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#1056 / jan 21, 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; jan 27, 2016 vueweekly.com

Dark Star: The legend of H R Giger 14 Striker goes independent for Stand In The Fire 18

ISSUE: 1056 JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016 COVER ILLUSTRATION: JESSICA HONG

LISTINGS

ARTS / 12 MUSIC / 23 EVENTS / 25 CLASSIFIED / 26 ADULT / 28

FRONT

The U of A's 31st International Week seeks to understand the global issues that define our era // 4

DISH

We shouldn't wait for disaster before adopting widespread conservation measures // 6

ARTS University of Alberta Petrocultures Research Cluster

Bravo unearths the legacy of a legendary atom-bomb test // 8

FILM

Anomalisa proves an inventive but emotionally immature love story // 13

POP An Interdisciplinary Response to the UN Climate Convention

January 28, 7:00–9:00pm Art Gallery of Alberta LEDCOR THEATRE 2 Sir Winston Churchill Sq. Edmonton, AB T5J 2C1

The 2015 UN Climate Convention in Paris (COP21) was considered by many to be the last chance for national governments to offer a meaningful and timely course of action in response to the urgent challenges of climate change. Hosted by the Petrocultures Research Cluster at the University of Alberta, this event will provide a forum for scholars to come together and begin to take account of COP21— the outcomes and implications, the successes and failures—from a range of disciplinary perspectives and concerns.

This event is free and open to the public.

Please join us for what promises to be an important and engaging evening of discussion and debate. Sponsored by the Art Gallery of Alberta; Faculty of Arts and Kule Institute for Advanced Study, University of Alberta; and the Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies, University of Alberta.

2 UP FRONT

Pony Island goes from retro homage to a battle with Pony Island itself // 15

MUSIC

Striker goes independent for its new album, Stand In the Fire // 18

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VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

CONTRIBUTORS Ricardo Acuña, Kathleen Bell, Josef Braun, Rob Brezsny, Ryan Bromsgrove, Bruce Cinnamon, Gwynne Dyer, Matt Gaffney, Brian Gibson, Hart Golbeck, Fish Griwkowsky, Mike Kendrick, Brenda Kerber, Jane Marshall, Brittany Rudyck, Dan Savage, James Stewart, Mike Winters

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POLITICALINTERFERENCE

FRONT

news EDITOR: mel priestley MEL@vueweekly.com

Ricardo Acuña // ricardo@vueweekly.com

What does the wage freeze actually mean? While primarily a symbolic gesture, the freeze may have real impacts politically and strategically Last week Alberta's finance minister Joe Ceci announced that the government was enacting a salary freeze on its senior managers and nonunion employees. What this means is that some 7000 senior government officials won't get their scheduled 2.5-percent raise this year, and that they won't see any raise until at least April 2018. This move will result in a total savings in government expenditures of approximately $28.5 million, according to Ceci. To clarify, that's not a reduction in current expenses by government, but rather money that the government will not need to spend going forward. Although the employees whose wages are being frozen will certainly feel the impact of not receiving an extra $3000 to $5000 in earnings over the next year, the effects of this move on the province's fiscal position and overall finances will be negligible. We are talking about $28.5 million out of a total government expenditures budget of $50 billion—a savings of less than one tenth of one percent. Just because a move of this nature has no actual financial impact one

DYERSTRAIGHT

way or another, however, does not mean that it is not a good move politically or strategically. A symbolic decision like this can actually be positive for the government on a couple of different fronts. On the political front, freezing the salaries of senior managers can buy the government some reprieve from the official opposition and right-wing pundits, who love nothing more than seeing cuts and salary constraint in the public sector. It sends a message that the government understands the current fiscal situation and is willing to take steps to reduce spending internally. It is especially meaningful in this regard, as the freeze directly targets those highly paid senior managers that groups like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Fraser Institute—and, by extension, their political wing, the Wildrose Party—have been working so hard to vilify and publicly shame in the last few years. On the strategic front, the salary freeze helps strengthen the government's hand in current and upcoming bargaining with the province's unionized workers, particularly the

38 000 members of AUPE that are currently in bargaining and the 40 000 unionized teachers that will soon be going into contract negotiations. Ceci's decision not to immediately reopen the agreements with the government's unionized workers in search of concessions shows a level of respect for the collective bargaining process and the rights of workers that has not been seen in this province in a long time, but the freeze itself sends a strong message that the government does not have the money for salary increases and that labour unions need to be prepared to lower their expectations. The danger, however, is that the move might actually backfire for the government on both fronts. Politically, a large number of Albertans voted New Democrat precisely because of the party's promise to not seek to balance the books through austerity measures. The NDP presented a platform that directly opposed the right's rhetoric of small government and reduced expenditures, and to the degree that this move signals a move away from

that stance, it risks raising significant flags for the NDP's base about exactly where the government is going. A similar risk exists with regard to the government's relationship with public-sector unions and the outcomes of upcoming bargaining. The respect shown by Ceci for the existing collective agreements was valuable and important, but it might not be enough. This is a sector that faced serious attacks by the previous government: attacks on their collective bargaining rights, attacks on pensions and benefits, and ongoing and concerted attempts at wage suppression. There is no doubt the public-sector unions were hopeful for a more positive coexistence and bargaining relationship with this government, and their expectations of what they can achieve in bargaining were likely quite high. This is probably especially the case among the province's teachers who, the last time they went into bargaining, came out with a four-year agreement that saw them get no salary increase whatsoever in the first three years. They could not

be blamed for expecting a better outcome this time, and any moves from the government that signal anything to the contrary will not likely be well-received. Ultimately, it will not be the decision to impose a wage freeze on senior managers that determines the government's relationship with either its base or public-sector unions going forward, but it does have the potential to raise flags of concern among both groups. It's important that the government follow this announcement with some moves that demonstrate clearly that it is remaining true to its promise not to balance the books on the backs of public services and public-sector workers, but to focus its efforts on fixing the province's flawed revenue stream. Not sending those signals now might be a recipe for a rough year politically for the government. V Ricardo Acuña is the executive director of the Parkland Institute, a non-partisan, public policy research institute housed at the University of Alberta.

GWYNNE DYER // GWYNNE@vueweekly.com

Five years after the Arab Spring Why did only one of the non-violent revolutions find lasting success? Five years ago this month, the "Arab Spring" got underway with the non-violent overthrow of Tunisia's long-ruling dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. He dared not order the army to open fire on the demonstrators (because it might not obey), he was running out of money, and eventually he flew off to Saudi Arabia to seek asylum. In an Arab world where satellite television broadcasts and social media had effectively destroyed the power of the censors, practically everybody else spent the four weeks of civil protest in Tunisa tensely watching what the Tunisians were doing. When the Tunisian revolutionaries won, similar non-violent demonstrations demanding democracy immediately broke out in half a dozen other Arab countries. It felt like huge change was on the way, because the world had got used to the idea that non-violent revolutions spread irresistibly, and usually win in the end. The groundbreaking "People Power" revolution in the Philippines in 1986, for example, was followed in the next three years in Asia by non-violent democratization in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Bangladesh, and failed attempts at non-violent revolution in Burma and China. Similarly in eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of

the Communist regime in East Germany in 1989 was followed by non-violent democratization in all the Soviet-dominated "satellite" countries by the end of the year. The Soviet Union itself broke up in 1991, and some of its component parts also became democratic. Non-violence was a magic potion, and people assumed that it was bound to work in the Arab world too. They were wrong. The non-violent movements demanding democracy spread just as fast, but their only lasting success was in Tunisia. Egypt and Bahrain are back under autocratic rule, and Yemen and Syria are both being devastated by civil wars and large-scale foreign military intervention. Libya is also being torn by civil war (although the revolution there was never non-violent). You can hardly blame people for trying to get rid of the old regimes— they were pretty awful—but beyond Tunisia the endings were uniformly bloody and tragic. Was there some systemic reason for this, or was it just a lot of bad luck? There is great reluctance to pursue this question,

because people are afraid that the answer has something to do with the nature of Arab society or Islamic culture. They shouldn't worry. Islam is not incompatible with democracy. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, had a nonviolent democratic revolution in 1998 and continues to be a thriving democracy today. Turkey has been democratic for decades, although

their politics, although the king retains much power. So what went wrong with the "Arab Spring"? In the case of Bahrain, the problem was that the majority of the population is Shia, but the ruling family is Sunni and saw the democratic movement as an Iranian plot. Neighbouring Saudi Arabia saw it the same way, and sent the Saudi army in to crush the "plot." Yemen was a lost cause from the start, since there was already an incipient civil war in the country. Now it's a full-scale war, with foreign military intervention by a Saudiled coalition that includes half the countries in the Arab world, and the non-violent protestors are busy hiding from the bombs. Syria was a hard case since the Ba'athist regime, in power for more than 40 years, had accumulated a great many enemies. The Alawite (Shia) minority who dominated the regime were terrified that they would suffer from revenge-taking if they lost power, and were willing to fight to the last ditch to keep power.

In the Arab world democracy is a much scarcer commodity, but it does exist, most notably in Tunisia itself. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current president, is doing great damage to the country's democratic institutions. Pakistan and Bangladesh are both democracies, although turbulent ones. These four countries alone account for almost half the world's Muslim population. In the Arab world democracy is a much scarcer commodity, but it does exist, most notably in Tunisia itself. Several other Arab countries, like Jordan and Morocco, have a significant democratic element in

VUEWEEKLY.com | jan 21 – jan 27, 2016

But it is also true that Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and later the United States as well, encouraged an armed uprising in Syria that undercut the entire non-violent movement. It probably wouldn't have succeeded anyway, but it really didn't get tried. And in Egypt, the non-violent revolution actually won. The victory didn't last long. The Muslim Brotherhood won the election in 2012, and the urban, secular minority who had made the revolution panicked. They asked the army to intervene, and the army was happy to oblige—so now the army runs the country again, after a massacre of non-violent Muslim Brotherhood protesters in 2013 that was probably worse that the slaughter on Tiananmen Square in 1989. Egypt is by far the biggest country in the Arab world. If it had not thrown its democracy away, about a third of the world's Arabs would be living in a democracy today. It was very bad luck, but non-violent revolution is still a viable technique—and democracy is still just as suitable for Arabs as it is for Poles, Peruvians or Pakistanis. It's just going to take a little longer than we thought in 2011. V Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. up front 3

FRONT FEATURE // I-WEEK

he University of Alberta's 31stannual International Week (I-Week) is about to kick off in Edmonton, offering 50 free educational events on the global community's most pressing issues: poverty, gender equality, the refugee crises and climate change. The theme of this year's International Week, "For a Better World," focuses on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—17 ambitious points that were drafted and agreed upon by civil-society organizations and 139 UN member states in September 2015. The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which had framed international policies from 2000 to 2015, and will guide the policies and agendas of world leaders and governments for the next 15 years. The goals focus on ending poverty and hunger, promoting health, education, achieving social equalities, ensuring sustainable consumption and combatting climate change. Nancy Hannemann, director of I-Week, along with her organizing team, is excited to engage Edmontonians on the importance of the SDGs and how they relate to negotiating and solving complex problems in Canada and around the world. "The SDGs are universal," Hannemann says. "They aren't only aimed at developing countries, which the previous Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did. Rather, they're striving to end poverty everywhere, including in Canada. We hope by exposing Edmontonians to the SDGs, they can also learn about solutions to issues."

4 UP FRONT

Dr Stephen Lewis, co-founder of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and co-director of AIDS-Free World, will be this year's keynote speaker (on January 29). As a renowned Canadian humanitarian, Dr Lewis will draw from his history of working in international policy, and at the grassroots level in Sub-Saharan Africa, to reflect on how Canada can take a leading role in translating the SDGs into reality. "One of the issues Dr Lewis is concerned with is gender equality," Hannemann says. "He'll talk about how women, from policy to the grassroots, are changing their own realities. Gender equity plays an important part of the SDGs." Diversity and gender equality were also important to this year's I-Week organizers. Hannemann and her team took great care to invite a diverse range of academics, community organizers, activists and international students to speak at I-Week. They hope to connect Edmontonians with voices that aren't often heard in the media, or receive the attention their work deserves. Sheila Watt-Cloutier is one of those voices. She's a Canadian Inuit activist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and author of a recent memoir, The Right to Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic, and the Whole Planet. For over 15 years, Watt-Cloutier has been a leading voice for indigenous communities, speaking out against unchecked greenhouse-gas emissions and how climate change violates the rights of Inuit First Nations. From 2002 to 2006, Watt-

Cloutier served as the International Chair on the Inuit Circumpolar Council, an organizing body that represents the interests of Inuit communities in Russia, Greenland, Alaska and Canada. "The conditions of the ice aren't what they used to be," Watt-Cloutier says. "The hunters and elders have difficulty reading the ice; it makes it harder to pass down traditional knowledge. The melting of the ice isn't only threatening food security, but it's creating issues of human safety. We're living on thin ice." Last year, she was recognized with the Right Livelihood Award, which is dubbed the "alternative Nobel Peace Prize." In December 2015, WattCloutier spoke at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, putting a human face on climate change in the north. Watt-Cloutier will speak at I-Week on Wednesday, January 27, sharing stories of the Inuit and their struggle to protect their northern climate and cultural ways of life. I-Week will also provide an opportunity to hear different perspectives from local experts about Canada's role in responding to the Syrian refugee crisis. Five experts, including academics, immigration specialists and community organizers, will come together on Thursday, January 28 for a panel discussion on Canada's support for the multinational coalition combatting ISIS in Syria and Iraq and the effectiveness of their response. The panel will also discuss how Canadians can counter a culture of fear surrounding refugees and assist with refugee resettlement.

Last year, seven-thousand people came out to participate in I-Week events at the U of A campus. This year, Hannemann and her team are hopeful to draw the same enthusiasm from students, staff, faculty and the community at large. "We're trying to provide a forum for people to learn more about global issues, along with discussing what some of the solutions are," Hannemann explains. "It's a way for Edmontonians and the campus community to come together and have access to what they might not otherwise experience in their day-to-day lives." Beyond the attraction of the more recognized keynote speakers, Hannemann urges the community to attend the smaller events as well. She says that the smaller workshops and discussions often provide greater opportunity to speak with the presenters and participate in deeper dialogue on global topics. Last year, Ranya El-Sharkawi, a second-year political science student at the U of A, attended I-Week for the first time and felt the real value of converging across different faculties on global topics. She describes the experience as "invaluable" to her education. "We don't often have the opportunity to discuss [in the classroom] the issues that interest us, or to come together across different faculties," says El-Sharkawi, who was inspired to volunteer as the co-chair for the U of A's Canadian Red Cross Club on campus after attending a previous I-Week. This year, she's one of the organizers behind two interactive workshops at I-Week, including an event called

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

Mon, Jan 25 – Sun, Jan 31 U of A campus, various venues globaled.ualberta.ca Their Shoes Are Your Shoes: A Refugee Camp Simulation. Hosted at the Telus Atrium on January 29 from 4 pm to 5:30 pm, the simulation will provide an opportunity for people to "walk through an International Red Cross refugee camp" and learn firsthand about the issues refugees face. The Canadian Red Cross Club is also hosting a second interactive event on January 27 called "Paxium"—a roleplaying game that simulates what it would be like to live in a war or conflict-zone. "Many people can learn best through interactive experiences," El-Sharkawi says. Before I-Week wraps up on January 31, organizers are hosting a celebratory benefit concert and fundraiser called Music for a Better World at the Myer Horowitz Theatre. The concert is open to the community and will feature musicians from the Middle East. Funds raised will go to support the Syrian Refugee Relief Fund at the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers. "It's going to be an exciting way to conclude another I-Week in Edmonton," Hannemann says. "It's a free concert—we ask people to donate what they can—and it's an opportunity to listen to music from Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia and many other countries."

TRINA MOYLES

TRINA@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEPOINT

BRUCE CINNAMON BRUCE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Seeking public art When the Eiffel Tower opened to the public in 1889, hundreds of esthetically scandalized Parisians cried for it to be torn down. They described the gargantuan structure as "a metal asparagus," "a truly tragic street lamp" and "a hole-riddled suppository." Now, of course, the tower is among the most celebrated landmarks in the world. Edmonton has had its own Eiffel Tower moment many times, from a fountain sculpture in front of the old city hall in 1957 (disparagingly dubbed "the Spaghetti Tree") to the Talus Dome installation in 2012 (better known as "that big pile of shiny balls beside the Quesnell Bridge"). Just like the Eiffel Tower, the Spaghetti Tree became so be-

loved that it was saved when the old city hall was torn down. You can see it at the current city hall, tucked into a nook on the building's west side. The Talus Dome has yet to win the hearts of Edmontonians—but it will. The cost of public art, like the $600 000 price tag for the Talus Dome, is controversial at the best of times. Now that Canada's economy is in free fall and dire predictions abound, it'll be even harder to defend the city's Percent for Art program and its value to life in Edmonton. But amid all the pothole plugging and ticky-tacky house building, bizarre and controversial public-art pieces are what make a city memorable, distinct and visu-

ally interesting. Without aggressively strange, provocative and polarizing artworks, we're cheating ourselves of the opportunity to become a more interesting city, instead settling for a bland landscape. Especially if we are committed to playing it safe with our architecture (I'm looking at you, Brewery District and Blatchford), public art is a far less expensive way of creating engaging places. The City of Edmonton has a surprisingly attractive website (edmontonpublicart.ca) which maps out over 200 works of art across the city—all owned by you, good citizen. Go forth! Find your favourite piece to hate, complain about and ultimately learn to love. V

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UP FRONT 5

COVER // H20

DISH

DISH EDITOR: MEL PRIESTLEY MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Water security in a changing climate We shouldn't wait for disaster before adopting widespread conservation measures

rought costs California agriculture $1.84B and 10 100 jobs; BC water restrictions hit extreme levels as drought continues; Alberta declares province-wide agricultural disaster; North Saskatchewan River at lowest levels in 14 years. It's hard not to read these headlines—all from the past year—and reflexively think that everyone, everywhere should be turning off the taps and conserving as much water as possible. But the issue is a lot more complicated than that. For those of us who rely on the North Saskatchewan River as our source of drinking water, some argue that the issue of water conservation isn't one that we need to be overly concerned about—yet. "It's hard to relate some of these global and large events with our current situation," says Gordon Thompson, technical coordinator for the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance (NSWA). "In terms of doing water conservation on the basis that we're in the situation, let's say, southern California is in, doesn't make sense. People might argue that it's morally the right thing to do or whatever else, and I don't argue with that at all. Reducing your use of natural resources is a good thing. I just think in our particular set of circumstances, you can't point to the river system and say, 'We're up against the wall; we don't have enough water; we don't have enough storage; we have to take extreme measures to deal with the current situation.'" The NWSA is a watershed planning advisory council, one of 11 in the province (each major river basin has a similar council), which seeks to protect and improve water quality, quantity and the health of the North Saskatchewan watershed. A voluntary non-profit group founded in 1999 by EPCOR and Trout Unlimited Canada, the NWSA members include various groups with a significant interest in water security: municipalities, government departments, industry, educational institutes and other organizations from environmental conservation to tourism. From the perspective of the NWSA, the North Saskatchewan is actually in good shape, despite what one might think after last summer's widespread drought that culminated in the declaration of a province-wide agricultural disaster. The river's water quality has also improved drastically in the last 60 years: Thompson notes that in the '50s, the North Saskatchewan was extremely polluted downstream of Edmonton. As well, he argues that both historical records from Fort Edmonton and scientific studies of tree rings demonstrate that the North Saskatchewan's levels have fluctuated dramatically over the course of time, from extremely low to extremely high. "If climate change makes differences, they're going to be very small and incremental," he says. "It kind of

6 DISH

comes out the same way in the end, whether you call it climate-change effect or whether it's finally recognizing that there are big variations. The fact of the matter is there will be bigger variations; we will see them." The river's water level last year was low—the lowest since 2002 due to a very small snowpack, early and hot spring, and lack of rain in the eastern slopes of the Rockies where the river originates—but Edmonton's reservoirs still had plenty of capacity and, therefore, the city decided not to call for any water restrictions, voluntary or otherwise. The same cannot be said of other communities near Edmonton, however, some of which buy city water for their own use. A couple of municipalities, including Parkland County, Stony Plain, Wembley, Nanton and Cardston, enforced their own water restrictions over the summer—this is because water resources are managed locally, by individual municipalities, so it's up to them to make decisions on water use. Admittedly it seems strange—and for those of us with guilty consciences, downright rude—to be happily watering our lawns, washing our cars and filling our backyard pools in Edmonton while our neighbours have to forego the same activities. Managing the North Saskatchewan River is only one aspect of water security and conservation in Alberta. Water systems are the driver behind our climate and, therefore, at the heart of climate-change issues. The recent Climate Change Conference in Paris at the end of 2015 threw into sharp relief immediate need for global action on climate-change issues, yet water security was not mentioned explicitly in the 2030 Transforming Our World agenda that was signed by 193 UN member states. This seems odd, given the widespread agreement about the inevitability of more frequent and severe storm events around the world. "In my view as an outside observer who's looking at many, many cities, you've got a pretty well-run water utility," says Robert Sandford, who holds the EPCOR chair for Water and Climate Change Security at the United Nations University in the Institute for Water, Environment and Health. "That said ... I don't think there's a community in this country that shouldn't be concerned about water security, and shouldn't be giving more concern to water conservation. I think we have to have our citizens far more aware of two things: the fact of increased risk of extreme weather events causing flooding, and the very great likelihood of deeper, more persistent drought, which will have effects on water supply." Sandford has been closely studying Canada's water resources and working on various water-based initiatives for the UN since 2002. (Note: the current chair he holds at the UN University is funded by EPCOR, but

// Jessica Hong

he's not an EPCOR employee.) Much of his early work was on dispelling the persistent Canadian myth that we have a limitless supply of water, partly driven by the fact that we have 20 percent of the world's fresh water (most of which is concentrated in the Great Lakes region). More recently, he published a book on water and climate security called Storm Warning: Water and Climate Security in a Changing World. "Water is a highly localized issue," Sandford says, in regards to why Edmonton hasn't implemented any water restrictions but other areas in the province have. "Paris notwithstanding, I think we've got to start growing and adapting to a world that's going to be four degrees Celsius warmer than it is right now. ... A four-degree Celsius temperature increase isn't going to be uniform. What we find widely is that warmer atmospheric conditions make the atmosphere far more turbulent, so you end up with climatic circumstances and weather patterns in places that you don't expect. You get cold and warm extremes, unexpectedly, in places that haven't had that so much in the past. ... For every degree Celsius rise

in temperature, the atmosphere can carry seven-percent more water vapour. So if you raise the temperature four degrees, then the atmosphere, on average, will be able to hold 28-percent more water vapour, and it will be far more energetic—so that when you get a storm event, they can be absolutely spectacular." Alberta has already borne witness to such a spectacular event with the 2013 floods that ravaged Calgary, High River and other communities along the Bow River. Sandford describes such events as the new normal and urges everyone to prepare accordingly. Water conservation is only one such step—though a crucial one, he says, noting that Canadians use twice as much water per capita as Europeans. Edmontonians are well below the national average of 275 litres per capita per day; we use about 195 litres per capita per day, thanks in large part to our city's use of a block-pricing model that discourages higher water use. (Basically, if you use more water, you pay more.) "It's not just water conservation you should be looking at; you should be looking at how climate patterns are

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

going to change and how that's going to affect you on a personal level, and then on the community and urban level," Sandford says. He encourages everyone to install water-efficient appliances as an easy way to reduce water consumption with no effect on quality of life, as well as to ensure proper drainage on your property and take other precautions, like installing backup valves on basement sewer lines. That's all just good advice, however, and easy to overlook when there doesn't seem to be any pressing urgency. A catastrophic water-based event happened to Calgary, and it may happen to us, but until it does the government will concern itself with more urgent matters and relatively few individuals will take the responsibility themselves. "We're just not moving fast enough on these matters," Sandford says. "People should know where their water comes from; they should know how much they use and what they use it for. They should also know that it's going to be more precious than we can imagine right now, in the future." MEL PRIESTLEY

MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

SPIRITEDAWAY

COME IN FOR A MEAL, LEAVE FULL OF MAGICAL MEMORIES

MEL PRIESTLEY // MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Shaken or egged?

The vegan botanical foamer is a game-changer for the cocktail industry Ms. Betters Bitters facebook.com/msbettersbitters @bettersbitters ... they don't know how long that's been there so it may not be that fresh. There's a whole bunch of really icky aspects to egg whites and this makes it super easy."

You wouldn't expect a casual drink with friends to nearly kill you. Some of the most common cocktails are made with ingredients that could trigger a serious reaction to those with an allergy: egg whites, in particular, are a traditional ingredient in drinks like sours and flips. After the son of his good friend ended up in the emergency room due to an allergic reaction—unwittingly drinking a cocktail made with egg—Philip Unger was inspired to create an allergen-free alternative: a foamer that acts the same way an egg does, but is comprised completely of vegan botanicals. "It's sort of a game changer for the industry: there are a couple of substitutes but they don't really work that well, or they have really weird flavours," says Unger, standing in front of the bar at the Alberta Hotel—and quite literally rubbing shoulders with a small crowd of individuals in Edmoton's cocktail scene—during the recent launch of his vegan botanical foamer.

The foamer falls under the Ms Betters Bitters brand, a range of bitters that Unger has helped develop and market with Vancouver bartender and Edmonton native Tarquin Melnyk. While most people probably haven't heard of Unger by name, anyone who's eaten at Cactus Club, Earls or Joey will have probably tasted one of his products: Unger's background is in food technology and he's developed a huge range of products that are featured in some of the biggest chain restaurants across the country, everything from desserts and sauces to drinks and spice mixes. It would be easy to lump this vegan botanical foamer under the broad (and ever-expanding) category of hopelessly niche products hurried to market with a view to capturing as much of a passing fad as possible. Even the description itself— vegan botanical foamer—carries some sense of ultra-hipster cachet. But unlike the vast majority of such

products, this foamer is actually very useful for the industry: a shelfstable alternative to a perishable, refrigeration-mandatory ingredient, that smells and tastes very similar to the real thing. I detected a slight musky vegetal aroma in a cocktail made with the foamer, and the taste of the drink was slightly more pronounced—which makes sense since egg whites actually mute your taste buds—but otherwise a cocktail made with the foamer was almost indistinguishable from one made from the real thing. "I'm not just looking at the vegan opportunity here," says Unger, who has been developing the foamer for almost seven years. "Of course there's a lot of vegans that really do want to have a cocktail and can't have [certain ones]. I actually don't like the smell of egg whites in cocktails; I find them off-putting. From the perspective of the bartender, they have a container of egg whites

Unger and Melnyk are still in the process of launching the vegan botanical foamer. They've been taking wholesale orders through their Facebook page and industry contacts, and they are in the process of getting the website online. They are also continuing to expand the range of flavours offered under Ms Betters Bitters; most recently they've begun introducing a series of bitters named after famous mountains, made from botanicals from that particular area in the world. "We consider ourselves very eclectic in what we do," Unger says. "We want to create something that really works in the framework of what the bartender wants to do, and we give them materials to do that." V

Meet Prakash. His food is good for your body, his story is good for your heart. Get to know him at Indian Fusion!

10322 111 St 780-752-5500 www.thecurryhouse.ca

FEW THINGS IN LIFE ARE SWEETER THAN SUCCESS. If you’re aged 18-39 and have a passion for making artisanal goods, we can help take you from foodie to founder.

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futurpreneur.ca 1.800.464.2923

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

DISH 7

PREVUE // THEATRE

ARTS

ARTS EDITOR: PAUL BLINOV PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Bravo looks at the legacy of a legendary atom-bomb test

n 1954, the US military detonated a thermonuclear bomb on the Marshall Islands' Bikini Atoll. Code-named Castle Bravo, this was the largest nuclear explosion ever created by the United States—a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, and, unexpectedly, three times larger than army engineers had calculated it would be. Shadow Theatre's Bravo tells the story of this nuclear test through three perspectives, bouncing back and forth between 1954 and 2016. A modern-day anthropologist deliv-

ers a lecture on nuclear pollution. An American bureaucrat faces political fallout from the subsequent international incident. And a Japanese fisherman, whose boat was directly downwind from the explosion, suffers from radiation sickness. Mark Ikeda, who plays the unfortunate fisherman, thinks that Bravo's questions about nuclear energy are as relevant today as they were in the 1950s. "During the rehearsal process there was that [news about] North Korea detonating its first big explosion,"

Ikeda says. "And they're not sure if it was an A-bomb or an H-bomb or what it was, but you know that's still very present." We might think of the Cold War and the nuclear age as increasingly distant history, but the danger of nuclear weapons and power is still present in our world. The cast also discussed the fallout from the 2011 FukushimaDaiichi meltdown and how it underlined the borderlessness of nuclear contamination. "Unlike so much of humanity, nuclear

waste is the one thing that will likely stay around longer than our planet," Ikeda says. "All of our buildings and all of our greatest achievements can be grown over in a relatively short amount of time. But nuclear waste, it'll just stay." The play also gave Ikeda the opportunity to explore his Japanese heritage in his performance work, something he started doing only a few years ago. "I've just recently finished my own project about the World War II Japanese internment camps," he explains.

REVUE // THEATRE

nside the Fairy Ring we are equal. Inside the Fairy Ring we are safe. Inside the Fairy Ring we are together." So chant Flora (Darrin Hagen), Fawna (Trevor Schmidt) and Fleurette (Brian Dooley) as the lights dim on their membership recruitment presentation for the NaturElles. The three nine-year-old girls just want a place to be themselves, to learn about Mother Earth, and to get away from the mean girls in Girl Guides. They've created their own club, and now they invite all of us to join them inside the Magic Fairy Ring. One of the immediate joys of Flora and Fawna is watching experienced actors acting poorly. From Schmidt's anxious lisp to Hagen's outside-voice speeches, the grown men successfully channel the spirit of a bad el-

ementary school play. Their acting may be wooden, but boy, are these girls enthusiastic, tossing out gems like, "Being stranded in the wilderness may sound like fun but in reality it's a terrible experience!" Throughout the show, Hagen and Schmidt invite audience members (who have been pre-selected from the line outside the theatre) up on stage to play games with them. Of course, these segments will vary from night to night, but in general Schmidt and Hagen have created a playful atmosphere that the audience can relax in. There's a survival skills quiz (with fabulous prizes), a demonstration on how to help a friend pee in the bush and even a ukulele-accompanied singalong.

8 ARTS

The show's best segment comes halfway through, when Flora and Fawna open up the floor for questions from the audience. Our hosts are normally so in-charge that it's fun to turn the tables on them and see how they react to unexpected developments. Prepare questions in advance (en français aussi!) and see what they improvise. The show's loose, episodic structure means that it doesn't build to a climax like a conventional play. But by the end, we've come to know these girls well enough that a lastminute revelation lands pretty hard. Ultimately, Flora and Fawna will tug at your heartstrings as much as it'll make you laugh.

// Ian Jackson, EPIC Photography

BRUCE CINNAMON

BRUCE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016 Join the club // Ian Jackson, EPIC

"And so when this came up it was weirdly tied in the same time period ... I've really been able to sink into more weighty and interesting conversations with my Japanese family and people of the Japanese community. And it's been really interesting to touch back into that heritage." BRUCE CINNAMON

BRUCE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Until Sat, Jan 23 (7:30 pm; additional 11:30 pm performance on Fri, Jan 22) Directed by Trevor Schmidt ATB Financial Arts Barns, $25

Flora and Fawna's Field Trip 'I

Thu, Jan 21 – Sun, Feb 7 (7:30 pm; 2 pm Sunday matinees) Directed by John Hudson Backstage Theatre, $24 – $27

WHAT’S ON AT UALBERTA? 50th Anniversary

Music Celebrations

MEAGHAN SMITH

lberta A U f o rs

yea

with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

music

Department of Music’s 50th anniversary showcasing students, faculty and distinguished alumni.

January 22 at 7:30pm

ALL REMAINING BEST AVAILABLE TICKETS JUST $24* THE UNBELIEVABLE $24* SEAT SALE AT EDMONTONSYMPHONY.COM *Service charges apply

Sunday, January 24

2:00 pm - Performances & displays, main foyer 3:00 pm - Concert in Enmax Hall Winspear Centre

ualberta.ca/artshows

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

ARTS 9

ARTS ARTIFACTS

PAUL BLINOV

// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

is exploring dance and perception, working with a quintet of dancers to see how body and mind can react to one-another in unusual ways. A post-modern take on movement. (Spazio Performativo, $15 – $20)

Dance Crush: DIG / Fri, Jan 22 – Sat, Jan 23 (8 pm) At Mile Zero's Spazio Performativo this weekend is DIG. Dance artist KO

REVUE // THEATRE

Chelsea Hotel Until Sun, Jan 24 (7:30 pm; weekend matinees at 1:30 pm) Directed by Tracey Power Citadel Theatre, $30 – $110.25

Protest Song/ Air Cacophonique / Until Sat, Mar 12 Visual artist Tim Rechner and film artist Patrick Arès-Pilon have joined together for a collaborative installation in Mile Zero Dance's front gallery space. It'll be up all of January, February and into March, with its closing-night reception doubling as a Rechner-led 12-hour drawathon that runs from 5 pm to 5 am. Make sure you get a line on late-night coffee. (Spazio Performativo) V

ghostly players, which are seemingly haunting a frustrated composer as he drinks over a blank page. Eventually, everything from "Suzanne" to "First We Take Manhattan" to "Bird On a Wire" to, inescapably, "Hallelujah" tumbles out. And with a stage full of tricks and shadowy red lighting, there is a bewitching quality to the work.

hen I went to see Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, there was a lot of feverish program-flipping at intermission on behalf of audience members, hoping to find within its glossy pages a synopsis of the story. First, there's no synopsis, so don't bother looking. Second, so that you have the right idea going in, let me make plain that when you see Chelsea Hotel do not expect a "play" or much in the way of plot. And even the term cabaret is slightly misleading. It's more of an interpretive theatre piece, lying somewhere between movement art,

mime and musical experimentation. By fighting the urge to make it "make sense," the music in Chelsea Hotel can then truly land in its rightful focus. Featuring 17 different instruments and a talented cast of six musicians, the piece breaks apart and puts back together an intrepid assortment of Cohen songs. Playing with everything from accordions to kazoos, the compositions are given poignant new textures and are sung by exquisite young voices. Guitars, a double bass and even a small drum kit are all slyly summoned from their hiding places throughout the yellowed set by their

However, while the music is beautiful and entrancing, sometimes the mimed gestures accompanying the songs are little obvious, and the movement work is mild, safe and often unremarkable. The emotion in each song, so clearly expressed in the composition, occasionally doesn't translate as crisply into the "interpretive theatre" aspect of this show. From a musical perspective, Chelsea Hotel is stunning. From a theatrical perspective, it's interesting, though at times relatively timid considering the emotional depths Cohen's songs dive into. KATHLEEN BELL

KATHLEEN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

WHAT’S ON AT UALBERTA? 50th Anniversary Music Celebrations Department of Music’s 50th anniversary showcasing students, faculty and distinguished alumni

Sun, Jan 24

Performances & Displays @ 2 pm Concert @ 3 pm

ta musi

f UAlber

years o

Winspear Centre

Trio Voce

U of A Studio Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Haydn and Mendelssohn Patricia Tao (piano), Jasmine Lin (violin) & Marina Hoover (cello)

Fri, Jan 29 @ 8 pm

by William Shakespeare

Convocation Hall

The Bard’s playful ode to the transformative power of love Feb 4 to 13

“When times are tough you need to know who you can trust.” LOCATION: PCL STUDIO, ATB FINANCIAL ARTS BARNS, 10330-84 AVENUE TICKETS: FOR SUBSCRIPTION BOOKINGS OR TO PURCHASE A SINGLE TICKET PLEASE CALL NORTHERN LIGHT THEATRE AT 780-471-1586 OR VISIT WWW.NORTHERNLIGHTTHEATRE.COM

10 ARTS

University of Alberta High School Honour Band Weekend Alberta’s most talented high school band students and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble Special guests: The International Saxophone Quartet featuring William Street Conductor: Angela Schroeder

@ 7:30 pm Matinee Thurs, Feb 11 @ 12:30 pm Timms Centre for the Arts

Sun, Feb 7 @ 3 pm Winspear Centre

ualberta.ca/artshows

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

ARTS WEEKLY

EMAIL YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO: LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM FAX: 780.426.2889 DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3PM

Dance

then discuss the film • Every Sat (except Feb 6), 7-9pm • Free (register at EventBrite)

VINCENT VAN GOGH: A NEW WAY OF SEEING • Arden Theatre, 5 St Anne St, St Albert • 780.459.1542 • ardentheatre.com • Made in collaboration with the curators and art historians, the film marks both a major reshowing of the gallery's collection and a celebration of the 125th anniversary of van Gogh's death • Jan 31, 2pm • $20 (adults), $15 (children)

galLeries + Museums ALBERTA CRAFT COUNCIL GALLERY •

sackerman1@me.com • sacredcircledance.com • Nurture the body, mind, and soul with a variety of songs, music and movements. All dances are taught. Open nights are for everyone. No partner required • Every 2nd Wed, 7-9pm • $10

10186-106 St • 780.488.6611 • albertacraft. ab.ca • Discovery Gallery: A Place for Everything: artwork by Terry Hildebrand; Jan 9-Feb 6 • Feature Gallery: X3: artwork by Alberta Potters' Association, Contextural | Fibre Arts Cooperative and the Nina Haggerty Centre; Jan 16-Mar 26; Opening reception: Jan 16, 2-4pm

dance crush • Mile Zero Dance

Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) • 2 Sir

Come Join the Dance-Sacred Circle Dance • Riverdale Hall, 92 St & 100 Ave •

Company, Spazio Performativo, 10816-95 St • 780.424.1573 • milezerodance.com • Kathy Ochoa; "Dig" • This season MZD produces four performances with some favourite movementbased artists from across Canada • Jan 22-23, 8pm • $15 (MZD members), $20 (non-members)

Flamenco Dance Classes (Beginner or Advanced) • Dance Code Studio, 10575-115 St NW #204 • 780.349.4843 • judithgarcia07@gmail.com • Every Sun, 11:30am-12:30pm

Sugar Foot Ballroom • 10545-81 Ave • 587.786.6554 • sugarswing.com • Friday Night Stomp!: Swing and party music dance social every Fri; beginner lesson starts at 8pm. All ages and levels welcome. Occasional live music–check web; $10, $2 (lesson with entry) • Swing Dance Social every Sat; beginner lesson starts at 8pm. All ages and levels welcome. Occasional live music–check the Sugar Swing website for info • $10, $2 lesson with entry

Swing 'n' Skate • City Hall - City Room & Plaza, 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square • 780.970.7766 • brasko@edmontonarts.ca • edmontonarts.ca/eac_projects/eac_projects_ churchillsquare • The Trocadero Orchestra will be bringing their 18 piece big band sound. Sugar Swing Dance Club will be on site to help put the boogie-woogie in attendees' step. Music will be broadcasted outside so ice skaters can enjoy it as well • Every Sun until Feb 28, 1-4pm • Free

Toy Guns Dance Theatre Stretch and Strength Classes • St. John's Institute, 11024-82 Ave • richelle@ toygunstheatre.com • toygunstheatre.com • Develop practical flexibility and strength • Every Tue until Feb 23, 8-9pm • $15 (drop-in), 10 class passes and monthly rates available

Transformational Ballet • Dance Code, 10575-115 St • justin@toygunstheatre. com • toygunstheatre.com • Featuring a new understanding of the body and its potential to create, communicate, and resonate in any performance medium • Every Sun, Tue, Thu until Feb 28 • $15 (drop in), 10 class passes and monthly rates available

FILM Cinema at the Centre • Stanley Milner Library Theatre, bsmt, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.496.7070 • Film screening every Wed, 6:30pm • Free • Schedule: Hungry Hearts (Jan 27)

From Books to Film • Stanley A. Milner, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.496.7000 • epl.ca • Films adapted from books every Fri afternoon at 2pm • Schedule: City of Joy (Jan 22), Seven Years in Tibet (Jan 29) metro • Metro at the Garneau Theatre, 8712109 St • 780.425.9212 • The Culture Collective (Jan 21) • Canada's Top Ten Film Festival 2015 (Jan 22-31) • Dark Star: H.R. Giger's World (Jan 22-23, Jan 25) • The Mask (Eyes of Hell) 3D (Jan 23-24, Jan 26) • Beach!: Blue Hawaii (Jan 31); Gidget Goes Hawaiian (Feb 16) • Falling Into Place: Four Films by Satoshi kon: Tokyo Godfathers (Feb 6-7, Feb 10); Paprika (Feb 13-14, Feb 17) • Gateway to Cinema: Memento (Jan 27) • Music Doc: Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song (Feb 2) • Reel Family Cinema: The Land Before Time (Jan 23); The NeverEnding Story (Jan 30) • Science in the Cinema: The Crash Reel (Jan 28) • Staff Pics: Alien (Jan 25)

Saturday Documentary Screenings • Earth's General Store Downtown, 10150-104 St • michael@egs.ca • earthsgeneralstore. eventbrite.com • Screenings of documentaries with diverse and timely subjects such as: climate change, animal welfare, plant based diets, earth care, gardening/agriculture, waste, transportation/bicycling, urban planning/ walkable communities, and more. Attendees will

Winston Churchill Sq • 780.422.6223 • youraga. ca • Tyler Los-Jones: A Panorama Protects its View: Jan 23-Jan 31 • Rough Country: The strangely familiar in mid-20th century Alberta art; Oct 3-Jan 31 • Living Building Thinking: Art and Expressionism; Oct 24-Feb 15 • She's All That: artwork by Dana Holst; Oct 24-Feb 15 • Fabric: Charrette Roulette; Nov 21-Apr 10 • The Blur in Between: artwork by an international roster of artists from Chile, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands, as well as across Canada; Jan 23-May 8 • The Blur in Between Panel: featuring artists Micah Lexier, Lisa Naftolin, Maaike Anne Stevens and Maite Zabala Meruane who will be participating in a panel discussing the boundaries between art and design; Jan 24, 12-2:30pm, $15/10 (AGA Members) • Curator's Walkthrough: The Blur In Between; Apr 20, 7pm • Open Studio Adult Drop-In : Wed, 7-9pm; $18/$16 (AGA member) • All Day Sundays: Art activities for all ages; Activities, 12-4pm; Tour; 2pm • Late Night Wednesdays: Every Wed, 6-9pm • Art for Lunch: 3rd Thu of the month, 12:10-12:50pm

Art Gallery Of St Albert (AGSA)

Harcourt House Gallery • 3 Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.426.4180 • Riki Kuropatwa's Collide; Dec 3-Jan 22 Jeff Allen Art Gallery (JAAG) • Strathcona Place Senior Centre, 10831 University Ave, 109 St, 78 Ave • 780.433.5807 • seniorcentre.org • At Water's Edge: artwork by Joyce Boyer; Jan 7-Mar 3; Reception: Feb 10, 6:30-8:30pm

Jurassic Forest/Learning Centre • 15 mins N of Edmonton off Hwy 28A, Township Rd 564 • Education-rich entertainment facility for all ages

Lando Gallery • 103, 10310-124 St • 780.990.1161 • landogallery.com • January Group Selling Exhibition: artwork by gallery artists; Jan 6-30

Latitude 53 • 10242-106 St • 780.423.5353 • latitude53.org • Trope L'oeil: artwork by Marie-Andrée Houde; Jan 29-Mar 5 • Work, Play, Sleep ... Repeat: artwork by Paul Bernhardt; Jan 29-Mar 5

Loft Gallery • AJ Ottewell Gallery, 590 Broadmoor Blvd, Sherwood Park • 780.449.4443 • artstrathcona.com • Open: Sat-Sun 12-4pm • It's All About Texture: artwork by Joyce Boyer; Feb

McMULLEN GALLERY • U of A Hospital, 8440-112 St • 780.407.7152 • friendsofuah. org/mcmullen-gallery • The Steamfitter's Guide: artwork by Robin Smith-Peck; Dec 12-Feb 7 Multicultural Centre Public Art Gallery (MCPAG)–Stony Plain • 5411-51 St, Stony Plain • multicentre.org • Masterworks: artwork by The Alberta Craft Council; Jan 9-Feb 18

Musée Héritage Museum • St Albert Place, 5 St Anne Street, St Albert • MuseeHeritage.ca • 780.459.1528 • museum@ artsandheritage.ca • Take Your Best Shot: Youth Photo Contest; Nov 20-Jan 24 • The True Cost of Oil: Canada's Oil Sands and the Last Great Forest: A photographic exhibition by Garth Lenz; Feb 4-Apr 17; Opening reception: Feb 6, 2-5pm

Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts

• 19 Perron St, St Albert • 780.460.4310 • artgalleryofstalbert.ca • Night Hours: artwork

by The Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts; Dec 3-Jan 30 • Art Ventures: Stripes and illusions (Feb 20), 1-4pm; drop-in art program for children ages 6-12; $6/$5.40 (Arts & Heritage member) • Ageless Art: Creative Collages (Jan 21), 1-3pm; for mature adults; $15/$13.50 (Arts & Heritage member) • Preschool Picasso: Sights & Sounds of Nature (Feb 20); for 3-5 yrs; pre-register; $10/$9 (Arts & Heritage member)

BUGERA MATHESON GALLERY • 10345124 St • bugeramathesongallery.com • New Year Show: Featuring work by gallery artists; Jan 1-31

• 9225-118 Ave • 780.474.7611 • volunteer@ thenina.ca • A Delicate Dise of Edmonton: artwork by Tomas Illes; Jan 14-31

Paint Spot • 10032-81 Ave • 780.432.0240 • paintspot.ca • Naess Gallery: The Texture of Experience: artwork by Yasir Ali, Laurie Bentz, Terry Daly, & Janet Sutanto; Jan 7-Feb 18; Reception: Jan 21, 7-9pm • Artisan Nook: Marquetry: painting with wood: several finely crafted pieces by Jonica & Alex Heinze (Fine Lines Marquetry); Jan 7-Feb 18; Reception: Jan 21, 7-9pm

Peter Robertson Gallery • 12304 Jasper Ave • 780.455.7479 • probertsongallery. com • Artwork by Colin Smith; Jan 16-Feb 6 • Artwork by Graham Peacock; Feb 11-Mar 1

Cafe Blackbird • 9640-142 St • 780.451.8890 • cafeblackbird.ca • Connected 2: artwork by Trueman Macdonald; Jan 3-31

Provincial Archives of Alberta

Creative Practices Institute • 10149-122 St, 780.863.4040 • creativepracticesinstitute.com • Above the Clouds: artwork by Aryen Hoekstra; Jan 21Feb 27; Opening reception: Jan 21, 7-9pm; Reading and discussion group: Jan 24 • Online Marketing for Creatives; Jan 27, 6-8pm; $30-$80

• 8555 Roper Road • PAA@gov.ab.ca • 780.427.1750 • culture.alberta.ca/paa/ eventsandexhibits/default.aspx • Voices from Our Past: artwork by Katherine Braid; Sep 25-Jan 23

sNAP Gallery • Society of Northern Alberta Print- Artists, 10123-121 St • 780.423.1492 • snapartists.com • The Lebret Residential Petroglyphs: artwork by Tanya Harnett; Jan 7-Feb 20

SPRUCE GROVE ART GALLERY •

dc3 Art Projects • 10567-111 St •

35-5 Ave, Spruce Grove • 780.962.0664 • alliedartscouncil.com • JoAnne Denis; Jan 26-Feb 20

780.686.4211 • dc3artprojects.com • Gallery will be open by appointment; Jan 1-30 • Infocus: Curated by Alexis Marie Chute; Feb 5-27

Strathcona County Museum & Archives • 913 Ash St, Sherwood Park •

FAb Gallery • 1-1 Fine Arts Bldg, 89 Ave,

strathconacountymuseum.ca • Making Their Mark: The Land Surveyor's Role in the Peaceful and Orderly Development of Alberta; Jan 4-Apr 30

112 St • 780.492.2081 • Pilgrimage: being in the end times: artwork by Kyle Terrence; Jan 19-Feb 13; Openign reception Jan 21, 7-10pm

front gallery • 12323-104 Ave • thefrontgallery.com • Edmonton Suite: Group show; through Jan • Lyric: artwork by Steve Coffey; Feb 11-Mar 1; Opening reception: Feb 11, 7-9pm • Photography; Opening reception: Mar 18, 7-9pm

Telus Centre Atrium • University of Alberta • globaled.ualberta.ca/InternationalWeek • globaled@ualberta.ca • The Global Goals for Sustainable Development: A Photo Exhibit; Jan 25-31

Gallery@501 • 501 Festival Ave, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8585 • strathcona.ca/artgallery • Portraits: artwork by Corie Side, Claire Uhlick and Marie Winters; Jan 8-Feb 21 • Interpretations: featuring paintings, printmaker, photographer; Jan 8-Feb 21

Telus World of Science • 11211-142

Gallery at Milner • Stanley A. Milner

U of A Museums Galleries at Enterprise square • Main floor, 10230 Jas-

Library Main Fl, Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.944.5383 • epl.ca/art-gallery • Alberta. Of Earth and Sky: Paintings by Jay Bigam; Jan 2-31 • Edmonton Arts Council: Artists creating "maquettes," or renderings in the form of miniature sculptures of their public art proposals; Jan 2-31

St • telusworldofscienceedmonton.com • Free$117.95 • Beyond Rubik's Cube; Nov 7-Feb 15 • The Science Garage: new gallery opening in Dec • The International Exhibition Of Sherlock Holmes; Mar 25-Sep 5

per Ave • Open: Thu-Fri, 12-6pm, Sat 12-4pm • Do It Yourself: Collectivity and Collaboration in Edmonton; Nov 28-Mar 5 • Brain Storms: UAlberta Creates: hundreds of creative and visually inspiring works from University of Alberta Alumni in support of the University of Alberta Alumni Association centenary; Sep

25-Jan 23

VAA Gallery • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St • visualartsalberta.com • Gallery A: Cultural Exchange; Dec 3-Feb 27 • Gallery B: Alberta Artists Collect Alberta Art; Dec 3-Feb 27

VASA Gallery • 25 Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert • 780.460.5990 • vasa-art.com • Members Winter Exhibition; Dec 1-Jan 29

West End Gallery • 10337-124 St • 780.488.4892 • westendgalleryltd.com • Artwork by Guy Roy; Feb 6-18

Women's Art Museum of Canada • La Cité Francophone 2nd Pavillon, #200, 8627 Rue Marie-Anne-Gaboury (91 St) • 780.803.2016 • info@wamsoc.ca • wamsoc. ca • Northern Reflections: artwork by Barbara Pankratz; Jan 7-Feb 13

Literary Apartheid in Palestine: Hard Laws and Harder Experiences • University of Alberta, H.M. Tory Building, B-87 • Ghada Ageel sought leading experts—Palestinian and Israeli, academic and activist—to gather stories that humanize the historic processes of occupation, displacement, colonization, and, most controversially, apartheid. Talk and Q&A • Jan 28, 3:30pm • Free

Audreys Books • 10702 Jasper Ave • 780.423.3487 • audreys.ca • Dawn Ius "Anne & Henry" Signing and Meet & Greet; Jan 28, 4-6pm

The Carrot's Poetry Night • The Carrot, 9351-118 Ave • A poetry open mic • Jan 28, 7:30-9pm Rouge Lounge • 10111-117 St • 780.902.5900 • Spoken Word Tuesdays: Weekly spoken word night presented by the Breath In Poetry Collective (BIP); info: E: breathinpoetry@ gmail.com Scrambled YEG • Brittany's Lounge, 10225-97 St • 780.497.0011 • Open Genre Variety Stage: artists from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every Tue-Fri, 5-8pm TALES at CHIANTI CAFÉ • Chianti Café, 10501-82 Ave NW • gailbrown4@shaw.ca • Four fine storytellers weave tales of love, war, magic and mayhem while diners enjoy a tasty choice of appetizers, entrees and desserts • Jan 28, 5:30pm (door), 6:30pm (event) • $45 (including the story performances, 3-course dinner, tax & gratuity); available at Tix on the Square

Upper Crust Café • 10909-86 Ave • 780.422.8174 • strollofpoets.com • The Poets' Haven Reading Series: Most Mon (except holidays), 7pm, Sep-Mar; presented by the Stroll of Poets Society • $5 (door)

Theatre 11 O'Clock Number • The Backstage Theatre, 10330-84 Ave (North Side of the ATB Financial Arts Barns) • 90 minutes of improvised entertainment that unveils scenes, songs and choreographed numbers completely off the cuff based on audience suggestions • Every Fri, starting Sep 25-Jun 25, 11pm (No performances on Dec 25 and Jan 1, 8 & 15) • $15 (online, at the door) • grindstonetheatre.ca

in Bizet's impassioned love story, where fate cannot be averted • Jan 30, Feb 2, Feb 4

chelsea hotel • Citadel Theatre, 9828 101A Ave • 780.425.1820 • citadeltheatre.com • With extraordinary new arrangements, six performers play 17 instruments in a knockout tribute to Leonard Cohen's most transcendent songs • Jan 13-24 Chimprov • Citadel's Zeidler Hall, 9828101A Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Rapid Fire Theatre's longform comedy show: improv formats, intricate narratives, and one-act plays • Every Sat, 10pm • $12 (door or buy in adv at TIX on the Square) • Until Jun

Die-Nasty • The Backstage Theatre at the ATB Financial Arts Barns, 10330-83 Ave • communications@varsconatheatre.com • die-nasty. com • Live improvised soap opera • Runs every Mon, 7:30-9:30pm • Until May 30 • $14 or $9 with a $30 membership; at the door (cash) or at tixonthesquare.com flora & fawna's field trip • Northern Light Theatre, 201, 8908-99 St • 780.471.1586 • northernlighttheatre.com • In the Fringe smash-hit play, best friends Flora and Fawna (along with their pal, Fleurette) are creating a safe place for girls just like them by launching the NaturElles, a social group with a difference. • Jan 15-23

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! Featuring Baking Bad Cakes Gone Wrong, and much more • Jan 22, May 20; 8pm • $25 Improv Open Jam • Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 10037-84 Ave • grindstonetheatreyeg@ gmail.com • grindstonetheatre.ca/openjam.html • A space to share, swap games and ideas. For all levels • Last Tue every month until Jun 28, 7-9:30pm • Free MAESTRO • Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • Rapid Fire Theatre • Improv, a high-stakes game of elimination that will see 11 improvisers compete for audience approval until there is only one left standing • 1st Sat each month, 7:30-9:30pm • $12 (adv at rapidfiretheatre. com)/$15 (door) Sex Please, We're Sixty • St. Albert Kinsmen Banquet Hall, 47 Riel Drive, St. Albert • 780.222.0102 • stalberttheatre.com • Rose Cottage Bed and Breakfast will never be the same after the feeble but enthusiastic Bud Davis is done wooing all of Mrs. Stancliffe's female guests. The next door neighbour gets a fellow scientist involved in a 'test market' of a pill designed for menopausal women, in an effort to be more than just a 'gentleman caller' to the uptight proprietress. The two scenarios become one as Bud gets busted and the ladies join forces • Feb 4-7, Feb 11-14, Feb 18-20 The Social Scene • Citadel Theatre, 9828101A Ave • grindstonetheatreyeg@gmail.com • grindstonetheatre.ca/scenestudy.html • Fellow theatre lovers share excerpts of plays that they have been reading • First Mon of every month, 6-8pm; until Jun 6 • Free

Star Warz: A Galactic Rock Comedy

Theatre, 16615-109 Ave NW • mayfieldtheatre. ca • Amongst all the bad movies, hairdos, fads and faux pas of this much maligned decade some of the greatest pop tunes of all time were realized • Nov 10-Jan 31

• Jubilations Dinner Theatre, West Edmonton Mall, Phase II West Edmonton Mall, 8882-170 St • jubilations.ca • It is a period of galactic civil war! There are rebels with spaceships, Jedi with lightsabers, a princess, a smuggler, and robots, the Evil Darth Vador and singing… yes you heard me… singing of your favorite galactic rock tunes of the 70's and 80's. May the force be with you • Oct 30-Jan 30

Bravo • Backstage Theatre 10330-84 Ave

TheatreSports • Citadel's Zeidler Hall,

Back To The 80S: A Most Excellent Musical Adventure • Mayfield Dinner

• By Blaine Newton (a world premiere). A Japanese fisherman caught in the fall out of an American nuclear detonation. A dispassionate anthropologist teaching the effects of radiation on human populations. A cynical politician out to protect his country no matter what the cost. Weaving back and forth between the notorious 1954 Pacific nuclear tests and the present day, Bravo is a captivating drama that compassionately explores decisions that changed the world and their all too human consequences • Jan 20-Feb 7

canoe 2016 • Backstage Theatre, ATB Financial Art Barns, 10330-84 Ave • 780.477.5955 • workshopwest.org • Presented by Workshop West. This annual Mardi Gras of theatre once again will feature the best boundary-bending theatre performances from around the corner to around the globe • Jan 27-Feb 7

Carmen • Jubilee Auditorium, 11455-87 Ave • 780.429.1000 • edmontonopera.com • A dangerous combination of a sultry gypsy, a conflicted soldier and a dashing matador collide

VUEWEEKLY.com | jan 21 – jan 27, 2016

9828-101A Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Improv • Every Fri, 7:30pm and 10pm • Sep-Jun • $12/$10 (member) at TIX on the Square

Ursa major • Backstage Theatre, ATB Financial Art Barns, 10330 84 Ave • 780.477.5955 • workshopwest.org • Presented by Workshop West. After a horrific car accident, a retired couple must decide how to best deal with the injuries they've sustained. Based on a true story of the Dart sister's grandparents, Ursa Major is a powerful and moving story of love and devotion, and the strange world that exists between consciousness and unconsciousness • Jan 27-Feb 7 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? • Citadel Theatre, 9828 101A Ave • 780.425.1820 • citadeltheatre.com • An American theatre classic, Edward Albee's scorching tale of an embittered marriage was the Citadel's very first production in 1965. This new 50th-anniversary production will star prominent Canadian actors Brenda Robins and Tom Rooney • Jan 23-Feb 16

ARTS 11

REVUE // DRAMA

FILM

FILM EDITOR: PAUL BLINOV PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Opens Friday Directed by Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman 

Brain against heart

elebrity customer service specialist Michael Stone (David Thewlis) arrives in Cincinnati at dusk. He's in town to speak at a conference. He takes a cab that's just like every other cab in the world to a vaguely upscale chain hotel that's just like every other vaguely upscale chain hotel in the world. Since he's in Cincinnati he decides to meet with an old flame who lives there, a woman he abandoned 11 years ago but whose final, expletive-laden letter to him he still carries and which, apparently, still wounds him every time he reads it. Michael is motivated to meet with his old flame because he feels so alienated by everyone else—including his current wife and son—yet within minutes of their reunion Michael

Anomalisa proves an inventive but emotionally immature love story realizes the old flame is just like everybody else in the world. In fact, her voice really does sound exactly like everybody else in the world. Which is to say, her voice sounds like Tom Noonan. When the old flame asks Michael why he does the cruel things he does, Michael suggests that perhaps he has "mental problems." We don't need to get too far into Anomalisa before we're able to diagnose what Michael's problem is. The film, based on Charlie Kaufman's play and co-directed by animation maestro Duke Johnson and Kaufman, very cleverly heightens narrative subjectivity through the use of meticulous stop-motion animation. Not a single gesture in Anomalisa, no matter how minute, is left to

chance. Everything we see and hear is rendered exactly as Michael sees and hears it. Michael is tormented by the uniformity of the world, thus everyone he knows and everyone he meets has exactly the same face and the same voice. Anomalisa uses animation to conjure an almost paralyzingly solipsistic world view. Michael's mental problem is an epistemological problem—or maybe just an attitude problem?—that goes back at least as far as the ancient Greeks. However, help is on the way! Michael is getting out of the shower when he hears a voice in the hotel corridor—a voice that is not Tom Noonan's! Desperate to find the owner of that voice, he frantically dresses

and starts knocking on doors until he finds Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Lisa, we will gradually discover, is endearing but extremely ordinary. She lives in Akron, is clumsy, dresses badly, has fairly banal thoughts, has a boring job, likes Cyndi Lauper and Sarah Brightman. We are inclined to root for Lisa because, aside from Michael, who we only really know as a jumble of neuroses, she is literally the only real character in the movie. I think it would be going too far to say that Michael falls in love with Lisa—one would require a very cynical idea of love—but that voice ensnares his desperate heart. Until it doesn't. Anomalisa is, to be sure, very much in keeping with Kaufman's best work: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

and Adaptation, which he wrote, and Synecdoche, New York, which he wrote and directed. Like those films, Anomalisa boasts a concept that's intelligent and inventive. Unlike those films, however, Anomalisa starts to feel hollow once you've recognized the intelligence and invention of its concept. It's too complete, too cocoon-like. And, unlike Eternal Sunshine most especially, a movie so knowing about the torments of the heart, Anomalisa, in adhering so closely to Michael's perspective, feels emotionally immature. It's not that it doesn't resonate; it's that it resonates with an experience of love so pathetic it might not merit a meticulously rendered 90-minute movie. JOSEF BRAUN

JOSEF@VUEWEEKLY.COM

REVUE // ANIMATED Now playing Directed by Trevor Wall 

Norm of the North W

elcome to the January movie doldrums. That time of year when a stupid script idea—talking polar bear hits the Big Apple to save his North Pole home from ... a housing development!?!—becomes new-release reality. As sub-par as the Arctic is sub-zero, Norm of the North is a lumbering snooze. Desperate to please, entertain, or just keep frantic-ing animatedly along, this story imagines tourists merrily visiting our planet's norther-regions to snap pics of seals, caribou and one-ton carnivorous bears. Norm's brother microphone-manages an ice-capades show where big, shaggy Norm even does his "Arctic shake"—twerking and twisting away. But when this woolly northern star discovers a company plans to plop residences down in his habitat, Norm

12 FILM

decides to hitch a ride to New York City to "use the Arctic to save the Arctic"—he'll become the USA's favourite polar bear (his popularity measured by a magical, generic arrow-gauge), then dissuade the people to pursue homehappiness north of 60. Norm, obviously, isn't much of a hunter, but he is a talker. When he's not yammering away, others are gabbing on—this is one chatty story, full of exposition, incessant music, com-linkups and one conversation ice-jam after another. Any twitch of a hint of a quiet moment, and Norm's tag-along pals, three buck-toothed lemmings, pee in an aquarium or fart or vomit when sea-sick or fart again. The timing's always a bit flat; the cute little genius of a girl here is super-

tedious. The dance numbers are just sad, as if thrown in to keep things uptempo. And the script's CEO-enemy is false-advertising—our loquacious Norm tells the devious pony-tailed developer that he could get a polarbear gig at a cola company instead ... only for the movie to then prominently shill for a fast-food chain known for its ursine mascot. The best said about this frigid debacle is that a gag where Norm uses the lemmings' teeth as wall-climbing crampons is almost amusing. Lookswise, though, these animal antics come off like a cheap TV cartoon. Even some bad puns would have at least made Norm of the North a little more bearable.

BRIAN GIBSON

BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

ASPECTRATIO

JOSEF BRAUN // JOSEF@VUEWEEKLY.COM

FRI, JAN. 22–THUR, JAN. 28

BROOKLYN FRI 6:50PM SAT–SUN 1:15PM & 6:50PM MON–THUR 6:50PM

THE DANISH GIRL

FRI 6:45PM SAT–SUN 1:00PM & 6:45PM MON–THURS 6:45PM

RATED: P.G. MATURE SUBJECT MATTER

RATED: 14A NUDITY

FRI 9:15PM SAT–SUN 3:40PM, 9:15PM MON–THUR 9:15PM

CAROL

SPOTLIGHT

FRI 9:10PM SAT–SUN 3:30PM & 9:10PM MON–THUR 9:10PM

RATED: 14A SEXUAL CONTENT

RATED: 14A MATURE SUBJECT MATTER

Distance between conceptions

+ WOULD LIKE TO SEND YOU AND A FRIEND TO SEE

Strange thriller The American Friend is Wim Wenders at his peak Though not quite as singular or lyrical as the trilogy of road movies that preceded it, The American Friend (1977) in many respects represents director Wim Wenders at the peak of his powers, functioning both as a thriller, a meditation on national identity in the postwar era, and a strange story of male friendship. All this despite the fact that Wenders seems to have understood perhaps half of what was going on in Ripley's Game (1974), the ingenious crime novel upon which the film was based, written by Patricia Highsmith, an author Wenders greatly admired. The distance between Highsmith and Wenders' conceptions is nowhere more apparent than in their respective Ripleys. The Ripley of Highsmith's novels, who debuted in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), is a calculated sociopathic dandy and repressed homosexual who never loses his cool; he has been more appropriately embodied in other films by Alain Delon and Matt Damon. The Ripley of The American Friend is, well, Dennis Hopper, not exactly the picture of composure, or a guy one pictures gardening or playing the harpsichord at Belle Ombre. Hopper arrived fresh from the Philippines, where he was shooting Apocalypse Now (1979), playing the babbling war photographer who falls headlong

under the sway of Brando's Kurtz. Though it says a lot about the generally underestimated control Hopper maintained over his craft that even in this most toxic, manic period of his career that he managed to shape his Ripley into a distinct creature, tormented by demons he could not articulate—even while speaking into a tape-recorder diary—yet nonetheless able to convincingly marshal his wits when faced with a moment of truth. Closer to the spirit of the source material was Bruno Ganz's Jonathan, an Englishman in France in the novel and a Swiss-born, Hamburg-based family man and picture framer in the film. For a man who would eventually play Hitler, Ganz possesses a remarkable ability to convey innocence—a quality he would repurpose beautifully in Wenders' Wings of Desire (1987). Terminally ill and believing he's on his last legs, Jonathan is lured into murdering a gangster under the promise of sufficient remuneration to take care of his wife and child after his demise. Though initially only tangentially involved in the operation, Ripley finds himself sympathizing with Jonathan and becoming an accomplice. The scenes between Ripley and Jonathan are wondrous, in part because what brings these characters

together is so fascinating, and in part because the actors have such alluring chemistry—one that mirrors their characters. Hopper was the veteran Hollywood screen actor prone to unpredictable riffing, while Ganz was the younger European stage actor with limited film experience who, by his own admission, spent the shoot feeling out of his depth. If Hopper wasn't intimidating enough, Ganz was surrounded by giants of cinema: Wenders, unaccustomed to villainous characters, decided to cast all the heavies from a pool of fellow directors such as Gérard Blain, Sam Fuller, Jean Eustache, Daniel Schmid and Nicholas Ray, Hopper's director on Rebel Without a Cause (1955). I could write about The American Friend forever—I haven't even mentioned Robby Müller's brilliant camera choreography and eerie lighting—but I hope the above gives newcomers a taste of what they can expect. And if you've already seen The American Friend, let me assure you that Criterion's new DVD and blu-ray release not only looks and sounds gorgeous, but also features superb supplements, such as new interviews with Wenders and Ganz and a 2002 audio commentary by Wenders and Hopper, who died in 2010. V

NINTH FLOOR

AT METRO CINEMA ON JANUARY 30! PLUS, FILM PRODUCER SELWYN JACOBS IN ATTENDANCE! CO-PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU | 8712 109 ST. | METROCINEMA.ORG Contest closes on January 27 Head to vueweekly.com/contests

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FILM 13

FILM REVUE // DOCUMENTARY

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CINEMA SERIES The Arden has your front row ticket to the world’s greatest art.

Atmosphere is everything for a nice light dinner

Dark Star: H R Giger's World P

Exhibition On Screen

VINCENT VAN GOGH: A NEW WAY OF SEEING Explore the dramatic story of one of the world’s most beloved artists through unprecedented access to the treasures of Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.

ost-1859—from 1 AD (After Darwin) on—writers started speculating about what aliens might look like, biologically speaking. But it took 120 years and the baldly titled Alien (1979) for a creature from outer space to creep right out of the cheesy ooze of sci-fi representations past (comics, pulp-fiction, B-movies). And the man behind that skeletal, long-headed, reptilian parasitoid— acid for blood; a barbed tail; those razored choppers opening to reveal another set of jag-toothed jaws, snapping and keening for a fatal first bite of you—was H R Giger. In Dark Star, a docu-portrait made shortly before his 2014 death, Hans Rudolf ("Ruedi") Giger seems a frail, Dickensian figure in his cluttered Switzerland home, shuffling along the floors, his life surrounded, saturated, by art. Director Belinda Sallin takes a scrapbook and visiting-tour

approach (talks to friends; footage from a '70s documentary about Giger; family scenes) that gradually builds up the house as Giger's mind—a "treasure trove" to wander through, as if we're peering into the nooks and alcoves of the artist's imagination. He even built a little ride-on railway in his garden, ribboning through fleshy caverns and under ribcage-like arbors. A friend and psychiatrist argues that Giger's surreal, "biomechanoid" work, full of fetal and tunnel imagery, often expresses the trauma of birth. Giger channelled his subconscious—terrifying nightmares; his first wife's suicide was his adult life's great horror—but his work's also eerily erotic. It's touching to see an artist—especially one whose work's so concerned with death and the otherworldly— so content about his career, having

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14 FILM

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Fri, Jan 22 – Mon, Jan 25 Directed by Belinda Sallin Metro Cinema at the Garneau  achieved all he dreamed of. Still, only a few of the personal responses or reminiscences here are truly interesting (as when Giger recalls being given his first skull at the age of six). And there's much more to be said about, for instance, the appeal of his art to metal fans or why Giger moved from airbrush to markers and ink. It's those images alone—one sequence connects some of Giger's '70s work to nuclear war and Vietnam—which hold our gaze, confronting and confounding us, intriguing and chilling, snaking and startling.

BRIAN GIBSON

BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

REVUE // VIDEOGAMES

POP

ARTS EDITOR : PAUL BLINOV PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

POPCULTURE HAPPENINGS HEATHER SKINNER // SKINNER@VUEWEEKLY.COM

A meta-meta game Pony Island goes from retro homage to a battle with Pony Island itself

wo-thousand-fifteen was the year meta-games peaked. After years of playing with genre conventions and tropes, last year's top indie games abandoned all pretenses of subtlety in their nostalgic lip-service and fully embraced it. Much like the film-school generation redefined American cinema by transforming the director into auteur, indie gaming has entered into its own renaissance, birthing games that place the developer directly in front of—and sometimes in opposition to—the player. But if 2015 was the year of the meta-game, Pony Island is out to prove that 2016 will be the year of the meta-meta-game. At a glance, it's easy to assume Pony Island is yet another quick-and-cheap game spat out by an amateur developer trying too hard to be cute with his homage to retro graphics. Launching the game, the player is presented with a cheerfully saccharine menu of pixellated pink ponies frolicking through verdant green fields. Selecting "New Game" takes the player back

in time and replaces those nostalgic graphics with black and white pixels even more primitive, presenting another main menu. It's here that the game offers its first hints that something's not quite right. Try to start a new game from here. Pony Island won't allow it. The screen glitches, the audio tears, and the menu option is eventually replaced by an error. It's an easy fix, requiring some simple tweaking in the game's settings—a process familiar to anyone who's ever had to adjust their graphics to get a game to run. When the game finally agrees to play nice, the player is greeted with a basic jumping game, controlling a pony and clicking the mouse to make it jump over unchallenging hurdles. Yet this cheerful little game gives off an uncertain sense of foreboding, the rudimentary black and grey graphics underscored with an eerie electronic approximation of music. Before making much progress, the game becomes trapped in its own bug-ridden loops, eventually crash-

ing and forcing the virtual system to reboot itself. Attempting to fix the game only seems to make it "angrier," and it soon becomes apparent that there's more to this creepy little game: what begins as a minute-long obstacle course will quickly suck the player into a haunting virtual world that tries to thwart every attempt made to exorcise its demons. Veterans of the indie scene will be no strangers to developers playing with expectations. Last year's runaway hit Undertale transported us to the 8-bit RPGs of our youth, but challenged us to consider the morality of mindless slaughter so common to the genre. Davey Wreden's The Beginner's Guide poked holes in our grasp of reality to tell the story of an emotionally tortured game developer who just wanted his audiences to accept his work. These games started to peel back the veil between their game worlds and the spaces beyond—our desktops. Outside the game, we cease to be adventurers in

Available on Steam Pony Island By Daniel Mullins Games

fantasy realms, so when the game begins to toy with our understandings of this divide, it's impossible to know who's being played. Pony Island goes even further with this mechanic to create moments that are truly haunting. While Undertale gives a voice to the typically nameless monsters, and The Beginner's Guide allows its creator to step into the starring role, Pony Island uses the computer itself as the game's key character, and primary antagonist. The less said about these moments, the better—they need to be experienced firsthand to deliver their most gut-wrenching blows— but Pony Island will leave you wondering whether you're ever truly out of a game once you've chosen to quit.

MIKE KENDRICK

MIKE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

Harry Potter Yule Ball / Sat, Jan 23 (8 pm) Remember that scene in the fourth Harry Potter film when all of the characters go to the Yule Ball, and Harry and his best buddy Ron sit on the sidelines and sulk during the entire scene? Thankfully that (probably) won't happen at this Yule Ball. Guests will be dressed in suits, gowns or Harry Potter cosplay while dancing the night away. The event will also feature a cash bar, food and a silent auction, with all funds going to the MacEwan University's Geek Girls Club. (Canora Community League, $25 for students, $35 for general public, 18+) Edmonton Podcast Meet Up / Sun, Jan 24 (1 pm) This month, the Edmonton Podcast Meet Up will be talking about the best ways guests can promote their podcast while discussing how to podcast and why we podcast. Featured panelists include Erika Ensign (contributor to Verity! and more), Kevin Horek (podcaster and radio host at Building the Future), and Dan Clarke (organizer of Northern Content Network and podcaster at Worst Podcast Ever). (Variant Edition) V POP 15

SNOWZONE // FESTIVAL

SNOW ZONE

EDITOR: JASMINE SALAZAR JASMINE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

// Jeff Barlett

he party started 27 years ago at Marmot Basin's 25th-anniversary celebration, and it's been going strong ever since: Marmot wanted to celebrate, and the community joined in. Perhaps January doesn't seem like the ideal time for merry-making—the freezing temperatures, the dark—but, in fact, it was in the cold heart of winter where the passion for this muchloved festival ignited. "Twenty-seven years ago it was a massive success," says Brian Rode, vice-president of marketing and sales for Marmot Basin. "Marmot rallied together with the community to offer guests great hotel rates and extracurricular activities around Jasper. People came out in droves." And so the following year, Jasper in January was born. This winter festival reminds people that it's fun to come out of hibernation. Last year over 23 000 skiers visited Marmot Basin during the festival, and it's become

a way for locals and travellers to connect in the great outdoors. Skiing and snowboarding at Marmot are a major draw (lift tickets are discounted 25 percent), and when the chair lifts grind to a halt and the sun drops behind the peaks, the nighttime festivities kick into full gear. If you're not into riding, there's still lots to do: go for a nature walk, dogsledding, cross-country skiing, fat-tire biking or relax at one of Jasper's cozy coffee shops or bakeries. We've compiled a roundup of some of the many reasons to check it out. On the mountain Marmot Basin is hosting a number of events on top of the mountain to celebrate Jasper in January. Guests can try the latest ski and snowboard technologies for free during Demo Day on January 30, a family scavenger hunt on January 30, and the Rail Jam on January 31 where kids can show off in the mini rail park.

Jennifer Heil wants you to go Former Olympian freestyle mogul skier Jennifer Heil wants people to experience this winter festival and the frozen beauty of Jasper in January. She's given her official endorsement to the event. In a press release she says, "I always anticipated the month of January as a kid. It meant the annual family road trip to ski the slopes of Marmot Basin by day, followed by evenings of food, music and entertainment. I will always return to the mountain I grew up on." The tradition continues with three themed weekends This year's festival has three themed weekends—adventure, appetites and art. "There's something for everyone," says Nancy Gordy, media and public relations specialist for Tourism Jasper. Week one took care of the adventure portion, but now you can lick your lips and get ready for week two. Join the culinary crawl to expe-

rience Jasper's local flavours. "People may not associate Jasper with food, but we have a lot to offer," Gordy explains. Play bartender and learn to mix stellar drinks during Mixology 101 at Evil Dave's Grill, or enter the chili cook-off for a local experience. On January 22, join Mountain Park Lodge's chef for Wine in Winter at Chateau Jasper where wine from around the globe will be showcased. Yes, you get to sample, along with tasting specialty cheeses and appetizers. And finally, there's art. Arts on Ice kicks off on January 29 at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge with Just for Laughs comedian Jeremy Hotz. "It's a good way to warm up with some laughter," Gordy says. Those who want to get their handson fix can carve a soapstone bear with artist Allan Waidman or take an acrylics portrait class with artist-inresidence John Webster. Both events will be held at Mountain Galleries at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

EDGECONTROL SKI SHOP

Until Sun, Jan 31 jasperinjanuary.com Relax with the Lole Wellness Weekend Yogis will be flexing and opening at the Fairmont for the Lole Wellness Weekend on January 30 and 31. Participants get to experience three different styles of yoga, raw chocolate and mountain bliss. Every weekend live music will fill the air at the Whistle Stop Pub and Athabasca Hotel. Just pull on your toque and go explore. "I love being outside and seeing locals come together," Gordy says. "People from all over come to Jasper and interact. You get to experience Jasper in a whole different way. It's a small town and during Jasper in January, everyone gets outside to embrace winter."

JANE MARSHALL

JANE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Stop in f or Jasper in January SKI CLOT S P E C I A L S O N SK IS

HING

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16 SNOW ZONE

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

SNOWZONE // EDMONTON

WinterCity Strategy

FALLLINES

HART GOLBECK HART@VUEWEEKLY.COM

A look at the city's 10-goal plan

Goal 6 | Develop a four-seasons patio culture • Café Bicyclette and Little Brick have winter patios open. • WinterCity Farewell to Winter Patio Party, which will be held in April, encourages businesses to open up their patios. Last year, the event had 75 businesses involved. Goal 7 | Become a world leader in innovative winter-related business/ industry • Still in development.

// Nancy Gordy

inter is inevitable in the prairies, so stop complaining—Maclean's magazine reports that complaining about the cold is Canada's favourite pastime—and get outside. The City of Edmonton's WinterCity Strategy, now in its third year, combats winter hibernation by transforming the city into a more livable place during the chilly months through a 10goal plan—broken down into four pillars: winter life, winter design, winter economy and winter story. Some of these goals are already in effect, while some of them are more long-term. Susan Holdsworth, WinterCity coordinator, has the details on how the city is following those goals this season. Winter life Goal 1 | Make it easier to "Go Play Outside": Provide more opportunities for outdoor activity • The new Victoria Park Pavilion has opened, and the facility serves as a centre for outdoor activities and skating. Dogwood Café is also serving brunch out of the Victoria Golf Course Clubhouse. • The Freezeway Pilot Project is now open to the public. The project features a 400-metre skating trail through the trees in the river valley, which extends off of the Victoria Park skating oval. The area is also lit up by art installations, created by Dylan Toymaker, hung from the trees. The trail is expected to extend to 800 metres in length next year. • Cross-country ski trails are being groomed in these areas, too. • The ice castle in Hawrelak Park is officially open to the public, and it will run all winter long. Tickets must be purchased to visit the giant ice sculpture, and general admission is $12.95. Visit icecastles.com for hours of operation and ticket sales. • Enter your winter garden into the Front Yards in Bloom: Winterscapes competition. Nominations for Winterscapes will be accepted until February 21. Visit edmonton.ca for more information.

Goal 2 | Improve winter transportation for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit users • Improvements to making public transit better in the winter are still in progress. • The city is running pilot projects on 106 Street (southside) for clearing snow on bike routes. • Driving roads currently get first priority for snow clearing. Winter design Goal 3 | Design our community for winter safety and comfort and Goal 4 | Incorporate urban design for winter fun, activity, beauty and interest • The Winter Design Guidelines are in draft form, but they will be finalized soon and will be presented to city council, according to Holdsworth. • A Creative Lighting Master Plan is currently in the draft form, but should also be finalized soon. The plan details strategic use of lighting on buildings around the city to tackle winter darkness. A pilot project is underway that will light up heritage buildings around the city. Winter economy Goal 5 | Increase the capacity and sustainability of edmonton's winter festivals • There is a shared inventory, provided by the City of Edmonton, for winter events and festivals, so that festivals don't have to buy their own supplies. The inventory available includes fire pits, tents, portable heaters, batteries, power cords, lanterns, chairs, sandbags and other winterrelated items. • The city hopes to change the advocacy for winter festivals by developing a different funding model better-suited for festivals held in the winter. (Currently, winter festivals are funded in the same way as summer festivals, but the expenses are 30- to 40-percent higher than summer festivals due to the extra equipment needed, Holdsworth explains.)

Winter story Goal 8 | Celebrate the season and embrace daily living in a cold climate Goal 9 | Promote edmonton's great northern story locally, nationally and internationally Goal 10 | Kick start and lead implementation of edmonton's wintercity strategy: apply a 'winter lens' to our city • Goals 8, 9 and 10 make up the Winter Story pillar. These goals are more difficult to distinguish since they are measured through the residents' overall perspective and feelings towards winter. The City of Edmonton promotes Edmonton's winter story through its WinterCity strategy and use of social media. • Holdsworth says that the perspective of Edmonton's winter is changing. People are realizing that there is a lot of sun during the winter months, that it's not as cold as previously believed, and that people are becoming more aware of the activities that can be done in the winter. • Holdsworth also notes that better photographs of winter are in the city's inventory, whereas before it was all gloomy images. Sharing these photographs helps to promote a better representation of Edmonton living during its coldest months. • The "Winter Lens" is imperative in everything within the WinterCity Strategy. Park developments, infrastructure and businesses are encouraged to have a "winter lens" on, meaning that developments need to be made in a way that it works for both winter and summer seasons in Edmonton. "Make sure it's going to work year round, not just in summer conditions," Holdsworth says.

Mad Trappers Saloon at Sunshine Village

EVENTS GALORE AT SUNSHINE VILLAGE

If you're planning to go to Sunshine Village in the next few days, get ready for an eventful time. Not only are the snow conditions looking good, but the events calendar is fully loaded from January 23 to 26. This Saturday and Sunday, Alberta Snowboarding is hosting sanctioned slopestyle and big-air competitions. Meanwhile, the Alberta Freestyle Association is hosting a moguls and big-air competition. That's a lot of snowboarders and skiers flying through the air on the same weekend. If that's not enough, Avalanche Awareness Days will be ongoing at various locations on the slopes and back at the village just outside of Mad Trapper's Saloon. Salomon Snowboards will also be showcasing the company's boards during free test rides from 10 am to 3 pm. On Monday, january 25, indulge in haggis, neeps, tatties and scotch as Sunshine celebrates Robert Burns Day. The fun continues on Tuesday, january 26 as staff spread cheer for Australia Day—wear something green and gold (Edmonton Eskimo attire works well) and head out on the slopes and have a g'day, mate. KEEPING SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING AFFORDABLE ON OUR LOCAL SLOPES

Tuesday nights at Rabbit Hill—located just southeast of Edmonton—are special. From 6 pm to 9 pm for just $6 each, you can purchase a lift ticket, ski or snowboard rental and the featured meal special. Titled Sixes @ Six, this special provides an evening of fun on the slopes for under $20. If Tuesdays don't work for you, consider Snow Valley, just off the Whitemud, where the weeknight deal is $10 with a donation to Edmonton's Food Bank. On Fridays, the hours for the $10 lift ticket extend from 3 pm to 9 pm—that ends up being $1.50/hr, which is a pretty sweet deal. At the Edmonton Ski Club—located in the river valley beside the Muttart Conservatory—you can ski for free on the first Friday of every month. Only February 5 and March 4 remain but, hey, if you're looking for a free ride, head down and explore the slopes that have provided fun and entertainment for over 100 years. V

JASMINE SALAZAR

JASMINE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY.com | jAn 21 – jAn 27, 2016

SNOW ZONE 17

PREVUE // METAL

MUSIC

MUSIC EDITOR: MEAGHAN BAXTER MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

// Dana Zuk

Taking control

Striker goes independent for its new album, Stand In The Fire

think the big thing in the music industry is that the people that can stick it out will ultimately find success," says guitarist Tim Brown. Of course, that means consistently releasing quality material and putting in the necessary work to get it into as many ears as possible, something Brown and his bandmates in the Edmonton-based metal group Striker have been doing since forming in 2008. The four-piece—rounded out by Dan Clearly (vocals), William Wallace (bass) and Adam Brown (drums)—is now releasing its new album, Stand In The Fire, a testament to perseverance and continuing to believe in what you're working towards, no matter the odds. It's a fitting concept considering Stand In The Fire is Striker's first album as an independent band. The group decided to part ways with Napalm Records (which it signed with in 2012) and forge its own label, Record Breaking Records, a move Brown says has been liberating and allowed the band to explore more options with its music and take control of its promotion. "On a label you're kind of stuck in the box they put you in, and you don't really have a lot of control over

18 MUSIC

things like promotion and press, so once they spend their allotted budget that they decide this is how much you get, there's nothing you can do," Brown explains. The band had tossed around the idea of going independent after the release of City of Gold in 2014—the album won the group the Edmonton Music Prize last week—but decided to stick with Napalm for the time being. While Napalm did some beneficial work with the band, Brown notes, labels often focus on physical album sales when the demand for such a product is in steady decline. With that in mind, Striker is selling download cards for Stand In The Fire that will allow fans to download the album directly to their phone. And though leaving a label to go independent may seem to be the reverse of what bands have traditionally aimed for, Brown acknowledges that the music industry is changing, and it's possible for a band to make its own way within it. "That's kind of the general feeling behind the album is that you have to do it for yourself, and you have to fight through the tough times," he adds. Striker also took a more DIY approach to recording Stand In The Fire

than it had with City of Gold, which was recorded in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström, known for his work with the likes of Arch Enemy and Opeth. The band had amassed a slew of demos it reviewed during the long drives on its previous North American tour in support of City of Gold, not wanting to lose any momentum after it returned to Edmonton. It was actually Nordström who suggested recording the songs at home and sending the final tracks to him to polish up, a tactic he had used with bands in the past. "We thought, welcome to the future; it's 2015, let's try this," Brown says. With no pressure to bang out the recording as quickly as possible to avoid mounting studio bills, Striker took its time finessing the album—which began as a concept record that would encapsulate several distinct sounds ranging from '80s-inspired, popdriven hair metal to heavier styles verging on thrash or death metal. In the end, the band members decided to scrap the idea in favour of selecting the strongest songs and honing them to reflect Striker's stylel—think plenty of blistering guitar solos and powerhouse clean vocals in the vein

of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. "Ultimately, sitting down our big thing was, what's the best songs?' Brown recalls. "You know, don't choose it just because it has a 6/9 time signature; choose the best song with the best riffs. ... It was the same with parts of songs, like, 'OK, well, I really like this part of the song but the rest of it isn't that great. It doesn't need to be there.' If it doesn't serve a purpose get rid of it." Striker will be heading to Europe and South America to support the record, and the only piece that's missing from its heavy-hitting lineup is a second guitar player. The band's original guitarist, Chris Segger, left amicably in October 2014 (he performed some back-up vocals on the new album), and the guys have rotated through several session players in the meantime who will fill in on their upcoming tour dates. "We kind of have a glass slipper, so to speak, of what we're looking for, and we're looking for that Cinderella," Brown says with a laugh. What does a metal-band Cinderella look like, exactly? Long hair and a tolerance for beer, for starters, but more

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

Fri, Jan 22 (8:30 pm) With L.A.M.S, Wolfrik, Solborn Starlite Room, $20

importantly, Brown adds, that person needs to possess strong musicianship and the ability to commit to Striker's heavy touring schedule. "Being in a band like Striker doesn't really pay your phone bills or rent, so it's hard to put in that full-time dedication when we have a touring schedule that is going to see us on the road for maybe a grand total of six or more months in 2016," he explains. "If you haven't organized your life around being able to tour and making your life so that you can go out on tour it's very difficult, because you have to take time off work and time off making any money at work and pay for a tour. It's very expensive, so it's hard to find that right person. Obviously, they need to be a skilled musician. I'd say we're all pretty outgoing and friendly, so they need to be that kind of person as well."

MEAGHAN BAXTER

MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // POST-PUNK

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friday & Saturdays Live ENTERTAINMENT • 9PM-1AM TWIN FIDDLES Jan 22 & 23 ABBEY POWELL Jan 29 & 30 KARAC HENDRIKS Feb 5 & 6 BRAD SIMS Feb 12 & 13 NASH RAMBLERS Feb 19 & 20 SWEET TEQUILA Feb 26 & 27

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12340 Fort RD • sandshoteledmonton.com

2015-2016

Freak Heat Waves

ike the sudden temperate shifts of its name suggest, Freak Heat Waves seems to embrace a state of perpetual flux. Its two-man creative core—drummer Thomas Di Ninno and singer-guitarist Steve Lind—are willing to chase an idea beyond the usual conventions of both sound and band structuring, drawn to whatever sort of configuration seems to work for the ideas in play at the time. Case in point: on the band's last tour, it bulked up to a five-piece to fully realize the hazy, post-punk rolls of its acclaimed second album, Bonnie's State of Mind, in a live setting. "We wanted to play songs off the album that were pretty impossible to play as a three-piece, which is what we were doing before," Lind explains from his Victoria home. "We wanted to have one tour like that, where we could play all the songs and that was the idea for that. And now, for this current lineup, we're focusing on our next record. It's two-guitar kind of stuff. As the songs change and as the set changes, and what we want to play, we have to adapt the lineup."

This time through town, the band's a quartet: Di Ninno and Lind have added Di Ninno's brother Thomas on bass and Evan Jeffrey, from fellow Victoria band Fountain, on guitar, as they scatter a set with new songs from the as-of-yet unfinished follow-up to Bonnie's. "I would like to say it was [finished], but it isn't," Lind admits, wryly. "It got to stages where it's almost been finished a couple times, and then we either kill a couple songs, or re-approach some songs after we sit with them for a while. That's kind of the stage we're in: we're hesitating on it. Trying to get it right." Still, ample headway's been made for the LP to come: the band decamped down to Portland for a few weeks of studio time—Freak Heat Waves' first sessions in a professional space—which came with its own adjustments to the band's process. "We traditionally record at night," Lind recalls. "We'd have to get up, go there, and to be working at something at 8:30 and know you have to start packing up and leaving ... you can't just push it into the night if you have the mojo."

ALEX CUBA

Thu, Jan 28 (8 pm) With Fist City, Gary Debussy, Zebra Pulse The Buckingham, $12 in advance, $15 at the door There were perks, too: namely, access to gear beyond the band's own. Those sessions, along with some additional home-recordings, will make up the record, though Lind notes that even as Feak Heat Waves re-record and re-configure the songs, even the ones that don't make the final tracklisting will eventually trickle out. "I think there's going to be some songs we're going to cut from the album that will come out eventually," he explains. "That's what we did with our last album: we cut two songs and put out a seven-inch. That's kind of fun to do, too. To get the final vibe of the album is definitely hard. We don't really know how to do it; it's just a feeling once you get it."

Heat up the New Year with soulful Latin tracks from the 2016 Grammy Award nominated album, Healer.

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ardentheatre.com MUSIC 19

MUSIC PREVUE // ROCK

The Gibson Block Fri, Jan 22 (8 pm) With Joran Welbourne, Flowshine Mercury Room, $10 in advance, $12 at the door

A MASTERPIECE.

“

”

ormer party cover band the Gibson Block is stepping out on its own, kind of like that metaphor about the cave by Plato—or was it Socrates? Either way, drummer Denis Frigon explains, making the band's first full-length album, Luminate, felt like one of those Greek allegories about a man coming out of the darkness of ignorance to understand the luminescence of enlightenment, so to speak. In addition to nods to the sun, light and positivity coming up as recurring themes in songwriting for the album, the Edmonton-based Gibson Block recently had to redefine itself as a three-piece after a fourth member moved to Calgary. Coming into its own as a group, Luminate symbolizes the idea that the band's "finally feeling the sun on [our] faces," Frigon says. "I'm a big Socrates fan," he exhales. "That hemlock-drinking motherfucker," says bassist Carson MacDonald. On the phone from the recording studio, the voices of Frigon, MacDonald and lead vocalist Sebastjohn King dissolve into breathy laughs. (For the record, the cave allegory comes from Plato, but the metaphor still stands). Luminate, due out this spring, has given the Gibson Block the creative liberty to pen songs that mean more to the group than cover gigs did. The themes in the album will run the gamut of twenty-something stressors: a crappy economy, being nervous around girls, anxiety, depression, addiction and the insecurity of being what MacDonald calls a "kid-ult"—teenagers who haven't grown up yet. "When it comes to our own original stuff, [playing it] is infinitely more fulfilling," MacDonald says, reflecting on how cool it felt to play a New Year's Eve show in Golden, BC—in the middle of nowhere, it seemed— and have members of the audience know the words to the band's own songs.

“A WONDERFUL MOVIE, A FUNNY MOVIE, A SAD MOVIE, A SHATTERING

MOVIE, A TRUE MOVIE, AN HONEST MOVIE, A BEAUTIFUL MOVIE AND

A N E S S E N T I A L MOV I E.” DEVIN FARACI, BIRTH. MOVIES. DEATH.

‘‘A

RARE SLIVER OF TRANSCENDENCE.

‘‘‘A

N O M A L I S A’ CHANGED MY LIFE.

CHARLIE KAUFMAN DELIVERS ANOTHER WORK OF WEIRD GENIUS WITH ‘ANOMALISA,’ A CAUSTIC AND BEAUTIFUL COMEDY THAT DISTILLS HIS POINT OF VIEW.” SCOTT TOBIAS, GQ

“I DON’T WANT TO SPOIL THE THRILL OF DISCOVERY BY

SAYING MUCH MORE ABOUT THIS BUT ‘ANOMALISA’ IS

A HAUNTING AND COMPLEX MARVEL.” DAVID ANSEN, THOMPSON ON HOLLYWOOD

“

C H A R L I E K A U F M A N M A D E A H E A RT F E LT A N D SINGULAR EXPERIENCE. IT’S INSPIRATIONAL AND MOVED ME TO TAKE A CHANCE IN MY OWN LIFE.” DREW McWEENY, HITFIX

“ ‘ANOMALISA’ “

IS A DARING EXAMINATION OF INDIVIDUALITY AND THE HUMAN NEED TO CONNECT.” *

IT’S ONE OF THOSE RARE PERFECT FILMS.”

*BRIAN TALLERICO **GLENN KENNY, ROGEREBERT.COM

THE MOST HUMAN FILM OF THE YEAR.”

Besides Edmonton, Golden is the other city where the Gibson Block has a solid fan base. MacDonald attributes the band's appeal in the two cities to "a blue-collar thing" they've got going on—a rock 'n' roll sensibility that doesn't necessarily harp on the sad things. "There can be depth to your music, and depth to your thoughts, but it is good-time music," Frigon says. "It's not supposed to be a drag. We're not acoustic guys baring our souls. I mean, we are baring our souls through our music, but it's channelled into this kind of energy where we're trying to transcend, we're trying to bring the energy of the room up." In the Gibson Block school of philosophy, that's the appeal of a rock show—you can grab a beer, leave your problems at the door and come back for them when the night is over. "You don't need to necessarily dig deep to enjoy it," MacDonald says. "Rock 'n' roll's just a big joke about fucking and drugs and I think, really, we're all in on the joke," Frigon adds. "So the point is, we all get together and smile for a couple of hours and have a good time."

MATT PATCHES, ESQUIRE

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EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT STARTS FRIDAY! Check theatre directories for showtimes 20 MUSIC

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KATE BLACK // Leroy Schulz

KATE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // ECLECTIC

Krista Acheson W

hen Krista Acheson moved to Edmonton from Moncton, NB in 2008, she didn't anticipate her music career would end. "It was going so well," Acheson explains over the phone. "I had to move and leave everything I started behind, [like] my band. Everything that I was building [out east] had crashed. I thought I could pick it up here after having success out [east]." Just a year before the move, Acheson had released her first album, Jane's World, which was receiving positive press reviews and commercial radio play in the east. Her husband got a job in Edmonton, which resulted in Acheson having to move as well, though she had hoped to continue with a new group of musicians. "It was really hard to meet people and get a band together," Acheson explains "Nothing seemed to work. It was closed doors everywhere. I got really dejected, and I was really disheartened and thought maybe I had to let that part of my life go. So then I started painting and got into the visual arts scene." While her music career sat on the back-burner, Acheson, working under the artist name Gerri Harden, concentrated on a career in the visual arts, creating illustrative and contemporary art, sculptures, prints and fiber art. "I felt fulfilled in that way, because I was at least expressing myself and being creative," she says. After seven years away, Acheson is returning to her music career with three new musical personas, equipped with three different stage names to better represent the different genres she plans to explore.

Thu, Jan 28 Gerri Harden "Inside Out" Opening Reception Harcourt House "On the last album, it came off as really eclectic. When you're listening to an album, you kind of expect it to be the same theme and style. ... The album was kind of like a mixtape," she says with a soft laugh. "The styles were all over." Not wanting to give up that mercurial way of expressing herself—and an attempt to be more "brandable"— Acheson decided to "compartmentalize" her music by having three monikers to represent those variances. Acheson will be known as Krista D for when she performs her punky doo-wop/ska music; Molly Grue for when she plays softer acoustic tracks, while Hooha and the Peter Guns will represent the hard-rock side of her music. In addition to performing under the different aliases, Acheson will also release three EPs over the course of 2016 under those names. Acheson's first performance in Edmonton will be at the opening reception for her art exhibit Inside Out—a sculptural series that explores and expands on the many symptoms of severe mental disorders by zooming in on Acheson's own experience of living with Bipolar 1 disorder—where she will perform as Molly Grue. "[This way] allows me to do whatever I want in terms of creativity without having to worry about managers having a problem with [the different sounds]."

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MUSIC 21

MUSIC PREVUE // PUNK

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n late 2008, the idea for what would become Spastic Panthers began to surface. The hiatus of vocalist Dan Izzo's band the Motherfuckers meant he was in recruitment mode, and following the farewell show of Calgary band Antisocial Club Izzo began to plant the seeds of what would become a new band. "I was thinking, 'What a good fucking band! I should steal this band!'" Izzo laughs. "I didn't really know the guys in Antisocial Club, so I started by talking with our

mutual friends. We went and had a couple of beers, and Niall [Howell, bass] was into it. We talked about guitarists and Todd [Harkness] came up because we had played together in Sheglank'd Shoulders, another long-running on-again-offagain band. I had a lengthy list of demands for Todd—commit to touring at least once a year, get a tattoo—things like that. Which, of course, he did not do." Though the band never toured to the extent that Izzo craved, the Panthers did remain a somewhat prolific recording group, releasing one recording per year. The string of EPs and seven-inches that followed combined the high-energy of '80s-influenced punk and hardcore with lyrical subject matter that veered from the usual tired hardcore tropes, landing solidly in more humorous and ridiculous waters. "For me, lyrically, I was looking to break out of the more stereotypical 'hate cops, hate everything' that I was doing before. We had a little more fun with it, creating characters like the 'Cocaine Werewolf' and 'Amphetamine Vampire' and so on," Izzo explains. "And musically— it was funny; when we started our old drummer said, 'Hey, man, how would you feel about playing a little slower?' And we all said, 'Yeah! Yeah, that sounds neat. I've never been in a band that plays slow,' but that didn't even last until the end of our first band practice." But over time, other commitments and distractions piled up, and the Panthers each began devoting less and less time to the project. After

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

Fri, Jan 22 (8 pm) With Rebuild/Repair, Suicide Helpline Filthy McNasty's, Free recording a handful of songs in 2013, the foursome had a sit-down and deliberated on the future of the band. "We kind of limped along for a bit, jamming every couple of months," Izzo recalls. "At one point we sat down and said, 'Is this even worth doing at this point?' It was not a negative thing—everyone had a lot going on, so the band wasn't really the focus for anybody." And so Spastic Panthers seemed content to fade into the background, until one day Howell called Izzo up after revisiting the recording sessions from 2013. The band decided to release the recordings as a limited-run cassette and play a couple of farewell shows to give Spastic Panthers a proper send-off. "Niall said, 'Hey, we should release that stuff we recorded,'" Izzo explains. "I was kind of indifferent at first, but we still had one song we hadn't recorded yet, so we went in and did that as well. And it was really good—we were just aiming to have fun with it. I think that was kind of the thing before—we weren't really having fun doing it anymore. So it's nice to get back together, play some songs, do this release and the farewell shows and then it's done. We can be happy with what it was." JAMES STEWART

JAMES@VUEWEEKLY.COM

MUSIC

WEEKLY

EMAIL YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO: LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM FAX: 780.426.2889 DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3PM

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DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Thu Main Fl: Throwback

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and Drums Band; 5:45pm; $30 (members), $35 (nonmembers, guests) DRAFT COUNTRY NIGHTCLUB

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Buckley (blues/country/ folk); 9pm DV8 Koncept with guests

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DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: DJ Kevin Martin; Wooftop: DJ Remo & Guests; Underdog: Rap, House, Hip-

Hop with DJ Babr; every Fri THE BOWER Strictly Goods:

Old school and new school hip hop & R&B with DJ Twist, Sonny Grimez, and Marlon English; every Fri THE COMMON Good Fridays:

CENTURY ROOM Lucky 7: Retro '80s with house DJ every Thu; 7pm-close

Panthers (punk) with Rebuild/Repair and Suicide Helpline; 8pm; No cover

nu disco, hip hop, indie, electro, dance with weekly local and visiting DJs on rotation plus residents Echo and Justin Foosh

Scrambled YEG: Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every TueFri, 5-8pm

THE COMMON The Common

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Back Thursdays

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dance floor; 9:30pm MERCURY ROOM Rock Your

Socks The Gibson Block with Jordan Welbourne and Flowshine; 8pm; $10 (adv), $12 (door) NEW WEST HOTEL 4's A

Crowd ON THE ROCKS The

Ramifications

Fri; 9pm

THE PROVINCIAL PUB Friday Nights: Indie rock and dance with DJ Brodeep RED STAR Movin’ on Up:

indie, rock, funk, soul, hip hop with DJ Gatto, DJ Mega Wattson; every Fri SOU KAWAII ZEN LOUNGE

Amplified Fridays: Dubstep, house, trance, electro, hip hop breaks with DJ Aeiou, DJ Loose Beats, DJ Poindexter; 9:30pm (door) UNION HALL Ladies Night

every Fri

Beach Party Jam hosted by the Barefoot Kings; Ukulele lessons 7:30pm followed by Jam at 8:30pm

northlands.com

Rodeo; 8pm KRUSH ULTRA LOUNGE

Open stage with One Percent (R&B/soul); 8pm every Thu L.B.'S PUB South Bound

Freight open jam with hosts: Rob Kaup, Leah Durelle MKT FRESH FOOD AND BEER MARKET Thu and Fri DJ and

dance floor; 9:30pm NAKED CYBERCAFÉ Thu

open stage; 8pm; all ages (15+)

FRI JAN 22

PALACE CASINO–WEM The

9910 Ekali with Nick Degree

Red Hotz (rock/pop/indie); 9:30pm

and Dane; 9pm; $15 (adv) APEX CASINO Jukebox Leigh (country/rock); 9pm; No cover ARDEN THEATRE JP Cormier;

RIC’S GRILL Peter Belec

Dayle & Justin Respet (acoustic pop); 8pm (doors), 9pm (show); $10; All ages

BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Rabbie

Burns Day Celebration; 7-11pm; $89-$99 BLUES ON WHYTE JK & the

Static; 9pm BOHEMIA Arts Birthday

Edmonton: featuring Stephen Sereda, G wolf, Koichi Okada, Agaperaygunexperiment, Hari Maia and much more; 8pm; $10 (non beam members), $5 (beams members) BOURBON ROOM Live music

Scrambled YEG: Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every TueFri, 5-8pm CAFE BLACKBIRD Devin Hart

Boogaloo with the Great North Blues Band (blues); 9pm; $10 (adv), $15 (door) SHERLOCK HOLMES– DOWNTOWN Mike Letto

(folk/rock); 9pm SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A Cody Mack (alt/rock); 9pm SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM

Joanne Janzen (adult contemporary/country/ pop); 9pm STARLITE ROOM Striker album release 'Stand In The Fire' with guests; 8pm (door), 8:30pm (show); $20; 18+ only ST. BASIL'S CULTURAL CENTRE New Moon Folk

Club: featuring The Royal Streets; 7pm (doors), 8pm (show); $18 (adv), $22 (door) TIRAMISU BISTRO Live

music every Fri UNION HALL Zatox; 9pm;

Trio; 8pm; $10

$20 and up

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE

CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK

Thirsty Thursday Jam; 7:30pm

Hyjinx

WILD EARTH BAKERY– MILLCREEK Live Music

CARROT COFFEEHOUSE Live

SMOKEHOUSE BBQ Live

Blues every Thur: rotating guests; 7-11pm

music every Fri: this week with Lisa Nicole Grace; all ages; 7pm; $5 (door)

TAVERN ON WHYTE Open

CASINO EDMONTON Me

Classical MUTTART HALL MacEwan

Midday Music Concert; 12-1pm; Free (admission by donation)

Alongside Bron, Moe Lowe & Dane; 9pm; $15 (adv)

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE

(jazz); most Thursdays; 7-10pm

stage with Michael Gress (fr Self Evolution); every Thu; 9pm-2am

9910 The Mole with

ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL Nova

Scotiables

NORTH GLENORA HALL

Dueling pianos at 8pm

SAT JAN 23

THE ALMANAC Mackenzie

BRITTANY'S LOUNGE

RED PIANO Every Thu:

Fridays

SANDS HOTEL Twin Fiddles

Crowd Jam by Wild Rose Old Time Fiddlers every Thu; 7pm; contact Gary 780.998.4904

RED PIANO BAR Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Fri; 9pm-2am

Y AFTERHOURS Foundation

7:30pm; $34

each week with a different band each week; 8pm

NEW WEST HOTEL 4's A

Falsehood with Spastic Panthers and Sunspots; 8pm; $10 (door) DOW CENTENNIAL CENTRE

Kira Isabella (country/pop) with Livy Jeanne; 7:30pm; $39.50 (adult), $37.50 (youth, seniors); in adv DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Jake Buckley (blues/country/ folk); 9pm DV8 Mass Distraction with

Low Level, Vivasectomy and Tyre Iron (metal/hard rock/ punk); 9pm; No minors FILTHY MCNASTY'S Free Afternoon Concerts this week with Choir & Marching Band with guest Ben Spencer; 4pm; No cover

LATITUDE 53 GALLERY

Nights; no cover

JUBILEE AUDITORIUM Blue

CORNERSTONE HALL

HILLTOP PUB Open Stage, Jam every Sat; 3:30-7pm

EARLY STAGE SALOON– Stony Plain Open Jam

J R BAR AND GRILL Live

with IILSYLS, Busted Femur, Cryptic, Banshee, Street League, Feminal Fluids, Archaics, Cocaine Eyes, Bigorexia, The Archaics, Boracherra, Deadfibres, Gary Debussy; 6:30pm; $5 (door)

Edmonton Blues Society: featuring Edmonton Blues Hall of Fame inductees, The Rault Brothers; 7pm (doors), 8pm (show); $10 (EBS), $15 (guests); All ages

CORAL DE CUBA Beach Bar:

Jam Thu; 9pm

CLINT'S HAUS BAGELRAMA

GERMAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE

Dandelions Windigo (CD release) (rock/pop/indie); 8pm; No cover; No minors

(blues); 7:30pm; No minors

Colleen Rae and Cornerstone; 9pm

GAS PUMP Saturday Homemade Jam: Mike Chenoweth

COMMON Jesse and the

FIONN MACCOOL'S– DOWNTOWN Sugarfoot

CASINO YELLOWHEAD

FIONN MACCOOL'S–

Your Own Vinyl Night: Every Thu; 8pm-late; Edmonton Couchsurfing Meetup: Every Thu; 8pm

Arkavello (folk/jazz/pop/ rock) with Desperado Pilots; 7:30pm; No cover

CASINO EDMONTON Me Jollies (celtic rock); 9pm

DOWNTOWN Back Porch Swing; 8pm; No minors

CHA ISLAND TEA CO Bring

FILTHY MCNASTY'S

CARROT COFFEEHOUSE Sat

Open mic; 7pm; $2

Jollies (celtic rock); 9pm CASINO YELLOWHEAD

Colleen Rae and Cornerstone; 9pm CENTRAL LIONS SENIORS ASSOCIATION Robbie Burns

Night featuring Susan Whalen Janzen (celtic) and RCMP Regimental Pipes

Fridays: this week featuring; Each Fri, 8-10pm; $5 suggested donation YARDBIRD SUITE Florian

Hoefner Quartet; 7pm (door), 8pm (show); $24 (member), $28 (guest)

Classical WINSPEAR CENTRE

Meaghan Smith with the ESO; 7:30pm; $24-$49

APEX CASINO Jukebox Leigh (country/rock); 9pm; No cover ARDEN THEATRE The Rémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble; 7:30pm; $32

Carepackage Launch Party featuring Ghibli (electronic) with Hood Joplin and Effy in the Sky; 9:30pm; $12 (before midnight), $15 (after, at the door), no one turned away due to lack of funds LB'S PUB Jack Drebit Blues Band (blues); 9:30pm; No cover LEAF BAR AND GRILL Open Stage Sat–It's the Sat Jam hosted by Darren Bartlett, 5pm MACLAB CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Feelin'

ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL Nova

Groovy Starring Jim Witter; 7:30pm; $40 (adult), $37 (senior/student)

Scotiables

MERCURY ROOM

BAILEY THEATRE The Rose

Protosequence (metal) with Plaguebringer and Sleeping in Traffic along with Tides Of Kharon; 8pm; $10 (adv), $15 (door)

City Roots Music Society presents: The Wet Secrets (rock/pop/indie); 8pm; $25 (general), $15 (student); No minors BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Hair

of the Dog: this week with The Misery Mountain Boys (live acoustic music every Sat); 4-6pm; no cover BLACKJACKS ROADHOUSE

The Washboard Union (bluegrass/country) with Clayton Bellamy; 8pm; $25 and up

MKT FRESH FOOD AND BEER MARKET Live Local Bands

every Sat NEW WEST HOTEL 4's A

Crowd O’BYRNE’S Live band every

Sat, 3-7pm; DJ every Sat, 9:30pm ON THE ROCKS The

Ramifications

BLUE CHAIR CAFE Celtara; 8:30-10:30pm; $15

ORLANDO'S 1 Bands

BLUES ON WHYTE JK & the

PALACE CASINO–WEM The

Static; 9pm BOHEMIA DARQ Saturdays:

perform every week; $10 Red Hotz (rock/pop/indie); 9:30pm

Industrial - Goth - Dark Electro with DJs the Gothfather and Zeio; 9pm; $5 (door); (every Sat except the 1st Sat of the month)

PARKVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Northern Lights Folk

BOURBON ROOM Live music

RED PIANO BAR Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Sat; 9pm-2am

each week with a different band each week; 8pm CAFE BLACKBIRD Eric Miller;

8pm; $10 CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK

Hyjinx

Club: featuring Valdy; 7pm (doors), 8pm (show); $20 (adv), $25 (door)

RED STAR PUB Red Star 12

Year Anniversary Featuring Polyesterday with Joses Martin and DJ Maurice;

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

MUSIC 23

7pm; No cover RENDEZVOUS PUB Absinthe

From Society, Open Air; 8pm (door) RIVER CREE–The Venue

Lonestar; 7pm (door), 9pm (show); Tickets start at $39.50; 18+ only SHAKERS ROADHOUSE The

JAN/22 JAN/23

Gary Martin Band (blues); 9pm; $10 (adv)

ALBUM RELEASE ‘STAND IN THE FIRE’

STRIKER

W/ GUESTS

UBK PRESENTS CELEBRATION OF FUNK

FORT KNOX 5 W/ FUNKANOMICS & MARTEN HORGER

JAN/28

CONCERTWORKS.CA PRESENTS

ENFORCER & WARBRINGER

JAN/30 FEB/5 FEB/9

SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM

Joanne Janzen (adult contemporary/country/ pop); 9pm SNEAKY PETE'S Sinder

Sparks K-DJ Show; 9pm-1am

ROUGE LOUNGE Rouge Saturdays: global sound and Cosmopolitan Style Lounging with DJ Mkhai

WINSPEAR CENTRE

SOU KAWAII ZEN LOUNGE

DJs

Your Famous Saturday with Crewshtopher, Tyler M SUGAR FOOT BALLROOM

Swing Dance Party: Sugar Swing Dance Club every Sat, 8-12; no experience or partner needed, beginner lesson followed by social dance; sugarswing.com TAVERN ON WHYTE Soul, Motown, Funk, R&B and more with DJs Ben and Mitch; every Sat; 9pm-2am

50th Anniversary Music Celebrations; 3pm; $10-$20

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Soul Sundays with DJ

Zyppy ~ A fantastic voyage through 60’s and 70’s funk, soul & R&B; Every Sun

MON JAN 25 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Blue Jay’s Messy Nest with DJ Blue Jay - mod, brit pop, new wave, British rock; Wooftop: Metal Mondays with Metal Phil from CJSR's Heavy Metal Lunchbox

Junque; 9pm

THE MOOD MACHINE PRESENTS

Y AFTERHOURS Release

YARDBIRD SUITE Al

Saturdays

CAFE BLACKBIRD Paint Nite;

W/ SWIM, DAN PEZIM, BETTER LIVING DJ’S

Muirhead ‘Oop’ CD release; 7pm (door), 8pm (show); $26 (member), $30 (guest)

SUN JAN 24

UBK PRESENTS

Classical

WORTHY (DIRTYBIRD US) KRAFTY KUTS COYOTE KISSES BILLY KENNY & WILL CLARKE PROPAGANDHI UBK, NIGHT VISION, AND DIRTYBIRD PRESENT

CONCERTWORKS.CA PRESENTS

TRIVIUM

W/ THE ORDER OF CHAOS & GUESTS

FEB/13

SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A Cody Mack (alt/rock); 9pm

hop, and electro every Sat with DJ Hot Philly and guests

UNION HALL Celebrity Saturdays: every Sat hosted by DJ Johnny Infamous

W/ SLATES & STRANGLED

FEB/10

(folk/rock); 9pm

RED STAR Indie rock, hip

Recital Society - Main Series 3 featuring Donna Brown (soprano), Jane Coop (piano); 7:30pm; $35 (general), $25 (senior), $10 (student)

STARLITE ROOM Fort Knox 5, Funkanomics, Marten Horger; 9pm; $25; No minors

W/ CAULDRON & EXMORTUS

JAN/29

SHERLOCK HOLMES– DOWNTOWN Mike Letto

Saturday Nights: Indie rock and dance with DJ Maurice

UNIONEVENTS.COM PRESENTS

YUKON BLONDE W/ GUESTS

THE STARLITE ROOM IS A PRIVATE VENUE FOR OUR MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS. IF YOU REQUIRE A MEMBERSHIP YOU CAN PURCHASE ONE AT THE VENUE PRIOR TO / OR AFTER THE DOOR TIMES FOR EACH SHOW.

ALL SAINTS' ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL Midwinter: Late

Canadian Carols featuring Cantilon Choirs; 7pm; $15 and up (door)

BLUES ON WHYTE The Flying

7pm; $45 DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY

BLUE CHAIR CAFE Sunday

Monday open mic

Brunch: Jim Findlay trio; 9am-3pm; Cover by donation

HORIZON STAGE Will Stroet

BLUES ON WHYTE JK & the

and the Backyard Band; 10am & 1pm; $12 (adult), $6 (children/senior)

Static; 9pm

MERCURY ROOM Music

DANCE CODE STUDIO

Every Mon, 8pm until midnight

BRIXX Metal night every Tue

DJs

Psychobilly, Hallowe'en horrorpunk, deathrock with Abigail Asphixia and Mr Cadaver; every Tue

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Blue Jay’s Messy Nest with DJ Blue Jay - mod, brit pop, new wave, British rock

DV8 T.F.W.O. Mondays:

Roots industrial,Classic Punk, Rock, Electronic with Hair of the Dave TAVERN ON WHYTE Classic Hip hop with DJ Creeazn every Mon; 9pm-2am

TUE JAN 26 BLUES ON WHYTE The Flying

Junque; 9pm BRITTANY'S LOUNGE

Scrambled YEG: Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every TueFri, 5-8pm CAFE BLACKBIRD Paint Nite;

7pm; $45 DRUID IRISH PUB Open

Stage Tue: featuring this week: Ken Stead; 9pm L.B.'S PUB Tue Variety Night

Open stage with Darrell Barr; 7-11pm LEAF BAR AND GRILL Tue

Open Jam: Trevor Mullen

WINSPEAR CENTRE Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; 2pm; $15-$30

Magic Monday Nights: Capital City Jammers, host Blueberry Norm; seasoned musicians; 7-10pm; $4

MERCER TAVERN Alt

Flamenco Guitar Classes - prior guitar knowledge required; Every Sun, 11:30am-12:30pm

NEW WEST HOTEL Boots &

Boogie

DJs

DIVERSION LOUNGE Sun

Boogie

O’BYRNE’S Celtic jam every

Night Live on the South Side: live bands; all ages; 7-10:30pm

PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Wild Rose Old Tyme

Tue; with Shannon Johnson and friends; 9:30pm

Fiddlers Association: Acoustic instrumental old time fiddle jam every Mon; hosted by the Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers Society; 7pm; contact Vi 780.456.8510

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ICEHOUSE Live music

ROUGE RESTO-LOUNGE

music dancing every Tue, featuring Country Music Legend Bev Munro every Tue, 8-11pm; This weeks

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: The Menace Sessions

with Miss Mannered featuring Alt.Rock/Electro/ Trash; Wooftop: Sound It Up! with DJ Sonny Grimezz spinning classic Hip-Hop and Reggae; Underdog: Hip Hop open Mic followed by DJ Marack THE BOWER For Those Who

DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Celtic

Music with Duggan's House Band 5-8pm NEWCASTLE PUB The Sunday Soul Service: acoustic open stage every Sun

band:

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Blue

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE

RICHARD'S PUB Mark

ENCORE–WEM Every Sat:

Sound and Light show; We are Saturdays: Kindergarten MERCER TAVERN DJ Mikey

Wong every Sat THE PROVINCIAL PUB

SANDS HOTEL Country

Sun; 9:30pm-1am

THE COMMON Get Down

Sat; 9pm

with the Icehouse Band and weekly guests; Every Tue, 9pm

ON THE ROCKS Andrew Scott

Trio/El Niven

DRUID IRISH PUB DJ every

NEW WEST HOTEL Boots &

Open Mic Night with Darrek Anderson from the Guaranteed; every Mon; 9pm

O’BYRNE’S Open mic every

Know...: Deep House and disco with Junior Brown, David Stone, Austin, and guests; every Sat It's Saturday Night: House and disco and everything in between with resident Dane

Tuesday with Kris Harvey and guests

Mondays with Jimmy and the Sleepers; 8-11pm

Ammar's Sunday Sessions Jam; Every Sun, 4-8pm

SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Sun BBQ jam hosted with the Marshall Lawrence Band; 4pm

SIDELINERS PUB Singer/

Classical CITY HALL Swing 'N' Skate;

1-4pm; Every Sun until Feb 28

Open Mic Night hosted by Adam Holm; Every Mon Songwriter Monday Night Open Stage; Hosted by Celeigh Cardinal; Every Mon (except long weekends), 8:30-11:30pm; Free SNEAKY PETE'S Cat's Meow

MUTTART HALL Edmonton

Monday Jam with hosts Bob Cook & Sinder Sparks;

118 Ave, 780.471.1580 CASINO EDMONTON 7055 Argylll Rd, 780.463.9467 CASINO YELLOWHEAD 12464153 St, 780.424 9467 CENTRAL SENIOR LIONS CENTRE 11113-113 St CENTURY CASINO 13103 Fort Rd, 780.643.4000 CHA ISLAND TEA CO 10332-81 Ave, 780.757.2482 CLINT'S HAUS 9922-79 Ave NW COMMON 9910-109 St CORNERSTONE HALL 6 Tache St, St Albert DARAVARA 10713 124 St, 587.520.4980 DOW CENTENNIAL CENTRE Fort Saskatchewan DRAFT COUNTRY NIGHTCLUB 12912-50 St NW DRUID 11606 Jasper Ave, 780.454.9928 DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY 9013-88 Ave, 780.465.4834 DUSTER’S PUB 6402-118 Ave, 780.474.5554 DV8 8130 Gateway Blvd EARLY STAGE SALOON– Stony Plain 4911-52 Ave, Stony Plain, 780.963.5998 ELECTRIC RODEO–Spruce Grove 121-1 Ave, Spruce Grove, 780.962.1411 ENCORE–WEM 2687, 8882-170 St FESTIVAL PLACE 100 Festival Way, Sherwood Park, 780.449.3378 FILTHY MCNASTY’S 10511-82 Ave, 780.916.1557

FIONN MACCOOL'S–DOWNTOWN 10200-102 Ave NW GERMAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE 8310 Roper Road HILLTOP PUB 8220 106 Ave HORIZON STAGE 1001 Calahoo Rd, Spruce Grove IRISH SPORTS CLUB 12546-126 St, 780.453.2249 J AND R 4003-106 St, 780.436.4403 JAVA XPRESS 110, 4300 South Park Dr, Stony Plain, 780.968.1860 KELLY'S PUB 10156-104 St LATITUDE 53 GALLERY 10242106 St NW L.B.’S PUB 23 Akins Dr, St Albert, 780.460.9100 LEAF BAR AND GRILL 9016-132 Ave, 780.757.2121 MACLAB CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 4308-50 St, Leduc 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 NAKED CYBERCAFÉ 10303-108 St, 780.425.9730 NEWCASTLE PUB 8170-50 St, 780.490.1999 NEW WEST HOTEL 15025-111 Ave NOORISH CAFÉ 8440-109 St NORTH GLENORA HALL 13535109A Ave

Tuesday Night Jam with host Harry Gregg and Geoffrey O'Brien; 8-11pm YARDBIRD SUITE Tuesday

DV8 Creepy Tombsday:

WED JAN 27 B STREET BAR Live Music with Lyle Hobbs; 8-11pm, every Wed BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: DJ Kevin Martin;

Every Wed BLUES ON WHYTE Michael

Charles; 9pm BRITTANY'S LOUNGE

Scrambled YEG: Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every TueFri, 5-8pm DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Wed open mic with host Duff Robison NEW WEST HOTEL Boots &

Boogie ORIGINAL JOE'S VARSITY ROW Open mic Wed: Hosted

by Jordan Strand; every Wed, 9-12 jordanfstrand@gmail.com / 780-655-8520 PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Acoustic Bluegrass

jam presented by the Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society; every Wed, 6:30-11pm; $2 (member)/$4 (non-member) RED PIANO BAR Wed Night Live: hosted by dueling piano players; 8pm-1am; $5 ROSSDALE HALL Little Flower Open Stage with Brian Gregg; 7:30pm (door); no cover SHAKERS ROADHOUSE

Wailin' Wednesdays Jam; Every Wed, 7:30pm; All ages ZEN LOUNGE Jazz Wednesdays: Kori Wray and Jeff Hendrick; every Wed; 7:30-10pm; no cover

DJs BILLIARD CLUB Why wait

Wednesdays: Wed night party with DJ Alize every Wed; no cover

Session: Josh Mchan Trio; 7:30pm (door)/8pm (show); $5

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE

DJs

BRIXX BAR Eats and Beats

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE

THE COMMON The Wed

Main Floor: Eddie Lunchpail

spins alternative retro and not-so-retro, electronic & euro; Every Tue

Main Floor: DJ Kevin Martin;

Every Wed

Experience: Classics on Vinyl with Dane RED STAR Guest DJs every

Wed

VENUEGUIDE

JAN/30

THAT GIRL YOU SHOULD KNOW PRESENTS

QUEEN’S COURT FT. DJ TROOPA TRALOOPA

FEB/5

JCL PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

FEB/6

VOODO CHILDREN PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR

SPARROW BLUE W/ FORBIDDEN RHYTHM, FINGERTIPS, & CATCH THE DAY DREAMER

FEB/12

THE INTROVERTS

W/ DEBUTANT, THE HUSTLE, ZOEY ZAPISOCKI

FEB/13

STARLITE ROOM & BRIXX ARE PROUD TO PRESENT

MODERN SPACE W/ GUESTS THE DEN & MORE

24 MUSIC

9910 9910B-109 St ACCENT EUROPEAN LOUNGE 8223-104 St, 780.431.0179 ALE YARD TAP 13310-137 Ave ALL SAINTS' ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL 10035-103 St NW ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL 7704 Calgary Trail South THE ALMANAC 10351-82 Ave "B" STREET BAR 11818-111 St BAILEY THEATRE 5041-50 St, Camrose BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE 1042582 Ave, 780.439.1082 BLACKJACK'S ROADHOUSE 2110 Sparrow Dr, Nisku BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ 9624-76 Ave, 780.989.2861 BLUES ON WHYTE 10329-82 Ave, 780.439.3981 BOHEMIA 10217-97 St BOURBON ROOM 205 Carnegie Dr, St Albert THE BOWER 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.423.425; info@thebower.ca BRITTANY'S LOUNGE 10225-97 St, 780.497.0011 BRIXX BAR 10030-102 St (downstairs), 780.428.1099 THE BUCKINGHAM 10439 82 Ave, 780.761.1002, thebuckingham.ca CAFE BLACKBIRD 9640-142 St NW CAFÉ HAVEN 9 Sioux Rd, Sherwood Park, 780.417.5523, cafehaven.ca CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK 99, 23349 Wye Rd, Sherwood Park CARROT COFFEEHOUSE 9351-

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

O2'S–West 11066-156 St, 780.448.2255 O’BYRNE’S 10616-82 Ave, 780.414.6766 ORIGINAL JOE'S VARSITY ROW 8404-109 St ORLANDO'S 1 15163-121 St O'MAILLES IRISH PUB 104, 398 St Albert Rd, St Albert ON THE ROCKS 11730 Jasper Ave, 780.482.4767 PALACE CASINO 8882-170 St NW PARKVIEW COMMUNITY HALL 9135-146 St NW PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL 10860-57 Ave THE PROVINCIAL PUB 160, 4211-106 St RED PIANO BAR 1638 Bourbon St, WEM, 8882-170 St, 780.486.7722 RED STAR 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.428.0825 RENDEZVOUS 10108-149 St RICHARD'S PUB 12150-161 Ave, 780.457.3118 RIC’S GRILL 24 Perron Street, St Albert, 780.460.6602 ROCKY MOUNTAIN ICEHOUSE 10516 Jasper Ave, 780.424.3836 ROSEBOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE 10111-117 St, 780.482.5253 ROSE AND CROWN 10235-101 St SANDS HOTEL 12340 Fort Rd, 780.474.5476 SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Yellowhead Inn, 15004 Yellowhead Trail SHERLOCK HOLMES–DOWNTOWN 10012-101A Ave

SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A 8519-112 St SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM 16508882-170 St SIDELINERS PUB 11018-127 St SMOKEHOUSE BBQ 10810-124 St, 587.521.6328 SNEAKY PETE'S 12315-118 Ave SOU KAWAII ZEN LOUNGE 1292397 St, 780.758.5924 STARLITE ROOM 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099 ST. BASIL'S CULTURAL CENTRE 10819-71 Ave NW STUDIO MUSIC FOUNDATION 10940-166 A St SUGAR FOOT BALLROOM 10545-81 Ave TAVERN ON WHYTE 10507-82 Ave, 780.521.4404 TIRAMISU 10750-124 St UPTOWN FOLK CLUB 7308-76 Ave, 780.436.1554 VEE LOUNGE, APEX CASINO–St Albert 24 Boudreau Rd, St Albert, 780.460.8092, 780.590.1128 WILD EARTH BAKERY– MILLCREEK 8902-99 St, wildearthbakery.com WINSPEAR CENTRE 4 Sir Winston Churchill Square; 780.28.1414 Y AFTERHOURS 10028-102 St, 780.994.3256, yafterhours.com YARDBIRD SUITE 11 Tommy Banks Way, 780.432.0428 YEG DANCE CLUB 11845 Wayne Gretzky Dr YESTERDAYS PUB 112, 205 Carnegie Dr, St Albert, 780.459.0295 ZEN LOUNGE 12923-97 St

EVENTS WEEKLY EMAIL YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO: LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM FAX: 780.426.2889 DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3PM

COMEDY Black Dog Freehouse • 10425-82 Ave • Underdog Comedy Show • Every Thu

Century Casino • 13103 Fort Rd • 780.481.9857 • Open Mic Night: Every Thu; 7:30-9pm COMEDY FACTORY • Gateway Entertainment Centre, 34 Ave, Calgary Tr • Fri-Sat: 8:30pm • Kabir Singh; Jan 21-23 • Brian Link; Jan 28-30 Comic Strip • Bourbon St, WEM • 780.483.5999 • Wed-Fri, Sun 7:30pm; Fri-Sat 9:45pm • Battle to the Funny Bone; every Mon at 7:30pm • Triple Threat Tuesday; every Tue at 7:30pm • Alice Wetterlund; Jan 21-24 • Steve Byrne; Jan 28-31

Connie's Comedy presents Comedy @ Draft • Draft Country Nightclub,12912-50 St • With Charles Haycock and Craig Sherburne • Jan 20, 7:30pm

Connie's Comedy presents Comedy @ Draft • Draft Country and Nightclub, 12912-50 St • With Ryan Paterson and Mike Dambra • Jan 27, 7:30pm

DRUID • 11606 Jasper Ave • 780.710.2119 • Comedy night open stage hosted by Lars Callieou • Every Sun, 9pm DJ to follow

Empress Ale House • 9912-82 Ave • Empress Comedy Night: featuring a professional headliner every week Every Sun, 9pm Rouge Lounge • 10111-117 St • Comedy Groove every Wed; 9pm

Groups/CLUBS/meetings Aikikai Aikido Club • 10139-87 Ave, Old Strathcona Community League • Japanese Martial Art of Aikido • Every Tue 7:30-9:30pm; Thu 6-8pm Amnesty International Edmonton • 8307-109 St • edmontonamnesty.org • Meet the 4th Tue each month, 7:30pm (no meetings in Jul, Aug) E: amnesty@edmontonamnesty.org for more info • Free

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

Babes In Arms • The Carrot, 9351-118 Ave • A casual parent group • Every Fri, 10am-12pm

Carrot Board Games Night • The Carrot, 9351-118 Ave • An evening of lattes, laughs and board games. Bring your own or choose from the Carrot's collection • Jan 26, 7-9pm • All ages

Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Information Night • Habitat for Humanity 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 • Jan 21, 6-7pm (Every 3rd Thu of the month, excluding Dec) • Free Illness support and solutions • Robertson Wesley United Church Library, 10209123 St • 780.235.5911 • Crohn's Colitis, I.B.D. Support and Solutions • Every 2nd and 4th Tue, 7-9pm Lotus Qigong • 780.477.0683 • Downtown • Practice group meets every Thu MADELEINE SANAM FOUNDATION • Faculté St Jean, Rm 3-18 • 780.490.7332 • madeleine-sanam.orgs/en • Program for HIVAID’S prevention, treatment and harm reduction in French, English and other African languages • 3rd and 4th Sat, 9am-5pm each month • Free (member)/$10 (membership); pre-register

3728-106 St • nawca.ca • Meet every Wed, 6:30pm

Organization for Bipolar Affective Disorder (OBAD) • Grey Nuns Hospital, Rm 0651, obad@shaw.ca; Group meets every Thu, 7-9pm • Free

Poor Vote Turnout • Rossdale Hall, 10135-96 Ave • poorvoteturnout.ca • Public meetings: promoting voting by the poor • Every Wed, 7-8pm

Schizophrenia Society Family Support Drop-in Group • Schizophrenia Society of Alberta, 5215-87 St • schizophrenia. ab.ca • The Schizophrenia Society of AlbertaEdmonton branch provides a facilitated family support group for caregivers of a loved one living with schizophrenia. Free drop-in the 1st and 3rd Thu each month, 7-9pm

Seventies Forever Music Society • Call 587.520.3833 for location • deepsoul.ca • Combining music, garage sales, nature, common sense, and kindred karma to revitalize the inward persona • Every Wed, 7-8:30pm

Sherwood Park Walking Group + 50 • Meet inside Millennium Place, Sherwood Place • Weekly outdoor walking group; starts with a 10-min discussion, followed by a 30 to 40-min walk through Centennial Park, a cool down and stretch • Every Tue, 8:30am • $2/session (goes to the Alzheimer’s Society of Alberta)

Sugar Foot Ballroom • 10545-81 Ave • 587.786.6554 • sugarswing.com • Friday Night Stomp!: Swing and party music dance social every Fri; beginner lesson starts at 8pm. All ages and levels welcome. Occasional live music– check web; $10, $2 (lesson with entry) • Swing Dance Social every Sat; beginner lesson starts at 8pm. All ages and levels welcome. Occasional live music–check the Sugar Swing website for info • $10, $2 lesson with entry

Edmonton Podcasting Meet-Up • Variant

Toastmasters

Edition, 10441-123 St • Organized by Karen Unland and Seen & Heard in Edmonton. Discussing the best ways you can promote your podcast, along with chit-chat of how we all podcast, and why • Jan 24, 1pm

FOOD ADDICTS • Alano Club (& Simply Done Cafe), 17028-124 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 Fort Saskatchewan 45+ Singles Coffee Group • A&W, 10101-88 Ave, Fort Saskatchewan • 780.907.0201 (Brenda) • A mixed group, all for conversation and friendship • Every Sun, 2pm

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

WOMEN IN BLACK • In Front of the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market • Silent vigil the 1st and 3rd Sat, 10-11am, each month, stand in silence for a world without violence LECTURES/Presentations

University of Alberta, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (11405 87 Ave NW), Room 2 430 • A forum where scholars, politicians, and activists can come together and begin to take account of the outcomes – the successes as well as the failures – of COP21, a historic event in the history of climate and environmental politics • Jan 29, 4-6pm

Building a Vision and a Team •

sAWA 12-STEP SUPPORT GROUP • Braeside Presbyterian Church bsmt, N. door, 6 Bernard Dr, St Albert • For adult children of alcoholic and dysfunctional families • Every Mon, 7:30pm

edmontonoutdoorclub.com • Offering a variety of fun activities in and around Edmonton • Free to join; info at info@edmontonoutdoorclub.com

Wild Rose Antique Collectors Society • Delwood Community Hall, 7515 Delwood

After Paris: What does climate change? 80 Years of Environmental Politics – Left and Right •

Northern Alberta Wood Carvers Association • Duggan Community Hall,

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

EDMONTON OUTDOOR CLUB (EOC) •

• Y Toastmasters Club: Queen Alexandra Community League, 10425 University Ave (N door, stairs to the left); Meet every Tue, 7-9pm except last Tue ea month; Contact: Antonio Balce, 780.463.5331 • Toastmasters Demo Meeting: Highstreet Speakers: Rm 107, Westmount School, 11125-131 St; highstreetspeakers@ hotmail.com; 780.454.5001; facebook.com/ HighstreetSpeakers; Jan 19, Jan 26; 5-6pm; Free

Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science 1-440, University of Alberta • globaled.ualberta. ca/InternationalWeek • globaled@ualberta.ca • Brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger draw on their experiences as lifelong activists and social entrepreneurs to discuss how to implement key elements of team collaboration and mobilization • Jan 25, 6-7pm • Free, register at bit.ly/ BuildingaVision

Composing Comedy Songs with The Irrelevant Show’s Jan Randall • Room 409, Alberta College Campus of MacEwan University, 10050 MacDonald Drive • 780.633.3725 • Join The Irrelevant Show's Jan Randall and learn how to compose comedy songs • Feb 4, 6-7pm • Free (admission by donation)

Fertility Awareness Charting Circle • Remedy Cafe, 8631-109 St • faccedmonton@gmail.com • fertilityawarenesschartingcircle.org • First Mon each month (Oct-May), 6:30-8:30pm • $10 (suggested donation) • RSVP at faccedmonton@gmail.com

International Week: For a Better World • University of Alberta, Telus Centre, 87 Ave and 111 St • globaled.ualberta.ca/ InternationalWeek • globaled@ualberta.ca • This year's theme: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 17 ambitious goals that aim to “eliminate extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change” by 2030 • Jan 25-31

In/visible Scars of Torture • U of A, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy L1-490 • globaled@ualberta.ca • globaled.ualberta.ca/ InternationalWeek/TuesdayJanuary26.aspx • Marina Nemat will be sharing her story of courage and how she managed to transform herself from victim to survivor to activist • Jan 26, 7-8:30pm • Free

ISIS and the Syrian Refugee Crisis: Canada's Response • Telus Centre 150,

• Club Bilingue Toastmasters Meetings: Campus

St. Jean: Pavillion McMahon; 780.667.6105 (Willard); clubbilingue.toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 7pm • Fabulous Facilitators Toastmasters Club: 2nd Fl, Canada Place Rm 217, 9700 Jasper Ave; Carisa: divdgov2014_15@outlook.com, 780.439.3852; fabulousfacilitators.toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 12:05-1pm • N'Orators Toastmasters Club: Lower Level, McClure United Church, 13708-74 St: meet every Thu, 6:45-8:30pm; contact vpm@norators.com, 780.807.4696, norators.com • Terrified of Public Speaking: Norwood Legion Edmonton, 11150-82 St NW; Every Thu until 7:30-9:30pm; Free; contact jnwafula@yahoo. com; norwoodtoastmasters.org • Upward Bound Toastmaster Club: Rm 7, 6 Fl, Edmonton Public Library–DT: Meets every Wed, 7-8:45pm; Sep-May; upward.toastmastersclubs. org; reader1@shaw.ca

University of Alberta • globaled@ualberta.ca • globaled.ualberta.ca/InternationalWeek • A panel reviewing the situation in the Middle East and the effectiveness of Canada's response • Jan 28, 7-9pm • Free (register at bit.ly/SyrianRefugee_IWeek2016)

Making a Career in the Theatre with The Irrelevant Show’s Jana O’Connor and Dave Clarke • Room 409, Alberta College Campus of MacEwan University, 10050 MacDonald Drive • 780.633.3725 • Jana O'Connor and Dave Clarke as they discuss their careers, trials, and triumphs in theatre and offer sage advice on becoming an actor • Jan 21, 6-7pm • Free (admission by donation)

Seeing is above All • Acacia Hall, 10433-83 Ave, upstairs • 780.554.6133 • Free instruction in meditation on the Inner Light • Every Sun, 5pm

Sustainability Speaker Series: Sheila Watt-Cloutier • University of

Alberta, 1-430 Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science • 780.492.6472 • kayleigh. wiebe@ualberta.ca • sustainability.ualberta.ca/ speaker • Understanding the crucial connection between climate change and human rights • Jan 27, 7-9pm • Free (register at Eventbrite)

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals: Implications for Canada and the World • U of A, Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science 1-430, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive • globaled@ualberta.ca • globaled.ualberta.ca/InternationalWeek • Presented by Stephen Lewis who weighs in on what it will take for Canada to lead in the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals • Jan 29, 7:30-9:30pm • Free (register at bit.ly/ StephenLewis_IWeek2016)

(Un)masking Spirit: Mask Creation and Exploration with Elsa Robinson • Robertson-Wesley United Church, 10209-123 St • rwuc.org/sac.html • Every Tue, 7-9pm; Jan 12-Mar 22

Writing Sketch Comedy with The Irrelevant Show’s Neil Grahn and Peter Brown • Room 409, Alberta College Campus of MacEwan University, 10050 MacDonald Drive • 780.633.3725 • Neil Grahn and Peter Brown share their insights on writing comedic sketches • Jan 28, 6-7pm • Free (admission by donation)

Bootcamp: Oliver Community Hall, 10326-118 St; bootcamp@teamedmonton.ca; Every Thu, 7pm; $30 (full season), $15 (low income or students) • Equal, Fit, Fierce, and Fabulous: Pride Centre, 10608-105 Ave; pridecentreofedmonton.org/ calendar; Drop in games and activities for youth; Every other Tue, 4:30-6pm

WOMONSPACE • 780.482.1794 • womonspace.org, womonspace@gmail.com • A Nonprofit lesbian social organization for Edmonton and surrounding area. Monthly activities, newsletter, reduced rates included with membership. Confidentiality assured Woodys Video Bar • 11723 Jasper Ave

• 780.488.6557 • Sun: Last Sun each month, Woodys Jam Session with the talented regular customers; Jugs of Canadian or Kokanee only $13 • Mon: Massive Mondays features talented comedians • Tue: Domestic bottle beer special only $3.75 all night long • Wed: Jugs of Canadian and Kokanee for $13; Karaoke with Shirley from 7pm-12:30am • Thu: Highballs on special only $3.75 all night long; Karaoke with Bubbles 7pm-12:30am • Fri: Comming soon: DJ Arrow Chaser's new TGIF Party • Sat: Pool Tournement, 4pm; Jager shots on special only $4; Coming soon, DJ Jazzy

SPECIAL EVENTS A Taste of Animethon • Shaw Confer-

9912 Whyte Ave • Meet the last Thu each month

ence Centre, 9797 Jasper Ave NW • Revolving around Japanese animation. Featuring guests, anime viewings, cosplay and much more • Jan 22-23 • $35 (plus service fees)

Evolution Wonderlounge • 10220103 St • 780.424.0077 • yourgaybar.com • Community Tue: partner with various local GLBT groups for different events; see online for details • Happy Hour Wed-Fri: 4-8pm • Wed Karaoke: with the Mystery Song Contest; 7pm-2am • Fri: DJ Evictor • Sat: DJ Jazzy • Sun: Beer Bash

DeepSoul.ca • 587.520.3833; call or text for Sunday jam locations • Every Sun: Sunday Jams with no Stan (CCR to Metallica), starring Chuck Prins on Les Paul Standard guitars; Pink Floydish originals plus great Covers of Classics: some FREE; Twilight Zone Lively Up Yourself Tour (with DJ Cool Breeze); all ages

QUEER Beers for Queers • Empress Ale House,

G.L.B.T.Q Seniors Group • S.A.G.E Bldg, Craftroom, 15 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.474.8240 • Meeting for gay seniors, and for any seniors who have gay family members and would like some guidance • Every Thu, 1-4pm • Info: E: Tuff69@telus.net

INSIDE/OUT • U of A Campus • Campus-based organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transidentified and queer (LGBTQ) faculty, graduate student, academic, straight allies and support staff • 3rd Thu each month (fall/winter terms): Speakers Series. E: kwells@ualberta.ca

Pride Centre of Edmonton • Pride Centre of Edmonton, 10608-105 Ave • 780.488.3234 • A safe, welcoming, and nonjudgemental drop-in space, support programs and resources offered for members of the GLBTQ community, their families and friends • Daily: Community drop-in; support and resources. Queer library: borrowing privileges: Tue-Fri 12-9pm, Sat 2-6:30pm, closed Sun-Mon; Queer HangOUT (a.k.a. QH) youth drop-in: Tue-Fri 3-8pm, Sat 2-6:30pm, youth@pridecentreofedmonton.org • Counselling: Free, short-term by registered counsellors every Wed, 5:30-8:30pm, info/bookings: 780.488.3234 • Knotty Knitters: Knit and socialize in safe, accepting environment, all skill levels welcome; every Wed 6-8pm • QH Game Night: Meet people through board game fun; every Thu 6-8pm • QH Craft Night: every Wed, 6-8pm • QH Anime Night: Watch anime; every Fri, 6-8pm • Movie Night: Open to everyone; 2nd and 4th Fri each month, 6-9pm • Women’s Social Circle: Social support group for female-identified persons +18 years in the GLBT community; new members welcome; 2nd and 4th Thu, 7-9pm each month; andrea@pridecentreofedmonton.org • Men Talking with Pride: Support and social group for gay and bisexual men; every Sun 7-9pm; robwells780@hotmail. com • TTIQ: a support and information group for all those who fall under the transgender umbrella and their family/supporters; 3rd Mon, 7-9pm, each month • HIV Support Group: Support and discussion group for gay men; 2nd Mon, 7-9pm, each month; huges@shaw.ca St Paul's United Church • 11526-76 Ave • 780.436.1555 • People of all sexual orientations are welcome • Every Sun (10am worship) Team Edmonton • Various sports and recreation activities • All-Bodies Swim: Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre, 8648-81 St NW; pridecentreofedmonton.org; Every 3rd Sat of the month, 9:30-10:30pm • Badminton: Oliver School, 10227-118 St; badminton@teamedmonton. ca; Every Wed (until Feb 24); $5 (drop-in) • Board Game Group: Underground Tap & Grill, 10004 Jasper Ave; Monthly on a Sun, 3-7pm; RSVP to boardgames@teamedmonton.ca •

VUEWEEKLY.com | jan 21 – jan 27, 2016

Do You Want to Build a Snowman • John Janzen Nature Centre, 7000-143 St • 311 • edmonton.ca • For all ages • Jan 21, 2-3:30pm

Edmonton Renovation Show • Edmonton Expo Centre, 7515-118 Ave NW • 778.475.1495 / Toll Free: 866.941.0673 • terrih@mpeshows.com • edmontonrenovationshow.com • Over 250 exhibitors and experts take over the Expo centre to help attendees rip their homes apart and make them even more beautiful • Jan 29-31 • $5-$12

E-Ville Roller Derby Presents: Slice Girls vs Berzerkhers • Edmonton Sportsdome, 10104-32 Ave NW • Jan 30, 6-9pm • $10 (adv), $15 (door), free for kids 10 and under

Hot Chocolate on the Hill • Charlesworth Park Hill, 59 St & 3 Ave • ellersliecommunityleague.com • Bring a toboggan and dash down the hill for some good riding. Hot chocolate will be provided • Jan 23, 1-3pm

Ice Castles • Hawrelak Park, 9930 Groat Road • icecastles.com • A massive castle made of ice, craft by hand using only icicles and water • Jan 5-Mar 1 • $9.95-$15.95

Ice on Whyte • End of Steel Park, Gateway Boulevard & Tommy Banks Way • iceonwhyte. ca • Featuring ice and snow exhibits, interactive kids play area, and the famous ice slide • Jan 21-24, Jan 28-31 Nordlys Film and Arts Festival • Bailey Theatre 5041-50 St, Camrose • nordlysfestival.com • Breaking up the dark days of winter with a marathon line-up of films, special guests and live music with films varying in origin and language • Feb 12-14 The Rubaroo Aboriginal Arts Festival • La Cite Francaphone, 8627-91 St • rubaboo.ca • An artistic stew of workshops and performances by professional and emerging aboriginal artists • Jan 27-Feb 7

Scrambled YEG • Brittany's Lounge, 10225-97 St • 780.497.0011 • Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every Tue-Fri, 5-8pm Southwest Community Ski Festival • Blue Quill Community Hall, 11304-25 Ave • Celebrate cross-country skiing • Jan 30, 11:30am-3:30pm

Tropical Weekend • Snow Valley, 119 St off Whutemud Drive • snowvalley.ca • Jan 30-31

AT THE BACK 25

CLASSIFIEDS To Book Your Classified, Contact Valerie at 780.426.1996 or at classifieds@vueweekly.com 130.

Coming Events

January 22 - Welcome 2016! Singles Mixer @On The Rocks 5:30 - 8:30 $5 admission, includes free beverage coupon.

January 28- New Year - New Singles Mixer @The Druid 5:30 - 8:30 $5 admission includes free beverage coupon.

1600.

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

1600.

Volunteers Wanted

Community Leaders In Waste Reduction Complete a free, 40-hour course. Learn about composting, recycling & more. Volunteer at least 35 hours. Show friends & family how to reduce waste. Apply at edmonton.ca/mcrp. Diet Study for Ulcerative Colitis Goal: To see if 6 months of healthy diets can reduce the frequency of relapse. Who: People with Ulcerative Colitis, ages 18 to 75 years. What is required: 4 in person visits and 3 telephone visits over 6 months; completion of surveys and provision of blood, urine and stool samples. What you receive: Speciﬁc nutrition counseling related to an anti-inﬂammatory diet. Costs to you: Parking is paid. You also receive a small gift card as compensation. Please contact Ammar, email IBDdiets@ualberta.ca or Thandi at 780-492-8691 Ext 2 and leave a message, University of Alberta.

2005.

Artist to Artist

Canadian Film Centre - Call For Applicants CFC Cineplex Entertainment Film Program: Directors'Lab, Editors'Lab, Producers'Lab, and Writers'Lab The Cineplex Entertainment Film Program champions original voices, entrepreneurism and collaboration. We encourage ﬁlmmakers to take creative risks and help them develop and package original content for the global entertainment market. Applications are now available online: http://cfccreates.com/programs /1-cineplex-entertainment-ﬁlmprogram Application Deadline: January 25, 2016 The 2015 CFC Film Program Showcase Reel: http://cfccreates.com/2015Sho wcase

2005.

Artist to Artist

ENJOY ART ALWAYZ www.bdcdrawz.com

2020.

Musicians Wanted

Drummer Wanted Black/Death Metal Band will pay $150 per show for session drummer. Contact www.facebook.com/anthroplaq ue or call 780.292.3397.

BOOK YOUR CLASSIFIED AD TODAY! 780.426.1996

ALBERTA-WIDE CLASSIFIEDS •• AUCTIONS •• COLLECTOR CAR AUCTION. 10th Annual Red Deer Collector Car Auction & Speed Show. March 11 - 13, 2016, Westerner Park. Special Guests: Dan & Laura Dotson - Storage Wars; "Horny" Mike - Counting Cars; Chris Jacobs - Overhaulin'. Consign today. 1-888-296-0528 ext. 103; egauctions.com. UNRESERVED AUCTION. Autos, tools, surplus, collectibles, furniture and more. 11 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 23. Scribner Auction. On location: 121 - 15 Ave. (Hwy 14) Wainwright, Alberta. 780842-5666; www.scibnernet.com. UNRESERVED WOODWORKING AUCTION. Tuesday, January 26, 10 a.m. 156 Sioux Road, Sherwood Park. Sliding table saw, edge banding dust collection, double mitre saw, sanding & planes, Delivery Van Paint System. Plus much more. Call 780-922-6090 or full details at www.foothillsauctions.com. Foothills Equipment Liquidation Co. Ltd.

•• BUSINESS •• OPPORTUNITIES HIP OR KNEE Replacement? Restrictions in walking/dressing? $2,500 yearly tax credit. $20,000 lump sum cheque. Disability Tax Credit. Expert Help: 1-844-453-5372.

•• CAREER TRAINING •• MEDICAL TRAINEES needed now! Hospitals & doctor's offices need certified medical office & administrative staff! No experience needed! We can get you trained! Local job placement assistance available when training is completed. Call for program details! 1-888-627-0297. HEALTHCARE DOCUMENTATION Specialists in huge demand. Employers prefer CanScribe graduates. A great

work-from-home career! Contact us now to start your training day; www.canscribe.com. 1-800-4661535; info@canscribe.com.

•• COMING EVENTS •• COME AND LEARN. Unlock your Superpowers! Jan. 29 & 30, 2016, Edmonton. AWNA's Annual Symposium. Educational Sessions in Journalism, Sales Ad & News Design. Internationally acclaimed speakers. Pre-Register. For more info: www.awna.com/symposium.

•• EMPLOYMENT •• OPPORTUNITIES FULL-TIME LICENSED Autobody Technician required immediately by busy Import Dealership in the sunny Okanagan. Candidate must hold a valid Autobody ticket. This is a full-time, permanent position. Includes beneﬁts and an aggressive wage package. Resumes to Bodyshop Manager; bodyshop@hilltopsubaru.com or http://www.hilltopsubaru.com/ employment-opportunities.htm. MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION! In-demand career! Employers have work-at-home positions available. Get online training you need from an employer-trusted program. Visit: CareerStep.ca/ MT or 1-855-768-3362 to start training for your work-at-home career today! INTERESTED IN the Community Newspaper business? Alberta's weekly newspapers are looking for people like you. Post your resume online. FREE. Visit: awna.com/for-job-seekers.

•• EQUIPMENT •• FOR SALE A-STEEL SHIPPING CONTAINERS. 20', 40' & 53'. 40' insulated reefers/freezers. Modifications possible windows, doors, walls, as office, living work-shop, etc., 40' flatrack/bridge. 1-866-5287108; www.rtccontainer.com.

•• FOR SALE ••

•• REAL ESTATE ••

POLE BARNS, Shops, steel buildings metal clad or fabric clad. Complete supply and installation. Call John @ 403-998-7907; jcameron@advancebuildings.com.

PASTURE & HAY LAND. 400 8000 acres of year round water supply. Full operational with management available. Central Saskatchewan. Crossfenced & complete infrastructure. Natural springs excellent water. Shortly ready to locate cattle. Other small & large grain & pasture quarters. $150k - $2.6m. Call Doug Rue 306-716-2671; saskfarms@shaw.ca.

REACH OVER 1 Million Readers Weekly. Advertise Province Wide Classiﬁeds. Only $269 + GST (based on 25 words or less). Call now for details 1-800-282-6903 ext. 228; www.awna.com. METAL ROOFING & SIDING. 32+ colours available at over 55 Distributors. 40 year warranty. 48 hour Express Service available at select supporting Distributors. Call 1-888-263-8254. LOOKING FOR a shop? Post Frame Buildings. AFAB Industries has experience, expertise, reliability and great construction practices. For a free quote, contact Ryan Smith 403-818-0797 or email: ryan.afab@gmail.com. REFORESTATION NURSERY SEEDLINGS of hardy trees, shrubs, & berries for shelterbelts or landscaping. Spruce & Pine from $0.99/tree. Free shipping. Replacement guarantee. 1-866873-3846 or www.treetime.ca.

•• HEALTH •• CANADA BENEFIT GROUP Do you or someone you know suffer from a disability? Get up to $40,000 from the Canadian Government. Toll free 1-888-5112250 or www.canadabeneﬁt.ca/ free-assessment.

•• MANUFACTURED •• HOMES NO MATTER WHO you are, we have a home that ﬁts your lifestyle at United Homes Canada. Over 40 years of experience in providing the best value in quality modular and manufactured housing. Call 1-800461-7632 or visit www.unitedhomescanada.com to discover how we can help you ﬁnd your new home.

•• SERVICES •• CRIMINAL RECORD? Think: Canadian pardon. U.S. travel waiver. Divorce? Simple. Fast. Inexpensive. Debt recovery? Alberta collection to $25,000. Calgary 403-228-1300/1-800-347-2540. GET BACK on track! Bad credit? Bills? Unemployed? Need money? We lend! If you own your own home - you qualify. Pioneer Acceptance Corp. Member BBB. 1-877-987-1420; www. pioneerwest.com. EASY ALBERTA DIVORCE. Free Consultation 1-800-320-2477; www.canadianlegal.org. CCA Award #1 Paralegal. A+ BBB Reputation. 26 Years Experience. Open Mon. - Sat.

•• TRAVEL •• SEE POLAR BEARS, Walrus and Whales on our Arctic Explorer Voyage next summer. Save 15% with our winter sale for a limited time. Call Toll free 1-800-3637566 or visit: www.adventurecanada.com. (TICO#04001400).

•• WANTED •• WANTED - SHED ANTLERS. Buying shed antlers all sizes and conditions. Paying top dollar for elk, deer, moose. Buying all the time. Phone, text, email: 403-352-9397 or donovanh@ telus.net.

VISIT US ONLINE AT VUEWEEKLY.COM/CLASSIFIED/ TO SEE ALL OF OUR CLASSIFIED LISTINGS 26 AT THE BACK

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 21 – JAN 27, 2016

FREEWILLASTROLOGY ARIES (MAR 21 – APR 19): The next four weeks could potentially be a Golden Age of Friendship, a State of Grace for Your Web of Connections, a Lucky Streak for Collaborative Efforts. What can you do to ensure that these cosmic tendencies will actually be fulfilled? Try this: deepen and refine your approach to schmoozing. Figure out what favours would be most fun for you to bestow, and bestow them. Don't socialize aimlessly with random gadabouts, but rather gravitate toward people with whom you share high ideals and strong intentions. TAURUS (APR 20 – MAY 20): On a clear day, if you stand at the summit of Costa Rica's Mount Irazú, you can see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It's not hard to get there. You can hop a tourist bus in the nearby city of San José and be 11 200 feet high two hours later. This is a good model for your next assignment: head off on a stress-free jaunt to a place that affords you a vast vista. If you can't literally do that, at least slip away to a fun sanctuary where you'll be inspired to think big thoughts about your long-range prospects. You need a break from everything that shrinks or numbs you. GEMINI (MAY 21 – JUN 20): A filmmaker working on a major movie typically shoots no more than four pages of the script per day. A director for a TV show may shoot eight pages. But I suspect that the story of your life in the near future may barrel through the equivalent of 20 pages of script every 24 hours. The next chapter is especially action-packed. The plot twists and mood swings will be coming at a rapid clip. This doesn't have to be a problem as long as you are primed for high adventure. How? Take good care of your basic physical and emotional needs so you'll be in top shape to enjoy the boisterous ride. CANCER (JUN 21 – JUL 22): The city of Paris offers formal tours of its vast sewer system. Commenting at an online travel site, one tourist gave the experience five stars. "It's a great change of pace from museums full of art," she wrote. Another visitor said, "It's an interesting detour from the cultural overload that Paris can present." According to a third, "There is a slight smell but it isn't overpowering. It's a fascinating look at how Paris handles wastewater treatment and clean water supply." I bring this up, Cancerian, because now is a favourable time for you to take a break from bright, shiny pleasures and embark on a tour of your psyche's subterranean maze. Regard it not as a scary challenge, but as a fact-finding exploration. What strategies do you have in place to deal with the messy, broken, secret stuff in your life? Take an inventory.

LEO (JUL 23 – AUG 22): "When I look at a sunset, I don't say, 'Soften the orange a little on the right hand corner, and put a bit more purple in the cloud colour.'" Pioneering psychologist Carl Rogers was describing the way he observed the world. "I don't try to control a sunset," he continued. "I watch it with awe." He had a similar view about people. "One of the most satisfying experiences," he said, "is just fully to appreciate an individual in the same way I appreciate a sunset." Your assignment, Leo, is to try out Rogers' approach. Your emotional well-being will thrive as you refrain from trying to "improve" people—as you see and enjoy them for who they are. VIRGO (AUG 23 – SEP 22): The future is headed your way in a big hurry. It may not be completely here for a few weeks, but even then it will have arrived ahead of schedule. Should you be alarmed? Should you work yourself into an agitated state and draw premature conclusions? Hell, no! Treat this sudden onrush of tomorrow as a bracing opportunity to be as creative as you dare. Cultivate a beginner's mind. Be alert for unexpected openings that you assumed would take longer to appear. LIBRA (SEP 23 – OCT 22): More than one-third of all pregnancies are unintended. The two people involved aren't actually trying to make a baby, but their contraceptive measure fails or isn't used at all. According to my analysis, you heterosexual Libras are now more prone to this accidental experience than usual. And in general, Libras of every sexual preference must be careful and precise about what seeds they plant in the coming weeks. The new growth you instigate is likely to have far-reaching consequences. So don't let your choice be reckless or unconscious. Formulate clear intentions. What do you want to give your love to for a long time? SCORPIO (OCT 23 – NOV 21): I was a rock musician for years, which meant that I rarely went to bed before dawn. I used to brag that my work schedule was from 9 to 5—9 pm to 5 am, that is. Even after I stopped performing regularly, I loved keeping those hours. It was exhilarating to be abuzz when everyone else was asleep. But two months ago, I began an experiment to transform my routine. Now I wake with the dawn. I spend the entire day consorting with the source of all life on earth, the sun. If you have been contemplating a comparable shift in your instinctual life, Scorpio—any fundamental alteration in your relationship to food, drink, exercise, sleep, perception, laughter, love-making— the next few weeks will be a favourable time to do it.

ROB BREZSNY FREEWILL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

JONESIN' CROSSWORD

"It's E->Z"—but not the other way around.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV 22 – DEC 21): You Sagittarians are often praised but also sometimes criticized for being such connoisseurs of spontaneity. Many of us admire your flair for unplanned adventure, even though we may flinch when you unleash it. You inspire us and also make us nervous as you respond to changing circumstances with unpremeditated creativity. I expect all these issues to be hot topics in the coming weeks. You are in a phase of your cycle when your improvisational flourishes will be in the spotlight. I, for one, promise to learn all I can from the interesting detours that result from your delight in experimentation. CAPRICORN (DEC 22 – JAN 19): Capricorn world-changer Martin Luther King Jr was arrested and sent to jail on 29 different occasions. His crimes? Drawing inspiration from his Christian faith, he employed nonviolent civil disobedience to secure basic civil rights for African Americans. He believed so fiercely in his righteous cause that he was willing to sacrifice his personal comfort again and again. The coming months will be a favourable time to devote yourself to a comparable goal, Capricorn. And now is a good time to intensify your commitment. I dare you to take a vow. AQUARIUS (JAN 20 – FEB 18): The birds known as mound-builders are born more mature than other species. As soon as they peck themselves out of their eggs, they are well-coordinated, vigorous enough to hunt and capable of flight. Right now I see a resemblance between them and many of you Aquarians. As soon as you hatch your new plans or projects—which won't be long now—you will be ready to operate at almost full strength. I bet there won't be false starts or rookie mistakes, nor will you need extensive rehearsal. Like the mound-builders, you'll be primed for an early launch. PISCES (FEB 19 – MAR 20): You are not purely and simply a Pisces, because although the sun was in that astrological sign when you were born, at least some of the other planets were in different signs. This fact is a good reminder that everything everywhere is a complex web of subtlety and nuance. It's delusional to think that anyone or anything can be neatly definable. Of course it's always important to keep this in mind, but it's even more crucial than usual for you to do so in the coming weeks. You are entering a phase when the best way to thrive is to know in your gut that life is always vaster, wilder and more mysterious than it appears to be on the surface. If you revere the riddles, the riddles will be your sweet, strong allies. V

MATT JONES JONESINCROSSWORDS@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Across

1 Optimistic 5 Riding around the city, maybe 11 "La ___" (Debussy opus) 14 Outside introduction 15 City on the Merrimack River 16 "___ seen worse" 17 Possible autobiography title for comedian Horatio? 19 Canceled (with "out") 20 Chocolate stand-in 21 Hardly Mercedes quality? 23 French numeral 24 Part of IPA 27 Told 28 Some grads of RPI or MIT 29 ___-foot oil 32 Spring harbinger 33 Medium-hot chili pepper variety 35 Uno or Twenty-One, e.g. 36 Cracker you must hand over to get through? 39 Mexican restaurant staple 40 Demographic nickname coined in the 1980s 41 Have ___ with (chat up) 43 Condom material 44 Clerical vestment 47 Submitted 49 "Either you do it ___ will" 50 Falsehood 51 Fuzzy green stuff growing on a former Comedy Central "Dr."? 54 "Buona ___" (Italian sign-off) 56 Air gun pellets 57 Hip bath in the great outdoors? 60 Pie-mode connection 61 Getting a move on, quaintly 62 Singer of "The Man With the Golden Gun" theme song 63 Daisy Ridley's "Star Wars" character 64 Conducive to peace 65 Suffixes denoting sugars

9 Relatives of nieces 10 Flea market 11 Hodgepodge 12 10 seconds for 100 yards, in running lingo 13 Old Spice deodorant variety 18 Big name in electric guitars 22 Renewable fuel derived from organic matter 25 Colorful sports artist Neiman 26 Load of gossip 30 Thin, fibrous bark (or one-third of a dance instruction for Lisa Simpson) 31 Become sharply attentive 33 Eric of "Pulp Fiction" 34 Basketmaker's willow 36 Like people on some dating apps 37 "It's hard to tell" 38 Process of determining gender, as zoologists do 39 Row of buttons on a screen 42 Seoul food 44 Latin for "higher," as in the Olympic motto 45 Wee 46 Ramona's sister, in Beverly Cleary books 48 2008 Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown duet 52 "Hook" sidekick 53 Twirl around 55 City that the band a-ha hails from 58 "Here Comes the Hotstepper" singer Kamoze 59 Coin collection appraisal co. (found in COLLECTING COINS) ©2016 Jonesin' Crosswords

Down

1 Coast Guard mission 2 Rating at the pump 3 Long looks 4 You may walk the dog with it 5 Guest quarters 6 Constantly criticize 7 Trade org. 8 Bush Labor Secretary Elaine

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AT THE BACK 29

LUSTFORLIFE

BRENDA KERBER BRENDA@vueweekly.com

Baring it all

Boudoir photography is a gift to yourself as much as to a lover Boudoir photoshoots—in which regular, non-model-type people get glammed up and have sexy professional pictures taken—have become very popular over the last few years. Most people go into these sessions intending to create a special gift for their lover. I've discovered, after talking to some photographers who specialize in this kind of shoot, that they usually come out with much more. "Most of my clients do a boudoir session to celebrate a special event and give a truly meaningful gift," says Michelle Larmand, a photographer in St Paul. "Once in awhile I get the 'just because I want to' or 'I've lost a bunch of weight' reasons and those are just as exciting and special reasons."

Star Newman, owner of Acts of Beauty Photography on Whyte Avenue, agrees. "A lot of the time their first thought is, 'I want a gift for my lover or my spouse,' and I would say that 90 percent of the time—even if they come in saying or thinking that's their motivation—it's still something that they really want for themselves," she says. "They want to show their lover how brave they are and that they can get out of their comfort zone because their lover would never expect this of them." It seems that the photos, though certainly beautiful, are really just a souvenir of the real gift: taking a risk to push beyond fears and self-criticism. Newman says most of the women

who come to her have struggled with insecurities about their appearance for much of their lives and are looking for a way to change that. "Women look at themselves so harshly and when you can take a beautiful picture of them, you can show them what everybody else already sees," she says. "The most interesting part of boudoir photography is how women react every time," Larmand notes. "They can't believe how they look. I love showing them how beautiful they are." Newman believes the process of a boudoir shoot can be life changing. Getting naked in front of a total stranger takes a lot of courage, but the photoshoots set up a safe

space to experience letting go of those worries and believing that you actually are beautiful. Newman doesn't require that her clients take off all their clothes, but believes it's an important part of the experience. "I can make you feel beautiful in a snowsuit, but I encourage you to take your clothes off, because that is a barrier that we carry," she says. "As women we often don't want to look at our stomachs or our thighs because [we think] somebody's going to judge us." "I'm normally shy, but [Larmand] made me feel very comfortable and at ease," says Shauna Cox, who has done a boudoir shoot with Larmand. "I was actually surprised by how easy some of the expressions

she was asking me to do came to me, and made me feel more confident in myself as a woman." When I looked at examples of the shoots from both photographers—although the women varied widely in body types, shapes and appearance—there was one thing in common: their expressions and their body language showed that they were clearly in the moment and they were feeling beautiful and sexy. That kind of self-love and confidence is the hottest thing of all. V Brenda Kerber is a sexual health educator who has worked with local not-for-profits since 1995. She is the owner of the Edmonton-based, sex-positive adult toy boutique the Traveling Tickle Trunk. Dan savage savagelove@vueweekly.com

NO PLACE DILDOS

FOR

OLD

I am no longer sexually active, but I have a significant collection of sex toys from earlier years. I'm thinking of getting rid of most of them, and it seems such a waste for them to end up in the landfill. What's an environmentally responsible way to dispose of dildos? I wish there was a place I could donate the dildos where they could be used again. Many of them are quality silicon types, they've never been used on a person without a condom and they've been thoroughly cleaned. I'd be happy to donate them to impoverished dildo users in need, if only I knew where to send them. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Your question comes up frequently, RRR, and there really isn't a satisfactory answer. In Seattle, where I live, a community tool bank recently opened in my neighbourhood—but they don't collect and lend the kind of tools you're looking to donate. I've heard about dildo graveyards in other cities (spots in parks where people bury their used sex toys), but burying sex toys isn't environmentally responsible. And while high-quality dildos can be cleaned and safely reused, most people are pretty squeamish about the idea. Which is odd, considering that we routinely reuse actual cocks that have been enjoyed by others— so why not the fake ones? But even if I can't tell you what to do with your dildos, RRR, I can tell you what not to do with them: do not ship your used dildos to the anti-government militia currently occupying a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon. After militia members asked supporters to send them supplies—via the US Postal Service— their spokesperson complained bitterly about all the dildos they were getting in the mail. So if you decide to put your used dildos in a box and

30 AT THE BACK

send them somewhere, RRR, please make sure the address on the box doesn't read: Bundy Militia, c/o Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 36391 Sodhouse Lane, Princeton, OR, 97721.

That great, O4O, and you have my full support. But you do acknowledge that fantasies about others can be fun, as can looking, as can porn (watching others) and roleplay (pretending to be others). So while you may wanna fuck other people—hence the looking and fantasizing and role-playing—you have no desire to actually fuck other people. If you're having a hard time finding partners who want what you want— a monogamous commitment without the stress of maintaining the monogamous pretence/facade/fraud, ie, pretending they don't at least think about fucking other people—either you're living in some sort of poly par-

DITCH THE RACIST

I'm 33, blah blah blah, and live in a big city. I've been dating an ageappropriate person for a year and a half. Everything seemed fine (great sex, common interests and hobbies, TRUE MONOGAMY similar work ethic, we even talked I understand that monogamy is not about raising children), but my something people are good at— partner is so damn angry and full and that's fine. In fact, most of the of hate. Mostly it manifests itself in people I know are in healthy poly or racism and I really don't like it. He monogamish relationships. Here's says that I "don't understand," like the thing: I'm monogamous. Not the he's gone through experiences that "I'm attracted to other people but would justify wholesale prejudice won't act on it because it makes me against entire groups of people. The uncomfortable or believe it's wrong" passing of David Bowie has accentukind of monogamous, but the "I ated these differences between us. I genuinely have ZERO desire to fuck want to live better and brighter, to anyone but my partner" kind of molove more, but my boyfriend just nogamous. Fankeeps hating. He's tasizing about unrelentothers is fun, ingly racist. If you're breaking up with people for admitting so is looking, I shouldn't so is porn have children to the same things you've admitted to in your and role-play. with him— question—you might think about fucking other There's a right? Better world of delito be 33 and people, but you don't want to actually fuck other ciously kinky, alone—right? people—then you're the reason your quest to find weird and This racist a partner has been so frustrating wonderful sex stuff is a deal stuff I'd LOVE breaker— to explore until right? DTMmy sexy bits fall off. But I want to do allel universe where non-monogamy FA—right? those things with one partner and is the default setting, or you're not Racist Anger Gradually Ends one partner only in a monogamous, giving others the same benefit of Relationship intimate relationship. Here's the the doubt you've given yourself. You kicker: I'd like my partner to feel the wanna fuck other people and you Right. same way. I don't want someone to don't seem to think that disqualifies enter into a monogamous relation- you from making, honouring and gen- BACHELORETTES ship with me if in their heart/groin uinely wanting both a monogamous My best female friend is marrying they'd genuinely like to fuck other commitment and a monogamous sex her boyfriend in March and wants to people. Am I a lost cause? Surely I life. (The two don't always go hand go on a gay-bar crawl on the night can't be the only genuinely monoga- in hand.) of her bachelorette party. She says it If you're breaking up with people for won't be a problem because, as a bi mous person there is? I'm 31 and still turn heads, but I worry my quest for admitting to the same things you've woman, she's part of the LGBT coma partner who feels as I do is impos- admitted to in your question—you munity too and because gay people might think about fucking other peo- can get married now. As a gay man, sible and a waste of my time. ple, but you don't want to actually Dan, do you oppose bachelorette One 4 One fuck other people—then you're the parties in gay bars? You value monogamy, you want a reason your quest to find a partner Queer And Questioning monogamous commitment and you has been so frustrating. want someone who feels the same. I oppose bachelorette parties in gay VUEWEEKLY.com | jan 21 – jan 27, 2016

bars—or anywhere else, QAQ, and I feel the exact same way about bachelor parties.

SAFETY APPS

A few weeks ago, you answered a letter from Seeks Discreet Call Service, a woman in an open marriage who was having Tinder hookups in hotel rooms while travelling for work. She was concerned about her safety and wanted to have someone check in on her, but she couldn't tell her partner about her hookups (DADT arrangement) or her friends (she's not out about her open marriage). She specifically asked if there was an app that might help, and you told her there wasn't an app for that. You were wrong, Dan! There are actually several apps. PCWorld published a roundup of a few of them a couple of years ago ("5 Personal Safety Apps That Watch Your Back," by Amber Bouman), and there's an app called Kitestring (kitestring.io) that has gotten some glowing reviews. The gist is that you use the app to set a timer, and when it goes off, you have to alert the app that you are OK. Otherwise, the app automatically contacts emergency services or a predetermined contact and lets them know you are in trouble at your location. So technology does have a solution for SDCS's problem! Technological Enhancements Can Help Man, I really blew that response— so thanks to TECH and everyone else who clued me in to Kitestring, StaySafe, Watch Over Me, bSafe, and all the other apps out there that are exactly what SDCS was looking for. V On the Lovecast, Dr. Robert Garofalo on parenting a trans kid: savagelovecast.com. @fakedansavage on Twitter

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