verb issue s268 (nov. 29-dec. 5, 2013)

Issue #268 – November 29 to December 5

arts culture music saskatoon

M O N S T E R T R U C K

Photo: courtesy of moNster truck facebook

dakota mcfadzean For the love of comics

feather + rosary Q+a with Joey stylez

oldboy + all is lost Film reviews

+

Verbnews.comVerb magazine contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

2noV 29 – dec 5

culture entertainmentnews + opinion

dakota mcfadzeanOn drawing comics, and what it all means. 4 / local

he’s right and you know itJohn Gormley on life on the radio. 6 / local

stop letting canadians die Our thoughts on organ donation. 8 / editorial

commentsHere’s what you had to say about SK’s prison system. 10 / comments

q+a with joey stylezOn Feather + Rosary. 12 / Q + a

nightlife photos We visit TCU Place + Red Zone. 24 / nightliFe

live music listingsLocal music listings for November 29 through December 7. 20-21 / listings

oldboy + all is lostWe review the latest movies. 22 / Film

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 30 / comics

is this the future?Galicia changes our perception of art and technology. 14 / arts

eclectic choices,delicious pizzaWe visit Swan Pizza. 18 / Food + drink

musicJon Bryant, Machine Gun Kelly + A Tribe Called Red 19 / music

mekiwin: the giftSNTC stages their annual Christmas play. 15 / arts

game + horoscopesCanadian criss-cross puzzle, weekly horoscopes and Sudoku. 31 / timeout

on the cover: monster truckFor the love of rock. 16 / Feature

Photo: courtesy of carlyle routh

contents

please recycle aFter reading & sharing

editorialpublisher / ParIty PublIshINgeditor in chieF / ryaN allaNmanaging editor / JessIca PatruccostaFF writers / aDam hawbolDt + alex J macPhersoN

art & productiondesign lead / aNDrew yaNkographic designer / bryce kIrkcontributing photographers / PatrIck carley,IshtIaq oPal + aDam hawbolDt

business & operationsoFFice manager / stePhaNIe lIPsItaccount manager / NathaN holowatymarketing manager / vogesoN PaleyFinancial manager / coDy laNg

contactcomments / [email protected] / 306 881 8372

adVertise / [email protected] / 306 979 2253

design / [email protected] / 306 979 8474

general / [email protected] / 306 979 2253

Verbnews.com@verbsaskatooN facebook.com/verbsaskatooN

Verbnews.comnews + opinion contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

4noV 29 – dec 5

Continued on next page »

Photo: courtesy of Dakota mcfaDzeaN

comics and the horse you rode in on

hy comics? That’s something that Regina’s Dakota

McFadzean has been asking himself lately.

Not because his career as a comic book artist is stagnant. Quite the opposite, actually. In the last few years, McFadzean has been busy making a name for himself on the comic book scene. He recently graduated with an MFA from The Center for Cartoon Studies in Ver-mont. His minicomic, Ghost Rabbit — a story about a little girl becom-ing aware of memory, death and time (oh, and there’s also a ghost

rabbit in there, too) — won a Shus-ter Award and was listed as one of the Top 30 Minicomics of 2011 by The Comics Journal. Another of Mc-Fadzean’s minicomics, Leave Luck To Heaven — which tells the tale of a master teaching an apprentice how to play old 8-bit video games — appeared in The Best American Comics 2012.

What’s more, earlier this year, McFadzean’s Other Stories and the Horse You Rode In On, a collection of his minicomics, was published by Conundrum Press.

So it’s safe to say that as an art-ist, McFadzean is well on his way. And yet the question “why com-ics?” still remains.

“It’s not something I’ve been beating myself up over or any-thing,” jokes McFadzean, “but it is something that has been on my mind lately. And you know what? I’m not really sure. It’s something that’s been central to everything I’ve done, everything I’ve wanted to do. One of my first memories is of the Ben-Day printing dots in a Casper the Friendly Ghost comic.”

Like a lot of other kids in Saskatch-ewan, McFadzean grew up around

comics. In his house, issues of Mad Magazine, Archie and Batman were never too far away.

“I remember I made my first comic when I was six years old,” chuckles McFadzean. “It was a Ninja Turtles rip-off.”

From there, McFadzean kept drawing, kept creating, kept expressing himself with ink and paper. In 2005, along with his brother, he self-published a comic book that found its way into stores in Regina. He kept self-publishing his minicomics. Five years later

w

writing, drawing and wondering with regina comic book artist Dakota mcfadzean by aDam hawbolDt

every story in the book was approached differently.

Dakota mcfaDzeaN

local

@Verbsaskatoon news + opinioncontents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

5noV 29 – dec 5

Photo: courtesy of Dakota mcfaDzeaN

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]

feedback? text it! (306) 881 8372

he branched off onto a different path — an on-going project called The Dailies. “I started drawing a daily strip in my sketch book and posting them online,” says McFadzean. “After a couple years of doing that, I realize there are certain images I keep return-ing to. Certain ideas I use a lot.”

Many of the short stories in his newly published collection started with these dailies. Many of the ideas and images, too.

“I didn’t start doing short stories because I wanted to make a book out of them,” insists Dakota McFadzean. He’s calling from Toronto, which he now calls home. The phone crackles, fades in and out, and McFadzean says, “Can you hear me? Okay. As I was saying, I started making short stories because I was uncomfortable with the writing process. I came to comics through drawing first. But once you sit down and try to do a story, you realize how hard it really is — the writing.”

But that didn’t deter McFadzean. He kept plugging in the hours, taking different approaches to writing and

creating comics, approaches that worked for him, that interested him.

It was a long, slow process.But by the end of his first year

in Vermont, though, McFadzean started to find his groove.

“Looking back, I think the earli-est story in Other Stories and the Horse You Rode In On [the afore-mentioned Ghost Rabbit] was the first time where some kind of writ-ing process clicked for me.”

From that point on, the stories kept coming. But McFadzean didn’t simply use Ghost Rabbit as a recipe and repeat it over and over again.

“Every story in the book was ap-proached differently,” he explains. “For some I sat down and wrote out dot notes, turned it into a script, then started penciling and inking it from there. For other stories, I had a vague idea where they were going, so I started penciling and improvised my way through them.”

The result is a book that is both grounded in reality yet metaphysi-cal at the same time. Rural and sur-real. Some of the characters that inhabit the land of Other Stories and the Horse You Rode In On are as

strange as they are diverse. There’s a faceless man, a ghost rabbit, drunken garden gnomes, an invis-ible wedgie giver. Other characters are people you meet every day: horny teenagers, social outcasts, less-than-ideal father figures.

Now put all those together. Toss in themes of aging, memory, change, loneliness and time. Mix in a healthy dose of dark humour and an unsettling feeling that pervades the entire thing, and what you have is a collection of short stories that is at once both naturalistic and magical.

What you may also have is an answer to the “why comics?” ques-tion. Perhaps, in part, McFadzean’s life-long love affair with comics is because it’s the medium in which he can best explain and make sense of his world view.

Perhaps, if he intellectualizes it now, as an adult, he chose comics because of how independent they allow him to be. All he needs to express himself is a piece of paper and a pen. As a mild control freak, he likes that aspect of it.

Or perhaps McFadzean will never be able to fully answer the question “why comics?”

But that won’t stop him from do-ing what he loves.


6noV 29 – dec 5


ohn Gormley isn’t who you think he is. But, at the same time, John Gormley is

exactly who you think he is.Sitting in the Broadway Roast-

ery on a sunny Saturday afternoon, wearing a Riders jersey with his name scrawled across the back and a rose-gold Invicta watch, the host of News Talk 650 CKOM’s John Gorm-ley Live is relaxed. At ease. There’s no ranting, no loud opining that the radio-listening public of Saskatch-ewan has grown accustomed to.

Gormley is a lot more subdued in person. A lot more prone to having conversations that wander all over the map, to conceding points freely, acknowledging others’ points, trying to

subtly persuade you to come around to seeing things his way.

This is the John Gormley that most people don’t know, don’t really see. But that’s not to say this isn’t the same guy you hear on the radio raving about politics or myriad other issues facing this province.

“You can’t fake it,” he says, taking a sip from the to-go cup in front of him. “The me on the show is the real me. You can’t fake opinion, you can’t fake passion. What I say is what I believe and what I represent. The radio show is authentic but, at the same time, it’s also a performance. It’s often been observed that in a social environment I’m a fair bit quieter. But on the show, given the faster moving pace and

tighter format, I tend to be a lot louder. A lot more direct.”

Which is what gives John Gormley Live its dynamism. What makes its host one of the most divisive figures in Saskatchewan today. Some people see him as a well-informed truth speaker, a bastion of sensible politics in the prov-ince. The voice of Saskatchewan, as it were. Others see him as a conservative blowhard who is out of touch with what Saskatchewanians really think.

Gormley knows you see him like this. But it doesn’t bother him. Because, for Gormley, what he’s doing is part of the bigger, more coherent picture.

“They key to the show is to enjoy the good debate, the sport of debate,” he says. “Some people don’t get that. Particularly those who don’t agree with me. They see me as the incarnation of all that is evil. All that threatens the comfortable sense of who they are. I get that. But for me it’s pulling people together for the debate.”

America’s former vice president Hubert H. Humphrey once said that: “Freedom is hammered out on the an-vil of discussion, dissent, and debate.” And he was right. But what Humphrey forgot to mention is that truth and knowledge is hammered out on that same anvil.

John Gormley knows this. He also knows that in the span of one hour his radio show isn’t going to move a lot of people. But over the process of a number of shows and a number of issues, he can challenge people to challenge themselves. To think about something from a different angle, in a different light.

“Even if you don’t change your mind or don’t have an opinion, at least we can make you think about it,” says Gormley. “At least you got really frustrated and annoyed by me or you embraced my ideas. Just please think something. The long-term picture of a show like mine is to provoke thought.”

jJohn gormley on radio, life, and his new book by aDam hawbolDt

local

he’s right and you know it

/Verbsaskatoon news + opinioncontents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

7noV 29 – dec 5

Photo: courtesy of aDam hawbolDt

the long-term picture of a show like mine is to provoke thought.

JohN gormley

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


That’s also the goal of the columns he writes for the local newspaper, and the two books he authored — the latest of which hit bookshelves earlier this month.

John Gormley’s first book, Left Out: Saskatchewan’s NDP and the Relentless Pursuit of Mediocrity, was met with much fanfare when it was released in 2010. “The collected rants of a guy who was tired of the Saskatchewan political status quo,

tired of the old Saskatchewan,” as Gormley refers to it, Left Out be-came a Canadian double bestseller. It was an edgy, no-punches-pulled frontal assault on an old guard that Gormley saw as outdated and ultimately ineffective.

His new book — The Gormley Papers: I’m Right and You Know It — is something entirely different. “That first book, which I wrote three years

ago, was a fascinating journey. I’d never written a book before. I had some things I needed to say and I said them. This book, it was an idea the publisher came up with … We’ve created something different. It’s not as political as “John” typically is. Yes, there are politics in it, but it’s a lot more life derived than political.”

To create a book like this, the production team at Indie Ink Pub-lishing dug back through history. Back through the last decade or so of Gormley newspaper columns,

and pulled out 550 potential stories. “It’s an interesting test when you’re trying to do a book of columns,” says Gormley. “As opposed to say-ing here’s everything I’ve written, you want to key in on ‘here’s what I wrote that still has some reflec-tion on life today.’ When I write, it’s about what is in the here and now. That’s what was interesting about the process. Because some of

the columns they’d selected hadn’t aged well. They were often too localized, too specific. Others were more enduring.”

The ones that endured, the ones with legs that stood the test of time and touched on major events that helped shape our public conscious-ness, were then grouped together thematically. Along with personal-ized margin notes, mini rants and a few winking c’mon-I-told-you-so’s, these columns all add up to The Gormley Papers — an examina-tion of the first decade of our new century. An exploration of our post-9/11 world, of the culture of protest, aging, technology and more.

Now some of you may be think-ing, I know this guy! I know what he’s all about and what he has to say. But think that, and you might be surprised by this book. Because The Gormley Papers: I’m Right and You Know It, isn’t really as black or white as you might think.

Which begs the question: is John Gormley really who you think he is?


8noV 29 – dec 5

let’s stop letting canadians diechanging our organ donation system will save lives

editorial

@Verbsaskatoon news + opinioncontents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

9noV 29 – dec 5

p

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


icture this: a loved one of yours is sick in the hospital. Turns out he or

she is experiencing kidney failure, and is lying in that hospital bed, hooked up to machines. The only thing that can help, the doctor tells you, is an organ transplant. You wait, hoping that a new kid-ney becomes available. Unfortu-nately, it never does.

Sad to say, this happens in Canada more than you think. In fact, in 2010 (the last year for which statistics were available), more than 4,500 Canadians were on the organ donation waiting list for either hearts, kidneys, livers or lungs. For those people, only 2,150 organs were available. Nearly 250 people died while waiting.

This situation, as far as we are concerned, is simply unacceptable. And that’s why we think Canada should switch its organ donation program from being a system you opt in to, to one you opt out of.

Look, it’s not just us that thinks this way. Recently, Canada’s opt-in organ donation program has come under fire across the country. Detrac-tors point out that nearly 90% of Canadians say they support organ and tissue donation, while less than

25% have actually made plans to donate. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that a man in Nova Scotia, suffering from polycystic kidney disease, recently posted an ad on Kijiji looking for a kidney donor. What started out as a joke became the only viable way for him to receive the organ he needed. And though he was able to set up a donor, the transfer was unable to be processed because the kind-hearted individual had cervical cancer.

And yet despite stats and stories like these, despite the failings of our current system, switching to an opt-out system has not yet been

roundly accepted or endorsed by provincial governments.

But with over half of Canadians who need a donation going without, clearly something has to be done.

Enter the opt-out system. This is the default in a number

of European countries, and it seems to be working. Spain, Portugal and Belgium have all embraced the opt-out system, and as such have become among the world leaders in donor and transplant rates.

How much better are their dona-tion consent rates? Well, Spain’s is close to 35 people per million citizens (a number that does not include those who had signed up to be a donor but were later rejected for health or other

reasons). Here in Canada, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the donor rate in 2010 was 16.3 people per million. In 2006 it was only 14.0.

Now, we understand that not everyone wants to be an organ donor. Some choose not to because of religious beliefs, or they may perceive it as a desecration of the body after death. You may be one of these people, and that’s cool. We support your right to choose whether or not you want to be an organ donor. But switching over to an opt-out system wouldn’t hinder that choice. All it would do would

improve donor rates. Think about it. At the moment, under the opt-in system, only 25% of Canadians are donors. Switch the system to an opt-out sys-tem, and the 90% of Canadians who currently support organ donation (but don’t bother going through the steps to register themselves) will be signed up and ready to donate. And if you think such an insignificant change won’t yield positive results, think again. Con-sider Austria, which has an opt-out program. Their consent rate is nearly 100 percent. In Germany, a relatively comparable country in terms of cul-ture and economic development but that operates with an opt-in system, the organ donation consent rate is around 12%.

So the way we see it, the opt-out organ donation system offers the best of both worlds. If you are adamantly against organ and tissue donation for whatever reason, all you have to do is fill out a card and bingo! Your organs will go to the grave with you, safe and sound.

What’s more, an opt-out system would also encourage people to talk to their loved ones about what to do with their organs and tissues while increasing the amount of organs and tissue available for transplant.

And if so many people are dying on waiting lists, then isn’t it worth giving this a shot?

These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.

consider austria, which has an opt-out program. their consent rate is nearly 100 percent.

verb magazINe


10noV 29 – dec 5


comments

text your thoughts to881 verb

8372

on topic: last week we asked what you thought about chang-ing saskatchewan’s prison system. here's what you had to say:

– Re: sask prisons- we wouldn’t need them if people would use their brains and be respectful of others Truth Is Power-Try It

– The Verb article which compared the Swedish prison system to the one here made some valid points. However, when discussing the short comings of the Harper crew on this subject, one detail was omitted. Never forget that the cur-rent government killed the CDN prison farms. The benefits of these institutions were evident to the anyoy and allamam

– “Knee-jerk reactive”- and that is the one of the biggest short com-ings of Mr. Harper’s government.

– The prison system sucks in Saskatoon the guards abuse their power the food is horrible and the prisioners are treated like animals.

– A greater focus on reintegration into society would be so beneficial but the prison system here will never change when Harper and his cronies remain in power.

– We do need to reform our prison system, though Canada faces a different set of obstacles than the alternative examples listed in your opinion piece. That said, tailoring some of the changes they made and instituting more social programs absolutely would go a long way. We are on our way to having an American style prison

system and that is horrifying and atrocious. The business of putting people in jail is not the business we want to be in.

– Clearly the prison system we have now doesn’t work so some-thing needs to change. Rehabilita-tive services need to be reintro-duced and yes there is griping about taxes paying for that kind of stuff but it costs money to keep people in jail too. We need more social programs to prevent people from winding up behind bars in the first place, programs to ease their transition out of jail, and we definitely need to stop throwing people in jail for stupid reasons mandatory minimums are cram-ming our jails with people who don’t need to be there.

off topic

– I really enjoyed your bad seed article. In this day and age we need more newspapers talking about that issue bringing light to it and trying to make others see that marijuana and its users have come a long way. Upstanding citizens who work just as hard as others should not have to feel or be treated like criminals because they like to smoke a plant that has medical benefits and makes people happy!

In response to “Bad seed, good documen-

tary,” Local #267 (November 22, 2013)

– Interesting “bad seed” article. You neglected to point out that it I the CBD not the THC in can-nabis that has medicinal benefit. The majority of marijuana that is available is high THC and low CBD. Generally the medicinal benefit Is negligible but you do get high and that tends to make you not care about what hurts. The big issue is that when we don’t look at the big picture then we tend to underestimate the po-tential harms. Rand Teed BA, B.Ed, ICPS. www.drugclass.ca

In response to “Bad seed, good documen-

tary,” Local #267 (November 22, 2013)

/Verbsaskatoon news + opinioncontents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

11noV 29 – dec 5

sound off

– Calgary, a city with 5 times our population, yet both cities have the same number of “accidents” every day. How does this work? Who are the “bad drivers?” Who is “everyone else?” Could YOU be involved (yes, even jaywalk-ers) Those laws were made for everyone’s safety, so lets respect them as well as each other. Safety is everyones job, knot just every-one else’s. Truth Is Power-Try It

– Happy thanksgiving to any other Americans in Canada :)

– It’s also the 2nd day of the 8 day Jewish festival of Hanukkah besides being Thanksgiving today in the USA. :-)

– What is going on Verb?! You don’t want to be part of the great-est experience that has hit Sask in a long time? The Greycup?!!!! Your latest issue almost had nothing to celebrate our amazing accomplish-ment?!!! Come on!!! Where’s your Rider pride????

– Well well well Harper at the Greycup game Takes the heat off The Scandal hes got into FIXED GAME!!..

– Steven harper there so probably corrupt Game

– The Saskatchewan/Hamilton game was funny as hell! We sent those T-Cats back home with thier tails between their legs! LOL

– Ticats ticats whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do when they pounce on you? Riders riders give it all up give it all up ‘cause we got the Grey Cup!

– S..T!! S0! CHARLEY BROWN Finally kicked the football

– Way to go Roughriders! The Grey Cup is back home where it belongs!

– Bring the Cup back to SK! The most important night in Saskatch-ewan history! Been waiting to see the Riders win on home turf my whole life :D:D:D

– LET’S GO RIDERS LET’S GO lets get it done boys your province is watching and supports you. 101 bring it home!!!

– Ahh, the most wonderful time of year, where consumerism masks

itself as religion. Celebrate the season, sure. Just don’t equate celebrating with buying crap.

– Rob Ford football and the Senate crap. I just quit watching TV for a week. Its called saturation.

– It is you that your children want not what you can buy for them.

– Cat meow get it for you r cat they will love you for it! :)!

– Whatever you do good or bad people will always have some-thing negative to say.

– As Canadians we should be call-ing for Harper to resign. Even if he continues to profess ignorance of

what the PMO was up to (which I doubt) he is still the top still in charge, and it is only respectful to resign. He is a laughinstock and embarassing. The corruption is only just starting to come out. There’s more for sure.

– The planet is dieing! All the need-less industrial consumer crap is the poison. People just don’t F’in get it! We’re F’in dim dumb animals!

– A Person who has N 0 forgive-ness in there heart has Really done there home work

– Stay true to yourself because there are very few people who will always stay true to you.

– I am sick of the Riders!

– Agree with climate change txtr we are destroying our only resource for greed. There is only one Earth! And we need to take care of it!

– Let’s come together and help one another at this time of year then continue the action all the time. This is your community!

next week: what do you think about changing to an opt-out organ donation system? pick up a Verb to get in on the conversation:

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

Verbnews.comculture contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

12noV 29 – dec 5


Q + a

feather + rosary

jJoey stylez explores articles of faith and fashion on his massive new album by alex J macPhersoN

Photos: courtesy of the artIst

oey Stylez is an outlaw. Growing up as a young Cree man in Saskatoon,

Stylez, whose real name is Joseph Laplante, struggled to avoid fall-ing into the gang lifestyle. Music was a lifeline, and he seized it, knowing full well that nobody else would help him escape. Today, Stylez is one of the most

prominent young aboriginal artists in the country, a talented rapper as well as an outspoken activist. He has grown consider-ably as an artist since he released his debut album, The Black Star, in 2010, his early forays into rap having given way to more universal sounds — propulsive dance grooves, tight hip hop verses, and towering choruses. His latest album, the evocatively titled Feather + Rosary, is his most ambitious project to date, a sprawling double record that sums up his career thus far and points straight into a bright future. Featuring a wide range of guest performers and produc-ers, foils for Stylez’s percussive delivery, Feather + Rosary draws on immediately recognizable symbols of faith and fashion to paint an illuminating portrait of

an artist in his prime. But that doesn’t mean Stylez is no longer an outlaw. In a recent telephone interview, he discussed his status as an outsider and his nomadic lifestyle, both of which inform his music. “I’m totally content right now living in the grey area, because nothing’s black and white,” he said. “In my music I want to be positive so I can teach the youth that there’s a different way, but at the same time I’m still an outlaw at the end of the day.” But for an outlaw, Stylez is filled with hope for a future he can’t wait to make for himself — and for others.

Alex J MacPherson: Your new album is called Feather + Rosary, which is a pretty evocative title. Tell me about the genesis of this project, how it came together.

Joey Stylez: The idea came up loosely in conversation when I was driving with my father one day. I was

talking to him, and he was talking about our identity as Métis people and then right before that I was talking about fashion, how the trends in fash-ion right now seem to be leaning to-wards a lot of Native American things: Pendleton prints, the owls, the dream-catchers, and the feathers. But in the same breadth I was talking about how rosaries are also a very fashionable thing. It just came to mind right there and then: that would be a great name for the album, Feather + Rosary. And my dad’s like, yeah, it would be great. It started off as Feather + Rosary and then it evolved from there.

AJM: Why did that concept appeal to you?

JS: I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree is what they say, and in this instance it’s very true. I take on both the strongest traits of my mom and dad, but at the same time I take on their weakest traits. I would like to build on what they’re doing. We all feel the aftermath of the residential schools being an aboriginal person, so we have our demons that we’re trying to conquer and that’s part of the thing for this record, we want to be able to beat those demons. Feather + Rosary, not only are they articles of faith, they’re also articles of fashion. Native people believe that the feather is sacred like the Roman Catholics believe the rosary is sacred. It’s also a way for me to shed light on the dark-ness in my life, to find inner peace with myself so I can move on and do greater things in my life.

AJM: Feather + Rosary is definitely a hopeful record. It feels like a really conscious attempt to look ahead to something.

JS: I love making hopeful music because I always had hope that there was something more than what I had, you know? I’ve always been excited but not excited, if that makes sense. I’m so excited for what the future has, but once it gets here I’m like, I’ve got to give myself new goals. So the excitement once it’s here in the present is not the same as it is for the future. I just have so

@Verbsaskatoon culturecontents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

13noV 29 – dec 5

… we have our demons that we’re trying to conquer…

Joey stylez

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


much hope for the future. I want to open more doors and do bigger things. I guess I want to leave my legacy just like anybody else.

AJM: And the sound of the record is a big departure from your older work, and also from your last album Black Star. Did you have a pretty clear idea of where you wanted this project to go?

JS: I was still promoting Black Star, which is my debut album, when I started to work on this one. It defi-nitely came about very naturally on every single song. I’ve never really tried to force anything, because I find when you force things in life it never works out the way you want it to. So on every song we just got in there with a different producer or a different idea. Maybe I’d lay the vocal track down over top of drums and lay the guitar over it, or synthe-sizers. We never ever tried to force anything, because when you do you just end up with a broken heart.

AJM: I understand you did most of the work on this record in hotel rooms and

studios across North America. What was that like?

JS: I was working with lots of differ-ent people across North America, so there’s songs in there recorded when I was living in Los Angeles, songs I made in Vancouver, songs I wrote

when I was in Saskatchewan during my short stay there last year. There’s also songs I made on the road travel-ling, in airports and on airplanes. It was kind of all over the place. As musicians, we pride ourselves on being rolling stones, being nomads — we’re always on the road, so not everyone has the stability where they can go to one city, work in one studio, work with one producer, and have everything right there. Me,

I’m all over the place so I never had that opportunity — I had to be able to send files online to Vancouver from L.A., or if I was in New York I’d have to send songs to Toronto to get finished or to Montreal to have the beat be finished by my producer, DJ Elmo.

AJM: How did you go about choosing guests to appear on the record? It’s a pretty diverse group.

JS: I picked all the artists I wanted to work with: I picked artists who were innovative, creative, and inspirations to other big artists. I have [Calgary singer-songwriter] Kinnie Starr on there, I have Ty$, who is really doing well right now, he’s signed from Wiz Khalifa and taking over L.A. right

now. I have Tre Nyce on there, one of my favourite Canadian artists — he can sing, he can rap, he can do pretty much anything with his eyes closed.

AJM: Coming back to this idea of work-ing on the road, did that experience give you any perspective on your home in Saskatchewan, or what it means to be an artist from here? The idea of home and belonging seems pretty central.

JS: I grew up the same way I’m living now. My mother was a Métis politician and my dad, he was an Indian politician, so I was always on the road. Even though Saskatch-ewan was home, Saskatoon was home, the only thing that makes it home was that’s where my fam-ily and friends are. So other than that, I grew up travelling across the country all the time for different meetings, for different rallies and protests and stuff like that, and I guess I just took that mentality with me as I grew up and never evolved out of it — I still am the same nomad, the same rolling stone that I was when I was five years old.

AJM: Is it difficult to balance that lifestyle with the need to make music and art?

JS: It’s hard to give yourself a home, because I think once you give your-self a home you’re putting yourself into a comfort zone and you can’t be comfortable to get your dreams. If you want to reach a certain goal, you’ve got to be working until it’s uncomfortable. If you’re trying to become a professional boxer, you’ve got to be running every single day, you’ve got to be hitting the bag for two hours — it’s got to be uncom-fortable. I think it’s the same thing as a musician: you’ve got to be out there meeting the people.

Joey StylezDecember 13 @ rock bottom$10

Verbnews.comculture

14noV 29 – dec 5


contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

arts

is this the future?

g

revolutionary installation Galicia changes the way we think about art and technology by alex J macPhersoN

Photos: courtesy of the meNDel art gallery

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


alicia is an electrome-chanical sculpture, a synthetic wheat field

constructed from found mate-rials and elaborate electrical circuits. Designed and executed by Cory Schewaga and Bruce Montcombroux, Galicia ad-dresses the connection between urban growth and rural decay, an imbalance created by the rise of technology. Named for the region in Eastern Europe where Schewaga’s grandfather grew up, Galicia questions the meaning of interaction and experience on family farms and in cities in the age of digitization. Its spindly legs, hulking body, and array of sinister metal protrusions create a familiar silhouette — but that silhouette masks an uncomfort-able vision of the future.

“That’s one of the big things, that people would seek out and interact with a digital wheat field that’s

sitting in a gallery instead of just going outside and interacting with a real wheat field out in the real world,” Schewaga says with a laugh as the sculpture’s electric motors buzz in the background. He and Montcombroux are sitting across from each other in the basement of the Mendel Art Gallery, explain-ing how a simple representation of a wheat field can be so compli-cated. “It’s the sort of society we live in. Everybody has a phone, they’re on Facebook or Twitter or whatever. We see that explosion happening more than we’ve ever seen it before.”

Schewaga and Montcombroux created Galicia under the auspices of the Mendel Art Gallery’s Artists by Artists program, which pairs an emerging artist with a more experi-enced mentor. Although they have been discussing ideas for almost five years, since Schewaga took Montcombroux’s sculpture classes

at the University of Saskatchewan, Galicia is their first major project. Designing and building it was a ridiculously involved process. After developing the basic idea, the art-ists struggled to perfect it, experi-menting with different materials, endless lines of computer code, and various conceptual ideas.

“I set up a framework for Cory to plug into. I said, what’s important to you and how do we get there?” Montcombroux says before Schewaga chimes in: “We were trying to figure out how we could make it something bigger that we could plug into my background, into the whole Saskatch-ewan background.” The finished sculpture — with its metal limbs, its glass eyes, its circuit board synapses — reflects not only the duo’s interest in sculptural innovation, but also the rise of interactive installations. Unlike most sculptures, which merely sit on the floor, or perhaps move in a predeter-mined pattern, Galicia responds to text

messages. It moves with the viewer, instead of in front of him or her.

“I think that’s part of the role of art,” Montcombroux says of the interactive element. “The role of art is to draw attention to the everyday in a slightly different way.” And while Galicia reorients the way we think about what sculpture is, as well as what it can be, its primary purpose is to investigate the detachment and alienation created by digital technol-ogy. This is most apparent in the rise of messaging services like Twitter and Facebook, which create the appear-ance of human interaction without actually providing it. But it is not an isolated phenomenon. Advancements in agricultural technology have made life easier for farmers while simulta-neously insulating them from their crops. What was once a relationship between a farmer and the land has been reduced to a scientific method of shaving down the cruel odds imposed by weather and fate.

“Agriculture has changed,” Montcombroux says, “and small communities have changed. It’s gone to a factory farm idea, and even if it’s still within a family organization it’s a lot more virtual.” The digitization of life is bound up in the construction of Galicia, which uses synthetic parts to represent an organic idea. What was once a wheat field burnished by the sun and pushed by the wind has become a forest of metal stalks, moved by motors and illuminated by an indifferent row of electric bulbs. It seems to be asking, is this the future we have created?

Galicia through January 5 @ mendel art gallery

/Verbsaskatoon culture

15noV 29 – dec 5


mékiwin: the gift

l

New s.N.t.c. christmas play offers entertainment and education in equal measure by alex J macPhersoN

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


acey Eninew and Waylon Machiskinic are sitting at a table and sipping coffee

from oversized mugs. The two ac-tors are making the most of a short break from rehearsing the Saskatch-ewan Native Theatre Company’s annual Christmas production. The S.N.T.C. has staged a Christmas show every year since 2002. All feature the same cast of characters, a trio of feisty Cree grandmothers, or kohkoms. The latest installment, written and directed by the com-pany’s polymathic artistic director Curtis Peeteetuce, is titled Mékiwin: The Gift. And while Eninew and Machiskinic, who are veterans of several such shows, are reluctant to divulge too many details, the white-sheeted hospital gurney lurking onstage gives some indication of how the play will unfold.

“The story is centred around Zula, who wants to see her family,” Eninew explains, referring to Zula Merastee, the oldest of the kohkoms. Before she can continue Machiskinic chimes in: “Sihkos wants to put on the biggest, greatest Christmas dinner ever, and

she’s trying to defend her title as best cook in Kiwetinohk.” (“Kiwetenohk,” a Cree word meaning “north,” is a fic-tional reserve that crops up in many of Peeteetuce’s plays.) The action begins when Sihkos suffers a serious accident, leaving her unable to cook her famous holiday meal. Soon after, Clare Bear, the third and youngest kohkom, over-hears a doctor and begins to suspect that all is not well with her friend.

According to Eninew, Mékiwin: The Gift concentrates on the strength of the bonds between the kohkoms. “One of the beautiful things about indigenous culture is that there’s always humour, it’s centered around humour,” she says. “The way that Curtis has written the script, if you were to go visit an old lady or see the relationship dynamics between old women, he’s captured that really accurately — the humour between them and the way they tease each other. That’s one of my favourite things, that ability to still maintain their humour even in the face of really dif-ficult situations.”

But acting in Mékiwin: The Gift in-volves more than simply capturing the spirit of Peeteetuce’s script. Because

portions of the play are written in Cree (translated using surtitles for those who do not speak the language), the actors must grapple with the intrica-cies of not one but two languages. “Last year I faced a barrier playing one of the characters,” Machiskinic explains, referring to S.N.T.C.’s 2012 production of How The Chief Stole Christmas, a remount from 2003 that was translated entirely into Cree. “I learned how to memorize sounds. I didn’t understand anything I was saying or anything anybody else was saying, but I just remembered how this should sound or how that should sound.”

For Eninew and Machiskinic, Méki-win: The Gift is more than just an op-portunity to perform alongside some of the most talented aboriginal actors in the province. Although the actors were compelled to learn the art of acting for different reasons, they both agree that Mékiwin: The Gift offers a rare chance to educate as well as entertain. Machiskinic, for whom acting was a lifeline, wants to make a difference for a new generation of young aboriginal people. Eninew, who studied acting in university, is interested in opening minds and hearts of indigenous and non-indigenous people alike.

“One of the frustrating things about being Canadian is a lot of the racism that’s out there, especially geared towards indigenous people,” she says. “I found that the arts was a way to educate people without com-ing to a place where it’s really hostile and without blaming anybody. It’s just laying the truth out on the table and letting people hear it. These things have to be addressed.”

Mékiwin: The Gift Nov 28 - Dec 8 @ studio 914 (914 20th st west)$12+ @ Persephone theatre box office

Verbnews.comculture

16noV 29 – dec 5



m

it would be easy to … say f**k all that and mainstream rock sucks, but it’s really hard to make a change from your basement.

Jeremy wIDermaN

hamilton rockers monster truck on their debut lP and love of rock and roll by alex J macPhersoN

Feature

furiosity

aking a rock and roll album is a long and ridiculously involved

procedure. From writing and recording to mixing and master-ing, there are hundreds of things that need to be considered and completed before a record can be released. It is not uncommon for bands to spend months or even years working on a record; Axl Rose took almost 15 years to finish Chinese Democracy. The members of Monster Truck, a rock and roll band from Hamilton, know just how difficult the process can be. After emerging in early 2010 and

rising to prominence after a string of sold-out shows with the Sheep-dogs, the band decided it was time to follow their debut EP with a full-length album. It was to be a long and frustrating process. They were forced to record the aptly titled Fu-riosity, which was released to the public in May, not once but twice.

“Around the end of 2011, we were getting ready to do the full-length,” explains Jeremy Widerman, who plays guitar in the band. “We were thinking about going back to the same guy, Eric Ratz, who produced The Brown EP, but we kind of got wooed in a different direction by a producer in L.A. He saw one of the shows we did with the Sheepdogs at the end of 2011 in Toronto. He was pretty impressed and offered to get on board. We got pretty excited at the prospect of going to Los Angeles to record.” Smitten by the prospect of recording at Sound City Studios, the same studio where Neil Young made After The Gold Rush and Tom Petty cut Damn The Torpedoes, Widerman and his bandmates failed to consider

how their vision might differ from that of the producer. The sessions turned into a nightmare as both sides battled for control. “A lot of that had to do with us being under the gun and not really playing our best,” Widerman admits, “and a lot of it had to do with the way he wanted to record us and the way we wanted to sound being two different ideas.”

The importance of a good pro-ducer is difficult to overstate. Very few great albums are made without an equally great producer at the helm. Depending on the people involved, the producer can be an active partici-pant in the songwriting and recording processes or merely a voice of reason and restraint; in every case, however, producers are a vital source of context and perspective for musicians shut-tered in the studio and blinded by ambition. But when visions collide, as they did in Los Angeles, the result is inevitable. “Everybody had to come to terms with the fact that it wasn’t the record we wanted to put out,” Widerman says of the band’s first attempt, which he says sounded more like a demo than the polished rock album he had wanted to make. “So we decided to go back and do it again.”

There was no question that Ratz, who has also worked with Billy Talent, Cancer Bats, and Three Days Grace, was the right man for the job. “He knows how to get big-sounding guitars, big-sounding drums with-out them being too slick or over-

produced,” Widerman says. “He knows how to keep a lot of that grimy dirtiness intact while at the same time making it extremely high-quality and huge-sounding through speakers. And the huge X-factor that almost nobody is able to capture with a pro-ducer is that he’s a friend.” With Ratz behind the console, the band churned out an album that embraces the influ-

@Verbsaskatoon culture

17noV 29 – dec 5


Photo: courtesy of brooks reyNolDs

Photo: courtesy of brooks reyNolDs

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


ence of classic rock and roll while placing itself on the cutting edge of modern music — a record that is part of the history of rock rather than an attempt to capture it.

It is easy to dismiss Monster Truck as just another group of rock and roll revivalists, musicians more inter-ested in resurrecting the past than looking to the future. But Widerman and his bandmates — Jon Harvey, Brandon Bliss, and Steve Kiely — are more than just a bunch of longhairs who stopped appreciating guitar rock after Van Halen made 1984. Furiosity is packed with references to the golden age of riff rock, but songs like the propulsive “Power Of The

People” and the soaring, organ-heavy “My Love Is True” show that Monster Truck’s rock playbook is as diverse as it is powerful. “I think it’s a f**king cop-out to do a revival, to take what people did in the seventies and do it again,” Widerman says. “You’re not challenging yourself, you’re not challenging your listener, you’re not taking any chances. You’re just

taking something tried and true and rehashing it in your way.”

When Monster Truck made The Brown EP, the record that catapulted them to fame, they knew they needed to establish a certain sound. “We set out to make a record that was digest-ible, short, and to the point,” Wider-man says. “If we put out a five-song record with a bunch of different styles on it, we’d run the risk of confusing somebody in such a short amount of time.” With Furiosity, the band had more room to experiment. Songs like “The Lion” and “Call It A Spade” build on the grinding, propulsive aesthetic of The Brown EP, but the best songs are also the most unexpected. The centrepiece of the record is a seven-minute epic called “For The Sun,” which evokes Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You” before building into a towering cascade of screaming leads and a turbulent riff that hints at a slew of modern influences.

The other standout track is “My Love Is True,” which brings the album to a close with five minutes and thirty seconds of bluesy riffs, tortured vocals from Harvey, and the dour optimism of the Rolling Stones’ “Shine A Light.” Both “My Love Is True” and “For The Sun” are outliers, definitive proof that Monster Truck are just as comfortable writing sprawling anthems for the late-night crowd as they are churning out blistering riffs for everybody still working on their second whiskey and coke, no ice. More importantly, the inclusion of songs like “For The Sun,” which took more than a year to write

and perfect, hints at the band’s vision of what rock and roll is — and what it should be.

Widerman believes rock and roll is not so much a style as it is an attitude, the radical idea that the most exciting music will always run counter to whatever is popular. Citing everybody from Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry to Rage Against The Machine and NOFX, Widerman says doing the unex-pected — like basing a record around a song almost as long as “Stairway To Heaven” — is the key to unlocking the power of rock and roll. “We’re not exactly dangerous outlaws or any-thing,” he laughs, “but we’re definitely against the grain and we definitely don’t see eye to eye with the rest of the music industry. We’re part of the mainstream. We’re part of the radio system. But at the same time, I feel like it’s important for us to be in there because it’s easier to mount an attack with the kind of coverage we’ve been getting by accessing those platforms. It would be easy to stick your nose up in it, stay in the underground and say f**k all that and mainstream rock sucks, but it’s really hard to make a change from your basement.”

Over the past two years, Monster Truck have built up a strong follow-ing in Canada, which Widerman wants to augment by spending more time touring in the United States and Europe. They have played concerts with Alice in Chains and Slash, and heard their single “Sweet Mountain River” played on radio stations across the country;

earlier this year, they won the Juno Award for breakthrough group. But, Widerman says, that was never the point. “The band was started for me to quit,” he laughs. “I don’t mean quit playing music. I mean quitting the industry itself. I really was saying, ‘F**k you, I’m out, I just want to do this band, I want to do it for myself.’” But by starting with no expectations and no goal other than having fun, Widerman and his bandmates have launched a serious attack on popular music from with-

out and within — and taken their place in the long line of bands who just wanted to play loud, like their heroes before them.

Monster TruckDecember 10 @ o’brians $25.25 @ ticketmaster

Verbnews.comentertainment

18noV 29 – dec 5


Food + drink

eclectic choices, delicious pizza

let’s go drinkin’ verb’s mixology guide

pear lemon fizz

Keeping with the theme of interesting combinations, this light, fresh and tasty cocktail is perfect for a warm sum-mers day or an evening in front of a fire place.

ingredients

1/2oz pear vodka3/4oz simple syrup1/2oz fresh lemon juicechampagne1 fresh lemon verbena leaf for garnish (optional)

directions

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, syrup, lemon juice. Shake until frosty. Strain the mixture into a glass. Top off with champagne. Add lemon leaf (if you want) and serve.

s

swan Pizza, with its sesame seed crust, hits the spotby aDam hawbolDt

photos courtesy of adam hawboldt

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


ome people just aren’t into strange pizzas. Anything foreign or

gourmet or outside-the-box re-ally turns them off. Not to name names or anything, but one of the good people here on the Verb staff feels as though a pizza with anything more than pepperoni and mushrooms on it is com-pletely uncivilized.

And that’s fair. There’s no account-ing for taste. But I’m not one of those people. For me, the more different and more odd the pizza, the better.

That’s why I was instantly drawn to Swan Pizza, this relatively new pizza-delivery joint on 8th Street East.

Sure, at Swan Pizza they have the traditional stuff. Double cheese, pepperoni, Hawaiian, pepperoni and mushroom. All the standard fare.

But those staple pizzas are just the tip of the Swan iceberg. Look farther down the menu and you run into some interesting concoctions. Take, for instance, the Perogy Pizza, made with a sour cream base, potatoes, Italian sausage, cheddar cheese, mozzarella and pizza sauce.

Or how about the Spicy Ginger & Coriander Pizza, featuring fresh green coriander, ginger, olives, green pep-pers, red peppers, tomatoes, red onions jalapenos, mozzarella and pizza sauce?

Or the Spicy Mushroom Pizza, the Tandoori Chicken Pizza, or the Sweet & Spicy Lovers Pizza?

The options are diverse and eclectic. Which presented a bit of a problem for me. See, I’m indecisive by nature. So when I picked up the phone to place an order I still hadn’t figured out what I wanted. When the pleasant lady answered on Swan Pizza’s end, I had no clue. So I hemmed and hawed for a few seconds as she sat patiently waiting, then finally blurted out, “I’ll have the two-for-one special. Gimme one

small Tuscan Pizza and one small Beef & Blue Cheese Pizza, please.”

Thirty-five minutes later the piz-zas arrived and I was ready to eat. First I dug into the Tuscan. Consisting of spicy chicken, spinach, garlic, feta, and mozzarella, this bad boy was excellent. The chicken had some zip to it and the sauce, which had a bit of a zesty marinara taste to it, gave the whole thing a fresh, gardeny taste. Oh, and the sesame seeds on the crust were a nice little touch that really made the most boring part of most pizzas really stand out.

Next I tried the Beef & Blue Cheese. At first I was worried that the blue cheese would be too much, too overpowering for the pizza. But

you know what? It wasn’t. Instead of straight-up blue cheese, it was a sweet, blue-cheesey sauce that only added to the taste of the slice. Which also had a sesame seed crust (like all other Swan pizzas), and was also pretty darn good.

All in all, I’d have to say that Swan Pizza ranks right up there with the best delivery pizza joints in this city. And that’s most certainly a good thing.

swan Pizza1501 8th street east | (306) 974 0467

/Verbsaskatoon entertainment

19noV 29 – dec 5


music

Photos courtesy of: the artIst/ the artIst/ the artIst

Coming upnext Week

jon bryant

Jon Bryant has a way with words. Anyone who has seen the singer/song-writer from Fall River, Nova Scotia play, or listened to his latest album, What Takes You, knows this. His songs are melancholic yet uplifting, with lyrics that constantly surprise. Think Elliott Smith or Jeff Buckley, but make them Canadian and a whole lot less sad. The songs on What Takes You run the gamut from folk to bluegrass to Ameri-cana. There’s the Americana-esque “Souls of Manhattan,” the country-tinged “Ontario,” and the upbeat ditty “Carolina.” Notice how these afore-mentioned songs are all about places. There’s a good reason for that. Bryant is a hard-working musician who seems to constantly be on tour. He’ll be swing-ing through Saskatoon next week. Don’t miss it.

@ the bassmeNtthursday, december 5 – $12/$15

When you listen to his song “Chip off the Block,” a couple of things become abundantly clear. One, Richard Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) comes by his stage name honestly. With a rapid-fire flow like his, any other name wouldn’t do him justice. Second, the dude is good — seriously good. In fact, he’s good enough to be signed by Bad Boy and Interscope Records. Before he was signed, however, MGK (as his fans call him) became the first rapper to ever win first place at the famed Apollo The-ater Amateur Night Competition. That was in 2009, and since then he’s release a few studio albums, blown up YouTube and won fans across the continent. See theodeon.ca for more ticket info.

machine gun kelly

Not so long ago, in 2008, DJ NDN and DJ Bear Witness came together and formed a group — A Tribe Called Red — and things went well for the duo. Then, two years later, they added DJ Shub to the crew. Shub, in case you’re wondering, is a two-time Canadian DMC champ. Since becom-ing a trio, the group has been holding this thing called the Electric Pow Wow, a monthly club night in Ottawa dedicated to celebrating aboriginal urban culture. As for ATCR’s sound, well, it consists of a wide variety of musical styles ranging from hip hop and dance hall to electronic, as well as their own mash-up of club and Pow Wow music, called Pow Wow Step. They’ll be playing O’Brians in the new year. Tickets at www.theodeon.ca

– by adam hawboldt

a tribe called red

@ o’brIaNs eveNt ceNtremonday, december 9 – $40+

sask music previewSaskMusic Radio and Music2Media want your Christmas tunes! They’re going to be featuring Saskatchewan-made holiday music on the SaskMusic Radio on their website for the month of December, so if you’ve released any Christmas or seasonal music, please send MP3s with artist info to [email protected], and they’ll follow up to see if you want to be added to M2M as well.

keep up with saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

@ o’brIaNs eveNt ceNtrewednesday, February 19 – $25


20noV 29 – dec 5



listingslistings

The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

november 29 » december 7

29 30

6 74 52 31

s m t w t

friday 29House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul

& lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover

THe sTeaDies / Amigos Cantina — With

Tasman Jude. 10pm / Cover TBD

Ross NykifoRuk / The Bassment — It’s

Piano Fridays! 4:30pm / No cover

Nuela CHaRles / The Bassment — Some

hot Canadian soul. 9pm / $17/$23

DJ aasH MoNey / Béily’s — DJ Aash

Money throws it down. 9pm / $5 cover

RippeR TRaiN / Buds — Local rock/alt-

metal. 9pm / Cover TBD

BpM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/

vocal house music. 10pm / $5

DJ eCleCTiC / The Hose — Local turntable

whiz pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover

DJ sTikMaN / Jax — Kick off your week-

end. 9pm / $5 cover

911 TuRBo / Louis’ — Fun times and German

techno all night long. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ Big ayyy & DJ HeNCHMaN / Outlaws —

Round up your friends. 8pm / $5; ladies in

free before 11pm

pRoCess/failuRe / Paved — A collabora-

tion between Paved Arts and Saskatoon

Symphony Orchestra. 7:30pm / $15

BaNJo VaN / Piggy’s — Come get your rock

on. 9pm / No cover

Two Tall DuDes / Prairie Ink — Playing

acoustic covers. 8pm / No cover

MiTCHy THe kiD / Spadina Freehouse — Lo-

cal DJ spinning fresh beats. 9pm / No cover

DiRT RoaD MaNiaCs / Stan’s Place — A

rockin’ good time. 9:30pm / No cover

DueliNg piaNos / Staqatto — Terry

Hoknes, Neil Currie + Brad King. 10pm / $5

paRTy RoCk fRiDays / Tequila — Come

tear it up. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ NiCk RusToN / Uncle Barley’s — Come

and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD

spoils / Vangelis — With Snake River and

Jeans Boots. 10pm / Cover TBD

saturday 30House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin

deep and soulful tunes. 9pm / No cover

Riff Raff / Adobe Inn (Martensville) — A lo-

cal classic/hard-rock band. 9pm / No cover

pHoeNix lauReN aND THe sTReNgTH / Amigos — With Terrain. 10pm / Cover TBD

DaViD Myles / The Bassment — A roots

musician from Halifax. 0pm / $23/$28

DeNzal siNClaiRe / Broadway Theatre —

One of Canada’s finest jazz vocalists with

the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra. 8pm / $30

DJ aasH MoNey + DJ sugaR DaDDy / Bé-

ily’s — These two throw it down. 9pm / $5

DeNzal siNClaiRe / Broadway Theatre —

With the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra. 8pm

/ $30

RippeR TRaiN / Buds — Local rock/alt-

metal. 9pm / Cover TBD

saTuRgay NigHT / Diva’s — Resident DJs

spin exclusive dance remixes. 10pm / $5

DJ kaDe / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ

lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

DJ sTikMaN / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night

with the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover

DJ gooDTiMes / Longbranch — Playing the

hottest country music. 8pm / $4 cover


Round up your friends. 8pm / $5

pRoCess/failuRe / Paved — A collabora-

tion between Paved Arts and Saskatoon

Symphony Orchestra. 7:30pm / $15

BaNJo VaN / Piggy’s — Come get your rock

on. 9pm / No cover

No HuRRy TRio / Prairie Ink — Easy listen-

ing/classic rock. 8pm / No cover

CHaRley HusTle / Freehouse — Spinning

music to move you. 9pm / No cover

DiRT RoaD MaNiaCs / Stan’s Place — A

rockin’ good time. 9:30pm / No cover



DJ aNCHoR / Sutherland Bar — It’s the

video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD

saTuRDay NigHT soCial / Tequila — Elec-

tronic Saturdays will have you moving and

grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ THoRpDeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning

hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD

THe faps / Vangelis — With The Man and

His Machine and more. 10pm / Cover TBD

sunday 1iNDusTRy NigHT / Béily’s — Hosted by

DJ Sugar Daddy. 9pm / $4; no cover for

industry staff

eClipse CHRisTMas CoNCeRT / Broadway

Theatre — Get in the Christmas spirit with

the Eclipse Choir. 7:30pm / $22

DJ kaDe / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights

it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

sHaggy / O’Brians — American-Jamaican

rapper/reggae artist. 7:30pm / $25+

sTaN’s plaCe JaM / Stan’s Place — Bring

your instrument. 8:30pm / No cover

Blues JaM / Vangelis — Offering great

tunes. 7:30pm / No cover

monday 2DJ auDio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD

tuesday 3DJ sugaR DaDDy / The Double Deuce —

This crowd favourite rocks. 9:30pm / $4

DJ NiCk RusToN / Dublins — Spinning

dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD

faMe THe MusiCal / Marion Graham

Collegiate — From the big screen to a local

stage. 7pm / $8

VeRB pReseNTs opeN MiC / Rock Bottom —

Come and rock the stage! 9pm / No cover

opeN MiC / Somewhere Else Pub — Come

out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover

DJ CaRlos / Stan’s Place — Playing your

favorite songs to lighten the work week.

9:30pm / No cover

wednesday 4DJ MoDus / 302 Lounge & Discotheque —

Spinning all your favourite tracks. 9pm / No

cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter

DJ aasH MoNey / Béily’s UltraLounge —

Spinning dope beats all night. 9pm / Cover

TBD

souleD ouT / Diva’s Annex — Featuring

the spinning talents of Dr. J 9pm / $2

DJ MeMo / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD

DJ kaDe / The Hose & Hydrant — Saska-

toon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm /

No cover

BuCk wilD weDNesDays / Outlaws

Country Rock Bar — Come out and ride

the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4; no cover for

industry staff

TiM VaugHN / Rock Creek — A local guitar

whiz. 8pm / No cover


favorite songs to lighten the work week.

9:30pm / No cover

DueliNg piaNos / Staqatto Piano Lounge —

Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt

out classic tunes and audience requests, from

Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / No cover

TwiN VoiCes / Vangelis — With Dear

Rouge. 9pm / Cover TBD

@Verbsaskatoon entertainment

21noV 29 – dec 5


Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know!

get listed

[email protected]

thursday 5JoN BRyaNT / The Bassment — A folk

singer from Nova Scotia. 8pm / $12/$15

THRowBaCk THuRsDays / Earls — With

Dr. J. 8pm / No cover

DJ kaDe / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights

it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover





stage. 7pm / $8

sHaNe CHisolM / Piggy’s — Come out and

enjoy some live music. 9pm / No cover


favorite songs. 9:30pm / No cover

TRiple up THuRsDays / Tequila — Featur-

ing DJ Dislexic. 9pm / Cover TBD

THe polyReeDs / Third Avenue United

Church — Local jazz music. Noon / No

cover

aN eVeNiNg foR ToM waiTs / Vangelis

— Featuring The Whiskey Jerks, The Bad

Decisions and more. 8pm / Cover TBD

opeN sTage / The Woods — Hosted by

Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

friday 6House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul

& lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover

six MooNs laTeR / Amigos — With Bren-

dan Flaherty + more. 10pm / Cover TBD

piaNo fRiDays: / The Bassment — It’s piano

Fridays! 4:30pm / No cover

saskaTooN fooDBaNk piaNoTHoN / The

Bassment — With Brett Balon and more.

9pm / Cover is non-perishable food items

goNg sHow / Béily’s — Come celebrate

Beily’s 9th birthday. 9pm / $5 cover

BpM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/

vocal house music. 10pm / $5

DJ eCleCTiC / The Hose — Local turntable

whiz pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover

DJ sTikMaN / Jax — Kick off your weekend

with all your favourite party hits.. 9pm / $5



stage. 7pm / $8

DReaM / O’Brians — It’s the #1 Fleetwood

Mac tribute band. 5pm / SOLD OUT

DJ Big ayyy & DJ HeNCHMaN / Outlaws

Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends.

8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm

TiM VaugHN / Piggy’s — Come get your

rock on. 9pm / No cover

Neil HeNDRy / Prairie Ink — A singer/song-

writer plays classical guitar. 8pm / No cover

THe NyloNs / Roxy — Come out for a

Christmas spectacular. 7:30pm / $33+.

eNglaND / Royal Canadian Legion (Nutana

Branch) — Show and dance! 8pm / Tickets

@ Nutana Legion, McNally Robinson

DR. J / Spadina Freehouse — Local DJ drop-

ping beats you can’t ignore. 9pm / No cover

JoMaMa / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ good

time at Stan’s. 9:30pm / No cover



paRTy RoCk fRiDays / Tequila — Come

tear it up. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ NiCk RusToN / Uncle Barley’s — Come

and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD

guy aND THe fellas / Vangelis — With

Rayt Elliott Band. 10pm / Cover TBD

saturday 7House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin

deep and soulful tunes. 9pm / No cover

THe pisTol wHips / Amigos — Also featur-

ing All Mighty Voice. 10pm / Cover TBD

THe TooN TowN Big BaND / The Bassment

— With Donna Hay. 9pm / $15/$20

DJ aasH MoNey + DJ sugaR DaDDy / Bé-

ily’s — These two DJs rock. 9pm / $5

saTuRgay NigHT / Diva’s — Resident DJs

spin exclusive dance remixes. 10pm / $5

DJ kaDe / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ

lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

DJ sTikMaN / Jax — Ladies night with the

Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover

Max ulis / Le Relais — A night of diverse

electronic music. 9pm / Cover TBD



faMe THe MusiCal / Marion Graham —

Coming to a local stage. 7pm / $8

DReaM / O’Brians — It’s the #1 Fleetwood

Mac tribute band. 5pm / $59.50


Round up your friends. 8pm / $5

TiM VaugHN / Piggy’s — Come get your

rock on. 9pm / No cover

wayNe BaRgeN / Prairie Ink — A finger-

style acoustic guitar player. 8pm / No cover

DJ alBeRT, BouNCe! / Freehouse — Spin-

ning tunes to move you. 9pm / No cover

JoMaMa / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ good

time at Stan’s. 9:30pm / No cover



DJ aNCHoR / Sutherland Bar — It’s the

video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD

HoliDay gospel speCTaCulaR / TCU

Place — Holiday classics. 7:30pm / $11+

saTuRDay NigHT soCial / Tequila — Elec-

tronic Saturdays will have you moving and

grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ THoRpDeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning

hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD

Bill DuRsT / Vangelis — One of the best

blues singers/guitarists/entertainers any-

where. 9pm / Cover TBD


22noV 29 – dec 5


hy? That’s the first

thought that came to mind when I heard that Spike Lee was remaking Korean director Park Chan-wook’s 2003 cult classic, Oldboy.

Why, oh goddamn why?The first Oldboy was the kind of

movie that blows your hair back. That quickens your pulse and leaves you numb after the end credits roll. It was a powerful, poetic, cruel, unusual, beautiful and disturbing tale of revenge and loss. Think Antigone. Think Oedipus Rex. Think the very essence of Greek tragedy. The way it leaves you feeling uneasy, the way it makes you think, the way there is no clear cut good and evil, and every last person must pay for their sins.

Think all that, toss in some of the most shockingly violent scenes in movie history, and you’ll just begin to scratch the surface of how powerful the original Oldboy was.

Spike Lee’s remake? Not so much.In Lee’s version, the original

protagonist Oh Dae-su is replaced by an alcoholic brute named Joe (Josh Brolin). One night Joe is out carousing as usual and is kidnapped. He wakes

up in a prison cell that’s made to look like a hotel room. He has no idea why he’s there or who put him there. For the next 20 years he’s held captive in that room. Just him, a bed and a TV

set. No windows or phone in sight. Slowly, through watching television, he realizes his wife has been killed, and the police think he did it.

Time passes slowly for Joe. So he starts working out in the cell, teaching himself martial arts. Then one day, out of the blue, he’s released. Again he has no knowledge as to why he’s been released. From that point on he’s hellbent on discovering who did this to him. When he finally does, the question moves from who locked him

up to why he was locked up in the first place.

The rest of the film unfolds with Joe searching for this answer.

This is the exact same story that Park Chan-wook told in 2003. But there are two main differences be-tween the two.

One, Park Chan-wook was more concerned with his hero’s (if you can call him that) state of mind. Look-ing back on the past and forward to the future, Oh Dae-su is filled with gut-wrenching anguish and psycho-logical despair. It was a character study unlike you’ve ever seen. In Lee’s version, he doesn’t bother with all that stuff. Instead, he streamlines the movie, takes the viewer out of Joe’s mind and instead focuses on the external violence it creates. Which, without the mental turmoil, seems superficial and contrived.

The other difference is the ending. Without spoiling either film for any-

body, know this: the original Oldboy’s ending is the kind of ending that punches you in the gut. Lee’s ending is more of a flick in the ear. It lacks the oomph and dynamism of the original.

In short, if you have already seen the first Oldboy, move on. There’s nothing new or better to see here. If you haven’t, don’t bother with the remake. Go directly to Park Chan-

wook’s version and get ready to be blown away.

Film

Photo: courtesy of uNIversal stuDIos

w

spike lee’s remake of korean cult classic is lacking by aDam hawbolDt

oldboy

directed by Josh Brolin, Elizabeth

Olsen + Samuel L. Jackson

starring Spike Lee

120 minutes | 18a

a dull old boy

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


in short, if you have already seen the first Oldboy, move on. there’s nothing new…

aDam hawbolDt

/Verbsaskatoon entertainment

23noV 29 – dec 5


alone at searobert redford turns in compelling performance in All Is Lost by aDam hawbolDt

r obert Redford has worn many hats in his career.

In the early going we saw Hollywood’s beautiful golden boy light up the screen in movies like The Chase and Barefoot in the Park. Then we saw him as a big-time, old-school movie star knock-ing off classics like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All The President’s Men. After that we saw (or didn’t see) him behind the camera of terrific flicks, like Ordinary People, Quiz Show and A River Runs Through It.

Yesiree, we’ve seen Robert Redford in many forms. But in his new movie, All Is Lost, we’ve never seen him quite like this before.

The movie begins with a voice-over prelude in which a man (Redford) — who is sailing a yacht, alone, through

the Indian Ocean — reads a letter apologizing to his family.

After that not much else is said.To say All Is Lost is a film of few

words is a gross understatement. Seriously. After the prelude there are only about two lines of dia-logue throughout the entire thing. A failed S.O.S. call and a parched-

throat attempt at swearing. That’s about it.

Directed by J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost is an uber-minimalist entry into the man-lost-at-sea film genre. And it’s a pretty dang good entry to boot.

The story begins with Our Man (that’s the only name by which we know Redford’s character) waking up one morning to find his yacht taking on water. Apparently, his ship smashed into a wayward metal container while he was sleeping, the kind you’d find on a cargo ship, which has punched a hole in his yacht just above the water line.

In a situation like this — adrift alone in the Indian Ocean with a gash in your boat — most people would panic. Not Our Man. He cooly and calmly goes about mixing a batch of compound and gets to sealing the hole.

But the leak worsens and the problems begin to pile up. His radio doesn’t work, his bilge pump is miss-ing, and the boat keeps taking on water. And through it all, there’s Our Man, cool as a cucumber, trying to remedy his situation and check off all the boxes on his what-to-do-to-keep-this-vessel-from-sinking list.

All to no avail, though. Eventually the yacht sinks and Our Man finds himself adrift at sea in a rubber life raft. What happens after that, well, you’ll have to watch to find out.

And All Is Lost is most certainly worth a watch. It has the kind of tense, dynamic existential narrative that will keep you captivated.

It also has Robert Redford. The entire movie hinges on his ability to keep your attention without say-ing much of anything. And do you know what? He pulls it off without a hitch. His charisma and screen presence pull you into the story and never really let go.

All Is Lost may not go down as the best movie of the year, but it is indeed a bold, minimalist experi-ment that makes something like Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea seem downright chatty.

And that’s saying something — in a good way.

All is Lost is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

all is lost

directed by J.C. Chandor

starring Robert Redford

106 minutes | g

Photo: courtesy of fIlm NatIoN eNtertaINmeNt

[redford’s] charisma and screen presence pull you into the story and never really let go.

aDam hawbolDt

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


Verbnews.comentertainment contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

24noV 29 – dec 5


nightliFe

sunday, november 24 @

tcu placeTCU Place35 22nd Street East(306) 975 7777

CHeCk ouT ouR faCeBook page! These photos will be uploaded to

Facebook on Friday, December 6.

facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

@Verbsaskatoon entertainmentcontents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout

25noV 29 – dec 5

Photography by Patrick Carley


26noV 29 – dec 5


Photography by Patrick Carley

nightliFe

entertainment

27noV 29 – dec 5


nightliFe sunday, november 24 @

red zoneRed Zone Premium Sports Bar106 Circle Drive West(306) 978 6514

Photography by opalsnaps.com


28noV 29 – dec 5



entertainment

29noV 29 – dec 5

contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout@Verbsaskatoon

CHeCk ouT ouR faCeBook page! These photos will be uploaded to

Facebook on Friday, December 6.

facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by opalsnaps.com

Verbnews.com

© elaine m. will | blog.e2w-illustration.com | check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!

contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeoutentertainment

30noV 29 – dec 5

comics

/Verbsaskatoon contents local editorial comments Q + a arts Feature Food + drink music listings Film nightliFe comics timeout entertainment

31noV 29 – dec 5

horoscopes november 29 – deCember 5

sudoku crossword answer key

a b

aries march 21–april 19

You may have met someone new

recently. If so, give that person a

chance — you might be surprised where

it takes you.

taurus april 20–may 20

Your mind may have a tendency

to wander later this week, Taurus.

Do your best to stay focused. There’s

something that needs your attention.

gemini may 21–June 20

This is one of those weeks where

you should do instead of think.

Action is the operative word, Gemini, so

get out there.

cancer June 21–July 22

Be careful of declaring bold

statements this week, Cancer. The

reaction that you get may not be the one

you desire.

leo July 23–august 22

A week of new beginnings, that’s

what this one is shaping up to be,

Leo. Embrace change and accept new

people into your life.

virgo august 23–september 22

Indecisiveness will not treat you

well this week, Virgo. Instead,

make up your mind and stick firmly to

your choices.

libra september 23–october 23

This is going to be one of those

weeks when nothing goes accord-

ing to plan, Libra, despite all your efforts.

Deal with it.

scorpio october 24–November 22

You may want to make a moun-

tain out of a mole hill this week,

Scorpio, but that won’t get you anywhere.

Try not to overreact.

sagittarius November 23–December 21

Something that you want to

keep private may be made very

public this week, Sagittarius. Try to be

prepared for it.

capricorn December 22–January 19

Life may become hectic this week,

Capricorn. Don’t lose touch with

the things that keep you grounded, and

remember all will even out eventually.

aquarius January 20–february 19

Have you been on the fence about

something, Aquarius? Unable to

choose a course of action? It’s time to pick

a side and take charge.

pisces february 20–march 20

The best thing for you to do this

week, Pisces, is sit back and go

with the flow. No sense in beating your

head against a wall.

sudoku answer key

2 9 7 5 34 5 9 8 2 2 8 3 8 4 6 2 5 4 9 7 3 1 63 7 6 9 1 5 1 8 1 6 4 7

2 4 5 6 7 9 8 57 5 1 3 3 2 1 4 8 9 6 8 2 5 1 4 3 1 4 6 7 6 3 9 8 7 2 9

crossword Canadian Criss-Cross

across 1. File folder features

5. There are five per foot

9. Arum lily

10. Organic compound

12. Concerning this, in law

13. Mercury, for one

15. Illustrative material

16. Gem carved in relief

18. Title of respect

19. Monetary unit of Oman

21. Fish eggs

22. Cooked adequately

23. Anatomical model

of the body

25. Short and sweet

26. Municipality in British

Columbia

28. It holds water

31. Anthology of the

works of one author

35. Very much

36. A man who is vain

about his appearance

37. Talking bird

38. Offense against God

39. Comic strip section

41. Bowling target

42. Warm weather shoe

44. Take turns

46. Quickly browns meat

47. Busy

48. Cheeky child

49. Camera attachment

down 1. Kilt pattern

2. Malt beverage

3. Allied group

4. African sightseeing trips

5. Conical dwelling

6. 1952 Olympics site

7. Seventh Greek letter

8. Photoelectric cell

9. Glass-polishing powder

11. Straps for riders

12. Lay a finger on

14. Place for a house

17. Rainy season

20. Maximum amount

allowed

22. Jeans fabric

24. One’s relatives collectively

25. Heavy weight

27. Jeopardize

28. Barbershop quartet

member

29. Name that is different than

a person’s birth name

30. Fourteen line poem

32. Go around instead of

through

33. Bring together

34. Compos mentis

36. Answer choice on a test

39. Put a car in a space

temporarily

40. Without companionship

43. Twenty-four hours

45. Wine cask

timeout

© walter d. feener 2013

a

b

2 1 8 4 9 7 5 6 34 5 9 3 8 6 7 2 17 3 6 2 1 5 4 8 95 9 3 8 6 1 2 7 41 6 2 7 5 4 9 3 88 7 4 9 2 3 1 5 63 2 7 6 4 9 8 1 56 4 5 1 7 8 3 9 29 8 1 5 3 2 6 4 7

2 4 5 3 6 8 7 1 93 1 6 9 2 7 4 8 57 9 8 5 4 1 3 2 64 6 3 1 9 2 8 5 71 5 7 4 8 3 9 6 28 2 9 6 7 5 1 3 49 3 1 2 5 4 6 7 86 7 2 8 3 9 5 4 15 8 4 7 1 6 2 9 3

Verbnews.com

verb issue s268 (nov. 29-dec. 5, 2013)

Documents

onhy comics

comics journal

best american comics

reginas dakota mcfadzean

q anightlife photos

comic book artist

comic book scene

ghost rabbit