Verb Issue R100 (Oct. 18-24, 2013)

Issue #100 – October 18 to October 24

arts

culture

music

regina

The Deep Dark Woods

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F

H READ & S

A

Inside the adult

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sex sells

PL

SK

EA

services industry in Saskatchewan

VERY WE EE EK RE

the fifth estate + jiro dreams of sushi Films reviewed­

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Photo: courtesy of jeremy Regimbal

contents

On the cover:

the deep dark woods

Out of the wilderness. 10 / feature

Photo: courtesy of Jeremy Regimbal

culture

NEWs + Opinion

entertainment

Q + A with good for grapes On their debut album. 8 / Q + A

Live Music listings Local music listings for October 18 through October 26. 14 / listings

selling sex

Tchaikovsky’s Note

Nightlife Photos

Inside Saskatchewan’s adult services industry. 3 / Local

Triumph and tragedy from one of Russia’s great composers. 9 / Arts

We visit Original Joes.

always with you

jiro dreams of sushi + the fifth estate

John Antoniuk remembers his mother on his latest album. 9 / Arts

15 / Nightlife

We review the latest movies. 16 / Film

voice of the people SK filmmakers explore the Enbridge pipeline controversy. 4 / Local

heroin for the cure Our thoughts on prescribing heroin to chronic addicts. 6 / Editorial

SMALL PLATES MAKING A BIG DIFFERENCE We visit La Bodega. 12 / Food + Drink

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

comments

Music

Game + Horoscopes

Here’s what you had to say about political transparency. 7 / comments

Great Big Sea, Matt Mays + Said the Whale. 13 / music

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

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Editorial

Business & Operations

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

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit account Manager / thomas adair Marketing Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

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

Please recycle after reading & sharing

ART & Production

advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

design Lead / andrew yanko Graphic designer / bryce kirk Contributing Photographers / Maxton Priebe, Adam Hawboldt + marc messett

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

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Photo: courtesy of foxtongue

Inside the Lion’s Den by ADAM HAWBOLDT

W

hen you walk into the Lion’s Den Adult Service Studio in Saskatoon, the first thing you see is a big white door. It’s locked.

To your left is a window. That’s where the women will stand. You’ll see them, meet them, and then make your selection. If you don’t see any women to your liking, no problem.

There’s no obligation to stay. “It’s like going into a shoe store,” explains Lion’s Den owner Trish Fisher. “You don’t always find something you want.”

But if you do want to purchase the services of one of the women, Fisher will unlock the door and let you in.

What you see when that door opens is a clean, well-lit place that’s both sterile and inviting. From the door there’s a grey-walled hallway in front of you. As you walk down it, the bedrooms where the women ply their trade are on your right. After you’re

escorted to a room, you and the woman you choose will negotiate a price.

Then she’ll take care of your needs and your desires — as arranged.

“What the girls charge for their service, I have no say in that,” says Fisher. “They run their own businesses out of my place. They basically just rent a room from me and the gentlemen pay a door fee. My job isn’t to set the price. These women do a very difficult job, so my job is to provide a very safe, clean and supportive place for them to do it in.”

Another part of Fisher’s job, as she sees it, is to help shed certain stigmas attached to the industry.

Getting the Lion’s Den up and running wasn’t simple. When her other business, the Farmer’s Daughter massage parlour, closed its doors, Fisher set out in search of a new location.

“It took a long time to find a landlord that would rent to me,” she explains. “I bet you I talked to about 50 property owners or more … when I’d call to say I was interested in their property they’d listen, and then I’d tell them this is what I’d be doing and they’d say no. Just like that.”

Eventually, though, she found a landlord who had a property she could use. So after Fisher got her new space, she didn’t waste any time. The building, which used to be a tow truck company on Alberta Avenue, was gutted, and in June the Lion’s Den was finally ready to open its doors.

Now Fishers’ aim, along with providing fully licensed adult services to people who want them, is to break down misconceptions about what goes on. “The idea that our clientele is gangsters, drug dealers, bikers is so far off,” she says. “We’re talking businessmen, farmers, truckers, divorcees, widowers. There’s a lot of widowers.”

And the girls who work there? They may not be what you think, either.

“The perception that these women are drug-addicts or alcoholics, that they’re doing this to support a habit is just not true,” says Fisher. “That can be true in certain instances, but the women I have working for me are here because they choose to do it for a living. Two of them are currently in school … I don’t recruit them, they come to me.”

And before they do, every woman who works at Lion’s Den must obtain a license from the city.

According to Saskatoon’s adult service bylaw that came into effect in the summer of 2012, agencies and individuals who work in them have to get a license to work legally.

“This licensing thing is one of the best things this city ever did,” says Fisher. “As a business owner, by the time the girls come to me they’ve already been through the city, through the police service … I know they’re of-age … they’re doing this of their own free will.”

So for the time being, everything is going well at the Lion’s Den. The women who work there are legal, they’re tested every three months, they have a clean, comfortable place in which to work. Yet the future is anything but certain.

At the moment the Supreme Court of Canada is pondering whether brothels and other aspects of the sex industry in our country should be legal. If the answer comes out yes, it will mean serious changes to Canada’s

prostitution laws. If it’s a no, Fisher’s business could be in jeopardy.

“Right now, everything is well and good because of the city’s licensing bylaw,” says Fisher. “But if everything goes south, if the Supreme Court decides otherwise, if it’s ruled that I’m running a bawdy house and it’s illegal…”

Fisher doesn’t finish her sentence.

Instead, she takes a sip of coffee and says, “You know, I still can’t wrap my head around why people are offended. It’s just a business. Why can’t people set aside their perceptions, their pre-conceived notions? It’s education that’s needed. It’s understanding that there’s a very big difference between working the streets and working in a studio like this.”

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Photo: courtesy of Line in the Sand

Saskatchewan filmmakers and photographers examine the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline from a new perspective. by ADAM HAWBOLDT

S

ometimes, the media has a way of reporting only the most divisive voices on an issue, turning a complex, nuanced story into a black-andwhite, he-said-she-said debate that is waged with vigor from both sides. And that is all fine and dandy, but all too often it’s the middle folk — the people who exist in that fine shade of grey — that are lost in the shuffle.

Or at least that’s how Tomas Borsa and Tristan Becker, two friends from Saskatchewan, saw it when news about the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline popped onto the public radar a few years ago.

“I think it was late 2010 when the public really started to hear about the Northern Gateway,” says Borsa about the proposed 1,170 kilometre twin pipleline that will run from Bruder-

stories of people living along the route where the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline will travel. “We wanted to go into the field and speak with people, see if something slightly more interesting or a more balanced story would emerge,” says Borsa.

To do this Borsa, Becker (who is a photographer) and Skyler Flavelle (a videographer from B.C.) packed up their car and set out for Alberta.

What they found wasn’t what they expected.

heim, Alberta to Kitimat, B.C. “Then

by March 2012, we noticed that the reporting on the Gateway, to date, had been adversarial and antagonizing. It didn’t seem to be telling a full story. It seemed to just be environment versus the economy, First Nation versus non-First Nation, Alberta versus British Columbia.”

This kind of reporting didn’t sit well with the two university friends.

But unlike most people who are content to sit back, get their news, and simply complain about the message they were receiving, Borsa and Becker decided to do something about it. They decided to shed some light on the issues that weren’t being talked about.

Enter Line in the Sand, a collaborative multimedia project (book and documentary) aimed at divulging nuanced opinions and personal

“In Alberta there was total indifference,” says Borsa. “I mean, every now and then, sure, we ran into someone who opposed the pipeline.

But even then, they didn’t oppose it on the grounds we expected, on the grounds that it would pose a danger to the environment.”

So why did some of the people in Alberta oppose the pipeline?

“Because they disagreed with the notion of shipping Canadian oil to the Asian market, unrefined,” says Borsa, matter of factly.

Which makes sense. After all, the idea of having a pipeline running through their backyards isn’t a completely foreign concept for Albertans.

Many of the people that the Line in the Sand team talked to had working pumpjacks on their property or they had pipelines running underneath their fields. They were already comfortable with having the equipment in their immediate vicinity, hence the level of apathy the team encountered.

“It seemed that they just didn’t care,” says Borsa. “It was definitely a battle for us in Alberta. There wasn’t open hostility to us, but it wasn’t easy getting people to talk, either.”

Things would be much easier for them in British Columbia. But there, things would also get a little more shady. And a lot more serious.

Dawson Creek is a sleepy little city located about 35 kilometres west of the Alberta-B.C. border. Nestled among the rolling hills that make up the southern part of the Peace River country plains, it is a city rich in agriculture. A city devoted to being innovative when it comes to exploring new methods of sustainable development. And it was here that the Line in the Sand project began to spin on its axis.

“The experience in B.C., which all started in Dawson Creek, was totally, totally different,” says Borsa. “Quite literally, when we crossed the border people were lined up to talk to us.

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It was difficult to speak with all the people who wanted to talk to us in the time we had.”

But they tried, and some of the people they met had less than savoury reactions when it came to the idea of a pipeline running through their community. “Some of the people we met in Dawson Creek immediately brought up the possibility of industrial sabotage,” says Borsa. “Even if the pipeline is built, their argument was that you can build a two-or-three-walled pipeline, but you can never really protect it against a determined human mind.”

After Dawson Creek the team got back in their car and kept moving west, through Prince George, Freezer Lake, Smithers, and Kitimat. It was in Smithers that their project experienced its first real hiccup. “It was a peculiar, conspiratorial incident there,” says Borsa. “It was during a joint review panel hearing. Originally the hearing was set to take place in Hazelton, but there was a perceived threat of violence looming, so they relocated

of its main purposes is to protect sovereign Wet’suwet’en territory from any and all proposed pipelines running through the area — whether it be from the oilsands in Alberta or the Hydraulic Fracturing projects in the Peace River Region.

As long as this community stands, they vow no pipeline shall be built in the region.

And before you get the wrong idea, no, it wasn’t the Unist’ot’en who erased the tapes. But it is a community of keen interest to Borsa and the Line in the Sand team.

Now that the first phase of their project is over, Borsa will be leaving Saskatchewan this fall and heading back into the field, this time with Jean-Philippe Marquis — a photographer/videographer/tree planter who has worked with Vice in the past.

“We’re planning on going back to Smithers and Kitimat and a few other places that are either off the map or unique,” says Borsa.

“We’re also hoping to talk to the Unist’ot’en. Basically, they’re a

to the end the Line in the Sand team has set up a Kickstarter project to help alleviate the fiscal burden.

“If all goes well, Part Two will be finished when the government makes an official announcement about the Gateway pipeline. Hopefully sometime in December,” says Borsa. “After

that, Part Three will be the follow up … that will demand a little more time to digest. We can’t just rush into these communities two days after the announcement. So we’re looking at, maybe, an August finish date. But who knows? The timetable is really out of our hands.”

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Some of the people we met … brought up the possibility of industrial sabotage. tom borsa

to Smithers. When we got there, there was a very vocal protest underway. A very heavy RCMP presence.”

But that didn’t deter the Line in the Sand team. They set up their gear and began to tape and photograph the proceedings. At one point they put their three recorders near a set of speakers and left for a bit. When they came back, maybe a half hour after the hearings had concluded, all their files had been wiped.

“It would be presumptuous to say we know who was responsible for doing that,” says Borsa. “But we know that someone did it. It’s absolutely not the type of thing that can happen on its own. Those files, they needed to be wiped by someone.”

The Unist’ot’en Camp is a resistance community near Smithers, B.C. One

slightly off-the-grid survivalist community that would like to stop any and all pipelines by any means necessary. They’ve set up road blocks, have begun digging up portions of the road leading into their lands. They don’t hide the fact they advocate for direct-action tactics.”

And how does Borsa plan on getting access to this group for the next round of filming and interviews? “Well, Jean-Philippe was tree planting in the area not long ago and the only people this Unist’ot’en camp was letting through were planters. They’re not friendly to outsiders,” says Borsa. “So he had to negotiate his way onto their land for a few months, he got to know them. So he’s the contact.”

But all this traveling and filming comes at a cost, so to see it through

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Heroin for the cure

We should be prescribing heroin injections to help chronic addicts

I

t may have taken awhile, but after years of petitioning Health Canada, health officials in British Columbia have finally been authorized to prescribe heroin as a treatment for heroin-addicted patients. It’s an innovative step taken by the health community in B.C., and one that we think should be embraced in Saskatchewan in order to help chronic heroin addicts in our province.

To be clear, we’re not talking about your everyday, run-of-themill addict here. We’re talking about addicts who have tried to quit cold turkey, who have tried methadone treatment, who have tried a variety of other therapies, but all to no avail.

And it is these patients that a handful of doctors in B.C. are now legally allowed to treat with doses of heroin.

The move to prescribe heroin might seem counterintuitive, and certainly faces major stigma from attitudes shaped by the (failed) war on drugs, but it’s actually extraordinarily effective. In fact, a study called the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI), published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that “supervised prescribed heroin is a safe and effective treatment for people with chronic heroin addiction who have not benefited from previous treatments.”

And the benefits are significant.

The study, which examined the effectiveness of both heroin and methadone, found that there was

“a reduction in illicit-drug use or other illegal activities.” Furthermore, “67.0% of the patients in the diacetylmorphine (heroin) group were classified as having a response, as compared with 47.7% of patients in the methadone group.”

So it works the same way as a methadone treatment, which is already a widely supported option, but is scientifically proven to be more effective. If we’re going to help people treat their problems with addiction, why wouldn’t we want to do what works best?

And while the sample from Vancouver is relatively small, that city is not the first to treat chronic addiction with prescribed heroin. In Switzerland, there are already 23 clinics that offer heroin-injection therapy, under the supervision of doctors, to chronic addicts. Naturally, when these clinics first opened there was a lot of public skepticism. But last year 68% of the population voted yes in a referendum to permanently keep the clinics in Switzerland, funded by the state.

Why? Because they work.

According to Ambros Uchtenhagen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Zurich who helped set up these clinics, the referendum was successful because the programs showed “highly persistent improvement [among the patients].” Treating around 2,200 chronic addicts (or 6% of Switzerland’s heroin addicts), the clinics keep patients in treatment for about three years, and less than 15% of these patients relapsed into

daily use. When you consider the fact that the people in this group of addicts each averaged about 15 years of heroin abuse, that recovery rate becomes even more astounding.

It’s not only in Switzerland that prescribed heroin programs are successful, either. Recently Britain concluded a four-year trial in which hardened addicts were given daily injections of heroin as part of a comprehensive treatment program. The results there were similarly positive, so much so that Britain is now on its way to becoming the second country in Europe to institutionalize a heroin therapy program.

Prescribed heroin worked overseas and it worked in early trials here in Canada, so we think trials should continue with a goal of adding this method of treatment to the others already available. If we follow the other countries’ lead, and provide prescribed heroin along with counselling and other support programs, maybe we can do a better job of cutting down on street-drug use and give help to people who really need it.

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 political transparency. Here's what you had to say:

that CanniMed Ltd. Had a monopoly. But, articles in other media suggests that production is open to anyone who meets the requirements. Which is which? Inquring minds want to know..

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

In response to “Puff, Puff, Pass,” Local, #99 (October 11, 2013)

– The federal and provincial governments should be the best run corporations in the land. The same should go for politicians especially the unelected senators and their spending scandals.

– The government will never be truly transparent because Harper has so much BS he has to keep covered up. It would make for a more effective and legitimate ruling organization, but I doubt true transparency will ever happen.

What they spend would be a nice place to start, though.

– The first step to a responsible government is transparency. I completely agree that expenses should be tracked and made available for all elected and nonelected officials.

– Say what you will about politicians being accountable, if Mike Duffy still needs someone to do net research and little else for 65 grand…I am in.. I’ll even do booze runs forgood white wine and drive for him if he has hit the stuff to hard.. Could even cook up some PEI potatoes…

– The conspiracies surrounding Harper are so intense that there is no way the government will ever allow more transparency than the absolute bare minimum required to keep the masses sated.

SDAP.CA under menu “Accountabilty.”

– There needs to be some force that can make Harper and his cronies accountable to the actions they take.

– Has free speech and open debate on a university campus ever been prorogued because the conclusion may not be to the chancellors liking?

– Dimey is way, way wrong. Even a geezer who could care less about getting high and having a laugh should be upset about Marc Emery being in a US prison. The guy was operating a business and paying taxes to Ottawa, but when the Americans wanted to try him the government did nothing to stop the extradition…

– Doubting vinyl roles and always will? check out the 400 dollar turntables at the big box stores.

Those ain’t the Mickey Mouse one yer mom used to destrroy her Monkees LPs.

– Hey grammer commentor ‘’txtins’’ isn’t a word!

In response to “Express Yourself,” Editorial,

– To the person who texted in to comment on the terrible grammar in the Texts page: txtins is not a word, and you didn’t capitalize a proper noun. Nice try.

#98 (October 4, 2013)

sound off OFF TOPIC

Add acne etc. Its a wonder we got time for the rest!

– Your head is so frik’in high maintenance, wash hair comb hair floss n brush teeth blow nose clean ear wax wash your face.

Makeup n creams for girls shaving ear and nose hair for guys.

– HAPY THANKSGIVING YALL XOXOXO

– Happy Thanksgiving!

– Really when you get right down to it the only place where a questionaire with the old Male Female checkboxes isn’t sexist is a gov’t census and doctor’s office.

Next week: What do you think about prescribing heroin injections to chronic addicts as a form of therapy? 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

In response to “Puff, Puff, Pass,” Local, #99 (October 11, 2013)

– In your Puff, Puff, Pass article it mentions Judy Emery. Jodie Emery is the wife of Prince of Pot, Marc Emery. She is a political activist that has fought so much for the Canadian cannabis community.

CHECK OUT POT TV AND FREE MARC EMERY! -Samantha In response to “Puff, Puff, Pass,” Local, #99 (October 11, 2013)

– Medical marijuana is for those who need it! If you take it away it’ll be like taking away insulin or meds for mental illness! Shame SASK government SHAME!!! :-( In response to “Puff, Puff, Pass,” Local, #99 (October 11, 2013)

– Greater financial transparency from politicians is important.

Increasing SK Auditor access is critical. For more on this see

– If I read the article on medical marijuana correctly, it suggested

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Good For Grapes

Photos: courtesy of the artist

Victoria pop-folk band on making their debut full-length

by Alex J MacPherson

I

t was meant to be a busking trip, nothing more. But for the members of Good for Grapes, an expansive folk band formed in Vancouver in late 2010, the trip to Victoria to play on the street turned into something else entirely: the launching pad for a career. The band’s songs, which evoke the sound of current folk revival while preserving a fondness for unusual structures and dense, melodic arrangements, drew unexpected crowds. Within a year, the group — which now consists of seven members playing a range of instruments, from guitar and piano to trombone and accordion — had recorded their debut, a six-track EP laden with lush folk sounds and haunting harmonies. And while Good for Grapes have been compared to both Mumford & Sons and Bon Iver, their sound — rich and dramatic — is entirely their own. I caught up with Daniel McBurnie, the band’s singer and guitar player, to learn more about the youngest folk innovators to emerge from the vibrant Vancouver scene.

Alex J MacPherson: Your EP has been available for awhile, but I understand you’re putting the finishing touches on your debut, Man On The Page.

Daniel McBurnie: Yeah, it’s done now.

Officially done. We recorded it with Colin Stewart at the Hive in

bed tracks were all live and together.

That’s the foundation of the song, us playing in the studio live. I think that really helped in getting that feeling across, because it does have that live feeling. When we were listening back it’s like, it sounds real, it doesn’t sound too syncopated or fake.

Burnaby. It’s a really amazing studio and he’s such a great guy. We were actually one of the last bands to record there because it moved to Victoria. It’s going to be released next month, probably mid-October.

AJM: At this point, many people have heard the EP. What can they expect from the new album?

AJM: One of the things that really stands out about your band are the arrangements: they’re big and rich but they never overpower the song.

DM: I feel like we’ve turned that EP on its head. It’s very full, heavy instrumentation, and definitely truer to our live sound. You hear a lot, ‘I love your recordings but they don’t sound as good as you guys do live.’ I think bands constantly struggle with trying to replicate those moments and put them into a recording. It’s a hard thing to do.

DM: I write with these things in mind.

I write with the instruments in mind.

Like, am I feeling that right now? It all kind of happens at once. I used to write songs strictly on the acoustic guitar and then just layer everything. Now,

I think of it all as one instrument, the melody that’s carrying the song…

I think of it all as one instrument, the melody that’s carrying the song and the lyrics that are carrying the song.

The way of thinking of writing has changed from the EP to this record.

Daniel Mcburnie

AJM: Isn’t it fair to say that making albums and playing shows are totally different, though?

I’m hardly even thinking of the acoustic guitar as a main instrument. I think of other things first sometimes.

DM: They are obviously two different things. There are things that we do live that we couldn’t do on a recording.

But we always try and make it so that anything we record, we could do live.

We recorded it live off the floor, which means we did most of the instruments at once. We did some overdubs, but the

AJM: Almost like composing rather than writing.

DM: Absolutely. It’s more like with those songs the acoustic guitar was my vehicle to get them across. Now, even if the acoustic guitar is the main instrument, I don’t think about it that way.

AJM: Your band had an interesting start, from busking to competition wins. How have those experiences affected what you’re doing today and later this year?

DM: It’s great because at the time that we were recording the EP, there wasn’t that pressure. We’d won those competitions, but there was no pressure to write a certain way, so those weird structures that people are talking about, that’s just something that’s inside

me — and that’s just how I’m going to write. The EP was a pure example of, like, okay, let’s try something. There was no pressure. I know that none of these are going to be radio hits. We’re young, doing whatever we want. But the fact that people reacted well to that is really encouraging. It’s like, I’ll keep doing this.

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Tchaikovsky’s Note

Triumph and tragedy from one of the great Russian composers

W

e will never know whether Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky intended his sixth and final symphony to be interpreted as a suicide note. What we do know is that the piece premiered just nine days before its composer’s death, an apparent suicide at the age of fiftythree. Although it is not as well known as his major ballets or his towering 1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky’s last symphony nevertheless ranks among his finest works. Its four movements trace the arc of his life, from birth to death. It is both a commemoration and an epitaph. Not surprisingly, its Russian title translates to “emotional.”

“It’s a little bit like a Beethoven or a Brahms symphony,” says Victor Sawa, who will conduct the Regina Symphony Orchestra in a performance featuring Glenn

Buhr’s “Akasha,” Aram Khachaturian’s rarely performed “Piano Concerto,” and Tchaikovsky’s staggeringly beautiful final symphony.

“They’re juggernauts. All of them are barn-burners, all of them are closers.” But Symphony No. 6 is the finest of them all, a stirring examination of life and death emerging from the mind and the heart of a tortured man.

Much has been made of Tchaikovsky’s homosexuality, a serious taboo in 19th century Russia. Some biographers have downplayed its importance; others believe it led directly to his death. And while Sawa believes the great composer’s death was an avoidable tragedy — “he should have composed another five symphonies” — he can’t help but admire the depth and feeling Tchaikovsky summoned on the eve of his passing.

The symphony’s first movement begins as a quiet meditation before

by alex J MacPherson

bursting into life, a vigorous and wrenching cataract of condensed emotion. Then the symphony sails into uncharted waters. The second movement is a stately waltz in fivefour time, a difficult time signature made palatable by Tchaikovsky’s mastery. “It’s extremely unusual,” Sawa says. “By nature, five is wrong, you know? Waltzes are in three, never five. Nothing’s in five.”

After breaking the rules in the second movement, Tchaikovsky decided to break even more. In most symphonies, the third movement is slow and evocative, the fourth a brisk summation leading to an extended final crescendo. In his last symphony, Tchaikovsky reversed this natural order. It was a revolutionary idea. “He was the king of big enders,” Sawa says with a laugh. “He knew how to end a piece.” In Symphony No. 6, the virtuosic third movement is a trium-

phant march, the fourth a longing look backward before turning to face the long embrace of oblivion.

“It’s probably the most dramatic piece he wrote considering what was going on in his life,” Sawa says.

“Think about it: if he had been alive today, he wouldn’t be dead.” Tchaikovsky’s death was a tragedy, a reflection of systematic intolerance.

But his sixth symphony, his note to the world, will live on for centuries.

In the program for his unfinished Symphony in E Flat, the Russian genius summed up his opinion about symphonies and life — a message

that cuts through every bar of the staggeringly beautiful Symphony No. 6: “The ultimate essence … of the symphony is Life. First part — all impulse, passion, confidence, thirst for activity. Must be short (the finale death — result of collapse).

Second part love: third disappointments; fourth ends dying away (also short).”

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 October 26 @ Conexus Arts Centre $33+ @ Reginasymphony.com

Always With You

Saskatoon songwriter remembers his mother on latest album

I

t’s been a year since John Antoniuk released a record. But the Saskatoon-based songwriter hasn’t been idle. After finishing Always With You, a collection of simple yet haunting alt-country songs written in the wake of his mother’s death, Antoniuk hit the road. He toured western Canada with his band. Then he trekked east with his wife, singer-songwriter Jen Lane. And then he did something radical. Instead of heading back into the studio to make another album, he recruited a fiery rock duo called Castle River for yet another tour.

“We took it from Wilco to Weezer overnight,” says Antoniuk, who has been a fixture of the local music community for almost a decade. “I told them from day one, ‘listen to the record for some of the hooks, because you don’t have to write new hooks, but really we’re not stuck with what the re-

cord does. We’re going to go with what we sound like. I’m not going to force us in any one direction.’” Interpreting and re-interpreting the songs on Always With You has become something of an obsession for Antoniuk. Over the last twelve months, he has played it in every imaginable configuration, from searing rock to solo acoustic. The only reason this works is because the songs are good. Very good.

“It’s my own rule, that songs have to be super strong solo first,” he says.

“It comes down to the song. It doesn’t have to be better than anybody else’s song, it’s not a competition; it’s only within yourself, creating the best thing you can.” In the past, Antoniuk wrote a lot of music, filling in the empty spaces with lyrics when he could nail down an idea. That changed when he started writing Always With You. The words poured out, song after song after song — the most personal and open he has ever written. “I only

by alex J MacPherson

made it for myself,” he admits. “I hope people enjoy it, and I think what people enjoy about my music is that it’s for me first, it’s coming from a really pure, honest place.”

Always With You is the most introspective record Antoniuk has ever made, a lifetime of experiences and memories bound up in eleven short songs. But it is also the most universal. From the Wilco-esque midtempo rocker “Good Girl Down” to the rolling country weeper “Chicago,” Always With You explores ideas that mean something to everyone. “Holding On (For Marlene)” is about his mother’s passing. But it is also about how families are always rising and falling, how the peaks and the valleys of life affect us all.

“Take It Back,” on the other hand, is about the preciousness — and the pain — of memory. These are ideas anyone can relate to, ideas the live inside us all.

Writing and recording Always With You was difficult for Antoniuk.

Recording studios are about finality and preservation; making a record involves leaving the past on the tape and opening up an entirely new world.

Antoniuk was reluctant to let go of the past. “It was hard to do it without breaking down sometimes,” he says.

“Some songs would just kick me in the chest and I had to remember to breathe while I was playing.” Which is why he has spent the last year on the road, reinventing his own songs onstage every night. Live music is art in motion, and songs live forever under the bright stage lights. And that’s why they matter so much.

“When it started, it was about my therapy,” he says. “Now, it’s comforting to me to see people getting something out of the songs, whether they’ve lost a mom or a dad or a brother or a friend.

I left that open for interpretation for people so it wasn’t all about death, but

Photo: courtesy oF Macarena Yanez (makifotos)

about the loss and something unrequited.” This is the essence of Always With You. Time slows when the music starts, and everybody in the audiences comes a little close to finding what’s missing, what’s lost, what’s been taken all too soon.

John Antoniuk October 25 @ O’Hanlon’s Free Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Feature

The Deep Dark Wood Saskatchewan band emerges from the wilderness with their strongest album to date by Alex J MacPherson

T

he Deep Dark Woods didn’t plan to recreate one of the most enduring myths in rock and roll. But after recording their latest album in a secluded cabin near Bragg Creek, Alberta, the band members agreed that it was a good idea. The history of popular music is littered with stories of bands emerging from the wilderness clutching masterpieces.

The Band did it in 1968, when they rented a house in upstate New York and made Music From Big Pink.

Four decades later, Justin Vernon of the baroque pop band Bon Iver contracted mononucleosis, retreated to a cabin in rural Wisconsin, and recorded For Emma, Forever Ago. All clichés contain a granule of truth, and the legend of the band in the wilderness is as strong today as it was in the heady sixties because it tends to produce results.

But the Deep Dark Woods weren’t particularly interested in spending weeks or months away from their lives; the veteran alt-country band from Saskatoon just wanted to make a good album.

“We actually had the Banff Centre booked to record in,” Ryan Boldt, the band’s lead singer and principal songwriter, says in his characteristic sleepy drawl. “We knew the guys there from playing there in the past, so it looked like a good idea.” The gorgeous complex of buildings nestled in the Rocky

Mountains promised to be the ideal setting for a band whose sound is rooted in rustic simplicity, traditional music played by generations of people in kitchens and on back porches.

But it was not to be. When the band’s plan to record in Banff collapsed, they rented a cabin in the foothills, set up a

cords — home to artists like Whitehorse, Amelia Curran, and Trampled

By Turtles — and released The Place I Left Behind. The record was an overwhelming success. It generated a string of positive reviews and carried the band across the continent, where they played their haunting songs to

On a good record you can tell what the person’s listening to — and then they go ahead and play it in their own way. ryan boldt

studio, and went to work. “It was two weeks in the cabin, we were all living together,” Boldt says. “At the dinner table we’d be eating and then we’d have a little jam afterward. It was the perfect way to make music. Nobody felt any sort of pressure at all.”

The Deep Dark Woods have been making music together for almost a decade. The core band members have known each other for even longer.

Their expansive alt-country sound and wrenching stories of heartbreak, loneliness, and redemption in the Canadian west have attracted fans across North America. In 2011, after three successful albums, the band signed a deal with Six Shooter Re-

thousands of people. But making yet another record would not be easy. The departure of guitarist Burke Barlow, an integral part of the band’s sound since the very beginning, forced Boldt and his bandmates to make adjustments. They turned to Clayton Linthicum, a fanatical student of music history, a formidable guitar player, and a fixture on the western Canadian roots circuit.

“There’s a whole bunch of new types of songs we can play with Clayton,” says Boldt, who produced The Day Is Passed And Gone, a collection of gutsy folk interpretations Linthicum made with his cousin. “The guy’s only nineteen, but he’s a profesContinued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of Jeremy Regimbal

sional. He knows how to sit in there and not play. A lot of guitar players can be amazing guitar players and talented musicians, but the best part about [playing with] Clayton is he knows when not to play and when to let everybody else play.” Linthicum, who traded his weatherbeaten Gibson acoustic for an SG and a Fender Deluxe, played an important part in ensuring that Jubilee sounds like nothing else the Deep Dark Woods have

Photo: courtesy of Jeremy Regimbal

ever recorded. The undertones of distance and time that pervaded their earlier records have been replaced by the sort of urgency usually reserved for uptempo rock records. Each song is drenched in sweat and coated in grime. Jubilee captures the sound of five musicians playing loud instruments in a small room. And while the band’s gothic folk roots are left intact, they are disguised by something different, something more expansive.

Jubilee opens with “Miles and Miles,” a spacey song that evokes the Besnard Lakes while smouldering with the sort of intensity found on the records Neil Young made with Crazy Horse in the seventies. “Red, Red

Rose,” on the other hand, is a funky song that recalls the complex arrangements and wonky rhythms that define some of the most stirring tracks by the band. Then there is “18th of December,” which casts Boldt’s solemn voice against a rousing backdrop of organ and electric guitar. “I really like English traditional music,” Boldt says of “18th of December,” “and you can tell the influence on that [song]. But we were just playing it as the five of us would. It would be a completely different song if Burke was playing the guitar. It just depends on the people that are playing the song.”

It should not come as a surprise that Jubilee reveals some of what inspired its creators. The Deep Dark Woods are committed students of music history, and their taste extends from seventies psychedelia to the ancestors of Elvis and Buddy Holly — seminal songwriters such as Howlin‘ Wolf and the Stanley Brothers. “You can definitely tell what we’re listening to,” Boldt says, “just like you can tell what the Band was listening to on the second Band record or what Dylan was listening to on Blonde on Blonde or what Bert Jansch was listening to when he made Birthday Blues. On a good record you can tell what the person’s listening to — and then they go ahead and play it in their own way.”

Put another way, the secret to unlocking Jubilee is not secret at all: the album is the product of five musicians sequestering themselves in a tiny cabin and spending the next three weeks playing music. Sometimes, it’s really that simple.

“It was just strung together, you know?” Boldt says of the album, which was recorded live off the floor in just a few takes. “We put the arrangement on a piece of paper and pasted it to the wall, and then everybody just played whatever they wanted to play. We’d go through it two or three times, and you kind of have ideas, like we should do a melody solo here or whatever. But it’s just a bunch of people playing whatever the hell they want to play.”

Unlike The Place I Left Behind, which was produced by the band

themselves, Jubilee was overseen by Jonathan Wilson, who is known for his work in experimental and psychedelic California folk. “I think it’s really important, especially when you’ve got five people that are giving their opinions on how a song should sound,” Boldt says of Wilson, who kept the band on course during the sessions.

“It’s important to have one person that has the final say, or that’s steering you in the right direction.” In the end, Wilson was responsible for more than the direction of the album; he was also an integral part of its sound.

The thirteen tracks that make up Jubilee exude the sort of warmth and familiarity of an ancient analog recording. But Jubilee was not recorded onto long reels of two-inch tape: it was made using ProTools, the software normally associated with pristine-sounding radio hits. “Honestly, you just need somebody that knows how to work digital recording and make it sound good,” Boldt says.

“And Jonathan does. You can barely tell the difference. That’s because Jonathan is amazing, same with Bryce Gonzales, the engineer. They know everything about recording. And you need somebody like that to help you out, or else it’ll sound kind of s***ty.”

Jubilee is the most relaxed record the Deep Dark Woods have ever

made. It is also the best. An expression of the music they love and a reflection of their ability, both as individuals and as a band, Jubilee captures the Deep Dark Woods at their best — nostalgic for the past, excited about the present, and eager to create something that will grow and expand long into the future. But Boldt isn’t particularly interested in combing through the songs for some deeper meaning. “When you’re writing the songs or rehearsing with the band, you’re not really thinking too much,” he confesses. “It just kind of falls out, and it is what it is, really.” At the same time, he seems to know that Jubilee marks another watershed for the Deep Dark Woods.

But he’s already thinking about what comes next. “That’s the best way to make a record,” he says, referring to the myth of the cabin in the woods. “I think we’re going to try and continue to do that.”

The Deep Dark Woods November 5 @ The Exchange $20 @ Ticketedge.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Photos courtesy of Maxton Priebe

SMALL PLATES MAKING A BIG DIFFERENCE

Sustainability practices are at the top of the list for popular tapas bar La Bodega by mj Deschamps

D

ecision-making isn’t exactly my forté — but it may be one big reason why I’m such a tapas fan.

It’s a liberating feeling to be able to go out to a restaurant and not have to choose between three or four mouthwatering dishes — because with tapas, why not order them all?

For those who haven’t yet been turned onto the Spanish-style cuisine, tapas consists of a wide variety of appetizer-type dishes, which can range from simple to extremely creative and sophisticated — albeit, usually small.

I was especially excited to stumble upon La Bodega Tapas Bar and Grill

But their plate sizes aren’t the only thing that makes La Bodega stand out. Behind the scenes, the restaurant is also really unrivalled in terms of its environmental impact (or rather, lack thereof).

Beyond the warm atmosphere of its comfortable, European-reminiscent dining room, La Bodega is working hard to reduce its carbon footprint by supporting the local industry and incorporating as much organic produce as possible into their food menu and wine list.

The restaurant is also powered by a long list of alternative energies including wind turbines and solar panels, and incorporates environmentally-friendly practices such as water conservation and recycling into its everyday operations.

“If we live like there’s no tomorrow — there won’t be,” said owner and executive chef Adam Sperling.

In celebration of environmental responsibility, October is ‘sustainability month’ at La Bodega, where lunches are 50% off for the month of October, and the menu is full of gluten-free options. In addition, all wines on the menu are half-priced until May 2014 — including the earthy, fruity, medium-bodied ‘7 Deadly Sins,’ which I couldn’t pass up on my visit.

Let’s get into the real meat of the place though: the menu that’s made La

initially, however, (well, not stumble, their praises have been sung amongst foodies nationwide) not just because their menu is prepared masterfully, and with local and organic ingredients, but because their portions are really sizeable, too.

Depending on the dish, I’ve found that between four and six plates usually fills two people at a tapas restaurant without making you feel stuffed (or denting your wallet).

At La Bodega, though, I’ve always been pleasantly surprised to be able to take home leftovers, and still pay the same as I normally would for half the amount of food at similar spots.

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide CLASSIC SANGRIA

Ingredients

Nothing pairs better with Latininspired cuisine than traditional Spanish sangria. The combination of wine, rum and fruit is a refreshing and delicious way to complete your tapas feast.

1 bottle dry red wine 1 cup orange juice ½ cup sugar 1 ½ cups rum 1 orange 1 lime 1 lemon

directions

Slice the chilled lemon, lime and orange into thin rounds and place into a glass pitcher. Pour in the sugar and rum, and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Stir in wine and orange juice when ready to serve.

Bodega a top destination dining spot for locals and tourists alike.

I started with one of my favourites — a baked Brie plank with a bulb of roasted garlic, toasted walnuts, smoked Maldon sea salt and apple slices, accompanied by crostini. Simple by themselves, the elements all come together into a complex flavour palate, with just the right combination of sweet, smoky and salty to compliment the warm Brie.

The tuna crudo came out next, served with a citrus salad and a strawberry-grapefruit emulsion drizzle.

Sometimes raw, sashimi-type dishes can taste overwhelmingly fishy, but this four ounces of raw tuna is fresh and meaty, while really letting the sweet salad and seasonings stand out.

The kale and butternut squash salad is a dish that pairs different textures very well, with soft, rosemary butternut squash, crisp kale, and crunchy, garlic croutons. The homemade, buttery croutons help bring out a lot of the sweetness in the squash, and the walnuts, palm hearts and sage vinaigrette weave in more fresh and savoury flavours.

I finished up with the lamb lollipops, one of the platos grandes (or ‘large plates’) options. The grilled mini

lamb rack is tender and infused with smoky flavour, with the set of three ‘lollipops’ piled on top of a bed of herbed baby potatoes and carrots, and finished with a red wine demi-glaze.

If you’re in the mood for one big, hearty plate rather than several smaller ones, this is definitely a tempting way to go.

So, taking into consideration that each inspired dish is made from scratch, in-house with the freshest ingredients — not to mention served up in a social responsibility-focused environment — in terms of quality and overall bang-for-your-buck, La Bodega really can’t be beat.

After all, where else in Regina can you order lobster guacamole, handmade mozzarella, smoked salmon and enchiladas, and still have room for dessert?

Ahh — thank goodness for tapas.

La Bodega 2228 Albert St. | (306) 546 3660

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina mdeschamps@verbnews.com

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Next Week

coming up

Great Big Sea Matt Mays

said the whale

@ Mosaic Place (Moose Jaw) tuesday, october 29 – $47.62+

@ The Exchange Wednesday, october 30 – $20

@ the exchange tuesday, november 25 – $18

Great Big Sea may be a “dysfunctional-family-bar-room-brawlstudent-art-project-musical-piratecrew,” but man, what a crew it is!

If you’ve never seen this trio from Newfoundland perform live, do yourself a favour and head to Moose Jaw. Few bands put on a show like these guys. Affable, engaging and always entertaining, this group — consisting of frontman Alan Doyle, Sean McCann and Bob Hallett — take traditional Newfoundland and Irish tunes (from folk songs to sea shanties) and put a rock spin on them. The result? Gold and platinum albums galore and more East Coast Music Awards than you can shake a stick at. This show will definitely be worth catching. Tickets available at tickets. mosaicplace.ca.

What do Mike Smith (aka Bubble from Trailer Park Boys) and Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean have in common? They’re both big fans of Nova Scotia rocker Matt Mays. And for good reason. If you’ve ever heard any of his albums you know why. From his self-titled debut LP in 2002 to When the Angels Make Contact to Terminal Romance, Mays took the Canadian music scene by storm in the early 2000s with his energetic, guitar-driven brand of rock and roll. Then, after 2008 he stopped making records and went on a musical spirit quest of sorts that lead him from Dartmouth to New York to Mexico. Along the way, Mays built a body of songs and came back with one helluva kingfish album in 2012 called Coyote. You should check it, and him, out at the end of the month.

Man, Said the Whale is one busy band! Since songwriters Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft formed the group in 2007, this Vancouver quintet has released 10 EPs, four studio albums (their most recent one, hawaii, came out this year), toured Canada, invaded America, and played the SXSW Festival. Oh, and along the way they picked up an award for New Group of the Year at the Junos in 2011. Consisting of Worcester (guitar/vocals), Bancroft (guitar/vocals), Nathan Shaw (bass), Spencer Schoening (drums), and Jaycelyn Brown (keyboards), Said the Whale play an eclectic brand of indie folk rock that is simply infectious.

Combine that with an engaging stage presence, and what you have is a show you shouldn’t miss.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist/ truncata/ amanda ash

Sask music Preview The application deadline for the SaskMusic Investment Program, which enables artists and industry professionals to enhance their careers and is funded by the Government of Saskatchewan — Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport, is November 15. For more information please see http://www. saskmusic.org/index.php?p=Investment%20Programs. Artists wishing to apply for Marketing Initiatives and Travel Support can apply to the Creative Saskatchewan Investment Fund Grant Program. Please visit www. creativesask.ca for more information.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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october 18 » october 26 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

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18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 28

Friday 18

Poor Nameless Boy, Ely / Artful Dodger — Folk rock for you. 8pm / Cover TBD Funk Cancer / The Exchange — Featuring the Blue Zone. 8pm / $20 (ticketedge.ca) DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover

Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster — With DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD Sean Burns Band / McNally’s Tavern — A singer/songwriter from Ontario. 10pm / $5 Wildfire / Pump — A talented group playing country. 10pm / Cover TBD Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover Parlor Trixx / Sip Nightclub — A hardrockin’ local at. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Dropping dope beats all night. 8pm / Cover TBD JJ Voss / Whiskey Saloon — Playing outlaw country. 9pm / $10

The Peanut Butter Genocide / The Exchange — Experimental music from the Queen City. 7:30pm / Cover TBD Sean Burns Band / McNally’s — A singer from Ontario. 10pm / $5 Wildfire / Pump Roadhouse — A talented group playing country. 10pm / Cover TBD

Monday 21

Open Mic Night / The Artful Dodger — Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover Monday Night Jazz / Bushwakker — Featuring The Project. 8pm / No cover

Tuesday 22

Saturday 19

Troubadour Tuesdays / Bocados — Live tunes from local talents. 8pm / No cover The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer / The Exchange — Blues infused rock. 8pm / $20+ (ticketedge.ca)

DJ Night Special / Artful Dodger — With Kalle Mattson + Michael Feuerstack. 8pm Clint Black / Casino Regina — A platinum-selling country artist. 8pm / $55+

Homo Monstrous / The German Club — With Screaming Queens + more. 9pm / $5

Wednesday 23

Jordan Klassen / Artesian — An intimate folk singer/songwriter. 8pm / $15 Keiffer McLean / Artful Dodger — It’s a video release party! 8pm / Cover TBD Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker — With Dr. Bird and Bluebeat. 9pm / No cover Delhi 2 Dublin / The Exchange — You gotta see ‘em! 8pm / $18 (ticketedge.ca) Jam Night and Open Stage / McNally’s — Enjoy some local talent. 9pm / No cover

Thursday 24

Young Benjamins / Artful Dodger — With John Antoniuk. 8pm / Cover TBD JD Edwards Band / Creative City Centre — Upbeat folk. 7:30pm / $10

Decibel Frequency / Gabbo’s Nightclub — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / Cover $5 PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — With DJ Ageless and DJ Drewski. 7pm / No cover Open Mic Night / King’s Head — Come out and show what you got. 8pm / No cover Game Boy + more / McNally’s — Come out and support local musicians. 8:30pm / $5 The Valentinos / Pump — Country music with a bit of bite. 10pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — Prairie country music. 9pm / $5

Friday 25

Bev Zizzy / Artful Dodger — Local musician playing black magic jazz. 8pm / Cover TBD Kevin Roy w/Kristen Berkel / Creative City Centre — Folk + country. 7:30pm / $10 DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster — With DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD The Valentinos / Pump — Country music with a bit of bite. 10pm / Cover TBD Albert / Pure — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Dropping dope beats all night. 8pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — Prairie country music done properly. 9pm / $10

Saturday 26

David Pomeranz / Casino Regina — A solo evening with an adult contemporary star.

8pm / $25+ (casinoregina.com) The Stillhouse Poets / Creative City Centre — A CD release party with Danny Goertz. 7:30pm / $10 Feast of Screams / The Exchange — Featuring Bloodline + more. 8pm / $15 Grant Davidson / Lancaster — Folk and country from Winnipeg. 10pm / No cover Drewski / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best, every Saturday night.

Come on down and dance the night away with this local DJ. 10pm / $5 cover random groove / Smokin’ Okies Blues Room — A four-piece offering some savvy blues. 8:30pm / $5 The Valentinos / Pump Roadhouse — Country music with a bit of bite. 10pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — Prairie country music done properly.

9pm / $10

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

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tuesday, october 15 @

original joe’s

Original Joe’s 3806 Albert Street (306) 206 0400

Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, October 25. facebook.com/verbregina

Photography by Marc Messett

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The subtle art of sushi

Photo: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Jiro Dreams of Sushi an up-close and personal look at the best sushi chef on the planet by adam hawboldt

I

magine being the best in the world at something.

No, really. Try to imagine it. Try to imagine being Lebron James or Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Joey Chestnut (that dude who eats hotdogs faster than anyone on the planet). Try to imagine the hours of hard work, dedication and preparation that must go into becoming the absolute best at something.

fish market, where mongers save the best specimens for Ono’s inspection.

Cut to Ono at work in his 10-seat restaurant in a Tokyo subway station.

The chairs all lined up against a barlike counter. Behind that is where the magic happens.

But we’re not talking about sleight of hand magic here. No. The kind of magic Ono makes is one based on meticulous detail and an all-consuming

jiro dreams of sushi David Gelb Starring Jiro Ono, Takashi Ono, Yoshikazu Ono Directed by

81 minutes | PG

elevated Ono from a hardscrabble childhood to the very apex of his profession. The kind of obsession most laypeople will never experience.

Shot with beautiful camerawork and set to classical music, Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a terrific documentary that’s visually gripping. A documentary about family, obsession and the ancient art of sushi making. A documentary you should probably go see.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi will open at Regina Public Library on October 24.

See reginalibrary.ca for more information and showtimes.

…Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a terrific documentary that’s visually gripping.

Adam Hawboldt

Most people will never know what it takes to get to that level.

But Jiro Ono isn’t most people.

The focus of David Gelb’s documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Ono is one of those people who strive for perfection. Sure, he runs a successful business, sure, his restaurant has achieved a three-star Michelin Guide rating, and sure, he makes the best sushi in the world. But he strives for more. Being the best sushi chef on the planet isn’t enough. He also wants the legacy of his sushi continued long after he’s gone. Which, considering his age (86) will be sooner rather than later.

And on the surface the striving for perfection and handing down a legacy is what Jiro Dreams of Sushi is about. This film, shot in a minimalist style which echoes the style of sushi Ono makes, follows the master chef as he goes about his daily business.

The cameras follow him to the Tsukiji

dedication to the art of sushi. And it’s not just Ono who is responsible for the magic. Every worker there wants to live up to his lofty expectations.

One apprentice spends 40-50 minutes massaging octopus by hand to make sure its texture is ideal. Another made the restaurant’s sweet omelet 200 times before it was up to snuff, and when Ono announced it good enough the guy wept with relief and satisfaction.

Then there are Ono’s two sons — Takashi and Yoshikazu. These are the two commissioned with carrying on his legacy. The former opened his own sushi restaurant across town, while the latter works hand in hand with his father, learning from the master in the hopes of one day replacing him.

But Jiro Dreams of Sushi is about more than just legacy and perfection.

It is also a study in single-minded obsession. The kind of obsession that

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@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Don’t believe everything you see Benedict Cumberbatch shines in The Fifth Estate, but the rest of the movie is just ho-hum by adam hawboldt

Photo: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

I

f you’ve been anywhere near the Internet in the past few weeks, chances are you’ve read about the back and forth between actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

In case you’ve missed it, Assange wrote a letter to Cumberbatch, discouraging him from taking the lead roll as Assange in Bill Condon’s new film The Fifth Estate because he felt “DreamWorks [the film’s producers] has based its entire production on the two most discredited books on the market. I know the film intends to depict me and my work in a negative light … I believe it will distort events and subtract from public understanding. It does not seek to simplify, clarify or distill the truth, but rather it seeks to bury it.”

Cumberbatch responded by saying he understood Assange’s

concerns but planned on creating “a three dimensional portrait of a man far more maligned in the tabloid press than he is in our film to remind people that he is not just

white-haired computer hack who runs a non-profit, news-leaking website called Wikileaks.

In the movie, things are going rather slow for Assange in the

All I know is Cumberbatch kills it as Assange…

Adam Hawboldt

the weird, white haired Australian dude wanted in Sweden, hiding in an embassy behind Harrods. But a true force to be reckoned with.”

As it turns out, they both had valid points.

On the one hand, Cumberbatch gives a vivid, complex, and nuanced portrayal as Assange, the

beginning. So he enlists the help of Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) to help with the tech side of things, as well as the publicity.

Pretty soon Assange and Domscheit-Berg capture the public’s attention after they expose corruption at a Swiss Bank and put a video on the Internet of a Baghdad

airstrike that showed American planes bombing civilians.

After that, they receive hundreds of thousands of U.S. army field reports that shed light on numerous other civilian deaths and ensuing military cover-ups. Needless to say, they plan to make this information available to the public.

But there’s a hiccup. Assange forces (convinces?) Domscheit-Berg to publish the documents without protecting peoples’ identities.

People whose careers and even lives could be jeopardized by the leaking of this information.

The two butt heads on this issue about what’s more important, government accountability or personal privacy. And it’s here that Assange’s letter to Cumberbatch makes a serious point. In the beginning of the movie he’s portrayed as a hero and a noble Internet crusader.

But as the plot thickens (and just as Assange thought), he is slowly transformed into the villain of the film. Sure, it works well on screen, and results in an edgy and, at times, compelling movie. But it’s as though Bill Condon made up his mind based on two books he’s read

the fifth estate Bill Condon Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Alicia Vikander Directed by

124 minutes | PG

(one of them written by DomscheitBerg himself) and decided to pass Assange off as somewhat of a sociopath while making DomscheitBerg the voice of absolute reason.

How close is this to reality? We may never find out. Does Assange have a right to be justifiably pissed at the representation of himself on screen? Maybe.

To be honest, I don’t know. All I know is Cumberbatch kills it as Assange, but without him the movie would be a humdrum, slightly too long docudrama without much heart at all.

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crossword canadian criss-cross DOWN

28. Howl like a wolf 30. Egg-shaped wind instrument 33. Choose by vote 37. Vessel for hot drinks 38. Trodden track 40. Group of three musicians 41. Winder on a fishing rod 43. Itchy swelling on the skin 45. Excited activity 46. Indian snack 48. Rough-skinned apple 50. Unimportant 51. Control a car 52. Give over 53. Take in sounds

1. Like raccoons 2. Mischievous child 3. Desirous look 4. Place to have kimchi 5. A breakfast cereal 6. Force into place 7. Share a boundary 8. Apply incorrectly 9. Orchestra member 11. Shut out 12. Part of a three-piece suit 14. Prepares fabric for clothing 17. Fill with air 20. Sullen 22. Single musical sound 25. Move out of place

27. Strengthened seam sudoku answer key 29. Not notified A 30. Belonging to us 31. Butter is made from it 32. Pale and not looking well 34. Pencil part 35. Apple beverage 36. Drinking binge 39. Unpleasant to the ear 42. Solitary B 44. Instrument shaped like a pear 47. Turf 49. Expanse of salt water

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

1. Source of butter, cheese, and cream 5. Light weight 9. Brief appearance by a famous actor 10. Fanatical 12. Evening star 13. Keeps pleasantly interested 15. Moose relative 16. Bridle attachment 18. Toothpaste container 19. Vehicle pulled by huskies 21. In a little while 23. Familiar saying 24. Commotions 26. They have pistils

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

ACROSS

© walter D. Feener 2013

Horoscopes october 18 - october 24 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Your energy is going to peak around mid-week, Aries. Channel it into work or school or something productive, and you will see the reward.

You may feel preoccupied with something this week, Leo. Don’t let it distract you too much. You have things to do.

Happiness will reign supreme this week, Sagittarius. Enjoy the next few days, because no matter what you put your mind to, all will work out.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Feeling restless this week, Taurus?

If so, do yourself a favour and exercise those jitters out. You may make an unexpected acquaintance.

Take some time this week to learn or try something new, Virgo. A little bit of self-improvement can go a long way.

It’s a good idea to take stock every now and then, so at some point this week, sit back and look at all you’ve accomplished in your life. It’s more than you think.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

Your ability to communicate efficiently and effectively with others is going to be excellent this week, Gemini.

Make sure what you say should be heard.

Your luck is about to change, and that secret desire may soon be a reality. You excited about that, Libra? You should be. This looks to be a good week.

An interesting call or email could come your way this week, Aquarius. Chances are it will arrive bearing some good news.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

If you’ve been craving attention, you’re in luck this week, Cancer.

The universe’s spotlight will be shining right on you.

You should listen to your intuition more, Scorpio. Sure, it’s led you astray before, but this week will be different, so pay attention!

If you’ve been feeling run down lately, Pisces, good news. This week you’ll be your old self again. Take some time to get centred, then take on the world!

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

crossword answer key

A

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

BB

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