1161: Into the void

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Songs for Pythagoras 7 Filmmaker Shalini Kantayya 11

#1161 / JAN 25, 2018 – JAN 31, 2018 VUEWEEKLY.COM

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DYER STRAIGHT

MACEDONIAN NAME GAME S

Naming issues and foolish politics cast a dark shadow

hakespeare wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” But it doesn’t smell as sweet in Macedonia.

In a display of national insecurity with few parallels, Greece has denied that the country to the north has the right to use the name Macedonia ever since it got its independence when Yugoslavia broke up in 1991.

Athens insisted, with very little evidence, that by calling the new country the Republic of Macedonia (the same name it had as part of the federal state of Yugoslavia), the Macedonians were laying claim to the Greek region of the same name.

But recently there were signs that common sense was starting to break through.

The Macedonians were willing to negotiate on the issue, because Greece has blocked its applications to join the NATO alliance and the European Union since 2008, and only left it to join the United Nations under the ridiculous name of ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ (FYROM).

But Athens and Skopje (the capital of FYROM) have been talking compromise for almost a year, and it was looking good.

Interior minister Panos Skourletis, a prominent figure in the Syriza Party that dominates the coalition government in Athens, said:“It is a silly dispute that has to be solved. They [the Macedonians] want to solve it, and I think it will be solved in 2018. If not now, then when?”

The dispute has been complicated by the fact that the Macedonians, a small ethnic group who have inhabited the area they now possess since the Slavic invasions of the sixth and seventh centuries, have claimed Alexander the Great as their founding father. It’s understandable, since they can claim no other historical figures of note, but it has immensely irritated the Greeks.

Under the last prime minister, an ultra-nationalist called Nikolas Gruevski, the Republic of Macedonia started naming airports, highways and stadiums after Alexander and erecting large and remarkably clumsy statues to the great conqueror. Gruevski lost the Macedonian election last June, however, and the new prime minister, Zoran Zaev, has taken a very different line.

“I give up the claim of Macedonia being the sole heir to Alexander,” Zaev said in a TV interview last month. “The history belongs not only to us but to Greece and many other countries.”

He has denounced the previous government nationalist binge and even suggested that he will dismantle statues that offend

entertaining Macedonian president Zoran Zaev in his city.

“For too long we have been obscured by this nationalistic foolishness and populist propaganda,” he said, and the problem looked well on the way to being solved.

The solution, according to sources inside the negotiations headed by U.N. negotiator Matthew Nimitz, would be to rename FYROM ‘New Macedonia,’ which implies no claim to ‘old’ Greek Macedonia. But then Pannos Kammenos, the founder of the small ‘Independent Greeks’ party that is in coalition with Syriza, demanded an immediate referendum.

Kammenos’ party is polling so low at the moment that it wouldn’t even make it into the

The dispute has been complicated by the fact that the Macedonians ... have claimed Alexander the Great as their founding father. the Greeks. This is only reasonable, as Alexander really was Greek. He spoke Greek (his tutor was Aristotle), and he was born on what is now Greek territory.

On the other hand, the multinational empires, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman, that ruled the entire region for over 2,000 years until the 20th century usually included the territory now occupied by FYROM in their Macedonian province, so that name can be claimed by anyone whose ancestors lived there. And by late last year, reasonable people were working on a sensible compromise.

By this New Year’s Eve Yiannis Boutaris, the mayor of Thessaloniki, the capital of the Greek province of Macedonia, was

next parliament, so he needed to boost his standing with his right-wing supporters. The opinion pollsters promptly asked the Greek public if they would accept any name for FYROM that included the word ‘Macedonia’, and between 68 percent of respondents (poll of January 15) and 77 percent (poll of January 20) said ‘no.’

So Syriza, which is currently trailing the opposition New Democracy party in the polls by 10 percent, is unlikely to go any further with this proposal.

(63 percent of its own voters said ‘no.’) The foolishness will therefore continue for some time to come.

Gwynne Dyer dyer@vueweekly.com

Thanks for voting!

STAY TUNED FOR THE RESULTS COMING OUT ON FEBRUARY 22

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VEGAN

New vegan establishment’s plantbased menu impresses its avid visitors

V

egan brunch might sound as alluring to a certain segment of the population as “winter beach party” or “dealcoholized vodka”— devoid of essential ingredients, for example—but there’s definitely an audience for it in Edmonton.

At 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning, would-be brunchers sat outside The Moth Café in their idling cars waiting for a seat, as Edmonton’s newest “plant-based” dining experience does not take reservations on weekends. My three co-diners and I alit just ahead of the rush.

The folks behind Café Mosaics have transformed a formerly grotty Vietnamese noodle house on Jasper Avenue and 95 Street into a rarified, sunlit space with lovely graphic touches (moth mural, gold-etched wallpaper), exposed ceilings hung with plants and driftwood, and a waiting area on a dais overlooking the rest of the room with a huge macramé chair on a chain and a low couch. Their Christmas tree still stands by the door garlanded in white lights.

Before you can find out what’s on The Moth’s brunch menu, you’re confronted with a thick sheaf of drinking options (coffees, teas, kombuchas, a bewildering number of gin preparations) and “elixirs”— small doses of herbal distillates and powders you could adulterate your food or beverage with to promote a far-ranging slate of health effects for a nominal fee. None of us said as much, but I think we understood amongst ourselves that it was unlikely a teaspoon of even the most efficacious herbs would fix what was wrong with us.

We tried to spread out and take in a fair swath of the menu without diverging too widely from the theme of brunch. Otherwise I might have tried their banh mi to see how the kitchen counterfeited the glorious Vietnamese sub, or perhaps sampled the pulled jackfruit burrito.

Instead, I ordered the Moth breakfast bowl ($15) and a gluten-free, raw bagel with avocado and young coconut bacon ($10). Co-diner opted for the Tuscan tofu scramble

($15). Our guest co-diners went for the chai pancakes ($15) and mochado smoothie bowl ($12) respectively, the latter tagging on an order of tomato-mushroom pizzetta ($6).

Coconut-milk lattes ($5.50) were also indulged in.

The food took as long to arrive as you’d expect given how lovely it looked and how suddenly full the place was. The “bagel” was a Vitamixed wheel of almonds and cashews piled thickly with mashed avocado and capped with pinktinged rinds of young coconut, tomato slices, baby spinach and microgreens. It was piled so high I wasn’t sure at first how to eat it.

No one would have mistaken the compacted nut granules for a bagel, but the flavour was nice, and it was more convincing than the soft, sweet coconut, which bore no resemblance at all to bacon.

My breakfast bowl and co-diner’s Tuscan tofu scramble turned out to not look so different: turmerictinted tofu crumbled with sautéed/ roasted vegetables (sweet peppers, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, eggplant), chunks of veggie sausage and roasted potatoes were the main heft, though mine was served over brown rice with tangy cashew sauce and spears of asparagus stacked on top, while co-diner’s came with toast and a bit of fruit. Tofu is, obviously, not eggs, but the variety and toothsomeness of all those veggie nuggets cooked in onion and garlic, along with the sausage, kept my palate amused

(and a side of sriracha did not hurt).

One co-diner—let’s call him Jerry—seemed underwhelmed by his pancakes, which he thought bore an excessive freight of cinnamon, or perhaps it was the side of whole bananas that appeared to have been dredged in the stuff. In any case, his enthusiasm waned quickly.

The other co-diner seemed more pleased with her choice, which appeared to be a mocha-avocado smoothie in a bowl. There were some strawberry slices, gelatinous chia seeds and, I’m told, cashew and coconut blended into what looked like chocolate mousse. Its sweetness was pleasantly mild, however, and its procurer seemed pleased with her choice, though she said she probably wouldn’t choose it again. She also received three discs of flatbread—hence, pizzetta—smeared with tomato sauce, topped with coarsely chopped sautéed mushrooms and onions.

The menu promised cashew mozzarella, but I didn’t really notice it on the small sample I nabbed.

I love that The Moth exists. I admire its inventive approach to vegan food that doesn’t dwell entirely on mock meats. I love its tasteful modern décor and urbane ambiance, and I appreciate that some people want not just brunch, but an installment of a carefully curated lifestyle. If that sounds like you, there’s definitely no other place in town quite like Edmonton’s newest plant-based café.

Scott Lingley dish@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

The Moth Café 9449 Jasper Ave. 780.244.9702 themothcafe.com

LOCAL GREENHOUSE GROWN

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BREW

Blind Enthusiasm Brewing hits its stride with help from the Alberta Small Brewers Development Program Blind Enthusiasm Brewing 9570 76 Ave. blindenthusiasm.ca

B

eer-brewing newcomer Blind Enthusiasm Brewery opened shop almost half a year ago, and owner Greg Zeschuk says business is going well.

That’s thanks in part to financial boons offered by the provincial government.

“Brewing in Alberta is thriving, with more breweries and distilleries opening their doors or growing their businesses,” Premier Rachel Notley said in a release this month.

In December, the markup paid to the provincial government was cut from $13.67 per litre to $2.46 per litre for spirit manufacturers who sell from their distilleries. In October, the government awarded a $60,000 grant to the Alberta Small Brewers Association to promote local brands. The government launched the Alberta Small Brewers Development (ASBD) Program in 2016 to support small brewers with grants that help grow their businesses.

In the first year of the ASBD Program, the number of small brewers in Alberta grew from 45 to almost 60. The program counts Blind Enthusiasm as one of its happy recipients.

“It’s been pretty consistent

“10 ‘til 2 Jim” / Supplied

story for the Alberta government, even pre-NDP,” Zeschuk says. “There’s generally been a more favourable sort of markup historically for us.”

A new report from The Conference Board of Canada found that nearly 85 percent of beer sold in Canada comes from a local brewery. Zeschuk says the extra money from government grants help them appeal to customers and sustain that large number of domestic sales.

“Everything we’re making is going back in the business.

There’s no small brewery that says, ‘we’re pocketing a bunch of money.’ It’s reinvested in new equipment,” he says. “Those grants are really helpful in doing that … Building a brewery is a very capital intensive business. Every single thing costs a fair amount of money.”

It’s a running joke that even the simplest pieces of brewing equipment cost at least $10,000, but those investments are crucial to reliably delivering experimental beer.

“When you’re making unusual beer and trying new things, you want to be testing and evaluating what you create,” he says.

“We’ve got a direct oxygen meter that measures oxygen and CO2, and oxygen is kind of the bane of packaged beer and beer in progress.

“Having that equipment will just make the quality better

and allow us to deliver beer faster and better too. So that’s kind of what these [government supports] are used for.”

Zeschuk likes to give back to the community, too. On tap right now at Blind Enthusiasm’s Biera brew pub are beers created by charity auction winners for the Stollery Children’s Hospital. A dollar from every beer sold goes to the Stollery in addition to the auction total.

“There’s “10 ’til 2 Jim,” that was for a fellow whose kids thought he only worked from 10 until two,” he says. “It’s kind of a hoppy, farmhouse kind of ale. It has a nice lemony zip to it.”

Then there’s “Street Beat,” the next beer from the program where auction winners get to be a brewer for a day. It’s named after the brewer’s band and launches this week.

“That’s a Belgian-style wheat beer with bee pollen,” Zeschuk says. “It’s kind of an intersting earthy, floral take on a Belgian wheat beer.”

Government grants and markup reductions help bring these novel brews to the tap, and help Blind Enthusiasm Brewing continue to reach for their goal.

“We’re trying to really bridge the culinary brewing gap … and show that beer can be for finer food as well.”

Kevin Pennyfeather dish@vueweekly.com

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EXHIBIT

Songs for Pythagoras / Peter von Tiesenhausen

Otherworldly exhibition challenges philosophy with metaphor

T

he expansive third-floor gallery space in the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) has been taken over by one artist’s philosophic constructions of space, time, life and death.

“It’s about light, it’s about imagination, it’s about contemporary issues like climate change. But then it’s also about geological time conveyed through things that look like meteorites, to children’s drawings,” says Songs for Pythagoras artist Peter von Tiesenhausen of the exhibition. “It’s a bit of everything, and almost like a cabinet of curiosities in a way.”

The exhibition opens Saturday, but the day before, at his artist talk, he’ll unpack a few elements of his works, which cover topics not easily whittled down. He’s the kind of guy that intensely enjoys pondering the complexities of life—at great length—yet still knows a thing or two about practicality and pragmatism.

“It’s kind of a metaphorical approach where we’re talking about deep space and deep time based on one person’s experience of trying to slowly understand the expanse between us and the edges of our solar system,” he says.

“So, it’s everything from having a peppercorn that represents the Earth in a large space, to having some video stuff happening underground.”

“His work has always been closely connected to nature,” says curator Catherine Crowston.

“He’s really looking at questions of the environment and sustainability and our role as human beings on the Earth and being stewards of the planet.”

Each of von Tiesenhausen’s brutalist, yet poetic pieces in Songs for Pythagoras tells a different tale of what he thinks the Greeks, and perhaps even Pythagoras, would admire and understand.

“Pythagoras was one of those great thinkers and you start to think that maybe the Greeks and the

early Romans had way more stuff figured out than we actually do— maybe they saw it more poetically,” he says. “It seems like their myths, they didn’t see them as real stories, maybe. The Earth wasn’t actually created by the Gods, but it was a way to understand the world.”

The physical pieces on display are handmade and built by von Tiesenhausen, being a master craftsman and construction savant himself. He uses such materials as remnants of timber, broken glass, metal spools and sheeting, machine parts and large sheets of pulp paper.

He explains one piece that uses 900 sections of two-foot-long steel, which represent about 450 frac water tanks used to pump water down into the Earth’s crust to release the gases. The pieces are stacked in a cube that weighs more than the AGA’s floor architecture allows for a point load when people are introduced.

“It’s becomes a toxic cube even though it’s not that big—it’s only two feet square—but that whole room can’t be entered by more than one person at any time because it starts to play with the engineering capabilities of this building,” von Tiesenhausen explains.

A large portion of his work contains themes of his own environmental activism throughout his nearly 30-year-long career as a professional artist.

“It’s our incredible short-sightedness at this particular time in the history of humanity. It’s like, okay, we need gas, we gotta keep warm, but we don’t take this thing that obviously is constantly throwing us heat, which is the sun ... and because it’s not cheap enough, we opt for this toxic continued extraction of these materials that will actually destroy all the future of any humans coming for the next 10,000 to 10 million years,” he says.

At the same time, the industries our government has focused on

Fri., Jan. 26 (6:30 pm) Artist talk: Peter von Tiesenhausen Songs for Pythagoras Opening Sat., Jan. 27 Art Gallery of Alberta and the reality we face for job opportunities is not lost on him.

A large chunk of the pieces he’s acquired for the exhibition come from friends in the oil patch, an industry he has worked for.

The exhibition becomes a fully immersive environment of both sight and sound by incorporating compositions by his son Magnus Tiesenhausen and fellow sound artist Jen Reimer as well as video

by David McGregor.

The artists went into an underground cistern for a couple of days, commissioned by Calgary’s WATERSHED+ public art program, to record sound that reasonates throughout the exhibition.

“It feels like choral music. But in that underground cavern, the resonance was such that if you made a sound it would return to you for up to 25 seconds,” von Tiesenhausen says. “It’s a beautiful sound that almost sounds like an whole choir.”

When he begins to explain the metaphor behind his work, von Tiesenhausen pauses for a moment and continues: “There’s nothing ever straightforward in my work,” he says with a laugh. “There’s no way to comment on [the exhibition] really, except that we’ve gone— metaphorically—into the bowels of the Earth and found these sounds like classical Greek in a way, touching on myth and legend and then coming out into the world dealing with the real lifespan, I suppose, and then out into the universe and deep time.

So it’s this tiny perspective of a human life, on a human planet in the middle of nowhere.”

Sierra Bilton sierra@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

arts 7

ABORIGINAL ARTS

Minosis / Alexis McKeown

Wed., Jan. 31 - Sun., Feb. 4 Rubaboo Aboriginal Arts Festival Various locations Schedule at rubaboo.ca

FEEDING THE SPIRIT

Rubaboo celebrates Indigenous art and offers challenging questions

T

he ninth annual Rubaboo Aboriginal Arts Festival continues to maintain its curious, yet challenging array of Indigenous art, drawing from all artistic mediums such as film, dance, theatre, sculpture and painting.

One crafter presenting her work during Rubaboo is Lana Whiskeyjack, a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on what it means to be nêhiya (Cree) and iskwew (woman). During Rubaboo, she will present pîkiskwe-speak, a collaborative art installation with documentarian Beth Wishart MacKenzie.

The installation features Whiskeyjack’s mixed-media sculpture “Lost My Talk,” a tortured face triptych representing her late uncle George, who withstood a generation of Indian residential schooling.

“The piece is really about my exploration with intergenerational trauma and how it affects

my generation now,” Whiskeyjack says. “To me, if you Google ‘Indigenous women’ and look at the stats, those are a direct result of Indian residential schooling.”

Whiskeyjack first got into mixedmedia art while teaching an Indigenous art program at Blue Quills First Nation College, which is the same site of the residential school her uncle and much of her family attended.

“At that point, I was making smaller ceramic pieces and just started combining them with found objects and layering them with paint,” she says.

Around the same time, she met MacKenzie who wanted to feature Whiskeyjack and her art in a film. This eventually lead to the mini-documentary Lana Gets Her Talk, which follows Whiskeyjack’s four-year process of making the sculpture.

Her piece is a direct criticism of residential schooling and the “civilized” actions it took with its students.

“The first thing they were taught was not to speak their own language, which was Cree,” she says.

“If they did, they were often hit.

So that generation—my mom, her brother, her sister—their language was beaten out of them until they learned English.”

Another featured piece is Matthew MacKenzie’s Bears, a play about a man’s (Sheldon Elter) relationship with nature in reaction to the Trans Mountain pipeline.

“The impetus was to look at our home and land in a sort of sacred light,” MacKenzie says. “I had hit a spiritual wall before I wrote it.

So I went and lived in the mountains and wrote about what I saw in front of me—the animals, the birds and the land.”

This will be the second iteration of Bears at Rubaboo with the first one debuting during the 2015 festival.

“The first iteration was so wonderfully received and it was about the Northern Gateway pipeline,” MacKenzie says. “Now it’s about the Trans Mountain pipeline. So there’s a lot of the same issues, but different characters. It’s evolved quite a bit since the first performance. Different pipeline and very different land and in this one we have his mom, Mama Bear who is played

by Christine Frederick.”

MacKenzie consulted with Frederick’s parents Jo-Anne and Jerry Saddleback (Elders in the Indigenous community) while creating the second iteration of Bears.

“They’ve given me guidance and the Cree understanding on animals and the concepts explored

Applications Being Accepted Until March 30, 2018 for the 5th Annual RBC Emerging Artists Project

ARTIFACTS

This exciting opportunity is available to artists transitioning from a senior artistic program to a professional artistic career. Four to six apprenticeship opportunities will be awarded to emerging artists who are attending or have recently graduated from post secondary arts programs. The successful candidates will take part in a 14 week program, consisting of 5 hours a week from May to August 2018, where they will gain valuable experience and skills to bridge them towards their professional artistic careers.

The accepted 2018 apprentices will receive apprentice certificates, an honorarium, exhibitions of their work in Edmonton City Centre and the Stollery gallery and sit in on professional panels and workshops. This is made possible through the RBC Emerging Artist Program.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to further your career in the arts.

For more information on this rewarding program and how to apply visit thenina.ca

8 arts

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

in Bears,” MacKenzie says. “We also heard part of the Cree creation story, which was quite incredible and profound.”

Frederick is the artistic director of the Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and co-founder of Rubaboo. Her children’s play about magic, independence and culture, Minosis Gathers Hope, also shows during the festival.

Mile Zero Dance’s “The Sash Maker,” a mix of dance, poetry, and traditional finger-weaving will be presented, and on the film side, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World and Our People Will Be Healed are featured.

In short, the festival is shaping up to be a spirit-healing stew that touches on many different Indigenous aspects.

Stephan Boissonneault stephan@vueweekly.com

/ Supplied

Ice on Whyte / Jan. 25–28 & Feb. 1–4 The annual Ice on Whyte festival is back with artists discovering if they have what it takes to create wondereous sculpures carved out of ice. Competitors from places like Russia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nepal, France, Poland and Canada will compete head-to-head for title of ‘Ice Carver Champion.’ The festival thrives on audience feedback, so take some time out your busy day to look in awe and perhaps judge these pristine sculptures from some prime ice artists. (Corner of Whyte Ave. and Gateway Blvd., 2 PM–10 PM on Thu. and Fri. & 10 AM– 10 PM, Sat. and Sun.)

COMEDY

MAKING A MOCHRIE OF MARRIAGE Canadian comedy power-couple Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath tell it like it is

Wed., Jan. 31 (7:30 pm) The One Couple Show Dow Centennial Centre, Fort Saskatchewan $44-$48

C

anada’s king of improv and queen of satire hit the stage to tell the tales of how far in life a happy marriage and good humour can get you. Colin Mochrie (Whose Line is it Anyway) and Deb McGrath (Little Mosque on the Prairie) have been married nearly 30 years and they’re quite the duo.

While McGrath has been a comedian since she was young, singing songs and putting on musicals for her parents, warranting copious material for embarrassment, Mochrie was a rather shy and quiet child and smart as a whip. Before running headfirst into acting and improv, Mochrie had plans to become a marine biologist after school but switched paths when he got his first audience laugh, which he calls “a drug.”

“She’s the verbal one. She’ll tell an incredible story about going out shopping and then when I tell the story it’ll be, ‘Deb bought a dress,’” Mochrie says.

Their dynamic on stage is slightly different from that of their day-today life. On stage, Mochrie takes the lead and keeps them on track timewise while McGrath comes in with sass and pazzazz-ey quips.

But in reality, no one’s fooling anyone—she rules the roost.

The two have continued their careers with various theatre, television and book projects over the last few years, but didn’t think they’d take the stage together as themselves.

After being asked to perform

for the Unique Lives and Experiences speaker series, attempting to turn it down thinking they couldn’t possibly be that exciting, Mochrie and McGrath realized they had some good stories that were relatable and hilarious. This led to the creation of The One Couple Show in 2015.

“It led to us realizing why don’t we step up the improv and do a little bit about our lives, or at least connect our lives to the improv …

It’s a little bit us, and a little bit improv comedians doing improv.”

As an off-the-cuff show there’s no script and they know all the stories themselves, just like when they first met.

“Oh honey, who do you think made the first move, take a guess?”

McGrath coyly asks her husband when the subject comes up.

“Wow, that’s like just assuming—but yeah, I was very shy and still am and not very sharp at picking up signals from women,” Mochrie explains.

McGrath, who was the director at the time, actually hired him with The Second City comedy troupe that they both worked in along with good friend Ryan Stiles.

“I did make the first move, and not only the first move—the first through 15,” McGrath says.

“We’ve been discussing what that would have been like today.

And I said to Colin the other day, ‘Oh my God, it dawned on me that while I was hitting on you I was your boss.’ And we sort of stopped and you know, you gotta rethink these things now. And— full disclosure—I was married to another actor.”

The two say it was startling for them to realize that, given today’s context surrounding professional relationships in theatre

groups, they had been skirting the lines of professionalism. But the reality is, they wouldn’t have done things any differently. Mochrie explains that he never felt like she was pushy or had any power to hire or fire him, which she confirms with a laugh.

“A lot of these things that are being said about what’s happening in the theatre are valid only when someone is in a position of power and you have reason to feel intimidated by that person,” McGrath says.

“But I can tell you, the shenanigans between performers have gone on forever, and they’ve been consensual, it’s

when power is involved that it becomes questionable or something to examine or something to stop.”

Mochrie, in the meantime, only picked up on the 15th move when she outright said the actual words: “I am attracted to you.”

“She just seemed so out of my league,” Mochrie says. “And in my defense, I picked up on that right away when she said that. That made it very clear to me.”

But McGrath responds by explaining that his innocence was part of his charm, along with his talent and sense of humour of course.

“We’re a team onstage, we’re a team offstage,” McGrath says. “We support each other’s projects—anything to add to that dear?”

“Oh no,” Mochrie says.

“You got it all dear.”

Sierra Bilton sierra@vueweekly.com

Deb McGrath and Colin Mochrie / Supplied

Stephan Boissonneault stephan@vueweekly.com Searching for Winnetou / Sun., Jan. 28 The award-winning Ojibway author Drew Hayden Taylor and local filmmaker Kurt Spenrath debut their CBC documentary about the German obsession with Indigienous North American peoples. For years Taylor noticed an influx of German tourists visiting Canada, looking for a real “Indianer” experience (what Germans call the North American Native lifestyle). Germans will relate the stories of Winnetou, the mythical and fictional Apache warrior. It promises to be an interesting feature. (CBC Docs, 9 PM) / Supplied

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

arts 9

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

DANCE ARGENTINE TANGO DANCE AT FOOT NOTES STUDIO • Foot Notes Dance Studio (South side), 9708-45 Ave • 780.438.3207 • virenzi@shaw.ca • Argentine Tango with Tango Divino: beginners: 7-8pm; intermediate: 8-9pm; Tango Social Dance (Milonga): 9pm12 • Every Fri, 7pm-midnight • $15

BALLROOM DANCE ASSOCIATION •

SACRED CIRCLE DANCE • Riverdale Hall, 9231-100 Ave • Dances are taught to a variety of songs and music. No partner required • Every Wed, 7-9pm • $10 SUGAR FOOT STOMP! • Sugar Swing Ballroom, 10019-80 Ave NW • 587.786.6554 • dance@sugarswing.com • sugarswing.com • Swing dance social • Every Fri-Sat, 8pm (beginner lesson begins) • $12, $2 (lesson with entry) • All ages

SWING 'N' SKATE • City Hall, City Room & Plaza, 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square • 780.970.7766 • brasko@edmontonarts.ca • edmontonarts.ca/churchillsquare • Local bands bring the swing with live jazz and big band music. Music will be broadcast outside to enjoy while skating on the Plaza • Every Sun, Jan 7-Feb 25, 1-4pm • Free

FILM METRO • Metro at the Garneau Theatre,

GALLERIES + MUSEUMS

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

FLAMENCO DANCE CLASSES (BEGIN-

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

CAVA GALLERY • 9103-95 Ave • 780.461.3427 • galeriecava.com • Art & Film Installation with Lana Whiskeyjack and Beth Wishart MacKenzie; Jan 21-Mar 31

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

assembly.ab.ca/visitorcentre/borealis.html • A Call for Justice: Fighting for Japanese Canadian Redress (1977-1988); Jan 15-Apr 2

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

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

BURLESQUE BRUNCH: SUNNY SIDE UP WITH A SIDE OF SASS • Have Mercy, 8232

BOREALIS GALLERY • 9820-107 St •

BUGERA MATHESON GALLERY • 10345-124

8712-109 St • 780.425.9212 • metrocinema. org • Visit metrocinema.org for daily listings • Canada's Top Ten Film Festival 2018 (Jan 25-Feb 4) • Black History Month 2018; through Feb • AFTERNOON TEA: Victoria & Abdul (Feb 11) • ART DOCS: Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World (Feb 8) • GATEWAY TO CINEMA: Get Out (Feb 13) • HOMO-CIDAL DRAG SHOW: Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Feb 18) • MUSIC DOC: Charles Bradley: Soul of America (Feb 6) • NIGHT GALLERY: Adult Cartoon Party! (Feb 17) • QUOTE-A-LONG SERIES: The Princess Bride (Feb 14) • REEL FAMILY CINEMA: Kirikou and the Sorceress (Feb 3), Boss Baby (Feb 10), Muppet Movie (Feb 19), LEGO Batman Movie (Feb 24) • SCIENCE IN THE CINEMA: Hotel Transylvania (Feb 17) • SCI-FI: The Brother from Another Planet (Feb 11) • SUNDAY CLASSICS: West Side Story (Jan 28), Gigi (Feb 25)

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

• Contemporary Relics: artwork by Dominika Koziak; Feb 10-Mar 3

ACUA GALLERY & ARTISAN BOUTIQUE • 9534-87 St • 780.488.8558 • info@acuarts.ca • acuarts.ca • In Perspective: artwork by Maria Antoniv and Peter Gegolick; Feb 2-22; Opening reception: Feb 2, 6:30-9:30pm

FAB GALLERY • Fine Arts Building Gallery,1-1 FAB (University of Alberta) • ualberta.ca/artshows • Feeling the Flesh of the Other as Our Own: artwork by Angela Marino; Jan 23-Feb 10 • Alcuin Awards for Book Design in Canada 2016; Jan 23-Feb 10

FRONT GALLERY • 10402-124 St • thefrontgallery.com • Fallen Star Cars: artwork by Steve Coffey; Feb 8, 7-9pm GALLERY@501 • 501 Festival Ave, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8585 • strathcona.ca/artgallery • Members Show and Sale; Jan 11-Feb 25 HARCOURT HOUSE GALLERY • 3 Fl, 10215112 St • 780.426.4180 • harcourthouse.ab.ca • Macromea: artwork by Alana Biffert and Marta Gorski; Feb 1-Mar 17; Opening reception: Feb 1, 7-10pm • The Book of 7: artwork by Stephen Ferris; Feb 1-Mar 17; Opening reception: Feb 1, 7-10pm of Alberta 1-15, Human Ecology Building • 780.492.3824 • Imagining a Better World: artwork by Nelly Toll; Sep 28-Mar 11

LANDO GALLERY • 103, 10310-124 St • 780.990.1161 • landogallery.com • January Group Selling Exhibition: artwork by Lando Gallery artists; Until Jan 31

LOTUS ART GALLERY • 10321-124 St • lotus-gallery.com • Sexy & Wild: artwork by various artists; Jan-Mar; Opening night: Jan 26, 7-10pm

GROVE • Melcor Cultural Centre, 355th Ave, Spruce Grove • 780.962.0664 • alliedartscouncil.com • A Charcoal Perspective: artwork by Corrine Roberts; Jan 22-Feb 9; Reception: Jan 27, 1-3pm

MCMULLEN GALLERY • U of A Hospital,

ART GALLERY OF ALBERTA (AGA) • 2 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.422.6223 • youraga. ca • Monument: artwork by Dara Humniski and Sergio Serrano; Oct 14-Feb 19 • Calling Stones (Conversations): artwork by Faye HeavyShield; Oct 28-Feb 19 • WordMark: A New Chapter Acquisition Project; Oct 28-Mar 25 • Songs for Pythagoras: artwork by Peter von Tiesenhausen; Jan 27-May 6 • Undaunted: Canadian Women Painters of the 19th Century; Dec 2-Mar 25 • WEEKLY DROP-IN ACTIVITIES: Tours for Tots, Every Wed, 10-11am • Youth Workshops, ages 13-17, Every Thu, 4-6pm • Kids’ Open Studio, Every Sat, 1-3pm • Exhibition Tours; Every Sat-Sun, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm • Art for Lunch; 3rd Thu of the month, 12-1pm • VIBE; 3rd Fri of the month, 5-9pm

MUSÉE HÉRITAGE MUSEUM • St

10816-95 St • 780.424.1573 • mzdsociety@ gmail.com • milezerodance.com/classes • Mile Zero Dance holds a number of drop-in dance & movement classes for people of all experience levels & ages; Mon: Professional Technique (10-11:30am), Contact Improv (7-9pm); Tue: Kids 6-10 (4:30-5:15pm), Toonie Yoga (5:306:45pm), Butoh (7-9pm); Wed: Noguchi Taiso (10-11:30am); Thu: Preschool 3-5 (10-10:45am), Beginner Contemporary (5-6:15pm); Sat: House (7-9pm) • $15 (regular), $12 (members), 10-class cards available for $100

8440-112 St • 780.407.7152 • friendsofuah. org/mcmullen-gallery • 21st Century Nesting Practices: artwork by Sydney Lancaster; Jan 6-Feb 25

ART GALLERY OF ST ALBERT (AGSA) • 19 Perron St, St Albert • 780.460.4310 • artgalleryofstalbert.ca • Outrospectives: artwork by Nathalie Daoust, Florin Hategan and Edwin Janzen; Dec 7-Jan 27 • Retinal Circus: artwork by the Nina Haggerty Collective; Feb 1-Mar 31 BLEEDING HEART ART SPACE • 9132-118 Ave • dave@bleedingheartartspace.com • Origin Stories: artwork by Jenny Hawkinson; Jan 8-27

Empire of the Son Citadel Theatre Jan. 31 - Feb. 18

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

by Nathalie Daoust, Florin Hategan and Edwin Janzen; until Jan 27

MUTTART CONSERVATORY • 9626-96A St • sillygoatstudio.ca • Being With Trees Art Exhibit: artwork by Lynne Huras; Jan 12-Feb 22 PAINT SPOT • 10032-81 Ave • 780.432.0240 • paintspot.ca • NAESS GALLERY: The Story of One’s Soul: paintings by Oksana Zhelisko; Jan 4-Feb 1 • ARTISTAN NOOK: C is for Compost, an alphabet book project: artwork by Yong Fei Guan; Jan 4-Feb 1

PETER ROBERTSON GALLERY • 12323104 Ave • 780.455.7479 • probertsongallery. com • Carbon Capture: artwork by Peter von Tiesenhausen; Jan 27-Feb 28 • Artwork by Julian Forrest; Mar 15-Apr 7

PICTURE THIS! FRAMING & GALLERY • 959 Ordze Rd, Sherwood Park • 780.467.3038 • info@picturethisgallery.com • picturethisgallery. com • The Winter Art Show: artwork by Roger Arndt, Luke Buck, Charity Dakin, Trisha Romance and more; Dec 1-Feb 28 • Maurade Baynton Art Show in the Gallery; Jan 27-28

PROVINCIAL ARCHIVES OF ALBERTA • 8555 Roper Road • PAA@gov.ab.ca • 780.427.1750 • culture.alberta.ca/paa/ eventsandexhibits/default.aspx • Open TueSat, 9am • 150 Firsts: How Alberta Changed Canada…Forever; Until Aug 1

SCOTT GALLERY • 10411-124 St • scottgallery.com • 5 Artists 1 Love; Feb 3-24 • Keystone Confederates: artwork by Jesse Thomas; Feb 3-24

SNAP GALLERY • Society of Northern Alberta

/ Supplied

10 arts

WALTERDALE THEATRE • 10322-83 Ave • 403.265.0012 • albertasocietyofartists. com • Emerging Artists Unleashed: artwork by winners of this year’s Alberta Society of Artists scholarships; Feb 7-17; Reception and preview of 'The Women': Feb 6, 7-8pm

Print-Artists, 10123-121 St • 780.423.1492 • snapartists.com • Community Gallery: artwork by Jonathan S. Green; Jan 5-Feb 10 • Main Gallery: Tara Cooper; Jan 5-Feb 10

HMS PINAFORE • Jubilee Auditorium, 1145587 Ave • edmontonopera.com • This worldwide favourite Gilbert and Sullivan operetta puts a nautical spin on the classic “boy meets girl, girl’s grumpy father gets in the way” story. When lower-class sailor Ralph Rackstraw falls in love with Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, mayhem ensues as the two lovebirds try to elope…while at sea • Feb 3 (8pm), 6 (7:30pm), 9 (7:30pm) • Tickets from $40 (at edmontonopera.com or 780.429.100) THE HUMANS • Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • citadeltheatre.com • A family reunion at Thanksgiving causes tensions to rise to the surface as secrets and hardships are revealed • Jan 6-28

LITERARY AUDREYS BOOKS • 10702 Jasper Ave • Laura

FRANK WARREN • Arden Theatre, 5 St Anne

10575-115 St NW • 780.349.4843 • judithgarcia07@gmail.com • flamencoenvivo.com • Every Sun until Jun 10, 11:30am-12:30pm

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

Ave, St Albert • 780.460.5990 • vasa-art.com • Emerging from Ignorance: artwork by Alena Valova; Jan 30-Feb 24

780.686.4211 • dc3artprojects.com • Isachsen: artwork by various artists; Jan 12-Feb 17

NER OR ADVANCED) • Dance Code Studio,

103 St • hellothere@violettecoquette.com • houseofhushjan26.eventbrite.com • houseofhushburlesque.com • Grab a table for House of Hush Burlesque’s speakeasy burlesque show at Crash Hotel’s vintage cocktail bar!

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

VASA GALLERY • 25 Sir Winston Churchill

DC3 ART PROJECTS • 10567-111 St •

ALLIED ARTS COUNCIL OF SPRUCE

HOUSE OF HUSH PRESENTS: NEW YEAR REVOLUTION • Crash Hotel Lobby, 10266-

St • telusworldofscienceedmonton.com • Daily activities, demonstrations and experiments • POPnology Exhibition; Feb 9-May 6 • Terry Fox– Running to the Heart of Canada; Feb 16-Sep 16

Lovatt "Losing Sophie" Book Launch; Jan 31, 7-9pm • Gleb Raygorodestsky "The Archipelago of Hope" Book Launch; Feb 4, 2-4pm

HUMAN ECOLOGY GALLERY • University

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

by Charles Lewton-Brain; Jan 20-Apr 21 • Acceptable Bodies: artwork by Allison Tunis; Jan 13-Feb 24 • Chronicles of a Contemporary Dirtbag: Trans-Disciplinarity and the Things You Think of When Fixing A Fence: artwork by Jamie Kroeger; Jan 15-Feb 24

TELUS WORLD OF SCIENCE • 11211-142

St, St Albert • stalbert.ca/exp/arden • A talk with Frank Warren, creator of the PostSecret project, where strangers anonymously mail their private thoughts on postcards • Feb 3, 7:30-9:30pm • $45 (online or by phone)

HOW TO PITCH NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES • Strathcona County Library, 401 Festival Lane, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8600 • metrowir. com • There are many opportunities for freelance writers to create articles for magazines and newspapers. But before freelancers write stories for publication, they write pitches. Writer-inResidence Michael Hingston will show the difference, and how to write a pitch that will get any editor’s attention • Jan 29, 7-8:30pm • Free; Register online at sclibrary.ca, in person at the library, or by calling 780.410.8600

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

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

UPPER CRUST CAFÉ • 10909-86 Ave •

LADIES FOURSOME • Mayfield Dinner Theatre, 16615-109 Ave • 780.483.4051 • mayfieldtheatre.ca • Imagine Sex and the City on a golf course! It’s the day after the funeral, and three women gather for a round of golf in honour of their recently departed fourth. They are joined at the tee by an old friend of the deceased and many surprises, secrets and confessions come to the surface • Feb 6-Apr 1 THE LISTENING ROOM • ATB Financial Art Barns, 10330-84 Ave • 780.471.1586 • In an isolated and post-apocalyptic desert, a group of four teenagers use radio telescopes to salvage fragments of earlier civilizations still ricocheting between stars, desperately searching for connections to a past that has faded from both memory and record • Jan 18-28

LOVE AND INFORMATION • Theatre Lab in Allard Hall, 11110-104 Ave • More than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. Churchill offers up snapshots of ourselves, existing, loving and figuring, and it is up to us to decide what we make of it • Jan 31-Feb 10, 7:30-9pm • $15-$25 THE LOWER DEPTHS • Timms Centre for the Arts, 87 Ave & 112 St, University of Alberta • ualberta.ca/artshows • A modern update of Maxim Gorky’s masterpiece of the human condition. A group of people displaced by economic and political upheaval scratch out a life on the margins of society • Feb 8-17

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

MAMMA MIA! • Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • citadeltheatre.com • Chase away the winter blues with the smash hit musical featuring all favourite ABBA songs • Feb 17-Mar 18

THEATRE

ONEGIN • Maclab Theatre at the Citadel, 9828-101A Ave • 780.425.1820 • A new indierock musical. Tells the story of Eugene Onegin, a wealthy Russian playboy who, bored with seducing women in Moscow, sees a chance for a change when he inherits a country estate. He soon becomes fast friends with Vladimir, his new neighbour, who introduces Onegin to the love of his life, Olga • Jan 17-28, 7:30pm (nightly), 2pm (weekends) • $17

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

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

OPEN JAM • Holy Trinity Church, 10037-84 Ave • 780.907.2975 • grindstonetheatre.ca • Facilitated by Grindstone Theatre. Swap games and ideas and get an opportunity to play. For those of all levels • Last Tue of each month PURPLE PIRATE’S MAGIC PIRATE SHIP • Horizon Stage, 1001 Calahoo Road, Spruce Grove • 780.962.8995 • horizonstage.com • This voyage will have adults laughing and children leaping to their feet to volunteer with the world’s friendliest buccaneer, The Purple Pirate • Jan 29, 10am

SHAKESPEARE’S R&J • Roxy on Gateway,

Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Rapid Fire Theatre’s long form comedy show: improv formats, intricate narratives, and one-act plays • Every Sat, 10pm; Sep 10-Jun 9 • $15 (door or buy in adv at TIX on the Square)

8529-103 St • theatrenetwork.ca • Presented

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

DIE-NASTY • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave

SLUMBERLAND MOTEL • Varscona Theatre,

CHIMPROV • Citadel's Zeidler Hall, 9828-101A

• die-nasty.com • Live improvised soap opera.

Join the whole Die-Nasty family REBORN, for a whole season of great artists, earth-shaking discovery, glorious music, hilarious hi jinx...but mostly Machiavellian Intrigue • Runs every Mon, 6:30pm (doors), 7:30-9:30pm • Oct 23-May 29

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

HEY LADIES! • The Roxy on Gateway (formerly C103), 8529 Gateway Blvd • theatrenetwork.ca • Edmonton’s premier comedy, info-tainment, musical, game, talk show spectacular that’s suitable for all sexes! • Feb 2, 8pm • $26 (call 780.453.2440) or TIX on the Square

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

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

TEMPUS EXTRAORDINARIUS • Theatre of La Cité francophone, 8627 rue Marie-AnneGaboury (91 St) • 780.469.8400 • lunitheatre@ lunitheatre.ca • lunitheatre.ca • Confronted to a world deprived of all freedom, condemned to survive, Tubby and Nottubby will be carried by the turbulent flows of History and Time, in an epic journey of their own selves • Feb 7-10 THEATRESPORTS • Citadel's Zeidler Hall, 9828-101A Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Improv • Every Fri, 7:30pm and 10pm • Sep 9-Jun 8 • $15

Tue., Jan. 30 (7 pm) The Race for a Clean Energy Future Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science, University of Alberta, Room 1-430 Free

VUEWEEKLY.com/FILM

REVIEW OF MY FRIEND DAHMER

FORUM

Filmmaker Shalini Kantayya breaks down the clean energy revolution

B

rooklyn filmmaker Shalini Kantayya is known for her activist film features that break the mold, forging forward in the fight for a renewable and equally-accessible planet.

Her talk at the University of Alberta covers the clean energy movement and discusses factors involved in creating a future-minded city with cleaner industries.

Kantayya’s best-known film, Catching the Sun (2015), focuses on the global shift toward solar energy and its ability to empower those who have fallen into the margins of society.

“Seeing how environmental collapse impacts communities that are most vulnerable, I wondered if the opposite could also be true,” Kantayya says. “I wondered if by creating more sustainable, resilient environments we can also create more resilient, thriving communities.”

Her films begin with a compelling question, often politicallycharged, and end with a human story that touches on much larger themes.

“I feel [that] sometimes stories about the environment are failing because we think that stories about the environment don’t include people,” Kantayya says. “The destiny of the environment and the destiny of hu-

man beings are intimately and inextricably intertwined.”

She tells the story of the California-based non-profit organization, Solar Richmond. Their innovative training program teaches the skills of green energy to low-income communities, many of which feel the effects of industry moving overseas and environmental and health disasters related to what Kantayya calls “an outdated oil industry.”

The practical investment and job potentials unearthed in the film are what sets it apart from others in the environmental genre.

“I was sort of raised by a single mom from India, and she raised me with the idea that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to live a dignified life and achieve your dreams,” she says. “And yet, when I visited cities like Richmond, where my film takes place, I saw that dream of upward mobility eroding.”

Misconceptions surrounding clean energy often label it as not economically accessible and only for elites, but that’s becoming less the case. The documentary touches on China’s innovations, making quick work of cost-efficient and higher impact solar panels for the market.

The timeline for solar energy integration has dropped precipitously since the early ‘70s.

Currently, the expectation is for it to take largescale effect in anywhere between 10 and 15 years. The first solar cell was developed in 1954, having an efficiency of about six percent.

Today, manufacturers can achieve an efficiency of over 46 percent.

Simply put, clean energy is an economic opportunity for progressive countries to set themselves up to be future industrial, financial and policy leaders.

“This change is actually happening already and it’s just a matter of whether we lead or we follow,” she says speaking of countries like Germany and Norway, which have already embarked on clean energy initiatives and investments.

Kantayya continues on her mission this spring with her next film, which follows a Sri Lankan marine biologist working to save the largest mammal on Earth, the blue whale.

Sierra Bilton sierra@vueweekly.com

Shalini Kantayya / Supplied

FRI, JAN 25 – THUR, FEB 1

PRESENTS

MOUNTAIN (2017) THUR @ 7:00 CANADA'S TOP TEN FILM FESTIVAL CANADA'S TOP TEN FILM FESTIVAL

WEST SIDE STORY SUN @ 12:00

SUN @ 7:15, WED @ 9:30

RATED: 14A

THREE BILLBOARDS OUT POLITICS, MUSIC, ART, FOOD, FILM AND MORE! *BIRD’S... EYE... VUE. GET IT?

THE SHAPE OF WATER RATED: 14A, V, SC, NRFC

LADY BIRD

SAT & SUN: 4:00PM RATED: 14A, CL, SC

FRI: 9:45PM, SAT: 1:00 & 9:45PM SUN: 1:00 & 8:30PM MON TO THURS: 9:15PM

SUNDAY CLASSICS

CANADA'S TOP TEN FILM FESTIVAL

NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL SUN @ 4:45 MY FRIEND DAHMER SUN @ 9:30, MON @ 7:00 CANADA'S TOP TEN FILM FESTIVAL

JAPANESE WITH SUBTITLES

FRI, SAT & MON TO THURS: 7:00PM SUN: 6:00PM

LES AFFAMÉS (THE RAVENOUS) SAT @ 9:30 FRENCH WITH SUBTITLES

– FREE ADMISSION FOR KIDS 12 & UNDER

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

CANADA'S TOP TEN FILM FESTIVAL

SHORT FILMS THUR @ 9:30

ADVENTURES IN PUBLIC SCHOOL FRI @ 7:00 MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER FRI @ 9:00, SAT @ 2:00 – ENGLISH DUBBED

PHANTOM THREAD

JAN 25 - FEB 1

CANADA'S TOP TEN FILM FESTIVAL

RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD SAT @ 4:30 FACES PLACES SAT @ 7:00, SUN @ 3:00, TUES @ 9:15 FRENCH WITH SUBTITLES

ALLURE MON @ 9:30 2017 EDMONTON FILM AND MUSIC PRIZES TUES @ 4:30 FREE ADMISSION CANADA'S TOP TEN FILM FESTIVAL

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS TOO FOND OF MATCHES TUES @ 7:00 FRENCH WITH SUBTITLES

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HERO WED @ 6:30 PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

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

RATED: 14A, CL, BV

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

film 11

Can the appeal of escape rooms stand the test of time?

T

he drama of being trapped in a room with close friends has become a common pastime for the modern entertainmentseeker. The escape room phenomenon has gained immense momentum over the last couple of years, with many locations servicing the needs of those yearning for some form of escape from their busy lives.

Locations have popped up around the city with no signs of slowing down. This begs the questions: How does the appeal of this industry work in tandem with its peculiar staying power? And can this last?

“Despite the fact that there are 15 different escape room companies in Edmonton, they’re almost always fully booked,” says Aberdeen Nault, the assistant manager of Exit Edmonton Escape on Whyte.

The reasoning behind the im-

mense popularity of escape rooms is owed not only to the frigid nature of Edmonton, but also the appeal of activity itself. In a winter city like ours, any active indoor enterprise is as decent a substitute as any for Netflix.

“It’s a good group activity, which is hard to find in a city like Edmonton. It provides an active and engaging service, and people get a kick out of pretend play,” says Adrian Butler, assistant manager of Smartypantz Escape Rooms.

It appears that the intricacy in which escape rooms present themselves is one of the key foundations of the industry that keeps people coming back for more.

Numerous locations across the city have themed rooms that range from horror, sci-fi and even betrayal. Games in

which there is a traitor amongst the group add a sense of urgency to an activity already moving at a frantic pace. Apart from the elaborate narratives, actors and set designs that these locations supply, there is one crucial aspect that keeps people returning—the thrill of solving the puzzle.

Every room is designed with an assemblage of various problems and traps that one must conquer in order to escape.

This is where the bulk of the appeal is often found.

“No matter how hard you find it to communicate with other people in your effort to escape under stress, win or lose you always end up with a fulfilling mental workout. It’s all about those little ‘ah-ha’ moments when you succeed,” says Liam Rooke, a regular at numerous escape rooms across the city.

EXIT Edmonton Escape on Whyte / Supplied

The mental reward of overcoming a problem is something than can often be squandered in a busy workday. One doesn’t achieve the same sense of pleasure akin to escaping from a trap room when fixing the copier at work. With that in mind, it seems the escape room industry has refined the model of fulfilling puzzle-solving. However, with the rise of virtual reality, which also incorporates immersion and problem solving skills, are the days of escape rooms numbered?

The irony of the scenario is that escape rooms have their initial framework in old pointand-click computer games. The tragic nature of something that has its DNA based in technology, only to be eventually snuffed out by it, is something that operators of these locations have taken into account.

Yet, not everyone is worried.

“With virtual reality, you lose that physical sensation, which is vital to the experience,” Nault says. “Escape rooms are an amazing way to measure personal accomplishment with a physical unit of measurement.”

Escape rooms still appear fresh in the eyes of the public for the time being, and the wave of fatigue has yet to hit, if it ever does. Although, with the everevolving landscape of indoor entertainment, even those who operate these locations know that the boom we’re currently experiencing won’t last forever.

“We’re experiencing quite the bubble right now,” Butler says.

“I think in time we’ll see escape rooms in the city shrink to a number far smaller than fifteen. The population just can’t sustain it.”

Jake Pesaruk editor@vueweekly.com

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12 great indoors

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

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VIRTUAL REALITY

USE YOUR ILLUSION A

CTRL V Edmonton / Supplied

Virtual reality arcades and games continue to increase throughout YEG

s technology advances, so do the ways people are gaming and creating virtual experiences.

Virtual reality (VR) is one such technology that has benefited from recent industry advances and is quickly becoming a growing trend in Edmonton.

VR technology has been present in pop culture for some time, including movies such as The Matrix, and more recently a Steven Spielberg flick called Ready Player One. It has been making major technological advances in the last five to six years, with innovations in both video games and VR technology. Virtual reality arcades are becoming a popular option for gamers and those curious about VR in general.

“There is a lot of misconception about what virtual reality actually is,” says Grenn Holden, co-owner of Ctrl V Edmonton, one of several VR arcades that have been popping up around the city. “When people try it for the first time, though, they usually leave blown away.”

Virtual reality is considered an immersive experience where users wear headsets that are meant to transport you to another dimension. There are several athome headsets available on the market, but Holden says there is a good reason why arcades continue to grow in popularity.

“When people use VR head-

sets at home, they are removing the social aspect of VR,” Holden says. “Plus, for someone to recreate an at-home setup that is somewhat equal to the experience in a VR arcade, you’d have to spend upwards of $4,000.”

So what exactly will it cost you to have an experience in a VR arcade? It depends on the location, but most places range anywhere from $25 per hour (Ctrl V Edmonton, The Rec Room), to $200 for a three-hour birthday party, and typically start at $1,000 for public event rentals (Inception VR Inc.).

VR isn’t just for gamers. In fact, there are many options available for nearly everyone of any age, as most arcades allow children as young as eight to participate. Guidelines for arcades and headset use are set individually, so it’s a good idea to inquire ahead of time.

“With VR, you can play games, create art, learn, travel and more,” says Kyle Gagnon, the owner of the locally-based mobile-only Inception VR Inc. “The popularity is picking up quickly.”

One potential downside is that some users have reported experiencing nausea or motion sickness while using a VR headset.

Arcade owners agree, it’s likely an ill-fitted headset or poor content causing the issue.

While VR may look like a rela-

tively simple concept, there are actually a lot of important and complex pieces in creating a quality VR experience. This includes the quality of content created by developers and the equipment used to interact with the content.

If you want to try VR, and it’s your first time visiting an arcade, make sure they are using licensed content and have taken the time to properly fit the headset to you.

Regardless of whether it’s your first or 15th time entering the world of VR, you’re bound to find an experience that interests you.

Whether it’s zombie hunting, climbing Mt. Washington, swimming in shark infested waters or even painting a new universe, VR arcades are a solid option for escaping the winter and reality.

Katie Robertson editor@vueweekly.com

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great indoors 13

ALTERNATIVE INDIE

Chad VanGaalen / Marc Rimmer

Chad VanGaalen creates beautifully dark universes on Light Information

L

ike most of us, Chad VanGaalen could’ve done without last year.

“I was waiting for 2017 to be gone for quite some time,” VanGaalen says from his Calgary home. “My father passed away about four months ago now. And then I went on tour and then I came back in between and my dog passed away. And then I left again and came back so I’m just kind of readjusting myself to a new way of being.”

It’s impossible to pigeonhole VanGaalen—musician and song writer, in-demand illustrator, record producer, enthusiastic gardener, aspiring frisbee pro and world-class cool dad.

He worked through his father’s illness on “Broken Bell,” a standout track on latest album Light Information.

“I sit and do a drawing, a portrait of my dad/I should really visit him, before he is dead,” he sings.

But, in a classic VanGaalen

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move, a song that could’ve been bleak-black heavy is lifted by a perfect, hilarious chorus.

“Should I take the advice of the graffiti on the wall telling me to ‘go suck it’?”

VanGaalen recorded Light Information, mostly solo, in his home studio, Yoko Eno, and it’s one of the best albums of last year.

VanGaalen has always created universes in his music and drawings, this time birthing a world of technological anxiety, looming apocalypse and parasitic demons.

Dark? Thematically, yes. But VanGaalen’s gift for melody, recording and song writing makes for beautiful moments, like the jangly ‘60s pop of “Pine and Clover” or singing with his young daughters Pip and Ezzy on the closer, “Static Shape.”

As he chats over his landline, sipping a microwaved cup of old coffee, VanGaalen pondered what kind of world his daughters are growing into. He doesn’t own

a cellphone and is only vaguely aware that someone is managing social media accounts and promoting his art.

“I would feel a little better about this sort of technological revolution if everyone wasn’t so sad about it,” he says. “If it was bringing happiness and joy then I would be like, ‘this is great.’ But it’s a new type of sensitivity, one that’s bringing anxiety and suffocation, and we’re using it for this strange curation of ourselves.”

VanGaalen’s not the kind of man who needs the distraction of social media to fill his hours. He’s a world-renowned illustrator, lending his mind-melting improvisational animations to music videos like the Prism Prize-winning video for Timber Timbre’s “Beat the Drum Slowly.” He’s also involved in the Adult Swim series Dream Corp, LLC, where he contributes “weirdo” soundtrack work and is involved in character design—a job that took him to Jim Henson studios, where he totally kept his cool.

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14 music

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

Sat., Jan. 27 (8 pm) Chad VanGaalen and the Bleach Wipes w/ Mauno Starlite Room, $20 “I think I was actually crying when I got there the first time,” VanGaalen laughs. “Hopefully next time it won’t be as much of a shock.”

The things and places that VanGaalen creates aren’t all happy—there are demons there—but there’s also magic and a gentle vibe of kindness.

They’re sci-fi worlds that seem both guarded against the relentless march of progress and willing to embrace jumping into the void. And the more time you spend in VanGaalen’s universe, the more you want to jump in with him.

“It’s scary,” VanGaalen says.

“But I say ‘bring it on.’ Whatever man, this clunky junker? I’ll trade it in for some infinite magic.”

Josh Marcellin music@vueweekly.com

GYPSY FOLK

GYPSY CELEBRATIONS The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra want to ‘Make Really Party’ with you Fri., Jan. 26 (8 PM) The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra w/ Bardic Form and Luke Thomson & The Howl Starlite Room $15

D

uring the first half of its career, gypsy-folk troubadour group The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra met a jovial Austrian man who uttered a phrase that would follow the members for many years.

“He wanted to hire us to play a show at his restaurant in Vienna and he would always say, ‘Come to the restaurant. We get some wine, some food, and dance with some girls and we make really party,’” says guitarist and vocalist Kurt Loewen from the band’s Love Studio in Olds, AB. The man’s enthusiasm was so extravagant when he said ‘We make really party,’ in his broken English that it became a running joke in the band for years and ended up being the name for the newest EP that released last summer.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra (TTMO), it’s a sound has always been reminiscent of a wine-fuelled gypsy wedding that induces party chants like “Opa” or “Salute.” There’s a unified sound of Eastern European-inspired polka accordion and nimble but complex fiddle, meshed together with guitars, double bass and drums.

The lyrics are sung in multiple languages ranging from English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.

“Multi-lingual stuff has been a part of our band since day one.

Three of us speak Spanish, one speaks Portuguese and a couple speak French,” Loewen says.

TTMO have become so ingrained in the gypsy-folk genre that audiences (especially in Europe) have been shocked that the bulk of the band is actually made up of a bunch of Canadian guys from Victoria, B.C. “Ian Griffiths, [vocalist, accordionist and keyboard player] in terms of songwriting, has been the principal songwriter in our band for

The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra / Amy Braun

years,” Loewen says. “The first few songs were from Ian when he came back from Spain. He was really influenced by flamenco music and gypsy culture and those were the first songs we played for the first year of being a band. That feel has never really left us.”

We Make Really Party might be TTMO’s most cohesive batch of recordings to date. The fivesong EP starts off with “Luna,” a mellow Spanish-sung ode to the moon. Near the end of the song, the time signature changes and it explodes into a fast-paced accordion-led party. It’s the perfect start to present the vibe of the EP. “I think it’s the first record we recorded that actually sounds like what we really do,” Loewen says.

“Maybe that’s hard for a lot of bands to capture. I mean, we are pretty critical of our own shit.”

The album also features a rendition of the ancient Italian partisan song “Bella Ciao.” The arrangement of the song is constantly shifting and focuses on a jangly fiddle hook that keeps on intensifying the groove and pace of the song.

“It’s an anti-fascist song from history. Ian learned all of the lyrics from an Italian guy when we were in Italy in 2008 and it became part of our set,” Loewen says. “It also has a Quebecois fiddle tune in the middle from another fiddler that we used to play with,” Loewen says. “The outro is something that morphs and changes from a one-chord

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

jam into a three-chord jam when we play live. But it’s all deliberate in terms of vibe and texture and even harmony.”

A TTMO show is always a different beast. The band members have been playing so long together that improvisation has become a welcomed aspect of the live performance.

“We have regular sections in songs that we open up to whatever is happening at the time,” Loewen says. “If you see us live, we don’t play the songs like they are on the record. The chords and melody are there, but the groove and feel of the arrangements have all morphed over a decade.”

Stephan Boissonneault stephan@vueweekly.com

music 15

BALKAN DANCE

(Front) Billie Zizi and Cam Neufeld / Jordan Keith

KING OF GYPSY JAZZ

“The Road to Django” traces the musical framework of gypsyjazz pioneer Django Reinhardt

Sat., Jan. 27 (7:30 pm) The Road to Django w/ The Gadjo Collective Capitol Theatre, Fort Edmonton Park $30

A

fter hearing the music of the Romani people, local violinist Cam Neufeld knew he had to trace back its musical roots.

In 2010, he travelled to India and France, stopping in places like Turkey, the Balkans, and Romania along the way. Basically, he made his own version of the “gypsy trail,” following the path of the Romani people while collecting and writing his own music.

“The Romani people absorbed the music around them and would play it in their own particular way,” Neufeld says.

“That’s kind of what I did. When I got back to Edmonton I sort of formed a show with this music.

I learned and wrote along the way and it gradually evolved into a large ensemble.”

That ensemble eventually became the Gadjo Collective, a Balkan hot-club dance band with a rotating cast of 10 to 14 musicians including belly dancers and Neufeld’s daughter Billie Zizi on rhythm guitar.

Neufeld’s trip was sparked af-

16 music

ter he received a stringed Indian instrument called the ravanahatha from Zizi after she got back from her own trip to India.

“I was trying to play it but I was failing, so I went to India and found the guy who built it,” Neufeld says. “He plays in a little town in Rajasthan. So I stayed there for a couple weeks, playing with him every day. Gradually, I got the hang of it. It’s the oldest form of violin known in the world, so it was interesting to study it.”

Neufeld eventually made his way to Samois, France to attend the Django Reinhardt Festival.

For those who are unfamiliar, Django Reinhardt was the famous “two-finger” BelgianRomani guitarist responsible for creating the gypsy-jazz genre.

“When he was 17, his wife was selling flowers and he was in a caravan and it caught fire and he was burned quite badly,” Neufeld says. “They wanted to amputate his arm, but they treated him with whatever magic they had and they managed to save his arm and hand, but he had to develop this whole two-finger style.”

Together with violinist Stephane Grappelli, Reinhardt formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France, a gypsy-jazz swing band that took

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

France and the world by storm in the early ‘30s until 1948.

“The sound was heavily inspired by American jazz, but at the same time, there’s a special kind of free improvisation that can be associated with the Romani people that goes back to the ragas (scales) of India and the thousands of years of improvisation they provided.

It’s interesting how it spread throughout the world. Like, every city has a gypsy-jazz band.

Edmonton has probably about five,” Neufeld says.

After Neufeld came back from his trip and formed the Gadjo Collective, he created “The Road to Django” show, a performance that traces back the music that prompted Reinhardt’s gypsyjazz inception, while playing some of his classic tunes.

“It follows the trail and ends with a big Django feature,” Neufeld says. “Lots of the pieces are ones I wrote while travelling. The travel log component is a mixture of traditional music and things I’ve written. For instance, the Turkish part has a piece I wrote in Istanbul with a medley of a traditional Romani piece. So there’s the standard Balkan repertoire and my stuff.

So it will be interesting.”

Stephan Boissonneault stephan@vueweekly.com

Miss Rae & the Midnight Ramblers / Supplied

BLUES/SOUL

OLD SOUL, NEW BLUES

Upcoming BIG Events JAN 26

Swear By The Moon w/ Amy Nelson

JAN 27

Abusin’ The Blues

FEB 1

Parkland w/ Kimberly MacGregor

FEB 2

X Band

FEB 3

Evergreen w/ Friends of Foes and Milk

Tickets and more event listings

TheRecRoom.com South Edmonton Common

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

l l i B e l Doub Edmonton’s Miss Rae has felt the blues for her entire young life Sat., Jan. 27 (9:30 pm) Miss Rae & the Midnight Ramblers The Rec Room, West Edmonton Mall Free

C

heyenne Rae Bruneau cracks up as she realizes she just called her guitar player, Warren ‘Magic’ Chan, a “young kid.”

“He’s a year older than me,” Bruneau laughs.

You can forgive the 26-year-old Edmonton blues woman, who performs as Miss Rae, for feeling like an old soul. First, there’s that voice. Bruneau has a powerful, mature, show-stopping instrument that fills a room to the rafters. Think Etta James, Billie Holiday and Big Mama Thornton.

Then there’s the fact she’s been steeping in the blues her whole life. Bruneau was first exposed to live music at the legendary Sidetrack Café, where her mother took her to blues jams as a nine-year-old.

As a young woman, Bruneau took a Greyhound bus pilgrimage through the American South, tracing the roots of the blues. She stood on the plantation porch where Howlin’ Wolf and Son House jammed and stayed in the Mississippi hotel where John Lee Hooker slept and Bessie Smith died.

But it took a classic Edmonton experience to make a 16-yearold Bruneau realize that she too could be a performer.

“It was when I went to the Edmonton Folk Fest and I saw Sharon Jones sing onstage,” Bruneau says. “I remember seeing an interview and she was talking about how record labels said she was too short, too fat, too black. But she just did it, regardless of being torn down.

She was a very different person to see on stage. So I thought, ‘it’s okay to be different.’”

That same year, Bruneau moved to Winnipeg where she immersed herself in the local music scene as a photographer and studied filmmaking. She went to Sunday night blues jams (“Should I say this? I started going to that bar to see music when I was 16. They didn’t know how old I was!”) and honed her chops onstage. By 23, she’d recorded her first album, Big Boned Woman, live-off-the-floor to tape with local players.

But the ever-restless singer wanted to see more. She moved to Paris, renting an apartment in the heart of the city. Bruneau sang in Metro stations, then cafés, with only a guitarist to accompany her.

It was an exposed way to perform—there was no band for her voice to hide behind.

“It stripped down my vocal abilities and rebuilt them,” she says. “When I sang it had to make an impact.”

And now is Bruneau’s time to make that impact. Back in her hometown of Edmonton, she’s assembled a serious band of lo-

cal players: Clayton Sample on guitar, Grant Stovel on drums, Christ Grapel on upright bass and Septimus Alexander on tenor saxophone. She grew up listening to Sample and Stovel play at the Sidetrack Café, and now they’re backing her as she grows into a powerful artist.

Bruneau and her band, the Midnight Ramblers, will be heading into Edmontone Studio to record the follow-up to Big Boned Woman with noted local producer Doug Organ, who had also spent time in Paris honing his musical skills. It’s only been four years since her first album, but for Bruneau that might as well be a lifetime.

“I feel like my first album was my baby album,” she says. “I had such a young voice then and now I have a lot more power.

I can project better. I can control my voice better. It’s time to show what I can do.”

Josh Marcellin music@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

January 27

TH

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

cnty.com/edmonton

music 17

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

THU JAN 25 ACCENT LOUNGE Jay Gilday; 9:30-

11pm; $10 door; 18+ only ARIA'S BISTRO Open mic with Gar-

rett James; 6-10pm; All ages AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR Piano Show; Every Thu, 8pm B-STREET BAR Karaoke; Every Thu-

Sat, 9:30pm BLUES ON WHYTE Russell Jackson;

9pm BLVD SUPPER X CLUB B**ch A Little,

Wine Alot (house, hip-hop and reggae music); Every Thu; No cover BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB Karaoke/

DJ; Every Thu-Sat, 9pm BRICK & WHISKEY PUBLIC HOUSE

Big Rockin' Thursday Jam & Open Mic; Every Thu, 8pm CAFE BLACKBIRD Michael Reinhart;

7pm; $6 CASINO YELLOWHEAD Rave On–The

Buddy Holly Tribute featuring Nick Stice; 6:30pm (dinner), 8:30pm (show); $45 (dinner & show) FIDDLER'S ROOST Acoustic Circle

Jam; 7:30-11:30pm HAVE MERCY Thigh Thursdays with

El Niven & The Alibi and friends; Every Thu, 8:30pm; No cover LB'S PUB Open Jam hosted by

FRI JAN 26 99TEN Craze with Nick Degree and

UBK Residents; 9pm; $20 (adv) ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL Amie

Weymes and Atta Boys; 8:30pm AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR Piano Show; Every Fri, 9pm BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ VISSIA, Megan

Nash, Justine Vandergrift; 8:3010:30pm; $15 BLUES ON WHYTE Russell Jackson;

9pm BOHEMIA Mitm Amen Release Show

with C&J and JAZZ Waters; 7pm; $10; 18+ only BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB Karaoke/

DJ; Every Thu-Sat, 9pm CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK Chill

Factor; 9pm CARROT COFFEEHOUSE Live music every Fri; all ages; 7pm; $5 (door) CASINO EDMONTON Colleen Rae &

phony Orchestra: Ravel’s Concerto In G–Conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni; 7:30pm; $15-$87

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: DJ Late Fee; Every Fri; Wooftop: Selection Fridays with

DENIZEN HALL Champ City Soundtrack; Every Fri-Sat DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY The Rural

Routes; 9pm THE FORGE ON WHYTE Apollo

Spitfire; 8pm; $8 (adv), $10 (door); 18+ only

ROSE & CROWN PUB Stan Gallant; 9pm

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

Weymes and Atta Boys; 8:30pm AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR Piano Show; Every Sat, 9pm AVIARY Antique Hearts with Short of Able & Sweet Talker; 8pm; $10 (adv at YEGLive); All ages BAILEY THEATRE–CAMROSE Martin

Kerr; 8pm; $25 (Students $15) at the Bailey Box Office or online BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Hair of the Dog: For Tonight; 4-6pm; No cover BLUES ON WHYTE Russell Jackson;

9pm

RIVER CREE–The Venue Official

BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB Karaoke/

DJ; Every Thu-Sat, 9pm

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Blues Club

SANDS INN & SUITES Karaoke with

CAFE BLACKBIRD Sebastian Bar-

SEWING MACHINE FACTORY Bloom

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

Circle, Hunchback, Dead Friends, Ghostears; 8pm; $10 (door); 18+ only

STARLITE ROOM Matt Mays with

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Stuck In the

with Michael Gress (fr Self Evolution); every Thu; 9pm-2am WOODRACK CAFÉ Birdie on a Branch;

2nd Thu of every month, 7-8:30pm; No cover (donations welcome) YARDBIRD SUITE YEG Thursday Showcase with Jeremiah Mcdade Quintet; 7pm (doors), 8pm (show); $11 (members), $15 (guests)

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Thu Main Fl:

Rock N' Roll, Funk & Soul with DJ Modest Mike; Every Thu; Wooftop Lounge: Dear Hip Hop with Freshlan; Underdog: Underdog Comedy Show THE COMMON The Common

Uncommon Thursday: Rotating guests each week ON THE ROCKS Salsa Rocks: every

Thu; dance lessons at 8pm; Cuban Salsa DJ to follow

18 music

80's; 10pm; $10; No minors SHELL THEATRE, DOW CENTENNIAL CENTRE Frank. Dean. Sammy.

When You’re Smiling–A Celebration of Friendship, the Songs and the Stories.; 7:30pm; $30-$35

rera; 8pm; $15 CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK Chill

Factor; 9pm CARROT COFFEEHOUSE Sat Open

mic; 7pm; $2 CASINO EDMONTON Colleen Rae &

Cornerstone; 9pm CASK AND BARREL Old Towns;

4-6pm; Free CENTURY CASINO-EDMONTON

Doug Stroud; 9pm

Headpins & Toronto Double Bill; 7-11pm; $44.95 + GST; No minors, reserved seating

SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM Jimmy

CENTURY CASINO–ST. ALBERT

SHERLOCK HOLMES–DOWNTOWN

Whiffen; 9pm SIDELINER’S PUB Hillbilly Wishbone;

9pm; $10 STARLITE ROOM The Tequila

Mockingbird Orchestra with guests Bardic Form, Luke Thomson & The Howl; 8pm; $15; 18+ only ST. BASIL'S CULTURAL CENTRE Belle

Plaine with opening act: Ben Sures; 6:30pm (doors), 7:30pm (show); $20 (adv, plus service fees), $25 (door, if available) WILD EARTH BAKERY–MILLCREEK

Live Music Fridays; Each Fri, 8-10pm; $5 suggested donation

Bailey Buckaroos; 2pm; $15 at the Bailey Box Office or online

9pm

YARDBIRD SUITE Sienna Dahlen's

Ice Age Paradise; 7pm (doors), 8pm (show); $22 (members), $26 (guests)

Blackboard Jungle; 9pm SANDS INN & SUITES

To Laugh at Winter's Sadness; 7:30pm; $20 (adv), $25 (door), plus applicable fees

Open Jam; Every Sun, 7-11pm

Chronic Rock; 9pm; Free CHVRCH OF JOHN Low Steppa; 9pm;

$20 (adv via Blueprint) DENIZEN HALL Champ City Soundtrack; Every Fri-Sat DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY The Rural

Routes; 9pm EMPRESS ALE HOUSE Bands at the Empress; Every Sat, 4-6pm; Free; 18+ only THE FORGE ON WHYTE The Devil's Sons, 5 Cent Freakshow, The Unwashed, Sugarwash; 8pm; $10 (door); 18+ only

HAVE MERCY To-Do Tuesday: open

ALL SAINTS ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL

Pro Coro Canada presents The Male Voices of Pro Coro Canada- vistel, vastel; 3pm HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH

Edmonton Metropolitian Chamber Choir presents "Women in Song"; 3pm; $15 (adv), $20 (door), plus applicable service fees WINSPEAR CENTRE Alberta

Children's Choir–Presented By Choir Alberta; 3pm; $23

DJs

MUTTART HALL New Music

GAS PUMP Kizomba-DJ; 8pm

MON JAN 29 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Wooftop:

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Rod Jewell

Band Open stage YARDBIRD SUITE Tuesday Session: Jazz Nipp Trio; 7:30pm (door), 8pm (show); $5

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:

Chris Bruce spins britpop/punk/ garage/indie; Every Tue EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR Taco Tuesday with

Metal Mondays with Metal Phil from CJSR's Heavy Metal Lunchbox

WED JAN 31

BLUES ON WHYTE Dahlia and the Value Villains; 9pm

9pm

DEVANEY'S IRISH PUB Karaoke night; Every Mon, 9pm; Free FIDDLER'S ROOST Open Stage;

BLUES ON WHYTE Randy Mcallister;

DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Wed open

mic with host Duff Robison; 8pm GAS PUMP Karaoke; 9:30pm

7-11pm

HAVE MERCY Piano Karaoke

HAVE MERCY Mississippi Monday

featuring with Tiff Hall; Every Wed, 8:30pm

Night Blues Jam hosted by the Dylan Farrell Ban; Every Mon, 8:30pm (sign up); No cover PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers

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

WINSPEAR CENTRE Edmonton Symphony Orchestra: Ravel’s Concerto In G–Conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni; 8pm; $15-$87

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:

DJs

Substance with Eddie Lunchpail

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:

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

LB'S PUB Tuesday Night Open Jam Hosted by Darrell Barr; 7-11pm; No charge

resident DJs

Songwriter Monday Night Open Stage; Hosted by Celeigh Cardinal; Every Mon (except long weekends), 8:30pm

Edmonton presents Nu:BC Collective; 7:30-9:30pm; $25 (general), $20 (student/senior), $15 (NME members)

mic night hosted by Justin Perkins; Every Tue (except for the 3rd of every month) • Outlaw Country Vinyl Night with Sheriff Taylor; Every 3rd Tue of the month

DJs

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main

SIDELINER’S PUB Singer/

BRIXX BAR Good Set: Conch with

Lot D, Aidan Murphy, and Fontaine Lewis; 9pm; $10; 18+ only

entertainment, Every Fri, 9pm

AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO

ON THE ROCKS

Pecado, Enduring the Fall; 8pm Blues Brothers Revue; 7pm (doors), 9pm (show); Tickets staring at $39.99; 18+ only

night; Every Sun, 6-9pm

with Mauno; 8pm; $20; 18+ only

ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL Amie

RENDEZVOUS PUB Waking Mayhem,

ALIBI PUB AND EATERY Open mic

BLUES ON WHYTE Russell Jackson;

STARLITE ROOM Chad VanGaalen

LEAF BAR AND GRILL Karoake at the

REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON Swear By The Moon with

SUN JAN 28

BLUE CHAIR CAFÈ Sunday Jazz Brunch with Charlie Austin; 9am2pm; Donations

Whiffen; 9pm

Classical

Floor: DJ Zyppy with DJ Late Fee; Every Sun

BAILEY THEATRE–CAMROSE The

HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH

ON THE ROCKS Bonafide; 9pm

MERCER TAVERN DJ Mikey Wong

every Sat

BAR Piano Show; Every Sun, 9pm

Hiway; 9pm; No minors

Of Beets with Strange Charm and Apollo Spitfire; 8pm; $10 (adv, YEGLive or Blackbyrd)

Saturdays: top 40, throwbacks and club anthems

Ammar’s Saturday Sessions Jam; Every Sat, 4-8pm • Stuck In the 80's; 10pm; $10; No minors

Classical

Leaf; Every Fri, 9pm; Free

ENVY NIGHT CLUB Resolution

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Mark

SHERLOCK HOLMES–DOWNTOWN

ROSE & CROWN PUB Stan Gallant; 9pm

TAVERN ON WHYTE Open stage

Miss Rae & the Midnight Ramblers; 9:30pm; Free

Fridays with DJ Echo & Freshlan

SAT JAN 27

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

8:30pm; Free

THE COMMON Quality Control

DJ; 9pm-2am

EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR Resident DJs playing

THE PROVINCIAL PUB Saturday Nights: Indie rock and dance with DJ Maurice; 9pm-2am

REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON Abusin' the Blues;

REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON MALL

Rockin' Rod Jewell; Every Thu, 7-11pm

Dustin Bentall; 8pm (doors), 9pm (show); $27.50; 18+ only

ON THE ROCKS Bonafide; 9pm

Jesse and the Dandelions; 9pm; $10; 18+ only

REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON

SQUARE 1 COFFEE Singer/Songwriter

MARKET Live Local Bands every Sat

Remo, Noosh, Fingertips & guests; Underdog: Rap, House, Hip-Hop with DJ Teddy Plenti; every Fri

EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR Resident DJs playing

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

MKT FRESH FOOD AND BEER

THE ALMANAC The Utilities with

LB'S PUB Bridge Motel Rock Off The

DBL DIP; 9:30pm; Free

Jam hosted by Rodney Jewell; Every Thu, 7-11pm

Jam; 3-7pm; Free • PappaRocca the Rock Band with guests; 9pm

SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM Jimmy

REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON MALL

SHERBROOKE PUB Jam hosted by

WINSPEAR CENTRE Edmonton Sym-

THE COMMON Get Down It's

LEAF BAR AND GRILL Homemade

THE PROVINCIAL PUB Video Music

Amy Nelson; 8:30pm; Free

Thursdays with JR; Every Thu, 9pm-1am

ROBERTSON WESLEY UNITED CHURCH Gryphon Trio; 7:30pm

LB'S PUB Flash Drive; 9pm; No minors

Doug Stroud; 9pm

Chronic Rock; 9pm; Free

The Nervous Flirts; Every other Thu, 7pm

SANDS INN & SUITES Karaoke

LA CITÉ FRANCOPHONE Opus@12 Chamber Concert Society presents Winter Fantasy; 12-1pm; Free

GAS PUMP Live DJ; 10pm

REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON Karaoke with live band,

MALL Don Gammie; 8:30pm; Free

HORIZON STAGE Tim Tamashiro: When You’re Smiling; 7:30pm

CENTURY CASINO–ST. ALBERT

NORTH GLENORA HALL Jam by

Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers every Thu; 7pm

Classical

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

MERCURY ROOM Fifteen Pounds

stage; 7pm

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

Cornerstone; 9pm

Russell Johnston NAKED CYBERCAFÉ Thu open

YARDBIRD SUITE Brad Shepik Organ Trio; 7pm (doors), 8pm (show); $24 (members), $28 (guests)

TUE JAN 30 BLUES ON WHYTE Dahlia

and the Value Villains; 9pm FIDDLER'S ROOST

Fiddle Jam Circle; 7:30-11:30pm

Tim Tamashiro Horizon Stage Jan. 27, 7:30 pm $30-$35

GAS PUMP Karaoke;

9:30pm

LEAF BAR & GRILL Wang Dang

Wednesdays; Every Wed, 7-11pm; Free ON THE ROCKS Karaoke Wednesdays hosted by ED; Every Wed, 9pm PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL

Acoustic Bluegrass jam presented by the Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society; Guests and newcomers always welcome; every Wed, 7pm; $2 (donation, per person), free coffee available THE PROVINCIAL PUB Karaoke

Wednesday SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Country Jam

with 4 Dollar Bill

Classical ROBERT TEGLER CENTRE, CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY Concordia

Symphony Orchestra; 7:30pm TRIFFO THEATRE IN ALLARD HALL

EJFS presents Maria Schneider and The Edmonton Jazz Orchestra; 7:30-9:30pm; $25-$35 WINSPEAR CENTRE Milky Chance– Blossom Tour; 8pm; $31.50-$51.50

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:

DJ Late Fee; Every Wed

VENUEGUIDE 99TEN 9910B-109 St NW, 780.709.4734, 99ten.ca ACCENT LOUNGE 8223-104 St ALIBI PUB & EATERY 17328 Stony Plain Rd ALL SAINTS ANGLICAN CHURCH 10035-103 St THE ALMANAC 1035182 Ave, 780.760.4567, almanaconwhyte.com ARIA'S BISTRO 10332-81 Ave, 780.972.4842, ariasbistro.com ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL 7704 Calgary Trail South, 780.432.4611, atlantictrapandgill.com AUSSIE RULES KITCHEN & PIANO BAR #1638, 8882-170 St, 780.486.7722, aussierulesedmonton.com AVIARY 9314-111 Ave B-STREET BAR 11818-111 Ave BAILEY THEATRE 5041-50 St, Camrose, 780. 672.5510, baileytheatre.com BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE 1042582 Ave, 780.439.1082 BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ 9624-76 Ave, 780.989.2861 BLUES ON WHYTE 10329-82 Ave, 780.439.3981 BLVD SUPPER X CLUB 10765 Jasper Ave BOHEMIA 10217-97 St

BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB 322682 St, 780.462.1888 BRICK & WHISKEY PUBLIC HOUSE 8937-82 Ave BRIXX BAR 10030-102 St (downstairs), 780.428.1099 CAFE BLACKBIRD 9640-142 St NW, 780.451.8890, cafeblackbird.ca CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK 99, 23349 Wye Rd, Sherwood Park CARROT COFFEEHOUSE 9351118 Ave, 780.471.1580 CASINO EDMONTON 7055 Argylll Rd, 780.463.9467 CASINO YELLOWHEAD 12464153 St, 780.424 9467 CASK AND BARREL 10041104 St; 780.498.1224, thecaskandbarrel.ca CENTURY CASINO–EDMONTON 13103 Fort Rd, 780.643.4000 CENTURY CASINO–ST. ALBERT 24 Boudreau Rd, St. Albert, 780.460.8092 CHVRCH OF JOHN 10260103 St, 780.884.8994, thechvrchofjohn.com COMMON 9910-109 St DENIZEN HALL 10311-103 Ave, 780.424.8215, thedenizenhall.com DEVANEY'S IRISH PUB 11113-87 Ave NW, devaneyspub.com

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY 9013-88 Ave, 780.465.4834 EL CORTEZ MEXICAN KITCHEN + TEQUILA BAR 8230 Gateway Blvd, elcortezcantina.com EMPRESS ALE HOUSE 991282 Ave NW ENVY NIGHT CLUB West Edmonton Mall, 8882 170 St FIDDLER'S ROOST 7308-76 Ave, 780.439.9788, fiddlersroost.ca THE FORGE ON WHYTE 1054982 Ave (Whyte Ave) GAS PUMP NIGHT CLUB & BAR 10166-114 St HAVE MERCY SOUTHERN TABLE + BAR 8232 Gateway Blvd, havemercy.ca HILLTOP PUB 8220-106 Ave NW HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH 10037-84 Ave NW, 780.433.5530, holytrinity.ab.ca HORIZON STAGE 1001 Calahoo Rd, Spruce Grove, 780.962.8995, horizonstage.com LA CITÈ FRANCOPHONE 8627 Rue Marie-Anne Gaboury L.B.’S PUB 23 Akins Dr, St Albert, 780.460.9100 LEAF BAR & GRILL 9016-132 Ave MKT FRESH FOOD AND BEER MARKET 8101 Gateway Blvd, 780.439.2337

MERCER TAVERN 10363 104 St, 587.521.1911 MERCURY ROOM 10575-114 St MUTTART HALL 10050 Macdonald Dr, 780.633.3725 NAKED CYBERCAFÉ 10303-108 St, 780.425.9730 NORTH GLENORA HALL 13535109A Ave ON THE ROCKS 11730 Jasper Ave, 780.482.4767 PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL 10860-57 Ave THE PROVINCIAL PUB 160, 4211-106 St REC ROOM–SOUTH EDMONTON COMMON 1725-99 St NW REC ROOM–WEST EDMONTON MALL 8882-170 St NW RIVER CREE 300 E Lapotac Blvd, Enoch ROBERTSON WESLEY UNITED CHURCH 10209-123 St ROBERT TEGLER CENTRE, CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY 73 St & 112 Ave ROSE AND CROWN 10235-101 St SANDS INN & SUITES 12340 Fort Rd, sandshoteledmonton.com SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Yellowhead Inn, 15004 Yellowhead Trail

SHELL THEATRE, DOW CENTENNIAL CENTRE 8700-84 St, Fort Saskatchewan SHERBROOKE PUB 13160-118 Ave NW SHERLOCK HOLMES–DOWNTOWN 10012-101 A Ave, 780.426.7784, sherlockshospitality.com SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM 8882-170 St, 780.444.1752, sherlockshospitality.com SIDELINERS PUB 11018-127 St SQUARE 1 COFFEE 15 Fairway Drive ST. BASIL'S CULTURAL CENTRE 10819-71 Ave NW, 780.434.4288, stbasilschurch. com STARLITE ROOM 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099 TRIFFO THEATRE IN ALLARD HALL 11104-104 Ave WILD EARTH BAKERY– MILLCREEK 8902-99 St, wildearthbakery.com WINSPEAR CENTRE 4 Sir Winston Churchill Square; 780.28.1414 WOODRACK CAFE 7603109 St, 780. 757.0380, thewoodrackcafe.com YARDBIRD SUITE 11 Tommy Banks Way, 780.432.0428

EVENTS

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

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

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

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE • 10425-82 Ave • Underdog Comedy Show • Every Thu COLIN MOCHRIE AND DEBMCRATH • Shell Theatre, Dow Centennial Centre, 8700-84 St, Fort Saskatchewan • 780.992.6400 • shelltheatre.ca • Colin Mochrie from Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Debra McGrath from Little Mosque on the Prairie present their acclaimed one couple show based on their 27 years of marriage • Jan 31, 7:30pm

COMEDY FACTORY • Gateway Entertainment Centre, 34 Ave, Calgary Tr • Thu-Fri: 8pm; Sat: 7:30pm & 10pm (until Apr) • Chris Heward; Jan 25-27 • Chris Sadleir; Feb 1-3

COMIC STRIP • Bourbon St, WEM • 780.483.5999 • Mike Vecchione; Jan 25-28 • Joe Zimmerman; Jan 31-Feb 4

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

LAUGH STEADY • Nook Cafe, 10153-97 St • Live stand-up comedy hosted by Kevin Cianciolo • Last Fri of the month, 7:30-9:30pm • $5 (door) GROUPS/CLUBS/MEETINGS THE CARROT COFFEE FRIENDSHIP CLUB • Carrot Coffeehouse, 9351-118 Ave • Have a cup of coffee with 55+ individuals single, divorced, or widowed who are looking to make new friends with neighbours in our local communities of: Delton, Eastwood, Parkdale – Cromdale, Westwood, Spruce Ave, and Alberta Avenue • Every Wed, 11am

COFFEE WITH COPS • Carrot Coffeehouse,

9351-118 Ave • Edmonton Police Service invites the community to an open discussion • 1st Tue of every month, 10-11am

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

DROP-IN LARP • Jackie Parker Park • westernwinds.summerfrost.ca • Battle games and fighter practice using provided safe weapon boffer. An exciting way to get exercise while meeting new people with similar passions • Every Sat, 1:15pm • Free

EDMONTON VEGAN POTLUCK • Riverdale Rink House, 9231-100 Ave • Indulge and bring a delicious vegan or raw vegan dish to serve at least 6 people (one dish per person attending please). Please also bring a serving spoon and your own plate, beverage, and cutlery • Jan 20, 5:307:30pm • $3 (members), $5 (non-members); Bring cash. Money goes towards rental of the rink house FOOD ADDICTS • Alano Club (& Simply Done Cafe), 10728-124 St • 780.718.7133 (or 403.506.4695 after 7pm) • Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), free 12-Step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating, and bulimia • Meetings every Thu, 7pm

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

• N'Orators Toastmasters Club: Lower Level, McClure United Church, 13708-74 St: norators. com; meet every Thu, 7pm • Norwood Toastmasters: Norwood Legion, 1115082 St NW; norwoodtoastmasters.ca; Every Thu, 7:30-9:30pm • Y Toastmasters Club: Queen Alexandra Community League, 10425 University Ave (N door, stairs to the left); yclubtoastmasters@ gmail.com; Meet every Tue, 7-9pm

WASKAHEGAN TRAIL ASSOCIATION GUIDE HIKE • Hike will leave from the parking lot on Rainbow Valley (parking lot just before the Whitemud Drive underpass going into Snow Valley) • waskahegantrail.ca • Snow Valley to Alfred Savage Centre • Jan 28, 9:45am-3pm

LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS

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

DARK MATTERS GAME ON! • TELUS World

MONDAY MINGLE • Hexagon Board Game Cafe, 10123 Whyte Ave • 780.757.3105 • info@ thehexcafe.com • thehexcafe.com • Meet new gamers. Go to the event solo or with a group • Every Mon, 5-11pm • $5 (one drink per person)

MONTHLY MEDITATION AND VEGAN BRUNCH • Padmanadi Vegetarian Restaurant,

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

FASHION CULTURE NETWORK PRESENTS: FASHION RESEARCH IN HUMAN ECOLOGY • Room 2-20 Fine Arts Building,

10740-101 St • info@vofa.ca • bit.ly/2hO97nq • First Sat of every month, 9am-12pm • Free (confirm via Facebook or email)

NORTHERN ALBERTA WOOD CARVERS ASSOCIATION • Duggan Community Hall, 3728106 St • nawca.ca • Meet every Wed, 6:30pm

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

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

PAINTING FOR PLEASURE • McDougall United Church, 10086 Macdonald Drive (south entrance) • 780.428.1818 • karenbishopartist@gmail.com • mcdougallunited.com • A weekly group for those who like to paint, draw or otherwise be creative on paper • Every Thu, 10am-noon SCHIZOPHRENIA SOCIETY FAMILY SUPPORT DROP-IN GROUP • Schizophrenia Society of Alberta, 5215-87 St • 780.452.4661 • schizophrenia.ab.ca • The Schizophrenia Society of Alberta offers a variety of services and support programs for those who are living with the illness, family members, caregivers, and friends • 1st and 3rd Thu each month, 7-9pm • Free

TAKE OFF POUNDS SENSIBLY (TOPS) • Grace United Church annex, 6215-104 Ave • 780.4798667 (Bob) • bobmurra@telus.net • Low-cost, fun and friendly weight loss group • Every Mon, 6:30pm

TOASTMASTERS • Club Bilingue Toastmasters Meetings: Campus St. Jean: Pavillion McMahon; 780.667.6105 (Willard); clubbilingue.toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 7pm • Fabulous Facilitators Toastmasters Club: 9888 Jasper Ave. 10th floor; fabulousfacilitators. toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 12:05-1pm

University of Alberta North Campus • Covering two research projects on fashion led by Dr. Anne Bissonnette: "Misfits: Bodies, Dress and Sustainability" and " A Revolutionary Decade: Fashion and Material Culture in the 1790s" • Feb 6, 7-8pm • Free (RSVP through bit.ly/2BWCYFn)

GLASSBLOWING CLASSES WITH PIXIE GLASSWORKS • Pixie Glassworks, 9322-60 Ave • 780.436.4460 • pixieglassworks.com/pages/ classes • Offering three levels in each of: hollow body work, implosions, sculpture, pipe-making and beads. Call to book • Every Mon, Wed, Thu, 6-9pm (no classes on holidays) • $150 (plus GST)

GREAT EXPEDITIONS TRAVEL SLIDE • St. Luke’s Anglican Church, 84240-95 Ave • 780.469.3270 (Gerry Staring), 780.435.6406 (John Woollard), 780.454.6216 (Sylvia Krogh) • Cambodia & Vietnam (Feb 5) • First Mon of the month, 7:30pm • $3 donation (guests are asked to bring snacks to share); everyone welcome IMPROVING PREGNANCY-RELATED HEALTH THROUGH THE ENRICH FIRST NATIONS PROJECT • Room 2-520 A (2nd floor), Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave • 780.248.1217 • Dr. Richard Oster and Grant Bruno of the ENRICH First Nations Project will share their experience of a collaborative, community-based project aimed at improving prenatal outcomes for Cree women • Jan 25, 121pm • Free; seating is first come, first served

QUEER AFFIRM GROUP • garysdeskcom@hotmail.com

EVOLUTION WONDERLOUNGE • 10220103 St • 780.424.0077 • yourgaybar.com • Mon: Drag Race in the White Room; 7pm • Wed: Monthly games night/trivia • Thu: Happy hour, 6-8pm; Karaoke, 7-12:30am • Fri: Flashback Friday with your favourite hits of the 80s/90s/2000s; rotating drag and burlesque events • Sat: Rotating DJs Velix and Suco • Sun: Weekly drag show, 10:30pm

G.L.B.T.Q SENIORS GROUP • S.A.G.E Bldg, main floor Cafe, 15 Sir Winston Churchill Square • 780.4235510 (Sage) • tuff69@telus.net • Meeting for gay seniors, and for any seniors who have gay family members and would like some guidance • Every Tue, 1-4pm PRIDE CENTRE OF EDMONTON • Pride Centre of Edmonton, 2nd Floor, 10618-105 Ave • Wheelchair-accessible elevator at 10610 105 Avenue • (780) 488-3234 • pridecentreofedmonton.org/calendar.html • OFFICE & DROP IN HOURS: Mon-Fri 12-7pm; Closed Sat-Sun and holidays • YOGA: (all ages), 2nd and 4th Mon of every month • TTIQ: (18+ Trans Group) 2nd Mon of every month, 7-9pm • TRANS YOUTH GROUP & PARENTS/ CAREGIVERS SUPPORT: (24 and under) 3rd Mon of every month, 7-9pm • FIERCE FUN: (24 and under) Biweekly Tue, 7-9pm, games and activities for youth • JAMOUT: (12-24) Biweekly Tue, 7-8:30pm, music mentorship and instruction for youth • TWO SPIRIT GATHERING: 4th Wed of every month, 6-8pm, gathering for First Nations Two Spirit people • MEN’S SOCIAL CIRCLE: (18+) 1st and 3rd Thu, 7-9pm, for anyone masculine-identified • WOMEN’S SOCIAL CIRCLE: (18+) 2nd and 4th Thu, 7-9pm, for anyone feminine-identified • MOVIES & GAMES NIGHT: Biweekly Fri, 6-8:30pm • ARTS & IDENTITY: Biweekly Fri, 6-8:30pm • CREATING SAFER SPACES TRAINING: Interactive professional development workshops, with full or half-day options • QUEER YOUTH MENTORING: (Youth: 12–24) (Adults 26+) TEAM EDMONTON • Various sports and recreation activities • teamedmonton.ca • Bootcamp: Garneau School, 10925-87 Ave; Most Mon, 7-8pm • SWIMMING: NAIT Swimming Pool, 11665-109 St; Every Tue, 7:30-8:30pm and every Thu, 7-8pm • WATER POLO: NAIT Swimming Pool, 11665-109 St; Every Tue, 8:309:30pm • YOGA: New Lion's Breath Yoga Studio, #301,10534-124 St; Every Wed, 7:30-9pm • TAEKWONDO: near the Royal Gardens Community Centre, 4030-117 St; Contact for specific times • ABS: Parkallen Community League Hall, 6510-111 St; Every Tue, 6-7pm and Thu, 7:158:15pm • DODGEBALL: Royal Alexandra Hospital Gymnasium; Every Sun, 5-7pm • RUNNING: meet at Kinsmen main entrance; Every Sun, 10am • SPIN: Blitz Conditioning, 10575-115 St; Every Tue, 7-8pm• VOLLEYBALL: Stratford Elementary School, 8715-153 St; Every Fri, 7-9 • MEDITATION: Edmonton Pride Centre, 10608105 Ave; 3rd Thu of every month, 5:30-6:15pm • BOARD GAMES: Underground Tap & Grill, 10004 Jasper Ave; One Sun per month, 3-7pm • ALL BODIES SWIM: Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre, 8468-81 St; One Sat per month 4:30-5:30pm

• mcdougallunited.com • Part of the United Church network supporting LGBTQ men and women • Meet the last Sun of every month at State & Main (101 St and Jasper Ave) for coffee and conversation at 12:30pm; Special speaker events are held throughout the year over lunch at McDougall Church

YOGA WITH JENNIFER • 780.439.6950 • ThreeBattles.com • A traditional approach with lots of individual attention. Free introductory classes • Tue evenings & Sat mornings

BEERS FOR QUEERS • Empress Ale House,

BOARDWALK ICE ON WHYTE • Whyte Avenue and Gateway Blvd in Old Strathcona • info@iceonwhyte.ca • iceonwhyte.ca • The International Ice Carving Competition is one of

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

SPECIAL EVENTS

VUECLASSIFIEDS

DARK MATTERS Game On! TELUS World of Science Jan. 25, 7-10 pm $19.95 (adv), $25.95 (door)

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

2005.

Check the site every two weeks for new work! / Supplied

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

EDMONTON RENOVATION SHOW • Edmonton Expo Centre, 7515-118 Ave • edmontonrenovationshow.com • Featuring more than 225 exhibitors and a slew of exciting new features • Jan 26-28 • $5-$12

FAMILY LITERACY CARNIVAL • MacEwan University City Centre Campus, Heart of the Robbin, 104 Ave & 109 St • 780.633.3735 • ralstinm@macewan.ca • macewan.goldenkey. org/family-literacy-carnival • Featuring interactive activities for the whole family including story telling and a free book for the children • Jan 28, 2-4pm • Free

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

ICE CASTLES • Hawrelak Park, 9330 Groat Road • icecastles.com/edmonton • Opening for a third winter, featuring a tubular ice slide, small tunnels and crevasses to crawl through • Every Fri-Sun, Mon, Wed until weather permitting • $9.95-$20

ROBBIE BURNS DAY DINNER AND SCOTCH TASTING • Accent Lounge, 8223104 St • Jan 28, 5-11pm • $75 and $125 ticket options (available via Eventbrite) • 18+ only

RUBABOO ABORIGINAL ARTS FESTIVAL • Backstage Theatre, 10330-84 Ave • albertaaboriginalarts.com • A multi‐disciplinary festival, showcasing theatre, music, dance, visual art, food, and workshops. Rubaboo is the only major Aboriginal arts festival in Alberta, committed to giving artists a platform to bring audiences of all backgrounds together to enjoy the vast artistic expressions that exist in Aboriginal culture • Jan 31-Feb 4

SILVER SKATE FESTIVAL 2018 • William Hawrelak Park, 9330 Groat Road • silverskatefestival.org/go • Rooted in the Dutch tradition of a love of the outdoors and of experiencing winter’s cultural and aesthetic beauty, the festival has exploded into an extravaganza of art, culture, recreation and sports programming • Feb 9-19, 12-9pm (weekends), 4-8pm (weekdays) • Admission by donation

THURSDAYS TBD TO BE DISCOVERED • Legislative Assembly Visitor Centre, Edmonton Federal Building, Main floor, 9820-107 St • 780.427.7362 • assembly.ab.ca/visitorcentre/ events.html • Visitors can look forward to an array of guest speakers, film screenings, free concerts and more • Every Thu, Oct 5-Mar 1, 6-8pm • Free TOQUE TUESDAY • Downtown LRT locations • jtremblay@homewardtrust.ca • raisingtheroof. org • Help Homeward Trust Edmonton and Raising the Roof keep YEG's homeless youth safe and warm. Buy a toque for $10-20 from volunteers downtown • Feb 6, 7am-6pm

To Book Your Classifieds, Call 780.426.1996 or email classifieds@vueweekly.com Artist to Artist

ART CLASSES FOR ADULTS, YOUTH, AND CHILDREN Check The Paint Spot’s website, paintspot.ca/events/workshops for up-to-date information on art classes for all ages, beginner and intermediate.

Register in person, by phone or online.

Contact: 780.432.0240 email: accounts@paintspot.ca

ENJOY ART ALWAYZ www.bdcdrawz.com

only three ice carving competitions in Canada.

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

3100. Appliances/Furniture

Old Appliance Removal Removal of unwanted appliances. Must be outside or in your garage.

Rates start as low as $30.

Call James @780.231.7511 for details

7005.

Financial Services

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SAVAGELOVE MOTHER’S LOVE

My father left my mother abruptly when I was 14 years old, and he hasn’t contacted either of us since. It was a crushing blow for her, and she retreated from the world. She was never bitter about it, but it was devastating. She lost the love of her life for no apparent reason and was left completely alone, except for me. We have both done our best to forget about him. We were extremely close for the next four years and actually slept in the same bed every night. Eventually, we began doing something that most people would consider evil but neither of us has ever regretted. It was just something that happened. And it wasn’t something that just happened once—it went on for two years and ended only when I left to go to university. I haven’t thought about this for years, and it is something my mother and I have never discussed. She has since remarried and seems perfectly fine. But even today, we sometimes send each other friendly messages that are vaguely suggestive. The problem is I mentioned it to my wife recently and she went ballistic.

She called me and my mother sick and moved into another bedroom and refuses to have sex with me. I wish I had never mentioned it, but it was part of a truth-or-dare session we were having. This has been the situation for the last three months.

I have finally lost my patience and I am thinking of leaving. I have never cheated on my wife or hurt her, either physically or emotionally, and I have supported her financially while she studies at university. I have mentioned going to a counsellor, but she refuses and claims that she is married to a monster and that no woman would want me. We don’t have any children, so if I were to leave I wouldn’t be disrupting an innocent’s life.

Do you have any advice?

TRUTHFUL REVELATION UNMAKES TWO HAPPY SPOUSES I’m not a professional counsellor, TRUTHS, but I’m gonna climb out on a limb and say that a game of truth or dare isn’t the right time to reveal an incestuous sexual relationship with a parent. Dr. Hani Miletski and Dr. Joe Kort, on the other hand, are professionals: Dr. Miletski is a psychotherapist and a sex therapist, and Dr. Kort is a sex and relationship therapist. Both are certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counsellors, and Therapists, and both are authors—Dr. Miletski literally wrote the book on the subject of mother-son incest: Mother-Son Incest: The Unthinkable Broken Taboo Persists.

“There’s no wonder his wife is so upset,” says Dr. Miletski.

“Sexual relations between

ALBERTA-WIDECLASSIFIEDS

Dan Savage savagelove@vueweekly.com

mother and son are considered the most taboo form of incest.”

Dr. Miletski told me it isn’t uncommon for a woman who has been abandoned by her husband to turn to an adolescent son for emotional comfort.

“These women are often very insecure and needy,” Dr. Miletski says. “Unbeknownst to the son—and sometimes to the mother—the son begins to feel responsible for his mother’s well-being and emotional support. The son becomes ‘parentified’ and is treated by his mother as a substitute husband.

Occasionally, this close relationship between a mother and her son evolves into a sexual relationship, and the substitute husband becomes her lover as well. The situation described in this letter sounds exactly like that. And while I’m glad this man believes he has not been affected by this boundary violation, [the fact that he and his mother are] sending suggestive messages to each other may suggest otherwise.”

Dr. Miletski prefers not to use terms like “abuse” or “trauma” unless the person involved uses those terms themselves— which you didn’t, TRUTHS, but I’m going to go ahead and use them. Here it goes: You say you have no regrets, and you don’t mention feeling traumatized by the experience, but the absence of trauma doesn’t confer some sort of retroactive, after-thefact immunity on your mother.

She is responsible for her actions—actions that were abusive and highly likely to leave you traumatized.

“In the mental-health field, we have a growing body of work showing that not everyone who is abused is necessarily traumatized,” said Dr. Kort. “I have seen countless men who have been sexually abused by their mothers who do not label it as abuse because they were not traumatized.

But his mother seduced him, dismissing the sexual and emotional needs of a teenage boy. There is no other way to describe this other than abuse, however consensual he may have perceived it to be at the time.”

But that was then, TRUTHS. What do you do about your situation now?

“Unfortunately, I don’t think his wife will ever be able to put this revelation behind her,” Dr. Miletski says. “I think his best bet is to leave her, move on, and seek therapy. A therapist will help him deal with the emotional upset of the breakup with his wife, as well as process what happened with his mother.”

Dr. Kort sees some hope—albeit slim—for your marriage.

“To gain empathy and compassion from his wife, TRUTHS should be willing to listen to her concerns, fear and anger,” Dr. Kort says. “He also needs to invite her to have compassion

and empathy for the vulnerable position he was in—but he cannot do that until he has some compassion for himself. Untreated, the abuse he suffered from his mother, as well as the loss and grief over his father, could be troubling to his wife and their relationship. Perhaps if he ever has children, the reality of the abuse will hit him.

Parents don’t have children to turn them into lovers.”

And, once again, people probably shouldn’t reveal incestuous relationships to their current partner during a game of truth or dare.

You can find Dr. Miletski’s books and learn more about her work at DrMiletski.com. You can find Dr. Kort’s books and learn more about his work at JoeKort.com and on Twitter @drjoekort.

GUESSING GAME

I’m writing you to ask about a friend of mine. He’s a gifted artist who hasn’t truly dedicated himself to his art. It’s as if he’s afraid of success. He’s also a so-called “womanizer,” and every time he meets an interesting woman who’s into him, he inevitably fucks it up. For this reason and some others (that I won’t mention), I believe he’s a repressed homosexual. Let’s just assume that he is. Every time we talk, maybe once or twice a year, he recounts his latest fuckups with women (and everything else). During the last call, I was very close to asking him if he was sure about his sexual orientation. I believe that what makes him unable to face this aspect of his life is interfering with everything else, too. I would like to be able to talk openly about it with him without hurting him. Do you have any tips?

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FREEWILLASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Anders Haugen competed for the United States as a ski jumper in the 1924 Winter Olympics. Although he was an accomplished athlete who had previously set a world record for distance, he won no medals at the games. But wait!

Fifty years later, a sports historian discovered that there had a been a scoring mistake back in 1924.

In fact, Haugen had done well enough to win the bronze medal.

The mistake was rectified, and he finally got his long-postponed award. I foresee a comparable development happening in your life, Aries. Recognition or appreciation you deserved to have received some time ago will finally come your way.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 1899, Sobhuza II became King of Swaziland even though he was less than five months old. He kept his job for the next 82 years, and along the way managed to play an important role when his nation gained independence from the colonial rule of the United Kingdom.

These days you may feel a bit like Sobhuza did when he was still in diapers, Taurus: not sufficiently prepared or mature for the greater responsibilities that are coming your way. But just as he received competent help in his early years from his uncle and grandmother, I suspect you’ll receive the support you’ll need to ripen.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In my ideal world, dancing and singing wouldn’t be luxuries practiced primarily by professionals. They would be regular occurrences in our daily routines. We’d dance and sing whenever we needed a break from the numbing trance. We’d whirl and hum to pass the time.

We would greet each other with an interpretative movement and a little tune. In schools, dance and song would be a standard part of the curriculum—as important as math and history. That’s my utopian dream, Gemini. What’s yours?

In accordance with the astrological omens, I urge you to identify the soul medicine you’d love to incorporate into your everyday regimen. Then go ahead and incorporate it! It’s time for you to get more aggressive about creating the world you want to live in.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Psychology pioneer Carl Jung believed that most of our big problems can never be fully solved. And that’s actually a good thing. Working on them keeps us lively, in a state of constant transformation. It ensures we don’t stagnate. I generally agree with Jung’s high opinion of our problems. We should indeed be grateful for the way they impel us to grow.

However, I think that’s irrelevant for you right now. Why? Because you have an unprecedented opportunity to solve and graduate from a major long-running problem. So no, don’t be grateful for it. Get rid of it. Say goodbye to it forever.

22 at the back

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Between now and March 21, you will be invited, encouraged, and pushed to deepen your understanding of intimate relationships. You will have the chance to learn much, much more about how to create the kind of togetherness that both comforts and inspires you.

Will you take advantage of this eight-week opportunity? I hope so. You may imagine that you have more pressing matters to attend to. But the fact is that cultivating your relationship skills would transform you in ways that would best serve those other pressing matters.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In December, mass protests broke out in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city. Why? The economy had been gradually worsening.

Inflation was slowly but surely exacting a toll. Unemployment was increasing. But one of the immediate triggers for the uprising was a 40 percent hike in the price of eggs. It focused the Iranian people’s collective angst and galvanized a dramatic response.

I’m predicting a comparable sequence in your personal future, Virgo. A specific irritant will emerge, motivating you to stop putting up with trends that have been subtly bothering you.

JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

Rob Brezsny freewill@vueweekly.com

“Oh, It’s ON” -- they’re on, first.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You’re the star of the movie that endlessly unfolds in your imagination. There may be a number of other lead actors and actresses, but few if any have your luster and stature. You also have a supporting cast, as well as a full complement of extras.

To generate all the adventure you need, your story needs a lot of dramatis personae. In the coming weeks, I suggest that you be alert for certain minor characters who are primed to start playing a bigger role in your narrative. Consider the possibility of inviting them to say and do more to advance the plot.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Thirty-five miles per hour is typically the highest speed attained by the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. That’s not very fast.

On the other hand, each ship’s engine generates 190 megawatts, enough to provide the energy needs of 140,000 houses, and can go more than 20 years without refueling. If you don’t mind, I’m going to compare you to one of those aircraft carriers during the next four weeks. You may not be moving fast, but you will have maximum stamina and power.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the late ‘80s, Budweiser used a bull terrier to promote its Bud Light beer in commercials. The dog, who became mega-famous, was presented as a rich macho party animal named Spuds MacKenzie.

The ad campaign was successful, boosting sales 20 percent.

But the truth was that the actor playing Spuds was a female dog whose owners called her Evie. To earn money, the poor creature, who was born under the sign of Libra, was forced to assume a false identity. To honour Evie’s memory, and in alignment with current astrological omens, I urge you human Libras to strip away any layers of false identity you’ve been pressured to acquire. Be your real self to the max.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The pawpaw is a tasty fruit that blends the flavours of mango, banana, and melon. But you rarely find it in grocery stores. One reason is that the fruit ripens very fast after being picked. Another is that the pollination process is complicated. In response to these issues, a plant scientist named Neal Peterson has been trying to breed the pawpaw to be more commercially viable. Because of his work, cultivated crops have finally begun showing up at some farmers’ markets. I’d like to see you undertake metaphorically similar labours in 2018, Aquarius.

I think you’ll have good luck at developing rough potentials into more mature forms of expression. You’ll have skill at turning unruly raw materials into more useful resources. Now is a great time to begin.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The giant panda is a bear native to China. In the wild, its diet is 99 percent bamboo. But bamboo is not an energy-rich food, which means the creature has to compensate by consuming 20 to 30 pounds of the stuff every day.

Because it’s so busy gathering its sustenance, the panda doesn’t have time to do much socializing.

I mention this, Scorpio, because I want to offer up the panda as your anti-power animal for the coming weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you should have a diversified approach to getting your needs met—not just in regards to food, but in every other way as well. Variety is not just the spice of life, it’s the essence.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): An iceberg is a huge chunk of ice that has cracked away from a glacier and drifted off into the open sea. Only nine percent of it is visible above the waterline. The underwater part, which is most of the iceberg, is basically invisible. You can’t know much about it just by looking at the top. This is an apt metaphor for life itself.

Most everyone and everything we encounter is 91 percent mysterious or hidden or inaccessible to our conscious understanding.

That’s the weird news, Pisces.

The good news is that during the next three weeks you will have an unprecedented ability to get better acquainted with the other 91 percent of anything or anyone you choose to explore.

Matt Jones jonesincrosswords@vueweekly.com

Across

1 Candy brand that comes in twos 5 One of Australia’s six 10 “The King and I” character 14 Planetarium roof 15 Hardwood playing surface 16 Ending for concert or movie 17 Banana peel, in British English 18 Image transmitter to the brain 20 Early Doritos flavor 22 Cuatro doubled 23 Charles played by Jamie Foxx 24 Bitter beer variety, for short 26 It spits out bills 28 Cassis-and-wine cocktail 29 Altar-ed statement?

30 Flowers related to tobacco, tomatoes, and deadly nightshade 33 The Bahamas’ capital 35 Dress rehearsal follower 37 Ricky’s portrayer on 1950s TV 38 Bread in an Indian restaurant 39 Doesn’t feel so great 43 Potential award winner usually announced in January 48 2016 Lady Gaga album 51 TNT drama whose 77th and final episode aired on Christmas 2012 52 Abbr. on food labels 53 Certain Wall Street trader, slangily 55 In medias ___ 56 Voting yes 57 Bread for a Reuben 58 “Afternoon of a ___” (Debussy work) 60 Train travel 62 2019 and 2021, e.g.

65 House, in Havana 68 “Switched-On Bach” synthesizer 69 “This one goes out to the one ___ ...”

70 “Monday Night Football” network 71 Muppet with a goldfish 72 Burn perfume, in religious ceremonies 73 “Take ___! (And ___!)”

Down

1 6-pt. plays 2 Panda Express vessel 3 Knocks off 4 Lucy Lawless title role 5 Make more room at a booth, perhaps

VUEWEEKLY.com | JAN 25 - JAN 31, 2018

6 Highest-ranked 7 Car, alternately 8 End-of-October option 9 Art done with acid 10 Candle count 11 Actor Chuck with a “Facts” meme 12 McCarran International Airport’s home 13 Words before ready or serious 19 “Come Away With Me” singer Jones 21 “What ___ do?”

24 The Touch is the only one still produced 25 “Muppets Tonight” prawn 27 ___ cum laude 31 Group with dues 32 Hair tangle 34 Flight component?

36 Word before child or peace 40 Very quickly 41 Brick that hurts when stepped on 42 Fortune teller 44 Screw-up 45 Like some tiles 46 Direct 47 Tableland 48 Former halfback Bettis 49 Detergent that debuted in 1914 50 The world of simians 54 “Haven’t Met You Yet” crooner Michael 59 Element #10 (Really, it’s that early in the sequence? Wow.) 61 “Law & Order: SVU” costar 63 The Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, e.g.

64 Homes parked in parks 66 Tranquil destination 67 Colony insect ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords

CURTIS HAUSER

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