Verb Issue R124 (Apr. 17-24, 2014)

Issue #124 – April 17 to April 24

arts

culture

music

+

regina

long way home Fred Sasakamoose on his incredible journey stickybuds Q+A with the Kelowna DJ hannah arendt + finding vivian maier Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of Lisa MacIntosh

contents

On the cover:

alysha brilla

On embracing freedom. 10 / feature

Photo: courtesy of Scott Ferrede

culture

NEWs + Opinion

entertainment

Q + A with stickybuds

Live Music listings

Kelowna DJ on the industry. 8 / Q + A

Local music listings for April 17 through April 26. 14 / listings

The Impossible Dream Man of La Mancha hits

We visit Artesian on 13.

the stage. 9 / Arts

15 / Nightlife

in good company

Hannah Arendt + Finding Vivian Maier

The Dead South release their debut LP. 9 / Arts

Nightlife Photos

We review the latest movies. 16 / Film

The long way home Fred Sasakamoose’s journey. 3 / Local

An organic solution

gelato girls

on the bus

Our thoughts on curbside composting.

We visit Bite Me Gelato.

6 / Editorial

12 / Food + Drink

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

comments

Music

Game + Horoscopes

Here’s your say about extending last call at the bar. 7 / comments

F*ck The Facts, Wyatt + Lisa Marie Presley 13 / music

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

verbnews.com @verbregina facebook.com/verbregina Please recycle after reading & sharing

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

ART & Production

contact

design Lead / andrew yanko Graphic designer / bryce kirk Contributing Photographers / marc messett

Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 306 881 8372 advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253 design / layout@verbnews.com / 306 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

2 Apr 17 – Apr 24 verb magazine

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

local

The long way home

The life and times of Fred Sasakamoose by ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

here is pain in the voice on the other end of the phone. A very real and very raw pain. It’s a voice haunted by the ghosts of youth, and plagued by years of loneliness.

“Why?” asks the voice. “Why was I taken from my family?”

The voice belongs to Fred Sasakamoose — the first Canadian aboriginal player in the NHL, and the first First Nations player with treaty status. But right now Sasakamoose doesn’t feel like talking about his days in the big leagues. Or about the years he spent in the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League with the Moose Jaw Canucks. All that comes later.

Right now, Sasakamoose wants to talk about his childhood. The one that was stolen from him.

“I was six years old when they came and picked us up,” recalls Sasakamoose, who was born on the Ataakahkoop Indian Reserve in 1933. “My brother was eight at

the time. Out of nowhere, this truck pulled in. I don’t know how big it was. All I remember is there were white men, and that the sides of the truck were really high — you couldn’t reach the top. They loaded us all up in the box of that truck without even a change of clothes.

There were about 30 of us. Some of the kids were crying.”

He remembers that kids continued to cry as the truck pulled away from the reserve and started on its journey. Over the next few hundred kilometres, they cried and slept and bounced around in the back of the truck. None of the children knew where they were going. How could they? None of them spoke the language.

When the truck came to a stop many hours later, Sasakamoose climbed out of the back, and saw a big building surrounded by an eight-foot high fence. He didn’t know it in that moment, but the building he was looking at was the St. Michael’s Indian Residential

School in Duck Lake. The place where Sasakamoose would be held against his will for the next decade.

“There was a lot of abuse there,” says Sasakamoose, his voice cracking, faltering. “A lot of sexual abuse.

You lived in constant fear.”

In 2012, at a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in Prince Albert, Sasakamoose told a story about being raped by older children at the school, and about the possibility of a priest seeing it happen and doing nothing.

But he doesn’t want to talk about that today. He doesn’t want to discuss the abuse of children he witnessed at St. Michael’s or what happened to his older brother. In this moment, Sasakamoose wants to talk about the time he and a friend escaped from the residential school.

Sasakamoose was nine, maybe ten years old, at the time; his friend was around the same age. “Every night I could hear them, I could hear

all Photos: courtesy of facebook

the kids crying,” he remembers.

“And every night, the sister would come along with a stick. Punish us for crying. I was so lonely, so scared.

I wanted to be home with mom and dad. So did my friend. We decided enough was enough. We decided to escape and go home.”

For two days the young boys walked aimlessly through the bush.

They slept in the bush. They foraged for what little food they could find in the bush. Neither of them knew where they were; all they knew is that they had to stay away from the roads.

“At that time, life wasn’t important. We just wanted to get home,” says Sasakamoose. “So after we left, we stayed away from the roads. You get caught on the damn roads.”

Soon Sasakamoose would learn that you get caught at the damn Carlton Ferry, too. That’s where the two “escapees” were found. And that’s where the two young boys were forced to walk from, all the way back to Duck Lake on bloodied, blistered feet. “When we got back to the school, they shaved us bald,” says Sasakamoose. “They put us in front of the dining room, took our clothes off. Everybody was watching. They beat us up with the strap in front of all the other kids, then poured coal oil on top of us.”

For the next little while, Sasakamoose and his friend were fed only bread and water, and were forced to eat their food on the cold concrete floor in the centre of the dining room while all the other kids watched.

From then on Sasakamoose endured his time at the residential school, and a few years after the escape attempt he found himself playing on the St. Michael’s hockey

team. A team that he would one day lead to dominate at the provincial midget championship.

Little did he know it then, but during that championship run there was a stranger watching him from the bleachers. A stranger who would forever alter the course of Fred Sasakamoose’s life

It was Fred Sasakamoose’s grandfather who taught the young boy how to skate.

Back before he was scooped up and taken away to residential school, back before all the abuse and the loneliness, Sasakamoose’s deaf, mute grandfather would take him to the lake in winter. He’d lead the toddler down the hill, clear off a path of ice for him, and strap a pair of bobskates to the young Sasakamoose’s feet. Then he’d walk up the shore line, find a willow branch and shave it into a hockey stick for his grandson to use before giving him a lump of frozen horse manure in place of a hockey puck.

That’s how it all began. And by the time he left St. Michael’s in 1950, Sasakamoose had become a fleet-footed left winger with a heavy shot. The kind of left winger who attracted the attention of scouts.

But Sasakamoose wasn’t concerned with the scouts. He didn’t dream of playing in the WHL or the NHL, didn’t think it was possible for a First Nations kid like himself. All he dreamed about was being back home. And in September of 1950, that’s exactly where the teenage Sasakamoose was. Back home with the family he’d been estranged from for nearly a decade.

And that’s when the stranger entered his life.

Continued on next page »

3 Apr 17 – Apr 24 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

One day while he and his family were out stooking in a farmer’s field not too far from their house, a car stopped in the distance. Two men got out. At first they were too far away for Sasakamoose to see their faces, but as they walked closer Sasakamoose recognized one of them.

It was Father Georges Roussel, his hockey coach at St. Michael’s. The other guy was a big man, dressed in a long coat and hat. Sasakamoose didn’t know him, and didn’t want to.

He hated his time in the residential school. There was no way in hell he was going back.

“They were talking to my mom and dad, about 50 feet away from where me and my brother were standing in the field,” says Sasakamoose. “Then my mother waved at me. In Cree she said, “Come here, my son, come here.”

Sasakamoose’s heart sank. He hung his head, and tears fell from his eyes. Even though he liked Father Roussel, he didn’t want to talk to him. He was finally back home, finally happy. “After all those years in residential school, I now had a

damn kind of clothes he wore in residential school), the teenage Sasakamoose went to Moose Jaw with the stranger in the long coat and hat.

That stranger was George Vogan — the man who would forever change Fred Sasakamoose’s life.

mother to hug me,” says Sasakamoose. “Somebody to call me son, somebody —” His voice trails off. The past floods over him like a sad, sour wave.

Sasakamoose inhales and exhales; you can hear him fighting back tears as he struggles to continue his story.

“They’ve come for you,” said Sasakamoose’s mother.

“Where am I going, mom?” Fred asked, his eyes fixed on the ground around his feet.

“Far away.”

Sasakamoose kept staring at the ground. Then his mother said, “They want you to go to Moose Jaw to try out for the junior team.”

This wasn’t what Sasakamoose expected. It wasn’t what he wanted, either. “I’m not leaving you, mom,” he told her. “I left you for nearly 10 years, I’m not leaving you again.” His mother looked at him, and in Cree she said, “Go my son, go. The future is waiting for you.”

So that’s what Sasakamoose did. He went. With a duffle bag of clothes Father Roussel gave him (he remembers them being the same

When you hear Fred Sasakamoose talk about George Vogan, there’s a reverence in his voice. A respect. A deep, underlying love.

“He was a good man,” says Sasakamoose. “He cared for me, looked after me. He was a white man who took a gamble to make my life better. Who took me and made me who I am. He didn’t want money, he didn’t want glory, he didn’t want anything. His first dream was for me to make it to the WHL. His biggest dream was for me to make it to the NHL.” Sasakamoose pauses, and you can almost see him nodding his head as he says, “Yes, George Vogan was a very good man.”

Vogan — who was the general manager of the Moose Jaw Canucks at the time — was the kind of man who invited a poor, young boy to live in his house. The kind of man who saw the pain and loneliness in Sasakamoose’s eyes and wanted to help. The kind of man who, after Sasakamoose left the team just two weeks into training camp, scoured the countryside to find him because he knew Sasakamoose had talent, knew he could go far in hockey.

George Vogan is also the kind of man

who grew misty-eyed, and smiled and hugged Sasakamoose in front of a locker room full of guys when the news came that Sasakamoose was going to the NHL. “We were in Moose Jaw. The Regina Pats had just beat us out of playoffs. My years of playing junior hockey were over. It was time to go

home again,” remembers Sasakamoose. “We were in the dressing room after the game, taking our gear off.

They told us to stop getting undressed.

There was an announcement to be made. And who walks in? George. He walks in and opens a telegram.”

The Moose Jaw players all looked at each other, wondered what the

Continued on next page »

4 Apr 17 – Apr 24 news + opinion

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

“Foster,” responded the young left winger, “my name is Sasakamoose.”

announcement would be. “Fred Sasakamoose,” read Vogan from the telegram, “please report to the Chicago Blackhawks. You’ll be playing Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada in Toronto.”

The room went silent. Sasakamoose looked up, stared at all the faces in the room. And he wondered, “Why me?

Why not any of these guys?”

On February 27, 1954, Fred Sasakamoose became the first aboriginal hockey player ever to lace up a pair of skates in the NHL. He was 20 years old, fresh off a two-day train ride and ready to start a new life.

“None of it would’ve happened if it wasn’t for George Vogan,” says Sasakamoose. “It was his dream for me to play in the NHL. A dream that eventually became my own.”

Back home in Moose Jaw, Sasakamoose was used to playing in front of 1,000, maybe 1,500 fans, at best. But skating around Maple Leaf Gardens on that cool day in February, with more than 18,000 fans screaming, Sasakamoose knew he’d finally made it.

“Walking into that arena and stepping out on that ice for the first time … what a shock!” says Sasakamoose. “What an experience. I remember during warm-ups someone said I was wanted over by the penalty box, so I skated over to the box. There was a man standing there. He introduced himself as Foster Hewitt.”

The great Hockey Night in Canada announcer asked the young player how he was doing.

Then asked, “How in the hell do you pronounce your name?”

Eleven games after the dream began, it ended. Sasakamoose failed to make the Blackhawks in training camp the next year. He was sent to the minors.

He hit the bottle. He missed his family and missed his wife.

A few seasons later, while playing for a team in Calgary, Sasakamoose was feeling overwhelmed, so he quit hockey and went home. This time, for good.

And in a way, that’s probably how it was always meant to be. As a young child, Sasakamoose longed to be back home with his family, away from the horrors of the residential school system. As a teenager trying out for Moose Jaw, he yearned to be home.

And as a professional hockey player, he pined to be home with his wife.

Back where everything made sense.

Home is where Sasakamoose is now, and has been for decades.

Over the years he’s learned to live with his demons, deal with his past.

But there’s still pain in the voice on the other end of the phone. A pain that will never go awayother end of the phone. A pain that will never go away.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

5 Apr 17 – Apr 24 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

editorial

An organic solution Our city should offer curbside composting

O

ur city has made great strides in the last little while in terms of environmentally friendly practices, and most residents now have curbside recycling. And we think that’s a great thing! But we also think we can do more, do something that’s good for the economy and for Mother Nature.

Enter curbside composting.

It’s a practice that you’ll find in most major cities around this country. Drive down a residential street on pick-up day, and you’ll notice green bins standing next to blue ones at the end of the driveway.

These are for compostable matter.

You’ll see them in Vancouver, Halifax, Toronto — the list goes on, and we think Regina should get on board.

Why? Well, because we can always do more. One visit to our city dumps and you’ll see we aren’t doing things right. In Regina there is so much unnecessary waste being tossed in the landfill that the city had to start an initiative to reduce the amount of garbage that we send to the dump by 20 percent by 2014, and by a staggering sixty percent by 2020.

In fact, a little over a year ago Regina’s manager of landfill operations estimated our dump will only last for another 20 years.

Now, building a new landfill is anything but inexpensive, somewhere in the ballpark of $75 million. And along with the cash we save by making our dumps last longer, implementing a waste management program can also provide a little added bonus through employment creation.

All you have to do is look to the east coast to see how it’ll work, and work well. Nova Scotia’s waste management program, which has been studied by experts from Japan, Hong Kong, the United States and more, offers both curbside recycling and curbside composting. Oh, and did we mention that it manages to save the province about $31 million a year, according to a study by GPI Atlantic?

And the employment creation we mentioned earlier? That is valued at between $2.8 and $3.9 million a year. So if Nova Scotia can do it, and make money at the same time, why can’t we?

Now, we understand the startup costs would be substantial, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $45-million. But if we create a program like the one in Nova Scotia, this will pay for itself and begin to generate revenue over time. But we’re not championing this only because it could be good for the economy. There are also myriad en-

vironmental benefits that come from a curbside composting program.

A waste management system that picks up our food scraps and other organic material will save energy by using recycled and composted material as opposed to materials from virgin resources.

What’s more, according to Environment Canada, diverting organic material away from a landfill also reduces methane emissions (a greenhouse gas), and will decrease the risk of groundwater pollution.

And producing valuable compost instead of tossing organic matter in the dump seems like a great way to make a little money as well: after all, we are surrounded by farmers.

So why not sell the rich compost to them?

With so many positives attached to a curbside composting program, and very few negatives, it’s time that we embraced this initiative.

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

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon feedback@verbnews.com

6 Apr 17 – Apr 24 news + opinion

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

comments

want to go home they can. Why is this even a problem?

On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about extending last call in Regina bars. Here's what you had to say: – Reading the “last call” article, i agree that bars should have the power to decide when to close (if they want to close, or be a 24 hour bar), as well as be able to tell anyone when they’ve “had enough to drink” Truth Is Power-Try It

– I agree. Sometimes I would like to stay after 2am. Cheers to longer bar openeing!

– I say who cares about if the bars extend the time. Leave it to the people who already own it. The

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

big concern is, is the mayor going to use the money to fix more river banks or actually start repairing roads properly. WH

– Of course bars should be open later. It’s ridiculous to assume that because they’re there, people will freak out and get more drunk bars are open during the day but people aren’t ditching work and getting wasted (well maybe some are) I think we need to give people more credit that they can make the right choice and if they want to stay out later they can and if they

OFF TOPIC – I loved watching wrestling when I was a kid I think it’s cool that Mike took a childhood passion and turned it into a career.

In response to “Wrestling life,” Local, #123 (April 4, 2014)

– Loved the wrestling story! I have so many memories of watching the WWF as a kid with my family and my sister and I had our favourite wrestlers and teams. It’s great that there’s something like that right here in Regina.

sound off

– Teaser hot sun followed by snow and freezing cold wtf

– Learning to write computer code is easy. Wankers and lay people think it makes you a genius. Writing “GOOD” code takes smarts most don’t have!

– Worst spring ever I know everyone is sick of complaining about weather but this is ridiculous it’s April

– Happy Easter! Jesus died for our sins and was risen again at this time of year. Peace and good health to everyone.

Next week: What do you think about curbside composting?

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

In response to “Wrestling life,” Local, #123 (April 4, 2014)

7 Apr 17 – Apr 24 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

q+a

just call it music, you know?” he says with a laugh. “Just music.”

Alex J MacPherson: What was your introduction to electronic music like?

Tyler Martens: Well, it started when I was going to high school. I saw some cool flyers going around. They were of course for raves back in the day, so I started going to those. I loved it, loved going and partying, loved hearing all this cool new music that I’d never heard before. When I was twenty, I decided that it was something I liked and something I wanted to investigate a bit more. I bought some gear, bought some crappy turntables and a crappy mixer, and just started playing with records. I figured out really fast that I could do it, or at least understood how it worked.

Stickybuds Photos: courtesy of chris roberge

Kelowna DJ talks fun, funk, and expanding the world of electronic music

by Alex J MacPherson

T

yler Martens, who produces and mixes under the name Stickybuds, has spent the last nine years establishing himself as one of Canada’s pre-eminent party DJs. Drawing on a wide variety of sounds, chief among them glitchy funk and groovy soul, Martens has crafted a sound that he describes as “music for people to party to and have a good time.” A passionate and committed opponent of the commercialization of what he sneeringly refers to as “corporate interests in EDM right now,”

AJM: You make it sound like the music and the broader culture, at least at the time, were indistinguishable.

Martens has spent the last several years performing on his own terms. More recently, Martens has developed an interest in socially conscious dance music, which is reflected in tracks like “Clean Air,” a collaboration with Melbourne, Australia producer Mista Savona.

By incorporating vocals and other instruments, live or prerecorded, into his performances, Martens thinks he can bridge the gap between two worlds. This is apparent from his distaste for the term “EDM,” which he describes as a brand designed to make money. “I

TM: Absolutely, man. In Kelowna, when I was going to raves, there was this group … called Liquid Beat.

They had a forum on the internet: it was kind of like the Okanagan rave forum. So I started going to these parties, I made a couple friends, I went on this cool website where all these people were talking about music and bullsh**ting with each other. … It was a community, and we had all these rad parties — it was definitely both.

AJM: What were you mixing and making at the beginning?

TM: When I started it was all newschool breaks and stuff like that, and I was playing a bit of drum and bass and I was starting to hear all this funky stuff. When I started writing tunes, I was really always going with the midtempo, 110 b.p.m. stuff — that’s what I started with and still write to this day.

I do some drum and bass and a few other things, but it’s kind of always been my love, this mid-tempo funk.

AJM: Speaking broadly, what’s the appeal of funk-based music?

TM: I think the thing that really separates the funk and the soul music is the

soul, literally. It’s music that usually has lyrics, so they’re actually songs.

They’re about something, not f**king random noises that repeat for four minutes. There’s a hook and a chorus and a verse. These songs have meaning and when you have vocals and these arrangements, people connect with that for whatever reason — maybe they like the melody or maybe they’re listening to the words and understanding what the song’s about. I think there’s just a lot more meaning that way in the music.

AJM: What’s your creative process like?

TM: It’s definitely about experimenting but usually I’ll have some kind of idea of what I want a track to be, whether I just come up with a melody driving in my car or a find a sample or this or that. These days I’m working with vocalists and making original stuff. Now, with the music I’ll make, I’ll try to figure out what the idea is, what that song’s trying to say. Then I’ll write vocals and hook up with singers and get them performed, or I’ll give them the liberty of seeing what they want to do with it.

AJM: That seems to reflect the way the electronic music community is changing — more emphasis on live elements, really combining everything.

TM: Now, because of EDM and this and that, there’s like three billion DJs of seven billion people on the planet.

It’s pretty cutthroat now. Back in the day when everyone had to buy vinyl and be a good DJ, there were a lot fewer guys doing it. Now anyone can go to Future Shop and a buy a DJ in a box package for $300 and go to a torrent and download the last fifteen years of music and then you can go undercut any DJ, even if you suck.

The point is, I think people now are looking for different ways to make their shows more interesting, and not just be a DJ. It’s on the live side, with live performers: guitarists or vocalists, things like that. For me personally, if I ever got to the point where I was really big and could afford to bring people on tour — like, if I won the lottery and was throwing my own shows — I’d bring in a bunch of reggae guys to sing on my tunes live.

AJM: One thing that stands out about your music is this idea of social consciousness.

TM: As you get older you’re exposed to more influences and life experiences, which will sculpt what you do. Definitely these days I’m feeling what’s happening with the world: the economy, governments, the nanny state we live in, the corruption — stuff like that. I’ve really been obsessed with those topics for the last couple of years, and now I want to figure out how to make more socially conscious songs.

The remix I did for Mister Savona, “Clean Air,” a lot of people really loved that tune. And it’s songs like that: the music is still meeting the same objective — it’s a total party tune, it gets people dancing, and sounds frickin’ fat on a system — but the underlying tone is very conscious. It’s talking about environmental destruction and, like, things that we need to pay attention to. Even if people are partying to it, I think there’s definitely a part in their brain that’s paying attention to it and realizing it. You’re trying to spread conscious messages through the medium of music, which has been done since music was started.

AJM: Has that been a recent development for you?

TM: Yeah, totally. I’m much more established now that I was even three or four years ago. Now I have connections all over the world. Right now, I have a friend, the guy who originally did “Clean Air, Clean Country,” and he’s in Jamaica and I’m about to go send him some money to pay for some vocalists to get me two new conscious, totally fresh songs that I can make. He’s in Jamaica, working with vocalists, and we’re hiring musicians and all these guys to make us new songs, to work with. I never would have dreamed of being able to do that two years ago.

Stickybuds April 24 @ YQR Nite Club $22.50+ @ YQR, Vintage Vinyl, Pizza Pizza, 306 Skate Shop + Mr Singh’s Convenience Store Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

8 Apr 17 – Apr 24 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

arts

The Impossible Dream

Classic musical Man of La Mancha is still relevant, meaningful

I

n 1615, Miguel de Cervantes published the second and final installment of his epic novel, Don Quixote. Almost four centuries later, his tale of an obscure nobleman’s quest to resurrect the ancient art of chivalry remains a classic work of literature. Don Quixote has inspired or informed countless works of art and literature. It has been adapted for the opera, the ballet, and the stage. The title character’s name has become a synonym for reckless idealism. And, in the early 1960s, it became the basis for a Broadway musical, Man Of La Mancha.

“I actually hadn’t heard of it,” says Kaitlyn Semple, who plays the title character’s deeply concerned niece in the Globe Theatre’s production of the show. Some members of the cast, as well as director Max Reimer, are intimately familiar with Man Of La

Mancha, but Semple thinks there’s a certain advantage to unfamiliarity.

“If we were doing Les Mis, I’d have all these preconceived notions about what I think it should be. But this is a fresh, brand-new script for me.”

Framed as a play within a play, Man of La Mancha opens in a Spanish dungeon, where Cervantes (David Ludwig) and his devoted manservant (Eddie Glen) are awaiting trial; they are accused of foreclosing on a monastery.

When the other prisoners threaten to burn Cervantes’ precious manuscript, he refuses to hand it over without first sharing its contents. Reluctantly, the prisoners agree to take part in a performance of his play: the story of Alonso Quijana, an old man who takes the name Don Quixote and embarks on an apparently mad quest to become a knight errant. “We’re all dreamers and we all have these beautiful ideas

by alex J MacPherson

of what the world can be, and then there’s the reality of what the world is,” Semple says of Quixote, whose actions can be interpreted as either deeply misguided or stunningly idealistic — or both. “That’s the theme of this show that has stood the test of time, that we as humans really have beautiful, loving ideas for what this world can be, and we see these magical opportunities and these magical ideals. But when you come to the reality of it, sometimes other people go for the power.”

The musical, which is perhaps best known for the song “Impossible Dream,” is structured to highlight the gulf between reality and fantasy.

What Quixote sees as a silk scarf, a token of love from a fair lady, is in fact an old dishrag hurled at him by an infuriated maid. Similarly, his splendid helmet is actually a washtub. These divisions are emphasized

each time the musical shifts between worlds. At one point, for example, the play is interrupted by prison guards, who seize an unfortunate prisoner and carry him away, presumably to be tortured or burned at the stake.

Semple is excited by the prospect of performing a classic work of musical theatre, even if it means challenging expectations. “I think it’s going to be a very different show from what the Globe normally does, and it’s very exciting to be able to challenge

your audience,” she says, explaining that performing any work of musical theatre in the round inevitably leads to changes and new interpretations.

At the same time, she continues, the thrust of the story remains unchanged: “Don Quixote believes in a beautiful future, but the reality is, it may not exist.”

The Man of La Mancha April 23 - May 11 @ Globe Theatre $38+ @ Globe Theatre Box Office, 306 525 6400

In Good Company

Regina roots outfit releases its debut LP

T

he four members of the Regina roots band the Dead South have only been writing and playing music together for eighteen months. In that time they have grown dramatically, both as musicians and as songwriters. This is evident on Good Company, their debut full-length album. Released earlier this month, Good Company casts the four musicians’ earliest forays into songwriting against several more recent efforts. And the difference is dramatic. According to Nate Hilts, who founded the band with Scott Pringle, each band member has immersed himself in the rich culture of bluegrass and Appalachian roots music — and it shows.

“Before we started this band, I don’t know how much bluegrass music Danny [Kenyon] or Scott had really listened to,” he says. “I think when I brought the idea of starting a band up to Scott, he was like, I’ve never really listened to bluegrass before. Now, though, he’s bringing artists to me that

by alex J MacPherson

I’ve never heard of.” This commitment to learning the craft is reflected on Good Company. Older songs, like the ragged mid-tempo “Achilles” and the slow-burning “Ballad for Janoski,” are relatively straightforward. On the other hand, newer songs, like the album’s sprawling closer “Deep When The River’s High,” feature time signature changes, melodic shifts, and complex structural elements.

“We’re getting a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing,” Hilts says, hinting at how difficult it can be to balance the long tradition of roots music against the need to innovate and experiment. “Now, we’re not afraid to take an extra step and try something different. It was something we found difficult at first, but we just kind of worked through it and made it easier and easier.” This is evident on “In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company,” a throbbing, pulsating country song that finds the Dead South pushing up against the boundaries of bluegrass music.

Put another way, Good Company captures the growth of the band, from tentative first steps to easy familiarity with their craft. But it is more than just a pastiche of songs thrown together for the occasion. The tracks on the album are linked together by Hilts’ whiskeysoaked and smoke-cured vocals, as well as the band’s penchant for writing mordant, cutting lyrics. Every song on the record, regardless of when it was written, shows off the Dead South’s not-so-secret secret weapon — Daniel Kenyon’s cello.

Most roots bands use guitars, violins, banjos, and basses; cellos are more common in concert halls than dingy bars. But Kenyon uses his instrument to great effect on the record.

“Danny has the opportunity to play violin melodies, and he also has the opportunity to play bass, like a double bass,” Hilts says. “He’ll be plucking it like a bass, and then he’ll pick up his bow and just start going. And then he’ll drop it and go back to plucking.

It’s a very good fit.” Because nobody in

Photo: courtesy oF Jerad Schlecte

the Dead South plays drums, Kenyon is the de facto rhythm-keeper — and the relentless thump of his cello’s bass strings keeps the guitars and Colton Crawford’s banjo on course throughout the record.

Reflecting on the last eighteen months, Hilts explains that Good Company feels like a summary of the band’s first chapter — twelve songs that capture the band’s earliest experiments.

Now, he is already thinking about what comes next. “More diversity,” he says with a laugh, pointing out that the band has already written a new

batch of songs, which cover even more musical territory. At the same time, he concedes, “It’s always an adventure, because you never know what someone’s going to come up with.”

The Dead South April 26 @ Riddell Centre $10/15 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

9 Apr 17 – Apr 24 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

feature

Nobody’s gonna get me Photo: courtesy of the artist

Alysha Brilla embraces freedom on her latest LP by Alex J MacPherson

A

lysha Brilla’s new album is the embodiment of what it means to be free.

After years spent managing complicated relationships, both personal and professional, the Toronto-based singer-songwriter extricated herself from a moribund music deal and ended a collapsing relationship with her boyfriend — and then she made a record about it. Perhaps not surprisingly, In My Head, which was released in July, emerged as a buoyant and irrepressibly optimistic collection of soul-jazz songs.

Recorded and produced independently, In My Head is a refinement the sound Brilla has spent the last several years refining. Deeply influenced by her father’s love of jazz, as well as her own interest in pop, soul, reggae, and R&B, In My Head has earned comparisons to records by Amy Winehouse and Adele. It also earned Brilla a Juno nomination, which she says was surprising given the circumstances under which the album was made. At the same time, In My Head’s combination of cheerful indifference to the past, unabashed openness to the future,

and a rich palette of sounds is difficult to overlook.

Like the years during which they were written, the songs on In My Head reflect a wide range of emotions. “Nobody” and “Lifted,” upbeat anthems that bracket the record, capture Brilla’s inextinguishable hope for the future — a contagious attitude

and the brooding, introspective “L.A. Hotel Room,” are shot through with the sense that change is on the horizon.

In other words, by casting past pain against the promise of the future, Brilla made a record on which every song is tinged with joy — even if the events leading up to the release of In My Head were far from joyous.

When I write songs, even though they’re on just a guitar … I can hear in my head the drums and the horn parts… alysha brilla

that distills unpleasant memories into simple, catchy refrains. The album’s sprawling centerpiece, the guitar- and organ-driven “Never Gonna Get Me Back,” is both a cheeky kiss-off and a unabashed ode to a future that just has to be better than the past. Even the record’s most downtrodden songs, like the devastatingly honest “Ain’t Right”

Musically, In My Head is difficult to pin down. Brilla says she is influenced by a wide range of styles, and it shows. The record contains elements of everything from gloomy cabaret jazz to punchy African music. At the same time, she refuses to conform to a single genre or style; instead, she takes what she likes and then weaves Continued on next page »

10 Apr 17 – Apr 24 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

those disparate ideas around a simple, punchy rhythm. And despite her obvious fondness for big, rich arrangements and lavish sonic adornments, the songs on In My Head are deceptively simple. Most are driven by little more than her remarkably malleable voice and her distinctive, reggae-influenced guitar-playing.

The upshot is that these songs benefit from her musical ambition, but they are not beholden to it. This is more than anything a reflection of what In My Head actually is — not so much a collection of sounds or songs, but an expression of something broader, something that matters to people anywhere and everywhere.

Alex J MacPherson: Unlike your last album, you made In My Head independently, after parting ways with your label. What was that like?

Alysha Brilla: I was in Toronto, like, I don’t have a label, what am I doing?

I was singing at a jazz bar — I had a residency there with an amazing band, a six-piece jazz band — and meanwhile I was writing my own songs. So I got the band to learn the songs I was writing and we went into the studio. My budget was smaller, so it was really intense. We cut all the beds in one day and then we did some overdubs, so we had two or three days in the studio. [I] pressed the record only really expecting to have a piece of work that I was really happy with. I really didn’t expect it to get nominated for a Juno.

Photo: courtesy of the artist

AJM: Did working on your own present any unexpected difficulties or problems, or did you enjoy the process? Or maybe both?

AB: As far as knowing what sounds I wanted, that was easy to me.

When I write songs, even though they’re on just a guitar or just a pia-

no, I can hear in my head the drums and the horn parts — what I’ll add to it. But I had no idea how much work it was going to be: figuring out financing, organizing everybody, the practical aspects of producing a record, which beforehand my label would have organized. I was doing everything by myself, and it was definitely a lot more difficult, but in the end worth it because I know I worked really hard on it. And I do actually plan on making another record later this summer, and I’m going to produce it as well.

AJM: Did you begin with a clear idea as to what you wanted the songs on this record to sound like?

AB: I think when I’m writing them it’s unconscious, although admittedly I do listen to a lot of different music. I just like roots music, whether it’s jazz or reggae or soul or old classic pop. I like that acoustic, instrumental feel. I don’t know how to explain it.

AJM: One standout is “Nobody,” which in addition to having a terrific groove also includes a verse in Swahili. What prompted that decision?

AB: Originally, I wrote it as a little a cappella chant: “Oh, nobody’s gonna get me, nobody’s gonna get me, no way.” I’d just sing it when I was annoyed with people. Actually, I had kids in mind, kids in school — thinking about being bullied and things like that. So with the Swahili verse, I wanted that same empowerment to go into a Swahili lyric.

I just feel like in some parts of the world people are not that empowered and that, lyrically, it might be cool.

AJM: That seems to reflect your approach to making music, and one of the big themes of the album, this idea that songs should ultimately bring people together and emphasize connections between people.

AB: I feel like I resonate with that — and it’s true. I mean, it’s definitely something I feel. The only time I feel disconnected is when I’m writing about my exes. But I try to do it in a nice way.

AJM: On the other hand, this album — both the songs and the way it was made — seem to reflect the events of the last several years, and your newfound freedom.

AB: When I was fifteen I started working with a producer, entered a contact with him. It didn’t end up working out. Then, when I was eighteen, I started working with another producer in Toronto — and it didn’t work out. So I’ve always, up until a year and a half ago, been in some kind of restrictive contract, whereby I couldn’t release my own music. When I was released from my label, I had these songs I’d collected over the past six years. There were some of them that I didn’t want to let go of, so I put them on this record. For instance, “Lifted” I wrote when I was eighteen. Most are newer, most are from the past year, but a couple of them are older, and that’s where the little bit of variety comes in.

that song — or when I talk about having been with someone and it not working out and all these painful emotions. It’s funny: I’m pretty close to my parents, but oftentimes they won’t find out about things until I write them in songs. So songwriting-wise, on this last record that was a big jump for me — showing the world how I feel, and also showing my parents. So now that I have that permission — like, they already know I’m not a virgin, I’ve had my heart broken — I feel even freer to say more things, do you know what I mean?

AJM: Do you ever worry about saying too much, about exposing yourself too much?

AB: It’s hard for me. I’ve always been a kind of honest person as far as all that stuff goes, and I think that’s part of what I hope to do through music — show my vulnerabilities and show the weird quirky things I think and feel so it kind of appropriates everyone’s strange and quirky selves. I feel like it’s liberating. I don’t have any problems with sharing that stuff.

Alysha Brilla May 1 @ City Creative Centre $7 (advance); $10 (door) Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

AJM: So how would you characterize the concept of this record?

AB: The arc of the record? Yeah, I feel like it’s interesting. I always feel with business relationships, like with my last label, the emotions that I feel in my stomach are really similar to the emotions I feel when I break up with a boyfriend.

So I guess for me those arcs are really similar. The arc of the record, going from happy to sad to happy again, is the same business-wise as well as with my boyfriend — it started out great, a lot of awful things happened, and now here I am all the wiser. I’ve lived through it and I feel like I’ve learned a lot.

AJM: It certainly seems like this is the most open and honest collection of songs you’ve ever released.

AB: An interesting psychological thing for me as a songwriter is with my parents. When I first started writing songs, they were pretty sweet. I was singing about love even though I hadn’t been in love yet. But as I’ve actually gone through experiences like losing my virginity or on “Ain’t Right” — I’m kind of talking about having sex in

11 Apr 17 – Apr 24 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

food + drink

Photos: courtesy of marc messett

gelato girls

Bite Me brings an Italian favourite to Regina by mj deschamps

F

or all the disgruntled, overworked restaurant and retail employees that ever were, don’t you wish you could answer the phone some days with the words “bite me”?

Not that the women behind the counter at Bite Me Gelato & Unique Treats are disgruntled by any means — mom Karla and daughter Abbey are, in fact, still laughing over their gelato shop’s tongue-in-cheek name almost a year after going into business.

Fast approaching its first birthday in July, Bite Me is run by three generations of women — Karla Weber, her daughters Abbey and Hannah, and their grandmother Freda — who can

simple: in my humble opinion, that’s like calling Belgian chocolate a ‘European Snickers bar’.

In essence, ice cream and gelato are both cream-based, churned, cold desserts, but if you have a scoop of each side-by-side the differences are obvious. To give a quick rundown, ice creams have different amounts of air whipped into them (depending on the quality), while gelato is churned much slower and has no air added, making it softer and denser. Gelato also generally has less fat than ice cream, and uses more milk than cream. Sorbets are fruity rather than creamy — and with no milk, cream or eggs, they rely on sugar and fresh fruit for flavour, making them refreshing and tart.

Good quality gelato is all about the quality and freshness of ingredients overall — fresh fruit versus artificial fruit flavours, for example — and Bite Me is dedicated to the cause, with its almost 70 different rotating flavours that change based on the season, and what fresh fruits and produce are available.

The maple walnut gelato, for instance, is made with real Canadian maple syrup — so dense, rich, sweet and sticky, it reminded me of trips to Quebec’s sugar bushes as a kid, eating taffy on snow.

The banana cream pie offering tastes almost exactly like the real thing — but creamier — and is made

be found at the shop day in and out, hand-making gelato, baking fromscratch cookies, pies and squares, and stirring fresh pots of homemade soups.

With their store being one of the only places in the city to find gelato, the Weber women are working hard to make Italy proud with every micro batch of the creamy treat they whip up themselves.

While the mother-daughter team Karla and Abbey began the business as gelato lovers, the training they’ve undergone from two different Italian chefs has made them pretty impressive gelato makers as well.

For those who know gelato only as ‘Italian ice cream,’ it’s not quite so

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide peach, vanilla + raspberry

Ingredients

gelato cocktail

peach gelato vanilla gelato raspberry sorbet chilled Prosecco mint sprigs

Only one thing can amp up the taste of creamy gelato or bright, fruity sorbetto even further — that, my friends, is of course, alcohol.

directions

Using an ice cream scoop, dole one scoop each of the peach gelato, vanilla gelato and raspberry sorbet into a chilled martini glass. Top with prosecco and garnish with mint.

with a real, crumbly, graham cracker crust and banana puree. The ‘cloud caramel’ is one of Bite Me’s regular flavours, and has all the elements of a simple but sweet, creamy, and caramelly panna cotta. Their staple lemon sorbetto is also a must-try: made from real lemon, it’s zesty, tangy and refreshing — almost like a frozen lemonade.

To help you justify your lunchtime gelato indulgences, Bite Me also makes several hearty lunch options from scratch, including homemade soups, warm cheese and garlic biscuits, and sandwiches on fresh, garlic poppyseed bread made in-house every day.

Other sweet treats range from cookies drizzled in imported German chocolate to handmade macarons to big mugs of an affogato-style drink using hot coffee and a cold dollop of the soft gelato of your choosing.

The handmade gelato, the freshly made breads and other bakery items are all very time-consuming to make (especially to make well), and it’s hard to believe that Karla and Abbey are responsible for all of it — just the two of them.

“Either we’re at work or we’re sleeping,” laughed Abbey.

The recent high school grad may be young, but 18-year-old Abbey is smart, sharp, and wise beyond her years, and has managed to build a successful business in just months, one that has already garnered much local foodie buzz, and recognition from the Regina Chamber of Commerce. That’s more than many people twice her age can say for themselves.

And while it’s just herself and Karla running most of the day-today operations, the pressure that many mother-daughter teams would probably crack under doesn’t apply to the Webers. “[Abbey] is my best friend,” said Karla. “We have the same sense of humour and laugh more than anything… but it’s about respect, too. When we’re here [at Bite Me] I’m not her mother, I’m her co-worker.”

Bite Me Gelato 1304 Broad Street | (306) 206 1763

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina mdeschamps@verbnews.com

12 Apr 17 – Apr 24 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

music

Next Week

F*ck the facts

coming up

lisa marie presley

wyatt

@ the club (@ the exchange) thursday, may 1 – $10

@ whiskey saloon Friday, april 25 + saturday, april 26 – $10

@ casino regina wednesday, july 2 – $35+

What’s grindcore? Well, it’s a music genre that originated in the early-tomid ‘80s, and drew inspiration from the most abrasive music genres around — industrial, thrash, noise, hardcore punk, etc. Or should I say still draws?

Because that’s what Ottawa’s F*ck the Facts does, and does well. With nine studio albums since forming back in the early ‘90s, this hard-charging five-piece continues to assault ear drums with each new release. F*ck the Facts have songs that vary between deep growls, high-pitched screams and more. Another thing that lets them stand out from the crowd is that almost all their songs are tuned down a fourth.

The result is a hard and heavy sound you just can’t miss, one that blows you hair back while punching you in the gut. Tickets at the door.

Since the release of their debut album Hard Road in 2007, this fourpiece band from Saskatoon has been turning audience members into instant fans with their towering guitar riffs and on-point melodies. Melding gritty rock rhythms with smooth country grooves, Wyatt — which consists of singer-guitarists Scott Patrick and Daniel Fortier, along with drummer Bray Hudson and bassist Cam Ewart — embodies the essence of modern rock country. So much so that their second album, If I Had a Dollar… had two singles that hit the Billboard Canadian Country Singles chart. The boys are back again with their latest, 2013’s Shoulda Been Here Last Night. Come check out this catchy country quartet when they roll into town next weekend.

The only child of the uber famous Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley is no stranger to the limelight herself. The accomplished singer/ songwriter released her debut album, To Whom it May Concern, in 2003, which was subsequently certified gold in the United States. She has since release two more albums — 2005’s Now What and 2012’s Storm & Grace — both of which have received praise from the critics for her blues-edged voice and artistic aspirations. She’s also released a duet with her father, 2007’s “In the Ghetto” and 2012’s “I Love You Because.” Presley continues to garner fans no matter where she goes — but what else do you expect from the scion of The King? Get your tickets at www.ticketbreak.com.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist / the artist / the artist

Sask music Preview Public voting is now open for CBC’s Searchlight Contest! You can now vote to determine the top 10 artists from each region, who could then progress to become the winner! Saskatchewan has 25 artists competing, including The Midnight Roses, Misterfire, Poor Nameless Boys and Ursa Maja. The Searchlight Contest is all leading to a grand prize that includes $20,000 worth of music equipment from Yamaha Canada Music, a professional recording with CBC Music, and more. The winner will be announced on May 9; for more information, please see http://music.cbc.ca/#/Searchlight-Radio-Active.

13 Apr 17 – Apr 24 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

food + drink listings

April 17 » April 26 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

Friday 18 When it was dark yet / Campion College Chapel — Piano music. 7:30pm / Free April Wine / Casino Regina — Canadian rock band. 8pm / SOLD OUT DJ Dallas / Eldorado — Party DJ! 9pm / $5 Sean Burns / Eldorado — Get your weekend started right! 9pm / $5 The Creepshow / The Exchange — With Herb and the Humans + more. 8pm / $15(XRay Records)/$20(door) DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover big chill fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Cool lounge beats. 8pm / Cover TBD Wonderland / McNally’s Tavern — Onehit wonders and classic rock. 8pm / $5 Foxx Worthee / Pump — A dynamic female country duo. 9pm / Cover TBD Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — One of Regina’s best DJs. 8pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — An local country singer/songwriter. 9pm / $10

Saturday 19

Florida Georgia Line / Brandt Centre — A rockin’ country duo. 7:30pm / $39+ DJ Dallas, sean burns / Eldorado — Get your Saturday night bumping! 9pm / $5 Wonderland / McNally’s Tavern — Onehit wonders and classic rock. 8pm / $5 Foxx Worthee / Pump Roadhouse — A dynamic country duo. 9pm / Cover TBD Wafflehouse / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best. 10pm / $5 cover The Milkman’s Sons / Tumblers Pizza — Performing classic rock. 9pm / No cover Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — An local country singer/songwriter. 9pm / $10

Monday 21

Open Mic Night / The Artful Dodger — Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover Jazz and Blues / Bushwakker — Featuring Shane and Ethan Reoch. 9pm / No cover

Tuesday 22

Music Jam / Artful Dodger — Break out your instruments. 8pm / No cover DJ night / Q Nightclub — With DJs Snakeboots and Code E. 9:30pm / No cover

Wednesday 23

DJ Dallas / Eldorado — Regina’s number one party DJ! 9pm / $5 Odd Man Out / Eldorado — Country rock!

10pm / $5 Tried and True / The Exchange — A night of tribute to big band greats. 8pm / $10/$15 Little Chicago / Lancaster — Great blues from a local band. 9pm / Cover TBD

Greg MacPherson / Artful Dodger — A singer/songwriter from Winnipeg. 8:30pm Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker — Featuring Kory Istance VS. The Time Pirates.

9pm / No cover WayBack Wednesday / McNally’s Tavern — Featuring Leather Cobra. 9pm / No cover

The Montagues / McNally’s Tavern — A local dance band with a big sound. 11pm / $5 Brian Kelly / Pump Roadhouse — Playing rockin’ country tunes. 9pm / Cover TBD Wafflehouse / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best, every Saturday night.

10pm / $5 cover

Wyatt / Whiskey Saloon — A rocking country quartet. 9pm / $10

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

Thursday 24

Shannon Lyon / The Club — Folk music from Ontario. 8pm / $15 Elvis, Elvis, Elvis / Conexus — The best Elvis impersonators. 7:30pm / $51.50 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 show Regina what you got. 8pm / No cover Aviator Shades / McNally’s — With Tribal Aliens Being and more. 8pm / $5 Brian Kelly / Pump Roadhouse — Playing rockin’ country tunes. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover TBD

Friday 25

Stephen Fearing / Artful Dodger — Blackie and the Rodeo Kings member. 8:30pm Jack’s Big Party / Conexus — With Ikons and more. 7pm / Enter to be invited @ www.jackfmregina.com DJ Dallas / Eldorado — Regina’s number one party DJ! 9pm / $5 Odd Man Out / Eldorado — Country rock!

1opm / $5 The Royal Red Brigade / The Exchange — WIth Black Thunder. 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 cover Big Chill Fridays’ / Lancaster — Cool lounge beats. 8pm / Cover TBD The Montagues / McNally’s — A local dance band with a big sound. 10pm / $5 Brian Kelly / Pump Roadhouse — Playing rockin’ country tunes. 9pm / Cover TBD Albert / Pure — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover DJ Longhorn, wyatt / Whiskey Saloon — Start your weekend off right. 8pm / $10

Saturday 26

Beat Gallery / Artful Dodger — The best beats in town. 8:30pm / Cover TBD Emilie-Claire Barlow / Casino Regina — Juno-Award winning jazz vocalist. 8pm / $27.63+ (ticketbreak.com)

14 Apr 17 – Apr 24 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

nightlife

saturday, April 12 @

artesian on 13

Check out our Facebook page!

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

The Artesian on 13th 2627 13th Avenue (306) 522 3939

Photography by Marc Messett

15 Apr 17 – Apr 24 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

film

The Banality of Evil Photo: Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films

Hannah Arendt a taut, intellectually tantalizing biopic by adam hawboldt

H

annah Arendt lived quite a life. The kind of life people make movies about.

While studying at the University of Marburg, she had an affair with Martin Heidegger — one of the most important, influential philosophizers of the 20th century and a known Nazi sympathizer. She was forced to flee Germany in the ‘30s because of Nazi persecution. In the ‘40s, in Nazioccupied France, she was interned in a concentration camp. She escaped to America and went on to become a leading thinker in philosophy, theology and psychiatry.

Oh, and she also coined the term “the banality of evil.”

But here’s the thing about making a movie about a person who has lived such a life: very often, in their biopics, the directors and writers try to jam in too much. They try to tell the person’s whole story and, in doing so, provide a too-long, too-diluted version of what that person was. Think Steven

of you who don’t know Eichmann, he was a German Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) and one of the main organizers of the Holocaust.

He escaped to Argentina after the Second World War, was captured by the Mossad in 1960, and brought to trial for war crimes in Israel.

In Hannah Arendt, much of what we see of Eichmann is through old

Soderbergh’s Che or Justin Chadwick’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and you’ll get the idea.

Screenwriter Pam Katz and German director Margarethe von Trotta understand that sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. So, nearly a decade ago, when they first talked about making a movie about Hannah Arendt, they decided to stay

…to be honest, Hannah Arendt isn’t an easy movie.

Adam Hawboldt

videos of his trial. We also see Arendt (played by the excellent Barbara Sukowa) reporting on the trial, trying to make sense of what she is seeing and, eventually, writing a story for The New Yorker. The gist of the article she wrote runs as follows: one of the

away from the sweeping biopic and focus their film on one, brief, fleeting moment in Arendt’s life.

The time they picked was 1961.

That’s when Arendt traveled to Jerusalem to cover the trial of Adolf Eichmann for The New Yorker. For those

organizers of the Final Solution (i.e.

Eichmann) was basically a nobody, a spineless bureaucrat who “only obeyed orders.”Arendt also claimed that Jewish leaders were implicit in what happened during the Holocaust.

As you can guess, Arendt’s article pissed off a lot of people. She received death threats and was ostracized by some of her peers. It wasn’t an easy time in her life. And, to be honest, Hannah Arendt isn’t an easy movie. It’s a thought-provoking film about a dark period in our history, and Arendt’s philosophizing about the potential for evil in “nobodies.”

Definitely not a movie for everyone. But if you’re a fan of good acting, engaging stories and films

Hannah Arendt Margarethe von Trotta Starring Barbara Sukowa, Axel Milberg + Janet McTeer Directed by

109 minutes | PG

that will make you think, then Hannah Arendt is a movie for you. You can see it at Regina Public Library; it begins screening on April 24.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

16 Apr 17 – Apr 24 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

film

vivian’s story

Photo: Courtesy of IFC

Finding Vivian Maier a must-watch documentary by adam hawboldt

W

ho is Vivian Maier?

No, really. That’s a serious question. Who is she? After watching the documentary Finding Vivian Maier, I still don’t really know the answer.

All I know is this: Vivian Maier was born in New York City in the 1920s. She moved between the U.S. and France during her childhood. By

rat. And one of the best photographers of the 20th century.

That’s about as much as you’ll learn about Maier from the documentary, but it doesn’t mean Finding Vivian Maier is bad or lacking or boring or anything. Far from it.

In fact, the film is one of the most absorbing and intriguing documentaries I’ve seen in a while.

Maloof also finds a dark past lingering behind one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers.

Adam Hawboldt

1930, her father had left the family. In 1951, she moved from France back to New York before making her way to Chicago, where she worked, on and off, as a nanny for nearly 40 years. She died in 2009.

I also know Vivian Maier was an intensely private woman. And a pack

Directed John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, the film begins when Maloof purchases a box of negatives at an auction house in Chicago. The negatives were intended to be a part of a project Maloof was doing at the time, but he didn’t end up using them.

Eventually Maloof got around to

looking at the negatives and what he found was the work of an amazing, undiscovered 20th century artist. He became obsessed with the photos — which depicted Chicago street scenes from the ‘50s to the ‘70s — and set out determined to discover who the person was who took them.

What follows after that is a documentary that unfolds like a good detective story. Following a trail of receipts, testimonies, telephone books and census reports, Maloof attempts to piece together the story of who Maier was. And what he finds is fascinating.

He finds a woman who is strange and difficult. He finds a woman who rarely left the house without her trusty Rolleiflex around her neck.

He finds a woman who values her privacy so much that at one of the houses where she lived and acted as a nanny, she demanded a deadbolt be put on her door and forbade anyone to enter.

Maloof also finds a dark past lingering behind one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers. But to talk about that part would spoil the movie for you, so let’s move on …

Told through interviews and images of Maier’s gorgeous photographs — photographs of homeless people, of rugged working men, of storefronts and elegant women and children — Finding Vivian Maier is the kind of documentary that sucks you in from the very beginning and doesn’t let go. Think of a documentary like Searching for Sugarman and you’ll get the idea.

And while the film itself isn’t perfect (there are some hiccups when Maloof starts talking about the art establishment and how it’s been resistant to Maier’s work, even though it really isn’t), Finding Vivian Maier is a well-shot, superbly edited and utterly engaging film about an artist who concealed her talent from the world.

finding vivian maier John Maloof + Charlie Siskel Starring John Maloof, Mary Ellen Mark + Joe Matthews Directed by

84 minutes | NR

Finding Vivian Maier will screen at Regina Public Library beginning on April 24.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

17 Apr 17 – Apr 24 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

comics

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

18 Apr 17 – Apr 24 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

timeout

crossword canadian criss-cross 32. Half-moon shape 36. Electrically charged atom 37. Throws a party 39. ___ de Janeiro 40. Deadened 42. Papal name 43. Bird with a forked tail 44. Looked at with wide-opened eyes 46. Showy feathers 48. Stir up and feed a fire 49. Ecclesiastical council 50. Pitcher with a wide mouth 51. 365 days

A

1. Green film on bronze 2. October’s birthstone 3. Got together 4. She is one 5. Lobster claw 6. Over there 7. Fill up 8. Unimportant pieces of information 9. First five books of the Old Testament 11. Beverage 12. Furry feet 14. Different 17. Unexplainable urge 20. Below, to a bard

21. Repairs with yarn 24. Sleeping suits, for short 26. Slingshot shape 28. Post-mortem examination 29. Finishes first 30. Overwhelming defeats 31. One serving a sentence B 33. Small earthquake 34. Feeling a need to rest 35. Geologic divisions 38. Like a big sister 41. Forehead 43. Canned fish 45. ___ out (supplement) 47. Potassium hydroxide

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

. Magnificent display 1 5. Abnormal growth 9. Become less thick 10. Stockpile 12. Starchy vegetable 13. Not lacking any of the parts 15. Seed covering 16. Nothing 18. Like Satan 19. Sickly pale 20. Wanderer 22. Ones in office 23. ___ or ship out 25. No longer sleeping 27. First month of the year 29. Kind of shot, in hockey

© walter D. Feener 2014

sudoku answer key

DOWN

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

ACROSS

Horoscopes April 17 – April 24 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

A sudden lack of physical and mental energy could leave you feeling drained this week. Remember: you don’t have to do it all.

There may come a point in the next week when you’re not going to know what to do with yourself. Be patient. It will pass.

Too many things on your plate has you near a state of exhaustion right now, Sagittarius. Take some time to recharge your battery.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Normally you’re a people person, Taurus, but this week you might want to spend some alone time. It’ll be good to get your thoughts in order.

You’ll have an urge to stick close to home in the coming days, Virgo.

Fight that urge with all your being ­— the universe has great things for you out there.

This certainly isn’t a good week for gambling, Capricorn. Best to play it safe in the coming days and stick with a sure thing.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

You might not feel up to a social engagement this week, Gemini, but you should probably suck it up and go. Trust a little.

Depression, frustration, anxiety — they’re all around you in the next little while, Libra. Try not to get too bogged down in what you can’t control.

This threatens to be one of those weeks where you find it hard to get anything done. Focus your energies because a big project is coming your way.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Your intuition will be spot-on this week, Cancer. This isn’t the time to second guess yourself. Go with your instincts and trust your gut.

If you find boredom knocking at your door this week, don’t fret.

Just be your usual ingenious self and you’ll be okay.

Why do today what you can put off until next week, Pisces? Feel free to procrastinate in the coming days — everything else can wait.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

19 Apr 17 – Apr 24 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

back page

VerbNews.com