Verb Issue S234 (Apr. 5-11, 2013)

Issue #234 – April 5 to April 11

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arts

The Dudes

making it medium

culture

music

saskatoon

transgender equality TransSask raises awareness fast and loose Q+A with Acres of Lions Jurassic park 3d + stoker Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of the artist

contents

NEWs + Opinion

entertainment

culture

Q + A with acres of lions

listings Local music listings for April 5 through April 13. 18 / listings

Home(s), sweet Home(s). 12 / Q + A

transgender equality

one bad son Saskatoon expat rockers talk picking singles. 13 / Arts

TransSask raises awareness. 4 / Local

Jurassic park 3D + Stoker The latest movie reviews. 20 / Film

rosie & the riveters

Nightlife Photos

Local singers rejuvenate gospel.

We visit 302 Lounge and Spadina Freehouse. 22-25 / Nightlife

13 / Arts

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

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

ART & Production

not as seen on tv

Design Lead / Roberta Barrington Design & Production / Brittney Graham Contributing Photographers / Patrick Carley, Adam Hawboldt + Ishtiaq Opal

What it means to be a coroner in Saskatchewan. 6 / Local

Business & Operations

The right tools

scrumptious szechuan

Here’s our thoughts on bringing tool libraries to the province. 8 / Editorial

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 26 / comics

We visit Rock Sugar. 16 / Food + Drink

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit account Manager / nathan holowaty sales Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

contact Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 306 881 8372

On the cover:

The Dudes

On making it medium. 14 / cover

comments

Music

Games + Horoscopes

Here’s your say on installing more highway cameras. 10 / comments

The Steel Wheel, The Casualties + The Tragically Hip. 17 / music

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 27 / timeout

advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253 design / layout@verbnews.com / 306 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

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Transgender Equality Photo: Courtesy of torbakhopper

TransSask aims to raise awareness, change perceptions

by ADAM HAWBOLDT

M

ikayla Schultz was at a crossroads in her life.

Years of confusion and shame and depression had worn her out.

The pain she felt inside couldn’t be numbed, no matter how many drugs she took or how much booze she imbibed.

So when she found herself standing in the basement of her house, staring up at a noose dangling from the rafters, Schultz knew she had a decision to make — to kill herself or to show the world who she really was. You see, in the decades preceding that pivotal day Mikayla wasn’t always known as Mikayla. She used to be a man.

“I knew I wanted to be a girl ever since I was five or six years old,” says Schultz, “but our society didn’t allow me to be what I wanted.

Everyone around me was always telling me I was a boy. So I spent the

first 35 years or so of my life trying to conform to our culture’s expectations of my genitals.”

“Try” being the operative word here. Sure, Shultz grew up doing what is considered stereotypical “boy” things, trying to project a masculine persona to the world. But inside, everyday was a constant struggle.

“I played hockey for a total of two months before I quit,” she recalls. “I’d bear it through practice and then, when it was over, I’d stick around and watch figure skating practice from the sidelines, wishing I could do that.”

The struggle remained through her teen years and into adulthood until Schultz couldn’t hide who she really was anymore. “I was a student at SIAST when, socially, I made the decision to just do it,” she says. “One day friends of mine and I went out shopping. I bought a new outfit and showed up at school and said, ‘I’m Mikayla now,’ and that was it.”

She’s been known as Mikayla ever since. But it hasn’t been easy. In a society where people like Schultz — along with many others in the trans-community — are ostracized, marginalized, harassed and discriminated against, life can be tough. So tough, in fact, that sometimes it seems pointless to go on.

“A lot of transpeople will tell you, once you get to know them, that they came to a point in their lives where they didn’t want to do it anymore,” explains Schultz. “They just want it to be over.”

That’s one of the main reasons the rate of suicide and attempted suicide are astronomically high in the trans-community. In fact, according to an ongoing health study in Ontario, 43% of all transgender people in that province had attempted suicide at one point in their lives. In America, the national rate of attempted suicide in the trans-community is 41%.

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will become easier for people in the trans-community.

Photo: Courtesy of mikayla schultz

Compare that to Canada’s national suicide rate of under 1%, and obviously there are some serious issues facing members of the trans-community.

Issues Schultz knows all too well.

International Transgender Day of Visibility typically falls on the last day of March. But because this year the end of March just so happened to be a holiday, TransSask — a provincewide support and resource network for trans-identified and sex or gender diverse people — decided to start its Transgender Awareness Week a day early this year.

tion to something that’s already here, that’s always been here. For too long, we’ve gone unrecognized because we conformed to the ideal of the gender binary. But not any more.”

So to help get the trans-community and its issues out there, TransSask has decided to do a bit more than just hold a rally. On April 5th, they’re putting on Gender Failure.

Featuring writer/storyteller Ivan Coyote and musician Rae Spoon, the show explores failed attempts at fitting into the gender binary.

Then, on the following day, there will be a series of talks and performances illuminating

For too long, we’ve gone unrecognized because we conformed to the ideal of the gender binary. But not any more. mikayla schultz

“Because the 31st is Easter Sunday, we organized our annual rally in Regina for Saturday the 30th,” says Schultz, who is director of TransSask Support Services.

The rally is designed to call attention to the existence of, and problems facing, the trans-community here in Saskatchewan. “The community is not just about transsexuals like myself,” says Schultz. “It also includes transgender people, cross dressers, genderqueer, intersex individuals and more … We want to bring recogni-

personal stories from the transcommunity. “The concept behind these talks is the Vagina Monologues,” explains Schultz. “So we’re calling it the Trans Monologues.

What will happen is transpeople will get up and give a four or five minute anecdote about their experience with gender.”

There are seven people in all performing these monologues, but they all have the same goal — to tell their stories and raise awareness so that, one day down the road, life

Mikayla Schultz knows that day isn’t going to be tomorrow. Or the next day.

You see, at the moment she is going to through a medical transition to become female, and it’s been an uphill battle the entire way.

Contrary to what some people may think, transitioning isn’t as simple as booking an appointment with a surgeon and going under the knife.

Nope: there’s protocol, standards of care that have been established by the World Professional Association of Transgender Health. The first thing you have to do is visit a psychiatrist and be diagnosed with gender identity disorder.

“You can’t get medical treatment unless you have a medical condition,” says Schultz. “So you have to be diagnosed. But it took me two years to find a psychiatrist who would support my transition.”

Next comes the procedure to start changing hormones.

“I looked everywhere to find an endocrinologist who would do hormone therapy for me,” says Schultz. “We face a lot of discrimination, and many people in the health care industry aren’t knowledgeable enough or simply aren’t willing to help.”

Eventually, though, Schultz found a doctor in Saskatoon who would give her hormone treatments.

And finally, after all the hormone therapy, comes surgery.

“One of the biggest concerns of the trans-community in Saskatchewan is the lack of health care,” admits Schultz. “We have to go out of province just to get operated on. It could take years and years for my transition to be complete.”

For Schultz, or anyone else following in her footsteps, this is simply unacceptable.

And that’s why Transgender Awareness Week is so important — it’s time for all people in Saskatchewan to affect change.

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Photo: Courtesy of Kent Stewart

not as seen on tv

The life and times of Saskatchewan coroners by adam Hawboldt

I

f only Maureen Stinnen had brought a flashlight.

Creeping through a dark, fetid basement on a warm summer night in 1996, Stinnen really could have used one. Because somewhere out there in front of her, hiding in the darkness, was a dead body.

“Every step I took, I didn’t know where I was going,” remembers Stinnen. “I didn’t know if I’d get there or not.”

But the closer she inched towards the body — a suicide that had been in the basement for weeks — the stronger the smell became. The stench of decomposing human flesh is an aroma you can’t really ignore.

“Oh, the smell was just terrible,” says Stinnen. “And it was so dark down there. At that moment a lot of things were running through my mind.”

One of which, no doubt, was “what the heck was I thinking becoming a coroner?”

See, in the years before that day, Stinnen was a nurse in critical care and emergency at hospitals in Regina. She was used to seeing people injured and in critical condition. But being in a basement, fumbling around in the dark for a couple-weeks-old dead body was new to her. You see, that suicide call was her very first as a coroner. That’s why she was unprepared, without a

Rude, perhaps. But by no means the toughest call to which Stinnen has responded.

Stop for a moment and ask yourself something: what does a coroner do? What does their job entail?

If you’re anything like me or any number of other television/movie watchers out there, chances are your

You may be a perfect stranger, but you’re the one they’re looking to for … the facts of their beloved’s death. maureen stinnen

flashlight. “This is definitely not a glamorous job,” chuckles Stinnen.

“The suicide was my first call of three that day. It certainly was a rude awakening.”

thoughts immediately jumped to a scene we’ve all seen a thousand times.

In it, two detectives are standing in the city morgue, looking down at a dead body on a table. Everything Continued on next page »

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around them is white, metal, sterile.

Across from them is a coroner with a clipboard or something, telling them the cause and time and circumstances of the victim’s death. There are some quick revelations, the detectives thank the coroner and go out to catch the bad guy.

And though that sounds cool, that kind of scenario is wrong.

“Television doesn’t give you the sounds, the smells, the emotions that come with the job,” says Kent Stewart, Saskatchewan’s Chief Coroner. “It also doesn’t give you a time frame. Most people, when they think of coroners and, for example, DNA, they think we can do that stuff in five minutes during a commercial break.

That’s what we call CSI Syndrome … that’s the type of perspective television gives you, even though it isn’t the proper perspective.”

So if television is — gasp! — painting an erroneous picture of coroners, what’s the proper one?

“We investigate any sudden and unnatural deaths, whether it be homicide, suicide or undetermined,” explains Stinnen. “It doesn’t matter.

The initial call comes in through a 911 call. The police arrive at the scene. Once death is established, they call for us.”

And that’s when coroners spring into action. After arriving at a death scene coroners talk to the police and learn a bit about what may have happened. If there are family of the deceased around, they’ll talk to them.

The coroners will examine the history of the deceased, including past

medical problems or conditions, and survey the death scene, all before they look at the body.

“The body tells you a lot,” Stinnen says simply.

Indeed it does. Say, for example, the body has a bullet wound through the chest, there are bullet casings strewn about the scene, and an eyewitness they interview said they saw shots being fired. In that case, chances are the person on the ground was shot. In cases like this, a brief physical examination of the body, a glimpse around the scene and an interview may be sufficient to close the coroner’s investigation quickly.

Sometimes it’s not that easy.

“In those cases, if we feel the body needs an autopsy, it goes to the pathologist,” explains Stinnen. “They do the autopsy and report back to us.”

Once the true cause of death is determined, the coroner’s job is over, right?

Wrong.

Another thing television never shows you is the behind-the-scenes work coroners do with the family of the deceased.

“It can be a real privilege to be with these families at a difficult time like that,” says Stinnen. “You may be a perfect stranger, but you’re the one they’re looking to for guidance. You’re the one they’re looking to for the facts of their beloved’s death.”

And while providing families with these facts is a part of the job and can be a privilege, it’s not

always the easiest thing to do. But much like the suicide Stinnen investigated on her first day as a coroner, it’s not the most difficult thing she’s ever dealt with.

“We’re all human beings,” says Stinnen, “so if you investigate a child or a teenager and you have

a child that age, it brings a certain perspective and gravity to the situation.”

Stinnen pauses, thinks for a moment and continues, “But it’s the young child deaths, they’re the hardest.

Especially if it’s not related to a disease process, if it’s something untoward that

happened to them for no reason … that’s hard to swallow.”

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The right tools for the job

Tool libraries are good for the community

H

ave you ever been midway through working on a project, elbows-deep fixing something or other, when you suddenly realized you didn’t have the proper tools for the job?

Say you’re fixing up the backyard after the snow melts and you realize you need a chainsaw to get rid of an old, dead tree that has succumbed to our beautiful prairie winters. Or imagine that you’re doing some electrical work and need a soldering gun, but you don’t have one.

This is a common enough scenario that has happened to all of us at one time or another. And while you have a few immediate options you can entertain — drop some coin to buy a new tool that you may not use on a regular basis, pay premium dollars to rent, or call around to see if anyone you know has the elusive machine you’re looking for — we have a better idea.

We think it’s time to take a cue from some of our country’s larger cities, and build a tool library.

Now, stick with us, here — we know this might sound a little out there. But tool libraries, which have been popping up in the States for

tunity to get their hands on, say, a belt sander, borrow it for a short period of time, and return it, for almost no cost whatsoever.

Here’s how it works: people who have tools just laying around, tools they never use that are just collect-

This opens the door to eventually operating workshops … for people who want to channel their inner Bob Vila. verb magazine

around 20 years, and are starting to take off in Canada, offer a great service to our communities.

Operating in a similar manner to a regular library, they would give residents of Saskatoon the oppor-

ing dust down in the basement, can donate these items to the library. This is good on two fronts: one, it will help people (karma!), and two, it’s a tax credit for you. So that’s a win-win situation for those in a charitable mood.

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What’s more, Canada’s newest tool library (the country’s fourth, located in Toronto’s Parkdale district) is offering a $5 discount on fees to people who donate tools, so why not implement that here as well?

And speaking of money, tool libraries are aimed at helping those who have less. Typically, annual memberships fall in the neighbourhood of $50 a year. If 50 bucks is a little too steep, then membership is calculated to be commensurate with people’s incomes. Once you have a membership you’re free to borrow as many tools as you like, as often as you like.

Now, we know that tools, in the wrongs hands, can be dangerous.

And yeah: people can be stupid.

But don’t worry — the tool library has got you covered. In the beginning (because these things take time to get off the ground), the tool libraries are run by volunteers who are capable of teaching you how to get your angle grind on before heading out the door (after you sign a waiver, of course). Inexpensive tools, and a lesson to boot — sounds pretty good to us!

And if this thing really takes off, why not hire a staff of knowledgable, handy people, and train them

on how to teach members how to use the tools? This opens the door to eventually operating workshops and classes for people who want to channel their inner Bob Vila.

Oh, and allocating an indoor work space for people in the community is something else the tool library could eventually provide. You know how terrible it is changing a headlight on your car in minus-40 degree weather — in your driveway? Yeah, so do we. So that’s why we propose that the tool library also offers shop space for rent.

Nothing long term, but for smaller projects where you just need a little larger area to get your handyman — or handywoman — action on.

Look, tool libraries will do wonders for Saskatoon — they’ll promote a sharing economy amongst our city’s residents, offer a place to grab those tools you need without spending a ton of money doing so, and offer those who might be a little more strapped for cash access to a wealth of knowledge and supplies.

What’s not to love?

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 adding more highway cameras to Saskatchewan’s roadways. Here’s what you had to say: – Would of been good idea if the story about highway cameras included the locations of the 200 in BC. Are they monitoring mountain passes or the highway the premier takes to the legislature???

– If they are gonna put up more cameras on highways that’s a great idea but I don’t think they need to tax it because I think we all know Im sure the government can afford to do it with the money they all rob us blindly for as it is

– Re highway cameras,all winter I saw drivers out in vehicles that had no business being on the road in bad weather. Until people start driving have duty 4x4s with traction control, the crappy little cars will keep sliding off the road,causing havoc.

– Definitely a good idea to get more weather cameras on the road. So many miles of desolate highway that its a good idea to know what you’re getting into.

Come on Sask Party!!

OFF TOPIC – Blame the overcrowding in jails on the Conservative Gov’t’s “tough-on-crime” laws. More people are being sent to prison now since judges don’t have as much discretion to give probation & suspended sentences because of more mandatory jail sentences.

Canadian courts always had higher conviction but lower incarceration rates than American courts.

Now that might change!! :0 In response to “Prison Break,” Editorial page, #232 (March 22, 2013)

Text yo thoughtsur to 881 vE R b 8372

SOUND OFF – There needs to be some legislation for a law that has drivers yield to bus drivers when the bus driver needs to change lanes.

Some people are courteous which is great but others are just plain ignorant towards bus drivers. Let’s help out our transit drivers! We all have places to be and we can all share the road.

– The present government PERMITS Rip0ff Rents 4 landlords!

Scew tenants 0n lease Devine!no up against the wall

– Don’t text and walk. You might fall into a pothole.

– People really don’t want computers. Look how they’re used. They want telephone chatline newspaper classified TV VCR stereo.

Every1 hates the computer layer!

– Happy Easter everybody!

– Happy Easter everyone! The Lord our saviour died for our sins, do your part to be kind and live to see his joy :D

– Radio personalities should just play music. All they ever do is talk about nothing. Blah blah blah blah blah blah.

– Saw a bit about employers making policy to not hire smokers. Bad road! Obese people next. Then those with genetic problems. Then the dull knives. Then...

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– The problem isn’t tobacco. Its our capacity for addiction. Wage a war on tobacco curb it to a large extent and obesity and hard drug epidemics break out. Despite the impacts tobacco was a lesser evil in the array. Tobacco isn’t a cause.

Its a symptom!

– Rushing a buddy to the ER in a shopping cart is DOWNtown!

– Always remember peeps.. When push comes to shove EVERYBODY can get a little DOWNtown!

Even yer Mudda! Big up to all the DOWNtown dolls!

– In some ways I feel sorry for the old police chief. In the punk ass cop culture he never had a chance to mature as man like the rest of us old guys.

– Last July the police had their “rescue vehicle” rolling down 2nd Ave. While checking out the state of the streets this spring, I felt really glad the city had a vehicle to use during a zombie apocalypse rather tha a few more graders to clear streets and steam trucks to open drains.

– To the elderly gent in Avalon who was using a pick axe Friday afternoon to open a city drain… you are one righteous dude.. would have been nice to see city helping you

– Help your neighbor clear the snow

– Sask scientist reveals she was muzzled by federal employers Good job Harper let’s silence academics and experts so you can keep your fingers in your ears and blindly push on with your anti environment agenda Cant wait to watch ur government fail good riddance

– Funny how people let the sh*t in their heads ruin a good thing. The text page sucks now. Too much advertising and those are essays not texts. Weiners!

– STUPID TOBACCO TAX HIKE!

– This is what happens when you put your faith on a groundhog.

You get a late spring!

Next week: What do you think about building tool libraries? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation:

– Don’t take life so seriously you’ll never get out alive! ;-) (MRD)

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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Fast and loose

Photos: courtesy of the artist

Acres of Lions debut Home(s), their best record yet

by Alex J MacPherson

F

rom the salvo of guitar chords that opens “Bright Lights,” it is clear that Acres of Lions are trying to breathe new life into guitar rock.

After two albums of polished poppunk, the Victoria-based band is celebrating the release of Home(s), which uses the same infectious melodies thatanimated Working and Collections, while pushing back against the sparse and spiky riffs that have become de rigueur in the indie rock scene. Played fast and loose, the songs that make up Home(s) capture the band at a pivotal moment: exhausted bya year on the road yet eager to embrace a future packed with beefy riffs and overdriven valves. I tracked down guitarist Tyson Yerex to talk about making the new LP. Alex J MacPherson: First of all, Home(s) sounds like a pretty big departure from your last tworecords.

Was that intentional, or just the evolution of the band?

Tyson Yerex: I think with this record we were trying to strip it down,

we didn’t have the songs done.

We ended up finishing writing the record in London and flew back to Toronto and started recording it.

The whole process was not entirely rushed, but there was a pressure of a deadline. We didn’t toil over every minute detail.

make it a little more raw and live and real. At the end of the day that’s what’s connecting with people. Electronic music is still huge, obviously, but in the rock world the Foo Fighters are recording straight to tape — no editing, no Pro Tools — in Dave Grohl’s garage. That’s the kind of vibe we wanted to go for.

AJM: The sound of Home(s) is obviously different. Do you think the songs, and the songwriting, have changed, too?

AJM: You spent basically all of last year touring. How did you manage to get the record written and recorded?

boys. I think it’s just what we’ve grown into.

…with this record we were trying to strip it down, make it a little more raw…

AJM: Why call it Home(s)? What’s the significance of the extra ‘s’?

tyson Yerex

TY: In the summer we had about three weeks in Edmonton, where we were supposed to write the record. We got maybe nine songs done, but we didn’t have lyrics.

Then we were back on the road, and I booked us a tour in November to get us out to Toronto to record.

We had two weeks in the UK before that. Essentially we were coming up to this impending deadline, and

TY: We’ve just grown into this sound. It isn’t like we sat down and said we wanted to sound like a different band. They’re the same songs as the previous records; they’re just a reflection of us getting better as musicians. When I joined the band I wasn’t as good a guitar player or piano player as I am now. And it’s the same story for the rest of the

TY: The record was written entirely on the road. None of the guys have apartments in Victoria anymore. We call Victoria our home, but we don’t really live there. We live in the back of our van. And there are so many places that we wrote this record in that feel as much like home as Victoria does to us.

AJM: That echoes one of the big themes I kept coming back to, the idea of being sort of lost in time, the conflict between looking back with a certain nostalgia and looking forward, too.

TY: That’s pretty much exactly what it’s about. I think a lot of the song content is about missing home, and longing for those friends back home we don’t get to see. Missing the people you can’t be around but also being happy for the people you are around in whatever home we’re sitting in that week.

Acres of Lions April 18 @ Vangelis $5 at the door

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arts

One Bad Son

Saskatoon expat rockers on writing songs and picking singles

R

ock and roll bands pick the singles, but they can’t pick the hits. Which is why Kurt Dahl was surprised when “Scarecrows” started building steam.

“I’d be lying through my teeth if I told you I knew it was going to be a hit,” admits Dahl, who plays drums in One Bad Son, Saskatoon expats known for cloaking thoughtful songs in the guise of hard rock. “Picking singles is one of the most difficult things we do.

It’s 100 percent guts. You’re totally rolling the dice, and it’s you career, your lives, that are on the table.”

“Scarecrows” is the second single from One Bad Son’s eponymous debut. Building from a gentle acoustic riff reminiscent of Guns N’ Roses’ “Patience” into a thundering, snarling rock cut, “Scarecrows” was never a likely contender. Dahl says some people advised against releasing it.

But he and his bandmates — Adam Grant, Adam Hicks, and Shane Volk — sensed that the song would strike the right chord.

They were right.

While the band was on tour last year, “Scarecrows” started climbing the charts. Their friends heard it on the radio. Their fans knew the words.

Dahl suspects the song caught on because it is open and raw, and not an exercise in using postproduction to conceal a substandard song.

“When we wrote the album, we took each song down to acoustics and vocals, just to see if it works,” he says, referring to a trick made famous by the Rolling Stones. “You can really hide behind riffs, big drums, distortion. But really, the magic of rock and roll is that it can connect on this visceral level.”

One Bad Son chose to film the video for “Scarecrows” in Sas-

by alex J MacPherson

katchewan. In the winter. “There is the storyline and all that,” Dahl explains, “but hopefully we got that feeling when you step outside and the whole world is silent.” At one point, he recalls, the generator keeping the crew warm ran out of fuel. With few options and fading light, they walked to a nearby acreage. The owner gave the band some gasoline because his daughter was a One Bad Son fan.

“Rock and roll careers are made one fan at a time,” Dahl says, adding that he hopes “It Ain’t Right,” the next single, will generate a similar response. If it doesn’t, he adds with a laugh, “Bruce Springsteen slugged it out for years.”

One Bad Son April 19 @ Buds on Broadway $TBD

Rosie & The Riveters

Saskatoon singers rejuvenate gospel music

by alex J MacPherson

R

osie and the Riveters needed to make a record, but not for the usual reasons.

“For other bands, their product is their CD,” says Farideh, one of the women behind Saskatchewan’s preeminent 1940s-era gospel revivalist group. “For us, our performance is our product. That’s what people come for. The CD is basically take-home memorabilia of that night.”

Rosie and the Riveters emerged from a collective desire to breathe new life into classic gospel music.

Farideh and her bandmates, Alexis Normand, Melissa Nygren, and Kiera Dall’Osto, who is not part of the current tour, have separate careers in music but came together to celebrate the sound of four voices singing together.

“I think that at this time in the history of civilization, the human heart longs to see people coming together in unity and diversity,”

Photo: courtesy oF Jocelyn Anne Chillog

Farideh says of the band’s trademark harmonies. “We’re not all the same, but we can come together and make something harmonious. It’s the primal yearning of all human hearts.

And hearing four voices coming together fulfills that longing.”

Rosie and the Riveters work hard to be inclusive. By removing gospel music from its religious context, they are able to rejuvenate forgotten songs without alienating anyone. “We sing gospel, but we don’t have a stated religious

belief that we’re trying to project,” Farideh explains. “What we want to do is explore this music, and the power and the history and the tradition of this music.”

And that history is a live history. Gospel music has its roots in church services, celebratory gatherings focused on the uplifting power of music. A power that is all but impossible to capture on tape.

Instead of spending hours working in the studio, Rosie and the Riveters decided to cut a live record. It was

simple and effective. “We took the best cuts, had it mixed, and that’s it,” Farideh laughs.

Like their performances, Rosie and the Riveters — Live feels energetic and spontaneous. It captures the group’s extraordinarily tight vocals without sounding forced.

Although it lacks the visuals that have become an integral part of the group’s shows — the floral dresses, the crimson lipstick — Live hints at what audiences can expect. And, from the bluesy snarl of “Poor Men”

to the uplifting swells of “I’m a Pilgrim,” shows off just how much power can be generated by four voices and a guitar.

Rosie & The Riveters April 18 + 19 @ The Bassment $12/16 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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making it medium

Photo: courtesy of clea foofat

Danny Vacon and the Dudes play rock music for the right reasons by Alex J MacPherson

D

anny Vacon started playing rock and roll for the right reasons. “I only wanted free beer,” the frontman of the Dudes laughs, his voice fuzzy after a long night of partying.

“And, hopefully, a two-point better girlfriend. That’s all I wanted, man.

Free beer and girls.”

Vacon formed the Dudes in the late 1990s. The band, which consists of Vacon, Bob Quaschnick, Brock Geiger, and Scott Ross, spent the next ten years loitering around the Calgary independent music scene. They released lo-fi recordings of soulful rock music, played hundreds of sweaty shows, and conducted plenty of research — Vacon’s term for drinking and having sex and basically having a good time.

In 2009, the Dudes released Blood Guts Bruises Cuts, an energetic romp through the annals of guitar rock overlaid with Vacon’s raw and emotionally charged vocals. It was an immediate success. Blood Guts Bruises Cuts catapulted the Dudes from dank rock clubs onto the brightly lit national stage, where their blithe irreverence and experiments with facial hair clashed magnificently with the sparkling indie rock that was flourishing at the time.

The Dudes have always been difficult to pigeonhole. Blood Guts Bruises Cuts, which drew on influences as diverse as Al Green and the Flaming Lips,

only deepened the mystery. Vacon and company present as a bunch of skinny rebels from the seamy underbelly of Calgary’s music scene (“We’re all just regular poor motherf**kers trying to string three chords together to make something happen,” he deadpans.) But their ability to weave elements of pop and soul into the fabric of rock and roll positions them as a sophisticated and progressive rock band, a group more

serious commercial enterprise because he likes the stripped-down, do-it-yourself approach. It means he can keep having fun.

“I think that’s how you make it medium, which is where I’m most happy,” he explains. “We’re not the most talented of fellas, and it took us quite awhile to even learn our instruments.

But time after time we keep getting on stage — and we’ve gotten pretty

You don’t need anyone for anything, which to me is so amazing. You don’t need s**t anymore. You just need that song…

Danny Vacon

interested in making interesting music than conforming to prevailing trends.

“The idea of making it big is just totally not on our radar,” Vacon laughs.

“I sometimes think about [what would happen] if we got a ton of money thrown at as, and were on a worldwide stadium tour. That sounds dreadful to me, to be honest.” The Dudes have played stadium shows, and Vacon knows a big stage and a big audience won’t corrupt the music he loves; he struggles to imagine the Dudes as a

decent. We’ve done our time in the van and it’s paid off, man. I love that people have recognized it. People give a s**t in a lot of places.” After a short pause he concedes, “In a lot of places they’re still idiots.”

Vacon, who cheerfully admits that he never thinks about business, is also extremely distrustful of the music industry. “The whole industry is f**ked,” he says while attempting to justify the Dudes’ independent approach to making music. “Everyone’s got complete Continued on next page »

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control of their lives now. You don’t need anyone for anything, which to me is so amazing. You don’t need s**t anymore. You just need that song, man, you need that album.”

That album is Barbers, Thieves, and Barbershops. Recorded and released last year, it picks up where its predecessor left off. Barbers, Thieves, and Barbershops recalls the history of loud guitar music while etching each song with Vacon’s unmistakably soulful vocals. If you hear the Dudes on the radio, you will probably be listening to “American Girls,” which shows off the band’s ability to play infectious pop punk and write cheeky songs about delicate ideas — in this case, the vortex between infatuation and repulsion. But “American Girl,” which collects several stories from time spent south of the 49th parallel, is not Vacon’s favourite song on the album, and he was surprised when radio stations started playing it.

Vacon’s favourite song on the record is “Tear It Up,” which pairs a slithering guitar riff with the strongest vocal performance he has ever delivered. It is also a good representation of the band’s sound. “But,” he reconsiders, “it’s hard to say: every song’s just a tiny little part of you.” Like “Saturday Night,” the band’s raucous ode to long nights spent watching hockey. “If you fact check all the hockey references in the song, the purists will be pleased to know that each of those moments

Photo: courtesy of dellosa photography

actually happened on Saturdays,” he writes in an e-mail. “I’m proud of that.”

The strongest song on Barbers, Thieves, and Bartenders is “Good Times,” Vacon’s homage to Calgary and the “crazy life we get to lead.”

Landing somewhere between a loose Rolling Stones ballad and something the Counting Crows might write, the song captures the mixed emotions that creep to the surface as Saturday night fades into Sunday morning. “Good Times” also features

a piano solo by Dan Moxon, who fronts Vancouver-based rock outfit Bend Sinister. A refreshing break from the rock instrumentation that has for years shaped the Dudes’ sound, the collaboration with Moxon reflects Vacon’s desire to surround himself with like-minded people.

“Canada’s a giant country, but the music scene is relatively small,” he says. “You hit the road for long enough and you’re going to meet so many talented musicians.” Vacon had his first “serious bro-down” with Moxon, whom he describes as “one of the most talented MFs in the whole country,” at a festival in the Yukon. When the Dudes traveled to Vancouver to cut Barbers, Thieves, and Bartenders, Vacon didn’t hesitate to make the call. “I just hit him up one day: ‘Dan, we need you in the studio for a thing,’” he recalls.

“Without having heard any of the songs he just came in and threw down.

Some guys are actually that amazing; I don’t know if I could do that.”

Recording in Vancouver offered the Dudes more than a Moxon-led breakdown, however. It gave them a chance to focus. “I don’t want to speak for the other boys, but my life is amazing,” Vacon muses. “There’s so many damn [highs] in Calgary, and when you record in town you can get easily distracted, you know? When you don’t have your awesome woman to come home to and you don’t have the opportunity to go for beers with your favourite people, you have to buckle down. You develop a tight-knit thing with your band: you’re away from home, sleeping in s**tty circumstances and it’s all about making some rad tunes. And then getting back to what you love.”

Which means research. Vacon loves documenting it almost as much as he loves living it. The cover of Barbers, Thieves, and Bartenders is a collage of party photos. One shows a man painted bright blue, another a terrible abdominal bruise. There are photos of people passed out in hotel rooms and photos of people urinating outside. The best one features drummer Scott Ross wearing a leather jacket, pink briefs, and a big smile.

“First of all,” Vacon points out, “that is a cheap-ass way of making a cover.

And it tells such a great story. Honestly, I could sit down for hours and tell you the story behind every single picture.”

When I ask about Ross’ hotel hallway escapades, Vacon laughs. “I don’t even remember what town we were in. We woke up in the morning and he’s like, ‘Alright guys, see you in a bit.’ He just grabbed his suitcase and walked down the hall of whatever hotel we were in. I was laughing my head off. You have to keep it light on the road.”

Plus, he adds, “Life is serious and if you live that way you’re not going to have s**t to write about. Or if you do, it’s going to be something that no one wants to hear.” This is the beauty of what Vacon calls “making it medium.”

He and the Dudes started playing music for the right reasons. And they still are.

The Dudes w/ the Zolas April 13 @ Amigos $10 @ Ticketedge.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Scrumptious Szechuan

Photos courtesy of Adam Hawboldt.

Rock Sugar makes one heckuva mapo tofu by adam hawboldt

I

f you’ve never eaten mapo tofu, you’re missing out.

A delicacy of Szechuan cuisine, the dish is basically tofu cooked in a spicy chili-and-bean oil. Toss in some fermented black beans, some minced meat, veggies and sometimes — not often, but sometimes — a few water chestnuts, and what you have is a plate of absolute deliciousness.

But as yummy as this dish may be, its name leaves much to be desired.

See, ma stands for “mazi,” which in China means a person disfigured by pockmarks, while po translates into something along the lines of old woman or crone. So basically mapo tofu means pockmarked crone’s tofu.

Which, while not overly appetizing, is an apt name considering the dish’s origins.

that, eventually, she opened a restaurant and became famous.

Or so goes the legend.

The only reason I mention this, or even know the legend for that matter, is because mapo tofu is, hands down, one of my top five favourite dishes.

Like, ever.

See, legend has it that once upon a time an old, pockmarked widow lived on the outskirts of the Chinese city of Chengdu. Her house was located near a road where many traders passed.

Many of these traders weren’t what you’d call wealthy, especially the ones who peddled in cooking oil. So they’d

…mapo tofu is, hands down, one of my top five favourite dishes.

Adam hawboldt

There’s something about the way it blends savoury with spicy (and healthy) that makes me smile in anticipation of having it again.

And if you want to try some delectable mapo tofu, do yourself a huge favour and swing by Rock Sugar on 8th Street. Seriously. You have to give it a try.

What makes this dish stand out, first off, is the beef. Unlike many other restaurants (who overcook the beef and make it rubbery), the beef was cooked to perfection. The other big component is the vegetables. With a medley of onions, green onions, and green and red peppers, there’s a freshness to this mapo tofu that makes it special.

Oh, and there’s the subtle cilantro as garnish.

Put that all together and you have a dish fit for the food gods. So if you want to try something new and spicy

often carry tofu and beef with them and ask the old, pockmarked woman to cook them a tofu dish. Using the ingredients the traders brought with them, the woman created the dish known as mapo tofu. It was such a hit

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide MANGO MARGARITA

Ingredients

Chances are you’ve had a margarita. Heck, chances are you’ve had one too many margaritas at some point in your life, because, to put it simply, they are fun and delicious. To make them just a tad more fun, why not try this interesting mango spin?

1 1/2 oz tequila 1 oz mango liqueur 1/2 oz lime juice

Directions

Begin by pouring the tequila, mango liqueur and lime juice into a blender.

Add a cup of ice, then blend until smooth. Poor the concoction into a margarita glass, and garnish with a slice of mango.

and all-kinds of good, make haste and beeline for Rock Sugar.

Rock Sugar 3110 8th St E | 306 955 6667

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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music

Next Week

coming up

The Steel Wheel

The Casualties

Tragically Hip

@ The Bassment Sunday, April 14 – $18/23

@ Amigos Cantina Wednesday, April 17 – $12

@ Credit Union Centre Saturday, July 6 – $34.75+

Every year The Steel Wheels embark on a tour they call “SpokeSongs.”

But this isn’t your average everyday tour. Instead of hopping on a bus or into a van, this quartet from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virgina strap all their gear to bicycles and pedal approximately 500 miles to play, on average, about 10 shows. But that’s not the only thing that’s unique about this band. Playing an infectious brand of roots/Americana, The Steel Wheels (which consists of Trent Wagler, Jay Lapp, Brian Dickel and Eric Brubaker) fuse elements of blues, bluegrass, oldtime and fiddle music to create a sound that reminds you of the moonshinesoaked past while being relentlessly modern at the same time. Check out the Steel Wheels when they take their talents to The Bassment next week.

The Casualties are a throwback band, the kind of act that takes you to another time and place. In the case of this New York punk outfit, their music takes you back to the early ‘80s, when streetpunk, a working class style of punk, rose up in rebellion against what many saw as the pretension of the first wave of British punk. Back then, the scene was dominated by bands like Sham 69, Cockney Rejects and The Exploited. These days, The Casualties are keeping the tradition alive, playing in-your-face punk consisting of single-note guitar lines and short solos.

Aggressive but melodic, the music of The Casualties (who released their first demo in 1990) is angry and loud and all kinds of good. Check them out when they rock Amigos later this month.

Tickets available at www.ticketedge.ca

Known to many as simply “the Hip,” this rock band from Kingston, Ontario have been cranking out studio albums and touring since they formed way back in 1983. Among those records were instant Canadian classics like Up to Here, Day for Night and Fully Completely. Led by frontman Gord Downie, the Hip is still going strong after all these years.

In fact, they recently released their latest studio record, Now for Plan A, which debuted at #3 on the Canadian Albums Chart. These iconic rockers have now hit the road to criss cross the country playing shows. They’ll be stopping in Saskatoon for one night, and one night only, when they rock the Credit Union Centre. Tickets for the show are available through Ticketmaster.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist / Montecruz Foto / the artist

Sask music Preview The Saskatchewan country Music Awards and Country Music Festival will be held on April 26-28, 2013 in Saskatoon. Events include the Songwriter’s Spotlight, Roots Cafe, Cabaret, and the Country Gospel Show and Brunch. For weekend passes or individual event tickets, please see http://www.picatic.com/scmaawaards2013; for more information please see http://www.scma.sk.ca

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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April 5 » April 13 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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Friday 5 House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover John Jerome and the Congregation, The Foggy Notions, Heat Rub / Amigos

DJ Eclectic / The Hose — DJ Eclectic pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Sugar Daddy / Jax — Featuring this local crowd favourite. 9pm / $5 Red Moon Road / Lydia’s — Down-home roots music from Winnipeg. 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; ladies in free before 11pm Red & the Fellas / Prairie Ink — Pop/ jazz fusion music. 8pm / No cover Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue / Somewhere Else Pub — Rhythm and blues done with flare. 9pm / No cover Mitch / Stan’s Place — Come rock the night away. 9pm / 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 / $5 Party Rock Fridays / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD Hustle & Thrive / Vangelis — A local hip hop duo that’s all kind of good. 10pm / $5

Cantina — Some funky, infectious tunes for your soul. 10pm / Cover TBD Piano Fridays: David Fong / The Bassment — Come check out Fong tickle the ivories of the Kinsman Yamaha S6 grand piano. 4:30pm / No cover Piano Series: Jeffery Straker / The Bassment — Folk/pop/cabaret music done right. 9pm / $15/$20 Gong Show / Béily’s UltraLounge — The first Friday of the month. 9pm / $5 cover Rippertrain / Buds — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 10pm / $6 The Martyr Index, Vulture Kult, Dead Voices / Fez on Broadway — Hard-driving rock and roll. 9pm / Cover TBD Ceschi, Factor, Soso / The Hollows — A rocking live set from three amazing talents. 10pm / $10

Saturday 6

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover We Were Lovers w/Friends Electric / Amigos Cantina — A pop group with an

ethereal sound you can dance to. 10pm / Cover TBD The Cookers w/Ben Schenstead / The Bassment — A smooth jazz quintet from Toronto. 9pm / $15/20 Austen Roadz + DJ CTRL / Béily’s UltraLounge — With over 25 years of DJ experience, Austen Roadz throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party along with DJ CTRL every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 Rippertrain / Buds on Broadway — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 10pm / $6 Scant Intone / Fez on Broadway — Constantine Katsiris experiments with modern audio. Also appearing is Slime Street, Sexy Preacher and more. 9pm / $7 DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DJ Sugar Daddy / Jax Niteclub — Able to rock any party, this local crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9pm / $5 cover September Long / Lydia’s Pub — Infectious jam-rock music. 10pm / $5 Skylab / Lydia’s Upstairs Loft — A night of atmospheric tunes. 9pm / $5 Clutch / Odeon Events Centre — Come check out the Earth Rocker World Tour.

6:30pm / $32.50 (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 Malusi Mabaleka / Prairie Ink — Acoustic alt-folk music. 8pm / No cover Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue / Somewhere Else Pub — Rhythm and blues done with flare. 9pm / No cover Mitch / Stan’s Place — Come rock the night away. 9pm / 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 / $5 Sexy Saturdays / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD (ladies get free cover before 11pm) Dumb Angel, Mitch Greir / Vangelis — Laid-back acoustic music.10pm / $5

Sunday 7

Industry Night / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy; this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff DJ KADE / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Blues Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, offering great tunes from blues to rock and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover

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Monday 8 Sarah Smith / Buds — A talented songstress from Ontario. 10pm / $6 Metal Mondays / Lydia’s Pub — Swing by, listen to some killer music and get in on some concert giveaways. 9pm

Tuesday 9

Sarah Smith / Buds on Broadway — A talented songstress from Ontario playing rock, blues, acoustic. 10pm / $6 DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Deuce — A local crowd favourite. 9:30pm / $4 cover VERB PRESENTS OPEN STAGE / Lydia’s Pub — The open stage at Lydia’s is a chance for bands, solo artists and even comedians to showcase original material.

9pm / No cover Open Mic / Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover Radio Radio / Vangelis — An electro hip hop band from Nova Scotia.10pm / $1012 (picatic.com/radioradio)

Wednesday 10

HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Featuring DJ Chris Knorr.

9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter Kerry DuWors, Leanne Zacharias / The Bassment — One is a violinist, the other a cellist. Together they’re all kinds of good. 8pm / $15/20 Imagine No Bullying Concert / Broadway Theatre — Featuring Donny Parenteau, Jay Semko, Codie Prevost, Jeffery Straker and more. 7:30pm / $22 Sarah Smith / Buds on Broadway — A talented songstress from Ontario playing rock, blues, and acoustic. 10pm / $6 The Avenue Recording Company presents Open Mic / The Fez — Hosted

by Chad Reynolds. 10pm / No cover 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 — Come out and ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4 CJWW Karaoke / Stan’s Place — Your talent, aired on the radio! 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests. 10pm / No cover

Thursday 11

High School Big Band Night / The Bassment — Featuring Bedford Road,

Centennial and Walter Murray. 5pm / $7/10 Michael Wood Band / Buds — An upand-coming rock band. 10pm / $6 Throwback Thursdays / Earls — Come experience the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock. 8pm / No cover Thunder Riot w/Conky Showpony / The Fez — Come dance the night away.

9pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Sugar Daddy / Jax — Local DJ Sugar Daddy will be rocking! 8pm / $5; free cover with student ID before 11pm K-os / Odeon — An innovative rapper from Toronto. 7pm / $24.50 (theodeon.ca) Kenny Wizz / TCU Place — The world’s #1 Michael Jackson impersonator. 8pm / $39+ (tcutickets.ca) Triple Up Thursdays / Tequila — Featuring DJ Stickman. 9pm / Cover TBD

Friday 12

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover CFCR Membership Drive / Amigos Cantina — Featuring The Wizards, The Seahags and The Triplophonics. 10pm / $5 Piano Fridays: Ross Nykiforuk / The Bassment — Come check out Nykiforuk tickle the ivories. 4:30pm / No cover High School Big Band Night / The Bassment — Featuring Holy Rosary, North Battleford’s Comprehensive, and Prairie Spirit SD. 7:30pm / $7/10 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s — DJ Aash Money throws it down. 9pm / $5 cover The Nightrain / Buds on Broadway — A Guns n’ Roses tribute band. 10pm / $6 DJ Eclectic / The Hose — Eclectic pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Sugar Daddy / Jax — This local crowd favourite is sure to have you on the dance floor in no time. 9pm / $5 cover Pernell Reichert Band / Lydia’s Pub — A Vancouver-based three-piece band.

10pm / $5 DJ Audio / Odeon Events Centre — It’s time for the Black Out Party. 9pm / $15 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5; ladies free before 11pm The Standards Trio / Prairie Ink — Pop/jazz fusion music. 8pm / No cover Aaron Adair / The Refinery — Come check out the AANALOG release party.

7:30pm / $20 (picatic.com) The Mules / Somewhere Else Pub and Grill — Come rock the night away. 9pm / No cover

Urban Outlaws / Stan’s Place — Rock to get your weekend started. 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests. 10pm / $5 Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD Saskatoon’s Children’s Choir / Third Ave United Church — Performing music

by Bach, Verdi and Pergolesi and more.

7:30pm / $25

Saturday 13

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes. 9pm / No cover The Dudes / Amigos Cantina — Also appearing is The Zolas. 10pm / $10 Piano Series: Don Griffith Live by Request / The Bassment — A talented local pianist. 9pm / $15/20 Austen Roadz + DJ CTRL / Béily’s — Austen Roadz throws it down with DJ CTRL. 9pm / $5 cover The Nightrain / Buds on Broadway — A Guns n’ Roses tribute band. 10pm / $6 DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up. 8pm / No cover DJ Sugar Daddy / Jax Niteclub — Featuring this local favourite. 9pm / $5 cover Bluessmyth / Lydia’s — Some heavy blues for you. 10pm / $5 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5 No Hurry Trio / Prairie Ink — Easy listening and classic rock. 8pm / No cover Urban Outlaws / Stan’s Place — Come rock the night away. 9pm / No cover The Mules / Somewhere Else Pub and Grill — Sweet rock for your weekend.

9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt it out. 10pm / $5 SSO: Disney in Concert / TCU Place — All the magical songs from your favourite Disney movies. 7:30pm / $40-75 (tcutickets.ca) Sexy Saturdays / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD (ladies get free cover before 11pm) Bass Invaders / Vangelis — Some funky bass for your face. 10pm / $5

Get listed Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know! layout@verbnews.com

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It’s Baaack...

Photo: Courtesy of Universal Studios

Jurassic Park celebrates its 20 th anniversary with a 3D edition by adam hawboldt

D

o you remember where you were the first time you saw Jurassic Park? Do you remember your reaction?

I do.

The year was 1993. Not yet a pimply teen, I convinced my friend Joke (that’s not his real name, but it’s what everyone — even his dad — called him) to abandon his Super NES long enough to come to the movies with me. There was a film about dinosaurs I wanted to see.

Joke hemmed and hawed, but he eventually relented and we went to see Jurassic Park at the theatre in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

The movie blew my mind. So much so, I remember at one point leaning over my popcorn and whispering to Joke, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, b’y.”

Fast forward 20 years.

Joke is now known to all as Michael, my pimples have come and gone, and Jurassic Park is back on the big screen, this time in 3D. I hadn’t watched Jurassic Park since that day in 1993, and to be completely honest, I’d forgotten exactly how the movie unfolds.

Yes, I remember the feeling I had the first time I saw it. Yes, I remember how all-out awesome the dinosaurs were. And yes, I remember thinking, “If they were still here, I’d totally like to ride a T-Rex.” But as for the rest of the movie, all I really remember is an island, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern.

And there’s a reason for that, but more on it in a minute. For now, let’s quickly refresh our memories of what happens in Jurassic Park.

Basically, it all takes place in an island theme park off the coast of Costa Rica. The theme park, full of dinosaurs cloned from strands of fossilized DNA, is the brainchild of billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough).

But what good is an island of dinosaurs if nobody sees them?

So Hammond invites a group of

Jurassic park Steven Spielberg Starring Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Sam Neill + Richard Attenborough Directed by

127 minutes | PG

you’re anything like me and forget a lot of the action in the movie, there are parts that will make you jump out of your seat. Literally. Just wait and see.

But remember when I told you I’d get back to the reason I forgot

The dinosaurs are, dare I say, even better in 3D. Adam Hawboldt

most of the movie? Well, here it is: the characters in it are terrible.

There’s no substance to them.

Ultimately, they serve no more of a purpose than all those teenagers who were murdered in the Halloween movies.

But the 3D is pretty cool.

experts to witness and give scientific approval to his biological marvels.

There’s jabbering mathematician Ian (Goldblum), paleontologists Alan and Ellie (Sam Neill and Laura Dern), two of Hammond’s grandchildren, and a lawyer named Martin Ferrero (Donald Gennaro.) The group takes a helicopter to the island and behold, firsthand, the wonders of the Brachiosaurus, the Velociraptor, and the mighty T-Rex. Things are okay, until the dinosaurs start to run amok. Then all hell breaks loose and people die.

That’s the basic gist of the movie.

The dinosaurs are, dare I say, even better in 3D. Seriously, if

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Stoked for Stoker

Acclaimed Korean director’s first English film very divisive by adam hawboldt

D

irector Park Chanwook has been called brilliant. He’s been called a master stylist, a provocative filmmaker, an auteur.

And anyone who has seen any of this South Korean director’s movies knows he deserves all that praise — and then some.

With films like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Oldboy under his directorial belt, Park has proven himself time and time again to be a master of his craft.

A virtuoso.

But here’s the thing about virtuoso foreign directors: they sometimes land with a thud when they turn their attention to making English movies.

Think Ingmar Bergman’s The Touch, Fellini’s Casanova, Jean-Luc Godard’s King Lear. Yessiree, the list of foreign filmmakers who have flopped in English is long, varied and esteemed.

So how did Park fare with his first English-language film, Stoker?

Well, that depends who you ask.

Some people absolutely love the movie — one of my friends told me it was the best film they had seen in

Photo: Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

tive and abruptly violent. Symbols pile upon symbols. The timeline gets smudged, then smudged again. Tension mounts, then ebbs.

At the heart of the story is the narrator, India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska), a teenager on the verge of adulthood who just lost her father in a fatal car accident. Mia lives at home with her mom, Evelyn Stoker (Nicole Kidman), and is completely crestfallen in the wake of her dad’s death.

Here mother? Not so much. See, Evelyn is what you’d call an ice

[Stoker] is not the kind of movie that crawls under your skin like a slowmoving virus and sticks with you…

Adam Hawboldt

years, while another mentioned how thought-provoking it was.

But I had also heard the film was disappointing. Boring. Confusing.

Pretentious in a “second-rate Hitchcock-meets-Lynch kind of way.”

Needless to say, Stoker is one of those movies that’s going to divide audiences. And for good reason: the story unfolds slowly, in small twists and subtle turns. It’s quietly seduc-

queen. The death of her husband doesn’t seem to have affected her much. And as a result (or is it from something else?), India and Evelyn are very distant from one another.

The house they live in ain’t home sweet home.

Then one day, out of the blue, a stranger named Charlie arrives at the door. He’s the brother of the deceased, but there’s a catch.

Stoker Park Chan-wook Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Mia Wasikowska + Dermot Mulroney Directed by Starring

98 minutes | 14A

Neither India nor Evelyn has heard his name mentioned before.

The more these three central characters interact and circle each other, the more secrets are revealed. It soon becomes apparent that Evelyn has a thing for Charlie.

And Charlie has a thing for India.

And India, well, go to the theatre and find out for yourself.

If you’re anything like me, it will be worth it. No, Stoker isn’t nearly as good as Park’s Korean-language films. It’s not nearly as raw and visceral. And, unlike his other films, it’s not the kind of movie that crawls under your skin like a slow-moving virus and sticks with you for weeks.

But it is pretty good and smart and stylish. Remember to pay attention.

Stoker is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

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$10.25 Drink of Choice / Vodka Coming up / Every Saturday 302

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The Spadina Freehouse 608 Spadina Crescent East (306) PH Music vibe / Live DJs Featured deals / Stella Artois for $6.25 Drink of Choice / Beer top eats / Pizza — many options to choose from, including vegetarian coming up / Funktion Saturday on April 13th, and The Plan on April 26th

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crossword canadian criss-cross

DOWN 1. Concealment 2. Units of a curling game 3. Hole in one 4. Dreamily thoughtful 5. Group of spectators 6. Light breeze 7. Slay 8. Brews tea 9. Like a candle 11. Animal trap 12. “For Heaven’s ___!”

14. Walked on 17. 1300 hours 20. Peddlers peddle them 21. Be filled with longing 24. Arched bone 26. Nearly certain

28. Go on a drinking spree 29. Hamburger meat sudoku answer key 30. Raises children A 31. Before it is too late 32. Jet engine housing 33. Everyday expressions 34. Subtle emanations 35. Suggestive look 38. Military training group 41. Bit of bird food 43. Compete in cars B 45. Remind constantly 47. Score points in cribbage

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

28. Lens cover 29. Hush money 32. Showing favouritism 36. Nighttime, in poetry 37. Treat with contempt 39. Needing to be paid 40. Food 42. Fuss 43. Extremely urgent 44. Close acquaintance 46. Angry protest 48. Artist’s mishap 49. Tailors’ joints 50. Part farthest from the middle 51. Bacon’s partner

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

ACROSS 1. Fill to overflowing 5. They are not gentleman 9. Flinch slightly 10. Unruly demonstrations 12. Break one’s heart 13. Place in the right position 15. Neck bone 16. Female pig 18. A little way away 19. Range of vision 20. Forecast word 22. One who plays in the NHL 23. Carve letters on 25. Became less painful 27. Wrath © walter D. Feener 2012

Horoscopes April 5 – April 11 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Choices will confront you at every turn this week, Aries. Be very careful what you choose: some of these options could have negative ramifications.

Have you been feeling stressed lately, Leo? If so, let off some steam. Go out, have a few wobbly-pops, and have some fun — for now.

If you are single and see someone who catches your eye this week, be bold and say hello, Sagittarius. If you’re not single, beware of temptation.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Gossiping busybodies will be swirling all around you this week, Taurus. Try your best to tune them out, or else prepare to be annoyed.

If you’re having a hard time following a path you’ve chosen, don’t quit, Virgo. Yes, it may be bumpy but the trip will be worthwhile.

You may be coming to a crossroads in your life, Capricorn. Don’t get bent out of shape trying to decide which road to take. Trust your gut.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

Feeling confused lately, Gemini?

Been faced with a load of options — all unfamiliar? Don’t worry — things are going to clear up in the days ahead.

Is there an old friend you haven’t spoken to in a while, Libra? If so, make the time to get in touch this week.

There may be big news you need to hear.

Others’ attitudes towards you may be changing this week, Aquarius.

You may not know why, but here’s a hint: perhaps it isn’t them that’s different.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

You will form a new relationship this week. It may be romantic, it may be friendly, heck, it may even be professional. But whatever it is, embrace it.

Travel, travel, travel: that should be your mantra this week, Scorpio. Whether it’s the physical act or the planning, it doesn’t matter. Just do it.

Don’t get too handsy with people this week. Contrary to what your friend Tina may say, it’s not nice if it’s not asked for.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

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