Verb Issue R85 (July 5-11, 2013)

ISSUE #85 – JULY 5 TO JULY 11

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GLORIANA THE NEXT CHAPTER

CULTURE

MUSIC

REGINA

MR GREEN THUMB Growing medicinal marijuana in the prairies LES MISÉRABLES A classic musical comes to the Queen City THE LONE RANGER + THE ANGELS’ SHARE Films reviewed­

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID MCCLISTER

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER:

GLORIANA

Nashville band starts a new chapter.

10 / FEATURE

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID MCCLISTER

NEWS + OPINION

ENTERTAINMENT

CULTURE

Q + A WITH BLUE KING BROWN Aussie band talks politics. 8 / Q + A

LISTINGS Local music listings for July 5 through July 13. 14 / LISTINGS

MR. GREEN THUMB

LES MISÉRABLES

NIGHTLIFE PHOTOS

On being a medicinal marijuana farmer. 3 / LOCAL

A classical musical comes to Regina.

We visit Original Joe’s.

9 / ARTS

15 / NIGHTLIFE

THE DAY IS PASSED AND GONE

THE LONE RANGER + THE ANGELS’ SHARE

Kacy and Clayton dig deep. 19 / ARTS

The latest movie reviews. 16 / FILM

PASSING INTO NOTHINGNESS Float tank therapy in SK. 4 / LOCAL

LET’S TAKE A SHOT Why we think all kids should be immunized. 8 / EDITORIAL

VERBNEWS.COM @VERBREGINA FACEBOOK.COM/VERBREGINA

THE MOST POPULAR ICE CREAM IN TOWN We visit Milky Way. 12 / FOOD + DRINK

ON THE BUS Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / COMICS

COMMENTS

MUSIC

GAMES + HOROSCOPES

Here’s what you had to say about usage-based insurance. 7 / COMMENTS

Kiss, Holy Grail + Five Finger Death Punch. 13 / MUSIC

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

EDITORIAL

ART & PRODUCTION

BUSINESS & OPERATIONS

CONTACT

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

PRODUCTION LEAD / BRITTNEY GRAHAM DESIGN LEAD / ANDREW YANKO CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS / BAILY EBERLE, MAXTON PRIEBE, ADAM HAWBOLDT

OFFICE MANAGER / STEPHANIE LIPSIT ACCOUNT MANAGER / KERRI SENKOW MARKETING MANAGER / VOGESON PALEY FINANCIAL MANAGER / CODY LANG

COMMENTS / FEEDBACK@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 881 8372

+ ALEX J MACPHERSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER / VICTORIA ABRAHAM

+ ALEX J MACPHERSON

ADVERTISE / ADVERTISE@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 2253 DESIGN / LAYOUT@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 8474 GENERAL / INFO@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 2253

2 JULY 5 – JULY 11 VERB MAGAZINE

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LOCAL

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MARIJUANA FACEBOOK GROUP

MR. GREEN THUMB

Jeff Lundstrom grows weed legally, but for how long?

BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

C

heck this out!” says Jeff Lundstrom, a wry smile creeping across his face.

Lundstrom reaches his hand into a back pack, digs around, and comes out with a ceramic jar. He uncaps it.

“Here, have a smell,” he says.

Inside the jar is bud upon bud of lush, green marijuana. There’s a musky aroma coming from the canister that has a hint of berries mixed with something else that’s hard to put your finger on.

“It’s called U.K. Cheese,” says Lundstrom, and the light goes on — it does smell like cheese.

Putting the cork back in the jar, Lundstrom continues: “I grow this and I grow Buddha Cush, Big Buddha Cheese and LSD from Barney Farms.”

And before you pick up the phone to call the cops on Lundstrom, there’s something you should know — all the weed he grows is done legally.

See, Lundstrom is one of a few dozen medicinal marijuana growers here in Saskatchewan, and boy oh boy does he know his product.

Sitting in the back room of his store, Skunk Funk Smoker’s Emporium, Lundstrom talks in detailed, intelligent lengths about growing marijuana. “You start with the cloning of a female,” he says. “You go from there to a pre-flower stage, what you call a vegetative stage. The whole time you’re controlling light cycle, air flow, nutrients. If it’s hydroponic, it takes about a month in this stage. In dirt, you’d veg for about two months.”

On a shelf behind Lundstrom are bottles of chemical nutrients he uses to help facilitate this process.

“Then you switch it over to a flowering room and change the light cycle,” he continues, “It takes about two more months there for hydro, three for dirt.”

Over the course of the next hour or so, Lundstrom talks about legalizing marijuana, the new strain he’s developing (Chunky Cheesy Perps), and the importance of nitrogen, magnesium and phosphorous in growing weed.

Eventually he gets around to talking about how he became a government-approved medicinal marijuana grower. And how, very soon, it will all be coming to an unwanted end.

It all started with an accident. Back in 2000, Lundstrom fell from scaffolding and did serious nerve and tissue damage to his lower back. He was prescribed Dilaudid to help ease his pain and soon found himself addicted to the opiate. “As I was coming to terms with my own opiate addiction and learning how I could overcome it, I started using marijuana for pain relief,” he says.

Right around the same time, Lundstrom was watching his sister, who had a cancerous tumour, waste away. “I had to watch the chemo take her hair and take away her drive,” he says, wiping away a tear. “She was so racked up on painkillers, near the end, she barely knew who I was. She started smoking cannabis with me and started living a better quality of life than she had been for a while.”

That’s when an idea took hold.

“I knew it helped me with the pain, and it helped her,” says Lundstrom, who re-injured his back in 2003. “So

I started wondering how I could help other people.”

The answer was medicinal marijuana. But going from an underground grower (Lundstrom produced his first underground batch of weed in 2004) to a legitimate one was far from easy.

After trying for four straight years to get medicinal cannabis prescribed for his condition, Lundstrom decided to take matters in his own hands.

“I was exhausted from trying to get it for so long, so one day I filled out all the paperwork, all the Health Canada forms, and sent them in with a cover letter saying I’d asked a bunch of doctors and was told no,” he explains.

The government eventually gave him a license and for the past two years Lundstrom has been pumping out fine, delicious bud for himself and the two patients he is, by law, allowed to supply for. “Before all that happened, before I opened my shop, I was on welfare. Broke,” admits Lundstrom. “I was a broken man. Had a broken back, broken hopes, dead sister. I had no job, no hope, no anything. But things have really turned around for me.”

Which is the good news. The bad news? As of April 2014, Lundstrom and every other medicinal marijuana grower in the country will be out of business.

Last month the federal government washed its hands of the medicinal marijuana industry, rolling out new legislation that states medicinal marijuana users and growers like Lundstrom will no longer be allowed to grow their

own products. Instead, they will have to purchase prescribed amounts (via mail) from licensed growers.

Not surprisingly, this doesn’t sit well with Lundstrom.

“You’ll have to contact those people at those facilities and then try a ton of different strains they grow, and hope they grow them as good as I do … Health Canada says they’re doing this for public safety reasons,” says Lundstrom, shaking his head. “You’re going to have some poor mail carrier carting this around in his mailbag and he gets baseball batted on his route because somebody found out. That doesn’t increase public safety in any f**king manner.”

Nor does Lundstrom figure it will help with the cost.

“Those facilities are not going to be cheap to run,” he says. “You’re telling me they’re going to be able to give the prices I do? Two to three dollars a gram? No way in hell.”

So come April of next year, Lundstrom will be out of a gig and forced to buy his pot from a commercial producer, right?

Wrong. “You think it’s going to make me stop growing cannabis?” he asks, a wry smile creeping across his face. “Yeah, right!”

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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3 JULY 5 – JULY 11 /VERBREGINA

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FOOD + DRINK

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LOCAL

PASSING INTO NOTHINGNESS

Float tank therapy in the Prairies BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

he room is warm, and smells of salt.

Standing next to the door, arms hanging limp by my side, I take a deep breath and exhale, just the way Christian told me to. “Take deep, slow breaths to help relax,” he said. “And when you’re doing that, slowly turn your neck from side to side, up and down, making sure to see everything in the room. Check every corner. That way your subconscious can know that it’s 100% safe.”

Turning my head to the right I notice what looks like a closet door.

Maybe a door to a power box or something. Behind me is a window.

I take another deep breath, swivel my head in the other direction, and there it is. A huge, white rectangular float tank. Just sitting there, waiting for me to get inside.

Stretches finished, breathing exercises complete, I open the door to the float tank. A hot blast of salty air wafts out. But this isn’t the kind of air you experience at a beach or while adding salt to boiling water. No, there’s anywhere between 700-900 pounds of epsom salts mixed with the water in this tank — enough to make a human body float without treading water.

Think the Dead Sea, but in your living room.

One final deep breath, I crawl inside the float tank, and I say to myself, “Just relax. Nothing to worry about here. Ninety minutes spent floating in utter, complete darkness.

What’s the worst that can happen?”

Soon as I think this, though, my imagination starts to rev up.

Lying there in darkness, floating in a chamber of warm, salty water, I start having visions of the door to the float tank getting jammed.

anxiety leaving my body. Getting used to it’s surroundings.”

Another deep breath.

During the 1950s, researchers became intensely interested in the human brain. Was it just an organ capable of only reacting to external stimuli? Or was there an internal force that drives it?

How would the brain react if you put it in an environment where there was absolutely no stimuli whatsoever?

When I open my eyes it’s almost as though I’m drifting through space.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

Of everyone outside suddenly disappearing like it’s the Rapture or something, leaving me stuck inside this tank.

A slow-moving anxiety begins to creep up my spine.

I take another deep breath.

“Settle down,” I say to myself.

“Christian said this would happen the first time. All this, it’s just the

This last question intrigued a man named John C. Lilly. So he decided to get to the bottom of it by building the first ever floatation tank at the National Institute of Mental Health Lab in the Virgin Islands. And while the device was a big step in the right direction, the tank was far from perfect.

Why? CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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VERBNEWS.COM

Well, for starters you had to be completely submerged underwater, wearing a diver’s helmet and air tubes. The tubes, as you can probably guess, released air bubbles and made a constant noise.

Jump ahead nearly thirty years, to the 1980s. By now float tanks have been taken out of the laboratory setting, they are using epsom salt to make people float, and there’s a float centre boom in the United States.

Jump ahead another thirty years or so. The float tank boom of the ‘80s had deflated, nearly disappeared, but it’s now back on the rise. Enter Christian Zrymiak.

As the owner of Oceanic Experience Wellness in Saskatoon, Zrymiak — who is originally from Regina — hopes to bring floatation tank therapy to the wound-up, stressed out people of our province.

“For me, this all started in Vancouver,” he says. “I was living there, studying hypnotherapy … and I was at my wits’ end. I couldn’t find a job, didn’t know what in the hell I was going to do.”

Then, by chance, an anonymous person contacted Zrymiak looking to write a book about hypnotherapy. Zrymiak found this interesting and decided to keep in contact with this person. One thing led to another and, at some point during their correspondence the person mentioned that one of his dreams was to open a float centre.

“That’s crazy,” thought Zrymiak.

“Ridiculous!”

But the idea for a float centre was already planted in Zrymiak’s head.

Soon it would begin to germinate.

“One day I was talking to my friend Albert on Skype,” says Zrymiak, “and I was telling him how I had to get out of Vancouver. He suggested I move to Saskatoon. I thought about it and said, “Yeah, maybe I’ll open a float centre there.’”

After that, things happened quickly. Zrymiak moved to a province where he knew virtually no one, bought a float tank and started a business. It’s been open since November.

Fifteen minutes in the tank at Oceanic Experience Wellness, and all my previous anxiety has washed away.

It’s been replaced by a strange, transcendental peace. There’s nothing but darkness and the thump, thump, thump of my heart in my chest.

Other than that — pure nothingness.

For a while I just float there, arms dangling above my head, eyes open. I focus on trying to slow my heart rate using my breathing. Doesn’t work.

When I open my eyes it’s almost as though I’m drifting through space.

The blackness, the quiet. And I must admit, it’s relaxing.

Really though, once you get used to being in a float tank, how couldn’t it be? We live in a world that is overflowing with stimuli. From computers to cellphones to speed-

PHOTO: COURTESY OF ADAM HAWBOLDT / VERB MAGAZINE

ing cars. The honking of horns and the flashing neon advertising signs.

Everything. It’s constantly grating on you, whether you know it or not.

And most of the time while we’re awake our brains exist in Alpha or Beta states (logical thinking and action) in reaction to these stimuli.

Conversely, when we are in deep REM sleep, our brains are in what’s known as a Delta state.

But here in the float tank, as I pretend I’m floating through space to a distant planet, my brain begins to enter a Theta state. Think of a waking dream, those last few

seconds before you drift off to sleep at night.

When this happens, liquid images of my childhood flood my mind.

My dead friend and I laughing and throwing chestnuts at each other, walking home along the train tracks, my mom in the kitchen pretending to be one the witches from MacBeth and scaring me half to death.

From off in the distance Tibetan chimes begin to ring.

That means my 90 minute session is over.

As I climb out of the tank and dry myself off, I can’t help but

have a new appreciation for my surroundings. Everything seems a little more vivid, the edges on objects are harder. Sharper.

And you know what else? All that anxiety I had in the beginning — it’s long gone now, replaced by a sense of calm. A relaxed mind, and a relaxed (almost rubbery) body.

I haven’t felt this good in ages.

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5 JULY 5 – JULY 11 @VERBREGINA

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EDITORIAL

LET’S TAKE A SHOT

We should be immunizing all kids to prevent the spread of disease

T

o immunize or not to immunize, that is the question.

Actually, as far as we’re concerned, it isn’t much of a question at all. When it comes to children who can’t intellectually or legally decide these things for themselves, as long as they aren’t allergic to something contained in an immunization shot we think they should be getting one. Full stop. It’s as simple as that, and we’re going to explain why.

Many people opt out of immunizing their kids, and if you ask them why chances are they’ll mention something about that infamous study that linked the MMR vaccine (which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, and is administered to kids first when they’re roughly a year old) to autism. But you know what? That study was baloney.

Published in the medical journal The Lancet in 1998, the authors of the article claimed that there was a very serious link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Upon hearing this many parents began foregoing vaccination for their children. But here’s the thing: the research paper was fraudulent.

After the paper was published, an investigation by the British Medical Journal found the data behind its claims was either grossly manipulated or outright fabricated in order to reach a predetermined conclusion. What’s more, the study’s lead author, Andrew Wakefield, was discovered to be in

conflict of interest, having taken over $800,000 from a group that wanted to sue vaccine makers but couldn’t since, you know, all of the existing evidence that showed the MMR vaccine was safe. Not only did Wakefield fail to mention the cash to The Lancet, he also failed to mention that the parents of some of the children in the study were litigants hoping to sue.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, further investigation also published in the British Medical Journal found that Wakefield and the father of one of the study’s children were planning to launch a business venture they

of its “findings” and even Wakefield himself backpedalled. It wasn’t enough to save his career, of course, as the British General Medical Council found him guilty of serious professional misconduct and revoked his license, and The Lancet apologized for publishing the study in the first place and issued a rare full retraction.

But somehow all of this hasn’t stopped people from choosing not to immunize their kids, fearing they may develop autism. In fact, the government of Saskatchewan has published the immunization rates, broken down by age and gender, for people of this province, and guess what: only 63% of kids under the age of five have been protected. This trend is deeply disturbing. As Mark Sawyer, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist in San Diego, claimed that the Lancet incident “has set us back a decade, and we’re just now recovering from that.”

Or are we? In 1994, a few scant years before Wakefield’s bogus research found its way into the spotlight, Canada was certified as a “polio free” country by the WHO. Since then, random cases of polio have cropped up in regions of B.C. where non-vaccinated people came in contact with polio-infected visitors to the province. Now, that’s not to say that polio is making an unchecked comeback. But the fact remains that in a country where the disease was eradicated nearly 20 years ago, there have been a few isolated cases that have appeared — simply because people chose not to immunize against it.

…there exists a means of protecting our children from the disease.

VERB MAGAZINE

reportedly claimed would earn them $43 million per year selling, yup, you guessed it, diagnostic kits for the new condition he claimed to have discovered. The endgame? To develop and sell a competing vaccine once “public confidence in the MMR vaccine was damaged.” Nice.

If this all sounds pretty outrageous, well, it is. Once the truth came out, 10 of the study’s 12 coauthors immediately retracted their interpretation

When it comes to measles, the stats are much worse. From 1950-1954, the number of people infected with the disease hovered around 307 annually, with one year spikes in the number of afflicted hitting as high as 61,370. Fast forward to 2002, and the WHO considered measles to be eliminated in what they term the “Region of the Americas” (which includes Canada). Since then, though, measles have been popping up again in endemic fashion. In 2007 there was an outbreak that lasted 24 weeks and affected 94 people in Quebec.

In the spring of 2010, there was an outbreak in B.C. of 82 confirmed cases.

Then in 2011, thanks in part to another large outbreak in Quebec, there were 750 cases of measles in Canada.

If John Franklin Enders (the guy who helped create the measles vaccine) were alive today, he’d be mighty disappointed. After all, there exists a means of protecting our children from the disease. And in fact, we had all but eradicated measles. The same goes for mumps and rubella and the rest of it. And yet there we are, subjecting our kids to potentially fatal conditions

we know perfectly well how to prevent. It just doesn’t make much sense, does it? Why are some people so hellbent on undoing the hard work that a host of brilliant scientists once toiled over, all in the name of claims that have since been debunked?

It’s time to stop seeing a refusal to immunize children as a brave, wellreasoned stance. By refusing sound medical help from qualified physicians, parents who go the opt-out route when it comes to vaccines put their kids — and everyone their kids come in contact with — in real danger. So let’s stop taking progress for granted, stop believing false information, and start immunizing our children.

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

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6 JULY 5 – JULY 11 NEWS + OPINION

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COMMENTS

ON TOPIC: Last week we asked what you thought about usage-based insurance. Here's what you had to say: – I understand that insurance is for all to share in the misfortune of the individual. In Ontario I heard of an insurance company that set rates according to the neighborhood you live in. ‘Good’ neighborhoods pay less than those deemed ‘Not Good’. That is not right! signed Bill p.s. I enjoy the SUDOKU when I ride the bus.

Text yo thoughtsur to 881 VE R B

POWERED BY THE CREW AT MOGA MOBILE

– Happy Canada Day, everyone.

Take a second to think about what a great country we live in.

It’s Amazing!

8372

– Very interested in following the story of determining dinosaur colours. Cool think to be happening in SK!

of your opinion article. Information like kms on your car etc they already have access too.

In response to “The Find of a Lifetime,” Local, #84 (June 28, 2013)

– Water your plants in this hot weather. Don’t get caught with your plants down.

SOUND OFF

OFF TOPIC – Yay I <3 Joey Cape soooo much thanx for featuring him verb

– Wishing everyone a Happy Canada Day on July 1st!

– LET’S GO RIDERS! THE CUP IS COMING TO REGINA THIS YEAR LET’S WIN IT AND KEEP IT HERE!!

GREEN PRIDE!!

In response to “A Fitting Tribute,” Q+A #84

– HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA :D:D!!!!!

(June 28, 2013)

– Broke my arm. Spent two days in the hospital. F**k do we ever have crappy medical care!

– Summer is here so a great way to spend a Saturday morning is garage saling…BUT while driving around today I could not believe the state of some side streets.

Parts of some resembled gravel grid roads..

NEXT WEEK: What do you think of immunizing children ? Pick up 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.

– Installing technological devices on motorcycles & vehicles to keep track of people’s driving habits including where they go may be too intrusive & an invasion of privacy

by SGI contemplating to introduce usage based insurance rates. Let’s keep things the way they are. Big Brother doesn’t have to be watching all the time!! :0

– Great editorial on SGI new insurance proposal. Completely agree usage-based is NOT the way to go. It rewards the “lunatics” and don’t get me started on having the government have info on where we’ve all been and what route we used to get there, etc. This is such a stupid reaction to a problem. Make people take drivers tests more frequently, and if they fail well to bad for them.

Back to school and retake again.

The only way to make sure roads are more safer is to keep idiots off of them and give drivers of all kinds of vehicles the tools to make themselves better drivers.

We shouldn’t punish everyone because some moron doesn’t know what to do behind the wheel. And we definitely shouldn’t allow the government to put tracking devices on our vehicles.

– You guys are overeacting about the government tracking aspect

7 JULY 5 – JULY 11 /VERBREGINA

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INTERNATIONAL EFFECT

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DWV PHOTOGRAPHY

Melbourne’s Blue King Brown on rock and roll, politics, and a new way of thinking BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

T

he best adjective to describe Melbourne, Australia’s Blue King Brown is “international.” Drawing on a diverse range of sounds, from dancehall and rock to pop and traditional percussion, the group welds their powerful urban roots sound to a philosophy that embraces justice and social consciousness. Fronted by Natalie Pa’apa’a, whose dynamic vocal delivery links the band’s diverse songs together, Blue King Brown are currently touring in support of their 2010 album, Worldwize Part 1 North & South. I caught up with Pa’apa’a via email to ask about the group’s influences, vision, and latest studio project.

your songs feel cohesive and focused.

How do you go about writing songs with such a broad palette of sounds to choose from?

is definitely a part of what has inspired our music both sonically and lyrically.

AJM: On the other hand, your albums — particularly Worldwize Part 1 North & South — has a very international feel, musically and intellectually.

How important is it to you to transcend political borders?

NP: Usually our songs start as a guitar riff or a bass line, then the groove, harmony, melody and finally the vocals. We write a few different ways but more recently we have been using software audio programs like Logic to construct riddims and ideas. We’ll

then go into the studio to record live instrumentation before bringing it back to our home studio and adding more sounds, beats, FX and production in general.

North & South, and its title hints at a follow-up. What are you working on now, and what can we expect to hear from Blue King Brown in the months to come?

AJM: Your philosophy is inextricably linked to your music. How would you describe the ideas of connectedness that seem to pervade your albums?

NP: We’re currently wrapping up a new album, although it is not going to be Part 2 of Worldwize. It’s a whole lot of new works that we’re really excited about. There’s some similar sonic ideas as Worldwize, as well as continuing our conscious lyrical style and international collaborations, but there’s also some new approaches to our songwriting and production. We’re artists, constantly evolving and exploring.

We’ve moved into a time where our global focus has taken control, where our words are refining themselves in order to communicate our ever evolving and growing perspective on life and our shared destination … the future.

NP: The lyrical content of our music is something that came very naturally.

From the time I first started writing lyrics, I’ve always written about my people, my planet, and the unique new era of change that we happen to be alive in. My words reflect the injustices we face as a global community and the victories that await us should we remember and realize that we are all indivisibly connected to the great and mysterious life force that surrounds all living things, and the individual energy we create followed by the actions we take, affect us all as a whole. I believe another world is possible, one without injustice, poverty, hatred and corporate greed over human need, and I believe the only leaders we can count on to make that world a reality [are] ourselves.

AJM: It’s been a couple of years since you released Worldwize Part 1

Blue King Brown July 19 @ Ness Creek Music Festival $60 (Friday day pass) @ nesscreek.com Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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My words reflect the injustices we face as a global community…

NATALIE PA’APA’A

Alex J MacPherson: How has living and working in Melbourne shaped your sound and affected your views on music, as well as on the world?

Natalie Pa’apa’a: Australia is a huge country with various different creative scenes. Where we live, in Melbourne, we believe it’s the Australian hub of arts and culture. Having come from a strong world music and percussive background we already had influences from around the globe, but being surrounded by a thriving multicultural music scene in Melbourne

NP: We believe music is a powerful tool in the push for a new world built on truth, equality, sustainability, and justice. And we’re both passionate about good music and human rights, as well as inspired by the peoplepowered movements happening across the globe at the moment. It’s important for us to reach as many people as possible with our music; it is intended for people from all nations and we are grateful for the opportunity to share it.

AJM: Your music incorporates an extremely diverse range of sounds, yet

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ARTS

LES MISÉRABLES

A new production of a classic musical comes to the Queen City

T

he history of musical theatre is rife with productions of staggering depth and power, shows that audiences will flock to again and again and again. Towering above them all is Les Misérables.

One of the longest-running musical of all time, Les Misérables has been in production for more than 25 years. According to Andréane Bouladier, a member of the ensemble and understudy for Cosette in the latest North American production, the show has flourished because everybody can relate to its most important theme.

“Well, that’s a question that I also asked myself when I joined the tour,” explains Bouladier, one of

four Canadians who have spent the last six months on the road with Les Misérables. “It’s probably because everybody can relate to one of the characters. It’s a universal story, it’s an atemporal story. Yes, it’s set in a time period, but the overall message of the show is still accurate today.”

Les Misérables, which was adapted for the stage from a novel by Victor Hugo, focuses on the transcendental power of kindness, compassion, and mercy. The show follows a former convict named Jean Valjean as he experiences mercy and, as a result, attempts to change his life. As the show unfolds, Valjean must make decisions that directly affect the lives of others as

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

19th century France is swept up in revolutionary fervour.

The current production of Les Misérables premiered in 2010. Drawing on new technology and a cinematic vision of live theatre, the production pushes Les Misérables into new territory without sacrificing the depth or the weight of the original. “It’s a piece of art,” Bouladier says. “The lyrics, the music — it’s a well-done show in every way. And they implanted new technology. For the audience, it’s a new way of seeing it.”

For Bouladier, who has spent the last several months watching the cast evolve and grow from her position on the stage, taking part in this production of Les Misérables is

PHOTO: COURTESY OF KYLE FROMAN

like “winning the lottery.” And while she concedes that spending months on the road is difficult, she wouldn’t have it any other way — because Les Misérables has been proven, time and time again, to be a show worth seeing, a staggering display of musical

depth, emotional weight, and visual splendour that promises to transform the life of everybody who sees it.

history and tradition, they immerse themselves in it. Although their talent speaks for itself, their deep love of music impels them to continue to build on and refine the greatest songs ever written. And while The Day Is Passed And Gone includes four originals, songs written in the same vein as the traditional ballads, Linthicum seems more interested in playing great songs than distinguishing himself by writing them.

“That’s our main focus,” he says, “to write songs that fit into that [tradition].

I mean, if you strip everything down to a good groove and a good melody and

a good line, hopefully it’s going to be a little more memorable than something that’s really overdone.

You’re just breaking it down into a melody, a groove, and a good phrase — the basic elements of songs.”

Les Misérables July 16-21 @ Conexus Arts Centre $37+ @ Conexus Box Office

THE DAY IS PASSED AND GONE

Kacy and Clayton dig deep on their forthcoming LP

K

acy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum have always been drawn to old songs. Their first album, released under the name Kacy and Clayton, resurrected the towering figures of the Mississippi Delta Blues and put a fresh spin on some of the most potent songs ever recorded. Their current project, a forthcoming record called The Day Is Passed And Gone, dives even deeper into the mists of time.

“Kacy and I have this interest in English folk music, and how the Americans changed English folk music in the South,” Linthicum, who also plays

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

with the Deep Dark Woods, explains.

“We’re always trying to combine those influences. To play ballads with a blues rhythm or play gospel music with a drone-y British thing going on. That was the only concept we had."

The Day Is Passed And Gone is hauntingly simple. Casting Anderson’s voice against the spartan backdrop of Linthicum’s guitar, along with flashes of autoharp, pump organ, and fiddle, the record says as much with silence as it does with sound. But its true power is derived from the duo’s ability to insert themselves into the grand arc of musical history.

Most of the songs on the record are traditional, songs that have existed in one form or another for centuries.

According to Linthicum, the oldest, a ballad called “The Cherry-Tree Carol,” dates from the twelfth century. “The thing about these songs is no one person wrote them,” he says. “They have been constantly added to and refined, and that’s why I think they last forever — they’re good enough that people always add their own thing, and eventually it just becomes more perfect.”

This is the essence of what Kacy and Clayton do. Instead of attempting to separate themselves from

Kacy & Clayton July 16 @ Creative City Centre $10 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

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A THOUSAND MILES LEFT BEHIND

Nashville’s Gloriana start a new chapter in their career BY ALEX J M

F

or the members of Gloriana, a country trio based in Nashville, Tennessee, the difference between success and obscurity was a stroke of luck — and a lot of hard work. Brothers Tom and Mike Gossin grew up in Utica, New York. Although their family didn’t have a lot of money, the Gossins venerated songwriters. Their two sons spent their early years listening to records and playing piano. After finishing high school, Tom spent two years studying at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington before dropping out to pursue a music career. He was soon joined by his brother. Together, they spent the next ten years barely scraping by. They played bad venues for worse money, slept on unfamiliar sofas, and survived on cheap ramen noodles. Meanwhile, across the country, Rachel Reinert was preparing to move from LA to Nashville to start her own career. In early 2008, the brothers moved into her apartment — and Gloriana was born.

“It was just happenstance,” Tom recalls from a tour stop in Kansas City, one of dozens the band will play this summer. “We met Rachel and were just, like, maybe we should all try singing together.” It didn’t take long before the

three musicians realized they had unearthed something special. “We all had one of those goose bump moments,” he continues. “It definitely stood apart from the rest of the experiences in my life.” Tom is reluctant to analyze the musical alchemy that defines Gloriana, but he and his bandmates were quick to recognize that it was working. “You

the genre. Deeply influenced by groups like Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles, Gloriana emerged as a synthesis of slick rock and roll, traditional country, and powerful three-part harmonies.

Reinert and the Gossin brothers spent more than two years touring behind the record, including a stint with Taylor Swift, before returning to the studio. A

There are not a lot of those groups like us, where each individual person could sing on their own and write on their own…

TOM GOSSIN

need a connection like that in a group,” he says, “and it’s not something you can just manufacture: it’s either there or it’s not. And we were really lucky to find that setup.”

Less than a year later, the trio released a short EP called The Way It Goes. A few months after that they put out their eponymous long play.

Although it received mixed reviews, Gloriana was embraced by country fans across North America and it established the band as a serious force in

Thousand Miles Left Behind, which was released late last summer, builds on and refines the ideas laid out on Gloriana.

Tom says it marks a turning point for the band.

“It’s like the end of the chapter of being a struggling musician, and then making that transition from a bar musician that sleeps on people’s couches and is always struggling to pay bills and find food to getting onto a tour bus and touring the world with Taylor Swift,” he says. “It was a huge life change.” All CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID MCCLISTER

MACPHERSON records are a snapshot of a moment in time, and the songs on A Thousand Miles Left Behind address the frustration and agony of life as a working musician — a period the band has since left behind. These ideas are captured on songs like “Gold Rush” and “Turn My World Around.” The former is a meditation on the dreams and the unshakable convic-

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

tions of the pioneers who flooded into California in the late 1840s, in search of gold that was never within their reach. It is a fitting metaphor for the people who gamble everything on a chance at success. The latter is Mike’s reflection on the years he and Tom spent searching for success. “It’s about always wanting what you don’t have,” Tom says of “Gold Rush,” as well as the broad theme of the album. “When I had gigs in bars every night and I could stay at home and I was with my lady

daily, not travelling all the time, all I ever wanted to do was get on the bus and travel. And now, of course, after six years of touring, it’s like, if only I could stay home for a day.”

But A Thousand Miles Left Behind is more than just a nostalgic look at the glory days. It is also an example of how contemporary country is growing and evolving. “We live in a world where Taylor Swift’s new album is still being considered for country music awards,” he muses, “and if you want to really get into it, that sounds nothing like traditional country music. So I think the lines have been really blurred. We just try to stay true to our hearts and not think about that stuff too much. We just try to do what feels right, you know?”

In practice, this means writing songs about meaningful experiences, songs everybody can identify with. “Sunset Lovin’” is a slinky track about a couple Mike saw making out in a car. It is a simple yet effective ode to the beauty of young love in the summer, complete with a grungy Telecaster lick and a towering chorus. “Carolina Rose,” on the other hand, is a song Tom wrote for his fiancée, a gentle ballad about leaving on tour and coming home again.

Drawing on a range of influences, from the smooth grooves of California rock and roll to the mandolins, banjos,

and pedal steels that outline so many classic country songs, A Thousand Miles Left Behind bridges the gap between tradition and innovation. Tom’s philosophy is straightforward. “Beautiful simplicity,” he says with a laugh, citing Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” as an example. “It’s a thought that we’ve all had. You come up with a clever way to say it and with a perfect little melody — and it’s a simple little song that’ll stand the test of time.”

What separates Gloriana from many, if not most, of their contemporaries is the fact that all three members contribute songs. A Thousand Miles Left Behind includes tracks written by all three band members and producer Matt Serletic. But the record doesn’t feel splintered or jagged. Tom attributes this to common experience and, more importantly, the fact that he and his bandmates have grown accustomed to writing for the group — and embracing the possibilities offered by a group made up of unique individuals. “There are not a lot of those groups like us, where each individual person could sing on their own and write on their own and play on their own,” he muses.

“You’re putting the collective thing in rather than being by yourself.”

And while this sense of collective purpose has grown stronger

over time, the trio’s circumstances have changed dramatically. Which is why A Thousand Miles Left Behind feels like the end of one era and the beginning of another. Reinert and the Gossins are no longer struggling to pay their bills or find a decent meal. “I’ve been trying to make it in music since I was sixteen — paying my dues and working so hard,” Tom recalls. “Towards my late twenties it was like, oh man, is this ever going to happen? Was I silly to go for this? And I think with making that transition, getting the record deal and putting out a couple albums and having some success with that, I’ve really moved on to the next chapter in my life.”

Today, Tom is preparing to get married and buy a house — real-

ties he could once only dream of.

A Thousand Miles Left Behind hints at the old adage that the grass is greener on the other side, but making the record convinced Tom that he should step back and enjoy the moment. “I just love life right now,” he says. “We’re going to try and have our next single go in that direction.”

Gloriana July 14 @ Craven $100+ @ cravencountryjamboree.com

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

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THE MOST POPULAR ICE CREAM IN TOWN

Photos courtesy of Maxton Priebe

The Milky Way Ice Cream Shop has been serving local ice cream lovers since 1956 BY VICTORIA ABRAHAM

B

raving the kind of frigid wind that makes your eyes water and instantly dispels any hope of your jacket keeping you warm, we, along with a handful of other ice cream lovers willing spring to behave like spring, lined up outside of the Milky Way Ice Cream Shop. It was the end of March, we reasoned, and Milky Way had opened despite the snow that still covered the ground.

As the minutes stretched on and I became increasingly colder I began to marvel at our dedication. In what other city would people line up outside for an ice cream cone when a hot chocolate, a Snuggie, and a fireplace were not only more appropriate, but necessary? Such bravery speaks less to Reginans’ love of dairy products and more to the little shop’s legendary

status as a local landmark. When my small real cream soft ice cream cone dipped in coconut finally came, it was well worth the wait.

for 33 years to have the clientele that we have, so we’re very fussy with our customers,” she said.

Boldt has been working at Milky Way every summer since 1981, when her husband and his brother bought the shop for her and her sister-in-law.

Before it came into their possession, the shop already had a special place in the Boldt family, as it was where Carole and her husband went when they were dating.

The shop itself has been operating every summer since 1956, and hardly anything has changed. The iconic white and red striped front has remained the same, and so have the large line ups.

The menu features 40 flavours of hard ice cream, six flavours of soft ice cream, cyclones, sundaes, parfaits, milkshakes and “cre-

We’ve worked for 33 years to have the clientele that we have…

CAROLE BOLDT

This time around, though, the sun was shining and Milky Way was experiencing a never-ending stream of customers, which is just how owner Carole Boldt likes it. “We’ve worked

ate your own” ice cream cakes.

There is a new flavour of the day every three days, and every week features a cyclone, milkshake and summer treat. Customers looking for something a little more savoury can order popcorn, a hamburger, cheeseburger, smokie, hot dog, chili or a chili dog.

I decided to go with a modified summer treat of the week, aptly called the dreamboat: two scoops of velvety soft ice cream generously heaped in between brownies, with whipped cream, Saskatoon berry topping, caramel and toasted coconut flakes. It was the perfect dessert.

The family affair that started 33 years ago continues today as grand-

children, nieces and nephews work at the shop.

“We have brought up a lot of kids here. We’ve helped a lot of young kids learn how to work, how to be good to our customers, how to clean,” Boldt stated knowingly.“They all say I should retire. But I am not ready to hang up my scoop yet.”

Milky Way Ice Cream Shop 910 Victoria Ave. | 306 352 7920 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina vabraham@verbnews.com

LET’S GO DRINKIN’ VERB’S MIXOLOGY GUIDE SPIKED ROOT BEER FLOAT

INGREDIENTS

A childhood favourite gets a grown-up makeover with this delicious alcoholic root beer float.

12 oz. root beer ½ cup vanilla ice cream 1 shot bourbon whiskey (2 shots if you lack Kahlua or like a strong drink) 1 shot Kahlua whipped cream (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Chill all ingredients, then pour the root beer, whiskey and Kahlua into a 2-cup measuring cup. Add the ice cream, stopping when the volume hits 1 and a half cups. Gently stir, then pour the mixture into two glasses. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

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MUSIC

NEXT WEEK

COMING UP

KISS

HOLY GRAIL

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH

@ BRANDT CENTRE TUESDAY, JULY 16– $95.25+

@ THE EXCHANGE TUESDAY, JULY 16 – $13

@ BRANDT CENTRE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2 – $39.75

When Kiss burst onto the music scene in 1973, people hadn’t seen anything like them before. With their painted faces, outlandish outfits and flamboyant stage antics (which ranged from breathing fire to spitting blood to shooting rockets), this hard-rocking quartet from New York certainly grabbed peoples’ attention. Fast forward 40 years and 40+ million records sold, and Kiss is still a hot act to see. Whether playing their hard rock from the ‘70s, glam metal of the ‘80s or their grittier stuff from the ‘90s, this band — led by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons — never fails to deliver.

Especially for the loyal members of the Kiss Army. They’ll be in Regina next week. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

When you first hear Holy Grail you might say to yourself, “Wow! They sound familiar.” That’s because the sound from this metal quintet from Pasadena is firmly rooted in old-school metal. Think Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or Dio, and you’ll get the idea. But there’s a twist. What Holy Grail have done is take the sound of their spiritual metal forefathers, and updated it. The result is songs full of incendiary riffs, sweeping vocals and hard-charging drums which have catapulted Holy Grail from playing small venues in California to rocking clubs from coast to coast. Oh, and they also recently released their debut album called Crisis in Utopia, which kicks copious amounts of metal ass. Tickets available through ticketedge.ca

It’s no great secret this metal quintet digs kung fu. Their name, Five Finger Death Punch, refers to a technique known as Dim Mak (Touch of Death), which is mentioned in films from Clan of the White Lotus to Executioners, Shaolin and Kill Bill. Oh, and their first album, The Way of the Fist? It’s the English name of a Chinese martial art known as Kuntao.

But Five Finger Death Punch is more than just a band with an awesome name and a predilection for kung fu. They’re also a band whose sound has continuously evolved with each passing record. On their latest album they have really come into their own, playing an infectious brand of hardcharging melodic heavy metal that blows your hair back. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

– By Adam Hawboldt

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: AKTIVIOSIO / THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST

SASK MUSIC PREVIEW The Ness Creek Music Festival is almost here! Head up to Big River July 18-21 to take in the performances, workshops, Eco-Village, artisan market, drum and dance circle, and more, all in the heart of the boreal forest. Headliners this year include Elliott Brood, Old Man Luedecke, Said the Whale and The Wooden Sky. Oh, and did we mention camping is free with a weekend pass?

Head on over to www.nesscreek.com for more information.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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JULY 5 » JULY 13 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

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FRIDAY 5

JON DAVIS, MATT TOMLINSON / Creative City Centre — Two talented singer/ songwriters that you won’t want to miss.

7:30pm / $10 DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits.

10pm / $5 SNFU, ROYAL RED BRIGADE, TOMORROW STARTS TODAY / The Exchange — Punk and hardcore played by local bands.

7:30pm / $20 @ X-Ray Records 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

DAN SILLJER BAND / McNally’s Tavern — DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This This local act plays funk/soul/rock guitar.

DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits.

10pm / $5 10pm / $5 WILDFIRE / Pump Roadhouse — A local MARY GAUTHIER / The Exchange — Hardcountry group fronted by Melissa Manspun folk music from a talented American nett. 9pm / Cover TBD musician. 7:30pm / $20(advance), THE MILKMAN’S SONS / The Sip Night$25(door) club — One of Regina’s hottest DAN SILLJER BAND / McNally’s new classic/modern cover Tavern — This local act bands. 10pm / $5 plays funk/soul/rock DJ LONGHORN guitar. 10pm / $5 / Whiskey Saloon WILDFIRE — Come check / Pump Roadout one of house — A Regina’s most local couninteractive DJs try group as he drops fronted by some of the Melissa best country Mannett. beats around.

9pm / Cover RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE 8pm / Cover TBD TBD COURTESY OF THE ARTIST STEVE GIBSON THE MILKMAN’S BAND / Whiskey Saloon SONS / The Sip - Soft country rock all the Nightclub — One of way from Newcastle. 10pm / $10 Regina’s hottest new classic/ modern cover bands. 10pm / $5 STEVE GIBSON BAND / Whiskey Saloon ALICE IN CHAINS W/ CHEVELLE AND — Soft country rock all the way from MONSTER TRUCK / Brandt Centre — One Newcastle. 10pm / $10 of the biggest bands to come out of the Seattle grunge scene. 7pm / $53.50+ (ticketmaster.ca) THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE / The RORY ALLEN / Casino Regina — Singing Exchange — An awesome explosion of Elvis’ gospel and love songs. 8pm / $20indie/folk rock. 7:30pm / $15 (ticket25 (casinoregina.com) edge.ca)

SATURDAY 6

SUNDAY 7

MONDAY 8

OPEN MIC NIGHT / The Artful Dodger — Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ & BLUES / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring Little Chicago, a blues act led by Ray Eberle.

9pm / No cover

TUESDAY 9

SCARLETT JANE / Artful Dodger — A hot-as-Hades folk duo from Toronto. 8pm / Cover TBD

WEDNESDAY 10

WEDNESDAY NIGHT FOLK / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring Calgary’s Erin Ross, playing a soulful blend of country and blues. 9pm / No cover SNOW WHITE’S POISON BITE / The Club — Also featuring Farewell, My Love and Chomp Chomp Attack. 7pm / Cover TBD SCORPIOS, JOEY CAPE, JON SNODGRASS / The Exchange — A night of punk.

7:30pm / $13 (ticketedge.ca) JAM NIGHT AND OPEN STAGE / McNally’s Tavern — Come on down and enjoy some local talent. 9pm / No cover

THURSDAY 11

DAY TRIP, I AUTOMATIC / McNally’s Tavern — Come out and support local talent.

8:30pm / $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 12

CRAVIN’ ART FESTIVAL / Artful Dodger — A music and arts fest. Time and tickets TBD DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits.

10pm / $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 ABSOFUNKINLUTELY / McNally’s Tavern — Stubble funk, prairie disco and reggae rock all in one. 10pm / $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

THE WALLFLOWERS / Casino Regina — Get your “One Headlight” fixed and to the Casino for some “6th Avenue Heartache.” 8pm / $35+ (casinoregina.com) VAL HALLA / Casino FRINGE FEST Regina Summer FUNDRAISER / Stage — Rocking Artesian on out at the F. W. Hill 13th — RegMall over your gae-inspired lunch hour. 12pm guitar licks. / Free Followed by DISTANCES, slam poet LORDS KITCHNER, Rob Gee. PANDACORN / The 8pm / $20 THE WALLFLOWERS Club — A night of CRAVIN’ ART COURTESY OF THE ARTIST punk-rock, prog rock FESTIVAL / Artful and indie pop.7:30pm / Dodger — A music Cover TBD and arts fest. Time and DECIBEL FREQUENCY / Gabbo’s Nighttickets TBD club — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This Cover $5 DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits.

PS FRESH / The Hookah Lounge — DJ 10pm / $5 Ageless started spinning in Montreal, ABSOFUNKINLUTELY / McNally’s Tavern DJ Drewski started in Saskatoon. They — Stubble funk, prairie disco and reggae both landed in Regina and have come rock all in one. 10pm / $5 together to sling some bomb beats. 7pm / No cover GET LISTED OPEN MIC NIGHT / King’s Head Tavern Have a live show you'd like — Come out, play some tunes, sing some to promote? Let us know! songs, and show Regina what you got. layout@verbnews.com 8pm / No cover

SATURDAY 13

14 JULY 5 – JULY 11 ENTERTAINMENT

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NIGHTLIFE

TUESDAY, JULY 2 @

ORIGINAL JOE’S

Original Joe’s Restaurant & Bar 3806 Albert Street (306) 206 0400 MUSIC VIBE / An eclectic mix

of everything, from top 40 and rock to classical FEATURED DEALS / Half priced wine DRINK OF CHOICE / The Patio Joe — Alizé, Malibu rum, and pineapple and peach juice TOP EATS / Fish tacos

CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, July 12. facebook.com/verbregina

Photography by Bebzphoto

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN ...

but the questions is: why? BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

W

here to begin?

In the beginning, I s’pose. When I first heard they were remaking The Lone Ranger, and it would star Johnny Depp, I was all kinds of excited.

Why? Well, for starters, I’m excited about any movie Johnny Depp puts out. But more than that, as a kid I watched the ever-loving hell out of The Lone Ranger television series.

Still gives me goosebumps, just to think about it.

So when Disney announced a big-budget remake of The Lone Ranger for 2013, my hopes were tremendously high. But alas, Depp and that film have instantly shattered those dreams of mine.

But before I get into why this happened, let’s quickly look at the plot. The Lone Ranger begins with an elderly Tonto (the Lone

THE LONE RANGER Gore Verbinski STARRING Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter + William Fichtner DIRECTED BY

135 MINUTES | PG

thought I was watching something exceedingly special.

But then, somewhere along the way, the whole movie goes off the rails. The plot gets convoluted, the script wears thin, and the clichés start flying.

Butch kills a dozen or so Texas Rangers and eats one of their hearts — a Ranger named Dan Reid. Dan’s brother John (Armie Hammer), a district attorney in Texas, vows revenge. He puts on a mask, becomes the Lone Ranger, teams up with Tonto, and kicks copious amounts of ass.

Okay, not really. Because while this movie is named after Reid’s character, it should’ve really been called The Tonto Story because nearly all the focus is on Johnny Depp’s character. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Depp’s

But then, somewhere along the way, the whole movie goes off the rails.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

In re-runs, naturally. The original series ran from 1949-1957.

But that’s beside the point. I used to sit around in my onesie, impatiently waiting for the intro where the Lone Ranger goes racing across the screen atop his horse and says those magic words: “Hi Ho Silver away!”

Ranger’s sidekick, for those of you who aren’t in the know), played by Johnny Depp, telling a young boy in a Lone Ranger mask about his adventures. The film cuts to an action sequence involving a train and a prisoner and a gang led by Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner).

And for the first 20 minutes or so I

Tonto is funny and strange and, well, kind of like Jack Sparrow (of Pirates of the Caribbean fame), but not quite as entertaining.

And while it’s always nice to see Mr. Depp do his quirky thing, I couldn’t help but want more Lone Ranger, less Tonto. You know, like in the original series.

Hmmm … what else was wrong with the movie? Well, the Lone Ranger comes off as wimpy, there are way too many set pieces involving trains, and, oh yeah, there’s also gratuitous violence — which was kind of shocking, considering it’s a Disney film and all.

Don’t get me wrong; I like my cinematic violence as much as the

next red-blooded hooligan, but it somehow seemed out of place in a Lone Ranger movie.

So too did the way the movie jumped around, from humour to genocide, joking to jarring murder.

Watch at your own risk.

Oh, and don’t bring your young kids. It’s not that kind of a Walt Disney movie.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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A CINEMATIC SWITCHEROO

Ken Loach’s The Angels’ Share a departure for the famed British director BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

PHOTO: COURTESY OF ENTERTAINMENT ONE

THE ANGELS’ SHARE Ken Loach STARRING Paul Brannigan, Gary Maitland, John Henshaw + William Ruane DIRECTED BY

101 MINUTES | NR

W

hen you sit down to watch a Ken Loach movie, chances are you know what you’re in for — a heavy dose of social realism.

Never one to shy away from the gritty truth of our existence, the British director makes movies that confront social issues like homelessness, labour rights and the tyranny of the ruling class headon. No frills. Nothing fancy. Just straightforward, naturalistic films that expose the modern condition for what it is.

Think Riff-Raff, Kes, and Sweet Sixteen, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

And that’s not to say Ken Loach is a myopic, one-trick pony. Far from it. He’s probably the greatest director on this side of the pond people have never heard of.

Just ask Dustin Hoffman or Robert Duval. They’re both fans.

Anyway, the only reason I mention any of this is because the other day I was in the mood for some realist film making and put on Loach’s new film, The Angels’ Share.

It begins in a courtroom where we meet a veritable rogues’ gallery of petty criminals being sentenced for everything from public drunkenness to shoplifting. Then we get to Robbie (Paul Brannigan), a short man with a scarred face and rather large ears.

He’s no petty criminal. No, he’s in court because he has a lot of violence in his heart and one day, whacked on cocaine, he stomped a teenager after a traffic incident.

Instead of throwing him in the clink, though, the judge offers leniency in the form of community

Robbie and the other guys around town to do their work and, at the end of the day, takes them to distilleries for a tipple or two of whiskey.

At this point of the movie, it being a Ken Loach film and all, I thought, “I know how this ends.

This is the ray of hope Ken Loach is giving his main character. But he’ll take it back. Probably turn Robbie into a raging alcoholic who drinks away his freedom.”

Boy, was I wrong!

Turns out, from that point on The Angels’ Share (which is a reference

probably head to the Regina Public Library and give it a watch.

You won’t be disappointed.

The Angels’ Share opens on July 11; see reginalibrary.ca for more information and show times.

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@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

[Ken Loach] is the greatest director … people have never heard of.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

service. Robbie accepts his punishment with a straight face. And speaking of straight, with a pregnant girlfriend and a bleak future awaiting him, that’s exactly where Robbie wants his life to be — on the straight and narrow.

And while doing community service with a gang of petty criminals, Robbie gets his chance.

It comes from his case worker, Harry (John Henshaw), a wellintentioned man who drives

to the two percent of whisky that evaporates into the ether while it’s aging in the barrel) morphs into a heist movie.

Colour me pleasantly surprised.

Without giving too much away, let’s just say the heist involves a very old, rare barrel of whiskey that is about to be auctioned off for hundreds of thousands of euros.

And you know what? Loach’s sudden switcheroo really comes off well. So well, in fact, you should

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18 JULY 5 – JULY 11 ENTERTAINMENT

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ACROSS 1. Metric unit of weight 5. Bug on a dog 9. Finnish steam bath 10. Salad dressing choice 12. Whalebone 13. Provided with a power 15. 100 square metres 16. Use more of something than is necessary 18. A doctor might send you to the hospital for one 19. Competed in “Canadian Idol” 21. Pedal next to the brake 22. Advertising sign 23. Make knifelike 25. ___ bouche (tidbit)

26. Tympanic membrane 28. Heat-resistant glass 31. Film starring Clark Gable 35. Grow together, as broken bones do 36. Kind of phone 37. Animal that eats grass 38. Hard-working insect 39. Echo finder 41. Hasty escape 42. Aquarium fish 44. A ___ 46. They control horses 47. Kind of fat 48. Prickly-stemmed flower 49. Has a craving

DOWN 1. Principal ore of lead 2. Kick yourself for 3. From scratch 4. One who runs a business 5. Fingerboard ridges 6. Half of a road, usually 7. Conclusion 8. Keen insight 9. Wrestler Stock from Manitoba 11. Long-legged, long- necked bird 12. Perch relative 14. Have supper 17. Personification of tiredness 20. Say hello to

A 22. Wanderer 24. Kiss of peace 25. Eavesdropping device 27. What kings, queens, princes, and princesses are 28. Card game for three 29. ___ circle 30. Ignore the trash can B 32. Some gourds 33. They make necklaces 34. “Coffee, tea, ___?”

36. Sheriff’s group 39. Without 40. Underdone, as a steak 43. ___ de Janeiro 45. Hombre

SUDOKU ANSWER KEY

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

CROSSWORD CANADIAN CRISS-CROSS

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

TIMEOUT

© WALTER D. FEENER 2013

HOROSCOPES JULY 5 – JULY 11 ARIES March 21–April 19

LEO July 23–August 22

SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21

Listen to your emotions this week, Aries. Forget logic and rationality, and do whatever it is your heart tells you to do.

You may want to pay attention to the details this week, Leo. You know, so something important doesn’t slip past you.

Your confidence will begin to soar as the week goes on, Sagittarius.

Put it to good use. You can achieve anything you set your mind to.

TAURUS April 20–May 20

VIRGO August 23–September 22

CAPRICORN December 22–January 19

Whoa, nelly! You might want to slow things down this week, Taurus. If not, you’re going to risk a total burnout.

Someone may come to you with a problem this week, Virgo. Don’t try to solve it for them, just be there and be sensitive to the situation.

Spend some time this week trying to find your true self, Capricorn. It may be hiding in places you haven’t yet looked.

GEMINI May 21–June 20

LIBRA September 23–October 23

AQUARIUS January 20–February 19

Some weeks it’s best to keep your opinions to yourself, others it’s best to put them out there for people to hear. Opt for the latter this week.

If you’ve burned some bridges lately, Libra, the best thing you can do is start trying to rebuild them. The tools you need are already in your possession.

Creativity is the key word for this week, Capricorn. So why not start a new project and put those creative juices to work?

CANCER June 21–July 22

SCORPIO October 24–November 22

PISCES February 20–March 20

There is potential for conflict waiting around every corner this week, Cancer. Tread carefully, and you’ll make it through unscathed.

If you’re feeling out of sorts this week, like your everyday approach to things isn’t working, you have to learn to adjust.

Someone may try to throw a monkey wrench into your plans, Pisces. Yank it out and keep going — you’ve got what it takes.

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

CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY

A

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

B

19 JULY 5 – JULY 11 /VERBREGINA

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