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LISTINGS: EVENTS /10 FILM /15 ARTS /18 MUSIC /31 CLASSIFIEDS: GENERAL /35 ADULT /36 ISSUE: 844 DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

The Artist

"You have a game with the shadows, with the contrast, with the mirrors, with the clothes—everything has to tell the story."

11 9 18 30 38

"Canada, the US and the European Union continue to import products—not only chocolate—that enslaved children and adults make." "Our conception of Santa Claus is partly inspired by the Greek god Kronos, who's famous for cutting off his father's testicles and throwing them into the sea." "I've slept under park benches in Chicago, been drunk and high at 8 am in Amsterdam, played to four hundred people, and played to four." "Not using condoms with your other is fucking stupid."

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Samantha Power

GRASDAL'S VUE

// samantha@vueweekly.com

Help exists

Last week Alberta was served with a stark and tragic reminder that it continues to suffer the highest rates of domestic violence in the country. With the tragic shooting of Tabitha Stepple, Tanner Craswell, Mitch MacLean and sole survivor Shayna Conway, the details of a woman attempting to escape the abuse of a partner have come to light. It's unknown at this time whether Ms Stepple attempted to seek help, or whether she saw her former partner's move to a new city as the way out, but what is becoming clear is that Stepple was suffering at the hands of a man who had little respect for her. It's an unfortunate reality for many Albertans and the pressures of the holiday season can often increase the tension in an already difficult situation. The Alberta Council of Womens' Shelters released a joint statement this week with the Government of Alberta to remind us all that despite the often overwhelming urge to keep family together at this time of year, sometimes it's just not possible. Across Alberta in 2010 over 12 000 women stayed in shelters at some point. During a 24-hour data count conducted by the ACWS, 37 women who showed up for assistance had previously been threatened by a gun. The reality of violence exists

for women and families across the province and the ACWS reminds people that there are options—help is available even during the holidays. Provincial coordinator of ACWS Jan Reimer wants families to know that shelter staff are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for those in need. Chief Rick Hanson, president of the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police, points to new legislation that provides police with another tool: stronger penalties for those who violate protection orders. Domestic abuse is not limited to certain communities, nor age or gender. This past year the City of Edmonton named the first World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. As the holidays approach, it's important to remember services exist to assist aging members of our community who may not have family to help, or who cannot rely on family members to provide assistance. The City of Edmonton operates the Elder Abuse Intervention Team and a 24-hour seniors abuse helpline. The stress of the holidays goes beyond finding the perfect gift and, while we all hope that we never have to face the violence and abuse that can come from those we love most, it's important to remember that we don't have to suffer alone. V

NewsRoundup

SAMANTHA POWER // samantha@vueweekly.com

INTERNATIONAL EYE

TAKING ON CORPORATIONS

The UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples Issues has issued a statement on the crisis in the Attawapiskat First Nation community. James Anaya says he has been in contact with the Government of Canada to express his concern over the social and economic situation in Attawapiskat. Anaya states that the situation of Attawapiskat is emblem-

atic of the living conditions of many First Nation reserve communities in Canada. "In a communication sent to the Canadian authorities on December 19, I asked the government to express its views about the accuracy of this information, and requested further details regarding official programs currently in place to address the disparate social and economic

conditions of First Nations communities, as compared to non-Aboriginal communities," said Anaya in a written statement. Anaya has also said he intends to monitor the situation and will keep an open dialogue with Aboriginal communities, including Attawapiskat, to promote and implement international standards concerning indigenous rights.

IN WITH THE OLD For provincial finance ministers, 2011 will end much as it started: with a conversation about reforming the Canada Pension Plan. Citing a fragile economy, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made clear at last year's Kananaskis meeting with provincial finance ministers that a straightforward expansion to the public plan would not be the implemented solution. This year, CUPE continued its call for a CPP expansion as finance

ministers met in Victoria this past week. CUPE president Paul Moist points to the 11 million Canadians who do not have a workplace pension. CUPE is part of the Canadian Labour Congress' campaign for secure pensions for all Canadians. The CLC is calling for the doubling of payouts from the CPP and an immediate increase to the Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement for retirees. CLC's proposed changes include a national

pension insurance fund and regulated financial products to ensure investments are reasonable and clear to investors. Finance Minister Flaherty again rejected the idea of an expanded pension plan and continued to call for support for the registered pooled pensions, a plan the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses supports as it allegedly makes pension plans easier to offer for small businesses.

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VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

If you were caught up in the downfall of dictators throughout the world and the anarchist philosophy of Occupy, the Democracy Center out of San Francisco has released some holiday reading on which you can base some New Years' Resolutions. Beating Goliath: a

resource for corporate campaigners is a 55-page guide outlining the components of a campaign against a corporation. The guide sources successful battles such as the Bolivian fight to stop Bechtel from privatizing water to local battles against coal plants.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK "All you need to know about me is that I am a person of conscience. I came here from a place of morality. I stand here guilty of breaking your laws, not the laws of justice. I submit to your jails because you hold the weapons, but that will not always be so." —Leah Henderson, a G20 activist who begins 10 months in jail this week The Globe and Mail Dec 20, 2011

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COMMENT >> RELIGION

Old world theology

British PM David Cameron thinks religion equals morality In the United States, where it is almost imposthere be a connection here? sible to get elected unless you profess a strong Besides, what Cameron said is just not true. In religious faith, it would have passed completely last year's British Social Attitudes Survey, conunnoticed. Not one of the hundred US senators ducted annually by the National Centre for Social ticks the "No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic" Research, only 43 percent of 4000 British box, for example, although 16 percent of people interviewed said they were Christhe American population do. But it was tian, while 51 percent said they had "no quite remarkable in Britain. religion." Among young people, some m .co weekly e@vue Last Friday, in Oxford, Prime Ministwo-thirds are non-believers. gwynn e Gwynn ter David Cameron declared that the Dyer Why would David Cameron proclaim United Kingdom is a Christian country "and we should not be afraid to say so." He the virtues of a Christian Britain that no was speaking on the 400th anniversary of the longer exists? He is no religious fanatic; he King James translation of the Bible, so he had to describes himself as a "committed" but only say something positive about religion—but he "vaguely practising" Christian. went far beyond that. You'd think that if he really believed in a god "The Bible has helped to give Britain a set of who scrutinises his every thought and deed, and values and morals which make Britain what it is will condemn him to eternal torture in Hell if he today," he said. "Values and morals we should acdoesn't meet the standard of behaviour required, tively stand up and defend." he might be a little less vague about it all. But he Where to start? The King James Bible was pubdoesn't really believe that he needs religion himlished at the start of a century in which millions of self; he thinks it is a necessary instrument of social Europeans were killed in religious wars over minor control for keeping the lower orders in check. differences of doctrine. Thousands of "witches" This is a common belief among those who rule, were burned at the stake during the 16th cenbecause they confuse morality with religion. If the tury, as were thousands of "heretics." They have common folk do not fear some god (any old god stopped doing that sort of thing in Britain now– but they've also stopped reading the Bible. Might CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 >>

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COMMENT >> ENVIRONMENT

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Fracking with the rules

Kowalski sets a dangerous precedent for accountability On December 5 a concerning precedent was set On November 28 the Ethics Commissioner rein the Alberta legislature. During question peleased his report and determined that there was riod, Edmonton Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley no violation of the Lobbyist Act (this is the report stood up and asked the following questhat Ms Notley references in her question tion: "Well, Mr Speaker, given that the above). The main reason: what CAPP Ethics Commissioner's illogical decihad requested was "collaboration to E RENC sion included a finding that the gov- INTERFE kly.com enhance public communication on Alee @vuew ernment had approached CAPP based berta shale gas development," and that ricardo o r Rica d in part on an interview with Alberta enby definition collaboration was different Acuña vironment staff and given that documents from lobbying. He also cited that, accordreleased last week clearly show that this ining to his investigation, the government had formation is false, can the Premier explain why actually invited CAPP to participate in the discusthe government officials are not providing full or sions. In Alberta, if the government initiates the truthful information to the lobbyist registrar?" conversation, it does not constitute lobbying. The question refers to a situation brought to light by the Alberta Federation of Labour back in Two days after the release of the Commissioner's August, when they revealed a government briefreport, the AFL released another set of governing note suggesting that the government had ment documents (obtained through a freedom been approached by the Canadian Association of information request) highlighting the fact that of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) requesting input CAPP had taken the lead on drafting the governinto the enhancement of a communications stratment’s communications strategy to sell Albertans egy around shale gas and fracking. on shale gas and fracking. These were documents The Alberta government had determined, in that the Commissioner apparently was not privy conjunction with the governments of BC and to over the course of the investigation. This was Saskatchewan, that environmental organizations the essence of Ms Notley’s question—the new were winning the communications war around information released by the AFL rendered the the dangers of fracking. As such, they decided Commissioner's initial report illogical. Either the that a high visibility public relations campaign report was wrong, or the people interviewed durwas necessary to reverse that trend. According to ing the investigation provided false information. the briefing note released by the AFL, this is the Ms Notley’s question was trying to get to the esstrategy CAPP wanted input on. sence of this problem Because CAPP approached the government on Unfortunately, she did not receive an answer. In this issue, and because the three experts they fact, the opposite happened. The Speaker of the offered up to the government were not regislegislature, Ken Kowalski, actually reprimanded tered as lobbyists for CAPP, the AFL asked the Ms Notley for her question and made her withlobbyist registrar, through the ethics commisdraw it. According to his ruling, referring to a sioner, to investigate a possible violation of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 >> Lobbyist Act by CAPP.

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DYER STRAIGHT

<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

will do), social discipline will collapse and the streets will run with blood. Our homes, our children, even our domestic animals will be violated. Thank God for God. Just listen to Cameron: "The alternative of moral neutrality should not be an option. You can't fight something with nothing. If we don't stand for something, we can't stand against any-

thing." The "alternative of moral neutrality?" What he means is that there cannot be moral behaviour without religion—so you proles had better go on believing, or we privileged people will be in trouble. But Cameron already lives in a postreligious country. Half its people say outright that they have no religion, twothirds of them never attend a religious service, and a mere eight percent go to church, mosque, synagogue or temple on a weekly basis. Yet the streets are

not running with blood. Indeed, religion may actually be bad for morality. In 2005 Paul Gregory made the case for this in a research paper in the Journal of Religion and Society entitled "Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies: A First Look." Sociological gobbledygook, but in a statistical survey of 18 developed democracies, Gregory showed that "In general, higher rates of belief in and

worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, (venereal disease), teen pregnancy and abortion." Even within the United States, Gregory reported, "the strongly theistic, antievolution South and Midwest" have markedly worse crime rates and social problems than the relatively secular North-East. Of course, the deeply religious areas are also poorer, so it might just be poverty making people behave so badly. On the other hand, maybe re-

ligion causes poverty. Whatever. The point is that David Cameron, and thousands of other politicians, religious leaders and generals in every country, are effectively saying that my children, and those of all the other millions who have no religion, are morally inferior to those who do. It is insulting and untrue. V Gwynne Dyer is a London-based journalist. His column appears every week in Vue Weekly.

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COMMENT >> HOCKEY

FRONT // CHOCOLATE TRADE

Talking about them isn't a jinx, right?

Initiatives to end child slavery in the chocolate industry are failing

Injuries

Last week was Todd Gill appreciation the long line of former Oilers bruisers week. Why? Because last week's Oiler couldn't do—Eager was a shadow of opponents (Phoenix, San Jose and Dehis former self after suffering a concustroit) all had the veteran d-man on sion in a preseason game. The injury their roster. In 1999-00, Gill started seems to have spooked the veteran, the season with the Coyotes, and he didn't want to get rough playing 41 games and scoring in the early part of the season. one goal. The Oilers manThat kind of rattling isn't aged to double Gill's Coyote good for offensive dynamos m ly.co eweek ox@vu total with two Taylor Hall like Hemsky and Whitney, & intheb oung Dave Y s goals. Unfortunately, Phoebut it could be argued it's e tl Bir Bryan nix scored four. From 1996-98, even worse for a tough guy like Gill was a San Jose Shark, still reekEager. He's nowhere near a pointing from 11 years as a Maple Leaf. The a-game player, so if he's not out there Oilers took the stink of the Phoenix kicking ass and taking names, he might loss with them to San Jose and lost as well not be out there. Anyway, wel3-2. In 2000, Gill spent a quick halfcome back Ben and, if he can do it, we'll season in Detroit. The Wings also hopefully see the return of Hemsky made short work of the Oilers, beating and Whitney—just in time for their our team 3-2. trade values to go up so we can stock the cupboards for next year. BB

IN THE

BOX

The Injury's Still Out

Ryan Whitney and Ales Hemsky are both living, breathing examples of how injuries can rattle a player. Both players were nearly point-a-game contributors when they suffered seasonending injuries in 2010-11 and the team was worse off without them. This year calling their performances disappointing would be an understatement. Whitney is at sea defensively and nowhere near the scoresheet. The puck seems to die on Hemsky's stick; he used to make exciting things happen. Clearly, not every player bounces back from an injury to score two goals in his first game (welcome back, Taylor Hall). Sometimes it takes longer. DY

Please don't let this be prophetic

Stop it, Taylor Hall. You're scaring me. Since injury seems to be on my mind, watching post-injury Taylor Hall is a test of nerves. Until his injury, his strong skating style and aggressive play was exciting and dynamic and a treat to watch. He seemed invincible. Now that he has been injured, he seems exposed and fragile and injury is a possibility. When he does that thing where he glides into the opposing zone and into defenders with his feet about three feet apart, all I can envision is the knee-on-knee collision, the stretcher and the scope. Thankfully Ulf Samuelsson and Bryan Marchment aren't prowling around anymore. DY

Not too eager

Speaking of injuries, Ben Eager is only now becoming the player that the Oilers thought they had brought aboard. Prized for his grit, his tenacity and his ability to not give a fuck—while scoring a goal here and there, something

Oilers Player of the Week

POLITICAL INTERFERENCE

the legislature should not be permitted, as those officers are not in the legislature to defend themselves. But the ability to criticize and question their work and findings is the very essence of why those officers report to the legislature in the first place. If you take that away, you remove yet one more layer of accountability from a government. Mr Kowalski recently announced that he will be retiring once the provincial election is called this spring. He has often been contentious and controversial during his tenure as Speaker, but he has not really done any permanent damage until now. Thank you for the legacy Mr Speaker. Let's hope future Speakers choose to over-look this ruling as they work to keep democracy and accountability alive in the Alberta legislature. V

<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

report or decision by an officer of the legislature as "illogical" constitutes a "personal attack" against the officer, and as such is against the rules of the Legislative Assembly. This ruling by Mr Kowalski is incredibly concerning. Rules in the legislature are enforced largely based on precedents, and this sets a dangerous one. The assumption has been that making someone an officer of the legislature increases the transparency and accountability of that position because they have to report back to all of the elected members. This is why Alison Redford made such a big deal recently about making the province's child and youth advocate an independent officer of the legislature. This entire tradition could be meaningless by Mr Kowalski's ruling. It is right that personal attacks against officers of

Taylor Hall: Comes back from injury to score two goals in Phoenix and an assist in San Jose. DY Ryan Jones: They should change Jonesy's nickname to Timex. BB

Blood chocolate's reign C

hocolate. Its dark, delicious, intoxicating, addictive qualities guarantee sales will never dip. By 2016, the global sales of chocolate will likely reach almost $100 billion. But what's that odd texture and tinge you're tasting inside your Christmas bon bons? It isn't the ground-down remains of a little boy's hip bones, and that je ne sais quois piquancy isn't a little girl's blood. But it might as well be. The next time you're munching on a Turtle or dipping into that Pot of Gold, scan your taste sensations for this surprise ingredient: child slavery. As Carol Off details in her book Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet, the global superpower of cocoa supply (40 percent) is Ivory Coast. While sweetening the world at Christmas, Easter and every other day of the year, the West African country has endured civil war and social calamity, with an economy powered in part by the literal enslavement of hundreds of thousands of children, many of whom were trafficked from neighbouring countries. Such exploitation would disintegrate immediately, except for two reasons. The first is that child-trafficking and cocoa are enormously profitable. According to the United Nations, every year human trafficking pays its "shareholders" around $7 billion, while in 2010, chocolate sales reached $83.2 billion. Those are gigantic incentives to keep crime alive. But the second reason industry and governments don't end Big Cocoa's child exploitation is that they just don't need to. Canada, the US and the European Union continue to import products—not only chocolate—that enslaved children and adults make,

with retailers under no obligation to label products to indicate the atrocity that keeps profits so high. But even if government mandated such labeling, how many people would care that other people's kids are enslaved to the point where they would do something about it? There's no indication governments are going to force such labeling or ban the import of products that enslaved children made. Indeed, one begged-for weapon never even entered the battle: a 2002 US bill to force industry to label appropriate goods as "slave free" ran into the lobbying buzzsaw of Big Cocoa, led by former US Senator Bob Dole. The whitewashed "compromise" was the "Protocol for the Growing and Processing of Cocoa Beans and Their Derivatives," known widely as the Harkin-Engel Protocol, a voluntary, non-binding handshake to eliminate the worst forms of child and adult exploitations by 2005. According to the International Labour Rights Forum report "The Cocoa Protocol," "The industry has failed resoundingly to satisfy the intent of the 'protocol.'" But even if nobody's forcing Big Cocoa to change, surely even the super-rich can't be unmoved at the inescapable reality (or public embarrassment) of child slavery, enough to end such cruel exploitation forever. What about Nestlé? The Swiss giant encountered international criticism and boycotts in the 1970s and 1980s for pushing infant formula to developing world mothers without access to clean drinking water; the two results were profits for the multinational, and death for children denied nutritious, healing mothers' milk after being fed contaminated water

mixed with formula. So it must be a good sign that, as Reuters reported late last month, "Nestlé will partner with the Fair Labour Association to investigate whether children are working on cocoa farms which supply its factories in Ivory Coast." Not so, says the NGO United Students Against Sweatshops, which reports that "many industry players have been pushing the Fair Labour Association (FLA) as a 'solution' to the problem of sweatshops, but [the FLA provides only] a weak code that fails to provide for women's rights, a living wage, the full public disclosure of factory locations, or university control over … monitoring. It is more corporate cover-up than industry reform. For these reasons and others the United Students Against Sweatshops and [Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality] have opposed universities joining the FLA." So what are the solutions? On the macro-scale, the US and European countries such as France (with its own terrible record across Africa for human trafficking, colonial dictatorship and wars, and post-colonial invasions) could help with one simple move: free trade with African cocoastates. Currently, the US and French chocolate industries are so tariffprotected that no Ivorian chocolate manufacturer could compete by exporting finished chocolate goods; the result is an Ivorian cocoa economy mired in primary exports, with insufficient capital to drive wage increases for cocoa workers. In this case, free trade could also free hundreds of thousands of children and adults from poverty and lift their nations with them. malcolm azania

// malcolm@vueweekly.com

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Ricardo Acuña is the executive director of the Parkland Institute, a non-partisan, public policy research institute housed at the University of Alberta.

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

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children of alcoholic and dysfunctional families • Every Mon 7:30pm

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

780.710.2119 • Comedy night open stage hosted by Lars Callieou • Every Sun, 9pm

Brain Tumour Peer Support Group • Woodcroft Branch Library, 13420-

LECTURES/Presentations

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

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

Church, 8424-95 Ave • 780.454.6216 • 1st Mon every month, 7:30pm • 1st Mon every month • Jan 2: New Zealand (2006) presentation with Lorne Pendleton

laugh shop–Sherwood Park • 4

COMEDY 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

Blackfoot Road, Sherwood Park • 780.417.9777 • laughinthepark.ca • Open Wed-Sat • Ken Valgardson; Dec 22-23 • Tommy Savitt; Dec 29-31 • Jamie Hutchinson; Jan 5-7

Groups/CLUBS/meetings Aikikai Aikido Club • 10139-87

Century Casino • 13103 Fort Rd • 780.481.9857 • Open amateur night every Thu, 7:30pm

COMEDY FACTORY • Gateway Entertainment Centre, 34 Ave, Calgary Tr • Brian Link; Dec 22-23 • Dave Stawnichy; Jan 6-7 Comic Strip • Bourbon St, WEM • 780.483.5999 • Wed-Fri, Sun 8pm; Fri-Sat 10:30pm • Mike Dambra; until Dec 23 • Hit or Miss Monday: Dec 26, 8pm; $7 • Stand Up Edmonton; Dec 27, 8pm; $12 • Bret Ernst; Dec 28-30 • New Years Eve 2011: Dec 31, 7pm; $56/$30 • New Years

Ave, Old Strathcona Community League • Japanese Martial Art of Aikido • Every Tue 7:30-9:30pm; Thu 6-8pm

AP!RG Winter • AP!RG Office, stairwell 9111 HUB International, U of A • 780.492.0614 • Alberta Public Interest Research Group (AP!RG) open house • Wed, Jan 18, 11:30am-2:30 pm • Free

AWA 12-STEP SUPPORT GROUP • Braeside Presbyterian Church bsmt, N. door, 6 Bernard Dr, Bishop St, Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert • For adult

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

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

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

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,

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

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

Sugarswing Dance Club • Orange Hall, 10335-84 Ave or Pleasantview Hall, 10860-57 Ave • 780.604.7572 • Swing Dance at Sugar Foot Stomp: beginner lesson followed by dance every Sat, 8pm (door) at Orange Hall or Pleasantview Hall

Vegetarians of Alberta • Bonnie 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 • $3 (member)/$5 (non-member) • Sun, Jan 8

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dale Hall, 9231-100 Ave • Annual indoor Labyrinth Walk, drop-in event, is done in silence, and is open to all ages • Sat, Jan 7, 11am-2pm • Donation

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

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

Great Expeditions • St Luke’s Anglican

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

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

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

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

FLASH Night Club • 10018-105 St • 780.969.9965 • Thu Goth + Industrial Night: Indust:real Assembly with DJ Nanuck; 10pm (door); no cover • Triple Threat Fridays: DJ Thunder, Femcee DJ Eden Lixx • DJ Suco beats every Sat • E: vip@flashnightclub.com

G.L.B.T.Q. Christmas • Unitarian Church, 10908-119 St • Dinner, fun and friendship, games etc. Sponsored by Men Talking with Pride, and Edmonton PrimeTimers • Dec 25, 3-9pm • No cost, donations welcome 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 pool, 11762-106 St; swimming@teamedmonton.ca • Volleyball: every Tue, 7-9pm; St. Catherine School, 10915-110 St; every Thu, 7:309:30pm at Amiskiwiciy Academy, 101 Airport Rd

G.L.B.T.Q Seniors Group • S.A.G.E Bldg, Craftroom, 15 Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.474.8240 • Meeting for gay seniors, and for any seniors who have

gay family members and would like some guidance • Every Thu, 1-4:30pm • Info: T: Jeff Bovee 780.488.3234, E: tuff @shaw.ca

Illusions Social Club • The Junction, 10242-106 St • groups.yahoo.com/group/ edmonton_illusions • 780.387.3343 • Crossdressers meet 2nd Fri every month, 8:30pm

INSIDE/OUT • U of A Campus • Campusbased organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified and queer (LGBTQ) faculty, graduate student, academic, straight allies and support staff • 3rd Thu each month (fall/winter terms): Speakers Series. E: kwells@ualberta.ca the junction bar • 10242-106 St • 780.756.5667 • Free pool daily 4-8pm; Taco Tue: 5-9pm; Wing Wed: 5-9pm; Wed karaoke: 9pm-12; Thu 2-4-1 burgers: 5-9pm; Fri steak night: 5-9pm; DJs Fri and Sat at 10pm LIVING POSITIVE • 404, 10408124 St • edmlivingpositive.ca • 1.877.975.9448/780.488.5768 • Confidential peer support to people living with HIV • Tue, 7-9pm: Support group • Daily dropin, 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 • HIV Support Group: for people living with HIV/AIDS; 2nd Mon each month, 7-9pm; huges@shaw.ca • TTIQ: Education and support group for transgender, transsexual, intersexed and questioning people, their friends, families and allies; 2nd Tue each month, 7:309:30pm; admin@pridecentreofedmonton. org • Community Potluck: For members of the LGBTQ community; last Tue each month, 6-9pm; tuff@shaw.ca • Counselling: Free, short-term, solution-focused counselling, provided by professionally trained counsellorsevery Wed, 6-9pm; admin@pridecentreofedmonton.org • STD Testing: Last Thu every month, 3-6pm; free; 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 CAROLS AND CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE • First Baptist Church Edmonton, 10031-109 St • fbcedmonton.ca • 780.422.2214 • The First Baptist Church Choir • Dec 24, 11pm

Deep Freeze • Deepfreezefest.ca • Alberta (118th) Avenue between 92nd and 94th Streets • Byzantine Winter Festival • Jan 7-8

Metropolis • Churchill Square and the surrounding streets • Edmonton International Winter Festival: Featuring six free-standing, heated temporary structures made from Aluma Systems construction scaffolding covered with white shrink wrap, entertainment and fireworks at midnight • Dec 31-Feb 20, 2012 (Churchill Square)

FILM

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ONE OF THE TOP 10 FILMS OF THE YEAr

The walkies meet the talkies

Opens Friday The Artist Directed by Michel Hazanavicius



here is an idea in our society that progress only moves in one direction: ever-forward into the new. It's an idea intrinsic to the intersection of art and technology: motion pictures moved from magic lanterns to zoetropes, from silent pictures to talkies, from black and white to Technicolor, from celluloid to digital and now into experiments with 3D. Throughout each step, not many tears have been shed for the format left behind—no one is left wishing they could see The Dark Knight on zoetrope. But as each progression gains something, it loses something else. Critics of 3D have railed against its low light and lack of clarity, and have complained that it privileges novelty over story. Because red, orange and yellow could be displayed so beautifully in early Technicolor, almost every movie from the era has a scene with a fire. Technology threatens to overshadow the story—the medium becomes the message. As a silent, black-and-white movie, The Artist may seem anachronistic, a novelty. Instead, what writer and director Michel Hazanavicius saw in the format was a way to get to the heart of a story. "People think it's very intellectual to watch a silent movie but to me it's the exact opposite—it's very sensual and very sensorial experience," the Parisian director explains. "It's the purest way to tell a story for a director because it's about cinema, you really use cinema. You don't use dialogue so you tell the story only with images."

The images in the movie are myriad and intense. The story of silent-film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and his romance with up-and-coming talkie star Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), set amidst the backdrop of the decline of silent film in 1920s Hollywood, The Artist relies on scale, position and expression to tell its tale. One hardly ever sees the downwardly-mobile George walking up stairs—no matter where he is, he is moving downward. "All the movie is built with that kind of constriction," Hazanavicius says. "You have a game with the shadows, with the contrast, with the mirrors, with the clothes—everything has to tell the story." The beauty of silent film, Hazanavicius says, is its immersive, participatory way of telling a story. That quality, of being drawn deeper into the story by your own imagination, is what sets it apart from contemporary, full-colour talkie films. It's an instance where restricting the medium makes the message all the more powerful. "As an audience member you participate with the storytelling process," Hazanavicius says. "The sound, the voices, the dialogue and even the colour, you put in with your own imagination. That makes you very close to the story, so you stick to the characters, you stick to the story and in the end you made your own movie." The story in The Artist is familiar in Hollywood: with the transition to talkies, plenty of silent-film stars fell off the face of the earth, ditched by studio bosses— like the one played here by John Goodman—who once made their living off

them. The depiction of the era and its esthetics is bang on and emerges from the details—the "Hollywood" sign declares its original message of "Hollywood Land," Peppy Miller's name is misspelled on the title cards of her early pictures—but despite so many "old" elements in the film, Hazanavicius was able to imbue the picture with a modern sensibility. "People think of black-and-white silent movies as old and they're right, but they're old not because they are blackand-white and silent, but because they were made in the '20s," he says. "The trick to doing a modern movie is to do it now. I didn't want to do a fake '20s movie—I made a period movie which respects the way that they were shooting movies back in the day. I tried to find a balance." Making the movie was a personal quest for Hazanavicius. He didn't take an easy road: not only did he want to make a silent, black-and-white picture, he also wanted to cast two relative unknowns in the lead roles. The writing was intense: stripped of his usual tools, Hazanavicius learned a whole new way to tell a story. He had to constantly justify his decision to tell a story silently. Why did he keep going? It came down to the same reason he was able to convince one of the few well-known actors in the whole picture to sign up. "When John Goodman decided to come onto a silent, black-and-white, French movie made by an unknown director with unknown lead actors, he did it for one reason: he said, 'I've never seen that movie and I want to be a part of it,'" Hazanavicius recounts. "That was a good reason." Bryan Birtles

// bryan@vueweekly.com

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VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

FILM 11

REVUE // MYSTIC PARALLELS

Café de flore Opens Friday Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée



n one strand of Café de flore, Quebecois writer/director Jean Vallée's first film since the humdrum pageantry of The Young Victoria, there's Antoine (Kevin Parent), a successful 40-year-old club DJ with two gorgeous kids and one gorgeous girlfriend. Antoine has every reason to be happy, the too-helpful voice-over narration informs us. But is he? The ongoing flashbacks prominently featuring his gorgeous ex-wife, Carole (Hélène Florent), suggest maybe not. In the other strand we find Laurent, a working-class kid with Down syndrome in late '60s Paris. That same narrator tells us that Laurent (Marin Gerrier) has every reason not to be happy, yet he is happy, because his

inexhaustible mom (Vanessa Paradis) loves him something fierce. You might spend a good deal of Café de flore wondering when and how these two strands will finally intertwine, and that's too bad. Vallée nurtures a number of moments of resonant emotional complexity throughout, most especially those moments that capture the wooziness of falling in love when it's both inappropriate and irresistible. So it's that much more frustrating that so much of the film strains to construct an ostensibly tidy, mystically tinged puzzle from its narrative diptych. That the story of a woman trying to let go of the love of her life might invoke parallels with that of a woman attempting to let go of her monopoly on her child's love is perfectly interesting when lightly suggested; when overstated and drawn out, this parallel becomes thudding

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and increasingly dubious. At least Vallée's style in Café de flore isn't as self-consciously "crazy" as it was in C.R.A.Z.Y., his 2005 breakthrough. Vallée's a music nut and his enthusiasm can be contagious, but that earlier film felt burdened with interludes that played like dopey, halfassed, special effectsy music videos; a little more sobriety suits Vallée's stories, and serves the music too: Café de flore is buoyed by well-selected tracks by the Cure and Sigur Ros. More importantly, it's buoyed by bold, detailed performances from Florent and the truly remarkable Garrier. His Laurent, naughty, passionate, observant, is the sunshine of his mother's life, and the source of a great deal of this film's power. JOSEF BRAUN // JOSEF@VUEWEEKLY.COM

into this cover, from pedicures and manicures to a stylish new outfit and a hair extension. Theron's glare, as Mavis cruises down her hometown's main drag, a woman spitefully, steely sure of her social superiority and her romantic goal, slices darkly through many scenes. Young Adult tragicomically stares on at this lost alcoholic, drifting through a hollow strip-mall world but groping back for her teenage days in narcissistic nostalgia. (The opening credits, with close-ups of a tape playing Teenage Fanclub's "The Concept" as Mavis sings to it over and over in her small car, are all about spinning one's wheels and being stuck in rewind.) A veritable princess

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oung adult or old adolescent? Either way, thirtysomething Mavis (Charlize Theron) is fraying at the seams—literally, since tufts of her hair come out when she fidgets with them, while alone, as she usually is. Flipping through the book of her life—following this tracktopped, sweatpanted, uggbooted former high-school princess in

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a small apartment, a nondescript hotel room and box stores—it's both painfully and comically clear why Mavis prefers people judge her by her cover. Her cover's a chic-looking, successful urbanite, a small-town girl who made it big as a writer (of the Waverley Prep books, a formulaic YA series set in high school and created by another woman). When she returns to little Mercury, Minnesota, glaringly intent on snatching back ex-boyfriend Buddy (Patrick Wilson), she puts a lot of time

Diablo Cody's script is closest to her TV series United States of Tara, exploring the precarious mental state of an unlikeable Midwestern woman whose youth's slipped away. Mavis is more crippled than old high-school assault-victim and new drinking buddy Matt (Patton Oswalt). But in its final few sequences, especially, the movie's a study of the self-protecting, pitying presumptions about others that many people prefer to slip into. BRIAN GIBSON // BRIAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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War Horse

Horsin' around

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

illions of horses died in the Great War. The image of those enormous and elegant, muscular and lithe bodies collapsing, terrified, cut up, scattered, tangled in wire, rotting across muddy European plains alongside the unfathomable numbers of human dead and dying is a very powerful, poignant one. It isn't difficult to understand how storytellers would be drawn to it. I haven't read Michael Morpurgo's 1982 children's novel, so I can't attest as to whether or not it works on its own, but as adapted for the screen by Richard Curtis and Lee Hall, adapted into something that doesn't feel much like a children's movie (except that it feels naive and

oversimplified), and adapted in such a manner that the horse is no longer the centre of the story (and instead fills that centre with corny stock characters), War Horse is astonishingly hollow, simultaneously mechanical and sentimental, fauxinnocent, and thus secretly cynical. In short, it brings out the worst in Steven Spielberg, whose direction of actors has never been more leaden (he gets what I can only hope will be the worst, most strained and artificial performance the normally great Peter Mullan will ever give), whose camerawork has never felt more thoughtlessly money-coated (he seems to need a crane just to shoot inserts), and esthetically droopy (there's a closing day-for-dusk shot that has to be seen to believe how ugly it is). It may be the nadir of Spielberg regular John Williams' long career of composing wildly

over-animated scores; every time anyone so much as smirks it's like ET's flying past the moon. Perhaps Spielberg felt that War Horse would be a return to past glories; after tackling Normandy, he could now sink his teeth into the Somme (from the Holocaust to The War of Worlds, nothing seems to charge the elder Spielberg's batteries like colossal, senseless death counts). Indeed, Joey, the thoroughbredturned-plow horse-turned-war horse, becomes something of a Private Ryan. Everything stops, literally, to tend to him. Brits and Germans meet in the middle of a corpse-strewn battlefield and band together to rescue Joey from a lonesome, slow demise. A field doctor stops attending to a glut of agonized wounded soldiers just to help Joey. At some point, the magical aura surrounding this horse and the way it prompts everyone to ignore all else becomes, arguably, kind of offensive. It doesn't help that the horse is just, you know, a horse. There's nothing all that cinematic about him. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński have no special way of rendering him charismatic. I adore horses, but just sticking one in front of a camera doesn't make me instantly teary-eyed; the fact is, their allure, the particular nature of their features, isn't easily captured on film. But really, I'm just struggling to make sense of why War Horse is such a dud. I think rather than generalize or theorize I should just say that this is one of those pictures where, scene-by-scene, over the course of its grueling runtime, you're sort of baffled by all the small, rote, bad choices that slowly accumulate: the lame comic relief, the forced emotions, the speechy dialogue. Spielberg, so much more at home with lighter material (ET, Catch Me If You Can), has gone to war once more, and this time he really got creamed.

TransCanada’s

Alberta Backstage Series

Josef Braun

// josef@vueweekly.com

REVUE // ELEMENTARY

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Now playing Directed by Guy Ritchie



fter the first Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes outing drastically set itself apart esthetically from previous Holmes incarnations while at the same time presenting a story that was a touch disappointing, focusing as it did on supernatural elements and chicanery, expectations were raised for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Audiences would be able to see a real villain, Holmes' eternal nemesis Moriarty, inside Ritchie's highly-stylized world. So, did Sherlock Holmes: A Game of

Shadows finally marry story with esthetics? It did not. Instead, audiences are treated to a steampunk version of a bad James Bond film. All of the worst elements of Bond movies are here: the last movie's girl (Rachel McAdams) is killed off in the first reel with little consequence for our hero; the audience is in the dark as to what exactly the plot is, what catastrophe Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) is seeking desperately to avert, while we see our hero and his sidekick (Jude Law) move from one inexplicable action sequence to the next; finally, a new pretty girl (Noomi Rapace) shows up to offer assistance when needed, and to disappear when not—acting as

a deus "sex" machina, as it were. It's hard to follow exactly what is going on, but the plot seems flimsy and perhaps best disregarded anyway. Nonetheless, when Holmes and Moriarty (Jared Harris) do meet face to face in the penultimate scene, it's the film's best. The movie's often-annoying fight style—where everything is played out the first time in slow motion, and then again at regular speed—is finally used toward an effective end, and the literal verbal chess game is an interesting metaphor for the pair's other, figurative chess game. Still, one scene does not a movie make. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a disappointing mess, with a plot harder to follow than most conspiracy-minded action films and of even less consequence. Bryan Birtles

// bryan@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

FILM 13

REVUE // MYSTERY REMAKE

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Now playing Directed by David Fincher



man, recently humiliated for making unsubstantiated accusations against a public figure, is brought to a remote, frozen corner of Northern Sweden, an island of vast manors inhabited by the aging members of an industrial dynasty, some of them one-time Nazis, few of whom talk to each other anymore. The man has been asked by one of the family elders to research his memoir, but the real purpose of the research seems to be to discover what happened to a 16-year-old niece who vanished back in 1966. As the man gets deeper into his increasingly precarious task (many within the family aren't nice to him; one even shoots at him) he hires a young woman as an assistant—the same young woman who did an extremely thorough background check on the man for the family elder. Turns out they make a great team:

An efficiently executed mystery

he's cool but affable, ruggedly handsome in his heavy knits, a sort of old school gumshoe type of investigative reporter, good with legwork and making contacts; she's withdrawn and socially handicapped, a genius with data processing (she may even have a photographic memory) and

swift with acts of necessary roughness, diminutive, with a pale, orphanchild face, multiple piercings and tatts, and, at times, an invincible mohawk. (How does her hair stay so vertical after wearing a motorcycle helmet?) The film they're in has little time for conventional character de-

velopment, so our rapid registering of their peculiar, quiet chemistry is important. The characters are embodied by Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, whose performances appear effortless, or rather, all about attending to the task at hand. And that's the sensibility driving The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in a nutshell: telling a story one task at a time; process, procedure, efficiency. The hiring of director David Fincher for the English-language adaptation of Stieg Larsson's pulpy, often tawdry international bestseller is inspired. Very few filmmakers could simultaneously manage a production of this scale and bring to it such personal, unfussy finesse. Early scenes snow us with exposition and flashbacks, yet we get everything we need to, and even if we don't it's all quite compelling. There's a great deal of ordinary work up on screen: googling, highlighting documents, scanning photos, thumbing through files, and all of it clips along like the tip-tapping of a crash cymbal.

STYLE SPOTLIGHT

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edmonton ab

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To book your ad in the Style Spotlight call Erin at 780.426.1996 14 FILM

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

The mystery at the heart of this is genuinely interesting, the resolution pretty satisfying, but what animates The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the music of the mechanics of the investigation itself. Fincher's work underwent a seismic breakthrough with 2007's Zodiac— a mystery that doesn't even have a resolution!—and this new film takes its cues from that film, as well as 2010's The Social Network. All these films are on the long side, all of them crammed with plot, all of them hugely dependent on pace, rhythm, dynamics, adrenaline. Dragon Tattoo isn't the deepest thing Fincher's made (its serial killer's gimmicky showmanship mirrors one of the corniest/ most shamelessly lurid elements of 1995's Se7en) by it's as engrossing as his best work. Even after two-and-ahalf exhausting hours, I found myself eager to come back and see what Fincher and his cohorts do with the next instalment of the trilogy. Josef Braun // josef@vueweekly.com

FILM WEEKLY Fri, DEC 23, 2011 – Thu, DEC 29, 2011

CHABA THEATRE–JASPER 6094 Connaught Dr, Jasper, 780.852.4749

Closed Dec 24-25 We Bought A Zoo (PG) Daily 6:50, 9:10; MON 1:30 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Daily 6:50, 9:10; Mon 1:30 s DUGGAN CINEMA–CAMROSE 6601-48 Ave, Camrose, 780.608.2144

Mission Impossible–Ghost Protocol (14A) Fri 6:45, 9:25; Sat 12:30, 3:15; Mon, Tue, Thu 12:30, 3:15, 6:45, 9:25; Wed 6:45, 9:25 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (G) Fri 7:10, 9:10; Sat 2:50; Mon, Tue, Thu 2:50, 7:10, 9:10; Wed 7:10, 9:10 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Fri 6:50, 9:20; Sat 2:45; Mon, Tue, Thu 2:45, 6:50, 9:20; Wed 6:50, 9:20 We Bought A Zoo (PG) Fri 6:55, 9:15; Sat 12:40, 3:10; Mon, Tue, Thu, 12:40, 3:10, 6:55, 9:15; Wed 6:55, 9:15 The Adventures Of Tintin (PG violence) Fri 7:00, 9:10; Sat 12:50, 3:00; Mon, Tue, Thu 12:50, 3:00, 7:00, 9:10; Wed 7:00, 9:10 CINEMA CITY MOVIES 12 5074-130 Ave, 780.472.9779

Footloose (PG coarse language) Fri, Mon-Thu 1:30, 4:20, 7:05, 9:45; Sat 1:30, 4:20, 7:05; Sun 4:20, 7:05, 9:45 The Three Musketeers 3d (PG violence) Fri, Sun-Thu 6:30, 9:20; Sat 6:30 JACK AND JILL (PG) Fri, Mon-Thu 1:45, 4:10, 7:30, 9:40; Sat 1:45, 4:10, 7:30; Sun 4:10, 7:30, 9:40 Dolphin Tale 3d (G) Fri-Sat, Mon-Thu 1:05, 3:50; Sun 3:50 TOWER HEIST (PG coarse language) Fri, Mon-Thu 1:15, 3:55, 7:20, 9:50; Sat 1:15, 3:55, 7:20; Sun 3:55, 7:20, 9:50 Paranormal Activity 3 (14A frightening scenes) Fri, Sun-Thu 4:40, 9:15; Sat 4:40 Johnny English Reborn (PG) Fri-Sat, Mon-Thu 1:20, 6:50; Sun 6:50 Moneyball (PG coarse language) Fri, SunThu 3:45, 9:00; Sat 3:45 The Ides Of March (14A coarse language) Fri, Mon-Thu 1:35, 4:05, 6:45, 9:10; Sat 1:35, 4:05, 6:45; Sun 4:05, 6:45, 9:10 Drive (18A brutal violence) Fri-Sat, MonThu 1:25, 6:40; Sun 6:40 A Very Harold & Kumar 3d Christmas (18A substance abuse, crude content) Digital 3d Fri, Mon-Thu 2:00, 4:45, 7:40, 10:05; Sat 2:00, 4:45, 7:40; Sun 4:45, 7:40, 10:05 Real Steel (PG violence) Fri, Mon-Thu 1:10, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00; Sat 1:10, 4:00, 7:00; Sun 4:00, 7:00, 10:00 In Time (PG violence, coarse language) Fri, Mon-Thu 1:40, 4:15, 7:10, 9:55; Sat 1:40, 4:15, 7:10; Sun 4:15, 7:10, 9:55 Courageous (PG) Fri, Mon-Thu 1:00, 3:45, 6:40, 9:30; Sat 1:00, 3:45, 6:40; Sun 3:45, 6:40, 9:30 Don 2 3d (STC) Digital 3d Fri, Mon-Thu 12:55, 4:00, 6:55, 10:00; Sat 12:55, 4:00, 6:55; Sun 4:00, 6:55, 10:00 CINEPLEX ODEON NORTH 14231-137 Ave, 780.732.2236

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Digital Cinema FriSat 12:10; Sun-Thu 4:00 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (G) Fri 2:30, 4:50, 7:25, 9:45; Sat 2:30, 4:50, 7:25 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED (G) Digital Cinema Fri 11:50, 12:40, 2:10, 3:00, 4:30, 5:20, 7:00, 9:00; Sat, Mon-Thu 11:50, 12:40, 2:10, 3:00, 4:30, 5:20, 7:00; Sun 2:10, 3:00, 4:30, 5:20, 7:00 WAR HORSE (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Digital Cinema, No passes Sun 3:25, 6:50, 10:05; Mon-Thu 12:10, 3:25, 6:50, 10:05 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (PG violence) Digital 3d, No passes Fri, Sun-Thu 1:30, 4:10, 7:15, 9:50; Sat 1:30, 4:10, 7:15 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE–GHOST PROTOCOL (14A) Digital Cinema, No passes Fri, MonThu 12:30, 1:10, 3:30, 4:20, 6:30, 7:30, 9:30, 10:30; Sat 12:30, 1:10, 3:30, 4:20, 6:30, 7:30; Sun 1:15, 3:30, 4:20, 6:30, 7:30, 9:30, 10:30 THE SITTER (14A course language, sexual content) Digital Cinema Fri 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 10:45; Sat 2:00, 5:00, 8:00; Sun-Thu 10:45 NEW YEAR'S EVE (PG coarse language) Digital Cinema Fri, Mon-Thu 12:50, 3:40, 7:10, 10:00; Sat 12:50, 3:40, 7:10; Sun 3:40, 7:10, 10:00 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Digital Cinema, No passes Fri, Mon-Thu 12:20, 1:40, 3:10, 4:40, 6:20, 7:40, 9:20, 10:40; Sat 12:20, 1:40, 3:10, 4:40, 6:20, 7:40; Sun 1:40, 3:10, 4:40, 6:20, 7:40, 9:20, 10:40 THE MUPPETS (G) Digital Cinema Daily 1:20 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18A brutal violence, sexual violence) No passes Digital Cinema: Daily 7:45; Ultraavx: Fri, Mon-Thu 12:00, 3:20, 6:45, 10:15; Sat 12:00, 3:20, 6:45; Sun 3:20, 6:45, 10:15

THE DARKEST HOUR 3D (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Sun-Thu 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 10:25 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Digital Cinema Fri 4:00, 7:20, 10:10; Sat 4:00, 7:20; Sun-Thu 7:20, 10:10 YOUNG ADULT (14A) Digital Cinema Fri, Sun-Thu 1:50, 4:45, 7:50, 10:20; Sat 1:50, 4:45, 7:50 WE BOUGHT A ZOO (PG) Digital Cinema, No passes Fri, Mon-Thu 1:00, 3:50, 6:40, 9:40; Sat 1:00, 3:50, 6:40; Sun 3:50, 6:40, 9:40 CINEPLEX ODEON SOUTH 1525-99 St, 780.436.8585

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18A brutal violence, sexual violence) Digital Cinema, No passes Daily 12:00, 3:30, 7:00, 10:30 Hansel And Gretel: Met Opera Holiday Encore (Classification not available) Thu 11:00 The Magic Flute: Met Opera Holiday Encore (Classification not available) Wed 11:00 CITY CENTRE 9 10200-102 Ave, 780.421.7020

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE–GHOST PROTOCOL (14A) Closed Captioned, Digital, Dolby Stereo Digital, No passes, Fri 12:50, 4:00, 7:05, 10:10; Sat 12:50, 4:00, 7:05; Sun 4:00, 7:05, 10:15; Mon-Thu 12:50, 4:00, 7:05, 10:15 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Dolby Stereo Digital, No passes, Closed Captioned, Fri 12:10, 3:10, 6:45, 9:45; Sat 12:10, 3:10, 6:45; Sun 3:15, 6:50, 9:50; Mon-Thu 12:15, 3:15, 6:50, 9:50 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18A brutal violence, sexual violence) Closed Captioned, Digital, Dolby Stereo Digital, No passes, Fri-Sat, Mon-Thu 12:30, 4:30, 8:00; Sun 4:30, 8:00 WAR HORSE (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Digital Presentation, DTS Digital, Closed Captioned Sun 3:30, 6:40, 10:00; Mon-Thu 12:00, 3:30, 6:40, 10:00 HUGO 3D (PG) Digital 3d, DTS Digital Fri 1:20, 4:20, 7:15, 10:15; Sat 1:20, 4:20, 7:15 THE MUPPETS (G) Closed Captioned, DTS Digital Fri 1:30, 4:15, 7:30, 10:30; Sat 1:30, 4:15, 7:30 HUGO (PG) Digital Presentation, DTS Digital, Sun 7:20; Mon-Thu 11:45, 7:20 NEW YEAR'S EVE (PG coarse language) Closed Captioned, Dolby Stereo Digital, Fri-Sat 11:45, 2:45, 6:25, 9:25; Sun-Thu 2:45, 10:25 YOUNG ADULT (14A) Closed Captioned, Digital, Dolby Stereo Digital, Fri 12:00, 3:00, 6:35, 9:35; Sat 12:00, 3:00, 6:35; Sun 4:20, 6:55, 9:30; Mon-Thu 1:30, 4:20, 6:55, 9:30 WE BOUGHT A ZOO (PG) Digital Presentation, Closed Captioned, DTS Digital Fri 1:10, 4:10, 7:20, 10:20; Sat 1:10, 4:10, 7:20; Sun 4:15, 7:30, 10:30; Mon-Thu 1:20, 4:15, 7:30, 10:30 THE DARKEST HOUR 3D (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Closed Captioned, Digital 3d, Digital Presentation, DTS Digital, Sun 3:45, 7:45, 10:10; Mon-Thu 1:10, 3:45, 7:45, 10:10 The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn (PG violence) Closed Captioned, Digital Presentation, DTS Digital: Fri-Sat 12:20; Closed Captioned, Digital 3d, Reald 3d, DTS Digital: Fri 3:30, 6:15, 9:15; Sat 3:30, 6:15; Sun-Thu 3:00, 6:15, 9:15 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 3D (PG violence) Digital, DTS Digital, Mon-Thu 12:20 CLAREVIEW 10 4211-139 Ave, 780.472.7600

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Digital Presentation Fri 6:45, 9:30; Sat 1:20, 4:00, 6:30; Sun 4:00, 6:45; Mon-Thu 1:20, 4:00, 6:45 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Digital 3d Fri 6:30, 9:00; Sat 4:00, 6:35 NEW YEAR'S EVE (PG coarse language) Digital Presentation Fri 6:35, 9:25; Sat 12:50, 3:40, 6:20; Sun-Thu 3:40, 6:35, 9:25 THE SITTER (14A course language, sexual content) Digital Presentation Fri 7:10, 9:40; Sat 2:00, 4:15, 6:50; Sun-Thu 9:30 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED (G) Digital Presentation Fri 7:00, 9:20; Sat 1:45, 4:20, 6:40; Sun 4:20, 7:00, 9:20; Mon-Thu 1:45, 4:20, 7:00, 9:20 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) No passes; Digital Presentation: Fri 6:50, 9:45; Sat 12:45, 3:35, 6:20; Sun 3:50, 6:50, 9:45; Mon-Thu 12:50, 3:50, 6:50, 9:45 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE–GHOST PROTOCOL (14A) Digital Presentation, No passes Fri 6:40, 9:40; Sat 12:30, 3:25, 6:15; Sun 3:40, 6:40, 9:40; Mon-Thu 12:30, 3:40, 6:40, 9:40 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18A brutal violence, sexual violence) Digital Presentation, No passes Fri 8:00; Sat 2:00, 5:45; Sun 4:30, 8:00; Mon-Thu 1:00, 4:30, 8:00 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 3D (PG violence) Digital 3d Fri 6:30, 9:10; Sat 3:45, 6:30; Sun-Thu 3:45, 6:35, 9:10 WAR HORSE (PG violence, not recom-

mended for young children) Digital Presentation Sun 6:30, 9:35; Mon-Thu 12:10, 3:20, 6:30, 9:35 WE BOUGHT A ZOO (PG) Digital Presentation Fri 6:45, 9:35; Sat 12:40, 3:40, 6:25; Sun 3:50, 6:45, 9:35; Mon-Thu 12:40, 3:50, 6:45, 9:35 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 3D (PG violence) Digital Presentation Sat, MonThu 1:10 THE DARKEST HOUR 3D (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Digital 3d Sun 4:10, 7:10, 9:50; Mon-Thu 1:50, 4:10, 7:10, 9:50 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Digital Presentation Sat 1:30; Mon-Thu 1:15 GALAXY–SHERWOOD PARK 2020 Sherwood Dr, Sherwood Park 780.416.0150

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18A brutal violence, sexual violence) No passes Fri, Mon-Thu 12:00, 3:30, 7:00, 10:30; Sat 12:00, 3:30, 7:00; Sun 3:30, 7:00, 10:30 GRANDIN THEATRE–St Albert Grandin Mall, Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St Albert, 780.458.9822

Open Dec 24 for 1:00 and 3:00 shows; closed Dec 25 HAPPY FEET TWO (G) Fri-Sat; Mon-Thu 2:40 THE MUPPETS (G) Fri, Mon-Thu 4:40, 8:55 Arthur Christmas (G) Fri-Sat; MonThu 12:40, FRI; Mon-Thu 6:45 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 3D (PG violence) No passes Fri-Sat; Mon-Thu 1:15, 3:20; FRI, Mon-Thu 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (G) No passes Fri-Sat; MonThu 1:05, 3:00; Fri, Mon-Thu 5:00, 6:55, 8:45 Mission Impossible–Ghost Protocol (14A) No passes Fri-Sat; Mon-Thu 1:30; Fri, Mon-Thu 4:20, 6:50, 9:15 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) No passes Fri-Sat; MonThu 1:45; Fri, Mon-Thu 4:30, 7:00, 9:20

SCOTIABANK THEATRE WEM WEM, 8882-170 St, 780.444.2400

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED (G) Fri 11:00, 12:00, 1:30, 2:30, 3:50, 4:50, 6:30, 8:45; Sat 11:00, 12:00, 1:30, 2:30, 3:50, 4:50, 6:30; Sun 1:30, 2:30, 3:50, 4:50, 6:30 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (G) Fri-Sat 12:20, 2:50; Sun 2:50 HUGO 3D (PG) Fri-Sun 1:15, 4:15 IMMORTALS 3D (18A gory brutal violence) Fri 7:40, 10:40; Sat 7:40 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE–GHOST PROTOCOL (14A) No passes Fri, Sun 12:45, 4:00, 7:15, 10:30; Sat 12:45, 4:00, 7:15 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE–GHOST PROTOCOL: The Imax Experience (14A) No passes Fri 11:00, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 11:00; Sat 11:00, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00; Sun 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 11:00 NEW YEAR'S EVE (PG coarse language) Fri 12:40, 3:40, 6:40, 9:30; Sat 12:40, 3:40, 6:40; Sun 12:50, 3:40, 6:40, 9:30 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) No passes, Ultraavx: Fri 12:15, 3:30, 6:45, 10:00; Sat 12:15, 3:30, 6:45; Sun 1:00, 3:50, 7:00, 10:00 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) No passes Fri, Sun 7:30, 10:45; Sat 7:30 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 3D (PG violence) No passes Fri 11:15, 1:50, 4:30, 7:20, 10:15; Sat 11:15, 1:50, 4:30, 7:20; Sun 1:50, 4:30, 7:20, 10:15 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

(18A brutal violence, sexual violence) No passes Fri 11:30, 3:00, 5:30, 6:30, 9:20, 10:10; Sat 11:30, 3:00, 5:30, 6:30;Sun 3:00, 5:30, 6:30, 9:20, 10:10; Digital Cinema: Mon-Thu 11:30, 3:00, 6:30, 10:10 THE SITTER (14A course language, sexual content) Fri 11:45, 3:15, 5:20, 7:50, 10:20; Sat 11:45, 3:15, 5:20, 7:50; Sun 10:50 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (PG disturbing content not recommended for young children) Fri 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:15; Sat 1:00, 4:00, 7:00; Sun 7:40, 10:40 WE BOUGHT A ZOO (PG) No passes Fri 12:50, 3:45, 6:50, 9:50; Sat 12:50, 3:45, 6:50; Sun 1:10, 4:10, 6:50, 9:50 THE DARKEST HOUR 3D (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Sun 2:40, 5:15, 7:50, 10:20 WAR HORSE (PG violence, not recommended for young children) No passes Sun 1:00, 4:10, 7:20, 10:30 WETASKIWIN CINEMAS Wetaskiwin, 780.352.3922

Dec 20-Jan 5 Mission Impossible–Ghost Protocol (14A) Daily 1:00, 3:40, 7:00, 9:40 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Daily 12:55, 3:35, 6:55, 9:35 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (G) Daily 7:10, 9:20; 1:10, 3:20 We Bought A Zoo (PG) Daily 1:10, 3:20, 7:10, 9:20

LEDUC CINEMAS Leduc, 780.352.3922

Dec 20-Jan 5 Mission Impossible–Ghost Protocol (14A) Daily 1:00, 3:40, 7:00, 9:40 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Daily 12:55, 3:35, 6:55, 9:35 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (G) Daily 7:10, 9:20, 1:10, 3:20 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 3D (PG violence) Daily 1:05 , 3:30, 7:05, 9:30 METRO CINEMA at the Garneau Metro at the Garneau: 8712-109 St, 780.425.9212

Closed Dec 24-27 Santa's Cool Holiday Film Fest: w/ Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (STC) FRI 7:00 Higher Ground (14A) FRI 9:15; WED 7:00, 9:15; THU 7:00, 9:15 PARKLAND CINEMA 7 130 Century Crossing, Spruce Grove, 780.972.2332 (Spruce Grove, Stony Plain; Parkland County)

Open: Matinees Dec 24; Closed Dec 25; open for matinee’s (1pm, 3pm) Dec 26 through the holidays • magiclanterntheatres.ca/sprucegrove We Bought a Zoo (PG) Daily 6:40, 9:10; Sat-Thu 12:40, 3:10 Mission Impossible–Ghost Protocol (14A) Daily 6:55, 9:35; Sat-Thu 12:55, 3:35 The Adventures Of Tintin 3d (PG violence) Daily 7:05, 9:20; Sat-Thu 1:05, 3:20 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (18A brutal violence, sexual violence) Daily 6:30, 9:30; Sat-Thu 12:30, 3:30 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG violence, not recommended for young children) Daily 6:50, 9:25; Sat-Thu 12:50, 3:25 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (G) Daily 6:50, 9:00; Sat-Thu 12:50, 3:00 New Year's Eve (PG coarse language) Daily 7:00, 9:15 Arthur Christmas (G) Sat-Thu 1:00, 3:15 PRINCESS 10337-82 Ave, 780.433.0728

Closed Dec 25 The Descendants (14A) Fri 6:50, 9:10; Sat 2:00; Mon 2:00, 6:50, 9:10; Tue-Thu 6:50, 9:10 Café de Flore (14A sexual content) Fri 6:45; Sat 1:00; Mon 1:00, 6:45; Tue-Thu 6:45 My Week With Marilyn (14A) Fri 9:05; Sat 3:30; Mon 3:30 , 9:05; Tue-Thu 9:05

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

FILM 15

ARTS

REVUE // VISUAL ARTS

My monochromatic mind

Harcourt House presents the organic intruding on architecture and campy mind manipulation Until Sat, Jan 21 Forma Works by Wendy Salomons Mind Control Tricks Works by Paul Freeman Harcourt House

// Paul Freeman

heart-shaped leaves, on a much larger scale to better appreciate these organic compositions.

ith the merging of organic and architectural forms through pinhole photography in one gallery, and campy explorations of mind control and manipulation through ink on paper in the other, Harcourt House has two very distinct shows on its walls right now. In the front room is Forma, artist Wendy Salomons' layered monochromatic photos that use the geometry of buildings and the organic shapes of natural vegetative life as a starting point for exercises in abstraction. In her House series, the artist uses multiple exposures, a process by which an image is made from exposing film multiple times, to create layered images of humble late 20th century homes and tree branches. The grainy monochrome layers of the

16 ARTS

One of Paul Freeman's Mind Control Tricks

houses' geometric forms are the background to ghostly organic branches, which disrupt the angularity. There is something ominous about the relationship between the human made and the organic in these photographs. The dark, fuzzy images do not convey any sense of life, despite the presence of living things. These are not

happy homes, and the silhouetted branches are sinister impositions into the space, which makes for a dark and ambiguous story being told in these dichotomous images. This is the most engaging of the three photographic series Salomons presents, although it would be interesting to see her Bean series, fuzzy abstractions of fat,

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DEC 28, 2011

While an exhibition on the theme of manipulation may seem like a dark take on human circumstance, Paul Freeman presents the theme with kitschy, pop humour in Mind Control Tricks in the main gallery. In the featured ink on paper works, Freeman puts human brains in a series of compromising positions in a drawing style that evokes simple illustrations found in books of early last century. The brain acts as a stand-in victim, a symbol of our impressionable human selves, for the little stories told across the gallery's walls. The predicaments under which the brain is subject to control include being at the wrong end of a gun, a prop in pin-up and soft porn images, dressed like a Turkey on Thanksgiving, provoked by a matador, and treated as an object of veneration by religious figures. There is no subtlety in the messaging here, and it will be up to viewers if this hits the right

degree of over-the-top for them. Conceptually there is no great insight or deep thought to ponder, but it is difficult to find that too much of a concern because these images are self aware in their provocative, cheesy approach to the subject matter and rendered with such an expert hand. What did satiate a bit of the cerebral challenge I was searching for was the video work, in which two muscled, cartoon-like 19th-century strongman figures wander hand in hand through a surreal, lush desert, enjoying a romantic stroll. They break into dance, despite the violent eruptions of the land and interruptions from the catty laughter of the giant pin-up girls that emerge. On par with the drawings in terms of goofiness, the moving image is more challenging in its engagement with homoeroticism and the surreal danger that surrounds it. Freeman successfully brings humour to this exposition of social control through sex, violence, food and religion. Carolyn Jervis // carolyn@vueweekly.com

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17 11-12-15ARTS 6:12 PM

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

VIRFRQP12389_HolNSP_Vue_Edm_P08753V4.indd 1

File Name:

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Signoffs Creative Team

REVUE // BOOKS

Winter: Five Windows on the Season Available now Winter: Five Windows on the Season Written by Adam Gopnik House of Anansi 272 pp, $22.95

his year's Massey Lectures were delivered by Adam Gopnik, a longtime New Yorker staff writer, essayist, children's author, Montréal native and general freewheeling polymath. That kind of pan-curiosity is well suited to his topic, which is broad enough to sustain and even encourage investigation from many angles. Maybe it's predictable, then, that Winter: Five Windows on the Season is a bit scattershot. Luckily it's also piled high with plummy facts and anecdotes, and unified by Gopnik's narration, which resembles that of a chatty yet supremely knowledgeable museum guide. He begins with a loose history of the season as it first seeped into general cultural and social thought, and it's here that Winter shines brightest. Gopnik locates the real beginnings of winter, at least as represented in poetry, music and art, in the late 18th century. Initially it was tangled up in Romantic thinking, a brutal but awe-inspiring northern antidote to French rationalism. Thanks to inventions like central heating, it slowly evolved into weather that one could

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

GALLERIES + MUSEUMS Agnes Bugera Gallery • 12310 Jasper Ave • 780.482.2854 • Winter's Eve: Artworks by Gallery Artists • Until Dec 22 ALBERTA CRAFT COUNCIL GALLERY • 10186-106 St • 780.488.6611 • Natural Flow: Contemporary Alberta Glass: until Dec 24 • Discovery Gallery: SalTalk: Clayworks by Jim Etzkorn; until Dec 23 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 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 Photographs: 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: (TREX); until Jan 2 • Studio Y Youth Drop-in: Tape: Large Scale Drawing; Dec 22, 3:30-5:30pm; $10 • Adult Drop-in: Stamp: Cardmaking; Dec 22, 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; until Jan 28 Centre d’arts visuels de l’Alberta • 9103-95 Ave • 780.461.3427 • Group show • Dec 23-Feb 28 Crooked Pot Gallery–Stony Plain • 4912-51 Ave, Stony Plain • 780.963.9573 •

18 ARTS

Sleigh Bells Ring: Holiday themed pottery; until Dec 30

Daffodil Gallery • 10412-124 St, 780.4822854 • Twelve Days of Christmas • Closed Dec 25-28; Dec 31-Jan 5 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 • Innovation Technology Design: Huiwen Hi Wen, for Master of Design in Industrial Design • Wilderness Homeland: Anna Gaby-Trotz: MFA Printmaking • Until Dec 22; Jan 3-14 Gallery at Milner • Stanley A. Milner Library Main Fl, Sir Winston Churchill Sq • 780.944.5383 • The Light of the Lakeland: Watercolour landscapes by Patricia Coulter • In A Minute: Drawings by Charalene Denton in the display cases; until Dec 31 Gallery IS–Red Deer • 5123-48 St, Alexander Way, Red Deer • 403.341.4641 • Gallery closes Dec 24 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: Artworks by the NHCA Collective • Until Dec 23 Harcourt House • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.426.4180 • Main Gallery: Mind Control Tricks: Paul Freeman • Front Room Gallery: forma: Wenda Salomons • Until Jan 21 Harris-Warke Gallery–Red Deer • Sunworks Home and Garden Store, Ross St, Red Deer • 403.346.8937 • firmamentum: Paintings by Paul Harris • Closing reception: Dec 23, 6-8pm Hub on Ross–Red Deer • 4936 Ross St, Red Deer • 403.340.4869 • Belonging: Group show from Art from the Streets • Through Dec Jeff Allen Art Gallery • Strathcona Seniors Centre, 10831 University Ave • 780.433.5807 • Instructors and students Christmas show and sale • Until Dec 23 Jurassic Forest/Learning Centre • 15 mins N of Edmonton off Hwy 28A, Township Rd 564 • Education-rich entertainment facility for all ages Kiwanis Gallery–Red Deer • Red Deer Library • 25th Annual Celebration of the Arts Group show • Through Dec Loft Gallery • A. J. Ottewell Art Centre,

590 Broadmoor Blvd, Sherwood Park • 780.922.6324 • Art by local artists • Until Dec 24; Sat 10-4pm, Sun 12-4pm

McMULLEN GALLERY • U of A Hospital, 8440-112 St • 780.407.7152 • Nature: Paintings inspired by poet Chon Sang-Pyon’s poem, Back to Heaven; artworks by Kyung Hee Hogg • Until Feb 5 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 • Until Jan 28 Multicultural Centre Public Art Gallery (MCPAG)–Stony Plain • 541151 St, Stony Plain • 780.963.9935 • Paintings by Marjan Assai; until Jan 4 Musée Héritage Museum–St Albert • 5 St Anne St, St Albert • 780.459.1528 • St Albert History Gallery: Artifacts dating back 5,000 years • Take Your Best Shot: Photos by youth (8-18 yrs old) • Until Feb 5 Muttart Conservatory • The Snow Queen’s Garden • Until Jan 9, weekdays 10am-5pm; weekends, holidays 11am–5pm, closed Christmas Day Naess Gallery • Paint Spot, 10032-81 Ave • 780.432.0240 • Artworks by Reece Schulte; through Dec • Artworks by Jan Melissa Soleski; through Jan Peter Robertson Gallery • 12304 Jasper Ave • 780.455.7479 • Winter Group Show: New artworks by gallery artists • Until Feb 4 Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery • 4525-47A Ave • Farm Show: Harvest: artworks; through Dec • For You the War is Over: Second World War POW Experiences; through Dec • Prisoner of War: Stories from Red Deer and District; through Dec Royal Alberta Museum • 12845-102 Ave • 780.453.9100 • A River Runs Through It:

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

safely observe as well as experience. Today, we've pretty much tamed winter entirely: one of the reasons we like the snow now is because its blankness is a renewable frontier, ever-ripe for the conquering. From here, the book investigates winter through different cultural lenses. Gopnik delivers compelling, albeit well-padded, pocket histories of polar exploration, the secularization of Christmas, ice hockey and the "underground cities" that most Canadian metropolises now have some version of. Tracing the genesis of an idea that's now considered commonplace is always a rewarding process, and Gopnik shows the multi-faceted appeal of winter with ease. He also comes up with some brilliant winter-related historical curios. Exhibit A: our conception of Santa Claus is partly inspired by the Greek god Kronos, who's famous for cutting off his father's testicles and throwing them into the sea. Exhibit B: a hilarious painting entitled Johann Goethe Ice-skating in Frankfurt, Germany. In it, a smirking lady is about to nail the famous poet with a snowball. Gopnik's eager-amateur approach does, however, strike some strange notes—particularly as it relates to his expectations of how much is already on the radar of the average middlebrow CBC

Until Feb 5 • Narrative Quest: Until Apr 29

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 Strathcona County Gallery@501 • 501 Festival Ave, Sherwood Park • 780.410.8585 • Half-Breed 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: human stories told through artifacts recovered from the wreck site of the Titanic and extensive room re-creations; until Feb 20 • Discoveryland: Public Opening; Dec 26 VAAA Gallery • 3rd Fl, 10215-112 St • 780.421.1731 • Gallery A: Pictographs by Seka Owen; until Jan 21 • Gallery B: PerceptionLife on Venus/Life on Mars: Photographs by Anne Marie Resta; until Jan 21 Velvet Olive–Red Deer • 4928 Ross St • Artworks by Sandy Proseillo • Through Dec West End Gallery • 12308 Jasper Ave • 780.488.4892 • 2011 Winter Collection • Until Dec 23

LITERARY From Books to Film series • Stanley A. Milner Library, Main Fl, Audio Visual Rm • 780.944.5383 • A Christmas Story; 93 minutes (1983) PG; Dec 23, 2pm • Of Mice and Men; 106 minutes (1939) (b&w) G; Dec 30, 2pm Rouge Lounge • 10111-117 St • 780.902.5900 • Poetry every Tue with Edmonton's local poets Upper Crust Café • 10909-86 Ave • 780.422.8174 • strollofpoets.com • 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 The Best Little Newfoundland Christmas Pageant...Ever! • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • Whizgiggling Produc-

listener. This is entirely subjective, of course, but every time Gopnik assumes his readers are familiar with something (the painter Casper David Friedrich, a Hans Christian Andersen fable called "The Snow Queen"), it was news to me. Conversely, when he would excuse us for not knowing, say, that Frankenstein actually takes place in the Canadian Arctic, I felt a snooty rush of pride at his underestimation. And the very first cultural reference point that came to my mind, Shakespeare's beguiling late play The Winter's Tale? Never mentioned. Small potatoes, admittedly. And any introduction to someone like Friedrich is better than none. My favourite discovery in the book, bar none, is his 1814 painting The Hunter in the Forest, which gorgeously captures the kind of terrified reverence for winter that I still, after surviving several of Edmonton's -30 ºC varieties, can only imagine. Any reader of Winter will come away with a similar discovery—be it how game theory relates to hockey, the Dickensian politics of turkey dinners, or secret Inuit meteorites. It's a good thing, too. After all, everyone needs something to clutch to their chest during those greyest depths of February. Michael Hingston

// hingston@vueweekly.com

tions, Spirit of Newfoundland Productions. Stars Kayla Gorman, Natalie Czar Gummer, Cheryl Jameson, Desmond Parenteau, Bob Rasko and Lindsey Walker; written by Barbara Robinson • Until Dec 23, 7:30pm • $20 (adult)/$18 (senior/ student/child under 15) at door, advance at 780.433.3399, TIX on the Square

Corner Gassed 2 • Jubilations Dinner Theatre, 2690, 8882-170 St, Phase II WEM Upper Level • 780.484.2424 • Until Jan 21 A Christmas Carol • Citadel Maclab Theatre, 9828-101 A Ave • 780.428.2117 • Adapted by Tom Wood, directed by Bob Baker and Geoffrey Brumlik, starring Richard McMillan. Tom Wood’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale • Until Dec 23 The Christmas Carol Project • TransAlta Arts Barns, Westbury Theatre, 10330-84 Ave • 780.409.1910 • Arts At The Barns: Brass Monkey Productions • Dec 28-29 • $30 (adv at fringetheatre.ca)/$35 (door) DIE-NASTY • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • 780.433.3399 • Improvised soap opera • Every Mon, until May, 7:30pm (subject to change) • Tickets at the box office The Snow Globe Festival of Children's Theatre • Avenue Theatre, 9030-118 Ave • A new Edmonton Festival created and produced by Promise Productions featuring student matinees and evening shows of three full length plays • Miss Electricity: Children's theatre, student show. Comedy for all ages by Kathryn Walat • Dec 23 • $10 (adult)/$8 (child) • Children's Theatre: Holiday Half-Time Singers before and after performance TheatreSports • Varscona Theatre, 10329-83 Ave • rapidfiretheatre.com • Improv runs every Fri, until Jul, 11pm (subsject to occasional change) • $10/$8 (member) The Velveteen Rabbit • Capitol Theatre, Fort Edmonton Park, Fox Dr, Whitemud Dr • Until Dec 24 • Dec 23-24: 1:30pm; Dec 23: 7:30pm • $25 (adult)/$15 (post-secondary students)/$10 (child) THE WEDDING SINGER • Mayfield Dinner Theatre, 16615-109 Ave • 780.483.4051 • Until Feb 5 The Wizard of Oz • Festival Place, 100 Festival Way, Sherwood Park, 780.464.2852 • By L. Frank Baum, music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg • Until Dec 23, Dec 26-30, 7:30pm; 2pm mat Dec 26 • Dinner: Dec 23, 5:30pm; $32 (adult)/$16 (child 12 and under) • Brunch: Dec 26, 12:30pm; $28 (adult)/$14 (child 12 and under); at Festival Place box office, TicketMaster

NE "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

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SPRING ART SALE APRIL 20 TO 22 HI SCHOOL STUDENT SHOW MAY 4 & 5 $199. includes session and MOTHERS' DAY TEA & ART SALE 1 - 8x10 & 2 - 5x7 prints MAY 13 Gift Certificates available LOFT ART GALLERY AND GIFT SHOP, SATURDAYS 10 TO 4 PM. AND Daffodil Postcard_NovShow_Layout 1 11-10-12 11:00 AM Page 2 SUNDAY NOON TO 4 PM! ORIGINAL ARTWORK AND GIFTS BY LOCAL ARTISTS! 780-952-7617 NEW WORKS by Samantha Williams-Chapelsky All events at the Ottewell Centre on Broadmoor. Ottewell Center also available for rentals. steve@newimagecreations.ca Phone: 780 449 4443 • Email: artsoc@telus.net • Web: www.artstrathcona.com Studio or on location

November 2 - 22, 2011

Daffodil Postcard_NovShow_Layout 1 11-10-12 11:00 AM Page 2

November 2 - 22, 2011

Fabric Sculpting • January 28 and 29 Watercolors by Brent Laycock • March 2 and 3 Pastels by Karin Richter • March 30, 31 and April 1 Watercolors by Rose Edin • Sept 10 to 13

WORKSHOPS:

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Fantastic Art Available Throughout Edmonton

Up-coming exhibit

Twelve Days of Christmas Opening reception

Thursday November 10 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

NEW WORKS byour Samantha Williams-Chapelsky Artists in attendance Saturday November 12 shopping 2:00 to 4:00da p.m.?? Join us and many of artists for 12 special ys Gallery hours Tuesday to Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Donations for Hope Mission gratefully accepted 10412 - 124 Street NW, Edmonton, Alberta Opening reception Artists in attendance Gallery hours

780.760.1ART (1278) • daffodilgallery.ca Thursday November 10 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. info@daffodilgallery.ca Saturday November 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.?? Follow us on12 Twitter @DaffodilGallery us on Facebook: The Daffodil Tuesday toLike Saturday 10:30 a.m. toGallery 5:00 p.m.

10412 - 124 Street NW, Edmonton, Alberta 780.760.1ART (1278) • daffodilgallery.ca

Your AGA is home for the holidays! info@daffodilgallery.ca Follow us on Twitter @DaffodilGallery Like us on Facebook: The Daffodil Gallery

Visit with family and friends this holiday season. Apply your holiday admission to the cost of an annual AGA Membership and enjoy unlimited free Gallery admissions throughout the year, exclusive invitations to exhibition openings and special events, member pricing on classes and programs and discounts at Shop AGA and Zinc. Special Holiday Hours Christmas Eve Christmas Day Boxing Day December 27-28

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Give the gift with no limits this holiday season. AGA Gift Memberships available at youraga.ca

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

11 am-9 pm (Servus Night) 11 am-7 pm 11 am-5 pm 11 am-5 pm

youraga.ca ARTS 19

DISH

Find a restaurant

ONLINE AT DISHWEEKLY.CA

PROFILE // ITALIANO

Getting fresh

Hands-on is the philosophy at Cibo Bistro

Cibo Bistro in Oliver Square

Cibo Bistro 11244 - 104 Ave, 780.757.2426

hen translated, "cibo" means "food." It's that singular concern you'll find at the new Italian restaurant tucked among the businesses of Oliver Square. "That's all we're trying to put out here; really tasty, kinda rustic and really hands-on food," sous-chef Matthew Helstein explains.

20 DISH

"Everything is fresh and made inhouse. Anything we can possibly do ourselves, we do." Two months young, Cibo Bistro was created by Mike Giampa and Rosario Caputo, who does double duty as the head chef. Having grown up in big Italian families themselves, being around food has always been synonymous with life. Their passion grew throughout their lives and has now manifested

itself as Cibo. Rosario, a graduate of NAIT's culinary program, explains that it's very important to both of them that they stick to what they know. They've concentrated on making their food as fresh as possible and to do so, have sourced much of it from local farmers. "As much as we need support as a small restaurant, we feel the same way about the local suppliers. If they're going to produce a product, there's no

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

point in us going to a big company that sources it out through the US to get it." Helstein says. "With Italian food, everything is regional. Everything is as close and as fresh as you can get it. When you get food that's flown in from Ontario, it's not going to be of a higher quality than when it's picked off the plant two days beforehand and sold to you on Saturday at the farmers' market. That's what Italian food is all about." The philosophy behind the food at Cibo is freshness first, with being hands-on a close second. "The Charcuterie board is something that we're really proud of," Helstein says. "We do all of our own curing in-house and we're making our own patés, and some cheeses. We've got duck prosciutto hanging right now. That's something that's really rooted in Italian culture—taking something from its basis and making it your own. It takes a lot of work, effort and time, and if people see that and respond it, it's a really nice feeling."

Another thing you'll find here is a comfortable and welcoming space complete with modern touches like dark woods, black leather and stone features. "We wanted the atmosphere to be relaxing and chill, not very highstrung where people have to eat and get out. We want people to come in, relax, and enjoy the night," Caputo says, describing their vision for the restaurant. Helstein easily agrees, "It shouldn't be about pretence or formality. With Italian people, the food is about the food and that's all it is. It's about family and it's about the interaction that comes with eating a meal. That's really important to everybody here: that people feel casual and comfortable at Cibo and that first and foremost, it is about the food." This feeling resonates though the camaraderie of this trio and if I could think of another word to describe Cibo, it would be "famiglia." Erika Domanski // erika@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

ARTS 21

NENTAL TRE I T N AT O Fine Bistro C

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India pale ale?

Jaipur IPA sure is something—but what?

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from a variety of English microbrewers. There are a few of them, and the beers are quite diverse. However, what ties them together is that For most people, Britain and none of the breweries make beer means tradition, old beer in the traditional way methods, softly bitter (although some do commit m ales and pints of real ale. to a traditional process). ekly.co e w e u v epint@ Britain is perceived to be a toth The beer reflects an eye n o Jas place of old-school brewing, more focused on the internar e t s Fo where beer is served warmer tional beer scene. They experiand in some way that vaguely reprement. They play with extremes. sents the 1800s. A good example is Jaipur IPA from But that is changing. And nothing Thornbridge Brewery. Thornbridge is makes that more obvious than a sea rapidly expanding young microbrewries of new beers available in Alberta ery (opened in 2005) that prides itself on experimentation and brewing many different styles of beer. The Jaipur is an anchor product for the brewery, and one generally well regarded in the beer world. I decided to give it a try.

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22 DISH

It pours a very cloudy, murky whitish straw. Its head is bright and looks like a snowy blanket after a snowfall. The aroma has sharp grapefruit and other citrus hop characteristics. The malt is edgy and grainy. Not much sweet in the aroma.

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

I taste the beer and first pick up some grainy, biscuit malt—similar to a blonde ale. However that malt doesn't get to talk long before hops take over the conversation. The hops start grassy and then transforms into a bit of citrus bomb. I get grapefruit, lemon, orange and pineapple in this beer's hop flavours. The beer finishes quite dry. I am surprised how little body and malt character is found in this beer. The beer is the thinnest IPA I have ever tasted. The focus is on hops and creating a multi-layered cascade of different tastes. I liked drinking the beer but I can't stop myself from wondering whether it really fits the style. It may be designed to be easier to drink than most IPAs. The colour is lighter and the body drier than other versions. This is not a bad thing; just different. An adventurous interpretation to say the least. And not remotely what I might commonly expect from a British brewer. If you are looking for an original interpretation of an India Pale Ale, even if it might not be authentic, give Jaipur a try. V

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Snow geeks get all the peaks

This Christmas, say yes to "peaking"

very expedition reaches its own crux; the critical decision to forge ahead or turn back. It's an uncharacteristically warm winter day and as we climb higher into the alpine, my skins slop with the weight of wet snow. Every 30 metres or so, I stomp off the accumulation and start again. When it comes to touring on warm days, there is an unwritten rule that all wise skiers follow: get up early and get out fast, before the heat gets too intense and loosens the snowpack. We're treading the margin as we reach the top of Destiny Ridge, so

when our instructor and guide, Peter Amann, suggests we better keep our stay at the peak brief, my fellow students and I listen, tarrying just long enough to glory in the summit. Standing on barren, wind-blasted scree, the seven of us soak in a pristine moment. Below us lies our skin track and the Icefields Parkway, above Mt Hilda and to the southwest the Athabasca Glacier. The sky is so crisp and clear against the mass of the Rockies it seems a new shade of blue needs to be added to the spectrum, to define the colour of skies reserved for those who

gaze on them from winter summits. The preceding journey had made the sight all the more rare, coming as we had through a thick, shadowy forest of spruce and pine, emerging into the subalpine under overcast skies threatening to envelop us. We'd noted these and many other conditions on our way up—part of our training for the Avalanche Skills Training 2 course. Under Amann's guidance we assessed the snowpack and selected safe travel routes. We had dug pits, peered through loupes at snow crystals and discussed the variables of weather, terrain and

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

time. All invaluable in understanding snow stability, but it's still only part of the equation. Human agency is the wild card. The thirst for adventure, the ambition to claim summits and stomp virgin snow inspires risky behaviour. If your eyes are set on the peak, it's hard to accept anything less, but often that's what the backcountry forces us to do. According to Bruce Tremper's Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, when it comes to making decisions about snow safety, you should be

right 99.99 percent of the time. Intuitively most of us get Tremper's point, but consider the practical application. How many of us get things 99.99 percent right, all the time? Wouldn't 99 percent be enough? Not when you start doing the math on backcountry travel. Tremper gives a simple example: say you want to ski 100 days in the backcountry per year (and who wouldn't?). Assume that you cross 10 avalanche slopes per day, 95 CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 >>

SNOW ZONE 23

REACHING THE SUMMIT << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

percent of the slopes you cross are stable and for every ten avalanches you trigger, one will be fatal. Theoretically, then, at 99.9 percent, you'll enjoy approximately 100 years of safe backcountry travel. At 99 percent, you're dead within one year. Big difference, and that's assuming that your 0.01 percent moment is at the end of your career, and not the start. Choosing to summit or not can be one of those marginal decisions, the 0.99 percent difference—which makes those moments among the peaks all the more rare and valuable. One of the things that doesn't get mentioned enough in the avalanche safety training literature is the opportunity to bag a summit safely. Even with an expert guide, there's no guarantee. During my level one course at Red Mountain, we'd set our sights on two peaks but prevailing weather forced us to bail on both. Nonetheless, the prospect of peakbagging beats standing below an untracked alpine pitch, idly wondering—or, worse still, trying and failing. All the more rare is summiting under clear, still skies on warm days, with the crumbling, jagged grey spires and slabs of the eastern Rockies before you. Once you have, with the proper training to accompany the miles of experience under your

skis, it engenders a primal craving. This is where all the snow geek stuff comes in. I want 99.99 percent assurance every time out. And I want summits—to take that perfect powder ride through the steep couloir. For that, I need to know what the snowpack is doing, so I am learning to be a snow scientist. Yet at the same time I am also learning to be skeptical of empirical data. There are few absolutes. Snow is the ultimate, unknowable medium. Making our descent, I stop below the first open slope to film my companions skiing down. It's a perfect moment: one after another, they carve deep turns into soft corn. Only afterward, I realize I've mistakenly hit the record button a second time, stopping it before capturing even five seconds of footage. Just like that, the moment is gone. Erased. Like it never really happened. An hour-and-a-half later, after wide giddy carving on alpine faces, adrenalin-fuelled glade grinding and a slog back up through a babbling creek, we reach the parking lot. The flatness of it is surreal, like coming off the ocean with sea legs,but I can look back up and see with perfect assurance that yes, we were there. Up on that spiny scree shoulder, overshadowed by Mt Hilda, the faintest hint of ski tracks are still visible. JEREMY DERKSEN // JEREMY@VUEWEEKLY.COM

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SNOW ZONE // RABBIT HILL

Do it for the kids

Catching some air while StepChild's in town In the giant white expanse of the Rabbit Hill ski area, the eye is automatically drawn to the terrain park. Bright colours, crowds and action animate the slope during the StepChild Blue Ribbon Rail Jam. It's a circus-like affair: Rasta stripes, jersey hues and mongrel neon, DJ beats rocking the rope tow, onlookers cheering from the cattle fence, and the thump, slap and scrape of boards and skis on boxes, rails and tables. "There are way, way more kids than I expected riding the park," says Sean Keating, of Vancouver-based StepChild Snowboards, which hit up Rabbit Hill as the first stop on their 2011/12 rail jam tour. Being early season, the initial terrain park is only temporary, to be replaced by the permanent park later in the season once enough snow has accumulated. But in a fluke of timing, the condensed temporary park offers a perfect venue for Stepchild's December 11 tour stop. While there's a common perception that bigger is better when it comes to hills and parks, Rabbit Hill's park scene defies that logic. "We like the smaller atmosphere, everyone is hanging out instead of a big long chair and every once in a while you'll see a kid go by and you're like, 'Oh, hey, hey, hey,'" says Keating, likening it to his home hill of Mount Seymour in Vancouver. "[Seymour] is a bit of a bigger hill but it's the same vibe: little chair, park's right under it, everybody hiking and stuff. All the spots we picked for the jams this year embrace that same mentality." Even when the park moves over to its permanent location over on Thunder Bowl, that vibe will remain. "We rebuilt the deck this year so it's greatly improved, there's the fire pit, so it is a bit more of a social community," says Rich Parie, Rabbit Hill general manager. "These guys will continually loop the park ... they'll just hang out there all day long, every day." Park manager Pat Bockman gives a lot of the credit to his crew for Rabbit Hill's park development prowess. "I think it's the way we set everything up. Everything's very rider friendly, like gap-ons, good lips ... a lot of it is put in by riders. I run the cat but the

whole park staff comes up with the ideas," enthuses Bockman. "We all put it to each other and that's kind of how it happens." This is Bockman's fourth winter at Rabbit Hill and first as park manager, after trading in a 15-year seismic career for the ski industry. "I used to come out here as a kid and I always thought it would be really cool to work at Rabbit Hill," he recalls. "I've always wanted to be in the industry. Now [that I'm here], I love it." When it comes to park design, creativity and progression are key, Bockman explains, as well as setting the right tone. "We're trying to portray a really positive attitude," he says.

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"Sometimes people think the park guys are a little harsh or something, but I've found the last few years it's been a really good, really helpful environment." For StepChild, the community vibe is paramount. Getting the broader exposure in the Whistlers of the world might be nice, but for Keating's part he says, "I'd rather hang out with the kids." From the top of the Rabbit Hill terrain park, where snowboarders and skiers assemble to step into bindings, watch their friends and wait their turn, it's clear he's come to the right place. Jeremy Derksen // jeremy@vueweekly.com T:10.25”

2012

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snow zone 25

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

CAP11175.SNOW.103.4C.VUE.indd

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so I guess it's looking for a six-pack. Current Kicking Horse owner, Ballast Nedam, is a Netherlands-based company that developed the resort from a smaller facility owned by the town of Golden. With most of its business activities centered in the Netherlands, the company is planning to pull out of some of its foreign investments.

Mountain resorts get festive If you're heading to the mountains this holiday season, there are several unique events not to be missed. At

with Santa, who will do some turns on Paradise, Silverlode, T-Bar and the Magic Carpet. Back to Fernie and fast forward a week and you can get ready for 2012 with the family New Year's Eve dinner and magic. The festivities start as a family affair from 6 – 9 pm where fun and games take place around a hillside fire pit. At 9 pm there's a countdown, you can put the kids to bed and then over-19s can carry on the night at the Griz Bar and ring in the New Year to the tunes of Brocade. These tickets sell out every year, so get on board early or you may miss out.

Slopeside accommodations aren't even on the drawing board. It would take years of negotiations with Parks Canada and is something we probably won't see in our lifetimes, if ever.

Ski hill happenings What an amazing sight you can see while driving along the Whitemud Freeway near Snow Valley. After sunset, the hill appears to be enveloped in a mini blizzard with bright lights shining and snow guns blowing. Despite Mother Nature's reluctance to provide precipitation, it looks like the

hill's snow guns are doing a pretty good job. Last weekend, a little later into the season than normal, Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort announced the opening of its Goat's Eye slopes. With signature runs like Goat's Head Soup and Mother In Law, Goat's Eye offers amazing ski terrain and the opening of those slopes should help

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keep lift lines short around the rest of the hill. A local Edmonton travel agency is erroneously advertising mountainside accommodations and lift tickets at Marmot Basin. Now, I know the new owners group at Marmot is spending millions in capital investments on new lifts, but slopeside accommodations aren't even on the drawing board. It would take years of negotiations with Parks Canada and is something we probably won't see in our lifetimes, if ever. This may not be a bad thing because most of us love Marmot just the way it is. Kicking Horse Resort might be changing hands, after announcing that it is in negotiations with Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) to transfer ownership, possibly by the end of the year. RCR already owns Nakiska, Fernie, Kimberley, Stoneham and Mont-Sainte-Anne resorts,

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26 SNOW ZONE

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

Lake Louise there's a torchlight dinner & ski night on December 25 and 31. After the lifts have closed to regular skiers and riders, participants head up to the mid-mountain Whitehorn Lodge where drinks and appetizers await. Then they glide down the darkened slopes by torchlight, followed by a full-blown après-ski party at the Sitzmark Lounge. Prices range from $36 – $65 and reservations are a must. But Lake Louise isn't the only resort to offer skiing by torchlight, with Norquay also offering a torchlit ski parade on December 31, starting at 7 pm. On December 23 and 24 at Fernie Alpine Resort, you can ski with Santa from 10 am – 12 pm, followed by a free photo opp with the big guy until 2 pm, with pics emailed straight to your inbox. Nakiska also offers the chance to ski with Mr Claus on December 24 from 10 am. And the big guy will continue his busy streak at Red Mountain on December 25, where you can meet at the bottom of Silverlode at 10 am and ride the chair

If you're a Wheat Monkeys fan and want to party in the New Year in style with them, get yourself down to Castle Mountain on December 31. This is another one of those get-your-tickets-early events because you're not the only one who likes them. Tickets are only $15 and you must be at least 18 years old. Staying across the border in BC, Panorama Mountain Village has a whole host of events for the holiday season, starting with holiday crafts for kids every day until December 31 and photos with Santa from December 22 to the 24th. Carolling by candlelight around the Christmas tree with your fellow Panorama guests takes place on the 23rd and 24th, and on Christmas Day there's a humungous holiday feast in the Great Hall. Kimberley Alpine Resort will be ushering in the New Year with a fireworks display, family skating party, night skiing and a special glow stick run, with live music from New Moon in the Stemwinder from 6 – 8 pm.

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SNOW ZONE 27

LIVE MUSIC

DEC 26, JESSE D DEC 28, DUFF ROBINSON DEC 30 & 31, DUFF ROBINSON edmontonpubs.com

MUSIC

PREVUE // CONCERT

You can go home DEVANEY’S IRISH PUB

Soprano returns to Edmonton for fundraising concert

WHAT’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

Tue, Dec 27 (6:30 pm) Carrie Dimaculangan As part of Opus 32 Also featuring Alexandra von der Ohe, Angelina Weber, Ewald Cheung, Taddes Korris, Karl Schwonik Giovanni Yamaha Concert Hall, $25

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dmonton-born soprano Carrie Dimaculangan will return to her hometown to perform as part of Opus 32, a benefit concert for the Anne Burrows Music Foundation, an organization which aims to further classical music education through scholarships for promising young performers. Dimaculangan, a recipient of one of the foundation's scholarships, answered a few questions from her home in Germany where she completed a master's in pedagogy and performance and continues to work in opera and as a concert soloist. Vue Weekly: What drew you to classical

music/opera? Music was always a part of my life growing up. From the age of four, my sister and I had had some sort of music lessons. In fact, we both took organ lessons with the original Giovanni Music School on 111 Ave before it ever was called that and even both won prizes to represent Edmonton for national competitions when we were children. It is a funny coincidence, that I should now be coming home to sing at their concert hall. Being drawn to opera was another story. It was after having many an unfulfilling singing teacher that I met—at the then-called Alberta College— Ms Alice Wright; an opera singer with a humongous voice and personality, whose reputation for eccentricity preceded her. The college had had no room for her to teach properly except in a converted

Carrie Dimaculangan:

DEC 30 & 31

stuart bendall

JAN 6 & 7

lyle hobbs

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

28 MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

women's restroom, but it didn't really matter. That room became a place for vocal experimentation and self discovery. Up to now, she is one of the few musicians I can say who truly lived and breathed singing every minute of every day. What I learned from her was that singing was a calling, an art form that demanded respect, hard work, dedication, sacrifice, humility, resilience in the face of adversity and harsh critique, but most importantly, love. VW: Tell us about growing up in Edmonton with a love for classical/opera—what kind of opportunities were there to pursue your art? What kind of limitations? CD: One day when I was a teenager, I got a last-minute call from the Citadel Theatre to audition for their musical theatre productions. It was to be my first-ever audition in my life and was so last minute that I asked to have one day to prepare. The audition was then cancelled on their end and I, very disappointed and frustrated, moaned to Ms Wright. She pulled out a notice for the children's chorus for Edmonton Opera's then Carmen production. Although I was skeptical (typical teenager), I went and sang for them. A few weeks later, they called me and offered me not a position in their children's chorus, but as a member of their amazing adult chorus (still in my mind one of the best in the world). It was there that I got my first concrete professional experience in opera. The company and its guild (Sandra Horst and Zoe Gardiner particularly) supported me in my professional endeavors as best they could. It was they who encouraged me to go to New York and study there, a thought which I had never really taken seriously, although Alice had often mentioned it. They strongly believed that if I stayed

in Edmonton, I would be limited artistically. Even though I've been away for some time, I don't know if this can be called true anymore. I think that if you have someone who can develop your sense of sensitivity to the beauty or ugliness of the world around us, then you will never suffer too much artistically. I can, however, confirm that the financial and professional opportunity of living from being a musician in Edmonton is limited. It is in our culture to simply not value music as a real integral part of life. Hockey somehow is more essential than music: the same people who'd pay for highly priced hockey tickets wouldn't pay half for a concert (for classical concerts even less). In Germany, for example, every church and museum has a regular concert series, every school has a biannual concert or cultural event, and music schools in general flourish. This is because there are people who actually go to concerts and through which have the interest to take music lessons. And this stems from the fact that they most likely have been to the theatre, too. Theatres in Germany in any city hold productions weekly; in villages, every month. Of course, they can afford to hold productions because the theatres are financed by the state and the taxpayers—they believe that funding the arts is just as important as education, health care and the building of roads and bridges. It is such a part of their lives that they have no idea how much culture they actually have and how much they are influenced by it. I think we have excellent teachers and musicians in Edmonton, but the problem is, they or their students cannot make a decent living solely as performers since we do not have the audiences for it, and therefore, those interested in taking music lessons. This means less concerts, less performing experience, less opportunity to see others perform. How can one become a good performer if you cannot perform in front of a real audience and not just for your family and friends? A performer must also learn from other performers. For this, one must leave Edmonton to experience. In what ways did support from the Anne Burrows Music Foundation open up new opportunities for you? CD: The Foundation was one of a few organizations in Canada that helped me pursue my studies in New York City at the Mannes College of Music. Had I not studied there, I would not have been able to go to Germany or have done half the things I have. However, the greatest contribution that the foundation made VW:

CONTINUED ON PAGE 29 >>

FIRSTS, LASTS, FAVOURITES

Hip Hop on the Ave Wed, Dec 28 (12 pm) Featuring the Brothers Grim, Rellik, Fatty Jones, Doomsquad and more Avenue Theatre, Free with donation to Santa's Anonymous

roducing the fourth-annual Hip Hop on the Ave—which sup-

ports

Santa's

Anonymous—the

Brothers Grim look to continue the work they've put in on previous incarnations of the night and con-

First album

Last concert

Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory I think I was in Grade Six and my first introduction into rap was Mike Shinoda's verses on this album

Madchild of Swollen Members with Snak the Ripper and Evil Ebeneezer. Opened for them earlier that night and got to see a hell of a show.

First concert

Favourite album

The Game at what used to be Rum Jungle. It was an all-ages show and my friend hooked me up with the tickets. It cost $30 for a stupid towel that said "The Game" on it. I still have that towel.

Of all time? Thats hard. I would go with Jedi Mind Tricks, Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell or Eminem, The Marshal Mathers LP

tinue to bring Christmas cheer to less privileged quarters around the city. In advance of the duo's performance, Stephen "Komrade" Goyette took the time to outline some of his musical history.

BRYAN BIRTLES // BRYAN@vueweekly.com

Musical guilty pleasure Last album

Jedi Mind Tricks, Violence Begets Violence Its Vinnie Paz back with his raw raps, but its missing Stoupe on the beats. Still a great album.

Swag/image based-rap with little to zero emphasis on lyrical content. (Eg Riff Raff, Wacka Flacka Flame, Gucci Mane, Lil B.)

YOU CAN GO HOME

<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

to my life and career was the friendship that grew between me and Anne Burrows over the years. She was an incredible musician and human being. When things got tough, Anne always knew what to say; and whatever she said, she said it with a delicate poise and elegance so unique to her that all who knew her can testify. For example, when I was in New York during the September 11 attacks, I remembered at the time what she had told me [about] how it was for her as a music student during the airstrikes in London. I remembered Anne and her resilience and I was ashamed of how paralyzed I let the fear make me. So, though thousands of miles away, I gave up being scared because of what Anne Burrows said and life did go on. She was not just a sponsor, she was a mentor and friend. Her wisdom still opens doors and opportunities for me to this day. VW: You've played a number of interest-

ing operatic roles including Frasquita in Carmen, the Nightingale in Die Vögel and even Billie Holiday. What has been your favourite? Are there any roles you dream of playing? CD: My favorite roles have been Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Despina in Cosí fan tutte. Mozart really knows the psychology of women well and that is why his women were never stock characters. You hear it in the music and in the words they say, so you always feel like a whole human being when you sing one of his women's roles. In terms of a dream role? Well, my voice has become heavier and lyrical over the years. It's still uncertain where the voice is going, but if I could sing any role soon in the future, I would love to sing Mimi. Call me cheesy, but I still remember the first time I saw Edmonton Opera's production of La Bohème all those years ago and the exact moment when I fell in love with the opera. You never really get over your first love, so they say. Bryan Birtles

// bryan@vueweekly.com

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

MUSIC 29

MUSIC // WAR STORIES

Eamon McGrath Fri, Dec 23 (8:30 pm) Wunderbar, $7

dmonton's wildest ex-pat Eamon McGrath comes back to his hometown to tear it up just before Christmas. Prior to his show, the wild dog gave us one of his war stories. "Touring has taken me to almost every corner of two continents. Because of rock 'n' roll I've slept under park benches in Chicago, been drunk and high at 8 am in Amsterdam, played to four hundred people, and played to four. But nothing can really compare to playing that first big loud punk rock chord, struck in a packed room of kids getting hit right in the heart. I was 12 years old and my parents

let me skip school to play the show. At the time, I wasn't really aware of how supportive that was. My dad helped me haul the amps and drums into the back of his van and we set up for a half hour set at the Global Visions Film Festival in the basement of the Stanley A Milner library. We'd had it timed so that the minute a film ended we'd snap right into our cover of the Clash's "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais." I was so nervous I thought I could've pissed my pants. By the second song, security guards came crashing through the doors to find out what the hell was making such a sickening racket. We'd been shut down, the bright yellow jacket of authority tightening its ugly grip on our music, the way it had happened to all my he-

roes before me: I was so pissed off, but at the same time so excited and so amazed that people had liked my band and wanted us to keep playing. Immediately I felt like I had something to prove and I wasn't going to let that be the last thing that was heard of me. That sense of urgency set off something in me that day that I haven't really been able to suppress since. What followed was hundreds and hundreds of shows that have been exciting in many different ways for many different reasons, but playing punk rock for the first time was like a gunshot going off in my mind. Nothing ever comes close to that young, untamed feeling. Nothing." Bryan Birtles

// bryan@vueweekly.com

PREVUE // THE GHOST OF ROOTS MUSIC PAST, STILL PRESENT

The Christmas Carol Project

The Christmas Carol Project, projecting

Wed, Dec 28; Thu, Dec 29 (8 pm) TransAlta Arts Barns, Westbury Theatre $30 – $35

o some degree, it's sort of lost on me," John Armstrong admits about the enduring 16 years that his Christmas Carol Project has spent spinning Charles Dickens' classic yarn of overnight redemption into an evening of eclectic roots music. "When you get to be old like me, you can start figuring out that you've been doing things for a long time." What started out as a yearly gig—with the likes of Bill Bourne, Maria Dunn, Dale Ladouceur and others fleshing out the figures of Dickens' story in song—has grown into a lasting tradition both within and beyond the Edmonton city limits. Around the decade-old mark, The Project started touring: it's been up to White Horse and Yellowknife, it'll return to Whistler and Vancouver for the second time each this year, as well as making a third trip down to Calgary. Armstrong notes that the show's growing itinerary means pulling in a growing

30 MUSIC

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

base of publicists to ensure the word gets out, a little bit of extra help he's more than happy to have. "Back in the early days it was me running around slapping up posters on Whyte Avenue, and calling people up," he says. It was a very do-it-yourself thing. But now, doing shows in four different cities, it requires a bigger staff working on it." As it expands, though, the group of musicians involved remains virtually unchanged. Aside from the show's narrator—local sound wizard Dave Clark is the role's third iteration—the cast is made up of all the same musicians performing the songs they originated a decade and a half ago. "Frankly, I don't know if we could ever replace any of them," Armstrong says. "They're pretty irreplaceable. You don't find a guy to pull off BIll Bourne's voice and mannerisms and guitar playing very easily. They're all quite distinctive in what they do." Paul Blinov

// paul@vueweekly.com

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

DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 3PM

THU DEC 22

ACCENT EUROPEAN LOUNGE Celeigh Cardinal and Ky Babyn (singersongwriter, folk); 9:30pm11:30pm; no minors; no cover BLUE CHAIR CAFÉ EYE on Music Showcase: hosted by brother/sister keyboard and drum duo Luke and Tess Pretty with Adam and Alison Caulfield; featuring Mieke Maligne, Sean Sonego, The Command Sisters, Rebecca Lappa, Payton Klassen; 7pm; $5 (door) BLUES ON WHYTE Harpocalypse, The Young Guns, Boogie Patrol BRITTANYS LOUNGE Performance, jazz jam and lessons by Ken Hillably every Thu, 5-9pm; Kenny Hillaby hosts a jazz session night every Thu with Shadow Dancers, Maura and Jeanelle; no cover CARROT CAFÉ Zoomers

Thu afternoon open mic; 1-4pm CASINO EDMONTON Mojave Iguanas (pop/rock) CASINO YELLOWHEAD Blackboard Jungle (pop/ rock) CHA ISLAND TEA CO Live on the Island: Rhea March hosts open mic and Songwriter's stage; starts with a jam session; 7pm DRUID DJ every Thu at 9pm J R BAR AND GRILL Live Jam Thu; 9pm JEFFREY'S CAFÉ Alfie Zappacosta's Christmas Concert; $35 JOHN WALTER MUSEUM Candlelight Christmas: The McDades (Celtic); 7:309:30pm; $23 (adult)/$14 (child 2-14) L.B.'S Open jam with Kenny Skoreyko, Fred LaRose and Gordy Mathews (Shaved Posse) every Thu; 9pm-1am LIT ITALIAN WINE BAR NEK Trio; 8pm, no cover MARYBETH'S–Beaumont Open mic every Thu; 7pm NEW CITY Bingo is Back every Thu starting 9pm; followed by Behind The Red Door at 10:30pm; no minors; no cover NOLA Early Show: Clint

Pelletier Trio, 6-9pm; Late show: Every Thursday Night: Nick Martin, 10pm NORTH GLENORA HALL Jam by Wild Rose Old Time Fiddlers every Thu PAWN SHOP The Ugly Christmas Sweater Dance Party: Dani Jean, Sister Gray, Rumble Cats; 8pm (door); $5 (adv) RIC’S GRILL Peter Belec (jazz); most Thursdays; 7-10pm THAT'S AROMA Open stage hosted by Carrie Day and Kyler Schogen; alternate weeks; 7-9pm WILD BILL’S–Red Deer TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close WUNDERBAR Makeout Videotape, Sean Nicholas Savage, Brazilian Money, Wicked Awesomes (reunion); 8:30pm; $5

Classical LEGISLATURE Monsignor Fee Otterson School Choir 12-12:30pm; Pollard Meadows Choir, 12:30-1pm; Church of God Youth Choir 8-9pm WINSPEAR CENTRE A Lightly Classical Christmas: Christmas at Winspear with the Edmonton Symphony

Orchestra, Stuart Chafetz (conductor), Nathan Berg (baritone), Richard Eaton Singers; 7:30pm; $20-$75

DJs 180 DEGREES DJ every Thu BLACKDOG 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 CENTURY ROOM Lucky 7: Retro '80s with house DJ every Thu; 7pm-close CHROME LOUNGE 123 Ko every Thu THE COMMON DJ Pump (Eh! Team DJs); 9pm CROWN PUB Breakdown @ the crown with This Side Up! hosted by Atomatik and Kalmplxx DJ DRUID 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 Thu with Allout DJs DJ Degree, Junior Brown HILLTOP The Sinder Sparks Show; every Thu and Fri; 9:30pm-close KAS BAR Urban House: every Thu with DJ Mark Stevens; 9pm LEVEL 2 Funk Bunker Thursdays: Funky X-Mas featuring MC Thinktank; 9:30pm LUCKY 13 Sin Thu with DJ Mike Tomas ON THE ROCKS Salsaholic: every Thu; dance lessons at 8pm; salsa DJ to follow OVERTIME–Downtown Thursdays at Eleven: Electronic Techno and Dub Step RENDEZVOUS Metal night every Thu TAPHOUSE–St Albert Eclectic mix every Thu with

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

MUSIC 31

DJ Dusty Grooves Union Hall 3 Four All Thursdays: rock, dance, retro, top 40 with DJ Johnny Infamous Wild Bill’s–Red Deer TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close

FRI DEC 23

Blue Chair Café Blue Chair House Band; 8:30pm; donations Blues on Whyte Harpocalypse, The Young Guns, Boogie Patrol Brixx Early show: Whitemud, The Blank Trio, 7pm (door), 7pm; Late show: Options with Greg Gory and Eddie Lunchpail, 10pm (door) CARROT Live music every Fri; all ages; 7pm; $5 (door) Casino Edmonton Mojave Iguanas (pop/rock) Casino Yellowhead Blackboard Jungle (pop/ rock) Chrome Lounge Bar Customer appreciation X-Mas surprise gifts; 9pm Coast to Coast Open stage every Fri; 9:30pm The Common Boom The Box: Holiday Edition; 9pm crown pub Special Holiday show: The Patterns, Cheap Date, The Gypsies; $8 Empire Designer Drugs; $22 at Blackbyrd FRESH START BISTRO Christmas Wrap Up: Darrell Barr; 7-10pm; $10 GAS PUMP The Uptown Jammers (house band); every Fri; 5:30-9pm Irish Club Jam session every Fri; 8pm; no cover Jeffrey's Café Alfie Zappacosta's Christmas Concert; $35 Jekyll and Hyde Headwind (classic pop/rock); every Fri; 9pm; no cover John Walter Museum Candlelight Christmas: The McDades (Celtic); 7:309:30pm; $23 (adult)/$14 (child 2-14); tickets T: 311 L.B.'s Crossfire; 9:30pm2am Level 2 Xmas VIP–Groovy Cuvy 2x (CD release party) Lizard Lounge Rock 'n' roll open mic every Fri; 8:30pm; no cover NOLA Early Show: Clint Pelletier Trio, 6-9pm; Late show: Maria Manna Quartet, 9:30pm-midnight new city X-Mas Sick: Hard Industrial with DJ Dervish and the Gothfather; no minors; $5 (door)

On the Rocks Dean Lonsdale and the Ramifications; 9pm; $5 PAWN SHOP Mod Club Christmas costumer appreciation party: Motown, Indie Rock, Brit Pop, New Wave, 50's R&B, Reggae/Ska, Northern Soul, '60s hits, Mod anthems with DJs Blue Jay, MODest Mike; 9pm Red Piano Dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Fri; 9pm-2am Starlite KLUB OMFG; 9pm Wild Bill’s–Red Deer TJ the DJ every Thu and Fri; 10pm-close WunderBar Eamon Mcgrath, Jom Comyn, James Renton (Fire Next Time); 8:30pm; $5

Classical Legislature A. Blair McPherson School Children's Choir 1212:30pm; All Nations Full Gospel Church Choir 8-9pm

DJs 180 Degrees DJ every Fri AZUCAR PICANTE DJ Papi and DJ Latin Sensation every Fri BAR-B-BAR DJ James; every Fri; no cover BLACK DOG Every Friday DJs spin on the main floor, Underdog and the Wooftop Blacksheep Bash: DJ spinning retro to rock classics to current Boneyard The Rock Mash-up: DJ NAK spins videos every Fri; 9pm; no cover BUDDY’S DJ Arrow Chaser every Fri; 8pm (door); no cover before 10pm Buffalo Underground R U Aware Friday: Featuring Neon Nights CHROME LOUNGE Platinum VIP every Fri THE Common Boom The Box: every Fri; nu disco, hip hop, indie, electro, dance with weekly local and visiting DJs on rotation plus residents Echo and Shortround Druid DJ every Fri; 9pm electric rodeo–Spruce Grove DJ every Fri FILTHY McNASTY'S Shake yo ass every Fri with DJ SAWG FLUID Hip hop and dancehall; every Fri Funky Buddha–Whyte Ave Top tracks, rock, retro with DJ Damian; every Fri

GAS PUMP DJ Christian; every Fri; 9:30pm-2am HILLTOP The Sinder Sparks Show; every Thu and Fri; 9:30pm-close junction LGBT Community: Rotating DJs Fri and Sat; 10pm Newcastle Pub House, dance mix every Fri with DJ Donovan Overtime–Downtown Fridays at Eleven: Rock hip hop, country, top forty, techno Public House Grand opening Rednex–Morinville DJ Gravy from the Source 98.5 every Fri RED STAR Movin’ on Up: indie, rock, funk, soul, hip hop with DJ Gatto, DJ Mega Wattson; every Fri Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge Fuzzion Friday: with Crewshtopher, Tyler M, guests; no cover Suede 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 Exclusive Fridays: DJ Spryte Union Hall Ladies Night every Fri Vinyl Connected Las Vegas Fridays Y AFTERHOURS Foundation Fridays

SAT DEC 24

ALBERTA BEACH HOTEL Open stage with Trace Jordan 1st and 3rd Sat; 7pm-12 Black Dog Hair of the Dog: Doug Hoyer (live acoustic music every Sat); 4-6pm; no cover Blues on Whyte Every Sat afternoon: Jam with Back Door Dan; Evening: Harpocalypse, The Young Guns, Boogie Patrol Bunker Sports Pub Open Jam every Sat afternoon; hosted by the Recollection Blues Band; 3pm; Auditions at Sat jams for bookings in 2012 (blues, classic rock, country groups); 3-7pm Casino Edmonton Mojave Iguanas (pop/rock) Casino Yellowhead Blackboard Jungle (pop/ rock) 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 Early Stage Saloon– Stony Plain Christmas Carols and musical guests; open 'til 5pm Eddie Shorts Saucy Wenches every Sat Expressionz Café Open stage for original songs, hosted by Karyn Sterling and Randall Walsh; 2-5pm; admission by donation Gas Pump Blues jam/open stage every Sat 3:30-7pm HillTop Sat afternoon roots jam with Pascal, Simon and Dan, 3:30-6:30pm; evening Hooliganz Live music every Sat Iron Boar Jazz in Wetaskiwin featuring jazz trios the 1st Sat each month; $10 L.B.'s Sat afternoon Jam with Gator and Friends; 5-9pm new city X-Mas Eve: Open and Festive; 6pm (door); no cover New West Hotel Country jam every Sat; 3-6pm NOLA Closed Dec 24-26 O’byrne’s Live band every Sat, 3-7pm; DJ every Sat, 9:30pm On the Rocks Closed Dec 24-25 Red Piano Hottest dueling piano show featuring the Red Piano Players every Sat; 9pm-2am Sideliners Sat open stage; 3-7pm STARLITE/BrIXx Closed Dec 24-25 West Side Pub Sat Afternoon: Dirty Jam: Tye Jones (host), all styles, 3-7pm

Classical First Baptist Church Carols And Candlelight Christmas Eve: First Baptist Church Choir; 11pm

DJs 180 Degrees Street VIBS: Reggae night every Sat AZUCAR PICANTE DJ Touch It, hosted by DJ Papi; every Sat BLACK DOG 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 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 DIESEL ULTRA Christmas Eve Celebration: Free Party with Invinceable, Ali.Ze, Tnt and Rocky; no cover; free eggnog Druid DJ every Sat; 9pm electric rodeo– Spruce Grove DJ every Sat FILTHY McNASTY'S Fire up your night every Saturday with DJ SAWG Fluid 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 LGBT Community: Rotating DJs Fri and Sat; 10pm Newcastle Pub Top 40 requests every Sat with DJ Sheri New City 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 Rouge Saturdays: global sound and Cosmopolitan Style Lounging with DJ Rezzo, DJ Mkhai Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge Your Famous Saturday with Crewshtopher, Tyler M Suede DJ Nic-E spins every Sat

VENUE GUIDE 180 Degrees 10730-107 St, 780.414.0233 Accent 8223-104 St, 780.431.0179 ARTery 9535 Jasper Ave Avenue Theatre 9030-118 Ave, 780.477.2149 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 Boneyard 9216-34 Ave, 780.437.2663 Brittanys 10225-97 St (behind Winspear stage door) Bunker Sports Pub 615 Hermitage Rd Brixx 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 Room 3975 Calgary Tr, 780.431.0303 Cha Island Tea Co 10332-81 Ave, 780.757.2482 CHROME LOUNGE 132 Ave, Victoria Trail Coast to Coast 5552 Calgary Tr, 780.439.8675

32 MUSIC

Crown and Anchor 15277 Castledowns Rd, 780.472.7696 Crown Pub 10709-109 St, 780.428.5618 Diesel 11845 Wayne Gretzky Drive, 780.704.CLUB Devaney’s 9013-88 Ave, 780.465.4834 THE DISH 12417 Stony Plain Rd, 780.488.6641 DRUID 11606 Jasper Ave, 780.454.9928 DUSTER’S 6402-118 Ave, 780.474.5554 DV8 8307-99 St Early Stage 4911-52 Ave, Stony Plain Eddie Shorts 10713-124 St, 780.453.3663 EDMONTON EVENTS CENTRE WEM Phase III, 780.489.SHOW ‎ Electric Rodeo–Spruce Grove 121-1 Ave, Spruce Grove, 780.962.1411 Elephant and Castle– Whyte Ave 10314 Whyte Ave Expressionz Café 9938-70 Ave, 780.437.3667 FIDDLER’S ROOST 8906-99 St FILTHY MCNASTY’S 1051182 Ave, 780.916.1557 First Baptist CHURCH 10031-109 St, 780.422.2214 FLASH Night 10018-105 St, 780.996.1778 FLOW 11815 Wayne Gretzky Dr, 780.604.CLUB Fluid 10888 Jasper Ave, 780.429.0700 FUNKY BUDDHA 10341-82 Ave, 780.433.9676

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

GAS PUMP 10166-114 St, 780.488.4841 Giovanni Yamaha Concert Hall 10528 Mayfield Rd 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 HOOLIGANZ 10704-124 St, 780.995.7110 Iron Boar Pub 4911-51st St, Wetaskiwin J AND R 4003-106 St, 780.436.4403 jeffrey’s café 9640 142 St, 780.451.8890 JEKYLL AND HYDE 10209-100 Ave, 780.426.5381 junction 10242-106 St, 780.756.5667 KAS BAR 10444-82 Ave, 780.433.6768 L.B.’s 23 Akins Dr, St Albert, 780.460.9100 LEGENDS 6104-172 St, 780.481.2786 LEVEL 2 11607 Jasper Ave, 2nd Fl, 780.447.4495 Lit Italian Wine Bar 10132-104 St Lizard Lounge 13160-118 Ave Marybeth's–Beaumont 5001-30 Ave, Beaumont, 780.929.2203 Newcastle PuB 6108-90 Ave, 780.490.1999 New City 8130 Gateway

Boulevard (Red Door) Nisku Inn 1101-4 St NOLA 11802-124 St, 780.451.1390 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 10860-57 Ave Public House 10765 Jasper Ave 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 10534 Jasper Ave, 780.428.0825 Rendezvous 10108-149 St Ric’s Grill 24 Perron Street, St Albert, 780.460.6602 ROSEBOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE 10111-117 St, 780.482.5253 Rose and Crown 10235101 St R Pub 16753-100 St,

780.457.1266

Second Cup • 89 Ave 8906149 St • Sherwood Park 4005 Cloverbar Rd, Sherwood Park, 780.988.1929 • Summerwood Summerwood Centre, Sherwood Park, 780.988.1929 Sideliners 11018-127 St, 780.453.6006 Sou Kawaii Zen Lounge 12923-97 St, 780.758.5924 STARLITE 10030-102 St, 780.428.1099 STEEPS TEA LOUNGE–Whyte Ave 11116-82 Ave Suede Lounge 11806 Jasper Ave, 780.482.0707 Suite 69 2 Fl, 8232 Gateway

Blvd, 780.439.6969

Taphouse 9020 McKenney Ave, St Albert, 780.458.0860 Treasury 10004 Jasper Ave, 7870.990.1255 Vinyl 10740 Jasper Ave, 780.428.8655 Westbury Theatre TransAlta Arts Barns, 780.409.1910 Wild Bill’s–Red Deer Quality Inn North Hill, 715050 Ave, Red Deer, 403.343.8800 Winspear Centre 4 Sir Winston Churchill Sq WUNDERBAR 8120-101 St, 780.436.2286 Y AFTERHOURS 10028-102 St, 780.994.3256 Yellowhead Brewery 10229-105 St, 780.423.3333 Yesterdays Pub 112, 205 Carnegie Dr, St Albert, 780.459.0295

DJs

SUITE 69 Every Fri Sat with DJ Randall-A TEMPLE Oh Snap! 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 VINYL DANCE LOUNGE Signature Saturdays Y AFTERHOURS Release Saturdays

SUN DEC 25

BLACK DOG Main Floor: Blue Jay’s Messy Nest: mod, brit pop, new wave, British rock with DJ Blue Jay CROWN PUB Minefield Mondays/House/Breaks/ Trance and more with host DJ Phoenix, 9pm EDMONTON EVENT CENTRE Boodang 5th Annual Christmas Party: dance/electronic with Hatiras and Andy Whitby FILTHY MCNASTY'S Metal Mondays with DJ Tyson LUCKY 13 Industry Night every Mon with DJ Chad Cook NEW CITY Madhouse Mon: Punk/metal/etc with DJ Smart Alex STARLITE Step'd Up and Starlite Room present 5th Annual Boxing Day Soundclash: Greenlaw (live D&B/Dubstep); 9pm

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

MON DEC 26

ARTERY Colleen Brown; $15 at Blackbyrd ($30 incl CD) BLACK DOG Sleeman Mon: live music monthly; no cover BLUES ON WHYTE JK & the Statics THE COMMON Foosh and Bamboo Ballroom Boxing Day After Party; 9pm DEVANEY'S Singer/ songwriter open stage every Mon; 8pm JOHN WALTER MUSEUM Candlelight Christmas: The McDades (Celtic); 2-4pm; 7:30-9:30pm; 2-4pm $23 (adult)/$14 (child 2-14); tickets T: 311 NEWCASTLE PUB Boxing Day: Monday Soul Service special: James vs. Cantera PAWN SHOP Boxing Day: L.A.M.S, Deadhead Catastrophe, The Swamp Monsters; 8pm; $5 (adv at Blackbyrd) PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL Acoustic instrumental old time fiddle jam every Mon; hosted by the Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers Society; 7pm ROSE BOWL/ROUGE LOUNGE Acoustic open stage every Mon; 9pm

TUE DEC 27

XING WE

BLUES ON WHYTE JK and the Statics BRIXX Ruby Tuesdays: Matt Landry and the Dryland band with Jessica Denise; 8pm DRUID Open stage every Tue; with Chris Wynters; 9pm; Dec 27 guest Danielle Knibbe EARLY STAGE SALOON– Stony Plain Dave Lang and the Black Squirrels; pass-the-hat EDMONTON EVENT CENTRE Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot, special set from Slim Jim Phantom; 7pm; $35 at UnionEvents. com, TicketMaster, Blackbyrd L.B.’S Tue Blues Jam with Ammar; 9pm-1am NOLA James Clarke Trio; 6-9pm O’BYRNE’S Celtic jam every Tue; with Shannon Johnson and friends; 9:30pm

EK SALE .

PADMANADI Open stage every Tue; with Mark Davis; all ages; 7:30-10:30pm R PUB Open stage jam every Tue; hosted by Gary and the Facemakers; 8pm SECOND CUP– Summerwood Open stage/ open mic every Tue; 7:30pm; no cover

Classical GIOVANNI YAMAHA CONCERT HALL Opus 32: Christmas fundraising Concert for the Anne Burrows Foundation; 6:30pm; $25 (door), or T: Fran Armstrong 780.487.5567

DJs BLACK DOG Main Floor: alternative retro and notso-retro, electronic and Euro with Eddie Lunchpail; Wooftop: One Too Many Tuesdays with Rootbeard BRIXX Troubadour Tue: hosted by Mark Feduk; 9pm; $8 BUDDYS DJ Arrow Chaser every CROWN PUB Live hip hop and open mic with DJs Xaolin, Dirty Needlz, Frank Brown, and guests; no cover DV8 Creepy Tombsday: Psychobilly, Hallowe'en horrorpunk, deathrock with Abigail Asphixia and Mr Cadaver; every Tue NEW CITY High Anxiety Variety Society Bingo vs. karaoke with Ben Disaster, Anonymouse every Tue; no minors; 4pm-3am; no cover RED STAR Experimental Indie Rock, Hip Hop, Electro with DJ Hot Philly; every Tue

WED DEC 28

BLACK DOG Main Floor: Glitter Gulch: live music once a month BLUES ON WHYTE JK and the Statics

BRIXX Official Caspa PreParty–Really Good Eats and Beats with DJ Degree and friends; 6pm CHA ISLAND TEA CO Whyte Noise Drum Circle: Join local drummers for a few hours of beats and fun; 6pm EDDIE SHORTS Acoustic jam every Wed, 9pm; no cover EDMONTON EVENT CENTRE AVICII; no minors; 9pm (door); $32-$62 at Foosh, Shadified, Restricted Elite, Occulist WEM ELEPHANT AND CASTLE– Whyte Ave Open mic every Wed (unless there's an Oilers game); no cover FIDDLER'S ROOST Little Flower Open Stage every Wed with Brian Gregg; 8pm-12 GOOD EARTH COFFEE HOUSE AND BAKERY Breezy Brian Gregg; every Wed; 12-1pm HAVEN SOCIAL CLUB Open stage every Wed with Jonny Mac, 8:30pm, free HOOLIGANZ Open stage every Wed with host Cody Nouta; 9pm NISKU INN Troubadours and Tales: 1st Wed every month; with Tim Harwill, guests; 8-10pm NOLA James Clarke Trio; 6-9pm PLAYBACK Open Stage every Wed hosted by JTB; 9pm-1am PLEASANTVIEW COMMUNITY HALL 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 (nonmember) RED PIANO Wed Night Live: hosted by dueling piano players; 8pm-1am; $5

SECOND CUP–89 AVE Rick Mogg (country) STARLITE All blown up and Step'D up: The Dub Police are coming: CASPA (dub police UK); 9pm WESTBURY THEATRE Christmas Carol Project: Bill Bourne, Al Brant, Kevin Cook, Maria Dunn, Bill Hobson, Dale Ladouceur, Terry Morrison, Tom Roschkov; narrated by Dave Clarke; 8pm; $30 (adv at Fringe Theatre box office)/$35 (door)

DJs BLACK DOG 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 BRIXX Really Good... Eats and Beats: every Wed with DJ Degree and Friends BUDDY'S DJ Dust 'n' Time every Wed; 9pm (door); no cover THE COMMON Treehouse Wednesdays DIESEL ULTRA Wind-up Wed: R&B, hiphop, reggae, old skool, reggaeton with InVinceable, Touch It, weekly guest DJs FILTHY MCNASTY'S Pint Night Wednesdays with DJ SAWG FUNKY BUDDHA–Whyte Ave Latin and Salsa music every Wed; dance lessons 8-10pm LEGENDS Hip hop/R&B with DJ Spincycle NEW CITY Wed 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

THE BLACK DOG’S NYE PARTY SATURDAY DECEMBER 31, 2011 with

and DOORS @ 7 | SHOW @ 10 Tickets $10 In Advance

BLACK DOG 10425 WHYTE AVE

W G . N I X O B E L A L S E K .B

E E W G N I BOX BOXING

Don’t get him wet, keep him out of bright light, and never feed him after midnight.

WEEK SA

OXING W E

EK SALE .

HUGE DEALS

BOXING

WEEK

Big Savings On Instruments Throughout The Store!

Don’t Pay For 90 Days

Put 0 down, make 0 payments and pay 0% interest (OAC) on anything in the store! See store for details. Valid Dec. 26 to Dec. 31 only.

Edmonton: 10204 - 107th Ave., 780.423.4448 Edmonton South: 9219 - 28th Ave., NW, 780.432.0102

Edmonton Whyte: 10828 Whyte Ave., 780.439.0007 Edmonton Downtown: 10251 - 109th St., 780.425.1400

download the complete boxing week sale flyer at long-mcquade.com VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

Open Boxing day MUSIC 33

JONESIN'CROSSWORD

MATT JONES // JONESINCROSSWORDS@VUEWEEKLY.COM

"Their Hearts Grew Three Sizes That Day"—a veritable Who's Whoville

YOUR ART. OUR BOX. FOREVER!

34 MUSIC

Across 1 Taste tea 4 Prefix with scope 8 Stitch together 13 Razz from the audience 14 "Come away with me on ___" (Norah Jones line) 15 "Get ___ on!" 16 Mine, in Paris 17 Hits the road with the band 19 The underworld chase for author Deighton? 21 Injured baseball players go on them: abbr. 22 Response of agreement 23 "Crouching Tiger" director Ang 24 52, to Caesar 25 Ending for rubber 28 Numbers, pre-manipulation 31 Start of a "Flintstones" shout 33 Physicist Schrodinger of theoretical cat fame 34 Things you know are going to be in former Virginia governor Chuck's recycling? 38 Like some unions or wars 39 Strength

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

40 Most smooth 43 "Broadway Joe" 46 Different spelling, in crosswords: abbr. 47 Part of a school yr. 49 Kindle buy 51 Not feeling so hot 52 Football Hall-of-Famer Ronnie, playing an extra in "Lord of the Rings"? 55 Nerve-wracking event 57 Suit to ___ 58 Crux 59 Fix the soundtrack 60 Former Steelers coach Chuck 61 Munster or Vedder 62 Long swimmers 63 Boxing wins Down 1 Jacob's son, in the Bible 2 Tristan's partner 3 Active hallucinogen in funny mushrooms 4 Part of a magazine 5 Black, poetically 6 Oscar winner Mercedes for "The Fisher King" 7 Manufacturer

8 "To Die For" director Gus Van ___ 9 Pro at the scene of the accident 10 Santa Monica cemetery home to dozens of dead celebrities 11 Inflammation of that dangly thing in the back of your throat 12 Fluffy housecat 13 Derisive (or James Brown-ish) laughs 18 ___-Day vitamins 20 Popular 26 Flow counterpart 27 Cleanup hitter's stat 29 "Yeah, I know that person..." 30 Failed to come up with anything 32 Reply: abbr. 34 Competed with for superiority 35 More information than is desired 36 Long Island Iced Tea ingredient 37 ___ pinch 38 Dish of fish cooked in citrus juice 41 Lat. and Lith., once 42 That's a laugh 44 Overly, emphatically 45 Monopoly buildings 48 HLN host Robin 50 Music company known for compilations advertised on TV 52 Head of a French society 53 "Austin Powers" surname 54 They wear jerseys in Jersey 56 ___ Lankan ©2011 Jonesin' Crosswords

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

CLASSIFIEDS

FREEWILLASTROLOGY ROB BREZSNY // FREEWILL@vueweekly.com

To place an ad Phone: 780.426.1996 / Fax: 780.426.2889 Email: classifieds@vueweekly.com 0515.

Notices

The Following Individual has recorded their Secured Party Creditor documents at the Washington State UCC Office, Joseph Albert Moyah

2005.

Expressionz Cafe Art Gallery Show your work with us! Call 780-437-3667

2010. 1005.

Help Wanted

Personal Assistant needed to organize and help. Basic computer skills needed, good with organization. We are ready to pay $700 per week, interested parties should contact: lee.oliver35@yahoo.com

1600.

Volunteers Wanted

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 "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

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

The Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival is seeking volunteers for their annual festival (January 7 & 8, 2012). Become an ambassador for your community while sharing your talents,commitment and enthusiasm. A variety of positions are available, for more info please contact: deepfreezevolunteers@gmail.com

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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

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CANCER (Jun 21 – Jul 22): In 1992, 30 000 Americans signed a petition asking the governor of Hawaii to change the name of Maui to "Gilligan's Island." Fortunately, the request was turned down, and so one of the most sublime places on the planet is not now named after a silly TV sitcom. I urge you to avoid getting swept up in fruitless causes during the coming months. You will have a lot of energy to give to social causes in 2012, but it will be very important to choose outlets that deserve your passion and that have half a chance of succeeding.

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LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22): The Palace of Versailles once served as home for French kings and their royal courts. To this day, it remains a symbol of lavish wealth and high civilization. Set on 26 acres, it has 700 rooms, 67 staircases, 6000 paintings and 2100 sculptures. And yet the word "Versailles" means "terrain where the weeds have been pulled." Prior to it being built up into a luxurious centre of power, it was a marsh in the wilderness. I nominate it to be your inspirational image for the coming year, Leo: a picture of the transformation you will begin. VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sep 22): A certifiable Disney freak, George Reiger has covered his skin with 2200 tattoos of the franchise's cartoon characters. If you plan to get anything like that much thematic body decoration in 2012, I recommend that you draw your inspiration from cultural sources with more substantial artistry CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 >>

The Leading Edge Physiotherapy RunWild Marathon on May 6, 2012 is looking for volunteers. Course Marshals, water station crew, kids fun zone attendants, start/finish line crew, set up crew, clean up crew, food tent servers etc. Visit www.runwild.ca to sign up and for more info!

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TAURUS (Apr 20 – May 20): On January 15, 1885, Wilson Bentley photographed his first snowflake. Over the course of the next 46 years, he captured 5000 more images of what he called "tiny miracles of beauty." He was the first person to say that no two snowflakes are alike. In 2012, I suggest that you draw inspiration from his example. The coming months will be prime time for you to lay the foundations for a worthy project that will captivate your imagination for a long time—and perhaps even take you decades to complete. GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20): In her memoir Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, Gabrielle Hamilton suggests my horoscopes were helpful to her as she followed her dream to create her New York City restaurant, Prune. "I killed roaches, poisoned their nests, trapped rats, stuffed their little holes with steel wool and glass shards," she wrote, "while my girlfriend … walked through the place 'purifying' it with a burning sage smudge stick and read me my Rob Brezsny horoscopes in support." I would love to be of similar service to you in the coming months, as you cleanse in preparation for your next big breakthrough. Let the fumigation, purgation and expiation begin!

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ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19): In the world of Harry Potter, muggles are people who have no magical powers. Because of their deficiency, certain sights may be literally invisible to them, and certain places inaccessible. I'm going to boldly predict that you Aries people will lose at least some of your muggleness in the coming year. A part of your life where you've been inept or clueless will begin to wake up. You’ll be able to fill a gap in your skill set or knowledge base.

Volunteers Wanted

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and wisdom than Disney. For example, you could cover your torso with paintings by Matisse and your legs with musical scores by Mozart. In the coming months it will be important for you to surround yourself with the highest influences and associate yourself with the most inspiring symbols and identify yourself with the most ennobling creativity. LIBRA (Sep 23 – Oct 22): In the Classical Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, the word teocuitlatl literally meant "god poop." It was used to refer to gold, which was regarded as a divine gift that brought mixed blessings. On the one hand, gold made human beings rich. On the other hand, it could render them greedy, stingy and paranoid. So it was potentially the source of both tremendous bounty and conflict. I

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suspect that in 2012, you will have to deal with the arrival of a special favour that carries a comparable paradox. You should be fine—harvesting the good part of the gift and not having to struggle mightily with the tough part—as long as you vow to use it with maximum integrity. SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21): What spell would you like to be under in 2012? Be careful how you answer that; it might be a trick question. Not because I have any interest in fooling you, of course, but rather because I want to prepare you for the trickiness that life may be expressing in your vicinity. So let me frame the issue in a different way. Do you really want to be under a spell—of any kind? Answer yes only if you're positive that being under a spell will help you manifest your biggest dream. And please make sure that whoever or whatever is the source of the spell is in the service of love.

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21): The Environmental Working Group wrote the Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health. It concluded that if every American avoided eating cheese and meat one day a week, emissions would be lowered as much as they would be by removing 7.6 million cars from the roads. This is the kind of incremental shift I urge you to specialize in during 2012—whether it's in your contribution to alleviating the environmental crisis or your approach to dealing with more personal problems. Commit yourself to making little changes that will add up to major improvements over the long haul. CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19): SuzanLori Parks is a celebrated American playwright who has won both a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant. During the time between

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

November 2002 and November 2003, she wrote a new short play every day— a total of 365 plays in 365 days. I think you could be almost as prolific as that in 2012. Whatever your specialty is, I believe you will be filled with originality about how to express it. You're also likely to have the stamina and persistence and, yes, even the discipline necessary to pull it off. AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18): Pigeons are blessed with an extraordinary ability to find home, even if they're hundreds of miles away. They have an internal compass that allows them to read the Earth's magnetic field, and they also create a "map of smells" that gives them crucial clues as they navigate. A team of scientists performed some odd experiments that revealed a quirky aspect to the birds' talent: If their right nostril is blocked, their innate skill doesn't work nearly as

well. What does this have to do with you? Well, you've been like a homing pigeon with its right nostril blocked, and it's high time you unblocked it. In the coming months, you can't afford to be confused about where home is, what your community consists of, or where you belong. PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20): One of Alexander the Great's teachers was Aristotle, who was tutored by Plato, who himself learned from Socrates. In 2012, I'd love to see you draw vital information and fresh wisdom from a lineage as impressive as that, Pisces. In my astrological opinion, you need much more than a steady diet of factoids plucked from the Internet and TV. You simply must be hungry for more substantial food for thought than you get from random encounters with unreliable sources. It will be time for you to attend vigorously to the next phase of your lifelong education. V

COMMENT >> ALT SEX

The year to come out

2011 inspired celebrities and athletes to leave the closet A year marked with deaths and an-issue fedora and vest leaked to traumas seems to be all it took to the Internet didn't seem to hurt shake up some closets and minds. matters. While researching an end of year Anton Hysén is a Swedish pro soccolumn I couldn't quite believe cer player who came out this year just how many people had come and it makes him the only current out in 2011. It's often a chore player who's out in Europe's to find celebrities whose soccer empire. David Testo outing mattered, the list came out last month afshort with not particuter finishing a term with m ekly.co vuewe tam@ larly important titles like Montréal Impact, making a Tamar Secretary to the President him the first openly gay ka l a Gorz for the Council of Cheese man in North American proMongers in Hackensack, New Jerfessional soccer. Only two other sey. This year was different, with a pro football players have come out wide variety of public figures comwhile playing, and one killed himing forward to tell their story. self a year after while the other Heroes actor Zachary Quinto came quit the game. Time will tell if the out in the fall after being moved by environment has improved. the plight of queer youth. He felt Don Lemon is a CNN anchor who guilty for making an It Gets Better outed himself in his memoir. Lemvideo but not being out himself. on is seen on primetime television For those in on Hollywood gosproving that despite objections, sip, Quinto's sexuality was already journalists can in fact be gay and known but the actor had plenty deliver the news without bias. A of reasons to stay closeted in an lesser-known ABC News anchor industry that wants good-looking Dan Kloeffer also came out, this guys like him to play romantic time on air. leads, something that apparently openly gay man are unable to do. It While neither exactly "came out" remains to be seen if Quinto's courthis year, the fashion world has age will cost him roles. been rocked by the arrival of two Thirteen's Evan Rachel Wood is a fabulous beauties exploring and favourite of mine, ever since she redefing gender in magazine pagstarred as a teen falling for her es. Brazil's Lea T may turn out to best friend on a little-known ABC be the world's first openly transdrama called Once & Again. As sexual supermodel. She's the face much as I loved Buffy's evil batof Givenchy and has modeled for tling witches and Xena's baddie Vogue, Vanity Fair and Elle. Austrasquashing duo, Wood and The OC's lian Andrej Pejic hit the scene with Mischa Barton (who was still able a look that has truly never been to act at the time) exemplified the seen before. The word "androgystory of teenagers slowly, honestly nous" doesn't begin to cover the exploring their sexuality. The fact stunningly gorgeous male model that Wood's declaration came at who spent all year doing shows and the same time as video of her singshoots for both men's and women's ing Janis and Justin Bieber in lesbilines, including wedding gowns and

EERN Q UN TO MO

push-up bras. Pejic's genderqueer look is carefully crafted and utterly unique; he met the Queen wearing a vintage Versace skirt. Other folks who outed themselves include former Daily Show correspondent and political satirist Mo Rocca, New Kids on the Block singer Jonathan Knight and actors Amber Heard and Sean Maher. It's been a fantastic year for queer sports, an environment that so desperately needed heroes, with newly inducted ESPN reporter Jared Max, cricketer Steven Davies, CEO and President of the NBA's Phoenix Suns Rick Welts, Professional Bowling Association tour title and PBA 2011 Rookie of the Year Scott Norton as well as a number of former pro and college athletes. The overwhelming trend in '11 was that of celebrities choosing to come out for their own motivations, eschewing the time-honoured tradition of heading off a tabloid or blackmail scandal. Many said they were motivated by youth suicides, hoping to be a role model for the next generation. So far, in living their lives with such bravery and openness, they're doing a pretty damn good job. V

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

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COMMENT >> SEX

You're probably OK

But that doesn't mean what you're doing is smart My sexy GGG husband and I fuck "For every 100 women who use a "good friend" semi-regularly. He's withdrawal correctly, four will behot, young and game to fuck about come pregnant every year—this every other week. We started out number jumps to 27 if not used corwearing condoms, but we've had the rectly," says Dr Maurer. (For every safe-sex conversation and our good 100 women who use condoms corfriend isn't banging anyone else, so rectly, two will become pregnant, we've moved to condom-free 18 if they're using condoms E G sex. A month ago, we had a incorrectly, which is why A V SA hot threesome. Our good some argue that withm friend fucked me, but came drawal is nearly as effeco .c ly ek vuewe on my tits. My husband savagelove@ tive as condoms.) Dan fucked me, too—that night, Backing up: pre-come is Savage produced by the Cowper's the day before, the day after. Now I find out that I'm pregnant. gland and some other gland whose I'm 99 percent sure that it's my husname I can never remember, PIT, band's, but a tiny part of me worries while sperm cells are produced in the it could be our good friend's child. nuts. Sperm doesn't get mixed up in What are the chances that it's my the seminal fluid—produced by the sexy friend's child and not my husprostate and a couple of other glands band's? Without our good friend whose names escape me—until the coming inside me? And with all the guy starts to ejaculate. So if your semen left in me by my husband? good friend didn't have an orgasm Could our "other" sex partner's preshortly before he fucked you and he come get me pregnant? Please tell didn't come inside you and there were me it's probably my husband's! I'm no stray swimmers in his pre-come freaking out! for some other reason, odds are slim PREGNANT IN THREESOME that the baby is his. It's possible, PIT, but nowhere near probable. It's probably your husband's, PIT, "A paternity test after delivery of but ... the child is the safest advice I can Pre-come can contain "live, viable, give should it remain an important pregnancy-inducing sperm," says issue to her and her husband," says Dr Joel Maurer, assistant professor Dr Maurer. "An amniocentesis can in OB/GYN and dean of admissions make this 'diagnosis' before delivfor the Michigan State University ery, but the procedure comes with a College of Human Medicine. "Most small risk of pregnancy loss. As such, [studies have found] that it contains most doctors would consider it unvery little, if any, sperm," says Dr ethical to perform amniocentesis for Maurer, but the possible presence the sole purpose of paternity testing of those live, viable, pregnancywithout a coexisting medical reason." inducing sperm cells means it could To all the other nonmonogamous be your good friend's child, not your straight couples out there: not using husband's. condoms with your other is fucking It's also why many—including Dr stupid. Using condoms with othMaurer—regard "pulling out" as an ers is important not just to prevent ineffective birth-control method. disease but, if your other is a dude,

LOVE

to prevent paternity scares like the one PIT is having. And you should be using condoms with your other, male or female, regardless of safesex conversations or assurances that your other isn't banging anyone else. Unless your other lives in a cage in your basement—very hot, not very practical—you have no way of knowing for sure that your other doesn't have other others. After an impromptu sex session that left me feeling sleepy and sappy, my partner, who typically feels sleepy

raged at your girlfriend for being uncharacteristically inconsiderate (it sounds like she usually makes with the postcoital hugs, kisses, compliments, etc)—then yours was the greater offense. Don't get me wrong: Your girlfriend owes you an apology. But you owe her a bigger one, WTF, and yours should come first. I'm a submissive gay man. All anal sex guides stress that when done right, anal sex should cause no pain. But what if I want pain? Over three

Making your asshole the focus of erotic pain isn't a sensational idea ... There are plenty of ways your boyfriend can make you hurt during anal without brutalizing your hole.

and sappy herself after sex, texted someone! The fury that arose within me could not be contained! Neither the text message itself nor its recipient were the issue (it was to a coworker about a work matter), the issue was that she couldn't wait a few minutes to hug and kiss and say "that was hot" before sending a text?!? She thinks I'm overreacting and blames it on me being premenstrual. She has not apologized. How does she not get it? Isn't post-sex texting tacky?

years, my boyfriend and I have proceeded from having lots of anal foreplay to lube-it-up-and-stick-it-in. I love it, and once it stops hurting, as it always does after a while, I have amazing orgasms. So does he. There's a definite line between the arousing kind of pain and too much pain. But that line has moved closer to more intense pain, and I'm worried about injury. Then again, we're not sticking progressively bigger objects up my ass, just the same object with less foreplay. Is this risky?

WASN'T THAT FUCKED?

BOY USED TO TAKING

Post-sex texting is tacky, WTF, and it's thoughtless. I can understand why you were annoyed. I can also understand why your girlfriend has refused to apologize. If one ill-timed text sent your panties so far up your crack that it unleashed a "fury that could not be contained"—if you

It depends, BUTT. You can enjoy lube-it-up-and-stickit-in anal without incurring too great a risk of injury so long as your boyfriend isn't shoving his entire dick up your ass in one thrust. If he's pushing his dick in you gradually but firmly, giving your poor butt a chance to

relax and adjust as he "forces" his way in, then you'll probably be OK. (Probably is the word of the day.) That said, BUTT, while it's a fine thing to enjoy a little pain during sex—or "sensation play," as the kinksters have taken to calling it—making your asshole the focus of erotic pain isn't a sensational idea. Anal fissures and tears take forever to heal and even a small one can put your ass out of commission for months. A big one can put your ass out of commission for years. There are plenty of ways your boyfriend can make you hurt during anal without brutalizing your hole. He can slap your ass, yank on a pair of tit clamps, pull your hair, crank up the juice on an e-stim unit. You've got nerve endings all over your body, not just in and around your hole. If your boyfriend can walk and chew gum at the same time, BUTT, he can work some of those other nerves while he works your hole. I'm a gay man in my 20s. While I love reading your advice for red-state kinksters, straight married folks, and lesbians with hymens, I'm wondering where the gay has gone. Can we get a column or two with an assortment of questions addressing the problems facing gay men in their 20s? Something for gay boys at that stage of life that falls between "it gets better" and "it gets domestic"? FEELING LEFT OUT

Happy to—hit me with some Qs, gay boys, and I'll dedicate a couple of columns to your issues and tissues. V Find the Savage Lovecast (my weekly podcast) every Tuesday atthestranger.com/savage.

Real hook ups, real fast. Now with Photo Sharing!

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VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

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BOB THE ANGRY FLOWER

backwords

chelsea boos // chelsea@vueweekly.com

Mind Body Spirit

Overlooking a surprisingly quiet road at 100 Street and 102A Avenue, a carved mural in the downtown YMCA's stone exterior hints at the depth and history of the Transitional Housing facility located there. The 100 room, four floor building serves men, women and families whether they are staying only for a couple of nights as they travel through Edmonton, or living there for a few months while they get back on their feet. “Many of our short-term residents are looking for a place to recover and collect themselves after a crisis situation. The community they find here helps give them the support they need to get their lives back together after a job loss, family break-up or sudden relocation. By collaborating closely with other agencies, community and government services, our Housing Team is committed to enhancing our programs that help people make the transition to a more self-sufficient lifestyle.” (edmonton.ymca.ca/ CommunityPrograms/TransitionalHousing) My research into the history of the mural led me to Lawrence Herzog, the Heritage writer for the Edmonton Heritage Council. Herzog writes, “The first

VUEWEEKLY DEC 22 – DEC 28, 2011

local YMCA opened in 1907 ... since its founding, the Edmonton YMCA has provided health and fitness programs as an integral part of its mission to build healthy spirit, mind and body.” The original 1907 building was replaced by a new one on an adjacent lot after outgrowing its old brick walls. As the cornerstone of the Transitional Housing building shews, it was laid on June 10, 1951. The mural was completed by an unknown artist presumably around the same time in a style typical of 1950s mural art. Its simple line drawing of young male figures depicts the ideals of Muscular Christianity espoused by the YMCA's founders in Victorian England. Today, the YMCA's core values of caring, honesty, respect, responsibility and inclusion make it a welcoming place to all people of this city regardless of religion, social class, age, gender or sexual orientation. 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 22 – DEC 28, 2011