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Signoffs Creative Team
Sex. Money. Fame. Just followin' the American Dream.
Vernon
God
Little
It’s South Park mixed with The Big Lebowski For the second time this theatre season, MacEwan Theatre Arts and Theatre Production programs will bring a Canadian first to the stage. Running December 2 to 10, in the intimate space of the Theatre Lab, Vernon God Little is sure to give audiences a wild ride with its high octane, energetic script.
Vernon God Little tackles some heavy themes, including school bullying and murder, yet still manages to be thoughtful and uplifting. While these themes are very familiar to us as of late, this story takes an edgy, sardonic, and often humorous approach to the culture of fear that’s been generated by American media, and avidly eaten up by American citizens. Vernon is on the lam from his backwater Texan town after his friend Jesus kills 16 students in a massacre that is the result of school bullying. After Jesus takes his own life, Vernon remains the only accessory to the crime, although innocent. He heads for Mexico once his small town, ironically named Martirio (Spanish for martyrdom) turns against him in a quest for
retribution at any cost. The misguided witch-hunt for justice that’s taken up by his community is a comment on the sensationalism of American media, and is presented to the audience with a glint of absurdity and a heavy dose of satire. The actors in this play take on nearly fifty different roles throughout the production, lampooning American stereotypes through song, dance, and humour. Vernon is interesting as the protagonist; his character lives amongst the people who end up mercilessly turning on him, yet he always felt like an outsider. Drawing comparisons to Salinger’s Holden Caulfield, Vernon narrates a look at “our entire society’s media hungry, fame driven, reality television obsessed need for success at any cost� says Theatre Arts chair Jim Guedo, who took on the role of director for this production.
“It’s South Park mixed with The Big Lebowski,� says Guedo, “but set in a time and place that is real to us�. Based on DBC Pierre’s 2003 Man Booker Prizewinning book of the same name, British playwright Tanya Ronder’s adaptation takes on some of the sensationalism of the theme itself – in the form of line-dancing, singing, and - wait for it country & western music! Guedo does caution that this production may not be for everyone due to graphic language, but as a reassurance for the slightly skittish, the play does ultimately come to a likeable conclusion that “point[s] out the follies and vices of society. It holds these negative attributes for ridicule, but does so with a sense of humour�. Vernon God Little will have something for almost everyone, and is guaranteed to make you think a little differently about the world we live in.
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6 UP FRONT
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
LISTINGS: EVENTS /11 FILM /16 ARTS /22 MUSIC /47 CLASSIFIEDS: GENERAL /51 ADULT /52
IssuE: 841 DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
Vue's guide to a Hollywood holiday
33 10 13 18 43
"Deceptive moves, quick hands and killer results—but with way less backflips and shit." "I got a text from someone a few days ago from a number I didn't recognize describing 'this hilarious blowjob' they got."
"Most people are dead at this age, not retired." "The floor was covered in greasy grime, there were multiple overflowing ashtrays, there were what looked like feces stains up the walls."
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UP FRONT 7
UP FRONT
VUEPOINT
Samantha Power
GRASDAL'S VUE
// samantha@vueweekly.com
A lesson in proper dissent Eighteen months after the protests in the streets Toronto, six people will plead guilty to counselling to commit mischief and serve anywhere from four to 24 months. Of the 17 people who are charged with being the "G20 Main Conspiracy Group," as defined by the prosecutors, 11 will have their charges withdrawn as part of a plea deal negotiated between the members of the group since September. This deal was announced last week with little media attention given to it outside of Toronto. It's unfortunate as it's a story that has implications for activists organizing political resistance. The plea deal the group has worked out is one that should be commended. Attempting to avoid serious jail time and even deportation for some of the people involved in organizing G20 resistance actions, the group of co-defendants managed to negotiate their way out of the serious charge of conspiracy—thankfully since the majority of this "conspiracy group" did not even know each other before being tried together, and because the charge carries with it a dangerous legal precedent. As Alex Hundert, one of the accused, writes, "The implication will be that organizing for mass civil disobedience will be similarly criminalized alongside more 'confrontational' mass actions."
Compare this to the commendations given to the "No to Keystone XL" pipeline campaign in the US and Canada. Media has nearly fallen over itself to commend the action for being peaceful and civil on the part of citizens who essentially lined up to be arrested. If the conspiracy charges had stuck against the "G20 Main Conspiracy Group," a precedent would have been set and those organizers of the antiKeystone campaign could face the same problems the G20 group has faced for the past 18 months. But even now the groups have been treated very differently. We're OK with the Keystone group because they were civil and peaceful and had a direct message that fit in a press release. The G20 protests were perceived to be chaotic, incoherent and violent, so it seems they are worthy of derision. The implication is that there is a good way to protest and a good way to become a scapegoat. The "G20 Main conspiracy group"—and if they are no longer charged with conspiracy, we should probably stop calling them that—have faced almost two years of jail time, house arrest, broken relationships and a constant battle to simply live their lives because they decided to organize a public political message. Apparently, they didn't do it the right way. I hope everyone's taking notes on the proper way to voice your concern. V
NewsRoundup
SAMANTHA POWER // samantha@vueweekly.com
WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' TAXES
RESPONSIBILITY IGNORED With the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties starting this week in Durban, South Africa, Canadian environmental activists are calling for the Canadian government to not get in the way of any environmental progress that might be made. COP 17 is an extension of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and is charged with discussing international environmental initiatives that would bind participating countries. Last year, after the talks in Copenhagen, the Canadian government returned home to weaken climate enforcement. "We are the only country to have come out of the Copenhagen UN climate negotiations to return home and weaken our emission reduction targets, allowing more climate change pollution," says Council of Canadians' National Chairperson Maude Barlow.
The statement released by environmental organizations and unions states that the federal government failed to regulate greenhouse gas emissions despite international commitments. The groups call on the Canadian government to "get out of the way" if they are unwilling to lead or follow the international efforts at COP 17. The groups include the Council of Canadians, Indigenous Environmental Network, Public Interest Alberta and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers among others, and represent approximately one million Canadians. COP 17 is set to discuss the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan and the Cancun Agreements. The UN negotiations will continue until December 9.
ABRUPT ASSESSMENT According to Mining Watch Canada, the federal government has abruptly halted the mandated review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Committee hearings were cancelled last week without warning and written submissions are no longer being accepted. This is not the first time the review has been delayed; the process was put on hold by the 2010 election. The House Environment Committee is required to review the act, which contains the processes to assess environmental impacts of developments receiving federal approval. It was last amended in 2003. The review began on October 20 and has already heard from a number of groups including the Canadian As-
8 UP FRONT
sociation of Petroleum Producers and the Assembly of First Nations. Mining Watch Canada and the Canadian Environmental Network caucus believe the nine two-hour meetings held do not consist of a proper review. "The CEAA Seven-year Review was a superb opportunity for the Environment Committee and the government to engage Canadians in a discussion about how to use environmental assessment to address issues such as climate change and biodiversity that are critical to the health and prosperity of Canadians. It is truly discouraging that this opportunity is being thrown away," says caucus co-chair, West Coast Environmental Law Association's Josh Paterson.
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
New research by the Tax Justice Network shows tax evasion costs governments around the world $3.1 trillion annually. The network is about to launch a campaign tackling tax havens, which the group believes play a major role in allowing tax evasion by individuals and corporations. According to the report, 119 of 145 countries are losing over half of their healthcare budget to tax evasion and more than one dollar in every six earned is not subject to tax because those earning it have ensured their income is hidden. "Tax havens are engaged in economic warfare against the tax regimes of sovereign countries, and these estimates reveal the human cost in terms of the impact on health services," says John Christensen, director of the Tax Justice Network. The network is a member of the group Canadians for Tax Fairness which is part of an international network with 28 member nations.
NEWS // OCCUPY
Not in my backyard
// Paula Kirman
Occupy poses a challenge to the freedom of expression
Occupy Edmonton organizers take to the bridge after being evicted from their downtown camp
On Friday morning at 4 am about 45 Edmonton police officers stepped onto the site of the Occupy camp in downtown Edmonton. After the occupiers had been set up for 42 days in the park owned by local real estate developer Melcor, EPS was finally called in to act on an eviction order by the company. It makes Edmonton's camp just one more on a growing list that have been evicted from places like Halifax, New York and Vancouver. Critics and supporters alike saw this as the inevitable end to Occupy Edmonton. For activists, it's the beginning of a larger movement that needs to find a new home. For Canadians it should be the beginning of a larger debate about the freedom to assemble. For occupiers in Edmonton, the questions of where to go and how to con-
tinue to express their message is still being debated. While the Edmonton Occupy camp took place in a private park, occupiers doubt they'll be able to set up camp in a public space anytime soon based on the rulings in other cities across Canada. "Not a lot of places exist where we can express our freedom of speech and where those rights are upheld," says Mahad Mohamed, a spokesperson for Occupy Edmonton. Mohamed believes the visibility of a camp is important to the movement and the message. "We had a lot more visitors, who never came before, to take the bus and find out what this is about," he says. Mohamed explains the group had decided at the General Assembly previous to the eviction to leave the camp due to differing internal opinions
about the good neighbour policy the group had imposed on itself, but there is discussion about finding another area to set up. Freedom of expression has come into question as camps in Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax have all been evicted from public property. Cara Zwibel, director of the fundamental freedoms program with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, argues that it's fundamental to be able to gather with others and express a political position. "It's all related to the idea that these are ways in which people can participate in the process above and beyond the right to cast a ballot," says Zwibel. "The ability to gather, stake out a position and voice a common opinion is fundamental."
Zwibel argues protesters have the right to express their political values in a way that best expresses their ideas. "It's a problematic approach," says Zwibel. "If we take expression seriously, the right to express the way you feel includes the way you express the message." Zwibel is clear that doesn't mean cities would never have the ability to remove threats to public safety, but that the right to freely assemble is integral to the right to free speech and government policy needs to recognize that. In Toronto, occupiers were evicted after a court ruled that, by camping overnight, citizens were breaking a city bylaw and trespassing. But the ruling in favour of a bylaw does not mean there isn't a charter challenge possible. The Halifax Media Co-op reported that lawyer Gordon Allen hopes social activist and journalist Miles Howe's trial will get at the larger Section 2 questions. In Halifax, the first camp in Canada to be removed by police, Howe was arrested when the city sent in police to tear down the camp and remove protesters without first ticketing them or achieving an injunction. A lawyer from the firm of Bennet Jones in Halifax believes Section 2 won't help protesters in their case, reported OpenFile Halifax earlier this month: "It is at least arguable that removing tents (but leaving the people there in the park) would not inhibit the 'physical gathering' of
people at all." Zwibel believes there is a concern over the way bylaws are enforced over the Section 2 right to freedom of assembly and expression, however, and she's not alone.
countries voted against the sanctions. And Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, resigned on November 23 after months of prevarication and 33 years in power, giving that country at least a chance of making progress towards a democratic future.
an excuse to postpone them: Egypt urgently needs an elected government. It will soon have one, and if the Muslim Brotherhood plays a major role in it, why not? It has long outgrown its original radicalism, and you can't postpone democracy forever just because you don't fully trust your fellow citizens. That leaves Bahrain, the one Arab country where the "Arab Spring" was comprehensively crushed. But in Bahrain last week, the king received the report of an independent commission which concluded that there was no Iranian plot behind the demonstrations, and that many detainees had been “blindfolded, whipped, kicked, given electric shocks and threatened with rape to extract confessions.” Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa expressed "dismay" at the findings and vowed that "those painful events won't be repeated." That may be a little disingenuous, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. Bringing democracy and the rule of law to the Arab world was always going to be a difficult and tortuous process, but progress is being made on many fronts. V
In Toronto, the court decision by Justice David Brown was to uphold the city bylaw and evict the protesters, but David Schneiderman, a professor of law in the University of Toronto, argued in the Toronto Star that there were several different options. "Justice Brown could have imagined other ways to accommodate the constitutional rights of occupiers while taking into account the interests of the park's neighbours—allocating a part of the park for protest purposes, requesting protesters to remove tents that were not occupied, or insisting that noise bylaws overnight be respected, to name a few. He preferred to do none of this." Zwibel echoes this, saying part of the issue is that this is public space and we need to share it: "Are there opportunities to do that or not, and have those opportunities been canvassed and considered." Schneiderman continues to write that because the right to expression is written in the constitution it must be given some priority. In some cities, the reasoning offered by CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 >>
COMMENT >> ARAB AUTUMN
As the leaves fall The "Arab Spring" was fast and dramatic: world’s more secular societies, but Ennon-violent revolutions in the streets nahda’s leaders promise to respect the removed dictators in Tunisia and rights of less religious Tunisians, Egypt in a matter of weeks, and and there is no reason not to similar revolutions got underbelieve them. way in Libya, Syria, Bahrain Last weekend, elections in om eekly.c and Yemen. The "Arab AuMorocco produced a similar @vuew e n n y gw e tumn" is a much slower and result, with the main Islamic Gwynn messier affair, but despite the party, the Justice and DevelDyer carnage in Syria and the turbulent opment Party, gaining the largest run-up to Egypt's first democratic elecshare of the votes but not an absolute tions, the signs are still positive. majority. It will doubtless play a leading Demonstrators in Bahrain were driven role in the new government, but it will from the streets by massive military not seek to impose its views and values force, and Libya's revolution only trion everybody else. umphed after Western military interThis Moroccan party took its name vention in support of the rebels. In both from the ruling Justice and Development Syria and Yemen, originally non-violent (AK) party in Turkey, an Islamic party protests risk tipping into civil wars. But that has won three elections in a row there is still more good news than bad. and presided over the fastest economic In October Tunisia held its first-ever growth in Turkey’s history. Like the AK free election, and produced a coalition Party, the Moroccan version is socially government that is broadly acceptable conservative, pro-free market, and fully to most Tunisians. Some worry that obedient to the secular constitution. the leading role that the local Islamic These parties are "Muslim Democrats," party, Ennahda, gained in the new govas one AK Party member in Turkey put it, ernment bodes ill for one of the Arab comparing them to the Christian Demo-
cratic parties of Western Europe. They have nothing to do with radical Islamist groups like al-Qaeda. They are simply the natural repository for the votes of conservative people in a Muslim society, just as the Republican Party automatically gets the votes of most Christian conservatives in the United States. There was no revolution in Morocco: the new constitution that was approved by referendum last July was an attempt by King Mohamed VI to get ahead of the demands for more democracy that are sweeping the Arab world. It obliges the king to choose the prime minister from the party that wins the most seats in parliament, rather than just naming whomever he pleases, and restricts his freedom of action in several other ways. Similar changes are underway in Jordan, where King Abdullah II is also trying to ward off more radical demands for reform. And even the deeply conservative monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula all supported the Arab League's decision last weekend to impose sanctions against the brutal Assad regime in Syria, including an asset freeze and an embargo on investments. Syria may yet drift into civil war, but its fellow Arab states are taking their responsibilities seriously: only two Arab
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
So do the Arab dictators
R DYEIG HT
STRA
Egypt, by far the biggest Arab country, this week sees the start of parliamentary elections that will roll across the country region by region until early January. Demonstrators have re-occupied Tahrir Square in Cairo, claiming that the army wants to hold on to power, but things are not quite what they seem. The army has already conceded that the new president should be elected by next June rather than six months later, but the demos on the square were not really about that. They were an attempt to force the postponement of the parliamentary elections. The newly formed liberal and secular parties tacitly back the demonstrators because they fear that the Muslim Brotherhood will win these elections. It may well do so, because it continued to operate in a semi-underground way during the Mubarak dictatorship while the old liberal parties just faded away. But the fact that some parties are not as ready as others for the elections is not
Gwynne Dyer is a London-based journalist. His column appears every week in Vue Weekly.
UP FRONT 9
Alternative Water Futures The need for non-market solutions to Alberta’s water crisis Featuring
Jeremy Schmidt
Author of the Parkland Institute research report Alternative Water Futures in Alberta
Monday, December 5 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Room 217, Telus Building Corner of 111 St & 87 Ave University of Alberta Join the Our Water Is Not For Sale network and Jeremy Schmidt for an exploration of Alberta’s water challenges, why markets aren’t the answer, and what alternative allocation systems that protect our water commons for ecosystems, our communities and future generations could look like.
www.ourwaterisnotforsale.com
COMMENT >> HOCKEY
Stumbling block
We've lost Hall, but we haven't lost hope Last week the Oilers ended a drought, lost players Wade Belak and Ryan Rypien bea star player and returned home to lose a ing connected to brain trauma, Crosby's snoozer. Best news of the week? A 5-2 win message that hits to the head are not in Minnesota was the first victory in that OK is one that needs to be heeded. So city since January of 2007, 17 long games why, then, would Crosby think it's OK to ago. Worst news of the week? The Oilers elbow—or perhaps butt-end—Ottawa lost 5-2 in Denver the next night— Senators forward Nick Foligno in the but also lost star youngster Tayhead, and even go so far as to delor Hall, out up to four weeks. fend his actions? I get that FoThen the Oilers returned ligno ran the goalie, I get that ly.com he deserved retribution—I k home to face Nashville in a e e w vue ebox@ dull Monday night game, los- inth ave Young & agree with that. But Crosby D Birtles has to be responsible for where n ing 2-1. a y r B he throws his elbows—and if the MAILBAG MAGNUS head is off limits then it's off limits to After Taylor Hall's injury, struggling Swede him too. After all, people in glass houses (Karl) Magnus (Svensson) Paajarvi got to should not throw stones. BB ride along with the top six forwards inBUNCH OF DIRTY OUTLIERS stead of taking a plane to Oklahoma City. In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers a few years With so many players meeting or exceedback, the writer made an interesting discoving expectations this year, Paajarvi is havery—hockey players born in the first few ing a tough time, with just one point in months of the year (January to April) were 20 games. Despite the near-goose-egg on mathematically over-represented in the big the scoresheet, he still seems to have Oilleagues. What Gladwell surmised is, beerfan's support. During the starting lineup cause hockey registration cut-off is usually introductions, Paajarvi got the strongest Jan 1, the kids born earlier in the year would cheers—he got just a few decibels more often be older and bigger and would have oomph than linemates Shawn Horcoff or more confidence and success in athletics Ales Hemsky. He hasn't been delivering, early. Thus, they would get more ice time, but he doesn't seem to be mailing it in. If positive feedback and coaches' attention. he keeps trying to push the envelope, the The theory seems to make sense. So, how fans won't go postal. DY do the current Oilers align with Gladwell's SIDNEY, SIDNEY, SIDNEY theory? Fourteen members of the current Sidney Crosby spent a significant part of 26-man roster were born between January his year away from hockey talking about and April. That's just over half the team how head hits need to be taken out of born in the first third of the year. Only the game. As he said, "A guy's got to be refour current Oilers were born in the final sponsible with his stick, why shouldn't he four months of the year. How about some be responsible with the rest of his body more outliers, while we're at it? I'd suggest when he's going to hit someone?" Crosby, a balmy January and a two-time last place the league's best player, the kind of onceNHL team making a Cup run. And world in-a-generation player that legends are peace or something? DY made of, was felled by two head shots POOR, PITIFUL PHLAMES that caused a major concussion and kept At press time, the Oilers sit in 11th place him sidelined through almost all of 2011. in the Western Conference, one of our And, with the recent suicides of hockey
IN THE
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10 UP FRONT
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
NOT IN MY BACKYARD << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
the city to remove protesters was that the protest had gone on long enough. "The idea behind freedom of expression, it doesn't mean the government gets to tell you, 'Well, you've expressed yourself enough,'" says Zwibel. In many cases, the enforcement of city bylaw happens on a complaint basis, so if one person feels there is a problem with a particular expression the bylaw will be enforced in one area, but not in another. According to Zwibel, one of the issues is the failure on the part of cities to recognize the superiority of the charter to city bylaw. Bylaws around obtaining public permits are often unclear, leaving approval of a group's use of a space at the discretion of city staff. "A Boy Scout troop is OK'd to camp in the park, but a protest against a city mayor will not be," says Zwibel. "That
worst positions this year. What's more, after losing two in a row, it's easy to get sink into the doldrums that come with tying your emotional state to the performance of a professional sports team over which you have no control—as I and plenty of others in this town are wont to do. But my friends, remember this: the Flames have it worse. Currently in 12th place, the Flames are 10 points out of first and look like they have no hope of coming back from the brink, mired as they are at the bottom of the conference with the likes of nearconstant failures the Columbus Blue Jackets. Calgarians have mused openly about trading Jarome Iginla—the Flames' only bright light since the retirement of Lanny McDonald in 1989—and beginning a proper rebuild. Meanwhile, the Oilers are five points out of first place in the conference, with a gaggle of young superstars and a clear path to the Cup. Calgarians who mocked our two-years-in-a-row last place finishes? I will taste your tears. BB ACTION STARS
Two of the Oilers most exciting players to watch right now are Jordan Eberle and Ryan Jones—but for different reasons. Eberle is like Jet Li; fast, deceptive moves, quick hands and killer results— but with way less backflips and shit. Jones is more like Die Hard-era Bruce Willis; he plays with far less precision, a lot of sweat and some smartass cheek—but with way more hair. DY
OILER PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ladislav Smid: Opening goal in the Colorado loss—first goal in 125 games. And he's still a rock on defence. DY Jordan Eberle: This kid is a beast. Three goals, seven points in the last five games. Incredible. BB
may not happen, but there's a concern for that possibility when there aren't guidelines laid out. "The idea that the protest has become unpopular or an eyesore or the city decides, 'It's enough, we need to put up our holiday lights,' those are things we find upsetting, when it's used in comparison to the right to express ideas," Zwibel continues. It leaves protesters, and citizens, in a confusing situation when it comes to the ability to express political opinions. For the occupiers in Edmonton, getting evicted is not stopping them from taking on another project. Already this past weekend, the group organized a rally and banner drop on the High Level Bridge. "We're invested," says Mohamed. "This is the first phase, the first chapter of the longest book in your life. This movement is going to take a while." SAMANTHA POWER // SAMANTHA@VUEWEEKLY.COM
EVENTS WEEKLY FAX YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO 780.426.2889 OR EMAIL LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3 PM
COMEDY Bohemia • 10217-97 St • Open Mic Comedy • Fri, Dec 2, 8pm (door) • $5
Brixx Bar • 10030-102 St • 780.428.1099 • Troubadour Tuesdays with comedy and music Ceili's • 10338-109 St • 780.426.5555 • Comedy Night: every Tue, 9:30pm • No cover Century Casino • 13103 Fort Rd • 780.481.9857 • Open amateur night every Thu, 7:30pm
COMEDY FACTORY • Gateway Entertainment Centre, 34 Ave, Calgary Tr • Leif Skyving; Dec 1-3 • Dennis Ross; Dec 8-10 • Bob Angeli; Dec 15-17 Comic Strip • Bourbon St, WEM • 780.483.5999 • Wed-Fri, Sun 8pm; Fri-Sat 10:30pm • Daniel Kinno; Dec 1-4 • Hit or Miss Monday: Dec 5, 8pm; $7 • Stand Up Edmonton; Dec 6, 8pm; $12 • Steve White; Dec 7-11 • Hit or Miss Monday: Dec 12, 8pm; $7 • Stand Up Edmonton; Dec 13, 8pm; $12 • Steve Rannazzisi Special Presentation; Dec 14-18 DRUID • 11606 Jasper Ave • 780.710.2119 • Comedy night open stage hosted by Lars Callieou • Every Sun, 9pm Filthy McNasty's • 10511-82 • 780.996.1778 • Stand Up Sundays: Stand-up comedy night every Sun with a different headliner every week; 9pm; no cover
Jubilee Auditorium • 11455-87 Ave • Joan Rivers • Tue, Dec 6, 8pm • Warning: Mature Language • $65.50/56.50/39.50 at unionevents. com, ticketmaster.ca
laugh shop–Sherwood Park • 4 Blackfoot Road, Sherwood Park • 780.417.9777 • laughinthepark.ca • Open Wed-Sat • David Demsey; Dec 1-3 • Dave Merheje; Dec 8-10 • Scott Belford; Dec 15-17
The Nest • NAIT • Comedy Night with John Hastings and David Dempsey • Thu, Dec 1, 2:30pm (door), 4:30pm (show) • Free for students
River Cree–The Venue • rivercreeresort.
Cha Island Tea Co • 10332 81 Ave • Games Night: Board games, and card games • Every Mon, 7pm
Edmonton Bike Art Nights • BikeWorks, 10047 80 Ave, back alley entrance • Art Nights • Every Wed, 6-9pm
Fair Vote Alberta • Strathcona Library, Community Rm (upstairs), 104 St, 84 Ave • fairvotealberta.org • Monthly meeting • 2nd Thu each month; 7pm FOOD ADDICTS • St Luke's Anglican Church, 8424-95 Ave • 780.465.2019/780.634.5526 • Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), free 12-Step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating, and bulimia • Meetings every Thu, 7pm
Home–Energizing Spiritual Community for Passionate Living • Garneau/Ashbourne Assisted Living Place, 11148-84 Ave • Home: Blends music, drama, creativity and reflection on sacred texts to energize you for passionate living • Every Sun 3-5pm
Lendrum Pottery Group • 11335-57 Ave • Christmas Sale • Sat, Dec 3, 10:am-2pm
Lotus Qigong • 780.477.0683 • Downtown • Practice group meets every Thu MEDITATION • Strathcona Library, 8331104 St; meditationedmonton.org; Drop-in every Thu 7-8:30pm; Sherwood Park Library: Drop-in every Mon, 7-8:30pm
Northern Alberta Wood Carvers Association • Duggan Community Hall, 3728-106 St • 780.458.6352, 780.467.6093 • nawca.ca • Meet every Wed, 6:30pm
Organization for Bipolar Affective Disorder (OBAD) • Grey Nuns Hospital, Rm 0651, 780.451.1755; Group meets every Thu 7-9pm • Free
Sherwood Park Walking Group + 50 • Meet inside Millennium Place, Sherwood Place • Weekly outdoor walking group; starts with a 10 min discussion, followed by a 30-40 minute walk through Centennial Park, a cool down and stretch • Every Tue, 8:30am • $2/session (goes to the Alzheimer’s Society of Alberta)
Society of Edmonton Atheists • Stanley Milner Library, Rm 6-7 • edmontonatheists.ca • Meet the 1st Tue every month, 7pm
Sugarswing Dance Club • Orange
Groups/CLUBS/meetings
Hall, 10335-84 Ave or Pleasantview Hall, 10860-57 Ave • 780.604.7572 • Swing Dance at Sugar Foot Stomp: beginner lesson followed by dance every Sat, 8pm (door) at Orange Hall or Pleasantview Hall
Aikikai Aikido Club • 10139-87 Ave, Old
Vegetarians of Alberta • Bonnie
com • Norm Macdonald • Fri, Dec 9, 8pm • $29.50
Strathcona Community League • Japanese Martial Art of Aikido • Every Tue 7:309:30pm; Thu 6-8pm
Antique Appraisals • Old Strathcona Antique Mall, 10323-78 Ave • 780.433.0398 • For What It's Worth: Bring your antiques and collectables for an apraisal • Sat, Dec 3 • $10 (for each item)
Audreys Travel Club • Audreys, 8103104 St • 780.439.3096 • Free travel talk on Peru • Dec 13, 7pm
AWA 12-STEP SUPPORT GROUP • Braeside Presbyterian Church bsmt, N. door, 6 Bernard Dr, Bishop St, Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert • For adult children of alcoholic and dysfunctional families • Every Mon 7:30pm
Doon Community Hall, 9240-93 St • vofa.ca/category/events • Monthly Potluck: Bring a vegan, dish to serve 8 people, your own plate, cup, cutlery, serving spoon • Sun, Dec 11 • $3 (member)/$5 (non-member)
WOMEN IN BLACK • In Front of the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market • Silent vigil the 1st and 3rd Sat, 10-11am, each month, stand in silence for a world without violence
Y TOASTMASTERS CLUB • Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, 7103105 St • ytoastmasterclub.ca • 1st and 3rd Tue, 7-9pm; every month
LECTURES/Presentations CoMmercial Net Zero Energy
Remodel • Grant MacEwan University CN Theatre Rm 5-142, 105 St, 105 Ave • 780.378.6178 • solaralberta.ca • Presentation by Warren Sarauer; How do you take a building whose business purpose is no longer viable due to market conditions and transform it into what will be the future in buildings • Wed, Dec 7, 7-8:30pm • Free
pool, 11762-106 St; swimming@teamedmonton.ca • Volleyball: every Tue, 7-9pm; St. Catherine School, 10915-110 St; every Thu, 7:30-9:30pm at Amiskiwiciy Academy, 101 Airport Rd • Gay/Lesbian Yoga: at Lion's Breath Yoga Studio, 206, 10350-124 St; every Wed, 7:30-9pm; until Dec 21; yoga@teamedmonton.ca
CREATE. Art Party • ARTery •
Our Water Is Not For Sale • Telus
G.L.B.T.Q Seniors Group • S.A.G.E
Bldg, Rm 217, 111 St, 87 Ave, U of A • The need for non-market solutions to Alberta’s water crisis with Jeremy Schmidt, author of Alternative Water Futures in Alberta • Mon, Dec 5, 7-9pm
Bldg, Craftroom, 15 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.474.8240 • Meeting for gay seniors, and for any seniors that have gay family members and would like some guidance • Every Thu, 1-4:30pm • Info: T: Jeff Bovee 780.488.3234, E: tuff @shaw.ca
Theatre • 9030-118 Ave • avenuetheatre. ca • Presented by Butterfly Transitions and Healing Society: Will Belcourt and the Hollywood Indians, The McGowan Family Band, Funk Sway • Dec 3, 8pm • $10 (adv)/$15 (door)
Verge Permaculture • Expressionz Café, 9938-70 Ave, 780.437.3667 • Free info session; Fri, Dec 9, 6:30-8pm • Fundamentals of Permaculture, Sat, Dec 10, 9am-5pm; pre-register at vergepermaculture.ca
QUEER BUDDYS NITE CLUB • 11725B Jasper Ave • 780.488.6636 • Tue with DJ Arrow Chaser, free pool all night; 9pm (door); no cover • Wed with DJ Dust’n Time; 9pm (door); no cover • Thu: Men’s Wet Underwear Contest, win prizes, hosted by Drag Queen DJ Phon3 Hom3; 9pm (door); no cover before 10pm • Fri Dance Party with DJ Arrow Chaser; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm • Sat: Feel the rhythm with DJ Phon3 Hom3; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm EDMONTON PRIME TIMERS (EPT) • Unitarian Church of Edmonton, 10804119 St • A group of older gay men who have common interests meet the 2nd Sun, 2:30pm, for a social period, short meeting and guest speaker, discussion panel or potluck supper. Special interest groups meet for other social activities throughout the month. E: edmontonpt@yahoo.ca
EPLC Fellowship Pagan Study Group • Pride Centre of Edmonton • eplc. webs.com • Free year long course; Family circle 3rd Sat each month • Everyone welcome
FLASH Night Club • 10018-105 St • 780.969.9965 • Thu Goth + Industrial Night: Indust:real Assembly with DJ Nanuck; 10pm (door); no cover • Triple Threat Fridays: DJ Thunder, Femcee DJ Eden Lixx • DJ Suco beats every Sat • E: vip@flashnightclub.com G.L.B.T.Q. (gay) African Group Drop-In) • Pride Centre, moving • 780.488.3234 • Group for gay refugees from all around the World, friends, and families • 1st and Last Sun every month • Info: E: fred@pridecentreofedmonton.org, jeff@ pridecentreofedmonton.org
G.L.B.T.Q Sage bowling club • 780.474.8240, E: Tuff@shaw.ca • Every Wed, 1:30-3:30pm
GLBT sports and recreation • teamedmonton.ca • Badminton, Women's Drop-In Recreational: St Vincent School, 10530-138 St; E: badminton.women@ teamedmonton.ca, every Wed 6-7:30pm, until Apr 25; $7 (drop-in fee) • Co-ed Bellydancing: bellydancing@teamedmonton.ca • Bootcamp: Garneau Elementary, 10925-87 Ave. at 7pm; bootcamp@teamedmonton.ca • Bowling: Ed's Rec Centre, West Edmonton Mall, Tue 6:45pm; bowling@ teamedmonton.ca • Curling: Granite Curling Club; 780.463.5942 • Running: Kinsmen; running@teamedmonton.ca • Spinning: MacEwan Centre, 109 Street and 104 Ave; spin@teamedmonton.ca • Swimming: NAIT
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
Illusions Social Club • The Junction, 10242-106 St • groups.yahoo.com/group/ edmonton_illusions • 780.387.3343 • Crossdressers meet 2nd Fri every month, 8:30pm
Celebrates Collaborative Contributions M.A.D.E. in Edmonton and Melmoth Media where the audience is the artist. No minors • Dec 1, 8:30pm • $5 (adv) at createedmonton.eventbrite.com/$10 (door); register at madeinedmonton.org
Family Masquerade • Avenue
Festival of Trees • Shaw Conference Centre, 9797 Jasper Ave • Dec 1-4, Thu-Sat 9am-9pm; Sun 9am-5pm • $7 (adult)/$3 (senior/youth 13-17)/$2 (child 2-12)/free (under 2)
the junction bar • 10242-106 St • 780.756.5667 • Free pool daily 4-8pm; Taco Tue: 5-9pm; Wing Wed: 5-9pm; Wed karaoke: 9pm-12; Thu 2-4-1 burgers: 5-9pm; Fri steak night: 5-9pm; DJs Fri and Sat at 10pm
Festively Green • Raising Spaces, 10045-81 Ave • 1-Year Birthday Bash: discover ways to Green Your Christmas; talk by Stacy Wall at 2pm • Sat, Dec 3, 1-5:30pm
LIVING POSITIVE • 404, 10408-
• jhcentre.org/hrawards • Honouring Edmontonians in 5 categories (Individual, Youth, Business, Organization and New/ Emerging) for their work in making Edmonton a true human rights city and contributing to their communities. Also features a keynote speaker, a silent auction and reception • Fri, Dec 9, 7pm • Admission by donation at door
124 St • edmlivingpositive.ca • 1.877.975.9448/780.488.5768 • Confidential peer support to people living with HIV • Tue, 7-9pm: Support group • Daily drop-in, peer counselling
MAKING WAVES SWIMMING CLUB • geocities.com/makingwaves_edm • Recreational/competitive swimming. Socializing after practices • Every Tue/Thu
Pride Centre of Edmonton • Moving • 780.488.3234 • Daily: YouthSpace (Youth Drop-in): Tue-Fri: 3-7pm; Sat: 2-6:30pm; jess@pridecentreofedmonton. org • Men Talking with Pride: Support group for gay, bisexual and transgendered men to discuss current issues; Sun: 7-9pm; robwells780@hotmail.com • Counselling: Free, short-term, solution-focused counselling, provided by professionally trained counsellorsevery Wed, 6-9pm; admin@ pridecentreofedmonton.org • Youth Movie: Every Thu, 6:30-8:30pm; jess@pridecentreofedmonton.org
PrimeTimers/sage Games • Unitarian Church, 10804-119 St • 780.474.8240 • Every 2nd and last Fri each Month, 7-10:30pm
St Paul's United Church • 11526-76 Ave • 780.436.1555 • People of all sexual orientations are welcome • Every Sun (10am worship)
WOMONSPACE • 780.482.1794 • womonspace.ca, womonspace@gmail.com • A Non-profit lesbian social organization for Edmonton and surrounding area. Monthly activities, newsletter, reduced rates included with membership. Confidentiality assured
Woodys Video Bar • 11723 Jasper Ave • 780.488.6557 • Mon: Amateur Strip Contest; prizes with Shawana • Tue: Kitchen 3-11pm • Wed: Karaoke with Tizzy 7pm-1am; Kitchen 3-11pm • Thu: Free pool all night; kitchen 3-11pm • Fri: Mocho Nacho Fri: 3pm (door), kitchen open 3-11pm
SPECIAL EVENTS Artz Relief from the Thief • Expressionz Café, 9938-70 Ave • 780.437.3667 • expressionzcafe.com • Expressionz Relief from the Thief with the Sasquatch Gathering, fundraiser and silent auction, performance by Karen Anderson • Sat, Dec 3, 7pm (door) • $10
Human Rights Awards • City Hall
Jingle On Indoor Santa Claus Parade • Commerce Place, Manulife Place and City Centre Mall • Sun, Dec 4, 10am-noon
Kids with Cancer Society Fundraiser • The Druid, 11606 Jasper Ave • 780.426.4649 • Silent auction • Dec 10, 3-7pm • $10
MINKHA Sweater Sale/Open House • Windsor Park Community Hall, 11840-87 Ave • 780.434.8105 • minkhasweaters.com • Hand knit sweaters, shawls, scarves from a women’s cooperative in Bolivia. Fair Trade, all proceeds are returned to knitters • Sat, Dec 10, 9am-3pm
A Prairie Christmas festival • 56311 Lily Lake Rd, Bon Accord • 780.921.2272 • PrairieChristmas.ca • Hosted by Prairie Gardens and Adventure Farm: family fun with traditional country Christmas activities • Weekends until Dec 18, 11am-4pm • $9.95/free (child 2 and under)
The Salvation Army Santa Shuffle Fun Run and Elf Walk • Hawrelak Park • Help fight poverty and restore dignity, participate in 1K Elf Walk or 5K Santa Shuffle • Sat, Dec 3, 10am; Register at: santashuffle.com
Santa Shuffle • Hawrelak Park • Fun run and elf walk • Sat, Dec 3, 10am • Register: santashuffle.com Jubilee Auditorium • Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe Christmas Tour • Sun, Dec 4, 7:30pm Unsilent Night Edmonton • Meet at the mini pyramids in front of the Timms Centre, 112 St, 87 Ave • unsilent night.com • Phil Kline's composition, written to be heard outdoors in December takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer • Sun, Dec 11, 6-7pm, meet at 5:45pm Yuletide Craft Market • Glenwood Community League, 16430-97 Ave • Sat, Dec 3, 11am-5pm
UP FRONT 11
FILM
REVUE // CREEPY ANTONIO
The doctor will see you now The Skin I Live In an unsettling film Opens Friday The Skin I Live In Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
L
et's be clear about something: the title of Pedro Almodóvar's 1987 film Law of Desire is both emblematic and entirely cheeky with regards to this filmmaker's singular body of work. There are no laws where Almodóvar's characters' desires are concerned—at least none that can't be broken in the spirit of audacity, subversion, showing off or compulsive plot-twisting—just an immaculately crafted blur of reptile-brain urge and wild ambition, a confusion of longing, desperation, memory and gender. His latest film, an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet's 1995 novel Tarantula, plunges into some as-yet-uncharted (by Almodóvar at least) and especially-unsettling territory, with the innovative, fabulously-resourcefuland-seriously-messed-up plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas, back with the writer/director who made his name for the first time in two decades) plumbing the unexplored depths of posthuman sciences in his efforts to restore order to his shattered family. There's a beautiful young woman sequestered and constantly monitored in his rural Toledo home and laboratory. She's both a captive, stolen away from a whole other life, and something invented. The mad doctor is, in a sense,
12 FILM
Doctor Banderas, doing a little more than a nip 'n' tuck
building himself a new wife. He is attempting to recover a dead life. Most interestingly, his endeavour is driven by the conviction that all that makes us who we are is infinitely malleable once we start to tinker with the outside. The external, he believes, determines the external. And to be sure, in Almodóvar, surfaces really do matter. Given such a premise, The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) is often
extremely creepy. It's also perhaps a little too cool and clean and clinical, too bogglingly plotty and over-calculated to truly love, but the highly composed grand design has things to ponder, revisit and re-admire. (Like Hitchcock, Almodóvar makes movies that even when flawed are tough to truly exhaust.) The source material aside, the obvious model for this macabre tale of obsession, isolation and transformation is the great 1960 French horror film Eyes Without a
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
Face, directed by Georges Franju, who also made a movie about an abattoir that has to be seen to be believed, or has to be seen to know how much you probably wish you didn't see it. Most Almodóvar has very clear roots in earlier, beloved, canonical films, but this one doesn't accentuate homage with much warmth, and there are only a few fits of his characteristic humour. (One highly memorable and totally appalling example of this includes an uneasy reunion between
Redgard's assistant and some guy in a tiger costume.) I feel like I keep wanting to warn you all about what The Skin I Live In lacks, but the truth is that despite all that I was still totally engaged with it, and some months after first seeing it, I'm easily lured into thinking about it, drawn into conversations about it. It's fleshy, prompts goosebumps, and gets under the skin. JOSEF BRAUN // JOSEF@VUEWEEKLY.COM
PREVUE // PUPPETS GET REAL
REVUE // SHEEN AND ESTEVEZ
FELT UP
THE WAY
Mon, Dec 5 (7 pm) Directed by Simon Glassman Metro Cinema at the Garneau
W
ith the exception of Boo Radleytype shut-ins—and really, even then—everybody's got at least one painfully awkward story to tell, the kind of memory that might only be coaxed out of you after a couple of beers and a solemn promise to withold judgment. The sorts of things, in short, that prove the most captivating pieces of schadenfreude you're likely to hear. For Felt Up, Simon Glassman's been collecting those sorts of stories and giving them a googly-eyed twist: he's set his growing collection of uncomfortable stories to film, using puppets instead of flesh-and-blood figures, so that all the gritty details play out before our eyes, their tragedies and triumphs befalling muppety stand-ins. The results run from gross to adorable to hilarious, and in advance of Felt Up's screening at the Garneau, Glassman took a few questions with Vue over email. To start off simply enough, where'd the idea for Felt Up come from? SIMON GLASSMAN: I had to do a documentary project for college and I couldn't think of anyone interesting enough to follow around with a camera for two months. I'd always wanted to archive gross or embarrassing stories for some reason, and it seemed dull to do the traditional thing and write a script and have people act them out. Puppets have this weird place in your brain, because they're basically cartoon characters but placed in the physical world. Seeing puppets VUE WEEKLY:
Gettin' fuzzy with it
be the ones to shit or have sex in the shorts adds this extra layer that makes things feel both otherworldly but at the same time really familiar. VW: Obviously, humour looks to be a factor in telling these stories this way, but what does filming awkward and/or humiliating stories with puppets allow you to do as a filmmaker? SG: Because the audio is set and ready to go before we ever start shooting, it gives you a lot of time to analyze what people are saying in their stories. Oftentimes when people tell a story, there are things that are implied but never actually spoken, or that are repeated or emphasized and by the end you get this vague good portrait of how the person is affected by the event, or where the event fits inside their head. As a filmmaker, I'm looking at the person telling the story as an unreliable narrator, and while it's the storyteller who is in control, or the audio, the visuals can see things completely differently.
VW: Are they all true? Once you had the idea, have you found people have been pretty forthcoming with stories? Have any surprised you, that someone would
come forward with such a story? SG: I was worried when I first started making Felt Up that people wouldn't want to tell me any personal stuff about themselves, or that I wasn't a good enough interviewer to get anything out of them. Once I finally started looking for stories though, the people I knew seemed really open to the idea and soon people started calling me. I rarely go a week without someone emailing to tell me they want something "FELT UP." I got a text from someone a few days ago from a number I didn't recognize describing "this hilarious blowjob" they got. I texted back, "Who are you?" and they never responded. VW: The press release notes that the audio's been recorded at real locations—bars, offices, parties—to retain authenticity. Why record them in those places to achieve that? SG: I don't have a recording studio at my disposal so I figured one place was as good as another. It keeps the storytellers comfortable to be drinking or smoking or in a familiar place so I'll probably carry on doing it. Paul Blinov
// paul@vueweekly.com
REVUE // ALBERTAN INFAMY
WIEBO'S WAR Fri, Dec 2 (9:15 pm); Sat, Dec 3 (2 pm); Sun, Dec 4 (4 pm); Tue, Dec 6 (7 pm) Written and directed by David York Metro Cinema at the Garneau
D
avid York's Wiebo's War attempts to shape a coherent narrative from Alberta's infamous preacher-activist Wiebo Ludwig's long-time struggle with the oil and gas industry, whose negligent placement and construction of wells (apparently) resulted in the illness and
multiple miscarriages within Ludwig's family and livestock, and who Ludwig (apparently) retaliated against with a campaign of spectacular acts of vandalism. (There is no shortage of ambiguity, or at least confirmed responsibility in all this.) Ludwig is intelligent and well-spoken, enigmatic and charismatic, mediasavvy and very experienced with cameras—the film features a great deal of the Ludwig family's own videography, including images of shocking evidence of contaminated water and of a funeral for a stillborn child—so York can hardly be faulted if his subject remains almost as opaque by the
end as he was at its start. But I kept wondering whether devoting a portion of Wiebo's War to a more formal interview with Ludwig might have allowed us to get closer to the bottom of certain nagging questions (such as who killed Karman Willis). Still, York has accomplished something of a small feat here, and this film, his debut as director/producer/ writer, is a significant document, addressing issues that have only become more fraught with time. Though he's now entering his 70s, Wiebo's war is hardly over yet.
Sheen, on the way
Opens Friday Directed by Emilio Estevez
F
ather-son team Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez share a long list of solid acting credits, but making a movie together—father in the starring role and son in the director's chair—isn't necessarily a recipe for success. While they give it their best shot with The Way, the final result is just slightly off the mark. The film follows Tom (Sheen), an aging ophthalmologist whose days mostly consist of seeing patients in between golf breaks with his country club buddies. A widower, his only family is his middle-aged son Daniel (Estevez) who makes a sudden decision to go abroad on a journey of self-discovery. Tom is none too pleased about this, but sees Daniel off, only to find himself flying to France a short time later to collect his son's remains. After learning that Daniel died attempting to make the Way of St James pilgrimage, Tom sets out to walk the long, gruelling route in his stead, taking what's left of his son with him. While it tries to be heartwarming and inspirational, The Way doesn't always manage to sidestep the trap of melodrama. It offers very little beyond the struggle between the gruff, emotion-
ally absent father and the optimistic, thoughtful son, and the cast of wacky characters that emerge as Tom's support system—and the film's comic relief—are as formulaic as they come. They all make a journey together, overcome obstacles along the way and come out the other side all having learned a lesson. Throw in a couple sentimental flashbacks of Daniel saying things like, "You don't choose a life—you live it" and the cheesy redemption narrative is complete. Sheen's distant, stiff character also has difficulty carrying the film. The initial scenes that leave Sheen mostly alone onscreen are plodding and monotonous, and little about his character is relatable or interesting. Luckily, the introduction of the supporting cast who follow Tom on the pilgrimage makes the movie much more bearable, creating a few moments of genuine emotion and humour in the otherwise flat narrative. There are occasional bright spots in The Way, but clumsy direction and overwrought emotions create a film that seems desperate instead of touching. While obviously well-intentioned, the movie's journey sees it walk into every possible cinematic pitfall. Madeline Smith
// madeline@vueweekly.com
Josef Braun
// josef@vueweekly.com
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
FILM 13
REVUE // YULETIDE SPIRIT
FILM // WHY, THE SOCIAL NERVE ....
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
THE RULES OF THE GAME Sat, Dec 3 – Wed, Dec 7 Directed by Jean Renoir Originally released: 1939 Metro Cinema at The Garneau
I
A Christmas surprise!
Now playing Directed by Sarah Smith
A
plucky, clever animated Xmas tale that isn't set in a yuletide of yore but ships us off to today, Arthur Christmas plunks us down in a dilemma. What's the spirit of the season anymore in a world of hyper-speed communication and high-tech gizmos? Santa's son Steve (voiced by Hugh Laurie), via computers, a giant stealth-craft and troops of special-ops elves, has militarized Christmas into a number-crunching mission to super-speed-deliver gifts. Santa's other son Arthur (James McAvoy), dealing with old-fashioned, handwritten letter requests, still happens to think about the children. When one child's missed, Arthur, old coot Grandsanta (Bill Nighy), and a su-
per-wrapping punk-elf (Ashley Jensen) go for a last-minute delivery by sleigh (their trouble begins, curiously, in Toronto). The steadfast, eminently capable Mrs Claus (Imelda Staunton) watches as the men of the family compete childishly for Santa supremacy. An Aardman film (Wallace and Gromit) that has much of the British studio's attention to quirky detail (especially bulbous noses here), wordplay and unconventional heroes (Arthur's fuelled by worry), the only hole in this stocking comes with the sometimes toozippy chase plot that's more out of ADDAmerican features. But a little flash-anddash can't spoil Arthur Christmas, which reminds us, after all, that the season shouldn't be about packaged products and bright lights. BRIAN GIBSON // BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
n these dark economic days, when the numbers-game balances 99 percent against one, the masses protesting against the ivory-gated rich, there seem to be even more reasons to see Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game (1939). The social nerve it strikes still crackles on screen, along with the dialogue, dry and tart as champagne, and elegant camerawork, revealing so much savage ado about nothing. The best reason to watch is to watch again—from De Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio), cavalier hypocrite-king of the master-class, to Christine (Nora Gregor), that apple-eating temptress whom courtiers blame even as they pursue, there's too much to take in at one sitting. Renoir's scathing attack on the show of feeling by a murderously superficial elite, gathered at De Chesnaye's country-house for the weekend, proved hugely influential (especially on Altman with Gosford Park) and prescient. Dark shades of holocaust, warfare, and French collusion dance, from a skit's skeletons to sudden violence during the night's party and its casual cover-up. Pilot André Jurieu's (Roland Toutain) honour is wingless in a world where De Chesnaye's music boxes, me-
j Luminaria i
Still pretty relevant, seven decades on
chanical warblers and stuffed animals have more vitality than the people swirling and gliding through the seemingly open, palatial rooms, in pursuit of a love that's a mere curiosity or a curio, a "small token of affection." The lower orders imitate, more buffoonishly and more ardently, the careless passions of those upstairs. Renoir plays bumbling, uncle-ish Octave, who dons a bear costume for one skit. It's a strangely beautiful merger of predator and prey, the artifice of culture masking stark nature; earlier, dapper guests hunted from behind wood blinds propped up in scrubland, picking off rabbits
and birds scattered by the hired help. This classy world thrives on casual slaughter ("only 60 pheasant the first day") and heartless play. Affairs and heartbreaks are poses; rituals circle listlessly around something meaningful. From flippant racism to detached flirtations, the masquerade continues. Deep-focus shots eye the game-players, track their moves and frame tokens of self-deluding, dizzying wealth for the fortuned few—the Grand Illusion. But back in the real world, from down here among the 99 percent, the more you watch it, the more The Rules of the Game still seem to apply. BRIAN GIBSON // BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
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14 FILM
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
REVUE // CHILDLIKE WONDER
REVUE // PARADISE LOST
HUGO
Hugo on the move
Now playing Directed by Martin Scorsese
I
t's clockwork-clear, from its steamwhistling, train platform-tracking, place-setting, long pre-title sequence, that Martin Scorsese's latest isn't quite a kid's film. Living in the inner workings of a train station, Hugo Cabret is an orphan eager to do his time-keeping labour but haunted by grief (for his horologist father), bent on a private quest and hounded by adult authority (a station guard). But these elements of children's fiction, while wound deftly, are sleightof-hand, tricking us into enjoying history as an adventure—a history of this flickering medium of magic and illusion. Scorsese, now in the winter of his career, has tapped into his own childlike passion for film with this late-period masterpiece. He doesn't just use 3D to
sharpen the foreground and Hitchcock our eyes down staircases spiralling up to a giant clock; he uses the latest technology to honour cinema's first great wave of special-effects. In one astonishing image, fish swim just before our eyes in the bubbles of an aquarium while, beyond, the painted and pulleyed film-set of magician-turned-director George Méliès surges with the activity of actors playing nymphs surrounding Jupiter. When Hugo (Asa Butterfield) tries to honour his dead father's memory by finding the key to an automaton that they had worked on, he runs into a toy-shop owner (Ben Kingsley) in the station and his goddaughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz). 1930s Paris and its café-culture come alive in the sepiatoned Montparnasse station, whirring with possibilities for friendship, love and art (pursued by the guard, Hugo flashes
by Joyce, Dalí and Django Reinhardt). Film can conjure up dreams, but also nightmares, as when the Lumiere brothers' 1895 film of a train arriving at a station seems set to repeat itself but with Hugo trapped on the tracks. And while one war ended Méliès' fame, another is approaching (as a poster with the word "Vichy" reminds us). Literature-loving Isabelle (who loves rolling out new words, such as "reprobate" and "clandestine") and film-loving Hugo bridge the storytelling mediums in their adventure (much as Brian Selznick fused word and image in the original picture-book). It's an adventure in a grand place but full of small moments. One of the most thrilling pursuits can simply be the discovery and opening of a secret shelf in a room where you're not supposed to be. Silent-film sentiment resurfaces in tender episodes between a few people in the station. Hugo's variously a little Tramp, a tragicomic Keaton and a Lloydlike lad hanging from a clock. Giant timepieces, statues and automata loom. But among falling snow, whirling dust motes and the ashes of burnt film, Hugo rekindles a love and soul in man-mended, hand-cranked machinery—Hugo sees the world as a great mechanism, so he must be a part that belongs, that can click into place; everyone must find their "purpose." One of Scorsese's purposes has been film-preservation—ensuring happy endings for some historic reels of celluloid, a material rapidly becoming a relic. To see such purpose turned into childlike wonder and adventure in Hugo is to behold the spellbinding alchemy—from stiff reality to moving magic—that's fired up cinema from its beginning.
THE DESCENDANTS
Sure, it looks idyllic ...
Now Playing Directed by Alexander Payne
'P
aradise can go fuck itself," Matthew King (George Clooney) says, introducing us to his home and native land, Hawaii. Beneath its postcard-surface are lives like any others'—full of complication, struggle and shades of wry humour. Matt knows—his wife's in a coma and he's struggling to deal with her fate and their two daughters, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller), while nearing a decision on a huge tract of land on Kauai that has come down to him, in trust. Striking island vistas give way to bitter truths and one-sided conversations in
non-descript rooms. Midwesterner Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Sideways) is working in a slightly more serious, nearly soap-operatic, environment than usual. But the script sails around stormy clichés and overstated emotion. Matt's a bit stunted and cut-off, a little unaware of just how much he can rely on his haole (white-descent) money. The relationship between Matt and Alexandra, his eldest, grows ever so slightly. And what The Descendants dwells on, better than any film in years, is how, just beneath the surface of that teenager who seems a shrugging idiot or that woman who seems an everyday mom, rustles an undergrowth of pain, or loss, or heartache. Brian Gibson // brian@vueweekly.com
Brian Gibson // brian@vueweekly.com
REVUE // FUBAR GOES WEST
A LEGEND OF WHITEY Fri, Dec 2 – Thu, Dec 8 Directed by David Lawrence Metro Cinema at the Garneau
T
he Pilsner-fueled minds that brought you Fubar look back at our province's history with A Legend of Whitey, the title of which references an animal that figures prominently in the story, but could just as easily be a reference to its lead, Luther (David Lawrence), a hapless half-white half-aboriginal fellow who returns home to meet his half brother. They end up on the run from a rich rancher both racist and homophobic, a snow-coloured bison—that Luther believes is one of legend, destined to bring the great herds of bison back to the land—in tow. Directed by and starring Lawrence— who will be attending Metro's Friday night debut of the film and doing a Q&A afterwards—it's set in 1885 Alberta, and plays on our less-than-spotless history, albeit in a very skewed, very silly way. Whitey's best moments are the most
A different sort of legend
inexplicably funny ones: instead of trying to force racial humour and obvious jokes, Whitey succeeds when at its most candid and quippy: the strange documentary-like moments while characters pose for old-timey photographs; a breakfasttime visit to a brothel; the strange hippie priest who crops up to act as translator between the whites and the First Nations. Truthful depiction of the era be dammed: these are the moments that feel both endearing and hilarious. The film's harping on our bigoted roots are a little less effective: it feels overly drawn out here without much in the
way of a payoff. Outside of obvious jokes—a vantage point that makes one man kneeling in front of another look like an act of oral sex, rich white dudes generally being bigots—it doesn't really offer much in terms of an actual lampoon of anything. Still, while it probably won't reach the cult status that Fubar has managed, A Legend of Whitey shows a cult act trying something completely different. Despite some flaws, the fact that they're not resting on their beer-chugging laurels is promising for the future. Paul Blinov // paul@vueweekly.com
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
FILM 15
FILM WEEKLY Fri, DEC 2, 2011 – Thu, DEC 8, 2011
CHABA THEATRE–JASPER 6094 Connaught Dr, Jasper, 780.852.4749
J. EDGAR (PG language may offend) Fri-Sat 6:50, 9:10; Sun-Thu 8:00; Sat-Sun 1:30 Happy Feet Two (G) Fri-Sat 7:00, 9:10; Sun-Thu 8:00; Sat-Sun 1:30 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour (STC) THU 7:30 DUGGAN CINEMA–CAMROSE 6601-48 Ave, Camrose, 780.608.2144
THE MUPPETS (G) Daily 7:05, 9:20; SatSun 2:10 Arthur Christmas (G) Daily 7:10, 9:05; Sat-Sun 2:15 Hugo (PG) Daily 6:50 9:10; Sat-Sun 1:50 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Daily 7:00 9:15; Sat-Sun 2:00 Happy Feet Two (G) Daily 7:20; Sat-Sun 2:20 CINEMA CITY MOVIES 12 5074-130 Ave, 780.472.9779
The Smurfs (G) Daily 1:55, 4:20, 6:50 RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Daily 3:50, 9:35 Contagion (14A) Daily 1:35, 4:10, 7:20, 9:50
The Three Musketeers 3d (PG violence) Digital 3d Daily 1:20, 3:45, 6:40, 9:20 What's Your Number? (14A language may offend) Daily 1:25, 7:15 Dolphin Tale 3d (G) Digital 3d Daily 1:10, 3:40, 6:30, 9:25 ANONYMOUS (PG violence, sexually suggestive scenes) Daily 9:45 The Help (PG mature subject matter, language may offend) Daily 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:55 Johnny English Reborn (PG) Daily 1:40, 3:45, 6:35, 9:10 Moneyball (PG coarse language) Daily 1:05, 4:05, 7:05, 10:00 Killer Elite (14A brutal violence) Daily 1:45, 4:15, 6:45, 9:15 Desi Boyz (PG not recommended for young children) Hindi W/E.S.T. Daily 1:30, 4:05, 6:45, 9:25 I Am Singh (PG violence, language may offend) Hindi W/E.S.T. Daily 1:20, 4:25, 7:10, 10:00 The Dirty Picture (STC) Hindi W/E.S.T. Daily 12:55, 3:55, 6:55, 9:55 CINEPLEX ODEON NORTH 14231-137 Ave, 780.732.2236
A VERY HAROLD KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (18A substance abuse, crude content) Fri, Sun-Thu 1:50, 5:15, 8:00, 10:20; Sat 5:15, 8:00, 10:20 HAPPY FEET TWO (G) Daily 12:20, 2:40, 5:10 HAPPY FEET TWO 3D (G) Digital 3d Daily 1:45, 4:15, 6:45, 9:15 PUSS IN BOOTS (G) Daily 12:10, 2:30, 4:45, 7:00, 9:10
““a a sweet and sincere sincere c family famil m ly pilgrimage! pilgrim mage! ag a
Audiences A ud u iences seekin seeking g uplift will find it he here.” ere.” -R Roger o oger Eber Ebert, rt, Chi Chicago cago Sun-Times Sun Times
“One “O ne o of f th the he more more jjoyous oy yo ou us movies of m ovies o f the year!” - Christ Christopher opher r Null, film filmcritic.com critic.com
“A heartfelt, life-affirming film!” - Richard Crouse, Metro
“Open yourself up to this thoughtful, moving personal adventure!” - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Digital Cinema Daily 12:00 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) Digital 3d Daily 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:40 IMMORTALS 3D (18A gory brutal violence) Digital 3d Fri-Tue, Thu 2:00, 5:00, 7:50, 10:40; Wed 2:00, 5:00, 10:40 HUGO 3D (PG) Digital 3d Daily 1:10, 4:10, 7:15, 10:10 THE MUPPETS (G) Fri-Tue, Thu 12:50, 3:30, 6:50, 9:30; Wed 3:30, 6:50, 9:30; Star & Strollers Screening: Wed 1:00 JACK AND JILL (PG) Daily 12:40, 3:00, 5:20, 7:30, 9:55 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Daily 12:30, 3:20, 6:30, 7:45, 9:20, 10:30; Ultraavx: Fri-Tue, Thu 1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 10:00; Wed 4:20, 7:10, 10:00 TOWER HEIST (PG coarse language) Daily 4:40, 7:40, 10:15 THE DESCENDANTS (14A) Daily 1:00, 3:50, 7:05, 9:50 MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (14A) Fri-Tue, Thu 1:30, 4:00, 6:40, 9:00; Wed 4:00, 6:40, 9:00; Star & Strollers Screening: Wed 1:00 Rodelinda (STC) Sat 10:30 J. EDGAR (PG language may offend) Daily 1:40 White Christmas (STC) Digital Cinema Wed 7:00 CINEPLEX ODEON SOUTH 1525-99 St, 780.436.8585
A VERY HAROLD KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (18A substance abuse, crude content) Digital Cinema Fri-Sat 1:25, 3:50, 6:10, 8:40, 10:50; Sun 1:05, 4:15, 7:35, 10:10; Mon-Thu 1:50, 5:30, 8:00, 10:20 HAPPY FEET TWO (G) Digital Cinema FriSat 1:15, 4:20; Sun 1:15, 4:15; Mon-Thu 1:10, 3:50 HAPPY FEET TWO ED (G) Digital 3d Fri-Sat 12:00, 2:35, 5:10, 7:55, 10:30; Sun 12:00, 2:45, 5:10, 7:55, 10:20; Mon-Thu 1:40, 4:30, 7:15, 9:55 PUSS IN BOOTS (G) Digital Cinema Fri-Sat 12:40, 3:05, 5:35, 8:10, 10:25; Sun 12:40, 3:05, 5:40, 8:10, 10:25; Mon-Thu 12:50, 3:10, 6:20, 8:50 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Digital Cinema Fri-Sat 12:25; Sun 2:45, 5:15, 7:40, 10:00; Mon-Tue 2:00; Wed 2:00, 4:25, 7:10, 9:40; Star & Strollers Screening: Thu 1:00 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) Digital 3d Fri-Sat 2:45, 5:15, 7:40, 10:00; Sun 12:25; Mon-Tue, Thu 4:25, 7:10, 9:40 IMMORTALS 3D (18A gory brutal violence) Digital 3d Fri-Sat 12:05, 2:40, 5:20, 8:15, 10:50; Sun 1:40, 4:20, 7:10, 10:05; Mon-Thu 1:25, 4:35, 7:30, 10:10 HUGO (PG) Digital Cinema Fri-Sun 12:50; Mon-Thu 12:40 HUGO 3D (PG) Digital 3d Fri-Sat 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:20; Sun 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 9:30; MonThu 1:20, 4:10, 6:50, 9:35 THE MUPPETS (G) Digital Cinema Fri, Sun 11:45, 2:15, 4:50, 7:25, 10:10; Sat 11:45, 2:15, 4:45, 7:25, 10:10; Mon-Thu 2:10, 4:45, 7:20, 10:00 JACK AND JILL (PG) Digital Cinema Fri-Sat 11:55, 2:20, 4:45, 7:15, 9:30; Sun 12:55, 3:45, 6:05, 8:40; Mon-Wed 2:20, 5:00, 7:50, 10:05; Thu 1:15, 3:30, 9:15 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Digital Cinema Fri 12:30, 1:30, 3:15, 4:15, 6:40, 7:20, 9:25, 10:05; Sat 12:30, 3:15, 4:15, 6:40, 7:20, 9:25, 10:05; Sun 11:50, 12:45, 3:00, 3:40, 6:00, 6:40, 9:00, 9:35; Mon-Tue, Thu 12:30, 1:00, 3:15, 4:00, 6:10, 7:00, 9:10, 9:50; Wed 12:30, 1:00, 3:15, 4:00, 7:00, 9:50, 10:00; Ultraavx: Fri-Sat 11:50, 2:30, 5:15, 8:00, 10:45; Sun 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:30; Mon-Thu 1:30, 4:40, 7:40, 10:30 TOWER HEIST (PG coarse language) Digital Cinema Fri-Sat 12:35, 3:00, 5:30, 8:15, 10:45; Sun 1:25, 3:45, 6:20, 9:15; Mon-Thu 2:15, 5:10, 7:45, 10:15 White Christmas (STC) Digital Cinema Wed 7:00 THE DESCENDANTS (14A) Digital Cinema Fri-Sat 11:45, 2:25, 5:05, 7:50, 10:35; Sun 1:00, 4:00, 7:20, 10:25; Mon-Wed 2:05, 4:50, 7:35, 10:25; Thu 4:50, 7:35, 10:25; Star & Strollers Screening: Thu 1:00 MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (14A) Digital Cinema Fri-Sat 12:45, 3:10, 5:40, 8:20, 10:40; Sun 1:10, 4:05, 7:50, 10:30; Mon-Thu 1:45, 4:20, 6:55, 9:20 Rodelinda (STC) Sat 10:30 MELANCHOLIA (14A) Digital Cinema FriSun 7:00, 10:15; Mon-Thu 6:30, 9:30 J. EDGAR (PG language may offend) Digital Cinema Fri-Sun 3:35, 6:45, 9:45; Mon, WedThu 3:30, 6:45, 9:45; Tue 3:30, 6:40, 9:45 CITY CENTRE 9 10200-102 Ave, 780.421.7020
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AIM_VUE_DEC1_QTR_WAY 16 FILM
Allied Integrated Marketing • EDMONTON VUE • 4”x 9”
THE MUPPETS (G) Closed Captioned, Dolby Stereo Digital, Stadium Seating Daily 1:00, 4:00, 6:45, 9:45 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Dolby Stereo Digital, Stadium Seating, Closed Captioned Daily 12:30, 3:30, 7:15, 10:15
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
The Way (PG substance abuse) Dolby Stereo Digital Daily 12:10, 3:10, 6:30, 9:30 HUGO 3D (PG) Stadium Seating, DTS Digital Daily 12:15, 3:15, 7:00, 10:00 Like Crazy (PG coarse language) Closed Captioned, DTS Digital, Stadium Seating Daily 12:50, 3:50, 6:40, 9:40 J. EDGAR (PG language may offend) Closed Captioned, Stadium Seating, DTS Digital Daily 12:40, 3:40, 6:50, 9:50 HAPPY FEET TWO (G) DTS Digital, Stadium Seating Daily 1:15, 4:15 A VERY HAROLD KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (18A substance abuse, crude content) DTS Digital, Stadium Seating Daily 7:35, 10:35 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) DTS Digital, Stadium Seating Daily 3:00, 7:20, 10:20 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Digital Presentation, DTS Digital, Stadium Seating Daily 12:00 IMMORTALS (18A gory brutal violence) Dolby Stereo Digital, Stadium Seating Fri, Sun-Thu 12:20, 3:20, 7:25, 10:25; Sat 12:20, 3:20, 7:25 CLAREVIEW 10 4211-139 Ave, 780.472.7600
JACK AND JILL (PG) Digital Presentation Fri 7:15, 9:40; Sat-Sun 1:40, 4:10, 7:15, 9:40; Mon-Thu 5:40, 8:15 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Digital Presentation: On 2 Screens Fri 6:25, 6:50, 9:10, 9:35; Sat-Sun 1:00, 1:30, 3:45, 4:10, 6:25, 6:50, 9:10, 9:35; Mon-Thu 5:00, 5:25, 7:45, 8:10 HAPPY FEET TWO (G) Digital Presentation Sat-Sun 1:15 THE MUPPETS (G) Digital Presentation Fri 6:45, 9:30; Sat-Sun 1:20, 4:00, 6:45, 9:30; Mon-Thu 5:10, 7:50 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) Digital 3d Fri 6:35, 9:00; Sat-Sun 3:45, 6:35, 9:00; MonThu 5:10, 7:40 IMMORTALS (18A gory brutal violence) Digital Presentation Fri 6:55, 9:35; Sat-Sun 1:30, 4:15, 6:55, 9:35; Mon-Thu 5:40, 8:15 TOWER HEIST (PG coarse language) Digital Presentation Fri 7:10; Sat-Sun 1:25, 4:05, 7:10; Mon-Thu 5:30 PUSS IN BOOTS (G) Digital Presentation Fri 7:05, 9:20; Sat-Sun 1:45, 4:15, 7:05, 9:20; Mon-Thu 5:15, 7:35 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) Digital Presentation Sat-Sun 1:10 HAPPY FEET TWO 3D (G) Digital 3d Fri 6:40, 9:15; Sat-Sun 3:55, 6:40, 9:15; MonThu 4:50, 7:30 A VERY HAROLD KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (18A substance abuse, crude content) Digital Presentation Fri-Sun 9:40; Mon-Thu 8:10 HUGO 3D (PG) Digital 3d Fri 6:30, 9:20; Sat-Sun 12:50, 3:40, 6:30, 9:20; Mon-Thu 5:00, 8:00 GALAXY–SHERWOOD PARK 2020 Sherwood Dr, Sherwood Park 780.416.0150
HAPPY FEET TWO 3D (G) Digital 3d Fri 3:50, 6:50, 9:50; Sat-Sun 12:30, 3:50, 6:50, 9:50; Mon-Thu 6:50, 9:50 PUSS IN BOOTS (G) Fri 4:40, 7:40, 10:20; Sat-Sun 12:40, 4:40, 7:40, 10:20; Mon-Thu 7:40, 10:20 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) Digital 3d FriSun 3:30, 6:40, 9:30; Mon-Thu 6:40, 9:30 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Digital Cinema Sat-Sun 12:00 IMMORTALS (18A gory brutal violence) Fri 3:55, 7:50, 10:35; Sat-Sun 1:20, 3:55, 7:50, 10:35; Mon-Thu 7:50, 10:35 HUGO 3D (PG) Digital 3d Fri 4:10, 7:10, 10:05; Sat-Sun 12:20, 4:10, 7:10, 10:05; Mon-Thu 7:10, 10:05 THE MUPPETS (G) Fri 4:20, 7:20, 10:10; Sat-Sun 1:10, 4:20, 7:20, 10:10; Mon-Thu 7:20, 10:10 JACK AND JILL (PG) Fri 3:40, 7:45, 10:15; Sat-Sun 12:50, 3:40, 7:45, 10:15; Mon-Thu 7:45, 10:15 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Fri 4:00, 4:30, 7:00, 7:30, 10:00, 10:30; Sat-Sun 1:00, 1:30, 4:00, 4:30, 7:00, 7:30, 10:00, 10:30; Mon-Thu 7:00, 7:30, 10:00, 10:30 TOWER HEIST (PG coarse language) Fri 3:30, 6:30, 9:40; Sat-Sun 12:10, 3:30, 6:30, 9:40; Mon-Thu 6:30, 9:40 GRANDIN THEATRE–St Albert Grandin Mall, Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert, 780.458.9822
Happy Feet Two (G) Daily 1:00 3:05 5:10 7:25 9:25
THE MUPPETS (G) No passes Daily 1:10 3:20 5:20 7:20 9:20 IMMORTALS (18A gory brutal violence) Daily 7:10 9:05 JACK AND JILL (PG) Daily 1:25, 3:15, 5:00 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) No passes Daily 1:45, 4:25, 7:00, 9:15 Arthur Christmas (G) No passes Daily 12:45 2:45 4:50 7:05 9:00
LEDUC CINEMAS Leduc, 780.352.3922
THE MUPPETS (G) Daily 7:05, 9:20; SatSun 1:05, 3:20 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Daily 7:00, 9:40; Sat-Sun 1:00, 3:40 Arthur Christmas (G) daily 6:55, 9:20; Sat-Sun 12:55, 3:20 Happy Feet Two 3D (G) Sat-Sun 12:50, 3:15 J. EDGAR (PG language may offend) Daily 6:50, 9:35 METRO CINEMA at the Garneau Metro at the Garneau: 8712-109 St, 780.425.9212
The Room (14A nudity, sexual content) FRI 11:00 The Rules of the Game (PG) SAT 7:00 Sikligar (STC) SUN 12:30 Felt Up! (STC) MON 7:00 Wiebo's War (14A disturbing content) FRI 9:15; SAT 2:00; SUN 4:00; TUE 7:00 The Rules of the Game (PG) French with English subtitles SUN 9:00, 2:00; TUE 9:00; WED 7:00 Picture of Light (STC) AGA: THU 7:00 A Legend of Whitey (14A coarse language) FRI, SUN 7:00; SAT, MON, WED, THU 9:15; SAT 4:00 PARKLAND CINEMA 7 130 Century Crossing, Spruce Grove, 780.972.2332 (Spruce Grove, Stony Plain; Parkland County)
Hugo (PG) Daily 6:40; 9:10; Sat-Sun, Tue 12:40, 3:10 50/50 (14A coarse language) Daily 7:10; 9:15; Sat-Sun, Tue 1:10, 3:15 Arthur Christmas 3d (G) Daily 6:55pm 8:55; Sat-Sun, Tue 12:55pm 2:55 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Daily 7:00pm 9:20; Sat-Sun, Tue 1:00, 3:20 Happy Feet Two 3D (G) Daily 6:45, 8:50; Sat-Sun, Tue 12:45, 2:50 The Muppets (G) Daily 7:00, 9:05; Sat-Sun, Tue 1:00, 3:05; Movies for Mommies: Tue 1:00 JACK AND JILL (PG) Daily 9:00 Puss in Boots (G) Fri-Tue 7:10; Sat-Sun, Tue 1:10, 3:00 PRINCESS 10337-82 Ave, 780.433.0728
The Descendants (14A) Daily 6:50 9:10; Sat-Sun 2:00 The Guard (14A coarse language) Daily 7:00; Sat-Sun 1:00 Take Shelter (14A) Daily 9:00; Sat-Sun 3:00 SCOTIABANK THEATRE WEM WEM, 8882-170 St, 780.444.2400
A VERY HAROLD KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (18A substance abuse, crude content) Digital Cinema Daily 2:00, 5:00, 7:50, 10:20 HAPPY FEET TWO (G) Digital Cinema Fri-Tue, Thu 12:30, 3:30; Wed 3:30; Star & Strollers Screening: Wed 1:00 PUSS IN BOOTS 3D (G) Digital 3d Daily 1:00, 4:00, 6:30, 9:10 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) Digital 3d Daily 12:50, 3:50, 6:50, 9:15 IMMORTALS 3D (18A gory brutal violence) Digital 3d Daily 1:50, 4:45, 7:45, 10:30 HUGO 3D (PG) Digital 3d Daily 12:40, 3:40, 6:40, 9:40 THE MUPPETS (G) Digital Cinema Daily 12:45, 3:45, 6:45, 9:20 JACK AND JILL (PG) Digital Cinema Daily 1:10, 4:10, 7:10, 9:50 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Digital Cinema: Daily 1:30, 4:30, 6:30, 7:30, 9:30, 10:30; Ultraavx: Daily 12:30, 3:30, 7:00, 10:00 TOWER HEIST (PG coarse language) Digital Cinema Fri-Tue, Thu 1:40, 4:40, 7:40, 10:15; Wed 4:40, 7:40, 10:15; Star & Strollers Screening: Wed 1:00 IN TIME (PG violence, coarse language) Digital Cinema Fri, Sun-Tue, Thu 1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 10:10; Sat 4:20, 7:20, 10:10; Wed 1:20, 4:00, 10:10 HAPPY FEET TWO: An Imax 3d Experience (G) Daily 1:15, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30 Rodelinda (STC) Sat 10:30 WETASKIWIN CINEMAS Wetaskiwin, 780.352.3922
THE MUPPETS (G) Daily 6:55, 9:20; SatSun 12:55, 3:20 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Daily 7:00, 9:40; Sat-Sun 1:00, 3:40 IMMORTALS (18A gory brutal violence) Daily 7:05, 9:30; Fri-Sun 1:05, 3:30 Happy Feet Two 3D (G) FRI-Sun 12:50, 3:15 J. EDGAR (PG language may offend) Daily 6:50, 9:35
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CONCERTS VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
FILM 17
ARTS
PREVUE // DANCE
CONVERGENCE Thu, Dec 1 – Sat, Dec 3 (8 pm) Transalta Arts Barns, Westbury Theatre, $15 – $20
T
he creative collective is often prominent in contemporary dance circles: a small group of like-minded artists get together to create work— depending on what city they happen to be in, that's sometimes the best chance to develop new pieces. And to keep working. It's not easy (or lucrative) to take such a path, but when given the option most dancers simply want to dance, and a group of young Edmonton dancers has thus far proven pretty resourceful at forming their own opportunities. When the Good Women Dance Collective formed in 2009, Ainsley Hillyard, Alida Nyquist-Schultz and Alison Towne had returned to Edmonton after receiving their professional dance accreditations. The three originally met while enrolled in the waning years of the Grant MacEwan dance program; later Towne went on to Simon Fraser University, while Hillyard and NyquistSchultz left for Winnipeg's School of Contemporary Dance. Perhaps it was the time they spent bonding during school, or perhaps it was knowing the greater opportunities in collaboration (rather than competition), but the three began
Good Women's first foray into a full-length program runs this weekend
participating on pretty much every dance platform they could find: Nextfest, Expanse Movement Arts Festival, Kaleido Festival and the Fringe. The collective has become known for its popular What's Cooking? night in celebration of International Dance Day (annually held on April 29), where dancers are invited to test out ideas on an audience, all of whom are supplied with feedback forms and a tasty
pot-luck dinner. "We've been doing What's Cooking? informal presentations for two years now, and we just wanted to take the next step in that process," explains Hillyard. Thus, Convergence, the Good Women's first foray into a full-length program, was born. Out of the raw ideas presented at last April's event, Convergence features fully-cooked presenta-
tions by Good Women, Momentum Collective (another collaborative trio of young up-and-coming dancers from Calgary), a video presentation from iDance, and a new work by Raena Waddell, which features Nyquist-Schultz and Hillyard as performers. Waddell's brand of emotionally charged and visually evocative choreography has been heartily welcomed
PREVUE // CAN WE TALK?
JOAN RIVERS
Tue, Dec 6 (8 pm) Jubilee Auditorium, $52.65 – $82.65
W
ith over half a century's experience as a performer, Joan Rivers has no plans to slow down. Not now, not ever. She's currently doing two television shows—Fashion Police, where she and a coterie of fashion mavens comment on the week's worth of celebrity fashions, and Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best where she appears with her daughter Melissa Rivers—both of those in addition to the stand-up tour that will have her blowing into Edmonton this week. At 78 years old, one might think the comedy legend would retire, take it easy, but Rivers will have none of it. "Most people are dead at this age, not retired," she laughs. "Most people wait to retire to do what they love—I've been lucky that I've been able to make a living doing what I love. This is like a gift to me." Rivers built her reputation on shock and celebrity ridicule and, far from becoming tamer as her career progressed, Rivers has continued to push the boundaries of comedy. The
18 ARTS
advent of reality television has been a major boon to the performer, who says she never feels like she's stuck her nose where it doesn't belong, no matter how much heat she takes. "Anyone that says, 'My life is public property,' that's it," she says. "You can't be Kim Kardashian and tell us that your wedding cost 16-million dollars and your ring cost two-million dollars and you're madly in love and this is it and then 74 days later say, 'Oops made a mistake,' and we're supposed to respect your privacy? There was no privacy to start with." So what does Rivers do when she opens her mouth and it gets her into trouble? She ignores it. "I don't read reviews and anything negative—I'm not interested. This should go for everybody: you live your life as best you can, you try to do right, and if your next-door neighbour doesn't like it, so be it," she says. "Unless you're in their will. Then, you go next door with a big bunch of flowers and say, 'You're absolutely right, can I give you a back rub?'" Bryan Birtles
// bryan@vueweekly.com
Joan Rivers brings her foul mouth to the Joan Rangers this week
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
by the Collective since its inception. Waddell's piece, called "Bound," shows she, Hillyard and Nyquist-Schultz strung together by a wide loop of black fabric. "One of my favourite things about working with Raena is that she's always specific about what she wants from you. Her objectives are clear with movement and line and shape, but every process that I've worked with her there's always some percentage that's created by her dancers," says Hillyard. "It's nice that when you're working with someone of Raena's calibre as a dancer that she still values your input." Nyquist-Schultz is also presenting an original work, "Counterpoint," which explores a conflicting relationship between two dancers—an interesting twist, seeing as the actual dancers in the piece, she and Hillyard, are close pals. "Alida and I work together all the time. We're very close. She asked me to be a lot more aggressive and hardhitting—almost predatory [in the piece]," says Hillyard. "I feel like one of the differences between us is that I feel Alida is very calm and sweet and organized, and I'm very loud and aggressive. So for me it was nice ... when she asked me to terrorize her for a bit I was actually thrilled," she laughs. Fawnda Mithrush
// fawnda@vueweekly.com
PREVUE // IRONY!
PREVUE // FESTIVE DRAG
FUDDY MEERS
WITH BELLS ON
Thu, Dec 1 – Sat, Dec 10 (7:30 pm); Thu, Dec 8 (12:30 pm) Timms Centre for the Arts, $10 – $20
I
t's the perfect situation for dramatic irony: a young woman suffering from a very specific form of psychogenic amnesia forgets everything when she falls asleep, so when she wakes up each day she is a blank slate on which her husband and son must imprint the details of her life. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, Fuddy Meers is a quirky comedy with humour that flows directly from the dramatic and situational irony of its characters. And if it sounds suspiciously similar to a certain 2004 Adam Sandler movie, keep in mind that the play came first. "You want to think the best of people, but when you hear about something like that it kinda makes you wonder," muses Ron Jenkins, guest director of Studio Theatre's upcoming production of Fuddy Meers. Jenkins was not familiar with this particular work before being asked to work with the University of Alberta's 2012 BFA acting class, nor was he familiar with that aforementioned Sandler movie, 50 First Dates, but he argues that it's actually beneficial to come to Fuddy like the protagonist: as a blank slate. "This play also reminds me of other
plays I've done," says Jenkins. "But it's also very unique, and there's things in it that are just unexpected and very true to life. It's a screwball comedy, but there is real heart to it. "Comedy is the hardest thing to do," he continues. When asked to explain why, he merely laughs. "Because it is. It just is. Some people find certain things funny, and others don't. "With this play, there's a character with a speech impediment, and another character who lisps," explains Jenkins. "So we've had to make sure that this comes across properly." The title of the play, Fuddy Meers, derives from the muddled pronunciation of "funny mirrors" by a character who has suffered a stroke. Jenkins also focused on imagery in this production, employing set design and visual cues to support the script. "But we don't want to give any of that away," he laughs, before conceding a few points: "The set is very moveable. There's things flying on to the stage, and things flying off the stage, and it's all part of that sort of fun house atmosphere. "It's just very, very fun," he continues. "And it's a great chance for these young actors to show off what they've been doing for the past three years." Mel Priestley
// mel@vueweekly.com
Until Sun, Dec 11 (8 pm) Written and Directed by Darrin Hagen Roxy Theatre, $11 – $21
F
or 25 years now, Guys in Disguise has decked the halls of a wide swath of subject matter, usually by planting it in towering heels and a whole lotta makeup. But for all that cross-dressing comedy, With Bells On, the company's latest, is very much a Christmas show with the seasonal sentiment in its heart. And though Darrin Hagen notes it's probably one of his cleanest, most family-friendly scripts, he doesn't think a Christmas show is too far of a stretch for the company know more for titles like Bitchslap! and The Neo-Nancies: Hitler's Kickline. "I can't believe I've never done one before," Hagen says, punctuating the statement with one of his usual roomfilling laughs. "It's my chance to approach the genre of a Christmas play from a completely fresh angle that doesn't get all treacly. I get to avoid all of the stereotypes of a Christmas play, because we're putting it in a very unique and unusual setting, and we got to take a very fresh look at that genre and bring our own kind of message to the table, which was a lot of fun." That said, Hagen didn't start with the ambition to write a festive script. With Bells On's trek toward holiday spirit began rather innocuously, when Hagen saw actor James Hamilton perform for the first time.
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A christmas surprise
"He was doing this reading—I can't remember what play it was from—but I looked at him and instantly thought to myself, 'Oh my god, would he ever look hilarious standing next to me while I'm in drag,'" Hagen recalls. From there, the setting became an elevator prone to breakdowns (modelled on the one in Hagen's apartment), and it was pitched and picked up by Lunchbox Theatre's playdevelopment program in Calgary. There, after Hagen penned a stage direction to describe the queen's dress—"I said that she looked a giant Christmas Tree"—the script found its yuletide heart. (It was a hit down there, too—actor Paul Welch took home a Betty Mitchell award for his role, which he's reprising here.) The finalized plot pairs Hamilton as a recently divorced accountant about to attempt a night out on the town with Welch, a seven-foot Glamazon fully decked out and ready to attempt a win at a Christmastime queen pageant. The elevator they're sharing grinds to a halt, and as they attempt their escape, the two discover they might not be so different after all. "I have to do drag for events that are
not at my house, but I have to get ready at my house all the time," Hagen says. "So inevitably there's this moment where you're in full swinging drag and you get on the elevator in this tiny confined artificial space, and you just pray nobody gets on until you get to the bottom. And it's not because you're embarrassed about being drag, I just don't want to have that conversation at 3 o'clock in the morning or 4 o'clock in the morning, with someone who doesn't understand. And hilariously enough, there's been several times in this building where I've had to leave in full makeup, and of course, just the way luck works out, the redneck who lives next door to us, who works in Fort McMurray all winter, and likes to spend his money at the peeler bars, suddenly he's waiting for the elevator with me, and I've got full Joan Crawford face on or something ridiculous like that. It's always an uncomfortable situation for both of us, I'm sure, and confusing. So I just thought it would be really great to trap two people in that artificial situation and see how they would get out from that." Paul BLinov
// paul@vueweekly.com
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EDMONTON KC
COLUMBIAN CHOIRS
Columbian Choirs
Edmonton’s Family of Choirs
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
ARTS 19
Next week VUE Weekly will be previewing TWO Christmas classics
PREVUE // PRATCHETT ON STAGE
WYRD SISTERS and a layer of Shakespeare mixed into the plot, it charts the happenings of a scheming prince, a trio of witches, a king's ghost and a theatre troupe touring the land.
&
The Velveteen Rabbit A Christmas Carol
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Sisters, up to something wyrd
Until Sat, Dec 10 (8 pm) Directed by J Nelson Niwa Walterdale Playhouse, $10.50 – $16
T
o call Terry Pratchett prolific is to almost woefully understate the novelist's ability to churn out words. He's averaged a pair of books a year since 1971, plenty of them set in the Discworld series that equally parodies and embraces the fantasty genre (the world is indeed disc shaped, set on the back of four elephants who are in turn
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
set on the back of a giant turtle). Director J Nelson Niwa admits he's somewhat of a recent Pratchett convert, having been reading his works for a mere eight years. "When I came into it, he was already 20 books deep," he grins. Still, having read (and reread) most of them by now, Niwa's as well versed as any who might look to bring Pratchett's Discworld to the stage, which he's set to do in directing the Walterdale's production of Wyrd Sisters. Boasting a cast of 21,
It's been a process to bring that world onto the stage—aside from working with those both familiar with Pratchett and those for whom it's brand new, Niwa notes the scheduling difficulty that is trying to get 21 people in a room together, praising his assistant director for taking the reins on that—but Niwa also notes how the clever, grounding sense of satire in Pratchett's story has made made it far from unweildly. "Prachett has taken a classic genre, the Tolkien-esque world: you've got witches who do magic, there's wizards trekking 'round that do a different kind of magic, there's trolls running around, there's dwarves—not all necessarily in this play—but [he's] really given it, strangely enough, a serious dose of common sense," he says. "It's interesting having a satirist who says, 'Okay, well we've got a fantasy genre, we've got a fantasy story, but if we had one or two characters that actually bloody well thought logically, what would happen?' And it always turns out to be interesting." PAUL BLINOV // PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM
PREVUE // DOMESTIC DRAMA
THE SURVIVAL OF PIGEONS AS STUDIED BY HUMAN LOVERS
TransCanada’s
Alberta Backstage Series Nary a pigeon in sight ... yet
Thu, Dec 1 – Sat, Dec 10 (7:30 pm; Sat matinees 2 pm) Varscona Theatre, $15
I
f the effusive title of this show sounds familiar, rest assured you probably aren't confusing it with something else—local theatre company Surreal SoReal is mounting a third production of a play it debuted at last year's Nextfest, and then presented again at the 2010 Fringe Festival. "With two productions behind us, we've just been improving the show with every remount," states director Vincent Forcier. Even if you've seen either or both previous incarnations, he assures that this production is not identical to what has come before. "The script has gone through quite a few drafts," states Forcier. "This time around, [Stewart]'s had a year and a half to leave the script alone and come back to it with fresh eyes. And actually we've ended up playing with different endings, and now we've finally settled on what we want to do with this run-through." Aside from the rewrites, several other aspects have changed with this new production—notably, a different actor playing the character of Alex. Colin Matty will form the male half of the relationship at the heart of the show, with
ARTIFACTS
Kyla Shinkewski reprising the role of his female counterpart, Anna. The play has also undergone some changes in set design, though Forcier notes that this may not be so much due to a difference in scenery as it is a shift in overall tone. "There's this weird energy in the Fringe, that sometimes it's like these shows aren't living in the space; they're kind of temporary," he says. "It stands more permanently on its feet in this theatre; it really gets to live." Surreal SoReal staged two large-scale, multimedia productions last season: Beckett's Shorts and Dog. Opening the new season with a domestic one-act points to a shift in the company's focus. "It's a more diverse season this year," states Forcier, "We're doing more shows, but they are smaller, pared down shows. "Last year we were kind of playing with this whole dark side of theatre," he continues. "But this show's a lot more natural, actually. It really is just about a relationship between two people and what it's like to be living with someone for the first time. So anyone who's been in a roommate relationship or a relationship with a lover would totally understand the themes of the play." Mel Priestley // mel@vueweekly.com
PAUL BLINOV // PAUL@vueweekly.com
The Fine Art of Schmoozy / Sat, Dec 3 (8 pm) If you're flipping through this, the local alt-weekly, chances are you have at least a passing affinity for art (that or you're bored waiting for the bus and this is a free way to pass the time, but even in which case you can probably agree at least in theory that a bustling arts community improves a city, right? Even if you don't want your own damn tax dollars going towards it?). So supporting the interesting visual art that happens in town is something you should consider, and with that in mind, The Fine Art of Schmoozy is Latitude 53's biggest fundraiser of the year, with a silent art auction (featuring both local and non-local works) live music, and food from the likes of d'Lish, The Marc, Cravings and Niche. Good eats, good art and good times for a good cause. Just saying. (Latitude 53, $30 – $35)
Vernon God Little / Fri, Dec 2 – Sat, Dec 10 (7:30 pm) Grant MacEwan's theatre program is presenting its second Canadian premiere this season: an adaptation of DBC Pierre's 2003 black comedy Vernon God Little (which clinched the Man Booker Prize), following Vernon, a 15-year-old on the lam after being accused of being accessory to a high school massacre. The story of a boy trying to clear his name in a world gone mad—interspersed with country and western songs—is aiming for devastating satire, with its cast running through near-50 roles to get its point across. (Grant MacEwan Centre for the Arts and Communications [10045 - 155 St], Theatre Lab, $9 – $11)
Christopher Paolini / Mon, Dec 5 (6 pm) Having written Eragon, the first book of his Inheritance cycle, at only 15 years old, Paolini's star has continued to rise as his series nears completion. In fact, this is it: he's coming through town for an event on the heels of the fourth and final book release in the cycle, Inheritance. (West Edmonton Mall, Newcap Radio Stage)
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
ARTS 21
ARTS WEEKLY FAX YOUR FREE LISTINGS TO 780.426.2889 OR EMAIL LISTINGS@VUEWEEKLY.COM DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3pm
DANCE ALBERTA BALLET • Jubilee Auditorium,
11455-87 Ave • 780.428.6839 • The Nutcracker: accompanied by and featuring the music of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Sugar Plum parties Christmas crafts, for children prior to the performance • Dec 9-11, 7pm, 1:30pm CONVERGENCE • Westbury Theatre, 10330-84 Ave • Convergence–contemporary dance featuring three new works by Raena Waddell, The Momentum Collective and Good Women and a dance on film project with IDance • Dec 1-3, 8pm • $20 (adul)/$15 (student/senior) online through Fringe Theatre Adventures EDMONTON FESTIVAL BALLET SOCIETY • John L Haar Theatre, Grant MacEwan University, 10045-156 St • 780.413.0985 • ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas • Dec 2, 7pm; Dec 3, 2pm and 7pm • $10 (adult)/$5 (senior/child 12 & under) at Edmonton School of Ballet KATHLEEN HUGHES DANCE PRODUCTION • Avenue Theatre, 9030-118 Ave • Herstory • Dec 9, 8pm RIVERCITY REVUE • Brittany's Lounge, 10225-97 St • 780.497.0011 • Rivercity Revue, Hookem' Revue Burlesque Troupes • Dec 3, 9pm-2am • No cover
FILM ART GALLERY OF ALBERTA (AGA) • Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.422.6223 • Film: Picture of Light: Garneau Theatre, 8712-109 St; film presented with Metro Cinema; Dec 8, 7pm; $10/$8 (student/senior/AGA/Metro member) FELT UP! REAL PEOPLE. REAL STORIES. REAL PUPPETS • Garneau Theatre, 8712-109 St • Dec 5, 7pm • $5/$4 (student); highly graphic descriptive sex, bodily functions; discretion is advised for 14 and under
GALLERIES + MUSEUMS AGNES BUGERA GALLERY • 12310 Jasper Ave • 780.482.2854 • City scapes and floral paintings, oil on canvas by David Wilson and Gabryel Harrison; until Dec 3 • WINTER'S EVE: Artworks by Gallery Artists; reception: Dec 8, 5-8pm ALBERTA CRAFT COUNCIL GALLERY • 10186106 St • 780.488.6611 • NATURAL FLOW: CONTEMPORARY ALBERTA GLASS: until Dec 24 • SALTALK: Slat-fired clay works by Medicine Hat artist, Jim Etzkorn; until Dec 3 ALBERTA SOCIETY OF ARTISTS • Walterdale Playhouse, 10322-83 Ave • 780.426.0072 • WYRD SISTERS–THE EXHIBITION: Artworks by five women exploring the themes in the novel Wyrd Sisters • Until Dec 10 ART BEAT GALLERY • 26 St Anne St, St Albert • 780.459.3679 • CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD: Artworks by Angela McIntosh, guest artists and gallery artists • Through Dec • Opening: Dec 1, 6-9pm; live music ART GALLERY OF ALBERTA (AGA) • 2 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.422.6223 • BMO World of Creativity: DRAWN OUTSIDE: especially for kids; Until Jan 29 • 19TH CENTURY FRENCH PHOTO-
22 ARTS
GRAPHS: until Jan 29 • PRAIRIE LIFE: SETTLEMENT AND THE LAST BEST WEST, 1930-1955: until Jan 29 • A PASSION FOR NATURE: Landscape Painting from 19th Century France: until Feb 20 • STATE OF NATURE: until Feb 20 • RBC New Works Gallery: Arlene Wasylynchuk: SALTUS ILLUMINATI: until Jan 15 • UP NORTH: Artworks by four contemporary artists from three circumpolar countries: Jacob Dahl Jürgensen, Simon Dybbroe Møller (Denmark), Ragnar Kjartansson (Iceland), and Kevin Schmidt (Canada); until Jan 8 • Our Wilderness is Wisdom…: Ledcor Theatre Lobby: Premiere of the most recent exhibition in the AGA’s Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program (TREX); Dec 4-Jan 2; reception: Dec 3, 1-4pm • Studio Y Youth Drop-in: Light/Dark: Lino-Block Printing: Dec 1, 3:30-5:30pm, $10 • Adult Drop-in: Illustrate: Artist Trading Card: Dec 1, 7-9pm, $15/$12 (member) ART GALLERY OF ST ALBERT (AGSA) • 19 Perron St, St Albert • 780.460.4310 • LOST AND FOUND: Photos by Paul Burwell; drawings and sculptures by Cynthia Fuhrer • Dec 1-Jan 28 • Reception: Dec 1, 7-9pm CENTRE D’ARTS VISUELS DE L’ALBERTA • 9103-95 Ave • 780.461.3427 • PERCEPTION: Artworks by Béatrice Lefevre, Laura Watmough, Valerie Solash, Luc Josh, Dana Rayent, Jeannette Sommers; until Dec 6 • MINIATURES AND PLUS: Miniatures and artworks by Ernest and Doreen Poitras, Deborah Lenihan; Dec 9-21; reception: Dec 9, 7-8:30pm CROOKED POT GALLERY–Stony Plain • 491251 Ave, Stony Plain • 780.963.9573 • SLEIGH BELLS RING: Holiday themed pottery and giftware • Dec 1-30 • Reception: Dec 3, 11am-3pm DAFFODIL GALLERY • 10412-124 St, 780.4822854 • Twelve Days of Christmas • Dec 1-17 • Opening: Dec 1, 10:30am DOUGLAS UDELL • 10332-124 St • 780.488.4445 • BURDEN OF INNOCENCE ACT 2 & 3: Paintings by Natalka Husar • Until Dec 3 ENTERPRISE SQUARE • 2nd Fl Enterprise Sq, 10230 Jasper Ave • ArtsMASH!: Faculty of Extension, U of A Present residential interior design projects and fine arts students; readings by Women's Words Postcard contest winners. Presentation about the Alley of Light presented by members of Edmonton on the Edge at 6pm • Dec 8, 5:30-8:30pm ELM CAFÉ • 10140-117 St • 780.756.3356 • Super Photo Friends (SPF) Photography Collective works • Until Dec 10 EXPRESSIONZ CAFÉ • 9938-70 Ave• 780.437.3667 • Group show, admission by donation • Through Dec, Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm FAB GALLERY • Department of Art and Design, U of A, Rm 3-98 Fine Arts Bldg • 780.492.2081 • TASTY: Prints by Alexa Mietz • GARDEN OF THE FORKING PATHS: Drawings, intermedia works by Alma Visscher; until Dec 3 • Drawings, intermedia works by Ann-Marie King; Prints by Anna Gaby-Trotz; Dec 13-22; Jan 3-14 FRONT GALLERY • 12312 Jasper Ave • 780.488.2952 • Paintings by Steve Coffey • Until Dec 6 GALLERY AT MILNER • Stanley A. Milner Library Main Fl, Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.944.5383 • Watercolour landscapes by Patricia Coulter • Dec 1-31 GALLERIE PAVA • 9524-87 St, 780.461.3427 • SECOND REGARD II: Photos by Denise Parent • Until Jan 11 HAGGERTY CENTRE–Stollery Gallery • Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, 9225-118 Ave • 780.474.7611 • FRUIT OFF THE LOOMS: Arworks by the NHCA Collective • Until Dec 23 • Reception: Dec 1, 3-7pm HARCOURT HOUSE • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.426.4180 • Main Gallery: MIND CONTROL TRICKS: Paul Freeman • Front Room Gallery: FOR-
MA: Wenda Salomons • Opening: Dec 8, 8-10pm; Artist talks: Wenda Salomons at 6:30pm; Paul Freeman at 7:15pm JEFF ALLEN ART GALLERY • Strathcona Seniors Centre, 10831 University Ave • 780.433.5807 • Instructors and students Christmas show and sale • Dec 2-23 LATITUDE 53 • 10248-106 St • 780.423.5353 • ProjEx Room: TAXONOMIA: Maria Whiteman’s Science-fantasy photographs • Both shows: until Dec 17 • Special Event: The Fine Art of Schmoozy: Fundraiser: silent art auction, food, cocktails, and music with Diana Stabel and DJ Generic; Dec 3, 8pm LOFT GALLERY • A. J. Ottewell Art Centre, 590 Broadmoor Blvd, Sherwood Park • 780.922.6324 • Art by local artists • Dec 3-24; Sat 10-4pm, Sun 12-4pm MCMULLEN GALLERY • U of A Hospital, 8440112 St • 780.407.7152 • SHIFTING PATTERNS: Artworks by Alex Janvier, George Littlechild, Bert Crowfoot, Paul Smith, Dawn Marie Marchand, Dianne Meilli, Heather Shillinglaw, curated by Aaron Paquette; until Dec 4 • NATURE: Paintings inspired by poet Chon Sang-Pyon’s poem, Back to Heaven; artworks by Kyung Hee Hogg; Dec 10-Feb 5; reception: Dec 15, 7-9pm MEZZANINE GALLERY • Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, 10230-111 Ave • DISAPPEARING SENTINALS–THE CHANGING ALBERTA LANDSCAPE: Paintings by Kristina Steinbring • Until Dec 31 MICHIF CULTURAL AND MÉTIS RESOURCE INSTITUTE • 9 Mission Ave, St Albert • 780.651.8176 • Aboriginal Veterans Display • Gift Shop • Finger weaving and sash display by Celina Loyer • Ongoing MILDWOOD GALLERY • 426, 6655-178 St • Mel Heath, Joan Healey, Fran Heath, Larraine Oberg, Terry Kehoe, Darlene Adams, Sandy Cross and Victoria, Pottery by Naboro Kubo and Victor Harrison • Ongoing MISERICORDIA COMMUNITY HOSPITAL • 16940-87 Ave • Year End Show and Sale: Artworks by members of the Edmonton Art Club • Dec 3-Jan 28 MULTICULTURAL CENTRE PUBLIC ART GALLERY (MCPAG)–Stony Plain • 5411-51 St, Stony Plain • 780.963.9935 • Paintings by Marjan Assai • Dec 2-Jan 4 • Reception: Dec 4 MUSÉE HÉRITAGE MUSEUM–St Albert • 5 St Anne St, St Albert • 780.459.1528 • St Albert History Gallery: Featuring artifacts dating back 5,000 years • Take Your Best Shot, a youth (from 8-18 years old) photo exhibition • Until Feb 5 NAESS GALLERY • Paint Spot, 10032-81 Ave • 780.432.0240 • Artworks by Reece Schulte • Through Dec PETER ROBERTSON GALLERY • 12304 Jasper Ave • 780.455.7479 • tf: 1.877.826.3375 • Landscape paintings by Marcia Harris and Robert Wiseman; until Dec 10 • WINTER GROUP SHOW: New artworks by gallery artists; Dec 17-Feb 4 RED DEER MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY • 4525-47A Ave • CENTRAL ALBERTA ROCKS: rock and roll bands perform; Dec 2, 7-10pm ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM • 12845-102 Ave • 780.453.9100 • A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: Until Feb 5 • NARRATIVE QUEST: Until Apr 29 SELFRIDGE OPEN STUDIO • 9844-88 Ave • 780.439.9296 • Ceramic Artworks • Dec 3-4, 11am-5pm SCOTT GALLERY 10411-124 St • 780.488.3619 • SCOTT GALLERY’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION: Artworks by all gallery artists • Until Dec 23 SPRUCE GROVE ART GALLERY • 35-5 Ave, Spruce Grove • 780.962.0664 • CHRISTMAS STORE: Fine art, jewellery, clay works, and wood turnings; until Dec 24 • Christmas Gala: Dec 2, 7pm STRATHCONA COUNTY ART GALLERY • 501
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
Festival Ave, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8585 • HalfBreed Mythology; until Dec 30 • Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux by Dana Claxton; until Dec 30 TELUS WORLD OF SCIENCE • 11211-142 St • TITANIC: THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION • Until Feb 20 VAAA GALLERY • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.421.1731 • V-Bay: Art auction fundraiser; closing reception: Dec 1, 7-9:30pm • Gallery A: Pictographs by Seka Owen; Dec 8-Jan 21, reception: Dec 8, 7-9:30pm • Gallery B: Photographs by Anne Marie Resta; Dec 8-Jan 21, reception: Dec 8, 7-9:30pm
LITERARY AUDREYS BOOKS • 10702 Jasper Ave • 780.423.3487 • CAA Writer in Residence Jannie Edwards in the store every Wed; until Dec 14; Jan 18-Apr 25, 12-1:30pm • Launch of Nana Mumford's new book, Elijah’s Vision; Dec 3, 1-3pm BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ • 9624-76 Ave • 780.469.8755 • Story Slam: 2nd Wed each month GREENWOODS BOOKS • Ross Block, 10309 Whyte Ave • 780.439.2005 • Patrick DeWitt reading and signing his novel, The Sisters Brothers • Dec 7, 7pm ROUGE LOUNGE • 10111-117 St • 780.902.5900 • Poetry every Tue with Edmonton's local poets STANLEY MILNER LIBRARY • Edmonton Rm, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • Writers Guild of Alberta–Splice: Readings by Lynn Coady, Myrna Kostash and Anna-Marie Sewell, music, artist sketching a response. Screening of Trevor Anderson’s film. Comedy sketch with Peter Brown, reading by Marty Chan • Dec 8, 7-10pm, 6:30pm (door) • Free; pre-register: splice2011.eventbrite. com • Once Upon a Bethlehem Night: Join storyteller Renee Englot as she shares some very different stories for Christmas; Dec 4, 1:15pm • Free STRATHCONA COUNTY LIBRARY • 401 Festival Lane, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8600 • Words in the Park: A one-day indoor event where people can meet local authors and enjoy an afternoon of book buying, entertainment and refreshments in the new library in the Community Centre • Dec 4, 1-4pm • Free T.A.L.E.S. STORY CAFÉ SERIES • Rosie’s Bar, 10475-80 Ave • 780.932.4409 • 1st Thu each month, open mic opportunity • Until Jun • $6 (min) • In The Spirit; open mic opportunity; Dec 1, 7-9pm UPPER CRUST CAFÉ • 10909-86 Ave • 780.422.8174 • The Poets’ Haven Weekly Reading Series: every Mon, 7pm presented by the Stroll of Poets Society WUNDERBAR ON WHYTE • 8120-101 St • 780.436.2286 • The poets of Nothing, For Now: poetry workshop and jam every Sun • No minors
THEATRE
CHIMPROV • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • Rapid Fire Theatre’s longform comedy show: improv formats, intricate narratives, and oneact plays • First three Sat every month, 11pm, until Jul • $10/$5 (high school student)/$8 (RFT member at the door only) CORNER GASSED 2 • Jubilations Dinner Theatre, 8882-170 St, WEM • 780.484.2424 • Until Jan 21 A CHRISTMAS CAROL • Citadel Maclab Theatre, 9828-101A Ave • 780.428.2117 • Adapted by Tom Wood, directed by Bob Baker and Geoffrey Brumlik, starring Richard McMillan • Dec 2-23 THE CHRISTMAS CAROL PROJECT • TransAlta Arts Barns, Westbury Theatre, 10330-84 Ave • 780.409.1910 • Brass Monkey Productions • Dec 28-29 DIE-NASTY • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • 780.433.3399 • The live improvised soap opera • Every Mon, until May, 7:30pm (subject to change) • Tickets at the box office
FUDDY MEERS • Timms Centre, U of A • Studio Theatre • By David Lindsay-Abaire • Until Dec 10 A HAIRY CHRISTMAS • Jubilee Auditorium • Our hero named Smelly, who is a monster, is going to his first day of scare school • Dec 2, 7pm HROSES: AN AFFRONT TO REASON • TransAlta Arts Barns, PCL Studio Theatre, 10330-84 Ave • 780.409.1910 • Azimuth Theatre • Dec 8-18 MOSTLY WATER • Roxy, 10708-124 St, other venues throughout Edmonton • 780.453.2440 • Theatre Network • Written by and stars Craig Buchert, Elizabeth Ludwig, Jason Ludwig, Matt Stanton, and Trent Wilkie • Dec 16-17; Fri-Sat, Mar 9-10 PETER PAN–A MUSICAL ADVENTURE • Arden Theatre • St Albert Children’s Theatre • By James Barrie; musical by Willis Hall and George Stiles and Anthony Drewe • Until Dec 4 • $22.50 (adult)/$16.50 (child/senior) at Arden box office, TicketMaster THE SURVIVAL OF PIGEONS AS STUDIED BY HUMAN LOVERS • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • Surreal SoReal Theatre; comedy by Jon Lachlan Stewart, directed by Vincent Forcier, stars Kyla Shinkewski and Colin Matty • Dec 1-10 • $15 at TIX on the Square THEATRESPORTS • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • Improv runs every Fri, until Jul, 11pm (subject to occasional change) • $10/$8 (member) THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT • Citadel Rice Theatre, 9828-101 Ave • 780.428.2117 • By Daniel Brooks and Daniel MacIvor, a Necessary Angel’s production • Until Dec 4 THE VELVETEEN RABBIT • Capitol Theatre, Fort Edmonton Park, Fox Dr, Whitemud Dr • This story comes to life on the Capitol Theatre stage • Dec 9-24 • $25 (adult)/$15 (post-secondary students)/$10 (child) VERNON GOD LITTLE • Grant MacEwan University Theatre Lab, 10045-155 St • Grant MacEwan University Theatre • Comedy, graphic language and Country and Western music • Dec 2-10 THE WEDDING SINGER • Mayfield Dinner Theatre, 16615-109 Ave • 780.483.4051 • With a brand-new score that pays homage to pop songs of the 1980's, The Wedding Singer takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer just might have been the coolest guy in the room • Until Feb 5 WITH BELLS ON • Roxy, 10708-124 St, and various other venues throughout Edmonton • 780.453.2440 • Theatre Network • An inventive and unique holiday comedy, presented by Guys in Disguise; by Darrin Hagen, starring James Hamilton and Paul Welch; directed by Darrin Hagen • Dec 1-11 THE WIZARD OF OZ • Festival Place, 100 Festival Way, Sherwood Park, 780.464.2852 • Written by L. Frank Baum, music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company • Dec 16-23, Dec 26-30, 7:30pm; 2pm: Dec 17, Dec 18, Dec 26 • Dinner: Dec 16, Dec 23, 5:30pm; $32 (adult)/$16 (child 12 and under) • Brunch: Dec 18, Dec 26, 12:30pm; $28 (adult)/$14 (child 12 and under); make meal arrangements at least 48 hours before date of show IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE • Devon Community Centre, 20 Haven Ave, Devon • 587.783.3760 • eastofsixty.com • Dinner Theatre: East of Sixty Productions (E60) • Dec 16-17, 6pm: $35; Dec 18, 11.30am: $30 WYRD SISTERS • Walterdale Playhouse, 1032283 Ave • 780.439.2845 • By Terry Pratchett, adapted by Stephen Briggs, directed by J. Nelson Niwa • Until Dec 10 • $12-$16 at TIX on the Square
DISH
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PROFILE // TWO SIDES
Kids and coffee
Mixing the two in a way that doesn't lead to hyperactivity
// Serena Beck
catering—Nicole says the scones "are doughy and like what you would have at high tea"—and the coffee is Caps, an organic, fair-trade coffee roasted here in Edmonton. The house blend, known as Play Hard, is exclusive to Café O' Play and is available for purchase. Nicole managed a coffee shop when she was in university and enjoys creating monthly drinks that often become regulars on the menu. Her favourite is
Nicole and Steve Gaida of Café O'Play
Café O'Play 5667 Riverbend Rd, 780.758.7529
C
old days in Edmonton mean cooped-up parents and kids playing with the same toys over and over, inevitably getting bored. Nicole and Steve Gaida at Café O' Play have created the perfect solution: a coffee shop fused with an indoor playground.
The Gaidas got the idea for Café O' Play when they visited a similar coffee shop and playground while travelling. "A friend suggested the name Café Play," says Nicole. "We thought it was missing something, so we added the O." She wanted to give moms a place where their "kids can be loud, make a mess, yell, have fun, and mom doesn't have to worry about cleaning up."
Admittance to the play area is $6 for kids one to six years old while kids younger than that are free. Nicole explains that all the toys are cleaned daily and there are sanitization stations throughout the café with hand sanitizer and wipes for cleaning toys. "We don't want your kids to get sick coming here," she says, "so we avoid that at all costs." Nicole believes that you "can't run a successful business
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
unless you work all aspects of it." The Gaidas chose to focus the café's food and drink choices around organic, locally-sourced, inclusive options: the facility is nut free and there is a gluten-free menu. Crustless soybutter-and-jam sandwiches are served in fun shapes for the kids like dogs and whales. The baking is from Krave
Parents don't mind driving halfway across the city to have a great cup of coffee, entertain their kids and socialize with friends. the Yummy Mummy latte which contains a blend of cinnamon and vanilla. The Café O' Drop is also popular: half coffee and half steamed milk with vanilla, the name comes from the chocolate truffle that is dropped in. Steve's favorite drink is Play Harder—Play Hard coffee with a shot of espresso. By late afternoon there is usually a waiting list to get into the play area, so you'll want to arrive early to grab a spot. When it's cold out, parents don't mind driving halfway across the city to have a great cup of coffee, entertain their kids and socialize with friends, so the place can fill up with patrons from all over looking for a dose of Café O'Play. Serena Beck
// serena@vueweekly.com
DISH 23
WINE
The nose knows
How do aromas get into wine in the first place? troublesome nose serves me well as a wine writer, thrusting it into widemouthed glasses, breathing deeply and waxing philosophic. Oddly fragrant smells flood from my childhood memories, like "cat pee," "soft leather couch" and even "caramelized onions" (once—in an aged chardonnay). But you don't need an overly sensitive schnozz to analyze aromas. You can start your own memory-driven smell vocabulary—be it bong water, sweaty socks or overcooked asparagus— or innovate using the conventional catalogue of wine descriptors as your springboard. I Traditionally, aromatics D I V VENI, originate from three places: the grape variety, the place m ekly.co vuewe where it was grown and the taylor@ oak with which it comes into Taylor Eason contact. Hidden in the grape skins are the fruitiness, tannins and color needed to coax character // Tyler Van Brabant into the sweet juice. Aromas such as invariably suffer. Ever since I was a kid, black cherry and spearmint in CaberI've had a freakishly perceptive sense net Sauvignons, raspberry and blueof smell. I loathed onions growing berry in Pinot Noir, and grapefruit up and could smell them sautéing a or peaches (not to forget cat pee) in block away. I'd come galloping into the Sauvignon Blanc all emerge from this kitchen, bitching about the bulbous soft, succulent casing. You can also offender and insist my mom cease sniff ripe red cherry instead of black her noxious cooking. But my oncecherry in Merlot, and earthy black
VINO
I kill a tree every year. Despite my environmental inclinations, I buy a real Christmas tree to celebrate the holiday. I just can't get excited about a fake one with no pine smell. I suppose a fir-scented candle might impart some realness to the plastic-andmetal imposter, but my psyche would
pepper in Syrahs, Zinfandel and Cabernet Franc. But move the Syrah vine to Australia (where it magically gets renamed Shiraz), and a new slew of indigenous scents emerge—like eucalyptus and bright minerality. Or who can forget the funky, wet-earth smell reminiscent of dog crap in wines from South Africa? This difference stems from "terroir." Originating from French, the untranslatable word "terroir" encompasses all the natural factors involved in grape growing—sun, rain, altitude and soil
bears a different personality from the grapes grown 50 yards away. Other aromas are introduced with a natural yet manipulated instrument. Oak, used during the fermenting process as well as for aging, is a tool winemakers spend careers perfecting. Those vanilla, butterscotch and caramel flavours in your chardonnay? French or Hungarian oak. American oak, used almost exclusively for red wines since it can kick the shit out of white, imparts dill, scotch and tobacco flavours. It's important to note that not every
Aromatics originate from three places: the grape variety, the place where it was grown and the oak with which it comes into contact. characteristics. Soil variation derives from millennia of climatic changes, volcanic activity and limestone settlements that seep flavour into the vine's roots growing through the layers of sediment. The other factors—sun, rain and altitude—contribute ripeness and character, depending on location. This concept of terroir is why the French parceled their land into quality-designated plots, or appellations, realizing fruit from one vineyard
nose or mouth will smell or taste the same thing. I'm particularly sensitive to certain aromas—green pepper, pine, wet slate, black cherries, black pepper, vanilla and, yes, cat pee— because my memory relates to them, but each person carries their own smell baggage. Using standards but also noticing what you whiff in a wine, you can develop your own descriptive vocabulary—even if it's sautéed onions in butter. V
Holiday Gift Ideas
j k j k j k
Visit us and get inspired about gift giving.
View this week’s online gift guide at holesonline.com/giftguide 24 DISH
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VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
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BRYAN BRITLES // BRYAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
Six facts about candy canes
CANDY STICKS When candy canes originated, they were not the hook shape that we're familiar with today: they were sugary sticks given to children all year round. Two schools of thought exist as to where the cane shape came from: one posits that the cane shape developed as a necessity when people started putting the candy's on
Christmas trees, while the other says that a German choirmaster bent sugar sticks to represent a shepherd's crook—a symbol of Christianity.
HAND JOB Candy canes were made exclusively by hand until the 1950s, when Gregory Keller invented the candy cane machine. Before then, candy cane
AWARDS // LIQUOR
Drinking awards
Not the kind you win at Delta Tau Chi, Bluto
O
n Wednesday, November 23, the Best Bar None program announced its annual award winners. Best Bar None, supported by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Police Service, is an accreditation and awards program that promotes the responsible operation of licensed premises. It "aims to reduce alcohol-related harms by raising the standards of licensed premises" and the organization's awards program rewards licensees that go "above and beyond" the standards for accreditation. The Best Bar None program was first developed in the UK, as a response to a 2001 crime survey that showed a significantly high number of crimes could be tied to bars and clubs with poor li-
censing standards. There are currently more than 100 Best Bar None programs operating in Britain.
making was a labour-intensive process involving hours of pulling, cutting, twisting and bending by confectioners to make even a small batch of treats. The amount of labour that went into them, as well as the high cost of sugar, ensured that candy canes were an expensive treat available to most only on a special occasion—another reason the candies became associated with Christmas.
WHAT ABOUT BOB? Bob McCormack was the first person to successfully mass-produce and distribute candy canes. He used cellophane to keep moisture away from the candies so they would last longer and developed packaging that would protect them during
transport. The inventor of the candy cane machine, Gregory Keller, was his brother in law.
CANDY STRIPERS Until the mid-1800s, candy canes were all-white candies that weren't flavoured with peppermint. In 1859, 25-year-old widow Amalia Eriksson invented a candy called the polkagris in her hometown of Gränna, Sweden. It was a straight, red-striped, peppermint candy stick. By the 20th century, peppermint flavouring and red striping had caught on for candy canes.
SUGAR RUSH Almost two billion candy canes are
we make it
we
bake
it
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produced every year. Flavours have expanded beyond peppermint and now include such exotic offerings as strawberry, chocolate mint and sour apple. There are even Gobstopper candy canes which—like the classic candies—contain different coloured layers that reveal themselves as you eat the candy.
CANDY CANE LANE Edmonton's Candy Cane Lane—a festive neighbourhood display along 148 St between 100 and 92 Ave— opens December 9 and runs until January 2. Visitors are asked to bring a donation to the Food Bank when they come to see it. Candy Cane Lane has bee a tradition on the city's west side for over four decades. V
grow
it
In Canada, Best Bar None began as a pilot program in Edmonton in 2010. In that year, 63 licensed establishments applied for accreditation and 38 succesfully completed the process. The program has no cost to licensees and is expected to expand to Calgary in the near future. Award winners for 2011 included Hudson's Canadian Tap House on Whyte Ave, Sands Hotel Games Room, The Billiard Club, The Pint on Whyte Ave and the Union Hall. Visit bit.ly/bestbarnone for a complete list of winners and runners-up. BRYAN BIRTLES
// BRYAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market OPEN SATURDAYS YEAR ROUND 8 AM - 3 PM 10310 - 83 Ave, Edmonton
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
“A touch of the farm in the heart of the city”
DISH 25
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Try a hot and steamy remedy
// Kate Irwin
East Kootenay region, Nakusp, Halcyon and Canyon Hot Springs (summer months only) in the West Kootenays and Ainsworth Hot Springs, with its unique hot spring cave, in the Central Kootenays. Along with the seven easyto-reach spots, the more intrepid with a solid four-wheel drive system can hunt down the five or more remote stops along the way like St Leon and Halfway River Hot Springs.
In the words of the immortal Glenn Frey: the heat is on
T
he summer visitors who flock to hot springs are missing a trick. While a balmy July evening can be pleasantly idled away in their warmth, the real magic occurs as tendrils of steam snake up from the water and you speed from changing room to pool to avoid the prickle of goose bumps in minus temperatures. The blissful enveloping warmth, while your hair freezes into icicles, is a uniquely satisfying experience. From my vantage point in the pool building at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in BC, I watch a young group of hockey players take the hot vs cold idea and run with it. The boys, in their early teens, cheer each other on as one-by-one they leap from the steamy water to roll in the snow, shrieking and whooping, before plunging back in. "It makes your skin tingle," says
26 SNOW ZONE
Cathy de Guise, pool facility manager, with a smile. "It's pretty popular to roll in the snow and jump in—as long as everybody's being safe and it's not slippery out there." With the Rockies to the east and the Purcell Mountains to the west, the 11 000 square feet of open-air pools enjoy an enviable view. Fairmont is one of six hot springs resorts in the Kootenay Rockies, each boasting a picture postcard backdrop and positioned within striking distance of several ski resorts. While the summer months see the pools approaching capacity with tourists, as winter arrives the locals thrive. "You get this whole seasonal crowd of locals who you might not see for the whole summer," explains Andrei Korjus, guest services manager for Halcyon Hot Springs Village and Spa,
in the West Kootenay region, "but once winter rolls around they're here snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, ski touring, visiting Revelstoke. It's so good to soak after a thigh-burning day on the slopes." Although the ski industry in Canada continues its decade-long slide in visitor numbers, hot springs are still a big draw for places like Halcyon and Fairmont (the resort sees more than 200 000 pool visits each year). They form two of the seven easily reached stops on the Hot Springs Circle Route, named as one of the top 10 scenic drives in the Northern Rockies. Passing through resorts and wilderness hot springs alike, the multi-day road trip can start just over the BC border, following roughly the same route as the famed Powder Highway.
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
If hot springs aren't enough to whet your appetite, the eight full-service alpine resorts, 10 Nordic ski clubs, 25 snowcat and heli-ski operators and 21 backcountry lodges along the way might just do it for you. "In a week's trip you can tie together two or three ski resorts with whichever hot springs are close," says Heidi Korven of Kootenay Rockies Tourism, which created the hot springs tour over 15 years ago. "The whole route needs a lot of time—there are so many activities on the way. We find most don't do the whole loop on winter roads, but you can drop by one or more of the stops." Starting near the Alberta/BC border by Banff you can begin your hot springs exploration to the west or south, passing through Radium, Fairmont and Lussier Hot Springs in the
It was my pursuit of a more remote location that found me cruising south from Fairmont down Highway 93/95, in search of locals' favourite, Lussier. Crazy characters just flock to this place; in previous visits my company varied from tipsy crowds of teeny boppers blasting dubstep to semi-fornicating couples basking by candlelight. This time, the natural setting is to be shared with some au naturale Austrians, who chorus a friendly greeting as I slide down the icy pathway to the trio of undeveloped wilderness pools. "It is our third time we have come here," exclaims one of the larger naked women in broken English as I strip down and clamber Spiderman-like toward the hottest pool at the top. The scalding water is almost too hot to bear, but soon I'm neck deep, skin throbbing with the sudden switch from cold to heat. It's a welcome chance to unwind after a slick 17-kilometre climb from the highway on summer tires. The undeveloped title the sulphurous springs hold is a bit of misnomer. In actuality, three sizeable pools have been created from the rocks littering the side of the icy Lussier River, with the water entering the top pool at around 43 C and lower pool at around 34 C. As I contemplate never leaving this spot again, the braver Austrians plunge from pool to river and back. Turns out the group members make the trip out to Lussier each time they're in the country. "It's good for your health here, and here," they reply to my querying of CONTINUED ON PAGE 31 >>
ON NOW AT YOUR ALBERTA BUICK GMC DEALERS. Albertagmc.com 1-800-GM-DRIVE. GMC is a brand of General Motors of Canada. x/W/â&#x20AC; â&#x20AC; /+/ÂĽÂĽ/*Offers apply to the purchase of a 2011 GMC Terrain FWD (R7A) / 2011 GMC Acadia FWD (R7B) equipped as described. Freight included ($1,450). License, insurance, registration, PPSA, administration fees and taxes not included. Dealers are free to set individual prices. Offer available to retail customers in Canada between November 1, 2011 and January 16, 2012. Limited quantities of 2011 models available. See dealer for details. â&#x20AC; â&#x20AC; 0% purchase financing offered on approved credit by Ally Credit for 48 months on new or demonstrator 2011 GMC Terrain FWD/2011 GMC Acadia FWD. Rates from other lenders will vary. Down payment, trade and/or security deposit may be required. Monthly payment and cost of borrowing will vary depending on amount borrowed and down payment/trade. Example: $10,000 at 0% APR, the monthly payment is $208.3 for 48 months. Cost of borrowing is $0, total obligation is $10,000. Offer is unconditionally interest-free. Freight ($1,450) included. License, insurance, registration, PPSA, applicable taxes and fees not included. Dealers are free to set individual prices. Offers apply to qualified retail customers only. Limited time offer which may not be combined with certain other offers. GMCL may modify, extend or terminate offers in whole or in part at any time without notice. Conditions and limitations apply. See dealer for details. ÂĽ*To qualify for GMCLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cash For Clunkers incentive, you must: turn in a 2005 or older MY vehicle that is in running condition and has been registered and properly insured in your name, or under a small business name, for the last 3 months. GMCL will provide eligible consumers with an incentive to be used towards the purchase or lease of a new eligible 2011 or 2012 MY Buick/Chevrolet/ GMC/Cadillac vehicle delivered between October 1, 2011 and January 3, 2012. Incentive amount ranges from $500 to $3,000 (tax inclusive), depending on model purchased; incentive may not be combined with certain other offers. By participating in GMCLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cash For Clunkers program your vehicle will not be eligible for any trade-in value. See your participating GM dealer for additional program details. GMCL may modify, extend or terminate program in whole or in part at any time without notice. ÂĽâ&#x20AC; No purchase necessary. Contest open to Canadian residents with a valid driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license who have reached the age of majority in their province of residence. Contest runs from November 1, 2011 to January 16, 2012. Credit Awards include applicable taxes and can only be applied to the purchase or lease of a new 2011 or 2012 MY GM vehicle delivered from dealer stock, excluding Chevrolet Volt on or before January 16, 2012. 20 Vehicle Awards consist of either a 2012 GMC Terrain SLE2 FWD + 18â&#x20AC;? Machined Aluminum Wheels, Chrome Appearance Package and Rear Cargo Security Cover or a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox 2LT FWD + 18â&#x20AC;? Machined Aluminum Wheels. Factory order may be required for Vehicle Awards. Approximate retail value of each Vehicle Award is Equinox / Terrain [$32,775 MSRP / $32,480 MSRP] CDN, including freight. Not all awards have the same odds of winning. Correct answer to skill testing question required to claim an award. Some examples of odds are: to receive a $1,000 base award, 1 in 1; to receive a total award of $1,200, 1 in 30; to receive a total award of $10,000, 1 in 10,000; to receive a Vehicle Award, 1 in 20,000 (total awards and vehicle awards include the $1,000 base award). See your GM dealer, visit gm.ca or call 1-800-GM-DRIVE for full contest rules. +The Best Buy seal is a registered trademark of Consumers Digest Communications, LLC,used under licence.
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SNOW ZONE 27
SNOW ZONE // KIDS ON SKIS
100 for 100
Edmonton Ski Club offering youth a head start on the slopes sell Student Union Ticket Pack books. While in other years that money could be used to help cover operating expenses, George explains, this year all proceeds from the sale of the books will go directly back to the Snow Angels program.
Edmonton Ski Club's Snow Angels program aims to get disadvantaged kids up on skis
F
or a certain privileged number of Albertans it can be easy to take skiing for granted. If you grew up in Western Canada, if your parents skied or you took to the sport early, it comes as second nature. But for inner city youth, skiing is an unaffordable, unimaginable luxury, says Marika Chandler. "These kids are living on the streets or in shelters, they don't have jobs," she describes. As youth recreation coordinator for
Boyle Street Community Services and the Bissell Centre, Chandler sees first hand the drudgery of the lifestyle. Some kids visit the drop-in programs five to seven days a week, whiling away the hours sitting around and playing cards. "There's not much different in their lives day to day," she laments. But that may soon change. This year, as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations, the Edmonton Ski Club has
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launched the Snow Angels program to provide skiing and snowboarding opportunities for disadvantaged kids (up to age 18) who wouldn't otherwise have access to the sport. The club has set a goal of providing free skiing, rentals and lessons to 100 new youths. The Bissell Centre is just one of the agencies that the Ski Club is working with to establish the program. Others include a local inner city school, the Boys and Girls Club, Edmonton newcomers programs and Abdi Osman's African community program. But ski-school director Michele George stresses that the invite is open to any groups or individuals who want to take part. The Ski Club, which operates as a non-profit, is raising funds for the program in a variety of ways. During the pre-season, it invited season-pass holders to turn back their 10 percent early bird discount to the Snow Angels program. Through its non-profit status, the organization is also able to
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VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DEC 7, 2011
By addressing the issue of accessibility, the Snow Angels program also addresses a key industry weakness. Bringing newcomers to the sportâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether underprivileged youth, recent immigrants or ethnic minoritiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is an important step towards making skiing more accessible. The initiative comes at a time when ski industry growth has hit a plateau in Canada. The Canada Ski Council, which tracks visitation to Canadian ski resorts, reports that overall domestic participation in skiing and boarding in Canada has been declining since 2001. Like several other expensive Western sports, this may be, in part because skiing remains the domain of privileged white males. The demographics are shifting, but not fast enough, it seems, to keep up with attrition. Disadvantaged or not, first-generation newcomer or third-generation Canadian, these are kids who could grow up to fill those chairlifts as adults. For the dedicated skier, increasing the number of active snow sports enthusiasts in the market may not seem like a pressing concern. Fewer skiers and riders means shorter lift lines.
But, argues David Lynn, of the Canada West Ski Areas Association, "Long term, skiers want a vibrant, growing industry with lots of great experiences to choose from." Industry resilience is all well and good but the priority here, says George, is to make a difference in the lives of Edmonton youth. With Snow Angels, Chandler sees a chance to get the kids out of their everyday funk. "It's a good opportunity to give youth a positive experience, something where they can build skills, have healthy relationships and boost their self-esteem," says Chandler. "This is something that can enrich their lives and maybe inspire them to take the next steps. "Or maybe it will simply allow them to forget about the inner city and just be a 15-year-old for a little while." And even if it's just for a day, that's something every young person deserves. Jeremy Derksen // jeremy@vueweekly.com
For more information or to donate to the Snow Angels program, contact the Edmonton Ski Club (edmontonskiclub.com, 866.747.2582). The Canada Ski Council, partnered with regional organizations such as the Canada West Ski Areas Association, offers low-cost skiing for kids via the Grade 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5 Snowpass (snowpass.ca, info@snowpass.ca).
CONTACT David Lynn, president CWSAA.........................................................................dlynn@cwsaa.org Michele George, ESC.....................................................................................................780.465.0852 Marika Chandler, inner city recreation coordinator, Bissell Centre...... 780.860.6154 Abdi Osman, abdi.osman@edmonton.ca,...........................................................780.975.5980
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SNOW ZONE 29
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// Kate Irwin
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f a zebra were to hump a flamingo, I imagine the resulting babies would look something like this. Spy's Bias model—pictured in Zebra—is designed for smaller faces, with a reduced frame size and sleek, low profile that works well for female shredders. I started skiing with this set of goggles for the last few turns of the season at Sunshine Mountain Village in May and they've taken me through some warm sunny days, rain and flat morning light without a hint of fogging up. With a rose tinted lens—Pink Spectra— coming as standard on the Zebra model and a bonus yellow lens for flat light included in the price, the Bias is pretty well
equipped to deal with whatever lighting conditions the mountain can throw at you. At $119.95 it isn't the cheapest option out there, but after a few days of test runs, I can say you see the difference by stepping up a price bracket. Spy is keeping it simple again for the 2011 – 2012 season, with seven different goggles options—including the Bias, specifically for women, and the Tanga Mini for kids. Style-conscious riders will enjoy the bold, eye-catching designs and colour options (between 10 and 21 per goggle style). The fit is great, creating a snug seal while the triple layer isotron face foam helps make these goggles super comfortable around the face and the moisture wicking fleece keeping you from fogging up on warmer days. While I love the no grip strap, which
ensures no sliding around on your head, the length may be an issue for riders and skiers who wear a helmet. It comes up a little short to make this fully compatible with helmet use if you've got a larger head. And while we're on the subject, the strap release is positioned centrally at the back, which is a bit awkward with the clip that holds helmet and goggles together. Visibility is good out of the Bias goggles, with moderate to good peripheral vision, excellent snow definition with both lenses and 100 percent UV protection. My favourite thing about these goggles has to be the patented scoop ventilation technology, that does a great job at keeping things fog free. Kate Irwin
// kate@vueweekly.com
Three skiers had the ride of their lives last Thursday, after triggering an avalanche on the slopes at Lake Louise. After receiving a much needed 50 centimetre snow dump over a couple of days, the ski hill had proceeded to open additional terrain. The Ptarmigan slope was just one of these newly opened areas and three skiers immediately headed to the top of the knoll just to the left of Exhibition, a steep pitch that follows the Ptarmigan Chair. As they split up and set off down the slope, a slide was triggered. The first skier was unscathed, as he was already far enough down, number two sat on the moving slope, rode it down and then skied to safety and number three managed to grab a tree and hang on. Because it was un-
clear how many skiers were on the slope to begin with, a full searchand-rescue effort was initiated by Lake Louise. Patrollers probed the site and a certified avalanche dog and handler were flown in from the nearby Sunshine Village Ski Resort. After a thorough search, the slope was declared clear and all skiers safe and unhurt. An in-bounds avalanche is a rare occurrence, but after major snow dumps, anything is possible, especially under current conditions . Backcountry avalanche warnings have been issued for all regions. The Canadian Avalanche Association currently ranks the risk level as high, so take the proper precautions when heading out. For extensive avalanche coverage and information got to avalanche.ca.
// Doug LePage
BC resorts opening early
After an incredible La Niña-like onslaught of heavenly snow, several BC ski resorts are pushing forward their opening dates. Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Whitewater and Kimberley will now roll their chairs on December 3 and Panorama on December 5—in some cases several weeks ahead of their regular openings. This is all the result of a major storm system that moved through last week, leaving behind 80 – 120 centimetres
30 SNOW ZONE
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
of the white stuff. In most cases it caught the working teams at the resorts by surprise, but it sure is a lot more fun digging snow out than pulling guns and hoses around to make it artificially. Fortunately, this system did not bypass our Alberta Rocky Mountain resorts and an additional 60 – 70 centimetres of snow has allowed them to rapidly expand their open terrain, with most of the lifts now running. V
<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26
the reason for their visits, pointing to their hearts and then heads. "The water energizes and recuperates you," echoes Cathy de Guise's comment from earlier. "You can see the difference in people who come in with a frown and leave with a smile." As my Austrian pals depart beaming, I bliss out, pondering the truth of the statement before making my own unwitnessed attempt at the river run. I reach knee depth before realizing it's a fucking stupid idea and scampering back up to the warmth. As big a smile as the hot springs can put on your face, an icy Canadian mountain stream will soon wipe it off again.
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For more on the Hot Springs Circle Route visit hellobc.com/kr and click Driving Routes. For opening hours, prices and more, contact each resort directly. Radium Hot Springs The Radium Hot Springs pools are operated by Parks Canada. pc.gc.ca 250.347.9485, 1.800.767.1611 Fairmont Hot Springs Resort fairmonthotsprings.com 250.345.6000, 1.800.663.4979 Lussier Hot Springs Take Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park turning from Highway 93/95 8 kilometres south of Canal Flats. Lussier is located 17 kilometres up the gravel logging road. Four-wheel drive required during winter. No opening hours or fees. No dogs, alcohol or nudity permitted. Ainsworth Hot Springs hotnaturally.com 250.229.4212, 1.800.668.1171 Nakusp Hot Springs nakusphotsprings.com 250.265.4528, 1.866.999.4528 Canyon Hot Springs (closed until May 2012) canyonhotsprings.com 250.837.2420 Halcyon Hot Springs halcyon-hotsprings.com 250.265.3554, 1.888.689.4699 T:10.25â&#x20AC;?
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HOLIDAY GUIDE Christmas movies are one of the holiday season's most enduring traditions. From the somewhat-freaky-buttotally-endearing stop motion animation of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, to the higher than hi-jinx of A Very Harold & Kumar’s 3D Christmas, Christmas movies are often the place we develop the warm and fuzzy feelings of love and tradition that surround the holidays. Throwing a Christmas movie night is a low-stress way to celebrate the holidays with friends, but you don’t want to just pop a DVD in and call it an evening—that would be un-Christmaslike. To ensure that your Christmas movie night takes off like Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, you need to make the whole night an experience complete with food and drinks that tie into the experience you're setting before your guests. Check out some of Vue's suggestions or make up your own. Remember, there's no movie theme you can stretch too thin.
HOME ALONE 2
LETHAL WEAPON
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a pretty kitschy film at best, borrowing its plot completely from the first movie, setting near-identical hijinx in a new location: Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets lost in New York, spends his dad's money, ends up thwarting robbers and befriending a societal outcast—in this case, Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker as a pigeon lady (she did not win for Home Alone 2). Yet somehow it still captures that warm spirit that comes through in John Hughes' best works, even without a repeat performance of John Candy as the loveable Gus Polinski of the Kenosha Kickers. And besides: if you have to revisit the movies of your youth, it's better done in a party setting, where refreshments can run freely and witty comments can be rattled off like a live episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
'Tis the season when things can get a little crazy. Take the pressures of the commercial machine, the longing for loved ones and add in a high-stress job—you know, like an LAPD Homicide Detective Sergeant—and the next thing you're fueling a seriously off-the-edge situation. That's the package that Lethal Weapon ties up in a buddy cop wrapping. There's plenty of humour to diffuse the evertightening stress as Homicide Detective Sergeant Roger "I'm too old for this shit" Murtaugh finds himself saddled with new partner Martin "I don't make things difficult. That's the way they get all by themselves" Riggs, but the real heart of this story is the friendship that develops between them as the relative normalcy of Murtaugh's life carries over into Riggs'.
FOOD: ORDER IN
DRINK: THE RIGGS
Kevin gets room service at his palace-like hotel? So do you. Take your pick of whatever you can get by picking up the phone and dialing. Note: Kevin spent $967.43 on his service. Up to you if you aim for high.
DRINK: RUMNOG
Getting through the plot of this, or other similar family-friendly holiday films, might require a boost once you're over the legal drinking age. You'll want something strong to stay in the holiday spirit, so simply rum your nog, and maybe toss a pinch of cinnamon or ground nutmeg on top. Here's a simple, from-scratch recipe from allrecipes.com (note that there are raw eggs involved, so be wary of salmonella—look for freerange eggs—and of leaving your nog unrefrigerated for too long). Ingredients: 4 egg yolks (5 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 1/2 cups milk 4 egg whites 1 fluid ounce rum 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (use fresh nutmeg, if you can)
Directions: 1) In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until they are thickened and light. 2) Gradually stir in condensed milk, sugar, vanilla and milk. 3) Beat the egg whites until stiff, then add them to the milk mixture. 4) Stir rum into the mixture (to taste). Garnish with nutmeg.
Riggs is a man teetering on the brink of self-destruction, willing to step over the edge at each and every opportunity. In Lethal Weapon, beer was his drink of choice, but if you really want to honour the character, then you're going to want to step way out of your comfort zone. Don't be cautious, either: this is the time to walk the edge a little yourself and try something new. You could go straight up and try a Lethal Weapon ( one part 151 proof rum, two parts vodka, one can of Mountain Dew, a dash of Triple sec), but, really, anything that sounds dangerous will do (flaming sambuca, Molotov Cocktail, kamikaze, artillery punch—google any of those). The important thing is that you go into the venture without flinching at the possible outcome.
FOOD: THE MURTAUGH
The key to Lethal Weapon is the balance that Murtaugh's straight edge offers to Riggs' self-destruction. When it comes to food, that translates into good old dependable sandwiches. Emphasis on the old. Ancient grains for bread (Rye), old cheese (cheddar's fine, but brie or Gorgonzola are better) and aged meats (salumi or sausage—and cut it at home yourself for the best flavour). Remember, when it comes to sandwiches this shit's not too old for you. EDEN MUNRO // EDEN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
PAUL BLINOV // PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM
CONTINUED ON PAGE 34 >>
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
HOLIDAY GUIDE 33
MERRY MOVIE NIGHT
<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE A classic of the Christmas canon, It's a Wonderful Life tells the story of George Bailey and man who, after a series of misfortunes, tries to commit suicide so his family can collect on his life insurance. His guardian angel, Clarence, appears and shows him what life would be like if George had never been born. His beloved town of Bedford Falls becomes a den of iniquity, his family and friends are shells of their former selves and George begs to be brought back to his old life.
FOOD: CHICKEN WINGS
Chicken wings are the perfect accompaniment to It's a Wonderful Life because saving George's life is what earns guardian angel Clarence his wings. As George's daughter Zuzu exclaims at the end, “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”
DRINK: THE BEDFORD FALLS
When George is at his most despondent, he heads for the local bar where he attempts to drink himself into oblivion. Afterward, he crashes his car into a tree and then staggers to the bridge where he attempts to kill himself—only to meet Clarence. A Bedford Falls, named after the town George Bailey has lived in his whole life, is a whiskey sour—with double the whiskey. Ingredients: Six parts whiskey (preferably Bourbon) Two parts fresh lemon juice One part gomme syrup Directions: Shake ingredients with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with ice. Garnish with orange slice and maraschino cherry. BRYAN BIRTLES // BRYAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 >>
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34 HOLIDAY GUIDE
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
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F I L E
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VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
HOLIDAY GUIDE 35
MERRY MOVIE NIGHT
<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34
THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL You may not think it at first, but Charles Dickens and the Muppets had a lot in common. Originally, Dickens intended to write pamphlets on the subject of the inequality that industrial capitalism had caused in Victorian England, but he soon decided his statements would have more force as a narrative tale which fit into society's reinvigorated desire for traditional Christmas tales. In that regard, the Muppets' ability to teach through song and story make them well suited to tell the tale of Christmas morality in A Christmas Carol—a dark tale of a lost past and misplaced priorities. The movie is one of the most closely adapted versions of A Christmas Carol with Gonzo—in the role of Charles Dickens himself—voicing much of the original text. The Muppets are able to transmit the story's darkness through the cold, eerie home of Ebenezer Scrooge, Statler and Waldorf's chained interpretation of Scrooge's
business partners, the faceless, towering Ghost of Christmas Future and Scrooge's encounter in the graveyard, which Rizzo and Gonzo find so frightening they leave their post as narrators. Muppets were specifically created for the portrayal of the Ghosts, and go so far as to stick with Dickens' interpretation that the Ghost of Christmas Present would age during his time with Scrooge, a clever portrayal of the fleeting nature of the now. But of course, the Muppets bring some levity through their special brand of sarcastic humour. They have a way of making you laugh while also making you feel that kindness toward your fellow man and Muppet-kind alike, no matter how strongly you hold to your humbug. Also, this movie has Michael Caine. That should really be enough to rate it as a classic.
FOOD: ROASTED CHESTNUTS
While you may not be able to get the biggest Christmas goose in the window, the Muppets Christmas Carol reminds us it's about sharing what we have with each other, so the best way to cater your Muppet party would be through a potluck of snacks and finger food. Rizzo the Rat is your guide to the food—as he declares in the opening scene—so setting out some jelly beans in honour of his favourite snack or maybe some gummy bears to represent the important role Fozzi takes on in Fozziwig. Of course, the Muppets wouldn't approve of a party consisting solely of candy, so some colourful fruit kebabs would be easy to put together, and easily shareable. In a throwback to the Victorian era—and Mrs Cratchit's favourite snack—roasting chestnuts prior to the party would provide a more authentic experience. Ingredients: 1 1/2 to 2 pounds whole chestnuts in shell 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1/4 cup water Directions: Make a large X in each chestnut with chestnut knife or a sharp paring knife, cutting through shell. Toss chestnuts with oil in a bowl. Heat dry skillet over moderately low heat until hot, then roast chestnuts in skillet on stovetop, covered, stirring every few minutes, for 15 minutes total. Add water and continue to roast, covered, stirring occasionally, until water is evaporated and chestnuts are tender, about five minutes more. Serve hot. (From epicurious.com)
DRINK: DICKENS CHRISTMAS PUNCH
A colourful punch is easily shareable and could be made in a brilliant Muppet colour. But for some authenticity, you might want to try Dickens' own Christmas punch, as penned by the author in 1847. While he suggested it tasted best when set alight, for the safety of the party you might just want to heat it over the stove before serving. Ingredients: 1 L water 700 ml of dark rum 350 ml of brandy 500g Demerrara sugar Grated zest and juice of 3 large lemons Directions: Put the rum, water and sugar into a large saucepan. Heat this punch mixture in the pan on a low temperature for 10 minutes. Do not allow the punch to boil, but stir continuously to dissolve the sugar. After 10 minutes add in the brandy and the zested (fine grated) lemon peel from three large lemons, then cut them in half and add all the lemon juice from them. Gently warm for another 10 minutes without coming to boil. Serve with slices of lemon or cinnamon sticks. (from historicalfoods.com) SAMANTHA POWER
// SAMANTHA@VUEWEEKLY.COM
36 HOLIDAY GUIDE
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
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HOLIDAY GUIDE 37
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38 HOLIDAY GUIDE
Give the gift of shopping this Christmas. Capilano mall gift certificates can be used at any mall store, including Walmart, Winners and Safeway.
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
www.thetinbox.ca
MUSIC
LIVE MUSIC
DEC 2 & 3, RYAN YOUNG DEC 5, RON MCNEIL DEC 7, DUFF ROBINSON DEC 9 & 10, ALESHA & BRENDON edmontonpubs.com
PREVUE // FOLKIE FOLKS
Don't look back
Carrie Day writes, records and moves ahead again
DEVANEYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S IRISH PUB
WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S YOUR FAVOURITE DAY OF THE WEEK? SATURDAY & SUNDAY, BREAKFAST UNTIL 4PM SUNDAY, CELTIC MUSIC MONDAY, SINGER SONG WRITER TUESDAY, WING NIGHT WEDNESDAY, OPEN STAGE, PIZZA w/ JUG NIGHT THURSDAY, CHEAP JUG NIGHT
Carrie Day plays Maggie Walt Design this weekend
Sat, Dec 3 (8 pm) With Rob Heath, Marty Pawlina Maggie Walt Design, $15
S
ome artists require down time to recharge their creative batteries in order to be ready to make something new. Edmonton singer-songwriter Carrie Day isn't that kind of artist. Constantly moving forward, Day released her latest album in October of 2010, and almost immediately headed into the studio to begin recording demos for what will be her next album. "I feel like if I stop I'm not going to be able to start again," she says, mentioning that her studio habit might get significantly less expensive were she to set up her own. "I write a lot and I know lots of people have a little bit of recording equipment
at home so they can put their ideas down but I don't have that so I just book studio time. It's kind of nice to go in and let someone else take care of the technical stuff." In addition to staying busy writing songs, playing gigs and slipping into a recording studio whenever she can,
that often. Not because it isn't good but because she isâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;strangely enough for a performerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;somewhat shy. "I hate hearing myself, I hate reading articles, I hate seeing my picture somewhere; its like the hardest thing to do and I don't even know whyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;I guess because I'm my worst critic," she says. "It was a lot of fun making the video
I feel like if I stop I'm not going to be able to start again
Day also made a video this year. The video itself was a trade from a husbandand-wife team after Day performed at their wedding and although Day says the shoot itself was a lot of fun, the results aren't something she looks at
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but it was really, really, really hard to watch the first cut and I have watched it beginning to end maybe once and that was good enough." Bryan Birtles
// bryan@vueweekly.com
PREVUE // WINTER MUSIC
THE MCDADES Terry McDade and the McDades are geared up for the holiday season with a bunch of shows around the province. First off is the release of a new album, Winter Rose, in Edmonton at the Royal Alberta Museum Theatre on Thursday, December 8, followed by shows in Banff, Athabasca and Camrose before they come back to town for a Candlelight Christmas at the John Walter Museum in a series of sold-out shows running from December 16 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 23.
DEC 2 & 3
Lyle Hobbs
DEC 9 & 10
MARK McGarrigle
In Sutton Place Hotel #195, 10235 101 Street, EDMONTONPUBS.COM
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DEC 7, 2011
MUSIC 39
FIRSTS, LASTS, FAVOURITES
BRYAN BIRTLES // BRYAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
THE MAGNETIC NORTH
Sat, Dec 3 (8 pm) Haven Social Club, $10 On the Magnetic North's debut album Constellations, twinkling piano meshes with rhythms siphoned from the 1970s into a rollicking package. The band will head up from its home base of Calgary to officially release the album here this weekend. Pianist Paul van Kampen outlined a bit of his musical history to Vue over email.
FIRST ALBUM
LAST CONCERT
Live, Throwing Copper.
The last stadium concert was Death Cab for Cutie with Bright Eyes.
FIRST CONCERT
FAVOURITE ALBUM
Besides punk rock shows, I suppose the first concert I went to was the Mad Caddies.
I think if I have to choose a favourite, it would be Radiohead, Kid A.
LAST ALBUM
MUSICAL GUILTY PLEASURE
The last album I bought was Radiohead, The King of Limbs.
Probably America's Got Talent. Don't tell anyone!
TONUS VIVUS
Exposing EDMONTONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SONIC DIVERSITY Tonus Vivus Festival of New Music
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December 2 & 3, 2011 Alberta College, Muttart Hall 10050 MacDonald Drive General $20 per night | Students $10 per night General $30 Fest Pass | Students $20 Fest Pass Tickets available at the door
Featuring performances by: Allison Balcetis, saxophone | Daniel Gervais, YLROLQ _ &DWKHULQH 1RUULV Ă&#x20AC;XWH _ 0RQL Mathew, viola | Don Ross, music director & clarinet | Janet Smith, soprano | Andriy Talpash, conductor | Scott Smallwood, sound artist | Wijit, DJ | Reinhard von Berg, electronic artist | MUGBAIT, electronic artists
Turning Albertans onto New Music since 1985
www.tonusvivus.ca 40 MUSIC
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DEC 7, 2011
PREVUE // STRING QUARTET
NEW ORFORD STRING QUARTET
this year, and are setting out on an eightdate western tour, joined by guests on select dates (in Edmonton, it'll be Aaron Au on viola), to be followed by Ontario and Quebec tours in 2012. "I can't speak for the other three, but variety's the spice of life," Wan says. "I think any time I'm in orchestra for a little bit too long, I'm yearning to do more solo or chamber stuff, and y'know, I'm sure if I were to go on tour with this
quartet for more than three weeks, we would start getting sick of each other. So it's kind of nice to change it up ... When we have a specific goal in mind, like a recording or a tour, we work really well together. I think if we had too much time to prepare for something, I don't think the results would be as special." Paul Blinov
// paul@vueweekly.com
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS CD RELEASE PARTY with
Nadine Kellman, Brian Gregg, & Chris Daly DECEMBER 10th at BRIXX BAR & GRILL 10030 – 102 Street What's so funny guys?
Sun, Dec 4 (7:30 pm) Muttart Hall, $20 – $30
'I
have a concert in a couple hours; I'm actually watching the Oilers game right now," says violinist Andrew Wan, when he picks up his phone in Montréal. He lives out there now, but still has some vested hometown pride for Edmonton, where he grew up (hey, and that was Friday's game, so he saw the team chalk up a win). Out in Quebec, he's the current Concertmaster of the Montréal Symphony Orchestra—one of the youngest to ever hold the position—an extenstively well-toured musi-
cian and, most pertinently, one of the four corners of the New Orford String Quartet. It's a name that comes attached to a legacy: the original Orford String Quartet, which debuted back in 1965, was a Canadian institution on the classical scene. That group called it quits in 1991, but two years ago the name was resurrected with fresh faces and, in reference to that, the word "new" added into the title. Wan was asked by fellow violinist Jonathan Crow to join. "He gave me a call because the director at the time [of the Orford music fest] asked him to initiate this quartet, and
to carry on this tradition," Wan explains. "And then he called Brian Manker, who's also on faculty on Orford and who's also incidentally the principal cellist in my orchestra ... and then I called my friend from Juliard, Eric [Nowlin, viola], who played in the Toronto symphony." Unlike the original quartet, Wan and the other three aren't invested in it full time, but he also notes the amount of time they're putting into the group seems to be growing exponentially. After an acclaimed debut in 2009 and an equally-praised pair of concerts in 2010, they've already done a handful of shows
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
DOORS at 9:00 SHOW 9:30 $10 COVER
MUSIC 41
42 MUSIC
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
WAR STORIES // MUSIC
TESSERACT
Fri, Dec 2 (8 pm) Starlite Room, $22
B
ritish progressive metal band TesseracT has been in its fair share of sticky situations, but a tour to Holland landed the group in its stickiestâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and it had nothing to do with really good weed. Guitarist James Monteith recounts the band's war story: A few years back we ventured over to Holland for a three-show event called Tsunami fest. We thought this was a real step up. We couldn't have been more wrong. We arrived at the promoter's house in the early hours of Saturday morn-
ing, and were ready for some much needed sleep. He welcomed us in and said that we could crash in his living room which seemed great, until we saw his flat. It looked like a scene right out of the movie Trainspotting. The floor was covered in greasy grime, there were multiple overflowing ashtrays, there were what looked like feces stains up the wallsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the scene was just missing some scaggy needles, tin foil and bad dance music. We were completely exhausted so just passed out, although I woke up in the morning with my face in an ashtray. I can still remember the taste and smell and to this day just thinking about it still makes me gag.
Fortunately (or so we thought) this was just a temporary arrangement. After the show that day he took us to our crash pad. We arrived at a housing estate which seemed promisingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a nice apartment would be sweet! But as we bypassed all the livable accommodation we realized something wasn't quite right. He lead us through an industrial door and into the room where we would stayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a windowless, floorless concrete box, about the size of an average living room. He had provided a fridge of beer which seemed like an OK silver lining, until the toiletâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which was a bucket in the cornerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;was rapidly filled up by the [other] band [we were with]. By bucket I mean an actual bucket. Mos [bassist Amos Williams] cleverly packed an airbed, so he had some level of comfort, but the rest of us were lying on the damp, cold floor in this piss-stinking box. Although a little uncomfortable, spirits were still upâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;we were in Holland after all! But the discovery of what appeared to be bullet holes and blood splattering on the walls freaked us all out. The next day we very politely asked to be moved to alternative accommodation and ended up back at the promoter's flat. Sleeping in an ashtray was actually fairly welcome after sleeping in piss. V
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All guitar packs include case, strap, cable, and tuner! 4U "MCFSU 5SBJM 4U "MCFSU "# t t JOOPWBUJPOTNVTJD DPN VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DEC 7, 2011
MUSIC 43
NEWSOUNDS
Scorpions Comeblack (Sony) While the band's heart is surely in the right place with this post-retirement gift to its diehard fans, there's not much thrill in re-recorded versions of past Scorpions tracks like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change" and a few bonus covers of the '60s bands that inspired them. Well played and spirited, but inessential.
Caity Fisher & The Frontier Caity Fisher & The Frontier (Old Ugly) Local gal Caity Fisher's first foray into rockband territory is an exceptional five-song ride, the folk/roots place that she's come from colouring the more electric place she goes with the Frontier. "Gamblin' Woman Rock" is a modern-indie rocker, driven by a dancing guitar line and dreamy, floating vocals, but the EP slips into more of an alt-country-and-western vibe as it goes on: both the lonesome strums of "Some Things"—"I should know better / Than to fool around / I should know / By now"—and the slow rhythm of "I Think of Love Like (It Doesn't Matter)" sounds like the last songs of a bar band's set in some forgotten Americana territory. The warble of Fisher's voice curls around the notes beautifully, recalling a gruffer Patsy Cline—in more modern terms, there's a similarly affecting quality in Black Mountain's Amber Webber—but the backing instrumentation it's paired with holds up the other end, knowing when to strum loudly and when to back off and let Fisher's voice echo on alone, lingering over the dusty trail they conjure up together. Paul Blinov
// paul@vueweekly.com
Eden Munro // eden@vueweekly.com
Krisiun The Great Execution (Century Media) The drums are the first thing to be noticed on Krisiun's eighth album. Unlike numerous death-metal bands that choose rapidity above all else, Krisiun's drummer, Max Kolsene, has no fear in slowing the beat down and achieving a deeper resonance, ending up with a combination of Witchery with the reverberant tones of the Melvins. The drums drive the tracks and hold your attention while great guitar work cascades through standout tracks like "Descending Abomination" and the title track, "Great Execution," though there are a few strange deviations. For some reason this band of brothers decided to include some flamenco, and "Extinco em mascara" gets almost too fast, wandering into the world of speed metal, which, while technically well executed, breaks the consistency of the album. But, overall Krisiun's eighth album is a great addition to your death-metal collection. Samantha Power
// samantha@vueweekly.com
44 MUSIC
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
Rat Silo The Great Northern Way (Independent)
Marine Dreams Marine Dreams (You've Changed)
Neverending White Lights Act III: Love Will Ruin (Maple)
M
An album that feels completely unfinished, Rat Silo's The Great Northern Way could have stood to have a bit more time in pre-production, dreaming up ideas to differentiate the songs from each other and, really, all the elements within the songs from themselves. The album nails the tone of bluesy classic rock, but other than that it's generally a mess. It's repetitious to the point of total redundancy— one wonders why the album wasn't just a list of the song titles without any music the way it insists on repeating the same words over and over. The music holds no interest—it's as repetitious as the words and doubly tedious—and the musicianship is subpar, but without the gleeful abandon of punk rock to make up for its musical shortcomings.
On Marine Dreams' self-titled debut (there's also a track called "Marine Dreams" here, too), the band rides a wave of lo-fi guitar sounds, trading things like "fidelity" and "polish" to drift through the simple pleasures of hooky guitar rock and simple ideas imbued with emotion. The repetition of the title line on "Yet to See The Sun" lets the idea sink in as crunchy electric guitars crash against one another; likewise with the simple sadness that carries through "We'll Get Her Back In Your Arms." All of it showcases a welcome take on pared-down sound.
The hauntingly beautiful album opener "Theme From Love Will Ruin" is a suitable analogy to the kind of tragic love that Neverending White Lights' third project tries to dissect. Producer Daniel Victor creates a melodious piano piece that begins simply before slowing it down further like a calm before a storm. Suddenly, orchestral sounds thunder loudly and dramatically with angry bursts. In fact, this particular track could also be saying something about the tumultuous recording process that Victor went through for two years with Act III. Although recurring themes of tears, lies and memories appear to hinder lyrical diversity, each track conjures up a wide array of moods, sounds and styles not easily conveyed into words: from anger to grief; hope and eternal longing to acceptance and peace.
Paul Blinov
// paul@vueweekly.com
Bryan Birtles
// bryan@vueweekly.com
10442 whyte ave 439.127310442 whyte ave 439.1273
THE BLACK KEYS
CD + LP
EL CAMONO
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Kristina de Guzman
// kristina@vueweekly.com
looniebin
SAMANTHA POWER // samantha@vueweekly.com
The Weeknd, "The Knowing"
Released as a music video—with imagery suggesting both the overthrow of a dictator but in some weird Dune meets Firefly alternate reality taking place, we're told, on the planet Ethio X in 16311 AD—Abel Tesfaye's latest is a lengthy pining for some lost love. Over slow waves of synth and a slowed marching rhythm, he offers, "You probably thought that you'd break my heart ... but baby it's OK / I swear it's OK / 'Cause I know everything," but "The Knowing" sounds more generic than Tesfaye ever has before, a not-particularly-distinguishable R&B track instead of Tesfaye's usually more unique take—darker and colder, usually—on the genre. The line dividing this guy's music and the generic blot of the genre seems pretty thin here.
Austra, "Crying" Rounding out the just-released deluxe version of Austra's Feel it Break is this cover of Roy Orbison's classic, pining ballad. The band replaces the simplicity of Orbison's longing with something a little more whimsical, instrumentation that flutters and swells up under Kate Stelmanis's powerful, controlled pipes. It sounds like the overture to a fevered dream.
Adam & The Amethysts, "Prophecy" "Prophecy" rides a quiet drum rattle upward, growing from a tapping rhythm into a bedroom orchestra of sounds: bass, synth and electric guitars swell up and cascade toward a charming pop finish: "Try not to get worried / Try not to turn on to / Problems that upset you" like a mantra, the melody of "Auld Lang Syne," gets borrowed to offer wistful note to go out on.
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
MUSIC 45
46 MUSIC
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
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DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3PM
THU DEC 1 Accent European Lounge folk/jazz/pop/ singer-songwriter live music Thu; 9:30pm11:30pm; no minors; no cover
Artery Piotr Grella-Mozejko, Nadir Bellahmer, DJ Mike Pathos; 8:30pm; $5 (adv)/$10 (door) Blues on Whyte Fist
Full of Blues
CARROT Café
Zoomers Thu afternoon open mic; 1-4pm
Cha Island Tea Co Live on the Island:
Rhea March hosts open mic and Songwriter's stage; starts with a jam session; 7pm
Druid Irish Pub DJ
every Thu at 9pm
dv8 Acoustic Chaos
Thursdays: bring your guitars, basses, drums, whatever and play some tunes
J R Bar and Grill Live Jam Thu; 9pm
Jeffrey's Café Beth Portman (folk, jazz, blues); $10
L.B.'s Pub Open jam
with Kenny Skoreyko, Fred LaRose and Gordy Mathews (Shaved Posse) every Thu; 9pm-1am
Marybeth's Coffee House–Beaumont Open mic every Thu; 7pm
New City Legion
Bingo is Back every Thu starting 9pm; followed by Behind The Red Door at 10:30pm; no minors; no cover
NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House Every Thursday
Night: Nick Martin, 10pm; Early show: Kelly Alanna Trio, 6-9pm
NORTH GLENORA HALL Jam by Wild Rose
Old Time Fiddlers every Thu
Pawnshop
Korpiklaani, Arkona, Polkadot Cadaver, Forged in Flames, guests; 7pm; $20 (adv at Blackbyrd)
Ric’s Grill Peter
Belec ( jazz); most Thursdays; 7-10pm
Second Cup– Varscona Live music
every Thu night; 7-9pm
Starlite Room
K-OS, Dirty mags; 8pm; $22 at UnionEvents. com, Blackbyrd
That's Aroma Open stage hosted by Carrie Day and Kyler Schogen; alternate weeks; 7-9pm
Muttart Hall
Alberta College Honour Band, solos by woodwind and brass students; 7pm
DJs 180 Degrees DJ every Thu
Black dog Freehouse Underdog: Underdog Sound Revue: garage, soul, blues with Stu Chel; Main Floor: Soul/reggae/punk/funk/ junk with DJ Jaime Del Norte; Wooftop Lounge: Various musical flavas including funk, indie dance/nu disco, breaks, drum and bass and house with DJ Gundam
Brixx Radio Brixx with Tommy Grimes spinning Rock n Roll; 8pm (door); no cover
Radley (metal), A World Forgotten, Questions for the Sniper, Negation, Trophy Killer; all ags; 6:30pm; $10 (door)
Blues on Whyte Fist
Full of Blues
Bohemia Kemo Treats; 8pm (door); $5 Bone Yard Ale House '80s rock
weekend: Miss Understood (tribute)
Brant Hotel–Ft Sask The Kyler Schogen
Band
Brixx bar Early Show:
Chrome Lounge 123
CARROT Live music
Ko every Thu
THE Common So
Necessary: Hip hop, classic hip hop, funk, soul, r&b, '80s, oldies and everything in between with Sonny Grimezz, Shortround, Twist every Thu
Crown Pub
Breakdown @ the crown with This Side Up! hosted by Atomatik and Kalmplxx DJ
Druid Irish Pub DJ
every Thu; 9pm
electric rodeo– Spruce Grove DJ every
Thu
FILTHY McNASTY’S
Something Diffrent every Thursday with DJ Ryan Kill
FLASH Night Club
Indust:real Assembly: Goth and Industrial Night with DJ Nanuck; no minors; 10pm (door); no cover
FLUID LOUNGE Thirsty Thursdays: Electro breaks Cup; no cover all night
FUNKY BUDDHA– Whyte Ave Requests every Thu with DJ Damian
HALO Fo Sho: every
every Fri; all ages; Boo Radley, A World Forgotten, Negation, QTFS, Trophy Killer; 6:30pm; $5 (door)
CASINO EDMONTON
Ides of Winter, Kymetic, Dire Omen, Cavernous; 8pm (door), 9:30pm (show); $10
River Cree Resort–The Venue
nity: Rotating DJs Fri and Sat; 10pm
Heptones Sibbles; D & Daddy H; 9pm (door); 10:30pm (show); +25, no minors; $25 (adv) at Ms. V's Caribbean and Canadian Cuisine, Hair Flaire, A Yah Mi Deh Jamaican/Caribbean Restaurant/Bakery; Safron's
STARLITE ROOM
Between The Buried and Me, Animals as Leaders and Tesseract; 8pm; $22 at UnionEvents.com, Blackbyrd
The Studio Music Foundation
Grounded Star, Whitemud, Her Alibi; all ages; 7pm (door), 8pm (show) $10 (door)
CASINO YELLOWHEAD Catalyst
Deer TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close
Open stage every Fri; 9:30pm
Empress Ballroom Formetera: Ashley Wallbridge
Festival Place
The Sojourners (blues): A Christmas Gospel; 7:30pm; $32 (table)/$30 (box)/$28 (theatre) at Festival Place box office
FRESH START BISTRO Koreen Perry–Cocktails with Koreen; 7-10pm; $10
GAS PUMP The
Wild West Saloon Sarah Beth Keeley
WunderBar
Field+Steam, Energetic Action, Skin, Huckleberry; 8:30pm
Yardbird Suite
Chris Whiteley, Diana Braithwaite; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $20 (member)/$24 (guest)
Classical Convocation Hall Winter Dances: U of A Concert Choir; 8-10pm; admission by donation
Flamingo Bay, guests; 8pm
Winspear A Merry Pops Christmas: Bob Bernhardt and the Greenwood Singers and University of Alberta Handbell Ringers; 8pm; $24-$85
Irish Club Jam session
DJs
Uptown Jammers (house band); every Fri; 5:309pm
Haven Social Club
every Fri; 8pm; no cover
Jeffrey's Café
Rollanda Lee ( jazz, Christmas concert); $15
180 Degrees DJ every Fri
AZUCAR PICANTE
Jekyll and Hyde
DJ Papi and DJ Latin Sensation every Fri
KAS BAR Urban House:
Pub Headwind (classic
pop/rock); every Fri; 9pm; no cover
BAR-B-BAR DJ James;
every Thu with DJ Mark Stevens; 9pm
Level 2 lounge Funk Bunker Thursdays
Lucky 13 Sin Thu with DJ Mike Tomas On The Rocks
Salsaholic: every Thu; dance lessons at 8pm; salsa DJ to follow
Overtime– Downtown Thursdays at Eleven: Electronic Techno and Dub Step
rendezvous Metal
night every Thu
Sportsworld
Thu and Fri; 10pm-close
Eclectic mix every Thu with DJ Dusty Grooves
Wild West Saloon
Union Hall Jackass Party hosted by Bam Margera
Maple Sizzurp Rap Fest: Ghettosocks, Thesis Sahib, The Joe, Mitchmatic, Timbuktu, Jeff Spec, Muneshine; 8pm
Wild Bill’s–Red Deer
Classical
Artery Counted Among Saints, Attention
TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close
FRI DEC 2
LB's PUB Oil City
Sound Machine Alberta's Dance Band; 9:30pm2am
Lizard Lounge Rock 'n' roll open mic every Fri; 8:30pm; no cover
new city compound Dayglo
Abortions, Crystal Mess, guests; no minors; 8pm (door)
NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House Early show:
Kelly Alanna Trio, 6-9pm; Late show: Dawn In The City; 9:30pm- midnight
On the Rocks
Mourning Wood; 9pm; $5
PAWN SHOP Early
every Fri; no cover
BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Every
Friday DJs spin on the main floor, Underdog and the Wooftop
Blacksheep Pub
Bash: DJ spinning retro to rock classics to current
Boneyard Ale House The Rock Mash-
up: DJ NAK spins videos every Fri; 9pm; no cover
BUDDY’S DJ Arrow
Chaser every Fri; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm
Buffalo Underground R U
Aware Friday: Featuring Neon Nights
CHROME LOUNGE
Platinum VIP every Fri
Show: Burn Your World, From Within, $5 (adv) Later: Audio Rocketry (folk punk), Rum Runner, Troy Snaterse, Nervous Wreck, 8pm, $5 (adv at Blackbyrd)
THE Common Boom
Red Piano Bar
electric rodeo– Spruce Grove DJ every
Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Fri; 9pm-2am
Rendezvous pub
rock, retro with DJ Damian; every Fri
Sherbrooke Community Centre Leroy
Wild Bill’s–Red
Coast to Coast
Funky Buddha– Whyte Ave Top tracks,
GAS PUMP DJ Christian; every Fri; 9:30pm-2am
Robin Kelly (Elvis tribute)
(Caribbean)
FLUID LOUNGE Hip hop and dancehall; every Fri
The Tennessee 3–The Legendary Sound Behind Johnny Cash; no minors; $49.50 (incl Christmas buffet dinner)
Thu with Allout DJs DJ Degree, Junior Brown
Taphouse–St Albert
Avenue Theatre Boo
7: Retro '80s with house DJ every Thu; 7pm-close
Wild Bill’s–Red Deer TJ the DJ every
WunderBar
9:30pm (door)
Robyn Woywitkam and guests Girl meets Bear, 7pm (door); $8 (adv)
UNION HALL Bam
Sarah Beth Keeley
Atlantic Trap & GilL Claymore (pop);
Century Room Lucky
Roller Skating Disco: Thu Retro Nights; 7-10:30pm; sportsworld.ca
Margera
to the Wounded; 8pm; $12 (adv)/$15 (door)
The Box: with Kenzie Clarke and Allout DJs; 8pm
The Druid Irish Pub DJ every Fri; 9pm
Fri
FILTHY McNASTY'S Shake yo ass every Fri with DJ SAWG
junction bar and eatery LGBT Commu-
Newcastle Pub
House, dance mix every Fri with DJ Donovan
Overtime– Downtown Fridays at
Eleven: Rock hip hop, country, top forty, techno
Rednex–Morinville
DJ Gravy from the Source 98.5 every Fri
RED STAR Movin’ on
Up: indie, rock, funk, soul, hip hop with DJ Gatto, DJ Mega Wattson; every Fri
Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge Fuzzion Friday: with Crewshtopher, Tyler M, guests; no cover
SPORTSWORLD Roller
Skating Disco Fri Nights; 7-10:30pm; sports-world. ca
Suede Lounge Juicy DJ spins every Fri
Suite 69 Every Fri Sat with DJ Randall-A
Temple Options with Greg Gory and Eddie Lunchpail; every Fri
Treasury In Style
Fri: DJ Tyco and Ernest Ledi; no line no cover for ladies all night long
Union Hall Ladies Night every Fri
Vinyl Dance Lounge Connected Las Vegas Fridays
Y AFTERHOURS
Foundation Fridays
SAT DEC 3 ALBERTA BEACH HOTEL Open stage with Trace Jordan 1st and 3rd Sat; 7pm-12
Artery Bill Bourne and The Free Radio Band (Tour Finale 2011); 8pm; $20 (adv)/$25 (door) Atlantic Trap & GilL Claymore (pop);
9:30pm (door)
Avenue Theatre
Butterfly Transitions and Healing Society presents: 3rd Annual Family Masquerade Will Belcourt and the Hollywood Indians (folk rock), The McGowan Family Band and introducing Funk Sway; 8pm; Tickets: $10 (adv at Blackbyrd)/$15 (door)
Billy Buds Lounge
Blues For Christmas: Bill Bourne, Rob Taylor Project, Cold Feet, Purple City, Stephanie Harpe Experience, Gin Pills, Blind Dog Blues, Hudson Cruiser, Connie Lagrande, Claudette Swampy and the Swamp Rats; 2pm-midnight; $15 at 780.461.7061, Billy Budd's; benefit for S.I.R.E.N.S. and Crossroads Family Services; sirensthecharity. com/events.html
Black Dog Freehouse Hair of
the Dog: Erin Ross (live acoustic music every Sat); 4-6pm; no cover
Blues on Whyte
Every Sat afternoon: Jam with Back Door Dan; Evening: Fist Full of Blues
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
MUSIC 47
Bone Yard Ale House '80s rock
weekend: Miss Understood (tribute)
Brixx Bar Battle of
Alberta, Needles to vinyl, Bigger Fish than Guns; Puck drops at 8pm, bands start after game; $10 (adv)
Bunker Sports Pub Open Jam every Sat afternoon; hosted by the Recollection Blues Band; 3pm
CASINO EDMONTON
Robin Kelly (Elvis tribute)
CASINO YELLOWHEAD Catalyst (Caribbean)
Coast to Coast Live bands every Sat; 9:30pm
Crown Pub Acoustic
blues open stage with Marshall Lawrence, every Sat, 2-6pm; every Sat, 12-2am
THE DISH NEK Trio
( jazz); every Sat, 6pm
Eddie Shorts Kurt
West Express, Shelley Foss, Chris Mostoway; 10pm; $10 (door)
Expressionz Café
ARTZ II: Karla Anderson, Kevin Cook, Terry Morrison, ARTZY guests, Karen Anderson, hosted by Rhea March; silent auction; 7pm (door), 7:30 (show); $10 (door)
Festival Place The
Nylons Christmas Show; 7:30pm; $38 (table)/$36 (box)/$34 (theatre) at Festival Place box office; Sold Out
Filthy's Acres of Lions,
Unbalanced; 4pm; no cover
Gas Pump Blues jam/ open stage every Sat 3:30-7pm
Haven Social Club The Midway State, The Magnetic North, Drive the Day, Shawn Hook; 8pm; $10 (adv at Blackbyrd)/$12 (door)
HillTop Pub Sat afternoon roots jam with Pascal, Simon and Dan, 3:30-6:30pm; evening: Threads, 9:30pm
Hammer, Nylithia, Mortillery, Nameless; all ages; 9pm (show)
Hooliganz Live music
West Side Pub West
every Sat
Iron Boar Pub Jazz
in Wetaskiwin featuring jazz trios the 1st Sat each month; $10
The Studio Music Foundation Skull
Side Pub Sat Afternoon: Dirty Jam: Tye Jones (host), all styles, 3-7pm
Wild West Saloon Sarah Beth Keeley
Jeffrey's Café Lauren
Wunderbar 100 Mile
Jubilee auditorium
Yardbird Suite
Busheiken ( jazz singer); $10
A Very Grinchy Christmas: St Albert Singers Guild and St Albert Youth Musical Association; 7pm
lbs pub Sat afternoon
Jam with Gator and Friends, 5-9pm; Boogie Patrol, 9:30pm-2am
Level 2 lounge
Saw-DEE @ Selectro Saturdaze; 9:30pm
New West Hotel
Country jam every Sat; 3-6pm
NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House Early show: Kelly Alanna Trio, 6-9pm; Late show: Dawn In The City; 9:30pm- midnight
O’byrne’s Live band
every Sat, 3-7pm; DJ every Sat, 9:30pm
On the Rocks
Mourning Wood; 9pm; $5
Pawn Shop Burn
Your World, From Within; Shake Junt Video Premier; 7pm (door), 8pm (show); $5 at Blackbyrd
Red Piano Bar
Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Sat; 9pm-2am
Sideliners Pub Sat
open stage; 3-7pm
Starlite Room Oh messy life, maintain status quo, NN, IED, Van Ghost; 8pm; $10 (adv)
House, The Awesomehots Christmas party; 8:30pm
Chris Whiteley, Diana Braithwaite; 8pm (door), 9pm (show); $20 (member)/$24 (guest)
Classical Ellerslie Baptist Church We Need
a Little Christmas: EKOSingers, The Little Dickens Children's Choir; 2pm; silver collection, turkey drive, Food Bank donations
First Presbyterian Church Il Duo: RCCO with Ron Long, Clint Hagel (tenors), and Gail Olmstead (piano); 4pm; $15 (adv)/$20 (door)
McDougall United Church A Festive
Mosaic: Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton (UMCE), All-City Youth Choir, Mission Hill Brass Band, Quartetto con brio, Tenor Power, UMCE; 7pm; $15 (adult)/$10 (youth 10-15)/ free (child under 10) at 780.499.0422, Ukrainian Bookstore
WInspear Merry
Pops Christmas: Bob Bernhardt and the Greenwood Singers and University of Alberta Handbell Ringers; 8pm; $24-$85
DJs 180 Degrees Street
VIBS: Reggae night every Sat
AZUCAR PICANTE DJ Touch It, hosted by DJ Papi; every Sat
BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Saturday
evenings feature DJs on three levels; Main Floor: The Menace Sessions: Alt rock/Electro/Trash with Miss Mannered; Wooftop: Sound It Up!: classic hip-hop and reggae with DJ Sonny Grimezz
Blacksheep Pub DJ
every Sat
Boneyard Ale House DJ Sinistra
Saturdays: 9pm
BUDDY'S Feel the
rhythm every Sat with DJ Phon3 Hom3; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm
Buffalo Underground Head
Mashed In Saturday: Mashup Night
The Common
Goodlife Saturdays: Polyesterday and Allout DJs; 9pm
Druid Irish Pub DJ
every Sat; 9pm
electric rodeo– Spruce Grove DJ every
Sat
FILTHY McNASTY'S
Fire up the your night every Saturday with DJ SAWG
Fluid Lounge Scene
Saturday's Relaunch: Party; hip-hop, R&B and Dancehall with DJ Aiden Jamali
FUNKY BUDDHA– Whyte Ave Top tracks,
rock, retro every Sat with DJ Damian
GAS PUMP DJ
Christian every Sat
HALO For Those Who
Know: house every Sat with DJ Junior Brown, Luke Morrison, Nestor Delano, Ari Rhodes
junction bar and eatery LGBT
Community: Rotating DJs Fri and Sat; 10pm
Newcastle Pub Top 40 requests every Sat with DJ Sheri New City Legion
Polished Chrome: every Sat with DJs Blue Jay, The Gothfather, Dervish, Anonymouse; no minors; free (5-8pm)/$5 (ladies)/$8 (gents after 8pm)
Overtime– Downtown Saturdays
at Eleven: R'n'B, hip hop, reggae, Old School
Palace Casino Show Lounge DJ every Sat
PAWN SHOP
Transmission Saturdays: Indie rock, new wave, classic punk with DJ Blue Jay and Eddie Lunchpail; 9pm (door); free (before 10pm)/$5 (after 10pm)
RED STAR Indie rock, hip hop, and electro every Sat with DJ Hot Philly and guests ROUGE LOUNGE Rouge Saturdays: global sound and Cosmopolitan Style Lounging with DJ Rezzo, DJ Mkhai Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge Your
Famous Saturday with Crewshtopher, Tyler M
SPORTSWORLD Roller Skating Disco every Sat; 1pm-4:30pm and 7-10:30pm
Suede Lounge DJ Nic-E spins every Sat
Suite 69 Every Fri Sat
with DJ Randall-A
TEMPLE Oh Snap: with Degree, Cobra Commander, Battery, Jake Roberts, Ten-O, Cool Beans, Hotspur Pop and P-Rex; every Sat Union Hall Celebrity Saturdays: every Sat hosted by DJ Johnny Infamous
VENUE GUIDE 180 Degrees 10730-107 St, 780.414.0233 Accent European Lounge 8223-104 St, 780.431.0179 ARTery 9535 Jasper Ave Avenue Theatre 9030-118 Ave, 780.477.2149 Bernard Snell Auditorium Walter Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre, 1st fl foyer, 112 St entrance Billy Buds Lounge 983963 Ave BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE 10425-82 Ave, 780.439.1082 Blackjack's Roadhouse– Nisku 2110 Sparrow Drive, Nisku, 780.986.8522 Blacksheep Pub 11026 Jasper Ave, 780.420.0448 BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ 9624-76 Ave, 780.989.2861 Blue Pear Restaurant 10643-123 St, 780.482.7178 BLUES ON WHYTE 10329-82 Ave, 780.439.3981 Bohemia 10217-97 St Boneyard Ale House 9216-34 Ave, 780.437.2663 Bunker Sports Pub 615 Hermitage Rd 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 12464-153 St, 780 424 9467 Century grill 3975 Calgary Tr NW, 780.431.0303 Cha Island Tea Co 1033281 Ave, 780.757.2482 CHROME LOUNGE 132 Ave, Victoria Trail Coast to Coast 5552 Calgary Tr, 780.439.8675 Common Lounge 10124124 St Convocation Hall Arts Bldg, U of A, 780.492.3611 Crown and Anchor 15277 Castledowns Rd,
48 MUSIC
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 THE DISH 12417 Stony Plain Rd, 780.488.6641 Dow's Shell Theatre– Fort Saskatchewan 8700-84 St, Fort Saskatchewan, 780.992.6400 DRUID 11606 Jasper Ave, 780.454.9928 DUSTER’S PUB 6402-118 Ave, 780.474.5554 DV8 8307-99 St Early Stage Saloon 4911-52 Ave, Stony Plain Eddie Shorts 10713-124 St, 780.453.3663 EDMONTON EVENTS CENTRE WEM Phase III, 780.489.SHOW Electric Rodeo–Spruce Grove 121-1 Ave, Spruce Grove, 780.962.1411 Elephant and Castle– Whyte Ave 10314 Whyte Ave Ellerslie Baptist Church 10603 Ellerslie Rd Expressionz Café 993870 Ave, 780.437.3667 FIDDLER’S ROOST 890699 St FILTHY MCNASTY’S 1051182 Ave, 780.916.1557 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 10025-105 St FLASH Night Club 10018105 St, 780.996.1778 FLOW Lounge 11815 Wayne Gretzky Dr, 780.604. CLUB Fluid Lounge 10888 Jasper Ave, 780.429.0700 FUNKY BUDDHA 10341-82 Ave, 780.433.9676 GAS PUMP 10166-114 St, 780.488.4841 Good Earth Coffee House and Bakery 9942108 St
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
HALO 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.423.HALO haven social club 15120A (basement), Stony Plain Rd, 780.756.6010 HillTop Pub 8220-106 Ave, 780.490.7359 Hogs Den Pub 9, 14220 Yellowhead Tr HOOLIGANZ 10704-124 St, 780.995.7110 Hydeaway 10209-100 Ave, 780.426.5381 Iron Boar Pub 4911-51st St, Wetaskiwin 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 10209100 Ave, 780.426.5381 John L. Haar Theatre MacEwan Centre for the Arts and Communications 10045-156 St junction bar and eatery 10242-106 St, 780.756.5667 KAS BAR 10444-82 Ave, 780.433.6768 L.B.’s Pub 23 Akins Dr, St Albert, 780.460.9100 LEGENDS PUB 6104-172 St, 780.481.2786 LEVEL 2 LOUNGE 11607 Jasper Ave, 2nd Fl, 780.447.4495 Lizard Lounge 13160118 Ave Marybeth's Coffee House–Beaumont 5001-30 Ave, Beaumont, 780.929.2203 McDougall United Church 10025-101 St Muttart Hall Alberta College, 10050 Macdonald Dr Newcastle PuB 6108-90 Ave, 780.490.1999 New City Legion 8130 Gateway Boulevard (Red Door) Nisku Inn 1101-4 St NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House 11802-124 St, 780.451.1390, experiencenola.
com NORTH GLENORA HALL 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–Downtown 10304-111 St, 780.465.6800 Overtime Whitemud Crossing, 4211-106 St, 780.485.1717 PAWN SHOP 10551-82 Ave, Upstairs, 780.432.0814 Playback Pub 594 Hermitage Rd, 130 Ave, 40 St Pleasantview Community Hall 1086057 Ave Pourhouse Bier Bistro 10354 Whyte Ave, pourhouseonwhyte.ca REDNEX BAR–Morinville 10413-100 Ave, Morinville, 780.939.6955 Red Piano Bar 1638 Bourbon St, WEM, 8882-170 St, 780.486.7722 RED STAR 10538 Jasper Ave, 780.428.0825 Rendezvous 10108-149 St Ric’s Grill 24 Perron Street, St Albert, 780.460.6602 Robertson Wesley United Church 10209-123 St, 780.467.6531 ROSEBOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE 10111-117 St, 780.482.5253 Rose and Crown 10235101 St R Pub 16753-100 St , 780.457.1266 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 Second Cup–89 Ave 8906-149 St Second Cup–Sherwood Park 4005 Cloverbar
Rd, Sherwood Park, 780.988.1929 • Summerwood Summerwood Centre, Sherwood Park, 780.988.1929 Sherbrooke Community Centre 13008-122 Ave Sideliners Pub 11018-127 St, 780.453.6006 Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge 12923-97 St, 780.758.5924 Sportsworld 13710104 St Sportsman's Lounge 8170-50 St STARLITE ROOM 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099 STEEPS TEA LOUNGE– Whyte Ave 11116-82 Ave The Studio Music Foundation 10940-166A St, 780.484.0099 Suede Lounge 11806 Jasper Ave, 780.482.0707 Suite 69 2 Fl, 8232 Gateway Blvd, 780.439.6969 Taphouse 9020 McKenney Ave, St Albert, 780.458.0860 Treasury 10004 Jasper Ave, 7870.990.1255, thetreasurey.ca Vinyl Dance Lounge 10740 Jasper Ave, 780.428.8655, vinylretrolounge.com Westside Pub 15135 Stony Plain Rd 780 758 2058 Wild Bill’s–Red Deer Quality Inn North Hill, 7150-50 Ave, Red Deer, 403.343.8800 WILD WEST SALOON 12912-50 St, 780.476.3388 Winspear Centre 4 Sir Winston Churchill Square; 780.28.1414 WUNDERBAR 8120-101 St, 780.436.2286 Y AFTERHOURS 10028-102 St, 780.994.3256, yafterhours. com Yellowhead Brewery 10229-105 St, 780.423.3333 Yesterdays Pub 112, 205 Carnegie Dr, St Albert, 780.459.0295
Vinyl Dance Lounge Signature Saturdays
Y AFTERHOURS Release Saturdays
SUN DEC 4 Beer Hunter–St Albert Open stage/jam every Sun; 2-6pm
Blackjack's Roadhouse–Nisku
Open mic every Sun hosted by Tim Lovett
BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ
Sunday Brunch: Jim Findlay Trio; 10am-2pm
Blue Pear Restaurant Jazz on the
Side Sun; 6pm; $25 if not dining
DEVANEY’S IRISH PUB
Celtic open stage every Sun with Keri-Lynne Zwicker; 5:30pm; no cover
Double D's Open jam every Sun; 3-8pm
Eddie Shorts Acoustic
jam every Sun; 9pm
Festival Place The
Nylons Christmas Show; 7:30pm; $38 (table)/$36 (box)/$34 (theatre) at Festival Place box office
FILTHY McNASTY'S Rock
and Soul Sundays with DJ Sadeeq
Hogs Den Pub Dirty
Jam: hosted by Tye Jones; open jam every Sun, all styles welcome; 4-8pm
Newcastle Pub Sun
Soul Service (acoustic jam): Willy James and Crawdad Cantera; 3-6:30pm
NEW CITY LEGION DIY Sunday Afternoons: 4pm (door), 5pm , 6pm, 7pm, 8pm (bands) O’BYRNE’S Open mic
every Sun; 9:30pm-1am
On the Rocks Souljah Fyah
ORLANDO'S 2 PUB Open stage jam every Sun; 4pm
Pourhouse Bier Bistro Singer-songwriter
open stage with Jay Gilday; every Sun, 9pm-close
Second Cup–Mountain Equipment Co-op Live
$30 (adult)/$20 (student/ senior)/$10 (student rush tickets at door) at TIX on the Square, door
Robertson Wesley United Church Music for A Festive Season: Alberta Baroque; 3pm and 7:30pm; $25 (adult)/$20 (senior/student) at the Gramophone, TIX on the Square, door
WInspear RCA Band: A
Christmas Wish: in support of Make-A-Wish Northern Alberta; 2pm; $10/$5 (student/senior) at Winspear Centre box office
DJs BACKSTAGE TAP AND GRILL Industry Night:
every Sun with Atomic Improv, Jameoki and DJ Tim
BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:
Soul Sundays: A fantastic voyage through '60s and '70s funk, soul and R&B with DJ Zyppy. Dance parties have been known to erupt
FLOW Lounge Stylus Sun SAVOY MARTINI LOUNGE Reggae on
Whyte: RnR Sun with DJ IceMan; no minors; 9pm; no cover
Trance and more with host DJ Phoenix, 9pm
FILTHY McNASTY'S
Metal Mondays with DJ Tyson
Lucky 13 Industry Night every Mon with DJ Chad Cook
NEW CITY LEGION
so-retro, electronic and Euro with Eddie Lunchpail; Wooftop: One Too Many Tuesdays with Rootbeard
Brixx Bar Troubadour
Tue: hosted by Mark Feduk; 9pm; $8
Buddys DJ Arrow Chaser every
Madhouse Mon: Punk/ metal/etc with DJ Smart Alex
CRown Pub Live hip
TUE DEC 6
DV8 Creepy Tombsday:
Blues on Whyte Jason Elmore and Hoodoo Witch
Brixx Ruby Tuesdays:
Launch Party with Whiskeyface, James Renton (of Fire), hosted by Mark Feduk; 8pm; free (before 8pm)/$5 (after)
Druid Irish Pub Open stage every Tue; with Chris Wynters; 9pm
hop and open mic with DJs Xaolin, Dirty Needlz, Frank Brown, and guests; no cover Psychobilly, Hallowe'en horrorpunk, deathrock with Abigail Asphixia and Mr Cadaver; every Tue
NEW CITY LEGION High Anxiety Variety Society Bingo vs. karaoke with Ben Disaster, Anonymouse every Tue; no minors; 4pm3am; no cover
L.B.’s Tue Blues Jam with
RED STAR Experimental Indie Rock, Hip Hop, Electro with DJ Hot Philly; every Tue
new city compound
WED DEC 7
Ammar; 9pm-1am
Old Wives, Lemuria, Audio/Rocketry; no minors; 8pm (Door); $10 (adv)
NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House
BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:
Glitter Gulch: live music once a month
Blues on Whyte Jason
Wipeout; 6-9pm
Elmore and Hoodoo Witch
Sportsworld Roller
Skating Disco Sun; 1-4:30pm; sports-world.ca
O’BYRNE’S Celtic jam every Tue; with Shannon Johnson and friends; 9:30pm
Cha Island Tea Co
MON DEC 5
Padmanadi Open stage every Tue; with Mark Davis; all ages; 7:30-10:30pm
Black Dog Free House Sleeman Mon: live
R Pub Open stage jam every Tue; hosted by Gary and the Facemakers; 8pm
Blues on Whyte Jason
Second Cup–124 Street Open mic every
music monthly; no cover
Elmore and Hoodoo Witch
Tue; 8-10pm
Devaney's Irish Pub
SEcond Cup–Stanley Milner Library Open mic
Singer/songwriter open stage every Mon; 8pm
John L. Haar Theatre Big Band Concert; 7:30pm; tickets at TIX on the Square
NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House
Wipeout; 6-9pm
PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL
Elephant and Castle–Whyte Ave
Open mic every Wed (unless there's an Oilers game); no cover
Fiddler's Roost
Breezy Brian Gregg; every Wed; 12-1pm
HAVEN SOCIAL Club
Yardbird Suite
Rose Bowl/Rouge Lounge Acoustic open
Winspear A Michael W
DJs
NOLA Creole Kitchen & Music House
Yellowhead Brewery Open Stage:
Every Sun, 8pm
Classical Convocation Hall
stage every Mon; 9pm
Wunderbar Action News Team, Carl For Breakfast, Lucky and Stoned; 8:30pm
Classical
Mostly Medieval for Winds: U of A Concert Band featuring the Symphonic Wind Ensemble; 2-4pm; admission by donation
Convocation Hall
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Edmonton
to your Health: Andrew Wan, Brian Manker (cello), Patricia Tao (piano), chamber music; 5pm; free
Columbian Choirs: Light From Light Concordia Student Ensembles: Concert Choir And Ringers; 3pm; $12 (adult)/$10 (student/senior) at TIX on the Square, Concordia Student Accounts, door
Monday Noon Music: 12-1pm
Bernard Snell Auditorium Hear’s
Muttart Hall–Alberta College WinterTIME:
DJs
Muttart Hall–Alberta College New Orford String Quartet, Aaron Au; 7:30pm;
alternative retro and not-
Winspear A Michael W Smith Christmas; 7:30pm
DJs BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main
Floor: RetroActive Radio: Alternative '80s and '90s, post punk, new wave, garage, Brit, mod, rock and roll with LL Cool Joe; Wooftop: Soul/Breaks with Dr. Erick Eats and Beats: every Wed with DJ Degree and Friends
BUDDY'S DJ Dust 'n' Time
The Common
Treehouse Wednesdays
Diesel Ultra Lounge
Wind-up Wed: R&B, hiphop, reggae, old skool, reggaeton with InVinceable, Touch It, weekly guest DJs
FILTHY McNASTY'S Pint Night Wednesdays with DJ SAWG FUNKY BUDDHA–Whyte Ave Latin and Salsa music
every Tue; dance lessons 8-10pm
Wipeout; 6-9pm
Playback Pub Open
hop/R&B with DJ Spincycle
Pints 4 Punks: with DJ Nick; no minors; 4pm-3am; no cover
NIKKI DIAMONDS Punk and ‘80s metal every Wed
RED STAR Guest DJs every
Wed
TEMPLE Wild Style Wed: Hip hop open mic hosted by Kaz and Orv; $5
Stage every Wed hosted by
PREVUE Meaghan Smith
Fri, Dec 2 (8 pm) / Haven Social Club, $17
Big Band Concert; 7:309:30pm; $10 (adv adult)/$8 (student/senior) at TIX on the Square
WInspear The King of Love, Dr Melanie Turgeon (conductor), King's University College Concert, Chamber and Community Choirs, Vocal Alchemy; 8pm; $20 (adult)/$15 (student/senior)/$5 (child 12 and under)
FORM, ‘Nuf Sed, J***Word Vocal Ensembles; 2pm; $16 (adult)/$13 (student) at door, 780.482.7649
BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:
Classical
John L. Haar Theatre
McDougall United Church Celebration
of Christmas: Edmonton Columbian Choirs, Young Columbian Singers, Vocal Motion, Chanteuses Ladies’ Choir; ending with a carol sing-along; 2:30pm; $15 at 780.430.6808, door
Smith Christmas; 7:30pm
Wunderbar Cityscape, Mikey Maybe, James Rockliff; 8:30pm
HOOLIGANZ Open stage every Wed with host Cody Nouta; 9pm Nisku Inn Troubadours and Tales: 1st Wed every month; with Tim Harwill, guests; 8-10pm
Littlebirds Big Band
every Wed; 8-10pm
NEW CITY LEGION Wed
Wunderbar Scraam;
Classical
Second Cup–Mountain Equipment Open mic
LEGENDS PUB Hip
Night Sessions: Paul Richey and the Fusionauts; 7:30pm (door), 8pm (show); $5
8:30pm
Second Cup–89 Ave
Rick Mogg (country)
Open stage every Wed with Jonny Mac, 8:30pm, free
Acoustic instrumental old time fiddle jam every Mon; hosted by the Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers Society; 7pm
music every Sun; 2-4pm
Night Live: hosted by dueling piano players; 8pm1am; $5
every Wed; 9pm (door); no cover
jam every Wed, 9pm; no cover
Good Earth Coffee House and Bakery
Yardbird Suite Tue
Red Piano Bar Wed
eddie shorts Acoustic
Second Cup– Summerwood Open
Nowhere (Christmas fundraiser); 8:30pm
Acoustic Bluegrass jam presented by the Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society; Slow pitch for beginners on the 1st and 3rd Wed prior to regular jam every Wed, 6.30pm; $2 (member)/$4 (non-member)
Brixx Bar Really Good...
Little Flower open stage Christmas Party with Brian Gregg; 7:30pm-12
Wunderbar Jim
PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL
Whyte Noise Drum Circle: Join local drummers for a few hours of beats and fun; 6pm
every Tue; 7-9pm
stage/open mic every Tue; 7:30pm; no cover
JTB; 9pm-1am
BLACK DOG FREEHOUSE Main Floor:
Blue Jay’s Messy Nest: mod, brit pop, new wave, British rock with DJ Blue Jay
Crown Pub Minefield
Halifax songwriter Meaghan Smith is celebrating the season with It Snowed, a new set of holiday songs, and a show in Edmonton. Why not celebrate the season with her?
Mondays/House/Breaks/
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
MUSIC 49
JONESIN'CROSSWORD
MATT JONES // JONESINCROSSWORDS@vueweekly.com
"Out for the Day"—dish up, dig in, drop out.
FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19) This would be an excellent week to head down to Pucón, Chile, hire a daredevil to helicopter you into the caldera of the active Villarrica volcano, whereupon you would bungee-jump down to within 700 feet of the molten lava. If that's too extreme, I urge you to come up with a milder adventure that will still bring you a close encounter with primal heat and light—and maybe even some divine fire. TAURUS (Apr 20 – May 20) As a mouse looks for food or shelter, it is flexible enough to fit through a hole as small as a quarter of an inch. You would really benefit from having a talent like that right now. Of course, you will also have to be on high alert. For example, let's say you spy an interesting-looking person with whom you'd love to chat. The window of opportunity may be open for less than 10 seconds. Seize that moment! Don't convince yourself that another chance will come along later.
Across 1 Late November drowsiness 11 ___ Friday's (restaurant chain) 14 You, you, you, or me 15 Dungeons & Dragons creatures 17 They're used in repair of fractures 18 Bump into 19 "Gone in 60 Seconds" director Dominic 20 Org. that assigns numerical IDs 21 Fashion model/volleyball player Gabrielle 22 Tone Loc single released just after "Funky Cold Medina" 25 Controversial engineering 28 Lacto-___ vegetarian 29 "Then what happened?" 30 Think it could possibly be 31 Himalayan country: abbr. 32 Trippy stuff 33 "This American Life" host Glass 34 Vietnam Memorial designer Maya 35 They're found in kids' books 42 Massive Brit. lexicon 43 Shiba ___ (cute dog breed) 44 Duration of amateur boxing matches, often 46 Seasonal help 48 Forbidden topics: var. 49 WWII naval vessel 50 "There ___ substitute for..." 53 Suffix after Manhattan or McCarthy 54 Giving the cold shoulder 57 Part of CD 58 They swing on a steady basis 59 UK mil. award 60 Cause of 1-across, it's said Down 1 File folder feature 2 Ones, to Juan 3 Baseball Hall of Famer Sandberg 4 Nimoy and Shatner co-star 5 Facebook status word for some 6 "___ Blues" (Beatles song) 7 It goes under your glass 8 Away from the workplace 9 "Axis ___" (1995 album by The Shamen)
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10 "Bite my shiny metal ___!" ("Futurama" phrase) 11 "Anger Management" actress 12 Scallion 13 Like Antarctica 16 Note takers' needs 21 Hopeful, as outlooks go 23 "I'm ___ Boat" 24 1968 federal law regulating firearms, for short 25 Extremely angry 26 Stealthily implied 27 69 and 101, but not 86 35 Rural rds. 36 Their, to a Herr 37 Searcher for oil 38 Mass per unit volume 39 It has a descender when written in lower case 40 Before, to a poet 41 Alfonso of baseball 45 Use a plunger 47 Village Voice gossip columnist Michael 51 "The Secret of ___" (1982 animated movie) 52 Draft classification 54 Invoice fig. 55 "Wayne's World" rejoinder 56 Channel that revived "The Newlywed Game" ©2011 Jonesin' Crosswords
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20) One of my Gemini acquaintances, Tara, has been playing a slow-moving game of tag with three friends since they were all in second grade together. They're 27 years old now, and still live in the same city. Currently, Tara is "It," and has been so for quite some time. But she confided in me that she plans to make a move this week. She says she'll sneak up on one of the other players during his lunch break at work, tag him, and run away before he can tag her back. I told her she's likely to meet with success, since this is an excellent time for you Geminis to gain an advantage in pretty much any kind of game you're playing. CANCER (Jun 21 – Jul 22) "Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know," wrote philosopher Eric Hoffer. I realize it may be a challenge for you to figure out what you would rather not know and are afraid to know. Still, I hope you'll make the effort. Maybe you could enlist a smart ally who'd be skillful in helping you uncover the taboo truth. And maybe you could formulate an intention to be as objective as you've ever been. LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22) Biologists say there are 680 species of trees and shrubs in the US and Canada. By comparison, Lambir Hills National Park on the island of Borneo is the home of 1175 species on its 128 acres. I suspect you will feel right at home in places like Lambir Hills in the coming week. Your own creative urges will be running hotter than usual, and are most likely to thrive in contexts that are themselves teeming with lush fertility and rich diversity. Please surround yourself with inspirational influences, thereby giving a chance to express yourself with vivid imagination. VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sep 22) "People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home," wrote philosopher Dagobert D. Runes. Your assignment, is to refute that assertion. I'm inviting you to travel to all of your usual haunts and treat everything that happens there with the attitude of a first-time visitor. Just assume that the familiar people and places in your life have stimulating gifts to give and lessons to impart. Remember, though, they can't do that to the fullest unless you expect them to. LIBRA (Sep 23 – Oct 22) The human brain is composed of 30 percent protein and 70 percent fat. So it wouldn't be incorrect to refer to you as a fathead. In order to nourish your brain cells, you've got to eat foods that provide two essential fatty acids your body doesn't manufacture: omega-3 ALA and omega-6 LA. Since you're now in a "brain-building"
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
ROB BREZSNY // FREEWILL@vueweekly.com
phase of your astrological cycle, I urge you to get more than your minimum requirements of these basics. If I may be permitted to resurrect a nowout-of-fashion slang term, I suggest that you also expose yourself to a lot of extraordinarily phat sources of intellectual stimulation. SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21) The mawashi is the loincloth that Japanese sumo wrestlers wear while competing. It's rare for the garment to come off, even in the heat of a match, but it did happen once in 2000, when a wrestler named Asanokiri suddenly found himself standing naked during his bout with Chiyohakuho. In conformity with sumo's rules, Asanokiri was immediately disqualified. I don't think you're at risk for being rendered literally unclothed in the heat of a showdown or a plot twist, Scorpio. But I do advise you to take extra precautions to prevent a metaphorical version of that occurrence. Get your act very together, and keep it very together. SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21) "Dear Mr Brezsny: My name is Sonny McGee and I own a website that caters to people who are addicted to playing poker. I'm a big fan of your horoscopes, and I'm wondering if you would like to advertise your work to our audience. Gamblers love astrology! Get in touch. —Sagittarian Wheeler Dealer." Dear Wheeler Dealer: Thanks for your interest, but I'll pass. I don't like to encourage anyone to focus their gambling urges on trivial matters. I prefer they direct that mojo to daring themselves to excel, pursuing exciting and idealistic adventures, and doing brave things to help save the world. By the way, it's prime time for you to ratchet up your commitment to those kinds of gambles. CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19) I hope you're not so perversely attached to your demons that you're inclined to keep providing them with a comfortable home. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to permanently banish them from the premises. I know it may seem lonely at first without their nagging, disruptive voices chattering away in your head. By the way, as you plan your exorcism, you might want to include a humorous touch or two. They're allergic to satire and mockery, you know. AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18) The Beauvais Cathedral in northern France has been called "the most daring achievement of Gothic architecture." Its soaring facades, carved wooden doors, stained glass windows, and astronomical clock demonstrate high artistry. There's a problem with the place, however—it has never been completed. Work began in the year 1225, and experts are still talking about how to solve certain ongoing difficulties with its construction. I don't know when this happy ending will occur, but I do expect that in 2012 you will be able to put the finishing touches on your own personal version of the Beauvais Cathedral. And now would be a good time to formulate definite plans to do so. PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20) In my prayers, I've been negotiating with the Goddess to grant you the power to change the course of rivers, at least in a metaphorical way. I've also beseeched her to show you how to overthrow the Puppet Master and convert overwrought hawks into savvy doves. The Goddess seems to be seriously considering these appeals, and has even hinted she might offer you instructions on how to shape a new Adam out of one of Eve's ribs, mythically speaking. In return, she does have one request: that you do what you can to make sure the sun rises on schedule for the next 10 days. V
CLASSIFIEDS To place an ad Phone: 780.426.1996 / Fax: 780.426.2889 / Email: classifieds@vueweekly.com 0195.
Personals
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0515.
Notices
The Following Individual has recorded their Secured Party Creditor documents at the Washington State UCC Office, Joseph Albert Moyah
1005.
Help Wanted
Tattoo Artist Wanted! Shades of Grey: Tattoos, Toys, Comics and Art Gallery is looking for a highly motivated and experienced tattoo artist to work in our busy Whyte Ave shop. Call, email or stop by the shop for more info. Ph: 780-756-0034 email: contact@shadesofgreytattoo.com 10444-82 ave. 2nd Floor
1600.
Volunteers Wanted
Are you looking for an opportunity to present your ideas to an audience of over 500 people? Edmonton's NextGen is currently accepting presentation submissions for Pecha Kucha Night 12, to be held on February 2, at Metro Cinema at the Garneau. For more information please visit www.edmontonnextgen.ca Deadline for submissions is December 16th 2011 Bells will be ringing November 17th - December 24th for the 2011 Christmas Kettle Campaign. We are looking for volunteers to come out and ring in Christmas to help us reach our goal of $450,000. We have 9000 volunteer hours to fill. If you have some time we would love to have you out Call 780-423-2111 ext 241 or email: edmonton_kettles@can.salvation army.org
1600.
Volunteers Wanted
METROPOLIS Volunteers Needed! For our heated pavilions on Churchill Square we are looking for volunteers indoor on Friday nights and weekends throughout the festival for the Children's Pavilion, our Volunteer Room and to serve in crowd control. For additional Information contact: Marion Clark, Volunteer Manager 780-423-2822 (ex.22) mclark@eventsedmonton.ca
P.A.L.S. Project Adult Literacy Society needs volunteers to work with adult students in: Literacy, English As A Second Language and Math Literacy. For more information please contact (780)424-5514 or email palsvolunteers2003@yahoo.ca
2001.
Acting Classes
FILM AND TV ACTING Learn from the pros how to act in Film and TV Full Time Training 1-866-231-8232 www.vadastudios.com
2005.
"How you found out about your parent's divorce?" Family therapist Vikki Stark is conducting a study of the impact in children of how they learned about their parent's divorce. If you are an adult who was a child/teen when your parents were divorced or are currently a child/teen of divorce - help kids in the future through your participation! Visit: SurveyMonkey.com/s/ChildDivorce to access the Study questionnaire online
Artist to Artist
Expressionz Cafe Art Gallery Show your work with us! Call 780-437-3667
2005.
Artist to Artist
Sculptor's Association of Alberta presents: Snow Sculpting Workshop at Snow Valley Ski Hill on Dec 17th from 10 am - 5pm. Cost is $40 and includes a free SAA membership, $10 for current members. For more information contact: info@sculptorsassociation.ca
2010.
Musicians Available
Drummer looking to join an already formed metal or hard rock band. Double kick, 12 yrs exp, 8 yrs in Edm indie band, 7 albums, 250 live shows, good stage presence, dedicated, catch on quick, no kids, hard drug free. 780.916.2155
Experienced bass player looking to play with established band. Between the ages of 35 and 55. Call Tony 780-484-6806.
2020.
Musicians Wanted
Guitarists, bassists, vocalists, pianists and drummers needed for good paying teaching jobs. Please call 780-901-7677
Needed Immediately: Creative, original pianist with strong arrangement ability/experience for well paid duo project. Chops for a variety of genres required. Back up vocals. No professional experience necessary but helpful. Please call 780-966-3296 for more details
2190.
Writers
The Writers Guild Of Alberta (WGA) is gearing up for the 2012 Alberta Literary Awards. Writers form across Alberta are invited to check out and submit to this year's award categories. The deadline for submissions to the Alberta Literary Awards is December 31, 2011. For more info visit: www.writersguild.ab.ca
2200.
Massage Therapy
IF YOU'RE TIRED OF INEFFICIENT THERAPY. Therapeutic Massage. Open Saturdays. Heidi By appointment only 1-780-868-6139 (Edmonton)
RELAX AND LET GO Therapeutic massage. Appointments only. Deena 780-999-7510
5155. Shared Accomodations Southside furnished high rise apartment to share with open minded single female. Available Dec 1st. 2 weeks free, no damage deposit, $600 a month. For more info call 780-299-9547
7205.
Psychics
Psychic Readings with Jason D. Kilsch Tarot, Psychic, Intuitive Medium $30/half-hour or $60/hour Reiki sessions Stress Reduction ($30/hr) Leave msg 780-292-4489
PsychicJason Readings D. Kilsch with
reiki teacher and practitioner
turning non-believers into believers Daily appointments at Mandolin Books (6419 - 112 Ave.) $30/half-hour - $60/hour â&#x20AC;˘ $30/hour for Reiki therapy Call (780) 479-4050 Or call Jason (780) 292-4489
SPECIAL SECTIONS
UPCOMING ISSUES
VUERADAR
DEC
NYE Party Guide
JAN
Education!
15
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You're not going to get to kiss anyone if you don't go anywhere.
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ADULTCLASSIFIEDS To place an ad Phone: 780.426.1996 / Fax: 780.426.2889 Email: classifieds@vueweekly.com 9420.
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VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
Fetishes
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COMMENT >> ALT SEX
Money grab
Triple X web domains are not about protection The porn industry has had enough and 156 000 domain names parked— to enact and enforce. So I don't think it's not going to take it anymore. On more than $9 million in their pockets .xxx is a bad idea, but I also don't November 16, Digital Playground and before .xxx was even a reality. think it's fair business practice to alManwin Licensing, operator of many low it to be exclusively owned. Webporn sites including YouPorn, It's pretty clear that this whole site owners are essentially forced to filed a lawsuit against the idea has very little to do with register the .xxx name for their site Internet Corporation for protecting children from or risk losing a huge amount of trafAssigned Names and Numadult content and a whole fic and revenue to someone else who om eekly.c w e bers over the new .xxx top lot to do with making easy scoops it out from under them. ICM u v @ brenda a d level domain. The .xxx domoney. Use of the new dois strong-arming them into paying n e Br er main has been in the works main is voluntary for adult for an extra site. This is the issue at Kerb for many years but was finally content providers, so rather the heart of the lawsuit by Manwin approved by ICANN in April of this than dropping their existing, and ofand Digital Playground. They allege year and will go live soon. ten highly lucrative, .com sites, they that in granting ICM exclusive rights, Advocates of this new top level domain, including the International It's pretty clear that this whole idea has very Foundation for On-line Responsibillittle to do with protecting children from adult ity, which has championed this cause, content and a whole lot to do with making easy claim that it will help Internet users money. avoid unwanted adult content and will help protect children from incidental exposure. They say that it will make filters even more effective bewill simply buy the .xxx name as well ICANN has violated anti-trust and ancause parents can simply block the to protect their brand and increase ti-competition legislation. We'll see entire domain. As well, they argue, it their traffic. The number of porn adif the courts agree, but it seems obviwill provide a whole new dedicated dresses on the web will explode litous to me that this is nothing more domain for porn providers. erally overnight. It doesn't seem like than a money grab. V It all sounds very altruistic until a great way to limit children's expoBrenda Kerber is a sexual health you consider the fact that IFFOR also sure to Internet porn. Not only that, educator who has worked with local owns the company ICM which has but everyone will know that there is not-for-profits since 1995. She is the been granted exclusive rights to sell a virtual goldmine of porn over the owner of the Edmonton-based, sex-pos.xxx domain names. ICM spent more .xxx rainbow. Type in anything .xxx itive adult toy boutique the Traveling than $10 million over 10 years lobbyand you're sure to come up with Tickle Trunk. ing ICANN to make .xxx a reality. Yes, something good. So does this make it you read that right: $10 Million. Why more difficult for kids to access porn would they do this? Because they or does it actually make it easier? stand to gain so much more. A typiThe idea that you can just block the cal .com domain name costs, at most, whole domain is naïve. Parents who $20 a year. ICM has said that they thinks their children can't get around will charge $60 a year for .xxx doparental controls or find a computer mains. They can charge so much more that doesn't have them are fooling because they are the only company themselves. that can give you a .xxx domain name. I am concerned that we will have anThe president of ICM said in a CBC ti-porn activists lobbying to make an interview in July that they expect to .xxx address, and only an .xxx address make up to $150 million a year from mandatory for all adult content, but .xxx. At that time, they already had I know that would be very difficult
LUST E LIF
FOR
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
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COMMENT >> SEX
A fetish too far
Look for it in the fine print on your GGG card I'm a 21-year-old woman from Canada GGG: "GGG stands for good, giving a better experience." who sleeps with other women. Two and game, which is what we should But before you explore vaginal penequestions for you: all strive to be for our sex partners. tration, GGG, Herbenick recommends 1. My LGBT friends and I disagree Think good in bed, giving equal time a trip to your nearest female-friendly about what we girls who sleep with and equal pleasure, and game for anysex-toy shop. girls exclusively should call ourselves. thing—within reason." "If most of your toys have been used Everyone else prefers "lesbian" Some kinksters skip past the "within in the anus/rectum," says Herand bitches at me for hating reason" part of the definition when benick, "it would be wise to E SAVAG that word. Can't I call mythey're discussing kinks with vanilla get a new vagina toy." self gay? partners. They shouldn't. Extreme And if you're broke? m ekly.co vuewe 2. I am a really kinky perbondage or SM, shit and puke, emo"Then put a condom over @ e v lo savage son: I've been very sexually tionally tricky humiliation play, dea clean anal toy or clean a Dan active and into BDSM since I manding that your partner have sex nonporous (glass, medicalSavage was 16. I have a large toy collecwith other people because it turns grade silicone) anal toy before tion and many of the toys are dildos you on (asking your partner to asusing it in the sensitive vagina," says and anal plugs. I like anal a lot, but sume all of the physical risks that go Herbenick. the thought of vaginal just doesn't interest me, so I've never gone there. I've I was chatting with a guy, and he mentioned that read about how breaking the hymen one time this girl accidentally vomited all over him can hurt and—despite the fact that I during oral sex. enjoy being flogged and scratched— that scares me a little. Should I get over it and go to town or stick with everything else that works for me? GOOD GAY GIRL along with that, to say nothing of the While most women enjoy vaginal emotional risks for a partner who isn't penetration, GGG, not all women do. 1. You can call yourself whatever interested in having sex with other (And most women who enjoy vaginal you like, GGG, and your friends can people), etc—all of that falls under penetration require additional, focused, call themselves whatever they like. the FTF exclusion, or a "fetish too far," and intense stimulation of the clit in They're entitled to their opinions, which you'll find in the fine print on order to get off.) If you decide vaginal however, along with their preferred the back of your GGG card, PUKE. penetration isn't for you, that's also a labels. Friends should be able to dispreference to which you're entitled. cuss their differing opinions and prefI'm a 20-year-old female college stuerences without bitching and/or being dent living with my 23-year-old boyI was chatting with a guy, and he menso thin-skinned that a calm discussion friend. We've been dating for two tioned that one time this girl accidenabout a sensitive subject is mistaken years, and our sex life has always been tally vomited all over him during oral for bitching. awesome. My boyfriend has a high libisex. He confessed that this turned him 2. "Tearing the hymen doesn't aldo, so high that I can't always get him on. I consider myself GGG, but that ways hurt and rarely hurts with any off when he wants it. He says I don't is not something I'm game for. The severity," says Debby Herbenick, sex want to have sex with him, when we thought of puking in a sexual scenario researcher, vulva puppeteer and cohave sex probably four times a week is completely unappealing. Does my reauthor (with Vanessa Schick) of Read and I'm totally happy to give him head, fusal to do this revoke my GGG card? My Lips: A Complete Guide to the jerk him off or take off my clothes for Or is this so out of the norm that I can Vagina and Vulva. "Going slow with him any other time he asks. Whenever refuse without losing my GGG card? PLEASING UPCHUCKING = a smallish, well-lubricated dildo is a we sit down together, he's immediately KINKY EXTREMISM? good place to start, or two or three horny and he gets cranky when I have well-lubricated fingers. Doing this to say no. Is this a ridiculously high Let's revisit my original definition of while highly aroused sets you up for libido? I try to be GGG, and he does
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the same for me, but I hate feeling guilty about not having sex with him constantly. I've started just telling him to masturbate to porn, and he does it willingly but usually whines a little first about how I "never" want to have sex. Totally false! My body just can't take it every day. What do I do? MY BOYFRIEND IS INCREDIBLY HORNY
At two years, your boyfriend is getting vaginal intercourse four times a week, MBIIH, along with handjobs, blowjobs and you standing there naked whenever he likes? Plus a cheerful OK to watch porn and jerk it whenever he feels the need? You're not trying to be GGG, MBIIH, you are GGG. Your boyfriend doesn't realize how good he's got it. He isn't lacking for sex; what he lacks is perspective. He clearly doesn't understand or appreciate what it's like to be on the receiving end of all that dick. Saying something like this might help him understand: "You know I love you, honey, and you know I love having sex with you. But if your hole got fucked every time we had 'sex,' you wouldn't want to have 'sex' more than four times a week, either." (I'm putting "sex" in quotes here because your boyfriend defines sex as "vaginal intercourse." I do not. Oral, handjobs and visuals-with-a-partner—all of that counts as sex.) If that doesn't do the trick, MBIIH, buy your boyfriend a dildo that's roughly the same size as his dick. Then tell him he can fuck your hole whenever he wants, for as long as he wants—so long as he fucks his own hole first, while you watch, for at least 20 minutes or so. Then he can fuck yours. That might help him appreciate how good he's got it.
Never heard of you until a year ago. I'm into "ball busting"—getting slapped or kicked in the nuts—but my wife was never willing. I did something stupid and saw an escort, just to get my balls busted (no sex), and my wife found out. She was talking about divorce when she told her best friend what was going on. Her friend told her to read your archives first. You probably don't hear this from conservative Christian Republicans in red states very often, Mr Savage, but my sense of honour requires it of me: thank you for saving my marriage. This "GGG" concept of yours transformed our marriage—it also led my wife to either discover or open up about her kink—and we are happier than ever. It isn't lost on me that I have a gay man to thank for keeping us from becoming another sad divorce statistic. BUSTED AND LOVING LIFE SUPREMELY
You're welcome, BALLS, and all I ask in return for saving your marriage— besides video—is your support for the full legal recognition of mine. Deal? V Find the Savage Lovecast (my weekly podcast) every Tuesday at thestranger.com/savage.
BOB THE ANGRY FLOWER
backwords
chelsea boos // chelsea@vueweekly.com
Moustache Nation As this goes to print, thousands of canadian men are washing their newly-grown moustaches down the bathroom sink. The Movember campaign, which brings attention to men's health issues—especially prostate cancer—is winding down. “I don't think that the Movember people could have picked a more visible or fun way to raise awareness about prostate cancer and the results are tangible. Movember worldwide has raised more than 85 million dollars so far in 2011 during the month of Movember,” says an apprentice at Barber Ha, Mark Hayes.
A few moustaches survive past November 30,
VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011
however. Hayes thinks, “for some people, choosing to wear a moustache today is a statement against the dominant image of masculinity in our culture. As far as symbols go for a charity looking to raise awareness about a male issue, nothing screams masculinity like a full, glorious moustache.” V Chelsea Boos is a multidisciplinary visual artist and flâneur. Back words is a discussion of her dérives and a photographic diary of the local visual culture.
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VUEWEEKLY DEC 1 – DEC 7, 2011