Verb Issue S220 (Dec. 14-20, 2012)

ISSUE #220 – DECEMBER 14 TO DECEMBER 20

ARTS

LUCKY BASTARD Having fun making boutique booze THE HARD RAMBLERS The making of outlaw bluegrass THE HOBBIT + THE PAPERBOY Films reviewed­

CULTURE

MUSIC

SASKATOON

THE SEARCH TESSA KAUTZMAN WITH

PHOTO: COURTESY OF ICON INK PHOTOGRAPHY

CONTENTS

NEWS + OPINION

CULTURE

ENTERTAINMENT

Q + A WITH THE HARD RAMBLERS

LISTINGS Local music listings for December 14 through December 22 18 / LISTINGS

Making outlaw bluegrass. 12 / Q + A

LUCKY BASTARDS

THE NAMES OF THINGS

Having fun making boutique booze.

Local artists explore humans’ interactions with nature. 13 / ARTS

4 / LOCAL

THE MOMENT OF CREATION

THE HOBBIT + THE PAPERBOY The latest movie reviews. 20 / FILM

VERBNEWS.COM @VERBSASKATOON FACEBOOK.COM/VERBSASKATOON

NIGHTLIFE PHOTOS

EDITORIAL

We visit Stan’s Place and Fox & Hounds. 22-25 / NIGHTLIFE

When craft becomes art. 13 / ARTS

PUBLISHER / PARITY PUBLISHING EDITOR IN CHIEF / RYAN ALLAN MANAGING EDITOR / JESSICA PATRUCCO STAFF WRITERS / ADAM HAWBOLDT + ALEX J MACPHERSON

ART & PRODUCTION

A NEW GOLDEN AGE?

DESIGN LEAD / ROBERTA BARRINGTON DESIGN & PRODUCTION / BRITTNEY GRAHAM CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS / PATRICK CARLEY, ADAM HAWBOLDT + ALEX J MACPHERSON

Riley Rossmo, and the new, grittier comic book. 6 / LOCAL

BUSINESS & OPERATIONS

ON THE COVER:

TESSA KAUTZMAN

On finding meaning in every corner of the country. 14 / COVER

CLOSE, BUT NOT ENOUGH

FIRESIDE FOOD

ON THE BUS

Our thoughts on the stripping laws in Saskatchewan. 8 / EDITORIAL

This week we visit the brand-new Woodfire Grill. 16 / FOOD + DRINK

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 26 / COMICS

COMMENTS

MUSIC

GAMES + HOROSCOPES

Here’s your say on lowering the drinking age to 18. 10 / COMMENTS

Slow, Down Molasses, Vulture Kult + Nelly Furtado. 17 / MUSIC

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 27 / 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 ICON INK PHOTOGRAPHY

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LOCAL

LUCKY BASTARDS How to make a living making boutique booze BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

D

rinking whisky at ten in the morning is an interesting experience.

Drinking un-aged whisky right off the still at ten in the morning while surrounded by the people who made it, is an interesting experience that demands an explanation.

“If you’re not having fun making booze, you’re not doing it correctly,” says Michael Goldney after I refuse a second slug of the stuff.

Goldney ought to know. He is one third of Lucky Bastard distillers, Saskatchewan’s newest fountain of boutique booze.

The spearhead of the emerging micro-distillery trend in the province, Lucky Bastard produces high-quality hooch in small batches, spirits and liqueurs and bitters made from prairie grains and infused with flavours as complex as they are compelling.

Goldney started the company with Cary Bowman and Lacey J. Crocker in 2010, after a late-night speculation session turned serious. Today, the distillery produces more than a dozen products, from standbys like vodka and gin to experiments in bitters and eaux de vie. Goldney calls them craft spirits.

“I love craft spirits because they’re not produced on an assembly line,

and every one is a little different,” he says. “The world of spirits is so wonderful because it’s so diverse. It’s very rewarding to see something you come up with in your head end up in your glass. It’s fantastic.”

Building a distillery is far from easy.

Liquor takes time and money to make.

“A lot of time,” Crocker laughs, the massive copper still looming above

very odd given that whisky — and all alcohol — is made out of grain.”

Convinced the idea was sound, he approached Goldney and Crocker.

They were enthusiastic, and wasted no time getting started. They registered the business, found a building, and tracked down the necessary equipment — a still, fermentation vats, a filtration tower, and various other sinister-looking apparatuses.

The biggest roadblock turned out to be

If you’re not having fun making booze, you’re not doing it correctly.

MICHAEL GOLDNEY

her like something from a steampunk novel. “A lot of money, a lot of research, and a lot of dedication.”

Bowman latched onto the idea while touring Europe. He was surprised that the micro-distillery movement, so prominent on the continent and building steam in the Pacific Northwest, was virtually unknown on the prairies. “Saskatchewan is full of grains, fruit, great water,” he says. “To have no such enterprise here was just

the government. “At the time, SLGA didn’t have anything to deal with us, any sort of policies in place,” Bowman explains. “They had just started refining the policies for microbreweries [and] micro-wineries.

They actually had to write the policy with us to be able to deal with us.”

Bowman and his colleagues worked with the SLGA to establish a legal framework for the business. Then they started making alcohol.

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF LUCKY BASTARD DISTILLERY

The basic process is no secret.

Grains and fruits are mixed into a mash and fermented. The resulting mash is then distilled, which concentrates it, and filtered. Making eyewateringly potent alcohol is relatively easy. People have concealed stills for generations, supplementing the liquor board’s selection with fiery liquor of their own devising. But making flavourful and enjoyable spirits, on the other hand, is anything but easy.

“We had to redo it and redo it and redo it,” Bowman says of their first attempt at making vodka, a staple at any distillery. “The hard part with the vodka is how to make it as smooth as water — that’s the craft.”

Gin proved even more difficult.

Steeped in history and tradition, most dry gins are redolent of juniper — the unmistakable taste of England. “We toured a distillery in Portland that made a fantastic gin in a style I had never had before,” Goldney says. “I thought, ‘I want to make a gin similar to this.’” He spent an afternoon smelling botanicals — ingredients — with Bowman and Crocker before deciding what, exactly, a Lucky Bastard gin should taste like. “We got really lucky because we all decided we liked the same gin,” Crocker says.

“It’s a new western dry gin, so what

[we] do is pull back on that juniper.

It’s not as piney.” They threw a few batches away before creating the perfect recipe for what became Gambit Gin. Unlike most dry gins, Gambit has a much more balanced flavour profile, featuring notes of coriander, aniseed, and chamomile.

It was a good decision. Goldney spent months hearing that gin was going out of vogue, that “those old British people are dying off [and] no one is drinking gin anymore.” But Gambit is exactly what adventurous young drinkers, the irreverent, flavour-obsessed purveyors of cocktail culture, are looking for. Cocktails are gaining traction across North America, and Lucky Bastard have positioned themselves as a viable alternative to the big brands, ambassadors of spirits that are interesting, exciting, and irreverently innovative.

After spending several weeks searching fruitlessly for quality bitters — a type of herbal alcohol that is integral to many cocktails, from Old Fashioneds to Manhattans — Bowman, Goldney, and Crocker decided to make their own. Today, Lucky Bastard sells four types of bitters, including angostura and absinthe. “Part of being a craft distiller is controlling the entire process: the grain selection, the

yeast selection, how we’re going to do our mash, what kind of equipment we’ll use, how we’re going to make our cuts, how we’re going to get that flavour profile, right down to bottling and labeling,” Goldney says. Being a craft distiller also means making what you need, because other drinkers will surely be in the same situation.

Bowman, Crocker, and Goldney have produced many different spirits, but they set out to be a whisky distillery, the producer people turn to for refined single malts and real ryes.

Pointing out that much of what passes for rye, and what everyone else calls Canadian Whisky, is actually made from corn, Bowman says he hopes Lucky Bastard can craft something distinctive and original. “It’s going to be heavier, spicier,” he says. “To us, it’s a real rye whisky.”

But no one will know for at least two more years what Lucky Bastard’s whisky will taste like. Canadian law prohibits distillers from selling whisky as whisky until it has spent three years maturing in a barrel. There are a couple of dozen barrels lining the walls at Lucky Bastard, but even the oldest won’t be ready for bottling until sometime in 2014. Which explains

why I’m drinking the un-aged stuff at ten on a Tuesday morning. “It’s commonly referred to as white dog, white lightning, and sometimes moonshine,” Bowman says after Crocker produces a bottle. “It’s a fantastic spirit, in that you can taste what comes off the still, what the mash was like. It’s fresh and raw.”

It is also aggressive, much more so than even the smokiest Islay single malts. Un-aged whisky is perfectly safe to drink, but it is not for the faint of heart. “You’re going to taste all the malty, grainy esters, but it’s got a bit of a bite to it because it has not been

mellowed out,” Bowman adds. “That’s the thing with our whiskies here.

They’re coming off the still amazing, and when you put them in a barrel and age them, they’re just going to get that much better.”

The Lucky Bastard white dog burns my throat and makes my eyes water. It tastes like potential. ( ) Feedback?

Feedback? Text Text it! it! (306 306) 881 881 8372 8372 @MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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A NEW GOLDEN AGE? Riley Rossmo is one of many who are breaking ground in a new wave of comic book making BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

A

man is standing in a forest, surrounded by wolves. At his feet lies a human body that’s been torn to shreds. He’s wearing a parka with the hood pulled up. When you first lay eyes on him the only thing you see is his back and, over his left shoulder, the tip of the doublebarrelled rifle he’s holding.

The wolves slowly close in around him, snarling, blood dripping from their exposed fangs. The lead wolf leaps at the man in the parka and … boom! The perspective shifts to the side as you watch the man, the hood of his parka now down, falling back and ripping a shot through a wolf’s throat.

Blood explodes from the creature, splattering on the white snow below.

This is how Riley Rossmo’s comic book series, Rebel Blood, begins.

The series, which tells the story of a contagious disease that turns every living thing into zombies, was inspired by a canoe trip the artist took to Waskesiu.

“There were signs in Waskesiu that say something like ‘If we don’t show up in five days, start looking for us’ … or something like that,” says the 32-yearold comic book artist. “So I started thinking, if there was a serial killer on the loose or the zombie apocalypse or an outbreak, it would be a long time

before anyone up there would find out.

My imagination is very vivid, so I just ran with that idea.”

With this idea in mind, Rossmo did something he’d never done before. A comic book artist by trade, he decided to try his hand at writing.

“It was my own project,” he says.

“It was the first time I was working by

suspense stories, crime stories … real shocking stuff,” explains Chad Boudreau from his shop, ComicReaders, in Regina. “But then the comic code authority came in the mid-’50s and all those kind of comics went by the wayside.”

What they made room for was the rise of the superhero comic

It was okay to fight aliens and Nazis, but you couldn’t have sex or show blood or anything.

CHAD BOUDREAU

myself without a writer or anybody else attached.”

The result is a fast-paced, beautifully rendered, blood-and-horror-filled comic book series. The kind of comic book series that, 30 years ago, would be hard to come by, but that these days line the shelves of every comic book store in the province.

“In the ‘40s and ‘50s, the most popular comic books were horror,

book: Superman, Spider-Man, Captain America and the rest of the good, righteous characters that many people, to this day, immediately think of when comics are mentioned.

“Obviously, these superheroes were around since the ‘40s” says Boudreau, “but in the mid ‘50s to ‘60s it was all, ‘rah, rah America!’ It was okay to fight aliens and Nazis, but you couldn’t have sex or show blood or anything.”

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

This puritanical comic book period continued for decades. Sure, there were underground artists, like Robert Crumb, and there was a cutting-edge, sci-fi comic book scene in the U.K. during the ‘70s and early ‘80s, but over here, for the most part, it was all superheroes and spandex.

Then the 1990s came around, and the mainstream comic world was turned upside down. “Most people will tell you the game changer was when Alan Moore did Watchmen,” says Boudreau. “That was the pinnacle … It was one of the things that lead to the death of the comic code authority. More writers and artists had freedom to make better stories with complex characters, with anti-heroes at the centre.”

And such a change in content altered comic book consumption.

These days, the people in comic book stores aren’t fresh-faced, bigeared kids from the ‘50s looking for spandex-wearing good guys, dark, shadowy villains who are evil through and through, and a wholesome read.

“Fact is, the majority of comic book buyers aren’t what people deem to be the stereotypical comic reader,” says Boudreau. “They are young professional men, university

students, young adult females who are in here seeking The Walking Dead, Sandman, Scalped.”

And according to Boudreau, this new demographic of reader, this new audience looking for horror and suspense and other mature themes, is helping artists like Riley Rossmo sell books.

Which makes perfect sense when you look at the kinds of books Rossmo makes.

Proof is about a sasquatch who works for a secret government agency. Green Wake, a series Rossmo did with Saskatoon writer Kurt Wiebe, deals with a host of murder mysteries in a small town. And Cowboy Ninja Viking, which he illustrated for writer A.J. Lieberman (of DC Comics fame), focuses on an assassin with multiple personality disorder.

Needless to say, Rossmo’s catalogue isn’t your usual superhero cape-and-mask kind of stuff.

Sure, he’s worked for Marvel before, but Rossmo is more of a fan of doing the dark, twisted, independently build-it-from-the-groundup comic book.

Take, for instance, his latest comic project — Bedlam.

Featuring hands-down one of the creepiest super-villains/main characters you’ll ever lay eyes on, Bedlam tells the story of a charismatic, utterly insane serial killer named Madder Red, and his alter ego, Fillmore Press.

To date, the series has received such rave reviews that Rossmo doesn’t quite know what to make of it all.

“The orders for it have just been crazy,” says Rossmo, who collaborated on the series with Nick Spencer and Frazer Irving. “I was so shocked — still am. I do okay in this industry, but this book … it’s just crazy.”

And things could very well get even crazier for artists like Rossmo, who delve into the mature, dark, complex nature of humanity in their works. Works that are becoming increasingly popular.

“I think, in a way, we’re living in the golden age, the renaissance of comic books,” admits Rossmo. “It’s a great time for these type of comics and for artists like me. I don’t know what it is, but it’s fantastic.”

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CLOSE, BUT NOT ENOUGH

It’s time our province fully embraces stripping

W

inston Churchill once said something to the effect that “sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required.”

And while we celebrate some of the Sask Party’s recent changes to our provincial liquor laws, we absolutely do not believe that they were the best the government could do — especially when it comes to stripping. These new rules (which we’ll talk about in a moment) move in the right direction, but we have not become as progressive a province as we should be.

Now don’t get us wrong. There was plenty of red tape cut, a lot of nonsensical (at times even archaic) laws altered, and that should be

commended. For example, now movie theatres will be able to sell booze in age-restricted areas. And if you’ve never experienced it, there’s something terrific about throwing back a cold one while watching a new release (a cold one, that is, that you didn’t have to sneak in and sip surreptitiously after you managed to crack it open without drawing attention to yourself). The Europeans have known this for decades, and we have finally hopped on that welcome train.

On the restaurant front, not only did the government give a green light to the whole bring-your-ownwine concept (a measure that we have previously advocated for on this page), but they also made it legal for eateries to serve alcohol

without also having to serve food to customers.

Oh, and let us not forget about the modernization of the law that permits Sask brewpubs to produce up to 5,000 hectolitres of beer a year — up from a measly 2,000 hectolitres.

All of these updated laws are a step in the right direction, one that will help pull Saskatchewan out of the dark ages of ale and spirits and into the modern world. But here’s the thing — for all the encouraging updates (more than 70 in all), the one thing that glaringly stood out was the liquor law that deals with stripteases.

See, prior to these changes Saskatchewan was the only province puritanical enough to prohibit the stripping off of clothing in the CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF THOMAS HAWK

same room where alcohol was being consumed. Sure, you can have your strippers, just no booze. And sure, you can have booze, just no nudity.

But both? You have to be crazy!

Now, we’ve railed against the SLGA regulating morality before, so we’re pleased with the (slightly) softened stance Brad Wall’s government has taken towards alcohol and stripping. After all, it is now legal for alcohol to be sold during stripteases and wet clothing contests. Hooray for adults being able to dictate what they watch and drink at the same time — well, mostly.

You see, the Sask Party stopped short of allowing booze and fullfrontal nudity to be in the same room at the same time. And that just isn’t good enough. What is

so wrong with mixing stripping and alcohol? Every single other province in Canada allows it, and they’re not sinking into the ocean or having hellfire rained down upon them. So what’s our deal?

Why do we insist on clinging to these archaic, puritanical beliefs about breasts, penises and booze?

Sure, some people oppose stripping on moral grounds, and you know what? That’s their prerogative. They can then choose not to participate, either on stage or from the audience, in behaviour they find uncomfortable.

But for such a strict moral code to be imposed on all adults — and sanctioned by our government, no less — is beyond outrageous.

And that’s why, to us, this stripping limbo we are now in seems

just as outrageous as what preceded it. After all, this is all about freedom, folks. But half-freedom?

Being able to go some of the way, but not all? These things don’t really make sense in this case.

So we think it’s time for our government to do better than its best.

It’s time to drop the pasties and the

panties part of this new law, and put stripping and alcohol in the same room. This outdated, prohibitive mandate needs to be repealed, and the government needs to give the people in this province the right to choose.

It’s time Saskatchewan got in step with the rest of the country.

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

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COMMENTS

ON TOPIC: Last week we asked what you thought about lowering the drinking age in Saskatchewan to 18.

Here's what you had to say:

Text yo thoughtsur to 881 VE R B 8372

– I think if there going to lower the drinking age they might as well legalize pot, how many cases of death have been recorded from alcohol related incedents?? LOTS now how many peole have over marijuana cunsumption? If u guessed none! Your right! L and R, miss you rukkyruk

What you are advocating will result in greater injuries and deaths among teens, a key demographic who reads you. So you might think your evidence makes sense,but the age is 19 for a reason, and frankly should be higher. Kids just aren’t responsible enough to make educated choices at 18 about drinking.

– Lowering the drinking age would appear to be a logical choice for all of the reasons already stated.

Becoming of legal age at 18 should include all adult rights. Period.

There is lots of unfounded fear but little evidence this would cause more harm (as per MB and AB). Let this be a bridge towards more education about alcohol misuse-for ALL age groups. SK needs to focus on other pertinent issues. Let the 18 yr olds have a beer at their grad and be done with the topic.

OFF TOPIC

– We don’t need a lower drinking age in SK! We have already the deadliest record on SK highways and people are talking about lowering the drinking age! Get your heads out of your butts!

– Lowering drinking age was just spin by Brad Wall & Saskparty being found guilty of hiding $6billion Sk debt creation & misleading SK voters about $528m GRF debt

– I say let the 18 year olds drink.

They are going too drink if they want too legal or not

– I think gratuitously pandering to “popular” opinion like lowering the drinking age to 18 is disgusting, just so people like your paper.

– Local street artists need more coverage like this. That Wizwon guy is amazing In response to “Graffiti Gold,” Local story, #219 (December 7, 2012)

– To the person comparing believing in indians to believing in jesus smarten the f up. Indians obviously exist no evidence to support jesus.

– I think all the NHL players should quit and start there own league in Canada and USA instead of going to play in Europe. F**lk Bettman and the owners!!! I can’t wait for World Juniors to start. -ZJT

– Remembering all the courageous men and women who endured the madness in Montreal in 1989.

– In this society poor homeless Jesus Mary and Joseph would likely freeze to death on Christmas Eve!

– We’re all pumped and primed to kill Aliens Predators Things big bugs whatever’s out there for the killing!

SOUND OFF – Amazing to see the protests across Canada from first nations peoples opposing Harpertrons new omnibus bill. Encouraged by the power of peaceful demonstration. We can make a difference!

– I don’t understand Americans.

They think arming themselves with guns is the answer. People do not need guns. They take far too many innocent lives. Let’s get guns out of the hands of citizens and leave them rather in the hands of law enforcement or the military.

This latest Oregon tragedy is so senseless!

– Lolz ya rite person who said not believing in Jesus is like not believing in pilgrims and indians. You know pilgrims and Indians actually existed right? Jesus was at best some random guy who died thousands of years ago, and at worst a spirit created to impose control

– Fire the Saskatoon Transit Driver who was suspended last week.

Swearing and yelling wasn’t as bad as his inciting bystanders to assault the man - fire him.

– Sound off - people better not complain of the Saskatoon roads now cause properly tax is going up, the transit and the water just so you driver’s out there will stop complaining about the roads better be happy now

– Our mayor says we are a progressive city. Yes, our snow filled roads are getting progressively worse because council won’t spend the needed money to clear them! What a joke this city is! We have money for urban sprawl and to build new neighborhoods but cannot maintain the existing roads that we have!

– War for all history its always been people fighting over wealth

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they don’t need. Sometimes two sides fighting for what they don’t need. Most often one side with more than it needs fighting with other side with less than it needs for what little they do have.

– Food Banks the perpetual bandaid! Instead of ally his effort poured into the food bank peeps should be putting their time and energy into ending the need for food banks by lobbying Fed n Prov Gov’t to restore the social safety nets. The decades of effort poured into food banks by thousands would have done it by now. But we don’t do that do we? We like things just the way they are! Easier for those not on the bottom feel better about themselves. A couple cans in the bin a couple hours of volunteer and the conscience is assuaged!

– A problem with food banks is as long as they exist we have intstitutuionalized bigotry, this group of people is more deserving than this group, lesser people!

– Police are no angels either. I was crossing the street with my Mom who uses a walker. The cop did not turn left from lane to lane like you’re supposed to. No, he couldn’t wait and had to turn left into the outside lane and he had plenty of green light yet. He had no flashing lights or siren on but definitely had no patience to let pedestrians cross the street!

– Transit does a wonderful job and I respect what they do. I wish council would allocate more money to transit so that a new terminal could be made so that riders could warm up in winter. I don’t care what anyone says, transit tries hard and deserves a big pat on the back!

– That homeless guy who froze to death in Prince Albert is just so tragic and sad. Don’t know for sure but chances are aboriginal.

Something is seriously wrong with this society on a fundamental level when something like this happen!

People have their blinders on. Just not seeing it.

– I believe saskatchewan should make law people with drivers licenses should be retested every 10 years with the way people drive.

– The homeless guy who froze to death in P.A. again. So many people here claim to be Christian claim this is a Christian society.

Duh! Not getting it!

– I’m pretty sure stating that the editorial represents Verb and not writers implies a cohesive worldview on behalf of The Verb pretty standard practice. Nice try though genius

– Back in the 1950s trying to craft your buzz with just liquor coffee and cigarettes musta really sucked.

– Saskparty & NDP Medical Care Insurance mismanagement over the past 25 years is costing Saskatchewan citizens their quality of life & in some cases their lives.

– The LOVE of money is the ROOT of all evil.

– What did Santa say when he had to drive on the city streets? Hole hole hole!

– If santa is who he says he is how come he hides behind a big red suit?

– A social worker’s worst nightmare one of the clients gets elected and installed as Minister.

– What do all the sparrows around WalMart say? Cheap! Cheap!

Cheap!

– This week SaskGov Provincial Auditor found Brad Wall & Saskparty guilty of hiding $6billion in debt creation & misleading Sask citizens about $528m in GRF debt

– Panspermia the postulate life’s origin was extraterrestial and prior to earth’s origin (perhaps in the exotic soup of the big bang) is a valid scientific idea. In any case it would seem life is inherent built into the physics and chemistry of the universe. I have no trouble reconciling intelligent design and evolution.

– Saw a person motoring along in their moterized scooter bundled up through the snow. Wanted to

– Evil will flourish in a society without God.

know if they had studded tires but were to far away to ask.

except when it was Dec 12 in 1912 1812 etcetera.

– Dear people I see jogging over the college bridge every day on my commute home. You are an inspiration to get out there!

– Run DMC xmas song best eva!

– The car in front of me at Timmy Ho’s bought my order at the drive-thru! Thanks for making a crappy Monday fantastic :D I will definately be paying that forward

– Woman bitchin 2 her man “so how come I never got 12/12/12 ?

S0! the smart guy bought 3 dozen beer

– 12-12-12! Saw a bunch of limos driving around yesterday, guess a ton of people got hitched on this most magical day ever! Well,

– I think what we need right now is more snowwwwwwww!! God winter just be over already

– Auto starters are essential.

NEXT WEEK: What do you think about the Sask Party’s new stripping laws?

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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NO DRUMMER REQUIRED

The Hard Ramblers and the making of outlaw bluegrass

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

T

he Hard Ramblers don’t need a drummer to make great music.

All they need is a banjo, a bass, and a guitar. Formed in Swift Current by Eliza Doyle, Paula McGuigan, and Jody Weger, the Hard Ramblers have spent the past couple of years converting people across western Canada to outlaw bluegrass — a modern take on traditional music shot through with country feeling and the swagger of early rock and roll. Known for soaring vocal harmonies and blistering flat-picking, the Hard Ramblers offer audiences a chance to experience something new that isn’t really new at all: bluegrass traditions and the indescribable power of three voices singing as one. And they do it all without a drummer. I caught up with Eliza Doyle to learn more.

Alex J MacPherson: What exactly is outlaw bluegrass?

Eliza Doyle: What does that mean?

Well, I guess the way we think of it is taking a new twist on bluegrass. It’s more like rockabilly,

it’s got more of an edge to it than straight-up traditional bluegrass.

— and it gives us the challenge of creating the dynamics and keeping the beat, feeling out the beat more.

AJM: Bluegrass has such a long and rich history, yet it’s not heard very often. What drew you to bluegrass?

AJM: And you formed in Swift Current. How did that come about?

ED: I really like the fast pace and high energy of it. It’s just a really happy music. People who hear it are always smiling and dancing and tapping their toes. It’s a very uplifting type of music.

ED: Basically when I moved from Saskatoon to Swift Current I was sad about leaving Saskatoon because of the musical scene there. Me and Jody kept playing and then Paula kind of showed up outside Swift Current, in a small town called Cabri. I had met her

[I]t’s got more of an edge to it than straight-up traditional bluegrass.

ELIZA DOYLE

AJM: Yet one of the things people will notice about your band is the lack of a drummer.

before in a band called Barley Wik, an all-gal group based out of Victoria. I had been running into her a lot on the same festival circuit when I was with the Cracker Cats. It was a neat surprise.

ED: We actually find that the way that we all play our instruments creates its own percussion! The banjo fills everything in, Paula’s playing rockabilly bass, and Jody’s rhythm guitar is so tight. It makes our life easier without a drummer

AJM: One of the challenges is writing original songs that don’t depart too much from the bluegrass traditions.

ED: I was lucky enough to grow up around bluegrass music. My dad plays the banjo, my mom plays the fiddle. I can speak to my own type of songwriting: I hear my own bluegrass melodies in my head, and then I just put it to music. I don’t ever sit down and say, ‘I’m going to laboriously write a song.’ I just hear a melody or tune in my head and go from there.

the more comfortable you get with being able to work around each other. Whenever we get a new song we always try to figure out where the strong harmonies can be built.

I think it speaks to your heart — or something like that.

The Hard Ramblers December 21 @ The Bassment $12/16

AJM: The thing that stands out to me about the Hard Ramblers is just how good your harmonies are.

ED: Strong, powerful harmonies are very integral to the Hard Ramblers’ sound. The more you sing and the more you play with the group,

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THE NAMES OF THINGS

Local artists explore the ways humans intact with nature BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

H

umans and nature have a difficult relationship. The rise of advanced society has systematically dismantled the ties binding human beings to their environment. Technology is at best exploitative, at worst destructive; our lives are, for the most part, insulated from and anesthetized to the natural world.

The Names of Things features work by three Saskatchewan artists who explore the complex relationship between humans.

“The show responds to themes of the environment emerging in other exhibitions [at the Mendel],” says Troy Gronsdahl, who curated show.

“I wanted to further develop ideas of the environment, but frame it from a personal perspective and look at artists working with natural forms.

In many ways we’re alienated from our natural environment; we don’t recognize the intimacy or the kinship we have to the natural world.”

The Names of Things includes work by Zachari Logan, Stacia

Verigin, and Terry Billings — artists who share little aside from a healthy curiosity about humans and nature.

Billings painstakingly deconstructs wasp nests, transforming paper homes into abstract wall art. “She sees her role in that as a curatorial one,” Gronsdahl says. “She’s taking the wasps’ creation and trying to interpret it and present it for an audience.” Billings’ work questions the hierarchy of consciousness many take for granted; “Revealed Wasp Drawing #7” asks: can insects express artistic intent?

Zachari Logan is interested in finding his place in nature.

Gronsdahl sees “Eunuch Tapestry One,” a towering diptych based on 15th century wall hangings, as an examination of the way culture has framed nature throughout history, as well as a tidy portrait of the contemporary queer experience. On the other hand, he adds, “he’s got this ambiguous figure in this massive garden tapestry — it’s got this vulnerability you can connect

to regardless of your sexual identity. It speaks to this essential human vulnerability.”

Finally, Stacia Verigin’s weirdly compelling sculptures cast the titillating idea of museum curiosities and synthetic materials against organic shapes and biological forms.

Her work exists in the tension between the natural and the unnatural — and viewers are challenged to reconcile or separate them.

Ultimately, The Names of Things asks more questions than it provides answers, hinting broadly that we know very little about nature, and that we are minuscule before it.

These ideas may not be at the front of the public consciousness, but The Names of Things offers an opportunity to see nature from a different perspective, one that provokes our feelings and threatens our convictions.

The name for that is art.

The Names of Things Through Jan 6 @ Mendel Art Gallery

THE MOMENT OF CREATION When craft becomes art BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE AFFINTY GALLERY

T

he line between fine art and craft gets murkier and more indistinct every day. A few years ago it would have been unthinkable for the Saskatchewan Craft Council to hang paintings in its Affinity Gallery. A show made up solely of paintings may be some time in coming, but serious discussion about

the difference between fine art and craft have leveled the playing field.

Creativity & Spirituality blurs that line even further by examining the moment of creation, the artistic act, and the absence of thinking.

“It concerns the connection between spirituality and craft,” says Leslie Potter, who curated the exhibition

with Lorne Calvert, of the exhibition’s title. “I think that anybody who is involved in creation, creating something, can tap into spirituality. It was a tough show to select for that reason, because everybody that I know who is a fine artist or a fine craftsperson I think has a spiritual nature, even if they might not [admit it].”

Spirituality has become a heard word, one that has lost its meaning.

Potter and Calvert hope to reclaim it.

In an artistic context, Potter explains, spirituality refers to the moment of creation: “I call it an absence of thinking, where you lose track of time when you’re creating.” This is obviously an abstract concept, but it can be observed wherever attention is captured — and held.

Zane Wilcox’s “Crucible” is a perfect example. At first glance, it is just a stoneware bowl — difficult to make but not necessarily worthy of the term art. A second look reveals that something is not quite right. Off-camber and grooved, “Crucible” becomes something more than a stoneware bowl. Because it has a story, it speaks of its maker’s presence.

“I think it’s their directness and honesty,” Potter says of “Crucible” and other, similar, pieces. “There’s a strength that comes out of creating the piece, out of that focus — and that’s the spirituality. Here’s an object that contains something worth spending time with.”

Creativity & Spirituality is full of objects worth spending time with, from

“Crucible” and Margaret Bremner’s magnificent “Shawl” to the bizarre burial shroud Puck Janes made for her mother. “It’s partly an educational process,” Potter says. “And it’s partly [about] encouraging people to experience looking. For us as viewers, when we’re looking at a piece, we do really have to try and understand the piece and let the object speak.”

Creativity & Spirituality Through January 20 @ Affinity Gallery

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TIME AND DISTANCE Tessa Kautzman finds meaning in every corner of the country

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

I

t is easy to forget how big this country is. That St. John’s is closer to Paris than Victoria simply doesn’t matter in a digital world. Telephones and text messages have blunted the emotional impact of physical separation. The internet has rendered distance obsolete, even irrelevant.

An airplane can deliver anyone anywhere in just a few hours. Tessa Kautzman thinks otherwise.

“That’s something I have definitely felt, wanting to be everywhere at once and really missing the people I have left behind,” Kautzman says from her home in Montreal. “Some who are a part of my life and some I’ll never see again. Old lovers that are in different parts of the country.

My best friend is in Victoria. My family is in Saskatoon. If you’re moving around, you have relationships you have to leave behind.”

Kautzman was born and raised in Saskatoon, grew up under the enormous prairie sky, and has lived in cities and towns across Canada. These experiences helped shape her career as a singer and a songwriter. Her music explores the space between the pain of letting go and the joy of pressing on, emotional gray matter full of questions and maddeningly devoid of answers. Shredded eagle, Sad tambourine, which she released last year, is an attempt to make sense of those emotions, to reconcile time and

distance, and to examine her future in a country that counts among its assets three oceans, polar bears, and several species of palm trees.

“One of the themes I like to use in my music is the beauty in sadness, the beauty in all the bad things in the world,” Kautzman explains. “Wanting to experience the bad things in life as much as you want to experience the good things in life — and how the bad things can teach you

coming back, an idea implicit in the title and scattered through the lyrics (“When I’m on my own and in my head / I get so far from the truth / and when I make it back to you / I am even more confused,” she sings on “Someone Like You”). Shredded eagle, Sad tambourine is the opposite: an album about leaving and accepting that coming back is not an option. “The second one was [about] wanting to move forward

That’s something I have definitely felt, wanting to be everywhere at once and really missing the people I have left behind.

TESSA KAUTZMAN

just as much as the good things.”

Kautzman refuses to banish misery.

She prefers to embrace it, hoping that feeling sad and miserable is the key to feeling more alive.

Kautzman wrote and recorded her first album, Always Going Home, in Saskatoon. She knew people who wanted to play music with her. A friend volunteered to record the sessions. It was comfortable. Always Going Home is a record about leaving, but it is also a record about

and see what would happen,” she says, referring to the evolution of her songwriting but hinting at the basic trajectory of her life. “I just felt the need to record some songs, and people seemed to like it, so I decided to try the second one.”

Shredded eagle, Sad tambourine is an evolutionary leap for Kautzman, whose previous efforts were heavy on acoustic guitar and light on everything else. The new record is much more adventurous, an experiment in minimalistic guitar playing punctuated by melancholy horns, CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ICON INK PHOTOGRAPHY

swelling strings, and the faint echo of an organ. It is sophisticated and cosmopolitan, a string of moments of soaring tension and gentle release, poles echoed in her lyrics.

This is evident on “Worlds Apart,” which Kautzman readily admits is the most important song on the record. Driven by a bewitching melody plucked out on an acoustic guitar and adorned with strings and Kautzman’s ethereal voice, “Worlds

Apart” captures her fixation on nature while hinting at something bigger, something broader. “It’s about the impermanence of nature,” Kautzman explains. “I feel like I’m very much a part of the natural world. There are a lot of similarities between how we experience life and the things that happen in nature, the broader themes of how time changes everything and nothing is permanent, nothing lasts forever, things decay and die.”

“Worlds Apart” is the emotional centre of Shredded eagle, Sad tam-

bourine, the simplest expression of Kautzman’s worldview. By casting vast expanses of nature, cold and unfriendly, against the warmth of companionship, she is able to capture her dilemma — and everyone’s — in a way that is far more powerful than any explanation could ever be.

Nature is a powerful metaphor, and Kautzman makes good use of images that are simultaneously foreboding and alluring, images that force us into her world, into her heart.

“Can’t Remember The Last Time” explores a different side of nature. The intoxicating side. “It’s about drugs,” she laughs. “I mostly wrote it about magic mushrooms, to be honest. It sounds so cheesy, but it opened my eyes to a whole new world.” Like all good drug songs, the drug becomes a stand-in for a person, a lover, a friend (“The trees, they’re dark / They’re pulling me in / They’re pulling me in and I don’t want to go”). Although Kautzman drafted the song years ago, after a particularly good experience living in a Regina party house, “Can’t Remember The Last Time” has evolved into a meditation on addiction and a visceral reminder of what it feels like to leave.

“I Will” is the best track on the record, a six minute epic that builds and builds until it reaches a crescendo of longing and regret. Kautzman’s explanation is simple. “[It is] very much about the feeling of needing to move on, despite who you’re leaving

behind. It’s kind of about wanting to stay but longing to leave.”

Today, Kautzman lives and works in Montreal, a city she is reluctant to leave. “But,” she admits, “I’m not exactly sure what will happen in the future.” This is the whole point of Shredded eagle, Sad Tambourine. It is an album that captures the importance and value of every experi-

ence, no matter how insignificant it may seem. In probing the gray area between leaving and longing, Kautzman unearthed the simplest idea of them all, the notion that life is a journey full of precipitous highs and crushing lows.

“There is an ebb and flow to life and the seasons of nature,” Kautzman says, choosing her words carefully. “Winter and spring. Usually we associate spring with being the happy time … but I feel

as if winter is just as important. An equal part to that cycle.”

Tessa Kautzman January 5 @ Amigos Cantina $TBD; tickets at the door Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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FIRESIDE FOOD Photos by Adam Hawboldt

Woodfire Grill is a great place to spend a cold winter’s day

BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

he wind whistles and whips snow down 2nd Avenue. It’s cold outside, with the mercury hovering just a shade above -30 C. But inside the Woodfire Grill things are warm and cozy. The fireplace in the centre of the new, downtown restaurant is blazing.

There are smooth jazz standards playing. The design of the restaurant is clean, hip and inviting.

Sitting there, watching parkas and the balls on toques scurry down the sidewalk, I chat with the manager, Kristjan Hultin, and head chef Steven Quinn Walsh, both cool and personable guys. They tell me about their menus— there are three of them, to be precise.

The lunch one, served from 11am until 3pm, features dishes like a curry mango chicken sandwich and Burgundy beef stew. The appetizer

pulled beef poutine. And the dinner menu, which is served from 5pm until around 10pm, features mouthwatering dishes such as prosciutto- and goat cheese-stuffed chicken, and coconut Kahlua curry mahi mahi.

Oh, and did I mention there’s steak? This is, after all, a laid-back, affordable smokehouse kind of place.

But seeing as it’s lunch time, I go for something off the lunch menu.

Chef Walsh tells me he’s open to making something off other menus, as long as the customer understands it may take a few minutes longer.

I’m hungry right now, though, so I go with a lunch option. A falafel burger, to be precise (because, honestly, I’ve never heard of a falafel burger before) with a side of salmon, dill and asparagus soup.

The burger — topped with lettuce, tomato, red onions and an amazing dill tzatziki sauce — is hearty and delicious. And the soup, which I chose over the hand-cut fries, is an ideal side, it’s savoriness contrasting perfectly with the tart tzatziki sauce of the burger.

After lunch I stick around and chat a bit longer with the friendly folks at Woodfire Grill (which will have its grand opening next week), and here’s what else I learn: the menu is mostly gluten-free, they do catering as long as you give them a bit of a heads-up, and

]T]he drink menu (which looks fantastic!) uses a lot of … Lucky Bastard.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

menu is available from 3pm until the cocktail hours of the night, and has dishes like hoisin beef skewers, deep fried butternut squash and

LET’S GO DRINKIN’ VERB’S MIXOLOGY GUIDE GROG

INDREDIENTS

If you’re hitting the high seas and don’t want to get scurvy, or if you simply just want a drink to whet your whistle and give you that warm, fuzzy feeling on a cold winter’s day, give this cocktail a try.

2 ounces dark rum 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1 teaspoon brown sugar 4 ounces hot water slice of orange + a cinnamon stick

DIRECTIONS

Mix the rum, lime juice, brown sugar, and hot water together in a mug.

Garnish the drink with an orange slice and a cinnamon stick. Enjoy!

the drink menu (which looks fantastic!) uses a lot of local Lucky Bastard.

So if you’re in the mood for a cool, cozy place on a cold winter’s day — a place with excellent food and a heckuva drink menu — my advice is to do yourself a favour and make your way to the Woodfire Grill.

Woodfire Grill 152 2nd Ave S | 653 7437 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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NEXT WEEK

COMING UP

SLOW DOWN, MOLASSES

VULTURE KULT

NELLY FURTADO

@ AMIGOS CANTINA FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21 – $TBD

@ AMIGOS CANTINA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22 – $TBD

@ THE ODEON EVENTS CENTRE THURSDAY, JANUARY 17 – $49.50+

You never know what you’re going to see when you go to a Slow down, Molasses show. Will there be five, six, or seven people on stage?

Will there be toy pianos? Typewriters? Some other strange device turned into an instrument? Honestly, your guess is as good as anyone’s.

But one thing is for sure: one thing you’ll see at a Slow down, Molasses show is one helluva good band.

Playing sometimes-pared-down, sometimes-rollicking indie anthems, this local rock band — consisting of Tyson McShane, Ryan Drabble, Patrick Schmidt, Paul Ross, Jeanette Stewart, Chrix Morin and whomever else happens to be up on stage — has it all. Come celebrate the end of the world with Slow down, Molasses and friends! Tickets at the door.

What’s there not to like about Vulture Cult? This prairie-based duo can play the hell out of their instruments, and what’s more, the in-your-face aesthetic of their music brings to mind bands like Black Sabbath, Fugazi, and more. With Bradley on drums, Hans on guitar, and both of them singing, Vulture Kult plays a unique brand of punked-up, sludge-metal rock with hints of the blues and oh, so much more. The guitar playing is pure, melt-yourface hellfire, the drums hit you hard in the gut, and the vocals are tight as all get out of here. Again, what’s there not to like about Vulture Kult?

Come see what they’re all about when they rock the stage at Amigos.

Tickets for the event will be available at the door.

Some musicians hit the ground running and never look back. Victoria’s Nelly Furtado is one of those artists. Her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which dropped in 2000, won her a Juno for Single of the Year (“I’m Like a Bird”), and a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Her next two albums, Folklore and Loose, found worldwide commercial success, and Nelly Furtado solidified herself as an international star. So what did she do for an encore? She just released a full-length Spanish album that won a Latin Grammy, that’s all. She’s since returned to her English singing ways, having released her newest album, The Spirit Indestructible, earlier this year. Check her out when she plays the Odeon; tickets at theodeon.ca – By Adam Hawboldt

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

SASK MUSIC PREVIEW The Canadian Radio Star talent search is now under way. Emerging Canadian artists are invited to submit their original work to be heard by top tier musical professionals, as well as a shot at numerous prizes, including $10,000 cash. Please submit online at www.radiostar.ca to the closest participating radio station before January 18th, 2013.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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LISTINGS

DECEMBER 14 » DECEMBER 22 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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17 18 19 20 21 22

FRIDAY 14 HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover YOUNG JAMES / Amigos — A local folk/ alt-rock group. 10pm / Tickets at the door

FOODBANK PIANOTHON / The Bassment — Featuring Saskatoon’s best jazz piano players. 4:30pm / Two items for Saskatoon’s Foodbank AUSTEN ROADZ / Béily’s UltraLounge — Austen Roadz throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party every Friday night.

9pm / $5 cover HUNG JURY / Buds on Broadway — Playing everything from AC/DC to Michael Jackson. 10pm / $6 AL MORRISON / Bugsy’s (Lawson Heights) — Some blues music for your soul. 9pm / No cover ROCK THE ‘90S / Crown & Rok — All your favourite hits from the ‘90s. 9pm / Cover TBD 911 TURBO / The Fez — A wild night of German techno. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose — Local whiz pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover

DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — This local crowd favourite always breaks it down. 9pm / $5 cover DJ BUTTERZ / Lounge 306 — Top 40 songs.

8pm / Cover TBD SEPTEMBER LONG / Lydia’s Pub — A sweet set of jam-rock. 10pm / $5 PIANO MAN / The Odeon — A tribute to Elton John and Billy Joel. 5pm / $49 (www.theodeon.ca) DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm WAYNE BARGEN / Prairie Ink — Finger style acoustic guitar. 8pm / No cover SYLVIA CHAVE / The Refinery — Come check out the Holiday Hoopla concert.

10:30am and 1:30pm / $8 UNDER THE BRIDGE / Somewhere Else Pub and Grill — Come out for a night of darn good music. 9pm / No cover.

DJ ALBERT + DISLEXIK / Spadina Freehouse — Two dope DJs for your listening pleasure. 10pm / No cover GRUMPY OLD MEN / Stan’s Place — Come out for a night of rocking tunes. 9pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests. 10pm / $5 THE BAD DECISION / Vangelis — Also appearing is Twin Voices. 10pm / $5

SATURDAY 15

HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover JEANS BOOTS / Amigos — A local indie rock band worth checking out. 10pm / $8 MAURICE DROUIN’S JAZZY CHRISTMAS / The Bassment — Featuring Melanie Gibbs, Tatrina Tai, Grant Currie and Graham Dyck. 9pm / $15/20 AUSTEN ROADZ / Béily’s UltraLounge — Austen Roadz throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party along with DJ CTRL every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover HUNG JURY / Buds on Broadway — Playing everything from AC/DC to Skid Row to Michael Jackson. 10pm / Cover $6 AL MORRISON / Bugsy’s (Lawson Heights) — Some blues music for your soul. 9pm / No cover THE UNDERCOVER PIRATES / Crown & Rok — These guys rock the seven seas. 10pm / Cover TBD RORY BOREALIS AND THE NORTHERN LIGHTS / The Fez — Dust off your dancing shoes and get ready to shake your money maker. 10pm / $5 DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — This local crowd favourite has always been known to break it down. 9pm / $5 cover DJ BUTTERZ / Lounge 306 — Top 40 songs.

8pm / Cover TBD

THE NOBLE THIEFS / Lydia’s Pub — Rock and soul from Winnipeg! 10pm / $5 LIFTED / Lydia’s Pub — Come dance your heart out in Lydia’s loft. 10pm / $5 PIANO MAN / The Odeon Events Centre — A tribute to Elton John and Billy Joel. 5pm / $49 (www.theodeon.ca) DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Round up your friends . 8pm / $5 DOUG BOOMHOWER / Prairie Ink — A talented jazz trio. 8pm / No cover UNDER THE BRIDGE / Somewhere Else Pub and Grill — Come out for a night of darn good music. 9pm / No cover.

THE GAFF / Spadina Freehouse — Break out your dancing shoes and come have some fun. 10pm / No cover GRUMPY OLD MEN / Stan’s Place — Come out for a night of rocking tunes. 9pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes. 10pm / $5 JENNY / Vangelis Tavern — Also appearing is Nodding Donkey, Rockets + Dinosaurs and Zombie Bouffant. 10pm / $5

SUNDAY 16

MAURICE DROUIN’S JAZZY CHRISTMAS / The Bassment — Featuring Melanie Gibbs, Tatrina Tai, Grant Currie and Graham Dyck. 9pm / $15/20 INDUSTRY NIGHT / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy. 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff

18 DEC 14 – DEC 20 ENTERTAINMENT

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SASKATOON BRASS BAND / Grace Westminster United Church — A Christmas concert featuring the choirs of GraceWestminster United Church. 7pm / By donation DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover SASKATOON YOUTH ORCHESTRA, SASKATOON STRINGS / Quance Theatre — Drop by for this winter concert. 2:30pm and 7pm / $10

MONDAY 17

METAL MONDAYS / Lydia’s Pub — If hard, heavy awesomeness is your thing, swing by, listen to some killer music and get in on some concert giveaways. 9pm

TUESDAY 18

THREE STRING FRETLESS / Buds on Broadway — Come rock the night away. 10pm / Cover $6 DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — This crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9:30pm / $4 cover JAPANDROIDS / Louis’ Pub — A kickass rock duo from Vancouver. 9pm / $16.50 (www.northerntickets.com) VERB PRESENTS OPEN STAGE / Lydia’s Pub — The open stage at Lydia’s has hosted many of Saskatoon’s finest performers.

9pm / No cover OPEN MIC / Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover RITA MACNEIL AND FRANK MILLS / TCU Place — Need help getting in the holiday spirit? Look no farther. 7pm / $62.50 (www.tcutickets.ca)

WEDNESDAY 19

HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Resident DJ Chris Knorr will be spinning all of your favourite songs and requests. 9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter THREE STRING FRETLESS / Buds on Broadway — Come rock the night away. 10pm / Cover $6 THE AVENUE RECORDING COMPANY PRESENTS OPEN MIC / The Fez on Broadway — Hosted by Chad Reynolds. Sign up and play at this weekly event. 10pm / No cover JOULE TALLMAN / Gillian Snider’s House — A part of Gillian’s House Concert Series. 8pm / $15 DJ KADE / Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

DR. J ‘SOULED OUT’ / Lydia’s Pub — Dr. J spins hot funk and soul every Wednesday night. 9pm / No cover WILD WEST WEDNESDAY / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — This is Saskatoon’s top industry night, hosted by DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman. 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff BEN AND KAITLYN / Spadina Freehouse — Come out for a night of live music. 8pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

10pm / No cover

THURSDAY 20

THREE STRING FRETLESS / Buds on Broadway — Come rock the night away. 10pm / Cover $6 THROWBACK THURSDAYS / Earls — Come experience the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm / No cover THE FAPS, GHOST OF A GHOST, PANDACORN, NODDING DONKEY, MINOR MATTER / The Fez on Broadway — A stacked line-up you won’t want to miss. 8pm / $10 DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — Local DJ Sugar Daddy will be rocking the turntables! 8pm / $5; free cover with student ID before 11pm SCOTTY HILLS / Vangelis Tavern — Also appearing is Amber Suchy. 10pm / $5

FRIDAY 21

HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover SLOW DOWN MOLASSES, MOONBAHN, SOSO / Amigos — Come check out the End of the World Party. 10pm / Cover TBD PIANO FRIDAYS: JESSE BROWN / The Bassment — Enjoy some smooth jazz stylings. 4:30pm / No cover ROOT SERIES: THE HARD RAMBLERS, THE WHISKEY JERKS / The Bassment — Come rockabilly the night away. 9pm / $12/16 AUSTEN ROADZ / Béily’s UltraLounge — Austen Roadz throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party every Friday night.

9pm / $5 cover ONE BAD SON / Buds on Broadway — A hard-rocking local four-piece. 10pm / $6 BLACK RAIN / Crown & Rok — A night of good ol’ rock and roll. 9pm / Cover TBD MO’ LOVE / The Fez — A tribute to Motown. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — This local crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9pm / $5 cover DJ BUTTERZ / Lounge 306 — Top 40 songs.

8pm / Cover TBD ULTIMATE POWER DUO / Lydia’s Pub — They’ll rock you like a hurricane.

10pm / $7 DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm IAN MARTENS / Prairie Ink — Acoustic folk rock. 8pm / No cover L.O.R.D FUNK AND FRIENDS / Somewhere Else Pub and Grill — Come out for a night of funky music. 9pm / No cover.

CHARLY HUSTLE / Spadina Freehouse — He drops beats for your listening pleasure.

10pm / No cover URBAN OUTLAWS / Stan’s Place — Come out for a night of rocking tunes. 9pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests. 10pm / $5 THE FIRESIDE SINGERS / TCU Place — A local choir with over 100 voices. 7:30pm / $27-29 (www.tcutickets.ca) GRAHAM TILSLEY / Vangelis — Also appearing is Ryan Holaday. 10pm / $5

SATURDAY 22

HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover VULTURE KULT, ULTIMATE POWER DUO / Amigos — Rock and roll for the modern age. 10pm / Cover TBD PIANO SERIES: RAY STEPHANSON’S MOXON TRIO / The Bassment — Playing original compositions and improvised tunes. 9pm / $10/14 AUSTEN ROADZ / Béily’s UltraLounge — Austen Roadz throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party along with DJ CTRL every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover ONE BAD SON / Buds on Broadway — A hard-rocking local four-piece. 10pm / $6 KICK START LOUIE / Crown & Rok — Come bid farewell to this local act. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — This local crowd favourite has always been known to break it down. 9pm / $5 cover

DJ BUTTERZ / Lounge 306 — Top 40 songs.

8pm / Cover TBD LIFTED / Lydia’s Pub — Come dance your heart out in Lydia’s loft. 10pm / $5 DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5 CAILA ELLERMAN / Prairie Ink — Gentle melodies over ominous tones. 8pm / No cover L.O.R.D FUNK AND FRIENDS / Somewhere Else Pub and Grill — Come out for a night of funky music. 9pm / No cover.

CHRIS ASTRO / Spadina Freehouse — Break out your dancing shoes and come have some fun. 10pm / No cover URBAN OUTLAWS / Stan’s Place — Come on down and get your rock on this holiday season. 9pm / No cover

DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests. 10pm / $5 THE FIRESIDE SINGERS / TCU Place — A local choir with over 100 voices. 7:30pm / $27-29 (www.tcutickets.ca) YE OLDE YULETIDE MUSICK / Unitarian Centre — A seasonal show featuring Troubadour Camerata. 7:30pm / $12 (adults), $10 (students/seniors) YOUNG BENJAMINS / Vangelis — Also appearing is Close Talker and Castle River.

10pm / $10 (advance), $12 (door)

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AN UNEXPECTEDLY LONG JOURNEY

PHOTO: COURTESY OF WARNER BRO. PICTURES

The Hobbit, while visually stimulating, lacks the magic of LOTR BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

D

o you guys remember when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out?

If you’re a fan of the original Star Wars trilogy, of course you do.

Chances are you waited in line on opening night, maybe even dressed up in a costume and held your breath as the opening sequence began to roll.

You were excited, and understandably so.

Now, do you remember the gutwrenching disappointment you felt when it was over? Well, that’s how a lot of The Lord of the Rings fans are going to feel when the final credits of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey appear on screen.

Don’t get me wrong. The Hobbit isn’t nearly as bad as Phantom Menace.

But it’s not nearly as good as any of the movies in the LOTR trilogy, either.

Set 60 years prior to the trilogy, The Hobbit begins with a 20-minute-or-so

CGI’d prologue about the fall of Erebor — the homeland of the dwarves. After that it moves to the Shire, and we meet Bilbo Baggins (played this time around

by Martin Freeman). Eventually Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a baker’s dozen of dwarves show up. Gandalf tries to convince Bilbo to go on an

The problem is, though, that by the time ol’ Bilbo is convinced, packs his bags and begins the adventure, the movie is already almost an hour old.

And therein lies the main problem with The Hobbit. There’s no real immediacy to it. The plot meanders,

The plot meanders, and the movie slogs along…

ADAM HAWBOLDT

adventure to get Erebor back from the evil dragon, Smaug. Bilbo tells Gandalf that adventures are “nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things.” But eventually he agrees to go because, well, if he didn’t, there wouldn’t be much of a movie, would there?

and the movie slogs along without drama or any real sense of purpose for nearly three hours.

Sure, the group of adventurers run into danger in the form of orcs, goblins, trolls, wargs and more, but there’s never any urgency.

But honestly, what did you expect?

Think about it. The LOTR films came from the more than 1,500 pages of the trilogy novels. The Hobbit, which may also become a trilogy (though hopefully not), was pulled from J.R.R. Tolkien’s 300-page book of the same name.

Talk about stretching a story thin!

What made Peter Jackson and cowriters Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro think a 300page novel deserved more than one movie, I’ll never know.

Yet for all The Hobbit is lacking (in relation to the original film trilogy), it’s still not a bad movie. The battle scenes are vivid and striking.

The fantasy landscapes created

by Jackson are lush, beautiful and gorgeously realized. And the dwarf named Thorin (played by Richard Armitage) is pretty kickass. Think of him as The Hobbit’s answer to The Lord of The Rings’ Aragorn.

THE HOBBIT DIRECTED BY Peter Jackson STARRING Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Martin Freeman + Richard Armitage 160 MINUTES | 14A

So yeah, The Hobbit most certainly has its virtues. And if you go into it expecting a marathon and predicting that it’s much more of a kid’s movie than any of the LOTR films, than you may not be as disappointed as I let on in the beginning of this review.

But you probably won’t be incredibly impressed, either.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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A THRILLER WITHOUT THE THRILLS The Paperboy, a sexy southern gothic, fails to deliver

BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

I

f you’ve never read Pete Dexter’s novel The Paperboy, you should probably get on that.

Published in 1995, it tells the story of Ward Jansen, an intrepid reporter who returns to his hometown to investigate a murder. See, the local sheriff has been killed and a man named Hillary Van Wetter is on death row, awaiting execution. Thing is, though, Jansen thinks the evidence against Wetter is inconsistent with the ruling, so he decides to investigate. Along the way we meet a sexpot named Charlotte Bless (who has a strange crush on the convicted Wetter) and Jansen’s little brother, Jack (who has a not-sostrange crush on Charlotte.)

Anyway, without giving too much away, Dexter’s book is a sparse, wellwritten mystery that moves like a bat out of hell from the first page to the last, pulling the reader deep into a southern gothic tale that is at once both sexy and thrilling.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MILLENNIUM FILMS

The Paperboy, at least on paper, oozes natural screen talent.

So what, exactly, is the problem with this film?

Well, in a word, it’s a hot, sexy, sloppy, singular mess.

For some unfathomable reason, Daniels seems to favour shock over story. He seems to really want the viewer to get pulled into the scene

[I]n a word, [The Paperboy] is a hot, sexy, sloppy, singular mess.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

Too bad the movie shares none of those characteristics.

Directed by Lee Daniels (Precious), The Paperboy film features a pretty darn good cast. You have Matthew McConaughey as Miami Times reporter Ward Jansen. John Cusack (who is greasy as hell in the movie) plays convict Hillary Van Wetter, Zac Efron plays Jack Jansen and Nicole Kidman is Charlotte Bless. Oh, and there’s Macy Gray (yes, the singer) as the Jansen family housekeeper, who narrates the tale.

So talent isn’t the problem with this flick. In fact, you might even say

where Nicole Kidman’s character pisses on Zac Efron. Same thing goes for all the scenes with Efron in his tighty whities, the scene in which we watch Cusack soil the front of his pants, and the part of the flick where we find McConaughey naked in a motel room — handcuffed, beaten to hell, and sodomized.

That’s where Daniel’s focus tends to lie, when what he really should’ve been focused on is paying more attention to the streamlined plot, the mystery and the eerie thrill of the novel.

But he doesn’t. And as a result, what we get is a lopsided, meander-

THE PAPER BOY DIRECTED BY Lee Daniels STARRING Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Nicole Kidman + Zac Efron 107 MINUTES | 14A

ing film that never quite lives up to its potential.

Now, that’s not to say The Paperboy is all bad. Just most of it.

However, the good parts of the movie, while few and far between, are pretty darn good. Take, for instance, Nicole Kidman. She knocks the hell out of her role as a white-trash harlot who oozes beauty and sexual tension.

If she doesn’t get an Oscar nomination, I’ll be surprised. And to be completely honest, as strange as it is to say (and as contrary as this may run to my argument), the scene in which she urinates on Zac Efron is riveting.

So if that’s the kind of stuff you’re into, sure, give The Paperboy a watch.

But if you leave the theatre unfulfilled, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5 @

STAN’S PLACE

Stan’s Place Suite 106-110 Ruth Street (306) 665-9000 MUSIC VIBE / Country and

country rock FEATURED DEALS / Wings for $3.25

a pound, and Great Western Pilsner and Light DRINK OF CHOICE / Rye and Coke TOP EATS / Wings SOMETHING NEW / New decor coming soon

Photography by Patrick Carley

22 DEC 14 – DEC 20 ENTERTAINMENT

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23 DEC 14 – DEC 20 /VERBSASKATOON

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10 @

FOX & HOUNDS Fox & Hounds Pub & Brewery 7 Assiniboine Drive (306) 664 2233 MUSIC VIBE / Alternative, rock

and Lithium satellite radio FEATURED DEALS / Wings and vodka paralyzers DRINK OF CHOICE / Caesar TOP EATS / Wings COMING UP / NFL giveaways will begin as soon as playoffs kick off

Photography by Patrick Carley

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25 DEC 14 – DEC 20 @VERBSASKATOON

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

26 DEC 14 – DEC 20 ENTERTAINMENT

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TIMEOUT

CROSSWORD CANADIAN CRISS-CROSS 26. An alligator is one 28. 60-minute periods 31. Doctors study it 35. Rural hotel 36. Brought to maturity, as wine 37. Ghostly greeting 38. Previously mentioned 40. Gender 41. Mix ingredients 42. Peaceful protests 44. Place the blame on 46. Musical variety show 47. Slide downhill 48. Financial burden 49. Large, heavy book

DOWN 1. Strong and effective 2. Liveliness 3. One who habitually drinks too much 4. Ballroom dance 5. Woman of refinement 6. Map abbreviation 7. Antitoxins 8. Emotional shock 9. Chili powder ingredient 11. Largest moon of Saturn 12. Wise Men of the East 14. Nobleman 17. ___ la Prairie, Manitoba 20. “Rock of ___” (hymn) 23. Get it wrong

24. Delighted SUDOKU ANSWER KEY 25. Agree to 27. With mistakes A 28. Geese and snakes do it 29. Broadcasting 30. Combined into one 32. Having an angle of more than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees 33. Slightly wet 34. Of long ago (with “of”) B 36. Item of value 39. Plunge headfirst into water 41. Telemarketing danger 43. Protuberance 45. Soft, murmuring sound

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

1. Mexican coin 5. Fruit of forest trees used as food for pigs 9. Part of the large intestine 10. Turn away 12. Change 13. Go off the tracks 15. May it become true 16. Hot tub 18. On its own prefix 19. Variety of rummy 20. Smallest part of an element 21. Do damage to 22. Whole number 24. Secreting organ

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

ACROSS

© WALTER D. FEENER 2012

HOROSCOPES DECEMBER 14 – DECEMBER 20 ARIES March 21–April 19

LEO July 23–August 22

SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21

Emotions will be running wild this week, Aries. Don’t let them get the better of you. So no matter what, act like a cowboy (or girl), and rein them in.

No matter what happens, stay positive this week. If you can do that, things will go your way. If not, cosmic forces will make you stub your toe.

Do you have a thousand things to do this week, Sagittarius? If so, you’ll only get them done if you focus on finishing one at a time.

TAURUS April 20–May 20

VIRGO August 23–September 22

CAPRICORN December 22–January 19

You might find yourself feeling down in the dumps this week, Taurus. And that might not be a bad thing.

Use the time to do some soul searching.

You may be reluctant, even afraid, to commit to something this week, Virgo. Chicken! Just throw yourself into whatever it is, head first

Fun: that’s the name of the game this week, Capricorn. So whistle while you work, don’t worry be happy, and all that other jazz.

GEMINI May 21–June 20

LIBRA September 23–October 23

AQUARIUS January 20–February 19

You know the old cliché, “laughter is the best medicine?” Well, it’s a cliché for a reason, Gemini. So try to chuckle your ass off this week.

Ever have one of those weeks where it seems no one understands you, Libra? If so, you have another one coming down the pipe at you.

Life getting hectic? The hustle and bustle getting you down?

Say to hell with it all and take some much needed alone time, Aquarius.

CANCER June 21–July 22

SCORPIO October 24–November 22

PISCES February 20–March 20

A lot of times we fail to sit back and see just how fortunate we are. This week, Cancer, remember to be thankful for what you have. It may not always be there.

They say life is all about balance. But seriously, Scorpio, have you ever sat back and really thought about who “they” are? So just do what’s good for you.

Sticktoitiveness, organization and a bit of your own personal flair.

That’s what’ll make this coming week a resounding success, Pisces.

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

CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY

A

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

B

27 DEC 14 – DEC 20 /VERBSASKATOON

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