Verb Issue R113 (Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2014)

Issue #113 – January 31 to February 6

arts

culture

music

regina

DEAN BRODY +

sex work in sk One woman’s tale of her life in the industry

new horizons Q+A with the Wilderness of Manitoba

Labor Day + That awkward moment We review the latest films

Photo: courtesy of Kristin Barlowe

contents

On the cover:

dean brody

Blazes his own trail. 10 / feature

Photo: courtesy of kristin barlowe

culture

NEWs + Opinion

entertainment

Q + A with the wilderness of manitoba On new musical

Live Music listings Local music listings for January 31 through February 8. 14 / listings

directions. 8 / Q + A

sex work in SK

BECKY’S NEW CAR

Nightlife Photos

One woman in the industry tells her side of the story. 3 / Local

Globe play explores changing your life. 9 / Arts

We visit Sask Fashion Week’s Loft Party 15 / Nightlife

NO TRANSLATION NECESSARY

labor day + that awkward moment

Les Hay Babies ready to rock! 9 / Arts

We review the latest movies. 16 / Film

a day with drew What it takes to be a sports broadcaster. 4 / Local

For our protection

BRING ON THE BRUNCH

on the bus

Our thoughts on flu vaccines for health care workers. 6 / Editorial

We visit Rock Creek Tap + Grill.

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

12 / Food + Drink

comments

Music

Game + Horoscopes

Here’s what you had to say about the oil sands debate. 7 / comments

The Dead South, JP Cormier + Phillip Phillips. 13 / music

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

verbnews.com @verbregina facebook.com/verbregina

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 / JOSHUA JOHNSEN 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 / MARC MESSETT, Maxton Priebe + Adam Hawboldt

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

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Photo: courtesy of memoflores

Sex Work in Saskatchewan Stigmas, stereotypes and the sex industry by ADAM HAWBOLDT

S

ydney is a regular, 40-year-old woman with typical hobbies, likes and dislikes. Sitting in her apartment on a cozy white couch, surrounded by artwork, Sydney talks about a lot of things any 40-year-old might talk about.

She talks about art and literature.

About family and philosophy and food.

Taking a sip of bottled water, she leans back on the couch and says, “Have you seen the movie Her? A friend of mine suggested it to me, so I watched it the other day.” She pauses, puts the bottled water on the coffee table in front of her and says, “I watch a lot of dramas.”

Sydney is a straightforward woman. She’s an introvert who leads a quiet, slow-paced life. Yes, she’s pretty and personable, but for the most part she’s just a regular person who does regular people things.

Except when it comes to work.

See, Sydney is a sex worker. An outcast in a society that thinks people who have sex for money are anything but regular.

When it comes to sex work, there are no shortages of social stigmas that are attached to it. Myths and stereotypes swirl around the profession like an

ever-present storm. There are those who believe sex workers are dirty and spread disease. That they all come from dysfunctional families. That they are sex addicts who abuse drugs and alcohol. For some, the possibility that a person who sells sex for money can be rational, ordinary or pragmatic … well, that’s not a possibility at all.

And while some sex workers are victims, that’s not always the case. “I have a lot of choices,” says Sydney, leaning forward on the couch. “The first time I considered doing this work, I was already in my late-20s.

I’d worked various jobs — I’d been a server, worked in offices, I’d gotten a post-secondary education and was working in my field — but I’d never been satisfied with what I was doing. I always felt like I’d just fallen into those positions, like I never deliberately picked anything.”

So with her 30th birthday approaching, Sydney asked herself a question: is there anything out there that I can do that I will love? She found the answer in a local newspaper. “I saw a want ad that read ‘Adult Massage Parlour Seeking Open-Minded Masseuse,’” she remembers. “I thought to myself, I wonder what that’s all about? … And I thought, maybe that’s what I need. I’m a very intimate person. I enjoy connecting with people, not on

a small-talk or superficial level, but deeper, sharing moments. So I called them, went down for an interview and they said, ‘sure, pick a name, you can start tomorrow.’”

And that’s what she did. But after working as an adult masseuse for a while Sydney started thinking about branching out on her own. Wind of this got to the management at the massage parlour, and she was fired for being “too ambitious.” That’s when she made a choice to start offering her services as an independent escort. Fulfill the dream of owning her own, legitimate business. It’s a business she still runs to this day. But even though she was making her own choices, providing a service for a fee like many other businesspeople do, Sydney was still subjected to the stigmas society places on sex workers. “I do worry how people might judge me. Some people don’t believe sex workers are ever good, healthy people with morals and good judgement, able to love and maintain relationships if we want to, work at something else if we want to,” she says, taking another drink of water. “We’re often put in the position to defend ourselves against the usual stereotypes — that we are abused, drug addicted, diseased, lazy.”

These aren’t uncommon thoughts for people who work in the industry.

And often, these stigmas become internalized. “Sometimes I do wake up and ask myself why I’m doing this, question my decision, my views,” says Sydney. “What can I say, I grew up in this society too, I was also conditioned.

But conditioning can change, and I stand by my choice.”

A choice that, for a time, left Sydney feeling very isolated. “I alienated my own family,” she says. “This is something a lot of sex workers go through.

I chose to spend my time with people who knew about my job, just because they knew. My quality of life, at that time, wasn’t great. I was hiding.”

Sydney wasn’t afraid to tell her family. It was just that she’d gotten so used to not telling anyone what she did for a living. Then, eight years into the business of sex work, she told her family. “It changed my life,” says Sydney. “It really did. The quality of my life improved dramatically. Feeling the need to hide is the worst part of the business.”

Sydney knows that coming out to friends and family is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to eradicating the stigmas that surround sex work.

against keeping a brothel, living on the avails of prostitution and street soliciting — as direct violations of the constitutional guarantee to life, liberty and security of the person. The Supreme Court then gave Parliament one year to come up with new legislation. What that legislation will be, nobody knows.

“I hope it won’t be worse than it was — the dreaded Nordic model replicates the same harms we faced previously” says Sydney. “I’m for full decriminalization — allow us to do our work safety and consensually. At the same time, sex work is intended as a discreet arrangement so I am against a red light district. I think that it’s important that, as the laws are being rewritten, sex workers be consulted.”

Sydney shifts on the couch and says, “Any new laws must distinguish between those of us who choose to do sex work and those who are coerced, forced, trafficked, raped, abused and so on. There are already laws to protect the latter. For actual sex workers, our work could be licensed, regulated and have a framework like other industries do. Don’t assume we’re all victims.”

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

On December 20th, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down our country’s existing prostitution laws —

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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A day with Drew Sask boy Drew Remenda on doing his thing with the San Jose

D

rew Remenda is sitting in his office.

It’s a little after 1pm and the San Jose Sharks’ television color commentator is upstairs in the Shark Tank (what hockey fans call the SAP Center in San Jose), taking notes for tonight’s game against the Winni-

peg Jets. There’s a game sheet in front of him. He’s going down the list of names: Evander Kane, Tobias Enstrom, Jacob Trouba. He needs a story, a brief snippet of information for each and every one of them.

Earlier in the day, Remenda woke up “ridiculously early.” He went to the

gym, worked out, arrived at the Shark Tank early, and began getting ready for the game-day routine.

It’s almost always the same when the Sharks are at home. The home team takes the ice at 10:30am for their morning skate. Remenda chats with the other squad’s broadcast team — Continued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of morgen

Sharks by ADAM HAWBOLDT sharing information, trying to get an idea of what’s happening on their end.

When the morning skate is over, it’s off to the Sharks’ dressing room for interviews. Today the story line is the Sharks’ four-game win streak. Everybody in the room knows the major reasons for the streak is goaltending and the superb play of Joe Pavelski, but Remenda won’t be focusing on that. Instead, he’ll be interviewing players about the underlying reasons for the streak. Then he’ll go to a media scrum with coach Todd McLellan.

Then he’ll watch tape of the opposing team’s powerplay, their penalty kill, their five-on-five play. Then he’ll go to a quick production meeting before the visiting team takes the ice.

After that, it’s time to focus on the Jets. It’s time to chat again, visit the dressing room, interview players, hop in the media scrum with the opposing coach. When that’s over, it’s time to retreat to his office and prepare his notes for the game.

Rememda doesn’t bother making notes on any of the San Jose players.

He’s around them every day, knows everything about them. So today it’s just the Jets, just one set of notes in case there’s a 15-second lull in action that needs to be filled with hockey trivia.

“You just make these notes in case nothing’s happening in the game,” explains Remenda. “In case our director throws me a shot of, say, James Wright from Saskatoon. I better know something about him. I better know he’s the grandson of the mayor and know he scored his first goal against the Sharks when he was with Tampa Bay. I should know he rooms with Darcy Kuemper of the Minnesota Wild when he goes back to Saskatoon in the summer.”

Funny thing about these notes Remenda makes is, he rarely uses them.

“I might use, maybe, 10% of it each game,” he says. “And on a lot of nights I don’t use any of it because I end up talking about what’s going on in the game all night. I’m in the moment. Very rarely do I get to wax on about a player.”

But if he does Remenda is prepared. He’s prepared because he’s a student of his craft.

Doing color commentary for a hockey game isn’t easy. It takes a keen eye for the game, a quick mind, verbal dexterity, and the ability to analyze what’s happening on the ice at any given moment. It also takes a lot of practice and hard work.

Remenda was an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks. Eventually he was fired, but spent one more year coaching in Kansas City with the Sharks AHL affiliate before returning to San Jose to be a broadcaster.

“Given my past, I tend to approach every game as though I’m coaching,” says Remenda. “My strength is being able to break down a game, analyze it, teach it. That’s one thing we try to do, we’re always try-

My strength is being able to break down a game, analyze it, teach it. drew remenda

“If you want to be good at this there are two things you have to do,” says Remenda. “One, you have to work on your craft. Watch other people, other broadcasters. If someone does something you like, take it, try it, see if it works for you. If so, great.

If not, no big deal. But you always have to be watching hockey, you always have to be working at your craft, you always have to be striving to improve.” Remenda pauses for a second, then says, “The other thing you have to do to be good at this is rely on your strengths.”

For Remenda, that means approaching the game from a coach’s standpoint. See, back before the turn of the century, from 1991-1995,

ing to teach the game if the opportunity arises.”

By “we” Remenda means himself and his on-air partner — play-byplay guy Randy Hahn. Together they form one of the best television duos in the league.

It’s been a couple of hours since Remenda finished making his notes for the game tonight. He’s since left the rink, decompressed a little bit, had some time to himself. But now it’s two hours before game time and he’s returning to the Shark Tank.

There’s another production meeting to attend, to “make sure everyone’s ducks are in a row.”

Then Remenda puts on his suit (he never gets dressed up until the very last minute before he appears on camera) and heads down to ice level to do bench interviews with players during warm-ups. After that it’s upstairs to call the game with his partner.

“I’m lucky,” says Remenda.

“Randy is about the quickest guy on his feet I’ve ever met. He’s the wittiest person I know. He’s funny. We get along extremely well, and I think that shows on air. That chemistry.

“You know, I genuinely love the guy,” continues Remenda, “He’s not in the room right now, so I can say that.”

Working with Hahn isn’t the only thing Remenda loves. He still loves coaching, even after all these years away from it. At times he still dreams of coaching.

“It’s still a burning desire,” says Remenda, who would one day like to return home to Saskatoon to coach midget or junior or something like that. “There are times I really want to get back into coaching, but at the same time I look at the quality of my life as a broadcaster and it’s hard to complain. As my partner says, we work 24/7 — 24 hours a week, seven months a year. It’s a pretty high quality of life.”

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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For our protection Health care workers should have to take mandatory precautions against the flu

T

o get a flu shot or not get a flu shot? That’s the question many people face when this time of year rolls around.

And to be honest, we feel that whether or not you opt to get immunized is entirely up to you. The general population can do what it wants. Making vaccines mandatory for the public is a slippery slope, one that we should tread carefully. However, we believe a caveat should be added to that statement: if you work in health care, then we feel that certain precautions — such as getting the flu shot or wearing a mask — should be required during flu season.

Now, before you get too upset and start calling us tyrannical and authoritarian, please hear us out. According to government health information, here in Canada roughly 20,000 people are admitted to hospital yearly with influenza or other illnesses related to influenza.

Approximately 4,000-8,000 of those people die.

That’s a fairly high percentage, any way you want to slice it. And do you know what else has a high percentage? Physicians who do not

matched. This leads to less influenza among patients, and less time lost at work for workers.

What’s more, according to the study, in an overview of four random trials the mortality rate of residents in chronic care was reduced by 5-20% in institutions where 51-70% of the staff had flu shots.

Oh, and if you were wondering about how expensive mandatory flu shots for health care workers will be, just know this: a cost-benefit analysis found that for every US$1,000 spent on the vaccination of health care workers, approximately US$1,600 in costs was saved. In a country like ours, where the cost of health care comes out of our pockets, every penny saved counts.

So why, pray tell, would anyone be opposed to mandatory flu shots for health care workers? Well, some people oppose it on ethical grounds, saying it violates a person’s autonomy. But here’s the thing: any time the autonomy of health care workers comes into conflict with protecting a patient’s safety, best-interests, and well-being, the welfare of the patient should come first. It really is as simple as that.

get vaccinated against the flu. Their numbers land somewhere in the 55-65% range.

This is not acceptable. Especially when you consider Dr. Ken Flegel’s recent editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

He notes that, “[e]ach season, 20% of health care workers get influenza, and 28%–59% of young healthy adults who get it have asymptomatic or subclinical infections. Some of them may shed virus up to a day before symptoms appear … The time has come for health care institutions to demand that all health care workers be vaccinated. Our patients’ lives depend on this change.”

We agree that it’s time to nip this problem in the bud. It’s time to stop jeopardizing the lives of patients, many of whom have seriously compromised immune systems. It’s time, as we mentioned earlier, to make preventative measures mandatory for health care workers. The benefits of doing so are abundantly clear.

According to Dr. Flegel’s CMAJ study, efficacy rates of the flu shot are somewhere in the neighbourhood of 86% when the circulating strain and vaccine strain are

Now, we realize that some health care workers, for religious, philosophical or health reasons, won’t want to or are unable to get a flu shot. And that’s fine. So for the people who fall into those categories, we believe they should then be required to wear a mask while caring for patients during flu season.

And this proposal of ours isn’t coming out of left field. In fact, British Columbia recently passed a law requiring health care workers to either get the shot or wear a mask during flu season. That’s a similar measure to what they do in many of the leading public and private hospitals in the United States (where compulsory programs for health care workers have resulted in a 95% participation rate).

And that’s what we should do here in Saskatchewan. When our health is compromised, we rely on those in the industry to take care of us. It only makes sense that they do whatever they can to protect vulnerable populations from further illness.

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

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OFF TOPIC

On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about Neil Young and the oilsands debate in Canada.

Here's what you had to say:

Text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

– When you have to stop for a train in this city, you might as well take time to smell the roses or in winter take time to build a snowman.

– Oil does run this country in that it provides people in Western Canada with a means of supporting themselves. You can make good money without having to go to university first. You can buy a house, have a family, save for retirement. Everyone is against the theory of the oil sands in Alberta, but think of the workers and their families that would be hurt. There’s two sides to every coin.

– It is so bizarre to suggest that because someone is a celebrity s/ he has no right to voice a wellinformed opinion. My guess is that Neil Young understands more about the realities of Canada’s energy policies than does our myopic prime minister.

– I fully support Neil Young, our government only cares about profit and not envornment issues, as long as they can make a few million dollars they could care less about what a mess the oilsands are making! DOWN WITH HARPER!!

– It is heartbreaking to hear about what is happening to the communities around the oil sands development in AB Everyone scoffs at Young and what he has to say, but he’s brought a relevant point to the forefront. Everyone who is disregarding his points have distanced

themselves empathetically from those who live there. They would be the loudest crying for help if this was in their back yards.

– Neil Young didn’t just get by on his looks. He’s had some pretty profound messages. Whether you agree with one or not is your own personal opinion. Everyone is allowed to have their own. That’s a part of freedom so many fought for. This is something nobody should forget.

– 1974 Neil Young releases LP On the Beach which contains a tune called Vampire Blues about those who need their high octane.. chances are Stephen Harper office boy for Shell was not listening..

old chestnut stupid people use!

Including many press and police trying to play up a situation!

– How does NASA organize their company parties? They planet.

In response to “Off the rails,” Editorial ,

– Kudos to Pamela Anderson for the causes she supports. Someone has to stand up for the defenceless.

#111 (January 17, 2014)

– Ya know those haters knocking Neil Young for his comparison of Fort Mac to Hiroshima should be aware that Japenese citizens were dyin decades after the blast..cancer ridden. Sure hope those guys pulling in big bucks and livin the dream dont become proof Young was right in a way ...

– DOWNtown scouring pad: after reading crumple a page of Verb and use to clean crusty greasy pots n pans. Seems OK for non-stick.

Greeny! Fresh batch every Fri..

– Get you heads out of your asses.

The railways were here first, they will never be moved out of our cities. Your article talks about all the deaths related to railways. All those deaths are not the railways fault. People drive into trains not the other way around.

– Everyone is Free! To join a political party yes, But it must be a politcal party that works for The electorate! Not for political servitude, Business man! IT works for the People!

In response to “Off the rails,” Editorial , #111 (January 17, 2014)

sound off – If someone tries to make friends with you not even saying a word, you might be DOWNtown

– This new stadium debt, buncha wannabe losers who don’t have what it takes to be real bigshots in the private sector hijacking public funds to play bigwheel!

– Saying “Drugs” when its really just marijuana is a tired ass

Next week: What do you think about mandatory flu vaccines for healthcare workers?

Text in your thoughts to 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.

– If you’re watching your back, you might be DOWNtown

– Disregarding Young’s perspectives because he is a celebrity is ridiculous (and done only by those who would disagree with them anyways). Everyone is entitled to have an opinion and spout it from whatever platform they have, be it a touring musician or a newspaper writer.

– Oil production and extraction is the most contentious issue in our country. Advocating for rational debate is a nice idea, but one side as a bunch of money and therefore doesn’t need to listen, and the other side is left picking up the picking up the pieces of a devestated planet. We can do better, but when it comes to money, anyone in a position to make any real meaningful change will look at the dollars and choose to turn a blind eye. Sad but how it is.

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There and back again Photos: courtesy of jennifer rowsom

The Wilderness of Manitoba’s Will Whitwham on new musical directions and a return to old principles

by Alex J MacPherson

E

volution takes thousands, if not tens of thousands of years.

For the Wilderness of Manitoba, a folk-rock band from Toronto, that timeframe has been compressed.

Since emerging in the autumn of 2009, the band has released three albums and a pair of EPs, experienced significant lineup changes and toured two continents. In late 2012 the band released Island of Echoes, a sprawling, fifty-minute collection of delicate, emotionally charged folk songs. The record bridged the gap between the band’s past and future. While Island of Echoes retained singer Will Whitwham’s distinctive voice and fondness for elaborate vocal harmonies, it also dabbled in electric guitars and even some spacey, atmospheric noises. The songs themselves emerged as an ode to the raw power of nature, and by extension man’s struggle against the elements. But last year the band — which now consists of Whitwham, Amanda Balsys, Wes McClintock, and Sean Lancaric — released The Leslieville Sessions, a stripped-down, live-off-thefloor EP cut in a single afternoon.

The new EP, something Whitwham likes to think of as both an experiment and a snapshot in time, reflects not only changes in the band’s lineup, but also the group’s natural restlessness. Never content to repeat themselves or satisfy anyone but themselves, the Wilderness of Manitoba have demonstrated once again that

their evolutionary process is ongoing — and even Whitwham doesn’t know where it will end.

don’t necessarily want to hear a quiet folk band. They might like folk music, but you maybe have to add a different energy to it and up the BPMs. That’s kind of what happened on the road that whole time.

Alex J MacPherson: It’s been a busy couple of years for your band, which is saying a lot considering how much music you’ve released.

AJM: It’s interesting how changing circumstances, either consciously or unconsciously, affects the direction a band goes in.

Will Whitwham: I’ve always been under the impression that we can do an album a year. It can be either a really short little thing or it can be a big long thing, it doesn’t really matter. I’ve always wanted to put out at least one a year because we tour a lot and especially nowadays you need content, you need new things to take on the road with you.

WW: Yeah, exactly. The way the band is living every day, I always find that whatever jumps you take in any direction — like, I want to take this sound from that arrangement or this sound from that band, or this sound from that era — you only end up arriving back at yourself. Someone said to me, ‘you can only change ten percent of your personality.’ I think musically you’ll always arrive back at the way the band sounds. You can really widen the sound, but you always arrive back at sort of your own niche.

AJM: Island of Echoes is the biggest, most expansive thing you’ve ever released, and a big change from your other records. Why do you think it went in the direction it did?

AJM: The other aspect that brings Island Of Echoes back to the roots of folk music is the reference to nature as this awe-inspiring, romantic force.

WW: I think mostly because we were playing a lot of nightclubs and up to that point we’d been a pretty quiet folk band — we’d play a lot of house shows and every kind of alternative venue, and we loved doing stuff like that. Then there was more of a demand to play, like, Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh, where the Smashing Pumpkins played, or the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn. Those are big rooms.

I just knew that we needed more of a wider sound just to be able to play in these venues at night. And when people go out on a Friday night, they

WW: Yeah, it’s definitely a romanticizing aspect. I think I’ve always just looked at nature as this incredible thing that’s so much bigger than we are, and for that it’s just such a great vehicle for symbolism and metaphor because you can get really universal and accessible with it, and at the same time very personal, but you don’t have to be literal. I think I’ve always just really disliked songs that are very,

‘I and you,’ where it’s very direct. Like, ‘I have to tell you something important and it’s important that I love you,’ that kind of stuff. I can’t listen to that kind of music and feel that it’s come by honestly; I just feel that the stakes aren’t high enough. When you’re dealing with nature and you’re writing about something like death, not being as direct about it, it’s really romantic to think about someone dying and also becoming part of nature.

Then you can write about nature as opposed to writing directly about them, and still maybe have the idea subconsciously come across.

AJM: And then there’s The Leslieville Sessions, which is completely different.

Was it lineup changes, or maybe something else, that prompted you to strip away all the excess and record live?

WW: The band sort of altered itself into a four-piece. We were this fourpiece touring Island Of Echoes, this album, that’s what that tour was all about. While the four of us were on the road we were playing the songs in this different way. It was a lot more about Amanda [Balsys] and I singing most of the vocals, and Wes [McClintock] sort of chiming in here and there. We just started to play the songs differently, and I remember the first show we did like that was at Guelph University and Amanda was really nervous, she’s like, ‘I’ve never had this much room onstage with this band.’ I think she found it kind of daunting at first but I remember being enlightened by it, realizing that there were all these possibilities where all that space was.

AJM: It seems like you’re totally fearless about going in new directions, exploring new ideas. That narrative of expansion is at this point one of the main stories surrounding the band.

WW: I can definitely say from experience that there are people who don’t like it when we get louder and are really connected to our first EP, which was like hushed whispers in the basement kind of quiet music. I respect the fact that people like what they like, and I’m very much the same way: I hold on to the bands I like and the music I listen to. But the bands I like most are not bands that have one really good EP and an album; they usually have about eight albums, and for that period of time none of it sounds the same, because if it did it would just wear itself down, and the band — they’re humans — will get tired of playing the same way.

Every release the band has to change something about themselves. I was just saying this yesterday to someone, if a band isn’t evolving then they’re not growing, and then it’s just a matter of time until you face the fate of all bands, which is breaking up. So evolving is the only way.

The Wilderness of Manitoba February 12 @ Creative City Centre $10 (advance); $12 (door) Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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Becky’s New Car

Can buying a new car really change your life? Globe play tries to find out

B

ecky’s New Car hinges on the proposition that “when a woman wants a new car, she really wants a new life.” The automobile has always been a tidy metaphor for freedom and individuality, and the prospect of starting over is alluring to nearly everybody.

But lives are messy and complicated: leaving one life behind to start a new one somewhere else is never as simple as driving off into the distance. Steven Dietz’s play explores this collision between impulse and reality, and what happens when an innocent lie spawns an elaborate web of deception that threatens to collapse in on itself, the past, and the future.

Becky’s New Car may be a charming comedy packed with recognizable characters in unrecognizable situations, but it also drives home

a valuable lesson: life is never as simple as buying a new car.

“The appeal for me, when I first read it, was that Becky’s character is so human and relatable,” says Nathan Howe, the Regina-based actor who plays Becky’s freeloading son, a twenty-six-year-old grad student who still lives at home despite his inability to do any housework at all. “You just kind of want to go with her, even though she is making some terrible choices. I love the way you get swept up in it.”

The action revolves around Becky Foster. She is a hard-working car saleswoman with a pleasant but un-stimulating home life and a quiet urge to try something new. Everything changes when she meets Walter, an aging and preposterously wealthy widower desperate for a human connection. After conveniently neglecting to mention

by alex J MacPherson

the existence of her husband, Becky is carried along by a wave of lies, each one designed to protect the last. What began as innocent flirtation soon jeopardizes not only Becky’s fantasies of a future with Walter, but also her life with her husband and son.

“If she was the conniving Richard III type, I don’t think the audience would be onside as much as they would be with Becky being who she is,” Howe says, adding that the strength of the play is the believability of the characters, real people who make mistakes and are susceptible to the rush of seemingly innocent flirtation. “She basically never finds a way to tell the truth throughout their courting. Playing everybody but really getting swept up in it, which is what I really like — it makes her easier to follow.”

The bond of understanding between Becky and the audience

is further enhanced by the unusual structure of the play. In most productions, the audience watches passively as the action unfolds onstage; in Becky’s New Car, the crowd is invited not only to hear Becky’s innermost thoughts, but to join her onstage. Whenever she is alone, Becky breaks the fourth wall — and then the fifth, when she asks members of the audience to help her. This is a clever conceit, one designed to demonstrate just how easily domestic bliss can transform into a double life, a long con that emerged from something as simple and innocent as a late-night conversation.

But Becky’s New Car is more than just an exploration of how simple actions can cause serious problems.

It is also a riotously funny examination of suburban domestic life, complete with dopey husbands, lazy

children, and the constant craving for something new and exciting.

“Throughout rehearsals we’ve been laughing every day, all day,” Howe says. “It’s funny in so many different ways. The characters are colourful, but they’re also real, which makes them easier to laugh at, as opposed to someone onstage trying to be funny. The funny situations in this play come from how the characters listen to each other and the things that accidentally slip out of their mouths — and accidentally getting swept up in emotion.” It is nearly as funny as the thought that buying a new car will change anything at all – except how you drive home from work in the evening.

Becky’s New Car Through February 9 @ Globe Theatre $37.80+ @ Globe Theatre Box Office

No Translation Necessary

Les Hay Babies & the importance of melody

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orth American folk music is often regarded as part of a larger oral tradition, closer in spirit to poetry than pop. But what happens when language is removed from the equation? This is a problem Les Hay Babies confront each time they walk onstage. Because the three young musicians, who are all from small Acadian villages in New Brunswick, sing in both English and French, they know that not every word will be understood. But that hasn’t stopped the trio from writing songs in both official languages, recording a charming EP, and winning fans across the country.

“The music is as important as the words, sometimes,” says Vivianne Roy, who sings and plays guitar in the band “I don’t know about the other girls, but when I first started writing music, I would find the melody first and then I would write about what the melody was telling me. It would just come out like that. We want to make melodies that resemble what we’re talking about without [needing] to understand the

by alex J MacPherson

words. I know not all people are going to understand the words, but if they can at least have the feeling that we’re trying to put out of the song, that’s what it’s all about.”

Les Hay Babies was formed in late 2011, when Roy met Julie Aubé and Katrine Noël at a provincial music competition. Although they came from different musical backgrounds and shared few, if any, influences, they recognized how good their voices sounded together. After just three months of writing and rehearsing, the group recorded and released a strippeddown EP titled Folio. Consisting of four French songs and a pair written in English, the EP was conceived as a marketing tool, something to give to promoters and bookers. But the sweet harmonies, the clever arrangements, and the raw feelings evoked by the melodies began to attract attention.

The group began to attract serious attention at the 2012 East Coast Music Awards, which were held in Moncton. Instead of idling away the time between showcase sets at the

bar, the three musicians spent hours riding elevators and playing their songs for whoever happened to be there. The plan worked and Les Hay Babies spent the rest of 2012 and most of 2013 on the road, playing as many as 150 shows each year. They toured Atlantic Canada numerous times and made three trips to Europe, where they played in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. And then they headed back into the studio.

Les Hay Babies’ debut full-length album will be released later this year. According to Roy, the new record is much more ambitious than the spartan EP, adding rich musical textures and a wealth of new instruments to the core sound of acoustic guitar, banjo, and three voices singing together. “Making this album felt a lot more professional,” she says of the still-untitled release. “There was a lot more idea-bouncing. It was more of a team effort and we got all sorts of different flavours out of it. It’s definitely something we don’t regret doing.” The three core members of Les Hay Babies

Photo: courtesy oF the artist

are also planning to start touring with a bigger band, she adds.

But the strength of Les Hay Babies has always been a firm commitment to melody and harmony. Songs like the raucous stomp “Chu pas une femme à marier” and the delicate, airy “Obsédée” would be powerful in any language. Although Roy says she and her bandmates have taken to explaining songs and the stories behind them at concerts, there is some truth to the cliché that music is a universal lan-

guage. And the way Les Hay Babies are able to construct melodies and vocal harmonies from a few simple elements needs no translation.

Les Hay Babies February 7 @ Artful Dodger $TBA Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Outside & Inside

Dean Brody blazes his own trail in the world of country music by A

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ean Brody refuses to play by any rules but his own. Although he is one of the most popular country singers and songwriters in Canada, Brody stands apart from most of his contemporaries.

While most country artists shop around for songs penned by an army of professional songwriters, Brody sequesters himself with an acoustic guitar, a pad of paper, and a pen. When other country singers release albums packed with shiny, uptempo party anthems, Brody records dour murder ballads, tender love songs about the Civil War, and sun-drenched jams best suited for a beach in the Caribbean. Even his collaborations are refreshingly offbeat. Instead of teaming up with popular country artists, Brody joins forces with people working in a variety of genres, including Great Big Sea and Lindi Ortega. And while most of his peers flock to Nashville, Tennessee, the centre of the titanic country music industry, Brody left as quickly as he arrived. Today, he leads a quiet life near Chester, a picturesque town on Nova Scotia’s south shore. When he isn’t playing to thousands, that is.

“It’s still a little odd for me,” the softspoken Brody says of his career, which

reached a new high in 2012 when he released his third album, Dirt. “I got into this to write songs, and the performance aspect just kind of happened. It happened naturally, which is great, but I still just feel like a songwriter. I sing my songs and I’m a pretty quiet person, so to be in the spotlight has been an adjustment for sure.” Despite the success of Dirt — a record that sent five singles up the charts and earned the reticent singer a heap of award show hardware — Brody resolved to resist the pressure

more than its predecessor, a mainstream country album that is appealing both to serious fans of country music and people who dabble in a variety of genres and styles. “It’s so important to me as a songwriter, connecting with people,” he says, laying out his basic manifesto for writing music. “I know there’s one school of thought where it’s like, I’m going to write whatever and who cares, I’m just going to be an artist. I know there’s some people that approach art and music that way. But

I don’t think about it too much, about going too far or getting too edgy. I suppose I just love writing… dean brody

that inevitably accompanies success.

In early November, he released Crop Circles, which is in many ways the most unorthodox record he has ever made. “We just wanted to have some fun with it,” he says. “I had fun writing it, had fun recording it, and then with the album title and the cover art, we had some fun with that, too.”

But Brody likes to downplay his achievements. Crop Circles is, even

for me, unless I can write something that’s relevant and that someone else can relate to, and we can share that experience together, it’s not necessarily as good. I think great art is something we can all experience together and appreciate together.” In other words, Brody’s view of popular music is deeply populist. Which should not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed his career.

Continued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of Kristin Barlowe

Alex J MacPherson Brody grew up in Jaffray, British Columbia, a tiny village dominated by the looming Rocky Mountains.

By the time he was fifteen years old, he was working in a sawmill. But the long hours and backbreaking work could not compare to the struggle in front of him. In 2004, Brody signed his first music publishing deal and moved to Nashville to write songs for a living. The experience was uninspiring. “I had to show up at a certain time and leave at a certain

Photo: courtesy of Kristin Barlowe

time and write with strangers all day long,” he says. “Being forced to be creative is so anti-productive for me.

It actually shut me down creatively.”

Two years later, Brody was back in Jaffray, working at the sawmill.

Eventually, another recording deal took him back to the United States, where he released his eponymous debut. But Brody’s career didn’t start generating serious momentum until

2009, when he signed with Open Road Recordings, a Canadian label that also represents Emerson Drive, High Valley, and Doc Walker. His first two records for Open Road, Trail In Life and Dirt, each won the Canadian Country Music Association award for record of the year.

“Definitely when you win awards there’s an added pressure, because you feel like you want to live up to that honour,” Brody says, expressing disbelief at being inducted into a group that includes Ian Tyson, k.d. lang, and Shania Twain. “It means a lot when I win an award, because it’s industry-voted, and so there’s people I completely respect and have huge admiration for musically that are voting for what we’re doing. It’s almost like I feel like I need to earn it still, that I have big shoes to fill.” Like many songwriters, Brody seems to have little insight into his own success. But his ability to connect with fans across Canada cannot be ignored. He has sold thousands of records and dominated radio station playlists. And when it came time to begin writing the record that would become Crop Circles, he refused to do anything unusual. Which meant turning down songs penned by professional songwriters, holing up with a guitar, and waiting to see what came out. “I don’t think about it too much,” he says with a laugh, “about going too far or getting too edgy. I suppose I just love writing, taking different journeys in the writing process.”

Those journeys are apparent on his new album, which is even more diverse than its predecessor. (This is saying a lot, considering Dirt was a country record that featured both a collaboration with a Celtic-flavoured roots band and a tribute to Bob Marley, whose music Brody adores.)

The record opens with a straightforward modern country song, “Four Wheel Drive,” before fading into “Bounty,” a brooding song about love on the run in the wild west.

“Bounty,” the first single, features a haunting fiddle line, the unmistakable echo of a hammered dulcimer, and Lindi Ortega’s gossamer croon opposite Brody’s muscular baritone.

Then Crop Circles starts to change direction. “Sand In My Soul” is a

reggae-influenced escapist anthem that conjures up images of Jimmy Buffet and fruity cocktails served in hollowed-out gourds. The title track, on the other hand, includes a guitar lick that wouldn’t be out of place in a metal club. “Crop Circles” is one of the most amusing songs on the album, a story about two smitten teenagers taking midnight joyrides through a clueless farmer’s field; when the farmer inspects his field, he attributes the damage to alien invaders. As the song fades into its coda, a lengthy gang vocal passage featuring the line “We’re gonna beam you up, beam you up, experiment on love,” one of the threads linking the songs becomes clear.

“I think why I’m allowed that freedom [to experiment] is that it’s me writing and recording and singing them,” Brody says of the songs on Crop Circles, which contain the same cheeky (and often tongue-in-cheek) humour that has defined his career to date. “It might be more confusing to my fans if they weren’t my songs that I’d written myself, if they’d been songs I’d handpicked from wherever.

But I think the common thread is that I wrote them. I think that’s what it is.”

In the end, Brody has transformed himself from a struggling songwriter into a household name by writing songs that are at once personal and universal. He tackles themes and topics anybody can identify with in a way that is impossible to mistake for anybody else. By forging a path between the commercial world of modern country and the vast tracts of unexplored territory open to a fledgling songwriter, he has positioned himself for a bright future. But Brody is the first to say that everything depends on the songs. “I suppose I have a little bit of ADHD when it comes to writing songs,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t like staying in one place for too long.”

Dean Brody February 14 @ Mosaic Place (Moose Jaw) $51.90+ @ tickets.mosaicplace.ca

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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BRING ON THE BRUNCH

Rock Creek Tap and Grill adds its name to the budding list of Regina brunch spots by mj deschamps

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or those who often have too many errands to run, too many chores to do — and possibly far too much to drink at the bar on Saturdays — Sunday brunch is like the light at the end of the tunnel.

As the least judgmental meal of the week, it lets you roll out of bed whenever you feel ready, dress up or down, and drink champagne before noon — as long as it’s mixed with freshly squeezed juice.

Like all the other brunch lovers out there, I’m always excited to hear about local restaurants adding a new menu into the mix, and knew I had to make a stop at Rock Creek when I found out it was joining the growing ranks of Regina restaurants serving the weekend’s greatest meal.

The Saskatchewan chain had already been offering brunch at its Saskatoon restaurants, but Regina’s two Rock Creek locations only began cracking eggs (from 10 a.m. — 2p.m. on Sundays) at the end of January.

Rock Creek corporate chef Lloyd Frank says that the kicked-up casual dining spot’s plans for its brunch menu is to keep things simple with a small start-up menu, but to elevate basic dishes through quality ingredients and unique flavours at the same time. “We didn’t want to go too far

Photos: courtesy of Maxton Priebe

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide WINTER MIMOSA

Ingredients

Mimosas make the perfect midday patio drink in the summer, but substituting the traditional champagne for a richer, more full-bodied red wine can make them a much better match for curling up with by the fireplace.

1/3 cup red wine, chilled 1/3 cup orange juice 1/3 cup cranberry ginger ale cranberries

Directions

Mix together wine, orange juice and ginger ale in a flute. Add cranberries.

out in the wild and make things too eclectic — brunch needs to be familiar,” said Frank. “We’re setting the bar high instead, through the fresh ingredients we’re using.”

The Florence Benedict, for instance, takes your typical two poached eggs covered in buttery Hollandaise, and nestles them on a bed of thin-sliced prosciutto, all atop a rectangular slice of sundried tomato baguette. The fresh, chewy bread is a nice change from the typical English muffin — and mops up the egg yolk and Hollandaise much better — while the side of breakfast potatoes is soft and well seasoned, with the baked skin giving the chips a bit of a crunch.

The menu’s basic breakfast — or ‘RC Classic,’ as they call it — is not your parents’ greasy spoon diner’s eggs and hash. The plate comes with two farm fresh eggs with your pick of thick-cut cherry wood smoked bacon or Harvest Meats’ farmer’s sausage. On the side are those hearty potatoes again, with toast and fresh fruit to top it off.

I’m generally a crispy bacon fan myself, but the smokiness and juiciness of this thicker cut is no doubt what to opt for if you’re looking for some serious flavour.

Huevos rancheros, flat iron steak and eggs, chorizo hash and eggs, and

Cajun chicken breakfast pizza are also on the menu for those who want to fill up, while the stuffed fresh toast — complete with cinnamon cream cheese, fresh ciabatta and a rum-infused mango caramel sauce — should go over well with people who prefer dessert for breakfast.

The cherry on top, of course, is the staple brunch item that you can’t really get away with on weekdays: mimosas.

Rock Creek’s “farm to glass” mimosas pair freshly squeezed orange juice with a personal sized bottle of chilled Henkell Trocken sparkling wine — adding a healthy dose of elegance to those eggs.

So, with another weekend dining option to add to the list, I’m sure fellow Queen City brunchers can agree with me that whoever said you can have “too much of a good thing” has never spent their Sunday hunting for the perfect eggs benedict.

Rock Creek Tap and Grill 3255 Quance St. | 306 586 7625 and 474 McCarthy Blvd. N | 306 347 7625

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina mdeschamps@verbnews.com

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Next Week

coming up

The Dead South

JP Cormier

Phillip Phillips

@ Artful Dodger Friday, February 7 – Cover TBD

@ The Exchange Thursday, February 13 – $20+

@ Brandt Centre Friday, March 21 – $47+

There’s something about The Dead South, something at once both traditional yet modern, that makes them a band you can’t help but like.

Can’t wait to see. With soaring harmonies, gritty vocals, blazing banjos and sweet cello melodies, this Regina quartet plays the kind of down-home music that makes you want to tip your glass back. Consisting of Nate Hilts (guitar/vocals), Scott Pringle (mandolin/guitar/back-up vocals), Colton Crawford (banjo) and Danny Kenyon (cello), The Dead South play an infectious blend of bluegrass, folk, rock and classical music that’s unique, modern and hella toe-tapping. Since forming in 2012, these guys have been working hard and touring.

Come check them out when they play the Artful Dodger in February.

Anyone who knows JP Cormier knows that, if nothing else, the guy is a heck of an instrumentalist. He picked up his first guitar at the age of five and, since then, has taught himself to play a wide array of instruments by ear. What instruments?

Well, on his albums the singer/songwriter has played everything from the 12-string guitar to the upright bass, banjo, mandolin, drums, synthesizer, cello, piano … you name it. Not only did he play them, but boy did he play them well. A lover of bluegrass and folk, Cormier has won a host of East Coat Music Awards, a Canadian Folk Music Award for Instrumental Album of the Year and was nominated for a Juno Award. Definitely an act you don’t want to miss. Tickets available at Vintage Vinyl and Bach and Beyond.

When Phillip Phillips auditioned for the 11th season of American Idol, he had no idea what the future had in store for him. He breezed through the competition as the only contestant who was never in jeopardy of elimination before beating Jessica Sanchez in the final. His coronation song, “Home,” went on the be the bestselling coronation song in the show’s history. That was back in 2012. These days, the 23-year-old singer/songwriter from Georgia is a platinum-selling recording artist who is busy touring and introducing North America to his debut album, The World From the Side of the Moon. He’ll be hitting up Regina on March 21 as part of the Canadian leg of his tour, so be sure to check this superstar out. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist/ truncata/ amanda ash

Sask music Preview The Creative Sask Funding deadline is February 7, so get your applications in! Creative Saskatchewan Investment Fund grant programs are generally available to creative industry projects and endeavours that encompass music, sound recording, interactive digital media, visual arts, and more. They are currently accepting applications for the following streams up to the deadline of February 7: Creative Industries Production Grant; Market & Export Development Grant and Creative Saskatchewan’s Culture on the Go; and Business Capacity and Research Grant. See http:// www.creativesask.ca for more info.

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january 31 » February 8 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

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Friday 31

The Stillhouse Poets / Artful Dodger — Also appearing: Binder Twine and the Balers. 8pm / Cover TBD Spoils, the Florals, Bermuda Love, White Women / The Exchange — A night of indie rock and hardcore. 8pm / $10 DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every Friday night that are sure to get you on the dance floor. 9pm / $5 Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — With DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD Pimpton / O’Hanlon’s Pub — A badass night, also featuring DJ IZN and DeeJay Quartz. 9pm / No Cover Whatever / McNally’s Tavern — Come out and support local rock bands.

10pm / $5 High Ridge Road / Pump Roadhouse — A lady-fronted country band. 10pm / Cover TBD Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night, come listen to Albert as he does his spinning thing.

10pm / $5 cover DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs as he drops some of the best country beats around. There’s no better way to get your weekend started!

8pm / Cover TBD Amy Nelson / Whiskey Saloon — Come out and listen to some catchy country music from one of Regina’s own. 9pm / $5

Saturday 1

The Duchess / Artful Dodger — With The Hop. 8pm / Cover TBD Megan Nash / Creative City Centre — A singer/songwriter from rural Saskatchewan. 7:30pm / $10 The Mid-Winter Ceilidh / The Exchange — Featuring Wendy MacIsaac, Mairi Rankin + more. 8pm / $20 (www. crpb.org)

Lost Souls / Italian Club — Food, fun and entertainment at the Taste of Cathedral. 6pm / $20 Suckerpunch Phyllis / Lancaster Taphouse — A local fusion/funk rock band. 9pm / No cover Sonic Orchid / McNally’s Tavern — Get ready to rock! 10pm / $5 High Ridge Road / Pump Roadhouse — A lady-fronted country band. 10pm / Cover TBD Wafflehouse / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best, every Saturday night. 10pm / $5 cover Amy Nelson / Whiskey Saloon — Catchy country music from one of Regina’s own. 9pm / $5

Open Mic Night / King’s Head — Come out, play some tunes, sing some songs, and show Regina what you got — or, sit back, relax and enjoy the talented musicians of Regina! 8pm / No cover Redbeard’s Tribute to Bob Marley / McNally’s Tavern — Regina musicians celebrating the music of Bob Marley.

8:30pm / $5 Ross Neilsen / Smokin’ Okies BBQ — Playing blues, roots, and rock. 7pm / $5 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs as he drops some of the best country beats around. 8pm / Cover TBD

Friday 7

Monday 3

Les Hay Babies / Artful Dodger — Bilingual folk music from New Brunswick.

With the Dead South. 8pm / $15/$20 Lost Sherpas, Treebeard, Radville / German Club — A night of local emerging rock groups with different sounds.

9pm / $5 DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every Friday night that are sure to get you on the dance floor. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Come out and get your weekend started with DJ Fatbot, who’ll be doing his spinning thing every Friday night.

10pm / Cover TBD Slow Motion Walter / McNally’s Tavern — Rock and roll party band playing the classics and current tunes.

10pm / $5 Trick Ryder / Pump Roadhouse — A country quartet worth checking out.

10pm / Cover TBD Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night, come listen to Albert as he does his spinning thing.

10pm / $5 cover Billy Grind / Sip Nightclub — A new roots/rock/alt. country band. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs as he drops some of the best country beats around. 8pm / Cover TBD Cory Brown / Whiskey Saloon — Good ol’ country music from Manitoba.

9pm / $10

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

Tuesday 4

Drum Jam / Artful Dodger — Get your drum on! 8pm / Cover TBD Mandy Ebel / Bocados — Performing and hosting the open mic! 8pm / No cover

Wednesday 5

Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring Theresa and Carol. 9pm / No cover WayBack Wednesdays / McNally’s Tavern — Live 80s glam-rock by Leather Cobra. 9:30pm / No cover The Young Guns Tour / Pump Roadhouse — Featuring Brett Kissel and One More Girl. 8pm / $20 (ticketedge.ca)

Thursday 6

2 Beats & A Hat / Artful Dodger — Presented by DJ Verbal & E-Major, come enjoy two DJs with guest performances the first Thursday of every month. 7pm / $5 in advance or at the door Soulfly, Planet Eater / The Exchange — Arizona groove metal with a splash of metal from Regina. 8pm / $20 (ticketedge.ca) Decibel Frequency / Gabbo’s Nightclub — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / Cover $5 PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — DJ Ageless started spinning in Montreal, DJ Drewski started in Saskatoon. They both landed in Regina and have come together to sling some bomb beats. 7pm / No cover

Room 333 / The Club — A Regina rock band with a dark edge. 7:30pm / Cover TBD RSO Mosaic Masterworks Presents: Dreaming of the Masters / Conexus Arts Centre — Featuring trumpet soloist Jens Lindemann for your listening pleasure. 8pm / Tickets TBD Majetik, Port Noise, Marching Martian Marshmellotrons / The Exchange — Everything from hard to experimental and alt-rock. 6pm / $10 The Project / Lancaster Taphouse — Performing soul, Motown, funk and jazz.

Is there any better way to spend your weekend? 9pm / No cover Slow Motion Walter / McNally’s Tavern — Rock and roll party band playing the classics and current tunes.

10pm / $5

Trick Ryder / Pump Roadhouse — A country quartet worth checking out.

10pm / Cover TBD Wafflehouse / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best, every Saturday night. 10pm / $5 cover Billy Grind / Sip Nightclub — A new roots/rock/alt. country band. 9pm / Cover TBD Cory Brown / Whiskey Saloon — Good ol’ country music from Manitoba.

9pm / $10

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

Saturday 8

Art opening / Artful Dodger — Featuring the talents of many local bands. 8pm / Cover TBD

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Sask fashion week’s loft party

Saskatchewan Fashion Week’s Loft Party Hosted at Kiriako Iatridis Photography & Art Direction studio space 1515 6th Ave

Photography by Marc Messett

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What the heck?

Photo: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

With Labor Day, Jason Reitman departs from his sardonic filmmaking ways by adam hawboldt

W

hen you think of movies director Jason Reitman has made, certain adjectives pop into your mind — smart, funny and sardonic being just a few.

Think of Juno, think of Thank You For Smoking, Young Adult or Up in the Air and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about. All of Reitman’s movies are sharply written, wisecracking exploration about modern life, mores and issues.

Well, nearly all of them. Because Reitman’s latest film, Labor Day, is nothing like the other movies in his portfolio. It’s so different, in fact, that you can’t help but wonder if this is just a one-off experiment, or if the sardonic boy wonder of Hollywood has changed his tack entirely and we’re about to see a very different side of him.

Personally, I’m hoping it’s just an experiment.

Why? Because Reitman’s first four films were terrific. Labor Day

with his mother, Adele (Kate Winslet). This is a big occasion for the two. See, Adele’s husband (Henry’s father) has left, and she’s one loud noise away from a nervous breakdown. She rarely leaves their old,

… not so much. And that’s not to say it’s a bad movie. Far from it. It’s just that, well, it didn’t feel like a Jason Reitman film.

Adapted from a novel by Joyce Maynard (yes, the same Joyce

…Reitman’s latest film, Labor Day, is nothing like the other movies in his portfolio.

dilapidated house. So yeah, like I said, this shopping trip is a bit of an occasion.

An occasion that’s interrupted when a stranger named Frank (Josh Brolin), a convicted murderer who has just escaped from prison, tells Henry and his mom, in no uncertain terms, that they have to help

Maynard who shacked up with J.D. Salinger when she was 18), Labor Day is a coming-of-age story about a boy, his mother, and the escaped convict they take into their house.

The year is 1987. Labor Day weekend. A shy, 13-year-old boy named Henry (Gattlin Griffin) is out shopping for back-to-school clothes

him. They have to hide him from the authorities.

Not really given much of a choice, Adele agrees and takes Frank back to their house.

This is when things get a little strange. Instead of giving Frank a safe place for a couple of days, then telling him to be on his way, Adele and Henry start to grow fond of the convict. Frank teaches Henry how to hit a curveball. Pretty soon, the lonely Adele begins to fall for Frank.

What follows is a melodrama/ love story that borders on the mawkish. So mawkish that Frank teaches the family how to make the perfect peach pie and invites a disabled boy to play baseball in the backyard. This part of the movie unfolds in a very un-Reitman like process, full of whimsical and gauzy dreamlike sequences. Eventually (some will say thankfully), the claustrophobic living conditions are shattered.

Labor day Jason Reitman Starring Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffin Directed by

111 minutes | 14A

Both Brolin and Winslet act the hell out of their roles, and the idea of telling the story from the child’s point of view prevents Labor Day from being just another love story.

But, in the end, anyone who is a big Jason Reitman fan will cross their fingers and hope that his next film (Men, Women, and Children) will be a return to his original form.

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Photo: Courtesy of Focus Features

It has its moments

That Awkward Moment: not the best rom-com you’ll ever see, but definitely not the worst by adam hawboldt

M

ichael B. Jordan is one heck of an actor.

With that megawatt smile, that onscreen chemistry, and the way he makes audiences really and truly care about the characters he portrays, the guy is an up-andcoming actor on the make.

Whether it was as Wallace on The Wire, quarterback Vince Howard on Friday Night Lights or the doomed Oscar Grant on the criminally underrated Fruitvale Station, Michael B. Jordan has a way of connecting with audiences on a very intimate, very human level.

So when I found out he was in a new rom-com called That Awkward Moment, I was sold. No matter how unoriginal or bad or mildly okay the movie would be, I had a feeling that Michael B. Jordan would be good in it.

And he is. But here’s the thing: Michael B. Jordan isn’t the best

thing about the film. That honour goes to another up-and-comer — Miles Teller.

Hot off a sizzling performance in a terrific little film called The Spectacular Now, Teller kills it as Daniel in That Awkward Moment. One minute he’s all

So what is That Awkward Moment all about?

Well, if you took Sex in the City, bred it with Entourage and then threw in a liberal dose of crass humour, you’d end up with a flick like this. The film is about three guys,

…this isn’t the most inclusive concept for a screenplay you’ll ever see.

Adam Hawboldt

bro’d out, the next he’s wildly vulnerable, the next he’s choke-on-yourpopcorn funny. It may be Zac Efron’s face the studio is using to sell this movie, but it’s Teller’s and (to a slightly lesser degree) Jordan’s performances that buoy the picture.

three best friends, living in New York City. One of the friends, Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) has just split up with his wife after finding out she’d been seeing someone behind his back. Needless to say, the last thing he needs to do is go leaping

into another relationship. So, to lend support, his two best friends, book jacket designer Jason (Zac Efron) and smart-mouthed Daniel (Miles Teller) decide they’ll stand by their boy and the three of them make a pact to stay out of any serious relationships.

This is easier said than done, and eventually all three of the guys find themselves hiding a relationship (of sorts) from their friends.

Now, I admit, this isn’t the most inclusive concept for a screenplay you’ll ever see. In a day and age when most rom-com/date movies try to appeal to both sexes, it seems as though That Awkward Moment is hellbent on catering to men, and, as a result, it’s a tad bro-centric. But there’s something about it that keeps it from being terrible. Maybe it’s Miles Teller. Maybe it’s Michael B. Jordan. Maybe it’s the handful of deep belly laughs or the way the script

that awkward moment Tom Gormican Starring Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller Directed by

94 minutes | 14A

teeters between cliche and real emotion. Whatever it is, That Awkward Moment, well … it has its moments.

It’s not the best rom-com you’ll see this year, but it’s certainly not the worst. So if you’re in the mood for some raunchy humour, give That Awkward Moment a shot. It might just surprise you.

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

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timeout

crossword canadian criss-cross 24. Japanese food 25. With mistakes 27. Had a really bad smell 30. Baby talk 34. Sharpen on a whetstone 35. Mountain lake 36. Mare, in astronomy 37. In circulation 38. Pretend to be someone you are not 39. Comes to have 40. Custard-filled pastry 42. Lack of interest 44. Hair dye 45. Salary increase 46. Red spots on the skin 47. Auld lang ___

sudoku answer key

A

24. Move a light beam over 26. Unpaid overdue debt 27. It’s worn below the ankle 28. Come in contact with 29. One of a pair on a deer 31. African fly 32. River of forgetfulness 33. Like taking candy B from a baby 35. First five books of the Hebrew Scriptures 38. Types of passwords used for authentication 39. Go faster by, like a watch 41. Collection of anecdotes 43. Be worthwhile

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

1. Dim period of twilight 5. Ones dressed in stripes, for short 9. Evening stroll 10. Message sent over the Internet 12. Monetary unit of Russia 13. Fruit like oranges and lemons 15. Bites gently 16. At a distance 18. Canadian radio producer Basen 19. Alcoholic drink 20. Bite suddenly 21. Hockey disc 22. Frequently visited place

DOWN 1. Neatly dressed 2. Puts to work 3. Dry, said of wine 4. Sockeye salmon 5. Summarize briefly 6. Arabian ruler 7. On the heavy side 8. Brightest star in the sky 9. French soldier in World War I 11. Roll suddenly to one side 12. Kind of sack 14. H. H. Munro’s pseudonym 17. Error in etiquette 20. Descend to the bottom 21. Green shot 23. Reinforce with fabric

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

ACROSS

© walter D. Feener 2014

Horoscopes january 31 – february 6 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

It’s probably best if you don’t spend too much time at home this week, Aries. Get out and be social! You never know who you’re going to meet.

You’ve been putting off a very important project for some time now, Leo, but it’s important to bring it to a close. Get your butt into gear.

Have you been staring at computer and television screens too much lately, Sagittarius? If so, it’s time to get out and be active.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Let your imagination soar this week, Taurus. Your creativity knows no bounds. You may be surprised where it will take you.

On the love front, Virgo, this is going to be a good week. Bask in it! On the school/work front, however … not so much.

This is going to be one of those weeks when you catch on to things quickly, Capricorn. Enjoy how easy things come. It won’t last.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

At some point this week you’re going to have a rather unusual dream, Gemini. Pay close attention to it. The universe is trying to tell you something.

If you need help with something this week, Libra, don’t worry.

Friends and family will be there for you.

All you have to do is ask.

Your understanding of others will be enhanced this week by a keen sense of intuition, Aquarius. But don’t rely on intuition alone.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Thoughts of travel won’t be very far from the forefront of your mind this week, Cancer. Put those thoughts to good use.

You may have an intellectually enhancing experience this week.

Not matter what you think, Scorpio, it’s not random.

Don’t rush into making any decisions this week, Pisces. You might think it’s a good idea, but it’ll come back to bite you in the you-know-what.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

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