Verb Issue S270 (Dec. 13-19, 2013)

Issue #270 – December 13 to December 19

arts

culture

music

saskatoon

close talker

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b-boy stance Break boy culture in SK gerry dee On his wildest year yet The hobbit: the desolation of smaug + night train to lisbon Film reviews

Photo: courtesy of tyler goodyear

contents

On the cover:

Close talker

Saskatoon rockers keep on rolling. 16 / cover Photo: courtesy of tyler goodyear

NEWs + Opinion

b-boy stance

let’s give it a shot

Saskatchewan’s break boy culture.

Why we should also vaccinate boys against HPV. 8 / Editorial

4 / Local

Taboo talk

comments

Tackling the issue of religion in a public arena. 6 / Local

Here’s what you had to say about a winter driving course. 10 / comments

culture

Q + A with friends of foes On learning to make music. 12 / Q + A

a busy man

Quick + Tasty

Gerry Dee on his wildest year yet.

We visit Wing Ting.

14 / Arts

18 / Food + Drink

when words are not enough Exhibit explores making art on the prairies. 15 / Arts

Music One Bad Son, Mo’ Marley + Electric Six 17 / music

entertainment

listings Local music listings for December 13 to December 21 20 / listings

the hobbit: the on the bus desolation of smaug + Weekly original comic illustrations night train to lisbon by Elaine M. Will. 30 / comics The latest movie reviews. 22 / Film

Nightlife Photos

Games + Horoscopes

We visited Buds + The Yard & Flagon.

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 31 / timeout

24 / Nightlife

homes Winterizing your home, boosting your theatre system + more. 32-35 / homes

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon 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 / rory maclean

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

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

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advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

Design Lead / andrew yanko Graphic designer / bryce kirk Contributing Photographers / Patrick Carley, Adam Hawboldt + ishtiaq opal

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

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Photo: Courtesy of Stefaun Tingley

B-boy stance

Being a break boy in Saskatchewan by ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

he video is grainy. At times, a tad wobbly. In it, Terrance Bear (aka T-rok) is spinning on his head.

Dressed in a button-up shirt and jeans, he starts out with his legs spread wide, almost in the splits. The crown of his head on the ground. With his neck straight, jaw locked, Bear taps the ground with his hands, pushing himself in a clockwise direction.

Tap, tap, tap.

The faster Bear taps, the faster he spins. The people who have circled around him stand in silence. Bear bends his knees, puts his hands on his hips, and spins faster and faster, concentrating on keeping his back straight.

The video clip is 13 seconds long.

At around the half-way mark, Bear tucks his arms behind his head.

The spin he’s in gets tighter, faster than your eyes can keep track of.

And just when you think he can go no faster, Bear’s hands shoot out and plant on the floor. Next thing you know, Bear is on his feet. The onlookers cheer as he slowly walks out of the circle.

No big deal. Terrance Bear is a b-boy. This is what he does. What some people call breakdancing. But

that isn’t what Bear calls it. Same goes for his friend, and fellow Skill Force Crew b-boy, Stefaun Tingley (aka Omega Flow).

It’s a frigid Saturday afternoon, about three years after that video of Terrance Bear was posted on YouTube. Sitting inside a downtown Tim Hortons, Bear’s boy Tingley takes a sip from his extra-large coffee and tells me he’s glad the term breakdancing came up in conversation.

“That’s a very mainstream term,” he says. “It’s kind of looked down upon by people active in the b-boy culture. You see, b-boy technically means break boy. It’s a term for the dancers that, back in the day, would go out and get down to the breaks of certain jazz and funk jams. Like in a James Brown song, you’d have strictly a drum beat.” Here, Tingley stops talking. His hands begin to tap out a drum beat on the table in front of him, and he says, “So you’d have a break beat going like that, and these guys would go out and start rocking to that beat.”

That was back in the late-’60s. By the early ‘70s in New York, DJ Kool Herc — the DJ credited with creating much of the foundational aspects

of hip-hop music — was dropping break beats, more people were dancing to them, developing their own style, and a new corner stone of the hip hop movement was born.

These days breaking, or b-boying as those in the culture call it, looks markedly different that it did during the pioneering days.

“B-boying has really evolved since then,” says Tingley. “It’s an evolution that has really wowed everybody. It’s almost like ‘How the heck did it come to this?’”

Sure, there are still battles, dance competitions between individuals or crews. Sure, there are still cyphers, circles of people gathered around the breakers. And sure, the idea is still to hit your moves on the beats.

But these days, b-boying is a lot more complex, a lot more dynamic and full of jaw-dropping moves than it was in the beginning.

“Toprock and downrock were the foundations [of b-boying],” says Tingley. To show what he means, he gets up out of his chair and starts dancing in Tim Hortons to an imaginary beat. His legs moving fluidly in and out, side to side. His arms are swinging in rhythm.

“This is toprock,” he says. “If there was a beat I’d be hitting the Continued on next page »

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beat here.” His foot snakes out in front of him, pulls back. And Tingley says, “it’s basically rocking the beat on top, when you’re standing.”

Then Tingley crouches down, puts a hand on the floor and starts swinging his legs, one over the other. “And this is downrock,” he says. “Basically, it’s on the ground.”

As time passed more elements were added to b-boying. Elements like freezes (where a b-boy freezes a move to coincide with a pause in the music) and power moves.

“Power moves are the real crowd pleasers,” says Tingley. “They are adapted from gymnastics and other moves from other dances where

they both first got into b-boying, Bear and Tingley were rivals.

Back then, Tingley was in the Floor Force Crew, based out of Cowessess First Nation, east of Regina in the Qu’appelle Valley. Bear was a member of Saskatoon’s Skill Force Crew.

“When I first started out with my crew, we were wondering if there were any other b-boys around in the province,” remembers Tingley. “Our crew was together for maybe two years before we heard about this battle Terrance’s crew was putting on in Saskatoon. His crew was our main battle that night. After that, back in the day, me and this guy’s

[B-boying] is an evolution that has really wowed everybody. stefaun tingley

the moves are really explosive. Like gymnast flares. You’ll see a guy do three gymnast flares, spin up to his hand, do six rotations then come down into a head spin.”

Kind of like the headspin his boy Terrance Bear was doing in that video on YouTube.

Terrrance Bear and Stefaun Tingley weren’t always friends. In fact, back at the turn of the millennium, when

crew,” he says, pointing to Bear, “we used to have a petty beef.”

Bear, who is sitting next to Tingley in Tim Hortons, nods and chuckles. And Tingley says, “We used to be on the Internet going back and forth. Saying ‘You guys suck … wait till we battle again in February.’ It got pretty heated. For a while after that, whenever we’d meet and battle, there’d be tension.”

The more their two crews met to battle, though, the more that tension

abated. And when Tingley finally moved to Saskatoon, a fast friendship was forged. “That’s one of the great things about b-boying,” says Tingley. “Not only has it allowed me to travel to other provinces to battle, it’s also allowed me to meet a bunch of really interesting, like-minded people. I would’ve never met Terrance if it wasn’t for b-boying.”

That’s not the only positive to be taken from being a b-boy.

“I got involved with all this through my older brother and it really impacted my life in good ways,” says Bear. “When I was younger I was in and out of the justice system.

I was stealing cars and whatnot.

Then when I was 17, I saw my brother doing some moves and got interested. From that point on, [bboying] let me focus my energies in a more positive direction.”

And now, at the age of 29, both Bear and Tingley are trying to bring those kinds of positives to the community. Whether it be doing youth workshops, conferences, or teaching at schools, as the elder statesmen of b-boying in the province Bear and Tingley are looking to give back to a culture that has given them so much.

One move at a time.

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Taboo Talk Tackling the issue of religion in the civic arena by ADAM HAWBOLDT

A

bishop, an imam, and a Buddhist walk into a theatre.

No, this isn’t the beginning of a clichéd joke. It was the scene that unfolded at Frances Morrison Library earlier this week. The bishop’s name was Donald Bolen of the Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, the Buddhist was Lori Petruskevich, and then there was Imam Hafiz Ilyas Sidyot. But that wasn’t all. Also in attendance was a secularist/atheist philosopher, a member of the Jewish community, a Lutheran bishop, a fellow from the Circle Drive Alliance Church, and a gentleman representing the Office of the Treaty Commissioner.

The reason they were all in the theatre together? To talk about one of the things you’re allegedly not supposed to talk about in polite public — religion.

Seated side-by-side in black folding chairs at the front of the packed theatre, these eight people made up the panel for a discussion about faith in the public sphere, something that is a hot-button topic in this province at the moment. Each speaker had seven minutes to state their case, and to explain where they stood on religion in public spaces. Some talked about the preamble to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically the part that says “Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.”

Others talked about religious respect, mutual understanding, the problems of religion in government, the need for religious influence in society, secularism and exclusion. There was even mention of city council debating public prayer and buses featuring the greeting Merry Christmas.

No one mentioned the name Ashu Solo.

It’s hard to believe that a panel discussion about faith in the public

sphere would be happening anywhere in Saskatchewan if it wasn’t for Ashu Solo.

Last year in April, at a volunteer appreciation banquet in Saskatoon a Christian prayer was recited at the event. This didn’t sit well with Solo.

“I was really surprised, offended and angered that in 2012, at a municipal government event, they would have a Christian prayer recitation,” says Solo. “It was an extremely diverse audience with people from all kinds of religions.

So I was shocked. Angered.”

Why was he so angry?

“There are over 10,000 religions, 150 of which have one million or more followers, not including branches of each religion. The state can’t promote them all and can’t promote them all equally, so it should promote none,” explains Solo. “Also, nobody’s taxes should go toward promoting a religion [they don’t] believe in.”

So Solo decided to do something about this. He filed a complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission against the city and Councillor Randy Donauer, who recited the prayer.

But he wasn’t done there. Later the same year, in December, Solo went after the municipal government again. This time, it was for the slogan “Merry Christmas” being displayed on city buses.

“It was brought to my attention that they were only promoting one religion on city buses,” Solo explains. “A group of people approached me and asked me to launch a case against that. I thought it was a good idea, so I went ahead and did that.”

Much to Solo’s chagrin, in October the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission said there wasn’t enough evidence to move forward with his anti-Merry Christmas complaint. Nonetheless, his Continued on next page »

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Photo: Courtesy of adam hawboldt

actions have stirred up the need for debate in Saskatoon — and beyond.

In Regina, University of Regina religious studies professor FranzVolker Greifenhagan feels that, given what’s been happening in Saskatoon, the city council in the Queen City should

one, the next an Islamic one, and so on. Then have an Aboriginal elder or a humanist come in to kick things off.

He was asked those questions and gave his solution back in October, and while Greifenhagan maintains that the avenue he proposed is probably the best one for Regina’s city council to walk down, he feels that before any-

…how do we live our religious … diversity in a healthy, pluralistic society?

Donald bolen

open up a dialogue about its prayer policy. Currently, there is a Christian prayer said before council meetings.

“A reporter had asked me what I thought about the situation in Saskatoon,” says Greifenhagan. “I think they had three options — eliminate prayer at city functions, observing a moment of silence, or maintaining the status quo. I think all three of those are problematic.”

Greifenhagan notes a generalized prayer would work fine, but the best solution would be to have alternating prayers before Regina city council meetings. One week you’d have a Catholic prayer, the next a Jewish

thing happens a dialogue is needed, whether it be in city hall or in a town hall-esque panel discussion like the one just held in Saskatoon. Because diversity, like we have in Saskatchewan, without dialogue can often lead to less than desirable situations.

Back in Saskatoon, Bishop Donald Bolen speaks in a slow, measured rhythm. His lithe body is slouched slightly at the shoulders, and leaned forward over the podium. A permanent smile is spread across his face.

Addressing the packed theatre at the Francis Morrison Library, he

explains why he and the other seven panelists have convened to discuss faith in the public sphere on this cold December night.

“The idea for this panel discussion came from a sense that the whole discussion of prayer at civic events was somewhat dissatisfying because we weren’t, I felt, bringing forth the answers that were rich and hopeful,” explains Bolen. “We were creating camps — I’m for it, I’m opposed, I’m okay with it as long as we use these words and not those words.”

Bolen pauses for effect, and says, “I had a sense we weren’t asking the right question. It wasn’t the wrong question, it was just too small. Sometimes when you ask small questions you get small answers.”

So what is the big question, the important question which Bolen — who set up the panel discussion — thinks we should be asking?

“The key question is this,” he says to the audience, “how do we live our religious and philosophical diversity in a healthy, pluralistic society?”

That’s the question, indeed. But is there an answer?

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Let’s give it a shot

We should also be vaccinating boys against HPV

Q

uick question: do you know what the most common sexually transmitted infection is in Canada?

The answer is the human papilloma virus — HPV for short. According to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, anywhere between 10 and 30 percent of the people in our country are infected with HPV. And any way you slice it, that number is astronomically high.

But it doesn’t have to be. See, HPV — which can cause cervical cancer, head cancer, neck cancer, and penile and anal cancer — is preventable.

All you need is a vaccine. While two vaccines have been approved by Health Canada, the one most widely used is called Gardasil. This particular vaccine protects against the high-risk strains 16 and 18, and could, at least in theory, reduce the risk of cervical cancer by about 75 percent — a significant amount, to be sure.

Currently, this vaccine is targeted at young girls between the ages of nine and 13, because it is most effective if it is administered before the recipient has become sexually active.

Here in Saskatchewan the vaccine is offered, free of charge, to girls in Grade 6. And while we applaud the efforts to protect young women against HPV, we think more can be done. Which is why we believe that young boys should also be receiving the vaccine, free of charge. After all, HPV can affect both men and women who are sexually active, so why not protect everyone? And if every STI campaign targets both males and females, why are we stopping short with the HPV vaccinations?

The benefits of a gender neutral program speak for themselves. HPV can cause penile and anal cancer, a costly condition that could be prevented by expanding to a gender neutral vaccination program. Moreover, the current vaccination system doesn’t protect men who have sex with men. And finally, the best way to protect women from contracting HPV, thereby seriously reducing their risk of contracting cervical cancer, is to vaccinate both genders and the people they’ll be having sex with.

And preventing cancer is just the tip of the iceberg. Genital warts, though a less serious affliction caused by HPV, can also be prevented via vaccinations. In fact, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that when the three-injection cycle of Gardasil was given to 4,000 males between the ages of 16 and 26, “roughly 0.5 percent of the boys and men who received all three shots developed genital warts during the subsequent 2 to 3 years. By contrast, about 2.8 percent of the study participants who received a placebo vaccine developed warts.”

These numbers, and the logic of immunizing both sexes, speak so loudly and clearly for themselves that certain provinces have gotten on board the dual-gender HPV vaccine train.

PEI implemented the country’s first dual-gender program, vaccinating all sixth graders at the beginning of the 2013 school year. That tiny island province boasts an 85% vaccine rate. The rate here? Somewhere in the neighbourhoood of 62%.

And it’s not just PEI, either. Earlier this month Alberta has gotten on board with the dual gender vaccination programs. And there are serious rumblings in Ontario from parents, health officials, etc., all lobbying for across-the-board HPV vaccinations.

And we think it’s time Saskatchewan follows suit, and protects both men and women from an avoidable risk of both disease and cancer.

Currently, the program in Saskatchewan is voluntary, which means parents can choose whether or not their girls participate. And obviously a mandatory vaccination program is not feasible or realistic, but we believe switching to an opt-out program would yield a higher success rate than our current system. That way, if you don’t want your kid to be vaccinated all you’ll have to do is sign a form, send it to school with your offspring, and presto! No shots. This way, only those who are adamantly opposed to the vaccine (which studies have proven to be absolutely safe), will avoid vaccination. Every other child will receive the injections, our vaccination rates will increase dramatically, and we’ll afford more protection against Canada’s most prevalent STI as we wade into the uncertain future.

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

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comments

driving already seems kind of redundant to me

On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about a mandatory winter driving course. Here's what you had to say: – SGI should charge more to insure all vehicles that are not 4X4. All who try to drive in small crappy cars with lousy tires should be pulled off the road.

– Anything that gets morons of the road in the winter is fine by me. It is terrible how many people think they can zoom around the city and be fine. Snow and ice are not the same as dry pavement!

– I agree something needs to be done to ensure everyone’s safety on the roads in our extreme winter months, and a driving course is a great place to start. However, I feel as though your approach does not go far enough. What we also need to do is make sure those who are on the roads in the winter are driv-

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

ing cars that are able to handle the winter conditions. So many people you see out in old beaters or vehicles that simply can’t handle winter roads. Perhaps we should make buses more available or give a discount to encourage people to take public transit instead of trying to get around on their own?

– A winter driving course is fine for new drivers but come on I’ve been driving for almost 2 decades and you want me to pay to take one of these get real.

– I agree with your opinion about winter driving. So many young drivers are taught defensive driving in the summer, but how many know (beyond just in theory) how to pull out of an icy skid? This could save lives and makes sense. I say we do it.

– I’m pretty sure kids get some classroom education on winter

– They should be making winter tires mandatory to drive here I can’t believe they don’t already.

Yes I see you plowing along in your tiny car and your summer tires but you are being unsafe to you and all drivers around you.

– Winter driving course? Why not just make everyone have to drive a giant truck in the winter? This is stupid and a cash grab.

– Yes on a winter driving course!

I’ve been driving for years but could use a refresher and a break on insurance would be great. I think we should also be taking off all the jerks who think just because they’re in big trucks or whatever that they can weave in and out of traffic.

Drivers around you have to react to that behaviour, and its difficult to always do so in a safe way. Let’s get more cops out on the streets to pull bad drivers off the road!

– Driving is a privilege and not a right so anyone who’s behind the wheel should have to prove they deserve to be there, winter or summer.

Continued on next page »

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OFF TOPIC – John Gormely: a conservative propaganda machine. Way too kind in the article. He’s brainwashing the people of this province.

Look at the change in voting preferences over the last couple provincial, federal elections. We need to stand up to these bullies!

had shares in the lumber industry and it was discovered that hemp was a better subsitute over paper from wood.

– DAMN near the ice age by the time I got my Ice Cap at Timmys Sl00000 sucky service

In response to “He’s right and you know it,” Local #106 (November 29, 2013)

– I don’t like John Gormley opinions but it was interesting hearing a bit more about the guy behind it. I’ve long suspected his radio persona is an act and that article kind of confirms that. Maybe a nice guy but he’s so backwards on a lot of things.

– Man this society needs enlightment. People have no idea whats profoundly missing and lost from their lives by their small greedy egotistical mindset.

– I love you Kevin, I’m sorry we have to be secret but soon we won’t have to. Shavonne B

In response to “He’s right and you know it,” Local #106 (November 29, 2013)

sound off – Is it your problem that’s your problem or is it your attitude toward your problem that is your problem?

– Cheers to Rob Ford!! The only pollution that thinks it’s okay to do crack if you get drunk first!! Rob Ford for prime minister ( maybe then we get weed legalized) - epic beard guy

– A lot of people will never get to where they want to be because they will never stop complaining about where they’re at.

– I wish people could spell correctly and have proper grammar.

At least I could figure out what they are trying to say when they text into the Verb.

– Harry J Anslinger is the reason why weed is illegal, in the 1930s he ran smug compain against weed saying weed causes people to go insane, the real reason he wanted weed illegal is because he

– This is a great time of year to give something back to the community. Think about volunteering or donating your time to an organization that could use a helping hand. Then maybe try to help out year round :)

– Cold as hell out there why do I live in this province?

– Sad to hear about Potash Corp shutting down all those jobs right before the holidays. My thoughts and prayers are with all the men and women affected and there families too. Rough go of it right before the holidays

– Dear Verb do you should let your writers submit stories for publication short stories or essays or whatever people would love to see there stuff in print and its a good way of connecting with your readership – just an idea :)

– I would like to see roads being cleared a little faster seeing as we are paying so much more in taxes now to do just that

– Merry Christmas on buses is annoying because I can’t see the route number

– War on Christmas isn’t real. Stop freaking out about what people say to you and look at the intention behind it.

Next week: What do you think about vaccinating boys against HPV? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation:

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind

– I can’t tell if people who sign up to be mall Santas are selfless angels or insane people

– I agree with the previous texters who talked about consumerism taking over. This is not the meaning of Christmas, the idea we need to have so many presents and buy so much crap for people. Downsize! Give or make meaningful gifts. Give time or energy!

– I guess now that the Grey Cup is over the Riders who are being charged with assault will have to face the consequences of their actions. Nice that they got to place in the biggest game of the year, I’m sure everyone’s forgiven them for beating up that person.

– So many great lights up in my neighbourhood, tree’s up, shopping mostly done. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas :D

– Only 3 weeks left to get your shopping done! Hehehe time to panic!

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Quick out of the gate

Photos: courtesy of Morgan Carter

Friends of Foes lost no time in recording their debut and learning how to make music together by Alex J MacPherson

T

he four members of Friends of Foes have been making music together for less than a year. The Saskatoon-based rock and roll band got its start when guitarist Matt Stinn resolved to play something other than punk rock.

cording Company, Chronophobic does not feel like a debut album.

Casting Nicholson’s anguished musings on the relentless progression of time’s arrow against a roiling backdrop of guitars and drums, Chronophobic flirts with passive contemplation before

Less than twelve months later, the band — which consists of Stinn, Celeste Nicholson, Keegan Stretch, and Nevin Buehler — is celebrating the release of their debut album. Written in marathon late-night sessions and recorded

by Jordan Smith at Avenue Re-

launching itself into moments of heroic intensity. On “Control,” the first single, Nicholson demonstrates her impressive vocal range as a spacey guitar lick bursts into a soaring, propulsive chorus. It is the best song on the album — and it hints at a bright future for

its creators. Earlier this month I caught up with Stinn and Nicholson to talk about the band’s frantic early days, their decision to record immediately, and why four musicians with radically different backgrounds can come together and make searing rock and roll.

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Alex J MacPherson: Most of the members of Friends of Foes are involved in one or more musical projects.

What led you to get together and form this band?

Matt Stinn: I was at a show at Amigos and I just had one of those slow-motion clarity moments where it was like, this is the kind of music I want to be playing, this is the kind of crowd I want to be playing to. And at the time I had really been doing a lot of punk music, so I started working on something that was kind of lighter — nowhere near what Friends of Foes sounds like now, but it was just lighter. Keegan is a guy I work with and also the drummer I’ve worked with most, and I pitched the idea to him and we instantly started collaborating and brainstorming ideas.

Celeste Nicholson: I came out of the blue, really. I had never been in a band before. Matt approached me after we did an acoustic show together and was like, ‘I’m starting this new project and I’d like you to come and hear it.’ I was like, ‘okay,’ and basically it started off that.

AJM: You certainly didn’t waste any time getting to work. Friends of Foes isn’t even a year old, and yet you already have a record out. Can you tell me what the appeal of moving so quickly was?

MS: Our whole mantra as a band was: let’s take everything we’ve learned from every other band and apply it to this so that we’re not wasting time. I know we’re putting out a twelve-song CD, but we probably wrote about twenty songs all the way through — went through various stages with them, scrapped songs, did different production stages to find out exactly what we wanted. In April we’d discussed maybe recording a single or two and then our friend Jordan Smith at Avenue was like, ‘Hey, you guys have got something, why don’t you just go big or go home?’

AJM: Having never been in a band before, what was the recording process like for you, Celeste?

CN: Being as new to the scene as possible, I was the yes–no girl, going along with everything and saying no whenever I wasn’t okay with anything. But I’ve pretty much been okay with everything we’ve gone through and all the shows we’ve done. It’s just been a really exciting experience, not something I ever thought I’d be doing.

AJM: While there are benefits to working quickly, mainly having a product attached to your name, are there any downsides to writing and recording an album right off the line?

MS: Everybody is like, kind of thinking that too. They’re like, you guys kind of rushed into this, you did it really quickly. But within the first three months of us playing we had written probably ten to twelve songs and the average practice we’d spend between three and six hours together. In the early writing sessions there were nights where we’d go into our rehearsal space at nine or ten pm, and there was one night where we left at six in the morning — we got breakfast.

AJM: And yet you’ve talked about how everybody in this band has a pretty unique musical background.

What makes the band work? Is it tension?

CN: I think all of our diversity helps.

If somebody pitches an idea we all have a different side, so it’s not like we’re all just agreeing on somebody saying, ‘this is my idea so let’s go with what we have.’

MS: Our writing process is very much like that game Topple, where everybody’s on a different side of the board and everybody has their own thing to say and their own influences. I think part of what makes us click really well is we’re all coming from super different musical backgrounds, and we all have something different to offer.

It’s not four people on the same page walking into a room; it’s four people coming in with different ideas and in some cases getting into

yelling matches over what’s going to be best.

AJM: Moving on to the record, it occurs to me that nearly all of the songs are about the passage of time, which makes sense considering the title. What led you to write a record exorcising the past?

MS: We chose the title Chronophobic because chronophobia is the fear of time, the fear of displacement, the fear of change. All the songs are reflecting on — whether it’s metaphorical or in lots of cases legitimate things that have happened in our lives — past events, past conflicts, the ups and downs of living through our lives for the past few years.

CN: I didn’t become aware until I started going through the lyrics more and more while we were recording. Because I had to sing them so much I’d sit while we were mixing or other people were working on something and read the lyrics. And I’d be like, this one connects to that one and I have no idea why. But when we came up with the name, I was thinking more and more about it and I was like, that really actually fits with what I wrote about unintentionally. It was a weird coincidence.

AJM: Interestingly, the last song on the album — and also the first single — is the only one that doesn’t seem to be riddled with uncertainty, or maybe insecurity.

MS: I think the big part of “Control” is it’s the one song on the record that stood out as being a little bit of the outsider, the song pointing towards where we were going. And also the song where after everything there’s this sense of clarity.

Friends of Foes December 26 @ Vangelis $10 advance, $12 door @ Vangelis, Beaumont Records, Ticketedge.ca

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A Busy Man

Photos: courtesy of the artist

Comedian Gerry Dee has his wildest and most successful year to date by Alex J MacPherson

T

rue innovation in comedy is actually quite rare.

Although the jokes vary, the club circuit is populated by comics who dedicate their careers to borrowing from and building on a few iconic acts. Many of the most popular comedians today owe their style, and their success, to innovators like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. Occasionally, however, somebody introduces an idea that is as exciting as it is unorthodox. In the case of Gerry Dee, a high school teacher turned comedian from Scarborough, Ontario, that idea involves turning his experiences in the classroom into comedy — personal experience distilled into truly universal laughter.

“Everybody’s had a teacher, and that’s a good thing for us,” Dee, whose real name is Gerard Donoghue, says with a laugh, his raspy voice echoing through the telephone. “We can all relate, it’s a very wide demographic.”

Dee is talking about his career, which began with him working the late-night club circuit before exploding into a multifaceted entity that includes a popular television show, a best-selling book, and large-scale comedy tours.

The upshot is that Dee is busier now than ever before. “In this business,” he says,” busy is good. I never complain, that’s for sure.”

Dee is probably best known for his television show Mr. D., which airs on CBC and is based on his experiences teaching at his alma mater, De La Salle College in Toronto. Although he wanted to teach physical education, Dee was dragooned into teaching social studies to packs of emotional

and hormonal teenagers. The results were, predictably, hilarious, and Dee prides himself on the show’s ability to transform real anecdotes into real laughs. “I know there’s been the Welcome Back, Kotters and Boston Publics,” he says, “but I think the difference with my show is that it’s written and created by someone — with a group of writers and another creator — from the eyes of a real teacher.”

In other words, Mr. D. hinges on Dee’s ability to craft experiences that are both familiar and entertaining. Sometimes, he says, writing the show involves walking a tightrope.

“When I watch shows or movies like Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz, I see things where it’s funny but you’d never do that as a teacher. And I know having done it for ten years what line I can and cannot cross, where teachers watching will say, ‘I thought of doing that, I’ve done that.’ I never want a teacher to go, ‘now he’s just making stuff up, teachers don’t do that.’”

These experiences also form the core of his first book, Teaching: It’s Harder Than It Looks. But Dee says he didn’t plan on writing a book, that it just sort of happened. “It was kind of funny because I got an e-mail from a literary agent and then about a week later I got an e-mail from a publisher, both asking if I’d ever thought of doing a book — and I hadn’t,” he says.

“Usually you’re trying to find a literary agent and find a publisher, so I figured when both came to me there’s probably a demand for something — and I took advantage of it.” The book, which rocketed up the bestseller charts, expands on the ideas introduced in the show and Dee’s stand-up comedy, which

despite his hectic scheduler remains an important part of his life.

“It’s nice to have different outlets,” he says of his upcoming tour, which will take him to theatres across the country. “I get asked what I prefer but I don’t have a preference. They both bring very different things to the table, and they’re both extremely rewarding. Stand-up is a very solo career and acting is a very team-oriented path. I enjoy both. It’s similar to when I played sports. I loved my golf and my tennis and my squash, and I loved my hockey and my volleyball. It feels like the same thing, team versus individual. It’s nice to get away from one and then go back to it again.”

And while Dee is happy to be busy, he understands that the entertainment business is as fickle as it is demanding.

But by building a career on an idea that nobody else had ever explored, Dee has managed to transform himself from an unknown stand-up comic into a serious force in Canadian entertainment. And this is only the beginning.

“I’m always chasing bigger and better, and that’s just what you have to do because this can all end very quickly,” he says. “But if you do things well I think it can snowball into a long career. But you can’t make a lot of mistakes.”

Gerry Dee December 29 @ TCU Place $47.25+ @ TCU box office Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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When words are not enough Amy Fung created They Made A Day Be A Day Here to explore the idea of making art on the prairies by Alex J MacPherson

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ometimes words are not enough. Amy Fung is a writer and a journalist, a roving correspondent who has contributed to a number of prominent art magazines. Between 2007 and 2011 she traveled across the prairies, meeting artists and chronicling their work. Her long journeys generated thousands of words of copy — and left her with the lingering feeling that something was left unsaid. Instead of writing another essay, Fung decided to organize an exhibition. It’s what she does when words are not enough.

They Made A Day Be A Day Here features pieces by twelve artists who live and work in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Driven by Fung’s belief that “you can never know a place until you walk it,” the exhibition addresses the questions that lingered long after she had returned to her home in Vancouver. “Is there such a thing as regionalism?” she says. “What is prairie contemporary art? Does gender even matter in an art exhibition?

But it’s not for me to answer. It’s for all of us to maybe consider and answer for ourselves.”

The exhibition is structured to draw attention both to the works and to the spaces between them. Fung noticed that many prairie artists work

1. Jennifer Stillwell “Fall” (2013). Climbing rope and plywood / Courtesy of the Mendel Art Gallery

in solitude, separated from their peers by vast distances. They Made A Day Be A Day Here uses vast expanses of white space to evoke the landscape of western Canada. The show captures the stark contrast between pockets of humanity and the vast emptiness of the prairie landscape. Works emerge from the emptiness like small towns rising above the horizon before sinking again in the rear-view mirror.

“There is that physical isolation,” Fung says of the communities and artists she visited during her travels.

“You can’t really escape that. But in the same sense, you know you can rely on each other. I have honestly survived through the pure kindness of people I’ve never met and may never see again, and I think that’s something special — especially when the snow starts coming down.” The prairies are dotted with communities that exist in almost total isolation. Perversely, prairie artists often meet each other at conventions in far-off destinations, such as New York or Toronto. “We’re neighbours,” Fung says of the phenomenon. “We’ve got to know and share and have these dialogues from the ground up.”

The works in They Made A Day Be A Day Here are united by the idea of invisible labour, a common thread among prairie artists. Heather Benning, who lives on a farm near Saskatoon, spent more than a year working on “The Altar,” an elaborate diorama hewn from blocks of cedar. (The open front of the cabinet faces a corner, forcing viewers to peer inside from an uncomfortable angle, accentuating its reference to the veneer of domestic bliss). Jennifer Stillwell, who is from Winnipeg, devoted countless hours to unraveling the climbing ropes that make up “Fall,” a sculptural installation that weights the twin notions of aspiration and ascent with the ineluctable force of gravity. In both cases, the labour is disguised by the presentation.

“Invisible labour is definitely a theme throughout the show for a lot of these artists,” Fung says. “They’re gracefully humble. I think there’s something unique there and if it’s not unique it should at least be acknowledged — and then it should be celebrated.”

They Made A Day Be A Day Here also celebrates the triumphs of female artists working on the prairies. Fung was open to the idea of including male artists, but the exhibition emerged as a catalogue of female artists. “In the end, or in the beginning, it took off as a question of what would an all-female exhibition look like? I can only think of two or three in my lifetime, which is really shocking. Most of them were retrospectives, like feminism is over. So this show for me was kind of a question, what does an all-female prairie exhibition look like?” At the same time, for practical reasons, Fung chose not to frame the exhibition in the language of the feminist art movement.

“It was a tough decision because it’s not like I don’t believe in feminism,” she says. “I definitely am a feminist, but as soon as you include that language, unfortunately you lose half your audience. And that is a real societal problem.” The forty-year struggle of the feminist art movement is far from finished, but by choosing to avoid its language, Fung allowed the exhibition to return to the questions that drove its creation . “This show is pushing people’s buttons,” Fung says with a laugh. “And it’s making them think about where they live and who they are.”

They Made A Day Be A Day Here Through Jan 5 @ Mendel Art Gallery Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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Feature

A problem of geography Close Talker on moving past Timbers and making new music while living two provinces apart by Alex J MacPherson

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lose Talker is a band divided, just not in the conventional sense.

Because two of the band members spend most of the year living in British Columbia, the band has been forced to spend the last year working in short, frantic bursts.

They recorded their 2012 debut, Timbers, over just a few days in December of last year, one of just a few times the four musicians were together in the same city.

This winter, the band will reunite for shows in Saskatoon and Regina, and in the spring they plan to record a new album. According to Matthew Kopperud, who plays guitar and keyboards, punctuating long periods of idleness with moments of frenzied activity is extremely disconcerting. “It’s been interesting,” he says with a wry laugh, speaking from his temporary home in B.C. “We’ve been inactive in the sense that we haven’t been playing together with instruments at all, but at the same time we’ve still been really busy. We’ve been doing a lot of menial tasks to plan for when we are in the same province. But it’s difficult, doing all those menial tasks as a labour of love when we haven’t been playing together, which is our greatest love.”

Close Talker emerged from a basement in the north end of Saskatoon little more than a year ago. Since their first show, the four young musicians — Kopperud, Will Quiring, Chris Morien, and Jeremy Olson — have made a big impression. After recording and releasing

Timbers, a process hastened by an unforgiving deadline and the imminent departure of Quiring and Kopperud, who attend a bible college near Vancouver, the band began generating attention and praise in equal measure. Blending straightforward guitar rock with spacey atmospherics, Timbers captures both sides of the band that made it, transforming what would otherwise be simple pop songs into

the highs of the last year. “Playing music is what we love, and that’s sort of the foundation or the common ground as to why we’re in a band. And then all this background stuff is all those things that kind of go with being in a band, and it’s been a challenge to maintain that motivation.” But while the members of Close Talker have been unable to actually play music together, they haven’t stopped working. Earlier

…ultimately this next record will reflect our ambitions to challenge ourselves and to push the songs… matthew kopperud

sprawling, spiralling anthems. And by casting the cascading orchestral sounds of the coast against the gritty bleakness of a prairie rock song, Close Talker bridged the gap between their two homes. But the high generated by Timbers and the band’s subsequent success in the CBC’s Searchlight music contest was short-lived: after touring western Canada in the waning days of summer, the band’s two guitarists returned to B.C. and Close Talker entered a period of hibernation.

“To maintain momentum is challenging enough for any band, and it becomes increasingly challenging because of our geographic locations,” Kopperud says, hinting at the depths of the low that followed

this year the band met in Saskatoon and recorded several new songs at the Avenue Recording Company.

In September, Morien and Olson traveled to B.C. to shoot a video for the band’s forthcoming single, a complex and evocative blend of punchy rock guitars, stratospheric synthesizers, and moments of jarring dissonance called “Heads.” The surrealistic video, which was shot

by Nathan Boey, who also made the video for Royal Canoe’s “Bathtubs,” captures a landscape that is at once familiar and profoundly distorted — a fitting parallel for the band’s musical vision. According to Kopperud, Close Talker avoided playing new songs while promoting Timbers, but now that the album cycle is drawing Continued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of tyler goodyear

to a close, they are eager to break out some new material.

Earlier this month Quiring and Kopperud recorded a stripped-down EP that will be released as a limited run of cassettes. (Kopperud says the cassette will also include download codes for those not equipped with a car dating from the mid-1990s.)

Slow Weather feels like an attempt to shake off the tension that binds Timbers together. The arrangements

Photo: courtesy of tyler goodyear

are spare but not spartan, the sound expansive yet somehow restrained.

In addition to a new composition called “Slow Weather” and a cover of Bon Iver’s majestic “Perth,” the EP includes two tracks from Timbers, “Creature” and “She’s On Fire.” “We recorded it partly at a friend’s home studio and partly in a church in Abbotsford, British Columbia, where there’s the biggest grand piano I’ve ever played,” Kopperud says of the EP, which feels like an exercise in dramatic minimalism, its barren arrangements a potent counterpoint to the driving energy of the band’s debut. “The songs from Timbers have completely different arrangements, and by listening to them outside of the lyrics you wouldn’t know them.”

The version of “Creature” that appears on Timbers is a pulsating rock song, a journey from summer into fall driven by the sharp contrast between Olson’s grinding bass line and Quiring’s thin, ethereal voice.

On Slow Weather the song emerges from the silence like some kind of transparent vision, a spacey amalgam of reverb-drenched guitar and rich piano chords. It is completely different from the version that appears on the record, yet it retains all of the weight and dynamism of the original. “She’s On Fire” has been transformed from a texturally dense pop song into a tender ballad. What the Slow Weather version lacks in punch it makes up for in raw power.

And while Slow Weather gives little indication as to what the band’s forthcoming LP will sound like, it demonstrates just how good the songs on Timbers really are: even though the production tricks and studio wizardry have been stripped away, the songs retain their strength and their character.

But Slow Weather is merely a prelude to the main event, which will begin shortly before the end of the year and culminate in the spring when the four members of Close Talker travel to Montreal to cut their second album. “In December we’re intentionally spending some time away from Saskatoon,” Kopperud says, hinting at the band’s desire to move away from the scrappy, hurried process that produced Timbers.

“After Christmas and over New Year’s, before Will and I return to school, we’re going to spend about a week secluded on an acreage

doing some writing, collectively as a group. Will and I will bring ideas, Chris and Jeremy will bring ideas, and we will collaborate and hash out a lot of details.” The band members want their winter retreat to set the stage for their upcoming sessions at Breakglass Studios in Montreal, where they will work with producer Jace Lasek, who is best known for his work with the Besnard Lakes.

Kopperud wants to think of the coming months as an opportunity to turn the page on Timbers and point the band in a new direction, in terms of both sound and process. “Timbers was kind of hooky and catchy, and we’ll still flirt with some hooks and try and keep people engaged, but our new stuff is definitely more intricate and complex and challenging and stimulating for us,” he says. “And I feel like Jace will get the perfect balance of bringing both aspects out of us in a creative way that might push people a little bit, but at the same time not get people to abandon us because like, ‘that’s way too weird, you shouldn’t have done that augmented chord.’” In practice, Kopperud continues, the band’s new approach can be summarized in a single word: intentionality. Whereas Timbers was written and recorded extremely quickly — “Like, this kind of works, let’s throw it down,” he says — the new record will be planned down to the last detail.

“We’re trying to be incredibly intentional about each aspect,” he says of the forthcoming album. “We’re

tying to be intentional about parts, about the direction of the songs, about which songs to choose for the album.

So in a lot of ways it’s trying to be more mature about the process, and then trying to document that and let others into our heads with what we’re doing.” And by enlisting Lasek, whose production and engineering credits include records by Patrick Watson, Mark Berube, and Young Galaxy, Close Talker virtually guaranteed that their new record will capture both sides of the band — their fascination with pop music as well as their desire to challenge themselves and their fans. “We don’t want to lose fans by getting too abstract but at the same time we don’t want to sell our souls to the hooky pop parts,” Kopperud says.

“We know very well we could make pop songs and we could make toetappers, but is that sustainable for us?

To flirt between the two is important, but ultimately this next record will reflect our ambitions to challenge ourselves and to push the songs beyond what might be predictable.”

But perhaps more than anything else, Close Talker’s forthcoming sophomore album promises to

show not only that it is possible for members of a rock and roll band to live and work in different provinces, but that their geographic situation is paralleled in their music. Just as Timbers juxtaposed the sounds of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, creating in the process an engaging and original combination of influences and ideas, the band’s new record is certain to dive deeper into the gulf dividing both the band members and their musical ideas.

“We’re turning the page to not necessarily a new sound, but definitely a new direction,” Kopperud says.

“One that will better define our intentions than Timbers did.”

Close Talker December 21 @ Amigos Cantina $10 @ Ticketedge.ca

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Jamaican me hungry, mon Photos courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

New Caribbean fast food joint serves up delectable bites by adam hawboldt

I

f you’re in a hurry and need a quick bite to eat where do you go? If you’re anything like me, you usually end up hitting a fast food place.

Taco Time, McDonald’s, Subway — whatever you’re hankering for in that moment. If you’re feeling a little more worldly, you might

even be tempted to grab a donair or a pita.

Well, now there’s a new quick-eat option in town — Wing Ting. A Caribbean-themed restaurant located in the same building as Bonanza on 8th Street, Wing Ting offers a small but delicious menu. For your main dish you have the five options: Jerk Link, Coco Burger,

the Wing Meal, the Patty Meal, and the Chicken Strips Meal. For extras there’s bacon, caramelized onions, corn relish, wings, wedges and coco bread.

Oh, and there’s smoothies, too.

Lots of smoothies. There’s the peanut punch smoothie, the mango honey, cherry coco, blue mountain and many, many more.

On my way home from work the other day I was feeling pretty hungry, and decided to give Wing Ting a try. It was a good decision.

When you first walk into Wing Ting a couple of things jump out at you. There’s the music, upbeat reggae tunes that put you in a good mood. There’s the decor, very minimalist (there are only a few stools to sit at) and very bright (the colour scheme is orange, green and white).

And then there’s the smell. That sweet, comforting smell of jerk and other Caribbean spices.

Scanning the menu, which is featured on monitors hanging from the ceiling, the first thing that

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide painkiller

Ingredients

No trip to the Caribbean is complete without a Painkiller.

These light, refreshing cocktails are just what the doctor ordered after a hard night of drinking. Or heck, even to kick off a night of carousing.

2oz dark rum 1 1/2oz orang juice 4oz pineapple juice 1oz Coco Lopez Orange or pineapple slice Cherry Nutmeg

Directions

Pour the juices and the Coco Lopez over ice in a tall glass. Mix well. Add the rum, then stir. Then top the drink with grated nutmeg and garnish with an orange or pineapple slice and a cherry. Enjoy.

jumped out at me was the Jerk Link.

What that is, for those of you who are curious, is a burger featuring old fashioned and jerk bratwurst sausages, topped with tomatoes, onions, bacon and lettuce. The sweetness and spice of the jerked sausage shines through in the first bite. The deeper you get into the burger, the more pronounced the spice becomes. But it’s a good spice.

Not too hot, and utterly delicious.

The burger came with herbed wedges — crispy on the outside, soft on the inside — and a small wedge of lemon.

Being a tad hungrier than normal, I decided to add some wings to my meal. The place is called Wing Ting, after all. Tempted to go with the

BBQ jerk at first, I changed my mind last second and ordered the mango honey mustard wings. They were big and meaty and rubbed with a delectable Caribbean spice. Throw some sweet and scrumptious mango honey mustard sauce on them and you have yourself a flavour explosion in your mouth. An explosion that, seeing as Wing Ting is in my neighbourhood, I’m going to experience again. And probably again.

Wing Ting 3010 8th Street East | (306) 664 9464 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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music

Coming soon

coming up

One Bad Son

Mo’ Marley

Electric Six

@ O’Brians Event Centre Saturday, December 21 – $10

@ Amigos Cantina Thursday, December 26 – COVER TBD

@ Amigos Cantina Sunday, March 16 – $15

Kurt Dahl, drummer for Saskatoon rock band One Band Son, once told Verb that: “Picking singles is one of the most difficult things we do.

It’s 100 percent guts. You’re totally rolling the dice, and it’s you career, your lives, that are on the table.” If that’s the case, then One Bad Son’s guts certainly steered them in the right direction last year when they released “Scarecrows” off their selftitled debut album. The song hit #5 on the Canadian rock charts, and helped launch the band’s star. Since then One Bad Son — which consists of Shane Volk, Adam Hicks, Adam Grant, and Dahl — have criss-crossed the country. They’ll be at home rocking O’Brians next week. Tickets available at www.obrianseventcentre.ca.

Alter egos aren’t new to the music biz. David Bowie had Ziggy Stardust, Beyonce morphed into Sasha Fierce, Garth Brooks (for some unfathomable reason) had altrocker Chris Gaines. Another bunch of musicians you can add to that list are The Steadies. For the most part, this trio — Earl Pereira, Justin Lee, and Lexie Miller — plays what they’ve dubbed “island rock.” But when they’re more in the mood to explore their reggae roots, the band morphs into Mo’ Marley. Brought about by the trio’s love of rootsrock-reggae, Mo’ Marley puts on a high-energy show that pays tribute to the greatest artists and songs in reggae history. What else are you gonna do on Boxing Day?

Formerly known as the Wildbunch, this metro Detroit six-piece is what some have called a “genre- blurring” band. And with a sound that incorporates elements of disco, punk, garage, new wave and arena rock (to name just a few), it’s easy to see why. Electric Six’s first album, Fire, went gold; since then, the group’s brand of energetic disco rock, with its brash guitars and funky bass, have won the band — which consists of lads with names like Dick Valentine, Da Ve, Johnny Na$hinal, Smorgasbord, Tait Nucleus? and Percussion World — fans the world over. Now they’re bringing their most recent album, Absolute Pleasure, to the masses. Don’t miss it when these Motor City musicians roll into town. Tickets available at www.ticketedge.ca – By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: heather pitre/ the artist/ the artist

Sask music Preview JUNOfest submissions for the 2014 celebration are now being accepted!

Presented by SiriusXM Canada, JUNOfest is a two-night music event, held in Winnipeg March 28 + 29, 2014. It showcases the diverse spectrum of artists in Canada, and will feature over 100 bands in all genres. The deadline to apply is January 8, 2014; please see http://marcatoapp.com/website_integration/junofest2014/artists/ for more information. JUNOfest is for Canadian artists only.

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december 13 » december 21 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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Friday 13

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover Autopilot / Amigos — With Indigo Joseph. 10pm / Cover TBD Kim Salkeld / The Bassment — It’s Piano Friday! 4:30pm / No cover Tim Williams / The Bassment — With Brian McAreavey. 9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s — DJ Aash Money throws it down. 9pm / $5 cover Screamlyne / Buds — Local rock quintet. 9pm / Cover TBD BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/vocal house music all night long.

10pm / $5 DJ Eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats every Friday night. 8pm / No cover

DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits and DJ Stikman, every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover Winter White Party / O’Brian’s — With Featurecast. 9pm / $30 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm Wires n’ Wood / Prairie Ink — Latin, jazz, and gypsy music in a cosy setting.

8pm / No cover Holiday Hoopla / The Refinery — Bring the family to sing with Sylvia.

10:30am + 1pm / $7+ Bonnie, Kiera, and Sylvia / The Refinery — An evening filled with music, laughter, stories. 7:30pm / $12+ Joey Stylez / Rock Bottom — With Deejay Elmo + more. 10pm / $10 Jett Run / Stan’s Place — A rockin’, feet-tapping good time at Stan’s. 9:30pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto — With Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King. 10pm / $5 Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come tear it up on the dance floor. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD The Seahags / Vangelis — With The Lonesome Weekend. 10pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 14

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night.

9pm / No cover Karpkina Bros / Amigos — With Smokekiller. 10pm / Cover TBD Maurice Drouin’s Jazzy Christmas / The Bassment — Playing your jazzedup Christmas favourites. 9pm / $20/$25 DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a dance party every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover Screamlyne / Buds — Local rock quintet. 9pm / Cover TBD SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music all night. 8pm / $4 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5 Doug Boomhower Trio / Prairie Ink — Playing jazz standards. 8pm / No cover

Jett Run / Stan’s Place — A rockin’, feet-tapping good time at Stan’s. 9:30pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD Saturday Night Social / Tequila — Electronic Saturdays will have you moving and grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night to get you moving and grooving on the dance floor.

10pm / Cover TBD The Seahags / Vangelis — With The Barrelmen. 10pm / Cover TBD

Sunday 15

Maurice Drouin’s Jazzy Christmas / The Bassment — Playing your jazzed-up Christmas favourites. 2:30pm / $20/$25 Industry Night / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy, come out and get your party on. 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover Stan’s Place Jam / Stan’s Place — Bring your instrument, all music types welcome. 8:30pm / No cover Blues Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, offering great tunes from blues to rock and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover

Monday 16

DJ Carlos / Stan’s Place — Playing your favorite songs to lighten the work week. 9:30pm / No cover

Wednesday 18

DJ Modus / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Spinning all your favourite tracks.

9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — Spinning dope beats all night. 9pm / Cover TBD Three String Fretless / Buds — Playing covers all night long. 10pm / Cover TBD Souled Out / Diva’s Annex — Featuring the spinning talents of Dr. J 9pm / $2 DJ Memo / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover Buck Wild Wednesdays / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Come out and ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff Stephen Maguire / Rock Creek (Willowgrove) — An Irish singer/songwriter who calls Saskatchewan home will be taking to the stage to perform for you.

8pm / No cover DJ Carlos / Stan’s Place — Playing your favorite songs to lighten the week, DJ Carlos makes it seem like Friday is here already. 9:30pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / No cover

Thursday 19

DJ Audio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD

Tuesday 17

Three String Fretless / Buds — Playing covers all night long. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — Able to rock any party, this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9:30pm / $4 cover DJ Nick Ruston / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD Verb presents Open Mic / Rock Bottom — Come and rock the stage! 9pm / No cover Open Mic / The Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover

Jazz Jam with the Brett Balon Trio / The Bassment — Come out and jam!

8pm / No cover Johnny Don’t / Buds — Terrific pop/ rock from a local five-piece. 9pm / Cover TBD Throwback Thursdays / Earls — Come experience the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm / No cover DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music all night. 8pm / $4 cover DJ Carlos / Stan’s Place — Playing your favorite songs to lighten the work week. 9:30pm / No cover Continued on next page »

20 Dec 13 – Dec 19 entertainment

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Triple Up Thursdays / Tequila — Featuring the talents of DJ Dislexic. 9pm / Cover TBD Renee de Moissac / Third Avenue United Church — Playing the pipe organ, stop on by with your lunch to check out some great music. Noon / Free College Kids / Vangelis — TAking to the stage to get your weekend started early. With Sexy Preacher. 9pm / $8 Open Stage / The Woods — Hosted by Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

Friday 20

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve every Friday night.

9pm / No cover Kimiwan 1-Year Anniversary Launch / Amigos — Featuring Bear Witness, Eekwol + more. 10pm / $12 (ticketedge.ca) Fintan Quinn / The Bassment — It’s piano Fridays! 4:30pm / No cover Karrnnel and Friends / The Bassment — A fiddle whiz from Toronto.

9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a highenergy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover Hung Jury / Buds — Covering everything from AC/DC to Michael Jackson.

9pm / Cover TBD BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/vocal house music. 10pm / $5 DJ Eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits.. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm

The Standards Trio / Prairie Ink — Featuring Don Sawchuk, Todd Gursky, Matt Gruza, who will be playing for you all night. 8pm / No cover DJ Fudge / Spadina Freehouse — Local DJ dropping beats you can’t ignore. 9pm / No cover Darwin and the Boys / Stan’s Place — A rockin’, feet-tapping good time at Stan’s, every Friday night. 9:30pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests,from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 Fireside Singers / TCU Place — A night of choral singing and solos.

7:30pm / $30+ (tcutickets.ca) Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come tear it up on the dance floor. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD Joel Cossette / Vangelis — With Lysanne Foth and Robbie Shirriff. 10pm / Cover TBD

SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes to keep you moving and grooving, every Saturday night. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music all night. 8pm / $4 cover One Bad Son / O’Brians Event Centre — Good ol’ fashioned rock from this local band. 8pm / $10 (theodeon.ca) DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5

Jennifer Jane / Prairie Ink — Easy listening piano music. 8pm / No cover Fuse / Spadina Freehouse — Spinning music that’ll make you move. 9pm / No cover Darwin and the Boys / Stan’s Place — A rockin’, feet-tapping good time at Stan’s, every Satrday night. 9:30pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie + Brad King will be taking audience requests all night. 10pm / $5 DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD Fireside Singers / TCU Place — A night of choral singing and solos to get you into the holiday spirit. 7:30pm / $30+ (tcutickets.ca)

Saturday Night Social / Tequila — Electronic Saturdays will have you moving and grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD NeilFest 2013 / Vangelis — A celebration of Neil Young. 10pm / Cover TBD

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

Saturday 21

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night.

9pm / No cover Close Talker / Amigos — A badass Saskatoon band who will be rocking the stage. With The Little Brothers. 10pm / $10 (ticketedge.ca) Vesti and the Vexations / The Bassment — Belting out soul and R&B hits. 9pm / $15/$20 DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a dance party every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover Activists Maguire / Buds — Playing rock from the 70s to the 90s. 9pm / Cover TBD

21 Dec 13 – Dec 19 @verbsaskatoon

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On the road again

Photo: Courtesy of warner bros pictures

Second installment of The Hobbit trilogy much, much better than the first by adam hawboldt

I

’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there was no good nor sensible reason why Peter Jackson made J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit into a film trilogy.

Okay. I take that back. There is one good and sensible reason — money.

Other than that, trying to stretch what I’m guessing will be close to 10 hours of film out of a less-than-300page novel seems utterly preposterous and excessive. A filthy cash grab that will please some Lord of the Rings fanboys and leave others infuriated.

That said, Jackson’s latest installment in the trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, is a vast improvement on the first installment — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

That first film, which plodded along for nearly three hours

there the action and intensity really picks up.

There are giant spiders, a set piece involving barrels, the introduction of Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans), the Master of Laketown (Stephen Fry), an elf warrior named Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), and a love triangle of sorts.

Oh, and Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the beloved elf from the LOTR trilogy, is also brought into the fray. Together (though Gandalf makes an exit for much of the film), they make their way to confront Smaug — a journey which takes, oh, about two hours.

Eventually they meet Smaug, who rises from a sea of coins and proceeds to torment and chase our heroes in what has to be the longest (and best!) action sequence of the film.

with all the grace and agility of a cement-footed sloth, was a meandering exercise in world-building that lacked any real sense of plot or immediacy. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, however, is a completely different beast.

Picking up where the first one left off, we find Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan), Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the rest of the crew on their quest to the Kingdom of Erebor, during which they meet the fire-breathing dragon, Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Their journey begins with an action sequence involving a “skin changer” named Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), then moves to the black forest of Mirkwood. From

And that is really saying something. Because, for the most part, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is no more than one long action sequence after another. Action sequences that are much darker and thoroughly more enjoyable than anything that came our way in the first installment of the trilogy.

That’s not to say The Desolation of Smaug is only action, nothing else. It also features a good bit of character development, some pretty funny moments, and terrific looking effects.

And while some of the CGI effects are a tad overboard, they don’t take away from what is, for sure, a livelier, funnier, more action-packed film than the first Hobbit movie.

Yet, when the cliff hanger ending comes (and boy oh boy is it a

The Desolation of Smaug Peter Jackson Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Benedict Cumberbatch Directed by

161 minutes | PG

cliffhanger), I couldn’t shake my original feeling. I couldn’t help but still wonder why in the hell Peter Jackson turned this thing into a trilogy.

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A one-way ticket, please

As a movie, Night Train to Lisbon fails to live up to its literary counterpart by adam hawboldt night train to lisbon Directed by Bille August Starring Jeremy Irons, Jack Huston, Mélanie Laurent + Martina Gedeck 109 minutes | 14A

Photo: Courtesy of Wrekin Hill Entertainment

T

he day that ended with everything different in the life of Raimund Gregorius began like countless other days.”

That’s the first line from Pascal Mercier’s novel Night Train to Lisbon. And what a novel it is! Published in 2004,

mund (played by Jeremy Irons) is a loner and an intellectual. A classical languages professor who plays chess by himself. We also figure out that, when push comes to shove, he can be a man of action.

While wandering the stone streets of Bern, Switzerland, during

who was part of the 1970‘s resistance against Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira-Salazar.

Contained within the pages of the book is a train ticket to Lisbon that, for reasons never fully

explained in the movie, Raimund decides to use. The decision comes in the middle of a lecture he’s giving about Marcus Aurelius. He bolts and hops on a train for Lisbon to track down the story of the book’s author.

While he’s away, there are repeated calls asking him to come back to class and, for the most part, you’ll hope he actually heeds the advice and abandons his journey.

Why? Well, because Night Train to Lisbon is a literary thriller that doesn’t thrill on the big screen. It’s too sedated, too civilized, too slow. While in Lisbon he goes from place to place (then back to certain places) talking to people about this Amadeu chap. Other than the pleasant visuals of this ancient city and the nuanced, brooding job Irons deliv-

ers as Raimund, not much in this part of the film is worth writing home about.

The part of the film that really works, though, are the flashbacks.

Alternating between present day and the 1970s, the film (in part) tells the story of Amadeu de Prado — a passionate idealist, a deep thinker, a revolutionary, a tortured lover.

Through his story we are introduced to secret meetings, intrigue, menace and a love triangle. The stuff that good story-telling is made of.

Too bad more than half of the film is rooted in the now. Because had the entire thing revolved around Amadeu and Lisbon in the 1970s, it would’ve made for a much more pleasurable viewing experience.

Night Train to Lisbon is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

…Night Train to Lisbon is a literary thriller that doesn’t thrill on the big screen.

Adam Hawboldt

Night Train to Lisbon is one of those breathless reads that engages you on an intellectual and emotional level.

The kind of read that intertwines prose, poetry and philosophy into a thrilling, page-turning novel that could very well be one of the finest books to come out of Europe this century.

The same can’t be said about Bille August’s film adaptation of this story.

Things start out well enough.

Early on we figure out that Rai-

a rain storm, Raimund happens upon a young woman who is about to take her life by jumping off a bridge. Raimund convinces her not to and takes her back to his classroom, where she vanishes — leaving behind her coat with a book in it.

An intellectual and inquisitive individual, Raimund begins reading the book, written by a Portuguese doctor named Amadeu de Prado (Boardwalk Empire’s Jack Huston),

23 Dec 13 – Dec 19 /verbsaskatoon

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saturday, december 7 @

Buds

Buds on Broadway 817 Broadway Avenue (306) 244 4155

24 Dec 13 – Dec 19 entertainment

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Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, December 20. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by Patrick Carley

25 Dec 13 – Dec 19 @verbsaskatoon

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Photography by Patrick Carley

26 Dec 13 – Dec 19 entertainment

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monday, december 9 @

yard & flagon

The Yard & Flagon Pub 718 Broadway Avenue (306) 653 8883

Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, December 20. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by opalsnaps.com

27 Dec 13 – Dec 19 /verbsaskatoon

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Photography by opalsnaps.com

29 Dec 13 – Dec 19 @verbsaskatoon

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

30 Dec 13 – Dec 19 homes

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timeout

crossword canadian criss-cross DOWN

29. Household cleaner 32. Alberta town 36. Kanga’s kid 37. Existentialist dread 39. Map abbreviation 40. District regarded as the exclusive territory of a gang 42. Come down with 43. Side dish with fried chicken 44. Walk without hurrying 46. Not injured 48. Animal that people ride 49. God 50. Joins in matrimony 51. A quantity of

1. Tranquil 2. Like some mattresses 3. Night before 4. Jeans fabric 5. Predict 6. Metric measure 7. Small boys 8. ___ of Belle Isle 9. Light-coloured beer 11. Two below par 12. Be carried on a breeze 14. Work with a blowtorch 17. Leafy vegetable 20. Yogic posture 21. Mixture of rain and snow 24. Which person 26. Together with

28. Forty-fives 29. ___ and crafts 30. Opening in your head 31. Brendan from Saskatchewan who played for the Stars 33. Gesture of respect 34. Reproductive gland 35. Salamander 38. Small earrings 41. Toward the front 43. Levelling wedge 45. Hallucinogenic drug 47. Recent prefix

sudoku answer key

A

B

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

1. Lose hair naturally 5. Dieter’s concern 9. Period of permitted absence 10. Make a speech 12. Rabbit habitat 13. Sketch again 15. Elderly people 16. Skating surface 18. Wise one 19. Marsh 20. Gather together 22. Not well 23. Tartan trousers 25. Like some birthday wishes 27. One who is no longer popular

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

ACROSS

© walter D. Feener 2013

Horoscopes December 13 - december 19 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

This is a perfect week for letting your hair down and having some fun, Aries. Make the most of your time, so get into the swing of things.

You will find important meanings in mundane things this week, Leo. Just how important they are is yet to be determined. Be on the lookout.

A run-in with an old friend or colleague may lead to a night you won’t soon forget, Sagittarius. Get out there and enjoy!

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

You will experience strong connections with certain people in the coming days, Taurus. Try to use this to help others.

It’s good to remember that other people are important, Virgo. But this week why not make it all about yourself? You deserve it.

If you’re feeling spiritual this week, Capricorn, don’t dismiss the sensation. It’s important to find deeper connections with those around you. Indulge it.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

Pay attention to your dreams this week, Gemini. Though they could be hard to decipher, they may reveal more than you think.

Your powers of social seduction will be in full force this week, Libra.

Whomever you choose to talk to will be interested in what you have to say.

Not feeling quite like yourself lately? Don’t worry, dear Aquarius. After all this hustle and bustle, things will return to normal later this week.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Get out there and be seen this week, Cancer. Do that, and you may very well meet someone who changes your world.

Your mind may be buzzing with intense thoughts in the coming days, Scorpio. Try to quiet them as best you can.

If last weekend was a humdinger, be sure to take some time to simply relax this week, Pisces. You’ve got to recharge before heading out there again.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

31 Dec 13 – Dec 19 /verbsaskatoon

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Happy living space, happy life Local interior designer Happy Grove opens up about his home sweet home by Rory MacLean

S

paces are all about energy for Saskatoonbased interior designer Happy Grove.

“You enter a space and you can feel there’s an energy to them,” says Grove. “There’s always balance or harmonies in spaces, and when you find those harmonies it just feels good, and people enjoy being there.”

Grove’s journey into design is long and circuitous, but he traces his passion for designing homes all the way back to his childhood.

“I used to play with Lego, and in those days it was just a bunch of bricks and your imagination,” he

he needed to do was to pursue an education in interior design.

Grove began his career as a designer in Calgary, moving to

says. “I built houses and that’s all I built. Millions of different houses.”

He didn’t come around to design until he was nearly 30

“This past year the neighbourhood has changed quite dramatically. Riversdale… is a hot commodity.”

Saskatoon with his partner, artist Adrien Stimson, in 2003.

But after many years of working as a designer in Calgary, Grove

years old, having worked towards a different degree and a job that he eventually saw as a dead end.

Grove came to realize that what

found that he had grown tired of the whole industry.

“I decided I was sick of it,” he said. He came to Saskatoon with an open mind, ready for a change.

Eventually he discovered Yuki Sugimoto, who practised shiatsu massage. Feeling he had found a new calling, Grove trained and became a certified shiatsu practitioner. A later knee injury put an abrupt end to his practise of the intensely physical form of massage, however, leading him to return to the world of interior design.

Shiatsu gave Grove a completely new perspective on the work.

Photos: Courtesy of happy grove Continued on next page »

32 Dec 13 – Dec 19 homes

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“I learned to understand my body in its energetic sense through shiatsu. I guess I came to understand what I naturally do with space. It didn’t change what I do, just helped me know it in a different way,” he explains.

“It comes down to the famous maxim, that form follows function, and function is completely related to the way humans move around in space.”

Grove has worked on between 20 and 30 projects since coming to Saskatoon, including the former commercial building on 20th Street West that he and Stimson currently call home.

“We had fun with this project,” he says. “When we bought it, it was a lawyer’s office on the main floor and there was a separate apartment above … We wanted something different than a house, so the store front was very appealing.”

The building, which they originally purchased in 2006, was a labour of love for Grove and Stimson.

“We did as much work as we could ourselves, which was very rewarding. We built our own home with our own hands.”

Grove and Stimson put in a completely new kitchen in the upstairs living space, added new windows to the front, and resurfaced everything.

For the pair, a major goal of their redesign was to keep the budget tight — not a skill practised by most interior designers.

“That is just not what I do for a living,” says Grove with a laugh.

He describes the theme of the space as a dynamic mix of his and Stimson’s heritage.

“I inherited a lot of my grandparent’s furniture, and Adrian is a Blackfoot Indian artist and we’ve been collecting art for the 23 years

we’ve been hanging out together.

We have a really dynamic, aboriginal art collection.”

While Grove says he and Stimson are not just their two histories or their possessions, their passion adds depth and new life to them.

“We have this dining room table — I’ve had a million family dinners at that table — and every time I sit down with family here we add another energetic layer to it.”

One reason why Grove and Stimson chose to move to Riversdale was a conscious decision to become a part of the rejuvenation of the neighbourhood.

“We wanted to do be sensitive to the rejuvenation … to do a gentle job,” he says. “This past year the neighbourhood has changed quite dramatically. Riversdale, from what I’m hearing, is a hot commodity.

This is a real consequence of that thing they call growth.”

He says it’s no doubt Riversdale is being gentrified, but it’s up to the people developing it to do so with a social conscience. Grove wants the future Riversdale to remain a place that is inclusive to all people, and not just the wealthy.

“We’ve had all kinds of interesting experiences here. It’s definitely got a neighbourhood feel.”

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@VerbSaskatoon rmaclean@verbnews.com

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A night in at the movies G

Tricks and tips on boosting your home theatre experience on a tight budget

etting a rich home theatre experience was once a very expensive enterprise, but no more. For better or for worse, we are all now living in an age of cheap electronics.

Whether you’re a gamer, a movie buff, or just someone looking to juice up your television experience, getting a richer sound than your tinny TV speakers can provide has never been more affordable.

There are a lot of home-theatrein-a-box systems offered from every major company, and most experts will advise against them.

But truthfully, if you don’t yet have a blu-ray player and you just want a basic 5.1 surround sound setup, they are a pretty good value. You’ll get a blu-ray player built right into your stereo, two towers, two rear speakers, a centre speaker and a subwoofer from the likes of Panasonic for around $400-$500. This is

by rory MacLean

assuming, however, that you have an HDTV already.

Perhaps you also already have either a blu-ray player or game console to play your movies from.

You may even just be attaching your laptop to your TV via HDMI and streaming from Netflix. If this sounds like you, then there is no use buying an out-of-the-box system if you only require the audio equipment.

If true surround sound is not really a concern for you, there is even more money to be saved.

Sound bars are making a growing rise in the market and they are very affordable. A sound bar is a single device that holds all the speakers inside it, offering consumers an approximation of surround sound from a 2.1 stereo system.

They sometimes also come packaged with a subwoofer.

Sound bars are sold for as little as $30 for the cheaper versions,

and can go up to about $500 for models on the higher end. They have the added benefit of being easy to use — there’s only one object to plug into. Most of the major brands offer a version of the sound bar, from Panasonic to Denon, and lesser known but decent quality companies like Boston Acoustics.

The downside of a sound bar is that you can’t really add on to the system, and they lack the finer controls of your audio that a more complete system would offer.

But if you’re on a budget and just want your movies, games and TV shows to pack a little more punch, then a sound bar is probably your best value. Happy viewing!

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@VerbSaskatoon rmaclean@verbnews.com

34 Dec 13 – Dec 19 homes

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Home, Brr, Home Quick tips and tricks to winterize your home by rory MacLean

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thought as much about preparing your home for the vagaries of our long winter. We are here to say for shame. But don’t worry, we don’t hold grudges. In fact, we’re here to help — with this handy list of tips on winterizing your humble abode. After all, the home is but the body writ large.

y now you’re well aware that winter is upon us. You’re likely taking all sorts of precautions to keep your body warm as the mercury drops ever further and the darkness of December descends on us, heralding the twilight of the year. You may not have

1. It came from the basement I

f you have an unfinished basement in your home, which is the case in many newer homes, it’s really im-

portant to insulate the walls.

This can be a huge source of heat loss. “That can save you up to a third on your heating

bill,” says Jamie Bramley, a licensed contractor based in Saskatoon.

foam for a really efficient seal, or if you’re on a tight budget, you can buy kits at your neighbourhood Rona or Home Depot for covering your windows with plastic.

It might not look too pretty, but it helps keep the draft out during winter, it’s cheap,

and you can pull it right off in spring.

If you’re planning on living in a home long-term, like for 10 or more years, it might be worth it to start replacing any old single-pane windows with some more efficient

2. Windows and doors M

ake sure your door and window seals are all in good shape, says Bramley.

“A lot of times on these older homes the windows aren’t actually properly insulated,” he says.

You can pull the windows out and put in spray

double or triple-pane glass.

“If you’re thinking longterm, it’s worth it to spend the money,” says Bramley.

“The savings on your heating bill will cover some of the costs, and it will add to the value of your home.”

You should also check the

seals on your doors. The felt seal found at the bottom of your door will wear out over time and it’s fairly cheap to replace.

Installing a screen door at your main entry will also help insulate slightly, and will help prevent your main door from freezing up, says Bramley.

3. The roof M

ake sure you keep the snow off your roof and keep your gutters clear. This will help keep moisture from getting in when things begin to melt.

“When you get a thaw, what happens is you could get a backup, which could lead to mold problems,” says Bramley.

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@VerbSaskatoon rmaclean@verbnews.com

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