1064: Ethan Hawke

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Wine: Maintaining tradition isn’t necessary to improve 7 Into The Woods re-examines happily ever after 11

It’s pretty simple: fill in the blanks and have your favourites win. Right?

We told you it was easy.

TWO WEEKS LEFT!

We ask for some of your deets, and not for any salacious reasons…just to verify that A) you are a living, breathing person with a belly comprised of some of Edmonton’s finest and B) so that we can avoid any ballot spoiling. We also have a field for you to let us know if we have missed any categories. Food takes many delicious shapes and forms, so if all of a sudden say, Eastern European noodle soup becomes a trend, we want to know about it!

What do you get out of all of this hard work? From all of the legitimate ballots, 11 winners will be drawn; one grand prize winner and 10 runners-up. The grand prize winner shall win $500 in restaurant gift certificates. The runners-up will receive restaurant gift certificate prizes.

120

Happy eating, happy voting!

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VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

ISSUE: 1064 MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

LISTINGS

ARTS / 14 MUSIC / 24 EVENTS / 26 CLASSIFIED / 27 ADULT / 28

FRONT

4

Seniors' housing is not accessible for many and caregivers lack support // 5

DISH

7

Edmonton's wine scene doesn't need to rely on tradition to improve // 7

ARTS

9

London's most infamous girl-gang re-emerges in Bust 'Em Up Burlesque // 9

POP

15

In a mostly online gaming world, a few games choose a solitary approach // 15

FILM

16

Ethan Hawke embodies his own Chet Baker in Born to Be Blue // 16

MUSIC

19

Radio Radio put a comedic spin on social commentary with Light the Sky // 19

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VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

UP FRONT 3

POLITICALINTERFERENCE

FRONT

NEWS EDITOR: mel priestley MEL@vueweekly.com

Ricardo Acuña // ricardo@vueweekly.com

Time to shrink the gender gap Economic downturn is no excuse for Alberta's lack of equity policies On March 7, the day before International Women's Day and the start of the new session of the Alberta Legislature, the Parkland Institute released a new report titled "Equal Worth: Designing Effective Pay Equity Laws for Alberta."

The report, written by Kathleen Lahey, a professor and Queen's National Scholar in the Faculty of Law at Queen's University, highlighted the sobering state of Alberta's gender income gap, which is currently not only the largest in Canada, but one of the largest in the world.

"In 2016," says the report, "the difference between total market incomes for women compared to men in Alberta is projected to be 50 percent."

That figure takes into account all factors and sources of income. In terms of actual dollars, women working full-time, full-year in Alberta are, on average, making $31 100 less than their male colleagues annually.

These figures should be incredibly concerning to Albertans, especially given the current employment situation in the province's energy, transportation and construction industries—all male-dominated fields. This means that more and more traditional families in Alberta are depending on women to generate the family income while earning half of what men do. Of course, this has always been the case for single

DYERSTRAIGHT

mothers and female-led families.

The first step in improving Alberta's income gap, according to the report, is for the Alberta government to move quickly to implement comprehensive, effective and enforceable pay-equity legislation.

This would move us beyond the current mantra of equal pay for equal work, and toward the much more just concept of equal pay for work of equal value or comparable worth.

This type of pay-equity legislation has already made a difference in Quebec and Ontario, and it is long-overdue in Alberta.

The same day that Parkland released its report, Stephanie McLean, Alberta's Minister for the Status of Women, publicly announced her ministry's mandate. It features three broad priorities: increasing women's economic security; increasing women's leadership and democratic participation; and decreasing violence against women and girls. While pay-equity legislation would fall

squarely within the bounds of the first priority, McLean made clear that pay-equity legislation would not be forthcoming soon. Pay-equity legislation is a complicated and involved piece of policy. Given the need to get it right and to support it with resources, and in light of the newness of the ministry, it is understandable that it will take some

impact on women's ability to engage in paid work.

This is why policies affecting the affordability and availability of child care and senior care also make an important contribution to addressing the gender income gap.

And this is why, despite their prominence in their election platform, the failure of the provincial government to follow through on its commitments to $25-a-day child care, full-day kindergarten and more long-term care beds— at almost a year into its mandate—is disappointing. None of these areas received even passing mention in the recent Throne Speech, and as such will likely not be included in the provincial budget.

There is no question that the current state of the provincial budget and the steep drop in oil-and-gas revenues are significant factors in the decision not to move on these policies, but it is worth pointing

The first step in improving Alberta's income gap, according to the report, is for the Alberta government to move quickly to implement comprehensive, effective and enforceable pay-equity legislation.

time to develop and enact.

But Lahey's research also highlights that the actual pay gap is not the only factor impacting women's income inequality. Women in Alberta spend an average of 35 hours a week doing unpaid work, much of it in the realm of caregiving for family members—children, the ill and the elderly. This is twice the number of hours spent by men on unpaid work, and it has significant

out that one of the key findings in the Parkland report is that even a modest shrinking of the income gap would mean a positive difference of up to $1.2 billion a year for the province, as a result of increased tax revenues and reduced social expenditures.

But the argument for moving forward on gender equity should not just be an economic one. The fact that one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the world, in one of the most advanced countries in the world, continues to have one of the highest gender income gaps in the world should be both a concern and an embarrassment to all Albertans. Establishing the Ministry for the Status of Women was an important first step for the province, but it needs to followed up with ensuring that all policy and budget decisions made by the government are made with an understanding of how they impact gender equity and with an eye to shrinking the gap.

Nothing short of that should be acceptable to Albertans in 2016. V Ricardo Acuña is the executive director of the Parkland Institute, a non-partisan, public policy research institute housed at the University of Alberta. The views and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute.

GWYNNE DYER // GYWNNE@vueweekly.com

Obama's minimalist foreign policy "Don't do stupid shit" proved a good guide to policy decisions If the US Congress had not imposed a two-term limit on the presidency in 1947 after Franklin D Roosevelt's record four electoral victories, President Barack Obama would be a safe bet for a third term next November.

He inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression, and now the United States has the healthiest economy of all the major powers, with unemployment back down to 5.5 percent.

But Obama can't run for president again, so the time has come for the pundits to start delivering their assessments on the success or failure of his policies. First up is Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic, with a lengthy article called "The Obama Doctrine" on the man's conduct of American foreign policy over the past seven-and-a-half years.

As you would expect when discussing a man whose basic rule is "Don't do stupid shit," Goldberg's piece is mostly an examination of what Obama didn't do, not what he did. He didn't go to war with the Assad regime in Syria. He didn't get into a new Cold War with Russia over Ukraine.

He didn't bomb Iran, instead making

4 up front

a political deal to block its nuclear weapons ambitions. He didn't attack North Korea even when it did test nuclear weapons.

None of these foreign-policy choices would be remarkable if we were talking about Japan or Canada or Germany. Even in former imperial powers like Britain and France, where the interventionist reflex is still alive and kicking, Obama's choices would not be controversial.

But in the Washington foreign-policy establishment, where every conflict on the planet tends to be redefined as an American problem, and almost unlimited military force is available to attack the problem, Obama's approach was heretical.

Democrats were just as opposed to his heresy as Republicans. Indeed, despite the wreckage of George W Bush's invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq that Obama's administration inherited when it took office in early 2009, his own first secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was a classic interventionist.

After she left office in 2013, Clinton told Goldberg that "the failure to build up a credible fighting force of

the people who were the originators of the protests against Assad ... left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled." But Hillary Clinton actually got her way on Syria.

The real failure of American policy on Syria in 2011 was the tolerance extended to Turkish, Qatari and Saudi Arabian shipments of arms and money that were intended to subvert the faltering non-violent revolution and replace it with an armed revolt whose goal was a Sunni Islamic state, not a secular democracy.

Obama and Clinton must share the blame for the fact that the United States became part of this operation in early 2012, providing arms that it sourced from Libya to avoid Congressional oversight. By then the non-violent protests had been largely suppressed and Syria was stumbling into a civil war—which subsequently killed 300 000 people and turned half the country's population into refugees.

Most Syrians would now agree that it would have been better to accept the failure of the non-violent movement and the continued rule of the

execrable Assad regime than to see their country virtually destroyed. I suspect that Obama sees Clinton's Syrian policy, in hindsight, as the greatest mistake of his time in office—but he did partially redeem himself by refusing to bomb Syria during the "poison gas" episode of 2014.

Clinton also told Goldberg in 2014 that "great nations need organizing principles, and 'Don't do stupid stuff' is not an organizing principle." Nobody said it was, but it is a good guide when deciding on actual policies, and Obama has been pretty consistent in observing it even with regard to the Middle East.

His fundamental insight—and his greatest break with the orthodoxy of the American foreign-policy establishment—has been to understand that very little that happens, or could happen, in the Middle East is a threat to America's vital interests. Even Israel's well-being is only a sentimental consideration for the United States, not a strategic one, although like all American politicians he is obliged to pretend otherwise.

Only if the Islamist extremists of the

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

Nusra Front and Islamic State were to overrun all of Syria would Israel be in any danger, and the Russian military intervention in support of Assad's regime since last September has largely eliminated that possibility. So Obama has been free to concentrate on the issues that he thinks are really important, and that is where he has made real progress.

His foreign policy has been minimalist only with regard to the traditional "strategic" concerns inherited from the Cold War and America's long, deep and mostly futile engagement with the Middle East. In his "pivot" to Asia, in reestablishing ties with Cuba, above all on the issue of climate change (which he rightly sees as the crucial issue for the next generation and beyond), he has been an activist in his foreign policy—and a largely successful one.

Neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump, the two main contenders for the succession, will be a patch on him.

V Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.

FEATURE // CAREGIVING

Squeezing the sandwich generation Seniors' housing is not accessible for many and caregivers lack support

C

anada's population is aging, quickly: according to Statistics Canada, within 25 years, almost onequarter of Canadians will be over the age of 65, compared to one-sixth right now. The pressure is mounting on the sandwich generation—middle-aged people tasked with caring for older relatives at the same time they are raising their own children— especially in one key area: where are all those seniors going to live?

Invariably, the answer to that question is with their family, whether by choice or, as is more often the case, lack thereof.

"As it is right now, you can't get paid to provide care for somebody," Anna Mann, executive director of the Alberta Caregiver Association, says. "The option is basically you have no options: you have to provide care for this person, and there [are] not facilities available, and then you're leaving work to provide that care. All around there's that sort of pressure being put onto families to provide more care. We're seeing people getting discharged from hospital faster. [There's] the idea that home care will pick up the slack, but home care's budget isn't increasing, so it's falling to the families to provide that care."

The Alberta Caregiver Association is a non-profit group created to address caregiver burnout and to take action to protect and enhance the health and well-being of caregivers.

Money is the single-biggest factor impacting the decisions around caregiving and seniors' housing. Mann explains that seniors' housing can be very expensive—as high as $5000 per month—and many seniors do not have the resources to pay for it themselves, thus having to either rely on their families for supplemen-

tary income or housing and care.

The current government benefits for caregiving are also very limited and only cover gravely ill, usually end-of-life, situations: at the federal level, EI benefits for compassionatecare leave were just extended to six months, while at the provincial level, compassionate-care legisla-

tion only includes up to eight weeks of job protection.

There is also still a pretty big stigma around seniors' housing. Despite developments in that industry, when a family makes the decision to put older members into some form of care, there's often a sense of guilt or failure. The government is capital-

izing on this social stigma, whether consciously or not, by not prioritizing seniors' housing in its budgets or providing support services for caregivers.

"I think the move is more towards keeping people out of care as long as possible," Mann says. Further, she CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 >>

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VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

UP FRONT 5

FRONT VUEPOINT

BRUCE CINNAMON BRUCE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Expensive staircase Anyone who's had to walk up a broken-down LRT escalator every morning for several months knows that Edmonton is very good at building expensive staircases. Now, for $24 million, the city is creating a funicular which will cut down into the river valley from the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald to the Low Level Bridge.

The city frames the development as an accessibility issue.

But it's disingenuous to use the language of inclusiveness to sell the funicular, especially when there are cheaper and more effective river valley access points nearby. The Shaw Conference Centre, just a few minutes away, already has staircases, functioning escalators, funicular-style elevators, and an impressive view of the river valley both in summer and in winter. It is also serviced by a DATS drop-off. The only thing this access point lacks is a ramp on the south side of Grierson Hill Road—which I'm guessing would cost less than $24 million to build, and which probably wouldn't break down very often.

The drive to build the funicular is more opportunistic than altruistic, part of the creeping commercialization of the downtown river valley. From the urban beach concept in Louise McKinney Park (which is still listed under "Current Projects" on the city's website) to the Touch the Water Promenade (which is outright identified as a way to "enhance current and future development on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River"), the River Valley Alliance's initiatives are more about creating urban spaces that will drive expensive residential and commercial developments than about preserving or protecting the natural beauty of the river valley.

We need to protect, preserve and celebrate the river valley.

But projects like the funicular, the beach or the promenade are not the way to do it. Instead of trying to create a "world class metropolitan river valley park system" by pouring money into manufactured spaces and commercial development, we need to restore actual parkland and defend our ribbon of green.V

SQUEEZING THE SANDWICH GENERATION << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

notes that even when families want to provide the care, they can't do it 24/7 without any breaks. Accessing respite care is very important to prevent caregiver burnout, yet almost wholly unavailable.

"Right now there's not a lot of options for people to get time away," she says. "You can pay for private care, but that can be quite costly. Edmonton has a few beds, so basically beds in long-term care facilities, where someone can stay for a couple of days, or a week, so the person [who's caring for them] can get a break. But there's only, I think it's six beds for the whole city. In total there's probably about half a million caregivers in the province, so that's not enough beds for everyone to be able to access the support."

launched in 2015 and aims to be "the TripAdvisor for retirement homes."

Bojana Nedic, co-founder and coCEO, explains that Pearl's Choice is a way to get a comparative analysis of all the housing options available within your area; it includes a profile for every retirement community across Canada (except Quebec). Users can provide ratings and reviews of each place, while retirement homes that

when in fact there are really amazing, positive benefits, especially regarding social life, and sort of understanding that you're getting the care you [need] when you move into a retirement home."

Although Mann had not heard of Pearl's Choice until this conversation, she agrees that it sounds like a valuable tool to assist people in a process that is often overwhelming. But while services like Pearl's Choice can help in the search to find seniors' housing, it only addresses the issue of finding a home. And even if people find a place they like, many simply won't be able to afford to live there. That won't change without a massive social shift in the way our society regards caregiving.

"We don't value caring as a profession," Mann says, noting that many long-term care facilities in particular have constant employee turnover and low wages. "It's kind of growing out of the idea of women's work, right? You can get the families to do it for free, so why would you pay someone all that much, or something like that."

The option is basically you have no options: you have to provide care for this person, and there [are] not facilities available, and then you're leaving work to provide that care.

Finding seniors' housing, at least, might become a little bit easier thanks to some innovations in technology. The lack of readily accessible information was the catalyst for Pearl's Choice, a company that

wish to partner with Pearl's Choice are offered enhanced profiles, social media engagement and other forms of PR. Nedic notes that as they've passed their goal of 10 000 unique users, they are currently in the midst of a redesign to provide users a more guided experience.

"We're trying to trail-blaze and bring that whole industry onto the digital platform," Nedic says. "[We're] trying to break down the barriers of stigma towards retirement living. People think that they're just not great places to live,

MEL PRIESTLEY

MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Arden Theatre Professional Series: Juan De Marcos & The Afro-Cuban All-Stars Mar 18

Arden Theatre Cinema Series: The Royal Ballet Romeo & Juliet Mar 20

U of A Studio Theatre presents: The Kaufman Kabaret

by Hannah Moscovitch Mar 23−Apr 2

Horns Up Entertainment Presents: The Offspring with guests GOB and Pigeon Park Mar 24

Northern Light Theatre Presents: The Passion of Narcisse Mondoux Mar 31−Apr 9

Walterdale Theatre Presents: Glengarry Glen Ross

By David Mamet Apr 6−Apr 16

Horizon Stage Up Close & Personal: David Myles Apr 15

Arden Theatre Professional Series: Matthew & Jill Barber The Family Album Apr 16

2016 Edmonton Poetry Festival Apr 17−24

Northern Light Theatre presents: Wish

By Humphrey Bower Apr 29–May 7

U of A Studio Theatre presents: The Whale

by Christopher Bullough w/ Michael Peng & Wishbone Theatre | May 11−21

Walterdale Theatre Presents: From Cradle To Stage An Evening of New Work May 16−21

2016 Pets In The Park June 2016

Walterdale Theatre presents: Chess (Book: Richard Nelson, Lyrics: Tim Rice, Music: Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Anderson) July 6−16

21st Annual Whyte Avenue ArtWalk July 8−10

...AND MORE TO COME!

6 UP FRONT

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

FEATURE // WINE

DISH

DISH EDITOR: MEL PRIESTLEY MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Corking the old idea of expertise Edmonton's wine scene doesn't need to rely on tradition to improve

Edmonton's wine scene is lagging far behind our food, beer and cocktail scenes: so stated a recent story in the Edmonton Journal. The article called for city restaurants to improve their wine lists, stating that "for every Corso 32 and RGE RD, there are 10 that still create their lists not based on quality, but on what's commercially popular or which wine rep has the biggest promotional budget." As the main reason for these shortcomings, the article cited a lack of "true" sommeliers working in Edmonton restaurants, and provided the following definition of that role: "A true somm works in a restaurant and his/her job is dedicated to the wine program. They are not also serving food and bussing tables."

A lot of issues are at stake in this argument. While I've personally voiced similar concerns/complaints/general woes about Edmonton's wine lists, the answer isn't as simple as telling restaurants to go out and hire a sommelier.

First off, that particular definition is quite limited and speaks to a business model that can afford restaurant employees in highly specialized roles. This is economically unfeasible for most restaurants in Edmonton—and indeed, for most restaurants outside of the major urban centres of North America.

"An analogy I would use is a pastry chef: you would think that many restaurants have employed amazing pastry chefs, but we don't, because we don't have the budget," says Patrick Saurette, co-owner of The Marc. "It's not that we don't want it, but that job specification and the salary that it would demand makes it an unusable model, economically."

Saurette says that changes in the restaurant industry have forced staff to possess a multitude of skill sets. He agrees that wine lists and wine service will be better, undoubtedly, with a sommelier at the helm—but also notes that the trend away from that role, towards servers who all possess a degree of wine knowledge, isn't all negative.

"I think the whole industry has been uplifted by the overall education and conversation of wine in general," he says.

Caitlin Fulton, co-owner of RGE RD and manager of its wine program, agrees.

"I don't know if it's exactly a necessity [to have a sommelier], but I think we should hold our service staff and the wine programs to the same standard we do our food and our food-service professionals," she says. "I think there does need to be a standard of excellence and a standard of higher learning and a standard of craft in the service end and in the beverage end, that there is in the food side of things."

The Marc is an established fine dining restaurant downtown; it's been open for over five years and has earned an acknowledged reputation as one of the city's top spots for excellent food and wine. While RGE RD hasn't been around as long, it quickly became a poster child for the farmto-fork movement and a darling of Edmonton's food scene—and it was cited in that Journal story as an example of a restaurant doing the right thing in terms of both wine and food.

Yet neither of these restaurants employs a true sommelier, nor are Saurette or Fulton a sommelier themselves. Obviously, having those official credentials and employing a person in that role isn't the only way for a restaurant to offer great wine selection and service.

"The majority of our staff has a level of maturity and experience that you don't often see in the hospitality industry," Saurette says. "Their experience through the many years that they've been involved in the industry has given them a solid background and confidence to make recommendations with our limited wine list."

"We just don't have people applying, necessarily, with those designations," Fulton says. "It's not as prevalent in the service [industry], and I don't think there are many servers in town that are seeking that kind of education, where it really matters to them.

"We have some veteran servers who have worked for us and they all have some degree of wine training," she continues. "I think it's not that people don't have any education whatsoever; it's just that they're not necessarily going that extra mile to get the designations and the letters."

// Charlie Biddiscombe

Credentialism in the wine industry is fraught with complications and disagreements: the right use the title "sommelier" is a contentious issue. Its narrowest, most traditional definition is also very old-fashioned, conjuring up a sense of stuffiness and fussiness that the city's top restaurants have—quite thankfully— abolished. As the restaurant industry changes, and especially as dining demographics shift to a younger generation, the need for this tradition becomes increasingly irrelevant—if not an outright detriment.

"You have the classic picture of the person with the cup around their neck, walking around and sniffing corks," Fulton describes. "I

agree ... that the traditional role of the sommelier doesn't really exist in town. But then I would also argue that, you know, fine dining doesn't really exist in the same way it does in Europe, or did 20 years ago. I would say there are quite a few working servers in this city who do have some sommelier training, some credentials." "[Millennials] don't want to be dictated to," Saurette says. "The last thing they want is an old, whitehaired guy [to] come over and hold their hand. They can make fine decisions on their own.

"You just need a conversation to maybe help sway you in a specific direction," he continues. "I think a

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

lot of people can deliver that; they don't need letters [of a sommelier designation] beside them."

Edmonton restaurants need servers who can speak intelligently about the wine list they are serving, and managers/owners who give the same amount of care to their wine that they do to their food. A true sommelier is unnecessary and, in most cases, an economic impossibility.

Undeniably, many Edmonton restaurants have been lax in their approach to wine. The answer, however, is not reverting to an oldfashioned, outdated and unworkable business model.

MEL PRIESTLEY

MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

DISH 7

DISH FEATURE // ECONOMICS

A Rosé by any other name wouldn’t be as sweet.

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Restaurant successes in hard times

Quality counts even more when diners have less cash to spend

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ord on the street is that restaurants in Calgary are ghost towns right now, due to the low price of oil, mass lay-offs and economic downturn. News stories are reporting a decline in Edmonton, too—but is that really the case?

The short answer is no—at least not for three of our city's established eateries.

"We're up over last year, and all our trends over the last five years are holding true," says Mike Angus, general manager of Old Strathcona mainstay The Next Act Pub. Angus partly attributes the business's sustained sales throughout December and January to keeping pints very competitively priced at under $8.

"We enjoy a clientele that makes us a part of their weekly routine, which is innate in pub culture," Angus says. "The casual side of it definitely works in our favour."

He also has a theory about why the pub hasn't seemed to miss a beat so far.

"This is just my gut telling me this, but if you've got only $20 to spend in your budget for that week to go out, you're going to spend it on a sure bet," he says. "It might make you wary of trying a new restaurant, or one with a higher price point. Reputation goes a long way."

Across the river in downtown Edmonton, the story sounds similarly reassuring.

"We're still doing the same amount of people, but the bill averages are just slightly lower," says Daniel Costa, the chef and owner of Corso 32 and Bar Bricco. "People might decide against the after-dinner drink, or simply choose a slightly lower-cost wine rather than going without."

Costa also thinks that when it comes to wine, there's a greater emphasis on finding the gems that provide high quality for value.

High quality is the calling card of Costa's restaurants, and he says that won't change. "[The economic downturn] might

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

force people to skimp on the quality of their ingredients, but we're not going to do that," he notes. "We have to stick with what we believe in and keep offering a very high quality product."

The restaurateur sums things up with a quote from a former boss: "In a recession, it's the great restaurants that will survive, because people want to go to a place where they're guaranteed to have a great experience."

The economic downturn hasn't translated into lower sales at Credo Coffee, either.

"It is definitely something we worried about in November, when the lay-offs started to affect some of our regular clientele," owner Geoff Linden says. "The news was a heavy cloud hanging over all our heads, and we obviously felt horrible for those that were directly affected."

As it turned out, sales at Credo's 104 Street location ended up right on average, and the 124 Street lo-

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cation actually gained slightly.

"Stay true to who you are, remember why you got into this originally, give your best to everyone who comes in, and recognize that we are what we have always been ... a getaway from the office, a place [in which] to meet, and a positive routine not to be messed with," Linden advises.

For these three Edmonton businesses, the key to ensuring continued success in an economic downturn is offering their customers quality. People have less money to spend, and going out to restaurants is an easy thing to cut spending on; when people do go out, it's going to be someplace that makes them happy. Whether that means an affordable pint at their local pub, a guaranteed stellar meal, or a heartening routine, people want comfort in difficult times—and they are willing to pay for it.

PHIL WILSON

PHIL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

DISH 9

PREVUE // THEATRE

ARTS

ARTS EDITOR: PAUL BLINOV PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PICKING HISTORY'S POCKETS

Until Sat, Mar 19 (8 pm) Bust 'Em Up Burlesque Directed by Lana Michelle Hughes Citadel Theatre, $22 – $29.40

London's most infamous girl-gang re-emerges in Bust 'Em Up Burlesque

B

y the early 1920s, the Forty Elephants Gang was so well known in London that the sight of its membership approaching would cause sensible citizens to flee.

Responsible for one of the largest shoplifting operations in London's history, the gang would flood a place with girls, all snapping up whatever they could grab, then high-tail it out en masse, safe in the knowledge that there's no way a shopkeep could possibly catch all of them. They were correct.

"These women were incredibly ruthless and cunning pickpockets," Lana Michelle Hughes says. "For their time, they were totally groundbreaking in a lot of ways; coming out of the Victorian era, where women were wearing tight clothes and everything's quite structured, they really jumped into the Edwardian time period, the swinging '20s, in a quite-vicious way."

As the steadfast director of Send in the Girls Burlesque—known for its fusion of burlesque and theatre—Hughes is wellversed in coaxing titillating kernels of history into fully theatrical, clothes-dropping affairs. The company's previously showcased the wives of Henry VIII (Tudor Queens); a legendary literary family (A Brontë Burlesque); and the seedy underbelly of early, glammy Hollywood (The Hollywoodland Burlesques). It seems to find focus in revealing curious elements or figures from the past, of which there seems no shortage.

"Ellen [Chorley] and Delia [Barnett], who are the co-artistic directors of Send in the Girls, spend a lot of time trying to find really interesting historical women that we can riff off of," Hughes says. "We've got a pretty impressive list, I would say, of things we'd like to do. But when we started reading about this particular group, the Forty Elephants, it hit us on the head as one of

// Dave DeGagne, dbphotographics.ca

our favourite stories that we'd ever had the chance to tell."

The Forty Elephants' time as a scouge on London began in the 1870s, but Bust "Em Up Burlesque catches up with the group in the '20s. A time when Alice Diamonds was queen of the gang, her moniker drawn from how she'd wear diamonds on every finger—"So when she punched someone," Hughes notes, "it would hurt even more."

Hughes says they focused on that era partly out of practicality—as that's when the most information about the gang could be found—and partly, well: "Who doesn't love the '20s?" Hughes asks.

"It's just such a beautiful time. We obviously have to take some extra time to integrate whatever story we're trying to tell with the burlesque element. And the '20s just really suits that: everything's so beautiful and sparkly and exciting."

As part of the Citadel's Made In Edmonton cabaret series, the show's had an unusually long development process. That's translated to involving a huge number of artists—some 22, on and off stage—as well as an approach that's looking to engage the audience in different ways than Send in the Girls shows have attempted before.

"This is probably our most exciting piece we've ever done," Hughes says. "I think we've made a lot of really bold choices this time, and I think it's the piece that will surprise people the most. Certainly there will be burlesque and an interesting story, but we're telling the story in a way people might not expect. We've put on our brave creator-hats this time, and stepped outside even our own weird theatrical conventions."

PAUL BLINOV

PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // THEATRE

OCD / eleven-oh-four

T

wo women. Two stories. Two very different ways the mind can wage a war with itself are combining into one double-bill of Edmonton International Fringe Festival stand-outs.

10 ARTS

First, we have Louise Casemore's OCD: a hopeful comedy about a young woman trying to come into her own, but struggling with a mental disorder that's holding her back.

In 2015, the original production

was greeted with a sold-out run at the Fringe and high praise—Vue gave it five stars.

"It's anchored in wanting to acknowledge that, strangely, obsessive-compulsive disorder being an anxiety-born illness has kind of been usurped by the general public to be really anyone with any degree of hygiene or cleanliness," says Casemore, who commands the role of both playwright and performer for OCD. "So the show, in its own way, serves to remind people that there is a huge reality of sufferers out there that goes well above and beyond an inclination to straighten cereal boxes."

Since everyone's experience with the disorder is different, Casemore is careful to tell a unique narrative.

"The words obsessive-compulsive disorder are never mentioned during the show," Casemore says. "This

is a person who suffers from it, for sure, but it's not necessarily how she identifies, or her identity."

Second, we have Cat Walsh's eleven-oh-four: a dark comedy about an insomniac whose sleepless nights lead to a haze-fuelled fixation on her noisy next-door neighbours. Winning the 2014 Sterling Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress, eleven-oh-four was also nominated that year in the category of Outstanding New Play.

"I would call it almost a bit of a comedy-thriller, in a way," Casemore explains. "Because you're dealing with a woman's thoughts in the dark, all alone, at night and how noises can become something they're not. And sleeplessness, as a thing, is a pretty jarring experience that really starts to blur the lines of reality."

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

Sun, Mar 20 – Tue, Mar 22 (8 pm) El Cortez, $25

Though originally produced in different years, both Walsh and Casemore share the common experience of what Casemore describes as the "ambition and terror" in revealing these one-woman shows to the public. Now they are eager to be working as a team in renewing these plays, and Casemore is quick to note the power of coming together.

"With this double bill, I think the biggest learning tool has been just unite yourself with other people," she says. "There is so much to gain by collaboration."

KATHLEEN BELL

KATHLEEN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // CIRCUS

Panache 'H

e is a bouffon," Ross Travis says. "That's what he is: he's so expansive and blown-up. He's basically these feelings and perceptions and discontent—within a certain population in the States, he stands for that. ... In bouffon [clown], a lot of the work is spiralling in on an issue, and taking that and magnifying it. That's what he's doing: he's taking beliefs and magnifying them, and getting this amazing response, because people are like, finally, this guy is saying things that we feel."

Travis is, of course, talking about Donald Trump; but looming US election aside, the San Francisco-based acrobat/clown has ample reason to have the man on his mind. He's up here as part of Firefly Theatre's Panache, a circus show with a healthy dose of political satire, somewhere between The Hunger Games, the reign of Louis XIV and the current US election. Ross is playing a character called The Ponce, an overblown, egotistical, loudmouth with his eyes on politics. Sound familiar?

"I'm kind of the throughline," he says. "The show is a rally in honour of this character. It's kind of a political rally; this character's gotten together all these acts to show how great he is, to illustrate what he plans to do with his reign. How he plans to fix the energy crisis, so on, so forth. Some of the acts, he talks about them, and how they illustrate

Thu, Mar 17 – Sun, Mar 20 (8 pm [Mar 17 – Mar 19]; 2 pm weekend matinees) La Cite Francophone, $22 – 32.50

what he's going to do."

Those acts include aerials, magic from Billy the Kid, a dog act, some "interesting hula hoops" and Ross's own specialty, the Chinese pole.

His skill there is what first connected him with Firefly—having gone to the same physical theatre

school as Firefly artistic director Annie Dugan. Travis saw her call for a Chinese pole artist on their school email list a few years back.

The specifications fit him perfectly; a few months later, he was in Edmonton, working on what became Firefly's Craniatrium.

He's also popped by the Fringe Fes-

tival of his own accord a few times: there was the bouffant act You Killed Hamlet, or Naked Creatures Sitting In A Play, a few years back.

Or perhaps you saw him last year, dressed in full primate attire, for The Greatest Monkey Show On Earth.

But being back now, and making comment on what's happening in

his home country, seems an apt use of his full range of skills, both acrobatic and clown, especially as the election cycle continues to pick up steam.

"It feels timely, and a lot of fun, to be doing this at this time."

PAUL BLINOV

PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // THEATRE

Into The Woods W

hen it comes to fairy tales, depth is not normally a word that comes to mind. But when those fairy tales meet in a world woven together by multiTony Award-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and multi-Tony Award-winning librettist James Lapine, things get deep, and sometimes a little dark, when you go Into the Woods.

An intricate musical featuring Cinderella, Jack and his Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Prince Charming and Little Red Riding Hood, the story doesn't end at happily ever after for Sondheim and Lapine. In fact, happily ever after is really where things get going for Into the Woods.

Two ONE-WAY Tickets To Broadway Productions is bringing a semi-staged version of the musical to the Winspear, complete with a full orchestra. And director Mary Jane Kreisel is currently preparing to showcase the nuances of this fairy-epic.

"There's twists and turns in the lyrics," Kreisel explains. "You'll

find the way he words the music, the actual lyrics provide almost double-entendres, they provide in-depth meaning, and they also move the story along."

That story is based on all the wishes of the many characters, each desperate to make their dreams come true.

"By the end of Act One, they all get their wishes," Kreisel says.

(Don't worry, that's not a spoiler.)

"But an element that just runs slightly through the story about them being very, very single-minded about getting those wishes and a little bit conniving."

When the characters are re-introduced in Act Two, something is a little off.

"We get the sense from the very beginning that they're happy, but is that completely enough?" Kreisel continues. "We move into almost a modern-day fairy tale. The same characters are there, but it's very modern day. They're not completely satisfied, but they are OK; they are happy enough."

Thu, Mar 17 & Fri, Mar 18 (7:30 pm) Directed by Mary Jane Kreisel Winspear Centre, $16 – $30

Which is when we get to the real profundity of the play. Postdreams-come-true, the fairy-tale characters are quickly forced to deal with the consequences of their conniving ways and Into the Woods unearths the costs of happily ever after.

"It's quite an insight into the human condition and also a little bit of an insight into modern-day life—is the individual's wishes more important than the wishes of the community?" Kreisel says.

"Should we be considering both ourselves and the community in which we live in, because if our wishes go too far, it can harm the community."

KATHLEEN BELL

KATHLEEN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

ARTS 11

ARTS PREVUE // VISUAL ARTS

The Source Awakens ing Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes, and they've got amazing, interesting observations about how photography both preserves and destroys, falsifies, brings back the dead in uncomfortable ways—and I thought that fit nicely with the new movie, so I've typed out some of their quotes to continue a sub-theme of the power of physical objects, like the toys. I'll have all, as in all, the original figures on display at Front, as well.

You can definitely ignore all the theory and just look at the photos— which to me parallels just loving Star Wars and not getting all pretentious about it. The theory in the show sort of calls itself to question this way.

But I couldn't turn my brain off. I basically had no choice but to do this, it was one of those shows.

VW: Star Wars is as entrenched in

// Fish Griwkowsky

F

ish Griwkowsky was all of six years old when he saw the first Star Wars film—on its first run, no less. Catalogues of Star Wars toys were being handed out at the theatre's exit—assuredly by some marketers quite savvy to the franchise's emerging audience—which sparked a longtime (though "since-cured") toy addiction for the Edmonton Journal arts critic and writer.

Jump ahead a couple decades, and J J Abrams' The Force Awakens hit theatres. Griwkowsky found himself walking out with mixed feelings, which now take shape in The Source Awakens, a photo show/commentary opening this weekend at the Front

Gallery. To make it, Griwkowsky hauled much of his remaining Star Wars collection up Tunnel Mountain in Banff, and shot photos of the figures, since enlarged, as a way of making comment on the new film.

In advance of the show's opening, Griwkowsky took some questions about The Source Awakens via email.

VUE WEEKLY: When did you start col-

lecting Star Wars memorabilia?

FISH GRIWKOWSKY: Mid '77 I got a

C-3P0 from a Spokane grocery store, and that was that. I ended up with one of the biggest collections in Alberta, every original-series figure-scaled toy ever made, etc, but as Qui-Gon Jinn

will tell you, there's always a bigger fish. It got to the point where I was choosing the toys over people and experiences—pathetic—so I walked away cold turkey and warehoused everything. Actually thought I'd lost all the figures until I had the idea for this weird show-as-a-movie-review.

VW: Why did macrophotos of your collection seem like a good way to make comment? What sort of comment were you looking to make?

FG: I wanted to officially acknowledge the source material and let people see it face-to-face in these close-up enlargements, whether or not you link it to the new film. I've been read-

popular culture as anything could possibly be. Is there any way to have returned to that world [with The Force Awakens] and ever live up to the nostalgia that's now inherent to it?

FG: The mob tells us the prequels were terrible, and, yeah, they had obvious problems. But they made that universe bigger, and filled it with a whole bunch of captivating new science-fiction set-pieces—two-headed podrace announcer aside. Yoda's nails scratching down the senate booth.

The Duel of the Fates music. Anakin and Padmé looking across the city at each other. That giant-monster arena fight. R2-D2 fixing that ship in space as all the other droids got picked off.

And there's lots of cool stuff in the

Until Thu, Mar 31 Opening reception: Fri, Mar 18 (7 pm) The Front Gallery new film, too. But overall I felt like it made Star Wars a smaller place, sort of just melting its best ideas down for parts. There's not one thing in the new film that I can't tell you the exact source of from the first trilogy, slightly twisted. And I just don't buy the argument the audience is too stupid to understand anything fresh. They started with an image of a Star Destroyer in the sand, literally, instead of a story. You should have seen what they almost gave us, though. This new film is a miracle compared to what they were thinking [of] first.

VW: What was the shoot itself like?

In your initial email, you mentioned hauling the set up Tunnel Mountain and "feeling the weight of Abrams' responsibility."

FG: I carried over 150 figures up a mountain above the Banff Centre, and it was hot and sweaty—those freaks weigh a lot at once, climbing through the snowy forest. I didn't realize I was bringing up five Chewbaccas until I got to the top. Doing so, I felt a symbolic empathy for Abrams—he was pretty burned out before he made this episode, but just had to do it. I felt pretty insane taking photos of Boba Fett and an AT-AT Driver as German tourists walked by and pointed. But, you know, I had the urge to bring these toys along with me, which has been happening since 1977 in various ways. Including this show, really.

PAUL BLINOV

PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // DANCE

Romeo and Juliet

Rehearsin' some Shakespeare en pointe // Paul McGrath

12 ARTS

'I

've never played a bad guy before," Garrett Groat says, a laugh punctuating the statement.

"It's different. It's kind of fun to find an evil place in yourself."

The villain in question is the scowling Tybalt, the primary antagonist in Romeo and Juliet—sworn enemy of the former, and cousin to the star-crossed latter. Groat admits to identifying more with ol' Romeo, but while playing up his nefarious side isn't Groat's usual MO—he admits that some of his notes from Alberta Ballet artistic director Jean Grand-Maître have been to be meaner, more evil, in rehearsal—but he's finding the way to convey those directives in his movements.

"I think we all have a darker side, and it's kind of nice to be able to explore it within the character of Tybalt," he says. "He's not a very soft guy. [The movement's] a lot more rigid, uptight, kind of pissed-off."

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

Fri, Mar 18 & Sat, Mar 19 (7:30 pm) Jubilee Auditorium, $20 – $95

Conveying the timeless tale through the nuances of the body is, after all, paramount: this is Shakespeare's most enduring and tragic love story as told en pointe, favouring movement over iambic pentameter. Noted as one of Grand-Maître's favourites, it's certainly popped up its fair share of times in the company's history, last in 2009.

This is Groat's first go-around with the adaptation, after six seasons in the Alberta Ballet corps. He's no stranger to the music, though: this will mark the first time he's danced it with the company, but Sergei Prokofiev's score is one he's very familiar with.

"The score by Prokofiev has always been one of my favourite ballet musical scores," Groat offers. "It's amazing to be dancing to that music. ... It just depicts the story so well."

PAUL BLINOV

PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // THEATRE

A Picasso I

t was an inevitable return: A Picasso enjoyed such a successful run at the 2013 Fringe Festival that a remounting was bound to show up in town sooner or later. Here it is, the second-to-last show in Shadow Theatre's season, featuring half of the original two-part cast: Julien Arnold is reprising the title role of Pablo Picasso, while Alana Hawley is taking the reins from Shannon Blanchet opposite him as Miss Fischer.

"As is the nature of Fringe, often you're throwing things up with way less time than you would during a traditional professional rehearsal," Hawley says, noting that this time they've been able to really dig into the material. "Every single thing, we're trying to deal with on a really specific level. So on our first day, all we did was talk about the history around the play, and books and movies and film that have to do with this period in the world. Rather than just looking at this story, we're getting a really great sense of the world during this time, and hopefully [we] can bring that to the script and bring it for the audience."

That world is Nazi-era Paris, specifically a tiny basement office to which Miss Fischer has summoned Picasso,

ARTIFACTS

in order to persuade Until Sun, Apr 3 (7:30 pm; Sun him to authenticate matinee at 2 pm; no show Sun, his own work amid Mar 20) a collection of con- Directed by John Hudson fiscated art. It's cer- Backstage Theatre, $18–$27 tainly not the first sort of scene that springs to mind when envisioning that part of history.

"So many times when we go to see a play about the Nazis, it's almost impossible to bear, let alone sit through, right?" Hawley says. "This play, because I think it brings in a sense of sensuality and sexuality and intrigue and art, all wrapped up into this really depressing history—it makes it more palatable to the audience."

Accessibility is indeed a hallmark of A Picasso. Hawley feels that playwright Jeffrey Hatcher succeeded in writing something with more contemporary resonance than a standard-issue history play.

"It's a huge statement about politics," she says. "With the shift in Alberta politics right now and the back and forth, unfortunately even a little bit of hatred between different people in different parties right now—it's a very relevant thing to look at."

MEL PRIESTLEY

MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

// Ryan Parker

PAUL BLINOV

// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

WHAT’S ON AT UALBERTA? Traditions: Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Band Historical developments of the modern wind band from the Renaissance to Electronica.

Conductors: Angela Schroeder and Glenn Skelton

Sun, Mar 20 @ 3 pm

U of A Studio Theatre: The Kaufman Kabaret

by Hannah Moscovitch

New play borne of the history of birth control in Canada

Mar 24 to Apr 2

@ 7:30 pm Matinee Thurs, Mar 31 @ 12:30 pm

Winspear Centre

Timms Centre for the Arts

Rowan EB, performing as part of Unpacking Boxes

Unpacking Boxes / Sat, Mar 20 (7 pm) No, it's not someone trying to get you to help them finish moving. The second-annual Unpacking Boxes is using art to open up discussion on the societal boxes we place each other in, an extrapolation on the United Nations' commitment to reducing racial discrimination and xenophobia worldwide. It'll feature a wide swath of poets, musicians, visual artists and filmmakers all exploring the issues in their mediums.

This second iteration also features a mix of speakers who have been working with anti-racism causes. (Massawa Cafe & Bistro [10153 - 97 St], $10)

Glass Buffalo 10th Issue launch / Wed, Mar 23 (6:30 pm) Since its formation in 2012, the literary magazine Glass Buffalo has been a steadfast anchor for all types of emerging writers at the University of Alberta. Fiction, poetry and nonfiction all grace its pages (publishing three times yearly these days), and its contents have earned it some serious accolades: 12 Alberta Magazine Award nominations and one National Magazine Award nom. Now that it's reached its 10th issue, Glass Buffalo is looking to celebrate the milestone with a special issue-launch: writers will read works of prose, accompanied will be speeches, toasts and other revelries. (Yellowhead Brewery, $10 [includes a copy of Glass Buffalo's 10th issue]) V

Common Ground: Bachelor of Design Graduate Show 2016 Mar 29 - Apr 9 Opening reception: Thurs, Mar 31 @ 7 pm FAB Gallery, 1-1 Fine Arts Building

U of A Symphony Orchestra: Panta Rei USO tackles compositions by western music’s most troubled minds: Wagner, Larsson and Shostakovich Conductor: Petar Dundjerski

Sun, Apr 3 @ 3 pm Winspear Centre

ualberta.ca/artshows

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

ARTS 13

ARTS WEEKLY

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

Dance dance crush • Mile Zero Dance Company, Spazio Performativo, 10816-95 St • 780.424.1573 • milezerodance.com • Featuring Lee Su-Feh; "The Things I Carry With Me" • This season MZD produces four performances with some of our favourite movement-based artists from across Canada. • Mar 17, 8pm • $15 (MZD members), $20 (non-members)

Flamenco Dance Classes (Beginner or Advanced) • Dance Code Studio, 10575-115 St NW #204 • 780.349.4843 • judithgarcia07@gmail.com • Every Sun, 11:30am12:30pm

Romeo and juliet • Alberta Ballet • 780.428.6839 • albertaballet.com • One of the pinnacles of 20th century ballet, Romeo & Juliet captures the tragic tale of Shakespeare's starcrossed renaissance lovers with astonishing grace and heartbreaking intimacy • Mar 18-19, 7:30pm

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

FILM Cinema at the Centre • Stanley Milner Library Theatre, bsmt, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.496.7070 • Film screening every Wed, 6:30pm • Free • Schedule: He Named Me Malala (Mar 23), The second mother (Mar 30)

Edmonton Film Society • Royal Alberta Museum, 12845-102 Ave • 780.439.5285 • edmontonfilmsociety@gmail.com • royalalbertamuseum.ca/movies • This winter film series will feature the theme: Love is in the Air • Schedule: Letter From an Unknown Woman (Mar 21) • All films begin at 8pm • $6 (regular), $5 (seniors 65+/students), $30 (all eight films)

French Film Festival • Various locations throughout Edmonton • af.ca/ edmonton/french-film-festival • Seven films will be shown in four different sites of Edmonton. Films will be in French, with English subtitles • Mar 5-22 • Free From Books to Film • Stanley

galLeries + Museums ACUA Gallery & Artisan Boutique • 9534-87 St • 780.488.8558 • info@acuarts. ca • acuarts.ca • Vytynanka Workshop; Mar 19, 1-4pm; $40 (member), $45 (non-member) • Shumka Presents KOBZAR Paint Party: with artist Valeriy Semenko; Mar 19, 7-10pm; $30 • Youth Night Out; Apr 9-23, 6-8pm; $40

ALBERTA CRAFT COUNCIL GALLERY • 10186-106 St • 780.488.6611 • albertacraft. ab.ca • Feature Gallery: X3: artwork by Alberta Potters’ Association, Contextural | Fibre Arts Cooperative and the Nina Haggerty Centre; Jan 16-Mar 26 • What Grows in the Ditch: artwork by Donna Brunner; Feb 13-Mar 29 • MIX: artwork by Paula Cooley; Feb 13-Mar 19 • Discovery Gallery: Inventing Narratives: artwork by Corinne Cowell; Mar 26-Apr 30; Artist reception: Apr 2, 2-4pm • Discovery Gallery: Get a Handle on It: artwork

by Mynthia McDaniel; Mar 26-Apr 30; Artist reception: Apr 2, 2-4pm

Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) • 2 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.422.6223 • youraga.ca • Fabric: Charrette Roulette; Nov 21-Apr 10 • The Blur in Between: artwork by an international roster of artists from Chile, the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, as well as Canada; Jan 23-May 8 • The Flood: artwork

by Sean Caulfield; Feb 6-Aug 14 • Out of the Woods: artwork by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven; Feb 13-Apr 17 • 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc; Mar 5-Jul 3 • Little Cree Women (Sisters, Secrets & Stories): artwork by Brittney Bear Hat & Richelle Bear Hat; Mar 5-Jul 3 • Refinery en Vogue: fashion show and textilebased installations commissioned specifically for the event; Mar 19, 9pm; $45 (regular), $39 (AGA members) • Curator’s Walkthrough: Out of the Woods: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven (Mar 23, 7-8pm) • Open Studio Adult Drop-In: Wed, 7-9pm; $18/$16 (AGA member) • All Day Sundays: Art activities for all ages; Activities, 12-4pm; Tour; 2pm • Late Night Wednesdays: Every Wed, 6-9pm • Art for Lunch: 3rd Thu of the month, 12:10-12:50pm; Schedule: Charrette Roulette: Fabric (Mar 17)

Art Gallery Of St Albert (AGSA) • 19 Perron St, St Albert • 780.460.4310 • artgalleryofstalbert.ca • Overburden: artwork by

Jessica Plattner; Mar 3-Apr 30; Reception: Apr 2, 2:30-5pm • Show Off: artwork by Nathalie Quagliotto; Feb 10-Apr 9 • Art Ventures: Block printing (Mar 19), 1-4pm; drop-in art program for children ages 6-12; $6/$5.40 (Arts & Heritage member) • Ageless Art: Printmaking – lino blocks (Mar 17), 1-3pm; for mature adults; $15/$13.50 (Arts & Heritage member) • Preschool Picasso: Block printing (Mar 19); for 3-5 yrs; pre-register; $10/$9 (Arts & Heritage member)

Bear Claw Gallery • 10403-124 St • 780.482.1204 • info@bearclawgallery.com • bearclawgallery.com • New paintings by Laird Goulet and carvings by John Sabourin; Mar 19-31 Bleeding Heart Art Space • 9132-118 Ave • dave@bleedingheartartspace.com • Sweet Jesus: artwork by Borys Tarasenko; Mar 19-Apr 30

BUGERA MATHESON GALLERY • 10345124 St • bugeramathesongallery.com • Trusting Intuition: artwork by John King; Mar 11-25 • New Works: artwork by Jim Visser; Apr 8-21; Artist reception: Apr 8, 6-9pm, Apr 9, 1-4pm

Gallery at Milner • Stanley A. Milner Library Main Fl, Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.944.5383 • epl.ca/art-gallery • Gallery: Dreams from other Utopia: Oil paintings by Ricardo Copado; throughout Mar • Plexiglas cubes and display cases: Scales, Fins and Horns: Clay sculptures by Terry Daly; throughout Mar

18-Jul 31; Opening reception: Mar 18, 7-9:30pm • The Mactaggart Art Collection: Beyond the Lens: artwork by John Thomson; Mar 18-Jul 31; Opening reception: Mar 18, 7-9:30pm • Show Me Something I Don't Know: images, photographs and travelogues created by John Thomson; Mar 18-Jul 31

Happy Harbor Comics • 10729 104 Ave NW • happyharborcomics.com • Visions of Comics Art Show: featuring the theme of "to be continued"; Mar 4-17

VAA Gallery • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St •

Harcourt House Gallery • 3 Fl, 10215112 St • 780.426.4180 • harcourthouse.ab.ca • Dead Record Office: artwork by Audint; Mar 10Apr 15 • Bed Linens: artwork by Sara Mckarney; Mar 10-Apr 15

Jeff Allen Art Gallery (JAAG) •

Women's Art Museum of Canada •

Strathcona Place Senior Centre, 10831 University Ave, 109 St, 78 Ave • 780.433.5807 • seniorcentre.org • Variety–the Spice of Life: featuring artwork by Sheila Bice, Elaine Butler, Linda Ensley, Rita Mittlesteadt, Joy Schlaut and Jean Weekes; Mar 3-31

Lando Gallery • 103, 10310-124 St • 780.990.1161 • landogallery.com • Lando Gallery March Group Selling Exhibition; until Mar 29 Latitude 53 • 10242-106 St • 780.423.5353 • latitude53.org • War. 11: portraits by Taras Polataiko; Mar 24-Apr 30; Opening reception: Mar 24, 7pm • The Reflex: artwork by Paul Bernhardt, Mar 24-Apr 30; Opening reception: Mar 24, 7pm

McMULLEN GALLERY • U of A Hospital, 8440-112 St • 780.407.7152 • friendsofuah.org/ mcmullen-gallery • Keiskamma Trust: This show will feature textile artworks exploring the theme of birds; Feb 13-Mar 20

MINBID One Art Gallery & Shop in Vacancy Hall • 10359-104 St • minbid. ca/events • Monthly Hang Art Auction; Mar 25, 8-11pm

Musée Héritage Museum • St Albert Place, 5 St Anne Street, St Albert • MuseeHeritage.ca • 780.459.1528 • museum@ artsandheritage.ca • The True Cost of Oil: Canada’s Oil Sands and the Last Great Forest: A photographic exhibition by Garth Lenz; Feb 4-Apr 17 Paint Spot • 10032-81 Ave • 780.432.0240 • paintspot.ca • Naess Gallery: Stop Making Sense: staff show with Shelly Banks, Kim Fjordbotten, Sarah Jackson, Mic Ortiz, Laura Rezko, Michelle Stregger, Brent Wasyk, Shelley Wilson, Oksana Zhelisko • Artisan Nook: The Elegant Line: traditional Iranian decorative painting by Fatima Rahimi • Both exhibits run Feb 23-Apr 7

Peter Robertson Gallery • 12304 Jasper Ave • 780.455.7479 • probertsongallery.com • Artwork by Phil Darrah; Mar 18-Apr 5; Opening reception: Mar 18, 7-9pm (artist in attendance)

Provincial Archives of Alberta • 8555 Roper Road • PAA@gov.ab.ca • 780.427.1750 • culture.alberta.ca/paa/ eventsandexhibits/default.aspx • Marlena Wyman: Illuminating the Diary of Alda Dale Randall; Feb 2-Aug 20

Scott Gallery • 10411-124 St • scottgallery.com • Time Depth: artwork by Dick Der and Edward Epp; Mar 5-26

metro • Metro at the Garneau Theatre,

Creative Practices Institute • 10149-122 St, 780.863.4040 •

Print­-Artists, 10123-121 St • 780.423.1492 • snapartists.com • Ingrid Ledent; Feb 3-Apr 14

Saturday Documentary Screenings

780.686.4211 • dc3artprojects.com • Three Minute Miracle: artwork by Amalie Atkins Mar 10-Apr 16 • All Things to All Men (and Women): artwork by Cindy Baker; Mar 10-Apr 16 • Don’t Breathe, Don’t Drink: artwork by Ruth Cuthand; Mar 17-Apr 16

Strathcona County Museum & Archives • 913 Ash St, Sherwood Park • strathconacountymuseum.ca • Making Their Mark: the Land Surveyor's Role in the Peaceful and Orderly Development of Alberta; Jan 4-Apr 30

front gallery • 12323-104 Ave •

Telus World of Science • 11211-

thefrontgallery.com • The Source Awakens: Photography by Fish Griwkowsky; Mar 18, 7-9pm • Between the Mountains and the Sea: artwork by Jackson Lowen; Opening reception: Mar 18, 7-9pm • Inner Perceptions, Outer Reflections: artwork

by Blake Ward; Apr 2-19

The Wanted 18 Film Screening •

Gallery@501 • 501 Festival Ave, Sherwood

14 arts

35-5 Ave, Spruce Grove • 780.962.0664 • alliedartscouncil.com • Featured Gallery: At Water’s Edge: artwork by Joyce Boyer; Mar 22-Apr 16; Opening reception: Apr 2, 1-3pm • Fireplace Room: Shaun Peters; through Mar

Drawing Room • 10253-97 St • 780.760.7284 • admin@drawingroomedmonton. com • HNW; throughout Mar

• Earth's General Store Downtown, 10150-104 St • michael@egs.ca • earthsgeneralstore. eventbrite.com • Screenings of documentaries with subjects such as: climate change, animal welfare, plant based diets, and much more.

Attendees will then discuss the film • Every Sat, 7-9pm • Free (register at EventBrite) Education Centre South, Room 129, U of A Campus • psnedmonton.ca • A screening of the TIFF official selection documentary film about 18 cows being declared a threat to the State of Israel • Mar 23, 7-9 pm • Free

sNAP Gallery • Society of Northern Alberta

SPRUCE GROVE ART GALLERY •

dc3 Art Projects • 10567-111 St •

Park • 780.410.8585 • strathcona.ca/artgallery • Best Seat in the House: a collection of photographs and stories by Ethan Russell; Feb 26-Mar 29 • Members Show & Sale; Apr 1-May 1; Opening reception: Apr 8, 7pm

Ave, St Albert • 780.460.5990 • vasa-art.com • The Fine Line Between...: artwork by The Goop of 7; Feb 2-Mar 18

West End Gallery • 10337-124 St •

Cafe Blackbird • 9640-142 St • 780.451.8890 • cafeblackbird.ca • Artwork by Sharon Malayko; through Mar

creativepracticesinstitute.com • A House is a Home: Artwork by Emily Geen; Mar 9-Apr 16

VASA Gallery • 25 Sir Winston Churchill

Jake's Gallery and Framing • 10441123 St • 780.426.4649 • jake@jakesframing.ca • Inspired Creations: artwork by Saeed Hojjati; Mar 14-Apr 9

A. Milner, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.496.7000 • epl.ca • Films adapted from books every Fri afternoon at 2pm • Schedule: Stanley Kubrick's 2001 (Mar 18) 8712-109 St • 780.425.9212 • Gateway to Cinema: Spirited Away (Mar 23, 7pm) • Metro Bizarro: Hank and Mike (Mar 23, 9:30pm) • Monty Python-A-Thon: And Now for Something Completely Different (Mar 24, 9:30pm); Quote-A-Long Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Mar 26, 9:30pm); Life of Brian (Mar 27, 9:30pm); The Meaning of Life (Mar 28, 9:30pm) • Reel Family Cinema: Jumanji (Mar 19, 2:30pm); Batman: The Movie (Mar 26, 4:30pm; Mar 30, 9:30pm) • Science in the Cinema: Amour (Mar 31, 6:30pm) • Turkey Shoot: Leprechaun (Mar 17, 9:30pm) • You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: She's Beautiful When She's Angry (Mar 22, 7pm)

visualartsalberta.com • Draw More Income: A mail-art exhibition by snail mail, email and fax where artists complete a drawing or artwork on a template that include an ornate frame and the words "draw more income"; Mar 3-May 28

142 St • telusworldofscienceedmonton.com • Free-$117.95 • The International Exhibition Of Sherlock Holmes; Mar 25-Sep 5

University of Alberta Hospital • Main floor, 8440-112 St • Mountain High: artwork by Donna Miller; Mar 8-Apr 4

U of A Museums Galleries at Enterprise square • Main floor, 10230 Jasper Ave • Open: Thu-Fri, 12-6pm, Sat 12-4pm • China through the Lens of John Thomson (1868-1872): photos by John Thomson; Mar

780.488.4892 • westendgalleryltd.com • Sabina & Irena Gendelman; Mar 12-24 La Cité Francophone 2nd Pavillon, #200, 8627 Rue Marie-Anne-Gaboury (91 St) • 780.803.2016 • info@wamsoc.ca • wamsoc.ca • Recollections: artwork by Sophia Podryhula-Shaw; Feb 27-Mar 31

Literary Apartheid in Palestine • Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA) Room 1-190, U of A Campus • psnedmonton.ca • Dr. Ghada Ageel will discuss the findings of her new book Apartheid in Palestine: Hard Laws and Harder Experiences to describe the conflict in Israel-Palestine • Mar 21, 7-9 pm • Free

Audreys Books • 10702 Jasper Ave • 780.423.3487 • audreys.ca • Gigi Meade Jabs with Friends of Rutherford house Lilacs and Brick Book launch; Mar 19, 2pm

Human Library: A Place for Us All • Rutherford Library Atrium, University of Alberta • bit.ly/UofAhumanlibrary16 • A space where visitors can speak one-on-one or in very small groups to “people on loan” or human “books”. The “books” are individuals from various demographics who have experienced stereotyping or prejudice or who have undergone a life experience that is often mischaracterized or misunderstood • Mar 17, 2-6:30pm • Free

Rouge Lounge • 10111-117 St • 780.902.5900 • Spoken Word Tuesdays: Weekly spoken word night presented by the Breath In Poetry Collective (BIP); info: E: breathinpoetry@ gmail.com Scrambled YEG • Brittany's Lounge, 10225-97 St • 780.497.0011 • Open Genre Variety Stage: artists from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every Tue-Fri, 5-8pm Shumka Presents The Poetry of KOBZAR: The Works of Taras Shevchenko…the Voice of Edmonton Poets • ACUA Gallery & Artisan Boutique, 9534-87 St • 780.975.0864 • shumka.com • Four Edmonton poets, including a former poet laureate, read the works of Taras Shevchenko, specifically the pieces inspiring Shumka’s newest creation, KOBZAR • Apr 2, 7-9pm • $10

Stories Of Strong Women • Strathcona County Library, 401 Festival Lane, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8600 • sclibrary.ab.ca • Storyteller Sylvia Hertling and friends will celebrate World Storytelling Day and honour the age-old tradition of sharing stories. The theme is “Strong Women”. Share or listen to life's adventures and tales of strong women throughout the ages • Mar 19, 7-8:30pm • Free (register online at sclibrary.ab.ca, or 780.410.8600) Upper Crust Café • 10909-86 Ave • 780.422.8174 • strollofpoets.com • The Poets’ Haven Reading Series: Most Mon (except holidays), 7pm, Sep-Mar; presented by the Stroll of Poets Society • $5 (door)

Theatre 11 O'Clock Number • The Backstage Theatre, 10330-84 Ave (North Side of the ATB Financial Arts Barns) • grindstonetheatre.ca • 90 minutes of improvised entertainment that unveils scenes, songs and choreographed numbers completely off the cuff based on audience suggestions • Every Fri, starting Sep 25-Jun 25, 11pm • $15 (online, at the door) 2016 Serca Festival of Irish Theatre • Alberta Avenue Community Centre, 9210-118 Ave • sercafest.com • Supporting old and new Irish theatre • Mar 17-21 • Admission by donation

alice through the looking glass • Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • 780.425.1820 • citadeltheatre.com • Alice has fantastical adventures with a dizzying array of extraordinary characters: rival queens, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, the White Knight and many others • Feb 27-Mar 20

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

A Picasso • Backstage Theatre, 10330-84 Ave • By Jeffrey Hatcher. Paris has fallen to Nazi invaders and armed forces occupy a city known for its art and liberty. Under the threat of imprisonment Pablo Picasso is summoned by a calculating cultural attaché and tasked with identifying which of a collection of confiscated paintings are genuine Picassos. But is Picasso telling? A thrilling and hilarious cat-and-mouse drama about the arts of politics, culture and sex • Mar 16-Apr 3 Bust ‘Em Up Burlesque • CLUB at the Citadel, 9828-101 A Ave • citadeltheatre.com • A little known story of the Forty Elephants Gang, a girl-gang of jazz follies in 1920s London who looked like heaven but raised hell • Mar 16-19, 8pm • 18+ only Chimprov • Citadel's Zeidler Hall, 9828-101A Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Rapid Fire Theatre’s longform comedy show: improv formats, intricate narratives, and one-act plays • Every Sat, 10pm • $12 (door or buy in adv at TIX on the Square) • Until Jun

Die-Nasty • The Backstage Theatre at the ATB Financial Arts Barns, 10330-83 Ave • communications@varsconatheatre.com • die-nasty.com • Live improvised soap opera • Runs every Mon, 7:30-9:30pm • Until May 30 • $14 or $9 with a $30 membership; at the door (cash) or at tixonthesquare. com

into the woods • Winspear Centre, 4 Sir Winston Churchill Square • twoonewaytickets. com • As the result of the curse of a oncebeautiful witch, a baker and his wife are childless. Three days before the rise of a blue moon, they venture into the forest to find the ingredients that will reverse the spell and restore the witch's beauty: a milk-white cow, hair as yellow as corn, a blood-red cape, and a slipper of gold. During their journey, they meet Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack, each one on a quest to fulfil a wish • Mar 17-18 The Kaufman Kabaret • Timms Centre For The Arts, University of Alberta, 87 Ave and 112 St • Hannah Moscovitch, one of Canada's hottest playwrights, has been commissioned to create a brand-new play for the University of Alberta's BFA class of 2016. Studio Theatre patrons will be the first audiences to witness The Kaufman Kabaret, the story of A R Kaufman, the first entrepreneur to introduce birth-control devices to married working-class women in Canada • Mar 23-Apr 2 • Sponsored by Vue Weekly

THE LAST RESORT • Mayfield Dinner Theatre, 16615-109 Ave • 780.483.4051 • mayfieldtheatre.ca • The Last Resort has it all: comedy, mystery, music and murder. Nick Galeazzo has just testified against the mob in New York City and has escaped the big city with undercover FBI Agent Miller to hide out in the last place anyone would look for him—a secluded, run-down resort in Saskatchewan • Feb 9-Apr 3 Michael Jackson Is: Back From the Future • Jubilations Dinner Theatre, West Edmonton Mall, Phase II West Edmonton Mall, 8882-170 St • jubilations.ca • Amazing adventures with Doc and Marty, set to the timeless tunes of the legendary King of Pop – Michael Jackson and other hits from the '80s • Feb 7-Apr 10

OCD / Eleven Oh Four • El Cortez Mexican Kitchen + Tequila Bar, 8230 Gateway Blvd • A double bill of acclaimed solo shows "OCD" by Louise Casemore and "eleven-oh-four" by Cat Walsh • Mar 20-22, 8pm • $27

Panache • La Cite Francophone, 8627 Rue Marie-Anne-Gaboury • fireflytheatre.com • A flamboyantly courageous evening of satire and circus • Mar 17-20, 8pm (2pm on Sat-Sun) • $22-$32.50 The Realistic Joneses • The Roxy on Gateway, 8529 Gateway Blvd • theatrenetwork. ca • Presented as part of the Roxy Performance Series. Bob and Jennifer meet their new neighbors, John and Pony. These two suburban couples have even more in common than their shared last names. As their relationships begin to intertwine, the Joneses must decide between their idyllic fantasies and their imperfect realities • Mar 24-Apr 3, 8pm (2pm on Sun) ROMEO AND JULIET • Arden Theatre, 5 St Anne St, St Albert • 780.459.1542 • ardentheatre.com • Shakespeare's romantic tragedy set to Prokofiev's magnificent score, is rich in the swaggering colour of Verona street life, sword fights and celebrations, and focuses on the complex emotions and fate of the starcrossed lovers • Mar 20, 2pm • $20 (adult), $15 (child) • Sponsored by Vue Weekly

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

PREVUE // VIDEO GAMES

POP

POP EDITOR: PAUL BLINOV PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

A scene in The Witness

All the lonely people

P

In a mostly social gaming world, a few games choose the solitary approach

aul McCartney detested loneliness. "Eleanor Rigby" laments the tragedy of a listless generation, surrounded by one another but completely isolated in their own minds.

The experimental pop anthem, beyond a milestone in the evolution of the Beatles' sound, is forlorn warning against social isolation, quietly asking listeners to reach out to one another.

As citizens of a digital age, we're inundated every moment of our waking lives with demands on our attention to socialize and share with others. A badge here, a banner there, another text begging to be read, all feeding the Sisyphean struggle of keeping pace with ubiquitous social connection.

Decades ago, parents distressed over the consequences of their children staying indoors to stare at the glowing screens tethered to video-game consoles. This century, online multiplayer gaming has been the norm, if not the default, and today's consoles are built entirely around the ideas of sharing our achievements, competing with each other in a non-stop public forum.

It's enough to make one withdraw just like Ms Rigby, for want of a precious moment of solitude.

As if in direct response, parts of the industry have entered something of a renaissance of single-player experiences, offering respite to players who prefer calm introspection over repeated online defeats by opponents half their age. Ironically, in an age where it's never been easier to connect with other players around the world, some of today's most impactful experiences come from games that lean into their loneliness.

Last month's Firewatch made its mission statement clear, telling the story of self-imposed geographic isolation through the eyes of a protagonist desperate to escape his anxieties. The story mimics the oldest forms of real-world escapism by tak-

ing players on a lonely walk through the woods. Deliberately set in the remote Wyoming wilderness of 1989, the only means of contacting another soul come through the player's handheld radio—a device that serves as a cheeky nod to today's constantly connected smartphones, and one that can be just as easily ignored.

But Firewatch isn't the first game to embrace solitude as a virtue. The 2013 exploration thriller Gone Home sowed many of the seeds that Firewatch and other titles would harvest—keen-eyed players have discovered that the stylistically analogous pair even exist in the same universe.

As the title implies, the player assumes the role of Kaitlin Greenbriar, a college student who's recently returned to an empty home, discovering her family members have all left on their own personal endeavours.

Unlike Firewatch, where human contact is a simple radio call away, Gone Home's protagonist is the story's sole being. As Kaitlin explores her home, she pieces together object narratives through family members' various possessions strewn about the house, evoking memories both fond and painful. In its short two hours, the game weaves an emotional tale of personal struggles and family dysfunction, underscored by a haunting atmosphere that hints at supernatural influence. Or does it? Part of what makes Gone Home's storytelling so resonant is that the mysteries hidden between the crawlspaces are only as true as Kaitlin—and the player—are willing to believe. With no external actors to influence her perceptions, it's entirely up to the player to decide whether or not Gone Home's resolution is a truly happy one.

There's a power to this type of player-driven storytelling, one that's also found at the heart of The Witness

(2016). Ostensibly, it's a game that offers no story at all. Players awaken in a mysterious technicolour dream-world with no apparent goal or mission in place. Story is found in the world itself as the game gently steers the player forward through a series of increasingly complex puzzle systems, building upon themselves across hundreds of iterations. The world is peppered with ghostly statues that offer few clues to any literal narrative that may have taken place in its surreal environment, but challenge players to look beyond their immediate perspective. By navigating a world devoid of other humans, yet full of humanity, The Witness seems bent on challenging players to experience its lonely island not as a physical space, but as an emotional surrogate of their own personal narratives. In doing so, the game enables us to directly experience the world, not through the eyes of someone else's character, but through our own individual identities.

It's a jarring experience, then, to go from such a deeply personal encounter to the existentially nihilistic world of Sunless Sea (2015). Heavily influenced by nautical narratives of a bygone era and drenched with Lovecraftian jouissance, Failbetter Games' maritime adventure all but strips players of any sense of identity as they set out into the subterranean abyss.

Players are told from the outset that the captain of their first ship will die, and to treat this failure as a learning experience as they set out on subsequent voyages. Navigating the world's underground ocean is perilous, cloaking the player's tiny little vessel in total darkness as it sails between ports.

Left alone with his or her thoughts in the pitch-black unterzee, captains can experience nightmares as they're forced to confront their own mortality—which often lies just off the coast of another unforgiving rocky shoreline.

But each moment of terror builds re-

solve, and with each failure comes renewed hope for a better outcome in the future. Sunless Sea aims not to punish its players, but to make them appreciate what they have.

In a 2014 article for The Atlantic, Danish writer Dorthe Nors posited that solitude is a necessary component of creativity. Without external distraction or influence, it forces us to confront our own thoughts and anxieties, learning to harness them to our own ends.

"Solitude, I think, heightens artistic receptivity in a way that can be challenging and painful," she wrote. "When you sit there, alone and working, you get thrown back on yourself. Your life and your emotions, what you think and what you feel, are constantly being thrown back on you."

In video games, solitude pushes players to confront their environments directly. There's no obligation toward performance or achievement—just pure, unfiltered discovery. It's why spending 20 minutes going through every object in a room can be so affecting, manipulating each item, building emotional connection through a virtual sense of touch. Why standing atop a constructed cliffside, staring out into the endless ocean that we know is little more than digital matte, can resonate on such a philosophical level. Why setting out into the depths, knowing death is a nearcertainty, brings not angst, but the promise of rebirth, as we learn how to better navigate our environment one failure at a time. Just as it's refreshing to get away from the crowds with an evening alone at home, solitude in video games gives players a chance to stop and appreciate the beauty in their imaginary worlds, and better understand themselves. Maybe Eleanor Rigby was on to something.

MIKE KENDRICK

MIKEKENDRICK@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

POPCULTURE HAPPENINGS HEATHER SKINNER // SKINNER@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Dark Knight Night / Sat, Mar 19 (6 pm) DC Comic fans are counting down the days until some of their beloved characters appear in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a follow-up to 2013's Man of Steel. To help fans quench their thirst, Macbeth Comics & Collectibles will be screening all of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy.

Guests will be able to fill their bellies with pizza and popcorn—plus, there's a 30-percent storewide discount.

(Macbeth Comics & Collectibles, $10) Gateway to Cinema: Spirited Away / Wed, Mar 23 (7 pm) It's Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, featuring dazzling scenery, enchanting characters and an engrossing storyline. Now the Metro Cinema will be showcasing the Academy Awardwinning film for one night only as part of its Gateway to Cinema series. Spirited Away follows Chihiro, a sombre young girl who enters the spirit world after getting lost along the way to her new home. After a witch transforms her parents into pigs, Chihiro takes on a new name and works in the witch's bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents so they can return to the human world. (Metro Cinema) Nerd Nite #26 / Thu, Mar 24 (7:30 pm) Learning about nerdy things while taking a sip or two of a good alcoholic beverage is a thing folks can do, thanks to the monthly Nerd Nite events. This month's lectures follow the theme of "feast for the senses," where guests will come to understand senses such as taste, touch and sight. The presentations include vinyl collecting as an art form, the truth about chocolate and the unintentional consequences of digital filmmaking. (The Club at the Citadel, $20 – $25, 18+) V POP 15

COVER // JAZZ LEGEND

FILM

FILM EDITOR : PAUL BLINOV PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

AS TIME GOES BY

Opening Friday Born to Be Blue Directed by Robert Budreau 

Ethan Hawke embodies his own Chet Baker in Born to Be Blue

L

et's get lost. In the music of Chet Baker, seductively half-lit, disarmingly naïve, living forever in a '50s fantasy of romance. In the life of Chet Baker, who was nearly always lit, whose activities were often sordid, and who died after falling from a window in Amsterdam after falling from grace for much of his 58 years. Dramatizing Baker's mid-life doldrums, when he lost his teeth in a beating and lost his currency as a once-enormously popular trumpet player and singer, Canadian writer-director Robert Budreau's Born To Be Blue hovers in some semi-fictive liminal space between musical mystique and reallife bleariness. The film alternates between evocative, intimate scenes of struggle and slow recovery—with arduous assistance from a woman unfortunate enough to fall in love with Baker (Carmen Ejogo)—and awkward, corny, over-lit recreations of jazz hagiography kabuki. The depiction of Miles Davis as a livid lizard is especially risible. (Let's hope Don Cheadle's forthcoming Miles Ahead serves as an antidote.)

The spectral, captivating centre of Born To Be Blue is, of course, Ethan Hawke, whose Baker is pitch-perfect.

Hawke deftly plays both sides of Burdeau's conception: this Baker is vulnerable and culpable, genuinely wounded and yet fundamentally ruthless. Hawke is very present in every scene, conveying a tumultuous inner life, while giving away little. There is a moment in which we watch Baker as he watches—and listens to—a pretty good busker playing near a dark tunnel. Baker, at perhaps his lowest point, tosses the busker some coins, seems to study him, size him up, perhaps gauge whether he can see himself in him, then disappears into that darkness. I can think of at least two contradictory ways to read the scene and both would seem true. This truthfulness comes down to Hawke's capacity to pack a wealth of experience into a single wordless scene. It's

16 FILM

one of Hawke's finest moments.

Personally, my admiration for Hawke developed only gradually. His work in the '90s so often struck me as affected—though sometimes, as in Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, youthful affectation was essential to the nature of the character being played. This became clear by the time of Before Sunset, when Hawke reintroduced us to that very same character, Jesse, nine palpable years older and suddenly so textured and complete, a person that we've lived with, who then went away, lived some more, and came back to us. Jesse had gone from affected to affecting. I still consider Hawke's collaborations with Linklater—which also include Waking Life, Before Midnight and Boyhood—to be his best work. (Incidentally, Hawke nearly played Baker for Linklater back in the day, as you'll see below.)

It was a real pleasure to speak with Hawke, who, as his films with Linklater attest to, loves to converse.

We met at a Toronto hotel a few weeks back.

VUE WEEKLY: What was your relation-

ship with Chet Baker before this project came your way?

ETHAN HAWKE: I was 18 or something when Let's Get Lost came out. Bruce Weber made a very beautiful film.

I think without it there's a whole generation that wouldn't know Chet Baker. I saw it and fell in love with the music. Then there was a few years where Richard Linklater and I were developing a movie in which I was going to play Chet Baker. Back when I was around 30. That movie fell apart, but by the time this came along I was, obviously, very familiar with him. I was relieved to see this character come back to me, now in his 40s.

VW: Photographer William Claxton talked about how when he first shot Chet Baker as a young man, he seemed oblivious to his own allure.

His persona changed over the years,

but many who came into contact with him suggest that Baker was somehow fundamentally unknowable. Is that freeing for you as an actor, or frustrating?

EH: I was allowed to play what he meant to me. The movie doesn't try to be factually accurate. It's exploring the legend. I see so much love in somebody that works that hard to play music. So much insecurity, vulnerability. A critic once wrote of Baker that his singing isn't so much singing as the memory of singing. I agree with that. There's something so nostalgic, such loneliness and loss there that I wanted to know more about.

There's a certain obsessive nature among creative people. To be that good at something you have to have all the right ingredients to make up an addict's behaviour. There's a recipe there. Someone who can spend 20 hours a day practicing trumpet and someone who can lose themselves to drugs and alcohol. Confidence and insecurity go hand in hand.

VW: Also surrender and control.

EH: Yes. There are so many sides to

Chet Baker, he's such an enigma, that I was allowed to do what I wanted. It's not like he's as famous as Jim Morrison and everyone knows exactly what he looks like. There was room to play.

VW: Every time someone gives a strong performance playing a real, famous person, people always say, "It's not an impersonation." But in this case it really isn't. When we finally hear you sing, there's something in the cadences and the timbre that obviously recall Baker, but you're not mimicking his exact sound. Your voice is deeper.

EH: I really enjoyed that he didn't have a great voice. He wasn't like Billie Holiday or something, but he had this melancholy that I thought was actable. I could create an alternate version, a person who sang like me.

I was less interested in imitation.

Frankly, I'm not able to do it. Hey, Branford Marsalis once said something about Baker being a mediocre trumpet player. And Chet responded, "Well, if I could play like Branford, I wouldn't." [both laugh] VW: The Baker we meet here has lost

that sense of everything coming easily to him. He has to work with his weakness.

EH: He used to say, "What I do with singing or with the horn is just tell the truth." I like that. Philip Seymour Hoffman, while working, used to say, "There's a lie in here.

Where is it?" You got the sense that even when Chet played badly it was very heartfelt.

VW: His singing strikes me as so frag-

ile as to be translucent. Like if you turn up the lights he'll disappear.

EH: Right! You won't be able to hear it again.

VW: At the same time, this truth

you speak of is also pure illusion.

That innocence in his music is such a contrast to the sleazy aspects of his way of dealing with other people.

Did that duality inform your choices?

EH: How could it not? If you sit in a room and listen to a Chet Baker record, there's a mood that you get into. It gets you thinking about romantic love—and also its impossibility. When he sings these romantic songs there's some part of him that doesn't believe it.

VW: And his readings are so sing-

songy that it's like he's just taking the lyrics and mussing their hair.

EH: He sings the notes like a trumpet player. He doesn't sell a song. I wanted the movie to feel like that. The images should correspond to the images you see when you're in that room with the music. That's what we were going for. We're not trying to teach you about Baker. It's a movie about the inevitability of pain and loss.

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

VW: If we didn't know anything about

Baker we'd come to the movie thinking that we're watching a guy who's had a rough patch, been taken down a peg, is forced to work hard, will eventually be renewed and triumph.

Which would presumably involve embracing the support of the woman who loved him. But no.

EH: Nope. That's why I wanted to do it. There were two things about this movie that I thought were really special. One was the movie within the movie. I knew we could do something good with that. The other was the ending, which I found powerful and surprising. It ends with a moment of great professional triumph and great personal failure. They're the same moment. A friend of mine said it's like if by winning the fight Rocky lost Adrian. Chet made his choice. I thought that was really smart.

VW: You're about the same age Baker is in the movie. Is there something about where this character is at in life that you can personally relate to?

EH: Definitely. Having young success and reaching middle age creates a unique conundrum. Early success creates inevitable downfall. When your first film is Dead Poets Society it leaves you nowhere to go except, maybe, even. People want you to be forever young. I remember reading an interview with Elvis at 40. He says, "Everybody calls me fat. Have you seen the rest of the guys my age?" So yes, I can relate. When you get to 45 you start to wonder is that all there is to a fire? You know that old Peggy Lee song. It's about how you get to a point where you know what life is. You know what it's not.

You're in danger of losing curiosity and joy. But I figure if you stay close to the people and things you really love, then joy continues and curiosity stays around.

JOSEF BRAUN

JOSEF@VUEWEEKLY.COM

REVUE // THRILLER

10 Cloverfield Lane Now playing Directed by Dan Trachtenberg 

I

ts title and fleeting, fleeing final scene both tentacle it to J J Abrams and Paramount's tentpole franchise, but otherwise 10 Cloverfield Lane is a stealthy, stand-alone chiller. This is a sharply penned, tale-twisting beast, even slinking smoothly out of its captivity-thriller cocoon to rumble into something else by the very end.

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) leaves New Orleans after an argument with her boyfriend; on the road in rural Louisiana, her car crashes and she wakes up hours later, locked up underground, where she's being nursed back to health by ex-Navy technician Howard (John Goodman), gruffly paternal and bent on respect. He tells her the US has been attacked, the air outside's contaminated, and this is the only place where she and Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr), a local who helped him build this cozy little doomsday bunker beneath his farmhouse, will be safe.

Dan Trachtenberg's featurelength debut, carefully handcranked turn by carefully handcranked turn, ratchet-wrenches tighter the claustrophobia even as it balances, on a can-opener's serrated edge, the tension between inside (is Howard a crazed captor?) and outside threats (how danger-

ous can it really be above ground?).

Are the worst monsters within or without? It's down below, certainly, that the most toxic atmosphere, of suspicion and distrust, begins to build amid this makeshift family (a boardgame scene takes turns playing with creepiness and menace).

The script's so crafted that all details are carefully laid crumbs, leading us along, up the ladder, and out into the explosive conclusion. The neatness of the writing is nicely at odds with so many moments of barely controlled panic: that gas-mask, hastily hidden; a desperately scrawled message; Emmett's effort to mask a se-

cret plan. 10 Cloverfield Lane may, in the final analysis, be little more than plot and atmosphere, but its plot is finely calibrated and its atmosphere cannily climate-controlled. This film's a deliciously terrifying treat to swallow down, hard, with a gulp.

BRIAN GIBSON

BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

REVUE // DOCUMENTARY

forever is a long time T

here's a scene, fairly early in forever is a long time, in which a wide swath of people try to summarize the smalls' sound. Long pauses and thinking sounds are uttered; one person's hard-won, uncertain answer ("prairie punk?") is immediately contracted by another's read ("Not punk"). Eventually, you get a sense of the permitters, but little consensus.

And then you hear the smalls play, and that uncertainty makes sense: the independent Edmonton band's was a never-quite-settled convergence of ideas—breakneck guitar chugs, crooning vocals, precision drumming, riffy baselines. There's something in that perplexity, working in spite of itself, that made the smalls compelling. And it's a similar thing that makes forever is a long time a compelling account of the band's reunion, 13 years after the smalls called it quits: directors Trevor Smith and John Kerr manage to deftly capture that intangible draw of the music, as well as a sense of why the group mattered to the people it mattered to (which was, by most accounts, a devoted base in any Canadian city west of Thunder Bay).

There was clearly no shortage of people willing to talk about the band: the film is chock-full of interviews with promoters, old and new managers, ex-members, critics, SNFU's Chi Pig (whose band

the smalls cite as inspiration), PR people, an endless parade of fans, and the band itself. The access was immense, and well-handled.

Thirteen years is a long stop-gap, far longer apart than most bands that break up and reunite today; long enough that it might have never have happened at all. "I haven't played heavy-metal guitar since we broke up," admits guitarist Doug Bevans, early on. With the exception of perhaps drummer Terry Johnson, who gets pointed to as the guy who more or less spearheaded this reunion, you don't really get a sense that it was anyone's firm drive to do this again. The band members seem a little pensive talking about it, like putting it into words might cause it all to evaporate.

Fri, Mar 18 – Thu, Mar 24 Directed by Trevor Smith, John Kerr Metro Cinema at the Garneau  tion arises: "When people go to these shows, do they love what they're seeing, or love the people they once were?" In a similar way, a band-reunion doc can really do two things: remind you why you cared, or make you realize what you missed. I can only speak to the latter—the smalls broke up as I was entering high school—but in its rare capture of not just the narrative but the unplaceable things too, forever is a long time surely manages both.

PAUL BLINOV

PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

The doc moves at a steady clip, feeling almost free-form as it goes.

Context arrives as necessary: the band history, and scenes from the tour in progress, the charting of its rise and fall and the various whys.

But more than anything, you get a feel of the band, the intangible appeal, that's still a part of what happens when these four—Johnson, Bevans, bassist Corb Lund, singer Mike Caldwel—play together that makes people show up en masse more than a decade later.

Midway through forever, a quesVUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

FILM 17

FILM REVUE // COMEDY

The Bronze I

n its opening moments, The Bronze takes us back to 2004, where a young American gymnast named Hope manages the sort of humandrama triumph that sports films are usually based on: after a bad landing at a penultimate event gives her a potentially career-ending injury, Hope goes on to do her last routine anyway, earning the titular medal and redemptive podium glory.

We meet present-day Hope (Melissa Rauch, of The Big Bang Theory and who co-wrote the script) as she's masturbating to a VHS of that former-glory momement, living in her dad's basement in small-town Ohio.

Her emotional development seems to have halted and curdled in the aftermath of the medal: she's abrasive, foul-mouthed and immune to basic

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Her various cruelties to everyone in range—mis-training Maggie early on, digging into gym owner Ben (Thomas Middleditch)'s twitch, a history-laden hatred toward a fellow coach—soon starts to feel like another retread of familiar stunted-adult-misbehavingmovie we've seen no shortage of

in recent years. The steam escapes quickly, with most of the support cast playing straight arrows to Rauch's unbending has-been. She's best with an endless barrage of one-liners, but where The Bronze yields the bulk of its funny is in showing a softer side: a romantic dinner at a mall food court; a ridiculous sex scene-meets-gymnastic routine; her dad's (Gary Cole) wearied but unending support of an ungrateful daughter; Maggie's doeeyed belief in all of Hope's instruction. From those peripheries come its best comedy; when it comes to its main arc, The Bronze doesn't offer anything remarkable.

REVUE // ANIMATED

RATED: 14A, CL

PRESENTS

decency, an entitled arrogance that The Bronze mines as hard as it can for laughter. Her days seem to consist of stealing birthday-card money from her mail-carrier father's bag of letters, then trying to cop as much free stuff as possible from the local mall.

But when circumstances (namely, the promise of a lot of money) force her, begrudgingly, to start training a rising star Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson), she starts to soften. A little.

Opens Friday Directed by Bryan Buckley 

ntoine de Saint-Exupéry's fantabulous tale of friendship The Little Prince (1943) is magical melancholia, its episodic chapters unfurling like miniature fables before a perfectly bittersweet ending. Mark Osborne's feature-length adaptation adds a dominant frame story that, at first, plays off the famous little fable (splendidly animated) within it quite nicely, only to overwhelm the original in its action-adventure third act, where the child-hero rather preciously returns the prince to his inner child and asteroid home.

An eight-year-old girl (voiced by Mackenzie Foy) prepares to enter the prestigious Werth Academy (a nod to Léon Werth, Saint-Exupéry's close friend and the book's dedicatee). Her carefully managing mother (Rachel McAdams) has moved them to a house in the school's district to ensure entry and timetabled every one of her 53 summer days until school

with a life and study plan; all is ontrack. But then the girl's neighbour, an aged aviator (Jeff Bridges), sends over a paper airplane that, unfolded, reveals the first two pages of a manuscript, handwritten in French and recounting the story of a little prince ...

The main story's CG-animation aptly gives these humans in their roadsgridded, boxed-up-and-cubicled, super-structured, all-business world a dull, plastic look (it's a cutting satire of modern-non-life, as if dryly merging Tati's Play Time and Roy Andersson's Songs From The Second Floor). In brilliant contrast, the book's drawings burst forth ultravividly, from its illustrations soaring into brightly painted life to the fable unfolding in gorgeously textured stop-motion, full of fragile-looking, papier mâché-like creatures and landscapes. Threads of fabric rustle from the green sleeves of the little

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

Now playing Directed by Mark Osborne 

prince's tunic; the fox's tail flames out, papery-thin.

But Saint-Exupéry's story is both overextended and crowded out by the final third here, where the girl actually flies the aviator's old plane into a gloomily all-adult planet of drone-workers (it's reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's Brazil), rescuing the little prince from grown-up drudgery and recalling him to his former childself and his beloved rose, awaiting him on Asteroid B-612. The action's overworked, the moral's overstated, and some of the small saga's sweet sadness slips away.

BRIAN GIBSON

BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // HIP-HOP

MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY.com/music ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: AN INTERVIEW WITH IVORY HOURS AND THIS WEEK’S MUSIC NOTES.

MUSIC EDITOR: MEAGHAN BAXTER MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

A spoonful of satire 'T

Radio Radio put a comedic spin on social commentary with Light the Sky

he sky is your canvas; it's your daily life, and the light is what you bring to the world," says Gabriel Malenfant, one-half of Canadian electro-hip-hop duo Radio Radio.

"Not only as an artist, but whatever you are," he continues, en route to Toronto from Montréal. "If you write like you do, or you sweep the floor, you're bringing that to the universe, you know? That's how you're changing the frequency and the vibe of the environment."

He's discussing Light the Sky, the new album from he and bandmate Jacques Doucet, but introspective musings about the heavens is only part of the equation.

"I'm 35, and you can still kind of question things; you can still see that there's stuff that's unjust if you want in life—or you can be mad at

something, but there's always a way to put humour and a different spin [on it]," he adds. "[It] takes time to see stuff like that, to see life like that, and I think we've been doing that for awhile."

The synth-powered record delivers all of this in English, a first for Malenfant and Doucet, who rapped all of their previous lyrics in an English-influenced Acadian-French dialect called Chiac. Malenfant is from New Brunswick—the only officially bilingual province in Canada, he points out—so it made sense to write an album in English, considering the influence it had on him growing up.

"We were expecting some flack from people that think that we're turning our backs on our culture," says Malenfant, who began writing songs in English a couple of years

Over

ago to see how it felt—the response from fans has been predominantly positive this touring cycle, too. "I'm used to growing up with the English culture—TV and everything—so for us it's second nature. I learned to speak English before going to kindergarten, so it's been part of my identity for awhile."

Regardless of the language Light the Sky was written in, it continues the lyrical approach that has been the impetus of Radio Radio's music since it formed in 2007. On the surface, the catchy beats can feel like your standard party anthem, but closer examination of the lyrics uncovers more serious topics and a healthy dose of social commentary.

Light the Sky in particular tackles modern dating and Tinder on "Tonight's the Night," being confident

within yourself on "Solo Dance Party" and human integrity on "Cause I'm a Hoe," in the sense of not compromising oneself for the promise of financial comfort. There's even a song that pokes fun at keeping up with the Jones's and Holmes on Homes star Mike Holmes titled "Remodel"—Holmes has since heard the song and given it his approval.

But all of this is delivered with satirical flair, which has become something of a signature mechanism for Radio Radio—Malenfant ties it back to a quote by Peter Ustinov that states "comedy is simply a funny way of being serious," which he adds is often missing in hip-hop. He and Jacques are constantly questioning aspects of society, he notes, and that's remained an important component of their music, in addition to making it entertaining for listeners.

30 years of diverse and

Wed, Mar 23 (9 pm) With Stevie Raikou, the Neighborhood Band Brixx, $12 "I think it's like taking medicine, but it's like when kids have medicine it's banana taste or whatever, so [in] your conscience and your subconscience, you're repeating a message that you're identifying with that could often be challenging when put into context or in another way," he explains of what makes satire effective. "But in this way it's coming down with love, it's not coming down with fear. It's diluted with distance and understanding, and it's kind of like with a grain of salt, but even more fun than a grain of salt.

It's spinning [it] in a positive way, so with satire I think you have to be able to question at one point, but at the same time have distance to laugh about it."

MEAGHAN BAXTER

MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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MUSIC 19

MUSIC PREVUE // ECLECTIC

Ben Sures with Strings & Horns Thu, Mar 24 (8 pm) Ben Sures Yardbird Suite, $22

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'I

t's Latin for 'versions,'" Ben Sures says, explaining the title behind his one-night-only show Poema Poematis.

Bolstered by a hand-picked selection of auxiliary musicians, Sures will play through a set list of his own material, reimagined and augmented through the lens of string and horn sections. The idea for the show began to percolate last year, when Sures played a few songs with Don Berner's Big Band.

"Don did this variety show at the

Citadel last September, and he asked me to be a part of it, to play three of my songs," Sures recalls.

"And I thought it would be weird to have his band playing my folky tunes, but it was really quite enjoyable, and I recognized the potential in it. And Canada Council has this grant program where you can apply to put on an unusual concert where you live. So things really started to come together."

With a career spanning three decades, Sures has made enough

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connections to pen a pretty formidable wish list of players for the unusual concert in question.

Edmonton stalwarts and long-time collaborators will share the stage with contemporary folk acts, jazz improvisers and classically trained musicians, including Sarah Frank and Luke Fraser of the Bombadils, Jeremiah McDade, PJ Perry, Sergio Rodriguez, Dave Babcock, Stephanie Suchy and Bob Tildesley.

"I'm good friends with Audrey Ochoa, who is one of Edmonton's most significant musicians in many ways," Sures explains. "We'd done a few projects together, and I thought it would be great to have her arrange for six horns. I've never really had the opportunity to work with horns, because when do folk singers have horns?

"And for years and years I've known Joe Phillips, who has played with all these people and the Orchestra London Canada and the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra," he continues. "For me, he's one of the top bass players in the country, but with these really great musicians you stop thinking about them in terms of what instrument they play, or what style, and you think about collaborating with them in a way that uses all of their talents."

So with a career-spanning look at his own material over two sets— the first will feature strings, the second will add horns to the mix—Sures has arranged to record the show to preserve the one-and-done event for posterity. But after all of the planning and rehearsal and promotion and excitement, does Sures wish the moment wasn't so fleeting?

"As an artist, over time, you start to understand that it's not so much about the event," Sures says. "It's all of it—the process, the culmination of everything you've done before. It's evolution. As an independent artist I've managed to get by, and I have meaningful shows and I've survived.

"But you know, you put out a record, it gets some buzz, you go on tour, you have a lull and you get depressed," Sures laughs. "And so you need a new carrot to dangle in front of yourself. I've flown under the radar enough that I don't take anything for granted. This show is going to be so great—I get to play with killer musicians, I get to hear my music reinterpreted, and I get to have a really super awesome and fun night."

JAMES STEWART

JAMES@VUEWEEKLY.COM

20 MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

PREVUE // FOLK

Matt Patershuk

Sat, Mar 19 (8 pm) CKUA Performance Space, $20

'P

// Peter Patershuk

ublic speaking has never been an issue for me, but singing in front of people was a whole different ball of wax," says singer-songwriter Matt Patershuk.

He released his debut album, Outside The Lights of Town, in 2013, after working to overcome some of the stage fright that had made him reticent to pursue music. Patershuk, who admits he tends to be more introverted when he's not on stage, has made strides in overcoming apprehension inherent to performing and actually enjoys the experience these days.

"I think it was just doing it: gritting my teeth and saying, well, if you like this enough then you should do the work to make it so that it's not so difficult," he says. "It was just a matter of wanting it bad enough to push through the few little issues that I had and keep doing it."

Is there anything that still poses a challenge when it comes to performing?

"Forgetting the words to my own songs," he says with a boisterous laugh. "That happens more than it honestly probably should. I don't have a great memory for lyrics, but that's just a matter of doing the work beforehand."

Patershuk will have plenty of time

to work on singing his lyrics correctly as he heads out to promote his new album, I Was So Fond of You. Much like Outside The Lights of Town, there is a strong sense of humanity and an intrinsically relatable quality to Patershuk's songs. They're heartfelt and poignant, and Patershuk's gruff baritone lays out deeply personal stories with unabashed clarity. Many of the tracks, particularly the title song and "Harviestown," attempt to make sense of the death of his sister Clare, who was killed by a drunk driver in June 2013.

"I was thinking about Clare's death constantly for such a long time after she died anyway, so I think to have written a good song, or an honest or genuine song, most of them would have been about that," he says of whether songwriting helped him get through the situation. "I think it's just a product of missing her and thinking about her."

Patershuk notes he couldn't write an album of "total downers," and there is some lyrical and melodic variety to be had on the Steve Dawson-produced record, but there's an underlying sadness at its core. All of the proceeds from album sales will also be donated to charities Patershuk says his sister

was interested in: the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, where Clare worked as a counsellor, as well as the Peace Area Riding for the Disabled Society. A portion of the money will also be donated to the Clare Patershuk Undergraduate Psychology Travel Fund at the University of Alberta.

"If you pick one of [the albums] up it won't be going to beer money—this time," Patershuk jokes.

Clare's presence is further entrenched in the record through its cover art, a striking painted portrait of an elderly man. The monochromatic colour palette of greys, blacks and whites converge to create a weathered character that, while unknown to Patershuk, has become a personal favourite of his.

"I loved that painting from the moment I saw it," he says. "It's the eyes of the man in that painting: they're pretty startling. It's hard to look away from them. The man in the painting looks like he's been through some sort of tragedy. You can see the pain on his face, and I thought that was, aside from being a painting that I really liked, I think it fit the tone of the record well."

MEAGHAN BAXTER

MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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MUSIC 21

MUSIC PREVUE // PUNK

No Problem N

o Problem is taking some time to re-group. After the release of its seven-inch Kid Killer last year and two stints in Europe, the band's flirting with the idea of recording new tracks this summer. In between bites of bacon and eggs, vocalist/guitarist Graeme MacKinnon discussed his recent bout with writer's block and the drive to keep playing in No Problem.

"I'm still writing, but nothing really great is coming out yet," he says. "That's the thing: we're not in a rush or anything, so we're just on the cusp of making a new record.

Some of the songs we've come up with, I'm really into. They're still dark and broody."

Fortunately, some writing struggles aren't enough to stop the gentlemen of No Problem from playing in several other projects and staying up-to-date with their enthusiasm for music. Guitarist Steve Lewis has a penchant for riff-heavy rock, bass player Matt Bouchard digs stuff like Devo or the Flying Nuns and drummer Warren Oostlander is into trashy garage and power pop.

Drawing inspiration from Devo, Australian punk like the Saints all the way to New Jersey funk band

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Informed by social commentary and astute observation of the human condition, MacKinnon writes lyrics as a sort of intimate exorcism of contemplative thoughts.

"It's this idea of getting by in your everyday routines," he explains.

"But at night, by yourself, you get this introspective time. You're able to look into why you're feeling a certain way, or the mechanics of why you're wanting to shut yourself off from everyone else. It's a point of strength because you're able to get it out through music.

That's why I need a band like this is to have that creative outlet."

Although enigmatic and mysterious at times, No Problem enjoys its fair share of adventures, especially while touring.

"We played this show in a suburb of Stockholm, and this guy,

// Keith Marlowe

the promoter or whatever, said we could stay at his house," MacKinnon recalls. "So we get in the van, and we're driving and driving and driving. After awhile, we were like, 'Where the fuck are we going? This guy is going to take us to get mur-

dered somewhere.' We end up at this mansion and later found out it was basically a mental institution.

It was probably super haunted, but we didn't stick around long enough to find out. There were goats everywhere and a graveyard right

next to the house. We stayed up all night just taking it all in. It was a great moment and something I know I never would have stumbled upon in my civilian life."

BRITTANY RUDYCK

BRITTANY@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // ALTERNATIVE

Katie Laine

Fri, Mar 18 (7 pm) With Raine Radtke & Her People Skills, Kelsey Brette Cha Island Tea Co, $10 are predominantly in the hardcore and metal genres. "You get to think about music in a different way that you don't usually get to."

E

dmonton's music scene is awash with material for audiophiles to feast on. With a constant rotation of shows and sounds to be turned on to, and a broad scope of musicians willing to discuss their craft in full detail, this city provides not only a great source of writing material, but an eclectic community of artists willing to share their love of music.

Local musician Katie Laine received her first guitar at the age of 12, and she began writing songs soon afer that. The now 19-year-old left her hometown of Rocky Moun-

22 MUSIC

tain House last year to pursue a vocal diploma from Grant MacEwan University, and she quickly found positives in the Edmonton music community.

"Edmonton's pretty sweet. It's a very diverse music scene, and school has definitely opened me up to a lot of it," Laine says.

She met bassist J D Speelman and drummer Sam Malowany through MacEwan. The trio began jamming some of her original tunes in September 2015, and it wasn't long before an EP was in order.

Laine's debut EP, The Sea & the Soil, comes in chill waves of indie, folk and reggae that intersect with her flowing, organic vocals. After enlisting the help of These Colours Don't Run drummer and fellow MacEwan student Brett Reid to handle sound engineering—efficiently and cost effectively—the group set to work recording last November.

"Having the chance to sit down and work with some musicians in other projects that involve a totally different spectrum is really interesting," says Reid, whose roots

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

While Laine provided the base for the EP's four tracks, she's thankful for Reid's input on the project.

"It's really great getting to hear suggestions ... about a lot of stuff I would have never thought of," Laine says. The mandolin tracks on the EP by Fred Mack, for example, were a spur-of-the-moment suggestion by Reid that basically came down to a mandolin player being around the studio space at the right time.

Overall, Laine is pleased to be out of the small town she came from and participating in Edmonton's scene as well as working with the pool of talent MacEwan provides.

"It's nice in the city because people always need someone to open, or people always need a lead singer," she says. "People at school are really helpful with projects. It's great to collaborate with those people— I wouldn't get to do that if I wasn't in this situation."

LANE BERTHOLET

LANE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // FOLK

David Francey

COMEDY AT THE CENTURY CASINO

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the "loneliest sound," Francey has ever heard, for example.

"I was up in Ashcroft, BC while I was playing a show, and you could see and hear these trains that were carrying heavy ore that were hundreds of cars long," he recalls. "On their way back, they're empty and they're rattling and banging off these hills. I remember thinking that is the loneliest sound I've ever heard in my life."

If it wasn't for the push from his wife and many friends, Francey may have never performed his songs in front of a crowd. His first performance was luckily heard by CBC Radio, and he was asked to go on the air. This encounter eventually landed Francey an opportunity to record

Sat, Mar 19 (8 pm) Royal Alberta Museum Theatre, $25 in advance, $30 at the door

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his first studio album, Torn Screen Door, in 1999, when he was 45.

Francey is enjoying sharing Empty Train with his fans, but he is still continuing to write songs and envisions a new album in the coming years.

"It never fails," he says. "You write a good song after an album release and you're like, 'Man that could have made it on the album.' [It] might be time for another."

SAT APR 16

he success of Scottish-Canadian singer-songwriter David Francey is the perfect example to puncture the judgement of being too old to make—or make it—in music. At the age of 62, Francey has won myriad awards, including three Junos, and released his 11th studio album, Empty Train, this past February.

Hailing from Ayrshire, Scotland, Francey's sound is rooted in a traditional folk resonance with a bluegrass feel, complemented by his sombre Scottish-accented voice.

After immigrating to Canada at the age of 13, Francey was more than eager to explore the country.

"When I was 16, I was really chomping at the bit," he says. "I wanted to see this new world, so I hopped a freight train to Vancouver and basically hitchhiked through Canada."

Francey was constantly writing poetry during his journey. His poems eventually became melodies, and some of them turned into songs—he began writing more and more during a 20-year stretch of working various construction jobs.

But Francey never thought once to share his music with the world.

"I would be working on a roof all day, singing these songs to myself, but I never wrote for anybody," he says. "I never had any urge to share it. I was writing these songs to help me solve or perceive things that were bothering for me in the world.

To me, that's what folk songwriting is, man: writing songs that are the chronicling of your times from personal experiences."

Francey has stuck to this songwriting theory since day one. He recorded his latest album in an Ontario cabin with the bandmates he calls "the Handsome Soldiers."

The record's filled with memories and stories of his time on the road—the title track references

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THE BOWER Strictly Goods: Old

Robison (folk); 9pm DV8 The Day the Oil Died!

Armifera, W.M.D, The Cadaver Dog, and Solborn (metal/ hard rock/punk); 8pm; $15; No minors FESTIVAL PLACE De Danann

mic with Stan Gallant

DJs

BLUES ON WHYTE JW Jones;

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Thu

Madness! 4X4 Birthday Bash/ Mix release featuring Big Daddy (dance/DJ/electronic) with Groovy Cuvy, Travis Mateeson and more; 8pm; $8 (door)

BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB St.

Pattys Day Complimentary Buffet with Edmonton Drum and Pipe Band then Garrett Wood. Karaoke Thursday will follow; 5:30pm BRITTANY'S LOUNGE Scram-

bled YEG: Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations; Every Tue- Fri, 5-8pm CAFE BLACKBIRD Danielle

Main Fl: Throwback Thursdays

with Thomas Culture Rock&Roll, Funk, Soul, R&B and 80s jamz that will make your backbone slide; Wooftop Lounge: Dig It - Electronic, Roots & Rare Grooves; Underdog: Underdog Comedy Show

CKUA BUILDING Matt Patershuk CD Release; 8pm; $20

Woods; 7:30pm; $16-$30

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(celtic); 7:30pm; $34-$38

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All ages

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FILTHY MCNASTY'S March

FIONN MACCOOL'S– DOWNTOWN Marshall

Lawrence (blues); 8pm; No minors

THE COMMON Quality Control

DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Duff

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Flashback Friday; Every Fri MERCER TAVERN Movement

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Robison (folk); 9pm DV8 No Mercy with Mental

Assassin, Unspittable, NMC & more (hip hop/rap); 9pm; $10 (adv); 18+ only FESTIVAL PLACE Harry Manx (blues); 7:30pm; $38-$44 FILTHY MCNASTY'S Wolfpact presents Art vs. Bands: Borrachera vs Scotty Miskolzie and Spaced Thyme vs Kaitlyn Dirk; 4 pm; No cover GAS PUMP Saturday Jam;

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ICEHOUSE

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Flowz: featuring DJs and artists teaming up; 9pm

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Deighton + The Soap Box Duo; 7:30pm; $6

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music; 9:30pm

Thu; 7pm

every Sat; this week: Paul Woida

CASINO EDMONTON Rakish

Paddys; 9-11pm

NAKED CYBER CAFE Shag featuring Izabelle; 6pm (door), 7pm (show); $7, $11 (door); 16+ only

DENIZEN HALL St. Paddy’s Day “give ’em the boot” Party; 11am DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Duff

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Robison (folk); 9pm

Talkerwith North of Hereand We Were Friends; 8pm; $12 (adv), $15 (door)

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Karaoke; Every Thu, 7pm FIDDLER'S ROOST Acoustic Circle Jam; 7:30-11:30pm

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Day featuring Spartans with Cutoffs and Debutaunt; 8pm; No cover FIONN MACCOOL'S– DOWNTOWN Andrew Scott,

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

12pm; Connor McGowan, 5:30pm; Sam Spades, 7pm

House Function Thursdays; 9pm

HUMMINGBIRD BISTRO CAFE Bistro Jazz; Every Thu,

FRI MAR 18

7:30pm; Free KRUSH ULTRA LOUNGE

Open stage with host Naomi Carmack; 8pm every Thu L.B.'S PUB Open Jam hosted

by Darrell Barr; 7-11pm LIZARD LOUNGE Jam Night;

Every Thu, 7-11pm MERCURY ROOM The Crooked Brothers (country/folk) with Post Script and guests; 7pm; $10 (adv), $13 (door)

MERCURY ROOM Corvus The

Crow CD release (metal/punk) with Wolfrik and Counted Among Saints; 8pm; $10 (adv), $15 (door) NEEDLE VINYL TAVERN Vinyl

Nights with A Floor Above featuring Petroleum Soul Club; 8pm; $5 (adv), $8 (door)

9910 Gary Debussy, Fever Feel, The Archaics & Didgin For Rainbows; 9pm; $10

NEW WEST HOTEL Joe

THE ALLEY Strange Charm (rock) with The King's Gambit and Hello, Me; 7:30pm; $10 (adv)

Edmonton's best solo musicians

THE ALMANAC Diamond Mind APEX CASINO Velvet Show

Band; 9pm ARDEN THEATRE Juan De

stage; 7pm

Marcos & The Afro-Cuban All Stars; 7:30pm; $58; Sponsored by Vue Weekly

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MacDonald; 9pm O'BYRNE'S IRISH PUB

ON THE ROCKS Steely Mac and the Fleetwood Dans; 8pm PALACE CASINO The Whiskey

Boyz; 9:30pm RENDEZVOUS PUB Vanity

Red, Lyquid Luck, David and the Titans RIVER CREE–The Venue Dueling

Pianos Live; 6pm (door), 8:30pm (show); Free; 18+ only

Patrick's DaySpencer Murray and Pipeslinger; 8pm; $5

BLACKJACKS ROADHOUSE

NEW WEST HOTEL Canadian

Wicked Grin (blues); 8pm; $20

Country Hall of Fame Guest host Bev Munro (country); Every Thu, 7pm; No minors

BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Two Blue;

Regions of Italy Extravaganza Evening; 7pm; $35-$70

8:30-10:30pm; $15

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Dirt

NORTH GLENORA HALL Jam

BLUES ON WHYTE JW Jones;

Road Angels (blues); 9pm

9pm

SHERLOCK HOLMES– DOWNTOWN Stan Gallant

by Wild Rose Old Time Fiddlers every Thu; 7pm

BOHEMIA Lesserman with

music

Cocaine Eyes, Kodama and Primrose Hawkmouth; 8:30pm (door), 9pm (show); $10

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ICEHOUSE

BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB

O’BYRNE’S IRISH PUB Live

Hi Strung Downers SANDS INN & SUITES Karaoke

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

Turlands Rockabilly Thursdays; 8-11pm

Bandana Gold; 9:30pm; Free BOURBON ROOM Live music

each week with a different band each week; 8pm BRITTANY'S LOUNGE Scram-

(rock); 9pm

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

SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A

CAFE BLACKBIRD Darrell Barr

SHERLOCK HOLMES– DOWNTOWN Stan Gallant

Andrew Scott (alternative/ country); 9pm SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM

Doug Stroud (country/pop/ rock); 9pm

24 MUSIC

Imran Khan (rock/pop/indie); 10pm; $55; No minors

Nights: Video Music DJ; 9pm-2am

Uncommon Thursday: Rotating Guests each week

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

(pop/rock) with Chef, Sound Bodacious and more; 8pm; $5 (door) DRAFT COUNTRY NIGHTCLUB

THE COMMON The Common

Thursdays; DJ and party; 9pm

CLINT'S HAUS Maria Phillipos

school and new school hip hop & R&B with DJ Twist, Sonny Grimez, and Marlon English; every Fri

HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH 5th Annual Now Hear

DRUID IRISH PUB Tap Into

CLEVER RABBIT Rosacea (alternative/punk) with Heavy Weather, Novelty, Christmas Cocaine Showdown, and Kodama; 8pm; $10 (door)

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(rock); 9pm SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A

Adam Holm (folk/pop); 9pm SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM

Doug Stroud (country/pop/ rock); 9pm STARLITE ROOM Real Mckenzies with Boids & Fire Next Time; 8pm (door); $21; 18+ only TIRAMISU BISTRO Live music

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PORTUGESE CULTURAL CENTRE

9910 Transmission with

Blue Jay & Eddie Lunchpail; 9pm; $7 THE ALMANAC Space Classic,

Little Blue, Bobbitopeppers APEX CASINO Velvet Show

Band; 9pm ARCADIA BAR Trevor Howlett;

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Kill Killokee ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM

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ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL Sweet

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Vintage Rides; 8pm BAILEY THEATRE–CAMROSE

Godfrey Blaque Fun_Raiser; 8pm; $25 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Hair of the Dog: Tom Olsen and the Wreckage (live acoustic music every Sat); 4-6pm; no cover

Saturday Electric Blues Jam with Rotten Dan and Sean Stephens (blues); Every Sat, 2pm; No minors • Later: Dave Bancock (blue); 9pm SHERLOCK HOLMES– DOWNTOWN Stan Gallant

(rock); 9pm

BLUE CHAIR CAFE Roots of the Blues; 8:30-10:30pm; $15

SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A

BLUES ON WHYTE JW Jones;

SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM

9pm BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB

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inger Quartet; 8pm; $15 CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK Carling

Undercover; 9pm CARROT COFFEEHOUSE Sat

Open mic; 7pm; $2 CASINO EDMONTON The Red

(folk/jazz); 8pm; by donation ($5 recommended)

Hotz (rock); 9pm

CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK Carling

YARDBIRD SUITE Allison Au

(folk/rock); 9pm

Quartet; 7pm (door), 8pm (show); $24 (member/guests)

CASK AND BARREL The SherryLee Trio; 4-6pm; No cover;

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

ON THE ROCKS Steely Mac and the Fleetwood Dans; 8pm

Fridays

Trio; 8pm; $20 Undercover; 9pm

Saturday Country Jam (country); Every Sat, 3pm • Later: Joe MacDonald; 9pm Mar 14-19

CASINO YELLOWHEAD Vera

Adam Holm (folk/pop); 9pm Doug Stroud (country/pop/ rock); 9pm SNEAKY PETE'S Sinder Sparks

K-DJ Show; 9pm-1am STARLITE ROOM Chelsea

Grin - Performing “Desolation Of Eden”, Oceans Ate Alaska, Wage War, When Minds Develope; 7pm (door); $22 (adv); 18+ only TWIST ULTRA LOUNGE Mikey

Wong and his lineup of guest DJs UNION HALL Cold Sweat;

9:30pm YARDBIRD SUITE The Fusionauts; 7pm (door), 8pm (show); $20 (member), $24 (guest)

Classical

HIGHLANDS UNITED CHURCH

BLUES ON WHYTE JW Jones;

Benefit concert for Syrian refugees featuring local artists; 7pm; Donations

9pm

JOHN L HAAR THEATRE

Songwriters Concert; 7:30pm; $9-$11.75 WEST END CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH On

with the Show; 2pm & 7pm; $11.76-$22

BRIXX BAR Live! On Stage:

Jonathan Richman featuring Tommy Larkins on the drums; 8pm (door), 8:30pm (show); $20; 18+ only

WINSPEAR CENTRE University

DANCE CODE STUDIO Flamenco

DJs

Guitar Classes; Every Sun, 11:30am-12:30pm

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main

DIVERSION LOUNGE Sunday Night Live on the South Side: live bands; Free; All ages; 7-10:30pm

Floor: The Menace Sessions

FESTIVAL PLACE Harry Manx

DJs

School featuring Neda Yamach and Clayton Leung; 3pm; $30 (adult), $25 (student/senior) of Alberta Faculty of Arts Dept. of Music Traditions; 3pm; $10-$20

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Soul Sundays with DJ Zyppy ~ A fantastic voyage through 60’s and 70’s funk, soul & R&B; Every Sun

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

(blues); 7:30pm; $38-$44

MON MAR 21

FILTHY MCNASTY'S Choir and

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE

Marching Band (alternative/ electronic/rock) with The Peavees and Mel Joy; 8pm; $5 (door)

Wooftop: Metal Mondays with

THE BOWER For Those Who Know...: Deep House and disco with Junior Brown, David Stone, Austin, and guests; every Sat

HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH 5th Annual Now Hear

Jackson; 9pm

This Festival; $50-$80

7-11pm

HORIZON STAGE Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project; 7:30pm; $35 (adult), $30 (student/seniors)

Rock Monday

LITTLE BRICK CAFE & GENERAL STORE Emily Nancy Guthrie &

ON THE ROCKS Killer Karaoke

THE COMMON Get Down

It's Saturday Night: House and disco and everything in between with Wright & Wong, Dane DRUID IRISH PUB Live DJs

every Sat; 9pm EVOLUTION WONDERLOUNGE

Rotating DJs Velix and Suco; every Sat MERCER TAVERN DJ Mikey

Wong every Sat THE PROVINCIAL PUB Saturday

Nights: Indie rock and dance with DJ Maurice; 9pm-2am SOU KAWAII ZEN LOUNGE

Psyturdays: various DJs; 9pm SUGAR FOOT BALLROOM Swing

Dance Party: Sugar Swing Dance Club every Sat, 8-12; no experience or partner needed, beginner lesson followed by social dance; sugarswing.com TAVERN ON WHYTE Soul,

Motown, Funk, R&B and more with DJs Ben and Mitch; every Sat; 9pm-2am Y AFTERHOURS Release

Saturdays

SUN MAR 20 BLUE CHAIR CAFE Brunch: Jim

Findlay trio; 9am-2pm; Cover by donation

The Wildflowers; 7-10pm; $20 (available at Little Brick) MASSAWA CAFE AND BISTRO

Metal Phil from CJSR's Heavy Metal Lunchbox BLUES ON WHYTE Russell FIDDLER'S ROOST Open Stage; FILTHY MCNASTY'S Classic NEW WEST HOTEL Herbs; 9pm

Monday PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Wild Rose Old Tyme

Unpacking Boxes Featuring Kristina Loreto (pop) with The Metronomad, Tarabish Collective and more; 7pm; $10 (adv)

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

MERCURY ROOM Wacken Metal

RED PIANO BAR Swingin'

Battle (metal/other) Round II; 7pm; $10 (adv), $15 (door)

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Monday

Mondays; 8-11pm

Sun; 9:30pm

Jam with hosts $4 Bill; Every Mon, 8-11pm

ON THE ROCKS Dahlia and the

SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A

O’BYRNE’S Open mic every

Value Villains; 8pm RICHARD'S PUB Mark Ammar's

Sunday Sessions Jam; Every Sun, 4-8pm SANDS INN & SUITES Open

Jam; Every Sun, 7-11pm SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Sunday

BBQ Jam Every Sunday hosted by the Marshall Lawrence Band (variety); Every Sun, 5pm; All ages

Classical JOHN L. HAAR THEATRE

Percussion Concert; 7:309pm; $11.75 (adult), $9 (senior 55+/student) ROBERTSON WESLEY UNITED CHURCH The Early Viennese

Open Mic Night hosted by Adam Holm; Every Mon SIDELINERS PUB Singer/

Songwriter Monday Night Open Stage; Hosted by Celeigh Cardinal; Every Mon (except long weekends), 8:3011:30pm; Free

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Blue Jay’s Messy Nest

with DJ Blue Jay - mod, brit pop, new wave, British rock TAVERN ON WHYTE Classic Hip hop with DJ Creeazn every Mon; 9pm-2am

TUE MAR 22

BAILEY THEATRE–CAMROSE

The Bad with guests Big Smoke Revival; 8pm; $10 BLUES ON WHYTE Russell

Jackson; 9pm BRITTANY'S LOUNGE Scrambled YEG: Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every Tue- Fri, 5-8pm

BRIXX BAR Radio Radio with guests Stevie Raikou and the Neighborhood Band and more; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $12; 18+ only DRUID IRISH PUB Karaoke

Wednesdays DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY Wed

open mic with host Duff Robison; 8pm FILTHY MCNASTY'S Mother

DRUID IRISH PUB Open Stage

Cluckin’ Wednesdays

Tue: featuring this week: Sophie Heppell; 9pm

GAS PUMP Karaoke; 9:30pm

FIDDLER'S ROOST Fiddle Jam

Circle; 7:30-11:30pm FILTHY MCNASTY'S Filthy

Bingo! Tuesdays GAS PUMP Karaoke; 9:30pm KELLY'S PUB Open Stage: featuring host Naomi Carmack and guest; 9pm; No cover L.B.'S PUB Tue Variety Night Open stage with Darrell Barr; 7-11pm; No charge NEW WEST HOTEL Herbs; 9pm

KRUSH ULTRALOUNGE Karaoke Kraziness with host Ryan Kasteel; 8pm-2am NEW WEST HOTEL Herbs; 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 Wednesday

jam every Tue; 9:30pm SHAKERS ROADHOUSE

ROSSDALE HALL Little Flower

Tuesday Wam Jam with the Thank You Ma'ams; Every Tue, 7:30pm

Open Stage since 1998; 8-11pm (door); no cover/ donations

YARDBIRD SUITE Tuesday Session: The Syndicate; 7:30pm (door)/8pm (show); $5

SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Wailin' Wednesday Jam with Hosts Wang Dang Doodle (variety); Every Wed, 7:30-11:30pm; All ages

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Eddie Lunchpail

spins alternative retro and not-so-retro, electronic & euro; Every Tue ON THE ROCKS Turn't Up

TAVERN ON WHYTE Karaoke;

Classical

WED MAR 23

MCDOUGALL UNITED CHURCH

BLUES ON WHYTE Russell BOHEMIA Double Lunch Presents: The Bad with Monster Baby and Stellafox; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $10; 18+ only BRITTANY'S LOUNGE Scrambled YEG: Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every Tue- Fri, 5-8pm

Music Wednesdays at Noon: Laura Veeze and Sarah Ho (violin and piano); 12:1012:50pm; Free

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

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 CENTRAL SENIOR LIONS CENTRE 11113-113 St CENTURY CASINO 13103 Fort Rd, 780.643.4000 CHA ISLAND TEA CO 10332-81 Ave, 780.757.2482 CHVRCH OF JOHN 10260-103 St, 780.884.8994, thechvrchofjohn. com CLEVER RABBIT 10722-124 St NW CLINT'S HAUS 9922-79 Ave COMMON 9910-109 St CONVOCATION HALL Old Arts Building, University of Alberta, music.ualberta.ca DENIZEN HALL 10311-103 Ave, 780.424.8215, thedenizenhall. com DRAFT COUNTRY NIGHT CLUB 12912-50 St NW, 780.371.7272, draftbargrill.com DRUID 11606 Jasper Ave, 780.454.9928 DUGGAN'S BOUNDARY 9013-88 Ave, 780.465.4834 DV8 7317-101 Ave NW EL CORTEZ 10322-83 Ave NW, elcortezcantina.com EVOLUTION WONDERLOUNGE 10220-103 St NW, 780.

424.0077, yourgaybar.com FESTIVAL PLACE 100 Festival Way, Sherwood Park, 780.449.3378 FIDDLER'S ROOST 7308-76 Ave, 780.439.9788, fiddlersroost.ca FILTHY MCNASTY’S 10511-82 Ave, 780.916.1557 HIGHLANDS UNITED CHURCH 11305-64 St NW

HILLTOP PUB 8220-106 Ave 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 HUMMINGBIRD BISTRO CAFE 8336-160 Ave, 780.401.3313, hummingbirdbistro.ca IRISH SPORTS CLUB 12546-126 St, 780.453.2249 J AND R 4003-106 St, 780.436.4403 JOHN L. HAAR THEATRE 10045155 St NW JUBILEE AUDITORIUM 1145587 Ave NW, 780.427.2760, jubileeauditorium.com KELLY'S PUB 10156-104 St NW, 780.451.8825, kellyspubedmonton.com L.B.’S PUB 23 Akins Dr, St Albert, 780.460.9100 LEAF BAR AND GRILL 9016-132 Ave, 780.757.2121 LITTLE BRICK CAFE & GENERAL STORE 10004-90 St NW LIZARD LOUNGE 11827 St. Albert Tr, 780.451.9180, facebook.com/ The-Lizard-Lounge MCDOUGALL UNITED CHURCH 10086 MacDonald Dr NW, mcdougallunited.com 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 MASSAWA CAFE AND BISTRO 10153-97 St MUTTART CONSERVATORY 962696a St NW MUTTART HALL 10050 Macdonald Dr, 780.633.3725 NAKED CYBERCAFÉ 10303-108 St, 780.425.9730 NEEDLE VINYL TAVERN 10524 Jasper Ave, 780.756.9045,

theneedle.ca NEWCASTLE PUB 8170-50 St, 780.490.1999 NEW WEST HOTEL 15025-111 Ave NORTH GLENORA HALL 13535109A Ave O’BYRNE’S 10616-82 Ave, 780.414.6766 O'MAILLES IRISH PUB 104, 398 St Albert Rd, St Albert ON THE ROCKS 11730 Jasper Ave, 780.482.4767 PALACE CASINO 8882-170 St NW, 780.444.2112, palacecasino. com PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL 10860-57 Ave PORTUGESE CULTURAL CENTRE 12964-52 St NW THE PROVINCIAL PUB 160, 4211-106 St RED PIANO BAR 1638 Bourbon St, WEM, 8882-170 St, 780.486.7722 RENDEZVOUS 10108-149 St RICHARD'S PUB 12150-161 Ave, 780.457.3118 ROBERTSON WESLEY UNITED CHURCH 10209-123 St NW ROCKY MOUNTAIN ICEHOUSE 10516 Jasper Ave ROSEBOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE 10111-117 St, 780.482.5253 ROSE AND CROWN 10235-101 St ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM 12845-102 Ave SANDS INN & SUITES 12340 Fort Rd, sandshoteledmonton.com SANTA MARIA GORETTI COMMUNITY CENTRE 11050-90 St NW SHAKERS ROADHOUSE Yellowhead Inn, 15004 Yellowhead Trail SHERLOCK HOLMES–DOWNTOWN 10012-101 A Ave, 780.426.7784, sherlockshospitality.com SHERLOCK HOLMES–U OF A 8519-112 St, 780.431.0091, sherlockshospitality.com

MAR/26

SHERLOCK HOLMES–WEM 8882-170 St, 780.444.1752, sherlockshospitality.com SIDELINERS PUB 11018-127 St SMOKEHOUSE BBQ 10810-124 St, 587.521.6328 SNEAKY PETE'S 12315-118 Ave ST. BASIL'S CULTURAL CENTRE 10819-71 Ave NW, 780.434.4288, stbasilschurch. com STUDIO 96 10909-96 St NW SOU KAWAII ZEN LOUNGE 1292397 St, 780.758.5924 STARLITE ROOM 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099 SUGAR FOOT BALLROOM 10545-81 Ave TAVERN ON WHYTE 10507-82 Ave, 780.521.4404 TILTED KILT PUB AND EATERY 17118-90 Ave TIRAMISU 10750-124 St TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 10014-81 Ave NW, 780.433.1604, trinity-lutheran. ab.ca TWIST ULTRA LOUNGE 10324-82 Whyte Ave UNION HALL 6240-99 St NW, 780.702-2582, unionhall.ca UPTOWN FOLK CLUB 7308-76 Ave, 780.436.1554 VEE LOUNGE, APEX CASINO–St Albert 24 Boudreau Rd, St Albert, 780.460.8092, 780.590.1128 VIDA LATIN NIGHT CLUB 10746 Jasper Ave, 780.951.2705 WEST END CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH 10015149 St NW WILD EARTH BAKERY– MILLCREEK 8902-99 St, wildearthbakery.com WINSPEAR CENTRE 4 Sir Winston Churchill Square; 780.28.1414 Y AFTERHOURS 10028-102 St, 780.994.3256, yafterhours.com YARDBIRD SUITE 11 Tommy Banks Way, 780.432.0428

CHELSEA GRIN SFEAR.CA PRESENTS

ELECTRIC SIX CONCERTWORKS.CA PRESENTS

COUNTERPARTS W/ EXPIRE, GIDEON, & KNOCKED LOOSE

MAR/29

THE STARLITE ROOM & SONIC 102.9 PRESENT

WINTERSLEEP W/ GUESTS

MAR/30

CONCERTWORKS.CA PRESENTS

THE SWORD W/ ROYAL THUNDER

APR/1 - 2

THE SIXTH ANNUAL

ACT A FOOL

FEAT 6 HEADLINERS, DANCERS, LIVE ART, CIRCUS PERFORMERS & PK SOUND

APR/6

STARLITE ROOM IN ASSOCIATION WITH FOOSH & PLUSH SKATEBOARDS & SNOWBOARDS PRESENT

MAY/4

THE STARLITE ROOM PROUDLY PRESENTS

JUST ANNOUNCED

Main Floor: DJ Kevin Martin;

Every Wed

UNIONEVENTS.COM PRESENTS

W/ SAM CASH AND THE ROMANTIC DOGS & THE FRONTS

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE

VENUEGUIDE 9910 9910B-109 St NW, 780.709.4734, 99ten.ca ACCENT EUROPEAN LOUNGE 8223-104 St, 780.431.0179 THE ALMANAC 10351-82 Ave, 780.760.4567, almanaconwhyte. com ARCADIA BAR 10988-124 St, 780.916.1842, arcadiayeg.com ARDEN THEATRE 5 St Anne St, St Albert, 780.459.1542, stalbert.ca/ experience/arden-theatre ATLANTIC TRAP & GILL 7704 Calgary Trail South, 780.432.4611, atlantictrapandgill.com THE AVIARY 9314-111 Ave, 780.233.3635, facebook.com/ arteryyeg BAILEY THEATRE 5041-50 St, Camrose, 780. 672.5510, baileytheatre.com BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE 1042582 Ave, 780.439.1082 BLACKJACKS ROADHOUSE– NISKU 2110 Sparrow Dr, Nisku BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ 9624-76 Ave, 780.989.2861 BLUES ON WHYTE 10329-82 Ave, 780.439.3981 BOHEMIA 10217-97 St BORDERLINE SPORTS PUB 322682 St, 780.462.1888 BOURBON ROOM 205 Carnegie Dr, St Albert THE BOWER 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.423.425; info@thebower.ca BRITTANY'S LOUNGE 10225-97 St, 780.497.0011 BRIXX BAR 10030-102 St (downstairs), 780.428.1099 THE BUCKINGHAM 10439 82 Ave, 780.761.1002, thebuckingham.ca CAFE BLACKBIRD 9640-142 St NW, 780.451.8890, cafeblackbird.ca CAFÉ HAVEN 9 Sioux Rd, Sherwood Park, 780.417.5523, cafehaven.ca CAFFREY'S IN THE PARK 99, 23349 Wye Rd, Sherwood Park

MAR/25

DJs BILLIARD CLUB Why wait

REAL MCKENZIES PERFORMING “DESOLATION OF EDEN” W/ OCEANS ATE ALASKA, WAGE WAR

TILTED KILT PUB AND EATERY

Tuesday

Jackson; 9pm

MAR/19

9pm Live music Wednesday's; Every Wed

CONCERTWORKS.CA PRESENTS

W/ BOIDS & MORE

THE PROVINCIAL PUB Karaoke RED PIANO BAR Wed Night Live: hosted by dueling piano players

O’BYRNE’S Guinness Celtic

MAR/18

A-TRAK

ANTI-FLAG W/ GUESTS

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

MAR/19

NO PROBLEM

W/ SLATES, STEPMOTHERS, STREET LEAGUE

MAR/20

STARLITE ROOM & DOUBLE LUNCH PRESENT

LIVE! ON STAGE

JONATHAN RICHMAN FEATURING TOMMY LARKINS ON THE DRUMS

MAR/23

STARLITE ROOM PROUDLY PRESENTS

RADIO RADIO

W/ STEVIE RAIKOU AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD BAND

MAR/25

STARLITE ROOM PROUDLY PRESENTS

BLACK MASTIFF W/ CHRON GOBLIN, THE MOTHERCRAFT

MAR/26

STARLITE ROOM IS PROUD TO PRESENT

LAMS

W/ HELLFIRE SPECIAL, THRILLHOUSE, SWILL CITY

MAR/29

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

STARLITE ROOM PROUDLY PRESENTS

NAP EYES

W/ CIAN NUGENT, THE VELVETEINS

MUSIC 25

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

COMEDY

EDMONTON OUTDOOR CLUB (EOC)

• Club Bilingue Toastmasters Meetings: Campus St. Jean: Pavillion McMahon; 780.667.6105 (Willard); clubbilingue.toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 7pm

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

• Fabulous Facilitators Toastmasters Club:

Edmonton Photographic Historial Society • Highlands Library • 780.436.3878 • All interested in sharing the joys of film photography, such as experiences or favourite equipment • 3rd Wed each month, 7:30pm

Edmonton Ukulele Circle • Bogani

• Underdog Comedy Show • Every Thu

Café, 2023-111 St • 780.440.3528 • edmontonuke.wordpress.com • 3rd Sun each month; 2:30-4pm • $5

Century Casino • 13103 Fort Rd •

FOOD ADDICTS • Alano Club (& Simply

Black Dog Freehouse • 10425-82 Ave

780.481.9857 • Open Mic Night: Every Thu; 7:30-9pm

COMEDY FACTORY • Gateway Entertainment Centre, 34 Ave, Calgary Tr • Fri-Sat: 8:30pm • Chris Heward; Mar 17-19

Comic Strip • Bourbon St, WEM • 780.483.5999 • Wed-Fri, Sun 7:30pm; Fri-Sat 9:45pm • Battle to the Funny Bone; every Mon at 7:30pm • Triple Threat Tuesday; every Tue at 7:30pm • Ruben Paul; Mar 16-20 • Jeff Richards; Mar 23-27 Connie's Comedy • Draft Country Night Club, 12912-50 St NW • Apr 1, 7:30pm

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

Jeff Dunham: Perfectly Unbalanced Tour • Rexall Place, 7424-118 Ave • Featuring Jeff Dunham and some of his classic puppet partners • Mar 19, 5pm • $66 (available at Ticketmaster)

PowerCub • PCL Studio Theatre, 1033084 Ave • Live improvised comedy show • Mar 19, 8:30pm (door), 9pm (show) • Free • No minors Rouge Lounge • 10111-117 St • Comedy Groove every Wed; 9pm

Done Cafe), 17028-124 St • 780.718.7133 (or 403.506.4695 after 7pm) • Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), free 12-Step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating, and bulimia • Meetings every Thu, 7pm

Fort Saskatchewan 45+ Singles Coffee Group • A&W, 10101-88 Ave, Fort Saskatchewan • 780.907.0201 (Brenda) • A mixed group, all for conversation and friendship • Every Sun, 2pm

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

Lotus Qigong • 780.695.4588 • Downtown • Attendees can raise their vital energy with a weekly Yixue practice • Every Thu

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

Northern Alberta Wood Carvers Association • Duggan Community Hall, 3728-106 St • nawca.ca • Meet every Wed, 6:30pm

Groups/CLUBS/meetings

Open Door Comic Creator Meetings • Happy Harbor Comics,

Aikikai Aikido Club • 10139-87

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

Ave, Old Strathcona Community League • Japanese Martial Art of Aikido • Every Tue, Thu; 7-9pm

Amnesty International Edmonton • 8307-109 St • amnesty@edmontonamnesty.org • edmontonamnesty.org • Meet the 4th Tue each month, 7:30pm (no meetings in Jul, Aug, Dec) • Free

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

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

Brain Tumour Peer Support Group • Mount Zion Lutheran Church,

11533-135 St NW • braintumour.ca • 1.800.265.5106 • Support group for brain tumour survivors and their families and caregivers. Must be 18 or over • 3rd Mon every month; 7-9pm (no meetings in Jul or Aug) • Free (pre-registration not required)

Canadian Injured Workers Association of Alberta (CIWAA) • Augustana Lutheran Church, 107 St, 99 Ave • canadianinjuredworkers.com • Meeting every 3rd Sat, 1-4pm • Injured Workers in Pursuit of Justice denied by WCB

Drop-In D&D • Hexagon Board Game Café, 10123 Whyte Ave • 780.757.3105 • info@ thehexcafe.com • thehexcafe.com • An epic adventure featuring a variety of pre-made characters, characters that guests can make on their own, or one that has already been started. 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, 7pm • $5

26 AT THE BACK

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

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

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

Sugar Foot Ballroom • 10545-81 Ave • 587.786.6554 • sugarswing.com • Friday Night Stomp!: Swing and party music dance social every Fri; beginner lesson starts at 8pm. All ages and levels welcome. Occasional live music–check web; $10, $2 (lesson with entry) • Swing Dance Social every Sat; beginner lesson starts at 8pm. All ages and levels welcome. Occasional live music–check the Sugar Swing website for info • $10, $2 lesson with entry TAKE OFF POUNDS SENSIBLY (TOPS) • Grace United Church annex, 6215-104 Ave • 780.479-8667 (Bob) • bobmurra@telus.net • Low-cost, fun and friendly weight loss group • Every Mon, 6:30pm

Toastmasters • Chamber Toastmasters Club: 6th

floor, World Trade Centre, 9990 Jasper Ave; Contact: 780.462.1878/RonChapman@shaw.ca (Ron Chapman); 780.424.6364/dkorpany@ telusplanet.net (Darryl Korpany); Meet every Thu from Sep-Jun, 6-7:45pm

2nd Fl, Canada Place Rm 217, 9700 Jasper Ave; Carisa: divdgov2014_15@outlook. com, 780.439.3852; fabulousfacilitators. toastmastersclubs.org; Meet every Tue, 12:05-1pm • N'Orators Toastmasters Club: Lower Level, McClure United Church, 13708-74 St: meet every Thu, 6:45-8:30pm; contact vpm@ norators.com, 780.807.4696, norators.com • Terrified of Public Speaking: Norwood Legion Edmonton, 11150-82 St NW; Every Thu until 7:30-9:30pm; Free; contact jnwafula@yahoo. com; norwoodtoastmasters.org • Upward Bound Toastmaster Club: Rm 7, 6 Fl, Edmonton Public Library–DT: Meets every Wed, 7-8:45pm; Sep-May; upward. toastmastersclubs.org; reader1@shaw.ca • Y Toastmasters Club: Queen Alexandra Community League, 10425 University Ave (N door, stairs to the left); Meet every Tue, 7-9pm except last Tue ea month; Contact: Antonio Balce, 780.463.5331

VVoA MeatOut Potluck • Riverdale Community Hall, 9231-100 Ave NW • A vegan, raw vegan or vegetarian dish to serve at least six people, plus your own plate, cup, cutlery and serving spoon • Mar 19, 5:30pm • $3 (members). $5 (non-members)

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

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

Quilts: Uncovering Hidden Treasures • Royal Alberta Museum, 12845-102 Ave • 780.453.9100 • royalalbertamuseum.ca • The Alberta Quilt Project is documenting heritage quilts throughout Alberta. In the process, other fascinating stories have been unearthed.

Discover Alberta's history one quilt at a time • Mar 23, 7-8pm • Free

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

Visualizing Late Ming Culture Through the Arts of the Nanjing Courtesan Ma Shouzhen (15481604): Guest Lecture with Prof.

Grace S. Fong • University of Alberta Museums Galleries at Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave • 780.492.5834 • museums@ ualberta.ca • Mar 19, 1:45-2:45pm • Free

We Can Do It Workshops • Grow Centre, 10516-82 Ave • contactseeds@shaw. ca • fertilityawarenesschartingcircle.org • Part of a series on Women's Health. Schedule: How to Get off the Pill (Mar 24), Personalized PMS Survival Strategies (Apr 21), Preparing for Pregnancy (May 26) • Mar 24, Apr 21, May 26; 6:30-8:30pm • Suggested donation $10 (can be waived in case of financial necessity); Pre-register at contactseeds@shaw.ca

WOMEN IN BLACK • In Front of the Old

QUEER

Strathcona Farmers' Market • womeninblackedmonton.org • Silent vigil the 1st and 3rd Sat, 10-11am, each month, stand in silence for a world without violence

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

LECTURES/Presentations Activist Experiences in Palestine • Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA) Room 1-190, U of A campus • psnedmonton. ca • Three Edmontonians will share their reflections, photos, and stories from recent trips to Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine • Mar 22, 7-9 pm • Free

BDS, Dissidence, and the Fight for Free Speech • Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA), Room 1-190, SW corner of 87 Ave & 114 St, U of A campus • psnedmonton.ca • A panel discussion on the recent House of Commons motion to reject and condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement • Mar 24, 7-9 pm • Free

CIC Edmonton: The 2016 US Election: Controversy and Consequences for Canada and the World • Tory Breezeway 1 (BW 1) University of Alberta, main campus • edmonton@ thecic.org • thecic.org • A discussion on Canada-United States relations. Featured topics include the 2016 United States election, Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit to Washington, D.C. and so much more • Mar 17, 5:30-7:30pm • Free (RSVP at edmonton@thecic.org)

The Cloudscape: Why and How It Mattered in Traditional China?: Guest Lecture with Prof. Eugene Wang • University of Alberta Museums Galleries at Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave • 780.492.5834 • museums@ualberta.ca • Mar 19, 12:30-1:30pm • Free

Empire, Warfare, and Visual Culture in Eighteenth-Century China: Guest Lecture with Prof.

Joanna Waley-Cohen • TELUS International Centre (Room 134), University of Alberta, 11104-87 Ave NW • 780.492.5834 • museums@ualberta.ca • Mar 17, 7-8:30pm • Free

Fermented Foods Workshop 101 • Earth's General Store Whyte, 9605-82 Ave • michael@egs.ca • Sampling a variety of fermented foods, including sauerkraut and kefir.

Guests will discuss how and why these foods are important, the basics of safe fermenting, the benefits of probiotics, and how to adapt recipes • Mar 19, 7-9pm • $30 (per person); tickets available at Eventbrite

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

Pride Centre of Edmonton • Pride Centre of Edmonton, 10608-105 Ave • 780.488.3234 • Daily: Community drop-in; support and resources. Queer library: borrowing privileges: Tue-Fri 12-9pm, Sat 2-6:30pm, closed Sun-Mon; Queer HangOUT (a.k.a. QH) youth drop-in: Tue-Fri 3-8pm, Sat 2-6:30pm, youth@pridecentreofedmonton.org • Counselling: Free, short-term by registered counsellors every Wed, 5:30-8:30pm, info/bookings: 780.488.3234 • Knotty Knitters: Knit and socialize in safe, accepting environment, all skill levels welcome; every Wed 6-8pm • QH Game Night: Meet people through board game fun; every Thu 6-8pm • QH Craft Night: every Wed, 6-8pm • QH Anime Night: Watch anime; every Fri, 6-8pm • Movie Night: Open to everyone; 2nd and 4th Fri each month, 6-9pm • Women’s Social Circle: Social support group for female-identified persons +18 years in the GLBT community; new members welcome; 2nd and 4th Thu, 7-9pm each month; andrea@pridecentreofedmonton.org • Men Talking with Pride: Support and social group for gay and bisexual men; every Sun 7-9pm; robwells780@hotmail.com • TTIQ: a support and information group for all those who fall under the transgender umbrella and their family/supporters; 3rd Mon, 7-9pm, each month • HIV Support Group: Support and discussion group for gay men; 2nd Mon, 7-9pm, each month; huges@shaw.ca St Paul's United Church • 11526-76 Ave • 780.436.1555 • People of all sexual orientations are welcome • Every Sun (10am worship)

Team Edmonton • Various sports and recreation activities • All-Bodies Swim: Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre, 8648-81 St NW; pridecentreofedmonton.org; Every 3rd Sat of the month, 9:30-10:30pm • Badminton: Oliver School, 10227-118 St; badminton@teamedmonton.ca; Every Wed (until Feb 24); $5 (drop-in) • Board Game Group: Underground

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

Tap & Grill, 10004 Jasper Ave; Monthly on a Sun, 3-7pm; RSVP to boardgames@teamedmonton.ca • Bootcamp: Oliver Community Hall, 10326-118 St; bootcamp@teamedmonton.ca; Every Thu, 7pm; $30 (full season), $15 (low income or students) • Equal, Fit, Fierce, and Fabulous: Pride Centre, 10608-105 Ave; pridecentreofedmonton.org/calendar; Drop in games and activities for youth; Every other Tue, 4:30-6pm

Woodys Video Bar • 11723 Jasper Ave • 780.488.6557 • Sun: Last Sun each month, Woodys Jam Session with the talented regular customers; Jugs of Canadian or Kokanee only $13 • Mon: Massive Mondays features talented comedians • Tue: Domestic bottle beer special only $3.75 all night long • Wed: Jugs of Canadian and Kokanee for $13; Karaoke with Shirley from 7pm-12:30am • Thu: Highballs on special only $3.75 all night long; Karaoke with Bubbles 7pm-12:30am • Fri: Comming soon: DJ Arrow Chaser's new TGIF Party • Sat: Pool Tournement, 4pm; Jager shots on special only $4; Coming soon, DJ Jazzy SPECIAL EVENTS Cat Fanciers Show • Italian Cultural Centre, 14230-133 Ave NW • edmontoncat. com • Featuring performances in the show ring, rescue cats up for adoption and goodies for sale • Mar 19-20 • $10 (per person), free (kids six years and under); $1 off admission with donation of cat food DeepSoul.ca • 780.217.2464; call or text for Sunday jam locations • Every Sun: Sunday Jams with no Stan (CCR to Metallica), starring Chuck Prins on Les Paul Standard guitars; Pink Floydish originals plus great Covers of Classics: some FREE; Twilight Zone Lively Up Yourself Tour (with DJ Cool Breeze); all ages Edmonton Home + Garden Show • Edmonton Expo Centre, 7515-118 Ave • edmontonhomeandgarden.com • Featuring 600 exhibitors, special guests from HGTV, and much more for those with home reno projects • Mar 17-20 • $7-$16

E-Ville Roller Derby Presents: Double Header • Edmonton Sportsdome, 10104-32 Ave • eville.publicrelations@ gmail.com • e-villerollerderby.com • First up, E-Ville's B-level travel team, the Living Dead take on Nuclear Free Roller Derby's BOOM, followed by the E-Ville Dead taking to the track against Team Saskatchewan.

Adults (18+) are invited to join the karaoke after party in Spike's Lounge (attached to the venue) • Mar 19, 5:30pm (door), 6pm (game) • $10 (adv), $15 (door), Free (kids 10 and under); available at Brown Paper Tickets

Hop to it! • Edmonton Valley Zoo, 13315 Buena Vista Road • 311 • edmonton.ca • Featuring hands-on science experiments, crafts, airbrushed tattoos, touch tables and a scavenger hunt. Watch the zoo's critters go on their own Easter egg hunt • Mar 28, 12-4pm • $6.25-$10.25

Nerd Nite #26 • The Club at the Citadel, 9828-101A Ave • edmonton.nerdnite.com • Featuring nerdy presenations and a bar.

This month's presentations include: My O.C.D is A.O.K. – vinyl collecting as art form, Chocolate: Sweet truths, bitter myths and tantalizing wonders, and Losing the Light: The Unintentional Consequences of Digital Film-making • Mar 24, 7:30pm (door), 8pm (show) • $20 (adv), $25 (door, if available), $15 (peanut gallery seats will go on sale the week of the event) • 18+ only Not Enough Fest Fundraiser • Accent Edmonton (Mar 17), The Almanac (Mar 18) • notenoughfestyeg.wordpress.com/about • Bringing women, queer, and trans artists together to collaborate, make noise and take up space. Mar 17 will feature: Jon Mick, Cham, N3K; Mar 18 will feature: Diamond Mind, Gender Poutine, Shukov • Mar 17-18, 9pm • $10 (All proceeds go to Not Enough Fest)

Scrambled YEG • Brittany's Lounge, 10225-97 St • 780.497.0011 • Open Genre Variety Stage: artist from all mediums are encouraged to occupy the stage and share their creations • Every Tue-Fri, 5-8pm Western Canada Fashion Week • ATB Financial Arts Barns, 10330-84 Ave • westerncanadafashionweek.com • Featuring a community that unites everyone involved in the fashion and beauty industries • Mar 24-31

VUECLASSIFIEDS 130.

Coming Events 1600.

Is communicating a challenge?

Toastmasters is the Answer!

Downtowners Toastmasters is having an OPEN HOUSE on Wednesday, April 6, 2016.

The meeting will be held in Room 4XL (4th floor) in Commerce Place (10155 – 102 Street) from 12:00pm – 1:00pm. Light refreshments will be served.

Mixer - March 25 Meet, Mix, and Mingle Singles Mixer at The Druid 6:00 to 8:30pm. $5 admission and free drink per single. 11606 Jasper Avenue Speed Dating Event March 17 25-35 at the Kasbar www.datendash.net

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.

Volunteers Wanted 1600.

Seeking: Healthy, Overweight (BMI=25-35) volunteers aged 19-45 needed to test how fiber effects our gut bacteria and health.

What do you have to do: - add fiber to your normal diet for 6 weeks - attend 5 clinic meetings on campus to complete questionnaires, and provide blood & stool samples - complete questionnaires during the study period You will receive an honorarium upon completion of study, and a diet counseling session with our registered dietitian.

Please contact us at uafyber@ualberta.ca or 780-492-9506 if you are interested!

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

To Book Your Classifieds, Contact Andy at 780.426.1996 or at adultclassifieds@vueweekly.com Volunteers Wanted

Volunteer At The Carrot Be part of a great team by volunteering as a barista at The Carrot! If you have a hankering to learn coffee art and the ins & outs of being a barista, or just getting involved in the community, please contact Eva at carrotassist@gmail.com.

Volunteers can enjoy gettogethers throughout the year, as well as incentives and gifts.

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3100. Appliances/Furniture Old Appliance Removal Removal of unwanted appliances. Must be outside or in your garage.

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looks like we ran out of room for the awna classifieds. never fear, true believer! we've put the rest of the them online vueweekly.com/classified/

ALBERTA-WIDE CLASSIFIEDS •• auctions •• COLLECTOR CAR AUCTION. 6th Annual Edmonton Motor Show Collector Car Auction.

April 8 - 10. Edmonton Expo Centre. Over 80,000 spectators. Over 85% sold last year.

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REACH OVER 1 Million Readers Weekly. Advertise Province Wide Classifieds. Only $269 + GST (based on 25 words or less). Call now for details 1-800-282-6903 ext. 228; www.awna.com.

COUNTERSCAPES MILL WORKING Shop. Tuesday, March 22, 10 a.m., 4705 - 60 St., Red Deer, Alberta. Selling forklift, truck, enclosed trailer, woodworking machinery, cabinets, tools & hardware; www.montgomeryauctions.com.

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Watkins has provided stability & high income for its associates for over 145 years. Join for less than $50. 1-800-279-6104. Email: watkinse@telusplanet.net.

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•• career training •• MEDICAL TRAINEES needed now! Hospitals & doctor’s offices need certified medical office & administrative staff!

No experience needed! We can get you trained! Local job placement assistance available when training is completed. Call for program details! 1-888-627-0297.

HEALTHCARE DOCUMENTATION Specialists are in huge demand. Employers want CanScribe graduates. A great work-from-home career! Train with Canada’s best-rated program. Enroll today; www. canscribe.com. 1-800-4661535; info@canscribe.com.

•• employment •• opportunities ASPHALT PAVING COMPANY long established in Edmonton requires Salesman, Foreman & Workers for work in the city. Must have extensive experience with all aspects of paving & equipment operation.

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AGRICULTURAL FOREMAN. Full-time, permanent, responsible for assisting in the supervision of seasonal staff and delivery of County Agricultural Services programs.

See www.biglakescounty.ca, select employment.

SEEKING A CAREER in the Community Newspaper business? Post your resume for FREE right where the publishers are looking. Visit: awna. com/for-job-seekers.

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION! In-demand career! Employers have work-at-home positions available. Get online training you need from an employertrusted program. Visit: CareerStep.ca/MT or 1-855-768-3362 to start training for your workat-home career today!

taurus (apr 20 – may 20): Carl Sagan said that science thrives on "two seemingly contradictory attitudes: an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new."

Whether or not you are a scientist, Taurus, I recommend that you practice this approach in the coming weeks. It's the tool that's most likely to keep you centred and free of both rigidity and illusion. As Sagan concluded, this is "how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense." gemini (may 21 – jun 20): "Excess on occasion is exhilarating," said British author W Somerset Maugham. "It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit." Now would be an excellent time to take that advice to heart, Gemini. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you not only have a licence to engage in rowdy fun and extravagant pleasures; it's your sacred duty. So get out there and treat yourself to

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STEEL BUILDING SALE. “Big Blow Out Sale - Clear out pricing in effect now!” 20X20 $5,444. 25X26 $6,275. 28X28 $7,454. 30X30 $8,489. 32X34 $10,328. 42X50 $15,866.

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FREEWILLASTROLOGY aries (mar 21 – apr 19): Artist Steven Spazuk works exclusively with an unusual medium: soot from candles and torches. He spreads the stuff across a blank canvas, then uses various instruments to sculpt the accidental blobs into definitive forms.

I've seen the results, and they're both well-done and intriguing. What would be the metaphorical equivalent, in your world, of using soot to make beautiful and interesting things? I think you're primed to turn waste into building blocks, rot into splendor, and lead into gold. (See Spazuk's work at spazuk.com.)

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an orgy of naughty adventures—or at least a celebration of meaningful thrills. You can return to the rigours of discipline and order once you have harvested the healthy benefits that will come from escaping them.

mas." Whichever expression you prefer, Leo, find a graceful way to embrace your fate: your current job is unconditional love. The job of everyone else in your life is to tweak your manias and prick your dogmas.

cancer (jun 21 – jul 22): At one point in Friedrich Nietzsche's book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the hero is having a conversation with himself. "You have wanted to pet every monster," he says. "A whiff of warm breath, a little soft tuft on the paw— and at once you were ready to love and to lure it." If I were you, Cancerian, I would regard that type of behaviour as forbidden in the coming weeks. In fact, I will ask you not to pet any monsters at all—not even the cute ones; not even the beasties and rascals and imps that have slight resemblances to monsters. It's time for maximum discernment and caution. (PS: One of the monsters may ultimately become a non-monstrous ally if you are wary toward it now.)

virgo (aug 23 – sep 22): In the coming weeks, you will have maximum power to revise and reinvigorate your approach to cultivating intimate relationships. To aid your quest, I offer this paraphrased advice from Andrew Boyd: almost every one of us seeks a special partner who is just right. But there is no right person, just different flavours of wrong.

Why? Because you yourself are "wrong" in some ways—you have demons and flaws and problems. In fact, these "wrongs" are essential components of who you are. When you ripen into this understanding, you're ready to find and be with your special counterpart. He or she has the precise set of problems you need—is the person who is wrong for you in just the right ways. (See Boyd's original quote: tinyurl.com/boydquote.)

leo (jul 23 – aug 22): On a social media site, I posted the following quote from self-help teacher Byron Katie: "Our job is unconditional love.

The job of everyone else in our life is to push our buttons." One commenter took issue with this. "'Pushing buttons' is a metaphor that's long past its expiration date," she wrote.

"Can't you come up with something fresher?" So I did. Here are a few potential substitutes for "push our buttons": "tweak our manias" ... "prank our obsessions" ... "glitter-bomb our biases" ... "squeeze our phobias" ... "badger our compulsions" ... "seduce our repressions" ... "prick our dog-

libra (sep 23 – oct 22): In her book The Winter Vault, Anne Michaels says, "We become ourselves when things are given to us or when things are taken away." If she's right, does it mean we should be grateful for those times when things are taken away? Should we regard moments of loss as therapeutic prods that compel us to understand ourselves better and to create ourselves with a fiercer determination? Meditate on these possibilities, Libra. In the meantime, I'm pleased to announce that the things-gettingtaken-away period of your cycle is

winding down. Soon you'll begin a new phase, when you can become a deeper, stronger version of yourself because of the things that are given to you. scorpio (oct 23 – nov 21): "I'll make love when the lust subsides," sings denitia, one-half of the electro-pop band denitia and sene. That would be a good motto for you to play around with in the coming days, Scorpio—in both literal and metaphorical ways. I'll enjoy seeing how your emotional intelligence ripens as the white-hot passion of recent weeks evolves into a more manageable warmth. As fun as the intensity has been, it has blinded you to some of the possibilities for collaborative growth that have been emerging. You may now be ready to explore and appreciate sweeter, subtler pleasures. sagittarius (nov 22 – dec 21): "The poems I have loved the most are those I have understood the least," said T S Eliot. I'm going to steal and expand upon his idea for the purpose of giving you an accurate horoscope. In the coming days, Sagittarius, I suspect that the experiences you love most will be those that you understand the least. Indeed, the experiences you need the most will be those that surprise and mystify and intrigue you. Luckily, life will be ingenious in bypassing your analytical intelligence so as to provide you with rich emotional stimuli for your soul. capricorn (dec 22 – jan 19): Capricorn painter Henri Matisse made the following testimony about his creative process: "At each stage I reach a balance, a conclusion. At the next sitting,

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

if I find that there is a weakness in the whole, I make my way back into the picture by means of the weakness—I re-enter through the breach—and I reconceive the whole. Thus everything becomes fluid again." I recommend this approach to you in the coming days, Capricorn. You've been making decent progress on your key project. To keep up the good work, you should now find where the cracks are, and let them teach you how to proceed from here. aquarius (jan 20 – feb 18): "We all lead three lives," said Austrian novelist Thomas Bernhard, "an actual one, an imaginary one, and the one we are not aware of." I suspect you'll get big glimpses of your third life in the coming weeks, Aquarius: the one you're normally not aware of. It might freak you out a bit, maybe unleash a few blasts of laughter and surges of tears. But if you approach these revelations with reverent curiosity, I bet they will be cleansing and catalytic.

They are also likely to make you less entranced by your imaginary life and better grounded in your actual life. pisces (feb 19 – mar 20): "The greatest illusion is not religion," says aphorist Michael Lipsey. "It's waking up in the morning imagining how much you're going to get done today."

But even if that's often true, Pisces, I suspect that you have the power to refute it in the coming weeks. Your ability to accomplish small wonders will be at a peak. Your knack for mastering details and acting with practical acumen may be unprecedented. For the immediate future, then, I predict that you'll largely be able to get done what you imagine you can get done.V AT THE BACK 27

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Superhero sex

Deadpool is pansexual in the comics but not in the film The other day, a friend alerted me to the fact that there is a pegging scene in the new Deadpool movie. I was intrigued because I'd also heard that, in the comic books, the character Deadpool is pansexual. This new information made me want to check it out.

To those unfamiliar with the genre, comic books and superheroes are often regarded as a kids' thing, and therefore it doesn't seem like sex belongs.

But there is actually a long history of sexual content in comics and graphic novels of all types—so much so that, in 1954, the Comics Code Authority (CCA) was established in an attempt to limit gore and sex in comics, ostensibly to protect children. The CCA was a lot like the MPAA for movies: publishers did not need to follow the code or even submit their books for review, but without the CCA seal of approval, they were unlikely to be picked up by distributors and sold on newsstands and in mainstream stores. Big publishers like DC and Marvel, therefore, adhered to the CCA. One of the stipulations of the CCA was that there could be no reference to "sexual perversion." To the creators of the code, this included homosexual-

ity. It was OK for a superhero to have a love interest—but if that love interest was the same sex, suddenly that was "adult content." Of course there were still covert references, but never anything so obvious as to contravene the code. While sexual content and characters of all genders and sexualities continued in smaller and underground publications that didn't seek CCA approval, they did not start to appear in the mainstream comics until the late '80s, after publishers began to sidestep the CCA; it was eventually revised.

In more recent years, we've seen

the sex lives of superheroes in comic books more and more often, but the movies have not caught up. In the big blockbuster films, the heroes are rarely shown as sexual beings at all.

When there is a reference to sex, it's almost always within the context of a romantic, monogamous, heterosexual relationship. An underlying theme of most superhero movies is the contrast between the real person and their extraordinary alter-ego, yet the producers of these movies won't let us see that real person as sexual—and certainly not gay, bi or pansexual.

So did we finally get to see this in Deadpool? No. In the movie, Deadpool has a girlfriend. Although there are a few subtle references to gay sex in the movie, they are all thrown away as jokes. If I did not know that the comic book character was pansexual, I would have no idea that this movie character was not completely straight.

We do, however, see him having sex. He is quite a sexual guy and his interests veer somewhat from the conventional, as exemplified by the aforementioned pegging scene. The movie's R rating—highly unusual for a big-budget comic book movie—allows for this scene.

The producers of Deadpool dared to show the character's sexuality, but they still wouldn't dare to show it as it exists in the books. It looks like we still have a long way to go before movie producers will show us that in the comic world, just like in real life, not all of our heroes are straight.V

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Brenda Kerber is a sexual health educator who has worked with local not-forprofits since 1995. She is the owner of the Edmonton-based, sex-positive adult toy boutique the Traveling Tickle Trunk.

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AT THE BACK 29

JONESIN' CROSSWORD

DAN SAVAGE SAVAGELOVE@VUEWEEKLY.COM

MATT JONES JONESINCROSSWORDS@VUEWEEKLY.COM

"South by What?"—a lack of direction.

POWER STRUGGLES

Across

1 IRS Form 1040 figure 4 Imperial follower?

7 Baltic, e.g.

10 Bunny bounce 13 Vietnamese soup 14 It's chalked before a shot 15 Efficient movements 17 Share, sometimes 19 Influential filmmakers 20 Cut cards with your stomach muscles?

22 Barrett once in Pink Floyd 23 Barcelona bulls 24 "Electric" fish 26 Dead even 29 ___-of-the-moment 30 Agcy. concerned with fraud 32 When, in Spanish 34 Right-angled pipes used for gay parade floats?

37 Broadway star Hagen 38 Feedbag bit 39 Nose, bottom of your foot, that spot you can't reach on your back, e.g.?

46 Out like a light 47 DeLuise in Burt Reynolds outtakes 48 Prefix for space 51 Scratch up like a cougar 52 ___-Therese, Quebec 54 Donates 55 Apr. season 57 Sleeveless garment it's OK to spill food on?

60 Home-cooked offering 63 Heir, in legal terminology 64 Zappa with the given name Ian 65 Expected to come in 66 Miles ___ gallon 67 Sun. discourse 68 Paid promos 69 Cat consumer of '80s TV 70 Docs

Down

1 Mother Goose dieters 2 1984 Cyndi Lauper song 3 "That's a lie!"

4 Slurpee competitors 5 Sought damages from 6 Give (out) 7 "Thus ___ Zarathustra"

30 AT THE BACK

8 Perfumery word 9 Crafts' counterparts 10 Famed escapologist 11 "___ American Cousin" 12 Letters near 7, on some phones 16 Synth instrument with a shoulder strap 18 Fingerprint pattern 21 "___ n'est pas une pipe": Magritte 25 "Fiddler on the Roof" toast 27 Former "Tonight Show" announcer Hall 28 Jane in a court case 30 Aperture settings 31 "___ the night before Christmas ..."

33 Not more than 35 Rapper ___ Fiasco 36 Band who felt the rains down in Africa 39 Eminem's "The Way ___" 40 Letters seen in airports 41 Cereal bunch 42 "S.O.S.!"

43 Germ for an invention 44 Inexperienced 45 Dinner hour 49 Do a crop rotation chore 50 Some blenders 53 Poker players look for them 54 Sorrow 56 Playwright Yasmina 58 "Look what I've done!"

59 Hebrew month before Tishrei 60 Most TVs, these days 61 Have a payment due 62 Helping hand ©2016 Jonesin' Crosswords

I'm a 27-year-old, feminist, conventionally attractive, straightish, GGG woman. Over time, my tastes have changed, and now I find myself more of a kinkster. A few years ago, my desire for kinkier sex and my willingness to take a chance came together in a mutually beneficial, exciting D/s relationship. I'll be honest: I wasn't as smart as I could have been. I met this guy on Tinder, and after verifying his identity, I told some friends where I'd be and I met up with him. He was great for a while, but a big move took me away from the area and I grew tired of his conventional gender ideals. I assumed I would find another partner in the future as functionally great as him but maybe a better conversationalist.

Fast-forward to today. I've dabbled with pain and submission play with a few boyfriends with no great success.

(A subsequent partner who didn't respect my safe word, in fact, assaulted me.) I'm now greatly discouraged in my search. The cycle always goes like this: I get horny and want kink, I go looking for it online, and I am then buried in a landslide of creepiness, typos and aggression. There are just so many men out there who hate women.

These men are more interested in condescending to me and bossing me around than they are in power exchange. It was recommended to me to join the local centre for sex positivity in Seattle, but that costs money. I want to engage in kink to relieve stress, not to cut into my already tight budget. Are my only options perseverance or an extra grand lying around?

PERSEVERANCE OR WITHDRAWAL, ETERNAL REGRETS

sual BDSM because 'sexual activity that involves binding and gagging or the use of physical force such as spanking or choking poses certain inherent risks to personal safety.' Thus officials could constitutionally ban or regulate such activity in the interest of 'the protection of vulnerable persons,' the court held."

In 2003, the US Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to get their asses fucked, and one day soon we could be asking the Supreme Court whether Americans have a constitutional right to get their asses spanked.

Finally, POWER, I'm a huge fan of Seattle's Center for Sex Positive Culture (thecspc.org). And I'm an even bigger fan of people getting out there, meeting up IRL, and making face-to-face connections with likeminded kinksters. I'm such a big fan that I'm going to pick up the expense of your first year's membership at the Center for Sex Positive Culture.

While there are additional charges for most events at the centre, POWER, there are also tons of volunteer opportunities—and there's no better way to get to know the local kink-

THINK's wife told him she was raped by an ex who refused to stop when she said no, SAFEWORD, and here's how THINK described his concerns: "I'm over here wondering if her previous trauma was a result of her encouraging forceful sex and regretting it later, and I worry the same thing could happen to me." [Emphasis added.]

Awkwardly worded, yes, but THINK's meaning seems clear: he didn't want to go for it, like that other guy may have, and be accused of raping his wife if she came to regret it later. That doesn't seem ambiguous to me.

But you're right to ding me for failing to advise Mr and Mrs THINK to agree on a safe word. And I didn't just leave "get a safe word" out of my response, SAFEWORD. It was worse than that: I deleted "get a safe word" from my response. There were two very similar paragraphs in the original draft of my response to THINK, both on the mechanics of making it happen, and I had to delete one paragraph for space. In an unbelievably stupid move, I deleted the one with "get a safe word" in it. I should've caught that, I didn't, and I'm grateful to SAFEWORD and everyone else who did.

And remember, kids: we have a new universal kink/BDSM/ power-exchange safe word: scalia.

In 2003, the US Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to get their asses fucked, and one day soon we could be asking the Supreme Court whether Americans have a constitutional right to get their asses spanked

I definitely think you should keep hacking your way through the creeps, typoss and aggros, POWER, and, more importantly, your pussy thinks so too—excuse me, that's crude. Perhaps I should say: your erotic imagination and your libido think so too.

But you may find the search for kinky play partners a little less frustrating if you devote a few hours a week to it—set a regular schedule: two hours a night, twice a week—instead of waiting until horniness and desperation drive you back online. If you search for kinky guys only when you just gotta have it, POWER, your inability to find it immediately is gonna be that much more frustrating.

And you might wanna get out there and find a kinky guy now, POWER, while you still can.

"Uh-oh, kinksters: sex cops could be coming for you next," Elizabeth Nolan Brown writes at Reason.com.

"According to a new federal court decision, Americans have no constitutional right to engage in consen-

sters than to pitch in and help out. I'll email you directly about your shiny new membership.

And speaking of safe words...

SAFE WORDING

You messed up in your response to THINK, the man whose wife wanted to engage in consensual role-play rape scenes despite having been sexually assaulted by a previous partner who didn't stop "when she said 'no.'"

THINK said he worried "the same thing could happen" to him. Due to some ambiguous wording, you thought he doubted his wife's account and was worried the "same thing" he was worried about was "being falsely accused of rape." I think he was actually worried about accidentally making his wife relive that trauma in a non-sexy way. Although it was poorly worded, I don't think his intentions were motivated by the fear of being falsely accused. His worries were based in the ambiguity of when does consensual rape play cross the line in this very delicate scenario. The other thing you forgot, the most important thing you forgot, the thing that should never be forgotten when talking about roughsex role-play, consensual rape scenes, power exchange, bondage or SM: a SAFE WORD! SIMPLE AND FREQUENTLY EFFECTIVE WORD OMITTED RECENTLY, DAN!

VUEWEEKLY.com | MAR 17 – MAR 23, 2016

PP JAR

I am the only liberal in my family. I love them, but there is no talking to them on the issues. I have come up with the idea of a Planned Parenthood jar. It is like a swear jar, but I will put money in it when I am too chickenshit or conflict-avoidant to have a hard conversation. Every time one of my family members puts up a stupid, ill-informed article on Facebook and I don't say anything, I will put money in the jar.

Any time they tell me why Hillary Clinton is the devil, I will put money in the jar. It will assuage my guilt and make those moments easier because I can smugly think: "Keep talking, the only one you are helping is Planned Parenthood." Is this a cop-out or a narrowly tailored, appropriate penance?

FEARFUL AND MILQUETOAST, I'M LEANING YELLOW Can't something be a cop-out and a creative, appropriate penance? But whether it's one or the other or both, FAMILY, I'm strongly in favour of anything that benefits Planned Parenthood. For those who don't want to go through the motions of filling a jar with money before making a donation, just go to plannedparenthood.org and click Donate.

On the Lovecast: Squeeeee! It's Abbi and Ilana from Broad City! Listen at savagelovecast.com. @fakedansavage on Twitter

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