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FILM: BULLY!

# 861 / APR 19 – APR 25, 2012 VUEWEEKLY.COM

ARTS: MAIDS!

THE

LONG GAME

SOME CAMPAIGNS ARE ABOUT MORE THAN WINNING

MUSIC: WHALES!

Sir Patrick Stewart

The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo attracts celebrity guests, artists, and exhibitors from around the world. Come celebrate with over 30,000 other fans of geek culture as we take over the whole BMO Centre on April 27-29th. Meet your favorite stars like the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Fringe, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Heroes, Star Wars, Futurama, Walking Dead and more! Plus meet creators George Perez, Bernie Wrightson, Peter David, Frank Cho, Arthur Suydam, Tony Moore, Whilce Portacio and many more! Be sure to keep an eye on our website for upcoming announcements about special events, screenings, contests, and surprises! For all the latest updates, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For tickets and information visit:

calgaryexpo.com

John Noble

Jasika Nicole

Jon Bernthal

Marina Sirtis

Amanda Tapping

Jonathan Frakes

James Marsters

Brent Spiner

Stan Lee

Katee Sackhoff

LeVar Burton

Adam Baldwin

Hayden Panettiere

Dave Prowse

Gates McFadden

Michael Dorn

Adam West

Wil Wheaton

® & © 2012 CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All images are copyright their respective creators. Photo of Wil Wheaton taken by Atom Moore (AtomMoore.com). The guest list is subject to change.

2 UP FRONT

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Vote April 23. Visit elections.ab.ca to determine your polling location.

facebook.com/Alison4Premier | twitter.com/Premier_Redford | youtube.com/pcalberta | votepc.ca Authorized by the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, 9823 – 103 St. NW, Edmonton, AB T5K 0X5 780-423-1624

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

UP FRONT 3

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Signoffs Creative Team

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106.03.12 Midsummer Vue Half Page:Layout 1

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6 UP FRONT

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LISTINGS: EVENTS /13 FILM /18 ARTS /26 MUSIC /52 CLASSIFIEDS: GENERAL /55 ADULT /56 ISSUE: 861 APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

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The others "My campaign is towards the 64 percent who didn't vote, so if you're going to waste the vote by not voting, you might as well vote for an independent." —ATHENA BERNAL-BORN, INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE IN THE

10 PROVINCIAL ELECTION

COVER ILLUSTRATION: Pete Nguyen

"When I'm climbing the altitude, there's never a time when I'm not a little bit scared, when I'm not in touch with the reality of what I'm about to do." VUEWEEKLY #200, 11230 - 119 STREET, EDMONTON, AB T5G 2X3 | T: 780.426.1996 F: 780.426.2889 FOUNDING EDITOR / PUBLISHER ....RON GARTH

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VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

UP FRONT 7

UP FRONT

VUEPOINT

GRASDAL'S VUE

Samantha Power // samantha@vueweekly.com

Those wasted votes As the Wildrose continues to make gains across the province, the more liberal minded city once dubbed Redmonton seems to be choked out by voters turning to the blue. Seemingly out of fear of the socially conservative and scientifically ignorant Wildrose, voters are considering turning to the maligned PC party, which has welcomed the perception that it is the party of change and diversity after running the province for over 40 years. But this veneer of progressive values comes at the cost of true opposition. After 40 years in power it's clear the Progressive Conservatives have some problems. The number of ethical questions that have come up, not the least of which concerns all of the public bodies that have donated to the PC party not really realizing that it was an ethically questionable move, is concerning. Those ethical questions don't even touch on the true conservative values in the party that implemented Bill 44. And while Premier Alison Redford certainly plays the red Tory card, as Edmonton Journal columnist Paula Simons pointed out earlier this week, no one can remember the former Justice minister speaking out against the bill that would allow parents to prevent their children from hearing about gay, lesbian and alternative lifestyles in the classroom. A Wildrose win, while frightening, would

more than gently nudge the long-ruling party awake to the idea that it might have to work for an Albertan's vote. But to let the fear of one party allow the circumstances for the re-election of a proven ethically questionable and decidedly nonprogressive party to become the voice of opposition would be unfortunate for the growth of public policy in this province. The outcome of this election is not decided. In fact, it's one of the closest elections in years. What will be interesting is seeing if province-wide polls are actually represntative of what is happening in indivdual ridings. Province-wide polls can't represent what is happening in your constituency or the work of candidates within it. It can't be forgotten that many constituencies have tight battles between the conservative and progressive candidates. In the 2008 election Conservative candidates in 32 constituencies had less than 50 percent of the vote, and in many, like Edmonton-Rutherford, Edmonton-Glenora, Edmonton-Riverview and EdmontonCalder to name just a few, opposition candidates lost to the PCs by a few hundred votes, and some even less than a hundred. A vote for the party you believe in is a voice of opposition stating you don't endorse the direction of the Wildrose or the track record of the PCs, but it's also a signal that you, the constituent, want the opposition parties to put capable candidates forward and dedicate resources to getting them elected. V

NewsRoundup

SAMANTHA POWER // samantha@vueweekly.com

UNHEALTHY CUTS The federal government has continued to cut funds from long-standing Aboriginal health initiatives. After cutting federal funds to the First Nations Statistical Institute and the National Aboriginal Health Organization, all funds have been cut to the health department of the Native Women's Association of Canada, health programs by the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and programs by the Assembly of First Na-

HIDDEN INVESTIGATION tions and the Inuit Tapirisat. NDP MP and Aboriginal Affairs critic Linda Duncan is concerned over the impact this will have on communities that already face higher health risks. "Aboriginal communities will be forced to add to the demands on already strained budgets—education, housing, safe drinking water— addressing critical health issues. Aboriginal peoples face lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality

rates, a six-fold higher suicide rate, higher rates of diabetes and heart attack, 16 times higher rate of Tuberculosis than other Canadians," says Duncan. "The government has killed the very organizations that could have provided the expertise and coordination capacity to engage Aboriginal peoples in consultations on the next Health Accord." Duncan is calling on the government to reverse the cuts.

Elections Canada has failed to disclose the details of investigations and rulings of 2982 complaints over the last 15 years. Democracy Watch discovered this problem in an analysis of Elections Canada's enforcement of the Canada Elections Act since 1997. With 5018 complaints filed since 1997 Elections Canada has only required a compliance action in

108 cases and has only won sentences in 44 cases. But it's not possible to determine if this low enforcement rate is due to weak investigation or if most complaints aren't serious because the details of the 2982 complaints are not public. The 2011 election received the highest number of complaints with 1872 registered about accessibility alone.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK RENEWED SPACE The Pride Centre of Edmonton has opened the doors on its new location after closing operation in August 2011 due to a fire. The Pride Centre has signed a 10-year lease in the new location and has begun construction on phase one of a three-phase plan. The first phase includes a fully ac-

8 UP FRONT

cessible washroom, dedicated youth programming space and office space. The fundraising campaign to assist the construction of the new centre gathered over $30 000 in funds, exceeding the goal of $20 000. "We are very fortunate to have the generous support of Edmonton's LGBTQ

community," says Amanda Barrett, President of the PCE Board of Directors, "as we have always relied on our community to help us through the toughest times. Now, we are able to again fully serve our community with the highest quality services that are expected of us."

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

"Despite all of the analysis and punditry nobody knows who will win this election. Trying to cast your ballot to prevent an outcome doesn’t work, and it misses one of the fundamental purposes of exercising your right as a citizen." —Glenn Taylor leader of the Alberta Party on strategic voting. April 18. 2012

PREVUE // ADVOCACY

Make shift happen Empowering the people Public Interest Alberta's (PIA) 2012 Annual Advocacy Conference Thu, Apr 19 – Sat, Apr 21 Chateau Louis Conference Centre

eople of all walks of life have the power to create change. They just need to realize it. Make Shift Happen: Mobilizing the Power of the People, Public Interest Alberta's (PIA) sixth annual advocacy conference, aims to do exactly that by providing individuals and organizations an opportunity to develop positive solutions to mobilize the public's power. Amongst the conference's speaker lineup is the Youth Activist Panel featuring Brigette DePape, writer and former Senate page who is known for her peaceful protest when she disrupted the throne speech with a "Stop Harper" sign; Liz Wingert, a teacher activist from Wisconsin, member of Madison Teachers Inc. (MTI) and active participant in the recall campaign against Governor Scott Walker, as well as Melanie Butler, former director of the women-initiated worldwide grassroots peace and social justice movement CODEPINK in New York and coordinator of Women Occupy. The three women will be sharing their stories and encouraging the pub-

lic, particularly youth, to speak up and realize that no matter who they are, they have the potential to be activists and change the world. "We are often told we don't have power. There is this sense that it's really politicians who make decisions for us and there's nothing we can do when policy is passed that we don't agree with," DePape says, referencing the Canadian government's recent purchase of F-35 fighter jets as an example of such policy. "People will say there's bad news, just don't watch the news and you'll feel better. Instead of that, being able to come together and see that there's a lot we can do, and it's really through organizing and collective action that we will see real change." Youth are at the forefront of change according to DePape, whose most recent project was co-editing a book titled Power of Youth. She says it's been this way throughout history in events like the civil rights movement in the United States, where students went against segregated lunch rooms, providing a spark in the push to end racial segregation, to more recently in the Occupy movements throughout North America. In many cases it's about overcom-

ing the fear to take a stand, much like DePape experienced leading up to her disruption of the Throne Speech in the Senate. "I was really afraid, but it was really when I thought about the people that were going to be most impacted by Harper's agenda—working people, women, people of colour, migrants— that really gave me strength and made me realize that, no, this is important, this is something bigger," DePape says. "It was really through seeing others as well who were fearless and took action." Since being fired from her job as a Senate page, DePape has focused her activism on grassroots movements. She initially believed the way she could create change was by becoming a politician. In her report Thinking Outside the Ballot Box, DePape explains that power does not only flow from the top, but from the bottom. "We really do have power when we see that the governments and different institutions in our country, their power is very much dependent on our support and our obedience," she notes. "When we revoke our support and obedience ... then we begin to regain our power and we begin to build a movement for a society based on the

values that we believe in." A power grab by the elite is happening everywhere, notes Wingert, adding that the actions of Governor Walker woke up a sleeping giant that lay dormant for far too long. The protests against his right-wing attack on public workers and their right to collectively bargain gained worldwide support and, again, youth were a critical component in its success. In the beginning, many young teachers were afraid to speak up for fear of retribution from their administration, particularly those on temporary contracts, but Wingert says they became an integral component in keeping the movement alive. "The youth of our staff spent many nights on hard floors of the Capitol Building and were the eyes and ears of justice," she adds. "It is easy to feel powerless in the face of our current global political climate, but there is strength in numbers. When the masses decide to get together and organize, justice is achievable. We can hold our politicians accountable for their actions. Our vote is our voice. We need to protect it and encourage others to use it." It was these young, seemingly fear-

less activist voices who contributed to Occupy's success, Butler notes. "When we were building up to September 17, a lot of us, myself included, with a lot of experience in activism, we were the ones saying it was never going to work," Butler says, adding that despite months of planning, she expected the rally that day to be like any other, where they'd march, people would get arrested and they'd all go home. "It was exactly because there were inexperienced activists who didn't listen to people like me saying, 'You can't put up tents in Zuccotti Park, you can't sleep overnight in a public space, we're all going to get arrested.' It's exactly because they didn't listen to us that Occupy Wall Street happened. Just when you think it's impossible, that's the time to do it." Butler will get even more specific, focusing on the importance of the role that women played in Occupy Wall Street and the current initiatives of CODEPINK, such as the recently delivered letter to Michelle Obama requesting she use her power to prevent the United States from going to war in Iran, which boasted 20 000 signatures collected over 10 days. meaghan baxter // meaghan@vueweekly.com

COMMENT >> AFGHANISTAN

Declare victory and leave More will die in the no-win scenario in Afghanistan In the midst of the Taliban attacks in Russian embassies. About a hundred central Kabul on Sunday, a journalist people were killed or wounded, and called the British embassy for a comthe fighting lasted for 18 hours. There ment. "I really don't know why they are was a similar attack in the centre of the doing this," said the exasperated Afghan capital only last Septemdiplomat who answered the ber. If this were the Vietnam phone. "We'll be out of here war, we would now have in two years' time. All they reached about 1971. m o .c weekly e@vue have to do is wait." The US government has gwynn e Gwynn The official line is that by already declared its intention Dyer to withdraw from Afghanistan two years from now, when US and NATO forces leave Afghanistan, in two years' time, just as it did in the regime they installed will be able Vietnam back in 1971. Richard Nixon to stay in power without foreign supwanted his second-term presidenport. The British diplomat clearly didn't tial election out of the way before he believe that, and neither do most other pulled the plug, just as Barack Obama foreign observers. does now. However, General John Allen, comThe Taliban are obviously winning the mander of the International Security war in Afghanistan now, just as North Assistance Force, predictably said that Vietnam's troops were winning in South he was "enormously proud" of the reVietnam then. The American strategy sponse of the Afghan security forces, at that time was satirized as "declare a and various other senior commanders victory and leave," and it hasn't changed said that it showed that all the foreign one whit in 40 years. Neither have the training was paying off. You have to lies that cover it up. admire their cheek: multiple simultaneous attacks in Kabul and three other The US puppet government in South Afghan cities prove that the Western Vietnam only survived for two years strategy is working. after US forces left in 1973. The pupThe Taliban's attacks in the Afghan pet government in Kabul may not even capital on Sunday targeted the nationlast that long after the last American al parliament, NATO's headquarters, troops leave Afghanistan in 2014. But and the German, British, Japanese and no Western general will admit that the

R DYEIG HT

STRA

war is lost, even though their denial means that more of their soldiers must die pointlessly. "It's like I see in slow motion men dying for nothing and I can't stop it," said Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Davis, a US Army officer who spent two tours in Afghanistan. He returned home last year consumed by outrage at the yawning

public consumption. The unclassified one began: "Senior ranking US military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the US Congress and the American people as regards to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan that the truth has become unrecognizable." Col Davis gave his first interview to

It's like I see in slow motion men dying for nothing and I can't stop it.

gulf between the promises of success routinely issued by American senior commanders and the real situation on the ground. To be fair, none of those generals was asked whether invading Afghanistan was a good idea. That was decided 10 years ago, when most of them were just colonels. But if they read the intelligence reports, they know that they cannot win this war. If they go on making upbeat predictions anyway, they are responsible for the lives that are wasted. "It is consuming me from inside," explained Lt-Col Davis, and he wrote two reports on the situation in Afghanistan, one classified and one for

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

The New York Times in early February, and sent copies of the classified version to selected senators and representatives in Congress. But no member of Congress is going to touch the issue in an election year, for fear of being labelled "unpatriotic." So American, British and other Western soldiers will continue to die, as will thousands of Afghans, in order to postpone the inevitable outcome for a few more years. It's not necessarily even an outcome that threatens American security, for there was always a big difference between the Taliban and their ungrateful guests, al-Qaeda. The Taliban were and are big local players in the Afghan political game, but they never showed any

interest in attacking the United States. Al-Qaeda were pan-Islamist revolutionaries, mostly Arabs and Pakistanis, who abused their hosts' hospitality by doing exactly that. It was never necessary to invade Afghanistan at all. Senior Taliban commanders were furious that al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks had exposed them to the threat of invasion, and came close to evicting Osama bin Laden at the Kandahar jirga (tribal parliament) in October, 2001. Wait a little longer, spread a few million dollars around in bribes, and the United States could probably have had a victory over al-Qaeda without a war in Afghanistan. It's much too late for that now, but al-Qaeda survives more as an ideology than as an organization, and most Afghans (including the Taliban) remain profoundly uninterested in affairs beyond their own borders. Whatever political system emerges in Afghanistan after the foreigners go home, it is unlikely to want to attack the United States. Pity about all the people who will be killed between now and then. V Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. His column appears each week in Vue Weekly.

UP FRONT 9

COVER // ELECTION

The others Independent candidates and small parties play politics for the long game Democracy is an inexact process, and it often doesn't work. And while many of us give up, resigned to imperfection, there are people out there who instead decide that they're the ones to fix it. Even just a small part of it. Twelve independent candidates are running in the provincial election. Along with the Evergreen Party, the Separation Party of Alberta, the Communist Party and three remaining Social Credit candidates, those independents make up what many of us term a wasted vote. But for them the election is an opportunity. Athena Bernal-Born is a mother of four. She's an executive assistant with experience in health services, oil and gas, and adult education. And she's angry. So she submitted 25 signatures, $500 and the required paperwork, and is now a candidate in EdmontonEllerslie. As a former worker in Alberta Health Services she witnessed the difficulties of the transition to a new superboard and suffered burnout due to the increased work hours. As a Filipina she's concerned over the laws and treatment of temporary foreign workers. As a mother she's concerned about what the Progressive Conservatives attempted with Bill 2, the education act. She wants the government to know citizens are watching, saying, "I decided it might be a good time to educate people on what a protest or strategic vote is." Campaigning in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Bernal-Born has made voter apathy and democratic renewal the key issue in her conversations. Her website offers information on voting statistics in the riding: 64 percent did not vote. "The government looks at who is voting for what," says Bernal-Born. "They can look at the results and think, well, they didn't vote because they have confidence in us, but that's not what I'm hearing from voters." Bernal-Born is meeting with religious groups and doorknocking in addition to an online campaign. EdmontonEllerslie is a tight race. Traditionally Liberal, the Wildrose candidate has been polling high and the Alberta Party candidate Chinwe Okelu was a popular candidate in the 2010 civic election. Recent numbers from the polling site threehundredeight.com show the "other" option, which is composed entirely of Bernal-Born, is polling at one percent. "My campaign is towards the 64 percent who didn't vote, so if you're going to waste the vote by not voting, you might as well vote for an independent," she says. The protest-vote campaign is even more evident in Airdrie's independent

10 UP FRONT

candidate Jeff Willerton, specifically in relation to Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson, who is running for re-election in the riding. Willerton is a controversial figure with socially conservative views and a penchant for putting his name on the ballot: "I'm probably the only one to have run against Heather [Forsyth], Anderson and Danielle." An ardent supporter of the Wildrose, he's disaffected with what he views as Anderson's self-involved political style, and the recent discovery that the constituency associations for Anderson and Heather Forsyth received $20 000 when they crossed the floor from the PCs. For Willerton it's just more evidence that Anderson is campaigning for himself and not his constituents. "I'm enabling people to make a more informed vote bringing some information to the fore," says Willerton. "I can't win if my name's not on the ballot and there's increasingly good reasons for me to be on the ballot." Across the spectrum, Communist

Party leader Naomi Rankin would not agree with Willerton on much, except the reason to run. Rankin has been a candidate for the Communist Party in Alberta in every federal and provincial election since 1982. In the past few elections she hasn't received more than 40 or 50 votes, but she keeps running. "It's part of the political process," she says. "We're not going to not being involved in it." Like its candidate, the Communist Party message hasn't changed much since 1982, but Rankin explains that it's far from stagnant: "We should be dictating terms to multinational corporations. With our resources, why are we in a position where there are budget cutbacks?" David Kahane, a political science professor at the University of Alberta, explains that while large parties are instruments for maintaining electoral power, it's a different situation for smaller parties. "It's more about expressing a position that's faithful to a position or ideology or vision,"

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

Kahane says. But why stay in a smaller party when you could influence a larger one? "There are some people who think, they don't agree with some party but they're going to join and change it," says Rankin. "Political parties have a role to play in politics, so there's no reason to disarm ourselves of that tool." David Parker of the Evergreen Party feels very much the same way. With the Evergreen Party only gaining its party status with Elections Alberta three days before Christmas, Parker is relieved there are even candidates on the ballots. "We wanted to make sure Alberta, being the province it is with the oil sands, we wanted to make sure there was a green party presence," says Parker, who is happy they have 25 candidates running in the province and over 8000 signatures in support of the Evergreen Senate candidate Elizabeth Johannson, and he says people have been receptive to the message. Kahane says smaller political parties

can play positive roles in the democratic process. "They're civic forums for those involved," says Kahane. "They're a focus for forming and expressing political positions, and can be a locus for organizing, and mobilizing." But electorally the current first-pastthe-post system is not particularly receptive to candidates outside the main parties. "It condemns them to marginality," says Kahane. "Some proportional representation systems may give them a chance of influenceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for good or ill, depending on the kind of fringe they represent." Parker believes the Green party would have a better chance with greater media coverage and the ability to participate in televised debates. "Elizabeth May told me the reason why our vote dropped this time around [federally] was that she didn't get in the leaders debate," says Parker. Rankin on the other hand would like to see more of a focus on forums and in-person meetings rather than televised media. But all candidates were using the benefits of social media, engaging in the ability to campaign to a larger audience, especially as independent candidates and candidates with smaller budgets and resources can't leave their day jobs to campaign full time. "New media is massively changing the capacity of small parties to serve as civic forums, and to enter public debate," says Kahane. For Evergreen Senate candidate Elizabeth Johannson, social media is allowing her to participate in a province-wide conversation that time-constraints and resources wouldn't otherwise allow. "If you can get people interested in what you're doing online, that can spread and it can be a really effective way to get your message out," says Johannson. For Parker, being a candidate is an extension of his daily political activities. "You can't be just a political entity to get things done, you have to work in other areas," says Parker. All the candidates interviewed took an active approach to politics in their daily lives. "Really we think our influence on the outcome of the election is greater in the in-between periods when an election hasn't been called," says Rankin "By the time an election is called it's too late to determine the issues if you haven't been involved before that." For Bernal-Born, this election is only her first one. "I'm going to still work at it," she says. "I'll do my homework. I'll be part of a party or I'll be a more educated candidate. I'll keep trying. I have a couple more elections before I give up." samantha power

// samantha@vueweekly.com

ELECTION ROUNDUP

SAMANTHA POWER // SAMANTHA@VUEWEEKLY.COM

BY THE NUMBERS

ABSENT ENVIRONMENT

WILDROSE PC

NDP

27 SEATS 56 SEATS 4 SEATS In the last week of campaigning, province-wide polls have shown the Wildrose gaining the lead and heading for a majority. In polls done just before the debate the Wildrose was leading with 41.9 percent and the PCs followed with 33.2 percent. Polls aggragated by threehundredeight.com also show the ND numbers increasing province-wide, putting them between 9.1 percent and 12.4 percent. The NDs projections have held consistently at earning four seats

It seems as archaic as the dinosaurs themselves to consider there are still those out there who doubt the science of climate change, but the leader of the frontrunner in the Alberta elections came out this week and said exactly that. In an online forum for the Edmonton Journal, Wildrose leader Danielle Smith was asked, "On climate change, do you believe in the science, and how do we address the issue?" to which she responded: "We have always said the science isn't settled and we need to continue to monitor

the debate." The environment has not been as prominent as in past elections, with most of the focus this time being on taxes, budgeting and health care. It's an interesting turn considering environmental monitoring was a topic of much debate earlier in the year and the implementation and governance structure of the long-awaited environmental monitoring committee should be one of the first issues a new government will have to deal with.

and might even win one outside of Calgary and Edmonton. With only a few days left to campaign the Wildrose will be fighting to keep the lead. Using aggregated poll data from

TWEETING THE ELECTION

308.com, if the election were to happen today the Wildrose would win a majority with 56 seats, the PCs would take 27 and the NDP would take four. Looking at the individual riding polls, though, the Liberals could take up to three seats.

CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS

"You can live the way you were born, and if you die the way you were born, then you will suffer the rest of eternity in the lake of fire, hell, a place of eternal suffering." Controversial statements started off the last week of campaigning. A June 2011 blog post by Wildrose candidate Allan Hunsperger in Edmonton-SouthWest went viral on April 15. Hunsperger condemned the decision by the Edmonton Public School Board to take action against bullying of gay, lesbian and transgender students and attacked people for their sexuality. Smith refused to condemn the statements,

saying the Wildrose would not legislate on moral issues. It's not the first controversial statement to come out of the WIldrose camp which has come under scrutiny for having some candidates who hold outdated and offensive moral views, including former Alberta Report editor Link Byfield and evangelical pastor Ron Leech, who oppose abortion and same-sex marriage.

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

Alberta Tweets has been keeping numbers on the online election conversation. Over the week of April 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 15 the conversation about the election has grown by 22.9 percent or 35 584 tweets. The Alberta Party has seen the most growth in online mentions at 1920 tweets, up 41 percent and the

Liberals have increased 26.3 percent. The most popular topics involved the leadership debate (#ABDB8) with 1277 mentions and Alberta education (#ABED) continues to be a ranking topic at number two with 454 tweets. Edmonton leads the election Twitter conversation with 2988 tweets.

PLAYING AT DEMOCRACY Alberta will once again be holding Senate elections during this provincial election. While the Senate remains an appointed body, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed Senators elected in a province-wide election. This year there are 13 candidates running and a number of independent and left-leaning candidates, which has rarely been seen in the past as parties such as the New Democrats believe the Senate is an outdated body that should be abolished. This year there are six independent candidates running, compared with the three from the 2004 election, as

well as a Evergreen candidate Elizabeth Johannson, three PC candidates and three Wildrose candidates. Prime Minister Harper has appointed two previously elected senators, Betty Unger and Bert Brown. Candidates Ian Urquhart and Johannson, both more progressive candidates than have run previously, will be a challenge to Harper if a seat comes open. Albertans can vote for up to four candidates, or refuse their ballots. The three candidates receiving the most votes are considered in line for appointment.

ORANGE SWELL While Liberal support crumbles, the NDP continues to pick up momentum. The party is well placed to pick up seats lost in the 2008 election in Edmonton-Calder and Edmonton-Bever-

ly Clareview, while having competitive polling numbers in Edmonton-Centre and Edmonton-Glenora. Provincewide support for the party could put it in range for eight seats.

UP FRONT 11

COMMENT >> HOCKEY

And now for the crying A panel of fans and a not-fan disect the season The Oiler season is over and the other teams in other cities are enjoying playoffs (we use the word “enjoying” for cities other than Pittsburgh and Vancouver). We will sign In the Box off with one last visit from ly.com our panel of hockey fans. eweek ox@vu intheb g oun & This week’s topic: Dave Y

Aside from that, every year I adopt an ABC philosophy. Anyone But the Canucks. BRENT OLIVER, ANOTHER EDMONTON

IN THE

EX-PAT, THIS ONE IS IN WINNIPEG NOW

BOX Bryan

High point: Eberle, Eberle, Eberle. The kid’s got it going on. In addition to the 76 points he put up in the regular season, he’s shown a level of talent and maturity reassuring to those who might have been tempted to label him a one-season pony. Low point: missing the playoffs for the sixth season running. I know ... as an Oilers fan, I should be used to it by now. But it hurts every time. I don’t really have a preference for who wins the Cup. But hey, wouldn’t it be funny if Vancouver lost again?

Birtles

"Another Oiler season is done and dusted. What was the high point and low point of this season? And in non-Oiler-related news, who do you want to win the Cup this year?"

I'd say the high point for me was the initial spike in offensive production and goalie supremacy we witnessed out of the gate. Low point was the injuries to RNH, Hall and Eberle—we have to get these boys some protection or weight gain 3000. Beefcake. I am a Kings fan so I gotta go with them this year. So far so good. ERIC NEWBY, OILERS (AND KINGS) FAN AND PHOTOGRAPHER TYPE IN VANCOUVER

Oilers complete another season at the bottom of the bigs, and we end up with the number one pick in next year's entry draft. Stop me if you've

KELLY SANTAROSSA, OILER FAN IN ED-

heard this one before ... That all being said, not sure anyone can point to a specific high to the season (besides the one time the Oilers beat the Canucks), but more a team that is constantly maturing. The emergence of Jeff Petry as a strong number two or three defenseman, Taylor Hall is a bonafide superstar, and flashes of brilliance from the Nuge and Eberle (even though it seems both are completely made of glass).

Melanie SaMaroden

MONTON (AND YES, IT WILL BE FUNNY)

As a Flames fan, watching the Oilers waste away at the bottom of the standings is hilarious. However, I'll try and approach this as an Oilers fan. Obviously the run to start the season with the unsustainable goaltending and unsustainable shooting was fun to watch, but the emergence of Devan Dubnyk was the high point for me. The low

JUSTIN

AZEVEDO—ACTUAL

FLAMES

FAN THINKING LIKE AN OILERS FAN

Low point: December 31, 2011. The Oilers finished a run of seven losses in eight games. The wheels had fallen off after a decent start. We knew it wouldn’t get better. Been there before. High point: Gagner’s eight-point night. It was fun to be an Oiler fan. DAVID YOUNG, IN THE BOX OLD GUY

The highest of points was at the start of the year, when the Nuge made the team and he seemed like a shoo-in for the Calder, Khabibulin was going to win the Vezina and the Oilers were going to win the Stanley Cup. Ryan Smyth was back, crying tears of joy at centre ice, Hall looked unstoppable and Eberle all-world. And nobody cared at all about Horcoff’s contract. The low point was everything after that. BRYAN BIRTLES, IN THE BOX SOPHOMORE, BELFAST GIANTS SUPPORTER

Exciting upcoming features in Vue Weekly

for edmonton-rutherford The Alberta NDP Plan to make Alberta’s prosperity work for everyone. • • • • •

The low point definitely was the defence core bungles, and the need this team has to improve on the back end. If they're going to contend for the cup in a few years (as every homer, including me, believes), the Oilers need some stronger D. Just seeing the level of defence on the Stanley Cup contenders this year makes me long for better for the Oil. Speaking of which, as far as Stanley Cup picks go—the Bruins will win.

point? Being bad enough to draft first overall again. I would like St Louis to win the Cup, if only so people can truly appreciate how amazing David Perron and David Backes are.

Quality Public Health Care Delivering Affordable Electricity Education for Success Protect Our Environment Oil Sands Prosperity

BECAUSE ALBERTA BELONGS TO YOU

albertandp.ca/melaniesamaroden Authorized by the Official Agent for the Candidate #201, 10544 - 114 Street, Edm. AB

National Victims of Crime Awareness Week April 22-28 The Action Coalition on Human Trafficking is pleased to host a screening of the film

Golden Fork May 10

Road Trip May 17

Summer Camp May 24

Hot Summer Guide June 7

The Edmonton Issue June 28

The Beer Issue July 5

Call + Response The screening is to raise awareness of human trafficking and how citizens can engage in Alberta’s response to human trafficking.

When: Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 Doors open at 6:00 pm, film will begin at 6:30 pm Where: Central Lions Seniors Association 11113 - 113 St, Edmonton, Ab. T5G 2V1 Free Admission, Free Parking, Snacks and Refreshments will be served. 12 UP FRONT

For more information, or to book your ads, contact our sales department at 780.426.1996 or rob@vueweekly.com VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

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

Scale: $10 (drop-in)/$7 (low-income)/$5 (no income)

Home–Energizing Spiritual Community for Passionate Living • Garneau/Ashbourne

Assisted Living Place, 11148-84 Ave • Home: Blends music, drama, creativity and reflection on sacred texts to energize you for passionate living • Every Sun 3-5pm

Lotus Qigong • 780.477.0683 • Downtown • Practice group meets every Thu

Meditation • Strathcona Library • medita-

COMEDY Brixx Bar • 10030-102 St • 780.428.1099 •

Troubadour Tuesdays with comedy and music

tionedmonton.org • Weekly meditation drop-in; every Tue, 7-8:30pm

Northern Alberta Wood Carvers Association • Duggan Community Hall,

Ceili's • 10338-109 St • 780.426.5555 • Comedy

3728-106 St • 780.458.6352, 780.467.6093 • nawca.ca • Meet every Wed, 6:30pm

Century Casino • 13103 Fort Rd •

Organization for Bipolar Affective Disorder (OBAD) • Grey

Night: every Tue, 9:30pm • No cover

780.481.9857 • Open amateur night every Thu, 7:30pm

COMEDY FACTORY • Gateway Entertain-

ment Centre, 34 Ave, Calgary Tr • Lorenzo Thornton; Apr 19-21 • Alvin Williams; Apr 26-28

Comic Strip • Bourbon St, WEM • 780.483.5999 • Wed-Fri, Sun 8pm; Fri-Sat 10:30pm • Michael Kosta; until Apr 22 • Sam Tripoli; Apr 25-29

DRUID • 11606 Jasper Ave • 780.710.2119 • Comedy night open stage hosted by Lars Callieou • Every Sun, 9pm Filthy McNasty's • 10511-82 •

780.996.1778 • Stand Up Sundays: Stand-up comedy night every Sun with a different headliner every week; 9pm; no cover

hydeaway • 10209-100 Ave • 780.426.5381 •

Comedy Night every 2nd Tue

laugh shop–Sherwood Park • 4 Blackfoot Road, Sherwood Park • 780.417.9777 • laughinthepark.ca • Open Wed-Sat • Fri: 8pm, Sat: 7:30pm and 10pm; $20 • Wednesday Amateur night: 8pm (call to be added to the line-up); free • Landry; Apr 20-21 • Ryan Dalton; Apr 27-28 laugh shop–124th Street • 11802-124 St •

780.417.9777 • thelaughshop.com • Amateur night every Wed (call 780.417.9777 to be added to the lineup); no cover

Overtime Pub • 4211-106 St • Open mic comedy anchored by a professional MC, new headliner each week • Every Tue • Free

Groups/CLUBS/meetings Aikikai Aikido Club • 10139-87 Ave, Old Strathcona Community League • Japanese Martial Art of Aikido • Every Tue 7:30-9:30pm; Thu 6-8pm Amnesty International Edmonton

• 8307-109 St • edmontonamnesty.org • Meet the 4th Tue each month, 7:30pm (no meetings in Jul, Aug, and Dec) E: amnesty@edmontonamnesty.org for more info • Free

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

Brain Tumour Peer Support Group

• Woodcroft Branch Library, 13420-114 Ave • braintumour.ca • 1.800.265.5106 ext 234 • Support group for brain tumour survivors and their families and caregivers. Must be 18 or over • 3rd Tue every month; 7-8:45pm • Free

Cha Island Tea Co • 10332-81 Ave • Games Night: Board games and card games • Every Mon, 7pm

E4C’s Make Tax Time Pay (MTTP) •

780.424.7543 • e4calberta.org • Free tax preparation and access to government benefits for lowincome families and people wanting help to apply for government benefit programs • Find a MTTP tax site, dial 2-1-1, Support Network, to find a tax location nearby; until Apr 30

Edmonton Bike Art Nights • Bike-

Works, 10047-80 Ave, back alley entrance • Art Nights • Every Wed, 6-9pm

Edmonton Nature Club • King's University College, 9125-50 St • Monthly meeting: Connecting Kids and Nature with Glen Hvenegaard, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, U. of A • Fri, Apr 20, 7pm • Admission by donation Edmonton Needlecraft Guild •

Avonmore United Church Basement, 82 Ave, 79 St • edmNeedlecraftGuild.org • Classes/ workshops, exhibitions, guest speakers, stitching groups for those interested in textile arts • Meet the 2nd Tue each month, 7:30pm

Fertility Awareness Charting Circle meeting • Cha Island Tea Co, 10332-81

Ave • Monthly meetings: learn about menstrual cycle charting and share your personal experiences in a supportive group environment • Mon, May 14, 6:30pm • $5;

FOOD ADDICTS • St Luke's Anglican Church, 8424-95 Ave • 780.465.2019/780.634.5526 • 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

Free Yoga • Eastwood Community Hall, 11803-86 St • Apr 26, 6:30-9:30pm • Free Hatha Flow Yoga • Eastwood Community Hall, 11803-86 St • Every Tue and Thu (7:05pm) until the end of Apr • Sliding

Nuns Hospital, Rm 0651, 780.451.1755; Group meets every Thu 7-9pm • Free

Sherwood Park Walking Group + 50 • Meet inside Millennium Place, Sherwood

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

Society of Edmonton Atheists •

Stanley Milner Library, Rm 6-7 • edmontonatheists.ca • Meet the 1st Tue every month, 7pm

Sugarswing Dance Club • Orange Hall, 10335-84 Ave or Pleasantview Hall, 10860-57 Ave • 780.604.7572 • Swing Dance at Sugar Foot Stomp: beginner lesson followed by dance every Sat, 8pm (door) at Orange Hall or Pleasantview Hall WOMEN IN BLACK • In Front of the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market • Silent vigil the 1st and 3rd Sat, 10-11am, each month, stand in silence for a world without violence Y Toastmasters Club • EFCL, 7103-105 St • Meet every Tue, 7-9pm; helps members develop confidence in public speaking and leadership • T: Antonio Balce at 780.463.5331

LECTURES/Presentations Edmonton Permaculture Monthly Speaker Series • Idlwylde Library,

8310-88 Ave • Rocky Mtn House Demonstration Farm and Education Centre with Jeff and Julilynn Gillies • Thu, Apr 26, 6-9pm • Free

Educational Experience of ESL Learners • Central Lions Seniors Centre,

Rm 12, 11113-113 St • 403.261.5939, eslaction. com • Research Results and Discussion: Strategies to support the success of ESL students; informing decision makers on issues affecting immigrant families; engaging immigrant parents in the community, schools and education system. Lunch provided • Thu, Apr 26, 1-4pm

Going Indie (in Urban Music) with Ayah • on web • SAC Songwrit-

ers National interactive webinar with Ayah • Mon, Apr 23, 8pm • Free (S.A.C. member)/$5 (non-member); pre-register at songwriters.ca/ events/371/2012ayahwebinar.aspx

John Ralston Saul: Convincing Ourselves to Use Our Power • Chateau

Louis Conference Centre, 11727 Kingsway • Keynote speaker for the conference, Make Shift Happen: Mobilizing the Power of the People • Thu, Apr 19, 7pm • $20

jung forum • Uof A, Rm 2-115, Education North • jungforum.com • The Symbolic Life: Rituals in Our Lives presented by Marlene Brouwer • Fri, Apr 20 • $25 (member)/$35 (nonmember) at door MEÆT 1.5 • atmeaet.com • DIYalouge forums bringing local creatives and new philanthropists together for an evening of short proposals followed by a shared meal. At the end of the meal, diners vote on which proposal receives the pot of funds to move forward with their project • Pre-register atmeaet.com • $10 (minimum donation for diners) Sprouting 101 • Earth’s General Store, 9605-82 Ave • 780.439.8725 • Learn how to grow sprouts in your own kitchen with minimal expense • Tue, Apr 24, 7:15pm • $15; pre-register at Earth’s General Store by Apr 20 Taking Action for A Better World • 10512-122 St • 780.420.0471 •

Public Interest Alberta's Youth Activist Forum with youth activists: Brigette DePape, Melanie Butler, Liz Wingert, Jill Crop Eared Wolf; for youth (16-35 yrs) • Sun, Apr 22 • $10 (for lunch); pre-register: pialberta.org/content/ taking-action-better-world-pias-youth-activistforum; Kathryn Lennon: 780.420.0471

TED Talks @ Lunch • Enterprise Sq, Rm 2-926, 10230 Jasper Ave • Ideas Worth Spreading: Watch a selected TED Talk video presentation then join in a group discussion about the presentation • Last Wed each month • Wed, Apr 25, 12-1pm • Free; pre-register at tedtalksatlunch20.eventbrite.com Whys and How Tos of a Raw Food Diet • Earth’s General Store, 9605-82

Ave • Learn the reasons behind a raw food diet and how to incorporate more raw foods into your meals • Mon, Apr 30, 7:15pm • $15; preregister in the store by Apr 28

QUEER AFFIRM SUNNYBROOK–Red Deer • Sunnybrook United Church, Red Deer • 403.347.6073 • Affirm welcome LGBTQ people and their friends, family, and allies meet the 2nd Tue, 7pm, each month

• Youth Movie: Every Thu, 6:30-8:30pm; jess@ pridecentreofedmonton.org

PrimeTimers/sage Games • Unitarian

Church, 10804-119 St • 780.474.8240 • Every 2nd and last Fri each Month, 7-10:30pm

St Paul's United Church • 11526-76 Ave

Bisexual Women's Coffee Group •

• 780.436.1555 • People of all sexual orientations are welcome • Every Sun (10am worship)

BUDDYS NITE CLUB • 11725B Jasper Ave •

WOMONSPACE • 780.482.1794 • womonspace.ca, womonspace@gmail.com • A Non-profit lesbian social organization for Edmonton and surrounding area. Monthly activities, newsletter, reduced rates included with membership. Confidentiality assured

A social group for bi-curious and bisexual women every 2nd Tue each month, 8pm • groups.yahoo. com/group/bwedmonton

780.488.6636 • Tue with DJ Arrow Chaser, free pool all night; 9pm (door); no cover • Wed with DJ Dust’n Time; 9pm (door); no cover • Thu: Men’s Wet Underwear Contest, win prizes, hosted by Drag Queen DJ Phon3 Hom3; 9pm (door); no cover before 10pm • Fri Dance Party with DJ Arrow Chaser; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm • Sat: Feel the rhythm with DJ Phon3 Hom3; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm

EDMONTON PRIME TIMERS (EPT) •

Unitarian Church of Edmonton, 10804-119 St • A group of older gay men who have common interests meet the 2nd Sun, 2:30pm, for a social period, short meeting and guest speaker, discussion panel or potluck supper. Special interest groups meet for other social activities throughout the month. E: edmontonpt@yahoo.ca

EPLC Fellowship Pagan Study Group • Pride Centre of Edmonton • eplc.webs. com • Free year long course; Family circle 3rd Sat each month • Everyone welcome

FLASH Night Club • 10018-105 St •

780.969.9965 • Thu Goth + Industrial Night: Indust:real Assembly with DJ Nanuck; 10pm (door); no cover • Triple Threat Fridays: DJ Thunder, Femcee DJ Eden Lixx • DJ Suco beats every Sat • E: vip@flashnightclub.com

Woodys Video Bar • 11723 Jasper Ave • 780.488.6557 • Mon: Amateur Strip Contest; prizes with Shawana • Tue: Kitchen 3-11pm • Wed: Karaoke with Tizzy 7pm-1am; Kitchen 3-11pm • Thu: Free pool all night; kitchen 3-11pm • Fri: Mocho Nacho Fri: 3pm (door), kitchen open 3-11pm

SPECIAL EVENTS Avenue of Hope Gala • Italian Cul-

tural Centre • 780.422.7263 • luranashelter. com • Fundraiser for Lurana Shelter Society • Sat, Apr 21

Earth Day Festival 2012 • Blatchford Hangar, Fort Edmonton Park • Featuring exhibits, talk to experts on greener lifestyles, entertainment, workshop speakers, activities • Sun, Apr 22, 12-6pm • Free • facebook.com/ events/258012270944021/ Edmonton Music Collectors Show • Sherbrooke Community Hall,

13008-122 Ave • Buying, selling, and trading: rare, vintage, and collectible vinyl, music-

related memorabilia, CDs, DVDs, books, sheet music, audio equipment and more • Sun, Apr 22, 10am-4pm

High Fashion Fundraiser • Lexus, 11204-170 St • 780.432.8001 • myfilosophy. com • Featuring Canadian designer Joeffer Caoc; music by Sophie Serafino (violin). Two exclusive fashion shows featuring My Filosophy and the Fall 2012 collection of Canadian designer Joeffer Caoc. Silent and live auctions; proceeds to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation • Thu, Apr 26, 6:30pm (door) hot chefs, cool bEATS • Shaw Conference Centre, Hall D, 9797 Jasper Ave • Celebrate Edmonton chefs, restaurants, and food trucks with drinks, food dishes, musicians, artists and a live auction. Fundraiser for the High School Culinary Challenge and Team Canada's quest for gold at the Culinary Olympics • Apr 21, 6:30pm • $150 (incl food and drinks) Love to Haiti • Knox Evangelical Free Church, 8403-104 St • 780.267.8061 • Haitian Fusion Dinner and Silent Auction fundraiser • Apr 27 6pm; dinner (6:30pm) • $25 (adv); all proceeds to funding and purchasing supplies for Old Strathcona Vineyard's Love to Haiti Medical mission Straight From the Heart • Century

Showroom Casino, 13103 Fort Rd • Fundraiser for Fred LaRose • Sun, Apr 29, 2pm (door), 3-11pm (music) • $30 at Century Casino, Blackbyrd, Permanent Records

A Taste of Argentina • Sutton Place

Hotel, 10235-101 St • Wine event: Edmonton Jazz Festival Society annual fundraiser • May 3, 7-9:30pm • $65 at TIX on the Square

G.L.B.T.Q. (gay) African Group DropIn) • Pride Centre, moving • 780.488.3234 •

Group for gay refugees from all around the World, friends, and families • 1st and Last Sun every month • Info: E: fred@pridecentreofedmonton.org, jeff@pridecentreofedmonton.org

G.L.B.T.Q Sage bowling club • 780.474.8240, E: Tuff@shaw.ca • Every Wed, 1:30-3:30pm GLBT sports and recreation • teamedmonton.ca • Badminton, Women's DropIn Recreational: St Vincent School, 10530-138 St; E: badminton.women@teamedmonton.ca, every Wed 6-7:30pm, until Apr 25; $7 (drop-in fee) • Coed Bellydancing: bellydancing@teamedmonton. ca • Bootcamp: Garneau Elementary, 10925-87 Ave. at 7pm; bootcamp@teamedmonton.ca • Bowling: Ed's Rec Centre, West Edmonton Mall, Tue 6:45pm; bowling@teamedmonton.ca • Curling: Granite Curling Club; 780.463.5942 • Running: Kinsmen; running@teamedmonton.ca • Spinning: MacEwan Centre, 109 Street and 104 Ave; spin@teamedmonton.ca • Swimming: NAIT pool, 11762-106 St; swimming@teamedmonton. ca • Volleyball: every Tue, 7-9pm; St. Catherine School, 10915-110 St; every Thu, 7:30-9:30pm at Amiskiwiciy Academy, 101 Airport Rd 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, 1-4:30pm • Info: T: Jeff Bovee 780.488.3234, E: tuff @shaw.ca

Illusions Social Club • The Junction, 10242-106 St • groups.yahoo.com/group/edmonton_illusions • 780.387.3343 • Crossdressers meet 2nd Fri every month, 8:30pm INSIDE/OUT • U of A Campus • Campus-based organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transidentified and queer (LGBTQ) faculty, graduate student, academic, straight allies and support staff • 3rd Thu each month (fall/winter terms): Speakers Series. E: kwells@ualberta.ca

the junction bar • 10242-106 St •

780.756.5667 • Free pool daily 4-8pm; Taco Tue: 5-9pm; Wing Wed: 5-9pm; Wed karaoke: 9pm-12; Thu 2-4-1 burgers: 5-9pm; Fri steak night: 5-9pm; DJs Fri and Sat at 10pm

LIVING POSITIVE • 404, 10408-124 St • edmlivingpositive.ca • 1.877.975.9448/780.488.5768 • Confidential peer support to people living with HIV • Tue, 7-9pm: Support group • Daily drop-in, peer counselling MAKING WAVES SWIMMING CLUB •

geocities.com/makingwaves_edm • Recreational/ competitive swimming. Socializing after practices • Every Tue/Thu

Pride Centre of Edmonton • Mov-

ing • 780.488.3234 • Daily: YouthSpace (Youth Drop-in): Tue-Fri: 3-7pm; Sat: 2-6:30pm; jess@ pridecentreofedmonton.org • Men Talking with Pride: Support group for gay, bisexual and transgendered men to discuss current issues; Sun: 7-9pm; robwells780@hotmail.com • HIV Support Group: for people living with HIV/AIDS; 2nd Mon each month, 7-9pm; huges@shaw.ca • TTIQ: Education and support group for transgender, transsexual, intersexed and questioning people, their friends, families and allies; 2nd Tue each month, 7:30-9:30pm; admin@pridecentreofedmonton.org • Community Potluck: For members of the LGBTQ community; last Tue each month, 6-9pm; tuff@shaw.ca • Counselling: Free, short-term, solution-focused counselling, provided by professionally trained counsellors; every Wed, 6-9pm; admin@pridecentreofedmonton.org • STD Testing: Last Thu every month, 3-6pm; free; admin@pridecentreofedmonton.org

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

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UP FRONT 13

FILM

PREVUE // MADDIN

Peeping the past

Guy Maddin's first digital feature is a Keyhole look at memory Opens Friday Written and directed by Guy Maddin

seems to be giving a very recognizably modern, Jason Patric performance. Do you talk to actors about performance style, or psychology? Do you just hand them a wolverine? GM: Yeah, just hand them a wolverine and go! [Laughs] I tend not to talk to actors very much. In the case of Jason, he wanted a role where he could harness the whole picture onto himself if necessary. Doesn't exactly make him sound like a team player, but he was up for a big challenge. He wanted to stick with naturalism, but the dialogue that [co-scenarist] George [Toles] writes has this mannered musicality. I like the tension between Jason's naturalism and George's mannerism. It creates that weird hybrid that you just described ... You know, it's kinda fun to talk about performance after so many years of no one ever asking a single question about performances in my movies. Thanks!



dark and stormy night. "Man's weather," we're told. Gangsters and their respective molls hole up in an old house that resembles a skid row antique shop and envelops an inner courtyard bog that doubles as a cemetery. This place was once the home of the gang's boss, Ulysses (Jason Patric), who's come back to, as he puts it, return what was lost. Somewhere there's a room in which his estranged wife (Isabella Rossellini) converses with her naked narrator phantom dad (Louis Negin). There are electrified ghosts, a homemade electric chair, a radio kept tuned between stations and a stuffed wolverine named Crispy. Organized crime meets the occult in Keyhole, a film that somehow looks like it was made in both 2012 and 1933, in both a Hollywood studio and a decrepit Winnipeg manor slated for demolition. It becomes difficult to discern the living from the dead. "I'm getting fed up with being kept in the dark," complains one of the characters, as though he's a medium inadvertently speaking on the audience's behalf. Except we're not fed up. (Right?) Guy Maddin's latest feature-length quasi-autobiographical phantasy, his first to be shot digitally, would put you in a trance if it weren't so crowded with riddles, antsy lyricism and pervert-hilarity. It's based on Homer's The Odyssey, though the characters never leave the house. Keyhole is a journey inward, and perhaps back in time, made

Just a little look ...

of digressions, discoveries and doublecrosses, building toward a strangely consoling finale. I met with Maddin to discuss the film on the eve of its theatrical release. He was hairier than the last time I saw him. He looked like a Viking in a suit.

or old women, but I just didn't want to be one. So I grew a beard. It was getting ambiguous for a while there. VW: I think you look like a man. GM: Thank you! VW: I

VUE WEEKLY: I like your beard. GUY MADDIN: Thanks. It gives me a new

attitude. I can enter a room beard-first now. VW: What prompted it? GM: I just didn't want to turn into an old woman. Nothing against women,

was thinking that in moving away from celluloid you're moving away from film grain, which is a kind of veil. But with Keyhole, your first digital feature, you keep filling the frame with gauzy drapery and fog and chains. This veiling motif that begins right in Keyhole's first image of a naked old man drawing a curtain closed. GM: I think when dealing with memory and things that have transpired in a home, things you take for granted until it becomes another layer of yourself, you've got to work with obstacles in order to heighten pleasure, to make memories more precious, or just to get at the memories. They also just make the shots more beautiful. I like to close the frame down with genitals or bottles or knickknacks. I remember an observation I made years ago watching Luis Buñuel movies, how Buñuel seems to have had this abiding belief that people create their own obstacles in order to make things more desirable. It seems like a good rule of thumb. I like believing that people create their own obstacles. I think I've made my own career obstacles by making these things! [Laughs] I haven't read The Odyssey in a long time ... GM: I read the Wikipedia entry. VW:

VW: How

14 FILM

did you come to use it as the

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

scaffolding for Keyhole? It's the ultimate deadbeat-dad story, about the father who goes away and figures he'll come back after 19 years. It reminded me of the dreams I used to have in which my dead father would return home almost every night for a decade or more to convey his displeasure at having had to live with us, that he'd found a new home that was better, that he was just coming back to pick up his aftershave or something. I decided to make one last autobiographical purge, using The Odyssey as a basic structure, so the movie starts off like preparations for a journey. Though by the end it feels like something written by a Ouija board. I amputated a huge voodoo subplot. I didn't have any voodoo practitioners in my family, and I wanted to keep this as personal as possible. Though I think some might find it impenetrable. GM:

VW: The incorporation of genre, or in this case, genres, can function as a kind of anchor. GM: But I sort of cheat the genres. The ghosts are more like memories than anything especially threatening. They're not scary. They're just sort of sad. Meanwhile the gangsters have thrown all the guns into the furnace. I didn't want to have to keep track of who's got a gun and who doesn't.

I felt there was a breakthrough in Keyhole with how much ownership the actors take with their roles. Jason Patric seems perfectly comfortable adopting a performance style from another moment in film history, a little Sterling Hayden, a little Tom Neal. Yet he also

VW:

VW: Keyhole ends with this idea of restoration, of putting things back where they belong, trying to suspend the past. It serves the story well, but it also feels like a metaphor for the entire Guy Maddin Project. GM: Yeah, the hopelessness of it all. [Laughs] Having the father and son get together to start putting things back was the reason I made the movie. I like the idea of having people remember things properly, getting things right. When I go for a long walk I cast my mind back into the past. And into the future. I contemplate my place in time. The sidewalk flowing beneath me is time's great flow itself. VW: Ulysses' peeping through the keyhole is like looking deep into a vagina, looking straight into the womb, and thus back in time. GM: In France they wouldn't even call the movie Keyhole because it's too common a euphemism for vaginas. They called it instead Ulysse, souvienstoi! Or Remember, Ulysses!

That's good too. Sounds nice in French. GM: There was originally a slightly different ending in which Anders, the son, later on, married and living in a little bungalow, returns to his childhood home, holding the key to the front door that he gave to his drowned girlfriend. But we cut it and chose to imply that the same damned thing happens every night, a dream, perhaps dreamt by a dead person. It seemed more universal, but by that point everyone's so goddamned lost in the film it doesn't matter anyway. VW:

Josef Braun

// josef@vueweekly.com

PREVUE // VHS-MINED ODDITIES

Found Footage Festival

FROM THE PRODUCERS OF ANIMAL KINGDOM

BREATHTAKING

“

…DAFOE

IS MESMERIZING.” – MACLEANS

A HAUNTING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER.” “

– THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

ENGROSSING, IT’S A MYSTERY WITH A MESSAGE.” “

– THE WASHINGTON POST

grey 50%, white backgound

WILLEM DAFOE FRANCES O’CONNOR SAM NEILL

THE

HUNTER

SOME MYSTERIES SHOULD NEVER BE SOLVED

How to care for your Ferret

Sat, Apr 21 (7 pm) Metro Cinema at the Garneau, $14

ick Prueher is starting to get nervous. Since 2004, his Found Footage Festival has been preserving strange video excerpts mined from old VHS tapes found in thrift stores and estate sale, captured curios from a time when the latest viral video wasn't just a click away, but something geniunely discovered and passed along by hand. But as we get further away from VHS's heyday and deeper into disc-based mediums, old tapes are, Prueher senses, about to become increasingly rare even in second-hand shops. "Right now there's still a ton of VHS in thrift stores, and people are getting rid of it now more than ever," he says. "But I think what it was is the last holdouts of people who still had VCRs, like grandparents, and daycares and nursing homes, are finally dropping them off to the Salvation Army as well. So there's still some material out there, but when we talk to the people at thrift stores now, whenever we're on tour, they're telling us more and more they've just stopped taking VHS tapes because

nobody's buying them anymore. And that really scared us, and motivated us to be more ambitious than ever with our tour." The tours—wherein Prueher and his colleague Joe Pickett present their found clips in a live, sort of Mystery Science 3000-commenty setting—are when they collect new material for future outings. Prueher figures it takes close to a year to collect enough footage to construct a new show, separating the laughably strange from the merely unusual. But no matter what the future holds for the tape supply, Prueher and Pickett's most recent collection shows there's still plenty of oddities as-ofyet unseen: included in this fest is a recently unearthed Ferret care video, a collection of yo-yo pranks, an introduction to found classroom films from the '60s, and—a Found Footage Fest staple—a montage culled from the seemingly limitless supply of bad exercise tapes that exist., In collecting all this material, mining for clips that would otherwise be lost forever, the Found Footage Festival becomes a peculiar sort of cultural preserver. It isn't lost on Prueher that, although his finds are far from

high art, his festival preserves another, lower-bro aspect of our culture that we also shouldn't forget about. "We come from a comedy background, we're primarily looking for unintentionally funny videos that will make a room full of people laugh. But I think there's a certain anthropological value in what we do, too," Prueher says. "There's a lot of people collecting vinyl, and whole film institutions dedicated to preserving classic films. There's temperature controlled vaults for Citizen Kane, and people restoring it frame by frame, and, you know, things like that, but VHS does not get that kind of love. It really doesn't. "Maybe this seems a little too high falutin' for what we're actually doing" he continues, "but, in a way, I feel like some of these regrettable VHS moments captured on tape say a lot more about us as a culture than our greatest works of art do. If you're only looking at the AFI's top 100 films over the last century, it's a very incomplete picture of who we are as a people. It's kind of a warts-and-all approach: if nobody was hanging on to the Angela Lansbury exercise video, I just think we'd be a lesser people for it."

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FILM 15

REVUE // BULLY

Classroom victims

Bully's alarming power is also one-sided Opens Friday Directed by Lee Hirsch Princess Theatre

lationship, can we really say that Bully honestly tells the victims' stories?



In a recent piece for Slate, of which I can only make the briefest summation here, Emily Bazelton writes of her investigation into the suicide of Georgia teen Tyler Long, whose parents' testimonies occupy a sizable portion of Bully. Every piece of information provided in Bully leads us to believe that Long's suicide was the result of bullying, yet, as a brief from the school district—written in response to a lawsuit filed by Long's parents—asserts, Long had been diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar disorder and Asperger's, while his suicide note makes no mention of bullying whatsoever. Which isn't to say that bullying didn't contribute to Long's suicide, but given the relationship between suicide and mental illness, the elision of such facts in Bully is at least misleading, if not deeply irresponsible. My heart goes out to everyone connected with this devastating loss, but I can't sympathize with the decision to oversimplify Long's story for the sake of fortifying a one-sided argument. So, arguably, Bully risks doing harm while it aspires to do good. But I'll leave you with some of the good. We asked Hirsch about what's happened with his subjects since Bully wrapped filming. "Alex is doing so amazing right now," says Hirsch. "He says he feels like he's a teacher. He wants to teach everybody to get along better. He's found his voice. His lip doesn't shake anymore. He's gregarious. You guys would all be laughing if he were sitting here with us. His transformation is probably the thing I'm most proud of."

his was a really hard film to make. A fundamentally hard film to make. It never stopped following me around. The emotional navigation of this is something you're never prepared for." That's filmmaker Lee Hirsch, describing the process of making Bully, the new documentary that profiles a number of children and families in various, mostly rural US communities who have suffered from unchecked abuse both verbal and physical at their respective schools. Bully was for some weeks overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Motion Picture Association of America's initial insistence on giving the film an "R" rating for coarse language, thus making it inaccessible to precisely those viewers who might need its consoling message most; it's since been edited slightly and given a "PG-13". Which hopefully means that we can now move onto troubling questions regarding the film itself. I urge you to see Bully. I also urge you to consider it carefully. Hirsch's access, his obvious facility with earning trust, has rendered Bully a truly extraordinary, frequently alarming work, with scenes alternating between high emotion (from grieving parents, for starters) and shocking callousness (from a certain high school vice principal most especially). Seated at the head of the table, surrounded by writers assembled for a group interview, Hirsch seemed so gentle in demeanor I was almost worried we might wind up bullying him. When asked about how

Alex in Bully

he achieved such easy rapport with his subjects, Hirsch claimed it was easy: "All I had to do was tell these kids that I was bullied and I want to tell your story and I care. I'm a warm guy. I was very candid about what the film was, about why I wanted to tell their story, and asked for their partnership." That sense of camaraderie, of a shared vision, is exuded by, for example, Kelby, an Oklahoma teen who either received threats or was viciously attacked by local kids and adults both after she was brave enough to make her homosexuality public. Her determination to hold her ground, to not let the bullies win, is tremendously moving, if worrisome. Hers is one of four vignettes woven around Bully's central narrative, that of Alex, an Iowa teen whose brutal daily harass-

ment Hirsch captures repeatedly on camera, thanks to the cooperation of Alex's school, even though the end result does much to condemn the school's apparent near-indifference toward its students' complaints. Yet as you're watching Bully, which builds towards activism, and thus must be regarded as polemic, you might find yourself wondering what's missing from its equation—the titular character's been left out of the movie. This despite the fact that Alex himself at one point says he wishes he could be a bully, while another child who was friends with someone who was a victim of bullying says that he used to be a bully. More dramatically, the film also profiles Ja'Meya, a bullied Mississippi teen who wound up pulling a gun on a busload of kids. Clearly, the relationship between the bullies and

the bullied is far from cut and dried. "I tried to talk to the bullies, but couldn't," Hirsch replied to my questions about this conspicuous absence. "When you talk to the kids who bullied Alex they look like little angels. It's the weirdest thing. And if you start talking to bullies then you're getting into trying to explain the pathos of a bully, and there's all kinds of conflicting views of who is a bully and what drives that. So it's a story of victims. It's a film for them. It's not a perfect piece of journalism. When I threw away the notion of doing a rigorous, expert-driven documentary, I found the heart and soul of the film, which was being with these families. Bully steps into the world of people dealing with this and tells their stories." But even if we share Hirsch's reductive view of the oppressor/victim re-

Josef Braun

// name@vueweekly.com

REVUE // DISTANT THUNDER

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Sat, Apr 21 – Wed, Apr 25 Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan Metro Cinema at the Garneau



t begins with a slow push-in through a smudgy service station window on men sitting low, conversing, eating round a small table, their voices muffled. Maybe it's only hindsight that renders this scene conspiratorial. As it closes we hear distant thunder, which feels like a prompt for this metaphysical road movie police procedural to begin. Thunder is also a calling card of sorts for Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey's most internationally renown contemporary filmmaker (Distant, Climates, Three Monkeys) and a guy who never met an ominous weather system he didn't

16 FILM

like. A police convoy traverses the countryside of the film's titular peninsula, the cars carrying men looking for a dead body. An entire scene plays out in extra-wide shot, the undulating dusky landscape and tiny figures in it a fine example of the film's painterly beauty. Dryly comical small talk about yogurt and prostate trouble nearly recalls Tarantino (as does the grizzled senior cop's ring tone: the theme from Love Story), but all the while the camera favours the ostensible killer sandwiched in the backseat, looking drowsy, an anxious, underfed animal. He can't remember where the corpse is, claims he was drunk when he buried it. We surmise that it's going to be a long night. Indeed, it's going to be a long

movie (157 minutes worth), but one in which something's always happening, one that deftly lures you into its rhythms. The officials on this search form a diverse crew of masculine types and an impressive gallery of moustaches. With his thinning hair and lanky form, the pensive doctor, Cemal (Muhammet Uzuner), invokes certain figures from Tarkovsky films, most especially when we hear his thoughts as he stands before a windswept field, while the prosecutor, Nusret (Taner Birsel), is a husky, middle-aged, olive-skinned Clark Gable. Cemal and Nusret's conversations are among Once Upon a Time in Anatolia's most captivating detours. At one point Nusret tells the story of a woman who prophesied precisely the date

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

of her own death. He wants to know if Cemal, a man of science, can explain her morbid foresight. This topic is dropped and returned to several times, building itself along the way, constituting one of many incomplete parables in this film whose title suggests that storytelling itself is one of its themes. When the body is finally found it almost feels incidental. Its grave is shallow. An ear pokes up from the dirt like driftwood, as though listening for something (perhaps the echo of frenzied ants from Blue Velvet, which featured an analogous dead man's ear discovered in a field). The men huddle round the body, the prosecutor dictates a report. The body is clumsily rolled up in a carpet when

they realize no one brought a body bag. This entire sequence is darkly funny and surprisingly entertaining. But once the search is wrapped and the men enter the village where the victim lived and where an autopsy will take place, things somehow become more mysterious rather than less. The accumulation of facts only compounds the enigmas surrounding the murder, raising as many philosophical questions as it does legal ones. Like the body, those questions emerge inconspicuously, in their own good time. They leave us not merely puzzled, but pierced by the feeling that so much of life is like this, existing in that broad terrain between the known and the unknown. Josef Braun

// josef@vueweekly.com

REVUE // NYUK NYUK NYUK

FILM // OLD SCHOOL CUTE

The Three Stooges Harold and Maude Tue, Apr 24 (9:15 pm) Directed by Hal Ashby Originally released: 1971 Metro Cinema at The Garneau

Ready for an eye-poking

Now Playing Directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly



ot too heavy on the nyuks but a bit light on sustained yuks, The Three Stooges is occasionally better than its outdated source material. But there's only so much of a 90-minute feature you can sillystretch out of three vaudeville-era brothers poking, whacking, yanking and kicking each other to cartoon sound effects. In keeping with the Stooges' work, the movie's divided into episodes, but the story moves Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos), Larry (Sean Hayes), and Curly (Will Sasso) through oldtimey sets—orphanage, hospital, palatial home—without having enough fun with their reactions to the out-

side, 21st century world (except for the movie's one sharp point—Moe's a hit on Jersey Shore, revealing the truly moronic depths of reality TV). Only one sequence—the brothers ring the bell of Sister Mary-Mengele (Larry David, in drag and with a kind of mobster screech)—is inspired, intricate physical comedy. Many sequences strain, from cutesy moments with poor widdle orphans to the dastardly machinations of various foes. There's some pathos when the brothers break up for a while, but otherwise, as with the originals—devoid of character depth, social satire, or other subtext—there's just not enough slap behind the schtick. It's heartfelt humour-homage that ends up more like korny komic karaoke. BRIAN GIBSON

// BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

hink you haven' t seen Harold and Maude? You 've déjà viewed its archetypes: the eccentric young man in Benny and Joon or, more recently, Restless; the M anic Pixie Dream Girl, from ' 30s screwball-comedy to most of Cameron Crowe 's movies (though she was never a septuagenarian). Generally, though, Harold and Maude is less quirky and more mellow , not trying too hard but keeping more of a wryly observational distance than the other oddballs in its solar system. There' s its black comedy, offered by deadpan morbid 20-something Harold (Bud Cort) who stages suicide-scenes (blood-spattered neck-slitting, self-immolation) that his haughty mother usually ignores. There 's the score, Cat Stevens' cheery tunes, played against Harold' s suicide-obsession. There s RagingGranny-style rebelliousness against police authority from 79er Maude (Ruth Gordon), not just her flowerchildlike love of life. And there 's editor-turned-director Hal Ashby 's eye for the right shot (on-location in the Bay Area): close-ups before the shocking drop Harold takes on us in the opening scene, or the pull-back to

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Opposites attracting

reveal the odd pair in a vast cemetery. Ashby would make another notable film about an eccentric stuck in a cutoff world, Being There (Peter Sellers' final work), but Harold and Maude lacks that film' s sustained social commentary on Nixon-era America. Still, Harold 's fake suicides are both a pale defiance and reflection of his cloistered, sapped life under his aloof mother 's roof. (Cort 's gangly build and intense eyes make Harold seem misfit for life, but still drawn to it.) And in an echo of Vietnam draft-dodging, the vital counterculture (Maude) helps Harold avoid the army when an uncle, his prosthetic arm wired to salute, tries to enlist him in the murderous fight for

one' s country. (Ominously, the man officiously prattles on, Uncle Sam-like, beneath a portrait of pre-Watergate Nixon.) Despite Maude' s reckless motoring, the film lacks drive for its first hour, coasting on its budding May-December romance between two opposites. And girlish Maude 's dialogue sometimes becomes spacey cheerleading. Still, Harold and Maude, unlike claustrophobically cute odd-couple movies, bottles some of the flavour of its time in its fizzy little frame —a naïve, joyous view that a youthful spirit could protest and dance and shout out enough to make a difference. BRIAN GIBSON

// BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

FILM 17

FILM WEEKLY Fri, APR 20 - THU, aPr 26, 2012

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3d (PG) Digital 3d Daily 3:50, 6:55, 9:25 Goon (18A language may offend) Daily 1:20,

3:45, 6:30, 9:10

Wanderlust (14A nudity, substance abuse,

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coarse language) Daily 1:50, 4:15, 7:20, 9:45 The Vow (PG) Daily 1:25, 4:05, 7:10, 9:40 Project X (18A crude content, substance abuse, language may offend) Daily 1:55, 4:40, 7:30, 9:55 Housefull 2 (PG) Hindi W/E.S.T. Daily 1:30, 4:50, 9:00 Mirza: The Untold Story (14A violence) Punjabi W/E.S.T. Daily 1:05, 4:30, 8:00 Vicky Donor (STC) Hindi W/E.S.T. Daily 1:00, 3:40, 6:40, 9:25

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This Means War (PG language may offend, violence) Daily 1:45, 4:10, 7:05, 9:30

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (PG) Digital Cinema Daily 1:15

MIRROR MIRROR (G) Closed Captioned Daily

1:00, 4:00, 6:50, 9:55 Lockout (14A violence) Fri-Sun, Tue-Wed 1:40, 4:30, 8:00, 10:20; Mon 1:40, 4:30, 8:00, 10:30; Thu 1:40, 4:30, 8:00, 10:15 CHIMPANZEE (G) Closed Captioned, No passes Daily 12:00, 12:50, 3:00, 5:00, 7:10, 9:15 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Closed Captioned Daily 12:40, 2:00, 3:30, 4:50, 6:30, 7:50, 9:10, 10:35 TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for young children) Ultraavx Daily 2:15, 7:15 BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (STC) Digital Cinema Sun 1:00 THE LUCKY ONE (PG sexual content) No passes Fri-Sat 12:20, 2:50, 5:30, 8:00, 9:20, 10:30; Sun-Tue, Thu 12:20, 2:50, 5:30, 8:00, 10:30; Wed 5:30, 8:00, 10:30; Star & Strollers Screening: Wed 1:00 Babe (G) Sat 11:00

CINEPLEX ODEON SOUTH 1525-99 St 780.436.8585

THE THREE STOOGES (PG) Fri-Sun 1:20,

3:45, 6:00, 8:20, 10:35; Mon-Thu 1:15, 3:30, 5:50, 8:05, 10:15 THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (18A gory violence) Fri-Sun 12:50, 3:20, 5:40, 8:25, 10:45; Mon-Thu 1:00, 3:20, 5:45, 8:05, 10:25 DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX (G) Fri-Sun 11:55; Mon-Thu 1:25 DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX 3D (G) Fri-Sun 2:55, 5:15, 7:30, 10:05; Mon-Thu 3:45, 6:05, 8:50 21 JUMP STREET (14A crude coarse language, substance abuse, violence) Fri-Sun 11:30, 2:05, 4:45, 7:35, 10:20; Mon-Thu 2:05, 4:55, 7:30, 10:05 WRATH OF THE TITANS (14A) Fri-Sun 11:40, 2:15, 4:40, 7:10, 9:40; Mon-Thu 12:50, 3:40, 6:50, 10:00; 3D (14A) Fri-Sun 12:20, 2:50, 5:20, 8:05, 10:40; Mon-Thu 1:20, 4:40, 7:45, 10:10 HUNGER GAMES (14A violence) Fri 11:35, 12:25, 3:10, 3:40, 6:20, 6:50, 9:30, 10:00; Sat-Sun 11:35, 3:10, 3:45, 6:20, 7:00, 9:30, 10:10; Mon 1:00, 2:00, 5:40, 9:00, 9:45; Tue-Thu 12:30, 2:00, 3:40, 5:40, 6:50, 9:00, 10:00 MIRROR MIRROR (G) Fri-Sun 11:45, 2:30, 5:10, 7:45; Mon-Thu 12:55, 3:25, 6:40 Lockout (14A violence) Fri-Sun 12:40, 3:15, 5:35, 8:00, 10:25; Mon-Thu 12:50, 3:10, 5:30, 8:10, 10:30 CHIMPANZEE (G) No passes Fri-Sat 12:15, 2:45, 4:50, 7:15, 9:45; Sun 12:15, 2:25, 4:50, 7:15, 9:45; Mon-Wed 12:40, 2:45, 4:45, 7:15, 9:45; Thu 3:15, 5:20, 7:25, 10:35; Star & Strollers Screening: Thu 1:00 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Fri-Sun 1:15, 1:50, 4:00, 4:35, 7:00, 7:20, 9:50, 10:15; Mon-Wed 1:35, 2:15, 4:15, 5:15, 7:10, 7:55, 9:50, 10:30; Thu 1:35, 2:15, 4:15, 7:10, 9:50, 10:30 TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for young children) Fri, Sun 12:10, 4:30, 8:45; Sat 12:20, 4:30, 8:45; MonThu 12:30, 4:30, 8:45; Ultraavx: Fri-Sun 12:45, 5:00, 9:15; Mon-Thu 12:45, 5:00, 9:10 BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (STC) Digital Sun 1:00 THE LUCKY ONE (PG sexual content) No passes Fri-Sun 12:30, 3:00, 5:45, 8:15, 10:45; Mon 12:35, 3:00, 4:30, 7:15, 10:20; Tue-Wed 12:35, 3:00, 5:35, 8:00, 10:20; Thu 3:40, 6:30, 9:20; Star & Strollers Screening: Thu 1:00 Babe (G) Sat 11:00 THE RAID: REDEMPTION (18A gory brutal violence) Fri-Sun 10:15; Mon-Thu 9:15

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies (PG) Sat 12:45 One Man, Two Guvnors–Encore Presentation (PG coarse language, sexual content)

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THE THREE STOOGES (PG) Fri, Mon-Thu

3:20, 5:40, 7:50, 10:30; Sat-Sun 1:00, 3:20, 5:40, 7:50, 10:30 21 JUMP STREET (14A crude coarse language, substance abuse, violence) Fri, Mon-Thu 4:00, 6:40, 9:30; Sat-Sun 1:10, 4:00, 6:40, 9:30 WRATH OF THE TITANS (14A) Fri, Mon-Thu 4:30, 7:20, 9:50; Sat-Sun 1:30, 4:30, 7:20, 9:50 HUNGER GAMES (14A violence) Fri, Mon-Thu 6:40, 10:00; Sat-Sun 2:00, 6:40, 10:00; Ultraavx: Fri, Mon-Thu 3:50, 7:10, 10:30; Sat-Sun 12:45, 3:50, 7:10, 10:30 CHIMPANZEE (G) No passes Fri, Mon-Thu 4:40, 6:50, 9:20; Sat-Sun 12:40, 2:40, 4:40, 6:50, 9:20 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Fri, Mon-Thu 4:10, 7:30, 10:20; Sat-Sun 1:20, 4:10, 7:30, 10:20 TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for young children) Fri, Mon-Thu 3:30, 9:00; Sat-Sun 3:00, 9:00; Fri, Mon-Thu 4:30, 8:30; Sat-Sun 12:30, 4:30, 8:30 THE LUCKY ONE (PG sexual content) No passes Fri, Mon-Thu 4:40, 7:40, 10:10; Sat-Sun 1:40, 4:40, 7:40, 10:10; Fri, Mon-Thu 4:30, 8:00; SatSun 1:00, 4:30, 8:00

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18 FILM

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:25

The Lucky One (PG sexual content) Daily

violence) Closed Captioned, DTS Digital Daily 1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 10:20 THE THREE STOOGES (PG) Dolby Stereo Digital, Closed Captioned Fri-Tue, Thu 12:40, 3:40, 6:40, 9:40; Wed 12:40, 3:40, 9:45 SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN (PG coarse language) DTS Digital Daily 12:45, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30 21 JUMP STREET (14A crude coarse language, substance abuse, violence) Closed Captioned, DTS Digital Daily 1:40, 4:40, 7:40, 10:35 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Closed Captioned, Digital Daily 12:55, 3:55, 6:55, 9:55 TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for young children) DTS Digital Daily 1:45 WRATH OF THE TITANS 3D (14A) DTS Digital Daily 7:45, 10:30

The Three Stooges (PG) Daily 7:00, 9:20;

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (18A gory

CLAREVIEW 10 4211-139 Ave 780.472.7600

DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX (G) Digital Sat-Sun 1:15

21 JUMP STREET (14A crude coarse language, substance abuse, violence) Digital Fri 6:35, 9:20; Sat-Sun 1:10, 3:50, 6:35, 9:20; Mon-Thu 5:25, 8:05 HUNGER GAMES (14A violence) Digital Fri 6:30, 9:10; Sat-Sun 12:50, 3:40, 6:30, 9:10; Mon-Thu 4:30, 7:35 WRATH OF THE TITANS 3D (14A) Digital 3d Fri 7:10, 9:40; Sat-Sun 4:20, 7:10, 9:40; Mon-Thu 4:50, 8:10 WRATH OF THE TITANS (14A) Digital SatSun 1:45 TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for young children) Digital Fri 8:00; Sat-Sun 3:30, 8:00; Mon-Thu 6:40 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Digital Fri 6:40, 9:35; SatSun 1:00, 3:55, 6:40, 9:35; Mon-Thu 5:10, 8:00 MIRROR MIRROR (G) Digital Sat-Sun 1:30, 4:10; Mon-Thu 4:45 THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (18A gory violence) Digital Fri 7:15, 9:35; Sat-Sun 1:50, 4:15, 7:15, 9:35; Mon-Thu 5:30, 8:00 Lockout (14A violence) Digital Fri-Sun 7:05, 9:25; Mon-Thu 7:40 THE THREE STOOGES (PG) Digital Fri 6:50, 9:15; Sat-Sun 1:25, 4:00, 6:50, 9:15; Mon-Thu 5:20, 7:45 THE LUCKY ONE (PG sexual content) Digital, No passes Fri 7:00, 9:30; Sat-Sun 1:20, 4:00, 7:00, 9:30; Mon-Thu 5:00, 7:50 Chimpanzee (G) Digital Fri 6:45, 9:00; Sat-Sun 1:35, 3:45, 6:45, 9:00; Mon-Thu 5:15, 7:30 Edmonton Film Society Royal Alberta Museum Auditorium 12845-102 Ave

WATERLOO BRIDGE (PG) Mon 8:00 GALAXY–SHERWOOD PARK

2020 Sherwood Dr Sherwood Park 780.416.0150

THE THREE STOOGES (PG) Fri 4:20, 7:40,

10:00; Sat-Sun 1:30, 4:20, 7:40, 10:00; Mon-Thu 7:20, 9:40 THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (18A gory violence) Fri 3:50, 6:30, 9:00; Sat-Sun 1:00, 3:50, 6:30, 9:00; Mon-Thu 6:30, 9:00 DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX (G) Sat-Sun 12:20 DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX 3D (G) Fri 4:50; SatSun 2:30, 4:50 21 JUMP STREET (14A crude coarse language, substance abuse, violence) Fri 4:10, 6:50, 9:20; SatSun 1:10, 4:10, 6:50, 9:20; Mon-Thu 6:45, 9:20 WRATH OF THE TITANS (14A) Fri-Sun 7:10, 9:40; Mon-Thu 7:00, 9:30 HUNGER GAMES (14A violence) Fri 3:40, 7:00, 10:10; Sat-Sun 12:30, 3:40, 7:00, 10:10; Mon-Thu 6:50, 10:00 MIRROR MIRROR (G) Fri 3:30, 6:40, 9:10; SatSun 12:50, 3:30, 6:40, 9:10; Tue-Thu 6:40, 9:10 CHIMPANZEE (G) No passes Fri 5:00, 7:20, 9:30; Sat-Sun 12:40, 2:50, 5:00, 7:20, 9:30; Mon-Thu 7:10, 9:15 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Fri 4:30, 7:30, 10:20; Sat-Sun 1:20, 4:30, 7:30, 10:20; Mon-Thu 7:15, 9:50 TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for young children) Fri 4:00, 8:00; Sat-Sun 12:00, 4:00, 8:00; Mon-Thu 7:40 THE LUCKY ONE (PG sexual content) No passes Fri 5:10, 7:50, 10:30; Sat-Sun 12:10, 2:40, 5:10, 7:50, 10:30; Mon-Thu 7:30, 10:00

GRANDIN THEATRE–St Albert Grandin Mall Sir Winston Churchill Ave St Albert 780.458.9822

DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX (G) Daily 1:00, 3:00 21 Jump Street (14A crude coarse language,

substance abuse, violence) Daily 4:55, 7:05, 9:10 Mirror Mirror (G) Daily 1:05, 3:15, 5:20, 7:15, 9:15 HUNGER GAMES (14A violence) No passes Daily 12:35, 3:20, 6:05, 8:45 American reunion (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Daily 12:40, 2:50, 5:00, 7:10, 9:20 The Three Stooges (PG) No passes Daily 1:15, 3:05, 5:05, 7:00, 8:50 LEDUC CINEMAS 4702-50 St Leduc 780.986-2728

American reunion (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Daily 7:05, 9:35; Sat-Sun 1:05, 3:35

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METRO CINEMA at the Garneau Metro at the Garneau: 8712-109 St 780.425.9212

Now That We Are Filmmakers: Films by & about Albertan Women (STC) Provin-

cial Archives Film Night: Fri 7:30

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (STC) Metro

Bizarro Fri 11:00

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (STC) Sat 12:30; Sun 4:15; Tue 7:00; Thu 9:00

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (STC) Sat 2:45; Sun 8:45; Mon, Wed 6:45

THE 2012 FOUND FOOTAGE FILM FESTIVAL (STC) Sat 7:00 LE VENDEUR/Short "Sunday" (STC) Sub-

titled Sat 9:30; Sun 2:00 BARAKA (G) Sun 7:00; Mon 9:30 HAROLD & MAUDE (STC) Cult Cinema: Tue 9:15

TURKEY SHOOT COMEDY Presents COMMANDO (STC) Wed 9:30 ON THE ROAD WITH BOB HOLMAN (STC)

Edmonton Poetry Festival: Thu 7:00

Empire Theatres–Spruce Grove 130 Century Crossing Spruce Grove 780.962.2332

21 JUMP STREET (14A crude coarse language,

substance abuse, violence) Digital Fri, Mon, WedThu 6:45, 9:40; Sat-Sun, Tue 1:10, 3:50, 6:45, 9:40 THE THREE STOOGES (PG) Digital Fri, Mon, Wed-Thu 6:50, 9:10; Sat-Sun, Tue 12:15, 3:10, 6:50, 9:10 MIRROR MIRROR (G) Digital Fri, Mon, WedThu 6:40; Sat-Sun, Tue 12:45, 4:00, 6:40 WRATH OF THE TITANS (14A) Digital Daily 9:20 HUNGER GAMES (14A violence) Digital Fri, Mon, Wed-Thu 6:30, 9:45; Sat-Sun, Tue 12:00, 3:20, 6:30, 9:45 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Digital Fri, Mon, Wed-Thu 7:00, 9:30; Sat-Sun, Tue 12:30, 3:00, 7:00, 9:30 THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (18A gory violence) Digital Fri, Mon, Wed-Thu 7:30, 10:00; Sat-Sun, Tue 1:20, 4:10, 7:30, 10:00 THE LUCKY ONE (PG sexual content) Digital Fri, Mon, Wed-Thu 7:20, 9:50; Sat-Sun, Tue 1:00, 3:40, 7:20, 9:50 PRINCESS 10337-82 Ave 780.433.0728

In Darkness (14A coarse language, sexual content, disturbing content) Fri 6:45, 9:20; Sat-Sun 2:00, 6:45, 9:20; Mon-Thu 6:45, 9:20 Bully (PG mature subject matter, coarse language) Fri 7:00, 9:10; Sat-Sun 2:30, 7:00, 9:10; Mon -Thu 7:00, 9:10 SCOTIABANK THEATRE WEM WEM 8882-170 St 780.444.2400

THE THREE STOOGES (PG) Closed Captioned

Daily 1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 9:30

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (18A gory violence) Ultraavx Daily 12:15, 2:45, 5:15, 7:50, 10:30 DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX (G) Daily 12:40 DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX 3D (G) Daily 3:30, 6:40 21 JUMP STREET (14A crude coarse language, substance abuse, violence) Closed Captioned Daily 1:10, 4:10, 7:20, 10:10 WRATH OF THE TITANS 3D (14A) Daily 1:50, 4:50, 7:30, 10:45 HUNGER GAMES (14A violence) Closed Captioned Fri, Sun-Tue, Thu 12:00, 12:45, 3:15, 4:00, 6:30, 7:15, 9:45, 10:20; Sat 12:45, 3:15, 4:00, 6:30, 7:15, 9:45, 10:20; Wed 12:00, 12:45, 3:15, 4:00, 7:15, 9:45, 10:20 MIRROR MIRROR (G) Closed Captioned Daily 12:30, 3:20, 6:45 CHIMPANZEE (G) No passes Daily 12:20, 2:30, 4:30, 6:45, 9:00 AMERICAN REUNION (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Closed Captioned Fri-Tue, Thu 12:50, 1:40, 3:50, 4:40, 6:50, 7:40, 9:40, 10:40; Wed 1:40, 3:50, 4:40, 6:50, 7:40, 9:40, 10:40; Star & Strollers Screening: Wed 1:00 TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for young children) Daily 12:00, 4:00, 8:00 THE LUCKY ONE (PG sexual content) No passes Fri-Tue, Thu 1:00, 3:40, 7:00, 9:50; Wed 3:40, 7:00, 9:50; Star & Strollers Screening: Wed 1:00 THE RAID: REDEMPTION (18A gory brutal violence) Daily 9:20 Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies (PG) Sat 12:45 Streetdance 2 (PG) Daily 9:10 WETASKIWIN CINEMAS Wetaskiwin 780.352.3922

TITANIC 3D (PG coarse language, disturbing

content, not recommended for young children) Daily 7:15; Sat-Sun 1:15 The Three Stooges (PG) Daily 7:05; Sat-Sun 1:05 The hunger games (14A violence) Daily 9:15; SAT-Sun 3:15 The Lucky One (PG sexual content) Daily 6:55, 9:25; Sat-Sun 12:55, 3:25 American reunion (18A coarse language, crude sexual content) Daily 7:00, 9:30; Sat-Sun 1:00, 3:30

ARTS

REVUE // VISUAL ARTS

Death on the walls

A trio of exhibits explore detrius, death and incarceration

An image from Yusuke Shibata's Monotone Voice // Yusuke Shibata

Until Sat, May 12 Monotone Voice Works by Yusuke Shibata The Big Foldy Painting of Death Works by Ian Forbes Hidden Truths Works by an Artist Collective of Federally Incarcerated Women Latitude 53

consequence of a city being alive is all the death, and remnants thereof that it creates: the once-faithful mattress discarded in back alleys, and the coffee cups and fast food wrappers that once held lunches and hot fortifying liquids that find gutters as their final resting place. As with human beings, our material lives do not come to a clean and final end. A material and remembered presence extends beyond a lifespan. In many ways Japanese artist Yusuke Shibata's exhibit in Latitude 53's ProjEx Room, Monotone Voice, explores the afterlife of detritus. Objects in the space—broken televisions, bookshelves, and an old mattress—are set up in a considered matter, but in a way that indicates that they have passed being valuable. Often when found materials are used in a pristine art space they become special or precious by association. Shibata minimizes this impact by constructing a challenging space to move through without accidentally stepping on or disturbing

the broken and tired objects. Photos, videos and projections draw attention to the inelegant and oft-ignored existence of discarded items. One video follows a piece of paper from the personalized care it receives as it becomes home to a drawing. But as the drawing progresses, the image becomes identifiable as a rendering of the waxy logo-covered paper around which Subway wraps its sandwiches, making its value questionable. The paper is carefully wrinkled and discarded by the side of a road, and its handmade history is no longer apparent. Its value is no greater than that of the less thoughtfully produced garbage that surrounds it. Looking at death in the sphere of the imagination, Ian Forbes' work in Latitude's Main Space, The Big Foldy Painting of Death, features canvas that covers all the gallery's walls, combining dye and drip painting with highly illustrative and narrative imagery. This process-based work adopts iconic symbols of death and an apocalyptic end with skeletons, blackwinged angels and monstrous beasts in this narrative-free story. The giant canvases are accompanied by the artist's book works, which give insight into the earlier stages of this project's development. At first these symbolic figures riff on the shapes that emerge from what's formed from drips and dye, but the work becomes more visually cohesive as Forbes lets go of ab-

straction to tell his fantastical story. Also in this development, as you circle the expansive painting, is a turn from a focus on the dark and ominous to a degree of balance—the sun and moon are always shown in tandem, water is shown with sky, and the organic is balanced by the mechanized. Some passages of this immersive painting are much stronger than others, but such is often the reality when creating process-based works. It would be interesting to see how this work will develop with further attention paid to integrating the abstract with the illustrative and connecting the various story elements together visually. Also worth a look is the current offering in Latitude's Community Gallery—Hidden Truths, an exhibit created by Federally Incarcerated Women coordinated by the GELA Women's Prison Library & Reintegration Project. Collages, drawings, paintings, and a collaborative three-dimensional work with images and poetry, both written and recorded, convey the personal stories and struggles of women in the prison system. The women contributors do a brilliant job in sharing their creative expressions, their hopes, goals, struggles and pains. This project is a testament to how critical it is to support creativity and the healing, affirming powers of creativity and being for all people and populations. CAROLYN JERVIS

// CAROLYN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

ARTS 19

PREVUE // ELECTION SEASON

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arly last week, the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton (PACE) put out a call to every major party involved in the provincial election to release a comprehensive arts platform by Friday, April 13. "It's something that we've done in past elections at all levels of government," explains Jennifer Faulkner, associate executive director of Alberta Ballet and PACE's current chair. "Basically, to ask them questions surrounding specific things we wanted to know about their arts platforms, or other things they'd be willing to share about their arts platforms and policies." Maybe it's telling that at the time of PACE's request—at about the midpoint of the election campaign—some parties still hadn't publicly put forward any serious arts component of its political platform. It seems to be a struggle to keep the arts as part of the conversation at the provincial level. Regardless, the PACE message got a few more parties to publicly clarify their plan for arts, culture and heritage; at this point, only the Wildrose party has yet to make a detailed, arts platform available to the public (Faulkner notes that the party's relative silence on the matter doesn't mean that they don't have one necessarily, just that it isn't readily available.) Of the outlined platforms, the Alberta Party devote the largest section of theirs to the party's "Creative Industries" plan to help diversify the economy (alongside a separate plan for the Film and Television sector)—perhaps unsurprising, given

Want a chance to see this handsome bearded fellow in person, along with the principal cast of Star Trek The Next Generation? Well VUE WEEKLY wants to send you and a friend to the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo from April 27 to 29!

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20 ARTS

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

some of the party's highest profile candidates like Edmonton-Glenora's Sue Huff, are practicing artists. The NDP make a sizeable, multi-point plan to increase funding in their plan, while the Liberal platform includes an ambitious note to double, then triple funding to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts among other ideas. A bit more vaguely, the PC platform discusses supporting and maintaining the non-profit/voluntary sector—which covers "Sport and recreation to the arts and vital services to youth, families and our most vulnerable citizens." Faulkner isn't interested in singling out one platform as better than the rest. PACE is more focused on simply ensuring that each does have a

on people's radar. And now it's on parties' radars to develop a policy. And we're very happy about that." PACE is further hoping to keep arts in conversation with an artsfocused political form on this Friday. The candidates confirmed to attend thus far are Nadine Bailey from the NDP, the Alberta Party's John Hudson, the PC's Heather Klimchuk and the Liberal's Laurie Blakeman. A Wild Rose candidate was unconfirmed as of press time. Faulkner notes that the arts aren't a partisan issue, that almost every Albertan engages with the arts in some capacity, though she agrees that it often gets perceived as just that. "It can be, for sure, but we're work-

We try to be as non-partisan as possible, because the arts really isn't a partisan issue, it's an issue for everybody. And so, over the last year, we worked really hard on developing relationships with all of the parties and all of the candidates, even through the leadership races

plan for the arts in the province. "We try to be as non-partisan as possible, because the arts really isn't a partisan issue, it's an issue for everybody," she says. "And so, over the last year, we worked really hard on developing relationships with all of the parties and all of the candidates, even through the leadership races, and last summer we endeavoured to meet with the leaders with all of the parties. "We've had some pretty good success in developing those relationships, which has probably encouraged them to develop policies at all. There was a time, many years ago, when arts didn't even measure

ing very hard for it not to be," she says. "Really it's something that impacts the lives of everybody on a daily basis. There's a recent survey ... almost every Albertan engages with the arts in every single year. It's something like 98 percent of Albertans. That's almost every single Albertan. And so that says to us that the arts are important to people. And not only as a nice to have, or a thing we sometimes do, but as part of their daily lives. And so we think it's really important for parties to have policies on it, and it's part of their election platform." PAUL BLINOV

// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

108.04.12 Sound of Music Full page VUE:Layout 1

4/12/12

12:46 PM

Page 1

CITADEL THEATRE ROB B I N S

ACADEM Y

LANDMARK GROUP MAINSTAGE SERIES ROBBINS FAMILY SERIES

MUSIC BY RICHARD RODGERS • LYRICS BY OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II • BOOK BY HOWARD LINDSAY & RUSSEL CROUSE SUGGESTED BY “THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS”

April 21- May 27 DIRECTED BY BOB BAKER STARRING JOSÉE BOUDREAU, RÉJEAN COURNOYER, SUSAN GILMOUR, SUSAN HENLEY RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN 5 +

TICKETS START AT

The play is approximately 2 ½ hours with a 20 minute intermission

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

780 425 1820 •

•

citadeltheatre.com ARTS 21

REVUE // BRAWLER

REVUE // ABSURD

The Maids

Beowulf The King Until Sun, Apr 28 (7:30 pm) Beowulf the King Written by Blake William Turner La Cite Francophone, $20 – $25

eowulf the King begins with a procession of kings. One by one, they swing swords, strike poses and slay a couple men in the process (including one who gets an impressive neck breaker ending). Then each dons a crown only to pass it along to the next one down the lineal line until we find ourselves in the kingdom of Hrothgar, sorely lacking in the initial pride we saw. It's the unbalance, haunting his kingdom—beastly Grendel has overtaken his once-great hall, and displaced him for 12 years—that draws the titular beast-slayer from across an ocean and really kicks off this ass-kicker of a two-act. Beowulf comes and battles, well, a lot of things, to build himself a name: sea monsters (in a well-staged underwater sequence wherein he punches a giant squid in the face), rival armies, the acrobatic Grendel, Grendel's banshee-like mother and, eventually, a brilliantly-staged dragon. The script's execution makes it into a curious piece of theatre: Workshop West's production is

very good at illuminating aspects of theatre that often get just a few moments per show, and using them as anchors. Testosterone rules the day: fights, first and foremost, take up a lion's share of the first half and a significant chunk of the second here, and all that action gives Beowulf a more lively clip as we move from deed to deed. It does, at points, waver in tone: Sometimes this production plays up the epic machismo of it all for comedy, other times they play it straight, and both work when they're clear. But then come moments where you're not sure which they're going for, where something about it doesn't quite read if you haven't fully invested yourself. The second act feels more adrift than the more tightly wound first, as Beowulf finds his own crown, struggles with a curse and tries to crack down on violence in his own kingdom of Geatland. It does offer some clever commentary on the idea of mythology itself—Beowulf struggling to reconcile a change-ofheart yet being boxed in by the expectations of the very legends and stories he built himself—but the show really only tightens up again when the dragon unearths itself. This play is, in its heart, a brawler.

Why not just let it brawl? The fights, after all are worth it, above-the-bar showings of choreographic skill, enhanced by little details—an engrossing action score by Joel Crichton, and many of the stage blows are emphasized by the sound effect clang of a pipe. The cast carries it well: David Ley has immense, kingly gravitas as Hrothgar (and later, does wicked voice work as the dragon), and Frank Zotter's bloodlusting king Hygelac puts a different spin on the macho-ness at play. Sheldon Elter's Beowulf finds the pathos in a brawler, and Amber Borotsik skillfully runs a spectrum of roles from goofy messenger to Grendel's banshee mother. In the role of Grendel, though, Darren Paul's elastic performance is a highlight. He's clearly in his element bounding about the stage dressed in costume that falls somewhere between a mexican luchador and Skeletor, and best captures the spirit of what's at play in Beowulf: theatre that's trying to cut loose from the regular shackles and run down a looser, wilder path. To its credit, it mostly succeeds in doing just that. Paul Blinov

// paul@vueweekly.com

Until Sat, Apr 21 (7:30pm) Directed by Andrea Beça Catalyst Theatre, $16 – $21

he thing about absurdist theatre is that you can't really pass a value judgment on whether the show was good or bad—it kind of just is. Tautologies aside, Cowardly Kiss Theatre's mounting of Jean Genet's 1947 absurdist classic The Maids could also be described as a deeply uncomfortable unseating of reality. The title characters spend their time, when their Madame isn't around, staging sadomasochistic rituals about her death. But the narrative isn't as simple as that; each woman slips between roles and the power dynamics are constantly in flux. One minute Solange (Sarah Horsman) is acting as Claire (Louise Large), who is acting as their Madame, and in the next they've swapped roles and thrown in bits from their actual lives. It's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction, and Genet's highly poetic dialogue further throws things off-kilter by rendering these otherwise vulgar women improbably eloquent. The costumes, makeup and deportment of the maids are similarly

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22 ARTS

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

unsettling: trussed up in fetishized French maid costumes with fishnets, garters and push-up bras, Solange teeters about on extremely tall shoes while Claire is bound by a severe corset. Both women have garish, bruise-like blackened eyes and rouged cheeks, and walk around hunched and hobbling, their hands twisted into claws. The combined effect very powerfully illustrates Genet's concept of "the monstrous soul of servantdom." It's a disconcerting spectacle, even more so when compared with the graceful, understated elegance with which Zachary Parsons-Lozinski carries himself in the role of Madame. This inspired bit of casting may seem improbable at first, but it highlights the class disparity between the maids and their Madame all the more, as well as aiding the much-needed comic relief in this scene; several wryly amusing bits of dramatic irony lighten the otherwise interminably heavy subject matter. The Maids may not appeal to everyone, but it is nonetheless an opportunity to see both a show and a type of theatre that doesn't often appear on Edmonton stages. Mel Priestley

// mel@vueweekly.com

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REVUE // SHAKESPEARE

A Midsummer Night's Dream

love lies bleeding “Elton John Ballet a blast” - ToronTo sTar back by popular demand

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Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Tickets from $27/adults and $18/children

for tickets and group rates visit albertaballet.com, or call 780.428.6839

Choreography by: Jean Grand-Maître Inspired by and featuring the music of Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin

T:13.75”

A midsummer night's snooze // EPIC Photography

Until Sun, Apr 29 (7:30 pm) Directed by Tom Wood Citadel Theatre, $20 – $82.95

When Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius, Hermia finds herself in a situation where the

The chemistry between the four is palpable and the time spent together in the Citadel/Banff program has been well spent. Their love for one another feels genuine. the heart, it rings as true emotion rather than something out of the pages of a script. Citadel veteran Julien Arnold joins the cast as the wildly hilarious Bottom, who is transformed into a donkey by Puck and through Oberon's trick on his wife with the same potion inflicted on the lovers, Titania awakes literally enamored with an ass when she lays eyes on Bottom. Arnold's over-the-top personality, combined with his character's blundering endearment, enhances the overall comedic sense of the production. A Midsummer Night's Dream portrays aspects of the euphoria, madness and emotion of love that is relatable as well as entertaining, and it marks the potential of a bright future for its young cast.

Alberta Ballet Company Artist: Yukichi Hattori

hakespeare's original romantic comedy is awash with themes of love and magic that offer an uplifting reprieve from the grind of everyday life. From the elaborately lush, dreamlike set punctuated with the soft sounds of nature, to the simplistic, yet elegant costumes, no detail has been overlooked in transforming the theatre into a world where magic is possible and true love prevails. The cast, which features participants of the 2012 Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program, and marks the Citadel debut for many of them, is charming and mesmerizing from start to finish. Hermia (Rose Napoli) loves Lysander (Eric Morin) and Helena (Shannon Taylor) loves Demetrius (Patrick Lundeen), who used to love her but now loves Hermia. The whole thing gets even more complicated after a venture into the forest inhabited by Oberon, the Fairie King and his queen Titania, who are enduring their own tests of love. Puck (Jonathan Purvis), who is a ball of never-ending energy, often backflipping and leaping around the stage, is sent to drop a potion on Demetrius' eyes that will cause him to fall head over heels for Helena, who Taylor injects a relatable sensibility into with her genuine lovelorn quest to be with the one she can't have, a situation many can empathize with. Through her hysteria, Taylor maintain impeccable comedic timing and delivers a truly entertaining performance.

two men vying for her affection have tossed her to the side in favour of Helena. Napoli is a tiny but furious force to be reckoned with as she tries in vain to bring her beloved Lysander back. The chemistry between the four is palpable and the time spent together in the Citadel/Banff program has been well spent. Their love for one another feels genuine, and when those affections are flipped to anger and the insanity that accompanies matters of

meaghan baxter

// name@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

ARTS 23

SBL12002.LOVE.102

PREVUE // POETRY

Edmonton Poetry Festival Sun, Apr 22 – Sun, Apr 29 Various locations Full schedule available at edmontonpoetryfestival.com

"I think poetry, it has grown so much compared to what most people assume is poetry. We all learned the regular haiku type of thing in school and there's been a big movement in

orget sitting back and watching performances. This year, the Edmonton Poetry Festival wants its audiences to put it all on the line. The festival aims to engage the public in poetry through events like Concrete Poetry in Churchill Square, where they can embrace their inner kid, grab some sidewalk chalk and go to town writing poems; workshops to learn the ins and outs of poetry writing; Cafe Readings inviting anyone from beginner to experienced poet to get up and share their work; and Blinks, where people share a 30-second poem for the crowd.

brings in some big-name headliners, including New York City-based spokenword poet Bob Holman. A documentary screening of his TV series, On the Road with Bob Holman, will be shown

I think poetry, it has grown so much compared to what most people assume is poetry.

Jem Rolls, performing at this year's Edmonton Poetry Festival

Rayanne Doucet, executive director of the festival, says the goal is to encompass all facets of poetry, from youth to adult to the secret poets who haven't had the opportunity to

share their work. This includes a jampacked schedule of 35 events over the course of 10 days that delves into everything from traditional poetry readings to more modern varieties.

Maggie Walt’s

the last number of years for slam poetry," Doucet notes. "A lot of our evening events are based in performance and slam poetry and that's kind of taking the language and playing with it and making it a performance piece, which can make it really interesting for a lot of the younger generation."

at the Garneau Theatre on Thursday, April 26 at 7 pm, followed by a discussion with Holman about his work. Toronto poet laureate Dionne Brand is being brought in in partnership with the University of Alberta as well as spoken word poet Jem Rolls, who will be doing Friday Night On A Roll at the Artery on April 27 at 9 pm.

On top of exposing Edmontonians to new facets of the art form, the festival

MEAGHAN BAXTER

ARTIFACTS

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PAUL BLINOV // PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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Taboo Spring Fever / Thu, Apr 19 – Sun, Apr 22 It's like spring cleaning for your kinks: Taboo's a weekend-long mix of entertainment and information about sex, and this Spring Fever edition looks to dabble in a bit of everything. It includes performances by the likes of Aradia Pole Dancing, the Showgirls Aerialist Hoop and Silk Spectacular, Safaire Dance Circus and Fire Entertainment and Flow Artz Belly Dance, as well as a trade floor of adult-only wares and seminars from the likes of Dr Trina Read (pictured above) and Dr Brian Parker, both certified sexologists and relationship experts. (Shaw Conference Centre, $20)

PREVUE // OPERA

Fidelio

r u o Y Show sonality e s r u P E S R U P WIN A H A MONT

! R A E Y FOR A e you y purs For ever ou’ll be y e t a n o d Win! o t d e r e Ent

l eived wil c e r s e s lf. r All pu it Yourse u S to d be donate Madia Hundeling as Leonore in Fidelio // Cameron MacRae For more

Sat, Apr 21, Tue, Apr 24 and Thu, Apr 26 (7:30 pm) Directed by Brian Deedrick Jubilee Auditorium

eethoven's only opera shows that in the midst of confict, heroes and heroines emerge to remind us of the faith, hope and triumph of the human spirit. There's an underlying sense of humanity in the human condition, despite the brutalities of war that inevitably erupt wherever man inhabits, but Fidelio shows that through it all, there is always hope. Fidelio is a company premiere for the Edmonton Opera and marks the end of its 48th season. Acclaimed German soprano Maida Hundeling makes her Canadian debut in the role of Leonore, a woman who goes to extraordinary lengths to rescue her wrongfully imprisoned husband Florestan. Hundeling has stepped into the demanding role three times before, which requires her to play not only a woman, but also a man when she takes a job at the prison her husband is being held at in an effort to free him. "She has to be very careful with how she acts because only when she's alone does she have the possibility to be a little bit of a woman, or to release the disguise," Hundeling says of Leonore. "She always has to be very strong ... keep herself together even if there are some bad things happening, some treatment of the prisoners or everything she sees." What's drawn Hundeling back to the role is the way in which it portrays the importance of standing up for your own ideas, as well as those who cannot fight for their own rights. "It really shows, or it should show

somebody that it's still possible, and necessary to help other people, or to fight for rights or to stand for your ideas," she says. The intensity and faithfulness of the love story between Leonore and Florestan, played by John Mac Master, is an element that has been said to be outdated for the 21st century, but Mac Master believes despite the dismal success rate of modern marriage and the deconstruction of relationships, it still rings true of an ideal we hope to achieve. "If you're a married person, or you want to be a married person, you've been in relationships, this is the kind of thing we dream of, and it's the kind of thing we struggle with when those relationships for whatever reason aren't that way; we're in pain, so that means those things are important to us," he explains. This is the fifth time Mac Master will be performing the opera. He has performed it in both a concert and staged setting and says Fidelio possesses some of the greatest music for a dramatic tenor like himself and describes Beethoven's music as a healing experience for his voice. In addition to the nobility of the music, Mac Master says the story speaks truth to our time. "It doesn't always have to be black and white, so I think there's a lot of important truths in here, the political power and honesty ... love and what it means, fidelity, loyalty, what do those things mean?" he notes. "Opera is a wonderful thing. You go to it, you're sitting in the dark, these things are happening in front of you and it gives you space where you stop and you think about those truths in your own life."

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ARTS 25

ARTS WEEKLY FAX YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO 780.426.2889 OR EMAIL LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3pm

DANCE

MILE ZERO DANCE • 2nd Playing Space, 112 St, 87 Ave, U of A • Chasm: the spaces between, choreographed and performed by Gerry Morita • Apr 27-28, 8pm • $15 (member)/$20 (non-member) at door MOVE STUDIOS • Stanley Milner Library Theatre (parkade entrance) • Dance in Bloom: student show with Dr Sawa playing • Apr 29, 6:15pm (door)/6:30pm (show) • $15 (adv)/$20 (door) WHAT'S COOKING? • Transalta Arts Barns, PCL Studio Theatre • Sharing Food, Movement and works-in-progress; International Dance Day • Apr 29, 12-9pm; lunch show: noon; dinner show: 6:30pm • $10 donation (each show)/$15 (day pass); proceeds to the Good Women Society

FILM

BUMP 'N' GRINDHOUSE–Varscona Theatre

• Back alley entrance, 10329-83 Ave • 780.446.6940 • Movies and shorts by local cult heroes. Hosts Lauren Claire Hunka, Matt Currie and Dana Andersen • Apr 29, 7:30pm DOWNTOWN DOCS • Stanley A. Milner Library Theatre • 780.944.5383 • War is Not a Game; Apr 19, 6:30pm EDMONTON FILM SOCIETY • Royal Alberta

Museum, 12845-102 Ave • 780.453.9100 • Waterloo Bridge (PG); Apr 23 • To Catch A Thief (PG) FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL • Metro Cinema, Garneau Theatre, 8712-109 St • Hosts Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett's new found video clips and live comedy • Apr 21, 7pm • $14 at foundfootagefest.com FROM BOOKS TO FILM SERIES • Stanley A. Milner Library, Main Fl, Audio Visual Rm • 780.944.5383 • Chicago, 118 mins (2002) 14A: Apr 20, 2pm • The Wizard of Oz, 101 minutes (1939) (c/b&w) G; Apr 27, 2pm WESTWOOD UNITARIAN • 11135-65 Ave • The Economics of Happiness, documentary screening followed by discussion. Author Mark Anielski will be present • Apr 20, 7pm • Free

GALLERIES + MUSEUMS

AGNES BUGERA GALLERY • 12310 Jasper Ave • 780.482.2854 • WESTERN LANDSCAPES AND STILL LIFES: Oil paintings by Terry Fenton • Apr 21-May 4 • Opening: Apr 21 ALBERTA CRAFT COUNCIL GALLERY • 10186-106 St • 780.488.6611 • albertacraft.ab.ca • Discovery Gallery: OBSESSION: A group exhibition exploring the concept of obsession, curated by Jill Nuckles; until May 5 ART GALLERY OF ALBERTA (AGA) • 2 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.422.6223 • youraga. ca • REARVIEW MIRROR: Contemporary Art from East and Central Europe; until Apr 29 • ICONS OF MODERNISM: until May 21 • BMO Work of Creativity: METHOD AND MADNESS: Familyfocused interactive exhibition created by Gabe Wong; until Dec 31 • RBC New Works Gallery: THE UNTIMELY TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM: Chris Millar; until Apr 29 • MASS: Dara Humniski: until May 20 • VENERATOR: Contemporary Art from the AGA Collection; until

Membership specials this weekend only: • new student special one month unlimited yoga for $30 (regular $40) • monthly unlimited auto renewal for $89 per month* (regular $99) *for those on autorenewal please talk to reception to take advantage of this deal

LET YOUR INNER REVOLUTION BEGIN

May 21 • ART SCHOOL: BANFF 1947: until Jun 3 • ALBERTA MISTRESSES OF THE MODERN: 19351975: Until Jun 3 • The Future: Abstract Sculpture: Apr 26 • Alberta Process Painting: until Jun 3 • Open Studio: Adult Drop-In: Resist: Automatic Watercolour Painting: Apr 19, 7-9pm; $15/$12 (AGA member) • Art for Lunch: Ledcor Theatre Foyer: The Pioneering Women of Modernism in Alberta: Apr 19, 12:10-12:50pm; free ART GALLERY OF ST ALBERT (AGSA) • 19 Perron St, St Albert • 780.460.4310 • IMMUTO: Watercolour paintings and stop-motion animations by Jennifer Wanner; until Apr 28 BEARCLAW GALLERY • 10403 – 124 St • 780482-1204 • OIL DRUM: new works by Alex Janvier • Apr 21-May 3 • Opening, artist in attendance: Apr 21, 1-4pm BRITTANY'S • 10225-97 St • 780.497.0011 • ManWoman: 30 new works • Through Apr

CENTRE D’ARTS VISUELS DE L’ALBERTA

• 9103-95 Ave • 780.461.3427 • CREATIVITY'S CELEBRATION: Artworks by Barbara Mitchell, Herman Poulin, Doris Charest and others; until Apr 25 COMMON SENSE • 10546-115 St • 780.482.2685 • BACK ALLEYS AND SIDE STREETS–FINDING BEAUTY IN THE OVERLOOKED URBAN ENVIRONMENT: Photographs by Russell Bingham • Apr 27-May 19 • Reception: Apr 27, 7-11pm, artist will be in attendance CREATIONS GALLERY SPACE • Sawridge Inn Lobby, 4235 Gateway Blvd • A WARRIORS CRY: Artworks by Veran Pardeahtan • Until Jun CROOKED POT GALLERY–Stony Plain • 4912-51 Ave, Stony Plain • 780.963.9573 • THE THREE FACES OF... APRIL: Ceramic artworks by Jeannette Wright; until Apr 28 DAFFODIL GALLERY • 10412-124 St • 780-7601278 • ECHOES OF LIGHT: by Catherine March • Until May 1 • Catherine will be painting at the Gallery: Apr 21, 2-4pm DAHLIA'S MEDITERRIAN BISTRO • 10235124 St • 780.488.7654 • EXPOSED: Artworks by Jeffrey Dekker • Apr 21-22, 9am-5pm DUGGAN COMMUNITY HALL • 3728-106 St • 780 467.6983 • Northern Alberta Wood Carvers Association • Apr 28-29, 10am-5pm • Free ECHO HAIR • 205, 8135-102 St • 780.469.3246 • Artworks by Justin Wayne Shaw • Until Jun 1 EXPRESSIONZ CAFÉ GALLERY • Featuring Feral Dog Photography, Brian Zahorodniuk, Dara Loewen, Ginette Vallieres-D'Silva, Margot Solstice, Maggie Tate and others • Until Apr 28, Tue-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 11am-5pm FAB GALLERY • Department of Art and Design, U of A, Rm 3-98 Fine Arts Bldg • 780.492.2081 • BFA 2012: Until Apr 20 GALLERIE PAVA • 9524-87 St, 780.461.3427 • ENTRELACÉ: Artworks by Patricia Lortie Sparks • Until May 26 • Opening: Apr 21, 1-4pm, artist in attendance GALLERY AT MILNER • Stanley A. Milner Library Main Fl, Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.944.5383 • epl.ca/art-gallery • WATER: Photographs by Joel Koop, until Apr 30; Meet the artist, Joel Koop: Apr 21, 2-4pm • WHY AM I HERE? Group exhibit by U of A Art and Design students in the display cases and cubes near the AV Room; until Apr 30 GALLERY WALK • Gallery Walk Area: between Jasper Ave at 121 St and Stony Plain Rd at 124 St • SHOP THE WALK: 2012 Spring Gallery Walk • Apr 21, 10am-5pm; Apr 22, 12-4pm GRANT MACEWAN UNIVERSITY • Studios 106 and 109, 1st Fl, 10045-156 St • WAYWARD TO ARCADIA: Fine Art programs year-end group exhibition of graduating student artwork • Until Apr 19, 12-6pm HAPPY HARBOR COMICS V1 • 10729-104 Ave • Comics Artist-in-Residence: Paul Lavelleed available every Fri (12-6pm), and every Sat (125pm) until Apr 21 • Open Door: a collective of independent comic creators, meet on the 2nd and 4th Thu each month, 7pm HARCOURT HOUSE • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.426.4180 • Main Space: SOUNDBURSTINGS NO.1: Gary James Joynes Video installation • BECOMING: Artworks document a model's pregnancy; Apr 19-May 26; Artist Talk: Apr 19, 6:15pm LATITUDE 53 • 10248-106 St • 780.423.5353 • UNSTABLE NATURES: Works by ﬁfteen graduate students and recent MFA recipients from across North America, dealing with moments of rupture and change caused by mechanical instability; until Apr • MONOTONE VOICE: Works by U of A's artist-in-residence, Yusuke Shibata; until May 12 • Main Space: THE BIG FOLDY PAINTING OF DEATH: By Ian Forbes; until May 12 • HIDDEN TRUTHS: Multimedia art by artist collective of Federally incarcerated women; until May 12 LOFT GALLERY • AJ Ottewell Art Centre, 590 Broadmoor Blvd, Sherwood Park • 780.922.6324 • Art and gifts by local artists • Until Apr 29; Sat: 10am-4pm; Sun: 12-4pm MCMULLEN GALLERY • U of A Hospital, 8440-112 St • 780.407.7152 • 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW: Artworks by U of A Hospital staff in celebration of the Friends of University Hospital's 25th Anniversary; Apr 21-Jun 17; opening reception: Apr 26

MICHIF CULTURAL AND MÉTIS RESOURCE INSTITUTE • 9 Mission Ave, St Albert

• 780.651.8176 • Aboriginal Veterans Display • Gift Shop • Finger weaving and sash display by Celina Loyer • Ongoing MILDWOOD GALLERY • 426, 6655-178 St • Mel Heath, Joan Healey, Fran Heath, Larraine Oberg, Terry Kehoe, Darlene Adams, Sandy Cross and Victoria, Pottery by Naboro Kubo and Victor

26 ARTS

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Harrison • Ongoing

MULTICULTURAL CENTRE PUBLIC ART GALLERY (MCPAG)–Stony Plain • 5411-51

St, Stony Plain • 780.963.9935 • Watercolours by Elaine Funnell; until May 23 MUSÉE HÉRITAGE MUSEUM–St Albert • 5 St Anne St, St Albert • 780.459.1528 • St Albert History Gallery: Artifacts dating back 5,000 years • SLAVIC ST ALBERT: Based on the research work of Michal Mynarz; until May 12 PETER ROBERTSON GALLERY • 12304 Jasper Ave • 780.455.7479 • SPRING GROUP SHOW: Works by gallery artists incl Chris Flodberg; Apr 21-May 8 ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM • 12845-102 Ave • 780.453.9100 • NARRATIVE QUEST: Until Apr 29 • FACES OF LABOUR: until Jun 24 • WINGED TAPESTRIES: MOTHS AT LARGE: until Sep 3 • FASHIONING FEATHERS: Curated by Merle Patchett and Liz Gomez; until Jan 6 ST ALBERT PLACE • 5 St Anne St • BLOSSOMS AND BLOOMS: Works by St Albert Painters’ Guild • Apr 27-29 • Reception: Apr 27, 7pm, artists in attendance SCOTT GALLERY • 10411-124 St • 780.488.3619 • COUNTERPOINT: joint show, featuring Robert Sinclair, and his son Joel Sinclair • Apr 21-May 8, artists in attendance: Apr 21 SNAP GALLERY • Society Of Northern Alberta Print-Artists, 10123-121 St • 780.423.1492 • snapartists.com • Artworks by Todd Stewart; until Apr 21

SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ALBERTA PRINT-ARTISTS (SNAP) • SNAP Gallery, 10123-121

St • 780.423.1492 • snapartists.com • University of Alberta senior Print Show • Apr 26-May 19 • Opening: Apr 26 SPRUCE GROVE ART GALLERY • 35-5 Ave, Spruce Grove • 780.962.0664 • alliedartscouncil. com • High School Show and Sale: Artworks by High school students in the Parkland County • Until Apr 28 • Reception: Apr 28, 1-4pm STRATHCONA COUNTY GALLERY@501 • 501 Festival Ave, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8585 • strathcona.ca/artgallery • PRODUCTION POTTERY: Brenda Danrook and Martin Tagseth • Until Apr 29 TELUS CENTRE • U of A Museums, Gallery A, Main Fl, 87 Ave, 111 St • 780.492.5834 • Open: Thu-Fri 12-5pm; Sat 2-5pm • CHINA'S IMPERIAL MODERN: THE PAINTER'S CRAFT: Curated by Lisa Claypool • Until Jul 14 TELUS WORLD OF SCIENCE • 11211-142 St • DISCOVERYLAND • SPORT II: THE SCIENCE OF SPORT; until May 6 • To The Arctic (G) in IMAX: opens Apr 20 • IMAX Adventure: Daily ﬁlms • When Venus Transits the Sun: Full-Dome Show in the Margaret Zeidler Star Theatre • SPORT II exhibit: until May 6 • Straighten Up Alberta: Apr 21 U OF A MUSEUMS–TELUS Centre • Gallery A, Main Fl, 87 Ave, 111 St, U of A • 780.492.5834 • museums.ualberta.ca • CHINA'S IMPERIAL MODERN: THE PAINTER'S CRAFT: How did modern ways of making paintings and prints emerge from the ink painter’s studio, enter the public sphere, and help shape people’s lives in China during the late imperial era? • Until Jul 14; Thu-Fri, 12-5pm, Sat 2-5pm VAAA GALLERY • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.421.1731 • Gallery A: THERE IS NO REMEDY AGAINST THE TRUTH OF LANGUAGE: Assemblages by William G. Prettie • Gallery B: HUMAN VOICES: T Photos by Gerry Yaum • Both shows: until May 26; opening: Apr 19, 7-9:30pm VASA GALLERY • (Studio Gallery) Grandin Park Plaza, 22 Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert • 780.460.5993 • Figurative artworks by Carla Beerens and Rick Rogers; until Mar 31 • MY RENAISSANCE MADONNAS: Artworks by Kristine McGuinty; meet the artist: every Fri, 10am-2pm; until Apr 28 WEST END GALLERY • 12308 Jasper Ave • 780.488.4892 • STREET WALL!: Artworks by Fraser Brinsmead; Apr 19-May 3 • Opening: Apr 19, 5-8pm; artist in attendance • Edmonton Gallery Walk: Apr 21, 10am-5pm, Apr 22, 12-4pm YELLOWHEAD BREWERY • 10229-105 St • 780.554.3848 • WATER IN FOCUS: North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper (NSRK) photo exhibit, auction, live beats and food • Apr 26, 7pm to 10pm • $40

LITERARY

AUDREYS BOOKS • 10702 Jasper Ave •

780.423.3487 • CAA Writer in Residence Jannie Edwards in the store every Wed; Until Apr 25, 12-1:30pm • Join author and poet John Lent for the launch of his new novel, The Path to Ardroe with musical guests; Apr 20, 7:30pm • Take a Deep Breath: Four women share new books that tackle survival: Sally Ito, Naomi Macllwraith, Barbara Langhorst, Heather Simeney MacLeod; Apr 25, 7pm; free; part of Poetry Festival • Author Rick Lauber on being a caregiver in Canada with his book, Caregiver’s Guide for Canadians; Apr 26, 12-2pm • Suze Casey's book, Belief Re-Patterning: The Amazing Technique for “Flipping the Switch” to Positive Thoughts; Apr 26, 7:30pm • Lyn Hancock reads from her book, The Ring; Apr 30, 7:30pm BIBLIOTHÈQUE SAINT-JEAN • 1-12, Pavillon McMahon, 8406, rue Marie-Anne Gaboury, 91 St • library.ualberta.ca • canauthorsalberta.ca • Lisa Moore presents Fiction • Apr 20-21 • Fri Evening Presentations: 8pm; free for members and ﬁrst-time guests/$10 (returning guests) • Sat workshops: 9:30am-4pm; $40 (member)/$70 (nonmember) lunch included CANADIAN AUTHORS ASSOCIATION • Campus Saint-Jean, Pavillon Lacerte, Rm 3-04, 8406-91 St • Lisa Moore presents Fiction • Apr 20-21 • Fri presentations: 8pm; free (member/1st-

time guest)/$10 (returning guests) • Sat workshops: 9:30am-4pm; $40 (member)/$70 (non-member) lunch incl FROM BOOKS TO FILM SERIES • Stanley A. Milner Library, Main Fl, Audio Visual Rm • 780.944.5383 • Screenings of ﬁlms adapted from books, presented by the Centre for Reading and the Arts LATITUDE 53 • 10248-106 St • The Olive Reading Series at Edmonton Poetry Festival: Brief readings by Thea Bowering, Doug Barbour, Jenna Butler, Glen Robson, Adam Wilson, Lainna Lane El Jabi. Michael Penny, Kath Maclean, and Christine Stewart • Apr 24, 7-8:30pm • Free

POETRY FESTIVAL–BLINKS IN THE HEART

• Artery, other venues • 780.454.3233 • Apr 23-30 • Artery, 9535 Jasper Ave • Blinks in the Heart: Apr 23, 6pm • Competition to choose the Edmonton Slam Team: Breath in Poetry Collective; Apr 24, 7pm • Sweatshop: Poetry writing with Michael Gravel; Apr 25, 6pm • At the Artery: Brendan McLeod; Apr 25, 9pm • Late Night Jam: Jem Rolls; Apr 27, 8pm • Poetry and Music for a Spring Afternoon: John Stefﬂer, Lyra Brown, Nora Gould, Sheeley Leedahl; Apr 28, 2pm • Poetry Party: Raving Poets; Apr 28, 7pm ROUGE LOUNGE • 10111-117 St • 780.902.5900 • Poetry every Tue with Edmonton's local poets T.A.L.E.S.–STRATHCONA • New Strathcona Library, 401 Festival Lane, Sherwood Park • 780.400.3547 • Monthly Tellaround: 4th Wed each month 7pm • Free U OF A PRESS • Faculty Club, 11435 Saskatchewan Dr • Literary Cocktails: Launch of the Robert Kroetsch Series: Continuations 2 [Douglas Barbour & Sheila E. Murphy], Wells [Jenna Butler], dear Hermes... [Michelle Smith]. Reading by Alice Major from her new book, Intersecting Sets; Anna Marie Sewell (MC) • Apr 26, 4-6pm • Part of the Poetry Festival WUNDERBAR ON WHYTE • 8120-101 St • 780.436.2286 • The poets of Nothing, For Now: poetry workshop and jam every Sun • No minors

THEATRE

THE ADULTERESS • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83

Ave • 780.433.3399, VB 1 • Teatro La Quindicina presents this new play by Stewart Lemoine. Stars Briana Buckmaster, Shannon Blanchet and Eric Wigston • Apr 26-May 12, Tue-Sat 7:30pm; matinees: Sat 2pm • Wed-Sat evenings: $27 (adult)/$22 (student/senior)/Sat mat: $15/Tue: Pay-What-YouCan; Apr 27, 7:30pm: 2-for-1; tickets at TIX on the Square ARE WE THERE YET? • 780.439.3905 • concretetheatre.ca • Concrete Theatre • By Jane Heather • School tour: until Apr 27 BEOWULF THE KING • La Cité Theatre, 8627 rue Marie-Anne-Gaboury • 780.477.5955 • Workshop West Theatre • By Blake William Turner • Until Apr 29, Tue-Sat 7:30pm; Sun 2pm • $25 (adult)/$20 (student/senior) at Workshop West box office, 780.477.5955, ext 301; E: boxoffice@workshopwest. org; Apr 24: Pay-What-You-Can; Sun mat: 2-for-1 CHICAGO • Mayfield Dinner Theatre, 16615-109 Ave • 780.483.4051 • Broadway Musical • Until Jun 17 DIE-NASTY • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • 780.433.3399 • Improvised soap opera • Every Mon, until May, 7:30pm (subject to change) • Tickets at the box office FUNNY MONEY • Beaver Regional Arts Centre, Holden (1 hr E of Edmt on Hwy 14) • 780.688.2052 • Farce comedy • Apr 20, 7pm; Apr 21, 2pm, 7pm • Sat Lunch/dinner shows: $30 (adult)/$25 (18 and under); wine and cheese following Fri show: $25/$18; show only: $15/$10 THE MAIDS • Catalyst Theatre, 8529 Gateway Blvd • Cowardly Kiss Theatre • By Jean Genet, directed by Andrea Beça, stars Louise Large, Sarah Horsman, and Zachary Parsons-Lozinski • Until Apr 21, 7:30pm • $22/$16 at TIX on the Square, door A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM • Citadel Maclab Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • 780.428.2117 • By William Shakespeare, directed by Tom Wood, stars Julien Arnold • Until Apr 29 MYSTERY AT CHECKMATE MANOR • Catalyst Theatre, 8529 Gateway Blvd • 780.466.5441 • Ad Hoc Theatre • The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery by David McGillivry and Walter Zerlin Jr • Apr 26-28, 7:30pm • $20 at TIX on the Square OH SUSANNA! • Varscona Theatre • 10329-83 Ave • 780.433.3399 • Euro-style variety spectacle with Susanna Patchouli • Last Sat each month, until Jul, 11pm (subject to occasional change) OVER THE EDGE WITH 4-PLAY • TransAlta Arts Barns • catalysttheatre.ca • Catalyst Theatre • Apr 27, 9:30pm THE SOUND OF MUSIC • Citadel Shoctor Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • 780.428.2117 • Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, directed by Bob Baker, stars Rejean Cournoyer • Apr 21-May 20 THE SPITFIRE GRILL • Wetaskiwin Memorial Arts Centre, 5206-50 St, Wetaskiwin • 780.352.8383 • Wetaskiwin Theatre Society Waterworks Theatre • Musical by Fred Alley and James Valcq, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff • Apr 27-29, May 4-6 • $15 STEPPING OUT • Horizon Stage • Horizon Players • By Richard Harris, directed by Norm Usiskin • Apr 26-28, 7:30pm • $21 (adult)/$16 (student/ Senior)/$5 eyeGo THEATRESPORTS • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Improv runs every Fri, until Jul, 11pm (subject to occasional change) • $10/$8 (member)

DISH

Find a restaurant

ONLINE AT DISHWEEKLY.CA

PREVUE // LOCAL EATING

E is for Edible, A for Alberta Dee Hobsbawn-Smith's book digs into local eating Thu, Apr 26 (7 pm; dinner from 5 pm – 8 pm) Book Launch: Foodshed With Jennifer Cockrall-King Muttart Conservatory

oodshed: An Edible Alberta Alphabet may sound like a simple concept, but writer, poet, professional chef and food advocate dee Hobsbawn-Smith digs deeper and provides a voice for small-scale producers across the province, as well as a guide to the abundance of sustainable food available in our own backyard. Hobsbawn-Smith's view of local eating is a little more inclusive than ideas like the hundred-mile diet and she recognizes that Alberta's geography does impose limits on certain foods. At the same time, shows how it is important to take advantage of the abundance that is in our foodshed, and support those who make a living providing them. "Farmers are the bedrock and a cook is only ever as good as her ingredients," she says. "Farmers don't get the credit that they're due. They do all of the work and they get one tenth of a dollar usually on food sales that go through regular distribution channels and distributors and wholesalers. That's just not right." More than 75 of these forwardthinking unsung heroes, as HobsbawnSmith views them, are featured in Foodshed, including everything from asparagus growers to zizania cultivators. Hobsbawn-Smith's subjects encompass four distinct geographical regions of Alberta: the Central Region, Peace Country, North Region and South Region. While Hobsbawn-Smith currently resides on a farm west of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Alberta was her culinary backyard for 27 years, based in Calgary. Here, she spearheaded Foodsmith, a restaurant specializing in locovore Canadian cuisine in the early '90s, which she sold in 1994. During her time in Alberta she hosted Foodie Tootle tours for the Cook-

Smoked fish chowder with chives Smoked fish, a staple on the Prairies, adds interest and flavour to soup of any sort. The type of tea you choose as a smoking medium will affect the flavour, so choose a hearty smoky tea like Lapsang Souchong for the smokiest flavour. A milder flavour will result from using a bright Darjeeling. Remember as you chose your vegetables that smaller pieces cook more quickly. Serve this rich soup in small portions. Use tilapia, trout, steelhead salmon or any fish you love. Serves 8 – 10. Soup: 2 slices smoked side bacon, slivered 1 onion, minced 2 carrots, diced 1 leek, sliced 1 celery stalk, diced 6 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 red pepper, diced 1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme 1 bay leaf 1/2 cup (125 mL) dry white wine 2 cups (500 mL) diced potatoes 4 cups (1 L) chicken or fish stock 1 – 2 Tbsp (15 – 30 mL) cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup (60 mL) cold water 1/4 cup (60 mL) heavy cream kosher salt and hot chile flakes to taste Smoked fish: 1lb (450 g) fish, diced 2 Tbsp (30 mL) black tea 2 Tbsp (30 mL) white sugar 2 Tbsp (30 mL) uncooked rice

Author dee Hobsbawn-Smith // Dave Margoshes

book Company as well. Despite Foodshed centering on Albertan regions and its small-scale producers, Hobsbawn-Smiths says the adversity encountered by these individuals is not exclusive to the province. "They're the same issues that orchardists in the Senochnien Valley have; they're the same issues I am running into with farmers here in Saskatchewan. They're common problems," she says. Hobsbawn-Smith references a quote in the beginning of the book that states, "You know your doctor, you know your lawyer, you know your accountant. Who's your farmer?" This drives home her point of eating food from people you know, rather than an unknown imported source when it's available right in your own backyard. "I want people to understand the importance of supporting local grow-

ers because if we don't, we won't have them," she notes. "The majority of them operate on tight margins and if they don't sell what they need to sell to make a profit, God knows I've had all kinds of farmers come to me and say, 'I don't know if I'm going to be in business next year.' They need to be supported now." Hobsbawn-Smith believes Wendell Berry said it best that eating is a political act. She notes that how food is eaten and what we choose to eat might not look like much on an individual scale, but it follows the principle of additivity. "Small decisions add up to become weighty," she adds. "Think about the fact that the issues underlying how hard it is for farmers to access land are weighed upon by what you choose to eat and who you choose to supCONTINUED ON PAGE 29 >>

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Garnishes: 3 Tbsp (45 mL) chives or green onions, minced 1 lemon, zest only For the soup: slice bacon finely and sweat it in a heavy-botomed stockpot. Discard any extra fat after it renders out, leave one tablespoon (15 mL) in the pot. Add diced and sliced vegetables and cook them without colouring, adding small amounts of water as needed. When vegetables are tender, stir in thyme, bay leaf and wine. Bring to a boil, then add potatoes and stock. Simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender. Return to the boil and stir in cornstarch dissolved in cold water. Return briefly to the boil to allow the starch to thicken, adding more dissolved cornstarch for a thicker soup, then add heavy cream, salt and hot chili flakes To smoke the fish: Line the bottom of a wok or heavy-bottomed pot with a piece of aluminum foil, about 6 inches (15 cm) square. Measure sugar, tea and rice onto the foil and mix it around. Place a wire rack in the wok or pot, positioning it above but not touching the tea mixture. Lay fish on the rack in a single layer. Cover snugly with foil, then with a close-fitting lid. Put the wok on its ring, over high heat and cook, covered, until the fish is cooked through, about five minutes. (Larger amounts will take longer.) When done, the fish will be brown, opaque and firm to the touch. To serve: Ladle the soup into heated soup plates. Top each portion with several cubes of fish, and sprinkle with chives or green onions, and lemon zest.

DISH 27

Opening our Via Bianca location soon in the Roots Building, 8135-102 Street.

da capo dacapocaffe.com

GOLDEN fork awards 2012

Cast your ballot! Let your tastebuds decide

EAT• VOTE• WIN!•

go to goldenforkawards.com to vote

Maybe it’s the perogies that practically melted your mouth. Maybe it’s the samosas that sent your senses into orbit. Maybe it’s the chocolate creation that lives on in your memory and calls out to you every time you eat out. Edmonton has it all. Have your say. Tell us which food establishments serve your favourites in the categories below. Help the places you like win a coveted 14th Annual Vue Weekly Golden Fork Award. Read the results and more on May 10. For your ballot to count, you must give answers in at least 10 categories and include your name, address, daytime phone number and email address. Vote online at goldenforkawards.com

GRAND PRIZE: $500 in restaurant gift certificates! Plus 10 runners up will win a restaurant gift certificate to a local restaurant!

# bEst DIsHEs

bEst REstAuRANts

otHER bEsts

• Appetizers • Soups • Salads • Breads • Steaks • Sushi • Tapas • Dim sum • Sandwiches/wraps • Hamburgers • French fries • Pizza • Restaurant Desserts • Chicken wings • Sweets Shop • Organic • Takeout • Butcher • Bakery

• Restaurant (fine dining) • Restaurant (mid price) • Restaurant (budget) • Restaurant (suburb) • Breakfast • Brunch • Coffee shop • Tea shop • African • Mediterranean • Greek • French • Italian • Chinese • Korean • Thai • Japanese • Vietnamese • East Indian/Tandoori • Mexican/Latin American • Eastern European • Seafood • Vegetarian

• New restaurant • Pre-theatre dining • Restaurant for lovers • Innovative menu • Wine list • Beer list • When going solo • Late night/all night • Service • Sports bar • Patio • Hotel restaurant • For people watching • Atmosphere • Kid friendly • Indie grocery/market • Beer store • Food festival/event • Beverage fest/event • Wine store • Food Truck • Farmer’s Market • Sustainable Dining

Cast your ballot

online!

• Pub

tHIs Is youR offICIAL bALLot. sEND It IN! Name: Address: Daytime Ph#: Email Address:

28 DISH

MAIL ANswERs to:

Vue Weekly’s 14th Annual Golden Fork Awards Suite 200-11230 119 St NW Edmonton, AB. T5G 2X3 Fax: 780-426-2889 Email: fork@vueweekly.com Online: www.goldenforkawards.com

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Entries must be received no later than 5 pm, April 27, 2012

*No duplicate entries, 1 entry per person. Any entries with identical writing to another will be discarded. Standard contest entries also apply. •This year VUE Weekly will offer two awards in each category. One for independent and one for chain. *Chain will be defined as non-Edmonton operated or locations in other cities (exceptions may exist) *Chain may not be awarded in all categories

PROVENANCE

MEAGHAN BAXTER// MEAGHAN@vueweekly.com

Six things about pizza The wait might be a long one

if you're feeling adventurous

The top five pizza sales days are Super Bowl Sunday, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Halloween and the night before Thanksgiving.

While pepperoni is the most popular topping in North America, popular international toppings include pickled ginger and tofu in India, eel and squid in Japan, green peas in Brazil, coconut in Costa Rica and curry in Pakistan.

the origin debate

It is claimed that pizza originated in Naples, Italy. Back then it was flat bread with sauce and cheese. However, it is said that ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Israelites and other Middle Eastern cultures were preparing a variation of pizza prior to this. Who knew?

The original mozzarella cheese, which is the most popular variety used in pizza, was made with Indian water buffalo milk in the seventh century.

LOCAL EATING

<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27

port, so buy local." Readers may be surprised to see some of the food items that make up Hobsbawn-Smith's culinary alphabet, such as hot peppers, which aren't generally thought of as an Albertan product. She notes salmon as another item that may be a surprise. Hobsbawn-Smith didn't eat the fish for a decade because she was caught in the dilemma of farm fish versus wild fish, each of which had its cons, like water contamination and environmental destruction. After visiting Bruce and Marylou Swift of Swift Aquaculture in Ponoka, Hobsbawn-Swift learned about sustainably managed aquaculture and how she could restore salmon to her diet without harming the environment. Swift currently has coho salmon eggs in quarantine at Lethbridge College's aquaculture centre as a preliminary step in developing an aquaculture farm in central Alberta in the future. "My warning for people always is, if you're going to eat farmed fish, know where they came from and know how they were raised and who raised them," she adds. Foodshed rounds out its investigation by examining government involvement in agriculture, sustainability and the environment, animal welfare, farm labour and organizations such as Slow Food and the Community Supported

dig in

The biggest pizza ever was baked in Norwood, South Africa, and was 100 feet across. It weighed 26 883 pounds. if you've got money to burn

The most extravagant pizza is created at Nino's Bellisima in New York City. The 12-inch pizza is topped with caviar, lobster, creme fraiche and chives. The indulgent creation sells for $1000, which breaks down to $125 per slice.

Agriculture (CSA) movement. When it comes to supporting local producers, obvious choices like shopping at a farmers' market or planting your own garden come to mind. Hobsbawn-Smith says in addition to these options, preparing for the off-season is also an important component. This can be done through learning how to can items, or drying and freezing them while they're in-season and storing them for the off-season. There's a tasty portion to each tale in the book as well. Accompanying each letter is a recipe created by HobsbawnSmith herself. The 26 recipes are her current favourites, which goes handin-hand with her belief that a cook or chef should only serve dishes they're crazy about themselves. "I wanted recipes that home cooks were going to enthusiastically welcome and use. I wanted to provide things that really highlighted the ingredient they were attached to," she says, adding the recipes have gone through a great deal of trial and error and are something accessible to any skill level. "As a cooking instructor in Calgary, I did a lot of classes and I had a lot of unskilled cooks learn how to cook using my recipes, so a lot of these dishes have been proven to work in the hands of cooks who are not yet as experienced as they're going to become." meaghan baxter // meaghan@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

DISH 29

Attention VUE WEEKLY Freeloaders!

Have you had a chance to cast your vote for the Golden Folk Awards yet? Hopefully this will whet your appetite.... For this week: Anyone who casts a ballot for the Golden Fork Awards ((See See Pg. 28 for details details)) and forwards First Read to three friends will receive

two Free Burgers from

Rodeo Burger (While Supplies Last!)

Not a Freeloader yet? Signing up is easy! Just subscribe to our weekly newsletter First Read and we will give you points for reading, clicking and sharing. You can then use these points to purchase exclusive prize packs each week, or keep earning for bigger and better prize packs in the future!

30 DISH

PROFILE // CHILL OUT

A dose of downtown Zen Café offers a breather from hectic lifestyles Café Tiramisu 10750 - 124 St 780.452.3393

e all need breathing space," explains Seble Amelga, proprietor of Café Tiramisu. Café Tiramisu is a new and unique addition to the already quirky 124 Street neighbourhood; it is a superb fusion of laid-back Italian café atmosphere with a yoga and pilates studio, as well as play area for children. Cloud-like light fixtures float above a remarkably serene room dressed in organic greens and perfumed with the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans. A diverse crowd noshes on salads, smoothies and pasta, or simply relaxes with a steaming mug of tea or coffee near one of many grand windows. Ethiopia-born Amelga worked extensively in Italy before immigrating to Canada and managing several wellknown Edmonton restaurants. "Then I became a stay-at-home mom," she explains, "but I longed to stay engaged with the outside world." One seminal afternoon, Amelga enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee at a downtown coffee shop. This seemingly insignificant break would, in retrospect, become the genesis of Café Tiramisu. "I had every intention to sit and read, but I was suddenly overwhelmed at the thought of having this time— these two and a half hours—to myself. I loved being home with my children, but I started thinking that all moms deserve such a break," she recollects. Seble Amelga of Café Tiramisu offers everyone—parents and kids—a place to take a break // Meaghan Baxter

Amelga nurtured her idea and concluded that she wanted to have a coffee shop where no one is left out. "This was about five years ago now," she states, "and I realized I wanted to have a space not just for mothers, but for everyone, including children. I wanted it to be a breathing space." She envisioned a spot on 124 Street because, in her words, "it has more of a European feel than other places in Edmonton."She waited for the right location to become available and was propelled by encouragement from friends and family. Café Tiramisu officially opened in late November of 2011 and Amelga acknowledges a highly positive re-

sponse from the public. "We've been busy since we opened and we didn't even do any marketing," she states. No demographic is excluded, and Amelga relates that everyone from teenagers to parents with small children frequent the café. "It's lovely to see women [who are mothers] like me come in and really relax with a glass of wine or a latte without their kids interrupting them," she explains. Indeed, children have a space to themselves in Café Tiramisu in what Amelga calls the "breathing space." "It is a room with children's furniture,

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

toys and iPads to keep them occupied. They need to be old enough to entertain themselves," she adds. "And it gives parents a break." "Our menu was inspired by my travels in Rome, Sardinia, Calabria and Sicily," explains Amelga. She adds, "I picked pasta and pizza recipes that are popular in those regions. We have many salads on the menu too and these were chosen because they are healthy." Café Tiramisu roasts coffee beans on-site, and this practice is close to Amelga's roots. "Coffee was first brewed in Ethiopia, my homeland, so it is a strong part of my culture. All of our beans are sourced from Africa and

South America," she states. Amelga marvels that in five short years, an idea for a unique café became a reality: however, hard work rather than luck luck led to the restaurant's existence. She emphasizes that Café Tiramisu is not just for parents. "I want to foster a sense of community here where people can connect and interact," she says. She concludes, in reference to the café's namesake dessert (which, when translated from Italian, literally means "lift me up"), "When you visit here, I want it to be a 'lift me up' experience." ls vors

// vors@vueweekly.com

Now open for LUNCH 11:30am - 2:00pm Tue. - Fri. 780-497-7858 • 11358-104 ave.

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

DISH 31

THE

GREAT OUTDOORS

THE GREAT OUTDOORS // ADRENALINE

The science of adrenaline

A look at the neurochemical reasoning behind why we take risks

our palms are sweating and your heart feels like it's going to pound out of your chest, while your brain swims with what-ifs punctuated by thoughts of the potentially deadly consequences. As you reach the point of no return, you're bombarded by a wave of emotions and rationale gives way to curiosity. Finally, you take the step into the unknown, where time stands still and you forget to breathe or think as the rush takes over before you're all too quickly brought back to solid ground, left in a state of shock and euphoria. Adrenaline, the culprit of this natural high, possesses an enticing allure reserved not only for the so-called junkies, but for people of all walks of life

Once it's all said and done, reality sinks in. "Then you're really amped up and that stays with you. The amount of money the RCMP make giving people speeding tickets once they leave here I'm sure is exponential," he jokes. "Everyone is jacked and we always have to remind people to slow down." Nicole Bradfield, a power engineer who recently became a certified skydiving coach and has completed 160 jumps, can relate to the ampedup feeling left behind by adrenaline sports. As she puts it, she was high on life for three days after her first tandem jump at 23, and it wasn't long before she took the necessary training to start jumping solo.

The amount of money the RCMP make giving people speeding tickets once they leave here I'm sure is exponential. Everyone is jacked and we always have to remind people to slow down."

who are seeking an escape from the norm. However, the appeal might not be apparent to everyone. Some may think it's absolutely insane to jump out of, say, a perfectly good airplane to plummet thousands of feet in the name of fun. Some may give in just to cross an item off their bucket list, while others get completely hooked. Al Christou, drop zone operator and president of the Edmonton Skydive Centre—who currently sits somewhere between 1600 and 2000 jumps—took his first dive eight years ago at 23, when the opportunity was presented to him as a birthday gift. He recalls feeling nervous, doing a risk analysis in his head and weighing out whether or not he really needed to do something as crazy as jump out of an airplane. "The most terrifying part is prior to getting out of the airplane," he says, adding that watching people jump before him only amped up his nerves. "You watch them climb out and when it's your turn, you have this blank feeling, just sensory overload. You kind of have to tell the brain to take a break and you're going to get through this." Launching into the unknown was terrifying because, as Christou puts it, you don't trust the system yet. It's hard to fathom that a piece of nylon suspended over your head will guide you safely back to solid ground. This fear subsided for Christou as the parachute opened and he began to remember the classroom drills, which had a relaxing effect, since he began to feel more in control.

32 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Contrary to Christou, Bradfield says reaching the threshold before leaving the plane is her favourite part of the experience. "You go through feeling kind of big in a small plane to feeling so damn tiny in the sky. You feel like you can do anything," she recalls. The appeal of adrenaline and reasons for participating in such sports are different for everyone, but Billy Strean, a professor in the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Alberta who specializes in sports psychology, says when adrenaline is considered in terms of arousal, whether that's through neuropsychological or simply life experiences, individuals who tend to be chronically on the lower end of the scale seek out ways to substantially heighten this state. "There's some research that suggests the profile of people that do high-risk sports is somewhat similar to people who engage in things like vandalism, theft and other sorts of crimes," he says. "It kind of makes sense. You're seeking stimulation, and you could find it in something that's more socially sanctioned versus something that's not." Strean also recognizes that in situations that someone doesn't understand from an outside perspective, it's easy to cast stereotypes and assume everyone participating behaves a certain way, which he does not believe is the case.

BRAIN:

Stress hormones have a cross-talk with dopamine, an intracranial neurotransmitter released from the hypothalamus. The release of dopamine is a coping mechanism for the body that can aﬀect mood, as well as hunger and satiety. The hypothalamus also releases the body's major stress hormone called Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) and in turn, signals the pituitary release of Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH). The ACTH travels to the adrenal glands to initiate the secretion of glutocorticoid hormones.

SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM: This system dilates pupils, activates sweat secretion, dilates bronchioles in the lungs, constricts blood vessels, inhibits production of saliva, as well as kidneys, liver and gall bladder. It also increases muscle strength PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM:

This system acts essentially the opposite way. It slows heart rate, makes pupils contract, stimulates digestion, causes nasal secretion and stimulates the liver, bladder and kidneys.

MOUTH:

During stressful situations, people may ﬁnd their mouths become dry, which has to do with the sympathetic nervous system, which inhibits the production of saliva.

SKIN:

The change in blood vessels throughout the body can cause a person's skin to turn red, while others turn white. If someone's skin becomes pale, it means their blood vessels are constricting in response to the stress hormones. On the other hand, if a person turns red, it means their blood vessels have dilated in order to let heat out, which also leads to sweating.

HEART/BLOOD/MUSCLES: When a person is under stress, the release of epinephrine causes their heart rate to increase, pumping more blood and ensuring there's enough oxygen going to the muscles. At the same time, blood vessels constrict peripherally, which causes blood to pool into muscles. This is essential in being able to fuel the body's "ﬁght-orﬂight" response.

ADRENAL GLANDS:

These glands release adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, into the blood stream. This stress hormone is integral in triggering the body's "fight-or-flight" response. Cortisol is also secreted by the adrenal glands, and is done so at higher levels during fight-or-flight situations. Small increases of cortisol have positive affects such as a quick burst of energy, heightened memory functions and a decreased sensitivity to pain.

KIDNEYS:

LUNGS:

In a state of stress, a person's breathing will become faster, but this is part of a coordinated eﬀect that allows them to become more efﬁcient at taking in oxygen. This oxygen is quickly delivered to the blood to fuel muscles.

BOWELS:

Stress may cause a person to suﬀer from stomach cramps as the bowels contract, rather than operating in a regular, parastolic motion in which they contract and relax. In addition to cramping, a person may also experience diarrhea or constipation.

The kidneys prevent a person from having to do something as inconvenient as peeing during a stressful situation. Any extra cellular ﬂuid volume is conserved, allowing the person to do whatever they need to be engaged in at that moment.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 35 >>

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Now – April 29, springstART. Highlighting Banff’s cultural, historic and

artistic scene this NEW festival promises to deliver a fresh perspective on Banff National Park. From art exhibitions to photography workshops to live performances, and more!

May 4 & 5, Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival. Tickets on sale now! Sample international wines, along with single malt scotch, port, premium spirits, imported beer and mouth-watering food samples prepared by Banff’s best local restaurants and hotels. June 23, Performance in the Park featuring the Sam Roberts Band. Tickets on sale now! If there is a group that knows how to captivate an audience, it's the 6-time Juno award-winning Sam Roberts Band. Don’t miss this ultimate outdoor concert experience in Banff National Park.

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS 33

34 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

THE SCIENCE OF ADRENALINE << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32

"People who engage in skydiving or other things that are even more deviant or less normative, often they're perfectly healthy people. They're not in any way dangerous or anti-social or crazy," Strean adds. "Anything that has some form of appeal, you're gong to have people that get addicted or find some way to be abusive to themselves within it, but I think with a lot of these things, if you take any level of scrutiny, these are reasonable, good people." Kevin Olsen, who studied under Strean while obtaining his master's degree in sports psychology, completed his thesis on skydiving and went on to receive his jump master certification in 2007. He doesn't believe there's a certain personality that's synonymous with seeking out adrenaline-rush-inducing situations. "There's researchers who like to categorize and label, but I've seen people of all different shapes and sizes ... I've seen people who are super conservative and soft spoken and reserved. I've seen welders and lawyers and doctors and construction workers ... all kinds of people, so it's really hard to say it's one kind of personality," Olsen says, admitting he tends to be more introverted and wouldn't be someone who people expect to participate in something as "crazy" as skydiving. "Within all personality types there's a certain number of people who like adventure more than others." As a child, Olsen was terrified of roller coasters and even simply meeting new people, but he says that through sports like Tae Kwon Do and skydiving, he's made a lifetime pursuit of facing fear and putting his fears in perspective. Achieving an adrenaline rush may sound simple, but it's the result of a carefully orchestrated process within the body. Adrenaline, or epinephrine as it's known in scientific terms, is essentially a neurotransmitter that drives the body's fight-or-flight response. "It is released with any stimulation of stress of any kind," explains Dr David Lau, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Calgary. "Basically what it does is it enables the organism to mobilize very quickly in terms of locomotion or whatever's associated with it. What that really means is the heart rate will go up, the blood vessels will constrict peripherally so the blood is pooling into the muscle, where you need it to exercise." Epinephrine's sister stress hormone norepinephrine is also an integral part of the fight-orflight response. It has similar effects, such as increased heart rate, but when it is released in the body it causes glucose to be released as energy, an integral requirement to fuel the body. Norepinephrine activates the central and sympathetic nervous system in the fight-or-flight response and aids in increased attention and more efficient reaction time. When these chemicals are released, there's also a cross-talk with dopamine that happens, explains Lau. Stress hormones are released in stages and dopamine, which is another intracranial neurotransmitter, can affect mood, as well as hunger and satiety. "What that means is that when a person is in fight-or-flight mode, they may feel the need to eat, so they may feel like there's hunger pangs and those are some of the results of adrenaline acting on the dopamine," Lau says. "When you're running, or in the midst of the activity, you don't feel the hunger pangs, but as soon as you stop, then you feel the effect." Cortisol, which is also secreted from the adre-

nal glands and is released at higher levels during fight-or-flight situations, can have positive effects such as a quick burst of energy, heightened memory functions and lower sensitivity to pain, Lau adds. While there is generally no physical danger of feeling an "adrenaline rush," Lau says if a person is not in good health, a sudden surge of adrenaline-related stress hormones can cause lack of oxygen to the heart muscles, which can trigger heart attacks. When the adrenaline rush subsides, people can also pass out, which Lau says is due to blood being redistributed throughout the body as vessels relax. It has been argued that purposely putting your body through these stressful situations is reckless, but Christou says even though the risk factor doesn't phase him anymore, and while he

There's researchers who like to categorize and label, but I've seen people of all different shapes and sizes ... Within all personality types there's a certain number of people who like adventure more than others.

participates in more challenging aspects of the sport, he's not about to take chances and start behaving recklessly in the name of a bigger thrill. "If you want to go out there and do something ridiculous, it'll humble you," he says, adding that the sport has become much more professional and the amount of knowledge skydivers have about airspace and aircraft regulations will astound most people, since its perception is that it requires little more skill than simply jumping out of an airplane. "If I thought it was reckless I probably wouldn't do it," Olsen says, admitting that he'd like to try base jumping someday, which is considered one of the pinnacles of adrenaline sports, but adding, "I think you have a responsibility when you engage in these sports to have a certain amount of respect for the risk ... if you don't then you start falling into the category of people that are just needlessly hurting others, whether it's with their own close calls, or their own injuries or their own death." Olsen, Christou and Bradfield all say that the majority of people they've encountered in skydiving respect the risks, but there will always be those who insist on pushing the limits, and that's where the danger lies. They have all become comfortable with the sport and experiment with new ways to make it exciting, but this is done out of a love for the sport, not seeking a bigger rush. "When I'm climbing the altitude, there's never a time when I'm not a little bit scared, when I'm not in touch with the reality of what I'm about to do," Olsen says. "I don't think it's necessarily a need to have more risk to get 'the rush.' The fact is, the emotions get more stable, you don't get the same spike because there's not that same element of the unknown or surprise." As with most things, Bradfield says the feeling wears off a little, and she's started looking at new ways to step it up a notch, but remains aware of her limits at this point. "It's like a progression. Some people just like to do their two-way belly flying kind of stuff, but I can see myself getting into base jumping one day," she says. "Right now, it's one step at a time." MEAGHAN BAXTER

// MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

THE GREAT OUTDOORS 35

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS // TREASURE HUNTING

GPS marks the spot

ished and I realized I was bringing up the rear. TV episodes of murder mystery shows suddenly flashed through my mind and I silently panicked, imagining being snatched from behind. Then I thought of National Geographic shows about swarms of bats, and pictured thousands of the slimy, leatherwinged creatures hanging millimetres above my head. I dared to shine the flashlight upwards, and thankfully saw only a smooth damp roof dripping slightly. I calmed myself down and focused on our route. The tunnel split twice, and at each fork we left a bright white tissue on the ground to mark our path, like Hansel and Gretel laying breadcrumbs. The darkness was disorienting and I was glad for our markers when we took the wrong split and had to turn around and retrace our steps to choose another route. Suddenly the front flashlight revealed a solid wall of rock; we had reached the end of the mine shaft. We searched the cool darkness with our two beams of light and finally found what we were looking for. It was not quite as I expected, as the cache lay open on its side, its contents strewn across the cave floor. A closer inspection revealed teeth marks on the notepad meant to record the names of all the cache's seekers; a critter had been geocaching! Based on the lingering odour, we guessed skunk. We picked up the cache's contents,

Geocaching leads to buried treasure

nside the mouth of the cave it was cool and damp. The bright afternoon light seeped around the slight bend in the tunnel and abruptly disappeared. A set of decrepit rail-car tracks melted away into the darkness. This was my view as I stood at the entrance to an old copper mine shaft on Mt Swansea, near Invermere, BC. I was with a friend and had no flashlight, and when we tentatively ventured down the tunnel, our courage abandoned us along with the daylight. We turned around and were about to leave when a group of four people came down the trail. They asked us how it was past the gaping opening of the tunnel, and we admitted our decision to not go. They excitedly explained that they were searching for a geocache that was buried within the depths of the mine shaft. I'd heard of and written about geocaching before, but had never tried it myself. Geocaching is an increasingly popular activity where adventurous souls use Global Positing System (GPS) coordinates found on geocaching websites to lead them to a medium-sized buried container. The caches have sprung up in cities and towns, on popular hiking trails, and in hideaways off the beaten path. Each cache con-

A modern day treasure map

tains a collection of knickknacks and tiny souvenirs. The only rules of geocaching are to leave a treasure in the box and take one in return if you like, and don't move the cache from where you find it. Curious about geocaching and intrigued by the adventure, my friend

and I accepted an invitation from the group to venture into the tunnel with them. One of the men had been before, so we felt safe enough tag along. Armed with two flashlights, the six of us walked slowly down the tunnel. I briefly regretted our decision when the last traces of natural light van-

which were curious and varied: an eraser shaped like a butterfly, a flashing keychain, a loonie and a West Jet luggage tag, among other things. Standing near the cache, we decided to up the adventure ante and turn off the lights. The level of darkness that followed was astounding. Truly pitch black. Satisfied, we turned back and picked our way down the winding path, retrieving our markers as we went. As we exited the tunnel, the daylight was blinding in comparison to the cool depths of the rock cavern. My friend and I thanked our geocaching buddies (whose names, despite the encounter we shared, I regret I didn't even ask for), returned their flashlight and headed home. Incredibly refreshed from our spontaneous adventure, I might just start geocaching myself. I encourage anyone young or old to do the same. You don't have to venture down mineshafts to find a cache; there are GPS coordinates for all abilities. In addition to the token you plan to leave in the cache, don't forget to pack the same safety equipment you would on any hike and let someone know where you're going, as you never know where your adventure will lead. Kelsey Verboom

// kelsey@vueweekly.com

Sites like geocaching.com and geocachingedmonton.com are good places to get started in geocaching.

w w w. w h i te h o r s e fe s t i va l s. c a

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

THE GREAT OUTDOORS 37

THE GREAT OUTDOORS // GRAVITY RIDING

Ride like a girl

Four-day mountain bike retreat inspired by women

Cat Sass's "Ride the Enlightening" retreat // Bobbi Barbarich

queue of 10 armoured women scattered through cedar trees watch in awe and admiration as a rider swiftly drops a sandy steep gnarled with scraggly roots, deftly flows over two kickers, and guides the bike into a quick left turn. A shock of blonde hair spills out the back of her full-face helmet as she glides to a stop. Some of the women watching jump on their bikes to try the section. After all, if pro gravity rider Lorraine Blancher can do it, maybe they can too. It's day two of "Ride the Enlightening," a four-day mountain bike retreat run by Cat Sass, a Nelson, British Columbia-based "femaleinspired" adventure company. The retreat takes place in September at Retallack backcountry resort in the Selkirk Mountains, about 30 kilometres west of Kaslo. It's the lodge's first ever women's gravity camp. Canadian downhill champion Blancher, 34, aims to teach women how to ride like a girl. Early on the retreat's first morning, owner Cat Sass, retreat creator Galena Pal, 28 and I are standing in the Retallack lodge kitchen, sipping a spinach, ginger and berry smoothie. Spry women wearing spandex lounge pants, colourful tops and a post-yoga glow saunter past the kitchen door as Pal explains the reason why Cat Sass chose to put on this retreat: be-

38 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

cause inspiration for women in malefavoured downhill riding is elusive. "Ride the Enlightening" is designed to allow them to shred, replenish and relax together. "Women like to learn from each other, and balance is important to women," explains Pal. "We don't often get the opportunity to balance a hardcore sport with healthy nutrition, yoga or spa treatments." Women like Pal are filling a cavernous niche in the mountain-biking market: gravity riding for women, with coaching by world-class women, bookended with restorative elements women enjoy. This combination is drawing women who were lost in the testosterone-dominated market of a few years ago. I filter into the dining room for breakfast with Pal and the rest of the retreat participants. Blancher is there too, eager to discuss where women fit in the downhill riding market. Seated at the expansive wood table, Blancher turns toward the crew who is ready to soak in some inspiration. "I want to see more females sending it," Blancher pronounces over delectable fresh granola. A rider for the past 19 years, Blancher is an outspoken advocate and coach for female gravity riders. She coaches at Whistler's Summer Gravity Camps, she is sponsored by several companies, including Race Face, FOX and Special-

Women don't necessarily relate to men doing backflips over canyons. What women do relate to is common among the species: pleasure. ized, and she won the World Master's DH in 2006. "If we see men hucking cliffs, women tend to say, 'He's a guy.'" Twelve heads nod in agreement. Case in point: flip through a mountain-bike magazine and count the number of female riders on one hand, if any. Scan gravity riding websites and the female frame is virtually absent. Glance at a bike advertisement, and it's probably not a woman.

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

When mountain biking began, women didn't have many choices in the late '80s and '90s. Mountain biking was initiated by guys, and girls tended to learn from their brothers or their boyfriends, but rarely from other women. They had no alternative to learning the justsend-it approach that men used. At the turn of the century, however, women like Candace Shadley

started offering women-specific camps. Now the technical director of mountain biking for Cycling BC, Shadley founded the Dirt Series in 2001, recognizing the female mind learns differently than the male one. The enormously popular weekend camp, currently sponsored by Trek, teaches over 1000 women per season. The camp's instruction is analytical, structured and supportive, with immediate feedback at each stage to inspire confidence. "Women want more explanation," CONTINUED ON PAGE 42 >>

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS 39

THE GREAT OUTDOORS // JASPER

The spring transition Jasper's shoulder season far from slow

s the last dregs of winter trickle away for another year and the heat of summer is anticipated, mountain getaways to Jasper may not be an obvious recreation choice, but the spring shoulder season is one of its best kept secrets. The height of winter and summer is the favoured travel time for tourists, but the spring shoulder season is hardly a dead zone for the town. "Usually people think of April as a transition month, because it's a transition everywhere else, but we have that prolonged sort of winter activities season because we're in the mountains," says Maggie Davison, CEO of Tourism Jasper. "April is still very much a winter activities month. Once you start moving into May, it really becomes spring for us." Marmot Basin, one of Jasper's biggest winter attractions, is still running at full steam thanks to record snowfall, and won't be closing down for the season until May 6, which has had a positive ripple affect for tourism. The total snowfall accumulation is 584 centimetres and counting, which beats the current record set in 1998 when Marmot received 542 cm. Lindsey Benson with Marmot Basin marketing and communications says it's still very much winter as far as the ski hill is concerned, and that they couldn't have asked for a better season. "We've seen lots of people are excited about the snow," she says. "Edmonton and a lot of the surrounding area hasn't had that much of a winter, so we found lots of people have come up to the mountains to get a taste of winter because they miss the changing seasons." To wrap up the exceptional season, Marmot will be hosting the Second Annual Aloha Cup race on Saturday, April 21. Benson adds that on the last weekend of the season, Marmot will be hosting the Final Beach Party Shakedown. Davison says think winter until May 6 when Marmot closes, but views spring as an amazing time to be in Jasper, particularly for those who want to avoid the crowds once things take off for the summer, or for those who simply can't wait any longer to take advantage of the outdoors. "You'll see some of the more ardent mountain bikers and hikers and people out her in early May, and certainly the bird watchers and certainly those who like to connect with nature," Davison says. Terry Winkler, resource management and public safety specialist with Parks Canada explains that as the spring thaw begins, the snow in the valley bottom melts first, which attracts wildlife in search of vegetation, such as elk, deer, moose and bighorn

40 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Adventure lives here. See it? It's right over there

sheep. Subsequently, this concentration of herbivores can also attract predators. "Some of the park elk and deer have learned to use the town of Jasper or areas where there are lots of people as a predator protection area because wolves and coyotes are less likely to

mountains with the melting snows," Winkler explains. Winkler adds that it is always important to remember that animals are wild, even though species like deer may appear tame at times. He advises safely viewing wildlife from a vehicle and to keep a distance of 50 to 100

Some of the park elk and deer have learned to use the town of Jasper or areas where there are lots of people as a predator protection area.

enter those areas to hunt," Winkler says, adding that this means park visitors have a good chance of seeing wildlife in and around the town. Bears also become active again as they surface after a long winter hibernation. First on their list is a trip to the valley bottom to feed on new vegetation, as well as animals that have died or are weakened from the long winter. They eat primarily vegetation, but mid-May until the end of June also brings elk calving season, which offers bears and other predators a source of protein. Winkler notes that elk can be particularly aggressive at this time as they are trying to protect their babies. "As the season moves more into summer, many of the animals disperse more throughout the park and follow green up as it moves up the

metres if visitors are outside. Pets should also be kept on a leash. Bears can be unpredictable in the spring and Winkler cautions visitors to avoid a mother bear with cubs. Visitors taking advantage of the hiking trails should be aware of carrion or winter-killed animals, which can attract a predator trying to protect its food source. They should also maintain an awareness of their surroundings for any signs of wildlife to avoid surprising an animal, which can result in aggressive behaviour. In addition to hiking and biking along the trails and a chance to spot wildlife, the shoulder season also provides an opportunity to take advantage of a variety of tours. Paul Hardy, owner and general manager of Sun Dog Tours, says the extended ski season has made the transition period into the spring and summer a shorter

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

one and agrees that it's one of the best times to be in Jasper. While some of the winter attractions are no longer available, Hardy says visitors can participate in local sightseeing tours, tours up the Maligne Valley and half-day rail tours. The summer schedule of tours kicks of the last week of April. "They just see so many diferent things right now because there is still snow on the ground and they see the transition of the seasons," Hardy says. "We're doing our wildlife viewing tours starting every day the last week of April." Hardy notes that the spring shoulder season brings in a different kind of traveller than the peak summer or winter months. With children still being in school, he sees more independent travellers, as well as local Albertan tourists. "I would say our international traffic has been off somewhat, but it definitely has been filled in by the regional market," he says. "There's so many new Albertans that are dying to see the Rockies." Davison says the international tourism traffic picks up in May and June, but crowds don't become overwhelming. She adds that businesses in town use slower months to prepare for the busy summer rush. "Our businesses are sort of organized to manage the peaks and valleys, excuse the pun, of our visitation

season," she says. "Our store owners are pretty well equipped as far as flipping from winter to summer by May and it's a great time to come in and get those early finds." Ken Kuzminski, president of Jasper Chamber of Commerce, says there's been an effort in recent years to lessen the shoulder season and its impact on tourism and the local economy. The organization has partnered with Tourism Jasper to bring in new events and entertainment to local venues as a way to draw visitors during transition months. The Chamber of Commerce has also been working with the Grand Alberta Economic Region to market the whole corridor between Jasper and Edmonton in an effort to increase tourism. Kuzminski says they've also focused on bringing in new demographics of tourists, such as the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community with Jasper's very own pride weekend, and some local businesses continuing pride events throughout the year. "It's just one more community to branch out to," he says. "I think we're reaching out to all sorts of different non-traditional communities. With the India and China economies being what they are and being a preferred tourism destination for China now, businesses are having to reach out and learn what that clientele wants and how we can best suit their needs." meaghan baxter

//meaghan@vueweekly.com

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VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

THE GREAT OUTDOORS // ENVIRONMENT

THE GREAT OUTDOORS // ZIPLINES

Get in touch with nature and take care of your world

Alberta has the continent's fastest zipline

Green-tinted adventure N

ow that the weather seems to have finally settled on the fact that it's spring and has (mostly) stopped reverting back to winter, it's time to get outside and enjoy the outdoors. Getting outside is an inevitable part of spring, but it's important to keep in mind how these activities are affecting the environment. Obviously, recycling is a no-brainer, but how often do things like plastic water bottles actually make it into a recycle bin? Not as often as they should. "I think the first thing for all of us is utilizing reusable water bottles, preferably stainless steel or ceramics," says Ken Fiske, vice president of tourism and special events with the City of Edmonton, noting the incredible financial savings that also comes with ditching store-bought bottled water. "A big chunk of it is recyclable, but still, the more environmentally conscious we are as consumers, that just makes life better for all of us." Joanne Barwise, an education program coordinator with the Alberta Conservation Team, says they are trying to get Albertans to commit to one simple act, and one could be

participating in Take Back the Tap. She notes that Alberta, with the exception of a few communities, is a province where water is healthy and buying bottled water is not necessary. "I compare it to a dripping tap. One drip doesn't make much of a difference, but you get drip after drip, and in a million homes it makes quite a bit of difference," she adds. Fiske adds that, despite the hearty terrain in the city, it's important to stay on trails to avoid erosion and damage to the vegetation and soil surrounding them, which takes a great deal of time to heal. If there's enough damage, Fiske adds, the vegetation may not grow back at all. He also urges pet owners to pick up after their pets and for people out and about to do their part and make sure garbage, even if it's not their own, makes it into a garbage bin. Beyond keeping the environment clean and limiting environmental impact by lowering carbon emissions and respecting natural vegetation, Barwise says reconnecting with nature is extremely important, particularly for urban residents.

"I think that's our biggest flaw in our society is we're not connecting," she says, adding that this connection also comes with having a sense of pride for your surroundings. "Just go to a park and listen to the birds ... just become aware of your surroundings. We've lost that connection." There's no concrete solution to regaining this connection. Barwise says discovering it is dependent on each person finding their own way in which nature speaks to them or offers a sense of rejuvenation. "We do a lot of tip sheets—do this, do this, do this—it really comes down to what inspires you and motivates you ... people aren't generic," she notes, adding it's all about finding what you love and going in that direction. "I think we have to look at this in a new way. We're afraid environmentally, or we think the world's going to come crashing down, and maybe it will, maybe it won't, but what's one thing you can do within your own power? That's the only way we can do this, is to be connected with our beautiful planet." meaghan baxter

// meaghan@vueweekly.com

Zip zip! Zipline at the Park WinSport Canada 403.247.5452 winsportcanada.ca

here are no shortages of ziplines to be found around this neck of the woods. Still, I was surprised to discover that the fastest one in North America has been right here in Alberta at Canada Olympic Park (COP) since 2007. Unlike most ziplines which are part of a canopy tour, Zipline at the Park is unique in that it is purely an adrenaline line that runs down a one-inch cable wire, tells Zipline at the Park manager JD LeBlanc. The sight of COP’s towering ski jump alone makes the safety training and Zipline orientation at the start of the tour a no-brainer. At the 50-metre-long Short Track, which has a vertical drop of five metres, we learn how to brake. At a minimum speed of 20 kilometres per hour, this run feels like a leisurely drive through the neighbourhood. A shuttle bus takes us to the ski jump where we take the elevator 105 m up to the ski-jump tower. This is the Monster Line: the second and main run that begins at the highest

RIDE LIKE A GIRL

<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 38

Shadley explains over the phone from her home in Whistler. "They want more answers, repetition and assurance. It's important for us to be comfortable and to have options. It's very different to be told I have to do something versus if I choose to do it. Women want choices." Since the inception of these weekend skills camps, female participation has proliferated and the exponential growth curve—as women who take these camps move on to teach their friends—is swelling and flowing downhill, so to speak. Female networking has also changed the sport. Shadley notes, "I teach a guy how to go off a jump; he's happy, says thanks and rides away. A woman will be so thrilled she's nearly crying. She'll ride to the lift, ooze about it to all her friends, and they'll talk about it all day. Then they go home and post it on Facebook ... They become their own inspiration." Shadley laughs lightly at her Facebook statement, but is serious about her role, and the role her peers play in promoting mountain biking for women. The difference is in relating: women don't necessarily relate to men doing backflips over canyons. What women do relate to is common among the species: pleasure. Whether that comes from flying off a stunt or getting a face massage, girls want to feel

42 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

point in Calgary. The nerve-wracking anticipation of going down this 500-metre-long run with a possible maximum speed of 140 km/h is not much different from the feeling one gets before taking the plunge down the Sky Screamer at West Edmonton Mall’s Waterpark. The tiny parachutes that we’re provided do well to ease the nerves. The parachutes aren’t mandatory for this activity and aren’t part of the braking mechanism, notes LeBlanc. They’re more for guest satisfaction, so that riders can slow down and get an idea of where the braking point is. I accidentally let go of my parachute just as I go down the run. The relaxing ride feels like I’m floating on air. The tour ends with the Plaza Plunge, a 220-metre-long run with a vertical drop of 26 m and minimum speed of 50 km/h. With trees in sight, this run is most reminiscent of canopy tour ziplines. The rapid speed coupled with a spectacular view of Calgary as one slides down from the ski jump tower makes Zipline at the Park a must-do activity for adrenaline junkies visiting COP. Kristina de Guzman

// kristina@vueweekly.com

good, and feeling good comes with balance. Beer and wings in sweaty shorts with the boys is only one way to balance an adrenaline ride. But as Shadley says, women like choices. On the final day of camp, the morning yoga session stretches and centres our pelvises, an energizing smoothie nourishes aching thighs and the pre-ride skills review reminds us how to improve our upcoming descent. The 15-passenger van rollicks over Retallack's narrow, snaking roads to reach Pressure Drop, the latest masterpiece by Kootenay trailbuilding guru Riley MacIntosh. There's an excited din in the back of the van as we discuss why the retreat's format—balancing adrenaline with rejuvenation—works. It's a conversation that Pal has heard many times, and it's what inspired her to combine all the missing elements in a typical female riding experience. By the end of the four-day event, the group leaves better balanced and empowered to ride, knowing they marked an important milestone: they were part of the first all-female helidrop on Nelson's signature descent, Powerslave. From Toad Mountain's 2200-metre summit, the Slave's 14 kilometres are full of brake-burning steeps, beautiful wood structures and knee-knocking rock. And every single woman in the group rode every little bit of it—like a girl. Bobbi Barbarich

// bobbi@vueweekly.com

The Northern Rockies are calling you — make 2012 the year you answer. Mountain Biking – Camping – Hiking – Quadding – Fishing Canoeing – Festivals – Horseback Riding

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

THE GREAT OUTDOORS 43

outdoors insider

Jeremy Derksen // jeremy@vueweekly.com

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Returning to nature is in our nature, but too often we stray

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Airport terminals, with their secured gates and forced human interactions, fascinate and annoy me. On a recent trip I watched as strangers were processed en route to unknown adventures, trying to quell my frustration at the constant lineups, the paranoia and the excess. But it seemed everywhere I turned, there were oversized children in strollers being wheeled around like babies. Not two or threeyear-olds, kindergarten-age kids. I've made no secret of my dislike for coddling, laziness and general lack of natural, outdoors experiences in our society. It seems we're raising bigger and bigger babies. This space has been my vehicle for advocating a different lifestyle in my own community. And so it is with a touch of sadness that I must now desert a column I created and nurtured for nearly five years, as well as the accompanying blog I wet-nursed this past year. But I am hopeful that this theme has gained its own legs in Edmonton and will continue on without me. It's been my good fortune over my tenure to meet smart, dedicated Edmontonians who are working hard to engage this community in the outdoors through organizations like 5 Peaks Northern Alberta, Edmonton Bicycle Commuters, the Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance, River Valley Alliance, the local chapter of the Alpine Club of Canada, Snowseekers, Eager Beaver Adventures, Backside Tours, the Waskahegan Trail Association, Edmonton Wildlife Rehabilitation Society, the Canadian Ski Patrol System Edmonton Section, the City of Edmonton and many more. Leading these organizations and within

them are bright people who get the necessity of natural interaction and sustainability, and the key link between the two: activity. As we spiral further into the virtual gratification trap and away from the real world, idleness is the greatest threat to our survival. "There is a beast in these woods ... a growling, snarling, nashing creature called complacency," begins the film "The Wolf and the Medallion." In The Nature Principle, Richard Louv chronicles this disturbing trend and its negative, demoralizing effects on our society, and then proposes a solution: "Restoring nature while we restore ourselves ... creating new natural habitats where they once were or never were, in our homes, workplaces, schools, neighbourhoods, cities, suburbs and farms." He goes on to describe this as "the power of living in nature— not with it, but in it." As adults and leaders, we must model this solution. New generations must take up active, natural living if they are to find real fulfilment, not just temporary, screen-generated gratification. It is in service of this cause that, despite investing way more effort and time than the pay ever justified, I will be sad to depart this soapbox, self-indulgent though it sometimes was. I once wrote that I had unwittingly discovered Edmonton to be a city of adventure. I still believe this. And though I am off to new adventures in Jasper, it is my hope that Edmontonians will keep seeking out and championing adventures in the real world. As long as you do, Edmonton, you'll have my heart. V

MUSIC

LIVE MUSIC

APR. 2021 DOUG STROUD APR. 23 MICHAEL CLARKE APR. 25 DUFF ROBINSON APR. 2728 ANDREW SCOTT edmontonpubs.com

ON THE RECORD

EDEN MUNRO // EDEN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Living the punk life

Lindi Ortega hits the road with Social Distortion Fri, Apr 20 (7 pm) Lindi Ortega With Social Distortion, the Toadies Edmonton Event Centre, $39.50 If one were to try to pin a sound on Lindi Ortega, it might be easiest to say that she's a little country and a little punk. Or maybe it's just that she defines the spirit of outlaw country in the same way that Social Distortion does, strumming down-home chords that are distinctly her own while bridging the metaphorical canyons that divide musical tastes. Whatever it is, Ortega does her country thing on her latest album, Little Red Boots, and will be showing off a little punk attitude on tour opening for Social D. Ortega recently let Vue in on the making of Little Red Boots. How long did it take to make Little Red Boots, from the initial songwriting through to the end of the recording? LINDI ORTEGA: Well, four of the songs were to be on an album that was supposed to be released with Interscope Records, but when I parted ways with them, I decided to take those four songs, redo them slightly and go in a more rootsy/country direction. The remaining eight songs, about seven of them were written in about a sixmonth period, while one of them, "Fall Down or Fly," was a song I had written a few years prior. The bulk of the record was recorded over three days in Toronto.

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VUE WEEKLY:

VW: When you were writing the songs,

did you come at them in a particular way? Lyrics first? Music first? LO: I have no set way of writing songs. Sometimes it's lyrics that come before music, sometimes its the other way around ... and every so often they come at the same time as I'm sitting down and strumming a guitar. Did you take the songs to the recording sessions fully formed, or were they sketches that were then filled out by the band? LO: They were written all on the guitar. We didn't change the arrangement or structure of the songs. In saying that, I didn't write the parts for the other players, I wanted them to play what they felt when listening to the acoustic versions of the songs. I just explained to them the sort of vibe I was looking for and since most of those guys have an understanding of the type of music I was trying to make they naturally and instinctually came up with great parts for my songs. VW:

Lindi Ortega. Little red boots not shown // Lindi Ortega VW: What were the recording sessions

like for this album? Did you record as a band live off the floor or did you piece it together one track at a time? Why? LO: Most of it was live off the floor. We wanted to try and capture the essence of a live recording. I could see the drummer, the bass player and the guitar player from my vocal booth. It added to the energy and intensity of the songs. It feels very unnatural for me to record a song with a band and not have them in the room with me. I prefer to meet them and see them and vibe with them as much as possible. What did producer Ron Lopata bring to the recording? LO: Ron is amazing! I told him what kind of record I wanted to make and he totally understood my direction. I always like how Ron captures my voice, he seems to find a good sweet spot on the recordings I do with him. We worked together intensely for a while so he really understood my voice and how it needed to be showcased in a recording. I also got to have his excellent organ and piano playing skills on my record, which was a real bonus! VW:

Were there any other songs written that were left off the album? LO: Typically there are, I think, with any album. Some songs just didn't fit with this particular record, so we axed them. VW:

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How did you decide which songs to include on the album? Did you have an idea of what you wanted the record to be when you started, or did the finished shape emerge as the writing and recording went along? LO: We all pretty much knew the direction we wanted the album to take—the songs all just kinda worked together. The ones that didn't work kinda stuck out as not fitting so we just didn't use them. VW:

If you were to trace the musical map that led you to Little Red Boots, what would it look like? LO: Ha ha, I'm not sure. I mean, my journey has been an evolutionary processes. It might look more like an evolutionary chart where a piano morphs into a guitar and I go from a bottle blonde wearing white like an angel to brunette in black that looks like she's going to a funeral ... in little red boots. V VW:

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

APR 20 & 21

Neil Macdonald

APR 27 & 28

the salesmen

In Sutton Place Hotel #195, 10235 101 Street, EDMONTONPUBS.COM

MUSIC 45

46 MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

PREVUE // COAST TO COAST

Said the Whale probably get a pretty decent following from that. But for us, we had to leave Vancouver, and to do so, I mean, yeah, you're covering a lot of ground, so staring at the land is something that comes with the territory."

No, really, what did the whale say?

Wed, Apr 25 (7 pm) Myer Horowitz Theatre, $18

o linger on the spread of geography that runs across our country— cresting Rocky Mountains to reflective Great Lakes, yellow prairie cropfields to the blanket, white-winter snowfalls that curtains the whole place for half the year—is, really, another way to pointing out that Canada is really fucking wide, and none are more acutely aware of this than the touring bands who have crisscross it in vans, trying to eke enough gas money out of gigs to get through the long drives between populations. But even among those, few reflect as much of that geography back into their music

as Vancouver's Said the Whale. Canadian locales and imagery (that is the full, multi-faceted spread of images) frequent the band's spacious, layered take on energetic arty pop with the almost same frequency that human interactions do. "I think maybe the geographical influence could be a part of being a Canadian band, and especially a west coast Canadian band, because in order to tour our country, the first thing we have to do is cross the rockies," explains vocalist/guitarist Tyler Bancroft, on the phone while passing through Toronto as the band heads west. "I think maybe bands from Ontario, y'know, you could be a band for a year, and just tour around Ontario, and

Little Mountain, the title of the band's just-out third album, pulls double duty as both the name of the neighbourhood that the band's members live in, grounding its third album within the sentiments of home, and, more expansively, being transmutable to a wider landscape. Little Mountain's specific to them, but could just as easily reference some tiny peak around countless other North American cities. As the band's scope expands—this tour will take it through the US, and over to the UK as well—Bancroft sees that relatability as both a conscious choice and an important one. "We chose the name Little Mountain because it's a place name in North America that's fairly common, and so we could sorta make the point that even though we're pointing out specific geographical locations in a lot of the songs, the storytelling behind the songs should still be able to resonate with people."

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// paul@vueweekly.com

PREVUE // STRING MASTER

Pavlo

Fri, Apr 20 (8 pm) With Luke McMaster and Sofie Serafino Winspear Centre, $37 – $47

uitar virtuoso Pavlo has come full circle with the release of his ninth full-length album, Six String Blvd, going back to his instrumental roots and incorporating a multitude of sounds gathered from around the world. The Indian sitar, Portuguese guitarra, Chinese erhu and Arabic flute are examples of such instruments that find their way onto Pavlo's latest release and are a testament to the consistant evolution of his sound over his 14-year independent career. Pavlo is content operating outside the scope of a record company as it has allowed him to maintain complete creative control of his music. "I truly write from my heart and I write from my experiences. I write from my emotions and that's what I want to keep doing for the rest of my life, writing music that means something to me," he says. "If it means something to me, I'm hoping that it's going to mean something to somebody else." In the early years of his career, he sought out record labels, but was met with rejection. He was told he was too ethnic and that there was no market for his music, but rather than be discouraged, he now sees it as a positive

Pavlo: purveyor of multicultural sounds and wine lover

outcome for him as a musician. "I think there's something to be said about just sticking it through and not having a lot of money and having a lot of things that makes you become the person you become in the long run," he adds. Being independent has not hindered Pavlo's success at home in Canada or around the world. He performs more than 150 shows per year and at each, shares his love of music by giving away his guitar to a member of the audience. The idea stemmed from a childhood fantasy watching concerts put on by the likes of Eddie Van Halen and wishing he could have his guitar. "I haven't changed strings in years. I just play the guitar for one night and then I give it away, so every guitar's unique because it's only been played once by me," he says. "I guess it's this little boyish fantasy that came true to

me years later." Even if you're not one of the lucky recipients of a guitar at Pavlo's concerts, you can still own one of his guitars, thanks to the line of acoustics he's designed with the help of Jake Peters of Didsbury, AB. If you'd rather just kick back and enjoy the music, Pavlo has his own brand of wine called Pavlo Signature Reserve Maritage. While he doesn't claim to be any type of wine expert, he admits he's a wine lover and says the choice to produce it makes sense in terms of his music. "Mediterranean music, guitar music, drinking a glass of wine, I think that fits," he says of the wine, which is bottled by Mastronardi Estate Winery the north shore region of Lake Eerie, Ont. "It's a Bordeaux blend. Quite dry, fruity, with a little bit of zing to it."

TThe he aalbum b ffe ea t r s 13 tracks of of live ive Th eaatures 13 tracks liv p errformances fo ack JJohnson’s ohnson’ss b effit pe orr a ccess ffrom frro JJack be enefit it cconcert o c rt ffor or th the h K okuaa Hawaii Hawa Foundation. Fo da o . Ko

Meaghan Baxter

// meaghan@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

MUSIC 47

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48 MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 25, 2012

PREVUE // INDEPENDENT STREAK

The Jezabels

Wonders from Down Under

Thu, Apr 26 (8 pm) With Benjamin Francis Leftwich Starlite Room, $19.25

fter three EPs that launched them from Down Under stardom to international notoriety, Aussie four-piece The Jezabels is riding a wave of continuing success with the release of its debut fulllength, Prisoner. The commandingly dramatic disc, packed with intensity, imagination and emotion, is a unique culmination of sounds stemming from country to metal to pop to a little hip hop. Despite continued interest from major labels, the Jezabels maintain an independent streak. They have no label representation back home in Australia and are with indie label Dine Alone Records in North America. Lead singer Hayley Mary says the band recognizes that it's in the beginning stages in countries outside of Australia, and rather than put everything into a debut album and get pushed

to the back burner by a major label if it didn't do well, they chose to stick with the team that has been with them from the beginning. On this team is Sydney-based producer Lachlan Mitchell, who recorded the band's first demos and EP trilogy. "We have similar opinions, similar attitudes, similar tastes. His tastes are very broad, so they actually encompass all of our various tastes which is lucky because we all have such different tastes to each other," Mary says. "I think having someone not push or pull us in any particular direction, we noticed he had the ability to let us go where we wanted to with the songs and I think that really came out in the album." The paradox of Mitchell's musical background, which jumps between oldschool pop and his black metal band Nazxul, lent itself well to the dramatic polarities of Prisoner, as well as to those within the band. Keyboard player Heath-

er Shannon is classically trained, while drummer Nik Kaloper is a metal fan and guitarist Sam Lockwood favours organic country-folk. In the midst of the cacophony of ideas, the album's tracks vary in their sound and intensity, but still have a feeling of overall style that is distinctly the Jezabels. "You get melody and rhythm competing and you get a kind of energy coming out of that that I think benefits us to an extent. There's no one in the band that's ever just sitting back playing along and I think that's because we all have—without sounding cheesy—a passion for writing," Mary says, adding that this multitude of ideas comes with its own set of challenges. "I think sometimes we can clash with where we want a song to go, or where we think it should go, but in the end, I think we have this ideal that is the song, the unique purpose of the song, and you compromise." The thematic, conceptual element of Prisoner extends beyond the melodies and into the lyrics, which Hayley says are set out as a letter to a prisoner. Through observations of herself and those around her, she got a sense that people get tied down in things that stop them from being free. "We have a lot of theories about it and we focus a lot on our lack of freedom, I think, sometimes as individuals and as a society," she notes. "There's also kind of a switch in your head you need to switch to realize you need to feel deserving, or feel free to want your rights and your freedoms and your choices. It's a struggle; it's a personal struggle I have and I'm sure other people have it too." MEAGHAN BAXTER

// MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

PREVUE // SPRING FEVER

Jordan Klassen Mon, Apr 23 (8:30 pm) With Andy Shauf, Boreal Sons and Carmyn Joy Effa Wunderbar, $10

hink of it as a trailer for the feature presentation. Jordan Klassen's new EP, Kindness, gives fans a four-track preview of what could be expected on his upcoming full-length album Repentance. Once again using the changing seasons as inspiration, Klassen transitions out of the winter months and the lengthy thawing aftermath seen on his first two releases to the rejuvenation of spring. "I think that in kind of this weird holistic sense, seasons aren't even necessarily just exterior, they're not just geographical; they're also really personal," Klassen says. "I feel like people kind of go through this process of dying and being built up again, throwing away the things that are detrimental and incorporating new ideas and new thoughts and fresh creativity." The element of spring will be continued throughout Repentance through a sense of religious imagery that Klassen says is a depiction of the land repent-

Changing musical seasons

ing and changing. The album was also influeced by his developing interest in pop music in recent years. "In the past I've always written pretty melancholic, contemplative stuff and I've been listening to more pop music in the last couple of years and wanted to write more of a pop record, which I thought worked really well with the theme of spring as well," he adds. Some of Klassen's pop influences have stemmed from a lot of what he describes as "Internet bloggy stuff," including Pepper Rabbit and The Magician and the Gates of Love, a Vancouver-based band his friend is part of, whose Beach Boys, R&B-pop vibe was

an inspiration as he cultivated a more upbeat sound for his own music. Just as seasons are an interlude to the next, Klassen hopes Kindness can act as a bridge between his past musical ventures and where he's headed in the future. He keeps the listener in mind as he writes new material and wants to create a continuous story and a smooth transition from one record to the next. "As a musician, you're kind of a craftsperson as well. It's not just all about you," he explains. "You're still trying to communicate something to someone." MEAGHAN BAXTER

// MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

MUSIC 49

NEWSOUNDS

Ghibli Rare Pleasures (Old Ugly) ««««

That Rare Pleasures begins with its finest moment isn't so much a case of diminishing returns for what comes after as it is Ghibli stepping forward with confidence: "The Crows Fly Back After the Storm," a choppy, uplifting dance-jam, puts a gorgeous Diana Ross & the Supremes sample to dual use, making the most of its pophook's emotion and also using that for propulsion, deconstructing the vocals into part of the beat while flutes and horns blare around it. A similar pairing is at work elsewhere: with samples pulled from across YouTube, Rare Pleasures is 30 minutes of house dance tracks that never lose their hooks in the name of the beat or vice versa. From the lo-fi horn-led "Little Clique" to sex-jam closer "Richbaby," most wrap diva/soul vocals around a chopped-up groove and blast horn sections for added oomph. It's unpredictable from song to song, but in being so lets house music's usual throb carry some emotion and depth to it, too. A rare one indeed.

Boreal Sons Bedtime Briar (Independent) ««« Like a Lynchian dream, but one that comforts more than it confounds, Calgary's Boreal Sons let the four songs on the Bedtime Briar EP wind their way through rising and falling soundscapes, wandering in a cascade of slow guitar notes, grounding piano lines, atmospheric drumming and the occasional electric guitar riff. "Spin" travels its runtime with a sense of wonder—the whole thing's apparently an exploration of the imagined dream life of a dog—while more nuanced, darker influences slowly creep in as the EP progresses. By the time "Stop" finds a classical-feeling piano line to traverse (which carries over into closer "Stay"), it's inhabiting a different spirit of sorts: more melanchoic, but just as well executed. PAUL BLINOV

// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Boreal Sons play Mon, Apr 23 at Wunderbar (8:30 pm), $10, with Jordan Klassen.

PAUL BLINOV

// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Ghibli performs Fri, Apr 20 at Wunderbar (9pm), $8, with the Group Sound.

LOONIE BIN

«« PAUL BLINOV// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Patrick Watson, "Blackwind" "Don't try too hard / To catch the winds" Patrick Watson croons as he lets a swirl of string and sound sweep in slowly, coating his voice in a sombre whimsy. His own work here, slowly building into a forceful sonic environment, seems almost effortless, but the sheer volume of instruments implementing themselves around him hint at a growing command of scope and scale.

Beach House, "Lazuli" The first look at Beach House's follow-up to 2010's acclaimed Teen Dream is one of wonder: a digital-music-box riff builds a beat around itself just in time to have a downpour of dreamy vocals, hazy synths and guitar erupt over it at the 20-second mark. The kind of song that works just as well on a rainy day as on a sunny one.

SLIDESHOW NASHVILLE PUSSY SUN, APR 15 / PAWN SHOP

VUEWEEKLY.COM/SLIDESHOWS >> for more of JProcktor's photos

50 MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Michael Kiwanuka Home Again (Universal) Michael Kiwanuka is blessed with a soulful, strong voice that evokes soulful, jazz filled melodies intertwined with intricate instrumentals touched with a vintage '70s vibe. After the first couple of tracks, though, it feels like he loses momentum and begins simply singing the words nicely rather than feeling them. The result is that the latter portion of the album feels interchangeable and doesn't leave the listener with anything memorable. There's a lot of potential, but it feels like Kiwanuka is just playing it safe. MEAGHAN BAXTER

// MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

MUSIC NOTES

MEAGHAN BAXTER // MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Richard Eaton Singers/ Sun, Apr 22 (3 pm) Edmonton's only symphonic choir concludes its Perfect Pitch 60th anniversary season with GF Handel's Israel in Egypt. The 130 voice ensemble delves into the works of classical masters and contemporary composers. (Winspear Centre, $37)

SONiC Boom 2012 / Sun, Sept 2 (11:30 am) This year's lineup marks the Edmonton debut for Grammy-winning rockers Linkin Park, who will be joined by Incubus, Silversun Pickups, Young the Giant, Fun., The Joy Formidable, L.P., The Pack AD, Mutemath and a yet-tobe-determined SONiC Band of the Month fan choice. The SONiC Glee Club presale runs from Mon, Apr 23 at 10 am until Fri, Apr 27 at 10 pm. The public sale begins Sat, Apr 28 at 10 am. (Northlands Park)

Jazz and Reflections / Sun, Apr 22, Sun, Apr 29 and Sun, May 6 (3:30 pm) The spring session of the series, which is now in its 16th year, features the best in local jazz. Spring performances include the Audrey Ochoa Trio on Sun, Apr 22, the Sandro Dominelli Trio on Sun, Apr 29 and the Don Berner Trio on Sun, May 6. (Ritchie United Church, donations at the door)

Sarah Smith / Sun, Apr 22 (9:30 pm) The lead singer of Canadian rock band The Joys is striking out on her own for a Western Canadian tour in support of her single, "Shine Bright" and her debut solo album, which is set to be released this June. (On The Rocks)

James Struthers/ Tue, Apr 24 (9 pm) Success keeps on coming for the rising star from Winnipeg. He was selected as the Bell Media Emerging Artist for April 2012, with his song "What Are We Waiting For" put into rotation on Bell Media and CHUM radio stations across Canada. His Facebook page and YouTube channels have been blowing up with comments, and now, he's taking his music on the road for a national tour. Openers for his Edmonton show are Hello, Driver! and Ian Waddell. (Wunderbar, $5) V

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WITH ORIGIN, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, ROSE FUNERAL AND DIABHOLICO

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

MUSIC 51

MUSIC WEEKLY FAX YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO 780.426.2889 OR EMAIL LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM

DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3PM

THU APR 19 Accent European Lounge Geoff Wyenga, Ben Disaster (singersongwriters); 9:30pm11:30pm; no minors; no cover ARDEN THEATRE Arlo Guthrie’s Boys’ Night Out: Abe Guthrie, Krishna Guthrie, Gordon Titcomb, Terry Hall (drums) with Arlo Guthrie; 7:30pm; $50 Artery Mayday and the Beat Creeps, Swear by the Moon, James Renton; 8pm; $6 Blues on Whyte Kelly Richey Brittanys Lounge Kenny Hillaby hosts a jazz session night every Thu with Shadow Dancers, Maura and Jeanelle; no cover Café Haven–Sherwood Park Rebecca Lappa; 7pm CARROT Café Zoomers Thu afternoon open mic; 1-4pm Druid Irish Pub DJ every Thu at 9pm DV 8 Tavern The Mange, The Social Threat, White Beauty; 9pm Haven Social Club Magik Spells (alt), guests; minors; 8pm (door); $8 (adv)/$10 (door) J R Bar and Grill Live Jam Thu; 9pm Jeffrey's Café Sean Sonego (pop rock); $10 L.B.'s Pub Open jam with Kenny Skoreyko, Fred LaRose and Gordy Mathews (Shaved Posse) every Thu; 9pm-1am Lit Italian Wine Bar Celeigh Rose Cardinal; 8pm; no cover Marybeth's Coffee House–Beaumont Open mic every Thu; 7pm New City Legion Bingo is Back every Thu starting 9pm; followed by Behind The Red Door at 10:30pm; no minors; no cover New West Hotel Canadian Country Hall of Fame Guest host Bev Munro: Silverado (country) NORTH GLENORA HALL Jam by Wild Rose Old Time Fiddlers every Thu Pawn Shop D.O.A. (punk), The Dirtbags, Panik Attak, Rapid Loss; no Minors; 8pm (door) $12 (adv) Rexall Place Johnny Reid, Carolyn Dawn Johnson Richard's Bar Ruth Blais and friends; 8pm Ric’s Grill Peter Belec (jazz); most Thursdays; 7-10pm Sherlock Holmes– Downtown Duane Allen Sherlock Holmes– WEM AJ's Group Starlite Room The Dudes, guests; 9pm Wild Bill’s–Red Deer TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close Winspear Winspear Presents: Joel Plaskett Emergency, Frank Turner, The Scrappy Happiness Tour; 8pm; $27 at UnionEvents.com, Winspear Wunderbar Rebuild, Repair (EP release), Thoroughbred Racing Pigeon, Carl dor Breakfast; $5

52 MUSIC

Classical Muttart Hall Edmonton Classical Guitar Society; 8pm; $25 general, $20 student/ senior/member) at TIX on the Square, Avenue Guitars, Acoustic Music Shop, ADW Music (St. Albert), door

DJs Black dog Freehouse Main Floor: wtft w djwtf - rock 'n' roll, blues, indie; Wooftop Lounge: Musical flavas incl funk, indie, dance/nu disco, breaks, drum and bass, house with DJ Gundam Brixx High Fidelity Thu: Open turntables; E: kevin@starliteroom.ca to book 30-min set Century Room Lucky 7: Retro '80s with house DJ every Thu; 7pm-close Chrome Lounge 123 Ko every Thu THE Common So Necessary: Hip hop, classic hip hop, funk, soul, r&b, '80s, oldies and everything in between with Sonny Grimezz, Shortround, Twist every Thu

Bistro La Persaud Blues: every Friday Night hosted by The Dr Blu Band; 8pm (music); drblu. ca Blue Chair Café Raisin' Cain; 8:30pm; $10 Blues on Whyte Kelly Richey Brittany's Lounge Writer's in the Round: Scott Cook, Jesse D., Braden Gates; 9-11pm Brixx bar Early Show: The Ecstatics, guests, 7pm; Late Show: XoXo to follow (every Fri) CARROT Live music every Fri; all ages; 7pm; $5 (door) CASINO EDMONTON Shannon Smith CASINO YELLOWHEAD Stars Tonight Century Casino Prism; 7pm Cha Island Tea Co Live music on the Island; 9pm every Fri and Sat; donation Coast to Coast Open stage every Fri; 9:30pm CHROME LOUNGE Chi Ching Ching, Invinceable, Tnt, Spyce & Rocky, video by Hi-Rollerz.Com andn Nex-Century; $15 (adv) Devaney's Irish pub Doug Stroud

Crown Pub Break Down Thu at the Crown: D&B with DJ Kaplmplx, DJ Atomik with guests

DV8 Lysergik Funeral, Kop Out, Utopian Skank Practical Slackers

Druid Irish Pub DJ every Thu; 9pm

Eddie Shorts 420, Transista

electric rodeo– Spruce Grove DJ every Thu

Edmonton Event Centre Social Distortion (rock), The Toadies, guests; no minors; 7pm; $45 at Blackbyrd, TicketMaster

FILTHY McNASTY’S Something Diffrent every Thursday with DJ Ryan Kill FLASH Night Club Indust:real Assembly: Goth and Industrial Night with DJ Nanuck; no minors; 10pm (door); no cover FLUID LOUNGE Take Over Thursdays: Industry Night; 9pm FUNKY BUDDHA–Whyte Ave Requests every Thu with DJ Damian HALO Fo Sho: every Thu with Allout DJs DJ Degree, Junior Brown

Expressionz Café Uptown Folk Club: Open Stage; 6:30 pm (sign-up), 7pm FRESH START BISTRO live music every Fri; 7-10pm; $10 Good Neighbor Pub T.K. and the Honey Badgers every friday; 8:30-midnight; no cover Haven Social Club Aaron MacDonald (folk/ rock), guests; no minors 8pm (door); $10 (adv) Irish Club Jam session every Fri; 8pm; no cover

HILLTOP PUB The Sinder Sparks Show; every Thu and Fri; 9:30pm-close

Jeffrey's Café Jack Semple (acoustic blues); $35

KAS BAR Urban House: every Thu with DJ Mark Stevens; 9pm

Jekyll and Hyde Pub Headwind (classic pop/ rock); every Fri; 9pm; no cover

Level 2 lounge Funk Bunker Thursdays Lucky 13 Sin Thu with DJ Mike Tomas On The Rocks Salsaholic: every Thu; dance lessons at 8pm; salsa DJ to follow Overtime–Downtown Thursdays at Eleven: Electronic Techno and Dub Step rendezvous Metal night every Thu Taphouse–St Albert Eclectic mix every Thu with DJ Dusty Grooves Union Hall 3 Four All Thursdays: rock, dance, retro, top 40 with DJ Johnny Infamous Wild Bill’s–Red Deer TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close

FRI APR 20 ARDEN THEATRE Arlo Guthrie’s Boys’ Night Out; 7:30pm; sold out Artery 420 at The Artery featuring The McGowan Family Band, Krang; 9pm Atlantic Trap and Gill Pub Navigators, Derina Harvey Band; 8pm; $20/$25 (door)

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Level 2 lounge I Heart L2 Fridaze: 4:20, Isaac Amor, Michelle; 9:30pm Lizard Lounge Rock 'n' roll open mic every Fri; 8:30pm; no cover Morinville Community Cultural Centre Fiddle Fest: Calvin Vollrath; Old Time Dinner Dance: Country Swing featuring Calvin Vollrath (fiddle), Ray St Germain (guitar), Darryl Campbell (steel guitar), Ron “Oz” Danyluk (drums), Les Vincent (bass); 5:30pm; $30/$25 (senior/student) at tixonthesquare.ca, door New City F.O.A.D.: Lams Rehashed, Tarantuja, Mortillery, Messiahlator, Panik Attak; no minors; $10 (adv)/$12 (door) New West Hotel Silverado (country) On the Rocks Huge Fakers PAWN SHOP E-Town Beatdown, Villainizer, Unleash the Archers, These Colors Dont Run; 8pm; $12 at Blackbyrd Red Piano Bar Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Fri; 9pm2am

Rendezvous PUB Destrucktion; no minors; 8pm (door); $10 Rose and Crown Neil Macdonald Sherlock Holmes– Downtown Duane Allen Sherlock Holmes– WEM AJ's Group Transcend Café– Elevation Room Chris Tenz, Phil Dickau and Ryan Sowiak, Huckleberry, Martin Fireseed; all ages, licensed; 8pm (door); $7 Wild Bill’s–Red Deer TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close Wunderbar 420 Goth Rave with the Group Sound, Ghibli; 8:30pm; $8 Yardbird Suite Amy Cervini Quartet; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $18 (member)/$22 (guest) at Ticketmaster.ca

Classical Holy Trinity Anglican Church Early Music Alberta Festival, $110 (festival pass); Opening concert: Scona Chamber Singers (women) and the music of Hildegaard von Bingen, 8pm Muttart Hall–Alberta College Edmonton Classical Guitar Society: Berta Rojas (guitar); 8pm; $25/$20 (student/senior/ ECGS member) at TIX on the Square, Avenue Guitars, Acoustic Music Shop, ADW Music; $10 (12 and under) at the society, door only Winspear Centre Winspear Presents: Pavlo; 8pm

DJs BAR-B-BAR DJ James; every Fri; no cover BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Every Friday DJs on all three levels Blacksheep Pub Bash: DJ spinning retro to rock classics to current Boneyard Ale House The Rock Mash-up: DJ NAK spins videos every Fri; 9pm; no cover BUDDY’S DJ Arrow Chaser every Fri; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm Buffalo Underground R U Aware Friday: Featuring Neon Nights CHROME LOUNGE Platinum VIP every Fri THE Common Boom The Box: every Fri; nu disco, hip hop, indie, electro, dance with weekly local and visiting DJs on rotation plus residents Echo and Shortround The Druid Irish Pub DJ every Fri; 9pm electric rodeo– Spruce Grove DJ every Fri FILTHY McNASTY'S Shake yo ass every Fri with DJ SAWG FLUID LOUNGE Hip hop and dancehall; every Fri Funky Buddha–Whyte Ave Top tracks, rock, retro with DJ Damian; every Fri HILLTOP PUB The Sinder Sparks Show; every Thu and Fri; 9:30pm-close junction bar and eatery LGBT Community: Rotating DJs Fri and Sat; 10pm Newcastle Pub House, dance mix every Fri with DJ Donovan Overtime–Downtown Fridays at Eleven: Rock hip hop, country, top forty, techno Rednex–Morinville DJ Gravy from the Source 98.5 every Fri

RED STAR Movin’ on Up: indie, rock, funk, soul, hip hop with DJ Gatto, DJ Mega Wattson; every Fri Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge Fuzzion Friday: with Crewshtopher, Tyler M, guests; no cover Suede Lounge House, electro, Top40, R'n'B with DJ Melo-D every Fri Suite 69 Release Your Inner Beast: Retro and Top 40 beats with DJ Suco; every Fri Treasury In Style Fri: DJ Tyco and Ernest Ledi; no line no cover for ladies all night long Union Hall Ladies Night every Fri Vinyl Dance Lounge Connected Las Vegas Fridays Y AFTERHOURS Foundation Fridays

SAT APR 21 ALBERTA BEACH HOTEL Open stage with Trace Jordan 1st and 3rd Sat; 7pm-12 Ale Yard Tap & Grill Dawn in the City; 9:30pm Artery Cold/war/clash presents: Cygnets (alt/ electronic/rock), Energetic Action; no minors; 8:30pm (door); $10 (adv) Bailey Theatre– Camrose Camrose Country Opry; 7pm; $8 (door) Black Dog Freehouse Hair of the Dog: Chad Kichula (live acoustic music every Sat); 4-6pm; no cover Blatchford HangeR Rock and Roll Society of Edmonton: Rock the Fort with Who Made Who–The Ultimate AC/ DC Experience: Cold Feet and The Mary Thomas Band; 7pm-1am; $25 (adv)/$30 (door) at Edrocks. ca, Acoustic Music Shop, Myhre’s Music, On the Rocks Blue Chair Café Dead Stringers: Ben Sures, Chris Brzezicki, Cam Boyce; 8:30pm; $12 Blues on Whyte Every Sat afternoon: Jam with Back Door Dan; Late show: Kelly Richey Brixx Bar Jezzebell, Demon Republic, Night at the Chelsea; 9pm Café Coral De Cuba Cafe Coral De Cuba Marco Claveria's open mic (music, poetry, jokes); every Sat, 6pm; $5 CASINO EDMONTON Shannon Smith CASINO YELLOWHEAD Stars Tonight Cha Island Tea Co Live music on the Island; 9pm every Fri and Sat; donation Coast to Coast Live bands every Sat; 9:30pm Crown Pub Acoustic blues open stage with Marshall Lawrence, every Sat, 2-6pm; every Sat, 12-2am THE DISH NEK Trio (jazz); every Sat, 6pm DV8 Lavagoat, Feast of Fury, Shocker; 9pm Eddie Shorts Grave New World Expressionz Café Open stage for original songs, hosted by Karyn Sterling and Randall Walsh; 2-5pm; admission by donation Festival Place Crystal Shawanda; 7:30pm; $32 (table)/$30 (box)/$28 (theatre) at Festival Place box office FILTHY McNASTY'S SKA and the Jenie Thai Band; 4pm; no cover

The Gas Pump Saturday Homemade Jam: Two-Year Anniversary with Mike Chenoweth; 3pm Haven Social Club Andrew Scott (alt country), guests; $12 at Blackbyrd The hideout–Red Deer Jane Hawley and Myrol; 9pm HillTop Pub Sat afternoon roots jam with Pascal, Simon and Dan, 3:30-6:30pm; evening Hooliganz Live music every Sat Hydeaway Marleigh and Mueller (classic pop/jazz/ musical theatre); 8pm; 3rd Sat each month; $10 Iron Boar Pub Jazz in Wetaskiwin featuring jazz trios the 1st Sat each month; $10 Jeffrey's Café Jack Semple (acoustic blues); $35 Jekyll & Hyde–Basement Marleigh & Mueller; 8pm; $10 l.b.'s pub Sat afternoon Jam with Gator and Friends; 5-9pm Morinville Community Cultural Centre Fiddle Fest: Calvin Vollrath; Annual CD release party showcase from The Homecoming and Spring Creek: Calvin backed by the 7-piece Calvin Vollrath Orchestra and fiddlers Daniel Gervais, Patti Lamoureaux and Mark Sullivan; dance to follow; $30/$25 (senior/student) at tixonthesquare.ca, door

New West Hotel Country jam every Sat, 3-6pm; Late show: Silverado (country) O’byrne’s Live band every Sat, 3-7pm; DJ every Sat, 9:30pm On the Rocks Huge Fakers Pawnshop Kittie (metal), The Agonist, Blackguard, Bonded By Blood; $23 at Blackbyrd Queen Alexandra Community Hall Northern Lights Folk Club: Front Porch Review, Brent Parkin; 7pm (doors), 8pm (concert); $18 (adv adult)/$22 (door adult), at TIX on the Square, Acoustic Music, Myhre's; child 6-12 1/2-price (door)/free (child under 6) Red Piano Bar Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Sat; 9pm-2am Rose and Crown Neil Macdonald Sherlock Holmes– Downtown Duane Allen Sherlock Holmes–WEM AJ's Group Starlite Room Stone Iris (CD release), Random Falter, The Suppliers and the Whytes; 9pm studio music foundation Tramp Stamper,Crystal Mess, Knifefight; no minors; 9:30pm (music); $10

Transcend Coffee– Elevation Room J. Eygenraam ((CD release, folk/pop/rock), Liam Trimble, Simon Hoskyn Band; all ages; 8pm (door); $8 (adv)/$10 (door) Wunderbar The Mandates, Dead Voices, Allotropes; 8:30pm; $10 Yardbird Suite Elizabeth Shepherd Trio; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $18 (member)/$22 (guest) at Ticketmaster.ca

Classical Don’s Piano Showroom • 8 Riel Dr, St Albert • St Albert Chamber Music Recital Series: Bianca Baciu (piano), Frank Ho (violin); 7:30pm; $25,$20 at Don’s Piano Warehouse, Art Gallery of St Albert Holy Trinity Anglican Church Early Music Alberta Festival: Renaissance dance music reading session: recorders, oboe players and sackbuts welcome, with Bill Damur, 9:30-10:45am, $10, $5; Lecture: Urbs Orbis Miraculum, Venice–Miracle City of the World with Nadir Aslam, 11:15-12:30pm, $10, $5; Henry Gauci, (baroque flute), Timothy Shantz (tenor), Tammy-Jo Mortensen (harpsichord), 3pm, $15, $10; For sackbut players with Jon Helm, 4:30-5pm, $10, $5; Nadir Aslam (baroque violin), Josephine van Lier (baroque cello), Marnie Giesbrecht (harpsichord), 8pm

VENUE GUIDE Accent European Lounge 8223-104 St, 780.431.0179 ALE YARD TAP 13310-137 Ave ARTery 9535 Jasper Ave Avenue Theatre 9030-118 Ave, 780.477.2149 Bistro La Persaud 8617-91 St, 780.758.6686 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE 1042582 Ave, 780.439.1082 Blackjack's Roadhouse– Nisku 2110 Sparrow Drive, Nisku, 780.986.8522 Blacksheep Pub 11026 Jasper Ave, 780.420.0448 Blatchford Hanger Fort Edmonton BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ 9624-76 Ave, 780.989.2861 Blue Pear Restaurant 10643123 St, 780.482.7178 BLUES ON WHYTE 10329-82 Ave, 780.439.3981 Bohemia 10217-97 St Boneyard Ale House 9216-34 Ave, 780.437.2663 Brittanys Lounge 10225-97 St (behind Winspear stage door) Brixx Bar 10030-102 St (downstairs), 780.428.1099 BUDDY’S 11725B Jasper Ave, 780.488.6636 Café Coral De Cuba 10816 Whyte Ave café haven–Sherwood Park 9 Sioux Rd, Sherwood Park, cafehaven.ca CARROT Café 9351-118 Ave, 780.471.1580 Casino Edmonton 7055 Argylll Rd, 780.463.9467 Casino Yellowhead 12464153 St, 780 424 9467 Cha Island Tea Co 10332-81 Ave, 780.757.2482 CHROME LOUNGE 132 Ave, Victoria Trail Coast to Coast 5552 Calgary Tr, 780.439.8675 Common 9910-109 St Crown Pub 10709-109 St, 780.428.5618 Diesel Ultra Lounge 11845 Wayne Gretzky Drive, 780.704. CLUB Devaney’s Irish Pub 9013-88 Ave, 780.465.4834 THE DISH 12417 Stony Plain Rd, 780.488.6641 DRUID 11606 Jasper Ave, 780.454.9928 DUSTER’S PUB 6402-118 Ave, 780.474.5554 DV8 8307-99 St Early Stage Saloon– Stony Plain 4911-52 Ave, Stony Plain Eddie Shorts 10713-124 St, 780.453.3663 EDMONTON EVENTS CENTRE WEM Phase III, 780.489.SHOW ‎ Electric Rodeo–Spruce Grove 121-1 Ave, Spruce Grove, 780.962.1411 Elephant and Castle–Whyte Ave 10314 Whyte Ave Expressionz Café 9938-70 Ave, 780.437.3667 Festival Place 100 Festival Way, Sherwood Park, 780.449.3378

FIDDLER’S ROOST 8906-99 St FILTHY MCNASTY’S 10511-82 Ave, 780.916.1557 FLASH Night Club 10018-105 St, 780.996.1778 FLOW Lounge 11815 Wayne Gretzky Dr, 780.604.CLUB Fluid Lounge 10888 Jasper Ave, 780.429.0700 FUNKY BUDDHA 10341-82 Ave, 780.433.9676 Good Earth Coffee House and Bakery 9942-108 St Good Neighbor Pub 11824103 St HALO 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.423.HALO haven social club 15120A (basement), Stony Plain Rd, 780.756.6010 HillTop Pub 8220-106 Ave, 780.490.7359 Hogs Den Pub 9, 14220 Yellowhead Tr HOOLIGANZ 10704-124 St, 780.995.7110 Hydeaway 10209-100 Ave, 780.426.5381 Iron Boar Pub 4911-51st St, Wetaskiwin J AND R 4003-106 St, 780.436.4403 jeffrey’s café 9640 142 St, 780.451.8890 JEKYLL AND HYDE 10209-100 Ave, 780.426.5381 junction bar and eatery 10242-106 St, 780.756.5667 KAS BAR 10444-82 Ave, 780.433.6768 L.B.’s Pub 23 Akins Dr, St Albert, 780.460.9100 LEGENDS PUB 6104-172 St, 780.481.2786 LEVEL 2 LOUNGE 11607 Jasper Ave, 2nd Fl, 780.447.4495 Lit Italian Wine Bar 10132104 St Lizard Lounge 13160-118 Ave Marybeth's Coffee House–Beaumont 5001-30 Ave, Beaumont, 780.929.2203 Morinville Community Cultural Centre 9502-100 Av Morinville Muttart Hall Alberta College, 10050 Macdonald Dr Newcastle PuB 6108-90 Ave, 780.490.1999 New City Legion 8130 Gateway Boulevard (Red Door) Nisku Inn 1101-4 St NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House 11802-124 St, 780.451.1390, experiencenola.com NORTH GLENORA HALL 13535109A Ave O’BYRNE’S 10616-82 Ave, 780.414.6766 ON THE ROCKS 11730 Jasper Ave, 780.482.4767 O2's PUB 13509-127 St, 780.454.0203 Overtime–Downtown 10304111 St, 780.465.6800 PAWN SHOP 10551-82 Ave, Upstairs, 780.432.0814 Playback Pub 594 Hermitage Rd, 130 Ave, 40 St

Pleasantview Community Hall 10860-57 Ave Queen Alexandra Community Hall 10425 University Ave, 780.288.8111 REDNEX BAR–Morinville 10413100 Ave, Morinville, 780.939.6955 Red Piano Bar 1638 Bourbon St, WEM, 8882-170 St, 780.486.7722 RED STAR 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.428.0825 Rendezvous 10108-149 St Richard's Bar 12150-161 Ave, 780-457-3117 Ric’s Grill 24 Perron Street, St Albert, 780.460.6602 Robertson-Wesley United Church 10209-123 St Robert Tegler Student Centre 7128 Ada Blvd Royal Alberta Museum Theatre 12845-102 Ave, 780.453.9156 ROSEBOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE 10111-117 St, 780.482.5253 Rose and Crown 10235-101 St R Pub 16753-100 St, 780.457.1266 Second Cup–89 Ave 8906-149 St Second Cup–Sherwood Park 4005 Cloverbar Rd, Sherwood Park, 780.988.1929 • Summerwood Summerwood Centre, Sherwood Park, 780.988.1929 Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge 1292397 St, 780.758.5924 Sportsman's Lounge 817050 St STARLITE ROOM 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099 STEEPS TEA LOUNGE–Whyte Ave 11116-82 Ave Suede Lounge 11806 Jasper Ave, 780.482.0707 Suite 69 2 Fl, 8232 Gateway Blvd, 780.439.6969 Taphouse 9020 McKenney Ave, St Albert, 780.458.0860 Transcend Coffee– Elevation Room 10349 Jasper Ave Holy Trinity Anglican Church 10037-84 Ave Treasury 10004 Jasper Ave, 7870.990.1255, thetreasurey.ca TWO ROOMS 10324 Whyte Ave, 780.439.8386 Unitarian Church of Edmonton 108034-119 St Vee Lounge, Apex Casino–St Albert 24 Boudreau Rd, St Albert, 780.460.8092, 780.590.1128 Vinyl Dance Lounge 10740 Jasper Ave, 780.428.8655, vinylretrolounge.com Wild Bill’s–Red Deer Quality Inn North Hill, 7150-50 Ave, Red Deer, 403.343.8800 Winspear Centre 4 Sir Winston Churchill Square; 780.28.1414 WUNDERBAR 8120-101 St, 780.436.2286 Y AFTERHOURS 10028-102 St, 780.994.3256, yafterhours.com Yellowhead Brewery 10229105 St, 780.423.3333 Yesterdays Pub 112, 205 Carnegie Dr, St Albert, 780.459.0295

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

MUSIC 53

Jubilee Auditorium Beethoven's Fidelio: Edmonton Opera, director Brian Deedrick; 7:30pm

TEMPLE Oh Snap! Oh Snap with Degree, Cool Beans, Specialist, Spenny B and Mr. Nice Guy and Ten 0; every Sat 9pm

Robert Tegler Student Centre Concordia Ringers and Jubiloso! Bells of Concordia: Debbie Rice (conductor); 7:30pm; $12/$10 at TIX on the Square, Concordia Student Accounts, door

Union Hall Celebrity Saturdays: every Sat hosted by DJ Johnny Infamous

Unitarian Church of Edmonton Capital Cabaret: Edmonton Vocal inority, EKO Singers, Schola Cantorum Gay Men's Chorus, hosted by Kristy Harcourt and Julie Lloyd; 7:30pm; $15/$12

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: The Menace Sessions: Alt Rock/Electro/ Trash with Miss Mannered; Wooftop: Sound It Up!: classic hip-hop and reggae with DJ Sonny Grimezz; Underdog: Dr. Erick Blacksheep Pub DJ every Sat Boneyard Ale House DJ Sinistra Saturdays: 9pm BUDDY'S Feel the rhythm every Sat with DJ Phon3 Hom3; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm Buffalo Underground Head Mashed In Saturday: Mashup Night Druid Irish Pub DJ every Sat; 9pm electric rodeo–Spruce Grove DJ every Sat FILTHY McNASTY'S Fire up your night every Saturday with DJ SAWG Fluid Lounge Scene Saturday's Relaunch: Party; hip-hop, R&B and Dancehall with DJ Aiden Jamali FUNKY BUDDHA–Whyte Ave Top tracks, rock, retro every Sat with DJ Damian HALO For Those Who Know: house every Sat with DJ Junior Brown, Luke Morrison, Nestor Delano, Ari Rhodes junction bar and eatery LGBT Community: Rotating DJs Fri and Sat; 10pm LEVEL 2 LOUNGE HUFM Saturdaze: with residents Marzetti, Grizlee Dubs, guests, Rezidnt Funk, Shafraaz D; 9:30pm Newcastle Pub Top 40 requests every Sat with DJ Sheri New City Legion Polished Chrome: every Sat with DJs Blue Jay, The Gothfather, Dervish, Anonymouse; no minors; free (5-8pm)/$5 (ladies)/$8 (gents after 8pm) Overtime–Downtown Saturdays at Eleven: R'n'B, hip hop, reggae, Old School Palace Casino Show Lounge DJ every Sat PAWN SHOP Transmission Saturdays: Indie rock, new wave, classic punk with DJ Blue Jay and Eddie Lunchpail; 9pm (door); free (before 10pm)/$5 (after 10pm) RED STAR Indie rock, hip hop, and electro every Sat with DJ Hot Philly and guests ROUGE LOUNGE Rouge Saturdays: global sound and Cosmopolitan Style Lounging with DJ Rezzo, DJ Mkhai Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge Your Famous Saturday with Crewshtopher, Tyler M

Vinyl Dance Lounge Signature Saturdays Y AFTERHOURS Release Saturdays

SUN APR 22 Beer Hunter–St Albert Open stage/jam every Sun; 2-6pm Blackjack's Roadhouse–Nisku Open mic every Sun hosted by Tim Lovett Blue Chair Café Sunday Brunch: Shaun McDonald; 10:30am2:30pm; donations Blue Pear Restaurant Jazz on the Side Sun: 6pm; $25 if not dining Caffrey's–Sherwood Park The Sunday Blues Jam: hosted by Kevin and Rita McDade and the Grey Cats Blues Band, guests every week; 5-9pm; no cover Century Casino Carroll Baker; 7pm Cha Island Tea Co Live on the Island: Rhea March hosts open mic and Songwriter's stage; starts with a jam session; 7pm DEVANEY’S IRISH PUB Celtic open stage every Sun with Keri-Lynne Zwicker; 5:30pm; no cover Double D's Open jam every Sun; 3-8pm Eddie Shorts Open stage with Dan Daniels every Sun FILTHY McNASTY'S Rock and Soul Sundays with DJ Sadeeq Hogs Den Pub Open Jam: hosted; open jam every Sun, all styles welcome; 3-7pm The Hydeaway Sunday Serve Us: The Burning Streets, Bango an deMan, Hayley Morgan; 6pm; $5 Morinville Community Cultural Centre Fiddle Fest: Calvin Vollrath; Afternoon concert: hosted by Calvin featuring guest fiddlers across Canada; 2pm; $30/$25 (senior/student) at tixonthesquare.ca, door Newcastle Pub Sun Soul Service (acoustic jam): Willy James and Crawdad Cantera; 3-6:30pm NEW CITY LEGION DIY Sunday Afternoons: 4pm (door), 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 8pm (bands) O’BYRNE’S Open mic every Sun; 9:30pm-1am On the Rocks Sarah Smith O2's PUB Open stage hosted by the band the Vindicators; 4-8pm every Sun Richard's Bar Sun Live Jam hosted by Carson Cole; 4pm TWO ROOMS Live Jam every Sun with Jeremiah; 5-9pm; no cover; $10 (dinner)

Suede Lounge House, electro, Top40, R'n'B with DJ Melo-D every Fri

Wunderbar Gab'n and The Long Blonde Skeletons, Viking Fell, Scenic Route To Alaska; 8:30pm; donation

Suite 69 Stella Saturday: retro, old school, top 40 beats with DJ Lazy, guests

Brewery Open Stage: Every Sun, 8pm

54 MUSIC

Yellowhead

Classical Holy Trinity Anglican Church Early Music Festival Alberta: The Baroque Violin–a Masterclass: Nadir Aslam, (baroque violin), 11am Winspear Centre Israel in Egypt: Richard Eaton Singers, Catherine Abele, Erika Vogel (soprano), Rebecca Claborn, (alto), Timothy Shantz (tenor), Michael Kurschat, Mark Wilkonson (baritone), Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Len Ratzlaff (conductor); 3pm

DJs BACKSTAGE TAP AND GRILL Industry Night: every Sun with Atomic Improv, Jameoki and DJ Tim BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Soul Sundays: A fantastic voyage through '60s and '70s funk, soul and R&B with DJ Zyppy FLOW Lounge Stylus Sun SAVOY MARTINI LOUNGE Reggae on Whyte: RnR Sun with DJ IceMan; no minors; 9pm; no cover

MON APR 23 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Sleeman Mon: live music monthly; no cover Blues on Whyte Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames Devaney's Irish Pub Singer/songwriter open stage every Mon; 8pm DV 8 Tavern Begrime Exemious, Messiahlator, Cryptician; 5:30pm New West Hotel Trick Ryder (country) PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Acoustic instrumental old time fiddle jam every Mon; hosted by the Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers Society; 7pm Richard's Pub Mourning Wood; 7pm Rose Bowl/Rouge Lounge Acoustic open stage every Mon; 9pm Wunderbar Jordan Klassen, Andy Shauf, Boreal Sons, Carmyn Joy Effa; 8:30pm; $10

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Blue Jay’s Messy Nest: mod, brit pop, new wave, British rock with DJ Blue Jay; UnderDog: Voting is Sexy Election Party, Democracy Bingo, Thank You for Voting Choose Your Gender Kissing Booth, Snacks, 8pm Crown Pub Mixmashitup Mon Industry Night: with DJ Fuzze, J Plunder (DJs to bring their music and mix mash it up) FILTHY McNASTY'S Metal Mondays with DJ Tyson Lucky 13 Industry Night every Mon with DJ Chad Cook NEW CITY LEGION Madhouse Mon: Punk/ metal/etc with DJ Smart Alex

TUE APR 24 Blues on Whyte Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames Brixx Bar Ruby Tuesdays guest with host Mark Feduk; guests: Julie Adams and Sara Isabel; $5 after 8pm Druid Irish Pub Open stage every Tue; with Chris Wynters; 9pm

L.B.’s Tue Blues Jam with Ammar; 9pm-1am New City Trusty Chords Tuesdays: Jake Ian, Ayla Brooks and Sean Brewer, Stuart Hoye and Joel Prefontaine; $5 (door) New West Hotel Trick Ryder (country) O’BYRNE’S Celtic jam every Tue; with Shannon Johnson and friends; 9:30pm Padmanadi Open stage every Tue; with Mark Davis; all ages; 7:30-10:30pm Pawn Shop Whiskey Tuesday: Our Sound Machine (rock/tropical), guests; 8pm; $5 R Pub Open stage jam every Tue; hosted by Gary and the Facemakers; 8pm Richard's Pub Mourning

Wood; 7pm Red Piano All request band Tuesdays: Joint Chiefs (classic rock, soul, R&B) every Tue Second Cup– Summerwood Open stage/open mic every Tue; 7:30pm; no cover Wunderbar James Struthers, Hello, Doctor!, Ian Waddell; 8:30pm; $5 Yardbird Suite Tue Night Sessions: Jazz Passages Trio; 7:30pm (door), 8pm (show); $5

Classical Jubilee Auditorium Beethoven's Fidelio: Edmonton Opera, director Brian Deedrick; 7:30pm Robert Tegler Student Centre Jubiloso! Bells of Concordia and Concordia Ringers; 7:30pm; $12 (adult)/$10 (student/ senior) at TIX on the Square, Concordia Student Accounts, door

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: alternative retro and not-so-retro, electronic and Euro with Eddie Lunchpail Buddys DJ Arrow Chaser every CRown Pub Live Hip Hop Tue: freestyle hip hop with DJ Xaolin and Mc Touch DV8 Creepy Tombsday: Psychobilly, Hallowe'en horrorpunk, deathrock with Abigail Asphixia and Mr Cadaver; every Tue NEW CITY LEGION High Anxiety Variety Society Bingo vs. karaoke with Ben Disaster, Anonymouse every Tue; no minors; 4pm3am; no cover RED STAR Experimental Indie Rock, Hip Hop, Electro with DJ Hot Philly; every Tue Red Piano All Request Band Tuesdays: Classic rock, soul and R&B with Joint Chiefs; 8pm; $5 Suite 69 Rockstar Tuesdays: Mash up and Electro with DJ Tyco, DJ Omes with weekly guest DJs

WED APR 25 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Glitter Gulch: live music once a month Blues on Whyte Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames

eddie shorts Good Time Jamboree with Charlie Scream; Every Wed Elephant and Castle–Whyte Ave Open mic every Wed (unless there's an Oilers game); no cover Fiddler's Roost Little Flower Open Stage every Wed with Brian Gregg; 8pm-12

JONESIN'CROSSWORD MATT JONES // JONESINCROSSWORDS@vueweekly.com

"Who's in Charge Here?"—four who should be

Good Earth Coffee House and Bakery Breezy Brian Gregg; every Wed; 12-1pm HAVEN SOCIAL Club Open stage every Wed with Jonny Mac, 8:30pm, free HOOLIGANZ Open stage every Wed with host Cody Nouta; 9pm Myer Horowitz Said the Whale, guests; 7pm (door); $18 at Blackbyrd, Unionevents.com, Primeboxoffice.com New West Hotel Free classic country dance lessons every Wed, 7-9pm; Trick Ryder (country) Nisku Inn Troubadours and Tales: 1st Wed every month; with Tim Harwill, guests; 8-10pm Playback Pub Open Stage every Wed hosted by JTB; 9pm-1am PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Acoustic Bluegrass jam presented by the Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society; every Wed, 6:30-11pm; $2 (member)/$4 (nonmember) Red Piano Bar Wed Night Live: hosted by dueling piano players; 8pm-1am; $5 Richard's Bar Latin Band Salsabor on stage every Wed; 9pm Second Cup–149 St Open stage with Alex Boudreau; 7:30pm Wunderbar The Reverend Uncle Bastard, Motherussia, 1971, Rusty; 8:30pm

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: RetroActive Radio: Alternative '80s and '90s, post punk, new wave, garage, Brit, mod, rock and roll with LL Cool Joe Brixx Bar Really Good... Eats and Beats: every Wed with DJ Degree and Friends BUDDY'S DJ Dust 'n' Time every Wed; 9pm (door); no cover The Common Treehouse Wednesdays Diesel Ultra Lounge Wind-up Wed: R&B, hiphop, reggae, old skool, reggaeton with InVinceable, Touch It, weekly guest DJs FILTHY McNASTY'S Pint Night Wednesdays with DJ SAWG FUNKY BUDDHA–Whyte Ave Latin and Salsa music every Wed; dance lessons 8-10pm LEGENDS PUB Hip hop/ R&B with DJ Spincycle NEW CITY LEGION Wed Pints 4 Punks: with DJ Nick; no minors; 4pm3am; no cover

Cha Island Tea Co Whyte Noise Drum Circle: Join local drummers for a few hours of beats and fun; 6pm

NIKKI DIAMONDS Punk and ‘80s metal every Wed

Crown Pub The D.A.M.M Jam: Open stage/original plugged in jam with Dan, Miguel and friends every Wed

TEMPLE Wild Style Wed: Hip hop open mic hosted by Kaz and Orv; $5

RED STAR Guest DJs every Wed

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

Across 1 Plenty of 6 Coffeehouse drink 10 Post your thoughts online 14 Hit the town 15 "Get ___" 16 Hawaiian island where much of "Lost" was filmed 17 Room under a roof 18 WWI spy ___ Hari 19 Mufasa, for one 20 Big shot overseeing metamorphoses? 23 Brother of Michael and Jermaine 24 Buenos Aires' loc. 25 Dunking Ming 27 Big shot in the flexible straw industry? 34 ___ Domani wine 36 Big berry 37 "La Traviata" composer 38 Fend (off) 40 Cuba or Curacao: abbr. 41 Bartender on "The Love Boat" 42 Stuck in the microwave 43 Title role for Jodie Foster 45 Plus-size model born Melissa Aronson 46 Big shot in charge of locksmiths? 49 Nincompoop 50 Genetic messenger material 51 Five, in France 53 Big shot in the salad factory? 59 Guilty or not guilty 61 Furniture giant 62 Spotted laugher 63 Brazen 64 D.C. team 65 Fencing swords 66 Hot month 67 Watches closely 68 Income, in Paris Down 1 "Jumpin' Jack Flash, it's ___..." 2 Women's rights activist Lucretia 3 Arby's side item 4 He wears green and eats mushrooms 5 "I could go on and on" 6 Actress Gertz of "Twister" 7 Cracked open a smidge

8 Take to the polls 9 Genesis album that looks like a rhyme scheme 10 Meat sauce 11 Grizzly hideaway 12 "I'm onto your scheme!" 13 "Bop ___" (Parliament song) 21 Qatar's capital 22 Roman fountain 25 Kind of question with a 50/50 answer 26 Go on the fritz 28 Cupcake topper 29 Prop for Bob Ross 30 Girl, in Grenoble 31 Everything's always about her 32 Dutch cheeses 33 Jasmine and basmati 35 Heat 'n' eat 39 Patsy's "Absolutely Fabulous" friend 44 Shoe string 47 Nobel Prize-winning novelist ___ Gordimer 48 Be indecisive 52 Semiconductor variety 53 "___ no, we won't go" 54 Just fine 55 Party 56 Scottish miss 57 Technology website now owned by CBS Interactive 58 Effortlessness 59 Sandwich with the crusts cut off 60 Reed or Rawls ©2012 Jonesin' Crosswords

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

CLASSIFIEDS To place an ad Phone: 780.426.1996 / Fax: 780.426.2889 Email: classifieds@vueweekly.com 130.

Coming Events

Edmonton Meals on Wheels is asking for all high school students to submit original soup recipes for their "I Love Homemade Soup" recipe contest. One winner will have his/her recipe as a soup du jour which will be enjoyed by all EMOW recipients. Submit entries by April 30th. 2012 emow@mealsonwheelsedmonton.org

Fax 780-424-5561 or call 780-429-2020

Edmonton Music Collectors Show Sunday, April 22: 10 AM - 4PM Sherbrooke Community Hall (13008 122 Ave) Northern Alberta's premiere event for buying, selling and trading: rare, vintage, and collectible vinyl: music-related memorabilia, CDs, DVDs, books and apparel: sheet music and guitar tab: audio equipment: and all things music-inspired! EIGHT MINUTE DATE 9 yr Anniversary Speed Dating Event. $30 Special Price, Wed. April 25 at 300 Club Lounge. Age groups: 19-29, 29-39, 39-49 & 49-59. Register by Calling 780-457-8535 or www.eightminutedate.ca

EXPOSED - New work by Jeffrey Dekker Local artist celebrates his first solo art show by showcasing his illustration work from 2011. April 21 & 22 from 9am to 5pm 10235 124st for more information or to view the artist's work please visit: www.jeffreydekker.com "Show Your Purse-sonality" Londonderry Mall Guest Services will be collecting gently used purses during the month of April, with all purses being donated to non-profit,Suit Yourself. The goal is to collect 250 purses and all donations will be on display until April 30th. For each purse donated, guests will receive an entry form to win prizes, including a purse a month for a year!

1600.

Volunteers Wanted

Are you looking for an opportunity to present your ideas to an audience of over 500 people? Edmonton's NextGen is currently accepting presentation submissions for Pecha Kucha Night 13, tentatively scheduled for late May/ early June. For more information please visit www.edmontonnextgen.ca Deadline for submissions is May 1st, 2012 ATB Financial Classic looking for volunteers Visit www.atbfinancialclassic.com for more details Become an International Children's Festival Volunteer! Volunteer Orientation Wednesday, May 2nd 2012 7pm - Arden Theatre All volunteers must be at least 12 years of age and willing to commit to at least three shifts during the course of the Festival. For more information, call the Volunteer Information Line at 780-459-1522 or visit www.childfest.com Canada's premier Surf Rock, Reggae and Roots Music celebration - The 3rd Annual Open Sky Music Festival takes place from June 8 - 10, 2012. Volunteers needed! Want to be a part of this great event? Please email the Volunteer Coordinator on our website : www.openskymusicfestival.com Environmental News Radio Needs You! Terra Informa is an environmentally themed radio news show that is syndicated across Canada. We are run by volunteers and we need more help! No experience necessary! We will provide you with all necessary training. Curious? Contact us at terra@cjsr.com, terrainforma.ca or call Steve at 780-432-5566

1600.

Volunteers Wanted

Experience Community Hand's On! Habitat for Humanity requires volunteers for various builds in Edmonton and Surrounding Areas! Beginners to trades people welcome! We provide everything you need to work, including lunch! You provide your time, energy and heart. No minimum number of shifts. Visit www.hfh.org & contact Kim at 780-451-3416 ext 223 or ksherwood@hfh.org Exposure is looking for volunteers to assist with the planning and execution of it's annual festival. Email: volunteer@exposurefestival.ca for more information Oh Yah! Shake it Baby! The Edmonton Latin Festival is recruiting Volunteers. www.edmontonlatinfestival.com 780-800-3277

P.A.L.S. Project Adult Literacy Society needs volunteers to work with adult students in: Literacy, English As A Second Language and Math Literacy. For more information please contact (780)424-5514 or email palsvolunteers2003@yahoo.ca

RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS NEEDED Online Sexual Solicitation Study! Are you 18-25 years old and have experiences online sexual solicitation between the ages of 12 and 16? If you would be willing to "tell your story" in confidence, please contact Sylvia at speske@ualberta.ca

1600.

Volunteers Wanted

Volunteers needed to "Make Fun" at the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival. Experience being a volunteer on the world stage! Visit our website to apply online www.edmontonstreetfest.com, or call Liz Allison-Jorde at 780-425-5162 (Volunteers must be at least 14 years of age) Volunteers Wanted Walk to Fight Arthritis is looking for event day volunteers for June 10th at Laurier Park. To register please visit: www.walktofightarthritis.com

2001.

Acting Classes

FILM AND TV ACTING Learn from the pros how to act in Film and TV Full Time Training 1-866-231-8232 www.vadastudios.com Los Angeles Director, Tom Logan In Edmonton, Apr 27, 28, 29 World famous Acting for Film & TV. Seminars Space Limited Call 780-975-7022

2003.

Artists Wanted

Art Walk 2012 is looking for gifts for their volunteers! We are collecting small art works, prints and cards to give as "Thank You" gifts to our wonderful volunteers. Please contribute (if you can) by bringing a small item with you on registration day (March 3rd @ The Paint Spot). We will promote these items as perks to attract more volunteers. Interested in Volunteering? Email: artwalkartpages@hotmail.com

2003.

Artists Wanted

Feature Artists - 2013 Call for Entries The Allied Arts Council of Spruce Grove is now accepting applications for our 2013 Feature Artists. For more information go to www.alliedartscouncil.com or phone the Spruce Grove Art Gallery at 780-962-0664 The McMullen Gallery is seeking proposals for April 2013 - March 2014. We are seeking accomplished artists with proven exhibiting experience, to present solo and group exhibitions in our busy gallery. For more information please visit www.friendsofuah.org or call 780-407-7152

2005.

Artist to Artist

CALL FOR METAL ARTISTS The Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Westaskiwin, Alberta will be hosting it's first annual Metal Art Show and Sale on September 29 and 30, 2012. We're inviting artists who primarily work with metal to display and/or sell their work at our museum during Alberta's Culture Days weekend. For details please visit: www.visualartsalberta.com Harcourt House Arts Centre is currently accepting submissions for our 2012/2013 Artist in Residence. For proposals to be considered submission packages must be submitted in by May 31, 2012. For more information please visit www.harcourthouse.ab.ca or call Brittney Roy at 780-426-4180 New Cuban dance group looking for female dancers! Experience with Cuban dance styles required - especially Salsa. For more information please contact Leonardo at leoglezd@gmail.com

2005.

Artist to Artist

Highlands Street Festival - Call for Vendors Highlands Street Festival is looking for artists to show their work at this year's festival, Sunday June 3rd from 10am 5pm. Showing table - $20 Selling table - $40 *Electricity not available, vendors must provide their own table,chairs and canopy For more info please visit: http://bit.ly/yuDq9m VISUALEYEZ Canada's Annual Performance Art Festival -Call for ProposalsThe Thirteenth annual Visualeyez festival of performance art happens from September 10 16, 2012, exploring on the curatorial theme of loneliness. Deadline for submissions is April 27, 2012 For submission details please visit: www.visualeyez.org

2010.

Musicians Available

Drummer looking to join metal or hard rock band. Double kick, 12 yrs exp, 8 yrs in Edmt indie band, 7 albums, 250 live shows, good stage presence, dedicated, catch on quick, no kids, hard drug free. 780.916.2155

2020.

Vaughn Dalgliesh was a valued friend in dark times. $50 reward for anyone who can put me back in touch. Al & Karl Calihoo: Never forgotten; love to hear from you. Steve Winter cublea@cyberlink.ca

2100.

Guitarists, bassists, vocalists, pianists and drummers needed for good paying teaching jobs. Please call 780-901-7677

Auditions

Auditions for Pro Coro Canada One of Canada's foremost professional choirs is looking for individuals to join the choir ensemble. Auditions with Michael Zaugg take place between April 26 and April 29th at the Alberta College Conservatory of Music. Please contact the Pro Coro office to arrange your audition. 780-420-1247

2200.

Massage Therapy

RELAX AND LET GO Therapeutic massage. Appointments only. Deena 780-999-7510

Musicians Wanted

Experienced drummer & singer/songwriter to start original hard rock band. Jam space/ PA would be an asset...we're coming out of our self imposed hiatus! If interested please call 587-520-9598

Musicians Wanted

If you would like to showcase your band on the Northside and have your fans come out to see you for free, please contact TK & The Honey Badgers at 780-752-0969 or 780-904-4644 for interview. Fan minimum is 20 people.

5150. Rooms/Room & Board Furnished room Whyte Ave. New Bed. Female preferred, $695/mo.$350 DD. May 1st or sooner. Own bathroom - Awesome View! 780-299-9547

Volunteer facilitators needed to lead programs for people with arthritis. Call The Arthritis Society 1-800-321-1433

COMING TO EDMONTON

MAY 46 NORTHLANDS EXPO CENTRE

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A truly Inspirational and Life Changing Weekend! Admission $15 per day $35 Weekend

Show Hours Friday 3-10 Saturday 10-9 Sunday 11-6

www.BodySoulSpiritExpo.com 1-877-560-6830

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

BACK 55

ADULTCLASSIFIEDS

9420.

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To place an ad PHONE: 780.426.1996 FAX: 780.426.2889 / EMAIL: classifieds@vueweekly.com

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Happy Hour Every Hour! Crissy - Gorgeous blue-eyed California Barbie. Very busty, tanned and toned. Mae-Ling - Sweet and sexy, Chinese Geisha doll with a slender figure. Candy - Petite, busty, bilingual African princess. Claire -Tall,slim, sophisticated, playful brunette Faith Extremely busty flirtatious blonde, that will leave you wanting more. AhanaDelightful, petite, naturally busty, blue-eyed brunette specializing in fetishes Mercedes - Exotic, sexy, young Puerto Rican sweetheart, busty with green eyes. Angelika - 5'11" Busty Russian runway model Kasha - Girl next door, naturally busty, European cutie. Monica - Slim, busty, caramel, Latina beauty. Jewel - Playful, energetic brown-eyed brunette with curves in all the right places. Carly - Tall, busty, European cutie. 9947 - 63 Ave, Argyll Plaza www.passionsspa.com

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19): You had to take the test before you got a chance to study more than a couple of the lessons. Does that seem fair? Hell, no. The good news is that this test was merely a rehearsal for a more important and inclusive exam, which is still some weeks in the future. Here's better news: The teachings that you will need to master before then are flowing your way. Apply yourself with diligence. You have a lot to learn, but luckily, you have enough time to get fully prepared.

(Apr 20 – May 20): Let's see if you know what these exquisitely individuated luminaries have in common: Salvador Dali, Martha Graham, Stephen Colbert, David Byrne, Maya Deren, Malcolm X, Tina Fey, Sigmund Freud. They are or were all Tauruses. Would you characterize any of them as sensible, materialistic slowpokes obsessed with comfort and security,

TAURUS

56 BACK

as many traditional astrology texts describe Tauruses? Nope. They were or are distinctive innovators with unique style and creative flair. They are your role models as you cruise through the current phase of maximum self-expression. GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20): In December 1946, three Bedouin shepherds found a cave with a small entrance. Hoping it might contain treasure hidden there long ago, they wanted to explore it. The smallest of the three climbed in and brought out a few dusty old scrolls in ceramic jars. The shepherds were disappointed. But eventually the scrolls were revealed to be one of the most important finds in archaeological history: the first batch of what has come to be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Keep this story in mind. I suspect a valuable discovery may initially appear to you in a form you're not that excited about.

ROB BREZSNY // FREEWILL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

(Jun 21 – Jul 22): The devil called together a committee meeting of his top assistants. Recruitments of people born under the sign of Cancer had fallen far below projected totals. The dark lord fumed. "Those insufferable Crabs have been too mentally healthy lately to be tantalized by our lies. Any suggestions?" His marketing expert said, "Let's redouble our efforts to make them buy into the hoax about the world ending on December 21, 2012." The executive vice-president chimed in: "How about if we play on their fears about running out of what they need?" The chef of intelligence had an idea, too: "I say we offer them irrelevant goodies that tempt them away from their real goals."

CANCER

(Jul 23 – Aug 22): "If you don't run your own life, someone else will," said psychologist John Atkinson. Make that your motto in the com-

LEO

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

ing weeks. Use it as a prod that motivates you to shed any laziness you might have about living the life you really want. Periodically ask yourself these three questions: Are you dependent on the approval, permission, or recognition of others? Have you set up a person, ideology, or image of success that's more authoritative than your own intuition? Is there any area of your life where you have ceded control to an external source? VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sep 22): Here are the last words that computer pioneer Steve Jobs spoke before he died: "OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW." I'd love to hear random strangers exclaiming it every time they realize how amazing their lives are. I nominate you to start the trend. You're the best choice, since your tribe, of all the signs of the zodiac, will most likely have the wildest rides and most intriguing adventures in the coming weeks.

(Sep 23 – Oct 22): A starfish that loses an arm can grow back a new one. You are entering a starfishlike phase of your cycle. Far more than usual, you'll be able to recover parts of you that got lost and reanimate parts of you that fell dormant. For the foreseeable future, your words of power are "rejuvenate," "restore," "reawaken," and "revive." If you concentrate really hard and fill yourself with the light of the spiritual sun, you might even be able to perform a kind of resurrection.

LIBRA

SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21): Too much of a good thing isn't necessarily good. (Have you ever hyperventilated?) Too little of a good thing can be bad. (Have you ever gotten dehydrated?) Some things are good in measured doses but bad if done to excess. (Wine and chocolate.) A very little of a very

CONTINUED ON PAGE 57 >>

COMMENT >> ALT SEX

Defying the stereotype

Edmonton is more open to sexual diversity and kink than we let on Edmonton has a strange reputation for when the community starts to speak out being a conservative town. In the heart of we listen. We fully respect and appreciate "redneck" Alberta as we are, people, somethe viewpoints being expressed by several times even those who live here, assume folks in the community. After all, I think that we must be sexually repressed. I am there are upwards to 80 churches within often asked how I manage to sura very small region and that speaks vive in the sex-toy industry in to the strong morals and values conventional old Edmonton of the residents here." and I find myself constantly In early March, CanWest m o eekly.c @vuew explaining that we are actureversed the decision and brenda Brendear scheduled a new show, citally a thriving hotspot for the Kerb sexually open and adventurous. ing overwhelming support from Now, I have some proof to back me other members of the community who up. CanWest productions has decided to wanted the show to stay. So Taboo will hold a second Taboo Naughty but Nice happen in Abottsford, but not without its sex show in our fair city. We are the only share of controversy and complaint. city in their entire roster of Western Canadian shows that stretches from Winnipeg But in conservative old Edmonton, not to Vancouver, where they have chosen to only are people not complaining, but they do two shows in one year. are coming to the show in such numbers If this seems unremarkable, contrast it that CanWest wants to do another one. with CanWest's experience in AbbottsMarnie Parsons, director of the Taboo ford. The show there was cancelled after shows said they've never had any comsome very vocal residents complained plaints from Edmontonians or negative that a sex show does not represent the press. "It has always been well received in values of their community. Although CanEdmonton," she said, "That's why there's a West's president, Peter Kidell, explained second one. Edmonton has always been that their decision to cancel had to do a great city for us and is busy enough to in part with their inability to acquire the have a second one." roaming liquor license they wanted, comI asked Marnie if she has noticed any munity pressure played a major role as distinguishing characteristics about the well. In a statement issued by Canwest, Edmonton audience. "Actually, it's really Kidell said, "As a show producer of our the same people in each city." She said, size and diversity, we have a responsibil"It's diverse in every city. We have white ity to be a good community partner and collar and blue collar, alternative and not

LUST E LIF

FOR

FREEWILL ASTROLOGY << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 56

bad thing may still be a bad thing. (It's hard to smoke crack in moderation.) The coming week is prime time to be thinking along these lines. You will generate a lot of the exact insights you need if you weigh and measure everything in your life and judge what is too much and what is too little. (Nov 22 – Dec 21): Sculptor Constantin Brancusi had a clear strategy as he produced his art: "Create like God, command like a king, work like a slave." I suggest you adopt a similar approach for your own purposes in the coming weeks. With that as your formula, you could make rapid progress on a project that's dear to you. So make sure you have an inspiring vision of the dream you want to bring into being. And then summon enormous stamina, fierce concentration, and unfailing attention to detail as you translate your heart's desire into a concrete form.

SAGITTARIUS

(Dec 22 – Jan 19): "If there is one door in the castle you have been told not to go through, you must," writes novelist Ann Lamott, "Otherwise, you'll just be rearranging furniture in rooms you've already been in." I think the coming weeks will be your time to slip through that forbidden door. The experiences that await you on the other side may

CAPRICORN

alternative at each show." I would beg to differ. I've been at the Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer shows for the past few years and I've noticed a distinct difference that's quite remarkable considering the geographical closeness. Edmonton crowds feel much more diverse, with a lot more people openly identifying themselves as queer and/or kinky. The range of expression through dress is much wider than in other cities—I've seen everything from dress suits to assless chaps. I see that in the other cities as well, but I see so much more of it in Edmonton. I know that there are kinky, queer and generally out-of-the-box people everywhere, but it seems that in Edmonton we are proud of it and not afraid to show it. The Edmonton crowd is also more open to talking about sex. I have many more detailed conversations with people about their sexual needs and interests than I do in the other cities. Edmontonians are curious about sex and interested in exploring. I guess that's why we are having a second Taboo show when other communities fight over having just one. The show runs from April 19 to 22 at the Shaw Conference Centre. V Brenda Kerber is a sexual health educator who has worked with local not-for-profits since 1995. She is the owner of the Edmonton-based, sex-positive adult toy boutique the Traveling Tickle Trunk.

not be everything you have always needed, but I think they are at least everything you need next. The biggest risk you take by breaking the spell is the possibility of losing a fear you've grown addicted to. AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18): When rain falls on dry land, it activates certain compounds in the soil that release a distinctive aroma. "Petrichor" is the word for that smell. If you ever catch a whiff of it when there's no rain, it's because a downpour has begun somewhere nearby, and the wind is bringing you news of it. I suspect that you will soon be awash in a metaphorical version of petrichor. A parched area of your life is about to receive much-needed moisture.

(Feb 19 – Mar 20): Forty percent of Americans do not know that the dinosaurs died out long before human beings ever existed. When these folks see an old cartoon of caveman Fred Flintstone riding on a Diplodocus, they think it's depicting a historical fact. In the coming weeks, you need to steer clear of people who harbour gross delusions like that. It's more important than usual that you hang out with educated, cultured types who possess a modicum of well-informed ideas about the history of humanity and the nature of reality. Surround yourself with intelligent influences, please.

PISCES

VUEWEEKLY APR 19 – APR 25, 2012

BACK 57

COMMENT >> SEX

All about the butt The ins and outs of anal sex

I'm gay and a junior in high school, butt plug, and get yourself off with and I've had a boyfriend for a year. that butt plug in your ass. Exploring (He's one year older than me, Dan, anal penetration solo will allow you so relax!) We are out to our parents to experience anal pleasure without and everyone is supportive. We any pressure or expectations, are not bullied or suicidal TUSH. You can really take E SAVAG or using drugs. But we are your time and you won't frustrated! We had sex feel like you're disapm ekly.co vuewe @ education in our schools, pointing your boyfriend if e v lo savage but they didn't cover gay you have to bail. Dan Savage sex. (Big surprise!) I tried to Your boyfriend should do talk to my mom about gay sex, the same. I don't care if your and all she said was "please use conboyfriend is a top—or thinks he is, doms." We tried and we used conor is topping because you want to doms, but I think we must be doing bottom—your boyfriend will be a something wrong because we can't better top if he knows what it feels do it. We are ready to start having like to be penetrated and enjoys real gay sex—with me on the botpenetration himself. tom, at least for now!—and we are OK! So you've both done some frustrated and feel like failures as exploring on your own—jacked off gay men. Any advice? with fingers and toys—and there TELL US SOMETHING HELPFUL you are, just you and your boyPS: Do we really need to use confriend, hanging out. Your butts are doms? We are both virgins and each other's first boyfriend.

LOVE

You and your boyfriend aren't failing gayness, TUSH. Gay men and boys can be successes in life, in love, and in the sack without acing—or even enjoying—anal intercourse. Anal doesn't define you as gay men and it certainly isn't all there is to gay sex. There are so many ways that you and your boyfriend can get off together—mutual masturbation, oral sex, frottage (aka "wet humping")—that are just as pleasurable, just as "real," and just as gay as anal intercourse. But if you and your boyfriend want to give anal another go, TUSH, here's a crash course in anal sex-ed ... First, experiment on your own. Use fingers and toys and lots of lube. I recommend that you get your hands on a butt plug, get your ass on that

near your ass. Now you're ready to get fucked. You're going to need lots of lube, TUSH, and lots of patience. Have your boyfriend apply lube directly to your hole; he should gently rub your hole for a bit, to help it relax, before using a finger or two to push some lube just inside you; you can apply the lube to his dick. Move into whatever position feels most comfortable for you—him on top, you on top, face-to-face, doggy-style— and point the tip of his hard cock directly at your hole. He should apply some pressure: uniform, constant, gentle pressure. You'll feel your asshole begin to open as the head of his cock enters you. Keep breathing as the rest of his dick slowly—a fraction of an inch at a time—slides into you. Once he's all the way inside, TUSH,

Gay men and boys can be successes in life, in love, and in the sack without acing—or even enjoying— anal intercourse.

squeaky clean and, hey, you've got the house all to yourselves ... is it time to fuck? Not yet. Now you're gonna spend some time sticking fingers and toys in your butts and jerking off together. For extra credit, you can experiment with rimming, if you haven't already, as nothing relaxes anal sphincters quite so effectively. (Once more with feeling: squeaky-clean butts!) The point is for you to do anal a few times with the boyfriend and for both of you to get off—you and the boyfriend— without his dick going anywhere

your boyfriend may be tempted to start banging away, porn-star style, but that would be a huge mistake. Your boyfriend should instead stay perfectly still for the first minute or two while you breathe and relax. Kiss your boyfriend and stroke yourself during the brief lull before the fucking starts. Then he starts moving inside you—very slowly. He pulls out an inch or two and slides back in, you keep breathing and stroking, he pulls back an inch or two more and slides in. With each successive thrust, your boyfriend

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will be able to pull out a little farther, TUSH, and before you know it, he'll be fucking the hell out of you. The whole process (the hole process?)—from patient foreplay to full-on assfucking—takes 30 minutes at least. PS: You don't have to use condoms, but you should. Using condoms is a good habit to get into, TUSH, and if you have any concerns about cleanliness, well, a condom is your best friend. There are lots of gay guys out there—including guys as young as you—who got infected with HIV by boyfriends, including first boyfriends, who lied or didn't know or fucked up. So listen to your mother and use condoms, TUSH, along with a water-based lubricant. I am an intern at the health and wellness center at my university. This is safe-sex-awareness month on campus. We got donations from some sex toy companies. Among the products we received is something marketed as "Desensitizing Anal Wipes" by a company called California Exotic Novelties. We gave away these samples at our recent expo. After the fair, a student came up to my boss and me. As a young gay man, he expressed concern that desensitizing anal wipes were not safe to use, as masking pain could in fact lead to engaging in activities that you may not otherwise. I am assuming that what he meant here is that if you are experiencing pain during anal sex, you probably shouldn't proceed. I know with anal you need to take things slow, use lots of lube, and work your way up to it, but that's about the extent of my knowledge in this area. But I'd like to know what the Dan Savage take is on anal desensitizing

wipes. Yay or nay? A SENSITIVE SUBJECT

Googling "desensitizing anal wipes" got me this: " ... perfect for using before anal sex to reduce friction pains and ease entry." Anyone who's too stupid to use lube for anal sex—or anyone who is using lube but somehow doesn't realize that reducing friction and easing entry is what lube is down there to do—probably won't be harmed by a "desensitizing" moist towelette that retails for $3.99. I don't know what the active ingredient is, ASS, but I can't imagine it's a pharmaceutical-grade topical anesthetic. So I doubt that anyone who uses a DAW is going to wind up with an ass so benumbed that he won't realize he's being torn to shreds until after he sees blood and santorum all over his sheets, pillows, walls, floor, boyfriend, ceiling, Xbox 360, cats, etc. That said, ASS, desensitizing anal wipes play on common fears and misconceptions about anal sex— namely, that anal sex is supposed to hurt. Anal done right isn't painful, of course, even if it takes time, practice and some patience to get used to. Some people do experience discomfort when they first attempt anal, but discomfort isn't pain. It's important for people to understand that if anal sex hurts, they're doing it wrong— not enough lube, not enough foreplay, not enough practice—and they need to stop. Desensitizing wipes send the opposite message. Find the Savage Lovecast (my weekly podcast) every Tuesday at thestranger.com/savage. @fakedansavage on Twitter

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