've been together a year, and I hope we

freddy,

the

To my Smelly Monkey: I love you. You are smart, pretty,

of our cosmic view / you are Stumeat, Carl, V Rock, Mir, Tom

for me / i am for you. ♥ vanety

to my bunny loves.....always

funny and kind. I think about

Tom, and everyone else in the

fabrick

always

you all the time, every day. ♥

gang - I love you all! Have a fab

love

you....sunshine

and monkey...... and to achi p.

heart day. xoxoxoxo ♥ Secret

This is finally our year, baby! 14

who always always loved me ♥

years later! ♥ DB

Thank you for making me

To Anita, Will and Niko, with

soon fly off together and see

a better person. I love you

love a lot of love ♥ Aunt

the world. I love you ♥ You

always. ♥ Sweetness

Michelle

little kissy

To my little gray jay, may we

Po XOXOX

♥ FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

full tilt

A new proposal for a building on the harbour. Image courtesy the City of St. John's.

Disenfranchised

We're creative enough to avoid franchise businesses, says Taryn Sheppard.

new proposal was recently submitted to the city for a two-restaurant building next to The Keg on the waterfront. The developers are attempting to get franchise licenses for the new restaurants and there is a possibility for one to be a local business, failing acquisition of the franchise license. Boston Pizza, The Keg, Montana’s, Don Cherry’s—we’ve seen these hugely popular franchise restaurants pop up all around the city, offering a generally reliable product. Indeed, I’m sure there are a lot of people who would be happy to see two more sit-down chain restaurants gracing the waterfront with their semiglamorous presence, especially the people fed up with waiting an hour for a table at The Keg. TARYN In the future, they might SHEPPARD be able to hop down the taryn@thescope.ca street to Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Hooters, or whatever chain is targeted for this new development. Myself, I am generally grossed out by this idea, for aesthetic reasons, and out of concern for the local economy. One reader’s comment at The Telegram brought up another aspect of chain restaurants that hadn't occurred to me before: This reader’s point was that, given the franchises’ tight control over the menus and even the ingredients, the creative expression of the chef is greatly diminished, maybe even to the point of being non-existent. The comment went on to say that there are a number of extremely talented chefs in our city, and they need venues to work in, free of creative limitations. Franchise menus are like paint-by-

To PST- I'll always think we

and kaila i love you happy

really had something there.

to sissa&sissa w, a girl in the

happy love day xxxooo ♥ mom

I love you and would do

battery, my kittykat & all the

FEBRUARY 2011

tuddle bear pie shine you are da stuffed chicken breast ♥ bps

anything in the world to make

handsome island boys. please

We spent last night curled up

To my Wild Gypsy Rose: Who

it up to you. You know where

come warm up montreal. xxxo.

in a ball together laughing

would have thought that a hike

I am and how I feel. XOXO!!! ♥

♥ an-jay-la

about how big of spazzes we

across the river would lead us

Cutie McCuterton

both are. We've been together To: he who has pearced my

for only a week and I've fallen for you so badly. ♥ Panda

and inspiring? I am forever

To Robbie Thomas, always in

heart ;) “Love is a promise,

grateful you said yes. ♥ Love

our hearts. You changed us

love is a souvenir, once given

always, Your Cuppa Jo

and made us so much more.

never

Thank you for being such an

it disappear.” (John Lennon

astounding person. ♥ Eastern

quote) ♥ Cutie SB

Edge

thescope

Comment on this article online at thescope.ca

to my sweet bunnies nushka

into exploring a love so deep

numbers—you might end up with a recognizable painting, but a large amount of the effort and creativity needed to produce the painting was negated. It could have been painted by a robot. When it comes to the buildings these franchises occupy, it’s a similar situation. Franchise owners usually need an architect to help them build their restaurant, but only for technical matters. There are almost always strict guidelines and company standards to align with. Much like the chef, the local architect will only be assembling the imported, predetermined ingredients. In practice, these jobs are just known as ‘bread and butter.’ The preliminary rendering put forth by developers for this proposal is at first glance conservative and non-controversial, generic and adaptable. But, no doubt once the chain restaurant is built, every aspect will be identifiable as Global Brand X, down to the last wall sconce. Have local businesspeople not proven their ability to produce successful, thriving and busy mid-to-high end restaurants? Moreover, haven't they proven their concern for local architectural distinction? If the answer is yes, then why is such a prominent location being given over to development that would make our waterfront indistinguishable—taste-wise, and building-wise—from, say, Niagara Falls? Sure, if we didn’t have the creative capacity in our local population to come up with a great restaurant, then I could understand, but that’s certainly not the case. Let's not underestimate the ability of local restauranteurs and local designers.

forgotten,

never

let

♥

Photo by Jill Willcott

online at thescope.ca Local favourites Hey Rosetta! will be releasing their new album Seeds on February 15. Visit thescope.ca for an extended web feature interview with lead singer Tim Baker.

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

CHALLENGE This is the challenge: Record an album in 28 days, just because you can. That’s 10 songs or 35 minutes of original material recorded during the month of February.

Photo by kevin coffey

TAKE THE

on’t wait for inspiration. Taking action puts you in a position to get inspired. You’ll stumble across ideas you would have never come up with otherwise, and maybe only because you were trying to meet a day’s quota of songwriting. Show up and get something done, and invest in yourself and each other. Anyone can come up with an excuse to say “no.” So don’t! Many of you are thinking, “But, I can’t do that. I don’t have any songs/recording gear/money/blah blah blah.” But this album doesn’t have to be THE album, it’s just AN album. This is an artistic exercise. Do your best with what you have to get it done. If you have a four-track, become a fourtrack badass! Have an iPhone, a PC or Mac, a Walkman, a tape recorder from the ’80s? Use it! Do your best. Use the limitations of time and gear as an opportunity to explore things you might not try otherwise. If you can afford studio time in a ‘real’ studio, that’s fine, but let’s be completely free of any lingering idea that good records can only be made in a studio. Well written, honest music is compelling and undeniable, no matter what it was recorded on. February will come and go whether you’ve taken the challenge or not. Do you really want to be left out?

The Details • There will be a kick-off meet and greet at CBTGs on January 31 from 8:30-10:30pm. If you have any questions we can answer them there, and if we manage to get an internet connection going you can sign up on the spot. • Record 10 songs or 35 minutes of original music in 28 days. Just because you can.

wha?

• This is not a contest! • This will be fun! • There is no fee! • Record 10 songs or 35 minutes material, and burn it to CD. • When it’s finished, mail your disc to us (postmarked by March 1) at:

Got questions about RECORDING AN ALBUM IN A MONTH? This February at thescope.ca/wha you can ask our panel of special guest experts Patrick Canning (SUPERGOD!), Damian Lethbridge (AM/FM Dreams), Rebecca Cohoe (Pet Legs) and Andrew Wickens (The Blossoms) questions you have about finding musical inspiration, overcoming technical hurdles, staying focused, and anything else related to the RPM Challenge.

thescope.ca/wha

thescope

FEBRUARY 2011

RPM Challenge NL c/o The Scope PO Box 1044 St. John’s, NL A1C 5M3

You can also drop it off in person at our drop-off box inside Fred’s Records, 198 Duckworth Street, by noon on March 1. • Recording can only be done in the month of February. No prerecorded songs. • All material must be previously unreleased, and we encourage you to write the material during February too, but it’s not against the rules to record previously written material. • Registered participating bands and musicians can make their own page at www. rpmchallenge.com where you can blog as much as you want. You also get access to the discussion board, where you can swap ideas, resources, and the ability to e-mail and private message other participants. • When the month is over, there will be local listening parties where at least one track from each completed album from NL will be played. • All the completed albums can be uploaded to the jukebox on the website. If you’d rather not share your work with the public, then no one needs to hear it but you, but what’s the fun in that? For more information or to sign up, visit www.rpmchallenge.com. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email Elling at elling@thescope.ca

HOW TO RECORD AN ALBUM IN A MONTH The SUPERGOD! way.

Words and illustration by Patrick Canning Practice not giving a crap. Nothing is more important and nothing is more difficult to master then the art of not giving a crap. It’s not so much that you shouldn’t give a crap about anything, we are talking about a fairly complicated project with a strict deadline, it’s about knowing exactly what you should and shouldn’t give a crap about. For example: Be sure to give a crap about whether what you are doing is interesting and enjoyable for yourself, don’t ever give a crap about whether what you are doing is going to be enjoyed or appreciated by anyone who isn’t you. Use this project as an excuse to figure out your recording gear. A microphone and a computer is enough to do pretty much anything you can think of, but I don’t care how basic your recording set up is; there are things you can still learn about the process. Stuck with nothing but a microphone and a piece of crap boombox? try placing the microphone in unusual places; try recording in different rooms, in different places outside, try singing with your head inside the washing machine, try playing the tape you recorded on a different stereo and singing along to it while you record the results with the microphone taped to the ceiling. The possibilities are endless. Take an instrument and use it in every way that it wasn’t intended. Say you have a flute, and let’s say you even know how to play it in the regular way, for this project try to create a song using nothing but flute sounds created without blowing into the mouthpiece. Slap the end of it for the rhythm track, tap the keys to get a pitched percussion effect and loop it, take the tip of the flute and scratch it against a chalkboard at various speeds to make the melody. Now apply the same method to every other instrument you can think of, it may sound incredibly aggravating but there is no better way of learning the pure sonic capabilities of your instrument of choice then to not play it the way it’s supposed to be.

Take something that isn’t an instrument and figure out how to play it. I’ve always found that rubber balloons have an almost infinite variety sounds that can be coaxed from them with some practice or the right amount of boredom. Try making a melody with a touch tone phone, try striking wine glasses, try making rhythms with ripped newspaper or screaming windshield wiper blades. Try bicycle chains, slurpee straws, sizzling bacon grease, rattling heat exchangers, seagulls, puppy dogs, whatever you can think of. Invite randomness into the process and use it as inspiration. If you need lyrics why not take your favorite bible verse, feed it into google translator then translate it from English to German to Japanese back to English and figure out how to sing the results? Or try interviewing your 4 year old brother on what happens in his favorite movie and figure out how to set what he comes up with into rhyming couplets. Need a beat? try recording a dripping faucet then pitchshift it and add distortion and reverb until it sounds like a snare drum. It may just result in a pile of unusable nonsense, but if you search through that nonsense the stuff that is interesting is usually truly out of this world. Consistency is a fate worse thAn death. Any thoughts you have about creating a consistent mood or sound to the album should be tossed out of your mind like rocks at the elderly. If you’ve written an album of mostly acoustic ballads but you have this awesome 13 minute drone piece using kettle whistles, prepared piano and a pot of chicken curry; throw that thing on there! No truly great work of art can effect anyone without a certain level of cognitive dissonance and if your album doesn’t sucker punch the listener out their expectations every once in awhile your album has every right to be ignored and forgotten, like a John Mellencamp album. Patrick is a longtime RPM Challenge enthusiast and participant. Hear some of his SUPERGOD! material at www.patrickcanning.ca

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

RIC G KIN KY

Scorch, you make me incredibly happy! I like our Friday nights as much as our lazy Saturday mornings :) ♥ BoomBoom When we met I thought I could

You are the sky! I love you xo

You ladies make my insides

You walked into the Merkin

never be so lucky- but now I

♥ Amy

smell like sunshine and new

with your 3/4 length jean skirt

snow. I am sorry I am cold,

&amp; your leg warmers on.

am! Thanks for loving me like I love you, for loving my dog the

You know how it goes, /

leaky and grow fungi. Its not

Coming down the six or seven

way I love him, and for actually

Flowers, chocolates, and the

my fault. I am old but it makes

steps with your Invicta bag

caring about my family. Love

rest. / but spending every day

me feel young to have my

& your blue plastic thermos

you like sunshine! ♥ Kassandra

with one like you / Truly is the

load bearing walls ring with

full of homemade smoothie, I

best. Love you. ♥ Pookers

laughter. Heart is where the

knew then I would marry you.

home is. Much Love. ♥ Prince

♥ Chris

When we met I thought I could never be so lucky- but now I

You know it's Love when:

am! Thanks for loving me like I

have a mental breakdown one

love you, for loving my dog the

morning because I can't find

You make my soda all the

warmth in my wintry heart. ♥

way I love him, and for actually

one of my favorite earrings

sweeter, Ry. ♥ Rat tail

resurrection

caring about my family. Love

and the next thing I know your

you like sunshi ♥ Sunshine

on your hands & knees looking

zip-dawg! even though you

Love

under the dresser for it. Thanks

can't use a computer your hot

for putting up with me (and my

blanky skills are amazing. ♥ e

You are my favorite person on the planet. ♥ spirit

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FEBRUARY 2011

slight insanity). ♥ Steve Gooj

Rupert you

will

always

the

your city

Should we make city council positions full time? How much does a St. John’s city councillor make? These days it’s around $35,000. But a recent report is recommending council vote themselves an increase. Although the full report is not yet public, word is that it was completed by an independent consultant, and I have been told that it recommends a range of possible increases, with 4.5 per cent falling somewhere in the middle. This would bring pay for a councillor to around $38,000 a year. The Deputy-Mayor and Andrew Mayor would see their Harvey andrew@thescope.ca pay increase to about $50,000 and $100,000, respectively. Sheilagh O'Leary, Councillor-At-Large, wants nothing to do with any such increase. When the issue was brought up in December, she vowed to vote against any proposed increase when it comes back up in March. “On principle I cannot support an increase [in councillors’ pay] while we are increasing taxes,” she said. So, let’s say the pay was increased by 4.5 per cent. Would we get 4.5 per cent more work from our councillors? Council positions are generally considered to be part-time, except for the Mayor and Deputy-Mayor, but it’s not laid out clearly. “There is no direction saying a councillor has to spend this much time on the job,” says O’Leary. She says each member of council is in a different situation. Some are retired, and others work part-time in addition to their council duties. She says she works more than full-time on council matters, and that the work never stops (she did this interview with me on a Saturday.) So why not raise our expectations? Why not make all council positions full-time and pay them a wage which they could live on without needing other work? In Halifax, district councillors are full-time positions, and they bring home a tidy $72,000 a year. Wouldn’t it be worth it to have them focusing more of their attention on running the city? Getting good value for your money is important. Unless something changes, council will have done nothing substantial to justify an increase to their pay except find a report which may have simply taken St. John's council salaries and compared them to other cities across Canada, like Halifax. Since Halifax district councillors are full-time, this would be like comparing apples to oranges. Each individual city council is different, as is the work they do. O'Leary says it’s a tough situation, and points out that council members are homeowners too. When taxes go up, it affects them as well. She agrees with me that the positions should be full-time, especially “considering the future prosperity, and where the city is going in the coming years.” It doesn't look like there will be any shortage of work out there for council in the foreseeable future, and I hope that council can give the issues they will be facing the time they require and deserve. Comment on this article online at thescope.ca

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

weekend music listings

Music events on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. For more, go to thescope.ca/events

Thursday FEB 3 Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm) Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub Carl Peters & Bob Taylor (7pm), Middle Tickle (11pm), Shamrock City Pub Count Down the Clock: With DJ NuRock, The Breezeway

Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub

(11:30pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub

Chris Hennessey (5pm); Bill Kelly (8pm), Kilkenny Krew, 11:30pm, Shamrock City Pub

Sexual Saturdays: DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s

Chris Kirby & The Marquee, Fat Cat Blues Bar D’arcy Broderick & Ron Kelly (5pm); Barry Kenny, Glen Harvey & Sonny Hogan (8pm), Shamrock City Pub

Craig Young (solo acoustic) no cover, Fat Cat Blues Bar

Damian Follett (6:30pm), The Sleveens (10:30), Green Sleeves Pub

Dave Panting, Erin’s Pub

David Langmead, Trinity Pub

Des Gambin, 7pm, West Side Charlie’s (Kenmount Road)

Designer Drugs (NY electronic duo), Evolve

DJ Big Frank, Konfusion

DJ Nu Rock, Martini Bar

DJ Fox, 12am-5am, Liquid Night Club

DJ Scrappy, Turkey Joe’s

DJ Illz, Loft 709

Guerilla Queerfare: Spontaneous queer party at as-yet-undisclosed bar/club downtown. Check Facebook group for details,

DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s DJ Mark Power, 11pm, Martini Bar Downstairs Mix Up: Hosted by Steve Abbott with The Coffee Dates, Dow Jones Now, Kate Pike & The Off White Might, CBTGs Dust Radio (rock), The Grapevine Fergus O’Byrne (7pm); Acoustic Punters (10:30pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub Jerry Stamp, midnight, no cover, Bull & Barrel Karaoke, West Side Charlie’s (Torbay) Karaoke, 10pm, Karaoke Kops Party Bar Noise Terror, 10pm, $5, Headquarters Open House: Open mic with Jason LaCour, 9pm, Brimstone Public House Open Mic, 9pm, The Levee Sean Panting & Jeremiah Sparkes, Ship Pub Tino Borges & The Incident, 10:30pm, no cover, Martini Bar Totally Toxic: DJ Fox, 12am, $5, Liquid Night Club Unlisted, Green Sleeves Pub

Friday FEB 4 All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm);

DJ Sina, Konfusion

Idlers (ska reggae) Bonavista Chain Locker (greasy klezmer rock), 11pm, $15/$10, Rock House Jersey Shore: Celebrity appearance by Vinny, Dusk Ultra Lounge Karaoke, Karaoke Kops Party Bar Latin dance fiesta with Salsa Roca, 8pm, $10, Ship Pub The Superstars, Club One Traditional Music Session, 8:30pm, Erin’s Pub

Sean Hoyles, Trinity Pub

Silver Ball: Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra with Brian Way & His Large Band, 6:30pm, $150, Delta Ballroom The Sleveens, Green Sleeves Pub The Superstars, Club One

Thursday FEB 10 Andreu Wrice, 10:30pm, no cover, The Grapevine Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm) Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub Carl Peters & Bob Taylor (7pm), Middle Tickle (11pm), Shamrock City Pub Count Down the Clock: With DJ NuRock, The Breezeway Craig Young (solo acoustic) no cover, Fat Cat Blues Bar Dave Panting, Erin’s Pub Des Gambin, 7pm, West Side Charlie’s (Kenmount Road) DJ Big Frank, Konfusion DJ Fox, 12am-5am, Liquid Night Club DJ Illz, Loft 709 DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s DJ Mark Power, 11pm, Martini Bar Downstairs Mix Up, Hosted by Steve Abbott, CBTGs

Saturday FEB 5

Fergus O’Byrne (7pm); Acoustic Punters (10:30pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub

Damian Follett (6:30pm), Nothing Fancy (10:30), Green Sleeves Pub DJ Nu Rock, Martini Bar DJ Pace, Dusk Ultra Lounge DJ Scrappy, Turkey Joe’s DJ Sina, Konfusion Karaoke, Karaoke Kops Party Bar Kujo (rock), Fat Cat Blues Bar Masterworks 3: The Great One featuring James Ehnes (violin), 8pm, $24/$42, Arts & Culture Centre Signal Hill, Club One The Subtitles (pop) Ship Pub Todd Scott, Trinity Pub Traditional music session, 8:30pm, Erin’s Pub

Saturday FEB 12 All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place Amelia Curran (folk), Erin Costelo (Halifax blues / folk / jazz), 8pm, $20/$25, Gower St United Church DJ Big Frank, Konfusion DJ OTG, Dusk Ultra Lounge DJ Yellow, Martini Bar Electronic Saturdays: DJ Fox, DJ Trip, no cover, Evolve Hugh Scott (5pm); Bob Taylor, Carl Peters & Pat Moran (8pm); Devil’s Racket (11pm), Shamrock City Pub Karaoke, Karaoke Kops Party Bar Karaoke, hosted by Murf, Darnell’s Pub

All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place

Jerry Stamp, midnight, no cover, Bull & Barrel

Nothing Fancy, Green Sleeves Pub

DJ Big Frank, Konfusion

Karaoke, West Side Charlie’s (Torbay)

Rick Lambe Band, Hip Waders, Ship Pub

Karaoke, 10pm, Karaoke Kops Party Bar

Rob Cook (4:30pm);Fergus O’Byrne (8pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub

DJ OTG, Dusk Ultra Lounge Electronic Saturdays: DJ Fox, DJ Trip, no cover, Evolve Hugh Scott (5pm); Bob Taylor, Carl Peters & Pat Moran (8pm); Kilkenny Krew (11pm), Shamrock City Pub Karaoke, Karaoke Kops Party Bar

Noise Terror, 10pm, $5, Headquarters Open House: Open mic with Jason LaCour, 9pm, Brimstone Public House Open Mic, 9pm, The Levee

Karaoke, hosted by Murf, Darnell’s Pub

Roger Howse & Brenda Stone, Ship Pub

Repartee (pop), Say Fire (pop/rock), 11pm, Ship Pub

Tino Borges & The Incident, 10:30pm, no cover, Martini Bar

Rob Cook (4:30pm);Fergus O’Byrne (8pm); XXX

Totally Toxic: DJ Fox, 12am, $5, Liquid Night Club Unlisted, Green Sleeves Pub

Friday FEB 11

Sexual Saturdays: DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s Signal Hill, Club One Steve Davis, Trinity Pub The Monday Nights (folk rock), Fat Cat Blues Bar Tommy Sexton Centre Benefit: Show & auction with The 8-Track Favourites, Military Road, Darrell Power & Kevin Evans. Drag Queen tribute featuring Batty ‘Boo’ Kakke, Doris Anita Douche & Annie Cockadoo; Afterparty with DJ Fabian, $20, Bella Vista Valentine’s Show: Joe Belly (country), Sherry Ryan (folk rock), The Domestics (folk), 10:30pm, $10, Rose & Thistle

All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place Barcode (country & classic rock) Chateau Park Hotel Mt. Pearl Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm) Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub Chris Hennessey (5pm); Bill Kelly (8pm), XXXX, 11:30pm, O’Reilly’s Irish Pub Chris Kirby, Topsail Breeze Tavern D’arcy Broderick & Ron Kelly (5pm); Barry Kenny, Glen Harvey & Sonny Hogan (8pm), Shamrock City Pub

thescope

FEBRUARY 2011

Thursday FEB 17 Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm) Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub Carl Peters & Bob Taylor (7pm), Middle Tickle (11pm), Shamrock City Pub Count Down the Clock: With DJ NuRock, The Breezeway Craig Young (solo acoustic) no cover, Fat Cat Blues Bar Dave Panting, Erin’s Pub

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

Des Gambin, 7pm, West Side Charlie’s (Kenmount Road) DJ Big Frank, Konfusion

Night Music with Radio Negative, $5, 9:30pm, Ship Pub

DJ Fox, 12am-5am, Liquid Night Club

Noise Terror, 10pm, $5, Headquarters

DJ Illz, Loft 709

Open House: Open mic with Jason LaCour, 9pm, Brimstone Public House

DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s DJ Mark Power, 11pm, Martini Bar Downstairs Mix Up, Hosted by Steve Abbott, CBTGs Dr Zoo (Afro-Celtic Reggae), $30/$27, 8pm, Arts & Culture Centre Fergus O’Byrne (7pm); Acoustic Punters (10:30pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub

Aaron McBreairty, Trinity Pub

DJ Scrappy, Turkey Joe’s

All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place

Open Mic, 9pm, The Levee Tino Borges & The Incident, 10:30pm, no cover, Martini Bar

Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm) Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub

Totally Toxic: DJ Fox, 12am, $5, Liquid Night Club

Chris Hennessey (5pm); Bill Kelly (8pm), 11:30pm, O’Reilly’s Irish Pub

Trevor Bennet, 10:30pm, no cover, The Grapevine Unlisted, Green Sleeves Pub

Karaoke, West Side Charlie’s (Torbay) Karaoke, 10pm, Karaoke Kops Party Bar

thescope

DJ J-Billz, Dusk Ultra Lounge

Barcode (country & classic rock) Trapper John’s Pub

Jerry Stamp, midnight, no cover, Bull & Barrel

Friday FEB 18

FEBRUARY 2011

D’arcy Broderick & Ron Kelly (5pm); Barry Kenny, Glen Harvey & Sonny Hogan (8pm), Shamrock City Pub Damian Follett (6:30pm), Greg Bolger & Chris Marshall (10:30), Green Sleeves Pub Darrell Cooper & The Strong Pretenders, Fat Cat

Party Bar

Blues Bar

DJ Nu Rock, Martini Bar DJ Sina, Konfusion Karaoke, Karaoke Kops Party Bar

Saturday FEB 19 All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place Barcode (country & classic rock), Trapper John’s Pub

NSO Recital: Gone with the Winds featuring Maureen Volk (piano), 8pm, $17.50/$15, DF Cook Recital Hall

Big Irons Blues Band, Fat Cat Blues Bar

Quidi Vidi Dirt Band, Club One

DJ OTG, Dusk Ultra Lounge

The Worst Kind, Ship Pub Traditional music session, 8:30pm, Erin’s Pub White Party: Queer Bash 2011 with DJ Logan Hudak (Halifax), Joseph X, Klassy Dirt. White dress code, 9pm, $20, Majestic Theatre

DJ Big Frank, Konfusion

Karaoke, hosted by Murf, Darnell’s Pub Quidi Vidi Dirt Band, Club One Rob Cook, Trinity Pub Rob Cook (4:30pm);Fergus O’Byrne (8pm); XXX (11:30pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub Sexual Saturdays: DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s The Instigators, Ship Pub

DJ Yellow, Martini Bar Electronic Saturdays: DJ Fox, DJ Trip, no cover, Evolve Greg Bolger & Chris Marshall, Green Sleeves Pub Hugh Scott (5pm); Bob Taylor, Carl Peters & Pat Moran (8pm); Dungarvan (11pm), Shamrock City Pub Karaoke, Karaoke Kops

Thursday FEB 24 Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm) Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub Carl Peters & Bob Taylor (7pm), Middle Tickle (11pm), Shamrock City Pub

Martini Bar

Count Down the Clock: With DJ NuRock, The Breezeway Craig Young (solo acoustic) no cover, Fat Cat Blues Bar Dave Panting, Erin’s Pub David Guy, 10:30pm, no cover, The Grapevine Des Gambin, 7pm, West Side Charlie’s (Kenmount Road)

Downstairs Mix Up, Hosted by Steve Abbott, CBTGs Fergus O’Byrne (7pm); Acoustic Punters (10:30pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub Jerry Stamp, midnight, no cover, Bull & Barrel

gs Find more listin online at

thescope.ca

DJ Big Frank, Konfusion

Karaoke, West Side Charlie’s (Torbay) Karaoke, 10pm, Karaoke Kops Party Bar Noise Terror, 10pm, $5, Headquar-

ters

DJ Fox, 12am-5am, Liquid Night Club

Open House: Open mic with Jason LaCour, 9pm, Brimstone Public House

DJ Illz, Loft 709

Open Mic, 9pm, The Levee

DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s

Tino Borges & The Incident, 10:30pm, no cover, Martini Bar

DJ Mark Power, 11pm,

Totally Toxic: DJ Fox, 12am, $5, Liquid Night Club Unlisted, Green Sleeves Pub

Friday JAN 25 All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place Ashelin (acoustic) Ship Pub Barcode (country & classic rock), Darnell’s Pub Big Night Out: Jazz East Big Band featuring Katie Hopkins, Peter Halley, Mark Fewer Jazz Trio, Jim Vivian & Bill Brennan, 7pm, $55 dinner & dance / $20 dance only, Masonic Temple

Blackie O’Leary (5:30pm) Steve Davis (9:30pm), Kelly’s Pub Blue Eyed Blonde (cover rock), Club One Cause/Effect: Charity dance night with Patch, Worker, Benjy, Krystle Hayden, 11pm, $5,, Distortion Chris Hennessey (5pm); Bill Kelly (8pm), O’Reilly’s Irish Pub D’arcy Broderick & Ron Kelly (5pm); Barry Kenny, Glen Harvey & Sonny Hogan (8pm), Shamrock City Pub Damian Follett (6:30pm), Carl Peters & Dave White (10:30), Green Sleeves Pub DJ Nu Rock, Martini Bar DJ Plaeboi, Dusk Ultra Lounge DJ Scrappy, Turkey Joe’s DJ Sina, Konfusion

Greg King, Trinity Pub Karaoke, Karaoke Kops Party Bar Luke Doucet & Melissa McClelland, 8pm, $19+, Lspu Hall The Need, Fat Cat Blues Bar

nan, 7pm, $55 dinner & dance / $20 dance only, Masonic Temple

Blue Eyed Blonde, Club One Brothers In Stereo Acoustic Trio, Fat Cat Blues Bar Carl Peters and Dave White, Green Sleeves Pub

Traditional music session, 8:30pm, Erin’s Pub

DJ Big Frank, Konfusion

Tribute to Bruce Springsteen, Rock House

DJ Yellow, Martini Bar

Saturday FEB 26

DJ OTG, Dusk Ultra Lounge Electronic Saturdays: DJ Fox, DJ Trip, no cover, Evolve Hugh Scott (5pm); Bob Taylor, Carl Peters & Pat Moran (8pm); Middle Tickle (11pm), Shamrock City Pub

All-request: DJ Rocket Boy, Lottie’s Place

Karaoke, Karaoke Kops Party Bar

Big Night Out: Jazz East Big Band featuring Katie Hopkins, Peter Halley, Mark Fewer Jazz Trio, Jim Vivian & Bill Bren-

Karaoke, hosted by Murf, Darnell’s Pub

Irish Pub

Sexual Saturdays: DJ JayCee, Turkey Joe’s Songwriter?s Circle: Patrick Molloy, Jody Richardson, Rozalind Macphail, Colleen Power & Sean Panting; Art Exhibit: Curated by Mel Smith featuring Greg Blackwood and others; Dance: Andrea Tucker;

Short Film: Roger Maunder showing Swallowed; Comedy: Liz, Brimstone Public House

St Mandrew, Evolve Steve Green, Trinity Pub

FIND MANY more listings online at thescope.CA

thescope.ca

Rob Cook (4:30pm);Fergus O’Byrne (8pm) O’Reilly’s

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

FEBRUARY 2011

reader restaurant reviews

Customer-submitted reviews for St. John’s and metro.

Basho Restaurant and Lounge 283 Duckworth Street, 576-4600

 Reviewed by Elliott

I’ve eaten at Basho many times, and I can honestly say it’s the only place I’ve been where I’ve never had a SINGLE complaint. Not that nothing has ever come up, but on the off chance that it does, they out-do themselves in accommodating for the issue. Bar is well-stocked and service is great. I usually go for sushi and (many) drinks and will spend less than $100 for two, though it’s quite possible to spend more. I prefer the atmosphere of the lounge to the dining room, but both definitely have their merits. The sushi is well-prepared and the fish is consistently fresh. Occasionally they’ll make a soft shell crab roll which definitely is a musttry. Since sushi can be very filling, I don’t often order from their entrees, but I’ve never had a bad experience doing so. Avg rating

½ (based on 14 reviews)

water witch restaurant 123 Town Circle, Pouch Cove, 335-2500

 Reviewed by ear

The Water Witch is a fantastic takeout fish and chips spot. If you are out for a drive in the Pouch Cove area, be sure to stop in. It's just off the main road in a little red building. They have burgers and chicken and fish and all that good stuff. If you ask, they even have a vegetarian burger option, which I was really impressed with. Great family business, great service; eat in your car looking at the big waves in the cold weather, or eat at a picnic table in the park in the summertime! Avg rating

 (based on 1 review)

bagel cafe

246 Duckworth Street, 739-4470

 Reviewed by Rachel

I don’t regularily enjoy breakfast, but with the variety of options offered, it is easy to find delicious things on the menu and on special. Although the restaurant may be cramped, I’ve never been uncomfortable or too close to another table to be annoyed. The server usually accomodates me by substituting hummus for mayo on my jersey club bagel. They have AMAZING greek salad and hashbrowns. I highly recommend it. Avg rating

 (based on 18 reviews)

Disagree? Write your own review at

thescope.ca/scoff

FEBRUARY 2011

thescope

WaitinG FOR GEOFF Geoff Stirling and the whole, entire universe. By Sarah Smellie

y first encounter with the Stirling empire occurred in the Yukon, before I had set foot in Newfoundland. I was a bartender at a hotel in Dawson City. Some nights, after closing, I’d be given a room upstairs to guarantee my 9am arrival to open up the next morning. On those nights, I’d stay up watching this Newfoundland station, NTV, and marvel at this large-helmeted Captain Canada chap as he brought peace, serenity, and Seinfeld to the planet at large. Years later, having actually moved here, I’d find myself staring at my television at 4am, utterly speechless, as lines about the way of the divine scrolled down the screen, guided by the wail of apocalyptic opera. “Oh my God,” I thought. “It’s all true.”



ou don’t live here long before you start hearing stories about Geoff Stirling, creator of Captain Canada and the Atlantis saga, and chairman of Stirling Communications International, the parent company that owns NTV, The Newfoundland Herald, Stirling Press and OZ-FM. According to legend, he used to interrupt late-night NTV programing with live feed of lengthy interviews and monologues about politics and crop circles; his house has a secret wood-paneled room with cameras waiting for his next transmission; he’d interview prospective employees while throwing knives at the door; and he once called NTV and made them interrupt the newscast with an episode of Inspector Gadget. Google him and you’ll find a Facebook group and a BlueKaffee forum dedicated to the NTV overnight videos. There are a few short bios from Wikipedia and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2001, and a 2004 piece from Report on Business that claims he was inspired to get into media when he came across the Miami Herald

thescope

FEBRUARY 2011

while hunting alligators in Honduras. You can see him doing headstands and talking about socialism with Joey Smallwood in the 1974 NFB documentary, Waiting for Fidel. And for a good round-up of his Eastern mysticism-inspired philosophy, you can check out the Captain Atlantis series, and read his treatise called In Search of a New Age, on the Captain Atlantis website. Back in October, The Scope submitted a request for an interview with Stirling. Then one mid-January afternoon, out of the blue, he finally phones. “What’s on your mind, honey?” he begins.



e talks to me for about an hour, covering provincial and municipal politics, sound vibrations, energy, ABBA, the old streetcars in St. John’s, and the possibility of a casino on Bell Island. Segues from one subject to the next are loose – he stops me mid-sentence, for example, to ask if I’d ever been to Egypt. “I ask,” he says, “because sometimes in the middle of a great conversation, the person will suddenly say ‘and then, when I was meditating at the pyramids of Egypt...’ and I tend to think differently about them after.” But no matter the subject, he’s fiercely intimidating. He has the laugh of a Very Powerful Person: a deep “huh huh huh,” each “huh” ragged at the edges and clear in the middle, ringing in a voice he doesn’t use when speaking. It’s startling, youthful, and hard to gauge; he might be laughing at what was said, or he might be laughing at the es-

sence of being Geoff Stirling and the public persona that entails. Freaking out appreciably, I chit chat about provincial politics. “Now that we’ve got three women running the parties,” he says, “we have the chance to provide exposure to in-depth discussion. We could have tremendous frankness. If they’re willing to have late-night discussions, that is.” He laughs.



hat he means by “late-night discussion” is best seen on NTV some nights, during the overnight hours. They’re credited as the first television station in the country with 24-hour broadcasting, which started in 1972. While every other station in the country would simply go off-air, NTV blazed all night, showing syndicated programming, movies, continuous live feed of a fish tank, Scenes of Newfoundland, and the Stirling tapes: hours-long interviews with Joey Smallwood; conversations with conspiracy theorist David Icke spliced with images of horrible grey aliens; the “Computer Animation Festival,” featuring Atlantis characters and pulsating animation sequences from the Lawnmower Man; repeated showings of Pink Floyd’s The Wall; images of crop circles, UFOs and the Egyptian Pyramids layered on top of one another and/or images of Barack Obama; and the laws of God—“The Law of Energy - All is Energy”—scrolling over random stills. “In order to go for 24 hours, you had to have all that additional programming,” he says. “Ted Turner bought up all the basketball to use, but we just made our own content. We used uninterrupted interviews; we used Smallwood and whoever else could tolerate six or seven hours straight. We

would ask Smallwood, ‘Why can’t every Newfoundlander be given ten acres of farm land?’ and we’d take the tape and we’d have him explaining all through the night why we couldn’t have it!” “We didn’t have commercials during the night, so we didn’t interrupt the intellectual discussion. It opened up a whole new world of transparency.” I ask him about the videos like the Computer Animation Festival and the laws of God. “This all started because we were now into the crop circles,” he says. “So by trying to make all the words and everything we do late at night authentic, we would take some of the new crop circles coming in and we would use special effects -- well we’re just learning how to use special effects. I sent over a group, I wanted to prove that they were there. We’re not taking anybody’s word for anything. So you get a helicopter and the pilot confirms that one morning it wasn’t there and the next it was, and you show the footage.” “The complexity of the imagery is so beyond anything we had five years ago,” he says. ”So, if it is a fake, it’s still a fantastic mandala.” “We’re trying to raise the consciousness,” he continues. “It’s simply automatic if you’ve gone and researched the information you’re trying to make available.” In order to maintain freedom over NTV’s overnight programming and keep broadcasting his message, he says that NTV will always remain an independent station. “You can’t interfere with a commercial company,” he says. “It has to be an independent network. We couldn’t interrupt some big company to broadcast these discussions; we had to do it on our own.” “You’ve got to be leading if you’re in this game, honey,” Stirling says to me. “And the game is communication. But you’ve got to give something more than just apple pie. You’ve got to give something that inspires the imagination, say ‘here’s what it was like to meditate in the pyramids.’ ”

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is mission to widen the public consciousness has been a constant, in one guise or another. In 1948, two years after Stirling began publishing the St. John’s Sun-

day Herald, now the Newfoundland Herald, he had a different message to broadcast. A founder of the anti-confederation Economic Union Party, which espoused the establishment of free trade agreements with America, he’d head to Washington to get statements from Senators about what they could do for Newfoundland. Many of them wound up transcribed in the Herald. “There was a recording of one Senator, Senator Brookes, that was played on the radio stations here,” chuckles Philip Hiscock, a MUN folklorist, Newfoundland broadcasting aficionado, and Stirling mythology enthusiast. “But, of course, I’ve been told that it’s not Brookes on that recording, that it’s actually an actor that Stirling hired to read Brooke’s statement.” In July of 1963, Stirling founded the Montreal-based radio station CKGM-FM, later known as CHOM-FM. “When I got radio [in Newfoundland], there was no English FM in Quebec,” he tells me. “There was no FM in the cars, and because cars were the radio market then, FM wasn’t commercially viable. So I went on the air and gave myself the only English FM voice in Quebec.” According to Mike Boone, a journalist for the Montreal Gazette who has written extensively about the early days of CHOM, anyone tuning into the station had an equal chance of hearing a live chanting session with Stirling’s guru, Swami Shyam, as they did a three-day long Beatles marathon. In 1969, Stirling, while vacationing in London, sent a telegram to John Lennon saying “I’ve heard your Come Together. So here I am. Geoff Stirling.” Lennon and Yoko Oko met up with Stirling and recorded an interview and a few station IDs that were later broadcast on CKGM, what they called “The Peace Station” in Montreal. “He had a huge impact on radio in Montreal,” says Boone. “Geoff was really experimental with that station, he really pushed it, and he had the first station to really play good music. It was the first popular FM station in Montreal.” “And didn’t he used to inject liquid gold into his veins?” he asks. Stirling later sold that radio station to CHUM in 1985. In the early 1980s, Captain Newfoundland arrived in the Sunday Herald. Shortly thereafter, the Atlantis graphic novel series emerged, in which Captain Newfoundland/ Atlantis tutors Captain Canada, Yoda-style, to seek his superhero-hood within himself. Crystals, meditation, astral travel and UFOs are all paramount to his enlightenment.

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y all accounts, Stirling has always been eccentric. Ken Meeker was an editor at The Herald in the 1960s. Stirling, he says, was generous, gregarious and intelligent. “He was a great broadcaster,” he says. “The videos, the politics, it’s all part of who he is. And I don’t think any one person has the full story of who he is.” The Honourable Edward Roberts was executive assistant to Premier Joey Smallwood, and became leader of the Liberal Party after Smallwood’d defeat in 1972. He watched what he calls “a very unusual friendship” develop between Smallwood

and Stirling. “[Stirling] has always,” he tells me, “danced to the beat of his own drummer.” “He was a bit scary,” says Hiscock. “There was a spot my friends and I used to go to in the early seventies called Motion, and he fenced it off and started building this ashram. I think if he stopped the car when we were going into Motion and told us to get out, we would have clicked our heels and ran!” “He was enormously confident,” says David Moores, editor at the Herald from 1984 to 1989. “He was tall, handsome, deeply tanned, he was an athlete when he was a kid, had a knuckle-breaking handshake, and he just beamed with self confidence. Always talking about free enterprise, but somehow a sentence would start with free enterprise and end with the Maharishi.” He’s had a robust career as a businessman. Media empire aside, it’s widely believed (and perhaps legitimately known) that Stirling earned the bulk of his fortune with investments in gold, in the 1970s. Legend has it that a man in Tahiti told him to invest, and he did, telling anyone and everyone he knew to do the same (Roberts vouched for this, having been a recipient of the advice). A decade later, the price of gold had increased twenty-five times over. From what he tells me, he began investing at a young age. In his early twenties, when St. John’s got rid of the street car system, he purchased all the cars. “I sold them as cabins, people used them as little cabins beside lakes,” he says, chuckling. “I think I was paid $100 for them. I didn’t have any trouble getting rid of them!” “It was a fantastic system,” he continues. “It was five or ten cents to ride the whole route, which ran from LeMarchant Road, over the hill, up Water Street and over to the Newfoundland Hotel. Those cars were cleverly designed. When you stopped the loop, you could reverse the chair to face the other way.” “You’re a powerful man,” I say. “I bet if you got some people together, you could get the system back.” He laughs, for a while. “Lead me not into temptation!”

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t 90, he’s long since retired to Wickenburg, Arizona (“I’m trying to make it the solar energy capital of the world,” he says). If you dig a little, you can find a picture of him with a guy dressed up as Captain Canada on a website for the Wickenburg Legends and Ghosts tour. They’ve got a stop in the middle of town, at a building with a little plaque that reads: “March 22, 1984: At this location Captain Canada materialized for the first time in the United States of America.” Apparently, on that date, Stirling busted through the door of that bar, boot first, and yelled, “I’m looking for someone to play a superhero!” “All I really have to say is ‘have fun,’” he says. “You know, it’s about loosening up a bit. It’s about coming together.” Comment on this article online at thescope.ca

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GALLERIES Openings Andy Jones presents the Abbie Table: A collaborative work narrating the life of a Newfoundland family engaged in the salt fishery from the 1920s to the 1950s. Includes a traditional meal, $10, call to reserve, Eastern Edge Gallery-72 Harbour Dr 739-1882 (Sat Feb 19 at 2pm). Closed Loop: Installation / performance featuring ice lanterns by Jesse H Walker, Victoria Park (Fri Feb 4 from 8pm-8:30pm) Get Out St John’s: LGBT MUN Exhibition, Eastern Edge Gallery-72 Harbour Dr 7391882 (Fri Feb 25-Sun Feb 27) Fantastic Sea Monsters: Stories of ocean and lake ‘monsters’ have fascinated us since the dawn of time; seafarers were convinced that the oceans were the devil’s kingdom – a place of terrifying monsters eager for shipwrecks, the home of sirens, krakens, whales, sea serpents, and giant sharks, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Opening reception Thu Feb 10 at 7pm) Open Studio: With artist in residence Andy Jones, Eastern Edge Gallery-72 Harbour Dr 739-1882 (Thu Feb 3 & Thu Feb 10)

Continuing Exhibitions Art Exhibit: Art by the 4th year SWGC grads of 2010, First Space Gallery-QEII Library Campbell Tinning: The Newfoundland Series: George Campbell Tinning, a Canadian war artist from Saskatoon traveled to Newfoundland in 1949 and painted a series of watercolours reflecting the province’s landscapes and rural communities, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 Coastal Women in Pre-Confederation Newfoundland & Labrador: Documents women’s experiences in outport communities prior to 1949 by interweaving archival photographs & documents, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 Inner Works: Selections from the People’s Collection: Featuring artists such as Anne Meredith Barry, Peter Bell, David Blackwood, Christopher Pratt, Mary Pratt, Helen Parsons Shepherd, Reginald Shepherd, Gerald Squires & Don Wright, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 Lori Doody: Sing, Sing, Sing: In her exhibition, Lori Doody creates an intimate encounter with nature in an urban setting. Sing, Sing, Sing, is comprised of small-scale intaglio prints of starlings perched upon wires, hung from black wires with bamboo clips, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 Metis Carver: Ancient Stories in Stone and Bone – ongoing exhibit by Albert Biles, Wild Things-124 Water St New Works: By Gerald Squires, Esther Squires, George Horan, Julia Pickard, Sharon Puddester, Gerald Squires Gallery-52 Prescott St

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Recent Releases, Richard Steele Gallery-63 Harvey Rd 754-6741 SHHH!: An exhibition of textiles and titillation by Stephanie Barry, Craft Council-59 Duckworth St 753-2749 Witness: An exhibition of figurative sculpture in bronze, burlap and wax by Heather Reeves and Po Chun Lau, Craft Council-59 Duckworth St 753-2749

Last Chance Andy Jones Artist Residency: Jones continues the collaborative “Abbie Table Project”, a table inscribed with a personal story narrating the life of a Newfoundland family, Eastern Edge Gallery-72 Harbour Dr 739-1882 (Ends Sat Feb 19) Barb Hunt: Beyond depicting the absurdity of war, Hunt’s nuanced installations of camouflage fabric contemplate the fragility and beauty of the human body, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Ends Feb 20)

MUSEUMS A Tour de Fort: Interpretive panels tell the story of Fort Townsend, the 18th century symbol of England’s domination over the fishery, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 Admiralty House Museum: 1915 navy wireless station now communications museum, 23 Old Placentia Rd-Mt Pearl 748-1124 Connections: This Place and Its Early Peoples: Polar bears on tundra, carnivorous plants in a bog, seabirds, sea mammals, sea life plus the people who made their lives here, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 East Rider Motorcycle Museum: Two floors of bikes, memorabilia and biker culture, 205 New Gower St 738-3278 [here]say: A story map of Water Street: Stories and memories shared by people who live here. At each location there is a sign with a telephone number and a 3-digit code. Johnson Geo Centre & Park: See Signal Hill’s 550 million year old geology & specimens of NF rocks, minerals & botanical park, 175 Signal Hill Rd 737-7880 MUN Botanical Garden: Trails, gift shop & tearoom, 306 Mt Scio Rd 737-8590 Railway Coastal Museum: St. John’s Dockyard exhibit of model ship hulls, shipbuilding, dockyard history plus the story of Newfoundland's railway boat service & 1940's train diorama, 495 Water St W 724-5929 Signal Hill National Historic Site: Military & communications history, meet Signalman, watch film, interactive exhibits, Visitor Centre 772-5367 The Fluvarium: A panoramic water view under the surface of Nagle's Hill Brook. Spot fish, insects & plants in natural habitat plus interactive exhibits, 5 Nagle's Place 754-3474

books

Illuminated Script

“A

Review by Mark Callanan

“the hamburger man.” Leo has neither visible new Chafe play,” Newfoundland wounds nor physical attributes in common theatre scholar Denyse Lynde with his supposed family. The play’s tension writes in her introduction to is rooted in Leo’s difference, which, ironically, Robert Chafe: Two Plays, “is an lies in his utter normality—at least by wider event of some importance; it is societal standards. impossible to predict its nature, but it will be One thing that sets this play apart from new, it will be different, and it will be theatriother productions, and makes it such a succally exciting.” If precedent is any indication, cessful adaptation of the story on which it then each new Chafe play is also likely to be nominated for one of this country’s highest lit- is based, is its highly innovative set design. In designing the set, Jillian Keiley, Artistic erary honours: “Butler’s Marsh” and “TemptDirector of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland ing Providence,” the scripts that comprise the (which premiered Afterimage at the Harbouraforementioned Two Plays, earned Chafe a 2004 Governor General’s Literary Award nom- front Centre, Toronto, in 2009), and frequent collaborator of Chafe’s, made the metaphoriination. Last year, he not only made the GG cal literal by creating an electrified stage. The shortlist once again—for his stage adaptation actors’ costumes were of Michael Crumwired such that they mey’s short story could create sparks “After Image”—but or mimic flashing won. cameras, or otherwise Flesh & Blood, the literally manifest the 1998 story collection electrical current from which “After that figuratively runs Image” is drawn, is through Crummey’s set in the town of short story, and Black Rock, Newthrough the play. foundland—“a fic Thus, the “Evans tional mining town,” touch”—which is Crummey tells us what teasing schoolin his brief introchildren warn against duction to Chafe’s while avoiding Afterimage. He goes physical contact with on to describe the the Evans kids—is gestation of his short physically manifested story, how numerous by sparks touched real-life anecdotes off between actors. “began circling one Electricity becomes another” in his head the defining element and “created a graviof kinship, a current tational field that that passes through pulled in dozens of the family memother stray incidents bers like electricity and stories” that he through a completed had heard growing circuit. That Leo up, “many of them Afterimage lacks the Evans touch offering variations Robert Chafe is further proof of his on images of fire or Playwrights Canada Press, 2010 difference. electricity.” 86 pages; $16.95 Honestly, though, Much of Chafe’s writing this review adaptation sticks feels a bit like trying close to Crummey’s to describe Rome by quoting a map or guideoriginal storyline: In the beginning, Winston book, without ever having visited the city Evans, a line worker, is badly electrocuted itself. There’s value in examining a play as while working on a downed line. He recupertext, but I suspect that Afterimage is the kind ates in the hospital, where he is cared for by of theatre that must be seen in order to be a laundress, Lise Lacoeur. Lise is a community fully experienced. It seems to me that much of fortune teller whose powers of prognosticaits effect relies on the accumulation of imprestion inform her that she and the burned man sionistic scenes, shot through with electric will one day be married. And so it comes to light, and that much of the script (including pass. Some years later, they have two children the presence of a chorus, which relates snipof their own, Theresa and Jerome, and have pets of interior monologue and occasional adopted a third, Leo. editorial summations), works to contextualize Though Leo is unaware of his adopted stathat visual experience of light and dark—the tus, it’s clear to him that he doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the Evans clan. Theresa and interplay between the two. Here’s hoping for a remount sometime in Jerome have their mother’s flaming red hair, the near future. are left-handed, and seem touched with her precognitive gift. Winston is so scarred from his electrocution that the school children, Comment on this review online at thescope.ca while teasing the Evans kids, refer to him as

FEBRUARY 2011

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ON STAGE CALENDAR Send press releases to listings@thescope.ca

Theatre ABBA (Spirit of Newfoundland) Got To Get The Scoop: Offbeat comedic musical revue featuring the music of ABBA, Masonic Temple-6 Cathedral St 579-3023 (Sat Feb 5) Canadian Improv Games: Newfoundland Regional Tournament: Local high school improv teams go head to head to compete for a spot in the regional finals, MUN DF Cook Recital Hall (Tue Feb 8-Thu Feb 10 from 7pm-10:30pm) Oh Canada!...More Than Just Beavers (Spirit of Newfoundland) A musical revue and dinner featuring the songs of some of Canada’s best songwriters. Starring Sheila Williams & Dana Parsons, $59.50, Masonic Temple-6 Cathedral St 579-3023 (Sat Feb 12 at 6:30pm) Oil and Water (Artistic Fraud) The true story of how Lanier Phillips, the only African American survivor of a shipwreck in St Lawrence, Newfoundland in 1942, was mistaken by his rescuers as being covered in oil. Written by Robert Chafe and directed by Jillian Keiley, LSPU Hall-3 Victoria St 753-4531 (Wed Feb 9 - Sun Feb 20)

Scorched (Beothuk Street Players) Produced by Ted Quinlan and directed by Clar Doyle, $22/$19, Arts & Culture Centre 729-3900 (Wed Feb 2 - Sat Feb 5 at 8pm) The Drawer Boy: While learning about farming from a couple of ‘old fellas’, a young city actor stumbles upon a decades-old mystery. Starring Bruce Brenton, Steve O’Connell & Brad Bonnell, $22/$10 for students, Basement Theatre-Arts & Culture Centre 729-3900 (Wed Feb 2-Sun Feb 6) Title of Show (Best Kind Productions) $20, Basement Theatre-Arts & Culture Centre 729-3900 (Thu Feb 24-Sat Feb 26 at 7:30pm; Sat Feb 26 at 2pm) Tribute to ABBA: $32.50, Arts & Culture Centre 7293900 (Fri Feb 25 at 8pm) Two Chekhov Comedies (Kanutu Productions) Featuring The Proposal and The Dangers of Tobacco, $15/ pay-what-you-can matinee, Basement Theatre-Arts & Culture Centre 729-3900 (Thu Feb 17-Sat Feb 19 at 8pm; Sun Feb 20 at 2pm) Words In Edgewise: Featuring a play by Andy Jones, Eastern Edge Gallery-72 Harbour Dr 739-1882 (Thu Feb 17)

Dance & Performance DTAN Dance Collage:

$22/$18, Arts & Culture Centre 729-3900 (Sat Feb 19 at 8pm)

Miss Teen NL: Heart & Stroke benefit variety show, $22/$20, Arts & Culture Centre 729-3900 (Sun Feb 13 at 7pm) Evolution Sports Show: Presented by Rock Star Energy Drinks, $22.60/$16.95, Mile One Center 576-7657 (Sat Feb 5 at 7:30 pm) Latin Tuesdays: Dance to a mixture of Latin rhythms, 8pm-11pm, no cover, Bella Vista Songwriter’s Circle: Patrick Molloy, Jody Richardson, Rozalind Macphail, Colleen Power & Sean Panting; Art Exhibit: Curated by Mel Smith featuring Greg Blackwood and others; Dance: Andrea Tucker; Short Film: Roger Maunder showing Swallowed; Comedy: Liz Solo; Hosted by Kevin Kelly, The Brimstone Public House-George St (Sat Feb 26) Tango On The Edge: A social gathering to dance Argentine Tango, $5, RCA Club-10 Bennett Ave 579-5752 (Thursdays at 8:30pm) The Heart Truth Fashion Show: Hosted by Sheila Williams, $100, The Majestic-390 Duckworth St 753-8521 (Fri Feb 4)

Spoken & Written Ain’t Poetry Grand 4 (Writers’ Alliance of NL) Valentine’s

fundraiser featuring an evening of poetry with readings from Michael Crummey, Tom Dawe, Danielle Devereaux, Monica Kidd, Michel Savard & Des Walsh, $12/$15, The Ship-265 Duckworth St 7395215 (Sun Feb 13 at 8pm)

Beer` Brains and the Bard: Shakespeare trivia competition to raise funds for Shakespeare By The Sea; six people to a team, $10, Red Rock Bar & Grill-686 Topsail Rd (Thu Feb 10 at 8pm) Book Club (Assoc Communautaire Francophone) Discussing Mémoires d’Hadrien by Marguerite Yourcenar, Centre des Grands-Vents-65 Ridge Rd, 726-4900 (Tue Feb 10 at 8pm) NL Author Reading Series: Kate Evans will read from her debut novel Where Old Ghosts Meet, A.C. Hunter Library-Arts & Culture Centre 737-2133 (Wed Feb 16 at 7pm) Slam Poetry & Storytelling: Poetry, music & storytelling by former Canadian slam poetry champion Brendan McLeod and local poet Monica Squires, $7, Station Lounge-7 Hutchings St (Thu Feb 3 at 7pm & Fri Feb 4 at 7pm)

Comedy LOL-Apolooza: Stand Up Comedy featuring amature and professional comics, $2, The Levee-Holdsworth Court (Sun Feb 13 at 7:30pm & Sun Feb 27 at 7:30pm)

Oil and Water The story of Lanier Phillips and his life changing encounter with the town of St. Lawrence.

February 9-20, 2011, LSPU Hall

for reservations book online at www.rca.nf.ca or call the Hall at 753-4531

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MOVIE DESCRIPTIONS LIMITED RUN Wednesday Feb 2 at 7pm Bananas!* (Global Cinema Series) Attorney Juan Domingues pulls together a lawsuit against the Dole Food Co. when it's discovered that its pesticides are causing harm to plantation workers. Facilitated by Bart Simpson (MUN Communications Studies). Directed by Fredrik Gertten (SWE 2009) $8, Inco Innovation Centre-2001 Thursday Feb 3 at 7pm Tales from the Golden Age (MUN Cinema) Subtitled. In this serio-comic series of vignettes, a disparate group of Romanians in the 1980s cope under the dreaded Nicolae Ceausescu regime. Directed by Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu and Ioana Uricaru (ROM/FRA 2009), Empire TheatresAvalon Mall Sunday Feb 6 from 7pm AAMP Film Festival: The Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl presents the sixth annual Frosty Film Festival, $3/$2, Mt Pearl Soccer Association ClubhouseArena Rd Wednesday Feb 9 at 2pm Black History Month Film Screening: Documentary about Lanier Phillips, AfricanAmerican survivor of the USS

Truxtun which ran aground in Newfoundland in 1942, Junior Common Rm, Gushue Hall

Tuesday Feb 8 at 7:30 Movie Discussion: Chinese Restaurants: Song of the Exile, a film by Cheuk Kwan, followed by an open discussion, free for RIAC members, $2, Centre for Social Justice-204 Water St Thursday Feb 10 at 12pm Lunch and Learn: As part of International Development Week a number of National Film Board of Canada documentaries on alleviating racism in the workplace will be screened, UC 4011-Memorial University Thursday Feb 10 at 7pm Inside Job (MUN Cinema) The mellifluous tones of Matt Damon narrate this doc on the ins and outs of Wall Street. Alternate title? The Bourne Recession. Directed by Charles Ferguson. (USA 2010), Empire Theatres-Avalon Mall Tuesday Feb 15 at 7pm Ciné-franco: Contre Toute Espérance (CAN 2007) Centre des Grands-Vents-65 Ridge Rd 726-4900 Wednesday Feb 16 at 7pm Broken Embraces (Global Cinema Series) A love triangle between an aspiring actress, a filmmaker and a wealthy financier reaches a tragic conclusion. Faciliated by Jenina MacGillivray (Philosophy). Directed by Pedro Almodovar (SPA 2009) $8, Inco Innovation Centre-2001.

Thursday Feb 17 at 7pm Blue Valentine (MUN Cinema) Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams want you to cry. Cry you shall as you watch them fall in love and grow apart. Directed by Derek Cianfrance. (USA 2010), Empire Theatres-Avalon Mall Thursday Feb 24 at 7pm Fair Game (MUN Cinema) Ripped from the headlines faster than you can make that “Law And Order” noise, Game depicts CIA agent Valerie Plame's (Naomi Watts) identity leak as a White House conspiracy. Directed by Doug Liman (USA 2010), Empire Theatres-Avalon Mall

DAILY SHOWINGS Call or check online for times and prices.

Avalon mall empire studios 12: 722-5775 Mount pearl empire cinemas: 722-5775 www.empiretheatres.com

Frankie & Alice: With a Pam Grier afro and accent that depends on the kindness of strangers, Halle Berry hopes to overcome mental illness with the help of Stellan Skarsgard and Clair Huxtable. (Feb 4) Sanctum: While exploring “the mother of all caves”, an intense storm threatens a group of divers. But perhaps the greatest storm lies within the cave of humanity and

its emotional...stalactites? (Feb 4)

The Roommate: At college, Sara bunks with Rebecca. Sadly, the VCR in Rebecca's brain still has Single White Female in it and this Manic Pixie Dream Stalker goes crazy-cakes on poor Sara. (Feb 4) On The Day - The Story of the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band: 200 bagpipe bands battle for the highlycoveted best pipe band prize. (I'm looking forward to the Behind The Music special where the winners spend everything on blow and goldlamé kilts.) (Feb 9)

light out of his hands. Guess you came from the planet Street Fighter 2! (Feb 18)

Unknown: While the title would best serve a Jerry O'Connell biography, this film has Liam Neeson losing his identity and going Darkman/ Taken on the asses of those responsible. (Feb 18) Drive Angry: No one wanted a Ghost Rider rip-off, but reason never stopped Nicolas Cage from buying skulls or doing another “man goes to hell and avenges his own murder” film. (Feb 25)

Hall Pass: Owen Wilson and his married bros are given a break from monogamy to flush out their libidinous urges. Complications ensue when it's discovered that women also enjoy extra-marital sex. Wah-wah. (Feb 25) The Eagle: Channing “Drederick” Tatum searches for a Roman eagle standard (that's a trophy for you laymen out there) in this motion picture (that's a movie for you laymen out there). (Feb 25) Capsule descriptions by Adam Clarke.

Gnomeo & Juliet: In a tale that surely started as a pun scrawled on a bar napkin by a desperate studio executive, Gnomeo presents Shakespeare re-envisioned with lawn gnomes and dad rock. (Feb 11) Just Go With It: Thanks, movie! I will! Anyway, Adam Sandler mumbles and screeches his way as a man who pretends to be married to score with women (as seen on Seinfeld). (Feb 11) Big Mommas - Like Father Like Son: In this cop caper, Martin Lawrence dons a wig and a fat suit, taking the courageous stance that obese women should be mocked. (Feb 18) Blue Valentine: Dean and Cindy fall in love, but rather than dove-tailing into a movie happy ending, they make each other miserable and grow apart. You know, like in real life. (Feb 18) I Am Number 4: No, you are number 6. You're a humanoid space alien that shoots blue

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COMMUNITY EVENTS Guerilla Queerfare: Spontaneous queer party at as-yet-undisclosed bar/club downtown. Check Facebook group for details (Fri Feb 4 at 11pm) In The Name Of Love Cake Walk: An oh-so-sweet and tasty afternoon fundraiser. Listen carefully to the honeyed voices of pop music's best crooners; when the music stops, you stop, and if your number is called you win a cake, $15, Eastern Edge Gallery - 72 Harbour Dr 739-1882 (Sat Feb 12 from 2pm-5pm) Social Justice/International Development Fair: Highlighting student and community groups that work in the international development and social justice fields. Check out the various booths for employment and volunteer opportunities –- or to just make yourself aware of international development issues, MUN UC 3018 (Tue Feb 8 from 10am-3pm) Tommy Sexton Centre Benefit: Show & auction with The 8-Track Favourites, Military Road, Darrell Power & Kevin Evans. Drag Queen tribute featuring Batty 'Boo" Kakke, Doris Anita Douche & Annie Cockadoo; After party with DJ Fabian, $20, Bella Vista 5798656 (Fri Feb 11)

LECTURES & FORUMS Archives & Authors Lecture Series: Hilda Chaulk Murray will discuss her book, More than 50%: Women’s Life in a Newfoundland Outport 1900 – 1950, and give a guided tour on women’s unique and ever-changing roles in outport Newfoundland, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Wed Feb 23 at 7pm) Atrophy & The Excess of Bodybuilding: This is a free public lecture exploring philosophical aspects of bodybuilding, The Ship-265 Duckworth St (Tue Feb 22 at 8:30pm) Coopers’ Tools: In the days when everything from fish to fine wine was shipped in barrels, coopers hand-made them by the hundreds of thousands; collections expert Blair Withycombe tells us about the historic tools of this trade, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Thu Feb 3 from 2:30pm-3:30pm) Crypsis – Decoding the Art of Barb Hunt: Bruce Johnson, The Rooms’ Curator of Contemporary Art, discusses and tours Barb Hunt’s latest exhibition Toll, revealing the meanings beneath her camouflage creations, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave (Thu Feb 10 from 2:30-3:30 pm) Department of History Lecture: Dr. Glenn Wilkinson will give a talk entitled "Combat and Beyond: British Society and the War Film, 1945-1960,” free, MUN A-2071 (Thu Feb 3 at 1pm) Distinguished Speakers Lecture (MUN Poli Sci) Led

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FEBRUARY 2011

by Dr. Fen Osler Hampson, director of the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, the topic is “Is Canada fading from the global scene?” Free, MUN SN-2109 (Thu Feb 3 at 7:30pm)

Movie Discussion: Chinese Restaurants: Song of the Exile, a film by Cheuk Kwan, followed by an open discussion, free for RIAC members, $2, Centre for Social Justice-204 Water St (Tue Feb 8 from 7:30 to 9:30pm) Gilbert Browning – The Taste will Tell: Ever wondered who the Browning of Browning, Harvey Ltd. was? Come and learn more about this 19th century multi-talented entrepreneur. If you have Browning memorabilia, such as biscuit boxes or tins, bring them along, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Thu Feb 24 from 2:30-3:30pm) Governor General Lecture Series (Royal Society of Canada) Madame Justice Rosalie Abella leads a lecture entitled Culture and Justice: A Love Story, MUN Reid Theatre (Thu Feb 3 at 12pm) Healthcare in 2020: Can Newfoundland & Labrador Lead The Way? (NLCAHR) Featuring John Abbott and Dr. James Rourke, followed by a Q & A session and reception, MUN EN-2006 (Tue Feb 15 from 7:30pm to 9:30pm) History of Confederation: Jeff Webb shares some of his research on aspects of the history of the confederation debate, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Wed Feb 9 at 7pm) Human Library: Confronting prejudices and stereotypical judgments, part of International Development Week. International students will become living books that can be checked out for a short period, free, The LandingMemorial University (Tue Feb 8 from 12pm-4pm) Tracking Trails of Electronic Junk: Sustainability and the Travels of E-Waste featuring MUN Geography’s Dr. Josh Lepawsky, Johnson GEO Centre (Tue Feb 22 from 7:30 to 8:30pm) Keynote Address: Hugh Evans, CEO of the Global Poverty Project wraps up MUN’s International Development Week with a lecture on solutions to extreme poverty, INCO Innovation CentreMemorial University (Tue Feb 8 at 7pm) Lunch at the Hall: Michael Chiasson discusses project grant applications to the Canada Council, LSPU HallLSPU Hall-3 Victoria St 7534531(Tue Feb 8 at 1pm) Lunch at the Hall: Robert Chafe discusses the creative process for writing Oil and Water, LSPU Hall-3 Victoria St 753-4531 (Thu Feb 17 at 1pm) Music, Media & Culture Lecture Series: Dr Georgina Born (Oxford Uni) presents The Future of the BBC? Pros and Cons of Cultural Institutions, free, Arts & Culture CentreMMaP Gallery (Wed Feb 9 at 7:30pm) People’s Health Matters Lecture Series: Dr. Deborah McPhail will lead a talk on

“Gender, Race and the Making of Obesity, 1945-70,” Lecture Theatre A-Health Sciences Centre (Fri Feb 18 from 1pm2pm)

Colloquium on Mind (MUN Philosophy) Chris Wass will speak on contemporary variations in Marxist theory, MUN A-1049 (Fri Feb 11 from 1pm to 2pm) Colloquium on Mind (MUN Philosophy) Esteban Rivera will speak on “The Power of Mind, The Power of Evil,” MUN A-1049 (Fri Feb 25 from 1pm to 2pm) Philosophy Winter Colloquium: Dr. Peter Harris speaks on Aquinas: Body, Soul and the Borderline, MUN C-4036(Tue Feb 1 from 2pm3:20pm) Philosophy Winter Colloquium: Dr. Michelle Rebidoux (Religious Studies) speaks on Deeper than Entrails is that Great Love! Between Flesh and Icon in Teresa of Avila, free, MUN C-4036 (Tue Feb 8 from 2pm to 3:20pm) Philosophy Winter Colloquium: Dr. Suma Rajiva speaks on “Embodiment and the Kantian Sublime,” all welcome, C4036-Memorial University (Tue Feb 15 from 2pm-3:20pm) Saving your Archival Treasures: Find out if your family heirlooms, photos, personal documents or books can be recovered if damaged from disaster, misuse or neglect, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Thu Feb 17 from 2:30-3:30pm) The Census of Marine Ocean Life: Making Ocean Life Count: It took 2,700 scientists all over the world more than a decade to produce the census. Dr. Paul Snelgrove (MUN Ocean Sciences) is here to share some of their amazing discoveries, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Wed Feb 16 at 7pm) The Chinese in Newfoundland 1895-1950: Historians Robert Hong and Miriam Wright discuss Chinese migration to Newfoundland and their cultural contributions, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Wed Feb 3 at 7pm) Toxic Policy: A Lawn Pesticides Ban in Newfoundland & Labrador in 2011? Public Forum with keynote speaker Gideon Forman (Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment), Foran RoomCity Hall (Thu Feb 17) Your City Your Vision: Join Happy City to share your ideas and vision for St. John’s, Foran Room-City Hall (Sat Feb 5 from 10am-3pm) Wessex Society Lecture: Featuring retired educator Marie Hunt who will give a talk titled "A History of Conception Bay Centre," Hampton Hall-Marine Institute (Wed Feb 9 from 8 to 9:30) Women’s Rights and Maternal Health: Global and Local Perspectives with guest speakers Dr. Shree Mulay and Ms. Samantha Leeson, in honor of International Development Week 2011, MUN SN-2018 (Tue Feb 10 from 3pm-4:30pm)

KIDS & TEENS Animal Tracks: Every foot print tells a story. Help us find out what critters might be hiding in the woods and even make an animal tracks story of your own, The Fluvarium-5 Nagle's Pl 754-3474 (Weekends at 1:30pm) Cinéma Jeunesse: Le Chemin du Retour (USA 2010) Centre des Grands-Vents-65 Ridge Rd 726-4900 (Sat Feb 19 at 2pm) Create and Celebrate with Valentines: Make a Valentine’s Day card for someone special or make a valentine paper chain to decorate your home, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Sun Feb 13 from 2pm-4pm) Feed The Birds: We’ll show you how to make a bird feeder from a milk carton so the birds in your backyard won’t go hungry this winter, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Sun Feb 6 from 2pm-4pm) Here Be Monsters! Join storyteller Dale Jarvis for tales of creatures of the deep, $5/free for Rooms members, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Sun Feb 27 at 2pm) Make Your Own Mermaid: Drop by and decorate one of our favourite sea monsters - she can be as scary as you like, or as beautiful as you can make her, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Sun Feb 27 from 2pm-4pm) Princess & Pirate Costume Tea Party: An afternoon of family fun with famous pirates and princesses, prizes for best costumes, and musical guests Afterglow, Delta Hotel-120 New Gower St 729-3900 (Sun Feb 13 from 2pm-5pm) Wet-on-Wet Water Colour: Explore the world of water colour and see how the wet-on-wet technique makes a powerful first impression, The Rooms-9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Sun Feb 20 from 2pm-4pm) Winterlude: Fawily activities including a creative free play zone, a sports zone, tractor rides, on-stage entertainment and refreshments, free, Bowring Park-Waterford Bridge Rd (Sun Feb 11 from 1-4pm) Young Musicians, Open mic at Shamrock City Pub (Sundays at 2pm)

MEETINGS & CLASSES

Clubs, Groups, Free Classes & Workshops Alzheimer Family Support: Group meeting for family members of people with Alzheimer’s disease, 685 Water St (Third Thursday of month at 7pm) Annual Curling Bonspiel: Participants must sign up by Fri Feb 18, $30 per person/$120 per team, RE/MAX Centre 864-2313 (Sat Feb 26 from 10:30am-5pm) Avalon Wesleyan Church: Weekly meet up in a casual

atmosphere with coffee & contemporary music, free, Rabbittown Theatre-106 Freshwater Rd 576-6937 (Sundays at 10am)

Breastfeeding Support Group (La Leche League) The topic of discussion will be The Baby Arrives: Family and the Breastfed Baby, babies welcome, free, Sobey's-Torbay Rd 722-5815 (Mon Feb 14 at 7pm) Capital Toastmasters: Improve self-confidence and overall leadership abilities for career and life, free, MUN Inco Centre-2014 687-1031 Career Orientation Day Reception: Learn about French-language postsecondary educational opportunities in Canada, Centre Scolaire et Communautaire des Grands-Vents-65 Ridge Rd 757-2855 (Thu Feb 24 from 5pm to 7pm) Caregiver Conversations: Support group for unpaid caregivers 726-2370 (Every third Monday) Channal: A peer support group for people with mental illness. We focus on recovery, 120 LeMarchant Rd 753-7710 (Tuesdays at 7pm & Wednesdays at 2pm) Comic Artist Breakdown: Come celebrate comic books and try your hand at the world's hottest art-form. We'll supply the paper and pens, free, Anna Templeton Centre-278 Duckworth St 739-7623 (Fri Feb 4 from 7pm-9pm) Community Sector Council: Info Session on how to create a culture of innovation in your organization, call 7539860 for information (Wed Feb 2 & Thu Feb 3) Critical Mass: A mass bike ride around downtown to assert cyclists' right to the roads and spread cycling awareness. Meet at 6pm at Colonial Building (Fri Feb 25 at 6pm) Fraud Prevention Workshop: «Non à la fraude», preventing fraud towards the elderly, free lunch, Centre Communautaire des GrandsVents-65 Ridge Rd, call 7264900 for reservations or info (Web Feb 23 from 10am-3pm) Free Arts Studio (For the Love of Learning) Offering space, materials and advice. Free workshops, art exhibits, a newspaper and writing anthologies, stage plays and short films, Gower St United Church-basement 722-8848 (Weekdays from 12pm5:30pm) Free Computer Workshops: Skype - internet phone service (Wed Feb 9 & Sat Feb 12); Microsoft Word 2007 (Thu Feb 17 & Sat Feb 19); Facebook (Wed Feb 23); Computer Maintenance (Wed Feb 26), AC Hunter Library-Arts & Culture Centre 737-3950 Green Drinks: An informal get together for those who work, volunteer or have an interest in environment & conservation related issues, 7pm-9pm, no cover, The Ship (Last Wednesday of month) Introduction to Winter Camping: Hosted by Alan Goodridge, Children’s Activity Centre-A.C. Hunter Library, free but must register, 7373950 (Tue Feb 22 at 7pm) Knit Wits: Drop in knitting social with help to get you started, free, Anna Templeton Centre-278 Duckworth St (Last Sunday of month from 7pm-9pm) (Sun Feb 27 from 7pm-9pm)

Nar-Anon Family Group: Weekly meetings for those who know or have known a feeling of desperation due to the addiction problem of someone close to them, 726-6191 Newfoundland Horticultural Society: Monthly meet up, St David's Church Hall-Elizabeth Ave (First Tuesday of month at 8pm) Overeaters Anonymous: Help is available and it’s free, no strings attached. Weekly meetings in the metro area, 738-1742 Solid Rock (Avalon Wesleyan Church) Free supper, video by Nicky Gumbel & discussion. Open to everyone, even if you don't believe in God but want to know what Christians believe in, 111 Park Ave-Mt Pearl 240-0333 (Wednesdays) (EVERY WEDNESDAY ENDS MAR 23) Shambhala Meditation Group: Free introduction to meditation, Billy Rahl Fieldhouse-rear Elizabeth Towers 576-4727 (Wednesdays 7:30pm & Sundays 10am) Sing Barbershop: The Anchormen Chorus is seeking new members, Arts & Culture Centre-Rm B rick_e_young@ hotmail.com (Mondays at 7pm) St John’s City Council Meeting: Refer to Council Agenda at www.stjohns.ca (posted Friday afternoon), Public welcome, City HallCouncil Chambers, 4th fl (Mondays at 4:30pm) Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Graduate Students’ Union invites people to gather their yarn balls and other crafty items and craft the cold winter nights away. Bring your own yarn. Held in the GSU Boardroom above Bitters (Mon Feb 14 & 28 at 7pm) Tenacious String Orchestra: Amateur community orchestra welcomes new members motivated by the pure enjoyment of playing together alison@ nf.sympatico.ca The Pottle Centre: A social & recreation centre for consumers of mental health services, 323 Hamilton Ave 753-2143 The Rooms: Free admission, 9 Bonaventure Ave 757-8000 (Wednesdays 6pm-9pm) Thyroid Cancer Info: For survivors, family members & friends, Eastern Health Admin Offices-306 Waterford Bridge Rd (Sat Feb 26) Trivia Night (Rose & Thistle on Tuesdays); (Bitters on Thursdays at 8pm) Volunteerism Luncheon: Community Sector Council of NL and Volunteer Week Committee’s annual lunch, $20, call 753-9860 for info and registration (Thu Feb 3) Walk on Water: Get fit, meet people & learn the history of downtown, everyone welcome, free, Auntie Crae’s (Saturdays at 10am, rain or shine) Women's Accordion Circle: Women of all ages can perform, experiment & share stories about making music, Arts & Culture Centre2nd Fl, Old Gallery 746-2399 (Mondays at 7:30pm) Send press releases to listings@thescope.ca

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FEBRUARY 2011

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COMICS

Free Fall Fight by Ricky King

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behold!! by P.N. Grata

Rhymes With Understand by Emily Deming

Mr. Pickles by Quinn Whalen

meantoons by John Meaney

Perfect Sunday by Michael Butler

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Nothing Special About Words by Michael Young

on screen

Find more reviews and movie times at thescope.ca/onscreen

misery they went through, their relationship was a mad grasp at straws that is somehow still rewarding. Plus, how can you turn down a movie with cameos by Christopher Walken, Marshall McLuhan and Truman Capote? token vampire entry

Annie Hall

Let the Right One In

Let the right one in (2008)

So affecting it inspired an inferior US remake, this Swedish film is a tale of two outsiders. One, a vampire stuck in adolescence (Lina Leandersson) and the other, an emotionally stunted schoolboy (Kare Hedebrant) whose future career path seems stuck in sociopath mode. While not mushy, the performances and writing can be described as sweet. Unlike the idealized love found in supernatural romances, these two characters fit not because they complete each other's fantasies, but because their humanity shines through only when they're together. A Ben Stiller Vehicle You Won't Hate

Flirting With Disaster (1996) Flirting With Disaster

Brokeback Mountain

In addition to Stiller, the cast includes Lily Tomlin, Josh Brolin, Six Feet Under's Richard Jenkins, Mary Tyler Moore and Alan Alda. Combined with a script by director David O. Russell, who wrote Three Kings and The Fighter, this farcical comedy is so sharp it even wrings laughs out of infidelity. Mel (Stiller) is bored with Nancy (Patricia Arquette) and is increasingly attracted to Tina (TĂŠa Leoni), the astoundingly incompetent adoption agent. Jealous of her husband, Nancy accepts some unexpected attention from Jenkins' lover (Brolin), and the end result is awkwardness all around. Yet, Mel and Nancy ultimately acknowledge and get over their marital doldrums. Sentimental Favourite

Brokeback Mountain (2005) Last Night

Love, Sick by Adam Clarke There's nothing quite like a manufactured holiday to give you the fuzzies. I hate fuzzies. Love is equal parts foul and embarrassing, like a tonsillolith stone. Your humble alt-monthly scribbler exceeds not in cultivating relationships but in destroying them. Getting hung up on someone at the drop of a hat? Breaking off engagements? Poisoning friendships by acting on long-standing sexual tensions? I'm guaranteed to have done at least two of those things before I've had my tea and toast. So Valentine's Day is not for me. It's for people who are loveable. And I'm about as loveable as Robert Mugabe. Yet there are films that still move me, so imagine what nice people like you might feel watching them! Here are my Valentine's recommendations. Film Studies 101

Annie Hall (1977)

Love is something Woody Allen understands very well. At least in his movies. Here, Alvy Singer (Allen) meets the title character (Diane Keaton) and we watch their relationship get

heated and eventually peter out. Unlike later Allen films, however, Hall isn't cynical. In the final monologue Alvy notes how good it is to see Annie again once time has passed. They can never rekindle their passion, but it's not something they'd ever erase. For all the

I saw Brokeback under somewhat Savage Love-like circumstances that I've been advised not to write here, except that I had a lovely time. Anyhoo, this film is a tragedy. Though its ending will reduce viewers to incoherent weeping, the love affair between Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal lingers. The raw, uncontrollable passion is breathtaking, even to a heartless walking stock exchange-collapse like myself. Hot, Canadian Passion

Last Night (1998)

As Torontonians prepare for an unexplained apocalypse set to wipe out all of humanity, and things have disintegrated into street violence and casual sex. But Patrick (writer-director-star Don McKellar) and Sandra (Sandra Oh), both end up separated from loved ones as their final minutes tick by. Their desperate chemistry has a spur-ofthe-moment honesty which gives Last Night a sweetness to balance its weirdness. While not likely to give you a case of the fuzzies, these are interesting, must-see films that'll better prepare you for the tribulations of Valentine's and, Zardoz willing, beyond. I screen, you screen, we all screen for

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simply the best! Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador

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free will astrology by rob brezsny

for february 2010

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18) The renegade spiritual sect

known as the Church of the Subgenius values one treasure above all others: not salvation, not enlightenment, not holiness,

but rather Slack. And what is Slack? It is a state of being in which everything flows smoothly – a frame of mind so unfettered and at ease that the entire universe just naturally cooperates with you. When you've got abundant reserves of Slack, you don't strain and struggle to make desired events unfold, and you don't crave things you don't really need. You're surrendered to the greater intelligence that guides your life, and it provides you with a knack for attracting only what's truly satisfying. Happy Slack Month, Aquarius! I suspect you will have loads of that good stuff, which means your freedom to be your authentic self will be at a peak.

∫

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20) "Everybody gets so much infor-

mation all day long that they lose their common sense," said writer Gertrude Stein many decades ago. Isn't that about

a thousand times truer in 2011? It takes rigorous concentration not to be inundated with data. But that's exactly your assignment, Pisces. It's absolutely crucial for you to be a beacon of common sense in the coming days. To meet your dates with destiny, you will have to be earthy, uncluttered, wellgrounded, and in close touch with your body's intuition. If that requires you to cut back dramatically on the volume of information you take in, so be it.

†

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19) Now and then, members of other

astrological signs complain that I seem to favor you, Aries, above them. If that's true,

I'm certainly not aware of it. As far as I know, I love all the signs equally. I will say this, however: Due to the idiosyncrasies of my own personal horoscope, I have been working for years to get more skilled at expressing qualities that your tribe tends to excel at: being direct, acting fearless, knowing exactly what you want, cultivating a willingness to change, and leading by example. All these assets are especially needed by the people in your life right now.

‡

TAURUS (Apr 20 – May 20)

In Leonard Cohen's song "Anthem,"

are named with English words, at least one

of the best times all year for welcoming the

isn't: the moisture

light that comes through the cracks. In fact,

of a woman who is sexually aroused. The

I urge you to consider widening the cracks

Anglo-Saxons did have a word for it, he

Kagin has incorporated performance art

a little – maybe even splitting open a few

noted: silm, which also referred to the look

into his crusade against religious believers.

new cracks – so that the wildly healing light

of moonlight on the water. "Poor language,"

Wielding a hairdryer, he "de-baptizes"

Hass concluded, bemoaning

≤

CANCER (Jun 21 – Jul 22) A famous atheist named Edwin

children. The stream of hot air that Kagin

can pour down on you in profusion.

LIBRA (Sep 23 – Oct 22) When was the last time you cre-

a vocabulary that ignores such an

any problems caused by poor language in

to exorcise the holy water daubed there

ily talking about a work of art; it might have

your own sphere. If you've been lazy about

way back when. Could you benefit from a

been an exquisite dinner you prepared for

articulating your meaning or needs, then

similar ritual, Cancerian? If you have any

people you love... or a temporary alliance

please activate your deeper intelligence.

inclinations to free yourself from early

you forged that allowed you to accomplish

If there's a situation in your life that's

imprints, religious or otherwise, you're in a

the impossible...or a scary-fun adventure

suffering from a sloppy use of words, re-

™

you risked that turned you into a riper hu-

frame its contours with crisper speech. You

man being with a more authoritative stand-

could even coin some new words or borrow

ing. Whether your last tour de force hap-

good ones from foreign tongues.

LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22) In an old Star Trek episode, a

pened seven weeks ago or seven months

woman visits the starship's medical facility

ago, my sense is that you're due for another

seeking chemicals she needs to start a

one. The cosmic rhythms are conspiring to

hydroponic garden. The chief doctor, who

make you act like an artful genius.

on a softball team in Santa Cruz. I played

"Now I know how Hippocrates felt," he

≠

third base and he was the pitcher. For one game he showed up with a new glove that still had the price tag dangling. I asked him if he was going to snip it off. "Nope," he said. "It'll subtly distract the batters and give me an advantage." That day he pitched one of his best games ever. His pitches seemed to have extra mojo that kept

complains, "when the King needed him to

the momentum been sucked out of your

trim a hangnail." (Ancient Greek physician

life? Have you lost your way? Personally, I

Hippocrates is referred to as the "Father of

think you're doing better than you realize.

Medicine" because of his seminal influence

The dormancy is a temporary illusion. To

on the healing professions.) I suspect

help give you the perspective you need, I

that sometime soon, Leo, you will be in a

offer you this haiku-like poem by

position similar to the ship's doctor. Unlike

Imma von Bodmershof, translated by Petra

him, however, you should carry out the

Engelbert: "The great river is silent / only

assignment with consummate grace. It'll

sometimes it sounds quietly / deep under

bedside manner, scowls at her. Why is she bothering him with such a trivial request?

690-7673 email: jasonkearseygoldstonerealestate.com WEB: www.goldstonerealestate.com

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SCORPIO (Oct 23 - Nov 21) Why is everything so eerily quies-

cent right now? Should you be worried? Has

Happy birthday to Paul Warford, Glenn Nuotio, Rick Bailey, Anita Singh, Noreen Golfman, Cyril Butler, Jill Sterner, Mark Wilson, Jenn Brown, Davey Zegarac, Chelsey Laird, Kerri Breen, Kevin Hehir, and Sherri Levesque Send birthday info to birthday@thescope.ca

assignment, Sagittarius, is to correct for

ated a masterpiece, Libra? I'm not necessar-

favorable phase to do so.

Birthdays this month

important part of human experience. Your

blows against their foreheads is meant

has a high sense of self-worth and a gruff

My brother Tom and I used to be

(Nov 22 – Dec 21)

I saw ex-Poet Laureate Robert Hass read and while many of the fluids of the human body

effects of the baptism they experienced as

GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20)

∑

SAGITTARIUS

can tell, Virgo, the weeks ahead will be one

Jason Kearsey

FEBRUARY 2011

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sep 22)

the ice."

discuss his poem "Etymology." He said that

...Buying a new home? ...An investment property? Call me for a free consultation.

thescope

‘

ways you can't imagine right now.

That's how the light gets in." From what I

Considering ...Selling your home?

pay off for you in the long run -- probably in

he sings "There is a crack in everything /

ex-church-goers who want to reverse the

I've found that even when people are successful in dealing with a long-term, intractable problem, they rarely zap it out of existence in one epic swoop. Generally they chip away at it, dismantling it little by little; they gradually break its hold with incremental bursts of unspectacular heroism. Judging from the astrological omens, though, I'd say that you Tauruses are ripe for a large surge of dismantling. An obstacle you've been hammering away at for months or even years may be primed to crumble dramatically.

the hitters off-balance. Were they even aware they were being messed with? I don't think so. In fact, my theory is that because Tom's trick was so innocuous, no one on the opposing team registered the fact that it was affecting their concentration. I suggest you try a similar strategy, Gemini.

‹

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19) Stand-up comedian Arj Barker says

that when he writes each of his jokes, he's thinking that all he needs to do is make it funny enough to get at least three people in the audience to laugh at it. More than three is gravy, and he hopes he does get more. But if he can just get those three, he believes, he will always get a lot of work in his chosen profession. In accordance with the astrological rhythms, Capricorn, I urge you to adopt a similar approach. To be successful in the coming days, you don't need an approval rating of 80 percent.

Homework Happiness, that elusive beast, sometimes needs to be tracked through the bushes before capture. Send

a description of your game plan for hunting down happiness in 2011. Write to Truthrooster@gmail.com.