1160: Silence Broken

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SOCIAL ACTIVISM

Sun., Jan. 21 (1 pm) Women’s Anniversary March on Edmonton Alberta Legislature Building

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Edmontonians gather once again to support equal treatment for all walks of life

his time last year was turbulent to say the least. Elections were allegedly being bought by Russia, fascists were roaming the streets with a newfound sense of authority, and women were being treated awfully in the media and in politics. But something special came out of this pressure-cooker social environment—resistance.

To think how far we’ve come since last January is startling, but the ball is only beginning to roll.

On January 20 the March on Edmonton Collective will hold an anniversary march, along with hundreds of others across North America and around the world.

The collective was first created last year to organize Edmonton’s sister march, but the organizers had no grasp on just how many people would join them. Over 4,000 women and allies—most of whom had never been to a protest before—gathered at the Alberta Legislature last January.

March On Edmonton was founded upon addressing hatred and bigotry in public discourse and eliminating gender-based harassment and violence, both of which echo their slogan: women’s rights are human rights.

Organizer Paula Kirman, who knows her way around a picket sign with over 12 years in Edmonton’s activism scene, says last year’s march was monumental.

The 2017 march was by far the largest she’s seen (the second largest being Occupy Edmonton in 2011 with around 1,500 people in Churchill Square).

“I think specifically, we had very Albertan and Edmontonian reasons to march. It wasn’t just because of what was going on in the United States,” Kirman

says. “There was a sort of this trickle-up effect of people feeling emboldened in terms in espousing and promoting attitudes and hate speech and verbal bullying of women in public life especially.

We’ve seen that in the caucus right here in Alberta.”

Fellow organizer Allison Post agrees, saying it’s less about Trump and more about the issues here at home, which is why they worked to have such an intersectional range of speakers for the marches.

This year’s rally will host representatives from several communities who will speak to their areas of activism. This includes president of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women Nasim Kherani, transgender and inclusivity advocate Stephanie Shostak, community labour activist Mimi Williams, disability rights activists Debbie Reid and Amy Park, as well as founder of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women Muriel Stanley Venne.

While issues of harassment and abuse have gained attention with campaigns like #metoo and #timesup, the organizers say other issues have yet to gain a similar spotlight.

Last year, Post was horrified to see how few women were elected to Edmonton’s city council. With a fire lit under her after the March on Edmonton, Post ran for city council in the 2017 municipal election.

Post references comments that were made about her appearance or the fact that she doesn’t have kids—by choice—as something that would never be asked of a man and indeed were not asked of her fellow male candidates.

“I’m concerned about what

young women are seeing in the media,” Kirman adds.

She mentions Minister Sandra Jansen (candidate for leadership of the Progressive Conservative party at the time) crossing the floor and the subsequent harassment and death threats she received afterward.

“What kind of message is this giving to young women who may be considering a career in politics or in public life?” Kirman asks.

With the general election coming in just over a year, issues like this are pressing, and require work without question. Edmonton’s city council currently has two women elected out of 12 wards. While Premier Notley’s NDP caucus set a record for the number of women elected (45 percent), we should be aware of and resist regression in this area. The March on Edmonton Collective is committed to nonpartisanship and organizers invite every elected official in Alberta to remain unbiased.

Despite the ground that’s been made over the past year, the March on Edmonton Collective says they’re nowhere near finished. That’s the focus for this year’s anniversary march, spurring new activism beyond the streets.

The March on Edmonton Collective plans to use this year’s gathering to continue forward momentum going. Post and Kirman plan to do this by staying connected with the heaps of people that show up to the march, so they may act upon the values they march for with organizations like Win House, Equal Voice, Women Building Futures and the Young Women’s Christian Association.

“We need to make a really strong and powerful statement,” Kirman says. “That hate speech and violence and bullying is not

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acceptable in our society, but there’s still work to be done.”

Sierra Bilton sierra@vueweekly.com

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Political Interference

Alberta’s revenue problem R

Albertans will need to take the lead on reform in spite of current political parties

egardless of how you feel about current levels of spending by the province, regardless of how optimistic you are about the future price of oil, and regardless of whether you are on the right, left, or centre of the political spectrum, the fact that the Alberta government is not bringing in enough tax revenue to pay for the services Albertans want is undeniable.

Throughout the boom years oil and gas revenues were able to pretty effectively hide Alberta’s revenue problem, but when the bottom fell out of prices and that particular goose stopped laying those bitumen-filled golden eggs, it became impossible to ignore the gap.

Even Jim Prentice, during his short tenure as premier, realized the extent of the problem and moved to eliminate the flat tax and increase taxes for the rich in his pre-election budget. Even though Prentice and his plans went down to electoral defeat, Rachel Notley’s government moved quickly to implement the same changes—eliminate the flat tax and make income taxes more

progressive at the top end of the income scale, and increase corporate tax rates.

Prentice and Notley had the right idea, but neither one went far enough. Despite those tweaks to our individual and corporate taxes, Alberta is clearly still not collecting enough in taxes. Our current $10 billion deficit is not a result of any significant increases to spending since the NDP came to power, because there have been no significant increases to spending. In fact, aside from some early reversals of some pretty drastic cuts made by the previous PC government, increases in operating spending by the NDP have remained at, or slightly below, the cost of inflation and population growth.

Most of the current $10 billion deficit can be accounted for by the fact that last year we brought in about $6.5 billion less in nonrenewable resource revenue than we had in 2013-2014, and this year, despite some improvement, we’re still falling about $6 billion shy of where we were just four years ago. Add to that the fact

that our tax revenues have remained largely flat over the same period, and the $10 billion deficit makes sense.

There is now consensus, at least among economists, that it will be impossible to keep Alberta’s government finances viable and healthy going forward without addressing the revenue side of the equation. Most now agree that a sales tax is inevitable, and desireable, while a few still support the idea of adjusting the income tax system to achieve the needed revenue growth.

The problem is that despite general agreement among economists, Alberta’s politicians still appear to be in denial. To date the NDP government has not produced a credible plan to eliminate the provincial deficit. All they have said so far is that they will balance the books by 2023, and that they will not raise taxes or introduce a sales tax. The government has promised to release a concerted plan for balancing this books as part of budget 2018 this spring, but without raising taxes or a sales tax, that plan is likely to

look like every other plan before it in this province: rein in spending while praying for higher oil prices.

Jason Kenney and the UCP on the other hand have also promised that a UCP government would balance the books by 2023, have also indicated they would not raise existing taxes or introduce new ones, and have likewise not presented a concerted plan for reaching balance. This past week, however, the UCP did release a policy discussion paper to kick off dialogue among their members in the lead-up to their May 2018 policy convention. Sadly, if the ideas put forth in the discussion paper are any indication of what a UCP platform might look like, they are even more outof-touch with economic realities than the current government is.

The UCP discussion paper reasserts the promise to balance the books by 2023, but also suggests policies that return Alberta to the flat tax, significantly increase funding to private schools, reduce corporate taxes, eliminate the small business tax, eliminate

the carbon levy, fund a major court battle against the federal government, privatize health care, and set up a permanent commission to monitor federal government finances. In short, a UCP government would reduce current revenues even further, increase funding to elitist schools and private health providers, and dedicate money to fighting the feds, and yet still somehow balance the budget? I would love to see anyone attempt to put actual numbers to those policies and make it all work.

Ultimately, what is clear is that unless Albertans accept the reality of paying more in taxes to fund our current services and infrastructure, no political party in the province will take that initiative on their own. And if we don’t fix this problem in a permanent and sustainable way, then we have nothing left to do but pray for another bitumen boom to get us out of this mess—a bitumen boom that all indicators suggest may never come.

Ricardo Acuña ricardo@vueweekly.com

Dyer Straight

Shithole Countries

Trump finds the wrong way to phrase his agenda and enrages people around the globe

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oor Donald Trump. He was simply asking for information, and they’re all over him as if he were a racist thug. His choice of words was unfortunate, but the angels rejoice when an ignorant person seeks enlightenment. We should take his question seriously and answer it for him.

What Trump asked last Thursday was: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” From the context— he was meeting with congressmen and senators who were working on immigration issues—it’s clear that by ‘shithole countries’ he meant Central American and African countries. El Salvador and Haiti came in for special mention.

What marks these countries out is that many of them are very poor, and some of them are plagued by war, crime and/or massive corruption. But most of the immigrants to the U.S. have always come from countries like that: people who are safe and prosperous generally don’t abandon the countries they grew up in.

The first wave of Irish who went to the United States in the mid19th century were driven by famine at home. The German, Polish and Italian immigrants of the same period were fleeing both poverty and political repression; the Russian Jews were also fleeing anti-Semitic violence. They would all have been

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‘shithole countries’ at the time.

They are all safer, more prosperous places now, and the sources of the migrant flows have changed – but the motives of the migrants have not. Donald Trump should already have known that, since he grew up in New York City, but maybe he was just too privileged and isolated. At any rate, I’m glad to have cleared it up for him—and now that he understands the process all he has to do is clean up his language.

No, wait a moment. Trump had another question, too. He wanted to know why the United States couldn’t bring in immigrants from non-shithole places like Norway instead. This is a little harder to answer, because it’s a question of definition: the whole concept of a shithole depends heavily on your perspective.

From the point of view of Mexicans or Cubans, for example, El Salvador and Haiti are indeed shitholes (although they are far too polite ever to say that out loud). And from the viewpoint of a Norwegian, the United States is ... Well, let me leave that question to Dr. Christian Christensen, a Norwegian-American currently living and working in Sweden, who tweeted as follows: “Of course people from #Norway would love to move to a country where people are far more likely to get shot, live in poverty, get

no healthcare because they are poor, get no paid parental leave or subsidized daycare, and see fewer women in political power. #Shithole.” A bit heavy on the sarcasm, but you get the point. Trump will have to make do with immigrants who are, how shall we put this, darker in hue.

his remarks: “Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people.”

It was more than 24 hours later, with the outrage still growing both at home and abroad, that Trump finally put out the usual

Very few non-white Americans agree with this kind of talk, and a large number of white Americans, maybe as many as half, don’t either. That adds up to a 65 to 70 percent majority who don’t agree. Trump will not win this argument, and Michael Steele, the former chairman of

[Trump] was so confident that every American who had ever voted for him shared his views that he didn’t even deny what he had said right away.

This brings us to the heart of the matter. Trump is a racist: such a dyed-in-the-wool racist that he is virtually unconscious of it. He openly says that he prefers immigrants from nice, white countries like Norway to brown or black immigrants from ‘shithole countries.’

He was so confident that every American who had ever voted for him shared his views that he didn’t even deny what he had said right away. It was reported as soon as the meeting finished on Thursday, but the first White House statement just defended

statement (we’ve heard it on dozens of other occasions) denying that he had said what many people—senior members of congress, in this case—had heard him saying. It’s the kind of damage control that doesn’t really control the damage.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson told his audience that Trump’s ‘shithole’ comments were “something that almost every single person in America actually agrees with.” Wrong. What he should have said was, “almost every single American who watches Fox News.”

VUEWEEKLY.com | jan 18 - Jan 24, 2018

the Republican National Committee, knows it.

“There are, I have to say, a growing number of white Americans who are afraid of and do not want to see the browning of America.

They have a picture-perfect 1950s view of mother wearing an apron as dad, in a hat, goes off to work.

It looks a lot more like them than it does me, but America is starting to look more like me.”

Michael Steele is an AfricanAmerican.

Gwynne Dyer dyer@vueweekly.com

MEXICAN

Huarche / JProcktor

La Patrona 2 Athabascan Ave., Sherwood Park 780.570.1200 lapatrona.rocks

La Patrona’s authentic Mexican atmosphere and fiery cuisine are worth the trek

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hings sure have changed since I was a high school student in Sherwood Park, a time at which no one would have considered our little bedroom community east of town a culinary destination, much less the site of some of the better Mexican food to be found locally.

I don’t think we even had a Taco Time back then.

La Patrona is the bricks and mortar follow-on to the delightful Case12Doce Mexican food truck, with said construction elements providing a better appointed venue for tequila drinks, a more elaborate menu and flat screen TVs. They seem to be attracting a lot of patrons (albeit, patrons who take their meals at respectable hours and are home by eight) and it actually took a couple of tries to book a table at La Patrona during peak hours.

Its cozy nook in one of Sherwood Park’s heritage strip malls fits in a fair amount of tidy Mexican “atmosphere,” from barn boardframed outlaw photos to a partition topped with lithe Dia del Muertos figurines to a corrugated metal bar lined with barstools and overseen by a tentacled Aztec sun clock. We were seated on the other side of a window from a brightly lit, immaculately clean scullery and prep area, where a lad in spotless whites and earbuds tidily sliced limes and chopped cilantro.

Plastic bins featuring numerous varieties of dried chili peppers (ancho, guajillo, habanero, chipotle, California, Jamaica, pasilla, morita, etc.), the complex heart and flavourful fire of the present cuisine, loomed nearby.

I was briefly a chirpy post-adolescent in Sherwood Park, so I was charmed to have one as my server. She did not disappoint, marching us through the menu at a polite clip with recommendations at the ready and an entreaty to eat all the lettuce that came with the

Quesadillas Doradas ($10). She made us promise. The appetizer is a pleasing twist on the formula of savoury-thing-inside-crunchything with dip: three folded-over fried corn tortillas filled with potatoes and feta cheese, topped with fresh salsa and sour cream, laid on a bed of shredded lettuce in light lime vinaigrette. The server was right, the fresh, tangy salad mingled perfectly with the creamy filling and golden tortilla.

A deep red dollop of the house hot sauce added a touch of smoke and a substantial kick.

It was a good thing we had appies. Bad timing saw us order just after an adjacent table of eight and our entrees took about 45 minutes to arrive. Our server remained chipper but couldn’t quite disguise her disappointment. We also regretted the circumstances, but at least the food was really good.

And there was lots of it.

Co-diner’s Hugo Taco ($17) manifested as a sizzling skillet of sautéed onions, just-cooked jalapenos, crumbled house-made chorizo and smoked sirloin, draped with six corn tortillas fresh off the grill and sided with the house salsa verde. In my view, tacos should extol well-prepared meat above all, and the sausage and robustly smoky beef were in perfect harmony. Co-diner found that dicing

the spears of grill-charred cilantro and distributing them throughout the taco kept them from blowing her head off.

My torta ($15) was of the cochinita variety, a grilled torpedo roll laden with pork loin marinated in orange juice and Mexican spices (achiote, cumin, oregano) and topped with tomato, cilantro, lettuce and plenty of mayo. The pork was cooked in a banana leaf to steamy, annatto-stained tatters that made for a succulent, juicy filling to which pickled red onions lent a crunchy, sweet, vinegar-y tang. Messy, but totally satisfying, and some concealed habanero chilies contributed a slow-building but righteous heat.

I love me some pickles on the side and the slices of carrot, jalapeno and onion imbued with oregano and cumin deserve mention.

The spears of jalapeno distributed their heat to everything else but they were so good, so firm and crunchy, so pungently spicy, I couldn’t resist. Like everything else we ate, the heat was all artfully balanced with flavour.

My entrée was such that I didn’t get that far into my side of beans ($5), which the server endorsed, boasting they were cooked in water used to make the chorizo.

Once again, she was accurate. The rust-coloured stew of ground chilies, chorizo flecks and deliquesc-

ing pinto beans was earthy and rich (and salty) and would make a great meal on its own with some hot tortillas and cerveza.

The unexpected duration of the meal forced us to forgo dessert, but everything else we had indicated a formidable kitchen that would probably nail the sweets as

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well, and I did see a very attractive flan go by. Fans of Calle Mexico, Huma, Three Amigos or Tres Carnales owe themselves a field trip to Sherwood Park, for La Patrona easily ranks with the best Mexican food in town.

Scott Lingley dish@vueweekly.com

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LAVISH LOCATIONS

DINING

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A round-up of YEG’s newly-opened hot spots that caught our eye in 2017

dmonton is notorious for its vibrant and eclectic food scene and has no shortage of new restaurants to try.

Certainly, two of the biggest trends 2017 were the continued growth of sharing plate-style eateries and a notable boom in the “street food” resurgence.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a new place opening up that wasn’t offering one or both of these dining options to its guests.

I was fortunate enough to visit many of the new establishments we welcomed to Edmonton in 2017, and I’ve created a round-up of my top five picks for restaurants that are a must-try for any foodie.

Bundok This modern-Canadian restaurant is a welcome addition to the 104 Street strip. At the helm of the kitchen is Ryan Hotchkiss, who offers up simple, yet elegant dishes including the Chicken Liver Tartine and Roasted Cauliflower topped with capers, breadcrumbs and crème fraîche. The space itself is clean, modern and it’s the perfect place for a business meeting or romantic date.

Baijiu / Supplied

Pip Whether it’s a Monday or a Sunday, you can count on Pip to satisfy your hunger. As the youngest sibling in The Next Act and MEAT family, Pip does not disappoint with its daily brunch menu. Located in Old Strathcona, it’s the perfect way to start a weekend before perusing the shops on Whyte Ave.

Ávila Arepa Avilia Arepa is one of those modern street food restaurants that have popped up in Edmonton and is giving the culinary industry a run for its money.

The tiny space on Whyte Avenue is full of flavour with the food and atmosphere bringing a taste of Latin America to Edmonton. Visit on a Friday or Saturday night. You may even catch a Latin dance party.

Wishbone Brayden Kozak, chef and coowner of the popular Three Boars, also creates modern-Canadian dishes at Wishbone. The space itself is clean, fresh and inviting, and the expert staff are prepared to pair any dish with the perfect beer, spirit or wine.

This spot is well known for its surf ‘n’ turf options.

Baijiu This is by far one of my new favourites in the city. Chef Alexei Boldireff serves up Asian share plates with flavours that are unlike any other in the city. Baijiu (pronounced Bye-Joe) is the perfect mixture of casual and classy. Whether you’re out on a date or grabbing a pre-game cocktail, this is the place to be.

Honourable mention Alder Room, Zwick’s Pretzel, The Moth Cafe, Butternut Tree, Revel, Holy Roller, Grandin Fish ‘N’ Chips, Tiffin India’s Fresh Kitchen, London Local, Mayday Dogs, Die Pie, Ono Poke Co. and Biera.

Katie Robertson dish@vueweekly.com

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VUEWEEKLY.com/ARTS THEATRE REVIEW OF THE HUMANS VOICEOVER ARTIST NICOLE PAPADOPOULOS

THEATRE PREVUE

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Cardiac Theatre takes on a brave new world of speculative sci-fi

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o-presented by Edmonton’s Azimuth Theatre and Calgary’s Downstage, Cardiac Theatre’s The Listening Room by Calgary playwright Michaela Jeffery opens in Edmonton this week.

It begins, and ends, in a tiny bunker filled with five anarchist teens in the remote desert of a post-apocalyptic world. A speculative fiction piece set sometime in the future, the world of The Listening Room is loosely implied to have gone through an apocalyptic event that forges a new world order to arise on the other side.

“Imagine everything that could go wrong does, and fast forward at least a couple generations,” Jeffery says.

Although this brave new world has attempted to become a sort of utopia, we meet the society as it begins to fall into traps that perhaps became the undoing of societies from the past. Jeffery likens it to a hybrid between feudal England and our own society today, with its focus on information as power and perhaps even a weapon.

Originally inspired by stories of humankind sending various transmissions out into space in the 20th century (including, of course, The Beatles’ “Across the Universe”),

Jeffery asked herself: Who would be the first person or people to hear those space messages decades, even millennia later if they bounced back to Earth? And what would those people be like?

“The listeners” Jeffery creates use old radio telescopes from the 21st century to search for remnants of bygone civilizations (what else would survive an apocalyptic event and the decay of millenia but analog tech?)

Cardiac’s team have enjoyed the creative task of imagining a world where very little is known. The small bunker set holds hidden little ironies throughout to add touches of humour to the drama, like using emptied out digital monitors to store physical items in.

We see only glimpses of this strange new world through the five young listeners in their cyberpunk bunker. Listening has largely been forgotten by the rest.

“The matrix is that they survived the end of the world by being capable of listening,” Jeffery says. “However many years into the future, the society arguably has lost that.

There’s a character part of the way through who has a line that says: ‘What is the point of this act of listening?’ In other words, what is the point of recording information and

Fri., Jan. 19 - 28 (2 pm & 8 pm) The Listening Room ATB Financial Arts Barns $19-$22 gathering knowledge and perspective inside of a society that is no longer interested in anything outside of itself? And so that, for me, is one of the major driving questions of this piece.”

The Listening Room is special in its balance of Alberta talent in all respects of production.

“We’re all from Alberta but some people are from Calgary and went to schools in Lethbridge, some people are from Edmonton, or from Calgary but did school in Edmonton,” says actor Carmen Nieuwenhuis who plays Lanolin. “We’ve been trained in different places but it’s really delightful to all come together.”

Jeffery originally wrote the script in 2015 as a final project for her playwriting program at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. The school then put together the first production of her play in 2016, and Jeffery went on with other projects. But when Cardiac Theatre co-founder Harley Morison discovered the script through an online play exchange site, he saw the spark of something brilliant.

PHOTO EXHIBIT

STEPPING INTO THE CLOWN SUIT A

From the exhibit Good Grief / JProcktor

Sat., Jan. 20 (1 pm) Good Grief opening reception Showing until Feb. 5 Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts

Good Grief explores love and loss through clown-clad self-portraits

s a Grade 1 teacher, Jay Procktor sometimes clowns around with his students. But after years of work on the side as a photographer, the 43-year-old local is unveiling his first large gallery exhibition this week, filled with 16 images of clowns in both a literal and symbolic sense.

The Good Grief exhibit is inspired by personal loss Procktor has encountered, featuring 15

self-portraits and one photo of Procktor’s father.

In February 2012, Procktor’s best friend passed away and five months later his father also passed after a long battle with cancer.

“The two men that knew me inside-out and backwards … I lost them both and it was really difficult,” he says.

Procktor had time to talk with his dad about a project he had

been brainstorming before his eventual passing.

“The third time the cancer came back, I had had this idea for quite a while of this image that I wanted to do with him,” he says. “I wanted to shoot him as a clown eating a hamburger.”

His dad often went for burgers near his workplace in Sherwood Park, and at his company’s annual family Christmas banquet, he’d

/ Shae Paterson and Gisell Boehm

“She’s writing in a genre that you don’t see on stage that much. It’s this speculative fiction dystopia. I mean, you read about that in novels but it’s super uncommon on stage, so I was really drawn to that style,” says Morison, the play’s director.

At the time she wrote the play, Jeffery was living in Montreal for her schooling and spending time with a group of young people that had a very distinct idea about what it was to live in resistance to the rest of the world. Jeffery quickly drew a parallel between the space her Montreal companions dwelled in, and the place the young dissidents in her play live in—teenagers at the end of the world.

“I kind of think about it in a way, as a fantastical love letter to those extreme personalities that I was living very close to at the time,” she says.

Beyond being particularly imaginative and out-of-the-box for live

theatre, Jeffery’s script is becoming more and more resonant with current extreme situations, something she wasn’t expecting.

“It’s easy to take things incredibly seriously,” she says. Especially for the personalities she wrote into the play, but humour—however dark it may be—can become a way of dealing with the sort of situations we see in our media today.

“To go too far into the seriousness, I think, is to lose hope,” Jeffery explains. “It’s not humanly possible to sustain that level of complete intensity without plummeting into the abyss of complete despair.

You have to find a way to find the beauty and the levity in it and sometimes that can be quite dark.

It’s like gallows humour—societal gallows humour about the state of the world, I suppose.”

Sierra Bilton sierra@vueweekly.com

dress as a clown and play the sax as Santa Claus arrived.

“Every time this clown band would come into the hall, I’d dive under the table as a five-year-old or a six-year-old and grab my mom’s leg and bawl my eyes out. It was horrifying,” Procktor says. “The next year, my dad put the makeup on at home so I could see him transform into this clown … It didn’t matter. It just freaked me right out.”

him, and it was a way to work through all the grief of losing my best friend and losing my dad.”

Despite the inward focus of most self-portraits, Procktor says the project extended a feeling of closure to his family around the continent who helped him turn his ideas into photos, either by clicking the shutter for him, or appearing within the frame.

Additionally, he was helped by his friend Mark Freeman, who helped turn the pictures into artistry by digitally printing them at The Big Pixel Inc. “You look at all the selfies that everyone is doing with the use of cellphones, then to present a work of self-portraiture, I think that the initial thought would be that this is a kind of isolated process,” he says. “I think the reality and the beauty of this project, for me, is that it’s been such a collective one.

“It’s a beautifully sad series, and I don’t think I’d have it any other way,” he says. “I’m really happy with the product and I’m so thankful for everyone that’s been a part of it.”

Kevin Pennyfeather arts@vueweekly.com

About a year after his father’s death, Procktor decided to continue the photo series at the burger shop by stepping into the the clown suit himself.

“For me it was like, I’m kind of the fool who doesn’t understand where he’s gone and what’s happened to him,” Procktor says. “ I returned to all the places that were either meaningful to him, or to us as father and son.”

Procktor says it was a cathartic process.

“Just because he had passed on didn’t mean I wanted to be done hanging out with him and spending time with him,” he says. “It was an abstract way to return to these places and still kind of hang with

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

arts 7

MUSICAL PREVUE

VODKA AND HEARTBREAK

Modern folk-rock opera Onegin portrays lovers and douchebags

Wed., Jan 17 - Sun., Jan 28 Onegin Citadel Theatre (Maclab) $33.60

T

Cast of Onegin / David Cooper

8 arts

here’s a Russian proverb that says, ‘When you meet a man, judge him by his clothes.

When you leave, judge him by his heart.’ That’s the basis of Onegin, a story for the honeytongued and ice-hearted.

Pronounced On-yeg-in, the musical is a cornerstone of Russian poetry that became a Tchaikovsky opera, which has now been distilled into a twohour musical.

“It’s a love story,” says Alessandro Juliani, who plays the titular character. “It’s a classic boy meets girl, boy is a douchebag, boy regrets it. It’s not a new story. There’s many-a-musical or an opera that would fit under that template, but there’s something about this particular show that is rare and special.”

Juliani’s description is rather apt.

Onegin, first adapted from the poetic novel by Alexander Pushkin, tells the story of a lecherous Russian dandy whose personality is as empty as his consideration for the women who catch his eye.

In short: a douchebag.

This production of Onegin adds a few new ornaments to its performance courtesy of musician Veda Hille and playwright Amiel Gladstone. The music, performed on stage, is a blend of electric and acoustic instrumentation. The stage direction is likewise lively.

“It really is a party atmosphere that we’re trying to conjure and get everyone involved in,” Juliani says. “If you happen to sit in the right seat, you might get a free vodka shot. I’m not guaranteeing it. That’s part of the spirit, excuse the pun, of the whole affair.”

Juliani is joined by his real-life spouse, Meg Roe, as Tatyana, as well as Josh Epstein as Lensky, the young poet and occasional narrator. Despite the creative adaptations found within this interpretation of the poem, Epstein says that Onegin remains true to the spirit of its source material.

“I would say it’s the same as when you go see Shakespeare and they’ve sort of updated it a bit,” Epstein says. “Added music, you know? It’s a modern folk-rock opera. Incredibly cool, very stylish. It’s got that kind

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

of Hamilton vibe where you’ve taken an old story and made it fresh, but it’s very faithful to the story.”

From the costuming to the set design, each aspect of the musical has been meticulously studied to fit into a cohesive vision of unrequited and seemingly relatable love in Russia. For that reason, among many, the musical has been a consistent hit with critics, garnering praise across Canada. The songs linger long after the show is finished.

“What I hear the most is everybody leaves the theatre singing the songs,” Epstein says.

“Which I’m confused about because they’ve never heard the songs before. On one listen, they’re already remembering these songs.”

Onegin is a complicated and culturally-cherished story that chronicles both a deeply insincere man and the romance and tragedy of falling in love.

“It’s universal for sure,” says Juliani. “If you have a heart in your chest region and that heart has been open at some point, or been cracked open or broken, then I think it will resonate.”

Lucas Provencher arts@vueweekly.com

THEATRE PREVUE

DEFINITIONS OF LOVE

Kill Your Television presents R&J, the Shakespearean classic with a modern twist

R

ather than the commonplace composite of a play within a play, Joe Calarco’s Shakespeare’s R&J is more of a play outside of a play.

It tells the story of four Catholic prep-school students living under abject scrutiny, especially when it comes to sex and desire. After deciding to secretly meet for readings of the banned Shakespearean love story, the four discover a world of impelling freedom and choice that’s entirely new to them.

Director Kevin Sutley first read the script almost 20 years ago, but can still remember some of the points that struck him.

“What this script does is deconstruct it in a way that makes some really good points about masculinity, and gender, and sexuality, and the nature of love,” Sutley says.

The play does this with very little, but certainly in this case, less is more.

“The set is four boxes and a cloth. Basically that’s our whole set, so we create a world out of very limited materials,” Sutley explains. “For instance, the fight has to be done with a piece of fabric instead of swords.”

This minimal style doesn’t distract the audience’s attention with extras to squelch or minimize the emotions that are portrayed, making the play very visceral. But that’s the point.

Kill Your Television performed a production of Shakespeare’s R&J in 2002 to a largely positive response. So when the opportunity arose again, they knew it was time to find a new group of young actors to tell the story of discovering love and self.

Luc Tellier and Braydon Dowler-Coltman / Lucas Boutilier

“I think the issues are still relevant. We like to think that we’ve progressed but I don’t think we’ve progressed as far as we think we have sometimes,” Sutley says.

He mentions the debates still surrounding gay-straight alliances in schools, especially in Catholic schools, and blatant homophobic comments from current political candidates.

Although the script ultimately has the repressor written as the Catholic church, Sutley says there’s less focus on a specific repressor and more on the concept and what it can do to a young person.

“Some people will do alright, some people will flourish, and some people will be left behind in that kind of a world,” he says.

Theatre was an important safe space for actor Luc Tellier growing up in a school with rigid expectations of gender and love.

“I went to a Catholic high school and had to come out in that setting. But I had some really great allies, both people in the school and outside of the school. So it was cool that theatre was my safe space and that I get to promote this message now through theatre still,” Tellier says.

Fellow actor Oscar Derkx explains the phenomenon R&J touches on that only complicates things.

“One thing I find interesting about the script is that the characters in it are both victims of the status quo and enforcers of it, sometimes in the same moment.

And I find that quite compelling and complex and true,” Derkx says. “Perhaps as a result of the

Thu., Jan. 18 - Sun., Jan. 28 Shakespeare’s R&J The Roxy $15-$30 frustration from being stifled, because they have stifled themselves, they think that others should have the right to do that.”

Sutley agrees, and echoes the reality some have faced and still face by adding that people can learn to hate themselves, and it’s often that hate and shame that drives the calling out of others.

Although Derkx grew up in a open community, he felt confines of gender through the concept of masculinity that was forced upon him.

“I think probably everyone feels the confines of gender growing up,” Derkx says. “I remember I always had to have my mouth open a little bit. I thought that looked really cool. I probably looked like a total idiot. But it was in theatre games and play, in this safe space that theatre creates, that I found so much freedom to be who I think I actually am.”

Above all else, R&J challenges assumptions and redefines constructs through the lens of its artform.

“We can get caught up in trying to categorize things or name things, and I think it just really doesn’t work that way,” Sutley says. “If we get too confined by labels then we start to miss the point of a lot of important things.

Love is not defined by gender, love is love.”

Sierra Bilton sierra@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

arts 9

ARTS WEEKLY EMAIL YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO: LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 12PM

DANCE ARGENTINE TANGO DANCE AT FOOT NOTES STUDIO • Foot Notes Dance Studio (South side), 9708-45 Ave • 780.438.3207 • virenzi@shaw.ca • Argentine Tango with Tango Divino: beginners: 7-8pm; intermediate: 8-9pm; Tango Social Dance (Milonga): 9pm-12 • Every Fri, 7pm-midnight • $15

BALLROOM DANCE ASSOCIATION • Central Lions Recreation Center, 11113-113 St • 780.893.6828 • ebda.ca • An evening of ballroom, latin, country dancing • First Sat of every month, 8pm (doors)

BURLESQUE BRUNCH: SUNNY SIDE UP WITH A SIDE OF SASS • Have Mercy, 8232 Gateway Boulevard • Brunch with a side of sass - Ice on Whyte edition! You'll be served your choice from amazing brunch offerings and treated to a showcase of Edmonton’s best burlesque performers. Performances include: Violette Coque, Holly Von Sinn, Kiki Quinn, Jezebel Sinclair and host LeTabby Lexington • Jan 28, 11am-2pm • Tickets available at Eventbrite

DANCE CLASSES WITH GOOD WOMEN DANCE COLLECTIVE • Muriel Taylor Studio at Ruth Carse Centre for Dance, 11205-107 Ave • info@goodwomen.ca • goodwomen.ca/classes • Every Tue, Thu, Fri; 10-11:30am • $15 (drop-in), $65 (5 class pack), $100 (10 class pack)

DIRT BUFFET CABARET• Spazio Performativo, 10816 95 St • milezerodance. com • This multidisciplinary, diverse variety show allows audiences to discover Edmonton’s most unique, challenging, and wide-ranging performances, curated by an array of artists who will share different niches within the Edmonton scene • Feb 1, 8pm • $10 or best offer at the door

FLAMENCO DANCE CLASSES (BEGINNER OR ADVANCED) • Dance Code Studio, 10575-115 St NW • 780.349.4843 • judithgarcia07@gmail.com • flamencoenvivo.com • Every Sun until Jun 10, 11:30am-12:30pm

HOUSE OF HUSH PRESENTS: NEW YEAR REVOLUTION • Crash Hotel Lobby, 10266-103 St • hellothere@violettecoquette. com • houseofhushjan26.eventbrite.com • houseofhushburlesque.com • Grab a table for House of Hush Burlesque’s

House of Hush presents: New Year Revolution Crash Hotel Lobby Jan 26, 7pm (doors), 8-9:30pm $30 (include a complimentary feature cocktail) 18+ only

speakeasy burlesque show at Crash Hotel’s vintage cocktail bar! Go back in time to an era of luxurious outfits, cocktails and a night of classic burlesque with top burlesque performers from Edmonton, Calgary, and beyond • Jan 26, 7pm (doors), 8-9:30pm • $30 (include a complimentary feature cocktail) • 18+ only

ART GALLERY OF ST ALBERT (AGSA)

MILE ZERO DANCE DROP-IN DANCE & MOVEMENT CLASSES • Spazio Performativo,

BLEEDING HEART ART SPACE • 9132-118

artgalleryofstalbert.ca • Outrospectives: artwork

by Nathalie Daoust, Florin Hategan and Edwin Janzen; Dec 7-Jan 27 Ave • dave@bleedingheartartspace.com • Origin Stories: artwork by Jenny Hawkinson; Jan 8-27

• Lower level, Rutherford South, University of Alberta • bpsc.library.ualberta.ca • Salt, Sword, and Crozier: Books and Coins from the Prince-Bishopric of Salzburg (c.1500-c.1800); Jan 2-Feb 7

THE SASH MAKER • Spazio Performativo,

BUGERA MATHESON GALLERY • 10345-

10816-95 St • milezerodance.com • In collaboration with Aboriginal Arts Alberta, Rebecca Sadowski uses Metis traditional sash weaving as an entry point to exploring her own heritage through movement • Jan 19-20 • $15 or best offer at the door

BOREALIS GALLERY • 9820-107 St • assembly.ab.ca/visitorcentre/borealis.html • A Call for Justice: Fighting for Japanese Canadian Redress (1977-1988); Jan 15-Apr 2 BRUCE PEEL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

124 St • bugeramathesongallery.com • Levitas: artwork by Linda Craddock; Feb 16-28

CAVA GALLERY • 9103-95 Ave •

SACRED CIRCLE DANCE • Riverdale Hall, 9231-100 Ave • Dances are taught to a variety of songs and music. No partner required • Every Wed, 7-9pm • $10

780.461.3427 • galeriecava.com • Art & Film Installation with Lana Whiskeyjack and Beth Wishart MacKenzie; Jan 21-Mar 31

DC3 ART PROJECTS • 10567-111 St • 780.686.4211 • dc3artprojects.com • Isachsen: artwork by various artists; Jan 12-Feb 17 FAB GALLERY • Fine Arts Building Gallery,1-1

SUGAR FOOT STOMP! • Sugar Swing Ballroom, 10019-80 Ave NW • 587.786.6554 • dance@sugarswing.com • sugarswing.com • Swing dance social • Every Fri-Sat, 8pm (beginner lesson begins) • $12, $2 (lesson with entry) • All ages SWING 'N' SKATE • City Hall, City Room & Plaza, 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square • 780.970.7766 • brasko@edmontonarts.ca • edmontonarts.ca/churchillsquare • Local bands bring the swing with live jazz and big band music. Music will be broadcast outside to enjoy while skating on the Plaza • Every Sun, Jan 7-Feb 25, 1-4pm • Free

FILM METRO • Metro at the Garneau Theatre, 8712-109 St • 780.425.9212 • metrocinema. org • Visit metrocinema.org for daily listings • Canada's Top Ten Film Festival 2018 (Jan 25-Feb 4) • Black History Month 2018; through Feb • AFTERNOON TEA: Victoria & Abdul (Feb 11) • ART DOCS: Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World (Feb 8) • CINEMA OF PSYCHEDELIA: Altered States (Jan 20) • GATEWAY TO CINEMA: Wonder Woman (Jan 24), Get Out (Feb 13) • HOMO-CIDAL DRAG SHOW: Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Feb 18) • KINK ON SCREEN: Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (Jan 21, Jan 24) • MUSIC DOC: Charles Bradley: Soul of America (Feb 6) • NIGHT GALLERY: Adult Cartoon Party! (Feb 17) • QUOTE-A-LONG SERIES: The Princess Bride (Feb 14) • REEL FAMILY CINEMA: Wonder Woman (Jan 20), Kirikou and the Sorceress (Feb 3), Boss Baby (Feb 10), Muppet Movie (Feb 19), LEGO Batman Movie (Feb 24) • REEL LEARNING: The Phantom of the Opera (2004) (Jan 23) • SCIENCE IN THE CINEMA: Side Effects (Jan 18), Hotel Transylvania (Feb 17) • SCI-FI: The Brother from Another Planet (Feb 11) • SUNDAY CLASSICS: West Side Story (Jan 28), Gigi (Feb 25) • TURKEY SHOOT: The Wicker Man (2006) (Jan 18)

SING-A-LONG-A SOUND OF MUSIC • Horizon Stage, 1001 Calahoo Road, Spruce Grove • 780.962.8995 • horizonstage.com • A host will lead the audience through a vocal warm up and give you a comprehensive guide to the accompanying actions for this sing-a-long movie event • Jan 20, 2pm

ALBERTA CRAFT COUNCIL GALLERY • 10186-106 St • 780.488.6611 • albertacraft. ab.ca • Process; Thinking Through: artwork

by Charles Lewton-Brain; Jan 20-Apr 21 • Acceptable Bodies: artwork by Allison Tunis; Jan 13-Feb 24; Artist reception and talk: Jan 20, 2-4pm ART GALLERY OF ALBERTA (AGA) •

10 arts

• 19 Perron St, St Albert • 780.460.4310 •

10816-95 St • 780.424.1573 • mzdsociety@ gmail.com • milezerodance.com/classes • Mile Zero Dance holds a number of drop-in dance & movement classes for people of all experience levels & ages; Mon: Professional Technique (1011:30am), Contact Improv (7-9pm); Tue: Kids 6-10 (4:30-5:15pm), Toonie Yoga (5:30-6:45pm), Butoh (7-9pm); Wed: Noguchi Taiso (1011:30am); Thu: Preschool 3-5 (10-10:45am), Beginner Contemporary (5-6:15pm); Sat: House (7-9pm) • $15 (regular), $12 (members), 10-class cards available for $100

GALLERIES + MUSEUMS

/ Ninedoors Photography

1-3pm • Exhibition Tours; Every Sat-Sun, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm • Art for Lunch; 3rd Thu of the month, 12-1pm • VIBE; 3rd Fri of the month, 5-9pm

2 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.422.6223 • youraga.ca • Monument: artwork by Dara Humniski and Sergio Serrano; Oct 14-Feb 19 • Calling Stones (Conversations): artwork by Faye HeavyShield; Oct 28-Feb 19 • WordMark: A New Chapter Acquisition Project; Oct 28-Mar 25 • Songs for Pythagoras: artwork by Peter von Tiesenhausen; Jan 27-May 6 • Undaunted: Canadian Women Painters of the 19th Century; Dec 2-Mar 25 • WEEKLY DROP-IN ACTIVITIES: Tours for Tots, Every Wed, 1011am • Youth Workshops, ages 13-17, Every Thu, 4-6pm • Kids’ Open Studio, Every Sat,

SCOTT GALLERY • 10411-124 St • scottgallery.com • 5 Artists 1 Love; Feb 3-24 • Keystone Confederates: artwork by Jesse Thomas; Feb 3-24 SNAP GALLERY • Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists, 10123-121 St • 780.423.1492 • snapartists.com • Community Gallery: artwork

by Jonathan S. Green; Jan 5-Feb 10 • Main Gallery: Tara Cooper; Jan 5-Feb 10

TELUS WORLD OF SCIENCE • 11211-142 St • telusworldofscienceedmonton.com • Daily activities, demonstrations and experiments • POPnology Exhibition; Feb 9-May 6 • Terry Fox– Running to the Heart of Canada; Feb 16-Sep 16 VASA GALLERY • 25 Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert • 780.460.5990 • vasa-art.com • Emerging from Ignorance: artwork by Alena Valova; Jan 30-Feb 24

LITERARY AUDREYS BOOKS • 10702 Jasper Ave • Gleb Raygorodestsky "The Archipelago of Hope" Book Launch; Feb 4, 2-4pm

DOWNTOWN EDMONTON BOOK CLUB • Downtown Edmonton Community League, 10042-103 St • facebook.com/declorg • Open to anyone who lives, works, or plays downtown and wants to meet new people, have great conversations, and read cool stuff • Every 2nd Wed, 7-8:30pm

EDMONTON POETS HOUSE LIBRARY READING HOURS • Edmonton Poets House at

FAB (University of Alberta) • ualberta.ca/ artshows • Feeling the Flesh of the Other as Our Own: artwork by Angela Marino; Jan 23-Feb 10 • Alcuin Awards for Book Design in Canada 2016; Jan 23-Feb 10

Hobbit House, 9015-153 St • yegpoetshouse@ gmail.com • Read from the poetry library; or write a poem away from the hustle bustle.

Poetry teacher Jade O'Riley will be there for constructive feedback or editing help with your latest poem • Jan 18, 4-8pm • Free

FRONT GALLERY • 10402-124 St •

EDMONTON STORY SLAM • Mercury

thefrontgallery.com • Fallen Star Cars: artwork

by Steve Coffey; Feb 8, 7-9pm

GALLERY@501 • 501 Festival Ave, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8585 • strathcona.ca/artgallery • Members Show and Sale; Jan 11-Feb 25

HARCOURT HOUSE GALLERY • 3 Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.426.4180 • harcourthouse. ab.ca • 1984 Cranes: artwork by Bonnie Patton; Dec 7-Jan 19 • Bandaneira: artwork by Jonas St. Michael; Dec 7-Jan 19 HUMAN ECOLOGY GALLERY • University of Alberta 1-15, Human Ecology Building • 780.492.3824 • Imagining a Better World: artwork by Nelly Toll; Sep 28-Mar 11 LANDO GALLERY • 103, 10310-124 St • 780.990.1161 • landogallery.com • January Group Selling Exhibition: artwork by Lando Gallery artists; Until Jan 31

LATITUDE 53 • Latitude 53, 10242-106 St NW • latitude53.org • Persistence of Vision: artwork by Brandon A. Dalmer; Dec 8-Jan 20 • Latitude Invitational: by various artists; Dec 8-Jan 20

LOTUS ART GALLERY • 10321-124 St • lotus-gallery.com • Sexy & Wild: artwork by various artists; Jan-Mar; Opening night: Jan 26, 7-10pm MCMULLEN GALLERY • U of A Hospital, 8440-112 St • 780.407.7152 • friendsofuah. org/mcmullen-gallery • 21st Century Nesting Practices: artwork by Sydney Lancaster; Jan 6-Feb 25

MUSÉE HÉRITAGE MUSEUM • St Albert Place, 5 St Anne Street, St Albert • MuseeHeritage.ca • 780.459.1528 • museum@ artsandheritage.ca • Outrospectives: artwork

by Nathalie Daoust, Florin Hategan and Edwin Janzen; until Jan 27 PAINT SPOT • 10032-81 Ave • 780.432.0240 • paintspot.ca • NAESS GALLERY: The Story of One’s Soul: paintings by Oksana Zhelisko; Jan 4-Feb 1 • ARTISTAN NOOK: C is for Compost, an alphabet book project: artwork by Yong Fei Guan; Jan 4-Feb 1 PETER ROBERTSON GALLERY • 12323104 Ave • 780.455.7479 • probertsongallery. com • Carbon Capture: artwork by Peter von Tiesenhausen; Jan 27-Feb 28 • Artwork by Julian Forrest; Mar 15-Apr 7

PICTURE THIS! FRAMING & GALLERY • 959 Ordze Rd, Sherwood Park • 780.467.3038 • info@picturethisgallery.com • picturethisgallery. com • The Winter Art Show: artwork by Roger Arndt, Luke Buck, Charity Dakin, Trisha Romance and more; Dec 1-Feb 28 PROVINCIAL ARCHIVES OF ALBERTA • 8555 Roper Road • PAA@gov.ab.ca • 780.427.1750 • culture.alberta.ca/paa/ eventsandexhibits/default.aspx • Open TueSat, 9am • 150 Firsts: How Alberta Changed Canada…Forever; Until Aug 1

Room,10575-114 St • edmontonstoryslam. com • facebook.com/mercuryroomyeg • Great stories, interesting company, fabulous atmosphere • 3rd Wed each month • 7pm (signup); 7:30pm • $5 Donation to winner

FRANK WARREN • Arden Theatre, 5 St Anne St, St Albert • stalbert.ca/exp/arden • A talk with Frank Warren, creator of the PostSecret project, where strangers anonymously mail their private thoughts on postcards • Feb 3, 7:309:30pm • $45 (online or by phone)

ROUGE POETRY SLAM HOSTED BY BREATH IN POETRY COLLECTIVE • BLVD Supper x Club, 10765 Jasper Ave • Every Tue

6:30pm (doors), 7:30-9:30pm • Oct 23-May 29

EMPIRE OF THE SON • Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • citadeltheatre.com • A dynamic solo performance about an emotionally distant father whose legacy is felt beyond his lifetime • Jan 31-Feb 18

HEY LADIES! • The Roxy on Gateway (formerly C103), 8529 Gateway Blvd • theatrenetwork. ca • Edmonton’s premier comedy, info-tainment, musical, game, talk show spectacular that’s suitable for all sexes! • Feb 2, 8pm • $26 (call 780.453.2440) or TIX on the Square HMS PINAFORE • Jubilee Auditorium, 1145587 Ave • edmontonopera.com • This worldwide favourite Gilbert and Sullivan operetta puts a nautical spin on the classic “boy meets girl, girl’s grumpy father gets in the way” story. When lower-class sailor Ralph Rackstraw falls in love with Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, mayhem ensues as the two lovebirds try to elope…while at sea • Feb 3 (8pm), 6 (7:30pm), 9 (7:30pm) • Tickets from $40 (at edmontonopera.com or 780.429.100) THE HUMANS • Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • citadeltheatre.com • A family reunion at Thanksgiving causes tensions to rise to the surface as secrets and hardships are revealed • Jan 6-28 THE LISTENING ROOM • ATB Financial Art Barns, 10330-84 Ave • 780.471.1586 • In an isolated and post-apocalyptic desert, a group of four teenagers use radio telescopes to salvage fragments of earlier civilizations still ricocheting between stars, desperately searching for connections to a past that has faded from both memory and record • Jan 18-28 LOVE AND INFORMATION • Theatre Lab in Allard Hall, 11110-104 Ave • More than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. Churchill offers up snapshots of ourselves, existing, loving and figuring, and it is up to us to decide what we make of it • Jan 31-Feb 10, 7:30-9pm • $15-$25 ONEGIN • Maclab Theatre at the Citadel, 9828-101A Ave • 780.425.1820 • A new indierock musical. Tells the story of Eugene Onegin, a wealthy Russian playboy who, bored with seducing women in Moscow, sees a chance for a change when he inherits a country estate. He soon becomes fast friends with Vladimir, his new neighbour, who introduces Onegin to the love of his life, Olga • Jan 17-28, 7:30pm (nightly), 2pm (weekends) • $17

TALES–Monthly Storytelling Circle • Parkallen Community Hall, 6510-111 St • Monthly Tellaround: 2nd Wed each month • Sep-Jun, 7-9pm • Free • Info: 780.437.7736; talesedmonton@hotmail.com

OPEN JAM • Holy Trinity Church, 10037-84

UPPER CRUST CAFÉ • 10909-86 Ave •

ORANGE IS THE NEW PINK • Jubilations Dinner Theatre, West Edmonton Mall, #2061, 8882-170 St • 780.484.2424 • edmonton. jubilations.ca • Piper is pretty in pink and the life of every party. But when this queen of the New York party scene takes it a bit too far, she’s forced to trade in the pink party dress for an orange prison suit • Oct 20-Jan 20

780.422.8174 • strollofpoets.com • The Poets’ Haven Reading Series • Most Mon (except holidays), 7pm, Sep 18-Mar; presented by the Stroll of Poets Society • $5 (door)

THEATRE 11 O'CLOCK NUMBER • Basement Theatre at Holy Trinity, 10037-84 Ave • grindstonetheatre. ca • This completely improvised musical comedy is based on the suggestions from the audience who will get to experience a brand new story unfold in front of them, complete with impromptu songs, dance breaks and show stopping numbers • Every Fri, Oct 13-Dec 15, 11pm BACK TO THE 80S PART 2: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES • Mayfield Dinner Theatre, 16615-109 Ave • 780.483.4051 • mayfieldtheatre.ca • Join Bill and Ted in their time traveling phone booth as they blast back to the '80s to relive the bad hairdos, spandex pants, iconic characters and, of course, it’s most excellent mix-tape of memorable music. • Nov 7-Jan 28

BEWITCHING ELVIS • Jubilations Dinner Theatre, West Edmonton Mall, #2061 8882-170 St • 780.484.2424 • edmonton.jubilations.ca • Samantha Stephens and her husband Darren are trying to live a normal married life, but Samantha’s witch mother, Endora, doesn’t make it very easy for them. Samantha throws a party and is greeted by the real Elvis • Jan 26-Apr 1

CHIMPROV • Citadel's Zeidler Hall, 9828-101A Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Rapid Fire Theatre’s long form comedy show: improv formats, intricate narratives, and one-act plays • Every Sat, 10pm; Sep 10-Jun 9 • $15 (door or buy in adv at TIX on the Square) DIE-NASTY • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • die-nasty.com • Live improvised soap opera.

Join the whole Die-Nasty family REBORN, for a whole season of great artists, earth-shaking discovery, glorious music, hilarious hi jinx...but mostly Machiavellian Intrigue • Runs every Mon,

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

Ave • 780.907.2975 • grindstonetheatre.ca • Facilitated by Grindstone Theatre. Swap games and ideas and get an opportunity to play. For those of all levels • Last Tue of each month

PURPLE PIRATE’S MAGIC PIRATE SHIP • Horizon Stage, 1001 Calahoo Road, Spruce Grove • 780.962.8995 • horizonstage.com • This voyage will have adults laughing and children leaping to their feet to volunteer with the world’s friendliest buccaneer, The Purple Pirate • Jan 29, 10am

SHAKESPEARE’S R&J • Roxy on Gateway, 8529-103 St • theatrenetwork.ca • Presented

By Kill Your Television. The story of four male Catholic prep-school students, who secretly meet to read Romeo and Juliet, a play banned because of its sexuality and violence. The fun of the play-acting turns serious when two of the young men emerge in the title roles. Perceptions are challenged and love is redefined in a queer adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tale • Jan 18-28

SLUMBERLAND MOTEL • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • 780.433.3399 • shadowtheatre.org • While overnighting in a seedy roadside motel, two down on their luck vacuum cleaner salesmen’s lives are changed by a mysterious woman • Jan 17-Feb 4

TEMPUS EXTRAORDINARIUS • Theatre of La Cité francophone, 8627 rue Marie-Anne-Gaboury (91 St) • 780.469.8400 • lunitheatre@lunitheatre. ca • lunitheatre.ca • Confronted to a world deprived of all freedom, condemned to survive, Tubby and Nottubby will be carried by the turbulent flows of History and Time, in an epic journey of their own selves • Feb 7-10

THEATRESPORTS • Citadel's Zeidler Hall, 9828-101A Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Improv • Every Fri, 7:30pm and 10pm • Sep 9-Jun 8 • $15

VUEWEEKLY.com/FILM

REVIEW OF MOUNTAIN PLAYING AT METRO CINEMA REVIEWS OF THE POST, THE STAIRS AND ALTERED STATE

DOCUMENTARY

FRI, JAN 19 – THUR, JAN 25

(From left) Roxanne Smith, Sushi Rosborough, Norma Jean Neal / Cam Woykin

HUMANIZING ADDICTION

THE SHAPE OF WATER

FRI & MON TO THURS: 7:00PM SAT: 1:30 & 7:00PM SUN: 1:30 & 6:30PM RATED: 14A, V, SC, NRFC

T

oronto Film Critics Association-winning documentary The Stairs is outside the boundaries of good and bad, and instead addresses the realm of survival.

The Stairs humanizes addiction by putting faces and stories and realities in front of a word that is all too easily judged by its cover.

Produced and directed by Toronto’s Hugh Gibson, the moving doc tells the story of Marty, Greg, and Roxanne who work in their old neighbourhood of Toronto’s Regent Park, built in the late ‘40s as a public housing project.

After surviving decades of street involvement, each of the three now work at Regent Park’s Community Health Centre in various capacities to ease others’ paths by drawing upon knowledge and understanding from their still very real pasts.

But the path ahead is never clear, especially for someone with the amount of lived street experience as Marty, Greg, and Roxanne. While each is at a different point of recovery, their obstacles are faced collectively as a family. This five-year journey is skillfully told in the span of the 90-minute film.

Gibson originally started by creating two short documentaries

for the Safer Stroll project and the Crack Users Project (CUP) but in the process knew there could be, and really needed to be, more.

The urgency of Gibson’s film is timely at a point where Canada faces an epidemic more severe than the AIDS crisis at its height, in terms of deaths. The Edmonton screening will also host local harm-reduction organizations to come and chat with Gibson about the current situation in our city and how to address the surrounding issues.

“I think that people in Edmonton could relate to a lot of the subject matter; certainly the film’s about a particular neighbourhood in Toronto, but it could be really anywhere in North America. The stories are common to every city.”

The doc’s narrative is told only by the three main characters without any talking head ‘experts’ or clinical voices, something that Gibson and the agencies he worked with were very firm on.

Gibson even admits himself that he and his team were no match for the knowledge and power of voice the subjects had.

“These are subjects that have been covered a lot—drug use, sex work, homelessness—there’s no lack of work on the subjects,” he says. “But I started thinking, ‘Well, how come I haven’t seen a Marty or Greg or Roxanne on screen before?’ … Each of them is so different from the preconcep-

tions and the stigma surrounding their lifestyles.”

We don’t normally hear this story. As Judy and fellow social worker Sushi mention in the film, there’s no Richard Gere—he’s seventy and he’s broke. Lifestyles are dehumanized when reality isn’t portrayed. While being devastating at moments, a flash of hope counters and the essence of The Stairs shines through with what’s ultimately beautiful about the struggle that is life.

Perhaps an important thing to remember is that there are many addictions. Yes, narcotics is an obvious and stigmatized one, but there is also wealth, power, and consumerism that too quickly slip under the radar.

Gibson hopes audiences take something new away from the documentary that they hadn’t walked in with, and “just see people as people.”

Sierra Bilton sierra@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

FRI & MON TO THURS: 6:45 & 9:30PM SAT: 1:00, 3:45, 6:45 & 9:30PM SUN: 1:00, 3:45, 6:30 & 9:15PM RATED: 14A

THREE BILLBOARDS OUT FRI: 9:45PM, SAT: 4:00 & 9:45PM SUN: 4:00 & 9:00PM MON TO THURS: 9:15PM RATED: 14A, CL, BV

What the truth can say is worth a thousand “expert” words

Sun., Jan. 21 (3 pm) The Stairs followed by filmmaker Q&A Metro Cinema $8-$13

PHANTOM THREAD

PRESENTS

JAN 18 - JAN 24

SCIENCE IN THE CINEMA

THE CINEMA OF PSYCHEDELIA

FREE ADMISSION AND FREE SMALL POPCORN PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

WITH LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE IN THE LOBBY BY PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS AT 9:00

SIDE EFFECTS THUR @ 6:30

ALTERED STATES SAT @ 9:30

THE MANY FACES OF NICOLAS CAGE / TURKEY SHOOT!

WICKER MAN (2006) THUR @ 9:30 FEATURING LIVE COMEDIC COMMENTARY

MOUNTAIN (2017) FRI @ 7:00, SAT @ 4:45, MON @ 7:00, TUES @ 9:30

THE STAIRS SUN @ 3:00

PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

THE FINAL YEAR FRI @ 9:00, SAT @ 7:00 SUN @ 1:00, MON @ 9:00 WONDER WOMAN SAT @ 2:00 – FREE ADMISSION FOR KIDS 12 & UNDER WED @ 9:15 – FREE ADMISSION FOR STUDENTS WITH VALID ID

PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN SUN @ 9:30 – KINK ON SCREEN, 18+ NO MINORS, WED @ 7:00 REEL LEARNING

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004) TUES @ 6:30 Q & A FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

Metro Cinema at the Garneau: 8712-109 Street WWW.METROCINEMA.ORG

film 11

Derek Lamash’s big catch / Travis Grant

ICE FISHING

Travis Grant offers tips and tricks from his personal ice fishing experiences Brief history Back in the ‘80s, ice fishing was a primitive sport. My dad drove onto the ice in his old pickup and hand-augered holes through 30 inches of ice. We covered ourselves with blankets to break the wind and block light to see down to the lake bottom. The days were cold and ice always formed around our lines as we waited for a big fish to nose up to our hooks.

Some people thought it was irrational, enduring discomfort for what they saw as a slow, uneventful hobby. But I didn’t see it that way. The weather was part of the challenge and fishing was never boring. It was always a sustained thrill that something could happen at any moment. To this day, I’m certain this is the difference between people who love fishing and those who have never really understood it.

Modern comforts and adventure We’ve come a long way since the ‘80s. I now bring a collapsible ice hut, comfortable chairs and a propane heater. Extreme conditions are no issue as it’s always balmy inside the heated hut. My view is no longer confined to the eight inch circumference of the hole. These days, I lower an underwater camera into the lake, giving me a 360 degree view of the structure and fish below. My ice auger has long since been upgraded to gas power.

Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, a friend and I camped out on the lake. Our plan was to catch different species, a few of which hunt through the night.

During the day, we watched and caught walleye sweeping the rocky bottom for prey. White fish patrolled higher in the water column and were spooked by any

hint of artifice in presentation.

After nightfall, the camera went dark so we switched to glow jigs, bouncing them gently on the rocks below. Nocturnal burbot that spend their days deep in the recesses of the lake moved in to feed along the shallows. One after another, we hooked these mysterious fish, pulling them up from the darkness and into the light of our headlamps. By morning, big northern pike moved in and continually smashed our bait. It was thrilling, and it’s something all Albertans can experience out on the lake.

Where to go?

For decades, I’ve fished lakes around Edmonton and they’re still great. Spots like Pigeon Lake, Gull Lake, Wabamun and Lac Ste. Anne have rebounded

since strict regulations were imposed in the ‘90s and ‘00s, helping the fisheries recover from decades of unsustainable pressure. The Government of Alberta also maintains a trout stocking program, and many lakes around Edmonton are thick with rainbow trout, fattened on a season’s worth of minnows, freshwater shrimp and innumerable bug hatches.

Learn more Ice fishing isn’t a secret fraternity. Those who love fishing are always happy to help by sharing knowledge. Ask around and check out your local outdoor store. Ice fishing might just be the hobby for you and it might even change the way you think about winter in Alberta.

Travis Grant editor@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY would like to send you and a friend to Snow Valley!

NNNN N? BRING THIS AD INTO

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Head to VUEWEEKLY.com/contests for a chance to win Two Free Area Passes.

We'll be choosing a new winner each week through to the end of February!

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

It’s your responsibility to know the rules and regulations. In the Alberta Guide to Sportfishing Regulations, always look up the lake you’re planning to ice fish and take note of everything, from bait restrictions to catch limits.

Fish and Wildlife officers diligently check to make sure people are following the rules, and ignorance is not a defense.

Regarding gear, be sure to dress warm and wear waterproof clothing. Remember, there’s no substitute for a warm pair of boots. As for a shelter, such as a collapsible ice hut, it’s ideal but not required. If possible, bring a sled to pull your gear around on the ice. It’ll make life a lot easier, especially if you’re planning to move around.

Minimally, you’ll need the following: • Auger to drill a hole; • Skimmer to remove ice; • Rod and reel; • Hooks and bait (jigs and minnows work in most Alberta lakes); • Knife for cutting line and a pliers to remove hooks; and • Wildlife Identification Number (WIN) cards and fishing licenses can be purchased online at albertarelm.ca.

The Bighorn Backcountry west of Edmonton provides 88% of the city’s water. We have a chance to protect wildlife, water, and non-motorized recreation opportunities by creating a Wildland Park.

Show some love for the Bighorn.

Go to loveyourheadwaters.ca

Photo: Jody Hilti.

to find out how you can express your support for a Bighorn Wildland Park.

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

snow zone 13

WINTER FESTIVALS

/ Steve Kenworthy

COOL EVENTS GEAR UP WinterCity Strategy kicks off the 2018 festival season by embracing the cold

F

estival season is upon us.

That statement could be uttered year-round in Edmonton as we are as festival-crazed as anywhere you’re going to find, even in winter.

Edmonton has branded itself as a “WinterCity” and gone to great lengths to create a sizable roster of largely outdoor-based events and activities.

Winter’s biggest ice carving event is just around the corner as Ice on Whyte will take place January 25 to 28 and resume on February 1 to 4. It has become a winter staple for Whyte Avenue over the last 15 years, featuring ice creations and ice carving lessons.

Mill Creek Ravine and La Cité Francophone by the University of Alberta Faculte Saint-Jean are next up with Flying Canoë Volant on February 2 and 3. This nighttime adventure-style festival promotes local history and is rooted in culture and traditions of First Nations, French-Canadian and Métis people. A trail through Mill Creek Ravine featuring light displays, interactive events, dances and activities is the festival’s main focus. More activities and music can be found at La Cité Francophone and Rutherford School in the evenings. Other highlights include a Canadian triathlon featuring a canoe race down snowy slopes, log cutting and axe throwing.

A nice tie in to Flying Canoë Volant is the Rubaboo Festival, a multi-disciplinary arts festival organized by Alberta Aboriginal Arts. Rubaboo runs from Janu14 snow zone

ary 30 until February 4 at La Cité Francophone and the two events come together in a live collaboration between Aboriginal and Francophone artists during a Festival Fusion night on February 2.

Skating is a winter staple in Edmonton, so it’s no surprise that the longest and oldest festival of the season is a skating-based event. The Silver Skate Festival takes place at Hawrelak Park from February 9 to 19 and is an extravaganza of arts, culture, recreation and, of course, skating.

There is music, food, snow sculptures, sleigh rides and an overall playground-like atmosphere to the whole park. The skating races take centre stage but frisbee on ice, fat bike races and a winter triathlon are some of the other attractions.

Hawrelak Park is the site of the winter-long Ice Castle display, in which the public can enter a huge castle made of ice. It’s like a work of art that you can walk through and play in for the price of an admission ticket. The Ice Castle is open now and will remain up until the end of March, weather permitting.

Nordic skiing is a classic Edmonton activity and gets some love February 9 to 11 at the Canadian Birkebeiner, a three-day celebration of cross country skiing and Nordic legends. It’s become the premier Nordic ski event in Western Canada during its 32 years and is one of only three such events in the world—the others being in Norway and the United States. The

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

Birkie is based on a Norwegian legend that involves warriors transporting an infant prince 55 kilometres on cross-country skis over a mountain range. The main race is a revival of that feat with competitors hauling a 5.5 kilogram pack while skiing a 55 kilometre course. Other shorter races round out a full schedule of events on February 10 just east of the city at the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area. A more family oriented part of the Birkie takes place at Gold Bar Park in Edmonton on February 11, with shorter races and family activities.

Red Bull Crashed Ice rounds out the last of the major winter events when it returns to Edmonton on March 9 and 10. It will be the second time in three years Edmonton has hosted a Crashed Ice race in the downtown river valley. It’s the finale of the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship series which featured nine races in various locations around Europe and North America.

Ice cross is a head to head event where racers reach up to 60 kilometres per hour, while negotiating bumps, jumps and hairpin turns and battling three other racers to the finish line. It’s a crazy ride with lots of spills, making it a spectator’s dream.

There’s plenty to keep you occupied over the next few cold months as the WinterCity initiative hits high gear. It’s just a matter of getting out of the house and taking part.

Steve Kenworthy editor@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY.com/MUSIC

INTERVIEW WITH MELTED MIRROR NEWCASTLE KINGS TALK ABOUT ITS NEW ALBUM

SINGER-SONGWRITER

Bruce Cockburn can’t escape his political criticism but continues to write songs from the heart

Wed., Jan. 24 (8 pm) Bruce Cockburn Winspear Centre From $42 Bruce Cockburn / Pierre Gazzola

B

ruce Cockburn is an artist that many people know or have at least heard. The Canadian singer-songwriter has written more than 300 songs about love, protest and activism that have been covered by musicians like Chet Atkins, Barenaked Ladies, Jerry Garcia ... the list goes on.

Almost a decade ago, the 72-year-old icon made the move from Canada to San Francisco. Although he has lived there for nine years, it’s still a strange transition period for him, especially with the current political sphere.

“I’m in the States of Trump and it’s peculiar,” he says from his driveway. “I don’t know if it’s all that strange. My only experience of living in the States was in the ‘60s when I went to music school.

It was very polarizing much like it is now.”

Though the situation feels familiar to Cockburn, he’s getting tired of talking about it.

“Ever since Trump assumed presidency, I don’t think I’ve had a conversation with somebody in this country where his name hasn’t come up,” he says. “He’s in his glory ‘cause the guy wants attention, but it’s revolting and it gets tiring thinking about it. He’s not the devil. I think he serves the

devil without probably knowing it, but he’s a human being.”

Cockburn tries to avoid thinking about politics, but every once in awhile they seem to seep in. It can be consciously or unconsciously, like on his newest record Bone on Bone and its opening song “The States I’m In.” “The challenge is to keep from being distracted from all the bullshit out of the White House,” Cockburn says. “It doesn’t matter what comes out of Trump’s mouth because you know it’s not true. So there is that overlap in the meaning of the song but it’s more about having lived in the times and conditions I’ve lived in. It does have a double entendre about the situation here, even though I never intended it.”

The tone of the album has an almost distressing, sombre quality to it. Every song comes from a place that is true for Cockburn, but there are political undertones on songs like “Stab At Matter,” “Cafe Society,” and “False River” peppered throughout. It makes sense. This is the musician who wrote “If I Had A Rocket Launcher,” a song that went on to be on of the most popular protest songs in the ‘80s.

“It’s important to be hopeful and critical. Without that, we’re all

toast,” he says.

Bone on Bone is Cockburn’s first album in six years. After his Small Source Of Comfort record in 2011, he focused on touring and writing his memoir Rumours of Glory.

Many thought his album-writing days were over, including Cockburn himself.

“Someday it will run out, and the pace of album-making got slower since the ‘90s. After 30 years of doing it, or whatever, I’ve already said a lot of what I have to say.”

At the time, Cockburn felt uninspired to write new songs as much of his creativity was going into the memoir. It wasn’t until he was approached to write a song for a documentary about the past free verse poet, Al Purdy, that his musical inspiration was reinvigorated.

“This seemed like a gift,” Cockburn says. “I didn’t really know what I was going to write a song about, but now somebody wanted me to write a song that has some tangential relationship with Al Purdy.

As soon as I said ‘yes’ to writing the song, I said the phrase ‘I’ll give you three Al Purdy’s for a 20 dollar bill.’ I had to create a character who would say that. So I had this disheveled homeless guy who loves poetry, particularly Al Purdy.”

From that burst of imagination, the

country-blues song “3 Al Purdys” was written, as other songs began appearing to Cockburn during dreams and periods of self-reflection.

Perhaps one of the most universally powerful songs on Bone on Bone is “40 Years In The Wilderness,” an almost meditative acoustic track with a sound that harkens back to one of Cockburn’s older songs “Lord of the Starfields.”

“Songs like that really come from a deep place,” Cockburn says. “In that case [“40 Years In the Wilderness”], we were what people euphemistically call ‘camping.’ I was watching some joggers and thinking about having moved from the east to the west, and all these elements seemed to conspire. So I started writing this song that’s almost quite biblical in a

way. I had not thought about in the Old Testament when the Israelites have left Egypt that they are in the wilderness for 40 years.”

It’s refreshing that even though this is Cockburn’s 25th album, he still writes songs that are abnormally personal and relatable.

“My own spiritual development required me to get out of my own head and get into understanding people in a heartfelt way,” Cockburn says. “I did that by exploring the human world for about 40 years. That’s really where the song came from I think. The sun sets on all of us and the older you get, the closer it gets.”

Stephan Boissonneault stephan@vueweekly.com

10442 whyte ave 439.1273 10442 whyte ave 439.1273 CD / LP

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VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

music 15

PUNK ROCK

(From left) Chris Slorach, Alex Edkins and Hayden Menzies / Ebru Yildiz

REACHING THE BREAKING POINT

Toronto noise-punks METZ return with viceral power and fury on Strange Peace

L

ife is complicated and messy, so sometimes you need a band like METZ to make it simple.

“When everyone is connecting—the crowd and the band and music—then there’s nothing else going on in your mind,” says guitarist and vocalist Alex Edkins.

“That’s a place I try to get to.”

Since forming in the underground Ottawa punk scene in 2008, METZ has built a reputation, one sweaty room at a time, as one of Canada’s most primal live acts.

The band, now based in Toronto, is like a sonic jackhammer to the brain, with Edkins, bassist Chris Slorach and hard-hitting drummer Hayden Menzies all pushing their bodies and instruments to the breaking point. It’s raw, noisy, abrasive and cathartic punk rock best experienced live and at high volume.

The band’s first two albums, both released on Sub Pop Records and both nominated for the Polaris Music Prize, are meaty slabs of post-punk, noise and hardcore. Like seeing METZ live, the records are a punishing, often atonal, barrage of sound.

The latest record Strange Peace, released September of

16 music

last year, has that same intensity, but also includes new levels of melody and even some moments of quiet introspection.

“I think our first two albums we were pretty dead set on bashing it over people’s heads,” Edkins says. “I love visceral, physical, relentless music. I think it’s magical when it’s done a certain way.

At the same time, we all love all styles of music and we realized that breathing room and variation and ups and downs on a record are super important and they can add a lot.”

For Strange Peace, the band reached out to legendary producer and musician Steve Albini, best known as the man Nirvana recruited to record the followup to Nevermind. The Chicagobased Albini is famous for his live-off-the-floor, analog approach to recording—a process that leaves no space for a weak band to hide.

For Edkins, that approach was a way to force the band to abandon the endless studio tinkering that can bog down the recording process.

“We couldn’t redo or overthink things,” he says. “If you

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

Sat., Jan. 20 (8 pm) METZ w/ guests The Starlite Room $20 asked [Albini], ‘How’s that take compared to the last one?’ He’d be like, ‘They’re both good.’ He wants to get the essence. Perfection to him is not what you’re gunning for, he wants to get the raw vibe of the band.”

So what’s next for METZ? Edkins says 2018 will look a lot like 2017: big tours, loud music and pushing it all to the limit. But a decade of constantly pouring sweat night after night on stages across the world is starting to catch up with the trio.

“The spirits are strong but the bodies are breaking,” Edkins laughs. “But we still put everything into it. It seems to be routine now that at the end of every tour we all just sort of crumble.

We’re running on adrenaline and then we all come down with the flu flying home. We can count on it now, needing like a week in bed after a three-week tour.

It’s crazy.”

Josh Marcellin music@vueweekly.com

ORCHESTRAL INDIE

I SAT DOWN AND MELODICALLY WEPT

Upcoming BIG Events JAN 18

Guantanamo Baywatch w/ Eamon McGrath and Screaming Targets

JAN 19

Denim Daddies w/ B. Rich

JAN 20

Duchess Says w/ Partner and Wares

JAN 23

Air Hockey Tournament

JAN 26

Swear By The Moon w/ Amy Nelson

Tickets and more event listings

TheRecRoom.com

#tellbetterstories

South Edmonton Common

Must be of legal drinking age. The Rec Room is owned by Cineplex Entertainment L. P.

Tom Keenan and Matt Peters of Heavy Bell / Supplied

Winnipeg duo Heavy Bell gain inspiration from Elizabeth Smart’s prose to create an orchestral mid-winter gem

W

hen the Winnipeg actor/singer-songwriter Tom Keenan first read through the poet Elizabeth Smart’s 1945 novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept, he began hearing music in almost every paragraph.

“The book is written in poetic prose with these really dense paragraphs and they didn’t immediately shout out a song, but there’s something very musical about her writing and the things she writes about and how she writes about them,” Keenan says.

After finishing the novel, Keenan asked his musical acquaintance Matt Peters (of the indie-pop band Royal Canoe) to read it.

Smart’s tempestuous wordplay had a profound effect on him.

Keenan and Peters had just finished a project where they were writing and composing songs for Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and were looking to work with each other again.

After they had both read the book a few times, Keenan began reading and singing certain passages out loud while Peters settled on piano or guitar chords.

They would take turns reading random stanzas underneath whatever musical presence emanated from the instruments.

“There were certain lines from the novel that really resonated for some reason,” he says. “We wrote all the songs in this flurry of creativity in a few days.”

After all the songs were written, Keenan and Peters began translating the songs to different orchestral instruments, like the trumpet, trombone, violin, and clarinet. But with Keenan being a professional actor

and Peters already in Royal Canoe, this process took a number of years.

“Pretty much every year, in the depths of winter, we would meet and play the songs and pick what instruments to arrange them for,” Keenan says. “We didn’t have much experience in arranging for the instruments like clarinets, trombone, or sousaphone, so we would just look up their range and hope we were writing something easy enough to play.”

This eventually led to the creation of Keenan and Peters’ By Grand Central Station, an orchestrated album that is an ode to Smart’s novel and the first release of their duo project Heavy Bell.

Smart’s By Grand Central Station is a barely-fictionalized account of her affair with the reputable English poet George Barker.

The book is riddled with Smart’s hymns for love, shot through a lens of intense, vivid imagery. It is euphemistically hopeful, but at times, beautifully melancholy. “[The book] was close enough to her real life that her mother wanted all of the copies in Ottawa burned,” Keenan says. “This book ends before the first child is born, but she ended up going to London and [Barker] ended up having an upwards of 15 children with various women and he never had a problem with that.”

In real life, Smart had an affair with Barker for 18 years, and birthed four of his 15 children.

“The ways she writes about love and a love affair, she goes to such extremes. It’s something that conjured up musical inspiration in our minds,” Keenan says.

l l i B e l Doub

Sat., Jan. 20 (7 pm) Heavy Bell w/ Alex Dawkins The Almanac, $18 The album has more than 15 musicians playing on it and its dramatic tension almost feels like watching and hearing a play. There’s watered-down guitar, bright piano, heavy brass and sparse strings (almost comparable to a band like altJ). Keenan and Peters’ unison vocals are sombre and hauntingly compelling. The stand-out tracks through the first listen are undoubtedly “It Has Happened,” “Certainly,” and “O Waste of Moon.”

There are also a few tracks where Smart’s recorded reading of the novel is present.

“She did a week on CBC’s “Morningside” show in the ‘80s where she read from the book,” Keenan says. “Just her performance in that reading is spectacular and I love where it falls in the album.”

The live Edmonton performance will feature Heavy Bell along with five other musicians, and will include readings of the novel from local actor Kristi Hansen and local actor/playwright Jessy Ardern.

Local songstress and actor Alex Dawkins will open the show.

“I just asked the actors to pick their favourite passages, so the musicians are just going to be responding to whatever performance is given to them,” Keenan says. “We’re not telling the story of the book. Basically, it’s more of a tribute to Elizabeth Smart with a bunch of snapshots.”

Stephan Boissonneault stephan@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

January 27

TH

Tickets $44.95 plus gst Some conditions may apply. Promotion subject to change without notice and AGLC approval.

cnty.com/edmonton

music 17

MUSIC WEEKLY EMAIL YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO: LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 12PM

THU JAN 18 ARIA'S BISTRO Open mic with Garrett James; 6-10pm; All ages

AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR

LB'S PUB Ali Bright; 9pm; No minors

Empress; Every Sat, 4-6pm; Free; 18+ only

Classical

BLUES ON WHYTE The James Band; 9pm

LEAF BAR AND GRILL Karoake at the Leaf;

THE FORGE ON WHYTE Odyssey, Quality

PARKVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Coig and

CAFE BLACKBIRD Edmonton Ukulele Circle;

Every Fri, 9pm; Free

Control, Rille Ataka; 8:30pm; $10

MERCURY ROOM Hip Hop vs. Metal; 8pm; $5 (adv), $10 (door)

Daniel Champagne; 7:30pm

6:30pm; Free

HILLTOP PUB Open stage hosted by Simon, Dan and Pascal; Every Sat, 4-7pm; Free

WINSPEAR CENTRE Dreaming of the Masters–

ON THE ROCKS Jelly Bean; 9pm

HORIZON STAGE Sing-a-Long-a Sound of

DJs

HAVE MERCY Mississippi Monday Night Blues Jam hosted by the Dylan Farrell Ban; Every Mon, 8:30pm (sign up); No cover

REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON The Denim Daddies with B. Rich;

LB'S PUB Amie Weymes & The Atta Boys;

Music; 2pm

Sam Spades Live; 9:30pm; Free

3-7pm; Free

RIVER CREE–The Venue Honeymoon Suite;

MERCURY ROOM CD Release with Space

THE COMMON Get Down It's Saturday Night:

8:30pm; Free

REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON MALL

LEAF BAR AND GRILL Homemade Jam;

7pm (doors), 9pm (show); Tickets staring at $34.99

Classic and Upper Lakes; 8pm; $10 (adv)

B-STREET BAR Karaoke; Every Thu-Sat, 9:30pm

ROSE & CROWN PUB Jarrett Bordian; 9pm

MKT FRESH FOOD AND BEER MARKET

BLUES ON WHYTE Sonny Rhodes; 9pm

SANDS INN & SUITES Karaoke with

Rockin' Thursday Jam & Open Mic; Every Thu, 8pm

CAFE BLACKBIRD YEG Music Presents: Anna Johnson, Eric James, and Nathan Danser; 7pm; $10 (door)

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: DJ Chris Bruce spins britpop/punk/garage/indie; Every Sat; Wooftop: Sound It Up! with DJ Instigate spinning classic hip-hop and reggae; Underdog: hip-hop open Mic followed by DJ Marack

9pm; No minors

Piano Show; Every Thu, 8pm

BRICK & WHISKEY PUBLIC HOUSE Big

Conducted by William Eddins; 8pm; $15-$101

Live Local Bands every Sat

entertainment, Every Fri, 9pm

ON THE ROCKS Jelly Bean; 9pm

SEWING MACHINE FACTORY Vic

REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON Duchess Says with Partner and

Ruggiero with Jory Kinjo; 8pm; $15 (door)

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Ferny Turnbull; 9pm; No minors

SHERLOCK HOLMES–DOWNTOWN Joanne

House and disco and everything in between with Wright & Wong, Dane

EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR Resident DJs playing the best in hip-hop, dance and classics; Every Fri-Sat, 9pm; No cover

MERCER TAVERN DJ Mikey Wong every Sat

Wares; 8:30pm; $15 (adv), $20 (door)

REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON MALL

SUN JAN 21

Chronic Rock; 10:30pm; Free

ALIBI PUB AND EATERY Open mic night;

SIDELINER’S PUB Singer/Songwriter Monday Night Open Stage; Hosted by Celeigh Cardinal; Every Mon (except long weekends), 8:30pm

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Substance with Eddie Lunchpail

TUE JAN 23 BLUES ON WHYTE The James Band; 9pm HAVE MERCY To-Do Tuesday: open mic night hosted by Justin Perkins; Every Tue (except for the 3rd of every month) • Outlaw Country Vinyl Night with Sheriff Taylor; Every 3rd Tue of the month LB'S PUB Tuesday Night Open Jam Hosted by Darrell Barr; 7-11pm; No charge

THE FORGE ON WHYTE Ultrasonic NVHouse, EDM, Trap, Bounce and everything in between; 8pm; 18+ only

Janzen; 9pm

ROSE & CROWN PUB Jarrett Bordian; 9pm

Every Sun, 6-9pm

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Rod Jewell Band

SEWING MACHINE FACTORY Look

AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR

Open stage

HAVE MERCY Thigh Thursdays with El Niven &

SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM Rhythm Revolver; 9pm

Vibrant, NoThrillz, The Slight Brains; 8pm; $10 (door); 18+ only

Piano Show; Every Sun, 9pm

UNION HALL K.Flay; 7:30pm; 18+ only

BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Sunday Brunch with

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Mark Ammar’s

Accellorosa; 9am-2pm; Cover by donation

Saturday Sessions Jam; Every Sat, 4-8pm • Rattpoison; 9pm; $10; No minors

YARDBIRD SUITE Tuesday Session: Craig Brenan Trio; 7:30pm (door), 8pm (show); $5

BLUES ON WHYTE Sonny Rhodes; 9pm

The Alibi and friends; Every Thu, 8:30pm; No cover

LB'S PUB Open Jam hosted by Russell Johnston MERCURY ROOM Evil Ebenezer; 8pm; $10 (adv)

SIDELINER’S PUB Friday Night Bands: live music; Every Fri

STARLITE ROOM Less Than Jake, Fire Next

NAKED CYBERCAFÉ Thu open stage; 7pm

Time, Abandin All Hope, The Neilsons; 8pm; $30; 18+ only

REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON Guantanamo Baywatch with

UPTOWN FOLK CLUB Open Stage; 3rd

Eamon Mcgrath; 8:30pm; $15 (adv), $20 (door)

Fri of every month, 6:30 pm (sign-up), 7pm (show)' $5 (non-members), free (members)

REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON MALL

YARDBIRD SUITE Benito González Trio;

Throwback Thursday with The Sissy Fits; Every Thu, 8:30pm; Free

SANDS INN & SUITES Karaoke Thursdays with JR; Every Thu, 9pm-1am

SEWING MACHINE FACTORY Drone &

Open Mic Hosted by Tommy Barker; Every Thu, 7-9:30pm

WOODRACK CAFÉ Birdie on a Branch; 2nd Thu of every month, 7-8:30pm; No cover (donations welcome)

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Thu Main Fl: Rock N' Roll, Funk & Soul with DJ Modest Mike; Every Thu; Wooftop Lounge: Dear Hip Hop with Freshlan; Underdog: Underdog Comedy Show

THE COMMON The Common Uncommon Thursday: Rotating guests each week

ON THE ROCKS Salsa Rocks: every Thu; dance lessons at 8pm; Cuban Salsa DJ to follow

FRI JAN 19 ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL Duff Robison; 8:30pm AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR Piano Show; Every Fri, 9pm

BLUES ON WHYTE Sonny Rhodes; 9pm CAFE BLACKBIRD Maria Manna CD release party; 8pm; $15

CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK Persons of Interest; 9pm; No cover

CARROT COFFEEHOUSE Live music every Fri; all ages; 7pm; $5 (door)

CASINO EDMONTON Whiskey Boyz; 9pm CENTURY CASINO–ST. ALBERT Mourning Wood; 9pm; Free

CHVRCH OF JOHN Jeremy Olander; 9pm; $25 (available via Blueprint); 18+ only

DENIZEN HALL Champ City Soundtrack; Every Fri-Sat

DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Andrew Scott; 9pm THE FORGE ON WHYTE Rellik and The Dirty Boots with Jay Gilday and Newcastle Kings; 8pm; $10 (adv), $15 (door); 18+ only

18 music

SANDS INN & SUITES Open Jam; Every

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Chris

Sun, 7-11pm

Bruce spins britpop/punk/garage/indie; Every Tue

EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR Taco Tuesday with resident DJs

Classical

SOUTH POINTE COMMUNITY CENTRE

CONVOCATION HALL Turning Points: Chamber Music for Mixed Chamber Ensembles; 3pm

WINSPEAR CENTRE Dreaming of the Masters– Conducted by William Eddins; 8pm; $15-$101

DJ Late Fee; Every Fri; Wooftop: Selection Fridays with Remo, Noosh, Fingertips & guests; Underdog: Rap, House, Hip-Hop with DJ Teddy Plenti; every Fri

THE COMMON Quality Control Fridays with DJ

Brian Doerksen and Friends; 7pm

STARLITE ROOM Metz with guests; 8pm;

WINSPEAR CENTRE Winspear Overture Tour; 12-1pm; RSVP at Winspear

DJs

Classical

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:

SQUARE 1 COFFEE Singer/Songwriter

Janzen; 9pm

Classical

Squad; 9pm

Revolver; 9pm

SHERBROOKE PUB Jam hosted by Rockin'

rotating guests; 7-11pm

SHERLOCK HOLMES–DOWNTOWN Joanne

ON THE ROCKS The Inconceivable Brute

SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM Rhythm

DJs

SMOKEHOUSE BBQ Live Blues every Thu:

7:30pm

With The Beat”; Every Sun, 6pm; $10

7pm (doors), 8pm (show); $24 (members), $28 (guests)

Words lll: Spoken Word + Experimental Music; 8pm; $10; 18+ only Rod Jewell; Every Thu, 7-11pm

SHELL THEATRE, DOW CENTENNIAL CENTRE An evening with 54-40 unplugged;

HAVE MERCY YEG Music presents “Compete

$20; 18+ only

MUTTART HALL Bergmann Piano Duo;

UNION HALL Stephanie & Lady Faith; 9pm; 18+ only

7:30pm; $35 (adult), $25 (senior), $10 (student)

WED JAN 24

BLUES ON WHYTE Russell Jackson; 9pm DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Wed open mic with host Duff Robison; 8pm

HAVE MERCY Piano Karaoke featuring with

YARDBIRD SUITE Keith O'Rourke Quintet CD release; 7pm (doors), 8pm (guests); $20 (members), $24 (guests)

Tiff Hall; Every Wed, 8:30pm

LEAF BAR & GRILL Wang Dang Wednesdays; Every Wed, 7-11pm; Free

Echo & Freshlan

ON THE ROCKS Karaoke Wednesdays hosted

EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR Resident DJs playing the best

SEWING MACHINE FACTORY Tropic

by ED; Every Wed, 9pm

in hip-hop, dance and classics; Every Fri-Sat, 9pm; No cover

WINSPEAR CENTRE Jazzical!–

SAT JAN 20

Conducted by William Eddins; 2pm; $15-$73

ALIBI PUB & EATERY Rising Star Showcase of Cooper Studios; Every Sat, 12-3pm

ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL Duff Robison; 8:30pm AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR Piano Show; Every Sat, 9pm

AVIARY Folk Noir: An Evening of Wine & Music

Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music Horizon Stage Jan 20, 2pm

featuring F&M and Tanyss Nixi; 8pm; $10 (adv)

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Hair of the Dog: Ido van der Laan; 4-6pm; no cover 10:30pm; $10 (adv), $15 (door)

BLUES ON WHYTE Sonny Rhodes; 9pm BOHEMIA Punchable Faces with Railtown Park & Attaked By Raptors; 8pm (doors); $5; 18+ no minors CAFE BLACKBIRD Robin Butterworth; 8pm; $15 CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK Persons of Interest; 9pm; No cover

CARROT COFFEEHOUSE Sat Open mic; 7pm; $2

CASK AND BARREL Rebecca Lappa; 4-6pm; Free

CENTURY CASINO–ST. ALBERT Mourning Wood; 9pm; Free

DENIZEN HALL Champ City Soundtrack; Every DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Andrew Scott; 9pm

DJ Zyppy with DJ Late Fee; Every Sun

Classical ROBERT TEGLER CENTRE, CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY Concordia Symphony Orchestra; 7:30pm

MON JAN 22 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Wooftop: Metal Mondays with Metal Phil from CJSR's Heavy Metal Lunchbox

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: DJ Late Fee; Every Wed

VENUEGUIDE

BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Olga Osipova; 8:30-

Fri-Sat

WINSPEAR CENTRE Bruce Cockburn; 8pm;

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:

$15 (adv), $18 (door)

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Country Jam with 4 Dollar Bill $42-$57

DJs

THE ALMANAC Heavy Bell with guests; 7pm;

Harbour, Katie and The Wildfire, Dylan Greenhough; 8pm; $10; 18+ only

ALIBI PUB & EATERY 17328 Stony Plain Rd THE ALMANAC 10351-82 Ave, 780.760.4567, almanaconwhyte. com ARIA'S BISTRO 10332-81 Ave, 780.972.4842, ariasbistro.com ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL 7704 Calgary Trail South, 780.432.4611, atlantictrapandgill. com AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR #1638, 8882-170 St, 780.486.7722, aussierulesedmonton.com AVIARY 9314-111 Ave NW B-STREET BAR 11818-111 Ave BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE 1042582 Ave, 780.439.1082 BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ 9624-76 Ave, 780.989.2861 BLUES ON WHYTE 10329-82 Ave, 780.439.3981 BOHEMIA 10217-97 St BRICK & WHISKEY PUBLIC HOUSE 8937-82 Ave CAFE BLACKBIRD 9640-142 St NW, 780.451.8890, cafeblackbird.ca

CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK 99, 23349 Wye Rd, Sherwood Park CARROT COFFEEHOUSE 9351118 Ave, 780.471.1580 CASINO EDMONTON 7055 Argylll Rd, 780.463.9467 CASK AND BARREL 10041104 St; 780.498.1224, thecaskandbarrel.ca CENTURY CASINO–ST. ALBERT 24 Boudreau Rd, St. Albert, 780.460.8092 CHVRCH OF JOHN 10260103 St, 780.884.8994, thechvrchofjohn.com COMMON 9910-109 St CONVOCATION HALL Old Arts Building, University of Alberta, music.ualberta.ca DENIZEN HALL 10311-103 Ave, 780.424.8215, thedenizenhall. com DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY 9013-88 Ave, 780.465.4834 EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR 8230 Gateway Blvd, elcortezcantina.com

EMPRESS ALE HOUSE Bands at the VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

EMPRESS ALE HOUSE 9912-82 Ave NW THE FORGE ON WHYTE 1054982 Ave (Whyte Ave) HAVE MERCY SOUTHERN TABLE + BAR 8232 Gateway Blvd, havemercy.ca HILLTOP PUB 8220-106 Ave NW HORIZON STAGE 1001 Calahoo Rd, Spruce Grove, 780.962.8995, horizonstage.com JUBILEE AUDITORIUM 1145587 Ave NW, 780.427.2760, jubileeauditorium.com L.B.’S PUB 23 Akins Dr, St Albert, 780.460.9100 LEAF BAR & GRILL 9016132 Ave MKT FRESH FOOD AND BEER MARKET 8101 Gateway Blvd, 780.439.2337 MERCER TAVERN 10363 104 St, 587.521.1911 MERCURY ROOM 10575-114 St MUTTART HALL 10050 Macdonald Dr, 780.633.3725 NAKED CYBERCAFÉ 10303-108 St, 780.425.9730 ON THE ROCKS 11730 Jasper

Ave, 780.482.4767 PARKVIEW COMMUNITY HALL 9135-146 St REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON 172599 St NW REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON MALL 8882-170 St NW RIVER CREE 300 E Lapotac Blvd, Enoch ROBERT TEGLER CENTRE, CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY 73 St & 112 Ave ROSE AND CROWN 10235-101 St SANDS INN & SUITES 12340 Fort Rd, sandshoteledmonton. com SEWING MACHINE FACTORY 9562-82 Ave SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Yellowhead Inn, 15004 Yellowhead Trail SHELL THEATRE, DOW CENTENNIAL CENTRE 8700-84 St, Fort Saskatchewan SHERBROOKE PUB 13160118 Ave NW SHERLOCK HOLMES– DOWNTOWN 10012-101

A Ave, 780.426.7784, sherlockshospitality.com SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM 8882-170 St, 780.444.1752, sherlockshospitality.com SIDELINERS PUB 11018-127 St SOUTH POINTE COMMUNITY CENTRE 11520 Ellerslie Rd SQUARE 1 COFFEE 15 Fairway Drive STARLITE ROOM 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099 UNION HALL 6240-99 St NW, 780.702-2582, unionhall.ca UPTOWN FOLK CLUB 11150-82 St, 780.436.1554 WILD EARTH BAKERY– MILLCREEK 8902-99 St, wildearthbakery.com WINSPEAR CENTRE 4 Sir Winston Churchill Square; 780.28.1414 WOODRACK CAFE 7603109 St, 780. 757.0380, thewoodrackcafe.com YARDBIRD SUITE 11 Tommy Banks Way, 780.432.0428

EVENTS

WEEKLY EMAIL YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO: LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 12PM

COMEDY BIG ROCK PRESENTS: DEVANEY’S COMEDY NIGHT • Devaney's, 11113-87 Ave • 780.433.6364 • stephen.f.mcgovern@gmail.com • Weekly open-mic hosted by Stephen McGovern • Sep 6-Apr 25, Every Wed, 8:30pm • Free

BIG ROCK PRESENTS: URBAN TAVERN COMEDY NIGHT HOSTED BY LARS CALLIEOU • Urban Tavern, 11606 Jasper Ave • Every Sun, 8pm

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE • 10425-82 Ave • Underdog Comedy Show • Every Thu

BRENT BUTT • River Cree, 300 E Lapotac Blvd, Enoch • rivercreeresort.com • Jan 20, 7pm (doors), 9pm (show) • Tickets staring at $29.99 COLIN MOCHRIE AND DEBMCRATH • Shell Theatre, Dow Centennial Centre, 8700-84 St, Fort Saskatchewan • 780.992.6400 • shelltheatre.ca • Colin Mochrie from Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Debra McGrath from Little Mosque on the Prairie present their acclaimed one couple show based on their 27 years of marriage • Jan 31, 7:30pm

COMEDY FACTORY • Gateway Entertainment Centre, 34 Ave, Calgary Tr • Thu-Fri: 8pm; Sat: 7:30pm & 10pm (until Apr) • Sal Calanni; Jan 1820 • Chris Heward; Jan 25-27

COMIC STRIP • Bourbon St, WEM • 780.483.5999 • Paul Mecurio; Jan 18-20 • Mike Dambra; Jan 21 • Andrew Santino; Jan 25-28

EMPRESS ALE HOUSE • 9912-82 Ave • Empress Comedy Night: Highlighting the best stand-up Edmonton has to offer. New headliner every week • Every Sun, 9pm • Free

GROUPS/CLUBS/MEETINGS THE CARROT COFFEE FRIENDSHIP CLUB • Carrot Coffeehouse, 9351-118 Ave • Have a cup of coffee with 55+ individuals single, divorced, or widowed who are looking to make new friends with neighbours in our local communities of: Delton, Eastwood, Parkdale – Cromdale, Westwood, Spruce Ave, and Alberta Avenue • Every Wed, 11am

DROP-IN D&D • Hexagon Board Game Café, 10123 Whyte Ave • 780.757.3105 • info@ thehexcafe.com • thehexcafe.com • Each night will be a single campaign that fits in a larger story arc. For all levels of gamers and those brand new or experienced to D&D • Every Tue & Wed, 7pm • $5 (with drink purchase)

DROP-IN LARP • Jackie Parker Park • westernwinds.summerfrost.ca • Battle games and fighter practice using provided safe weapon boffer.

An exciting way to get exercise while meeting new people with similar passions • Every Sat, 1:15pm • Free

EDMONTON VEGAN POTLUCK • Riverdale Rink House, 9231-100 Ave • Indulge and bring a delicious vegan or raw vegan dish to serve at least 6 people (one dish per person attending please). Please also bring a serving spoon and your own plate, beverage, and cutlery • Jan 20, 5:307:30pm • $3 (members), $5 (non-members); Bring cash. Money goes towards rental of the rink house

FOOD ADDICTS • Alano Club (& Simply

lot on Rainbow Valley (parking lot just before the Whitemud Drive underpass going into Snow Valley) • waskahegantrail.ca • Snow Valley to Alfred Savage Centre; Jan 28, 9:45am-3pm

FORT SASKATCHEWAN 45+ SINGLES COFFEE GROUP • A&W, 10101-88 Ave, Fort

• cwaalberta@gmail.com • The Congregationalist Wiccan Assembly of Alberta meets the 2nd Sun each month (except Aug), 6pm

Saskatchewan • 780.907.0201 (Brenda) • A mixed group offering conversation and friendship • Every Sun, 2pm

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY VOLUNTEER INFORMATION NIGHT • Habitat for Humanity

Volunteers Wanted

Can You Read This?

Help Someone Who Can’t!

Volunteer 2 hours a week and help someone improve their Reading, Writing, Math or English Speaking Skills.

Call Valerie at P.A.L.S. 780-424-5514 or email palsvol@shaw.ca

2005.

WICCAN ASSEMBLY • Ritchie Hall, 7727-98 St

WILD ROSE ANTIQUE COLLECTORS SOCIETY • Delwood Community Hall, 7515 Delwood Rd • wildroseantiquecollectors.ca • Collecting and researching items from various periods in the history of Edmonton. Presentations after club business. Visitors welcome • Meets the 4th Mon of every month (except Jul & Dec), 7:30pm

Prefab Shop, 14135-128 Ave • 780.451.3416 ext. 236 • vbatten@hfh.org • hfh.org/volunteer/ vin • Learn about taking the next steps and what opportunities are available at Habitat for Humanity • Every 3rd Thu of the month, excluding Dec; 6-7pm • Free

LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS

MONDAY MINGLE • Hexagon Board Game Cafe, 10123 Whyte Ave • 780.757.3105 • info@thehexcafe.com • thehexcafe.com • Meet new gamers.

Go to the event solo or with a group • Every Mon, 5-11pm • $5 (one drink per person)

NORTHERN ALBERTA WOOD CARVERS ASSOCIATION • Duggan Community Hall, 3728-106 St • nawca.ca • Meet every Wed, 6:30pm

ANITA SARKEESIAN: THE REAL WORLD OF ONLINE HARASSMENT • Chateau Lacombe, 10111 Bellamy Hill Rd NW • Anita Sarkeesian is a media critic and the creator of Feminist Frequency, a video webseries that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives • Jan 24, 7-8:30pm • $10-$75 (at Eventbrite)

DARK MATTERS GAME ON! • TELUS World of Science, 11211-142 St • 780.451.3344 • telusworldofscienceedmonton.ca/dark-matters • Battle for first place in the IMAX Theatre, test strategies at the Table Top Board Game Café, and prototype local student-made games. Also exploring the math, technology, and physics behind everyone’s favourite games • Jan 25, 7-10pm • $19.95 (adv), $25.95 (door)

OPEN DOOR COMIC CREATOR MEETINGS • Happy Harbor Comics, 10729-104 Ave • 780.452.8211 • happyharborcomics.com • Open to any skill level. Meet other artists and writers, glean tricks of the trade and gain tips to help your own work, or share what you've already done • 2nd and 4th Thu of every month, 7pm

GLASSBLOWING CLASSES WITH PIXIE GLASSWORKS • Pixie Glassworks, 9322-60 Ave

ORGANIZATION FOR BIPOLAR AFFECTIVE DISORDER (OBAD) • Grey Nuns Hospital, Rm 0651, obad@shaw.ca; Group meets every Thu, 7-9pm • Free

PAINTING FOR PLEASURE • McDougall United Church, 10086 Macdonald Drive (south entrance) • 780.428.1818 • karenbishopartist@gmail.com • mcdougallunited.com • A weekly group for those who like to paint, draw or otherwise be creative on paper • Every Thu, 10am-noon

SCHIZOPHRENIA SOCIETY FAMILY SUPPORT DROP-IN GROUP • Schizophrenia Society of Alberta, 5215-87 St • 780.452.4661 • schizophrenia.ab.ca • The Schizophrenia Society of Alberta offers a variety of services and support programs for those who are living with the illness, family members, caregivers, and friends • 1st and 3rd Thu each month, 7-9pm • Free

• 780.436.4460 • pixieglassworks.com/pages/ classes • Offering three levels in each of: hollow body work, implosions, sculpture, pipe-making and beads. Call to book • Every Mon, Wed, Thu, 6-9pm (no classes on holidays) • $150 (plus GST)

IMPROVING PREGNANCY-RELATED HEALTH THROUGH THE ENRICH FIRST NATIONS PROJECT • Room 2-520 A (2nd floor), Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave • 780.248.1217 • Dr. Richard Oster and Grant Bruno of the ENRICH First Nations Project will share their experience of a collaborative, community-based project aimed at improving prenatal outcomes for Cree women • Jan 25, 12-1pm • Free; seating is first come, first served

MACEWAN UNIVERSITY PRESENTS TEDXMACEWANU - LAYING NEW TRACK • Betty Andrews Recital Hall, 11110 104 Ave (Allard Hall) • Celebrating MacEwan’s innovations, the people behind them–and the impact contributions have made within MacEwan and in the community at large • Jan 19, 6pm • $25-$50, plus applicable fees (only 100 tickets available)

TAKE OFF POUNDS SENSIBLY (TOPS) • Grace United Church annex, 6215-104 Ave • 780.479-8667 (Bob) • bobmurra@telus.net • Low-cost, fun and friendly weight loss group • Every Mon, 6:30pm

TOASTMASTERS • Club Bilingue Toastmasters Meetings: Campus St. Jean: Pavillion McMahon; 780.667.6105 (Willard); clubbilingue.toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 7pm • Fabulous Facilitators Toastmasters Club: 9888 Jasper Ave. 10th floor; fabulousfacilitators. toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 12:05-1pm • N'Orators Toastmasters Club: Lower Level, McClure United Church, 13708-74 St: norators.com; meet every Thu, 7pm • Norwood Toastmasters: Norwood Legion, 11150-82 St NW; norwoodtoastmasters.ca; Every Thu, 7:30-9:30pm • Y Toastmasters Club: Queen Alexandra Community League, 10425 University Ave (N door, stairs to the left); yclubtoastmasters@gmail.com; Meet every Tue, 7-9pm

VUECLASSIFIEDS 1600.

WASKAHEGAN TRAIL ASSOCIATION GUIDE HIKE • Hike will leave from the parking

Done Cafe), 10728-124 St • 780.718.7133 (or 403.506.4695 after 7pm) • Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), free 12-Step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating, and bulimia • Meetings every Thu, 7pm

WHO CAN SAY WHAT? FREE SPEECH AND THE UNIVERSITY • McLennan Ross Halls (Law Centre 231/237) • The Centre for Constitutional Studies presents a lecture by James L. Turk (Director, Centre for Free Expression) as he addresses the limits (if any) on free speech in universities and what is to be done about offensive speech • Jan 23, 12pm • Free (RSVP at bit.ly/FSJan23)

BEERS FOR QUEERS • Empress Ale House,

YOGA WITH JENNIFER • 780.439.6950 •

9912-82 Ave • With DJ Jos • Last Thu of every month • Free • 18+ only

ThreeBattles.com • A traditional approach with lots of individual attention. Free introductory classes • Tue evenings & Sat mornings

EVOLUTION WONDERLOUNGE • 10220-103 St • 780.424.0077 • yourgaybar.com • Mon: Drag Race in the White Room; 7pm • Wed: Monthly games night/trivia • Thu: Happy hour, 6-8pm; Karaoke, 7-12:30am • Fri: Flashback Friday with your favourite hits of the 80s/90s/2000s; rotating drag and burlesque events • Sat: Rotating DJs Velix and Suco • Sun: Weekly drag show, 10:30pm G.L.B.T.Q SENIORS GROUP • S.A.G.E Bldg, main floor Cafe, 15 Sir Winston Churchill Square • 780.4235510 (Sage) • tuff69@telus.net • Meeting for gay seniors, and for any seniors who have gay family members and would like some guidance • Every Tue, 1-4pm

PRIDE CENTRE OF EDMONTON • Pride Centre of Edmonton, 2nd Floor, 10618-105 Ave • Wheelchair-accessible elevator at 10610 105 Avenue • (780) 488-3234 • pridecentreofedmonton.org/calendar.html • OFFICE & DROP IN HOURS: Mon-Fri 12-7pm; Closed Sat-Sun and holidays • YOGA: (all ages), 2nd and 4th Mon of every month • TTIQ: (18+ Trans Group) 2nd Mon of every month, 7-9pm • TRANS YOUTH GROUP & PARENTS/CAREGIVERS SUPPORT: (24 and under) 3rd Mon of every month, 7-9pm • FIERCE FUN: (24 and under) Biweekly Tue, 7-9pm, games and activities for youth • JAMOUT: (12-24) Biweekly Tue, 7-8:30pm, music mentorship and instruction for youth • TWO SPIRIT GATHERING: 4th Wed of every month, 6-8pm, gathering for First Nations Two Spirit people • MEN’S SOCIAL CIRCLE: (18+) 1st and 3rd Thu, 7-9pm, for anyone masculine-identified • WOMEN’S SOCIAL CIRCLE: (18+) 2nd and 4th Thu, 7-9pm, for anyone feminine-identified • MOVIES & GAMES NIGHT: Biweekly Fri, 6-8:30pm • ARTS & IDENTITY: Biweekly Fri, 6-8:30pm • CREATING SAFER SPACES TRAINING: Interactive professional development workshops, with full or half-day options • QUEER YOUTH MENTORING: (Youth: 12–24) (Adults 26+) TEAM EDMONTON • Various sports and recreation activities • teamedmonton.ca • Bootcamp: Garneau School, 10925-87 Ave; Most Mon, 7-8pm • SWIMMING: NAIT Swimming Pool, 11665-109 St; Every Tue, 7:30-8:30pm and every Thu, 7-8pm • WATER POLO: NAIT Swimming Pool, 11665-109 St; Every Tue, 8:30-9:30pm • YOGA: New Lion's Breath Yoga Studio, #301,10534-124 St; Every Wed, 7:30-9pm • TAEKWONDO: near the Royal Gardens Community Centre, 4030-117 St; Contact for specific times • ABS: Parkallen Community League Hall, 6510-111 St; Every Tue, 6-7pm and Thu, 7:15-8:15pm • DODGEBALL: Royal Alexandra Hospital Gymnasium; Every Sun, 5-7pm • RUNNING: meet at Kinsmen main entrance; Every Sun, 10am • SPIN: Blitz Conditioning, 10575-115 St; Every Tue, 7-8pm• VOLLEYBALL: Stratford Elementary School, 8715-153 St; Every Fri, 7-9 • MEDITATION: Edmonton Pride Centre, 10608-105 Ave; 3rd Thu of every month, 5:30-6:15pm • BOARD GAMES: Underground Tap & Grill, 10004 Jasper Ave; One Sun per month, 3-7pm • ALL BODIES SWIM: Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre, 846881 St; One Sat per month 4:30-5:30pm

SPECIAL EVENTS BOARDWALK ICE ON WHYTE • Whyte Avenue and Gateway Blvd in Old Strathcona • info@iceonwhyte.ca • iceonwhyte.ca • The International Ice Carving Competition is one of only three ice carving competitions in Canada.

Be inspired and amazed as up to 10 teams of professional artists work to create jaw-dropping icy splendours • Jan 25-28, Feb 1-4 • $7 (adult), $4 (kids), $20 (family)

HOPS AND HEADWATERS • Craft Beer Market, Rice Howard Way, 10013-101A Ave • Drop in to sample beer from Alley Kat and Bent Stick Brewery made from Alberta’s headwaters, learn more about the amazing region this water comes from in the Bighorn Backcountry, and help protect the great water great beer needs • Jan 27, 3-6pm • Free (cash bar); A limited number of $25 tickets are available that include a pint of Alberta beer and a donation to support the Love Your Headwaters campaign

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RUBABOO ABORIGINAL ARTS FESTIVAL • La Cité Francophone, 8627 Rue Marie-Anne Gaboury • albertaaboriginalarts.com • Rubaboo is a multi‐disciplinary festival, showcasing theatre, music, dance, visual art, food, and workshops. Rubaboo is the only major Aboriginal arts festival in Alberta, committed to giving artists a platform to bring audiences of all backgrounds together to enjoy the vast artistic expressions that exist in Aboriginal culture • Jan 29-Feb 3

SNOWSHOE & STARGAZE • Astotin Lake, Elk Island National Park • 780.922.5790 • bit. ly/2iZcFmp • Trek over snow and gaze into a star-filled sky. Following a short guided hike on snowshoes, attendees will enjoy snacks around a fire and learn about the night sky above • Jan 27, Feb 10, Feb 24, Mar 10; 7-9pm • $29.80 (book via phone) THURSDAYS TBD TO BE DISCOVERED • Legislative Assembly Visitor Centre, Edmonton Federal Building, Main floor, 9820-107 St • 780.427.7362 • assembly.ab.ca/visitorcentre/ events.html • Visitors can look forward to an array of guest speakers, film screenings, free concerts and more • Every Thu, Oct 5-Mar 1, 6-8pm • Free

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SAVAGELOVE BLOODLETTING

I’m a professional dominatrix, and I thought I’d seen everything in the last five years. But this situation completely baffled the entire dungeon. This middle-aged guy, seemingly in fine health, booked an appointment with me and my colleague for one hour of some very light play and a golden shower to finish off with. We did no CBT, no cock rings, no trauma to the dick area at all, no ass play, no sounding or catheters, no turbulent masturbation, nothing that could have caused this reaction.

We brought him into the bathroom, and he laid down on his back, jerking off with a condom on his penis as my buddy was standing over him and peeing and I was saying all kinds of mean/encouraging sentiments and closely observing his progress. He came and … it was entirely blood. It looked like he shat into his condom, through his penis. He did not seem alarmed or in pain. He took off his condom himself, so he was aware of the situation. He did not remark on it to either of us! He made zero effort to prepare either of us, either.

And it was not a little blood in his ejaculate—it was entirely blood.

He has never returned. Is this person a monster or a vampire? Is he dying? Seriously.

MISTRESS ECHO P.S. I went back to the bathroom with gloves on and removed the used condom from the trash and took a photo. It’s the only way to communicate just how much blood there was.

“You can tell Mistress Echo that her client was not a monster or a vampire, and he is likely not dying anytime soon,” says Dr. Stephen H. King, a board-certified urologist. “What she observed is a person with hematospermia, meaning blood in the semen.”

While the sight is alarming—I’ll never be able to scrape that photo off the back of my eyeballs, thanks—Dr. King assures me that it’s nothing to worry about, as hematospermia is almost always benign. Even if you had done ball play or rough CBT (cock and ball torture), or if he engaged in solo CBT prior to the session, it’s unlikely that kind of play would result in a condom full of blood.

“The vast majority of the semen actually comes from the prostate and the seminal vesicles, which are located deep in the pelvis just behind and below the bladder, respectively,” Dr. King says.

“Very little of the ejaculate fluid actually originates from the testicles,” which primarily pump out hormones and sperm cells.

“The prostate gland and seminal vesicles (also glands) store up the fluids and can become overdistended with long periods of abstinence and prone toward micro tearing and bleeding in this circumstance.”

Blowing regular loads doesn’t just lower your risk for prostate

Dan Savage savagelove@vueweekly.com

cancer, as multiple studies have shown, it also lowers your risk for filling condoms with blood and alarming your friendly neighbourhood pro-dom. Two good reasons for draining those balls, guys— and other people with balls because, as the book of Tumblr teaches us, not all guys have balls and not all balls have guys.

“Also, these glands are lined by smooth muscle that contracts to force out the fluid [during ejaculation],” Dr. King continued. “If the force of contraction is excessive— a fucking great orgasm—this may lead toward rupture of some of the surrounding blood vessels and blood will enter the semen.”

Your client’s blasé reaction is a good indication that he’s experienced this previously, ME, because most guys who see blood in their semen—or only blood when they expected to see semen— freak the fuck out.

“In my practice, most guys who see blood in their ejaculate the first time are sufficiently freaked out to seek immediate medical attention, and their doctors usually tell them this isn’t something to worry about—unless it persists,” Dr. King says. “In cases where the hematospermia persists, gets worse, or is associated with other symptoms such as pain, difficulty urinating, or general health decline, medical attention is definitely recommended.”

Back to your client, ME. If blood loads have happened to him before (hence the blasé reaction), proper etiquette dictates that he should have said something to you about it afterward (“I’m fine, no biggie”). If it happens to him regularly, he should have warned you in advance—at least that’s what it says in my imaginary edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette.

OLD FUCKS

I’m an old guy, 68 years old to be exact. (Also a Scorpio, if that matters.) I’ve always been a pretty horny person, and I had a lot of fun from the 1960s through the 1980s with a number of lovers. I figured that as I got older, my horniness would lessen and I could think about something other than pussy. Trouble is, I don’t seem to be less horny. I find myself attracted to women in their 30s or 40s, but I wonder how I appear to them. I don’t want to make an utter fool of myself by making an unwanted advance— but the truth is, I’m still pretty hot to trot. What do I do?

NOT READY FOR THE NURSING HOME

interested in much younger women), or you could do all of the above. But you shouldn’t regard moving into a nursing home as the end of your sex life, NRFTNH. I’m constantly reading news reports about sexually transmitted disease epidemics in nursing homes and retirement communities. People may not like to think about the elderly having sex— and the elderly apparently don’t think about protection (or they’re denied access to it)—but lots of old fuckers are still fucking. (And, as astrology is bullshit, NRFTNH, being a Scorpio doesn’t matter. It never has and it never will.)

TOE JAM

My husband has a foot fetish. The feel of his tongue between my toes when he “worships” my feet doesn’t arouse me in the least.

Rather, it feels like I’m stepping on slugs in the garden barefoot.

Our sex life is fine otherwise.

I resolved to grin (or grimace) and bear this odd aspect of his sexuality before we married, but I cannot continue to do so. When I told him this, he asked to be allowed to attend “foot model” parties. There wouldn’t be intercourse, but he would pleasure himself in the presence of these foot models (and other males).

This would, in my opinion, violate our monogamous commitment and our marriage vows. I enjoy your podcast and I know you often advocate for open relationships. But you also emphasize your respect for monogamy and the validity of monogamous commitments. We are at an impasse.

Please advise.

THROWING OFF EXPECTATIONS While “love unconditionally” sounds nice, TOE, monogamy was a condition of yours going into this marriage (and a valid one), and being able to express this aspect of his sexuality was a stated or im-

plicit condition of his (and, yes, an equally valid one). If you’re going to unilaterally alter the terms and conditions of your marriage, TOE, then you’ll need to reopen negotiations and come to a new agreement with your husband, one that works for both of you. (Jesus, lady, let him go to the fucking party!)

On the Lovecast, Dan chats with Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood: savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter ITMFA.org

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You could see sex workers (quickest fix), you could look for women in their 30s or 40s who are attracted to guys pushing 70 (gerontophilia is a thing), you could date women in their 50s or 60s with a youthful appearance and/or attitude (there are lots out there, NRFTNH, and they often gather in groups to complain about how men their age are only VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

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JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

Matt Jones jonesincrosswords@vueweekly.com

“Portrayed-Off”-- something’s lost in the interpretation.

Across

1 Trivia contest locales 5 Went over like ___ balloon

10 Sheep sounds 14 Racecar driver Luyendyk whose son is currently “The Bachelor”

15 How some rooms are lit 16 Shrek or Fiona, e.g.

17 Hanging around, being a particle, losing its charge, catching up on reading, etc.?

19 Like some histories 20 Piece of property 21 Gym fixture 23 Take out 25 May honoree 26 Anticipating a little devil?

33 Furor 34 Leachman of “Young Frankenstein” 35 Caffeine-containing nut 37 “Rebel Without a Cause” costar Sal 39 “Superman” archvillain Luthor 40 Abate 41 Tennis player Wawrinka 42 Copper coating 44 “May ___ now?”

45 Nonexistent grades like “G+”?

48 “Westworld” network 49 Photos, slangily 50 Chain that sells a lot of cups 56 Time periods 60 “Free Willy” whale 61 “Give it up!” (or what the theme answers do) 63 Clock face 64 Pulitzer-winning novelist Alison 65 Spiced tea beverage 66 Gardener’s purchase

FREEWILLASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Many American women did not have the right to vote until August 18, 1920. On that day, the Tennessee General Assembly became the 36th state legislature to approve the Nineteenth Amendment, thus sealing the legal requirements to change the U.S. Constitution and ensure women’s suffrage. The ballot in Tennessee was close. At the last minute, 24-year-old legislator Harry T. Burns changed his mind from ‘no’ to ‘yes,’ thanks to a letter from his mother, who asked him to “be a good boy” and vote in favour.

I suspect that in the coming weeks, Aries, you will be in a pivotal position not unlike Burns’. Your decision could affect more people than you know. Be a good boy or good girl.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the coming weeks, destiny will be calling you and calling you and calling you, inviting you to answer its summons. If you do indeed answer, it will provide you with clear instructions about what you will need to do to expedite your ass in the direction of the future. If, on the other hand, you refuse to listen to destiny’s call, or hear it and refuse to respond, then destiny will take a different tack. It won’t provide any instructions, but will simply yank your ass in the direction of the future.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Looks like the season of 1,001 emotions hasn’t drained and frazzled you. Yes, there may be a pool of tears next to your bed. Your altar might be filled with heaps of ashes, marking your burnt offerings.

But you have somehow managed

22 at the back

to extract a host of useful lessons from your tests and trials.

You have surprised yourself with the resilience and resourcefulness you’ve been able to summon.

The energy you’ve gained through these gritty triumphs is well worth the price you’ve had to pay.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Every relationship is unique. The way you connect with another person— whether it’s through friendship, romance, family, or collaborative projects—should be free to find the distinctive identity that best suits its special chemistry. Therefore, it’s a mistake to compare any of your alliances to some supposedly perfect ideal. Luckily, you’re in an astrological period when you have extra savvy about cultivating unique models of togetherness. So I recommend that you devote the coming weeks to deepening and refining your most important bonds.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): During recent weeks, your main tasks have centred around themes often associated with strain and struggle: repair, workaround, reassessment, jury-rigging, adjustment, compromise. Amazingly, Leo, you have kept your suffering to a minimum as you have smartly done your hard work. In some cases you have even thrived. Congratulations on being so industrious and steadfast.

Beginning soon, you will glide into a smoother stage of your cycle. Be alert for the inviting signs. Don’t assume you’ve got to keep grunting and grinding.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-

Rob Brezsny freewill@vueweekly.com

1944) created four versions of his iconic artwork The Scream. Each depicts a person who seems terribly upset, holding his head in his hands and opening his mouth wide as if unleashing a loud shriek. In 2012, one of these images of despair was sold for almost $120 million. The money went to the son of a man who had been Munch’s friend and patron. Can you think of a way that you and yours might also be able to extract value or get benefits from a negative emotion or a difficult experience? The coming weeks will be a favourable time to do just that.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I think I like my brain best in a bar fight with my heart,” says poet Clementine von Radics. While I appreciate that perspective, I advise you to do the opposite in the coming weeks. This will be a phase of your astrological cycle when you should definitely support your heart over your brain in bar fights, wrestling matches, shadow boxing contests, tugs of war, battles of wits, and messy arguments. Here’s one of the most important reasons why I say this: Your brain would be inclined to keep the conflict going until one party or the other suffers ignominious defeat, whereas your heart is much more likely to work toward a win-win conclusion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): When he was 24 years old, Scorpio-born Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398) was a novice monk with little money who had just learned to read and write. He had spent years as a wandering beggar. By the time he was 40 years old, he was the emperor of China and founder of the Ming

67 Streisand title role of 1983 68 Russian ruler, before 1917

Down

1 NATO phonetic alphabet letter after Oscar 2 Web addresses 3 Confirmation ___ 4 Iroquois League nation 5 Big bother 6 Pick-me-up 7 Abu Dhabi leader, for instance 8 Lip balm ingredient 9 Phenomenal performers 10 Soundstage equipment that hangs high 11 Cultural leader?

12 Kazakhstan border “Sea” that’s really a lake 13 Auction off 18 Exterior finish for some houses 22 Palme ___ (Cannes Film Festival prize) 24 ___ Tuesday (“Voices Carry” group) 26 Water filter brand name 27 Kidney-related 28 “The Dark Knight” trilogy director 29 “Lady Bird” writer-director Gerwig 30 Hyphenated descriptor for a repairperson 31 Recurrent theme

32 Not-so-subtle promos 33 Contacts online, for short 36 Abbr. on military mail 38 Spellbind 40 Sumptuous 42 In a self-satisfied way, maybe 43 Little bite 46 Flow’s counterpart 47 Look forward to 50 Covers with turf 51 Muse, for one 52 Antioxidant-rich berry 53 Heavy metal’s Mˆtley ___ 54 “Freak on a Leash” band 55 Barbecue rod 57 Satisfied sounds 58 March Madness gp.

59 Make Kool-Aid 62 ___ Aviv, Israel ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords

Dynasty, which ruled for 276 years.

What happened in between? That’s a long story. Zhu’s adventurousness was a key asset, and so was his ability as an audacious and crafty tactician. His masterful devotion to detailed practical matters was also indispensable. If you are ever in your life going to begin an ascent even remotely comparable to Zhu’s, Scorpio, it will be in the coming 10 months. Being brave and enterprising won’t be enough. You must be disciplined and dogged, as well.

in 1928 while working for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company. At the time he finally perfected the recipe, the only food dye he had on hand was pink. His early batches were all that colour, and a tradition was born. That’s why even today, most bubble gum is pink. I suspect a similar theme may unfold soon in your life. The conditions present at the beginning of a new project may deeply imprint the future evolution of the project. So try to make sure those are conditions you like.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In 1892, the influential Atlantic Monthly magazine criticized Sagittarian poet Emily Dickinson, saying she “possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy.” It dismissed her poetry as incoherent, and declared that an “eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse” like her “cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar.” This dire diss turned out to be laughably wrong. Dickinson is now regarded as one of the most original American poets. I offer this story up as a pep talk for you, Sagittarius. In the coming months, I suspect you’ll be reinventing yourself. You’ll be researching new approaches to living your life. In the course of these experiments, others may see you as being in the grip of unconventional or grotesque fantasy. They may consider you dreamy and eccentric.

I hope you won’t allow their misunderstandings to interfere with your playful, yet serious work.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “When one door closes, another opens,” said inventor Alexander Graham Bell. “But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened.” Heed his advice, Aquarius. Take the time you need to mourn the lost opportunity. But don’t take more than the time you need. The replacement or alternative to what’s gone will show up sooner than you think.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Bubble gum is more elastic and less sticky than regular chewing gum.

That’s why you can blow bubbles with it. A Capricorn accountant named Walter Diemer invented it

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Gilbert Stuart painted the most famous portrait of America’s first president, George Washington. It’s the image on the U.S. $1 bill, and yet, Stuart never finished the masterpiece. Begun in 1796, it was still a work-in-progress when Stuart died in 1828. Leonardo da Vinci had a similar type of success. His incomplete painting The Virgin and Child with St. Anne hangs in the Louvre in Paris, and his unfinished The Adoration of the Magi has been in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery since 1671.

I propose that Stuart and da Vinci serve as your role models in the coming weeks. Maybe it’s not merely ‘okay’ if a certain project of yours remains unfinished, maybe that’s actually the preferred outcome.

CURTIS HAUSER

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018

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BOOK YOUR ADVENTURE

JASPER.TRAVEL/JANUARY

APPETITES WEEKEND JAN 18-24

ARTS WEEKEND JAN 26-28

fe󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧 Food-A-Palooza January 18-21

fe󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧 Lolë Wellness Weekend January 26-28

Wine In Winter January 19

ATCO Street Party & Fireworks January 27 Spe󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰇧󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰇧󰈛󰈛p󰈛󰈛e󰇧󰇧󰇧󰇧󰈛󰈛󰇧󰈛󰈛e󰈛󰇧󰈛e󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰇧󰈛󰇧󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛󰈛

Whiskey, Wine & Hops January 20

24 never quit never quitting

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 18 - JAN 24, 2018