Verb Issue R63 (Feb 1-7, 2013)

Issue #63 – February 1 to February 7

making music the once

with

into the deep Kirk Krack talks freediving becoming book Troy Gronsdahl makes way for magic Stand Up Guys + The End of Time Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of renita fillatre

contents

NEWs + Opinion

culture

entertainment

Q + A with Jess Moskaluke

Live Music listings

On the race to the top. 8 / Q + A

Local music listings for February 1 through February 9. 14 / listings

writers of a feather

Can’t stop

Nightlife Photos

Exploring Saskatchewan’s literary landscape. 3 / Local

Fur Eel, and the importance of staying relevant. 9 / Arts

We visit Bocados.

Make way for magic!

stand up guys + the end of time

verbnews.com @verbregina facebook.com/verbregina

15 / Nightlife

Editorial

Artist Troy Gronsdahl explores the mystery of interpretation. 9 / Arts

We review the latest movies. 16 / Film

into the wild

ART & Production Design Lead / Roberta Barrington Design & Production / Brittney Graham Contributing Photographers / tamara klein, danielle tocker, Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson

Freediver Kirk Krack talks training record-holders. 4 / Local

On the cover:

The Once

Exploring the past and present with The Once. 10 / cover

Publisher / Parity Publishing Editor in Chief / Ryan Allan Managing Editor / Jessica Patrucco staff Writers / Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson Contributing writer / jessica Bickford

Business & Operations

simply stunning

on the go

on the bus

Our thoughts on Saskatchewan police using tasers. 6 / Editorial

This week we visit Pronto.

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

12 / Food + Drink

comments

Music

Game + Horoscopes

Here’s your say on making travel more affordable. 7 / comments

Rival Sons, Dean Brody + Leonard Cohen. 13 / music

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, weekly horoscopes and Sudoku. 19 / timeout

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit Marketing Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

contact Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 881 8372 advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 979 2253 design / layout@verbnews.com / 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com / 979 2253

Please recycle after reading & sharing Photo: courtesy of renita fillatre

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Writers of a feather...

Photo: courtesy of Adam Hawboldt / Verb

Writing North: just another example of how far the Saskatchewan literary community has come by adam hawboldt

N

azis. Reduction as violence. The FuSchnickens. Being shot by a pellet gun.

If someone were to put the aforementioned gun to your head and ask what those four things have in common, what would you say?

If you answered, “things that were discussed at the 2013 Writing North conference,” then you’re correct.

The conference — which brings together noted authors from around province — always starts with a panel discussion in the Neatby-Timlin Theatre.

This year, the theatre is filled with hipsters and scholars, young poets and grey-haired old men. Some are jotting down notes on pieces of paper, some typing away at computers nestled in their laps. Others simply listen.

At the front of the theatre, under warm halogen lights, a panel of authors is seated at a long brown table.

David Carpenter, a much-published local author, lobs questions at the panel, which includes writers like Candace Savage, Ken Babstock, David Poulsen, DM St. Bernard, C.E. Gatchalian. And at first all the talk is about craft and audience. Stuff that many non-writers may find less than interesting.

But then it happens. From the audience comes an odd, out-of-place comment about Nazis, and the debate swells. Eventually, the talk turns to the ‘90s rap group Fu-Schnickens, before the award-winning poet Ken Babstock regales the audience with a tale about the time he was invited to a fellow’s

house, then summarily shot after putting a pellet through a light bulb.

The crowd, littered with authors who have traveled from the four corners of the province to be here, chuckles. And Writing North 2013 begins with a bang.

“What you have to realize is that Saskatchewan writers are spread all over the province,” says Dave Carpenter, sitting in the Broadway Roastery in Saskatoon days before Writing North, 2013. “From Cypress Hills to the Canadian Shield, from cities to all the small towns.”

Carpenter clears his throat and continues. “Early on, writers in this province felt a lot of isolation. If you live in a big city you have literary magazines, all kinds of book stores, the bohemian vibe, writers to look over your manuscripts, you got everything a writer wants. But in the early going we didn’t really have that here. There wasn’t really a community.” On the table in front of Carpenter rests a brand new copy of the book he has spent years editing: The Literary History of Saskatchewan.

This is the first volume of a two-part series, a book that maps the journey literature in this province has taken — beginning with Cree writing of the 19th century, and continuing into the 1980s.

If you open the book and flip to page 179, you’ll see an essay called “The New Generation: The ‘70s Remembered” by Ken Mitchell. That’s where you find out when and how this isolated collection of writers came

together to form one of the strongest, most close-knit groups in Canada.

It all began, they say, in the summer of ’69, when a group of writers met at the Valley Centre in Qu’Appelle. These individuals came together and chatted about literary markets, professional development and other such stuff.

A year later, the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild held its inaugural conference. “That was the first writers’ guild in Canada,” explains Carpenter.

“I joined right around the time I finished my first book, and the guild, for me, that is the community. We went through a lot together. We went through the launching of all our first books together. The friends I made back then, in the ‘70s, they’re still my friends today.”

But it wasn’t just the guild that helped build the writing community in this province. At the same time, this “school of fervent writers” also created the first system of retreats to help combat the feeling of isolation.

“You can go down to Cypress Hills, there’s the Wallace Stegner residence, Fort San,” says Carpenter. “I always go to the Muenster monastery. Oh, and there are retreats at St. Mike’s, too.”

And it was through these retreats, through these conferences and meetings, that a bond grew between a special generation of writers in Saskatchewan. A bond that has left hand prints all over the modern literary landscape.

Back at Writing North 2013, the festivities are in full swing.

People stand shoulder to shoulder, back to back, outside the NeatbyTimlin Theatre. They drink wine and snack on food while talking books and life and football.

And if you look around the corridor with the right kind of eyes, you may be able to recognize a lot of the “The New Generation” of writers mentioned in The Literary History of Saskatchewan. The ones who started the guild and helped build the retreat system.

Their hair may be thinner now, a little more grey, but to watch them — authors like Carpenter, Dave Margoshes, Robert Calder, Louise Halfe, Barbara Sapergia and so on— you can almost

see them lazing around the Fort San on a fine summer day, 40 years ago, doing pretty much the same thing.

But these writers, they aren’t stuck in the blissful haze of the good ol’ days. No, they’re still at the very heart of the Saskatchewan literary scene, still writing, forever building the community and making events like Writing North not only possible, but entertaining as well.

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Into the Deep

Saskatchewan freediver Kirk Krack has trained everyone, from record-holders to Tiger Woods by ADAM HAWBOLDT

B

efore Kirk Krack enters the water for a freedive, there are certain steps that he goes through. A ritual, of sorts.

It starts the night before, with a proper meal and a solid sleep.

When he wakes up on the morning of a dive there’s more food, this time a high-carb breakfast, followed by a stretching routine.

Then it’s time to for Krack to mentally prepare himself. “A long time before I get in the water I start to employ sports psychology,” says Krack over the phone from Hawaii.

“I use a bunch of visualization techniques to get focused.”

It is a focus Krack can’t afford to lose. See, freediving is no walk in the park. To descend hundreds of metres underwater on a single breath is about as dangerous as a sport can get — it’s right up there with BASE jumping and bull riding.

So when he gets on the boat, as he lays out his equipment and then puts it on in a very specific order, Krack

has to keep his mind focused firmly on the task at hand.

“I look at that equipment like a suit of armour,” explains Krack.

“With each piece I put on I’m slowly becoming someone else. What I’m trying to do is go away from being Kirk the family man, Kirk the father, to being Kirk the freediver.”

Once he’s mentally there, Krack slows down his breathing and slips effortlessly into the water.

Here, he says, he feels at home.

And as he immerses his face in the water, the coolness of the ocean begins to slow his heart rate. His mammalian diving reflex kicks in.

Blood moves from his extremities to his core, and his spleen compresses.

Krack’s becoming one with the water, employing special breathing techniques to help him oxygenate, relax, and lower his CO2 levels.

Then, when Krack is ready, he starts his dive.

When Kirk Krack tells people where he’s from, invariably their first ques-

tion is: “How in the heck did you become a world renowned freediving instructor?”

The reason? Well, Krack is from Saskatchewan — a province not exactly known for its deep sea activities. But it does have a lot of lakes, and that’s where Krack’s journey to the depths of the oceans around the world began.

“I grew up a water baby,” says Krack. “My parents were really into the water. When I was just months old they had me in a towel, bouncing me along the lake at Waskesiu.”

Soon Krack was enrolled in swimming lessons, as well as sailing and snorkeling at Lac La Ronge during the summer. For his thirteenth birthday, Krack’s mother bought him scuba diving lessons.

Fast forward nearly a decade.

Krack is 20 years old. Not only has he become a diving instructor, but he has also purchased The Diving Centre in Saskatoon.

Fast forward again, past him selling the shop, past his move to Vancouver and his initiation into Continued on next page »

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Photos: courtesy of performance freediving

mixed-gas diving. Fast forward to the year he moved to the Cayman Islands and opened a business called Dive Tech.

“We had this Cuban freediver who came down who wanted to break a record,” says Krack. “We had all the equipment and the

Not long after, an opportunity arose for Krack to help train another freediver named Tanya Streeter.

Then another opportunity sprang up. And another, and another.

Eventually, in January 2000, Krack stepped away from the scuba and technical diving side of things, moved

When I get to the surface that’s where I’m the most critically hypoxic. That’s where ninety percent of all blackouts happen. kirk krack

experience doing deep dives (at that point I’d been down 500 feet using mixed gas), so we worked with him.”

And it was while working with this Cuban diver that Krack’s own interest in freediving hit a high. He would watch this man and study his methods, then on days off go out and practice the things he’d seen.

back to Vancouver, and opened Performance Freediving. It was a wise move.

To date, Krack has trained seven freedivers to 23 world records.

He’s been on Oprah helping David Blaine achieve a record. He’s taught Tiger Woods and Woody Harrelson to freedive. He has worked on an Academy Award-winning documentary called The Cove.

Not too shabby for a small-town kid from a land-locked province.

Back in the ocean, Krack’s first kick propels him down below the surface.

Down he goes, deeper and deeper, kicking intermittently, equalizing, making sure his body is positioned properly. At the 10-metre mark, there’s double the pressure on his body than when on the surface. His lung volume is cut in half.

At the 20-metre mark, there’s three times the pressure. His lung volume is reduced to one-third of what it was on the surface.

“The pressure, it accumulates on you,” says Krack. “Like bricks piled one on top of the other. But the human body is very adaptable. It can adapt to extreme environments like that.”

Which is true, but just because a body can physiologically adapt, doesn’t mean the human mind is mentally strong enough to withstand the stress, anxiety and anticipation of a freedive. Kirk

Krack knows this, so as he plunges deeper into the belly of the ocean he remains focused and ready for anything.

At a certain point Krack’s lungs become compressed enough, his wetsuit thin enough, that he doesn’t have to kick anymore.

“And I just sink like a skydiver,” he says. “Like a lawn dart descending through the water column, and now I’m just managing the sink phase.”

He cannot sink forever, though, and soon it’s time for Krack to make his way back to the surface.

This itself is no easy task. Once he’s reached the absolute depths of his dive, Krack has to turn and kick hard because of all the pressure and negative buoyancy. But as he rises, the kicking gets less difficult. He rises and rises, past the safety divers who are in place in case something goes wrong. He rises until he breaches the surface and inhales.

“But the job isn’t done there,” says Krack. “When I get to the sur-

face that’s where I’m the most critically hypoxic. That’s where ninety percent of all blackouts happen. So I really have to focus on my recovery breathing. Make sure I’m oxygenating myself and maintaining my blood pressure.”

If he doesn’t, he can pass out in the water or lose all control of his motor skills. It’s happened to him before.

Blackouts, loss of motor control, the bends, nitrogen narcosis, you name it.

But that was when Krack was a young freediver, just starting out.

Now he’s a pro, a guy who teaches other pros. A guy who, when this article was written, was still in Hawaii taking a team of Navy SEALs through a breath-hold survival program.

Not too shabby, indeed.

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We’re stunned

Introducing tasers to the Saskatchewan police seems like a wrong move

N

ot so long ago, after a five-year moratorium in the wake of Robert Dziekanski’s death in British Columbia, a decision was made by the Saskatchewan Police Commission to allow police officers in this province to use conducted energy weapons.

That’s tasers, to us regular folk.

Since then, comment boards on most of the media sites that carried the story have been blowing up in heated debate. Some people are saying the decision is a horrible one, and that the general public should be outraged. Others feel that using tasers is a good idea, much better than, say, using bullets to subdue a situation.

Now, we are trying to be practical. We know that tasers are coming to Saskatchewan, and there’s not much we can do about it. But we refuse to buy too deep into the idea that tasers are a sensible, non-lethal alternative for police. After all, they

of non-lethal weapons. Sure, these weapons are a great alternative to something more aggressive, but that shouldn’t mean they are the first thing officers turn to, because they can (and have) a physical affect on a person. And the truth of the matter is: you just don’t know how every human will respond to massive electrical volts coursing through his or her body.

So how about in Canada? A recent study out of B.C. found that since 2007 — the year Dziekanski was tasered to death by police in the Vancouver International Airport — police taser use has dropped 87%, while the use of firearms has remained fairly constant. A CBC report finds that police “appear to be relying more heavily on verbal skills and physical tools other than tasers when dealing with potentially dangerous situations.” This trend suggests that police had been overusing the weapon, that the problem faced in the past was not

can be lethal. And sure, some people believe that tasers are the best thing going for cops — they offer officers greater power than using pepper spray or a baton, but they’re not so deadly as opening fire on an individual … a sort of middle-ground between shooting and shouting. But is that really what happens?

One of the most comprehensive studies on this topic comes from our Commonwealth friend, Australia.

Ethicist Stephen Coleman highlights the issues facing police officers who use tasers and other non-lethal weapons, and finds that when officers in Australia had access to these nonlethal weapons, they were deployed thousands of times more frequently than an actual lethal weapon would have been — that is to say, rather than falling back on using discourse or an alternative method to de-escalate a situation, officers would simply turn to pepper spray or tasers.

The underlying issue Coleman is getting at: the indiscriminate use

with tasers, but with those holding them. And with the introduction of tasers to the Saskatchewan police force, this is something we all need to be concerned about.

Look, police officers are highly trained individuals whose job requires that they make split-second decisions in stressful situations. And while the SPC is looking at implementing safety policies after a taser has been deployed, the fact of the matter remains that training in what happens before is just as important.

And unfortunately, this doesn’t happen in a dynamic or realistic environment that mirrors real-world situations. As Coleman points out, this leads to the unnecessary deployment of stun guns.

And while the drop in taser use is encouraging, we must remember it’s the result of a number of people dying from those weapons. Dziekanski may be the most high-profile, but he is certainly not the only victim. So if police are being less zealous in their

use of stun guns, but the impact on firearms is negligible, then what are tasers really doing other than encouraging cops to zap people when they would otherwise use words, pepper spray, or a baton?

And while we understand that tasers are coming to this province, it seems like a move that didn’t really need to happen.

If we’re going to be forced to live with police officers who carry stun guns, it’s best they learn to use their “non-lethal” weapons as little as humanly possible.

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

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On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about cutting corners to make travel less expensive.

Here's what you had to say:

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b

– Standing only fights would be a great idea the cost of flying in this country is high and only getting higher something drastic needs to be done

– Nice Can-Fly ref loved that skit I’d totally stand for an hour or whatever for a way cheaper flight.

OFF TOPIC

– I would way rather pay a bit extra to sit than cheap to stand for a couple hours. Im to lazy.

– Love Whitehorse theyre such a cool group and seem like such a sweet couple. I’m going to go see them for sure!!! :D In response to “A Work in Progress,” Cover story, #62 (January 25, 2013)

– Loved the story about Everest. So interesting to hear what makes someone want to do that.

Good luck to the young man, on his endeavour!

– What about those carts for two pulled by bikes? I’d pay less to have someone pedal me around in the summer. Not super fast, not super comfortable, but still gets you there.

– The CEO of Habitat for Humanity making 252k a year is no fiction.

Its in public docs they file in the U.S. Form 909 I think. Thats real investigative journalism Habitat for Humanity is not quite the charity they would have everyone believe.

They’re crooked players in our housing crisis. Need to be exposed.

– Proud Idle no more movement.

Before you whitewash an entire group of people as lazy or protestors or having no guiding message, educate yourself first. We want to have a meaningful conversation, but can’t do that if people are perceiving us through the lens of stereotypes

– Write about big companies in the city that don’t sponsor ANYTHING in the city. IE: Co-op refinery. If that place blew up it would take the whole city with it and we don’t have any gain from them being here. There are plenty more. These companies won’t evens sponsor a little league baseball team.

– Downtown guy where you at?

Frozen somewhere? Are you a snowbird? COME BACK!

– Hiccups are usually a stomach acid thing. If you have a bad case of hiccups try eating a couple antacid tabs like Tums or Rolaids.

– Jack Layton had to die. There was no way in hell the Canadian Establishment was going to accept a left wing Government led by him.

– A pal just invented “Highbernate” with bad spelling. Hahaha...

You pass the winter getting loaded and crashing out a lot.

– The problems with the labor and left in Sask are because a whole generation thought they could pay off big mortgages sock big pensions AND fight the good fight!

– What is it that Kelly Block has agianst immigrants? Everybody makes mistakes but everybody deserves the same justice.

– Do you think you’d beat the Devil in a spank’in contest?

– If Saskatchewan police get tasers guaranteed they’ll taser an abo to death in the first year. Racist cowardice is predictable like this.

– Im first nation raised in our paris of the prairies. I play thru a Marshall 4 by 12. Am i an Idol no more.

Lil food for thought. STAKK.

– Its time EVERYBODY took ownership responsibility for this drug culture we live in. From aspirin to crack don’t feel good Here Man try some of this!

– To the person who texted about having pets makes u loser, can’t really follow ur point. Sure if u have an animal and u can’t take care of it properly u don’t deserve to have it. But having an animal, caring for something that may otherwise be on the street, is a sign of compassion.

In response to “The rooftop of the world,” Local story, #62 (January 25, 2013)

– What about making trains or buses first class, second class, etc. like they used to. Then you can chose which class (and the corresponding fee) you want to pay

always like this in feudal societies including ours. Rape and abuse of women is rampant.

8372

– Your opinion piece was ridiculous. Satire just obscured the message, which is valid: cheaper airfare in canada. Better luck next time.

– Are you serious? Who in there right mind would want to just run and push a taxi. I don’t think that would even work in real life. You know flinstones aren’t real. This is stupid

– Obligatory text denigrating the terrible coldness of winter, and the obviousness of it sucking balls.

sound off – Drive safe out there! Tons of accidents all over, ice everywhere makes it impossible to stop.

– It is unreasonably cold out there.

I feel proud of myself anytime I venture outside and make it somewhere LOLOL

– The surest mark of the true peasant is a burning desire to be monarch. The surest mark of the true monarch is a burning desire to be peasant.

– False self pity is always at the root of greed and selfishness. I/we had/have it hard. I/we work hard.

No help from anyone. Did it all by myself. Wah wah wah!

– The women’s protest in India this week over rape and murder. Its

Next week: What do you think about Saskatchewan police using tasers?

Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation: We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

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Catch Her If You Can

Photos: courtesy of jason Grover

Jess Moskaluke can’t stop growing and expanding

by Alex J MacPherson

J

ess Moskaluke doesn’t know what it means to slow down. In just a few short years, the pride of Langenburg, Saskatchewan has found success in contemporary country, mostly because she works as hard or harder than anyone else in the business. Her silky voice, gutsy stage presence, and penchant for releasing a constant stream of new music have transformed Moskaluke from a small-town singer into a significant player in modern country music. Boasting a massive online presence, as well as a brand-new EP and a slew of singles, Moskaluke is poised to conquer Canadian country — and she’s only 22. I caught up with her recently to chat about the changing landscape of country music and her new EP, Catch Me If You Can. Alex J MacPherson: Tell me a bit about your new EP. I understand it was something of a happy accident.

Jess Moskaluke: Putting it together was probably unique to what any other album will be for me in the future, and I think what probably is the norm. We had a bunch

AJM: Your internet presence is fairly significant and growing every day.

Is it difficult to balance that with original material?

of songs that I’d already recorded, but when we were recording those songs we weren’t preparing for an album — we just were recording songs as demos, but we ended up putting them on the album because they turned out exactly the way we wanted them.

JM: Yes and no. The reason I say yes is because it is so international, and my songs are only on the radio in Canada. My international fans have been incredible in supporting the album and original music, but sometimes people might just come across it once they don’t [know

AJM: You’ve become known for releasing a lot of music very quickly, many of them covers. Why approach music this way?

When I’m releasing original music, I want to make sure everything is perfect…

Jess moskaluke

JM: For me it’s extremely important, but I don’t want to rush things.

When I’m releasing original music, I want to make sure everything is perfect — that I sang every word perfectly, that the guitar lick is where I want it, and the piano sound is the sound that I want.

But releasing original material obviously is extremely important, but for me, releasing covers on YouTube is a way for me to stay in the public eye and keep momentum up.

I release original material]. The reason I say no is that to go and answer [online comments] takes me two seconds — and bam, there’s a new fan.

AJM: Radio is difficult for many bands who don’t play country. Why do you think country radio is still so important for artists on every level?

JM: Maybe I’m wrong, but in my opinion country music has a larger demographic. It goes anywhere

from people in their nineties right down to people in their teens.

Country music is such a broad genre now. Taylor Swift is coming out with dubstep songs, and then you have people like Gord Bamford, who is fairly traditional.

People love them both, and they’re played back-to-back on the same station. That’s very encouraging and welcoming because it lets me do the exact kind of music I want to do and still be welcomed and embraced.

AJM: You spend a lot of time in Nashville and on the road. How important is it for you to be seen as a Saskatchewan artist?

JM: Saskatchewan is so important to me. I was born and raised here, and I’m sitting in Saskatchewan right now. This is where I come when I need to unwind. Saskatchewan is my getaway and it always will be. The fans here are just incredible.

Jess Moskaluke February 14-16 @ Whiskey Saloon $5+

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arts

Can’t Stop

Fur Eel and the quest to stay relevant

by alex J MacPherson

T

here are two basic types of rock band: some play a few shows before fading into obscurity, leaving nothing but a few grainy basement recordings. Others spend months or even years perfecting a simple EP before launching a long tour, virtually guaranteeing a long period without new material. Put simply, the members of Fur Eel think both of these approaches are preposterous.

“It’s important to stay relevant, to continue releasing new music,” says Justin Sheppard, who plays guitar and sings in the Regina rock revivalist outfit. “We released our first CD, and then we took over a year to release anything new. We learned that’s the wrong way to do things.

You want to be releasing every three months or so.”

Fur Eel are by any measure an extraordinarily productive band. In just three years, they have released two full-length albums and Naked, an acoustic CD/DVD package. Their sound, which began as an unfocused collection of funky pop songs, has evolved into a taut and soulful

Photo: courtesy of Andrew Novak

take on rock and roll from the sixties and seventies. Their new EP, Find Your Way, is their most mature and sophisticated effort to date.

“We recorded it on Remembrance Day, and we did it all in one day instead of recording it over several months,” Sheppard explains.

“We did that just to try and get a different vibe.” The experiment worked. Find Your Way marks a quantum leap for the band, in terms of both sonics and songwriting.

“I Let You” is a luscious ballad reminiscent of Rick Danko’s “Makes No Difference,” as raw and powerful as it is richly detailed. “Chameleon Girl,” on the other hand, borrows heavily

from Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein,” and features some of the heaviest guitars the band has ever recorded.

And Find Your Way is just the beginning. Sheppard and his bandmates are planning to release as much music as possible and play as often as they can. “We’ve slowed down, trying not to play too often,” he explains. “But we’re thinking we might start taking whatever gigs we can get. A lot of people in Regina don’t know about us, and we’d love to play for them.”

Fur Eel February 8 @ McNally’s Tavern $5

Make Way for Magic!

Troy Gronsdahl explores the mystery of interpretation by alex J MacPherson

Photo: courtesy oF the artist

T

roy Gronsdahl has a reputation for making art that is both intimate and universal, a self-portrait and a mirror. His contribution to Becoming Book, an exhibition dedicated to examining the complex relations between writers and readers, texts and history, continues this tradition.

Make Way for Magic! Make Way for Objective Mysteries! uses an old political manifesto to investigate words, time, and meaning.

“I was really interested in the manifesto as a genre,” says Gronsdahl, who is based in Saskatoon, “I find they’re invested and they’re earnest and they’re idealistic. Reading from a contemporary perspective, they almost feel a bit quaint or naïve, and I like that it describes in some ways my own personality.”

Gronsdahl’s work references Refus Global, an anti-establishment manifesto written in 1948 by PaulÉmile Borduas, the de facto leader of Les Automatistes, a group of

dissident Québécois intellectuals who dismissed academia and made work that rejected social and cultural norm. Refus Global is an important part of the Canadian art canon, but Gronsdahl was intrigued by a pair of short sentences: “MAKE WAY FOR MAGIC! MAKE WAY FOR OBJECTIVE MYSTERIES!” “It resonated with me, and I was thinking about it in terms of the translations between time, so what that meant at the time of the writing and what it means now,” he says, pointing to the malleability of “magic” and “objective mysteries.” “I was thinking about how things are lost or changed in translation.” Gronsdahl extracted this

idea and recast it as a suite of prints before melting the letterpress type he used into a pair of shapeless blobs.

This might appear simplistic, or perhaps overly conceptual, but by stripping politics of all context, Gronsdahl questions the staying power of sincerity and emotional investment.

His work shows how history distorts intention and changes interpretation.

It presents meaning as a fluid, often abstract concept, which has serious implications. Ultimately, Make Way for Magic! reflects not only Gronsdahl’s artistic concerns, but also a central pillar of human nature: the desire to be understood and the search for meaning.

But because melted type can be recast, and because Gronsdahl’s exhibition points to an unconstrained expression, it also imagines a freedom Borduas could never have conceived when he wrote about “resplendent anarchy.”

Becoming Book Through March 17 @ Dunlop Art Gallery / Sherwood Village Branch

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Past and Present

Photo: courtesy of the artist

The Once transform ancient melodies into contemporary masterp

P

hil Churchill used to worry about touring in Europe. When his band, a folk trio from St. John’s called The Once, first ventured across the Atlantic, he had no idea how their signature blend of tender melodies and soaring harmonies would be received

by English and Irish audiences.

“I don’t know if I should speak for the whole band, but I was nervous when we first started coming over here,” he says from a van bound for Bristol, the digitized voice of a GPS device droning in the background. “I was really nervous about taking what we’ve gotten from these countries and sort of force-feeding it back to them through a filter.”

But Churchill and his bandmates didn’t have much of a choice.

Their lives and careers have been shaped and moulded by the province they call home, and their collective identity is inextricably linked to their roots in St. John’s.

Churchill’s apprehension stemmed from the fact that Newfoundland music is, at its most basic, transplanted folk that has grown and evolved free from outside influence. Fortunately, he says, British crowds embraced their contemporary take on traditional sounds: “It seems that without being really conscious of it, we’ve crossed over into doing something very different, and they seem to kind of pick up on it.”

In other words, he adds with a laugh, “They’re not going, ‘Wait a second, that song’s Irish! You bastards, you’re not allowed to do that!’”

Most people equate Newfoundland music with Great Big Sea, a band whose talent for crafting cheerful interpretations of traditional songs is eclipsed only by their ability to keep an audience on its feet all night long. The Once draw on many of the same basic influences as their veteran peers, but

and carried to soaring heights by Geraldine Hollett, whose voice is as expressive as it is powerful. Their albums and live performances are an exercise in making a lot with relatively little, and their success is derived from the most recognizable element of their sound — the indescribable warmth of three voices singing together.

Vocal harmonies have always been at the core of The Once’s musical vision, and for good reason. Even today, Churchill says, singing with Hollett and Dale sends chills up and down his

They’re not going, ‘Wait a second, that song’s Irish! You bastards, you’re not allowed to do that!’

Phil Churchill

they have developed a sound that is entirely their own.

Instead of channelling the boisterous energy of the pubs and bars from which so much Newfoundland music flows, The Once write and perform songs that say as much with silence as they do with sound. Essentially a fusion of traditional sounds and melodies with lyrics that capture the angst and frustration and joy of making art in the twenty-first century, the band’s sound is anchored by Churchill and Andrew Dale, who play everything from guitar and mandolin to fiddle and bouzouki,

spine. “No matter how much we go on, and no matter how much we electrify our instruments or keyboards, I think that’s something that’s just ingrained in us as humans,” he says, explaining that harmony has figured prominently into music since time immemorial. “Just go into any church and pick out a hymn book. You’re going to see it’s written by J.S. Bach, and it’s all S.A.T.B. — soprano, alto, tenor, baritone. This is the style of music that seems to have lasted and had power that reaches far beyond any other type of music we’ve been able to create.”

Continued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of Renita Fillatre

pieces by Alex J MacPherson But great singers need great songs. If the band’s eponymous debut was an experiment, the product of three individuals exploring many different avenues in search of a suitable sound, their latest release positions them as songwriters and interpreters of not inconsiderable talent.

“Nell’s Song” is a waltz for guitar and accordion, a tale of loneliness and the crushing weight of age and distance. “Jack The Sailor,” on the other hand, is an uptempo romp through the annals of timeless bouzouki and

Photo: courtesy of the artist

mandolin riffs. “A Round Again” is a simple love song animated by finger snaps and one of Hollett’s finest vocal performances. It is a fine example of the intersection of traditional instrumentation and timeless lyrics that defines Row Upon Row of the People They Know. The title of the record was drawn from “Song For Memory,” a collaboration with Newfoundland poet George Murray that reflects on the meaning and purpose of years gone past. It is the strongest song on the record, as well as a concise summary of everything they have achieved to

date, capturing in just four minutes the tension between past and present and future that animates not only their music, but also their view of the world.

“I think all of us who create anything, that’s the one thing that will always define us,” Churchill says. “The one solace you can have in that idea, or that fear, is that even if people don’t get the exact subject matter of the song, at the very least they’ll understand that you’re wondering: Am I totally alone here?”

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Row Upon Row is the sheer size of the sound three people can make.

Recording studios allow musicians to play multiple instruments on the same track, and the record includes instruments absent from the band’s live performances, but very little is lost in translation. Seen live, The Once are as powerful and compelling as they are on Row Upon Row. This is partly because Dale and Churchill have mastered the art of using their instruments to fill out the sonic landscape, and partly because their harmonies are so rich and dynamic — but it is also the product of hard work.

“There’ve been many times where we thought we had really stretched out,” Churchill says. “There’s Hammond organ on this, there’s a drum kit on this, there’s all kinds of stuff going on on this record, and we’re not going to be able to recreate it live.” To get around this problem, he and his bandmates spend hours rearranging their

songs for the stage. “It was quite easy taking them from the kitchen table into the studio, but taking them from the studio to the stage wasn’t easy at all,” he laughs.

But even if the songs take shape differently on stage, their source is unmistakable. And that is exactly what Churchill has always wanted. “I would like people to hear what we’re playing, and whether they know that it’s us or not, to say that band sounds like The Once,” he says. “Now that we’ve been at this for awhile, the wishes and the dreams and the hopes start turning into the plan. That would be it.”

The plan appears to be working.

Hollett, Dale, and Churchill have succeeded in creating music reminiscent of old folk music and sea shanties without cleaving to any sound but their own. When their European tour concludes, they will pack up their parkas and head west. But no matter how many albums they sell, and no matter how many concerts they play, they will always be a Newfoundland band. “We could write songs about every other place in the world besides Newfoundland, but they’re always going to come out with a sense of us being diehard Newfoundlanders,” Churchill says.

“We’re just really lucky that we dig where we’re from.”

If history is any indication, people everywhere dig where they’re from, too. The upshot is that Churchill doesn’t worry about touring Europe anymore.

Or anywhere else, for that matter.

The Once February 11 @ Creative City Centre $20 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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On The Go Photos courtesy of Danielle Tocker

Fresh and fast sushi, Japanese, and Korean food at Pronto by jessica bickford

G

ood news, U of R students and staff!

There is another eating option close to campus, and it is not only student-budget friendly, but classy enough for a lunch out. Pronto has taken over what used to be the burrito place in the Kramer mall, and has only been open a few months now.

I started with a pot of deliciously traditional genmaicha tea, which has roasted brown rice in it that adds a wonderfully nutty flavour.

This I followed with a classic bowl of miso soup, after which I dove into an assorted sunomono.

The sunomono was presented in an oversized martini glass and had a base of rice noodles topped with broccoli, lettuce, shredded carrot, strawberry, cucumber, shrimp, salmon, and a crab stick.

This was an incredibly attractive dish with a slightly sweet and vinegary sauce, and lots of variety in both taste and texture. It’s a great starter or would even make a nice, light lunch.

tuna roll, which had a nori wrapped around a deep-fried tube of tuna, capelin roe, lettuce, tempura crunch, and black sauce. This oversized roll had wonderful crunch from the deep fried nori, and a strong tuna flavour. The sweet and sticky black sauce made the beautiful presentation really pop.

Next was something entirely new (and I’ll admit a bit scary) for me — soft shell crab. On a bed of lettuce, dill and lemon slices, the battered and deep-fried crab took pride of place with a bit of ponzu sauce. I looked at it, it looked at me … then I ripped one of its claws

On a bed of lettuce, dill and lemon slices, the battered and deep-fried crab took pride of place…

Pronto 1101D Kramer Blvd. | 546 3278

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@TheGeekCooks jbickford@verbnews.com

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide

Jessica Bickford

Next was the new lion king roll. This one featured cucumber, avocado, shredded crab and lettuce on the inside, and was wrapped with salmon that had been charred by a blow torch, sesame, green onion, capelin roe, and a mix of spicy mayo and teriyaki sauce. The smokiness and char was fantastic and the complex

off and ate it — delicious! This item was crispy and full of juicy, fresh crab meat, while the lemony ponzu sauce made all of the flavours sing.

Don’t be scared of this tasty crab, just dive right in and you will be wildly rewarded.

Lastly I tried two of Pronto’s specialty rolls. First was the royal crispy

flavours in this roll ran the gamut from creamy to spicy to sweet.

Andrew Pittman and Chris Park, who own Pronto, want to “fill you up, but not just with rice.” They have a focus on fresh, with everything cooked to order, and also offer delivery, take out and some fantastic $10 specials just for students. Go for something different, give Pronto a try.

Umeshu Soda

Ingredients

Umeshu is Japanese plum wine, although that’s a bit of a misnomer as it is actually a liqueur, not wine.

With a not too sweet (though very fruity) flavour, umeshu can be a bit strong on its own — hence the creation of the umeshu soda.

½ glass umeshu ½ glass soda water or lemon-lime soda ice optional garnishes

Directions

Fill a short glass with ice, and then fill halfway with umeshu. Top up with soda water for a bit of fizz, or lemon lime soda for added sweetness (I prefer the sweeter mix). Garnish with some fruit or citrus if you would like, and a tiny umbrella wouldn’t hurt, either.

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Next Week

coming up

Rival Sons

Dean Brody

Leonard Cohen

@ Pump Roadhouse Friday, February 8 – $10

@ Casino Regina Friday, February 8 – sold out

@ Brandt Centre Saturday, March 9 – $59.50-14.25

Rival Sons are a throwback to the good ol’ days of rock n’ roll, back to when bands had soul and swagger, groove and grit. They possess a classic retro rock sound in the vein of, say, the Sheepdogs, with just a bit of California flair. And whatever guitarist Scott Holiday, drummer Michael Miley, bassist Robin Everhart and frontman Jay Buchanan have been doing since they got together back in 2008 has been working. Their most recent album, Head Down, has been selling well in Norway, Sweden and the UK, among other places. Their hit song from that album, “Keep on Swinging,” topped the Canadian rock charts. Oh, and they’ve played alongside rock acts like AC/DC, Alice Cooper and Kid Rock. Tickets for the show at ticketedge.ca

You’ve got to hand it to Dean Brody, his songs have the kind of lyrics that really hit home. From “Canadian Girls” to “Dirt Road Scholar” and “Bob Marley,” this British Columbia born-and-bred country artist pumps out the kind of music that resonates with people and sticks with you long after the last chords have been played. His songs are so good and so respected they have earned Brody a couple of Canadian Country Music Awards — from Album of the Year (for his most recent release, Dirt), to Male Artist of the Year. He’s taking his talents on the road in 2013, playing concert after concert from B.C. back to the Bluenose province.

Tickets to see Brody are unfortunately sold out.

Singer, songwriter, poet, novelist, companion of the Order of Canada, member of the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ordained Rinzai Buddhist monk — and that’s just the tip of the Leonard Cohen iceberg.

The man who Lou Reed once said belongs to the “highest and most influential echelon of songwriters” is coming to Saskatchewan, so here’s your chance to see the guy (nay, the legend) who created such exquisitely awesome songs as “Suzanne,” “So long, Marianne,” “Hallelujah” and “Famous Blue Raincoat.” Cohen puts on a hypnotic, beautiful, one-of-akind show. He’s playing Regina at the beginning of March, just one of the stops on his Old Ideas World Tour.

Be there. Tickets available at www. ticketmaster.ca.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: Sally Payne / the artist / the artist

Sask music Preview Attention Saskatchewan performing artists: Regina’s Bushwakker Brewpub will be hosting the Sask Sampler on March 23. This special event will put some amazing independent performers in front of artistic directors from the Regina Folk Festival, Ness Creek Music Festival, and the Gateway Festival. Please apply through Sonicbirds before February 26; see www.reginafolkfestival.com for more information.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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February 1 » February 9 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

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Friday 1

The Association / Casino Regina — This platinum selling folk-rock act has been going strong since the ‘60s. 8pm / $30-35 (www.casinoregina.com) DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits.10pm / $5 DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Come and chill with DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD Tequila Mockingbird / McNally’s Tavern — Classic rock covers. 10pm / $5 Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Come listen to Albert every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover Tim Romanson / Whiskey Saloon – Some good ol’ country music from a talented local musician. 8pm / $10

Saturday 2

will be rocking your socks off. Also Wednesday Night Folk / BushwakRead Beard’s Tribute to Bob Marappearing will be The Balconies. 9pm / appearing will be Chris Gheran. 7:30pm ker Brewpub — Featuring The Dog Ate ley / McNally’s Tavern — Some reggae $10 (www.ticketedge.ca) / $10 the Barb & Rusty Wire, an eclectic folk music to warm the soul during this bitKal Hourd / Whiskey Saloon – Some DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — act led by Theresa Burkhart and Carol terly cold winter. 8:30pm / $5 good ol’ country music by this musician This DJ loves requests, nothing Donaldson. 9pm / No cover Kal Hourd / Whiskey Saloon – Some from Saskatoon. 8pm / $10 is off limits. 10pm / Mark Berube / The good ol’ country music by this musician Cover $5 Exchange — A from Saskatoon. 8pm / $5 The Mid-Winmulti-instruDJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Kerri Senkow / Artful Dodger — A ter Celtic mentalist Come check out one of Regina’s most sing-a-long with this country/pop/rock Festival with the interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover $5 performer. 7:30pm / Cover TBD / The Exsoul of RSO Masterworks: Bohemia / Conchange a poet. exus Arts Centre — Featuring Patricio — Put 8pm Sarah Cripps, Jon Bryant / Artful Aizaga doing the music of Czech and your / $15 Dodger — She’s from Ontario, he’s from German composers. 8pm / $33-63 danc(adNova Scotia. Put them together on the (www.tickets.reginasymphony.com) ing vance), same ticket and you have a roots/folks DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — boots $20 (at night you won’t want to miss. 7:30pm / This DJ loves requests, nothing is off on and the door) Cover TBD limits. 10pm / Cover $5 get ready Jam Dean Brody / Casino Regina Annual Valentine’s Day to do the Night and — A Canadian country Massacre / The whitehorse jig. 8pm / $20 Open Stage / star on the rise.

Exchange — courtesy of paul wright (available at http:// McNally’s Tavern 8pm / SOLD Featuring Itchy www.crpb.org, Bach & — Come on down and OUT Stitches, Beyond, Swanson Music, Magpie’s enjoy some local talent, or grab DJ Juan Kelevra, Kitchen) the mic and show Regina what you’ve Lopez / SufferBreak Down Party Band / McNally’s got. 9pm / No cover Envy surge, Tavern — Classic rock favourites. 10pm NightNine / $5 club Gates Drewski / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing 2 Beats & A Hat / Artful Dodger — This and what he does best. 10pm / $5 cover Presented by DJ Verbal & E-Major, come DJ DysJam Sessions / Smokin’ Okies BBQ enjoy two DJs with guest performances loves topian — Drop by for a jam or to listen. 3pm / the first Thursday of every month. 7pm reWasteNo cover / $5 in advance or at the door quests, land. 8pm Tim Romanson / Whiskey Saloon – Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin nothing / Cover TBD Dean Brody Some good ol’ country music from a Experience / Casino Regina — The son is off limits.

The MacEvcourtesy of mark maryanovich talented local musician. 8pm / $10 of John Bonham plays music and tells 10pm / $5 oys / Lancaster stories about Led Zeppelin unlike any DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Taphouse — Come out you’ve ever heard. 8pm / $45-52 (www.

Habano’s — Local DJs spin for a night of great music. Also Elizabeth Shepherd / Artful Dodger casinoregina.com) top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover appearing will be Askant. 9pm / — A sweet soul/jazz songstress from Whitehorse / The ExBig Chill Fridays / Cover TBD Toronto. 7:30pm / Cover TBD change — A superb Lancaster Taphouse JJ Voss / McNally’s Tavern — Rock and Songwriter Sunday / Creative folk duo that — Come and country originals and covers for your City Centre — Featuring Kayla Luky, you don’t chill with listening pleasure. 10pm / $5 Rebecca Lascue and Eden Rohatensky, a want to DJ Fatbot.

Jam Sessions / Smokin’ Okies BBQ stellar line-up of singers and songwritmiss.

10pm / — Drop by for a jam and show Regina ers. 7:30pm / $10 8pm / Cover what you’ve got, or to just listen. 3pm / $20 TBD No cover (the Fur Kal Hourd / Whiskey Saloon – Some Open Mic Night / The Artful Dodger — day Eel / good ‘ol country music by this musician Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover of), Mcfrom Saskatoon. 8pm / $10 Monday Night Jazz and Blues / $25 Nally’s Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring the (door) Tavern Ministry of Groove, rocking out to some Decibel — Soul/ great ‘70s-style jazz and funk. 8pm / Frequenfunk/rock No cover cy / Gabbo’s pop music kal hourd Nightclub — A that you can courtesy of the artist night of electronic really groove to. Also Get listed Electric Mother / Artful Dodger — fun. 10pm / Cover $5 appearing tonight will be Have a live show you'd like Psychedelic hard rock that’ll blow your PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — FeaBuffalo Narrows. 10pm / $5 to promote? Let us know! hair back; this promises to be one great turing DJ Ageless and DJ Drewski. 7pm Rival Sons / Pump Roadhouse — Oldlayout@verbnews.com night. 7:30pm / Cover TBD / No cover school rock that’s all kinds of good. Also

Mike Tod / Creative City Centre — A talented folk troubadour from Calgary

Friday 8

Thursday 7

Sunday 3

Monday 4

Wednesday 6

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friday, january 25 @

bocados

Bocados 2037 Park Street (306) 522 3663

Music vibe / Adult alternative,

and classic rock Featured deals / Sangria for $5 Drink of Choice / Sangria top eats / Adobo steak penne, the

reaper burger, and pesto salmon coming up / Every Tuesday is

an open jam night (starts at 8:30pm), featuring a burger and a pint for $12

Photography by Klein Photography

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These guys need a walker to stand up

Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate

Even with a stellar (but aging) cast, the new Pacino/Walken film is not up to snuff by adam hawboldt

Y

ou know that Spirit of the West song? The one that goes “You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not at my best…”

Well, as much as it pains me to say this, after watching Stand Up Guys it seems like a fitting anthem for two of the finest actors of the past 40 years or so — Al Pacino and Christopher Walken.

Sure, Walken was good in this year’s Seven Psychopaths, but he’s much more than a stone’s throw from the good ol’ days when he was lighting up the screen in movies like Deer Hunter and True Romance.

And Pacino? Well, I don’t know what to say. There was a time (long, long ago) when this guy’s star burned so bright it could blind you. So much so, that at one point in time you could argue he was one of, if not the, greatest actors alive. Think The Godfather.

Val (Pacino), a real “stand up guy”, leaving prison after pulling a 28-year stint because he refused to rat out his partners-in-crime after a shootout gone wrong. Val is greeted at the prison gate by his old pal and former

Think Dog Day Afternoon. Think Serpico, Scent of a Woman, Glengarry Glen Ross. But those days are gone now, like VHS and the dodo, only to be replaced by less meaty roles in stinkers like Jack and Jill, Gigli and Righteous Kill.

Too bad the [film] is kind of Ph. Ph. predictable and, at times, absurd.

Adam Hawboldt

partner, Doc (Walken). Having been locked up for so long, Val makes a beeline for a brothel to, ahem, take his ferret for a walk. Problem is, the darn little thing won’t stand up.

So Val and Doc put their criminal instincts to work, break into a drug store and steal a bunch of pills. Doc

His latest (their latest, Walken has to be included here), Stand Up Guys, is nowhere near as bad as any of the three aforementioned cinematic aberrations.

But it’s not overly good, either.

Directed by Fisher Stevens (Factotum, Hackers), the film begins with

gets pills for his health, Val takes a handful of those magic blue ones, and both are now ready for action.

Back to the brothel they go. Then they go to the hospital where Val gets treated for priapism.

Somewhere along the way we learn that during the shootout Val went to jail for, a local mob boss’ son was shot and killed. Now the mob boss wants Val dead.

The kicker?

Doc has been assigned to whack his best friend.

The rest of the movie plays out along a 24-hour, will-he-or-won’the arc. Too bad the arc is kind of predictable and, at times, absurd.

Like, for instance, the scene when the trio of septuagenarians (along the way Val and Doc spring their former getaway driver, played by the incomparable Alan Arkin, from a nursing home), take care of

Ph Stand up Guys Ph Fisher Stevens Starring Al Ph Pacino, Christopher Walken + Alan Arkin PH minutes | PH 95 minutes | 14A Directed by

a bunch of much younger, much more menacing gangsters.

And speaking of gangsters, the best way to classify Stand Up Guys is to say it is to the gangster genre what The Hammer is to boxing movies: far from a classic, but not the worst thing you’ll see all week.

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Slow rot of time New documentary examines real and conceived concepts of time by adam hawboldt

C

an the past, present, and future exist all at once?

What came before time?

Is it possible for little old you to manipulate time and, thus, affect the future?

These questions and oh so many more are brought up in Toronto cinematographer/director Peter Mettler’s new film, The End of Time.

A non-linear meditation on the essence of time and temporal reality, the film opens with footage of Joseph Kittinger, the U.S. Air Force Colonel who, in 1960, completed a 31-kilometre skydive from the atmosphere.

And just as Kittinger plunged to Earth, so too does Mettler’s camera.

From the brink of outer space he pulls down to terra firma where he leads the viewer on a journey through both place and time. From lava flows in Hawaii to the crumbling of inner-city Detroit, from a particle accelerator in Switzerland (where physicists examine areas of time we are yet to understand) to a cloud hanging near eye-level in a valley, Mettler pokes and prods our perception of time. It dares us to think outside the box, to reject our preconceived notions and to con-

Photo: Courtesy of Mongrel media

cal, musical, physical and a whole bunch of other kinds of time.

But what the hell do I know?

Not much, admittedly. But I do know this: The End of Time is shot with a poetic lens, and features ravishing images and mesmerizing moments of introspection and thought.

And on that front, it kicks ass the way, say, a film like Baraka or Koyaanisqatsi. There are also strains of early Kubrick and that last Terrence Malick film that run though The End of Time. So that’s good (if you like those directors.)

Oh, and Mettler gets an A for effort with the film. After all, the guy

…it’s hard to free your mind and just let things flow organically when the movie … doesn’t really flow.

Adam Hawboldt

sider the idea that time can mean different things to different people in different cultures and places.

Or at least that’s what I think he’s trying to say. I also think, on some level, he’s trying to explore the differences between geological time, astrological time, biologi-

is so ambitious he’s trying to film the unfilmable, the intangible.

But like many ambitious people before him who aimed for the ethereal, Mettler ultimately falls short.

To pin down exactly why that happens is tricky. But let me give it a shot.

the End of Time Peter Mettler Cinematography BY Peter Mettler Directed by

109 minutes | N/A

See, Mettler seems to work on the premise of “free your mind and the rest will follow.” But it’s hard to free your mind and just let things flow organically when the movie, in and of itself, doesn’t really flow.

The loose structure — made up of random, disconnected images — doesn’t really cut and bounce with any sense of coherent energy. What we’re left with is a somewhat pretentious, fragmented exploration of time that will leave you counting down the seconds until it’s over.

Unless of course you’re into serious contemplation or get hopped up on your favorite mind-and-time-altering drug. In which case, The End of Time will probably blow your mind.

Or maybe not. Only time will tell.

The End of Time will be opening at the Regina Public Library on February 7th.

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@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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

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crossword canadian criss-cross 25. Not glossy 26. One who works in a bank 28. Passengers hold onto it 31. Ideal future husband 35. Heavy hammer 36. Canadian who directed “The Thorn Birds” 37. Line of light 38. Sphere 39. Not as much of 40. Piece of office furniture 41. Green ___ (foe of Spider-Man) 43. Sleep-inducing substance 45. Youthful years 46. Minister’s house 47. Long-handled tool

48. Move through a crowd

DOWN 1. Calm and unruffled 2. Overenthusiastic one 3. Botanical name for maple 4. Maybe 5. Gave off a foul odour 6. Commotion 7. Furthermore 8. Become less cruel 9. Widow’s inheritance 11. Send payment 12. Magnificent display 14. Victim of deceit 17. Narrow connecting strip of land

20. Windshield sticker 22. Delhi dress 24. Navigator’s need 25. Nothing more than 27. Annoying 28. Air pollution 29. Fortune-telling card 30. Odd game played to break a tie 32. Thick lubricant 33. Overly eager speed 34. Naughty child 36. Tightly packed 39. Chain part 40. Do surface damage to 42. Meadow 44. Water lily leaf

sudoku answer key

A

B

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

ACROSS 1. Button alternative 5. Play the lead 9. Tied score in tennis 10. Powdery ink 12. “Canadian Idol” winner in season 2 13. Become rotten, as eggs 15. Have an obligation 16. Animal with a horn on its snout 18. Second-largest living bird 19. Darn socks 21. Show curiosity 22. Noise at a barbershop 23. Replace with another program

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

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© walter D. Feener 2012

Horoscopes february 1 – February 7 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Grace and poise: normally these things are absent in you, Aries. But this week will be different. Be sure to use these virtues wisely.

Expect the unexpected this week, Leo. A windfall of something is on its way. What that is, I have no clue. Just be ready, and brace yourself for anything.

Have you been working hard lately, Sagittarius? If so, don’t expect any back slaps or thanks for all your efforts. Don’t let it get you down. Keep on keepin’ on.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

You may find yourself feeling both creative and romantic this week, Taurus. Both feelings aren’t mutually exclusive, so find a way to mesh them together.

This week you may be feeling fit as a fiddle, never better, energy and spirits both high. If not, time to reassess what’s holding you back.

There’s no time like the present, Capricorn, so don’t get bogged down in the past or look too far in the future. It’s time for you to live for the moment.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

You might have an urge to strive for order this week, Gemini. Don’t kid yourself, it’s a fool’s errand. You can’t impose order on chaos, no matter how hard you try.

When’s the last time you’ve been to a museum, Libra? If it hasn’t been in the last month, now’s an amazing time for you to explore new territories.

Hey yo! Passion is in the air this week, Aquarius. Too bad you’re not going to realize it until it’s too late.

Better luck next time.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Are you afraid to take risks, Cancer? This is a week you should confront those fears. Look ‘em in the eye and say, “not today, bucko!”

Errands, errands and more errands.

That’s what’s going to dominate this week, Scorpio, so make sure to plan and use your time effectively.

This weekend threatens to begin with drunken revels and end with a hangover, Pisces. Enjoy this while you can — big changes are looming on the horizon.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

19 Feb 1 – Feb 7 /verbregina

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