vue weekly issue 760 may 13 - 19 2010

2 // UP FRONT

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

INSIDE

COVER

VUEWEEKLY.COM MUSIC • VueTube Check out our archives to see the bands and

#760 • May 13 – May 19, 2010

artists that have played Vue Weekly's studio

UP FRONT // 4/ 4 7 8 8 8

Vuepoint Dyer Straight Issues ZeitGeist Bob the Angry Flower

FILM • SideVue Cannesfessions: Brian Gibson digs through decades of upsets at Cannes

DISH • dishweekly.ca Restaurant reviews, features, searchable and easy to use

DISH // 11/

• goldenforkawards.com Check out all the winners and runners-up online

ARTS // 51/ 54 Prairie Artsters

FILM // 56 58 DVD Detective 62 He Watch Channel Zero

MUSIC // 63/ 66 Enter Sandor 69 On the Record 73 Music Notes 74 New Sounds 75 Old Sounds 75 Quickspins

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Meat: Vue Weekly goes from the farm to the plate

ARTS

MUSIC

51

63

BACK // 76 76 Free Will Astrology 78 Queermonton 79 Alt.Sex.Column

EVENTS LISTINGS 55 Arts 61 Film 64 Music 77 Events

Mourning Dove takes on an uncomfortable topic

Fucked Up gets opinionated

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

UP FRONT // 3

EDITORIAL

Vuepoint Safe is not relative

samantha power

// samantha@vueweekly.com

I

n the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf, a number of Alberta economists, in addition to Ed Stelmach himself, have advocated that the landlocked nature of the Alberta tar sands makes them a safer choice when making an oil investment. The claims made include a "localized" impact if an oil spill does occur; increased reclamation targets for environments disturbed by oil projects; and technologies creating a greater reduction in greenhouse gases.

Describing the tar sands as landlocked may be accurate, but to believe that an oil spill would not impact surrounding communities and environments to a devastating extent is to ignore the facts of the waterways that surround the tar sands projects.

The Athabasca River, adjacent to numerous tar sands projects, winds its way through the province as Alberta's longest river. Not to mention the intricate system of wetlands found within the boreal forest which the tar sands are quickly consuming. The network of wetlands

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4 // UP FRONT

Beyond the Bubble

7

Dyer Straight

samantha power // samantha@vueweekly.com

Q

ueer activists, organized as Severely Queer, in Edmonton have organized a talk accompanied by a workshop to discuss how cities are organized and how place affects peoples' understanding of themselves.

Kenyon Farrow, a queer rights activist who has worked on the intersections of HIV/AIDS, prison and homophobia, will be speaking on race, sex and the politics of gentrification in radical organizing. V

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Homelessness

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do far more than we see on the surface of a bog, acting as carbon stores, recharging water tables and helping to prevent droughts and flooding by equalizing the water table. These capacities mean wetlands impacted by tar sands projects will distribute toxins captured within as they twist their way through the province.

As for the reclamation selling point, currently there is no method of reclaiming wetlands; fine tailings, which contain toxic water, have never been successfully reclaimed and of the 529 square kilometres consumed by tar sands projects, only one square kilometre has ever been reclaimed.

This does not even touch on the economics of communities and families that are already being destroyed by the industrial projects, not to mention if a major disaster were to happen in the area, it would completely disrupt the hunting, fishing and farming abilities of northern and aboriginal communities.

To say the landlocked tar sands are a safer alternative is an irresponsible advocacy position which ignores the realities of our intertwined water systems, environments and communities. V

IssuE no. 760 // may 13 – may 19, 2010 // Available at over 1400 locations

INSIDE // FRONT

UP FRONT

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FRI, May 14 (7 – 9 PM) Whose Streets?

Jubilee Auditorium, Rehearsal Hall 11455 - 87 Ave FREE

CORRECTION A story in last week's issue regarding the restaurant Sofra ("Garlic Feast," May 6 – 12, 2010) contained inaccurate information regarding the lentil soup and the beef kebab. The article incorrectly stated that each of these dishes contains garlic when, in fact, they do not. Vue Weekly sincerely apologizes for the mistake. V

Letters VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Vue Weekly welcomes reader response, whether critical or complimentary. Send your opinion by mail (Vue Weekly, 10303 - 108 Street, Edmonton AB T5J 1L7), by fax (780.426.2889) or by email (letters@vueweekly.com). Preference is given to feedback about articles in Vue Weekly. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

NEWS // HOMELESSNESS

Strategy for success

Alberta may well lead the way in ending homelessness MIMI WILLIAMS // MIMI@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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ver three million people—one in nine Canadian adults—have either been homeless or on the brink of homelessness, according to a report released last week by the Salvation Army. Poverty shouldn't be a life sentence: A report on the perceptions of homelessness and poverty in Canada, indicates that despite signs of a recovering economy, many Canadians remain at risk of finding themselves without a place to live.

"What scares me a little are how many people are out there that are potentially one paycheque away from being on the street," says Andrew Burdtt, public relations director for the Salvation Army in Canada.

But governments and organizations wishing to tackle the issue need look no farther than Alberta to see what a successful strategy looks like, say housing advocates. Considering Alberta's past record, that statement alone is nothing short of remarkable.

Throughout the last decade, driven by Canada's fastest-growing economy and population growth—double the national average—Alberta experienced the fastest-

growing rates of homelessness in the nation. Municipalities stood helpless as the population exploded, rents skyrocketed and the vacancy rate plummeted.

A May 2006 count in Calgary identified a total of 3436 homeless persons in that city, 32 percent more than that city enumerated in 2004. In Edmonton, a count conducted in October of 2006 found 2618 homeless persons living in the city, an increase of 19 percent over 2004.

Journalist Gordon Laird described in his report, Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox, produced or the Sheldon Chumir Foundation, the provincial government's default strategy on homelessness and housing was one of wilful neglect. "Betting hard on the curative powers of economic growth, the government ignored the effect of inflation and growth on welfare benefits, social services and affordable housing—to the point where homelessness and housing problems became inevitable," his report states.

With a provincial government refusing calls to implement rent controls or make any significant investment in social housing, it was left to the market to supply the growing demand for affordable housing.

Predictably, with builders facing waiting lists of buyers snapping up luxury homes, their attention wasn't focused on the construction of affordable rental housing.

Tent cities sprang up across the province, even in winter. Long considered a problem of large urban centres, even smaller centres like Mayerthorpe were forced to grapple with homelessness, fielding proposals to build temporary camps to house workers.

The government attitude changed dramatically when Premier Ed Stelmach took over. "Premier Stelmach identified housing and homelessness as his first priority," recalls Jay Freeman, executive director of the Edmonton Homeless Commission.

Stelmach cited affordable housing as the number one issue he wanted addressed within his first 45 days of leadership. The premier struck the Affordable Housing Task Force in early 2007 and committed almost $500 million over three years in his first budget, delivered in April 2007.

And in February 2009 the Stelmach government announced an affordable housing strategy, making Alberta the first province to do so. It's that political leadership that has been a key factor in the successful implementation of an affordable housing strategy, says Freeman.

With the province committing to multiyear funding, all seven major municipalities in the province have implemented long-term plans to end homelessness. Just five years ago, the provincial government had no means or inclination to keep track of the number of people without homes; today, the government is working with community organizations and municipalities to collect reliable information and data on homelessness.

Last year, the provincial government committed $100 million to develop housing specifically for homeless individuals and families, with a goal established of adding 700 units in communities across the province. The economic downturn freed up resources to enable that mark to be exceeded. Due to reduced construction costs and increased availability of labour during the economic downturn of the past year, a total of 933 units housing 1300 people were built, with 424 units made available in the city of Edmonton to house 546 people. The plan had a target of 150 units in Edmonton for its first year.

Despite fears the strategy might be abandoned in light of fiscal belt-tightening, the province appears committed to keeping its word. This past Monday, Jonathan

Denis, Alberta's minister of housing and urban affairs, announced three new projects aimed at reducing homelessness in Edmonton. This follows an announcement in March that the Mustard Seed Society will receive $12 million from the Alberta government to build 112 housing units for the homeless in Calgary and Edmonton.

Freeman believes that prevention remains a big challenge. "Despite the successes of the last year," he says, "we still do not have sufficient mechanisms to prevent a person from falling into homelessness to start with."

Still, Freeman says, the city and the province are on the right track. "Our old ways of dealing with homelessness, like shelters and soup kitchens, really showed that while we were doing a good job of serving the homeless, we were doing nothing at all to end homelessness," he says.

In the arena of affordable housing advocacy, a decade can make all the difference.

2001 saw Albertans hanging their heads in shame at reports of a drunken Premier tossing money at men huddled in a downtown homeless shelter and a non-existent strategy for affordable housing, but 2010 is shaping up to be a year of promise for those looking for a place to call home. V

NEWS ROUNDUP POWER OF TAXATION ith the closure of five schools this spring and an impending election this fall, the power of the school board continues to be a topic of conversation in Alberta. Liberal MLA Harry Chase thinks it's time to return to the system of direct taxation by school boards. With greater concern over increasing urban core density many, including Chase, would like to see greater abilities given to school boards.

In 1995, after the Alberta government removed the school boards' right to taxation, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the Alberta government, saying the constitution does not grant school boards the right to taxation. Since 1995 Alberta municipalities have collected property taxes for distribution to the school fund and redistribution by the Alberta government to school boards. Now, with the recent closure of schools in Edmonton, this power of taxation is being reintroduced as a tool to allow boards the ability to respond more directly to financial pressures.

The Liberals point to conflicts in responsibility such as the agreement signed by Premier Stelmach to increase yearly wages for teachers a few years ago. Now that the province is claiming poverty, they're leaving

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the school boards scrambling with the bill.

"Perhaps it's time to admit that tying boards to the boom-and-bust provincial economy is destabilizing for our schools. We should explore ways to empower school boards so that communities have a real voice in how schools are run," explains Chase.

The NDP stated back in March that there needs to be greater coordination between all parties when considering school utilization rates.

Municipalities, community leagues and the provincial government all have a hand in how schools are used to build communities.

The sudden desire to encourage school board growth runs counter to the trend across the country.

Ten years ago the number of school boards was cut by almost half, 815 to 490. Amendments to the School Act will be forthcoming this fall and the Alberta Liberals have indicated they will be bringing forth this issue of the school boards' power of taxation.V NEW PRAIRIE PARTNERSHIP askatchewan signed on to the New West Partnership last week.

Many see this as a ploy to get the province on board with the Trade Investment and Labour Mobil-

S

ity Agreement, which Saskatchewan had earlier rejected when it came into force, without public consultation, in 2009. The government's main complaints echoed many critics who stated approving that TILMA directly challenged the government's ability to set public policy on procurement. TILMA allowed businesses and corporations to legally challenge municipalities who set restrictions or preferences to fit their jurisdictions needs during procurement processes—processes which can be used to set social policies.

Saskatchewan in particular wanted exemptions for Crown corporations and their procurement abilities to support business.

The New West Partnership is supposed to absolve Saskatchewan's earlier criticisms of TILMA, but includes Crown corporations under the regulations set by the agreement.

Many have also criticized the very need for the reduction in trade barriers between the western provinces. Saskatchewan's interprovincial imports rose by 70 percent between 1999 and 2008, while its international exports only rose by 59 percent. As well, a lot of trade regulations are covered by the Agreement on Internal Trade.V

Gulf Oil Spill BARRELS SPILLED A DAY SINCE APRIL 20 : 5000 ESTIMATED BARRELS LOST SINCE APRIL 20 : 115 000 ESTIMATED GALLONS LOST : 4.8 MILLION DAYS WITHOUT RECOVERY EFFORTS : 12 MILLIONS OF GALLONS SPILLED BY EXXON VALDEZ DISASTER 1989 : 11 MILLION LIVES LOST : 11 SPECIES DIRECTLY THREATENED : 400 STATES DIRECTLY AT RISK : 4 COMPANIES RESPONSIBLE : 3

SAMANTHA POWER

// SAMANTHA@VUEWEEKLY.COM

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

UP FRONT // 5

CANADA // ECONOMY

New world order

The post-recession economy will not be led by the United States

samantha power // samantha@vueweekly.com

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he age of American-led globalization is over. At least according to economist and author James Laxer. "We're seeing a transition where the US will no longer play the role that it did in trade." Laxer's new book, Beyond the Bubble: Imagining a new Canadian economy, examines the impacts of the current recession and the possibility it provides for a new economy—one that is sustainable, focused on local, urban development and one led, internationally, by nations other than the US. It's sometimes hard to believe the recession is as bad as it is. Images of the Great Depression bring to mind dusty, empty fields and lines of people crawling down the block looking for any work they can find. But the numbers speak for themselves. Laxer points out the total number of jobs lost in the US in the last months of 2008 was over 1.9 million, for a total of 2.6 million over the whole year—the largest single job loss in a year since 1945. And despite Canadian politicians attempts to get us to believe the recession would not affect our economy in the same way, Canada lost over 70 000 jobs in December of 2008. And we've been slow to show signs of recovery. This past April, the Canadian Labour Congress has analyzed that despite a jump of people active in the workforce by over 92 000, the percentage of Canadians unemployed for more than six months was at its highest since the job crisis began in 2008.

As the recession's impact spread across the world, countries could no longer look to the US as their export dumping grounds.

Policies such as the Buy American deal began to refocus American efforts to the internal economy. Canadian exports to the US declined by $50 billion and 20 million Chinese workers lost their jobs in the export industry.

"The America as the dumping ground [for] everybody's surplus exports is over.

And the consequence of that is that everybody has to rebuild their own economies."

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VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Laxer explains. "What happened was the US stopped buying from the world."

In some ways, this is exactly what needs to happen, says Laxer. Even before this recession the economy was facing some tough questions: how to deal with the looming environmental crisis and what to do with a transition to a fossil fuel supply that is no longer as limitless as it once seemed.

In some ways, Laxer can see the recession as beneficial to an economy that needed to be shaken up. "Climate change is real and peak oil is real ... we have to rethink—like everybody else in the world—the way we build cities, the way we transport people, the energy future, the environmental future." In a way, the recession has provided one of the greatest opportunities to change an economy to a more stable, sustainable one.

Unfortunately the political debate is not where it needs to be, says Laxer. "The federal government is not intersted in rebuilding cities." In fact it took months for any political party to admit that there was even a problem with the economy. "You had all the political parties saying, 'No problem.' The world economy was crashing all around them and Harper was saying no need for a deficit. Layton said all [his proposed] programs would not lead to a deficit." Laxer describes the disconnect between the economic and the political reality. "We're really in dead-end politics here, because there's no debate about the future. The next few decades the world is going to be transformed­—you wouldn't know it from the debates happening in Canada ... no wonder Canadians don't vote."

As Laxer uses his book to prescribe, the recession could not only provide a way into environmental solutions, but could help solve some of the massive inequalities that helped to lead the US and Canada into this problem.

Laxer's book paints the dramatic picture of an economy ready to burst. The income gap in Canada and the US was, and still is, dramatic. A study published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives revealed that real wages had not increased in three decades. That combined with the increased debt load, not only of the US as a whole, but upon individuals, created a weight no economy could bear.

While wages for the bottom 90 percent of the population were stagnating, the privileged few increased. In 2005, the top 10 percent of US income earners took home 48.5 percent of all reported income, compared with 33 percent in the 1970s. Laxer believes it's this inequality that needs to be fixed in order for the new economy to work. "The wealthy are going to have to pay their share." Laxer states.

"The investment needs to be in putting up the capital to rebuild the cities and transportation of this country. The tax system in the US, and in Canada, is for the aging wealthy who are refusing to pay their share and there needs to be fundamental reinvestment for the future." V

COMMENT >> BRITISH ELECTION

The more we get together

Lib Dems will make coalitions mainstream There has not been a coalition govern- age cuts that any incoming government ment in Britain since the Second World would have to make to deal with a runWar, but it may have to get used to them. away budget deficit, didn't agree. Many The election on May 6 left both major of them thought that this was a good parties, the Conservatives and Laelection to lose, so Brown's probour, short of a majority, and spective coalition partners, the put history's also-rans, the LibLiberal Democrats, could not eral Democratic Party, in the trust Labour to keep any deal om he made. position of kingmaker. It has eekly.c w e u v e@ used that position very clevA senior Liberal Democrat, gwynn e erly, and Britain may be headdiscussing the parallel negoGwynn ing for a major constitutional tiations that the Lib Dems conDyer change. ducted with Labour, explained that Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democratic though the talks were amicable, "probleader, used the five days of hectic ne- lems remain on deliverability and Labour gotiations after the election to extract a cohesion". In other words, some Labour high price from the Conservative Party for members of parliament would rebel agreeing to enter a coalition with them. against the deal, probably sooner rather Policy differences on taxes or educational than later, and since a Lib-Lab coalition policy could be finessed fairly easily, but would have the slimmest of majorities, Clegg's bottom line was electoral reform. just a few rebels could bring the coalition That used to be a Conservative red line, down. but in the end they crossed it.

Prime Minister David Cameron, on the Electoral reform? Who cares about that other hand, may come to rue the day except a few policy wonks? The Liberal when he agreed to the terms of the deal Democrats care passionately about it. It's that finally put him in office. the only way that they can ever fight their Cameron was not well liked by large way back into the centre ring of politics. sectors of the Conservative Party that he The Lib Dems' political ancestors are leads even before the election: he was a the Liberals and, before them, the Whigs. "modernizer," and Conservatives are conFor more than two centuries that lineage servative. But he is more actively disliked provided one of the two great parties that now, because many senior members of alternated in power in Britain. Then in the the party (and probably most of the rank 1920s, with the rise of the Labour Party, and file) blame him for failing to pull off a the Liberals came third in one election clear win against a Labour Party that was and never found their way back to power. exhausted and partly discredited after 13 The winner-take-all British electoral sys- years in power. tem ("first-past-the-post") is cruelly unfair They thought they were cruising smoothto third parties. In the election just past, ly to victory, and they wound up twenty the Lib Dems got almost a quarter of the seats short of a majority. They accepted votes, but less than a tenth of the seats the extortionate concessions that the Libin parliament. So many people saw a vote eral Democrats demanded for a coalition for them as a wasted vote, even if they because after 13 years in the wilderness liked their ideas. they were positively panting with eagerness to be in government again. But when It was a vicious circle, so for many de- the going gets rough, they will blame cades now the most urgent tactical goal Cameron for those concessions too. of the Lib Dems has been to change the The biggest concession was, of course, a voting system. Alternative vote, "alterna- promise to the Lib Dems to hold a refertive vote plus," proportional represen- endum on changing the electoral system. tation—anything that gave them a fair Labour made a similar promise, but in chance of winning. the assessment of the Lib Dems a coaliThe two "major" parties, the beneficiaries tion with Labour would not survive long of the existing system, naturally resisted enough to get the legislation through, so any change in the electoral rules. The they ended the Lib-Lab talks. only way it could ever happen is if both of The Conservative-Liberal Democratic them had to beg for the support of the Lib coalition, on the other hand, has a big Dems. Like now. enough majority in parliament that it canLib Dem leader Nick Clegg would have not be brought down by just a few rebels preferred a coalition with Labour, since from either party. It could actually last most Lib Dem voters are more or less on four years, which would be long enough the left. But he rightly said that he had to to change the voting system (if the voters talk to the Conservatives first, since they agree, and current opinion polls suggest had ended up with more seats than La- that they would). bour after the election on May 6, and he That is the Lib Dem strategy. If it sucalso knew that Labour would be an even ceeds, coalition governments will become less trustworthy partner in power than the norm in Britain. V the Conservatives.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown Gwynne Dyer is a London-based indepentried hard to make a deal with the Lib dent journalist whose articles are pubDems that would keep the Labour Party lished in 45 countries. His column appears in power, but his party, aware of the sav- each week in Vue Weekly.

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VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

UP FRONT // 7

COMMENT >> JUSTICE

Issues

Issues is a forum for individuals and organizations to comment on current events and broader issues of importance to the community. Their commentary is not necessarily the opinion of the organizations they represent or of Vue Weekly.

Rethinking justice

Communities stand up to examine underlying causes of violence Ted Kerr // Ted@vueweekly.com

Last February in a public panel discussion Professor Cressida Hayes reminded the audience of the 2004 incident in which then-premier Ralph Klein was asked to comment on funding for AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped) and responded by saying, "I'm sure none of you want to talk to me about AISH, do you? No, because you're normal. Severely normal." In recounting the incident Hayes reminded the audience how nor-

BOB THE ANGRY FLOWER

mal-centric services and mentalities are in Alberta. Recent acts of violence serve to remind us how ill-equipped institutions such as the Edmonton Police Service are in dealing with issues beyond the normal.

Two months ago an 18-year-old aboriginal man was abducted on Jasper Avenue by a group of men. He was taken beyond city limits, beaten, burned, had racist symbols carved into the flesh of his back and then abandoned, left to make his way to a farmhouse to get help. The people at the farm took care of him as they waited

for the police to arrive. His mother says that dealing with the police left her son re-traumatized. A family friend says that the police have treated him "as if he was the criminal" because they suspect the violence was related to gang retaliation.

The young man and his mother are now currently working with the Wicihitowin Justice System Action Circle, which is part of the larger Wicihitowin: Shared Responsibility & Stewardship organization, designed to create a dialogue with the EPS to change how police handle first contact with aboriginals.

In Alberta over the last five years, 23 Somali men have been brutally murdered.

The last case was in late November 2010 when 23-year-old Robleh Ali Mohamed was shot in the head in broad daylight.

When asked by the CBC about steps the EPS is taking to solve the crime, Constable Ken Smith, a community liaison officer with Edmonton Police said, "The police aren't there when it happens. We need people to come forward to us and tell us what happened." The Alberta Somali community is not satisfied with how the EPS is handling the case. There is a petition circulating asking for the Alberta government to form a task force to find ways to solve the murders. So far it has over 2000 signatures.

Last month Shannon Barry, a lesbian, was violently attacked while walking home from Whyte Ave with some of her

friends. Barry was beaten so badly she needed reconstructive surgery. A 14-yearold boy has been charged in the assault.

Within 12 hours of a photo of her bruised and dazed appearing on Facebook her friends formed the Community Response Project with over 800 members to react to the brutal crime and incompetence of the Edmonton Police Service. The attending officer the night of the attack failed to file a report until five days later, after CBC Edmonton's Charles Rusnell broke the story.

Barry has said that since news of the assault broke she has received messages from over 150 people from all walks of life sharing their own stories of being attacked and systems in place offering little or no satisfactory service.

At the end of the first Community Response Project meeting, held in the

COMMENT >> INTERNET PIRACY

Calming the seas In the wake of recent reports exposing the countries such as China and Russia as allegactivities of former MP Rahim Jaffer, lobby- edly among the world’s worst intellectual ing has been the talk of Ottawa for the past property offenders. month. The incident has had an immediate impact on lobbying regulations, with the Rather than embarrassing Canadians, the Conservatives and Liberals jostling over who list itself is increasingly viewed as the embarcan introduce tougher disclosure measures. rassment. This year's report ignored a subThe changes may plug a few loopholes, yet mission from the world's largest technology the reality is that lobbying efforts are not al- and Internet companies (including Microsoft, ways the subject of secretive meetings Google, T-Mobile, Fujitsu, AMD, eBay, with high-level officials.

Intuit, Oracle and Yahoo), which Consider the intensive lobbyargued that it is completely inaping effort on promised intellecpropriate to place Canada on tual property reform. In recent the list. .com weeks, those efforts have escaMoreover, the data suggests weekly e u v mgeist@ lated dramatically, with most acCanada is a leader, not a laggard. el a h c i M tivities taking place in plain view.

According to the software indusGeist Scarcely a week goes by without try's own piracy numbers, Canada's a major event occurring—last week it piracy rate is declining and is dramatiwas a reception sponsored by the Canadian cally lower than any other country on the priPrivate Copying Collective, the week before ority watch list. In fact, the Business Software an event hosted by the Entertainment Soft- Alliance has characterized Canada as a "low ware Association of Canada, and the week piracy country." before that the Juno Awards attended by The news is similar with respect to movie several cabinet ministers and MPs. piracy, where the motion picture industry has Even more open is the public campaign acknowledged that incidents of illegal camdesigned to persuade Canadians that their cording have dropped in Canada as the councountry is a piracy haven. Late last month, try is one of few in the world with criminal the IFPI, which represents the global record- convictions for such activities. ing industry, released its annual recording The government has taken further action industry in numbers report that tracks global in recent months to combat infringement. record sales. The report targeted two coun- Although a new copyright bill is still a few tries, Canada and Spain, for declining sales weeks away, Canada recently amended its and linked those declines to copyright law.

Proceeds of Crime regulations by removing Not coincidentally, both countries are cur- the Copyright Act from the list. Copyright rently working on legal reforms. lobby groups had requested the change to The IFPI release succeeded in generating facilitate legal action against infringers. attention, but a closer look reveals that it While there remains further room for imput the spotlight on the wrong country. Ca- provement, claims that Canada is a piracy nadian sales declined 7.4 percent last year. haven are based largely on fiction rather That was bad news, but nearly identical to than fact. But with a major bill only weeks the global average of 7.2 percent. More- away, this form of lobbying seems certain to over, the declines were far larger in both the continue. V United States (10.7 per cent) and Japan (10.8 per cent), yet neither of those countries was Michael Geist holds the Canada Research described in similarly negative terms.

Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the The same week the U.S. government University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can chimed in with its annual Special 301 report. reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online at Often described as the global piracy list, the michaelgeist.ca.

U.S. chose to lump Canada together with

ZEIT

GEIST

8 // UP FRONT

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

cramped, partially flooded Pride Centre basement—which had been broken into a few days earlier—Barry donated a modest sum to the Centre, which had been donated to her by a group in Jasper who heard of her attack. Barry said that she could not, as an individual, accept the donation considering the state the Centre was in. Barry's generosity is noteworthy considering that she will be out of work for a while due to the attack, and that, historically, women earn less than men, and lesbians earn less than their heterosexual counterparts.

While each of the violent attacks—be them physical, verbal or systemic—warrant their own specific understanding in terms of the personal, societal and systemic issues at play it is important to pull back and see the incidents of violence in context of each other. When you do so it is clear that difference is still under attack in Alberta.

Despite initiatives such as the EPS Chief's Community Advisory Council— meant to "foster a climate of safety, security and mutual respect" in diverse communities—in all the above cases there is a dissatisfaction with the systems in place to deal with the violence.

Instead, it is community members and grassroots organizations that are coming forward to provide support, work to achieve satisfying versions of justice and address larger issues that result in violence. While the work and effort of community members like Shannon and organizations like the Wicihitowin group, the Somalis who have started the peti-

tion and the Community Response Project should be applauded, it's fair to ask what the implications of private citizens and small organizations using their limited resources to meet the needs that the organizations are funded to provide are.

In what ways are communities subsidizing the bad work of government funded institutions like the EPS which put forward a proposed budget of $238.6 million for 2010 (an 11 percent increase from the previous year)? In what ways could those funds be reallocated for more truly community-based, approaches to justice? How would establishing such approaches help alleviate some of the work of the EPS, thus enabling it to do a better job of serving the public without increasing its budget and turning Edmonton into a more-dysfunctional police state?

Overwhelmingly there seems to be a desire to rethink justice, be it the violent attackers who are arguably avenging their own sense of order, or the victims of such attacks who want more than just jail time for those that hurt them. In Edmonton, as across Alberta, the fallacy of normal continues to be obliterated as we grow more diverse. As this continues, more work needs to be done to understand how race, class, orientation, gender and other factors intersect not only to prevent further acts of violence but also to learn how to properly deal with incidents when they occur. In 21st-century Alberta, nothing should be considered normal. V Ted Kerr is a Vue Weekly columnist and Severely Queer Collective member.

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

UP FRONT // 9

10 // UP FRONT

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

INSIDE // DISH

DISH

12

21 25

Spring Creek Ranch

Real Deal Meats

Golden Fork Awards

Online at vueweekly.com >>DISH

Restaurant Reviews Check out our comprehensive online database of Vue Weekly’s restaurant reviews, searchable by location, price and type.

MEAT // WILD GAME

Where the wild things are

Whether farmed or hunted, wild game provides a singular experience LS Vors // vors@vueweekly.com

P

recious little in our lives is wild anymore, wild in the sense that it includes a deep, symbiotic relationship with a wilderness free from the trappings of urban society. Consumption of wild foods is a central component of this relationship. Indeed, for the majority of humanity's existence wild foods were our only sustenance. Vegetation— berries, roots, leaves—was one part of the hunter-gatherer diet, but wild game possessed a greater caloric return per unit of effort. More bang for the buck. The buck, in these circumstances, might have been Megaloceros, also known as the Irish elk. With giant antlers spanning more than three metres, it would have been formidable prey to Paleolithic hunters. A successful hunt, though, could produce hundreds of kilos of meat, thus ensuring the human clan's short-term survival.

We no longer face ambush by shortfaced bears or cave lions when we go to the store. Subsistence hunting is still central to many cultures, but the typical urban-dweller purchases chicken, beef and pork. This meat is from animals that, through selective breeding, have become docile and largely deficient of their wild counterparts' hyperacute situational awareness. Pheasant, moose and wild boar, by comparison, are highly attuned to their environment, for the slightest lapse in attention could result in depredation. To taste these and other game species, one must be—or know—a hunter, or discover the elusive restaurants that serve these delicacies.

Wild game comprises two categories: big game and game birds. The former includes large ungulates—hoofed mammals—such as deer and moose, as well as bear and wild boar. The latter consists of waterfowl like ducks and geese, but also upland game birds such as pheasant, grouse and quail. Venison is the game meat with which many are familiar; this term refers to meat from deer, moose, elk or caribou.

Unfortunately, venison has an undeserved reputation for tasting gamey.

To the contrary, venison is slightly sweet yet robust. It responds well to the flavours of wine, herbs, honey and garlic. Nutritionally speaking, venison contains fewer calories, less fat and more protein than beef or pork. Consequently, greater care must be taken to prevent over-cooking. Yet it is highly versatile and in recipes may be used in

accentuate their creations. Normand himself considers game steaks or medallions to be their specialty. He chuckles that "it is nice to give diners something different, something other than one hundred ways with chicken."

Dried muskox, wild boar bacon and ostrich are among his unusual offerings. The dried muskox is shaved paperthin like prosciutto, and then anointed with white truffle oil and lashings of black pepper. The wild boar bacon contains less fat than its domestic counterpart, yet its flavour is deeper. Ostrich is a perpetual surprise to diners, who expect it to look like chicken. Rather, its flesh is a startling, deep burgundy.

// Gabe Wong

place of beef.

I am fortunate, for my brother keeps me well supplied with venison and I relish every opportunity to cook with it. He often cooks and serves what he hunts to friends, and notes that many express doubt about preparing and eating deer.

"People are skeptical," he says. "They think that it will be really tough or taste gamey, but once I've convinced them to give it a try, they want more."

The top cuts—tenderloin, chops and steaks—are especially prized. Other cuts are usually ground or made into sausage. There can be considerable variation in taste and tenderness among individual deer, since these factors vary according to season, the animal's diet, and whether it was male or female.

A large white-tailed deer buck may produce 150 pounds of meat. My brother's quarry is professionally butchered and packed. Factoring in the price of a deer tag, driving time to reach hunting grounds and cost of butchering, he estimates that wild venison costs less than a dollar per pound.

One cannot buy wild game in stores— it's illegal to sell the meat of wild animals in Canada, as there is no inspection for disease. But a good hunter is highly proficient at assessing the health of their kill in the field. My brother checks for abnormalities of the internal organs and signs of previous injury.

Many regions mandate the collection of deer and elk heads at government laboratories to track chronic wasting disease, a neurodegenerative and always-fatal condition.

Game meat served in restaurants invariably comes from farmed animals.

Elk and bison ranches are common now, while those that raise ostrich and wild boar are comparatively rare. These four species frequently appear on the menu at Normand's Fine Regional Cuisine, a long-standing landmark on the western frontier of Jasper Avenue. The menu heavily favours game, devoting a special seasonal menu to big game and game birds in autumn. Proprietor Normand Campbell has been working with game for several decades and remarks

that aside from bison, game makes few appearances on restaurant menus. Like my brother, he believes that misconceptions about wild game persist. Normand surmises that most people have never tasted game that is properly prepared; instead, they rely on childhood memories of tough, overcooked meat.

"Game should be eaten medium rare," he explains. "If it is too rare, it is stringy.

If it is too well-done, it is tough."

He adds that a classic game dish, pheasant under glass, is engineered to retain moisture. The glass dome prevents the evapouration of delicious pheasant drippings. The chefs at Normand's marinate most cuts of game and, when assembling a dish, cook the game last. Residual heat from the grill or oven continues to cook the game long after it is plated, hence the diner may notice their final bite of elk or bison will be "done" more than their first.

Nonetheless, the chefs at Normand's enjoy the challenge of cooking with game, frequently employing wild mushrooms or Saskatoon berries to

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Consumption of wild game fits within the paradigm of eating locally. Normand sources his elk and bison from Alberta ranches and obtains muskox from the Canadian arctic, but sometimes imports kangaroo meat from Australia. He predicts that, even though participation in hunting has dwindled nationwide, the practice will experience a renaissance as the economy remains unstable.

My brother gains tremendous satisfaction from cooking the venison he harvests.

"It changes the way you think about food when you know exactly where it comes from," he says. "It's too bad that some people associate hunting with cruelty. A good hunter will drop an animal with one shot, and I would much rather eat wild game than something that came from a factory farm.

"It's not that I don't like chicken or beef," he muses, "but given the choice I would take game meat every time. No question." V

recipe Normand’s Marinade for Game Meat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 60 ml honey 350 ml soya sauce 500 ml olive oil Whisk together all ingredients. Marinate steaks or chops for approximately 30 minutes, then prepare as desired. Makes approximately one litre of marinade. V

DISH // 11

MEAT // SPRING CREEK RANCH

Leading the way

Spring Creek Ranch's sustainable practices from farm to plate Mike Angus // mikeangus@vueweekly.com

F

or the last 10 years, the global beef industry has faced staggering challenges, from the BSE crisis to the rightful criticism of feedlots' environmental impacts and questions of sustainability. Add popular documentaries like Food, Inc. and the growing organic and local-food movements, and the bigger picture for the beef industry starts to look gloomy.

But both beef lovers and haters alike should take note: there is a growing consensus among beef producers that environmental stewardship, innovation and sustainability are the new rules of the game. Local foodies, rejoice: world-class beef producers are right in our own backyard. Spring Creek Ranch is located just north of Vegreville—less than an hour's drive from Edmonton—and this family of fourth-generation cattle ranchers is not only meeting global concerns for health and ethical treatment of cattle, they're leading a sustainable revolution in the way beef gets from the farm to the table.

Bern Kotelko has been a visionary

and innovator in cattle farming his entire career. Along with his daughter, Kirstin, he started Spring Creek Ranch Premium Beef in 2006. The Kotelkos work with 30 personally selected local beef producers to raise hormone- and antibiotic-free beef exclusively for Spring Creek, where each animal must be registered with the Canadian Cattlemen Identification Association and meet the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's "full traceability" audit process that monitors every step of the animal's care, from birth to the plate.

"Beef has been looked

// Gabe Wong

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 >>

MEAT // ARGENTINA

Estilo de vida

Seeking Argentina's best beef aged to eat at our parrilla twice a day (without any judgement from the men working the grill), but we decided we would treat ourselves to a fancy steak dinner. While most people in Edmonton might think of heading out for dinner between 6 and 7 pm at night, you would be hard pressed to find any decent restaurant open at that time in Argentina. We had decided on La Cabrera, one of the most famous restaurants in the city for steak. It opens at 8 pm, at which point the sidewalk is crowded with people willing to wait hours for a table. Complimentary glasses of wine or beer are offered to keep waiting patrons happy.

Sharman Hnatiuk // sharman@vueweekly.com

Dish writer Sharman Hnatiuk took a sixmonth adventure through South America and filed reports on the delicacies she found there.

A

s I made my way south, eating chicken after chicken, through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, I heard rave upon rave from those heading north about how good the beef was in Argentina. As a full-fledged Alberta beef girl, I was hesitant. Some of my uncles raise cattle in the Peace Country, and I grew up with a side of beef stocked in our freezer at all times, fresh from an Alberta farm. I know what good beef tastes like.

My first night in Argentina came after a 16-hour bus ride from Chile to Salta in the north. We were too tired for a full steak dinner and instead opted for some $1.25 street meat. It was a massive sausage on a toasted bun loaded with spicy toppings. It was my first choripan, and boy did it taste amazing.

Argentina allegedly has the world's highest beef-consumption rate at 68 kilograms a year per capita. Restaurants were filled with couples sharing a grill covered with enough beef to satisfy Canada's Food Guide's red-meat consumption for a month. Gro-

12 // DISH

// Gabe Wong

cery store checkouts were lined with shopping carts packed to the rim with steaks, roasts, sausages and a few bottles of ridiculously cheap wine.

By the time I made it to Buenos Aires I was giddy with delight. I had heard stories of steaks so tender you could cut them with a fork. This city's restaurants were rumoured to serve the best beef in the country; it was time to blow my measly backpacker-meal budget.

Around the corner from my downtown hostel, a cute Canadian boy and I found an all-day parrilla (a style of grill using

briquettes) with a grill stacked with cuts of every animal available. The choripan sausages were $1.50 and tasted so good Michael had to have two. For three dollars you could have a giant piece of pork or steak grilled to perfection on bread waiting to be smothered in chimichuri sauce (an oilbased spicy-herb-and-garlic marinade indigenous to Argentina). I didn't see a need for fast-food joints when you could have fresh grilled meat in your hands so quickly and so cheap. It was like I was in a magical meat-land.

My travel partner Hannah and I had man-

La Cabrera is a quaint restaurant set in a remodelled old general store in Palermo—a trendy neighbourhood in Buenos Aires.

Still early in the evening, we arrived at 11 pm after watching a tango show, and only had to wait 10 minutes for a table inside.

When we sat down we didn't even want to look at the menu—our mouths were watering at the sight of the slab of beef that had arrived at the table next to us. In my shoddy Spanish we figured out it was the bife de chorizo, a cut of meat big enough for two very hungry girls.

I learned that most parrillas in Argentina serve steaks à la carte, and that most Argentines add a side of fries. We opted for

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

the potato wedges served with caramelized onions and mozzarella. Before our steak could arrive our table was loaded with what we later found out was the $7 table service including bread, and about 14 small bowls of veggies, sauces and marinades to accompany the meat.

By the time our waiter had brought our enormous steak to the table I was over the cheesy/onion potatoes and clapping my hands together at the sight in front of me.

Hannah managed to cleaver the steak in half, presenting me with a perfectly pink piece of heaven. The meat was melt-inyour-mouth goodness on its own, but also amazing paired with any combination of the mystery marinades. We walked away from our romantic dinner completely stuffed and happy, utterly happy. The whole thing, including drinks, cost about $22 each.

I hate to be a traitor to Alberta beef, but the steak and sausages I had throughout Argentina were some of the best I have ever had, but it was because of how they cooked them. I scoped out the grill at many a parrilla in Argentina, and there was some serious skill involved with tending to chicken, beef, pork and lamb over enormous grills heated by briquettes.

Barbecue isn't a way of cooking in Argentina—it's a way of life. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 13

MEAT // GREENS, EGGS AND HAM

I would not, could not

Local farm raises needed funds through innovative 'Futures' program Sharon Yeo // sharon@vueweekly.com

W

hen Andreas Grueneberg first contemplated farming in his teens, true to the post-hippie era he thought it would involve a log house and selfsufficiency. "Well that never happened," laughs Andreas. "In fact, it's actually now my insanity."

Andreas and his wife Mary Ellen own Greens, Eggs and Ham, a 10-acre mixed vegetable and poultry farm in Leduc County. Twelve years ago, they bought the farm after Andreas, a professional agrologist, decided he no longer wanted to be at the mercy of large corporations.

"You're upsized, downsized, rightsized, leftsized ... so it got to the point where I got fed up and said, 'We can't do any worse farming,'" shares Andreas. "But we didn't have the financial resources, so this is essentially what we could afford."

After brief, costly stints in pig farrowing and producing fertilized duck eggs for the Filipino balut market, their current product line began to take shape.

"It's about seven months from the time you get the ducklings into production for eggs," explains Mary Ellen. "That's when the greens started because we needed the money."

A heritage-greens mix containing over 20 vintage greens and lettuces is the farm's signature product, and is available year-round since they built a greenhouse four years ago. From sorrel to mustard greens, baby Swiss chard to bull's blood, learning to identify each individual variety is a lesson in itself. First, they sold the greens through a vegetable distributor in Leduc to area restaurants, and business just took off.

"We were at the right place at the right time, because Dine Alberta had just started," recalls Mary Ellen. "We met a

14 // DISH

bunch of restaurateurs, and we answered the demand." (Eighty percent of their current business is now in the restaurant trade.) From there, restaurants asked if they could also add fresh duck eggs and duck to their repertoire.

"Chefs came to us and said, 'We're getting either Pekins which have very big legs, very small breasts and wobbly fat layers or getting Muscovy with legs that are too small, breasts that are too large and really uneven fat,'" says Mary Ellen.

"So we worked with our duck breeders and a nutritionist, and found a hybrid duck that everyone likes—it's flavourful and so tender."

As for the "ham" portion of their identity, Mary Ellen addresses a common misconception.

"Ham means 'to cure and/or smoke,' not pork," says Mary Ellen. "Ham is a process, and is not really a noun. In order to stay true to our name, we have a full line of charcuterie from duck and turkey."

In addition to greens and ducks, Greens, Eggs and Ham also produces unusual vegetables and other fowl, including geese, Cornish game hens and guinea fowl. Their extensive range of products stems from lessons learned over the past decade.

"It goes against conventional thinking that you need to specialize in something," says Andreas. "We specialize in being diversified."

Having evolved into a business that supplies products that are "odd, unusual, heritage and healthy for colour, flavour and texture" provides them with a successful niche in the market, but without adequate resources, Andreas stresses that they will not be able to meet the ever-increasing demand.

"There's nothing more frustrating than

// Gabe Wong

having people beating down the door for product and you can't produce it because I can't borrow 10 cents from the bank," he says.

"What it comes down to is that we fall between small business and agricultural lending," continues Mary Ellen. "Small business doesn't accept us because we're producers. Personal lending doesn't accept us because we don't have off-farm income so are viewed as not having any income. And agricultural lending—ducks aren't even registered as an agricultural product in Canada, and you have to do at least 40 acres of one vegetable to fit horticulture lending." Moreover, lenders do not accept direct marketing channels as proof of a viable business.

Ultimately, the Canadian government believes that farmers should be subsidized via off-farm income, says Mary Ellen. "What other career do they tell you, for example, if you're a doctor, 'I'm glad

you like being a doctor, now you need to work for eight hours a day somewhere else to continue being a doctor?'"

In response to their inability to borrow funds, they introduced a communitysupported-agriculture program in 2009, now known as Greens, Eggs and Ham Futures.

"The reason we started that last year was because we had ducks being processed and we didn't have the $6000 to process them," shares Mary Ellen. "We raised just over that, which enabled us to feed them as well. And when we saw that it was meeting the customers' needs, we instituted it again."

The Futures program allows patrons and restaurants to pre-pay from $250 to $10 000, and instead of exchanging cash or getting invoiced for products every week, the cost is deducted from their personal account. Unlike a conventional

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

CSA, where investors are given a share of that year's crop, Andreas says this approach better suits their business. "To be fair to someone who has given us money up front, knowing that a portion of our crop will go to restaurants, we run our program on a year-round shopping basis."

Andreas and Mary Ellen have high hopes for the Futures program, and until lending policy changes, it will be their sole means of raising funds. "Farmers are a local small business, and they need to be supported if you want a vibrant economy," says Mary Ellen. "And eventually, the small family farm will be your source of food. The other ways are just not sustainable." V Mary Ellen and Andreas Grueneberg Greens, Eggs and Ham greenseggsandham.com

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 15

PROVENANCE

History of the Buffalo wing

A ubiquitous form of pub grub throughout North America, Buffalo wings were invented, not surprisingly, in Buffalo, NY, though there are competing stories as to who invented the spicy, patio-friendly delicacy.

The better-known version is set in 1964. In that year, Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar at his parents' nowfamous Anchor Bar when a group of his friends arrived late at night, bringing with them their appetites. Dominic asked his mother, Teressa, if she could whip something up for his famished compatriots and she, apparently

16 // DISH

having little food left in the kitchen, found a few bits and pieces of chicken that would normally be used to create chickensoup stock. These odds and ends were quickly deep-fried and tossed in a "secret sauce" before being served along with celery and blue cheese dressing.

A competing version of the legend— also set in the mid-1960s—has the saucy snacks being dreamed up in a Buffalo restaurant called John Young's Wings 'n' Things by proprieter John

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Young. He tossed his wings in a spicy sauce which he called "mambo sauce," and his version was sold until 1970 when Young left the city.

No matter who actually invented them, Buffalo wings became an immediate hit amongst Buffalo locals, eventually spreading across the continent bearing the name of the city in which they were invented. By 1977, the wings were so popular that Buffalo proclaimed July 29 to be "Chicken Wing Day" in the city. V Bryan Birtles

// bryan@vueweekly.com

SPRING CREEK RANCH

<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

at so negatively. There have been articles that say, 'If you want to be environmental, don't eat beef,'" Kirstin notes. "So that's a challenge for us.

But we've seen that coming years ago.

We know that, eventually, commodity beef is going to be extinct, and people are going to demand [sustainable beef], so we decided we'd better be the leaders in the marketplace and be ready for when the time comes.

"If we were purely revenue-driven and didn't believe that Spring Creek was the way of the future, we wouldn't be doing it."

Spring Creek's program has cattle out to pasture for two-thirds of their lives, raised on fresh air, clean water, and natural prairie grass. They are then brought to a feedlot and fed grain for the last 180 days to give them "that nice marbling and juiciness that Albertans are used to," Kirstin says. "But this is also a very important step because it allows us control over the feed source the cattle are eating. By having a consistent feed and ration of grain, silage [a grass-grain mixture] and vitamin E, we knew we could have more consistent, healthier product."

The word "feedlot" can carry a bad reputation, the younger Kotelko admits, "but we don't operate in the same way that most people perceive feedlots to operate, like in Food, Inc.," she says, adding that Spring Creek has developed their own protocols on how to manage their cattle. These practices have been recognized in Alberta and nationally for their exceptional animal welfare and environmental stewardship.

"It's not an extra cost to do things that are environmentally friendly," explains Bern. "The soil, water and clean air are very important to production, so we have to sustain these things to protect these resources. It's in our best interest."

Once the animal is ready, it is sent to a federally approved custom slaugh-

ter and processing plant in Lacombe that specializes in niche markets such as organic, halal, and natural and hormone-free meat. The beef, now in primal cuts, is taken to an inventory facility and aged in coolers.

From here, restaurants are able to place their orders through local food distributors.

There are several Edmonton restaurants that offer Spring Creek on their menus, and the final challenge for beef—getting it the table—is more than just a question of taste. For Culina Highlands chef Cindy Lazarenko, who uses Spring Creek beef on the menu—the ranch's mouth-watering marinated Alberta beef comes served with a blue cheese sauce on a bed of local greens—it's not just the consistent quality and great marbling, she points out, but also the opportunity to support a local economy.

"From a restaurant point of view, it would be really easy to just order our meat from a lesser-quality product that isn't local, that isn't supporting Alberta farms," she explains. "We're just so used to getting everything for nothing, but there's a price to pay for that in the long run. I've always thought if you want local delicious products, you have to support it. It's Alberta beef, that's what we're known for. We want to support it." V Bern and Kirstin Kotelko Spring Creek Ranch springcreek.ca

COW FUEL Spring Creek partners with the Growing Power Group, an innovative organization committed to green energy. Spring Creek's patented bio-refinery is the first of its kind in Canada to produce odourless, zero-greenhouse gas energy from manure and convert it to electricity.

Over 1000 homes in the Vegreville area are powered with green energy from Spring Creek manure. Other patented high-value products include fuel ethanol and an odourless, natural, fertilizer that sustains soil quality. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 17

MEAT // AND FRUIT

Sweet and savoury

Try adding a little fruit to your meat, or vice versa

BELIEVE IT OR NOT >> The sweet and savoury of fruit and meat goes well together Pete Desrochers // desrochers@vueweekly.com

W

e don't often think about cooking meat with fruit. In fact, for many, it seems downright strange.

We accept the mandatory pineapple rounds on baked ham, applesauce with pork chops and cranberry sauce with our turkey. Squirting lemon on our fish is OK, but an orange slice resting on our steak is pushing it.

18 // DISH

So what's this going to a restaurant and finding our veal chop resting in a blueberry puree or our lamb fighting for visibility from under black currants? The truth is that wondrous meat-and-fruit combinations have been around for centuries. The expression "sweet and savoury" originally referred to meat being prepared with fruit.

Cooking with fruit seems to fall in and out of favour every 20 or 30

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 19, 2010

// File

years. Fruit juices have always been used in marinadesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the acid of the fruit is a natural tenderizer, which also cuts through fatty meat. One of the best natural tenderizers is the kiwi. The next time you marinade your meat, using whatever homemade or store-bought marinade you choose, and whatever flavour, mash up a single kiwi and blend it into your marinade. Your meat will taste better and be considerably softer.

Marinade at least an hour, but remember that the longer you marinade your meat in kiwi, the softer your meat will be.

One warning, though: kiwi doesn't go that well with meat. So discard the marinade after you have finished. Glaze or season your meat with something else.

The obvious question then is, "Do particular fruits and meats go together better than others?" The answer is, "Yes." For example, cherries go well with pork. So do pears. The next time you want to serve a pork roast, slit it, shove in peeled slices of pears that have been sprinkled with nutmeg and cinnamon, and use toothpick or skewers to close the meat just prior to baking.

People always think of serving lamb with mint, because mint can cut through the pronounced flavour of lamb—but so can pineapple. If you are like me and don't particularly like mint, a pineapple salsa, cooked pineapple or your own pineapple glaze is a real treat.

You can cook chicken with just about any tropical fruit you desire.

Mandarins and grapes are good partners for chicken as well. If you doubt this, just check your next chicken salad appetizer the next time you dine out. Banana enhances chicken especially well. Other fowl, such as duck or pheasant taste wonderful with orange sauces or glazes, as well as papaya. Berries can dominate chicken or fish, if one isn't careful, but they really can compliment veal.

If you want to make yourself a treat sometime, fry up some bacon and wrap it around a piece of mango or cantaloupe. They are incredible poppers for watching TV, and they happen to go well with wine.

Any citrus fruit is a good match for beef, especially oranges. Fresh peaches, peach salsas, cooked peaches and peach glazes also taste wonderful with beef. There seems to be no good reason as to why, other than that "sweet and savoury" thing again. But peaches and beef really do work. Blackberries and cranberries also enhance the taste of beef, more than any other berries. The flavour is noticeable, but it doesn't clash with beef the way blueberries or Saskatoon berries might. For what it is worth, I think cranberries go far better with beef than with turkey.

But that's a personal taste.

Obviously, any combination is fine if you happen to like certain meats and certain fruits. It's a little like wine. If you happen to love fish, and only drink red wine ... V

RECIPE Soused Chicken Ingredients Enough of your favourite chicken parts (thighs, wings, breasts, etc) for two 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup scotch 1/4 of a banana Dash of cinnamon One orange, thinly sliced 3 tbsp olive oil Directions In a blender combine the maple syrup, scotch and banana. Blend on low for about 15 seconds. Add additional scotch, maple syrup or banana to taste. You want the mixture to have the consistency of a milkshake.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on high. Add chicken and sear each side for one minute.

Reduce heat to medium and pour the enhanced banana milkshake over the chicken pieces.

Place one slice of orange over each piece of chicken. Cover skillet and let cook on medium for 15 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Remove orange slices, scoop a bit of sauce over each chicken piece and serve with rice and a green vegetable. V

Cherried Pork Chops Ingredients 6 – 8 pork chops 1 can of cherry pie filling 3 tbsp olive oil Fresh parsely Directions In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on high. Add pork chops and sear each side for one minute.

Reduce heat to medium and pour half a can of cherry pie filling evenly over the pork chops. Cover skillet and continue cooking for about 15 minutes, or until there is no red at the center of a chop.

Meanwhile, take the remainder of the cherry pie filling and heat it in a microwave safe bowl on high for 45 seconds.

The reason you are doing this is because the cherries in the skillet may start to lose their colour as they cook with the pork juices.

When pork chops are done, place them on a serving platter, slightly overlapping each other on top. Mix the microwave cherries with the pan cherries and cook for an additional two minutes.

Pour cherry mixture over the pork chops. Garnish with parsley for colour and presentation. Serve with rice and a salad. Curried rice complements the cherried pork chops especially well. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 19

20 // DISH

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

MEAT // REAL DEAL MEATS

The lost art of butchering

For a growing number of people, the grocery store's meat department doesn't cut it Serena Beck // serena@vueweekly.com

B

utchering has existed for thousands of years, and the art of butchering has evolved over time. Darcy and Alicia Boisvert own Real Deal Meats and are trying to reinvigorate the art of butchering in the Summerside and Ellerslie communities. Darcy has been cutting meat since he was 15 years old, and is now part of the retail meat cutting program advisory committee for the Hospitality and Culinary Arts program at NAIT where he graduated.

Darcy's grandpa, Real Auger (who the store is named after) was a butcher for 23 years in Legal, Alberta. A lot has changed since his grandpa's time as a butcher. Today, instead of cutting meat at room temperature, which causes bacteria to multiply, meat is now cut in a refrigerated cutting room. In the past, popular cuts of meat included flank, hanger, chuck and round steak—the old staples. Darcy says today's butcher uses "less generic cutting." Some of the store's most popular cuts include rouladen, beef tenderloin, baby back ribs, and stew meat. Other favoured products include pepperoni, jerky, sausage, bison patties and smoked chicken and turkey. Darcy also does fancier cuts such as butterflied tenderloin and Maui cut short ribs.

Darcy's wife Alicia thinks of butchering as an art because "you can create cuts for any individual taste or preference." This art has been undergoing a revival because grocery stores can't satisfy the complex palates of today's consumers. I've tried to buy certain cuts of meat at the grocery store and been told that they don't have the tools to cut the meat I requested or they don't carry that cut. Dedicated butchers often use different tools than the

grocery store butcher and can put in the time required to properly prepare something such as a Frenched rack of lamb or pork crown roast.

Real Deal Meats receives whole beef and bison and customers can purchase a half or full beef and then choose how they would like it cut. Grocery stores are limited by the size of meat they receive whereas Real Deal receives 350 lb sides of beef, so there are no limits to how they can be cut. Butchers can even cut on demand, giving you exactly what you want on the spot. Alicia says that the biggest challenge butchers face today is "trying to be a cut above grocery stores in a competitive market." Real Deal Meats also offers after-hours custom cutting and processing during hunting season.

Another reason butchering is seeing a resurgence is because people are no longer blindly walking into the grocery store and purchasing whatever meat is laid out. They want to know if the animal was grain-fed or grassfed and the type of life the animal led. They want to know if they are supporting local farmers.

Smart consumers want to know what organic means and if their meat is organic. Real Deal Meats' local suppliers include AAA Angus gold beef from

// Gabe Wong

Picture Butte, Alberta organic beef from Prairie Roots Organic Farms in Bittern Lake, Alberta and AAA beef that is used for dry-aging from a local supplier in Sherwood Park. It receives its free-range chickens from War-

burg, Alberta, Halal-certified lamb and goat from Leduc and pork from Sturgeon Valley. The brine and spices that are used in the meat are gluten and MSG free.

Butchers are also anxious to receive

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

feedback. They are concerned about the quality of their products and want to ensure their customers are satisfied.

When I was last in Real Deal Meats, they asked how our skirt steak—the last item I'd purchased—turned out.

Darcy's advice to people who are new to the world of butchering is, "Don't be scared to ask questions." People often come into the store and ask what they should buy to put in their crock pot or on the barbecue. Most butchers are happy to make recommendations.

Another part of butchering that has changed over time is dry-aging. Beef can be dry-aged in a cooler at 2 – 4 C for 28 days and up to a maximum of 45 days. During this period the enzymes break down and a crust forms on the outer layer of the meat. The outer crust is cut off and you're left with the inside and most tender part of the meat. Dryaged beef costs more than regular beef because the outer layer of the product becomes unusable. This is something you just can't get at the grocery store and something that only a true butchering artist can create.

While Darcy thinks that butchering is a lost art, he is happy to hear his repeat customers say that they skip the meat section at the grocery store. As people begin to broaden their knowledge of different types and cuts of meat and grow more and more concerned about what goes into their food, butchers will no longer practise a lost art in the near future. V Darcy and Alicia Boisvert Real Deal Meats 2427 Ellwood Drive, 780.469.3325 realdealmeats.com

DISH // 21

Python

Python

Snake meat has a similar texture and taste to freshwater lake fish—it is akin to catfish, only a tad more pungent.

As such, avoid red wine and choose a white wine, rosé, or sparkling wine that will not overwhelm the delicate texture and flavours. If the python is lightly seasoned and poached, grilled or baked, choose a light white wine like unoaked Chardonnay (Chablis is lovely), Sauvignon Blanc, or a dry Riesling. If it’s fried and/or battered, definitely choose a sparkling wine like Italian Prosecco or French Champagne. A Cabernet-based rosé from Canada or a Provençal rosé from France would work well if it is prepared in a heavier sauce.

I found this one the most challenging.

Its body is delicate, like fish, but it has a brutally strong aroma and final flavour punch. That is a hard combination to pair. It takes quite the beer to complement this meat. After much consternation, I settled on two options: smoke and pepper. For smoke, we need a German smoked rauchbier and the only one available in town is Trois Mousquetaires Rauchbier. Its dark roast malt is dried out by a pleasant smoke linger. Alley Kat’s limited edition Smoked Porter might work too. As for pepper, I say try another Quebec brewer, Dieu du Ciel, and their Route des Epices, which is an amber ale heavily spiced with black and green peppercorns. Neither beer would push aside the python flavour, but each would stand its ground against the aromas.

Alligator Alligator meat, especially from the tail, is akin to the white portion of pork. The rest of it is similar to chicken or rabbit, along with a faint fishiness reminiscent of frog’s legs. Stick to medium-bodied white and light-bodied red wines. Pinot Gris, Grenache Blanc (ie white Châteauneuf-du-Pape), Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Blanc would all work well for white wines. Lighter-bodied reds, like Pinot Noir or Gamay/Beaujolais, are good choices if it is served in a red sauce. The spiciness in Cajun-style alligator necessitates a wine with some sweetness to balance the heat. German Riesling, late harvest Muscat, and even Icewine are good choices.

Alligator Alligator’s light pork/chicken hybrid quality would depend on how you prepare it. If grilled or delicately sautéed, I would suggest an English bitter or pale ale, which has a balance of malt sweetness and bitter. Alley Kat’s Full Moon might be a good local option, as would Fuller’s London Pride. If prepared in a heartier manner, it would need something a little more substantive in body, like Howe Sound Rail Ale Nut Brown.

However, my favourite suggestion might be Schneider Aventinus Weizenbock— the rich malt base with a complex spiciness of clove and banana would offer an interesting contrast.

Kangaroo

Kangaroo

Kangaroo meat is like a cross between beef and venison; its flavour is reminiscent of wild game. Choose a medium- to full-bodied red wine. Australian wines are a great choice (when in doubt, choose a wine that originates from the same place as the food), but try to avoid those super fruity Aussie Shirazes—the fruit will overwhelm the subtler flavours in the meat. Instead, pick something with a little more restraint, like a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coonawarra region or a GSM (Grenache-Shiraz-Mourvedre) blend. Outside of Australia, Bordeaux blends are a good choice—check out Canadian or American Meritage.

Kangaroo is rather gamey with a pungent taste. It needs a beer that can hold up to the stronger flavour profile, meaning something that leans toward sweet, but remains committed to being refreshing.

The perfect style would be Oktoberfest, but its are scarce in Edmonton. Instead, I would try Paddock Wood’s new seasonal, Maibock, which is a bit bigger than an Oktoberfest, but has a similar profile.

A bit of a darker choice might be an old ale, like Yukon’s Lead Dog.

Muskox

Muskox As the name suggests, muskox has a musky, gamey taste reminiscent of lamb or wild boar, and a texture similar to bison. Accordingly, it pairs well with the classic lamb and wine pairing: Bordeaux.

Any hearty red wine would work nicely, such as New World Cabernet blends and traditional Italian wines like Barolo and Barbaresco. Portuguese red wines, especially those primarily made from the traditional Touriga Nacional grape, would also make a great pairing.

THE EXOTIC MEATS FEATURED HERE CAN BE PURCHASED FROM SMOKIN' IRON FARMS SMOKINIRONFARMS.COM

JASON FOSTER

MEL PRIESTLY

// TOTHEPINT@VUEWEEKLY.COM

// MEL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

22 // DISH

I am told muskox is similar to wild boar, which means it is strong and smelly and rather rich. A regular dark ale would push the rich side too much without offering anything original, so I am going to suggest going for contrast, without losing complexity. A Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA, with its huge hops and overall big presence, might wrestle nicely wwith muskox. Or, to be even more creative, go for Westmalle Dubbel, one of those funky Belgian beers, as it has a rich caramel base accented by peppery spiciness for a complex impression.

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 23

24 // DISH

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

After tallying over 5000 votes, Vue Weekly is proud to present the winners of the 2010 edition of the Golden Fork Awards. As we do every year, most categories are divided between independent and chain restaurants, highlighting the best of both Edmonton's homegrown talent as well as its corporate restaurants. Once again, the Golden Fork Awards just go to show how much great food is available in our city—food that seems to get better year after year. V

BEST DISHES

kegsteakhouse.com

BEST APPETIZERS

BEST VENISON

CHAIN - Earls earls.ca

BEST SUSHI

INDIE - Hardware Grill hardwaregrill.com 9698 Jasper Ave • 780.423.0969

BEST SOUPS

INDIE - Soul Soup #140, 10020 - 101A Ave • 780.409.8272

Normand's normands.com 11639A Jasper Ave • 780.482.2600 INDIE - Furusato 10012 - 82 Ave • 780.439.1335 CHAIN - Mikado .mikadorestaurant.com

CHAIN - Tim Hortons timhortons.com

BEST TAPAS

BEST SALADS

CHAIN - Joey Restaurants joeyrestaurants.com

INDIE - The Greenhouse Salad Barthegreenhousesalad.com 8623 - 112 St • 780.757.1731 CHAIN - Earls earls.ca BEST BREADS

INDIE - Treestone Bakery yvanchartrand.com 8612 - 99 St • 780.433.5924 CHAIN - Cob's Bread cobsbread.com BEST STEAKS

INDIE - Vons vonssteakhouse.com 10309 - 81 Ave • 780.439.0041 CHAIN - The Keg

INDIE - Tzin 10115 - 104 St • 780.428.8946

BEST PUB FOOD

INDIE - O’Byrne's Irish Pub obyrnes.com 10616 - 82 St • 780.414.6766 5365 Gateway Boulevard •780.435.3388 CHAIN - Original Joe's originaljoes.ca BEST DIM SUM

Golden Rice Bowl goldenricebowl.ca 5365 Gateway Boulevard • 780.435.3388 BEST SANDWICHES / WRAPS

INDIE - Col Mustard's Canteen colmustards.ca 10802 - 124 St • 780.448.1590

INDIE - The Pint thepint.ca 10125 - 109 St • 780.497.PINT(7468)

BEST HAMBURGERS

BEST SWEETS

CHAIN - Fife n' Dekel fifendekel.com

INDIE - Delux Burger Bar deluxburgerbar.com 9682 - 142 St, (780) 420-0101 CHAIN - Red Robin redrobin.com BEST FRENCH FRIES

INDIE - Dadeo dadeo.ca 10548A - 82 Ave • 780.433.0930 CHAIN - New York Fries newyorkfries.com BEST PIZZA

INDIE - Tony’s Pizza Palace tonyspizzapalace.com 9605 - 111 Ave • 780.424.8777

CHAIN - Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria famoso.ca BEST DESSERTS

INDIE - Duchess Bake Shop duchessbakeshop.com 10720 - 124 St • 780.488.4999 CHAIN - Cheesecake Cafe cheesecakecafe.ca BEST CHICKEN WINGS

CHAIN - Brewsters brewsters.ca

INDIE - Duchess Bake Shop duchessbakeshop.com 10720 - 124 St • 780.488.4999 BEST ORGANIC

INDIE - Skinny Legs and Cowgirlsskinnylegsandcowgirls.com 12202 Jasper Ave • 780.423.4107 CHAIN - Planet Organic planetorganic.ca BEST TAKEOUT

INDIE TIE - Pagolac 9642 - 54 Ave • 780.433.8899 La Shish Taouk various locations

CHAIN - Oodle Noodle oodlenoodle.ca BEST BUTCHER

INDIE - Acme Meat Market 9531 - 76 Ave • 780.433.1812 CHAIN - Sobeys sobeys.ca

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

BEST RESTAURANTS BEST FINE DINING

INDIE - Hardware Grill hardwaregrill.com 9698 Jasper Ave • 780.423.0969 CHAIN - New Asian Village newasianvillage.com BEST MID PRICE

INDIE - Blue Plate Diner blueplatediner.ca 10145 - 104 St, (780) 429-0740 CHAIN - Joey Tomatos joeyrestaurants.com BEST BUDGET

INDIE - Dadeo dadeo.ca 10548A - 82 Ave • 780.433.0930 CHAIN - Red Robin redrobin.com

BEST IN THE SUBURBS

INDIE - River House Grill riverhousegrill.com 8 Mission Ave St Albert, (780) 4582232 CHAIN - Original Joe's originaljoes.ca BEST BREAKFAST

INDIE - Barb & Ernie's CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 >>

DISH // 25

GOLDEN FORK AWARDS << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

barbandernies.com 9906 - 72 Ave • 780.433.3242 CHAIN - Cora’s chezcora.com BEST BRUNCH

INDIE - Café Haven cafehaven.ca 9 Sioux Road Sherwood Park • 780.417.5523

CHAIN - Harvest Room, Hotel McDonald fairmont.com/macdonald BEST COFFEE SHOP

INDIE - Transcend Coffee transcendcoffee.com 9869 - 62 Ave • 780.430.9198 CHAIN - Second Cup secondcup.com BEST TEA SHOP

INDIE - Cally’s Teas 8610 - 99 St • 780.432.3294

The King and I thekingandi.ca 8208 - 107 St • 780.433.2222 BEST JAPANESE

INDIE - Furusato 10012 - 82 Ave • 780.439.1335 CHAIN - Japanese Village

BEST EAST INDIAN / TANDOORI

INDIE TIE - Khazana khazana.ab.ca 10177 - 107 St • 780.702.0330 Zaika zaikabistro.com 2303 Ellwood Dr • 780.462.8722 CHAIN - New Asian Village newasianvillage.com

BEST MEXICAN / LATIN AMERICAN

INDIE - Acajutla acajutlarestaurant.ca 11302 - 107 Ave • 780.426.1308 CHAIN - Julio’s Barrio juliosbarrio.com

CHAIN - Steeps Urban Tea House www. steepstea.com

BEST VIETNAMESE

BEST GREEK

10566 - 97 St • 780.425.1540

INDIE - Yiannis eatmorelamb.com 10444 - 82 Ave • 780.433.6768 CHAIN - Koutouki koutouki.ca BEST FRENCH

The Creperie thecreperie.com 10220 - 103 St • 780.420.6656 BEST ITALIAN / PASTA

INDIE - Piccolino Bistro 9112 - 142 St • 780.443.2110 CHAIN - Sicilian Pasta Kitchen sicilianpastakitchen.com BEST CHINESE

The Lingnan thelingnan.com 10582 - 104 St • 780.426.3975 BEST THAI

26 // DISH

INDIE - Pagolac CHAIN - Doan's doans.ca

BEST EASTERN EUROPEAN

Taste of Ukraine tasteofukraine.com 12210 Jasper Ave • 780.453.2040 BEST SEAFOOD

INDIE - Billingsgate Fish Co. Limited billingsgate.com 7331 - 104 St • 780.433.0091 CHAIN - Red Lobster redlobster.com BEST VEGETARIAN

Padmanadi padmanadi.com 10626 - 97 St • 780.428.8899 BEST AFRICAN

Langano Skies langanoskies.com

9920 - 82 Ave • 780.432.3334 BEST PUB

INDIE - O’Byrne's obyrnes.com 10616 - 82 St • 780.414.6766 CHAIN - Sherlock Holmes sherlockholmespub.com

OTHER BEST BEST NEW RESTAURANT

INDIE - Zaika Indian Bistro Bar zaikabistro.com 2303 Ellwood Dr, (780) 462-8722 CHAIN - Melting Pot meltingpot.com/edmonton BEST PRE-THEATRE DINING

INDIE - Hardware Grill hardwaregrill.com 9698 Jasper Ave • 780.423.0969

CHAIN - Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria famoso.ca BEST RESTAURANT FOR LOVERS

INDIE - The Creperie thecreperie.com 10220 - 103 St • 780.420.6656 CHAIN - Melting Pot meltingpot.com/edmonton MOST INNOVATIVE MENU

INDIE - Wildflower Grill wildfloweredmonton.com 10009 - 107 St• 780.990.1938 CHAIN - OPM opm.ca BEST WINE LIST

INDIE - Hardware Grill .hardwaregrill.com 9698 Jasper Ave • 780.423.0969

CHAIN - Murrieta's West Coast Grill murrietas.ca BEST BEER LIST

INDIE - The Sugar Bowl thesugarbowl.org 10922 - 88 Ave • 780.433.8369 CHAIN - New Asian Village newasianvillage.com BEST WHEN GOING SOLO

INDIE - Remedy Café remedycafe.ca 8631 - 109 St • 780.433.3096

MOST KID FRIENDLY

BEST LATE NIGHT / ALL NIGHT

CHAIN - Red Robin edrobin.com

CHAIN - Kyoto

INDIE - Hundred Bar + Kitchen centuryhospitality.com 10009 - 101 A Ave • 780.425.0100 CHAIN - Denny's dennys.ca BEST SERVICE

INDIE - Hardware Grill hardwaregrill.com 9698 Jasper Ave • 780.423.0969 CHAIN - New Asian village newasianvillage.com BEST SPORTS BAR

INDIE - The Pint thepint.ca 10125 - 109 St • 780.497.PINT (7468) CHAIN - Schanks schanks.com BEST PATIO

INDIE - Black Dog Freehouse blackdog.ca 10425 Whyte Ave • 780.439.1082 CHAIN - Earls earls.ca

BEST HOTEL RESTAURANT

INDIE - Madison's Grill 10053 Jasper Ave • 780.401.2222 CHAIN - The Harvest Room (Hotel MacDonald) fairmont.com/macdonald BEST FOR PEOPLE WATCHING

INDIE - The Sugar Bowl thesugarbowl.org 10922 - 88 Ave • 780.433.8369 CHAIN - Julio’s Barrio juliosbarrio.com BEST ATMOSPHERE

INDIE - Blue Plate Diner blueplatediner.ca 10145 - 104 St • 780.429.0740 CHAIN - New Asian Village newasianvillage.com

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

INDIE TIE - Blue Plate Diner blueplatediner.ca 10145 - 104 St • 780.429.0740 Route 99 8820 - 99 St • 780.432.0968

BEST INDIE GROCERY MARKET

Italian Centre italiancentre.ca Various Locations • 780.424.4869 BEST BEER STORE

INDIE - Sherbrooke Liquor sherbrookeliquor.com 11819 St Albert Trail • 780.455.4556 CHAIN - Liquor Depot liquorstoresgp.ca

BEST FOOD FESTIVAL / EVENT

Heritage Days heritage-festival.com

BEST BEVERAGE FESTIVAL / EVENT

Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival rockymountainwine.com BEST WINE STORE

INDIE - DeVine Wine & Spirits devinewines.ca 10111 - 104 St • 780.421.9463 CHAIN - Grapes and Grains

MEAT // OLD STRATHCONA FARMERS' MARKET

Buying local

"This actually gives the meat much more flavour," he said. He also explained that 20 years ago he came up with his own guidelines—expectations for himself that he has stuck to. By having a chemical-free farm and a natural environment for the animals, he's running things the way he had originally intended from the very start, and his customers keep coming back because of the unwavering quality.

Better tasting, more ethical meat is close at hand ERIKA DOMANSKI // ERIKA@VUEWEEKLY.COM

G

rocery stores are convenient because they're almost always open and usually offer huge selection. Unfortunately, these cathedrals to convenience lack in an important area—access to locally produced, fresh food.

Most Edmontonians are well aware by now that this city plays host to several wonderful farmers' markets on a weekly basis, and having the ability to purchase meat products is especially attractive these days. The controversy surrounding the mass production of meat and the treatment of animals grows as time goes on and, regardless of where you stand on the topic, farmers' markets offer locally produced and ethically treated meat that, because of the way it is produced and packaged, is less prone to disease and more flavourful.

The Old Strathcona Farmers' Market operates on Saturdays from 8 am to 3 pm yearround and in my experience is usually packed. I was there to uncover just what makes the meat of producers at the market any different from the standard meat products that can be found in your local grocery store.

I first paid a visit to the vendor booth of Four Whistle Farm. Their farm is located in Millet, AB. The majority of the meat that the farm sells is poultry, but it also carries beef and other varieties. I had to know what actually makes the items in their freezers any different than the well-stocked meat departments at a grocery store.

"The fact that these animals are free range and treated well," Kory deGroot, one of the employees at the booth told me. "The animals aren't given antibiotics or hormones. The meat also doesn't have to be shipped from very far."

This was echoed by Jim Sturgeon of Trowlesworthy Farms, which can be found in Mirror, AB. He and his wife Wilma specialize in beef, pork, bison, lamb and elk. He explained that because the animals aren't given growth hormones, they're allowed to mature slowly and naturally.

I was curious about how one ends up as a vendor in one of the popular booths at the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market.

"This is the best farmers' market in the city because it's the only one that operates year-round and it's indoors. It also has the best customer base," said DeGroot. I got the impression that for these farmers, finding a local market to sell their products at was one of those no-brainer type of decisions. As I shuffled my way down the over-populated aisles it became obvious that the attendance at this market is very good.

But are there more challenges in being a smaller producer? I wondered about the different regulations that they might face, but none of the farmers that I spoke with seemed inconvenienced by these.

"The most important thing is temperature" explained DeGroot. "Health inspectors come by often to check the cooler temperatures. Years ago eggs didn't even need to be refrigerated, but of course now they must be at all times." These seasoned farmers didn't strike me as being particularly phased by the expectations that are imposed on them—it's all a part of their livelihood.

The biggest thing that I took away from speaking to these producers is that their animals are allowed to grow up naturally and in pleasant environments, not in small, unsanitary spaces, being pumped full of chemicals. The meat at the farmers' market might cost a few more dollars than the price of the meat that you'll find in the grocery store, but I've learned that a few more dollars out of my pocket buys better tasting meat and a clearer conscience as well. V SAT (8 AM – 3 PM) OLD STRATHCONA FARMERS' MARKET 10310 - 83 AVE OSFM.CA // Gabe Wong

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 27

MEAT // ALBERTA LIVESTOCK AND MEAT AGENCY

Chewing the fat

Government agency aims to strengthen Alberta's meat industry we had to start right from scratch and build with the industry and work with getting our projects and partnerships going so that just takes a little bit of time," he says.

IMPROVED QUALITY >> ALMA is using science to help meat producers Heather Skinner // skinner@vueweekly.com

W

hen mad cow disease struck Alberta, it hit the meat industry like a freight train hitting a car stuck on the tracks; it didn't end pretty.

Countries started to ban Alberta beef and the market tumbled. Then the H1N1 outbreak happened in 2009 and pork sales took a nosedive. One local agency, however, is looking to make Alberta's livestock and meat profitable once again.

"Right now there's a lot of challenges in this industry so we're here to help drive change and partner with the industry to get it to better times," says Gordon Cove, president of the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.

Originally set up in January 2009, six years after Alberta's last bout with mad cow disease, ALMA is a provincial government agency designed to help the livestock and meat industry. It's set to help change Alberta's market and make it more competitive, profitable and sustainable while still creating value in commodities and establishing niche markets for Alberta products.

But Cove says that ALMA wasn't cre-

28 // DISH

// File

ated because of the mad cow situation in 2002. He says it was created because mad cow disease is still a lingering issue. Cove adds that even though the scare has long passed, some borders

Right now there's a lot of challenges in this industry so we're here to help drive change and partner with the industry to get it to better times. remain closed to Alberta meat such as Japan and Korea's.

It hasn't been easy. Cove says that the biggest challenge that ALMA must face is that the industry hasn't been profitable and herds across the province have been declining. With the BSE crisis in 2002, the H1N1 outbreak last year, and the global economic crisis, consumption and exports have been decreasing this year.

"As a new organization starting up

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 19, 2010

With the challenges comes a success story, however. Cove says that the one of the successes that the agency has seen is that it has helped make the market more competitive. He says that that is the strategy the agency focused on the most and the one it has spent the most time on. Cove adds ALMA looks at it from a research perspective and that the agency has been able to help improve the industry through other projects, such as the genomics project.

Announced in April 2010, ALMA is looking to DNA as a way to improve different attributes within an animal, such as reducing health issues.

By giving accurate information on an animal's health, it can breed out diseases, increase the potential for disease detection and improve the ability to trace DNA through the food system, resulting in safer food productsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;an important element in improving the reputation of Alberta's meat industry which remains damaged in some places. The research is also set to improve the quality of Alberta's livestock while still helping producers select livestock for increased production as well as reduced environmental impact.

"We're new on this and it's taken some time but we always say we have ideas, information and some dollars to invest in, so that's always a good way to deliver to the industry," says Cove. V Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency alma.alberta.ca

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 29

MEAT // BEEF AND CHOCOLATE

Beef's sweet buddy

Perhaps a surprising pair, chocolate and beef go well together Kristina de Guzman // kristina@vueweekly.com

C

ulina Mill Creek chef/owner Brad Lazarenko notes a slight apprehension when diners first come across his restaurant's Alberta beef entrée with blue cheese and chocolate sauce on dirty mashed potatoes.

A taste of the dish, however, immediately wins people over.

"I think people see chocolate sauce, [and] they think it's going to be sweet, but it's not," Lazarenko guesses at the reason behind people's reactions to a meat and chocolate pairing. "It's a demi-glace-based sauce with red wine and dark [Callebaut] chocolate, so it's not sweet at all. It's actually got a little bit of bitterness to it.

"In contrast, the blue cheese sauce is salty and creamy and rich, so [the chocolate sauce] balances the blue cheese," says Lazarenko, adding

The concept of pairing meat with chocolate is nothing new: Mexicans and South Americans have long been known for using chocolate in mole sauces. that the cheese sauce is a mixture of a cream cheese and Danish blue cheese. "Individually they're fine, but they really need to go together."

The sirloin cuts of Alberta beef used for the entrée are from Full Course

30 // DISH

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

// Gabe Wong

Strategies, a company that outsources small farm meats and acts as a liaison between restaurants and farms.

Lazarenko mentions that while not all the farms are necessarily organic, they are certainly free range and hormone free.

The story of how the Alberta beef dish came to be began when Lazarenko was visiting a friend's house.

"We were having wine and [my friend] had dark chocolate and blue cheese out on a table—we were nibbling on it, right? And I know blue cheese goes really well with red wine, and chocolate goes really well with red wine. So we kind of put the two together, and we tried it, and it was really awesome," recalls Lazarenko.

"So that's how that dish came about, kind of by fluke."

The concept of pairing meat with chocolate is nothing new: Mexicans and South Americans have long been known for using chocolate in mole sauces. And before owning Culina Mill Creek, Lazarenko worked at Packrat Louie Kitchen & Bar, where a beef dish with chocolate sauce was also served.

Nevertheless, Lazarenko has a few tips for making meat and chocolate a successful food pairing.

"Make sure [the chocolate sauce is] not sweet. Don't use milk chocolate.

Use a nice dark chocolate and just use very little. It shouldn't be overempowering," Lazarenko advises. "If people are going to be eating meat with chocolate sauce, it should be very subtle. You don't want it to be the primary flavour." V

open seven evenings a week 780.482.7178 10643 123 street thebluepear.com

RECIPE CULINA’S BLUE CHEESE CREAM AND RED WINE CHOCOLATE SAUCE Blue cheese Sauté 2 tbsp onion and 1 tsp garlic in 3 tbsp butter until golden. Deglaze with one-quarter cup white wine and reduce by half. Add 300 ml whipping cream and reduce until slightly thickened (about 10 minutes). Add a half cup of good quality blue cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another five minutes. Keep warm.

Chocolate sauce In a sauce pan, simmer 200 ml demiglace with 50 ml red wine and a half tsp fresh ground pepper. Remove from heat and whisk in about 3 tbsp chopped dark couveture chocolate until melted. Keep warm.

Pour sauces over grilled beef or bison.

Serves four. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 31

PREVUE // CITY CENTRE MARKET

PREVUE // CASK ALE NIGHT

Eating and meeting

'Living' beer awaits One-time-only ale at the Sugarbowl

Edmonton's oldest farmers' market returns

Mike Angus // mikeangus@vueweekly.com

D

on't believe in the power of a Full Moon? You soon will.

You needn't search the sky superstitiously, however. On May 20, simply head to the Sugarbowl for a rare taste of a Full Moon—literally. For one night only, local Edmonton beer brewers Alley Kat will be tapping a rare keg of cask-conditioned Full Moon Pale Ale. Cask ale, or "real" ale as beer snobs refer it to scrupulously, is ale that has been transferred to a cask (or more commonly a keg) along with priming sugars and additional hops to undergo a secondary

COME TOGETHER >> This year's City Centre Market promises to be bigger and better Sharon Yeo // sharon@vueweekly.com

F

or something that is over 100 years old, it seems that the City Centre Market is finally coming into its own again. Since 2004, the market has been operating outdoors (rain or shine) on 104 Street between Jasper and 103 Avenues, and with each passing year, the roster of vendors grows larger.

"Expect to see over 145 vendors in 2010," says Maria Iacobelli, the market's manager. "We have all of the old favourites returning and have added some great new ones as well."

Among the latest additions are Mo-Na Mushrooms, which offers a large selection of wild and domestic mushrooms, award-winning cheesemaker Sylvan Star Cheese, and con-

32 // DISH

fectioner Varro Gourmet, which specializes in toffee.

Moreover, the May 15 opening day will feature the first in a series of monthly cultural festivals as a means of attracting bigger crowds, with festive Chinese dragon and lion dances to kick it all off. "We are really working hard to make the City Market on 104 Street a gathering place for Edmontonians and visitors alike," shares Iacobelli.

With the growing interest in buying local intersecting with the city's continued push to revitalize downtown, the City Market is a great example of pedestrian-friendly commerce, with eateries, cafes, and retail lining the market path. "We are really fortunate to share the street with the great shops and restaurants that are very supportive of the market," ex-

The absence of pasteurization, filtration or added preservatives ensures the beer you're enjoying is fresh, lively and locally produced.

// Sharon Yeo

presses Iacobelli.

It's a safe bet that the City Centre Market will draw even more patrons this year, between its increased selection of products and special events. Still, set among the trendy warehouse district, it's easy to forget that the market is deeply rooted in the city's history. "For many Edmontonians, coming to the market on Saturdays is a real family tradition," tells Iacobelli. "One family comes to mind, where three generations come each week to do their shopping and to enjoy a bison burger together." V Begins May 15 Sat (9 am – 3 pm, rain or shine) City Centre Market 104 St, between Jasper and 103 Ave

fermentation. As a rule it is generally unfiltered, unpasteurized, and the result is an ale with more hop character, lower carbonation and bigger flavour than noncask-conditioned ales.

Alley Kat brewmaster and co-owner Neil Herbst will be on hand for the event, proudly pulling pints from a single keg of cask-conditioned Full Moon pale ale for Alley Kat fans and "real" ale purists alike—offering both a rare opportunity to savour a specialized version of this awardwinning beer. "[Because it] is re-fermented in the keg

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

from which it's served, it does make a distinctive difference to the beer," Herbst enthuses. "The result doesn't sound like a big difference, but it's unfiltered, it will have some yeast in it, and generally the beer is rounder in terms of flavour, it's hoppier, and the carbonation is more muted."

Any carbonation in the beer is solely a result of this secondary fermentation, since cask ales are poured using a handpump, as opposed to a gas-fed tap, Herbst points out. The overall effect, he adds, is a unique profile that is "softer, less-carbonated, and forward-flavoured."

Cask-conditioning has been done for centuries, upholding the purist practice of beer brewing orthodoxy. Traditional ingredients are simply malted barley, water, hops and yeast, which provide nuances of aroma, flavour and character that are not found in other types of beer. Similarly, the absence of pasteurization, filtration or added preservatives ensures the beer you're enjoying is fresh, lively and locally produced—a "living" beer, as ale aficionados like to point out.

With a short shelf-life, however, you'll want to show up early for this "one-nightonly" event, because once the keg's dry, that will be it until the next cask is conditioned.

"They're tasty and different, [but] they're always one-offs," Herbst points out.

"That's why casks are fun for us to do. You can do all sorts of fun things to them, like adding a contrasting hop to what's already in the keg. It's fun to see to what brewers can do—no commercial beer producers could afford to do this." V Thu, May 20 (5 pm) Cask Ale Night Sugarbowl 10922 - 88 Ave

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DISH // 33

INSIDE // ADVENTURE

ADVENTURES

OUTDOOR

35

Dam surfing

38

Family firsts

49

Vertical ballroom

PADDLE // MILK RIVER

Rained out

Unexpected weather may alter plans, but you can still Milk it BOBbi Barbarich // bobbi@vueweekly.com

6

:19 am. I awake to the sound of tiny fingers tapping a disjointed melody on the tent fly over my head. I hope it will only be a shower—we're planning to canoe the Milk River today.

6:49 am. Rain, a steady drum, wakens me again. The tent fly coils and snaps in the wind.

7:34 am. A watery assault and slapping gusts force me to devise a game plan. My phone to call Milk River Raft Tours, our shuttle and canoe source for this trip, are in the car several metres away. I grope for the keys in the dark, grey morning light and zip open the fly to a surging deluge. Two metres away, the river is visibly swollen.

7:38 am. Rain pelting the car roof, I raise my voice for tour operator Ken Brown on the phone. "We're probably not going out

in this weather?" The tent morphs as wind rips into the river valley.

"You better find some shelter," advises Brown. "You're not going out today."

When we arrived at Gold Springs Park Campground near the town of Milk River in southern Alberta, the river was moving fast—river volume and flow rate are highest in June. Rocks, visible 12 hours ago, are now drowned under the boiling water, making them hidden obstacles. I run back to the tent feeling, to my surprise, a slight twinge of relief.

In Mark Lund's Mark's Guide for Alberta Paddlers, the Milk River is Class I to II+. With limited paddling experience, Jay Hannley and I are more comfortable around lower skill levels. Listening to the river roaring past our site, I reread the guide. Lund notes, " ... [some] had difficulties with the river and rapids, damaged their canoes, and were basically evacuated, with some dif-

History Written on Rock Canadian National Heritage site and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Áísínai'pi (Writing-onStone) Provincial Park is about 100 kilometres southeast of Lethbridge, Alberta and 44 km east of border town, Milk River. Straddling the Milk River itself, the 18-square-kilometre area is riddled with a labyrinth of cliffs, hoodoos and towers.

For as long as 9000 years, the park's sandstone monoliths have attracted travellers. Frequent visitors were the Blackfoot (Niitsítapi), who regarded the sudden sandstone outbursts from the vast grassland as a spiritual site.

The Niitsítapi and other passing tribes drew the petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pictographs (paintings) when the tribe stayed in the fertile valley to replenish berry and animal food stores, as they moved across the plains.

Visitors can see the faded red images scrawled on the hoodoos throughout an interpretive walk. Weaving through hoodoos along several kilometres overlooking the Milk River, hikers see depictions of spiritual quests, conflicts with other tribes and the white man and interactions between their spiritual and physical worlds.

The physical world of the park is still impressive today: great horned owls, pronghorn antelope, bobcats, tiger salamanders and bull snakes make Writing on Stone Provincial Park a fascinating natural, physical and historical trip.

water conditions and Risk Levels Potentially dangerous • Cold water: be prepared for a dunking. Bring dry bags full of warm clothes.

• Hole: area on the downstream side of an object where circulating water meets the current.

If the edges of the meet point upstream, avoid.

Dangerous • High water: snowmelts and heavy rain quickly raise water levels. Flow rates increase and floating or obscured debris can overturn your boat.

• Strainer: when water flows through an obstruction but does not allow solid objects, like a canoe or kayak, to pass. Downed trees, logs and fences lodged into each other, an underwater rock or the bank are often found during high water.

Extremely dangerous • Low head dam: extends across the river and allows water to flow over the dam. The ensuing hydraulic—where overflowing water creates a depression and upstream water flows inward to fill it—can keep objects, like a human, under the surface.

• Undercut rock: due to shape or erosion, water can flow under rocks and trap a paddler. If water flowing into a rock does not form white, bubbly water on the upstream side of the rock, it may be an undercut.

34 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

ficulty, from Poverty Rock." Hannley and I were looking for excitement and a chance to challenge nature—which the Milk's tight, fast bends, white rapids and numerous rock gardens offer even experienced paddlers.

"Maybe the rain is trying to tell us something," I mention to Hannley after a strong gust slaps the tent wall against his head.

He nods, "You might be right."

Beyond its technical features, the Milk is distinctly unlike other Alberta rivers.

It's the province's only transborder river, originating in northern Montana. Bent into horseshoes and hairpins through the plains, the river flows north and east for 385 kilometres. At Writing on Stone Provincial Park (WOS), the Milk finally turns south again to end its 1173 km course in the Missouri River—but not before leaving an indelible mark in Alberta.

Accepting that nature wins today, we drive into Milk River to find some warm coffee.

At the golf and country club, the rain comes sideways in sheets, a wet towel slapping against the log walls. Moisture seeps into the restaurant. After weeks without rain, 40 millimetres—the June average—falls in ten hours.

Without a choice, Hannley and I forego our plans of paddling from Gold Springs Park to Poverty Rock, the most precarious section of the river. We set up camp in Writing on Stone 40 km from Milk River, and Brown agrees to shuttle us from Weir Bridge to paddle into the park the next day.

The Milk's final 100 km in Canada are what lured us here. After driving south from Edmonton for 700 km, the wide-open sky is suddenly punctuated with spires, hoodoos and mushroom-shaped monoliths in the river valley.

Several coulees, home to falcons and owls, feed into the river. In this dry climate, the lush flood plain is an oasis for antelopes, bobcats and rattlesnakes and, in centuries past, the Blackfoot people. The fertile valley was practical, while the hills and hoodoos' powerful presence were destinations for vision quests. Over the last 1000 years, markings of their visions and stories of their people, or petroglyphs, were often carved into the soft sandstone.

Checking in at the campground, we note a backcountry hiking trail within the park boundary on the south side of the river.

We stuff our hiking boots in dry bags and carefully ford waist deep water to a sandbar, catch our nerves and set across again, sloshing into the mouth of Davis Coulee, connecting with Humphrey coulee to the east. A worn animal path leads from the steep shore onto the plain.

As we trudge in the sandy mud among

HIGH AND DRY >> Avoiding treacherous storm water with a hike // Bobbi Barbarich ancient towers carved by centuries of wind the campsite docking. Neither of us has and rain, it's impossible to disregard their said much, marveling at our surroundings. haunting presence. First Nations people Three busloads of kids are running around believe that everything, even rocks, have a the campground, a school trip from nearby spirit. We climb a spire to scan the valley, Taber. Their gasps and shouts to, "Look over obscured by grey mist. here! Climb this one!" and teachers yelling, Most of the southern hoodoos are packed "Get off there!" break our reverie. like squished marshmallows, topped with On its surface, WOS and the Milk are but layers of thin slate. To the north, they're a vast recreational area. Our initial intentaller and more majestic. Bushes and flowtion was to use the park for our own deers eek an existence where cracks have vices. I think nature had a different plan, gathered enough dust to hold a meager however. Following the environment's root. Scanning the horizon, the thousands lead led us—safely—somewhere far more of looming, misshapen cylinders look like intriguing. V soldiers. It's no wonder the area is sacred.

Tour info We make our way back to the campsite and fall asleep to raindrops patting the tent.

The morning sunbringsawelcomesurprise: silence. I peek out the tent at the bright blue sky. Brown picks us up at WOS and pushes us into the drink at Weir Bridge, 10 km upstream from the park. He reminds us to watch for sweepers and keep to the deeper edges, the only river he's paddled where the sides are deeper than the middle.

The river's moving fast; paddling is almost unnecessary except for getting around snags in the tight corners. Brown reports several thousand paddlers enjoy this river every summer, but today as the sun beats through blue skies, we are the only ones.

Horses, cows and mule deer watch silently as we pass by ranchland.

Rocky outcroppings creep onto river's edge, and soon we're floating through sandstone walls. It's completely quiet but for our paddles dipping in the water. Viewed from the river, the hoodoos are more impressive than when we walked between them. The sentinels grow more imposing as we reach

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Milk River Raft Tours Ken Brown, operator mrrafttours@mrcable.ca Phone: 403.647.3586 or 403.642.7619 Fax: 403.647.3589 On the web National Historic Site: pc.gc.ca/eng/docs/r/ab/sites/writing-onstone.aspx WOS campground: albertawow.com/campgrounds/Writing_On_Stone/Writing_On-Stone.htm Gold Springs Park campground: www1.travelalberta.com/en-ca/index.cf m?pageid=4&Search=Details&ID=64001 Milk River recreation: greatcanadianrivers.com/rivers/milk/ recreation-home.html

SURF // KANANASKIS

Dam good time

Hydro dams generate surf in Alberta KIRK ZEMBAL // KIRK@vueweekly.com

T

he first time I heard, I believe my exact words were, "Wait, what?" It was one of those times where your ears heard correctly, but the words being processed are so outlandish that the brain just rejects them.

"You can go surfing in Alberta? Really?"

In a word, yes. And no, this isn't standup paddling, or in chlorinated water, or in your canoe or kayak. This is real, honest-to-goodness surfing. You paddle out, catch the wave, stand up and surf. Except that this time, the water is fresh and the wave you just surfed stays there ready for the next guy.

River surfing. The very definition of a burgeoning sport, here in Alberta river surfing (for now) happens in two places: on the Lower Kananaskis and the Upper Red Deer Rivers. Its adherents are fervent and increasing in number, and lately, organized. Founded in 2005, the Alberta River Surfing Association and its co-founder and primary organizer, Neil Egsgard, champion the sport and provide guidance for even the most rookie of river surfers (read: me).

Egsgard's most helpful piece of advice, "Just head down there and do what everybody else is doing."

So I rented a board from undercurrents in Calgary, neoprened up and headed down to Canoe Meadows for a baptismal dip into the Lower Kananaskis. One of the more popular and frequented rivers in Alberta, the Kananaskis is famed for its white water—and this may be the only time Vue Weekly will ever publish these words—thanks to the Transalta Corporation.

See, back in 1947 the company dammed the Kananaskis River to generate power.

The Barrier Dam opens its intakes during times of electricity demand—during the day—and closes them during the night.

This means by day the Kananaskis flows hard and by night the water level drops and "improvements" can be made to the river bottom.

In 1984 the first earth movers got in there and built the current race course.

Since then other modifications have been made to enhance the whitewater. It now presents a solid class II to III for rafters, kayakers, canoeists and, well, me on a surfboard.

For now, Alberta wave seekers can surf the existing Lower Kananaskis rapids or the S-bend rapid on the Upper Red Deer River near Sundree. If the ARSA and Neil Egsgard's plans come to fruition there will be two new river surf holes opening up soon. First up is the Harvie Passage development.

On the Bow River in Calgary, Harvie Passage is replacing the existing weir that is commonly referred to as a "drowning machine." Scheduled to open in 2011, the City of Calgary involved the local whitewater community (including ARSA) to hopefully create surfable waves depending on flow rates. Scale models of the

features were built and little model boats surfed the wave, but time will tell if fullsized people will be able to replicate that feat.

As well, the future of river surfing in Alberta perhaps hinges on a project presented by the ARSA to the Lower Kananaskis River Users Association last fall. Referred to as the Alberta Pipeline, it will involve a future reshaping of the Kananaskis upstream of the Widowmaker feature.

The intended wave is modelled after a wave in Munich, Germany where the first attempt to surf a river was made by two brothers on September 5, 1975. Still in the planning and permitting stage, the Alberta Pipeline appears to face no technological or hydrological obstacles.

The primary obstacle is financial and the ARSA is in the process of mobilizing their base to get the word out and bring the wider public into the fold.

Now, I've run the Kananaskis before and it's not the sort of river to just float down on a board. But, thanks to the river-bottom improvements, there are "surf holes" where you can jump right in. I decided to jump in at Green Tongue, a standing wave formed at a groin in the river at the start of the Race Course.

The water is mountain cold, and it's a little intimidating the first time you feel that steady push of the current threatening to sweep you downstream. That is, at least until the first crack at the wave.

Standing in an eddy a couple metres from the throat of the rapid, I edge my way into the flow. Predictably, it flushes me out, tossing me upside down and along the river. Now here's one crucial difference from ocean surfing—you don't wear a leash from your leg to your surfboard. As a kayak instructor once told me, "a rope in a river is a very dangerous thing."

So, you've gotta catch that bastard once you fall off. And wow, do you ever fly down a river if you swim with the current. Common misconception is that the board will float away from you faster than you yourself will float. Not so. A few solid strokes put me within reach of the board and I swam back into the eddy.

With a little more gumption this time I powered my way into the Tongue. Or rather, it pulled me in and there it held me.

Here's where the best part of river surfing is—this wave is never going to crest. I can stay there, on my chest, until I'm ready to make the jump to my feet. Unless I get seriously unbalanced, this wave is going to present an almost limitless playground.

You can see this in the more experienced riders: perfecting their cutbacks, linking them; generally getting in a solid hour's worth of ocean surf practice in one run on the river. Hard to beat.

It was October and I was surfing in Alberta. Stayed until Transalta turned the river off. It was cheap, accessible, fun as all heck and right in our backyard. Not too shabby, eh?

Hell, since the Kananaskis never freezes during the winter you could even surf and ski in the same day. And here I thought I'd have to move to California for that. V

HOW LOW KAN YOU GO? >> Bending the knees to stabilize the board while riding the Lower Kan

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

// Kirk Zembal

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 35

COMMENTARY // SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL

Adventures worth spreading How do we reconcile thirst for adventure with sustainability?

INTO THE WILD >> Dr Wade Davis, one of National Geographic's explorers-in-residence, in his natural habitat KIRK ZEMBAL // KIRK@vueweekly.com

I

like fun. Good, bad, wholesome, not-sowholesome, outside, inside—whatever.

I'm not being facetious or flippant; I'm just being honest. And I know I'm not the only one.

I'm sure we'd fancy calling ourselves explorers or adventurers, but to be truthful I'm sure most of us are more wanderer than anything. Wandering around looking for a high, whether it be in the form of adrenaline at the bottom of something or endorphin at the top of something or soul-filling at the vista of something we've never laid eyes on before. Maybe in our wanderings we shirk a few responsibilities here and there, or sacrifice a few relationships or what have you, but it has to be done.

Now, the junkie metaphor has been done before and I'm always loathe to propagate a cliché, but sometimes, when you are that cliché it doesn't seem so clichéd anymore.

Of course, the way most of us are exposed to these kinds of things is as dichotomies.

On one side, you have the high-octane, sports-drink-drinking, SUV-driving rock jock. On the other, the long-haired conservationist in a hat, paddling across a

36 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

pristine lake.

Sustainability is to hippies as synergy is to yuppies. It's a little joke I think whenever I hear another corporation or think tank trumpet an event with the holy word "sustainability" front and centre—a buzzword that means everything yet nothing at the same time. So I was a little skeptical when I entered the Whistler Centre for Sustainability this February, in midst of the world's largest tourism event in four years, to attend TEDxWhistler.

Briefly, TED is a movement/forum/website/conference focused on "ideas worth spreading." They've disseminated lectures (TED Talks) of 18 minutes or less on a myriad of subjects and speakers, from the weighty—"Al Gore on averting climate change"—to the seemingly trivial— "Malcolm Gladwell on what we can learn from spaghetti sauce."

This time, the Whistler Centre for Sustainability was hosting and the theme was right in my (or, collectively, our?) wheelhouse: "Tourism in a Sustainable World."

The Olympics in full swing, thousands of the world's media running around their little city and Whistler decides to maybe, just maybe, draw a little bit of attention to a small problem: "Um, guys? Yeah ... not too sure if we can keep doing things like

// File

this, you know, what with global warming and dwindling resources and whatnot."

Talk about a bummer.

Straight up: I don't like hearing things like this. I like flying. I like checking out parts of the world I haven't been to before. I don't like being told that an economy ticket in a decade will cost the same as a business ticket today. I like the idea of people making their way through the world as they please. I don't like hearing that if everyone on the planet had the same standard of living as North Americans do, we'd need five to 10 loads of the Earth's total resources.

When TED Talker Mark Angelo glosses about some of the breathtaking trips he's taken and that "There are still wild places to be found," I get excited. That sounds like fun.

Knowing that this is the exact reason why today's tourism industry is seeing mainstream travellers become adventure travellers and adventure travellers become extreme travellers and now extreme travellers becoming so-called "black travellers" is, well, less than fun. The further we travel the more resources we consume— got to be one of the most depressing examples of the law of diminishing returns.

Unsustainable.

So now what? Do we have to come to grips with the fact that what we love doing and seeing is absolutely detrimental to our world now and into the future?

When Bruce Poon Tip (founder of one of the most successful adventure travel companies in the world, GAP Adventures) talks about how, in the world's 40 poorest countries, tourist dollars are the second largest source of foreign exchange after oil, it is sobering to think about what will happen if the tourism industry shifts to a "more regional, less international" model.

Or will it be the other way around? Will the world's tourist population double from 866 million today to 1.6 billion in 2020? Hard to believe Mother Nature will take that lightly.

Of course, there are stop-gap measures.

With small ideas making a small impact but bordering on profiteering (eco-tours, volun-tourism, offsets, etc) dominating the conversation, the time for big ideas worth spreading is overdue.

The man with the world's greatest job title, Dr Wade Davis, National Geographic's Explorer-in-Residence—introduced earnestly as "like Indiana Jones"—most definitely had those ideas.

In a roundabout way he blamed the

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

secularization of Europe during the Enlightenment for destroying the Western world's reverence for the land that gave birth to us all. He talked about how people in some of the most remote areas in the world "feel the earth, and not in a sense of some hippie-ethnography."

The peoples he refers to, he says, spend their lives worshipping the mountains unlike "Canadians who see those mountains as a pile of rocks to mine." While that barb may have been due to the rather large chip on his shoulder he appears to carry about a proposed mine a few miles away from his Northern BC residence, the sentiment is not lost.

Then—although maybe not intending to—he offered up a vision of a sustainable world. In his words and in the minds of most of the world's anthropologists, all humans evolved and migrated "Out of Africa." One of these groups managed to traverse the belly of Asia and crossed the shallow seas of Australasia and onto the shores of the Australian continent.

When they arrived, they abandoned their seafaring technology—which they had developed thousands of years before any other group of humans, and in Dr Davis's words, "they went walking." The aboriginal people, in some of the most inhospitable environments on the planet, then, "never attempted to better their lot, they made no attempts to better their conditions or lifestyle."

Instead, he says, "An aboriginal's whole life is the continuation of traditions to maintain the world"—and here's the important part—"exactly as it existed before them." In the aboriginal languages, "There is no word for past, present, or future," and to irrevocably change the landscape "would bring permanent shame on your lineage for all eternity."

The Leave No Trace program pales pretty heavily against that kind of dedication. It is because of this disparity that Dr Davis's message was the hardest to grasp. Because the more he talked, the more places he talked about seeing, the more people he talked about meeting, how he was the first Westerner to do this and the only to do that ... quite frankly the more jealous I got and the more I too wanted to do the things that he done.

And therein lies the rub. Can we, as rich Canadians, get away with small "leadership" programs like LNT or its hundred other "responsible tourism" cousins and essentially keep on keeping on? Or do we have to step back and make room for the rest of the world to get a glimpse of the things that we have, in many cases, already seen and done?

With Davis spelling out what he'd seen, where he'd been, writ large, and how that changed his perspective on the world, it was hard not to be inspired. More difficult is to direct that inspiration. In a culture where tourism is the highest form of selfish wish fulfillment we know, I felt that I too was given leave to go out into the world.

And unfortunately, I ain't rowing my canoe to get there. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 37

FAMILY // SUN PEAKS

Family firsts

Sharing adventures with family enriches the experience in the bike park exploring the rootgnarled trails, getting that one day in quieted the voices that would otherwise have been shrieking in my head, causing me to obsess about the trails just beyond reach.

Something about letting loose for a day like that enabled me to appreciate family life all the more. I was ready to taper my pace, slow down and turn my full focus on my family. And to truly enjoy the richness of family adventure, you need your full focus.

HAPPY TRAILS >> Embarking on an alpine hike along Vista Trail, kids in tow // Heather Derksen Jeremy derksen // jeremy@vueweekly.com

'Y

ou've had a lot of adventure in your young life," says my wife, beaming down at our son as we ascend the Sunburst Express quad chair at Sun Peaks Resort, about to embark on our family's first alpine hike together. Hearing those words, my heart swelled with pride, as much as it could with our three-month-old daughter secured to my chest in an Ergo baby carrier.

I'd achieved a lot of proud personal firsts in my athletic career, but few compared to this: our first ever adventure holiday as a family. We'd gone on other excursions prior to our visit to Sun Peaks Resort, but mostly day trips.

Here, unlike most of my visits to the mountains, it wasn't just about me.

Of course, the primary advantage of a resort adventure was that I didn't have

to choose between the easier pace of family activity and my more aggressive personal predilections. All the options were laid out before us in a neatly arranged parcel.

After the first extreme challenge— camel-humping all the bags at once, kids in tow, up to our suite at the elegant Cahilty Lodge—a quick survey revealed a network of trails leading in all directions, the Sports Centre immediately next door and the base lodge—offering golf, lift-accessed hiking, whitewater exctursions, mountain biking and bungee trampoline— within a few minutes' stroll.

With so much for the family to explore, my conscience was relieved as I headed off to nurse my addiction.

Hammering drops, charging steep descents and riding skinnies over rocky creeks was exactly what I needed to get the monkey off my back.

While I could have spent days up

In the alpine cool of early morning, the corral is quietly coming to life. Saddles and blankets sit on the fence rails, a hot sun climbs the sky above. A sparse covering of yellowing long grasses and burrs dots the dusty hills.

Just two and a half, Aidan is trembling with excitement and nervousness at the presence of the giant animals. Finally, he reaches his tiny, tender hand up to pat the horse's deep brown muzzle.

With some more gentle coaxing, he gets up on the horse, smiling his widest, proudest smile. I walk alongside as the horse takes him for a gentle trail ride up above the stables. The unfamiliar feeling of this "first" is unlike any of those I've achieved on my own, deepening my attachment to this world of adventure. Because now, in a way I never could before, I get to share it.

Several hours later we're taking the chairlift up the mountain, spotting the first alpine blooms of July. It becomes a game to point out the bright colours, soon becoming a near vintage psychedelic pattern of cherry red, magenta, gold and turquoise. Two black bear cubs thrash playfully through the bushes, back to the safety of the trees beyond the bike park.

Then we're at the top, looking out

over lower-lying mountains from our perch on Vista Trail, a 1.3-kilometre loop. We make acquaintance with various insects—some friendly, others predatory—and flora along the path, dipping and climbing between bright open meadow and damp, shady forest.

Excitement carries Aidan along just past the mid point, but soon his little legs are tired. By the time we get back, both my wife and I are carrying children, sweating as the mid-day sun beats down in full force, glad that we didn't choose a more ambitious trail the first time out. Fortunately, with 15 trails to choose from offering various lengths and degrees of difficulty, it's easy to select an appropriate hike from the trail map.

Putting the kids down for an afternoon nap gives me time to stroll over to the base lodge and hit a bucket of golf balls at the driving range. I'm not much of a golfer, preferring more fastpaced, aggressive sports in general, but I enjoy the occasional round.

Given the pace and physical demands of the last day and a half, it turns out to be a perfectly relaxing way to spend an hour. Some balls fly straight and true almost to the 200-yard marker, others slice wildly sideways. Once or twice, they vanish, only to return to ground metres from where I stand, still hissing with wicked backspin. Over on the patio, a couple snickers. I shrug and put another ball on the tee.

Topping off our busy day, Aidan and I take a dip in the swimming pool at the Sports Centre, then return to a stir-fry dinner cooked on our family kitchenette. By the kids' bedtime, exhaustion has set in for us all, but it's the kind of satisfactory fatigue that you revel in.

Again, a feeling I've had before, but this time richer and more complete.

FIRST OF MANY >> Aidan takes a ride // Heather Derksen

38 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Perhaps the steepest learning curve in family adventure is knowing how far to push. With kids, there's a line between helpful encouragement and aggressive pressuring. Most of us can probably recall seeing a frustrated parent struggling with a toddler in tears or throwing a tantrum at a ski hill or trailhead.

It's important not to rush to judgment: kids cry for many reasons, in many situations, not always because they feel pressured or scared. Sometimes, recognizing a child's limit and backing off is the best thing a parent can do. It can be the dividing line between a good adventure and a miserable one.

We reach that limit on our third day, with the EuroBungy (or bungee trampoline). Strapped into long bungee cords and a heavy harness and standing atop the trampoline, Aidan is once again nervous. Recalling his experience with the horses, I try to get him into it.

I bounce him in my arms, then try getting him to hold my hands and jump.

But the look of fear mingled with confusion as he protests makes it clear he's had enough. He may have had a lot of adventure in his young life, but there's plenty more to come and there's no sense cramming too much into one trip. As important a formative experience as adventure can be, so is the sense of security, trust and comfort that comes with being part of a nurturing family.

The world is full of adventure and danger, and each individual has to experience it for themselves in their own way. And that, in a nutshell, is why "firsts" are so special. V On the web sunpeaksresort.com

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 39

40 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 41

42 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

PREVUE // RIVERLAND CHALLENGE

Riverland voyageurs

Racers paddle, run and bike along historic Fort George route

TRANSITION AREA >> Riverland Challenge participants berth canoes for dry land portion of the race David Berry // David@vueweekly.com

A

s long-time residents of the Elk Point area, Sheila Thompson and her husband Jim have often taken advantage of northeastern Alberta's natural beauty.

Wanting to share that with more people, says Sheila, is what lead them to organize the Riverland Challenge.

"My husband and I enjoy putting our bikes in our canoe, drifting down the river, then joining up with the Iron Horse trail, riding our bikes back, getting our vehicle and coming back to get the canoe. It's just a wonderful way to spend the day," Thompson explains with an appreciative awe in her voice. "So I got thinking and figured other people would enjoy it, and we put this together, so they wouldn't have to worry about anything."

Now in its third year, the Riverland

Challenge is actually much more than just an opportunity to take in some unspoiled country. In addition to the active, outdoors setting, the Riverland also incorporates a hefty helping of Albertan history, thanks to its proximity to Fort George and Buckingham House Provincial Historic Site, the location of the first fur-trading post founded on the North Saskatchewan in Alberta.

While participants take part in a 10 kilometre canoe trip down the North Saskatchewan, a 3 kilometre walk/ run through the Fort George historical area and a 15 kilometre bike ride back to the staging area, they're also treated to a taste of what it was like to be a fur trader in the Alberta wilderness. The day begins with a taste of tea and bannock, as well as some traditional games often played at fur posts. Throughout the trails, interpreters offer lessons on

// Supplied

MĂŠtis history and traditions, invite passersby to participate in old-fashioned fur post traditions and even play the bagpipes to help set the mood. At the end of it all, participants are invited to partake in a traditional feast, which this year includes such local and historic delicacies as sliced, roasted elk on a bun and a saskatoon dessert.

"It's so close at hand here, and we're aware of it, but for a lot of people it's fading away," Thompson says of Fort George's rich history. "It's a bus trip for seniors or a school outing, and it's so much more than that, when you bring it back to life and try to picture what their life was like out in this great land."

Keeping with both its casual origins and the family-friendly historic activities, the Riverland Challenge is not a competitive race per se. Prizes are given out for

BIKE WARRIORS >> Two racers celebrate a successful return things like oldest team, best costumes and furthest distance travelled to come to the challenge, although as Thompson points out, in past years participants have taken to organizing their own individual challenges with family and friends, with their own stakes.

One such participant is area resident Becky Paul, who initially partook after her neighbours suggested a friendly competition.

"They said whoever lost would have to make the other dinner, and they own a restaurant in town so I thought it would be a pretty good supper," Paul jokes.

"We did win, but they still haven't made us supper. And we've been practicing for this one, now. My husband's a runner and we've been out on our bikes, and I've been out at the gym lifting weights, so I think they're going to be down two meals."

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 19, 2010

// Supplied

As much as the prospect of a couple nice meals entices her, though, Paul says that the real reason her family is returning is because the Riverland Challenge gives them a chance to get out and enjoy their community, while also presenting a fresh perspective on the place that they call home.

"It's the most beautiful part, I think, of Alberta's lakeland," she explains. "I had never been down on the river before, but when you're down there, the rapids are just little ripples in the water, and when you look up and see that riverbank, you feel like you're in a whole new world. It's just beautiful." V Sat, May 29 (11 am) Riverland Challenge Register by Sat, May 15 riverlandchallenge.com for full info

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 43

MTB // EDMONTON

Best bike trails

Local enthusiasts pick their faves Lewis kelly // lewis@vueweekly.com

W

arm weather is beginning to return to Edmonton at last, bringing with it the staggering array of festivals and concerts that make the city's summers so remarkable. While our reputation as a summer festival mecca is deserved, there's another warm-weather activity in Edmonton that happens at a world-class level: mountain biking.

"For large urban centres, it would be one of the best," says Evan Sherman of Alberta MTB Racing. "Like, top nine out of 10."

On top of more than 150 kilometres of paved trail, any number of coyotes and the mighty North Saskatchewan, Edmonton's river valley contains some of the most accessible singletrack bike trails in Canada.

"I moved here from Kamloops a few years ago, and the trail riding here is actually really good," says Bruce Penner, who works at Redbike, near the High Level Bridge. "You can just walk out your door and ride for hours and hours, [and] not on the same trail."

Of course, this raises the question of which trails to ride. With so much singletrack out there (over 450 kilometres, according to the city's website), a biker could ride for days straight and still not see it all. With this in mind, I set out to survey some of Edmonton's prominent bike enthusiasts to get the inside track on their favourite trails.

I promptly ran into a small problem: none of the trails have official names. Unlike a ski hill or city grid, no official body names the routes Edmonton's mountain bikers travel on. This led to a lot of answers like, "We used to have one called Razorback Ridge," and, "Jeez, everybody names everything something different."

Still, certain geographic themes were common among pedal-pushers, even if trail names were not.

The most frequently mentioned area was

a network of trails northwest of Saskatchewan Drive, with the easternmost edge of the course defined by last year's inaugural Canada Cup Race trails. These trails drew praise from almost every bike store owner and mountain biking advocate. Chris Check, owner of Pedalhead Bicycle Works, called the area "Skunk Hollow," while Mike Sarnecki of Alberta MTB Racing praised trails in the area he called "Treasure Island" and "Pleasure Island."

Trails around Terwillegar Park in the southwestern corner of the city also came up often. Chris Anderson of Velocity Cycle and Redbike's Penner both rank the area as their favourite in Edmonton. Penner singles it out as a great area for prospective racers to go for practise.

Penner also praises MacKinnon Ravine Park, just east of 142 Street and south of Ravine Drive, for its gnarled and rooted trails that demand technical skill from a rider.

Ben Fedoruk, general manager of Revolution Cycle, names the area as one of his favourites, in particular for one trail he and his friends imaginatively christened the Regular Rooted Trail.

Other favourite areas among singletrack

enthusiasts include Mill Creek Ravine, which runs roughly south from the Muttart Conservatory and is bisected by Whtye Ave, and the trails around Sunridge Ski Hill in the northeast near Strathcona Science Provincial Park.

What makes a trail a favourite, says Anderson, is the sensation of "flow" it gives a rider. Flow is an important concept for mountain bikers.

"A trail with good flow allows you to get up a rhythm, get up a bit of momentum and spend more time gliding on the trail and less time stopping and starting," explains the Velocity Cycle worker. "A roller coaster has good flow."

Flow gives "a rhythm to the trail," says Pedalhead's Check. "The speed that you get going on the bike, you can carry through the corners."

But though Edmonton offers a wide selection of singletrack with good flow, Sarnecki thinks there's always room for more.

The city is so far ahead of its peers in what it offers mountain bikers that it's difficult to ask for more, he explains, "But that's where I'd like to see us. Not just maintaining but creating new trails." V

Pedal pushers pick a peck of pretty paths Evan Sherman, co-founder, Alberta MTB Racing 1. Canada Cup course near Saskatchewan Drive 2. Cambodia Trail near Sunridge Ski Hill 3. Bobsleigh Trail in MacKinnon Ravine Park

FLOW TRAIL >> Go with it

Mike Sarnecki, co-founder, Alberta MTB Racing 1. Cambodia Trail near Sunridge

Ski Hill 2. West Coast Trail on the Canada Cup course near Saskatchewan Drive 3. Treasure Island and Pleasure Island on the Canada Cup course near Saskatchewan Drive Chris Anderson, Cycle 1. Terwillegar Park 2. Mill Creek Park

Velocity

3. Canada Cup course Chris Check, owner, Pedalhead Bicycle Works 1. Canada Cup course near Saskatchewan Drive 2. Wolf Trail, in Rio Park west of the Quesnell Bridge on the north side of the North Saskatchewan River 3. Fireman's Trail on the east end of Terwillegar Park

Bruce Penner, Redbike 1. Terwillegar Park in general 2. Fireman's Trail 3. MacKinnon Ravine Park Ben Fedoruk, general manager, Revolution Cycle 1. Regular Rooted Trail in MacKinnon Ravine Park 2. Razorback Ridge on the Canada Cup course near Saskatchewan Drive

3. Pinball Alley in MacKinnon Ravine Park Luke Penner, Mountain Equipment Co-op 1. Canada Cup course near Saskatchewan Drive 2. Mill Creek Ravine Park 3. Gold Bar Park

// Jeremy Derksen

CANYONEERING // UTAH

Cold feet in the desert

Deep Utah canyons provide narrow escape from heat COLIN WISEMAN // ColinW@vueweekly.com

F

ive thousand feet of rocky switchbacks and damp, green deciduous forests paved our way from Brian Head's rocky heights through to the sweltering desert floor below.

For the past three days we had waded through waterfalls and climbed rickety ladders up a slot canyon outside of Zion National Park and witnessed the legendary vistas via a red-paved road. We had barbecued at Cedar Breaks National Monument, staring into the hoodoos at sunset. We had sweltered in the desert heat, searching for pockets of relief in Utah's famous slot canyons. But we had yet to explore beyond the mapped-out and family-friendly afternoon jaunts around Zion—easy walks that provided easy rewards in the form of cold pools and picnic spots easily accessed from overflowing parking lots.

Yet when Rich Carlson, our guide for the day and president of the American Canyoneering Association, points up a daunting scree slope and says, "We'll start by climbing that," spirits are lukewarm.

Perhaps the ease-of-access and friendly

44 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

crowds have lulled us into complacency.

The trail upstarts mellow enough along a creek, where we are warned to watch for rattlesnakes before donning helmets and ascending a scraggly ridgeline dotted with dry pines. Half way up, the crux involves a scramble through 80 feet of loose rock up a chute of sorts.

Carlson, a heavy-set guy with a grey moustache, asks if we should take a break—the crew presses on as he sits on a boulder and watches for falling rocks.

He had promised temperatures in the canyon would be at least 20 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the 100 degree heat waves coursing through dry sagebrush in the valley; that enough was motivation to race to the ridgeline and prepare for deliverance.

Then the moment of truth: the first drop into a multi-stage slot canyon. The entrance is obscured and looks like little more than a two-foot wide gash in the mountains side. One by one our crew of 12 drops over the precipice. I'm 11th in line. A hot wind rolls up the valley below.

A harness and a rope, secured to a scraggly pine tree and rubbing ominously against jagged red rocks, are the only

means of descent. A look over my right shoulder reveals, for the first time, 70 feet of smooth rock to a small pool before the final 30-foot drop into a small pocket deep in the canyon. I sway side to side on the concavity of the canyon mouth and the temperature instantly drops 20 degrees.

Carlson was right. But I can't help but wonder: were humans meant to be here?

Thirty seconds of shaky legs—learning to trust the rope—and I am standing in knee-deep water, gazing out on a series of drops into the valley below. It's cold in this little pocket of the high Wasatch range, hidden from the dry expanse for hundreds of miles in each direction. The canyon seems to open ever so slightly as it steps down towards the road.

"You have to time this so there is no chance of rain," Carlson informs me.

"These canyons can flood in minutes when a storm comes."

Assured that the forecast is fair, we slowly work down the unnamed slot canyon over a progression of 30-foot drops, each ending in a hidden sanctuary of pebbles and pools. It seems out of place in the desert: a secret, cool, damp world known only to a few out-of-place individuals stuffed into a climbing harness and slung with rope.

ONE AT A TIME >> Narrow entrances to some canyons mean access is limited // Colin Wiseman But one of the appeals of canyoneerCanyoneering Basics ing is that it can take you to a hidden world where few have ever set foot.

Learning how to safely rappel is the techAlgae replace sagebrush as the prenical prerequisite to canyoneering. Most dominant flora. The only rattlesnake climbers should possess the technical cayou are likely to see is a dead one that pabilities and should also be familiar with washed over the falls in a recent rain. the requisite equipment: climbing rope, Smooth, sinuous red rock replaces broharness, helmet (for falling rocks) and a ken granite, and rounded pebbles coat belay device. the canyon floor. Deep greens and reds Perhaps the most important tool, though, dominate the micro-landscape in stark is knowledge of the terrain: one must be contrast to the tans and dark browns equipped with enough rope to handle the of the world outside. It is a small, thorbiggest drop in the canyon, and be aware oughly hydrated environment within a of whether there are sufficient anchors for scorched landscape. all drops they may encounter.

At the final drop I volunteer to go In addition, a good handle on the weather first, bouncing down the wall with little forecast is essential. To learn more about mind to the whereabouts of the anchor, what it takes to get started with canyjittery legs a distant alpine memory. A oneering, David Black's comprehensive moss-encrusted wall gives way to scree guidebook, Canyoneering: A Guide to Techslope and a 30-minute hike back to the niques for Wet and Dry Canyons, provides car—back to parched vistas, sagebrush, a great starting point. V and a 100-degree reality. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 45

46 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 47

OUTDOORS >> TIPS CPAWS (cpawsnab.org) and the Big Wild One of the most popular traditional grad (thebigwild.org) are lobbying to preserve activities at my high school in Calgary 50 percent of the total area, and will be was the after party at McClean Creek in Kananaskis Country. At the time, presenting a petition to Ed Stelmach McClean Creek was known as a on August 31, 2010. "free zone," designated for offIf you absolutely must go party S OR highway vehicle use. recklessly in the bush, maybe O D T U We'd truck in there in big, O consider signing the petition as jacked-up rigs, hauling booze, an offset. Kind of like buying kly.com e e w e @vu quads, dirt bikes, recreational carbon credits ... but free. Ah, jeremy Jeremoyn pharmas, axes and chainsaws, hell, just sign it: salsa.democs k Der and coolers full of processed racyinaction.org/o/2463/p/dia/ crap for a weekend-long siege. action/public/?action_KEY=1931 By the end, that small clearing in the See how easy it is? forest was covered in food wrappers, car parts, liquor bottles, beer cans and MEC Paddlefest smouldering fires. A smell of burnt oil and cigarettes lingered from the night beJust don't say the Insider is no fun. This fore, from drunken attempts to rev those is all about fun. And not just good clean fun you can take home to mama. MEC's big pickups up a steep incline known as the Widowmaker, the whole place deannual Paddlefest is that, but it's also bauched like some East LA ghetto. a place to squish your toes in the pond At the time I never noticed any contrasludge, connect with local whitewater diction between what I did that weekend clubs and get a little wet and wild.

Every year I register too late and end up and my love for the clean, natural outdoors I enjoyed on regular hiking trips. paddling circles in a canoe. Waiting lists So I won't pretend to preach. But I ain't a fill early so drop into MEC and sign up kid any more: I know enough to recognize in advance.

The event takes place at Rundle Park hypocrisy. I hope you do too. on June 12. I'll be the one bobbing along in my dinghy because I forgot to sign up Before you go, go once again.

It almost goes without saying, but it still bears repeating. As I'm sure many of us were, I was raised on the old campers' Ready to eat Crow creed, "Pack out what you pack in."

OK, this one just gets me all tingly. For But with the May long weekend ahead, years I've been driving to BC for the big a lot of novice campers, weekend warbike parks, but Alberta is slowly catching riors and otherwise unaware urbanites up. will make their once yearly visit to the On April 15, government stakeholdbush. ers in the Crowsnest Pass announced a Don't be a parasite. If your outdoors new bike park development with nearly experience has mostly been gathered at $400 000 in funding earmarked to build Hawrelak Park, brush up on proper bush 10 loop trails and a skills park to IMBA etiquette at leavenotrace.ca/principles. standards. Hell yeah. It will take two years to complete so don't lube your chain just yet, but maybe start sharpenProtect the Lower Athabasca ing your McLeod hoe.

As for my past, that I can't change. But I Meantime, Rabbit Hill bike park is schedcan atone by signing on and supporting uled to open May 29â&#x20AC;&#x201D;just two weeks initiatives like the campaign to protect away. Down the road at Revolution Cycle, Alberta's Lower Athabasca. Tucked in May 15 marks the launch of the shop's the northeast corner of the province and new Specialized women's bike centre, the infringed on by heavy industrial developfirst of its kind worldwide. Head down ment, this area is home to old growth for a free barbecue, a women's ride and special deals. boreal forest and endangered woodlands caribou.

Of course, everybody's favourite river Currently, the Alberta government is valley is wide open as usual, and a lot examining the possibility of new, procleaner after River City Clean Up voluntected wilderness areas in the provteers scoured it on May 2. ince under its land-use planning review.

Let's try to keep it that way. V

R INSIDE

48 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 19, 2010

PREVUE // HIGH BALL BOULDERING COMPETITION

Vertical ballroom

Local gym introduces new bouldering comp

"BOULD" MOVES >> Robin Postnikoff demonstrates bouldering technique // Lewis Kelly Lewis kelly // lewis@vueweekly.com

T

aigar Harlton crawls across the ceiling, held there by dint of a few plastic handholds, some well-practised climbing technique and a pair of strong wrists.

Reaching a wall, he descends gracefully and flips around for an easy landing. "It's

exhilarating, it's fun, it's healthy," gushes the climbing instructor of his passion.

Moments later, I try to replicate his route. After a few moves, gravity comes calling and I plummet to the blue leather crash mat below.

Harlton is giving me a quick introduction to the world of bouldering at Climb Edmonton, site of the High Ball Boul-

dering Competition taking place this Friday, May 14. Fortunately, I don't have far to fall.

Bouldering climbs are generally lower than those in other kinds of rock climbing—in my case, a mere five feet. Most bouldering climbs stay under 10 or 15 feet; anything above that earns the name "High Ball." Hence the name of the competition.

"One of the things we wanted to do with this gym is make it a little bit more appealing to people that climb a lot," explains gym owner Robin Postnikoff.

Giving them what they want attracts experienced "boulderers" to the competition like muscular flies to proteinrich honey. One formidable competitor is Postnikoff himself. He's climbed for 11 years and has the physique to prove it. Another is Conrad MacFarlane, who won Climb Edmonton's previous bouldering competition in March and might clean up again on Friday.

"He's expected to show up and rock the place," says event organizer Reshad Oberlander. "Bouldering is notorious for being a very strong-man type of climbing."

It earns this reputation because of the short, difficult sequences of moves each course (or "problem," in bouldering slang) demands. Other types of rock climbing, like top roping, in which the climber is clipped to a rope fastened to the top of the climb, often require a long series of moves to complete a "problem." Bouldering "problems" usually require less than 10

movements to climb from the starting position to the finish.

Though the High Ball certainly offers a challenge for the most dedicated climbers, Climb Edmonton wants to accommodate bouldering enthusiasts of all experience levels. It comes across in the earnest sincerity of Harlton's climbing instruction as well as the briefest of conversations with the gym's owner.

"Anybody can come out and just climb," says Postnikoff. "We'll have people enter that have never climbed before, and then we'll have people that have been climbing and have competed in nationals."

Both amateurs and aces alike will vie for a variety of prizes like passes to Climb Edmonton and climbing gear from Mountain Equipment Co-op, Flashed Climbing and Teknik Handholds. The High Ball offers six areas of competition—male and female categories for novice, intermediate and expert climbers. Oberlander expects between 40 and 70 climbers to enter.

Each "problem"—a meticulously planned sequence of handholds picked out from the plethora on the gym's walls—is rated on a scale of one to 30, with 30 being the most difficult. Climbers have two and a half hours to complete as many "problems" as they can, with the eight most difficult counted for scoring.

Oberlander expects most of the prizes to go to climbers with strong upper bodies.

"You can't get away with ... using your legs and feet to your advantage," he says

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

of competitive bouldering. "It often falls back to the arms." V Fri, May 14 (6:45 pm) High Ball Bouldering Competition 15397 - 117 ave, $20 ($15 pre-register)

Bold and Boulderer: gear basics for dummies If you find yourself feeling bold, here's the gear you'll need: Crash Mat: always a necessity when bouldering outdoors, since the ground at the base of a climb is seldom flat and never soft. A crash mat helps climbers break a fall if need be.

Chalk Bag: fastened to the waist with a strap and used to keep up traction on hands throughout a climbing session.

Toothbrush: Used on popular climbing areas where chalk from other climbers' hands can reduce traction. The toothbrush cleans up the chalk to allow for a good grip. Often an actual toothbrush, though a dedicated rock brush can also be used.

Climbing shoes: shoes made with durable rubber soles and designed to pinch the toes together to allow for greater traction and leverage.

A bottle of water: because hydration is always important in sport.

On the web

climbedmonton.com

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES // 49

SEGWAY // EDMONTON

A smooth transition New Segway tours glide into river valley JEREMY derksen // jeremy@vueweekly.com

E

verywhere I turn people are staring and smiling at me. It's a little like being in that dream where you're naked in public. Only not so unnerving, because I know that I'm awake, fully clothed and, although I do suffer from an acute case of downright sexiness, it's not really me people are ogling.

So goes my first experience on a Segway, a machine that has been trumpeted as the transportation mode of the future by its inventor, Dean Kamen. While it has yet to be widely embraced in Canada, the Segway is an economical, eco-friendly option for tourism and urban travel.

Cruising along in the North Saskatchewan River Valley, it feels as though I'm floating on a set of wheels naturally extended from my own body. It's like the Segway reads my mind.

Which it pretty much does. The phenomenal two-wheeled invention is designed to mimic the balance and motion of the human body using finely calibrated gyroscopes. It can make over 200 microscopic corrections each minute to maintain rider stability. All that's needed to make it go is a slight shift in weight. Same for braking or reverse. Riders steer the machine using a handlebar mounted on a column extending from the base of the machine.

But beyond all that, the Segway does something more: it confers upon the owner an air of the exotic. Chris Szydlowski, of Segway Edmonton, calls it the "smile factor."

In part, that response may be due to its slow adoption here: the machine is still mostly viewed as an eccentric, futuristic novelty.

Elsewhere, however, the Segway is becoming popular among tourists and sightseeing locals alike. It only makes sense to provide the same access to key Edmonton attractions like the river valley, argues Szydlowski.

"There are Segway tours throughout the whole worldâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;some of the best cities: Paris, LA, Milan, New York," Szydlowski lists. "One of the best attributes we have in our city is the river valley; it's North America's largest urban parkland. It's absolutely stunning."

Before last fall, if you wanted to rent a Segway in Edmonton you were confined to riding around the interior of West Ed-

50 // OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

monton Mall. Then, in September 2009, Segway Edmonton received a license to operate Segway tours of the river valley, based out of Government House Park.

This summer will be its first full season of operations. In addition to the Government House tour, Szydlowski says the company is also finalizing plans for a Louise McKinney Park area tour.

Making inroads with the Segway in Edmonton has been challenging in part because there are some common misperceptions about it. Government, for one, has been hesitant to embrace the machine.

But after learning of successful pilots with Canada Post, Alberta Transportation has taken an interest in its potential applications, approving Segway use for municipal emergency and police services as part of a pilot project. The provincial government is currently assessing public Segway use by surveying those who are participating in the local tours.

"Public on the whole are a little apprehensive about the Segway unless they've been on the Segway," Szydlowski says.

But "once you know how to operate it most people are pretty open to the idea, especially given its widespread international use."

Standing on just two wheels and set on a slight forward tilt, the Segway looks easy to tip. It's not. After a quick orientation with Szydlowski, I quickly get over my initial awkwardness. The key is to remember the simple concept on which it's based: human motion.

When you walk forward, your body naturally leans in the direction you're going.

To go forward on the Segway, you do the same. To stop, you simpy straighten up.

Lean back and the machine goes backward. "It's very intuitive," Szydlowski enthuses.

The biggest mistake most people make is to overcorrect when they attempt a stop, resulting in a jerky motion. But most operator error is easily overcome through basic training. For added safety, riders wear helmets.

As for speed, the Segway tops out at 20 kilometres per hour, even going downhill. You can get up to higher speeds on a bike, or even a longboard for that matter.

And with Segways confined to paved trails (for the time being) the environmental impact is next to nil. It produces no emissions and it operates on recharge-

HUMAN MOTION >> Segways join the river valley trail system // file able lithium ion batteries, consuming an average $20 per year in electricity, Szydlowski reports. And, he says, even if machines were to go onto unpaved trails, the Segway's weight distribution means it has less surface impact than a mountain bike.

The North Saskatchewan already teems with bikers, bladers, skateboarders, runners and walkers most of the summer, and the relationship between different user groups can often be a little precarious. So not everyone is going to be excited about enabling another mode, and what is effectively a motorized vehicle, to access the trails.

But the Segway isn't a quad or a dirtbike. Its subdued hum barely breaks the hushed quiet as Szydlowski and I roam up a secluded, shady ravine. You can still hear birds rustling and chirping in the trees, smell the wet soil and dewy leaves.

For me, this is familiar territory. I don't need a Segway to access these trails; I've explored most of its 7400 hectares on my own, under my own steam. But it's easy to forget that being a frequent user doesn't equate to ownership. The river valley is there for all Edmontonians.

"The reality is a lot of people don't have the opportunity to get out there," says Szydlowski. "We have a lot of people from Edmonton who come on the tour and have never been on the trails before sim-

ply because they don't bike, or rollerblade, or they're just not that familiar with it."

Increasing the number of Edmontonians who are familiar with and appreciate the river valley could actually be in active users' best interests. The more people who get to know and value the river valley, the stronger the support for caring for and preserving it. For as many as there are who value the river valley in its natural form, others see it primarily as an asset to be exploited. By offering a new way to enjoy the valley, and a way to generate commercial revenue without leaving any impact, Segway tours represent a way for business interests to rethink the river valley's profit potential.

Szydlowski frames the Segway's appeal in even loftier terms. For him, the Segway harks back to a time when people moved slower and the act of commuting or traveling was more sociable. It all comes back to the smile factor.

"The social benefits of riding are unbelievable. Everyone wants to talk to you.

People smile, they say hello. In a world where people drive around and have road rage and won't say two words to each other outside of Facebook, it's kind of refreshing," he says.

After an hour and a half of the smiles, gazes and occasional queries of curious strangers, I have to admit he may be onto something, because I can't stop grinning. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 19, 2010

SPEAKING OF TOURS ...

Price: $89.99 per adult (approximate two-hour tour) Location: Government House Park Bookings: 780.995.4374 or book online at segwayedmonton.com Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance, for a minimum of two riders.

At the speed of sociable The 2007 documentary 10 MPH follows Josh Caldwell as he rides a Segway across the US from Seattle to Boston, exploring the concept of modern travel and its impacts on our society.

"Before the car was invented, the average speed was about 10 miles per hour, because people travelled by horse," explains Szydlowski. "The world was a lot friendlier because everybody talked to each other, everyone interacted."

For more on the adventure, check out 10mph.com.

ON THE WEB segwayedmonton.com citysegwaytours.com how the Segway works: science.howstuffworks.com/ginger.htm

INSIDE // ARTS

ARTS

Mump and Smoot Cracked

52 53

Beauty and the Beast

54

Retro-Active

Online at vueweekly.com >>ARTS

Home invasion

by David Berry David Berry reviews the paranormaltinged Housebound

PREVUE // MOURNING DOVE

No simple answers

Kill Your Television's Mourning Dove inspired by the Robert Latimer case David Berry // david@vueweekly.com

I

n its 10 years of existence, Kevin Sutley and Nathan Cuckow's Kill Your Television theatre has never shied away from difficult works. From the aimlessly dark world of debut production SubUrbia to the genderbending Shakespeare's R + J and through to the sympathize-with-a-killer MacIvor beast Monster, they've regularly forced audiences to confront topics that, if not uncomfortable, are at least dense and loaded, producing plays that you can't help but take home with you for extra rumination.

Into that tradition steps Mourning Dove, not just their 10th anniversary production but one of the most ambiguous and thoughtfully provocative works they've ever taken on. Written by Toronto-based playwright Emil Sher—whose name you might recognize from Hana's Suitcase—it's inspired by one of the most controversial incidents in Canadian history: the Robert Latimer case.

In Latimer's place we are presented with Doug and Sandra Ramsay (Michael Peng and Nadien Chu), a couple raising the severely disabled Tina (Naomi Gaertner, who is represented by nothing more than a wheelchair and off-stage breathing); facing another operation that's being billed as little more than a "salvage," they struggle with what to do with their daughter. Complicating the already-charged issue further is the presence of Keith (Cuckow), Doug's developmentally disabled shop assistant— Keith has been played by actors with down's syndrome in radio plays, though his condition is more ambiguous on stage—who struggles to understand Doug and Sandra's situation.

Keith presents a particular challenge to Cuckow: not only must he accurately portray a character that can lead itself towards awkward interpretations, but Keith is in many ways the play's centre, throwing Doug and Sandra's actions into simple but sharp relief.

"I was deathly afraid of playing a cliché,"

explains Cuckow. "I watched all the movies that have the major performers, and that was kind of a starting point: who am I? Watching Forrest Gump or I Am Sam, that just felt like it was the wrong place to start."

"He's the one with that other voice, he's the one that speaks for Tina," furthers Sutley. "The thing about the character that I really appreciate is that it's not like he's an intellectual character, but he drops these little kind of from-the-mouths-of-babes pieces of wisdom that are just kind of common sense."

Dealing with an issue and a specific situation that can often split people into clearly defined camps, KYT has found that the key to the play is in helping people to understand all the perspectives, to make them question any pre-conceived notions they might be approaching the show with.

"I don't think that I would question what I felt until this other perspective is presented, and that really does take away any

WHAT TO DO? >> Kill Your Television doesn't shy away from difficult material kind of certainty of what's right and what's wrong, and that's really what the play does, is show you how complex this situation is," explains Cuckow. "I really don't know what I would do if I was in this situation.

I think before I came into something like this, I would have been very strongly siding with Doug and Sandra. And that's not to say who's right or wrong or what they do is wrong, it's just that it's more complex than what I would think." V

// Kerem Cetinel

Thu, May 13 – Sat, May 22 (8 pm); Sun, May 16 (2 pm) Mourning Dove Directed by Kevin Sutley Written by Emil Sher Starring Michael Peng, Nadien Chu, Nathan Cuckow, Naomi Gaertner Catalyst Theatre (8529 Gateway Blvd), $17 – $25

PREVUE // THE GOOD WOMAN OF SETZUAN

Good woman goodbye

Brecht's Good Woman of Setzuan caps the Studio Theatre season David Berry // david@vueweekly.com

T

o say that Mary Hulbert has a bit of trepidation about finishing her BFA program is perhaps understating it.

"I've been telling everyone that, if they come on closing night, after we bow, I'm probably going to crumple up into the fetal position and cry," Hulbert explains over coffee just down from the Fine Arts building that she's called home for the last three years, without nearly as much jocularity as you might hope. It has been an abnormally intimate three years, after all, where the actors have exposed themselves on stage as much they've been exposed to themselves, and Hulbert seems appropriately floored by the experience.

"I know it sounds cliched, but it really has been the greatest experience of my life."

She has quite the task to cap her university career, as well, taking on the lead role in Bertolt Brecht's The Good Woman of Setzuan. Beyond the usual Brechtian challenge of wrapping your head around his intellectual exercises, Hulbert has the challenge of taking on a kind of dual role

as the prostitute/tobacco-shop owner Shen Te, who creates the alter ego Shui Ta to help her with her new business. Where Shen Te is gentle and kind to a fault—she gets the money for her shop by being the only person in town willing to assist a trio of gods passing through—Shui Ta is a hard and ruthlessly pragmatic businessman, a kind of shield to protect her from being taken advantage of.

"Blending the two together is interesting," points out Hulbert. "It's difficult because it's not two characters, it's one character taking on another character, so if you just play two different types, it's going to be boring. There has to be elements of Shen Teh underneath Shui Ta, you kind of have to see her peeking through."

Adding to the difficulty of finding that characterization is the larger ideas that are ever-present in Brecht's work.

As its name hints, The Good Woman of Setzuan is concerned with the viability of "goodness" in the world we've created, contrasting the stereotypically virtuous Shen Te not only with Shui Ta's hardness, but the world around her. In the original, Setzuan is in the

middle of the drought, though the U of A production has updated into the aftermath of the recent earthquake; regardless, though, the vision of a broken world as a dangerous place that almost demands bad behaviour remains. For Hulbert, the key has been in finding the people underneath these more philosophical ruminations— something that's not always advocated by the playwright, of course.

"Because of the basic questions Brecht asks, you can find a lot of humanity in them," she explains. "I don't see Brecht as black and white as people think it is.

I know in the rules of Brecht, you're not supposed to identify with the characters, but I think people will. It's just natural.

It's people on stage telling you a story, and you'll think about the story, but you can still connect." V Thu, May 13 – Sat, May 22 (7:30 pm) The Good Woman of Setzuan Written by Bertolt Brecht Directed by Sandra Nicholls Featuring the BFA class of 2010 Studio Theatre (87 Ave - 112 St), $10 – $20

REDUCED TO BEGGING >> Good Woman questions goodness in the world // Supplied

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

ARTS // 51

PREVUE // MUMP AND SMOOT CRACKED

Return of the red noses

Mump and Smoot workshop their first new material in nine years Paul Blinov // paul@vueweekly.com

I

t's not that John Turner sounds nervous. Quite the opposite, in fact: in the dwindling week before Mump and Smoot Cracked, the first new work from the clown duo in almost a decade, emerges onto a stage for its first paying audiences, he seems eager for that first bout of crowd-testing. But that's also where, although certainly confident, Turner seems a little uncertain, too: predicting how, exactly, an audience is going to react is something no artist can do perfectly, and when it comes to clowning, even with two of Canada's most legendary red-nosers, audience reaction is almost everything. The way a single person laughs can shift the direction of a clown show completely.

"As we get older and more experienced," Turner says, "we've definitely gotten better at predicting or anticipating what the feel will be when we're onstage. But still, in the end, you think you've written a perfect scene, you put it up and it's just like, 'what?'" he laughs.

That's why this weekend is still part of the Cracked testing phase. Turner notes that him and partner-in-facepaint Michael Kennard (Mump) don't truly consider one of their shows written until it's

52 // ARTS

been peformed in full 50 times, and this weekend marks the beginning of that count-up. If you've seen them, you know why it's important: the self-proclaimed "horror clowns," who speak in invented ummonian gibberish, frequently invade the audience, or audience members, based on the slightest reaction.

"There’s no question the live experience has a huge impact every single night on what the show is," Turner notes. "The more delicate the writing, too, the more subtle or—no, we've never really been accused of being subtle—but maybe the more intricate and specific the emotional themes are, the more difficult it is to maintain a show from night to night. If there happens to be a flu going around and there's a few people coughing, that can make it a different show."

Still, nine years is a long time to go for any kind of creative partnership to go without fresh output. Even when Turner and Kennard settled into a hiatus after the run of their last hit, Flux, they didn't think it would take this long to crafted a brand new work. They did know it would take some time—Turner notes the clown duo had "basically run our lives for night and day, 24 hours a day for over 10 years." Both needed a

breather from the characters and some time to explore different aspirations they held: Kennard became a professor at the U of A, while Turner moved to Northern Ontario and founded the "The Clown Farm" on Manitoulin island, (total population: 12 600), where students come to learn the clowning craft.

Though they weren't generating any new Mump and Smoot material during their break, Turner and Kennard still worked together on a multitude of projects, both with each other and their longtime M and S director Karen Hines.

Eventually, they brushed the dust off the big red noses, first revisiting an older work—2008's remount of Something here in Edmonton—and then starting to pick away at a brand new script. It took about three years, from the initial conversations until now, and Cracked already has other places to go: after this weekend, the show tightens up on the road, seeing audiences in Vancouver and at the Magnetic North Theatre festival in Kitchener-Waterloo, before returing here, as polished as a clown show can be, to kick off Theatre Network's 2010/11 season. So the waiting game's been a long one. But it's almost over and, For Turner, it's about time.

"We actually did a few t-shirts up in

HORROR CLOWNS >> Mump and Smoot aren't for children 2008, that had on the back a touring record like a rock 'n' roll band sort of thing, and we had each of the shows listed that we'd done and the year that were in, and we had 2008 with a big question mark," Turner laughs. "And here we are, 2010, before we got to it." V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

// Supplied

Thu, May 13 – Sat, May 15 (8 pm) Mump and Smoot Cracked Directed by Karen Hines Written by and starring Michael Kennard and John Turner Roxy Theatre (10708 124 ST), $15 – $20

REVUE // BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Bigger is better

Beauty and the Beast's highs are astounding, but the lows drag it down

PREVUE // BLOODY BEAUTIFUL

Double-dipping

Andrew Stelmack found inspiration for painting in acting Paul Blinov // paul@vueweekly.com

Paul Blinov // paul@vueweekly.com

I

f you're going to adapt an animated Disney classic, theatre seems like a pretty obvious leap in form to make.

And the stage version of Beauty and the Beast's already found success here at the Citadel a few years ago. It's an obvious crowd pleaser to cap off the season—and given the full standing ovation Saturday night's performance garnered, it's working perfectly in that regard. When it goes into big, full-on powerhouse mode, it's easy to see why.

But taking the smaller moments that are easy in animation—fleshing out characters in a world that, in 1991, was literally crafted by hand—and doing it with sets, props and costumes is much more of a trick. And that doesn't always work out here.

Undeniably, there are astounding moments: any transformation in form, like the cloak-wrapped witch revealing her true, floating princess figure right off the top is kind of startlingly awesome.

And that seems to be a good rule of thumb: the biggest numbers and players work the best, though the cartoonish set, perhaps a nod to the animated origins, is simple and efficient.

Peter Huck's Gaston steals the show, exuding confident swagger and joyous brash arrogance with the smallest flex or jeering boast, and the show hits a hight with "Be Our Guest," led by John Ullyatt in top charismatic form as the candlestick romantic Lumiere. Director Bob Baker stops just short of the kitchen sink, but throws in dancing cutlery, streamers, and a gorgeous harmony to hammer it home.

Unfortunately, the moments between all the spectacle struggle to keep up.

The casting is fine, but many scenes— particularly those not in Beast's castle, where the more colourful figures exist—seem to limply plod along, waiting for the next song. The script also adds some songs to the Disney original that can't hold a charismatic candle to the classics—not because they're new, necessarily, though a level of nostalgia does boost elements of the show considerably. It's that these new additions aren't big or bold like the rest, nor do they really advance characters or plot. There's a docile little number sung by Belle and her father, and later Belle sings one alone; they don't really do much of anything, except add extra minutes to pad out a show that, clocking in at two-plus hours, really doesn't need it—though Beast's "If I Can't Love Her" holds its weight amongst the other numbers.

Maybe that's getting kind of picky for a family-friendly musical. Really, Beauty and the Beast is what it is. And that's a huge production, big budget, pedalto-the-medley spectacle that'll almost certainly please every child placed in front of it. At least during the songs. V Until Sun, May 30 (7:30 pm) Beauty and the Beast Written by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Linda Woolverton Directed by Bob Baker Starring Josée Boudreau, Réjean Cournoyer, Peter Huck Citadel Theatre (9828 - 101A Ave) $60 – $90

H

ow Andrew Stelmack managed to add "visual artist" to his professional resume is the kind of story usually reserved for his other line of work—written in a script, performed on a stage.

Back in 2005, when Stelmack had yet to pick up a paintbrush, his nine to five gig was The Lion King in Toronto. After three years, he was starting to tire of doing the show daily, but the dollar figure they offered him for a fourth year wasn't one he was ready to turn away. So despite his waning interest, he agreed, all the while making a more creatively appealing promise to himself.

"As a way to reward myself—'cause I used to take jobs based on purely making a lot of money," he recalls, "I said 'If I stay for one more year, I'm going to take six months of my life off, and just lock myself in my home and paint."

Stelmack had never painted before.

Armed with a lifelong interest and a general knowledge of colour, he privately made, "a lot of pretty bad paintings for a number of months," he laughs. But he did develop some chops; an art collector friend saw one of his works hanging in his house, unsigned. She pressed him about where he got it, and, after he revealed himself as the author, talked him into putting on an art show.

"I sold everything," he says. "Did another art show, sold everything, and it's just exploded into this brand-new massive career out of nowhere."

Stelmack's been a regular Citadel fixture this year, playing Tobias in Sweeney Todd, and currently visible as the bumbling Lefou in Beauty and the Beast, and until the end of that show's run, his colourful, abstract canvases will be hanging in the Citadel's halls under the title of Bloody Beautiful. They're colour-anchored works inspired by both shows—lots of red for the Sweeney Todd works— which the Citadel agreed to showcase after hearing about his budding visual arts career.

For Stelmack, his growing success on dual artistic fronts offers benefits to both: he pulls inspiration for the works when acting, and his success as a painter has given him the ultimate actor luxury: freedom to choose jobs based on true interest, not the need for remuneration.

"As an actor, it always seems to be you are as good as your last show.

You're always auditioning for people, you're always having to prove yourself," Stelmack says. "What you do is always subjective to what another person tells you to do, or they tell you how good you are … but as an artist what I've found to be so empowering and liberating is that I can just paint.

"When I take a theatrical job, it's because I believe in the play, and I really want to do it, which is something that's really important to me, because if it's not, I'd rather be painting." V Until Sun, May 30 Bloody Beautiful Works by Andrew Stelmack Citadel Theatre, (9828 - 101A Ave), upper

Now, his work with a paintbrush is overlapping with his stagework:

and lower lobby

BLOODY RED >> Andrew Stelmack's inspiration comes from his acting // Andrew Stelmack

BOOKS // EMBLEMS OF EMPIRE

Artifacts of an empire

Emblems of Empire reveals the everyday prestige of ancient China Amy Fung // amy@vueweekly.com

S

ince receiving the generous acquisitions of largely decorative silk textiles from Edmonton-based Sandy and Cécile MacTaggart in 2005, the University of Alberta's Museums and Collections has been proudly proclaiming its worldclass status as the only museum in North America that houses original Chinese Imperial court dress folios and their corresponding examples of elaborately coded garments.

As the MacTaggart Collection does not have a permanent public display or a curator, last week the U of A released a hefty 300-plus-page full-colour book on selections from the collection. Delving

into an ancient civilization of impeccable social order and a history that cannot be contained in one book, Emblems of Empire falls heavily on the tone of the text, setting up the context for the patterns, colours and lusters that the MacTaggarts have spent 40 years collecting. Written as a survey into the history of ancient China, authors John E Vollmer and Jacqueline Simcox span back over 5000 years from the beginning of sericulture (the farming of silk) to understanding the court, palace life and the Imperials' understanding of universal order.

Looking at early Chinese civilization and the importance of silk to the culture, the primary focus of the book lies on the structure of the Imperial court with very little insight into the political develop-

ment of the country. This is a considerable gap, as the Qing Dynasty (the last imperial dynasty in China) fashioned their styles based on the utilitarian use of the Manchu people, who, after successfully invading and defeating the Ming Empire, enforced dress regulations to differentiate between the variation of ethnicities in China.

Spending most of the book explaining the world of Imperial China is a massive task, yet the authors—much like the courts they describe—appear only interested in projecting and upholding an image of prestige and order, offering insight into the everyday.

While at a glance the robes are certainly luxurious in appearance, every single

one was a commissioned work produced by teams of designers, technicians and artisans working for the Imperial factories. The robes served as highly decorative uniforms, following ceremonial dress regulations that focused on the role of the Imperials during festivities like lunar and solar rituals.

While this is all interesting within the book and collection, it goes without saying that we are discussing artifacts and not art, as the two terms are still being used synonymously for each other in regards to this collection. As artifacts, the clothes can educate viewers about the last two dynasties of China's Imperial history, with the Ming Dynasty dating back to the 14th century and the Qing leading right up to 1912. But as China has rapidly modernized over the past several decades and assumed its current position as a global superpower, it would be ethnographically insensitive to classify these robes as art, as they hold very little connection to

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

contemporary Chinese culture.

In many ways, this collection holds onto a past civilization that has been destroyed for the new, putting truth to the notion that one person's trash is another person's treasure. In Cécile MacTaggart's introduction, she fondly remembers her early collecting days in London, where dealers would simply bid on the silk robes for their gold buttons, cutting them off right then and there and discarding the robes themselves. In earnest, she and husband Sandy collected their first 18 robes this way, beginning their love for collecting with these illustrative histories and now sharing their passion in a new era. V Emblems of Empire: Selections from the MacTaggart Art Collection

By John E Vollmer and Jacqueline Simcox pp 376 University of Alberta Press 2010

ARTS // 53

PRAIRIE ARTSTERS >> OIL AND COMMUNITY

REVUE // RETRO-ACTIVE

Don't call it retro

porary galleries and showing in artist-run centers, but is being self-aggrandized as the only "serious" art still being made in our time. While lamenting how nobody understands the usefulness of abstract art in one breath and then calling down the contemporary art of today, there is a cycle of deep denial and hypocrisy at play.

Referring to modernist works specifically, Smith stated that amongst the trivial art being sold today, the need for serious art is more important than ever, and that institutions and collectors, especially the AGA, don't support serious art like they used to.

Well, that to me is a clear indicator: if the appetite and demand for modernist works has significantly shifted down, then the supply and production of modernism needs to keep on par with its demand.

Mark Rothkos and Barnett Newmans fetch millions and command respect because they remain tied to their context in history, which cannot be resummoned due to a esthetic similarity. Because outside of all this, Smith and Luck are actually creating visually pleasing works that are unfortunately attached to a cache of encapsulated glory.

Assumptions aside, Retro-Active has merit

MODERN MODERNISM >> A work in Retro-Active // Sheila Luck made fashionable. He goes on to describe Amy Fung postmodernism as weak and insecure in // amy@vueweekly.com its approach to looking back, and in doing so, Hide presents such an entrapped sense n naming a modernist painting exhibiof logic that there is no room for debate, tion Retro-Active, there is a false predisan ongoing condition with modernists position in framing the come-and-gone who only feel nostalgia and entitlement flat structural esthetic of modernism as to uphold their lineage in Western art hisa style that has returned as fashionable. tory.

Only in reading curator Peter Hide's exhiI hark on the misuse of "retro" as, after bition essay, his use of "retro" is curious, if attending the artist talks by Mitchel Smith not confused. He writes, "Retro is of course and Sheila Luck, I am genuinely flabbera fashionable word for art that looks back gasted, and slightly appalled, that this to a previous time." Retro, rather, is a word completely outdated mode of art is not for art that looks back to a previous time only still being made and sold in contem-

I

The central issue overshadowed here is that the individual works of Luck and Smith are rather good. They are good not because they remind Hide of Robert Motherwell or Ken Noland, but because they demonstrate a clear, if not dedicated voice. They are consistent in form and expression, perhaps Smith moreso than Luck. Luck is the more exploratory, if not more talented painter of the two, harnessing an imbalanced emotional depth in pieces like the sublime "Harvest" and the poorly titled "Tilt-a-Whirl." I hasten to even connect Luck to lesser-appreciated abstract expressionist painters like Helen Frankenthaler, who may be one of the greatest painters of the 20th century, but lives on in the shadow of her husband Motherwell. She and others like Nancy Holt lived in the shadows of their partners and contemporaries because women were not considered serious artists, and those receiving any due were often given the recognition that they painted like a man.

It is this proliferation of self-important discrimination that has pushed modernism from an important and interesting era into the dark ages. There is no right to dismiss all other forms of art as non-serious endeavors, no possible logic to think modernist works are more serious than works by contemporaries like painter Julie Mehretu or artist Urs Fischer.

The hallmarks of good art can be judged by their increasing value in culture and society over time. The Rothkos and Newmans will continue to stand because they are emblematic of a unique postwar aesthetic movement that involved a crosspollination of influences specific to a certain time and place. To continue making this style of work, and to be taken seriously, Luck and Smith needs to not lean on the specter of modernist ideals, and instead connect their art directly to the living world, because it's only there where it exists and communicates. V Until Sat, Jun 5 Retro-Active Works by Sheila Luck and Mitchel Smith Harcourt House Gallery

54 // ARTS

Oil in the classroom

A U of A course shows how oil affects our lives Living in oil country, we sometimes lose the theoretical classroom discussions. awareness of how this industry affects "An important element of CSL is to all areas of our lives. From its ongoing work with the community," continues impact to our quality of life in terms of economy and environment, the value we have given oil also dictates the speed I'm interested in at which our society develops. Taking questioning what on these contemporary issues for intelconstitutes a lectual pursuit, the University of Alberta offers an annual course on Oil and Comcreative response, munity through their Community Serfrom artists using vice-Learning Program (CSL), investhe law creatively, tigating how oil affects issues or The Discovery such as gender to this year's topic of art.

Channel's proposal Dr Joanne Muzak, who for a license to drill, will be leading the sixkly.com uewee v @ y or interrogating week spring-session am course, refers broadly to Amy actions like members the term, "creative responsFung of Greenpeace es" in addressing the spectrum climbing onto drill of approaches and topics outlined in the course syllabus. Days before the towers and calling class begins, she shares over the phone, into question if "I'm interested in questioning what conthat's a form of stitutes a creative response, from artists performance art or using the law creatively, or The Discovery Channel's proposal for a license to drill, what the outcome or interrogating actions like members of of this stunt could Greenpeace climbing onto drill towers mean. and calling into question if that's a form of performance art or what the outcome of this stunt could mean."

Interested in questioning the role of Muzak, who acknowledges that the ispop culture as well as the cultural value sue of oil goes beyond just addressing of artistic representations, Muzak points the surface politics of oil and art. "Hopeto the upcoming "Oil" exhibition by Cafully we're providing models for the stunadian photographer Edward Burtynsky dents to think through how art functions as an example that defies easy categoriin constructing and building community zation, "[Burtynsky] for example doesn't and the broader politics of art." V consider himself an environmentalist in works that show the scale of the tar Amy Fung is the author of PrairieArtsands. They are so beautiful, so abstract, sters.com you don't know what you're looking at anymore."

IE PRASITRERS

ART

To compliment these themes of the politics of esthetics, the course will play host to a series of free artist talks, open to the public, that begin on the evening of Thursday, May 13 (ironically on campus in the new Natural Resources Engineering Building). While the first talk will focus on the politics and representation of oil and art, the last talk on June 10 will be by Peter von Tiesenhausen, an acclaimed visual artist who unprecedentedly copyrighted sections of his ranch in northern Alberta as a work of art in an ongoing battle with the oil and gas companies.

Being a CSL course, the highlight for most students will be completing their placements, emphasizing a hands-on learning experience in working directly with community organizations. Choosing from options—such as helping to organize iHuman's Urban Games, setting up WORKUS' mobile installation on stories collecting occupational illness, to working with the Friends of the Lubicon on aboriginal land claims, producing shows for CJSR's Terra Informa, to even serving as tour guides for the Art Gallery of Alberta's upcoming biennial—the course is designed to challenge students beyond

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

All talks are free and held on Thursdays, 7 – 9 pm Natural Resources Engineering Facility (NRE) 1-001, University of Alberta May 13: The Politics of Art & Oil Imre Szeman & Maria Whiteman, University of Alberta Sheila Muxlow, Sierra Club May 20: Art as Activism, Public Art, & Artist as Citizen Brenda Kim Christiansen, Painter Sherri Chaba, Artist Ian Mulder, Muralist May 27: Visual Responses to the Energy Economy Screening H2Oil with Director Shannon Walsh June 3: Protest & Promotion Mike Hudema, Greenpeace Eriel Deranger, Rainforest Action Network June 10: Creativity & Possibility: Alternative Responses to the Oil & Gas Industry Peter von Tiesenhausen, Artist

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

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BILTON CONTEMPORARY ARTďż˝Red Deer Â&#x153; ,:$

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CROOKED POT GALLERY Â&#x153; HYjcdYf\ Hgll]jk ?mad\$ ,1)*%-) 9n]$ Klgfq HdYaf Â&#x153; L@= ?9J<=F K@GO2 :]llq K[`mdlr Yf\ ^ja]f\k `Yn] eY\] Y k]d][lagf g^ mfaim] _Yj\]f al]ek Â&#x153; Until May 30 DON WHEATON YMCA Â&#x153; )(*))%)(* 9n]$ =Ykl

@YddoYq Â&#x153; L@= OGJCKÂş;9FN9K OGJCK2 9jlogjck Zq Bmklaf K`Yo Â&#x153; Until Aug 31

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GALLERY AT MILNER Â&#x153; KlYfd]q 9& Eadf]j DaZjYjq

EYaf >d$ Kaj Oafklgf ;`mj[`add Ki Â&#x153; /0(&,1.&/(+( Â&#x153; PRAIRIE ABSTRACT: Y[jqda[ hYaflaf_k Zq @Yeadlgf CjaklY Â&#x153; Until May 28

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LATITUDE 53 Â&#x153; )(*,0%)(. Kl Â&#x153; /0(&,*+&-+-+ Â&#x153; Main

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LOFT GALLERY Â&#x153; 9& B& Gll]o]dd 9jlk ;]flj]$ -1( :jgY\eggj :dn\$ K`]jogg\ HYjc Â&#x153; /0(&1**&.+*, Â&#x153; 9jlogjck Zq l`] e]eZ]jk g^ l`] 9jl Kg[a]lq g^ KljYl`[gfY ;gmflq Â&#x153; May 13-Jun 26 Â&#x153; Gh]faf_ j][]hlagf2 May 13, 7-9pm MCMULLEN GALLERY Â&#x153; M g^ 9 @gkhalYd$ 0,,(%))* Kl Â&#x153; /0(&,(/&/)-* Â&#x153; MOLTEN MEDITATION2 :]Y\k$ b]o]djq Yf\ gl`]j gZb][lk eY\] oal` dYehogjc]\ Z]Y\k [j]Yl]\ Zq e]eZ]jk g^ l`] 9mjgjY :gj]Ydak >aj]Ă&#x2C6;a]k Â&#x153; Until Jun 6 MCPAG Â&#x153; Emdla[mdlmjYd ;]flj] HmZda[ 9jl ?Ydd]jq$

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MICHIF CULTURAL AND MĂ&#x2030;TIS RESOURCE INSTITUTE Â&#x153; 1 Eakkagf 9n]$ Kl 9dZ]jl Â&#x153; /0(&.-)&0)/. Â&#x153; 9Zgja_afYd N]l]jYfk <akhdYq Â&#x153; ?a^l K`gh Â&#x153; >af_]j o]Ynaf_ Yf\ kYk` \akhdYq Zq ;]dafY Dgq]j Â&#x153; Ongoing

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MUSĂ&#x2030;E HĂ&#x2030;RITAGE MUSEUM Â&#x153; - Kl 9ff] Kl$ Kl 9d-

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NAESS GALLERYâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Paint Spot Â&#x153; )((+*%0) 9n] Â&#x153;

/0(&,+*&(*,( Â&#x153; 25 YEARS OF PAINT SPOT STAFF Â&#x153; Until Jun 28

PROFILES PUBLIC ART GALLERY Â&#x153; )1 H]jjgf Kl$

Kl 9dZ]jl Â&#x153; /0(&,.(&,+)( Â&#x153; HIGH ENERGY XV: Kl 9dZ]jl `a_` k[`ggd klm\]fl ]p`aZalagf Â&#x153; Until May 29

PROVINCIAL ARCHIVES OF ALBERTA Â&#x153; 0--- Jgh]j J\ Â&#x153; /0(&,*/&)/-( Â&#x153; THE ESSENCE OF HIS ART2 Fa[`gdYk \] ?jYf\eYakgf k mfĂ&#x2021;fak`]\ hYkl]dk Â&#x153; May 20-Aug 28 Â&#x153; Gh]faf_2 Thu, May 20, 7-9pm

ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM Â&#x153; )*0,-%)(* 9n] Â&#x153; /0(&,-+&1)(( Â&#x153; J==<K 9F< OGGD2 HYll]jf]\ K[j]]fk g^ ;]fljYd 9kaY eY\] Zq fgeY\a[ Cqj_qr oge]f3 until Jul 4 Â&#x153; NATURAL SELECTIONS: JgqYd 9dZ]jlY Emk]me K[a]flaklk g^^]j nYjagmk na]ok gf 9dZ]jlYÂżk Zag\an]jkalq3 until Oct 13 Â&#x153; H`glg_jYh`k Zq l`] H`glg_jYh`a[ 9jlk Kg[a]lq g^ 9dZ]jlY3 until Jun 20 SCOTT GALLERY )(,))%)*, Kl Â&#x153; /0(&,00&+.)1 Â&#x153; k[gll_Ydd]jq&[ge Â&#x153; FOREST PASSAGES: 9jd]f] OYkqdqf[`mc3 until May 25 Â&#x153; J=?9J< 9F< GL@=J F=O H9AFLINGS: Ogjck Zq HYl K]jna[]3 Mflad May 25 SIDESHOW GALLERY Â&#x153; 1.(1%0* 9n] Â&#x153; /0(&,++&),+( Â&#x153; ka\]k`go_Ydd]jq&[Y Â&#x153; HOME BY TORONTO2 9jlogjck Zq :jYf\gf <Yde]j Â&#x153; Until Jun 5 SNAP (Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists) Â&#x153; )()*+%)*) Kl Â&#x153; /0(&,*+&),1* Â&#x153; kfYhYjlaklk&[ge Â&#x153; Hjaflogjck Â&#x153; May

SPRUCE GROVE GALLERY Â&#x153; E]d[gj ;mdlmjYd ;]flj]$ +-%- 9n]$ Khjm[] ?jgn] Â&#x153; /0(&1.*&(.., Â&#x153; 2010 HIGH SCHOOL EXHIBITION AND SALE3 May 17-29 Â&#x153; Gh]faf_ j][]hlagf'YoYj\k2 Sat, May 22, 1-4pm STOLLERY GALLERY Â&#x153; 1**-%))0 9n] Â&#x153; SELECTED COLLAGES: 9jlogjck Zq @Yfk JYkemkk]f Yf\ D]g Ogf_ Â&#x153; Until May 22

TELUS WORLD OF SCIENCE Â&#x153; EYj_Yj]l R]a\d]j KlYj L`]Ylj]$ ))*))%),* Kl Â&#x153; /0(&,-)&++,, Â&#x153; l]dmkogjd\g^k[a]f[]&[ge']\egflgf Â&#x153; M* Yl LOGK$ 9 >mdd%<ge] =ph]ja]f[] k]l lg l`] emka[ g^ M* Â&#x153; >ja%KYl /he3 May 21-223 <Yadq Jun 26-Sep 6 TU GALLERY Â&#x153; )(/)0%)*, Kl Â&#x153; 9ffmYd ]p`aZal g^ H`glg_jYh`k Zq F9AL klm\]flk Â&#x153; Until May 22 VAAA GALLERY Â&#x153; +j\ >d$ )(*)-%))* Kl Â&#x153;

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VELVET OLIVE LOUNGEďż˝Red Deer Â&#x153; ,1*, Jgkk Kl

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JOHNSON GALLERY Â&#x153; Southside2 //))%0- Kl3

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STANLEY A. MILNER LIBRARYʸ / Kaj Oafklgf

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VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 19, 2010

ARTS // 55

INSIDE // FILM

FILM

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Iron Man 2

Found Footage Fest

He Watch Channel Zero

Online at vueweekly.com >> FILM

Cannesfessions

by Brian Gibson Brian Gibson digs through decades of upsets at Cannes in this week's SideVue

REVUE // EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

Definitely maybe

Exit Through the Gift Shop might just be an elaborate prank, but makes a fine critique of contemporary art

MYSTERY MAN >> The elusive Banksy directs himself in Exit Through the Gift Shop David Berry // david@vueweekly.com

A

ppropriate enough for a—probably, maybe—documentary about street art (or should it be Street Art), Exit Through the Gift Shop employs a lot of misdirection and subterfuge. Partly that just comes in the form of the film's ostensible subject, would-be documentarian and maybecommercial-appropriater Thierry Guetta, aka Mr Brainwash: it's still an open question whether the man himself is a sincere artist, or maybe just a statement/performance art piece by iconic street artist Banksy about the commercialization of his medium and the, um, supremely subjective nature of what makes good art these days.

For the purposes of the film, though, I don't know that it matters, since, real or not, it's a subversive way to make the points

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Banksy—if he even actually directed it—is going for. And anyway, all those questions about Mr Brainwash only come up towards the end: the film begins by appearing to be an excitable but none-too-deep exploration of street art as a phenomenon, documented by Guetta, whose obsession with the form leads him on a Forrest Gump-like tour of notable street artists, from his cousin/eight-bit mosaic artist Space Invader to Obey/Obama poster icon Shepard Fairey and ultimately to the elusive and closely guarded Banksy.

Up until this point, Exit Through the Gift Shop seems almost frustratingly surface, the conceit being that Guetta is a kind of voyeur with literal piles of footage that he either doesn't want to do anything with or doesn't actually know what to do with.

We get a whole lot deeper, though, after Banksy supposedly pushes Guetta into compiling it all, and he's presented with

a basically unwatchable, ADD montage of images that add up to nothing. Banksy then convinces Guetta to hand over his tapes and do his own little art show. Guetta instead mortgages his house to create a factory of artists to design whatever he can come up with, and then stages a gigantic warehouse show in the middle of Los Angeles, hyped into a monster by his own relentlessness and some reluctant endorsements from his famous friends.

This is where the sort of obvious questions about street art that have been bubbling under the surface explode to the forefront.

Mr Brainwash, the nom de art Guetta takes on, makes what you could call, in its most charitable form, street-inspired pop art, famous faces dressed up with imagery that, if not exactly nonsensical, is at least largely inconsequential or obvious. A harsher critic—including Fairey, who remains

politely diplomatic, and Banksy, who is bluntly sarcastic—might say they're pretty much shit, but they sell like mad, and Mr Brainwash becomes a literal overnight success in LA's art world, selling $1 million worth of art before the show is out.

The juxtaposition of Brainwash's hastily created, bald re-appropriations of undercurrents he's been observing with the other artists profiled not only demonstrates the subtle brilliance of an artist like Banksy—who has perpetrated some very provocative art crimes, as it were, from surreptitiously hanging his own paintings in major galleries to painting idyllic images on Israeli security walls—but also lends itself to some My Kid Could Paint That-style questions about what makes for good art, whether anybody can really tell the difference and what any of that might mean to the relentlessly commercial world we live in. (This is only aided by the fact that

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Guetta is described and portrayed as everything from someone who's "passionate and kind of crazy" to a full-on "retard.")

What we end up with through all of this is a film that manages to be a survey of legitimate contemporary art movement, a critique of said movement and a question of what art is and might mean all in one, all put together with an anarchic and smart style entirely befitting of its apparent creator's ethos. Prank or not, it's a damn fine film. V Opens Fri, May 14 Exit Through the Gift Shop Directed by Banksy Narrated by Rhys Ifans Featuring Thierry Guetta, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Space Invader Garneau Theatre (8712 - 109 St)



REVUE // IRON MAN 2

Return of Mr Roboto Downey Jr's performance outweighs his metal suit in Iron Man 2

SUITING DOWN >> Iron Man 2 is better without the armour David Berry // david@vueweekly.com

O

ddly enough for a film whose hero is hidden behind a full-body suit of cold metal, the first Iron Man got by mostly on personality. That's not to say it wasn't sharply put together—it was sleek and forceful the way few superhero flicks manage to be, especially for an origin story—but it also realized that there are few things more charming than Robert Downey Jr with egomania, and it's one of the rare action films where the character interactions were more engaging than any of the, you know, action: Tony Stark exploding his way out of a terrorist cave in his makeshift first draft was fun and all, but not half as much as watching him charm the pants off the soldiers he was demonstrating weapons to before he got caught.

That basically holds true for the second incarnation, although with the caveat that the action here isn't quite as exciting (more on that later). It's almost kind of a shame that Downey keeps having to put on that suit: the unrestrained narcissism in the way he hosts the opening of a trade expo, the insouciant teenage horniness he sleazes all over his new PA Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) in their first meeting, the bitchy contempt he displays for rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell)—there's just something about Tony Stark's gleeful arrogance that suits Downey so perfectly, and only seems to fit better now that he's full-on comeback.

I'd even go so far as to say that the real centerpiece fight of the film isn't one in metal—it's Stark's confrontation with the smarmy, grandstanding senator (Gary Shandling) who wants to confiscate his suit for reasons of national security. Partly this is because it's one of the few moments of real conflict in the film, but it's mostly just because it's an acting master class, Downy's ego and Shandling's authoritarian impotence causing more fireworks than any number of hand-mounted cannons. It's also a

// Supplied

fantastic example of how strong the supporting cast is here: Johansson doesn't do much more than set herself up for a spin-off, but Rockwell is frustratedly perfect as a kind of sleazy, poor-man's Stark, Mickey Rourke oozes casual menace as Ivan Vanko, a rival engineer with a score to settle, and the other major players (Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, hell, even director Jon Favreau in a limited turn) acquit themselves ably.

The problems, then, come in the story, which has replaced the inaugural edition's sleekness with a glut of problems that never actually rise to proper crises. Besides the government-taking-the-suit-away angle, there's Stark slowly being poisoned by his fancy reactor, Vanko's vengeance, some tension between Stark and Rhodey and Hammer's attempts to undermine Stark. There are enough hurdles that none of them actually seem significant, and instead of any actual tension we just get a series of whack-a-moles popping up to get beat down.

That doubly hurts the action. Perhaps it's just that an iron suit—particularly a CGI one—can't bleed, but the fights in the first film were also a bit undramatic, and that's not helped any when there's less at stake. Favreau and writer Justin Theroux seem to be partially aware of this, disappointingly playing what could be an incredibly meaningful scene—one where Rhodey dons a suit and confronts Tony— mostly for laughs, but they still can't overcome it, and it is at least a little disappointing that all of Iron Man's hardware pales in comparison to the man in the suit. That said, when it's this particular man, there's really not all that much to complain about. V Now Playing Iron Man 2 Directed by Jon Favreau Written by Justin Theroux Starring Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow

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VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

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DVD DETECTIVE >> VIVRE SA VIE

Question interpretation Vivre sa vie traces downward trajectory of young actress

Karina), first seen during the credits in a trio of close-ups, resembling mug-shots, is also an anagram for the name of the actress portraying her.

This is but one of multiple allusions to the nature of this movie's double game: it is at once a work of fiction and a kind of documentary, about prostitution, of which we will learn a fair amount, particularly in the montage of transactions set to a series of frequently asked questions; about Paris' suburbs and the lives passing through them; and about Karina, Godard's wife and valiant collaborator, who like her character came from elsewhere to make it in the movies. Karina's performance is repeatedly startling. At times she looks directly at the camera, with those immense, worried eyes, as though checking in, or wondering if this is how things were meant to go. She seems always to be utterly immersed in the most immediate sources of stimulus for her character—writing a letter, dancing, conversing with a philosopher, "hooking" a client or, most famously, being moved to tears

by The Passion of Joan of Arc ('28)—while also somehow aware of being the subject of a movie.

While positively radiating innocence, Karina, then all of 21, had already sufficiently developed as an artist to follow her husband/director onto the high wire, the result being this movie that, in a m o ekly.c vuewe new age of understanding and sophisctive@ te e d d v d tication with regards to what movies f e s Jo can be, draws attention to its artifice, Braun through camera work and through its eerie use of truncated fragments of Michel Legrand's score, while never spoiling its fictive illusions.

Prostitution is a primal theme in Godard's work, and the problematic role of actresses in the movies, as the subject of the (predominantly) Her Eyes >> Hide worry // Supplied male gaze, is never far from the surface. FortuIn an interview for Sight & Sound, conducted by nately Godard isn't interested in victimization— Tom Milne in October of 1962, Jean-Luc Godard the excerpt he selects from Joan of Arc emwas asked if he felt his most recent work, Vivre phasizes the heroine's participation in her own sa vie ('62), was a departure from its predecesmartyrdom—but rather in the social dynamics sors. Godard replied that, on the contrary, he felt that allow one such as Nana to be gradually it was an arrival. The previous work had been the swallowed up by misfortune. There is in Vivre product of a cinephile, one whose knowledge of sa vie a constant mistrust of interpretation, or life had accumulated exclusively within the speceven of the meaning of words themselves, not tral darkness of the cinema, where as this, his an insignificant statement coming from a forfourth movie, a somewhat somber chronicle of mer critic. Nana expresses her discomfort with an aspiring actress' slippage into prostitution, words in the first scene, where she breaks up was the first to be constructed in the open air, so with a boyfriend in a café, trying out certain toto speak, to attempt to absorb and reflect upon ken phrases as though trying for the best line the realities of the world beyond, not to menreading, while Godard, perversely, shoots their tion upon art forms other than the movies. It may conversation from behind, so that their faces are read as sacrilege, particularly on this, the 50th unseen and all we have to go on are their words anniversary of Breathless ('60), his iconoclastic themselves. Godard places obstacles between debut, the movie that more than any other enKarina's face and the camera almost as often as capsulates the French New Wave, but Vivre sa he allows her face to consume its frame in an vie does feel in some sense like Godard Year act of pure portraiture, yet the images in Vivre Zero, like the full emergence, both politicized sa vie, though occasionally awkward, aren't oband poeticized, of the auteur who dominated the tuse but rather fixating and beautiful, and there 1960s and changed his medium. It certainly had seems to be a sly joke in the fact that the first far greater impact on me, someone discovering name of Nana's pimp is the same as that of the these movies decades later. Breathless excited movie's cinematographer, Raoul Coutard. From me. Vivre sa vie arrested me, and continues to start to finish Vivre sa vie continually reminds do so. It's now available from the Criterion Colus that Godard's greatest work is never, as the lection. cliché suggests, an intellectual exercise. This is A "film in twelve tableaux," each preceded by a work of rapture, curiosity, rigorous play and, a title card listing telegraphic synopses of their indeed, genuine compassion, so that even if its contents—ie: THE BOULEVARDS – THE FIRST abrupt finale feels perhaps like the intrusion of MAN – THE ROOM—Vivre sa vie, though comone type of movie onto another, we're left with pact and economical, unfolds with the rhythm the devastating feeling that at any moment and structural intricacy of a novel, perhaps a those who slip through the cracks, whether in character study from Zola, from whom Godard art or in life, are that much more likely to be borrowed his heroine's name. Yet Nana (Anna caught in the crossfire. V

DVCD TIVE

DETE

58 // FILM

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

PREVUE // FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL

Rewind the times

Found Footage Festival looks at the unintentional badness of VHS's golden age year's festival features a Dolph Lundgren exercise film, some video dating tape from 1987 and the thespian travails of Bargain Bernie, a Texas furniture salesman turned commercial actor.

"Our criteria is it has to be unintentionally funny," says Prueher. "Usually that means it's bad in some way, like whatever it was trying to do, it failed."

Most of the footage in the festival dates from between 1984 and 1994—the golden age of VHS, according to Prueher, which now sits on thrift store shelves everywhere.

On top of their ubiquitous availability, he says the tapes also have a particular mix of nostalgia, voyeurism and schadenfreude.

DOUBLED TROUBLE >> The Found Footage Festival mines VHS clips for comedy Lewis Kelly // lewis@vueweekly.com

I

n the early '80s, ABC broadcast Rubik, the Amazing Cube, a cartoon about a magical Rubik's cube that would come to life and help the plucky Rodriguez kids fight evil when the cube was solved. Tragically, the show only lasted a year, and footage is pretty hard to come-by—unless you go to the Found Footage Festival Friday night.

"It's simultaneously disappointing and

"It's easy, with some distance, to be able to laugh at ourselves back then," he explains.

"It's just enough time where you can appreciate the hair styles and the moustaches and shiny leotards."

Prueher and Pickett do an awful lot of digging to find the best bad videos. Prueher guesses they watch 50 tapes for every one that yields visible footage.

"It's really a needle in a haystack to find something that makes the grade, but that's kind of what makes it fun," he says.

"When you find something that's bad in just the right way, you can't wait to show it to people."

Increasingly, other people want to show Prueher tapes that have the right sort of

the wrong stuff. After six years of touring the festival around North America and Europe, fans often donate tapes to the pair when they come to town. In fact, Prueher hopes to receive some new material tomorrow.

"We'd love to have some Edmonton footage in the show next year," he says. "If anybody's found anything in or around Edmonton, we would encourage them to bring it." V Fri, May 14 (8 pm) Found Footage Festival Curated by Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett Citadel Theatre (9828 - 101A Ave), $14

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hilarious," says festival co-founder Nick Prueher. "You can't believe that you used to enjoy these cartoons that are just that bad."

Not that the festival only features old cartoons. Prueher and fellow co-founder Joe Pickett select their favourite pieces of unintentional comedy from thousands of VHS tapes bought at garage sales and thrift stores, and present them to audiences with live commentary.

In addition to choice scenes of Rubik, this

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

FILM // 59

FILM REVIEWS 



U SE Y HO TSK TRO THE

Film Capsules Opening Friday The Trotsky

Written and directed by Justin Tierney Starring Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Colm Feore  Thanks to the blitz of social media, young people have now gained the opportunity to affiliate themselves with an endless roster of creative and political icons who, despite existing decades outside of their generation, have a clear and profound influence on the entirety of their culture.

These icons and their postmodern accessibity have been addressed in the past few years in films like I'm Not There, Julie

60 // FILM

and Julia and Milk, where the portrayals of their lives and careers are contrasted by a mystically abstract gap between our idols and how we experience their personal narratives.

The Trotsky, a Canadian feature from former YTV child star Jacob Tierney, turns the historical perspective around by bringing us the life of Leon Trotsky through a fictional underdog hero who believes himself to be the Marxist revolutionary's reincarnation. Leon (Jay Baruchel) sets the bizarre goal to live his life in exact accordance with his hero, determined to inspire unionized revolt wherever possible (including a hunger strike at his father's independently run factory). After being forced to attend public school, he then attempts to inspire a lacklustre students' union to rise up against an authoritative principal (Colm Feore).

We follow Leon's trials of absurdity— from seeking out Lenin's Canadian reincarnate to romancing a PhD candidate named Alexandra (Emily Hampshire) who fits perfectly the profile of Trotsky's first wife—and learn to understand his displaced obsession as just the kind of radical behavior that grabs attention and helps the oppressed think differently.

Once Leon lands an interview with etalk's Ben Mulroney, he inspires more hostility on behalf of the students against the school board, but realizes that impressionable young people go only part-ways as far as legitimitely fighting back. The ultimate challenge is giving them a reason to persist in caring.

Tierney's film is funny and entertaining, working off the hipster indie genre that has so far taken kindly to the plight of alienated teens that still use the public library. The splendor of textual references in the story and dialogue has an applaudably strong quotient of Canadian content, not to mention French-Canadian sparkler Genevieve Bujold as a mockingly powerful school board chairperson.

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

What The Trotsky lacks, however, is enough heart outside the box of its clever idea—Leon's goals are thwarted by predictably allegorical means, with a limited insight into the social lives of young people. The romantic interests and familial bonds often fall short, though a final moment of rather moving paternal redemption reveals what potential the rest of the film has.

JONATHAN BUSCH

// JONATHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

Now Opening Letters to Juliet

Directed by Gary Winick Written by Jose Rivera, Tim Sullivan Starring Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan  In fair Verona, where we lay our scene— we also lay our scene in New York, but that's a side note—Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), an American closet-writer and New York Magazine fact-checker, is our modern-day bard on a quest for true love.

Holidaying in Italy with her distracted Italian fiancé, she discovers and responds to a 50-year-old letter seeking romantic advice from the fictional Juliet. To her great surprise, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave), the author of the letter, shows up in Verona a few days later, encouraged by Sophie's eloquent reply, hoping to find her long lost Lorenzo, the one that got away. Joining Claire is her pompous English grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan), who plays up to cultural stereotypes (and— another side note—bores the heck out his audience), and so the unlikely trio go on a week-long adventure in search of the ultimate prize: a second chance at undying love.

In a world where every woman is just a Juliet waiting for her Romeo, director Gary

FILM REVIEWS

Film Capsules Winick lays the Shakespearean allusions on thick. With balconies upon balconies, and wardrobe accompaniments to boot, this Romeo and Juliet-inspired romance is a mushy, predictable and far-fetched allegory for the power of the written word. And Seyfried is the perfect, pretty actress to carry the flick to its happilyever-after conclusion.

You don't have to be clairvoyant to figure out who our dear Sophie will end up with, and it's pretty clear from the Taylor Swift-saturated soundtrack that our two star-cross'd lovers are not star-cross'd at all. Winick makes Sophie's fiancé— another cultural stereotype, this time of the passionate Italian chef—so easy to dislike, that the lingering glances between Seyfried and Egan make for some heavy, blatant foreshadowing.

But this film isn't a complete tragedy.

The geriatric supporting cast is amusing, their abiding faith in love is heartwarming, and the fact that Vanessa Redgrave, who has been in the business for over 50 years, is still going to bat for the romcom says something of the genre's audience appeal.

More importantly, if you can take the plotline for what it is and let the spectacular scenery do all the talking, you'll melt over the rolling hills of Tuscany, its vineyards, its twisting, cobblestone paths and its vibrant people. Channeling 2003's Under the Tuscan Sun, there couldn't be a more beautiful setting, and it certainly sparks the travel itch—despite all the mush.

Caroline Gault

// caroline@vueweekly.com

Opening at the Metro House (Hausu)

Thu, May 13, Sun, May 16, Mon, May 17 (7 & 9 pm) Sat, May 15 (7 pm) Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi Written by Chiho Katsura Starring Kimiko Ikegami, Kumiko Ohba, Yoko Minamida  I've most definitely never seen a film quite like Nobuhiko Obayashi's House (Hausu), but I'm not yet 100 percent convinced that's a bad thing. It's been described as Beetlejuice as directed by Dario Argento, which isn't a bad analogue for style, though in spirit I think it's something closer to what The Rocky Horror Picture Show would be like if it was trying to send up J-horror. Campy, just a little bit creepy and utterly bizarre, House is a miasma of cartoonish visual effects, grisly deaths and weird societal undercurrents.

Obayashi supposedly created the film based on a fragmented story his daughter told him—again, here, much as the unbridled creativity of children is distinct, I'm not entirely sure it's a good place to go looking for inspiration—so it's no surprise that the main story follows a young girl, Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami). She's upset that her widowed father plans to bring a new girlfriend along to their annual summer vacation, so instead of tagging along she convinces a gaggle of friends to head out to her aunt's mansion. Her aunt is an odd sort whose boyCONTINUED ON PAGE 62 >>

FILM WEEKLY FRI, MAY 14 – THU, MAY 20, 2010 s

CHABA THEATRE�JASPER 6094 Connaught Dr, Jasper, 780.852.4749

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for young children) FRI�SAT 6:50, 9:10; SUN�THU 8:00

THE LAST SONG (PG) FRI, SAT 7:00, 9:00; SUN�THU 8:00

CINEMA IN THE CENTRE Stanley A. Milner Library Theatre, Sir Winston Churchill Sq

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE (STC) Downtown Docs THU, May 20 6:30

CINEMA CITY MOVIES 12 5074-130 Ave, 780.472.9779

BADMAASH COMPANY (STC) Hindi W/E.S.T.

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HOUSE FULL (PG) Hindi W/E.S.T. FRI�SAT 1:20,

4:30, 7:35, 10:50; SUN�THU 1:20, 4:30, 7:35

EKAM�SON OF SOIS (14A) FRI�SAT 1:10, 4:25,

7:40, 11:00; SUN�THU 1:10, 4:25, 7:40

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (18A substance abuse,

crude content) FRI�SAT 1:35, 4:15, 7:05, 9:30, 11:50; SUN�THU 1:35, 4:15, 7:05, 9:30

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (G) FRI�SAT 1:50, 4:00,

6:30, 9:00, 11:15; SUN�THU 1:50, 4:00, 6:30, 9:00

THE BOUNTY HUNTER (PG violence, sexual content) FRI�SAT 1:45, 4:50, 7:10, 9:45, 12:10; SUN�THU 1:45, 4:50, 7:10, 9:45

Screening: THU 1:00

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JUST WRIGHT (PG) No passes FRI�WED 1:20, 3:50,

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) FRI, SAT, SUN, TUE

6:50, 9:25; THU 3:50, 6:50, 9:25; Star & Strollers Screening: THU 1:00

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for young children) No passes DAILY 11:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:30, 4:00, 4:30, 6:15, 7:00, 7:30, 9:15, 10:00, 10:30;

DAILY 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory

violence) FRI�WED 1:40, 4:40, 7:20, 10:25; THU 1:40, 4:40, 10:25

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) DAILY 12:20, 2:50, 5:10, 7:35

THE BACK�UP PLAN (PG language may offend, crude content) DAILY 12:35, 3:35, 7:15, 10:05 OCEANS (G) DAILY 1:25 KICK�ASS (18A brutal violence) DAILY 9:50 DATE NIGHT (PG sexual content, language may offend) DAILY 1:10, 4:10, 6:45, 9:20 CLASH OF THE TITANS 3D (PG not recom-

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HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3D (PG vio-

lence) Digital 3d DAILY 12:00, 2:40, 5:15, 7:45, 10:15

2:05

EDMONTON FILM SOCIETY Royal Alberta Museum, 102 Ave, 128 St, 780.439.5284

THE WOMEN (PG) MON: 8:00

GALAXY�SHERWOOD PARK 2020 Sherwood Dr, 780.416.0150 Sherwood Park 780-416-0150

ROBIN HOOD (14A) No passes FRI 3:30, 4:20, 6:40, 7:20, 9:50, 10:25; SAT�SUN 12:15, 1:10, 3:30, 4:20, 6:40, 7:20, 9:50, 10:25; MON�THU 6:30, 7:00, 9:35, 10:05 LETTERS TO JULIET (G) FRI 4:10, 6:55, 9:30; SAT� SUN 1:30, 4:10, 6:55, 9:30; MON�THU 6:55, 9:30

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

MON�THU 9:45

DATE NIGHT (PG sexual content, language may offend) FRI 4:15, 7:10, 10:00; SAT�SUN 12:30, 4:15, 7:10, 10:00; MON�THU 7:20, 9:55 CLASH OF THE TITANS 3D (PG not recom-

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory violence) No passes, DTS Digital, Stadium Seating DAILY 12:40, 3:40, 6:55, 10:10

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (PG violence)

COP OUT (14A crude content, coarse language) FRI� SHUTTER ISLAND (14A, coarse language, disturbing content, not recommended for children) DAILY 1:05, 4:10, 7:00, 10:00 PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3D (PG violence) Digital 3d, Dolby Stereo Digital, Stadium Seating DAILY 12:10, 2:35, 5:05, 7:30

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (14A) DAILY

THE BOOK OF ELI (14A brutal violence, not rec-

Dolby Stereo Digital DAILY 12:05, 3:05, 6:35, 9:45

AVATAR 3D (PG violence, not recommended for

young children) Digital 3d FRI�SAT 1:00, 4:20, 7:45, 11:10; SUN�THU 1:00, 4:20, 7:45

CINEPLEX ODEON NORTH 14231-137 Ave, 780.732.2236

ROBIN HOOD (14A) No passes DAILY 12:00, 1:00, 3:10, 4:10, 6:30, 7:20, 9:40, 10:30

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) FRI�TUE, THU 12:50,

Digital 3d FRI 3:20, 6:50, 9:10; SAT�SUN 12:20, 3:20, 6:50, 9:10; MON�THU 7:10, 9:40

GARNEAU

DATE NIGHT (PG sexual content, language may offend) Dolby Stereo Digital, Stadium Seating DAILY 12:20, 2:45, 5:10, 7:25, 9:50

ommended for children) DAILY 1:55, 4:45, 7:20, 9:50

mended for young children, violence) Digital 3d FRI 3:40, 7:35; SAT�SUN 1:10, 3:40, 7:45; MON�THU 7:35

KICK�ASS (18A brutal violence) Stadium Seating, DTS Digital DAILY 9:55

LIGHTNING THIEF (PG frightening scenes, not recommended for young children) FRI�SAT 1:30, 3:50, 6:40, 9:05, 11:30; SUN�THU 1:30, 3:50, 6:40, 9:05

ROBIN HOOD (14A) No passes, Stadium Seating,

8712-109 St, 780.433.0728

7:00, 9:00; SAT�SUN 1:00; No 7:00 show on MON, May 17

SHINE (STC) SAT 4:00; Free movie and a popcorn

GRANDIN THEATRE�ST ALBERT Grandin Mall, Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert, 780.458.9822

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (G) THU, MAY 13: 1:15

THE BACK�UP PLAN (PG language may offend, crude content) FRI�SUN 1:10, 4:20, 7:20, 9:50; MON� THU 5:40, 8:45

young children) No passes THU, MAY 13: 1:30, 4:05, 6:50, 9:10

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory

THE LOSERS (14A violence) FRI�SUN 9:15; MON�

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) DAILY 1:10, 3:50, 6:50

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory

THU 8:50

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

LEDUC CINEMAS Leduc, 780.352.3922

GUNLESS (PG) DAILY 9:00

3D (PG violence) SAT�SUN 1:05

THE BACK�UP PLAN (PG language may offend,

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) FRI�SUN 1:30, 4:15,

6:55; MON�THU 5:15

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

CLASH OF THE TITANS 3D (PG not recom-

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) FRI�SUN 1:00, 3:50, 6:45, 9:30; MON�THU 5:35, 8:20

DUGGAN CINEMA�CAMROSE

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (PG violence, fright-

6601-48 Ave, Camrose, 780.608.2144

crude content) FRI�TUE, THU 1:10, 4:10, 7:30, 10:10; WED 1:10, 4:10, 10:10

THE LOSERS (14A violence) DAILY 10:00 DATE NIGHT (PG sexual content, language may offend) DAILY 1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 9:50 CLASH OF THE TITANS 3D (PG not recommended for young children, violence) Digital 3d DAILY 12:40, 3:50, 7:40, 10:20 HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3D (PG violence) Digital 3d DAILY 12:10, 3:10, 6:40, 9:10

WESTMOUNT CENTRE 111 Ave, Groat Rd, 780.455.8726

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) Dolby Stereo Digital FRI

SUN 1:05, 3:30

ROBIN HOOD (14A) No Passes FRI�SUN 12:30,

3:35, 6:40, 9:45; MON�THU 4:50, 8:10

violence) DAILY 11:45, 2:20, 5:00, 7:50, 10:40

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) DAILY 7:05, 9:30; SAT�

offend) DAILY 1:40, 4:20, 7:15, 9:30

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) FRI�WED 12:10, 3:20, 7:10, 10:10; THU 4:00, 7:10, 10:10; Star & Strollers

young children) No passes FRI�SAT 11:30, 12:00, 2:30, 3:15, 5:30, 7:00, 8:30, 10:15, 11:30; SUN 11:30, 12:00, 2:30, 3:15, 5:30, 7:00, 8:30, 10:15; MON�TUE, THU 11:30, 12:50, 2:30, 3:40, 5:30, 6:30, 8:30, 9:20; WED 11:30, 2:30, 3:40, 5:30, 6:30, 8:30, 9:20; FRI, MON�THU 1:45, 4:45, 7:45, 10:45; SAT�SUN 10:45, 1:45, 4:45, 7:45, 10:45; Star & Strollers Screening: WED 1:00

young children) Dolby Stereo Digital, No passes FRI 6:50, 9:55; SAT�SUN 12:15, 3:25, 6:50, 9:55; MON�THU 5:20, 8:30

THE LAST SONG (PG) Digital DAILY 7:10, 9:25;

1:15, 3:00, 4:10, 4:40, 6:40, 7:10, 7:40, 9:50, 10:20, 10:50

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

Show THU May 13 12:01am; SAT�SUN 12:45, 3:40

DATE NIGHT (PG sexual content, language may

ROBIN HOOD (14A) No passes DAILY 11:45, 12:45,

6:50, 9:40; WED 4:00, 6:50, 9:40; Star & Strollers Screening: WED 1:00

ROBIN HOOD (14A) DAILY 6:45, 9:40; Midnight

young children) No passes, On 2 Screens FRI�SUN 12:50, 1:20, 3:40, 4:10, 6:30, 7:00, 9:25, 9:55; MON� THU 5:00, 5:30, 8:00, 8:30

1525-99 St, 780.436.8585

6:30, 9:45; DAILY 12:15, 3:30, 7:15, 10:40

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) FRI�TUE, THU 1:00, 4:00,

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON DIGITAL

violence) FRI�SUN 1:50, 4:50, 7:10, 9:35; MON�THU 5:50, 8:40

CINEPLEX ODEON SOUTH

WEM, 8882-170 St, 780.444.2400

ROBIN HOOD (14A) No passes DAILY 11:30, 2:45,

THE BACK�UP PLAN (PG language may offend,

young children) No passes DAILY 11:50, 12:40, 3:00, 3:40, 6:15, 7:00, 9:15, 10:00; Digital Cinema: DAILY 1:30, 4:30, 7:40, 10:40

TIMES TALKS LIVE: LOST (STC) THU 8:00

SCOTIABANK THEATRE WEM

DATE NIGHT (PG sexual content, language may offend) THU, MAY 13: 9:00

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3D (PG violence) Digital 3d FRI�SUN 1:25, 4:00, 6:35, 9:00; MON�THU 5:10, 7:50

2:55, 4:45, 6:30

ening scenes) DAILY 3:20, 6:45, 9:10

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18A sexual violence, disturbing content) DAILY 6:45, 9:30; SAT�SUN 2:00; No 7:00 show on THU, May 20

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) DAILY 12:30, 3:00, 6:45

offend) FRI�SUN 2:00, 4:30, 6:50, 9:20; MON�THU 5:45, 8:25

lence) Digital 3d DAILY 12:10, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 9:50

SUN 2:30

KICK�ASS (18A brutal violence) THU, MAY 13: 8:30

4211-139 Ave, 780.472.7600

THU, MAY 13: 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) THU, MAY 13: 1:10,

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3D (PG vio-

10337-82 Ave, 780.433.0728

MAX MANUS (14A violence) DAILY 6:50, 9:10; SAT�

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory

CLAREVIEW 10

DATE NIGHT (PG sexual content, language may

mended for young children, violence) Digital 3d

PRINCESS

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (PG violence)

DAILY 12:15, 3:15, 7:15, 10:15

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory violence) THU, MAY 13: 1:25, 3:25, 5:25, 7:25, 9:25

DAILY 2:00, 4:40, 7:45, 10:10

crude content) DAILY 9:20

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) DAILY 7:05, 9:20; SAT�SUN,

THE BACK UP PLAN (PG crude content language may offend) THU, MAY 13: 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15

Seating, DTS Digital DAILY 12:25, 3:25, 7:05, 10:05

mended for young children, violence) Digital 3d

OCEANS (G) DAILY 12:30

violence) DAILY 6:45, 9:00; SAT�SUN, TUE 12:45, 3:00; no 9:00 show on SAT

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) Dolby Stereo Digital

FRI�SUN 1:40, 4:25, 7:05, 9:40; MON�THU 5:20, 8:15

crude content) FRI�WED 1:20, 4:00, 7:10, 9:45; THU 1:20, 4:00, 9:55

violence) DAILY 9:05

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3D (PG

THE TROTSKY (14A coarse language) Stadium

JUST WRIGHT (PG) No passes FRI�TUE, THU 1:50,

violence) DAILY 12:20, 2:50, 5:10, 8:00, 10:35

TUE 1:00, 3:15; Movies For Mommies: TUE 1:00

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory

IRON MAN 2: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE (PG violence, not recommended for young children) No passes FRI 12:50, 3:40, 6:30, 9:20, 12:00; SAT 10:00, 12:50, 3:40, 6:30, 9:20, 12:00; SUN 10:00, 12:50, 3:40, 6:30, 9:20; MON�TUE 12:00, 3:15, 7:00, 10:15; WED 12:00, 3:15, 6:55, 10:15; THU 12:00, 3:15

CLASH OF THE TITANS 3D (PG not recom-

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

LETTERS TO JULIET (PG) DAILY 7:00, 9:15; SAT, SUN,

Date of issue only: THU, MAY 13

3:30, 6:40, 9:20; WED 3:30, 6:40, 9:20; Star & Strollers Screening: WED 1:00

4:30, 7:50, 10:20; WED 4:30, 7:50, 10:20; Star & Strollers Screening: WED 1:00

substance abuse) Special Presentation: One Week Only

DAILY 6:55; SAT, SUN, TUE 12:55, 3:20

TUE 1:05, 3:05

SUN 12:40, 3:15, 7:00; MON�THU 6:45

SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE (14A coarse lan-

SAT 1:25, 4:05, 6:35, 9:20, 12:00; SUN�WED 1:25, 4:05, 6:35, 9:20; THU 6:35, 9:20

TO SAVE A LIFE (PG mature subject matter,

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) FRI 3:20, 7:00; SAT�

young children) Digital Presentation, No passes, Stadium Seating DAILY 12:00, 12:30, 2:00, 3:00, 3:30, 5:00, 6:30, 7:00, 8:00, 9:30, 10:00

guage, crude content) FRI�SAT 1:40, 4:40, 6:50, 9:15, 11:20; SUN�THU 1:40, 4:40, 6:50, 9:15

12:45, 3:30

THE BACK�UP PLAN (PG language may offend,

KICK�ASS (18A brutal violence) FRI�SUN 9:15;

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

ROBIN HOOD (14A) DAILY 6:45, 9:30; SAT, SUN, TUE

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18A gory violence) Digital Cinema FRI�SUN 10:30; MON�THU 10:10

TIMES TALKS LIVE: LOST (STC) THU 8:00 10200-102 Ave, 780.421.7020

130 Century Crossing, Spruce Grove, 780.972.2332 (Spruce Grove, Stony Plain; Parkland County)

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for young children) DAILY 6:50, 7:15, 9:25; SAT�SUN, TUE: 12:50, 1:15, 3:25

THE BACK�UP PLAN (PG language may offend, crude content) FRI 3:45, 7:20, 9:40; SAT�SUN 12:45, 3:45, 7:20, 9:40; MON�THU 6:50, 9:20

CITY CENTRE 9

PARKLAND CINEMA 7

young children) No passes FRI 4:00, 6:45, 7:30, 9:45, 10:30; SAT�SUN 12:00, 1:00, 3:00, 4:00, 6:45, 7:30, 9:45, 10:30; MON�THU 6:35, 7:05, 9:30, 10:00

ening scenes) DAILY 4:20, 7:05, 9:45

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (PG violence, fright-

ELEVEN IN MOTION: ABSTRACT EXPRES� SIONISM IN ANIMATION (STC) THU 9:00

SAT�SUN 3:25

for young children) DAILY 6:55, 9:35; SAT�SUN 12:55, 3:35

METRO CINEMA 9828-101A Ave, Citadel Theatre, 780.425.9212

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL (STC) FRI 8:00

7:05, 10:05; SAT�SUN 12:45, 3:45, 7:05, 10:05; MON�THU 5:30, 8:40

ROBIN HOOD (14A) DTS Digital, No passes FRI 6:25, 9:35; SAT�SUN 12:00, 3:10, 6:25, 9:35; MON�THU 5:00, 8:10

THE GHOST WRITER (PG violence, coarse language) DTS Digital FRI 6:35, 9:45; SAT�SUN 12:30, 3:35, 6:35, 9:45; MON�THU 5:10, 8:20

WETASKIWIN CINEMAS

Wetaskiwin, 780.352.3922

ROBIN HOOD (14A) DAILY 6:45, 9:40; Midnight Show

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended

HOUSE (STC) SAT, SUN, MON 7:00; SUN, MON 9:00

TUE 1:50

MOSTLY WATER PRESENTS: METRO DIGI� TAL SHORTS (MAY 2010) (STC) SAT 9:00

LETTERS TO JULIET (G) DAILY 7:05, 9:30; SAT�SUN

SUN, TUE 1:45

YOGA UNVEILED (STC) SUN 2:30

LETTERS TO JULIET (PG) DAILY 7:00 9:00; SAT,

THE LAST SONG (PG) DAILY 7:10, 9:20; SAT�SUN 3:20

MIKE & ARLENE SHORTS PROGRAM (STC)

FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) SAT�SUN 1:05

THE LAST SONG (PG) DAILY 7:05, 9:05

BEARTRAP (STC) WED 9:00

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (PG violence)

FAVA VIDEO KITCHEN (STC) THU 7:00

for young children) DAILY 6:50, 9:15; FRI, SAT, SUN,

ROBIN HOOD (14A) DAILY 6:45 9:20; FRI, SAT,

SUN, TUE 2:00; Movies for Mommies: FRI 1:00

WED 7:00

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

THU May 13 12:01am; SAT�SUN 12:45, 3:40

1:05, 3:30

IRON MAN 2 (PG violence, not recommended for

young children) DAILY 6:55, 9:35; SAT�SUN 12:55, 3:35

FILM // 61

FILM REVIEWS

COMMENT >> TELEVISION

Down on the Treme There's nothing worse than having someone the principal writing and producing talent looking over your shoulder. Trying to have with this new show, The Wire achieved a privacy in public is difficult as it is, but I oftricky caveat. It was thoroughly entertainten wonder how people can honestly creing from a purely narrative standpoint but ate when what they make is documented also hugely intriguing for the way it tackled while in progress. Treme, the hotly-tipped socio-political issues. You could watch it for new HBO series based around Second the epic gang warfare or for the workLine jazz musicians in New Orleans ing class polemics of season two.

HE H four months following Hurricane Though consistently praised by WATC Katrina, has been mythologized the media, the process behind and critically acclaimed by press that show was only elucidated om eekly.c outlets far before us plebs even upon with deeper focus when @vuew roland d knew how to pronounce it (open it was on the tail end of its arc. n a l o R rton They had the good fortune of beyour mouth and say "trah-may").

Pembe Cameras watching cameras, eming able to create without expectabedded reporters doling out drops of tion so what got made was unexpectknowledge on the new social barometer, an edly great for the medium it was made in. impact dulled by the cancer of expectation.

This time around, after reading article after This is due in no small part to a show called article of gushing press about the hopeful The Wire, arguably the finest serial television slant creator David Simon places on his viprogram of our generation. Sharing much of sion of New Orleans, I can't help be feel a

NEL C H AENR O Z

little underwhelmed. Treme is beautifully shot in digital, with moments of vibrant colour and real personality, but the content, however real and meaningful to the cast and crew, is clearly not the focus of the program.

The main character of the show is the music, recorded live on location, mostly supplied by the Treme neighbourhood's jazz music community and a remarkable tribal group called the Mardi Gras Indians.

The show would do well to elaborate on this powerful sonic advantage. Music usually provides the best exposition for characters on Treme. Take the particularly horny solo played by perpetual philanderer and trombone player Antoine Batiste (played by Wendell Pierce, best known as Lt Bunk from The Wire) in a Bourbon Street strip club towards a pole technician's dance—it explains more about his personality than any machine gun dialogue could. The tambourine jam led by Big Chief Albert Lambreaux (Clarke Peters, also from The Wire), with a circling camera capturing the action, thrillingly lends credence to the bizarre pseudogang of loudly feathered neighbourhood representatives and its context—after a relatively intense confrontation over stolen tools—shows just how cathartic this sound culture is for people.

Part of the point of character development is to engage us in the characters early on so we care about what happens to them later.

Treme's characters seem like templates even though they are based on real people and experiences, and the team behind the

62 // FILM

show seems to be falling back on authenticity instead of using these statements and characters in service of an actual narrative.

Sentimentality can only get you so far. The audience needs to be given a reason to care.

Characters on The Wire represented different facets of the show's singular conceit (that bureaucracy is everywhere) but it was done naturally, as if they just happened into these circumstances.

Though Treme deals with the postscript of a very real monster, it seems to think the aftermath is capable of standing in for a truly structured narrative. The busking couple, Annie and Sonny, are glaring additions to the show, there to represent the young music culture in the city but merely stand out for their tokenism as young, good-looking characters for the audience to identify with. Sonny (Michiel Huisman) in particular is a terrible actor and musician, making his purpose even more perplexing.

Then again, like The Wire before it, Treme might just be gearing up for some big hits later in the season. For instance, the character Davis McAlary (played by a forever mugging Steve Zahn) was initially overbearing and impish but has slowly turned into a likeable character with great comedic timing and a clearly defined character dynamic (man of the people, bumbling foil) that makes sense and represents a part of Simon's overlying message. Hopefully, Simon and his staff can follow that pattern and develop the characters on this show into the kind of subtle social commentary he has become famous for. V

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Film Capsules << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 61

friend, we're told in an esoteric flashback, never returned from the Second World War, and she seems creepily overjoyed to have a half-dozen young girls spending the summer in her house.

It's not long before we figure out why: turns out, she's actually died some time ago, and is currently whiling away the days as a spirit who feeds on virgin girls while she waits for her long-lost boyfriend to return. There are enough strange undercurrents of Japanese culture there to fill a sociology thesis, but House isn't terribly concerned with much beyond abject weirdness, so let's just leave it at that.

Instead, let's focus on style. Obayashi seems intent on using just about every analogue trick he could get his '70s director hands on, and the visuals are a curious mix of genuinely inventive, purposefully strange and gratingly campy.

He basically never misses a chance to use an odd cut or some kind of trippy overlay, a tendency that has diminishing returns. He also has a streak of broad humour that ranges from pleasantly offbeat to kind of idiotic, and is ever-present enough to keep the film from being actually creepy. That, again, is a choice I'm not entirely sure is the right one to make, but if nothing else, it's a mark of the film's effortless originality.

David Berry

// david@vueweekly.com

INSIDE // MUSIC

MUSIC

66

70 74

Enter Sandor

Breezy Brian Gregg New Sounds

Online at vueweekly.com >>MUSIC

The Classical Score

by Maria Kotovych This week's Classical Score concludes that power tools and vegetables actually have a lot in common

PREVUE // FUCKED UP

Damian comes to life

Fucked Up lead singer isn't afraid to let his opinions be known Bryan Birtles // bryan@vueweekly.com

P

unk rock seems to be populated entirely by the kind of people who aren't afraid to tell you exactly how they feel, so it should come as no surprise that one of Canada's best-known punk bands has recently found itself in the spotlight not for its music but for its opinions. For some of the members of Toronto-based band Fucked Up, winner of the 2009 Polaris Music Prize, free expression has lately been earning them some attention for reasons other than the band's chaotic live show and increasingly cerebral recordings.

Following Arizona's controversial implementation of a law which allows police officers to demand proof of immigration status from any individual they believe could potentially be an illegal immigrant, Fucked Up lead singer Damian Abraham found himself embroiled in a well-publicized "Twitter fight" with fel-

low Toronto-based band Stars over the best course of action to take in fighting the racist legislation.

"I think because I was new to Twitter and didn't really know how quickly things could get blown out of proportion and become huge issues, I didn't realize how quickly it was going to go from a difference of opinion to a beef," Abraham says to explain how the issue seemed to spiral out of control on Canadian music blogs. "Stars said that they were going to boycott playing Arizona and I just felt, and I still feel, that boycotting in this case is not the correct course of action. From my perspective the best course of action is to keep playing Arizona and encouraging groups and organizations to come out to your show, to engage people at the show to get involved in activ-

ism. That, I think, is the way to effect change.

"Here we are agreeing about the root cause of our argument but disagreeing vocally with each other on the correct course of action," Abraham continues, reflecting on the absurdity of the attention the disagreement garnered.

"At the end of the day it's like, 'Well, we actually do agree, but ...' I guess it's the nuance we disagree on."

Fucked Up is no stranger to political action by any means: a Christmas single financed by the prize money awarded to the band from the Polaris win went to support three different non-profit organizations working to alleviate the plight of aboriginal women in Canada.

The band's 2007 single, "Year of the Pig" is written about the same subject.

Though it's not unusual for a punk band to take a stand on social issues, for a band like Fucked Up—notorious for not getting along—it certainly could be. Abraham is philosophical about the

group's somewhat legendary ability to remain intact while at the same time not being able to decide where to go for breakfast, as well as the fact that Fucked Up is able to agree on the big things if not the little ones.

"We disagree on little things, like where to eat, that turn into big things— that's a huge fight for us normally. Or what band we like more, we disagree about that stuff but I think on the big issues, the real issues that actually count, we're all on similar pages or the same page," he says. "Especially once we all talked about it, shared some emails and some literature about it—the plight of aboriginal women in Canada is horrendous, especially for poor aboriginal women in Canada—it was really easy for all of us to try and get involved and it was a really easy decision for us to make that that's where the money should go from the next benefit single we were going to do."

With the summer festival season approaching, Abraham says that the band is looking forward to a busy season of touring, but will be relieved when it is over and Fucked Up can concentrate on creating a follow-up to the band's much-acclaimed second full-length al-

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

bum, The Chemistry of Common Life. Just prior to that, however, the band has one more tour planned.

"When festival season is over we're gonna do one more crazy tour with Public Enemy—and it's really weird to say that but it looks like it's going to happen in September—and then we're going to make the record in October," he says, becoming nearly giddy at the prospect. "Their management reached out to us and then Chuck D reached out to us and said he enjoyed the band and would like to do some stuff with us and it just went from there. Now we're trying to work out the details of doing some shows together on the East Coast of the United States and maybe working on some sort of collaboration in the near future. It still seems so unreal that I don't want to talk about it too much and jinx it.

"It's living proof that anything can happen. Literally, anything can happen." V Fri, Mar 14 (8 pm) Fucked Up With Grown Ups, No Problem Avenue Theatre (9030 - 118 Ave), $16

MUSIC // 63

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

THU MAY 13

Open stage, play with the house band every Thu; 9pm

(door), 8pm (show); $10 (door)

Classical WINSPEAR ESO and Winspear Overture: Danny Bhoy

DJs BILLY BOB’S LOUNGE Escapack Entertainment BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Big Rock Thu: DJs on 3 levels–Topwise Soundsystem spin Dub & Reggae in The Underdog

JAMMERS PUB Thu open jam; 7-11pm

BRIXX BAR Radio Brixx with Tommy Grimes spinning rock and roll

BLUES ON WHYTE Eddy Shaw

JEFFREY'S CAFÉ Caity Fisher, Jessica Jalbert (easy listening, contemporary folk); $10

BRIXX BAR Radio Brixx: rock and roll with Tommy Grimes

BUDDY'S DJ Bobby Beatz; 9pm; no cover before 10pm; Shiwana Millionaire Wet Underwear Contest

JULIAN'S�Chateau Louis Graham Lawrence ( jazz piano); 8pm

CHRISTOPHER'S PARTY PUB Open stage hosted by Alberta Crude; 6-10pm

CENTURY ROOM Underground House every Thu with DJ Nic-E

L.B.'S PUB Open jam with Ken Skoreyko; 9pm

FILTHY MCNASTY’S Punk Rock Bingo with DJ S.W.A.G.

LIVE WIRE BAR Open Stage Thu with Gary Thomas

FLUID LOUNGE Girls Night out

MARYBETH'S COFFEE HOUSE�Beaumont Open Mic Thu; 7pm

FUNKY BUDDHA�Whyte Ave Requests with DJ Damian

NAKED CYBERCAFÉ Open stage every Thu; bring your own instruments, fully equipped stage; 8pm

GAS PUMP Ladies Nite: Top 40/dance with DJ Christian

BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Thu Nite Jazz series: Brett Miles Trio; 7:30pm; $8

CROWN PUB Crown Pub Latin/world fusion jam hosted by Marko Cerda; musicians from other musical backgrounds are invited to jam; 7pm-closing DRUID IRISH PUB Dublin Thu: DJ at 9pm DUSTER'S PUB Thu open jam hosted by the Assassins of Youth (blues/rock); 9pm; no cover DV8 Open mic Thu hosted

by Cameron Penner/ and/ or Rebecca Jane; Falklands, What's wrong Tohei? (punk); 9pm ELECTRIC RODEO�Spruce Grove Open Stage Thu: Bring an instrument, jam/ sing with the band, bring your own band, jokes, juggle, magic; 8-12 ENCORE CLUB With A Latin Twist: free Salsa Dance Lessons at 9pm

NEW CITY LOUNGE Hobbins (CD release party), Army of Words, Tree Jam, DJ Bebop Cortez NORTH GLENORA HALL Jam by Wild Rose Old Time Fiddlers PAWN SHOP Current Swell, Wednesday Morning Blues; 8pm (door) RED PIANO BAR Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players; 8pm-1am REXALL PLACE Daughtry, Lighthouse; 7:30pm

GOOD EARTH CAFÉ Lisa B every Thu; 11:30am-12:30pm

RIC’S GRILL Peter Belec ( jazz); every Thu; 7-10pm

HAVEN SOCIAL CLUB Magneta Lane, Darren Frank, guests; 7:30pm (door); $10 (door)

SECOND CUP�Varscona Live music every Thu night; 7-9pm

HOOLIGANZ Open stage Thu hosted by Phil (Nobody Likes Dwight); 9pm-1:30am HYDEAWAY�Jekyll and Hyde Metal Thu: Desecrate the Gods, Lucid Skies, Corporeal Form, Black Axis J AND R Classic rock! Woo!

HALO Thu Fo Sho: with Allout DJs DJ Degree, Junior Brown KAS BAR Urban House: with DJ Mark Stevens; 9pm LEVEL 2 LOUNGE Absolut Thu: with DJ NV and Joey Nokturnal; 9:30pm (door); no cover LUCKY 13 Sin Thu with DJ Mike Tomas NEW CITY SUBURBS Bingo at 9:30pm followed by Electroshock Therapy with Dervish Nazz Nomad and Plan B (electro, retro) ON THE ROCKS Salsaholic Thu: Dance lessons at 8pm; Salsa DJ to follow PLANET INDIGO�St Albert Hit It Thu: breaks, electro house spun with PI residents

SHERLOCK HOLMES� WEM Stan Gallent

PROHIBITION Throwback Thu: old school r&b, hip hop, dance, pop, funk, soul, house and everything retro with DJ Service, Awesome

WILD WEST SALOON Kory Wlos

RENDEZVOUS PUB Metal Thurzday with org666

YARDBIRD SUITE The Gateway Big Band; 7:30pm

SPORTSWORLD Roller Skating Disco: Thu Retro

CROWN AND ANCHOR 15277

HALO HAVEN SOCIAL CLUB 15120A (basement), Stony Plain Rd, 780.756.6010 HAYLOFT ACRES East on Whitemud Dr to RR 224, 780.455.3900, 780.922.3968 HILL TOP PUB 8220-106 Ave, 780.490.7359 HOOLIGANZ 10704-124 St, 780.452.1168

SHERLOCK HOLMES� Downtown Tony Dizon

Nights; 7-10:30pm; sportsworld.ca

STOLLI'S Dancehall, hip hop with DJ Footnotes hosted by Elle Dirty and ConScience every Thu; no cover WUNDERBAR DJ Thermos Rump Shakin' Thu: From indie to hip hop, that's cool and has a beat; no cover

FRI MAY 14 180 DEGREES Sexy Fri night ARTERY The Mystic Referee Collective, Cosmic Highway, 2 Tour; 8pm AVENUE THEATRE Fucked Up, No Problem (ex Wednesday Night Heroes), Grown-Ups; 8pm (door); no minors; $16 (adv) at TicketMaster, Blackbyrd, Listen, Freecloud AXIS CAFÉ Erin Faught (folk), Alexander Chemist; 8pm; $10 BLACKJACK'S The Kyler Schogen Band BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Dave Babcock and the Nightkeepers; 8pm; $12 BLUES ON WHYTE Eddy Shaw BRIXX BAR Tallest Man on Earth, Nurses; no minors; 7pm (door); $15 Sold Out BRIXX BAR Options with Greg Gory, Eddie Lunchpail CARROT Live music Fri: Chet & Jess; all ages; 7pm; $5 (door) CASINO EDMONTON Toshi Jackson and the Silhouettes (Supremes tribute) CASINO YELLOWHEAD D.L.O. (pop/rock) CHURCHILL SQUARE Breezy Brian Gregg (CD Release of Street); 12-4:30pm COAST TO COAST Open Stage every Fri; 9:30pm DRUID IRISH PUB DJs at 9pm DV8 Unleash The Archers, Scythia, Quietus (heavy metal); 9pm EDDIE SHORTS The Frolics ELECTRIC RODEO�Spruce_ Grove Fist Full of Blues ENCORE CLUB 4 Play Fri FRESH START CAFÉ Live music Fri; 7pm; $7

Edel, Sjoerd Meyer, Brock Tyler; 7:30pm (door); $10 (door)

HYDEAWAY�Jekyll and Hyde War Eagle Rising, Black Axis IRISH CLUB Jam session; 8pm; no cover IVORY CLUB Duelling piano show with Jesse, Shane, Tiffany and Erik and guests JEFFREY'S CAFÉ June Mann Quartet ('70s pop, jazz classics); $10 JEKYLL AND HYDE PUB Every Fri: Headwind (classic pop/rock); 9pm; no cover JULIAN'S�Chateau Louis Graham Lawrence ( jazz piano); 8pm LEVA CAPPUCCINO BAR Live music every Fri NEW CITY LOUNGE Bonnie Blackout, Cygnets, Evan Symons, Digits NEW CITY SUBURBS Vegas or Bust: Capital City Burlesque ON THE ROCKS Love Junk with DJ; 9pm PAWN SHOP The Red Threat, Everyone Everywhere, We are Bravest, Winslow; 8pm (door) RED PIANO BAR Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players; 9pm-2am RIVER CREE Girls and Guitars Cabaret: Lisa Hewitt and Lindsay Ell ROSE AND CROWN The Normals ROSSDALE COMMUNITY HALL Breezy Brian Gregg (CD release of Street); 8pm (door), 9pm; $15 (includes CD) SHERLOCK HOLMES� Downtown Tony Dizon SHERLOCK HOLMES� WEM Stan Gallent STARLITE ROOM Astral Harvest pre-party Running of the Bulls: Vibe Squad, Long Walk Short Dock, Vibe Tribe, The Protege, guests STEEPS�Old Glenora Live Music Fri TOUCH OF CLASS� Chateau Louis Bobby Austin (pop/rock); 8:30pm

HAVEN SOCIAL CLUB Mike

WILD WEST SALOON Kory Wlos

NEWCASTLE PUB 6108-90 Ave,

HALL Little Flower School,

NEW CITY 10081 Jasper Ave,

ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM

VENUE GUIDE 180 DEGREES 10730-107 St,

780.414.0233 ARTERY 9535 Jasper Ave AVENUE THEATRE 9030-118 Ave, 780.477.2149 AXIS CAFÉ 10349 Jasper Ave, 780.990.0031 AZUCAR PICANTE 13062-50 St, 780.479.7900 BANK ULTRA LOUNGE 10765 Jasper Ave, 780.420.9098 BILLY BOB’S Continental Inn, 16625 Stony Plain Rd, 780.484.7751

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE

10425-82 Ave, 780.439.1082 BLACKJACK'S 2110 Sparrow Driv, Nisku, 780.955.2336 BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ 9624-76 Ave, 780.989.2861 BLUES ON WHYTE 10329-82 Ave, 780.439.3981 BOOTS 10242-106 St, 780.423.5014 BRIXX BAR 10030-102 St (downstairs), 780.428.1099 BUDDY’S 11725B Jasper Ave, 780.488.6636 CASINO EDMONTON 7055 Argylll Rd, 780.463.9467 CASINO YELLOWHEAD 12464153 St, 780 424 9467 CHATEAU LOUIS 11727 Kingsway, 780 452 7770 CHRISTOPHER’S 2021 Millbourne Rd, 780.462.6565 CHROME LOUNGE 132 Ave, Victoria Trail COAST TO COAST 5552 Calgary Tr, 780.439.8675 COOK COUNTY 8010 Gateway Blvd, 780.432.2665 COPPERPOT Capital Place, 101, 9707-110 St, 780.452.7800

64 // MUSIC

Castledowns Rd, 780.472.7696

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 DRUID 11606 Jasper Ave, 780.454.9928 DUSTER’S PUB 6402-118 Ave, 780.474.5554 DV8 8307-99 St, DV8TAVERN. com EARLY STAGE SALOON 491152 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

ELLERSLIE ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH 10603 Ellerslie Rd SW ENCORE CLUB 957 Fir St,

Sherwood Park, 780.417.0111 FIDDLER’S ROOST 8906-99 St FILTHY MCNASTY’S 10511-82 Ave, 780.916.1557 FLOW LOUNGE 11815 Wayne Gretzky Dr, 780.604.CLUB FLUID LOUNGE 10105-109 St, 780.429.0700 FRESH START CAFÉ Riverbend Sq, 780.433.9623 FUNKY BUDDHA 10341-82 Ave, 780.433.9676 GAS PUMP 10166-114 St, 780.488.4841 GOOD EARTH CAFÉ 9942-108 St, 780.761.0440 HALO 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.423.

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

HYDEAWAY�Jekyll and Hyde

10209-100 Ave, 780.426.5381 IRON BOAR�Wetaskiwin 502150 Ave, Wetaskiwin IVORY CLUB 2940 Calgary Trail South JAMMERS PUB 11948-127 Ave, 780.451.8779 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 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 LIVE WIRE 1107 Knotwood Rd. East

MARYBETH'S COFFEE HOUSE–Beaumont 5001-30

Ave, Beaumont

MORANGO’S TEK CAFÉ 10118-79 St

MUTTART HALL Alberta College,

10050 MacDonald Dr

NAKED CYBERCAFÉ 10354 Jasper Ave

780.490.1999

780.989.5066

NIKKI DIAMONDS 8130 Gateway Blvd, 780.439.8006 NORTH GLENORA HALL 13535-109A Ave

O’BYRNE’S 10616-82 Ave,

780.414.6766

ON THE ROCKS 11730 Jasper Ave, 780.482.4767 ORLANDO'S 1 15163-121 St OVERTIME Whitemud Crossing, 4211-106 St, 780.485.1717 PAWN SHOP 10551-82 Ave, Upstairs, 780.432.0814 PLANET INDIGO�Jasper Ave 11607 Jasper Ave; St Albert 812 Liberton Dr, St Albert

PLAY NIGHTCLUB 10220-103 St PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL 10860-57 Ave PROHIBITION 11026 Jasper Ave,

780.420.0448

REDNEX BAR�Morinville

10413-100 Ave, Morinville, 780.939.6955, rednex.ca 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 RIC’S GRILL 24 Perron St, St Albert, 780.460.6602 RITCHIE UNITED CHURCH 962474Ave, 780.439.2442

ROSEBOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE 10111-117 St, 780.482.5253 ROSE AND CROWN 10235-

101 St

ROSSDALE COMMUNITY

10135-96 Ave

12845-102 Ave

SECOND CUP�Mountain

Equipment 12336-102 Ave, 780.451.7574; Stanley Milner Library 7 Sir Winston Churchill Sq; Varscona, Varscona Hotel, 106 St, Whyte Ave SIDELINERS PUB 11018-127 St, 780.453.6006 SPORTSWORLD 13710-104 St SPORTSMAN'S LOUNGE 8170-50 St

STARLITE ROOM 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099

STEEPS�College Plaza

11116-82 Ave, 780.988.8105; Old Glenora 12411 Stony Plain Rd, 780.488.1505 STOLLI’S 2nd Fl, 10368-82 Ave, 780.437.2293 TAPHOUSE 9020 McKenney Ave, St Albert, 780.458.0860

TRANSALTA BUS BARNS 10330-84 Ave

UNITY CHURCH OF EDMONTON 13820-109A Ave WHISTLESTOP LOUNGE

12416-132 Ave, 780. 451.5506 WILD WEST SALOON 12912-50

St, 780.476.3388

WINSPEAR CENTRE 4 Sir

Winston Churchill Sq; 780.28.1414 WUNDERBAR 8120-101 St, 780.436.2286 X�WRECKS 9303-50 St, 780.466.8069 Y AFTERHOURS 10028-102 St, 780.994.3256, yafterhours.com YESTERDAYS PUB 112, 205 Carnegie Dr, St Albert, 780.459.0295

X�WRECKS Mr Lucky (blues/ roots); 8pm-12; no cover YARDBIRD SUITE Joey DeFrancesco Trio; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $28 (member)/$32 (guest)

Classical WINSPEAR Suzuki Charter School; 7pm

DJs AZUCAR PICANTE Every Fri: DJ Papi and DJ Latin Sensation BANK ULTRA LOUNGE Connected Fri: 91.7 The Bounce, Nestor Delano, Luke Morrison BAR�B�BAR DJ James; no cover BAR WILD Bar Wild Fri BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Fri DJs spin Wooftop and Main Floor: Eclectic jams with Nevine–indie, soul, motown, new wave, electro; Underdog: Perverted Fri: Punk and Ska from the ‘60s ‘70s and ‘80s with Fathead BOOTS Retro Disco: retro dance BUDDY’S DJ Arrow Chaser; 8pm; no cover before 10pm CENTURY ROOM Underground House every Fri with DJ Nic-E CHROME LOUNGE Platinum VIP Fri EMPIRE BALLROOM Rock, hip hop, house, mash up; no minors ESMERELDA'S Ezzies Freakin Frenzy Fri: Playing the best in country FUNKY BUDDHA�Whyte Ave Top tracks, rock, retro with DJ Damian GAS PUMP Top 40/dance with DJ Christian LEVEL 2 LOUNGE Formula Fri: with rotating residents DJ's Groovy Cuvy, Touretto, David Stone, DJ Neebz and Tianna J; 9:30pm (door); 780.447.4495 for guestlist NEWCASTLE PUB Fri House, dance mix with DJ Donovan NEW CITY LIKWID LOUNGE DJ Anarchy Adam (punk) PLAY NIGHTCLUB The first bar for the queer community to open in a decade with DJ's Alexx Brown and Eddie Toonflash; 9pm (door); $5 www.playnightclub.ca REDNEX�Morinville DJ Gravy from the Source 98.5 RED STAR Movin’ on Up Fri: indie, rock, funk, soul, hip hop with DJ Gatto, DJ Mega Wattson ROUGE LOUNGE Solice Fri SPORTSWORLD Roller Skating Disco Fri Nights; 7-10:30pm; sports-world.ca STOLLI’S Top 40, R&B, house with People’s DJ STONEHOUSE PUB Top 40 with DJ Tysin TEMPLE Options Dark Alt Night; Greg Gory and Eddie Lunchpail; 9pm (door); $5 (door) WUNDERBAR Fri with the Pony Girls, DJ Avinder and DJ Toma; no cover

Anasaz, FB, with Adrian Lachance; 9pm (door); no minors; $10

Electro, Alternative, Industrial with DJs Blue Jay, Dervish, Anonymouse

AXIS CAFÉ CraZyPickleZ (alt/ folk/new age/rock); 8pm; $10

O’BYRNE’S Live band Sat 3-7pm; DJ 9:30pm

LEVEL 2 LOUNGE Signature Sound Sat: with DJ's Travis Mateeson, Big Daddy, Tweek and Mr Wedge; 9:30pm (door); $3; 780.447.4495 for guestlist

BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Hair of the Dog: Alice Kos (live acoustic music every Sat); 4-6pm; no cover

ON THE ROCKS Love Junk with DJ; 9pm

NEWCASTLE PUB Top 40 Sat: requests with DJ Sheri

OVERTIME Jamaoke: karaoke with a live band featuring Maple Tea

NEW CITY LIKWID LOUNGE Punk Rawk Sat with Todd and Alex

PALACE CASINO�WEM Chuck Brown

NEW CITY SUBURBS Black Polished Chrome Sat: industrial, Electro and alt with Dervish, Anonymouse, Blue Jay

BLACKJACK'S The Kyler Schogen Band BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Christina; $10 BLUES ON WHYTE Eddy Shaw BRIXX BAR Hannah Georgas (CD release), Colleen Brown, Dave Vertesi (Hey Ocean); 8pm; $12 at TicketMaster, Blackbyrd

SHERLOCK HOLMES� Downtown Tony Dizon

CASINO EDMONTON Toshi Jackson and the Silhouettes (Supremes tribute)

SHERLOCK HOLMES� WEM Stan Gallent

CASINO YELLOWHEAD D.L.O. (pop/rock) COAST TO COAST Live bands every Sat; 9:30pm COOK COUNTY Chad Klinger; 8pm (door); no minors; $7 CROWN PUB Acoustic Open Stage during the day/Electric Open Stage at night with Marshall Lawrence, 1:30pm (sign-up), every Sat, 2-5pm; evening: hosted by Dan and Miguel; 9:30pm-12:30am DRUID DJs at 9pm DV8 Motorhezbollah, Pure Bad (rock); 9pm EARLY STAGE SALOON� Stony Plain Dead Man's Dog EDMONTON EVENT CENTRE Dance/Electronic music; 9pm (door); no minors; tickets at TicketMaster, Foosh (Whyte Ave), Occulist (WEM) ELECTRIC RODEO�Spruce_ Grove Fist Full of Blues EMPRESS ALE HOUSE Joe Bird Award (fundraiser); 4pm GAS PUMP Blues Jam/ open stage every Sat 3-6pm, backline provided HAVEN SOCIAL CLUB Meaghan Smith, F&M; 7:30pm (door); tickets at TicketMaster HAYLOFT ACRES Springtime in Alberta Festival: Joe Public, Scott Cook, John Spearn, The HeartAcres, The Low Flying Planes, The Marv Machura Band, The Mandy McMillan Band, Celtic Fusion Illusion; noon (gates); $25 (adv)/$30 (gate) HILLTOP PUB Open stage/ mic Sat: hosted by Sally's Krackers Sean Brewer; 3-5:30pm HYDEAWAY�Jekyll and Hyde Jack Stafford Foundation, Tippy A Go Go, Tribal Garage IRON BOAR�Wetaskiwin Dead Man's Dog with Connie Gogo (folk, country roots); 8:30pm; $8 IVORY CLUB Duelling piano show with Jesse, Shane, Tiffany and Erik and guests

Y AFTERHOURS Foundation Fri

SAT MAY 15

JEFFREY'S CAFÉ Sandy Foster ( jazz singer); $15

ALBERTA BEACH HOTEL Open stage with Trace Jordan 1st and 3rd Sat; 7pm-12 ARTERY World Fit For Children Presents: Bash on the Bayou; 7pm; no minors AVENUE THEATRE Bo Brown Brings Da Playaz Blall concert and dance party: Young Desperado, Relliz,

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

CARROT Open mic Sat; 7:3010pm; free

JAMMERS PUB Sat open jam, 3-7:30pm; country/rock band 9pm-2am

180 DEGREES Dancehall and Reggae night every Sat

PAWN SHOP Death Toll Rising (CD release party), Derelict , Fenrirs, Thirst, God Awful; 8pm (door); $10 (adv)

JULIAN'S�Chateau Louis Dennis Begoray ( jazz piano); 8pm MORANGO'S TEK CAFÉ Sat open stage: hosted by Dr. Oxide; 7-10pm NEW CITY LOUNGE Pine Tarts, Sons of No One, Nervous Wreck NEW CITY SUBURBS Black Polished Chrome Sat:

STARLITE ROOM Fear of Crime, and One Way State; 9pm; $12 (door) TOUCH OF CLASS� Chateau Louis Bobby Austin (pop/rock); 8:30pm UNION HALL Halfway to Hallowe'en Party: Dress in Hallowe'en costume; 9pm WILD WEST SALOON Kory Wlos YARDBIRD SUITE Joey DeFrancesco Trio; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $28 (member)/$32 (guest)

Classical ELLERSLIE ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH Barbershop Show– Champions of Harmony: Grove City Chorus; 7:30pm; $20 at TIX on the Square FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Cross Country Check-up: I Coristi Chamber Choir; 8pm; $18 (adult)/$12 (student/senior) at TIX on the Square; $20 (adult)/$15 (student/senior) at door MUTTART HALL Six Team League: Saint Crispin’s Chamber Ensemble; a National new music event; 7:30pm; $20 (adult)/$10 (student/senior/ underemployed) at TIX on the Square TRANSALTA BUS BARNS Here's to New York!: EKO Singers; 8pm; $15 (adult)/$12 (student/senior) WINSPEAR Classic Landmarks Masters: ESO: Dawn Upshaw sings Schubert; William Eddins (conductor), Dawn Upshaw (soprano); 8pm; $20-$69 at Winspear box office

DJs AZUCAR PICANTE Every Sat: DJ Touch It, hosted by DJ Papi BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Sat DJs on three levels. Main Floor: Menace Sessions: alt rock/electro/trash with Miss Mannered BUDDY'S DJ Earth Shiver 'n' Quake; 8pm; no cover before 10pm CENTURY ROOM Underground House every Sat with DJ Nic-E EMPIRE BALLROOM Rock, hip hop, house, mash up ENCORE CLUB So Sweeeeet Sat ESMERALDA’S Super Parties: Every Sat a different theme FLUID LOUNGE Sat Gone Gold Mash-Up: with Harmen B and DJ Kwake FUNKY BUDDHA�Whyte Ave Top tracks, rock, retro with DJ Damian HALO For Those Who Know: house every Sat with DJ Junior Brown, Luke Morrison, Nestor Delano, Ari Rhodes

NEW CITY Open Mic Sun hosted by Ben Disaster; 9pm (sign-up); no cover O’BYRNE’S Open mic Sun with Robb Angus (Wheat Pool); 9:30pm-1am ON THE ROCKS Martin Kerr with Kristen MacIntyre ORLANDO'S 2 PUB Sun Open Stage Jam hosted by The Vindicators (blues/rock); 3-8pm RITCHIE UNITED CHURCH Jazz and Reflections: Don Berner Trio; 3:30-5pm

PAWN SHOP SONiC Presents Live On Site! AntiClub Sat: rock, indie, punk, rock, dance, retro rock; 8pm (door)

ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM Sisters of Sheynville (Klezmer Swing Band); 7:30pm; $54 at TIX on the Square

PLANET INDIGO�Jasper Ave Suggestive Sat: breaks electro house with PI residents

ROYAL COACH�Chateau Louis Petro Polujin (lcassical guitar); 5pm

RED STAR Sat indie rock, hip hop, and electro with DJ Hot Philly and guests RENDEZVOUS Survival metal night SPORTSWORLD Roller Skating Disco Sat; 1pm4:30pm and 7-10:30pm STOLLI’S ON WHYTE Top 40, R&B, house with People’s DJ TEMPLE Oh Snap!: Every Sat, Cobra Commander and guests with Degree, Cobra Commander and Battery; 9pm (door); $5 (door) WUNDERBAR Featured DJ and local bands Y AFTERHOURS Release Sat

SUN MAY 16 ARTERY Raised by Swans, Pink Moth, Smokey; 8pm BEER HUNTER�St Albert Open stage/jam every Sun; 2-6pm BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Who Made Who–The Rock and Roll Resurrection: The Maykings (revive The Who), The Dirty Dudes (revive AC/ DC); 10pm; no cover BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ Sunday Brunch: Jamie Philp with Brett Miles ( jazz); donations BLUE PEAR RESTAURANT Jazz on the Side Sun: Audrey Ochoa; $25 cover without dining BLUES ON WHYTE Scott Cook B�STREET BAR Acousticbased open stage hosted

by Mike "Shufflehound" Chenoweth; every Sun evening CROWN PUB Latin/world fusion jam hosted by Marko Cerda; musicians from other musical backgrounds are invited to jam; 7pm-closing DEVANEY’S IRISH PUB Celtic Music Session, hosted

by Keri-Lynne Zwicker, 4-7pm DV8 Sanktuary, Minax, Wauntid, Mortillery (metal, thrash); 9pm EDDIE SHORTS Sun acoustic oriented open stage hosted

by Rob Taylor HYDEAWAY�Jekyll and Hyde Sun Night Songwriter's Stage: hosted by Rhea March J AND R BAR Open jam/ stage every Sun hosted by Me Next and the Have-Nots; 3-7pm JUBILEE AUDITORIUM David Gray, Royal Wood; all ages; 6:30pm (door)/7:30pm (show); $45.50, $59.50 at TicketMaster MEAD HALL Weekly Folk Night: Megan Young and the Horny Boy Cowards, guests; 6:30pm; $5 NEWCASTLE PUB Sun Soul Service (acoustic jam): Willy James and Crawdad Cantera; 3-6:30pm

SECOND CUP�Mountain Equipment Co-op Live music every Sun; 2-4pm TAPHOUSE–St Albert Derelict, guests; 8pm UNITY CHURCH OF EDMONTON Songs of the Sacred Path Concert: Jim McCloskey (singer/ songwriter); 6-8pm; $10-$15 (donation)

Classical EDMONTON PETROLEUM CLUB Cabaret with Opera Nuova, Christiane Riel and John Avey TRANSALTA ART BARNS Here's to New York!: EKOSingers; 2pm; $15 (adult)/$12 (student/senior) WINSPEAR EsQuire Alberta Men's Chorus; 2pm

DJs BACKSTAGE TAP AND GRILL Industry Night: with Atomic Improv, Jameoki and DJ Tim BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Sun Afternoons: Phil, 2-7pm; Main Floor: Got To Give It Up: Funk, Soul, Motown, Disco with DJ Red Dawn BUDDY'S DJ Bobby Beatz; 9pm; Drag Queen Performance; no cover before 10pm FLOW LOUNGE Stylus Sun NEW CITY SUBURBS Get Down Sun: with Neighbourhood Rats SAVOY MARTINI LOUNGE Reggae on Whyte: RnR Sun with DJ IceMan; no minors; 9pm; no cover SPORTSWORLD Roller Skating Disco Sun; 1-4:30pm; sports-world.ca WUNDERBAR Sun: DJ Gallatea and XS, guests; no cover

MON MAY 17 ARTERY Boats!, Let's Dance!, Denial Society; all ages; 7pm; $5 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Sleeman Mon: live music monthly; no cover BLUES ON WHYTE Sonny Rhodes DEVANEY'S IRISH PUB Jesse JUBILEE AUDITORIUM Eddie Izzard–stripped; 8pm; $50-$75 at TicketMaster NEW CITY This Will Hurt you Mon: Johnny Neck and his Job present mystery musical guests PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Acoustic instrumental old time fiddle jam hosted by the Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers Society; 7pm PROHIBITION Chicka-DeeJay Mon Night: with Michael Rault REXALL PLACE Celtic Woman–Songs From the

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

MUSIC // 65

COMMENT >> MAKING MUSIC

Not just for the pros

Laptops let everyone in on the recording process No doubt about it ... the laptop is the of us into a Brian Eno or a Steve Albini or greatest revolution to happen to musica Timbaland. On top of the Rob Zombie making since Leo Fender began successcontest, Canadian electronic dance-music fully marketing the electric guitar to the musicians Deadmau5 was inviting fans to world back in the early '50s. send their stems to him, where he I got a press release last week would incorporate them into a that Rob Zombie was putting new musical project. two of his songs, "Mars Needs And that's the thing with reWomen" and "Sick Bubblemix software; you can simply m o eekly.c gum" up for use at ThePubsave each recording track— @vuew steven licRecord.com, inviting fellow from a guitar line to a drum n e v e t S musicians, fans and computer r piece to the bass—as a stem Sando and email them on. geeks to take the stems of the songs, put them into easy-to-use On MySpace, there are too many mixing software such as Mac's famous bands and producers to name who invite GarageBand, and send back some reother musicians to send their material to mixes. them so they can remix the tracks.

The concept isn't new. Radiohead did this back in 2008, making the stems for As someone who uses GarageBand to its song "Nude" available online, asking mix and remix the stuff I do at home, I fans to remix the song. The band recan vouch for what laptop mixing has ceived more than 2250 submissions, and done to revolutionize indie music. Anycurious followers could log onto the site one with knowledge of how the proand listen to as many of the homemade grams work can create sounds and bend remixes as they wanted. them any way they'd like. Last week, I But ThePublicRecord.com has taken smashed out some notes on my son's that process to a new level. Registered toy xylophone. I placed each note onto users can collaborate with each other on a track (simply by dragging and dropremixes, no matter where they are in the ping them in GarageBand) and then bent world. That's how powerful the advent of them all around. I changed the octaves remixing tools on laptops have become. by pulling on the pitch bar. I cranked the GarageBand can turn each and every one reverb and made the tinkle of a kids' toy

ENTER

SAND

Heart; 7:30pm

ROSE BOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE The Legendary Rose Bowl Mon Jam: hosted

by Sean Brewer; 9pm

DJs BAR WILD Bar Gone Wild Mon: Service Industry Night; no minors; 9pm-2am BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Eclectic Nonsense, Confederacy of Dunces, Dad Rock, TJ Hookah and Rear Admiral Saunders BUDDY'S DJ Dust 'n' Time; 9pm FILTHY MCNASTY'S Metal Mon: with DJ S.W.A.G. FLUID LOUNGE Mon Mixer LUCKY 13 Industry Night with DJ Chad Cook every Mon NEW CITY LIKWID LOUNGE Daniel and Fowler (eclectic tunes)

TUE MAY 18 BLUES ON WHYTE Sonny Rhodes BRIXX BAR Troubadour Tue: The Shakedowns and Elliott; hosted by Mark Feduk; 9pm; $8 (door) CROWN PUB Underground At The Crown: underground, hip hop with DJ Xaolin and Jae Maze; open mic; every Tue; 10pm; $3 DRUID Open stage with Chris Wynters with guest Paul Bellows; 9pm GOOD EARTH CAFÉ Lisa B every Tue; 11:30am-12:30pm L.B.’S PUB Ammar’s Moosehead Tue open stage; 9pm NEW CITY LIKWID LOUNGE Open Mic; Hosted by Ben Disaster; 9pm

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sound like the haunting, crashing bells of Notre Dame. And, boy, it was fun.

There are those that scoff that mixing and remixing, or creating music on computers, isn't true musicianship. But, turn back the clock 30 years and those people were saying the same things about punk bands who only bothered to learn a few chords and thought of tuning as a pointless exercise.

Now computers are offering more and more entry points into not only listening to music, but making music as well.

You can bend notes in a way that would be impossible to play on a real guitar or keyboard. A favourite trick is taking one short note, shooting it up three or four octaves, and placing it in a musical phrase. Sounds like a bullet going off in the song.

I'm not a big fan of paying money to see some guy hitting play on a laptop and calling it a live show, but when it comes to the creative process, to put something out there, the laptop has become as important a musical tool as ... as ... as ...

Crap. There's not likely an analogy out there that would work. V Steven Sandor is a former editor-in-chief of Vue Weekly, now an editor and author living in Toronto.

O’BYRNE’S Celtic Jam with Shannon Johnson and friends

ESMERALDA’S Retro Tue; no cover with student ID

(door)/7:30pm (show); $45, $65, $85 at TicketMaster

OVERTIME Tue acoustic jam hosted by Robb Angus

FUNKY BUDDHA�Whyte Ave Latin and Salsa music, dance lessons 8-10pm

LEVEL 2 LOUNGE Open mic

SECOND CUP�124 Street Open mic every Tue; 8-10pm SECOND CUP�Stanley Milner Library Open mic every Tue; 7-9pm SHERLOCK HOLMES� Downtown Derina Harvey SHERLOCK HOLMES� WEM Jimmy Whiffen SIDELINERS PUB Tue All Star Jam with Alicia Tait and Rickey Sidecar; 8pm SPORTSMAN'S LOUNGE Open Stage hosted by Paul McGowan and Gina Cormier; every Tue; 8pm-midnight; no cover STARLITE ROOM Danko Jones, guests; 8pm (door); no minors; $15 at TicketMaster, Blackbyrd, and Unionevents. com

NEW CITY LIKWID LOUNGE ‘abilly, Ghoul-rock, spooky with DJ Vylan Cadaver PROHIBITION Tue Punk Night RED STAR Tue Experimental Indie Rock, Hip Hop, Electro with DJ Hot Philly

WED MAY 19 BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Glitter Gulch Wed BLUES ON WHYTE Sonny Rhodes BRIXX BAR Really Good…

Eats and Beats: DJ Degree every Wed, Edmonton’s Bassline Community; 6pm (music); no cover

STEEPS�Old Glenora Every Tue Open Mic; 7:30-9:30pm

COPPERPOT RESTAURANT Live jazz every Wed night: Don Berner

YARDBIRD SUITE Tue Night Session: Althea Cunningham Quartet; 7:30pm (d oor), 8pm (show)

CROWN PUB Creative original Jam Wed (no covers): hosted by Dan and Miguel; 9:30pm-12:30am

Classical

DEVANEY'S IRISH PUB Open mic every Wed; Duff Robinson

MUTTART HALL Edmonton Recital Society: Boris Berman (piano); 7:30pm; $30 (adult)/$20 (student/senior) at TIX on the Square

DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: CJSR’s Eddie Lunchpail; Wooftop: with DJ Gundam BRIXX BAR Troubadour Tue: The Balconies and Sean Brewer, hosted by Mark Feduk; 9pm; $8 BUDDY'S DJ Arrow Chaser; 9pm

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

DV8 Derelict (Montreal death metal); 9pm EDDIE SHORTS Wed open stage, band oriented, hosted

by Chuck Rainville; 9pm-1am FIDDLER'S ROOST Little Flower Open Stage Wed with Brian Gregg; 8pm-12 HAVEN SOCIAL CLUB Open stage with Jonny Mac; 8:30pm; free JUBILEE AUDITORIUM George Thorogood and the Destroyers, JJ Grey and Mofro; all ages; 6:30pm

NEW CITY Circ-O-RamaLicious: Gypsy and circus fusion spectaculars; last Wed every month NEW CITY SUBURBS Punk Rock Pub Wed Club Night: The Business OVERTIME Dueling pianos featuring The Ivory Club PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Acoustic Bluegrass jam presented by the Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society every Wed evening PROHIBITION Wed with Roland Pemberton III RED PIANO BAR Jazz and Shiraz Wed featuring Dave Babcock and his Jump Trio RIVER CREE Wed Live Rock Band hosted by Yukon Jack; 7:30-9pm SECOND CUP�Mountain Equipment Open Mic every Wed; 8-10pm SHERLOCK HOLMES� Downtown Derina Harvey SHERLOCK HOLMES� WEM Jimmy Whiffen STARLITE ROOM 3 Inches of Blood, Goatwhore; 8pm; $20 at TicketMaster, Blackbyrd, unionevents.com STEEPS TEA LOUNGE� College Plaza Open mic every Wed; hosted by Ernie Tersigni; 8pm STEEPS TEA LOUNGE� Whyte Ave Open mic every Wed; 8pm TEMPLE Wyld Style Wed: Live hip hop; $5

Classical WINSPEAR ESO & Winspear Overture; 5:30-6:30pm

DJs BANK ULTRA LOUNGE Wed Nights: with DJ Harley BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor: Blue Jay’s Messy Nest Wed Night: Brit pop, new wave, punk, rock ‘n’ roll with LL Cool Joe BRIXX BAR Really Good...

Eats and Beats with DJ Degree and Friends BUDDY'S DJ Dust 'n' Time; 9pm; no cover before 10pm DIESEL ULTRA LOUNGE Wind-up Wed: R&B, hiphop, reggae, old skool, reggaeton with InVinceable, Touch It, weekly guest DJs FLUID LOUNGE Wed Rock This IVORY CLUB DJ ongoing every Wed; open DJ night; 9pm-close; all DJs welcome to spin a short set LEGENDS PUB Hip hop/R&B with DJ Spincycle NEW CITY LIKWID LOUNGE DJ Roxxi Slade (indie, punk, metal) NEW CITY SUBURBS Shake It: with Greg Gory and Eddie Lunchpail; no minors; 9pm (door) NIKKI DIAMONDS Punk and ‘80s metal every Wed RED STAR Guest DJs every Wed STARLITE ROOM Wild Style Wed: Hip-Hop; 9pm STOLLI'S Beatparty Wed: House, progressive and electronica with Rudy Electro, DJ Rystar, Space Age and weekly guests; 9pm-2am; beatparty.net WUNDERBAR Wed with new DJ; no cover Y AFTERHOURS Y Not Wed

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

MUSIC // 67

PREVUE // 3 INCHES OF BLOOD

Here waits thy new singer Vancouver metalheads find unity in new lineup and latest album

ADVANCE AND VANQUISH >> Complete lineup change has only strengthened 3 Inches of Blood // Hristo Shindov MikE ANgus // mikeangus@vueweekly.com

F

or Vancouver metal band 3 Inches of Blood, the cut can sometimes be worse than the bleeding.

When harsh vocalist Jamie Hooper had to leave the band due to throat problems after 2007, the band lost its last remaining original member.

For most bands, this might seem like an insurmountable identity crisis, but for the remaining members, it was simply a way of streamlining the creative process and forging ahead.

And, as with any wound, time heals.

The band is currently on tour promoting Here Waits Thy Doom, its fourth album of reverent '70s metal, though on the new album the group has gathered "cleaner, tighter" sounds and sensibilities.

As guitarist Shane Clark explains it, some fans may only realize now that Hooper's left, but for the band, it's been two years and running.

"We've been a five-piece since 2007—Jamie left at the release of Fire Up the Blades—so we'd had a great couple of years of touring under our belt by the time we started writing [Here Waits ... ]," he extols.

"Once we started doing press for the record last year, fans were surprised, but it had been so long for us that it was pretty much seamless."

Now that vocal duties are being handled mainly by Cam Pipes, not only has the live show become more focused, but the writing and recording process has as well.

"Justin [Hagberg] and I are the primary songwriters, so it was actually easier this time with less cooks in the kitchen," Clark says of writing the new album. "We went from

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six members to five—Cam being the sole lead vocalist now and as far as the record's concerned, he has more room.

"The dynamic before was easy, split between two singers. But this was a little more streamlined, lessis-more. It was easier and a lot more fun because the unhappy dudes were gone at that point. Everyone's on the same page and happy now."

The transition has also been made easier, thanks in large part to the band's constant touring and appearances at festivals like Ozzfest and in this year's Mayhem lineup. Bringing a unique brand of traditional metal has allowed 3 Inches of Blood to grow its fanbase in a sea of emerging metal trends that don't necessarily do the genre justice.

"A lot of our momentum has come in the last two years, so most fans identify us as the lineup it is now.

We have our own brand of metal, so more often than not we stick out like a sore-thumb, wearing our influences on our sleeves, especially with current trends in metal today," he offers diplomatically.

"Ozzfest was great because no one sounded like us, and playing to that many fans, introducing yourself to that many people, sticking out like that is really good. People who may like certain types of metal may not know that they'll like our band a lot."V Wed, May 19 (8 pm) 3 Inches of Blood with Goatwhore Starlite Room, $20

PREVUE >> HANNAH GEORGAS

The good life

Hannah Georgas draws the lines on her musical map

THIS IS GOOD >> Hannah Georgas follows up an EP with her debut full-length West Coast songstress Hannah Georgas has been on an upswing of late. Truthfully, though, it's an upswing that began some time ago: beginning with a songwriting competition that led to a win, followed by an EP, The Beat Stuff, a song for a Wal-Mart commercial that got a shout out from Taylor Swift after it made the American pop star cry and now the cover of this month's Exclaim! just as her full-length, This Is Good, arrives. Georgas spoke with Vue recently about the creation of her new album.

// Vanessa Heins

in that way where I'll just be singing the melody over and over again with these lyrics and then I'll go home and write it all out.

VW: Did you take the songs into the studio fully formed, or were they sketches that were then filled out while recording?

HG: I had all the songs done just with me on my guitar, just on these little demos, and I sent them over to [producers] Howard [Redekopp] and Ryan [Guldemond] and they narrowed them down to their faVUE WEEKLY: How long did it vourite choices of what should .com ly k e e vuew eden@ take to make This Is Good, from go on the record, and then we n Ede o all sat down and it was a big talkthe initial songwriting through to the end of the recording? ing session of what directions they Munr HANNAH GEORGAS: I started should take. Then there were a few pre-production for the record this time rehearsals that they came to with my old last year and then we went in and started band and there were about four songs that recording and we were doing it for about I'd already been jamming out, so they were two months on and off. Then it was all said like, "OK, this is cool. Are you open to doand done, like mastered, by October of last ing this? You should do this," and it kind of year. Basically, all the songs have been writworked like that. Then we went in and did ten in the last two years since I moved out all the bass and drums for the first three to Vancouver. days, and then we did overdubs for like two months.

VW: Does it feel like a long time since you finished it?

VW: Were there any other songs written HG: I feel like the songs are old for me that were left off the album? now, and I'm so excited about being able to HG: I think there were 15 and then it was have it out there now. It kind of had to be narrowed down to 11. shelved for a bit, so for me it feels like the record has been out there for months.

VW: Did you have an idea of what you wanted This Is Good to be when you startVW: When you were writing the songs, did ed, or did the finished shape emerge as the you come at them in a particular way? Lyrwriting and recording went along? ics first? Music first?

HG: I did. I was just like, OK, I had these HG: It usually comes as a melody and a 11 songs and I wanted them to sound the feeling. I'll just have one thing in my head way I heard them when I was writing them. that I'm saying and singing at the same There wasn't a theme to the record or anytime, and then I'll just be like, "OK, I have thing like that. It was just like, "OK, here are to go home and figure out what's going these songs. Let's make them sound the done." And then I'll sit down with my way they should sound." guitar or the piano and flesh it out. It's not always exactly like that—sometimes VW: The Beat Stuff was produced by WinI'll just be sitting with my guitar and feel ston, but you went with Ryan Guldemond like playing and then I'll start writing a and Howard Redekopp for the new record. song—but if it's a song that's going to Did they co-produce? come out right away it usually comes out HG: Yeah, the two of them produced it to-

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gether. Howard was basically like the mixing man—he did all of the mixes, he mixed the whole record—and Ryan, there was him and me and our engineer just sitting and working together for a good month and him producing a lot of it. There were a couple of weeks where Howard and I were doing the same thing, but a lot of the time was spent with Ryan.

VW: Why the change in producers?

HG: Well, I was sitting one day with my old drummer just talking about producers and who was out there, and he said that Ryan Guldemond was a producer and he had just finished somebody's record, and I'm a massive fan of [Guldemond's band] Mother Mother, and I just kind of put it out there that I was interested and wanting to work with him, and I just wanted to kind of branch out and see if he would work with me. And of course Howard, too, with the catalogue of people he's worked with, I thought he'd really get the page that I'm on.

VW: If you were to trace the musical map that led you to This Is Good, what would it look like?

HG: It would look like a map of British Columbia. [Laughs] It would look like a line that led from A to B and it would be going up a mountain.

VW: You started in Ontario ...

HG: Yup, I started in Ontario and I just wanted to get out because I was young and felt like I really didn't like it much and I wanted an excuse to leave. I was playing in a band in Ontario but it just wasn't really fully what I wanted and so I moved to Victoria to go to school for a bit, but I still wanted to be doing my music, and I was finally like, "Screw it, I'm moving to Vancouver and I'm going to do it."

VW: So your map almost quite literally looks like a map of Canada.

HG: For sure. That's true. V Sat, May 15 (9 pm) Hannah Georgas With Colleen Brown, Dave Vertesi

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

MUSIC // 69

PREVUE // BREEZY BRIAN GREGG

A feel for the street

Busking mainstay releases instrumental album Mike Angus // mikeangus@vueweekly.com

I

f you've spent any amount of time at Churchill Square, then you've likely heard the clean, floating guitar sounds of busker Breezy Brian Gregg, who is in his third season of popular lunch-hour performances.

People forget what a beautiful sound an electric guitar through a tube amp is, just by itself. It's a very pure sound.

A mainstay on the southwest corner of the busy intersection, Gregg received so many requests for recordings of his work that he decided finally to put his gentle craft to tape and offer it up to happy passers-by; the aptly-titled Street hits the streets this Friday.

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"I'd always wanted to do an instrumental album. After people started asking for recordings, I decided I'd do it," the Edmonton music veteran laughs. "Also, people forget what a beautiful sound an electric guitar through a tube amp is, just by itself.

It's a very pure sound."

To mark the event of his CD release, he'll be taking up his usual spot at Churchill Square from noon until 4:30 pm, with the album available nearby at Tix on the Square. Later that night, you'll be able to catch him with some of his favourite players at the Rossdale Community Hall, where $15 admission gets you a free copy of the CD. The CD is comprised of 20 instrumental guitar tracks—13 originals and 7 cover songs—and reflects the mixed crowd that Gregg enjoys playing to. There's something for everyone, he offers, as the songs range from pop, blues and rock to classical.

"Downtown is good because you

COOL BREEZES >> Breezy Brian Gregg hams it up at Churchill Square

// Supplied

get all kinds of different people," Gregg says. "I've been doing this a long time, and I have a feel for the street. You can hear me for a block and half, and most people like it."

The single unifying theme is the context of the street, which Gregg smartly pays honour to on the record by including a constant backdrop of street noise, recorded from the very spot he busks from. Part concept record, part homage, Street is Gregg's

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 19, 2010

gift back to the city he hopes to help revitalize. V Fri, May 14 (12 pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4:30 pm) Breezy Brian Gregg Southwest corner of Churchill Square, free Fri, May 14 (8 PM) Rossdale Community Hall, $15 (includes a CD)

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Tue, May 18 (8 pm) / Althea Cunningham "The most interesting moment would have been coming together with [close friend Kevin Marsh] on the CD," recalls Althea Cunningham, a local musician who is set to release her debut EP, On the Verge. "We had been working on separate parts before we went into the studio. We did some stuff together, just coming in and getting ready to record, when we realized that the stuff that we had worked on separately matched up. We didn't actually have to change anything."

Cunningham says that co-producing with her long-time friend, whom she used to perform jazz music with, was a great experience. She adds that it helped give the EP a different feel because there was a communication of stories about the characters, which were based on her own life as well as the lives of those around her. She also says that if something just wasn't working, the two of them could be up front with one another.

However, Cunningham notes that working with a friend, where both a friendship and a working relationship are present, is different from working with someone she hardly knows. She says that the artist and producer have to be on the same page and be able to arrive at the same outcome when the process ends.

"Music is one of those things that transcends all boundaries. I think working with someone that I hadn't known would have been more work in terms of communicating because we all have different styles. When you're creating a relationship with people, you have to learn how each other communicates so that you can communicate effectively."

Working with a friend "was like we were in the same mind set." (Yardbird Suite, $5) — HEATHER SKINNER

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Sun, May 16 (8 pm) / Raised By Swans It's not difficult to imagine Raised By Swans lead singer Eric Howden saying, upon arriving in a new city, "Ah! Another town in which we reign supreme as the only swan-based band around!" Howden and his bandmates are in for a rude surprise when their van rolls up at the ARTery and Edmonton dance-floor demolitionistsCygnets challenge them to a cage match. Or will they high-five and maybe mate for life? Or did I make this whole thing up? Catch the alt-pop shimmer of Raised By Swans, playing with Pink Moth and Smokey, to find out. (The Artery, $10) —LEWIS KELLY

globe. Having shared the stage with everyone from Axl Rose to Lemmy, with comparisons to AC/DC and KISS, these are opportunities and accolades that don't simply come from staying home practising. These come from getting on stage night after night and kicking ass.

"We're like the tortoise and the hare—slow and steady wins the race," he laughs. "We just got confirmed to open for Ozzy this September in Paris.

It's long ago that this was just a hobby for us. But we've always had our eyes on a bigger prize.

"I remember people telling us we just need that one song to bust out, and I've always thought, 'One song? Fuck, I wanna make 25 albums.'" (Starlite Room, $15) —MIKE ANGUS

M

Sat, May 15 (9 pm) / Fear of Crime If you're feeling cynical, the band names from Friday's local talent showcase at the Starlite Room tell you everything you need to know about Edmonton: One Way State, Noisy Colours, and Fear of Crime. One Way State and Fear of Crime deal in alt-rock, the latter with the occasional digital interlude, while Noisy Colours, appropriately, get a little more psychedelic. No word if seldom-seen Fear of Crime hip-hop tribute act Fear of Rhyme will be in the lineup. (Starlite Room, $12) —LEWIS KELLY

Tue, May 18 (8pm) / Danko Jones Canada's venerable rock 'n' roll export Danko Jones will be bringing its sweltering, sexed-up live show through town Tuesday night, promoting their new album Below the Belt.

Unlike 2008's stadium-ready Never Too Loud, Below the Belt sees Danko Jones blending the band's roots as a scrappy, diesel-charged three-piece with 14 years' experience—which was the band's intent.

"The idea was to make it heavy and punch someone in the face with it," he charges over the phone. "It's got some of our heaviest and fastest moments; one thing we learned from our last record was the melodic aspect, as well as bringing back the screams.

That's a different thing for us."

Though the band may sound like it's reaching back to its younger sound, it still carries the maturity and pop chops of years spent touring the

N

Fri, May 14 (9 pm) / Unleash The Archers Despite what the classically inclined among you may think, BC's Unleash The Archers covers neither modern composer Violet Archer nor indie-darlings the Violet Archers. Apparently, Archers, when unleashed, like to buy leather jackets, electric guitars of the maximum possible loudness, and start singing like a bullfrog with acute bronchitis. Well, not always like a bullfrog—sometimes vocal duties in the Archers' fall to Brittney Hayes, Unleash The Archers ticks all the requisite boxes on the metal-band checklist: leather jackets, scorching guitar solos, and punishing amounts of kickdrum. The band is also part of a growing group of metal bands fronted by ladies. Hayes does a better job than many in the role, with a background in choral singing and an alto voice in the same range as Glenn Danzig of Misfits and Samhain fame. Sure, the Archers' lyrical tone can be almost comically macabre at times, but that goes with the territory of songs with names like "The Filth And The Fable" and "Eat What You Kill." Metal bands value loud, long riffs more than irony. Unleash The Archers will bring plenty of the former to DV8 on Friday. (DV8, $5) —LEWIS KELLY

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

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ALBUM REVIEWS

New Sounds

The National High Violet (4AD) 

David Berry // david@vueweekly.com

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he National has never exactly been a happy-go-lucky band, but there was a pervading sense on the group's 2007 masterpiece Boxer that, even if your anxieties never disappear, they're at least made more bearable by commiseration, by having someone around to listen and understand—it might be a fake empire, but there's something in the lemonade and apple pie and people to enjoy it with. High Violet doesn't precisely reverse that mood, but it does seem to see a few more cracks in it; if Boxer is the (relative) flood of optimism that comes with new love or friendship, High Violet is the sobering realization that not only do these relationships not actually make anything go away, but that they often come with their own, new set of worries and disappointments.

Matt Beringer doesn't specifically limit his existential baritone to dealing with other people—there are also helpings of liberal guilt, social anxiety and plenty of adult responsibility—but it's still the most pervasive, and often most affecting, aspect of his songwriting.

And here there's a kind of profound ambivalence to the whole endeavour, a mixture of recognitions: both that there is no balm like empathetic friends and lovers and that the very things they help with can also hurt that relationship.

That sentiment is captured beautifully a number of times here. "Runaway" begins with a delicate guitar and the line "There's no saving anything," but it's astoundingly resolute, trading of chorus-like repetitions of "I won't be no runaway" and "We don't bleed if we don't fight," the latter of which might be the key to the whole ringer the band is willing to put itself through.

Follow-up "Conversation 16" lays bare the internal conflict of love, balancing lines like "You're the only thing I ever want anymore" with bald, broken admissions like "You'd never believe the shitty thoughts I think." Both of these, as with most National songs, are perfectly expressed in the music, insularly emotionally resonant but expansively expressionistic.

Beringer gets even better when he gets more introspective. "Sorrow" physicalizes his most frequent emotion—"It's in my honey, it's in my milk"—while also trying to be a convincing plea to stick with the sad-sack, built into desperate lines like "Don't leave my hyper heart alone on the water." Even better is "Bloodbuzz Ohio," which seems to sum up a life's worth of regrets, encapsulated in perfect little gems of painful admissions—maybe the best being "I never thought about love when I thought about home"—but driven by insistent guitars and drums, like the recognition of fucking up is something worth celebrating.

Like the best of the National, it is mournful and melancholy without wallowing, a kind of stoic recognition that things maybe won't be better, but they will be, for what that's worth. V

Crystal Castles Crystal Castles (II) (Fiction)  Crystal Castles' 2010 release, selftitled like the first, maintains the band's central sonic components— hacked-up keyboards, spazzy, distorted samples, shrieking, high-performance vocals— while occasionally flipping the formula upside down, presenting something a little gentler. It's certainly a more polished take: while "Doe Deer," its immediate follow-up "Baptism" and closer "I Am Made of Chalk" still make up snarling, choppy sound-collages, most tracks here are anchored in more usual song structure: how the unchanging drum 'n' bass backing on "Celestica" mirrors its spacey, endless synth lead, for starters. As a whole, there's less emphasis on gameboy-effects, the group having choosen stronger samples and twisted them in ways that sound more like proper riffs than see-if-it-sticks experimentation. The hard, dark tones and bristling quills remain embedded in their music, but Crystal Castles here is more focused, more structured and all the more deadly because of it.

Paul Blinov

// paul@vueweekly.com

Under Byen Alt er Tabt (Paper Bag ) 

In this Danish band's native tongue, "Under Byen" means "below the city," which captures the subterranean nature of its work. The band has long crafted a lushly textured underworld, producing a clutch of critically lauded EPs and full-lengths, along with a live album, that lifted the skirts of experimentalism without ever having fully disappeared underneath. Alt er Tabt is touted as its most accessible record, but that shouldn't suggest a pandering mood— the entire effort, from the solemn finality of the title ("all is lost") to its long instrumental spells, uncompromising construction and strident eclecticism, points to a defiant claim to self-definition. Yet this isn't music of high contrasts, but dusky greys mottling into subtle shadowlands, at turns inviting and forbidding, laid out for listeners to explore. It's an odd journey, built for the future on the ashes of the past, drawing from the space-aged and folkloric, whipping a chilly robotic angularity and glossy, onyx-toned sensuality into a pop-tinged elliptical classicism undulating with serpentine bass lines, twisting strings, mesmeric globetrotting rhythms and unearthly cascading vocals.

Mary Christa O'Keefe

// marychrista@vueweekly.com

74 // MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

Frog Eyes Paul's Tomb: A Triumph (Dead Oceans)  Frog Eyes has released four previous albums of jarring, melodic pop, but Paul's Tomb: A Triumph might be the best balance it's found between musical hooks and bombastic ideas. The nine-minute "A Flower in a Glove" runs a kaleidoscopic marathon, stuttery fuzzbox guitars speeding up and slowing down for gorgeous keyboards and slashing bass-and-drums, but elsewhere the band takes pause: "Lear, in the Park" is just a gorgeous little guitar riff, a fully-formed melody given space and atmosphere to ring out.

It's an album best embraced as a whole instead of in little bites, a fully-formed release that doesn't sacrifice any of the band's idiosyncratic energy.

Paul Blinov

// paul@vueweekly.com

DJ Khaled Victory (We the Best) 

I guess I didn't get the memo, but commercial rap seems inextricably linked with trance these days. How did that happen?

Miami.

Many of the popular rap acts of right now (Rick Ross, Flo-Rida, DJ Khaled, Pitbull) hail from there, and it is clearly the Ibiza of our continent. Go to one club, you hear a guy screaming about designer handbags and jewellery on stage with 20 of his closest friends. Go to the next, you've got Tiesto with two hands up and a shit-eating grin. So that's how.

Victory is the soundtrack to being a winner. Every song on this album is permeated with the rap axiom that "we the best" (a salutation frequently used by the impresario behind the album). Keep saying it and it might become true. Seven different producers crafted beats for this album, somehow stumbling onto the exact same formula. How to make it in America: autotune, jittery hi-hats, Korg Triton presets, rappers from every major scene (even Nelly!), never stray away from the formula.

Even when they try to comment, they can't get out of their own heads. "Bringing Real Rap Back" featuring Rum bemoans "ringtone rappers" and the current state of rap while ironically sounding exactly like the music it's criticizing. "On My Way" (transparently about "making it") has 10 bored-sounding dudes I've never heard of talking about being rich.

And what does any of this have to do with DJ Khaled? Not much. He's a figurehead, like the Queen or Aunt Jemima. He doesn't actually contribute to any of the music which, for all its anthemic ambitions, doesn't inspire me to better my life, or stick in my mind after listening to it.

Roland Pemberton

// roland@vueweekly.com

ALBUM REVIEWS Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique (Capitol)

Buddhist version of rapper MCA would cringe for once saying, "I was making records when you were sucking Originally released: 1989 your mother's dick!" But it's the energy of this album that Rebounding from a massively matters most, not the bluntm popular debut album that ness of its delivery, and it's ekly.co e w e u @v roland inaccurately painted them as something no one, not even d n a l Ro ton the Beasties themselves, have simple-minded pranksters and r frat jocks, the Beastie Boys clearachieved since.

Pembe ly felt the need to create a more No rap album before sounded like mature musical it and because of document. Falling sampling laws out of favour with put into place producer Rick after well-pubRubin and label licized lawsuits Def Jam, Paul's against Biz MarBoutique was a kie and De La huge risk for the Soul, no album group. But while following it could it didn't transcomfortably aplate into instant proach this alsales success bum's thrilling, and alienated the rapid fire sonic then-embryonic mosaic. It flew in rap landscape the face of an alwith its unprecready ambiguous edented, dense legal precedent sample pastiche, GROWIN' UP >> The Beasties mature ... some and changed rap it still stands as one of the most creative music forever. In a way, the production is albums of all time, a monument to the inthe real rebellious aspect of the album, terconnected nature of music and a huge not the overt lyrical sentiments. influence on artists ranging from Beck to Most of the great writers and musicians Madlib to the Avalanches. became legendary by mythologizing their When I say mature, I say that in regards lives in their work, with varying degrees to composition. This album, produced by of creative liberties taken. Whether or not the Dust Brothers, is a mostly continuthese kids actually started fights in pool ous party mix made up of various drum halls, drove around town hitting people breaks and samples from 105 different with eggs or robbed a convenience store songs. "The Sounds of Science" features employee and used the money to bet on parts from five separate Beatles songs. horses is negligible. These ridiculous stoIt's the only album I can think of with ries painted youthful abandon perfectly, a comprehensive online study guide with an underlying intelligence (lyrical dedicated to its references and sample references to Raymond Burr, Cezanne and sources (paulsboutique.info). It simply Timothy Leary) that is often lost when couldn't be made today. analysing this album. The Beastie Boys That said, the topics are as juvenile as reconfigured New York as their private ever. The boys are still trying to get laid, playground, where their friends are heparty and be rebels without causes. Like roes not proto-slackers. They designed an kids playing make-believe, the Beasties alternate reality that celebrates nihilism, recast themselves here as sly lotharios, hedonism and Midnight Cowboy idealism. street smart ramblers, train-hopping They are "just chillin' like Bob Dylan." They poets. They carry typical marks of adoare "reading On the Road by my man Jack lescence. Today's straight edge Kerouac." Of course they are. V

OULNDDS

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HAIKU Civil Twilight Civil Twilight (Wind-up)

QUICK

SPINS

Coldplay plus Police Times three handsome dudes equals Mainstream boner squad

kly.com

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ins@v

quicksp

Whiteoyn Houst

Enter Shikari Common Dreads (Ambush Reality)

Perfect music for Movie where Riggs & Murtaugh Bust up a huge rave

Fjord Rowboat Under the Cover of Brightness (Independent)

Black Rebel Motorcyle Club Beat the Devil's Tattoo (Vagrant)

Amazing album Like a drunk, drooping penis This just can't be beat

Fuzzy, dank basslines Plus cavernous handclappin' What's not to love here?

Crash Test Dummies Oooh La La! (Deep Fried)

Dr Dog Shame Shame (Anti)

What the fucking fuck?

You read it right amigo Foghorn Brad returns

Once when REALLY drunk I saw these guys SHRED live, but I swear they were black

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

MUSIC // 75

PREVUE // BORIS BERMAN

The many shades of Debussy Pianist explores the power of Préludes MARIA KOTOVYCH // CLASSICAL@VUEWEEKLY.COM

P

ianist Boris Berman has his hands full these days; not only is he practising for his upcoming all-Debussy concert here in Edmonton, as a professor at the Yale School of Music, he's also busy with end-of-semester activities. And, before coming to Edmonton, Berman is off to Virginia to record the complete works of Schumann with another pianist.

The all-Debussy concert, along with the Schumann recording, might suggest that Berman likes to devote attention exclusively to one composer at any given performance, and that's sometimes the case. On the other hand, Berman also enjoys taking two seemingly different composers and performing their works side-by-side, either to highlight their similarities or the differences.

"Sometimes, I really like to juxtapose very different styles, and sometimes, I like to juxtapose different styles and see what they have in common," explains Berman to me over the phone after finishing a lesson with a student.

"Every great composer has more than one side, and different combinations illuminate different sides," he continues.

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"You put Beethoven next to Bach, it's one thing. You put Beethoven next to Schoenberg, it's another thing. You put Beethoven next to Bartók, it will be still a different thing. These are all very interesting juxtapositions."

in Moscow, Berman recalls how the Soviet government handled musicians' education and performances.

"One thing that the Soviet system excelled in was it built the music education [as] very consequential, very continual

Sometimes it is very rewarding both for the performer, and I believe for the listener, to spend the whole concert in the world of one composer.

Still, in Edmonton, Berman will take the former of the two approaches—his concert focuses just on Debussy's Préludes.

"Sometimes it is very rewarding both for the performer, and I believe for the listener, to spend the whole concert in the world of one composer," he observes.

"When you spend a whole concert with one composer, you learn to appreciate all these fine shades."

But Berman also knows how it is to live in a system where everyone might not appreciate fine shades of colour within an individual or an artistic community.

As a musician born, raised and educated

through from the early to the most advanced stages," he explains. "And this has something to do with the nature of the authoritarian system, when the education is monitored by one authority, and everybody has to follow the same curriculum."

"When I was growing up, I found that the repertory policies very often forbade performing contemporary composers ... who dared to experiment. I found it very stifling." V TUES, MAY 18 (7:30 PM) BORIS BERMAN MUTTART HALL, ALBERTA COLLEGE, $20 – $30

HOROSCOPE ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19)

suggests that when our reasoning faculties What happens when someone "sells out"? go dormant, we're susceptible to doing dumb Typically, it refers to a person who over- and crazy things. The second version implies rides her highest artistic standards or her that if we rely excessively on our reasoning soul's mandates in order to make a bundle of faculty, it acquires a lunatic hubris that devalmoney. But I want to enlarge the definition to ues our emotions and distorts our imaginaencompass any behavior that seeks popular tion. You're more susceptible to the former appeal at the expense of authenticity, or any than the latter right now, Gemini, but it's action that sacrifices integrity for the crucial that you avoid both. A way out sake of gaining power. I think you of your pain is available if you use have to be especially on guard your reason just right—neither Y against this lapse in the coming too little nor too much.

G LO days, Aries, not only in yourself A S T R O om .c ly k e we but also in those you're close CANCER (Jun 21 – Jul 22) l@vue freewil to.

Some of your illusions seeped Rob y into you before you learned to Brezsn TAURUS (Apr 20 – May 20) talk. Others sneaked into you later, "I can't live the button-down life," says while you were busy figuring out how to cartoon character Homer Simpson. "I want become yourself. Eventually, you even made it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, conscious choices to adopt certain illusions the creamy middles." Born May 10, Homer is because they provided you with comfort and unusual for a Taurus. Many of your tribe love consolation. There's no need to be ashamed the creamy middles but are quite content to of this. It's a natural part of being a human belive without the terrifying lows, even if that ing. Having said that, I'm happy to announce means being deprived of your fair share of that you're entering a phase when you will dizzying highs. While that may sometimes have the power to shed at least some of your seem like a boring limitation, I don't expect illusions, especially the ones you consciously chose, in ways that don't hurt you. To begin it to be any time soon. The creamy middles that are looming for you are the lushest, the process, declare this intention: "I have the plushest creamy middles I've seen in a long courage to see life as it really is." time. Terrifying lows and dizzying highs will be irrelevant.

LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22) According to a statute in the state of Indiana, GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20) you may not use your bare hands to catch a Spanish painter Francisco Goya created an fish from a lake. In Fairbanks, Alaska, you're etching entitled El Sueño de la Razón Probreaking the law if you let a moose slurp duce Monstruos. Its two possible translations an alcoholic drink. In Flowery Branch, Georhave very different meanings: "The sleep of gia, you may be arrested if you shout out reason produces monsters" or "The dream of "Snake!" Arizona doesn't permit you to let a reason produces monsters." The first version donkey sleep in your bathtub. And yet I've

ILL FREEW

76 // MUSIC

got to say that you Leos could probably get away with all of these acts and more in the coming weeks. The omens suggest that your levels of freedom are extremely high, as is your amount of slack. You'll have clearance to do many things you wouldn't normally be able to do.

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sep 22)

I didn't think it was possible, but paranoid visions of doom and gloom have become even more popular in the past few years than ever before. Apocalypse-watching is no longer a fringe hobby reserved for conspiracy fetishists; it has gone mainstream. And yet here I am in the midst of the supposed mayhem, babbling my eccentric ideas about how we are living in the single most wonderful time in the history of civilization. So let me ask you a crucial question, especially if you're one of the millions of normal people who believes that cynicism is a supreme sign of intelligence: Do you really want to be getting your fortune told by a rebel optimist like me?

You should know that all my horoscopes are rooted in the hypothesis that expecting the best makes you happier, safer, kinder, wilder, stronger and smarter. What happens in the coming weeks will, in my opinion, be dramatic proof of that.

LIBRA (Sep 23 – Oct 22)

The bad news is that climate change is really underway. That's why Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal has sunk beneath the waves, swallowed up by rising sea levels and shifts in monsoon patterns. The good news is that its disappearance has ended a dispute between India and Bangladesh, both of which claimed it as their own. There's nothing left to fight

over. I foresee a metaphorically comparable scenario coming to your life, Libra: an act of nature that will render a conflict irrelevant.

SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21)

Some experts say methamphetamine is more addictive than any other drug. Here's one reason why, according to Mothers Against Methamphetamines founder Dr Mary Holley: "The effect of an IV hit of methamphetamine is the equivalent of 10 orgasms all on top of each other lasting for 30 minutes to an hour, with a feeling of arousal that lasts for another day and a half." At least that's what it's like in the early stages of using the drug. After a while, hell sets in and the body is no longer happy.

Luckily, you Scorpios won't be tempted to fall victim to meth splurges any time soon.

Without relying on anything more than your natural powers, your capacity for experiencing erotic pleasure will be substantial.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Your eyes can discriminate between about 500 various shades of gray. Let's hope your moral compass is as precise in its power to distinguish subtle differences. Why? Because there will be no easy black-versus-white decisions to make in the near future; no simple, foolproof way to determine the distinctions between good and bad. I recommend that for now you give up hope of achieving utter certainty, and instead celebrate the refined pleasures of nuanced, complicated truth.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

These days you have an extraordinary capacity to perform magic. And when I use that word "magic," I mean it in a very specific sense: caus-

VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

ing practical changes to occur in accordance with your most noble and beautiful desires.

I'm not talking about the kind of "magic" that helps you gratify mediocre wishes or tawdry fantasies. I'm not saying you should go on an acquisitive binge as you gather up booty and bragging points. Rather, I'm letting you know that you have the power to create inspiring transformations in the way your life works.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Do you want to know where all the power lies for you right now? It's nowhere. But before you jump to conclusions about the meaning of what I just said, read this passage from Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, translated by Stephen Mitchell: "We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the centre hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable."

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

A Pisces woman I know was harried by ant swarms invading her kitchen. She could have run out to the drug store and brought home loads of poisonous little ant hotels.

Instead, she gave her imagination the goahead to brainstorm. Soon she'd come up with a solution. She scooped up a host of ants and threw them in a blender with the other ingredients of her smoothie, then drank it all down. The next day, all the ants had departed, as if scared off by the Great Devourer. I suggest you learn from her example, both in the sense of being open to outlandish possibilities and in the sense of finding alternate ways to deal with adversaries. V

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VUEWEEKLY // MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2010

BACK // 77

COMMENT >> LGBT

Are there no prisons?

Hate crime legislation does not create prevention, only larger prisons Monday, May 10, 2010 marked the first hour Lord Project that, painfully, cannot support of debate on Bill C-389, which proposes such legislation. amendments to the Canadian Human Rights This might seem shocking: who likes hate?

Act to include gender identity and gender Who wouldn't hate hate? Consider for a moexpression to the list of prohibited grounds ment that far more trans people (especially of discrimination, as well as changes street-involved trans people, often to the Criminal Code to provide people of colour) are victimized by protection for transgender and the criminal justice system than transsexual individuals under by isolated transphobic attacks. hate crime laws, which essenAny campaign that strengthens m o .c ly ek vuewe tially amount to longer senthe prison system and legitimizes lucas@ tences for offenders. its constant expansion adopts a Lucas rd hurtful relationship to those trans Trans people absolutely need Crawfo people who need our support most. support and protection under the Canadian Human Rights Act. But the Prioritizing the production of an image of current bill's marriage of providing muchsafety for relatively privileged trans people needed rights while expanding hate crime rather than engaging with those who most legislation leads me to join many queer need legal protection is willfully ignorant to groups like Queers for Economic Justice, the social realities of trans violence, which the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and the Audre usually has to do with social class and race

EERN Q UN TO MO

CLASSIFIEDS

as much as anything else.

Admittedly, the social marketing of hate crimes legislation makes a queer "anti-hate crimes legislation" perspective less than intuitive. However, in response to hateful behaviours, supporters of these laws simply hate in turn. If not based on a logic of retaliation—a "Let's see them rot!" vengeance often graces comments sections of news websites—the case for harsher sentences relies on two ideas long made laughable by those with even a passing interest in social justice: that people become better people in prison, or that bashers will rationally stop and consider the possibility of longer sentences before delivering a blow.

A long hard think about how this legislation translates on the ground requires a less immature take on human and social

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78 // BACK

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change and on power. Foucault­­—as queer a writer as we'll find in the JC section of the Library of Congress—explained that before surveillance culture had us all monitoring ourselves, criminals who committed crimes that were especially threatening to social norms were executed in the most spectacular and punitive of ways: hung and quartered in the public square, for instance. It's worth wondering whether hate crimes legislation is one way in which this particular logic of discipline returns: one person made to bear the symbolic weight of a culture so productive of extraordinary and ordinary violence. What neat and tidy social order are we anxiously protecting through the spectacle of these enhanced sentences?

Given that judges are already responsible for considering the mitigating and aggravating factors of any offence at sentencing, this legislation merely tries to separate a metaphysical idea of "hate" from the often fraught social contexts in which violence thrives—it aims to hate the hate and not the hater. The creation of new emotional and legal options for those who experience violence is crucial.

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When justice is too often conflated with vengeance, it's time to point out that while hate crimes legislation is marketed on the gentle idea of "anti-hate," its harsh outcomes demand a renaming: "anti-hate" legislation really amounts to ignorant pro-imprisonment politics.

As a transgender person, I call this proimprisonment stance out for its reproduction of social inequality. It is neither neutral nor natural to focus on specifically "gay" or "trans" issues when the refusal to actively address other modes of inequality such as racism has proven time and time again to create an implicitly normative (white middle-class) political agenda. Unfortunately, this seems to be the case with Bill C-389: it amounts to the empty public image of a political "win" for people who aren't in desperate need of one.

I join with other queer activists in saying that the expansion and extension of hate crimes legislation and prisons is never done in my name, or with me in mind. To take a page from disability activism, call your MP and tell them: "nothing about us without us." V

COMMENT >> ALT SEX

Slow rider Dear Andrea: My male friend (I'm a woman) and I have been together on and off for a little over a year. The problem is, it takes him a very long time to ejaculate. He is really turned on, but it still takes a long time. Is it me or him?

Love, Slowpoked

time this started?

Oh, and there is one more: for whom is this a big problem, you, him or both?

It would be great to hear that it's a problem only for you, since then I could say (in the nicest way possible, of course) "Get over it." I mean yes, it's a problem if intercourse drags on way past your turnon, past any orgasms which m o kly.c uewee Dear Slow: might have been achieved v @ x e alts An eternal question, but a Andresaon or which are still achievable bad one. Do you really want and straight on into "Getting Nemer to know whose "fault" it is, or sore now, that was great thanks, how to fix it? now get out." One hopes that he Your letter, straightforward as it is, is not blithely sawing away while you raises more questions than it asks. The lie there in increasing discomfort, idly big ones: has this always been an is- wondering if the upcoming season of sue for him? Is it true of all activities, Madmen will be any good. or only intercourse? Did he happen to It would be great if we could blame start taking antidepressants around the Prozac or one of its relatives, and that

ALT.

SEX

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E]Ydk gf O`]]dkºNgdmfl]]jk f]]\]\ Lg \]dan]j nutritious meals (vehicle required) Weekdays )(2,-Ye%)he Lg Ykkakl af l`] cal[`]f O]]c\Yqk .Ye Yf\ *he3 k`a^l lae]k Yj] ^d]paZd] /0(&,*1&*(*( Canadian Mental Health Association/Board Recruiting 2009 Learn about our community work: cmha-edmonton.ab.ca S.C.A.R.S.: Second Chance Animal Rescue Society.

Our dogs are TV stars! Watch Global TV every Sat at 9:45 AM where new, wonderful dogs will be profiled. scarscare.org CNIB's Friendly Visitor Program needs volunteers to help and be a sighted guide with a friendly voice.

If you can help someone with vision loss visit cnib. ca or call 780. 453.8304 Bicycle Mechanic Volunteers for Bissell Centre community homeless or near homeless members on Mon, Wed, Fri, 9am-12pm. Contact Linda 780.423.2285 ext 134 The Learning Centre Literacy Association: seeking an artist or arts & crafts person who would be willing to commit 2 hrs weekly to the instruction of their passion to adult literacy learners in the inner city. Denis Lapierre 780.429.0675, dl.learningcentre@shaw.ca Dr.’s Appointment Buddy–Accompany new refugee immigrants to their medical appointments to give support and assist with paperwork. Thu, 10:30am2:30pm. Transportation not required. Leslie 780.432.1137, ext 357

Mediation & Restorative Justice Centre Edmonton: Vol Facilitator Recruitment 2010; mrjc.ca/mediation/ volunteering/ complete a volunteer application form; 780.423.0896 ext. 201

P.A.L.S. Project Adult Literacy Society needs volunteers to work with adult students in the ESL English as a Second Language Program. Call 780.424.5514; training and materials are provided

International Children's Festival: call vol info line 780.459.1522; childfest.com to register online. Must be at least 12 yrs. Register by Fri, May 21

BISSELL CENTRE Community in need of basic daily items, please bring: coffee, sugar, powdered creamer, diapers, baby formula to Bissell Centre East, 10527-96 St, Mon-Fri, 8:30am-4:30pm

Volunteer website for youth 14-24 years old. youthvolunteer.ca Volunteer with Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, help immigrant Children and youth of all ages–volunteer in a homework club. Contact Phillip Deng at 780.423.9516 or pdeng@emcn.ab.ca Edmonton Immigrant Services Association: looking for volunteers to help with Youth Tutoring & Mentorship, New Neighbours, Language Bank, and Host/Mentorship programs. Contact Alexandru Caldararu 780.474.8445; www.eisa-edmonton.org for more details Volunteer for the International Children’s Festival, June 1-5. Info Line: 780.459.1522, childfest.com. Registration deadline: May 21, 2010 Volunteers needed: Instructors –Tap Dancing, Line Dancing and Calligraphy. Wed: kitchen helper, Fri: dining room servers; Wed evening dinners: dishwashers, kitchen prep and servers. Mary 780.433.5807

People between 18-55, suffering from depression or who have never suffered from depression are needed as research volunteers, should not be taking medication, smoking, or undergoing psychotherapy and not have a history of cardiovascular disease. Monetary compensation provided for participation. 780.407.3906 HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS required for studies at UofA. Call 780.407.3906; E: UofADep@gmail.com.

Reimbursement provided U of A is seeking major depression sufferers interested in participating in a research study. Call 780.407.3906; E: UofADep@gmail.com The Support Network: Volunteer today to be a Distress Line Listener. Apply on line thesupportnetwork.com or call 780.732.6648

Volunteer at ElderCare Edmonton: help out with day programs with things like crafts, card games and socializing.

Call Renée for info at 780.434.4747 Ext 4

Volunteer with the Aboriginal Health Group. Plan events (like Aboriginal Health Week, Speaker Series). Promote healthy habits to high school students. Set up events. E: abhealthgroup@gmail. com; aboriginalhealthgroup.org

The Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts: looking for artists to provide mentorship to our artists with developmental disabilities. Share your talents and passion while gaining work experience. Info: Anna at volunteer@ninahaggertyart.ca

Canadian Mental Health Association, cmha-edmonton.ab.ca Education Program offer workshops to give skills to intervene with people who may be at risk for suicide. Follow the links to ASIST or call 780.414.6300

Basically Babies seeking household items to be sold at Mammoth Charity Garage Sale, Sherwood Park at Tailor Made Insurance parking lot on May 29-30.

To donate items E: office@basicallybabies.org/T: 780.660.7494

Jewish Family Services Edmonton/TASIS (Transforming Acculturative Stress Into Success): A free program aimed at minimizing culture shock and displacement for trained professional immigrant women. T: Svetlana 780.454.1194

he could easily switch to a different but equally effective medication, but how often does the simplest solution also turn out to be the one most available to us? Hardly ever, right? So make sure he isn't taking anything that could cause delayed gratification, and then, assuming he isn't, we move on.

Next: is he only a slow-poke when penises meet vaginas, or is it a universal thing? If it's only intercourse, then we blame intercourse. If it's too something for him: too dry, too wet, too loose, too condom'd, too shameful, not shameful enough ... Men are fragile creatures. If he easily gets off on hand jobs, blow jobs or any other sort of jobs, then your job (mutual) is to figure out what he likes about the other sensations and try to recreate them. Too wet? Dry it.

Too dry? Wet it. Too tight? Change positions. Too loose? Likewise. Too different from the favourite fantasy?

Fantasize.

We tend to assume that while women

like tongues and fingers and stuff, men want to fuck. And I certainly would not dispute the fact that men want to fuck.

It's just that some men really prefer some other activity or sensation, and many feel kind of weird about that, like they really should get on with the fucking. We like what we like. If he gets off a lot more easily by some other route, by all means take the road less traveled.

Women everywhere are digging the intercourse but requiring the something else to get to the orgasm part. What makes us think men are so different or, for that matter, so simple, or so homogenous?

Now let's say that it takes that long no matter what you're doing. What about no matter what he's doing? Like when you're not there? Much as masturbation can be used to unlearn premature ejaculation, it can cause the post-mature kind. Some guys just have a regular schedule, say, every morn-

ing in the shower, and it kind of takes the edge off of partnered sex, for better or worse. Some guys are so good at getting themselves off that, frankly, no partner can compete. People, male, female and otherwise, can certainly get habituated to a particular, usually very strong and very focused sort of stimulation, and find it hard to respond to the more diffuse and occasionally off-target sensations another human is able to provide.

The cure for this, oddly, is also masturbation, but instead of doing it most efficiently, like most people do, you take your time and learn to respond to slightly less exactly-the-way-I-want-itwhen-I-want-it stimulation.

None of this is going to happen unless you two talk about it, though. I really do not want to hear that you wrote to me before asking him if he knows what's up with him. Me, I can only guess.

Love, Andrea

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SACRED Edmonton Society; sacredeatingdisorders.com; An Eating Disorder Intensive Recovery Program for those with anorexia or with bulimia.

E: sacred6@telus.net; T: 780.429.3380 NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS Help Line 24 Hours a Day–7 Days a Week If you want to stop using, we can help Local: 780.421.4429/Toll free: 1.877.463.3537 Have you been affected by another person's sexual behaviour? S-Anon is a 12-Step fellowship for the family members and friends of sex addicts. Call 780.988.4411 for Edmonton area meeting locations and info, sanon.org SACE–Public Education Program: Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (sace.ab.ca) provides crisis intervention, info, counseling, public education. T: 780.423.4102/F: 780.421.8734/E: info@sace.ab.ca; sace.ab.ca/24-hour Crisis Line: 780.423.4121

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