ISSUE #51 – OCTOBER 26 TO NOVEMBER 1

GHOST HUNTERS Paranormal activity in the prairies

RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE On finding connection

CLOUD ATLAS + THE IMPOSTER Films reviewed

NEWBEGINNINGSWITH PLANTS AND ANIMALS

PHOTO: COURTESY OF EMI MUSIC

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CULTURE ENTERTAINMENTNEWS + OPINION

MIRACULOUS TRANSFORMATIONEnvisioning event spaces. 3 / LOCAL

GHOST HUNTERSExploring paranormal activity in the prairies. 4 / LOCAL

THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING! How to survive an uprising of the undead. 6 / EDITORIAL

COMMENTSHere’s what you thought about Kelly Block’s mail-out. 7 / COMMENTS

Q + A WITH RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGEOn finding connection. 8 / Q + A

NIGHTLIFE PHOTOS We visit The Cathedral Freehouse. 15 / NIGHTLIFE

LIVE MUSIC LISTINGSLocal music listings for October 26 through November 3. 14 / LISTINGS

CLOUD ATLAS + THE IMPOSTER We review the latest movies. 16 / FILM

ON THE BUS Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 18 / COMICS

IN FLANDERS FIELDSThe untold story of John McCrae. 9 / ARTS

DO SVIDANIYAThis week we visit the Russian Style Cafe + Deli. 12 / FOOD + DRINK

MUSICBig Sugar, Rah Rah + Kreayshawn. 13 / MUSIC

THE FOX WILL FLYFlying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers on overcoming the odds. 9 / ARTS

GAME + HOROSCOPESCanadian criss-cross puzzle, weekly horoscopes and Sudoku. 19 / TIMEOUT

ON THE COVER: PLANTS AND ANIMALSA new beginning for these Canadian rockers. 10 / COVER

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MIRACULOUS TRANSFORMATIONHow an old church became a new event space. BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

We just wanted to honour the artist. These people are fantastically talented…

CHAD JACKLIN

he Artesian on 13th is many things to many different people. For

music fans, it is the perfect setting for an evening of tender melodies and insightful lyrics. For local co-medians and actors, dancers and artists, it is the ideal performance hall. For residents of Cathedral Village, it is an anchor, a place where people from across the city meet and engage and celebrate. For Chad Jacklin, the Artesian on

13th is the realization of a vision that began with a big concert in a little art gallery.

“With Mysteria, we do rotating art shows,” Jacklin says of the gallery he opened with his partner, Marlo Gebhardt. “We got offers from a few people to do little performances. New Dance Horizons did a dance performance up there one time, and before Fringe we had a workshopped play up there.” Mysteria is an art gallery, not a concert hall. Eventually, the demand for performance space outstripped the confines of the space. In July 2008 the Lazy MKs, a local band and longtime friends of Jacklin and Gebhardt, took over the gallery

for a three-night spectacular of music and film. The shows were successful, but the number of people wedged into the gallery prompted Jacklin to consider a more spacious facility. “We’ve got such great talent in this city,” he says. “We naïvely thought, ‘What if we had a bigger space to do this?’”

Soon, Jacklin and Gebhardt were entranced by the notion of a dedi-cated venue. But, Jacklin laughs, “We had no idea what we were getting

ourselves into.” Jacklin and Gebhardt looked at buildings across the city; none were satisfactory. Eventually, they began to consider that the ideal venue simply didn’t exist.

One afternoon in 2009, the pastor at Calvary Evangelical Church, which sits on the corner of 13th and Angus, walked into Iannone’s Footwear and Shoe Clinic. A conversation ensued; the pastor made an offhand remark about looking for someone to buy the church. Chris Iannone, the proprietor, knew Jacklin and Gebhardt. When the pastor left, he hurried over to Mysteria. “It happened by accident,”

Jacklin recalls. “Chris came over and told us about it, and then we took it from there.”

Jacklin’s first impression of the old church was overwhelmingly posi-tive. “Love at first sight,” he laughs. “Back in the fifties, when this one was built, they knew how to make acoustics work so you could be heard in the place.” The church seemed like a perfect match. It had high ceilings and a green room, a big basement and a perfect foyer. Jacklin and Gebhardt were sold. “We could have essentially painted the place and opened it up and started operating,” Jacklin recalls. But that wasn’t good enough. Instead, they embarked on an odyssey of renovations. They fixed the leaky steeple, replaced the carpet, which was a particularly vulgar shade of electric blue, and insulated the basement. Jacklin also made use of reclaimed materials where he could.

“That’s something I’ve been in-volved with forever,” he says. He res-cued the front doors from Herchmer School and framed the entrance with beams from an old grain elevator. The tin ceiling in the foyer came from a building in Wolseley. But Jacklin’s favourite pieces are the doors to the performance hall, which came from Marian High School. “I’ve had those probably about eight years,” he says. “They were in pretty rough shape.”

The Artesian on 13th opened on May 1, 2010. They named it for a free-flowing

underground aquifer, a reference to the river of talent flowing through Re-gina. The first performance was given by the Lazy MKs. “We had planned the concert and a few things came up and delayed us,” Jacklin says. “We finished literally hours before … it was quite emotional.”

Since opening night, the Artesian has hosted dozens of events. More importantly, the building has become an anchor for the city and the wider arts community. Although Jacklin says many artists avoided Regina because there was not a suitable venue, he did not set out to create a thriving social hub. “We get so many great comments from people … on how important to the neighbourhood [the space] is,” he says. “It’s quite humbling.”

The Artesian was designed to be an event space; it evolved into something much more than that. Today, artists and musicians from across North America send Jacklin e-mails. “We opened ourselves up to a huge amount of talent we didn’t know existed,” Jacklin says. “We just wanted to honour the artist. These people are fantastically talented, and we wanted to experience everything that they had. And that’s what our place has become — a place where people want to listen.”

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GHOST HUNTERSA new TV series explores paranormal activity on the prairies. BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

T he first time Bill Con-nelly saw a ghost he was eight years old.

It was evening and Connelly was downstairs in his father’s funeral home in Edmonton. The house was silent, save for young Billy tinkering with a tune on the organ.

When it was time for bed, Connelly made his way through the house, turning off lights as he walked. Before heading upstairs, though, Connelly stopped at the entrance of one of the viewing rooms. Earlier in the day he’d seen a teenager there, maybe 18 or 19 years old, lying in the casket.

This piqued Connelly’s interest.“You’re used to seeing old people

in the caskets,” says Connelly, “so when I saw that teenager, it affected me. I remember thinking earlier in the day that it was sad for someone that young to be lying there.”

Connelly stopped to take one last look in the teenager’s viewing room before retiring for the night. What he saw he’ll never forget.

“The casket lid was wide open. Normally they close it,” remembers Connelly. “And as I’m walking up to the room I see someone standing there. It’s the guy in the casket look-ing down at himself … staring at his own body.”

Now, in a situation like that most people would scream to the high heavens and hightail it out of there. Bill Connelly is not most people. Hav-

ing come from a long line of under-takers, the young boy was instilled with a deep and sincere respect for the dead. These people in the fu-neral home were, after all, someone’s mother or father or sister.

“So I slowly turned off the last light,” says Connelly, “then I walked away … then I ran.”

But Connelly wasn’t terrified of what he saw.

Quite the contrary. That night — that first time he saw a ghost — a ball was set in motion that is rolling still.

Jump ahead a couple of decades to present day.

Connelly has been a paranormal investigator for close to 18 years, during which he’s encountered numerous spirits and energies. Yet no matter how close he’s gotten, no mat-ter what he’s seen or felt or sensed, Connelly remains a skeptic. He’s skeptical of the feelings and energies he picks up naturally, and believes there are some things you just can’t explain physically.

“You can tell someone you saw a ghost,” he says, “but how do you prove it?”

The answer to that — at least if you’re Connelly — is to use electron-ic equipment, like the SB7 Spirit Box, EMF Detectors and crystal resona-tor bracelets. “For me, it’s all about proof,” says Connelly. “When I’m in a place I can feel, can sense, certain

things. But I need to use this equip-ment to validate these feelings.”

And it is this adherence to scien-tific qualification of the paranormal that has landed Connelly a role on the upcoming television series The Other Side.

Created by Saskatoon’s Angel Enter-tainment, The Other Side is a 13-part documentary series that follows a team of paranormal researchers as they seek the truth behind real-life hauntings from Regina to Saskatoon to Drumheller, Alberta.

The series was the brainchild of Jennifer Podemski — one of the producers of the supernatural drama Rabbit Fall.

“We have a close working re-lationship with Jennifer,” says The Other Side producer Bob Crowe, “but when she called and said she had an idea for a paranormal investigation show we were like ‘yawn … ho hum … it’s all been done before.’”

Boy, were they wrong!In the aboriginal world spirits are

taken as a given, Podemski informed them. They walk among us, they’re so accepted there’s a kind of protocol on how to deal with them.

This was the angle her proposed show would take. This is what would separate The Other Side from all the other paranormal reality programs out there. Needless to say, Crowe liked the idea. As did those

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At first, whatever we were dealing with was a real terror. One night it leapt into my body…

BILL CONNELLY

working at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

“The first thing we did was cast Jeff Richards, a paranormal worker with Aboriginal roots,” explains Crowe. “Then we took the package to APTN, pitched the show and they

loved it. Only took them about five minutes to make up their minds.”

With Richards on board as the resident mentalist, the group needed someone to play off and/or against him. They needed someone with a scientific bent.

And that’s where Connelly en-tered the equation.

“We wanted balance,” says Crowe. “Jeff covers the psychic, para-normal realm, and we wanted Bill to be the scientific guy. He’s the guy who, if he doesn’t see it on his equip-ment, doesn’t believe it. He needs the hard evidence. Together, these guys have chemistry. They are in tense situations and there are sparks … that’s TV gold.” Toss in journalist Priscilla Wolf and Aboriginal Elder

Tom Charles to lead the expedition, and Crowe and company had them-selves one heckuva show.

Still, the producers of The Other Side weren’t without reservations.

“Our biggest fear is we’d get all our financing together, get a cast and

crew, then send them out and noth-ing would happen,” says Crowe.

They needn’t have worried.

In cities and small towns across Saskatchewan, The Other Side’s team of paranormal investigators tracked down a host of spirits and ghosts.

But none were as impressive as the one they encountered at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon, which is generally regard-ed as one of the most haunted locales on the prairies.

“We made a huge discovery there,” says Connelly.

The kind of discovery that — much like Connelly’s first run-in with that spirit in the funeral home — he

will never forget. “At first, whatever we were dealing with was a real terror,” says Connelly. “One night it leapt into my body … My hair was standing up on end. Then I got cold because what it was doing was tak-ing the energy out of the atmosphere, creating cold spots … From the tips of my toes to my head the energy was being sucked out of me.”

This made Connelly mad.“Get the f*ck off me, get the f*ck

off me” he recalls screaming, as he tried to break free.

But the spirit didn’t listen. In a last-ditch attempt, Connelly

ran outside for a breather. The gambit worked and things returned to nor-mal — that is, until Connelly woke up the next morning.

“I had tingles throughout my whole body,” he remembers.

“When I woke up my entire leg was numb. To this day the tip of my toes are still a bit numb because of that experience.”

Lucky for Connelly and the rest of the crew, after weeks of investi-gating the museum, the spirit grew lest hostile and, eventually, they were able to conduct something of an in-depth investigation.

“It wasn’t a residual energy we were dealing with, it was conscious,” explains Connelly.

“It would answer questions. I asked if it was hard for him to hear us; he said yes. I asked if he remem-bered what it was to like to look with

your physical eyes and if that’s what he saw; he said no.”

Connelly continued to ask the spirit a multitude of other questions about his birth and death and where he’s buried.

Soon, the ghost hunters were able to identify the spirit, though his identity is being kept tightly under wraps, until The Other Side premiers next year.

Until then, Connelly will be do-ing what he does best — hunting ghosts while trying to answer a lot of questions he still has about the spirit world.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE OTHER SIDE

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nyone who has paid at-tention to the news this year knows the zombie

apocalypse is well on its way.Think about it: in Florida, a man

bit a chunk out of another man’s arm, then powered through a road-block of cop tasers. In Baltimore, another guy ate his roommate’s heart and brain. And in Florida, a third tried to eat his neighbour’s face.

If that’s not proof enough, dear reader, we don’t know what is. And we feel it’s time to plan for the inevi-table. It’s not all doom and gloom, though: the good news is, you’re in Saskatchewan! Our lovely province offers a host of benefits to getting out from under a zombie uprising, so here’s what you’ve got to do.

First up: the basics. Get in shape (there’s going to be running), get

supplies (you’re not going to want to starve), and get some weapons (you’re not going to be able to talk your way out of this one). You’ll also want to consider your clothing. Sneakers, layers and camouflage are three key words you should keep in mind when dressing for the zombie apocalypse. Remember: This is not a fashion show! You want to stay alive (and let’s face it: warm), not neces-sarily look good. Though if you can pull off both, then kudos.

Okay. You’re packed, clothed, and in shape. So what do you do once the walking dead start invading Re-gina? Well, it’d be wise to surround yourself with a group of people you can trust. You’ll want people who are good with a gun and have a strong desire to live. And on a side note: it wouldn’t be the worst idea to have

a few geriatrics, maybe a handful of people who can’t run as quickly in your group for, uh, distraction pur-poses. Hey, we never said surviving a zombie apocalypse was going to be pretty.

Next: get the hell out of the city. More people equals a greater chance of being bit by a zombie, so you’re going to want to get out of any heavily populated areas. Good thing Saskatchewan abounds with wide open spaces! So where should you go? Well, we already have a place staked out. And even though we can’t tell you the exact location (un-less you’re a good runner, know your way around a gun and can start fire from pretty much nothing) we can say this: it’s on an island in a lake in northern Saskatchewan.

Why an island? That’s simple:

zombies are notoriously bad swim-mers. Our province plays host to a myriad of lakes, so there shouldn’t be any scrapping over a viable loca-tion for a survivalist outpost. Once you’re on an island, you’ll want to get busy building a fortress. If possible put it on stilts because, you guessed it, zombies are also pretty terrible climbers. When everything is set up, it’s time to hunker down and defend your plot. Don’t worry, though! The zombies won’t be around for long. See, the walking dead don’t deal well with the cold. In fact, many theorize that zombies freeze when the tem-perature drops, so you’ll only have to hold them off for a while. Because if there’s one thing that’s certain around here, it’s winter.

Once the zombies are frozen, you’ll have to go out, restock and get all your work done in the frigid months, because once spring thaw hits, it’s go time! Again and again. Until either you rid the world of zombies or they rid it of you. Good luck!

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

A

THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING!Saskatchewan offers untold benefits to survive an uprising of the undead.

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COMMENTS

ON TOPIC: Last week we asked what you thought about Kelly Block’s mail-out. Here's what you had to say:

Text your thoughts to881 VERB8372

– Your editorial is off the mark. This is not about denying emer-gency, lifesaving health care to refugees. Rhetoric aside, should refugees receive free elective health care services, such as dental and glasses, that the rest of Cana-dians must pay for?

– All of Kelly Block’s mailings find their way to the garbage. I contacted her to say I don’t care to receive them and I still get them in the mail!

– Good editorial “unwelcome wagon”.

– Block is a total disgrace. Way to show everyone how progressive you can be Saskatchewan!

– Kelly Block was behaving despicably. And before everyone cries out about helping “actual” ca-nadians look around: pretty much every single one of us came to this country at one point or another. So why not reach out a helping hand to someone who is in a position we or our families all were once in at some point?

– Block is a total embarassment.

– Verb editorial say “give constitu-ents cold hard facts”. Great point. But the Harper government hates facts. If you believe it must be fact.

– In this world of everyone being politically correct, i have to ask, why do we as canadians take bet-ter care of and seem to give more rights to people not from canada

than those who were born here and need our help??? Kelly Block was looking out for canadians born and bred! Way to go Kelly, u got it right!

OFF TOPIC

– Cool story on Brett McCormick I remember hearing about his accident. Good to know he’s doing well.

In response to “Racing to Recovery,” Local

page, #50 (October 19, 2012)

SOUND OFF

– Instead of seeing the food ham-pers as half empty, let’s start seeing them as half full. Whether you are a recipient or donator, we have lots to be thankful for. Let’s help each other out.

– Saw a doc last night. Superior feeling white people actually got sick stayed in bed when Obama was elected. All the systems they put in place to protect their white presidents from minorities now protect Obama from them. Too rich!

– Saw adam hawboldts haiku on the bus today.... its amazing

– Elvis is alive I’m really really sure

– The stupidest most loser thing of all is we go around the world trying to sell this system this way of life to other nations. Violence poverty corruption health and drug epidemics loners who pop and kill dozens all kinds of abuse of women and children racism so

rank it shows as clear class and life expectancy differences greed that brings down global economies burning the life of the planet like a stick of wood. Yeah sure! Sure! Other nations and Other nations and peoples want in on that!

– I always knew we were all here from the future!

– Ah crap the candidates I vote for or other ridings I want to win never do! That bites so much in a lifetime in a democracy!

– Things are looking UP DOWN-town.

– You’re probably DOWNtown when you’re reading texts in the Verb.

– I HATE WHEN PEOPLE COM-PLAIN ABOUT THE SNOW. THIS IS CANADA! WE GET SNOW!

– Here’s a tip for everyone living in an old dive. Compact fluorescent lights make lots of UV light and a small amount of ozone. Deodor-izes a room. Run em 24/7

– Verb has too many ads and not enough content.

– Man they’re all so good looking on the series “Heartland”. That would be a hot ranch to live on. A guy might even get a little “Broke-back” with Grampa!

– Its getting a little better but Sask is still really bad for people with

no post secondary or professional ed in jobs over their head. We all pay for this.

– Ever pay attention to how often you use me my or I in describing your life or career goals? It often sounds very self-interested from the outside don’t it?

NEXT WEEK: How would you survive a zombie apocalypse in the prairies? Pick up a copy of 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.

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SOMETHING TO GRAB ON TO The Rural Alberta Advantage and the search for connection. BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PH / PENDING

he Rural Alberta Ad-vantage got it wrong. There is not just one

advantage to their music; there are many. After honing their skills at a Toronto open mic night that no one ever went to, the RAA emerged as one of the most dynamic and exciting three-piece acts in the country. I called Nils Edenloff to find out just how his band makes so much with so little.

Alex J MacPherson: Is playing as a three-piece important to your sound?

Nils Edenloff: I think it’s just something that evolved over time. Initially, people were scratching their

heads. The band more or less evolved out of Paul and I hosting an open mic night, an open mic night that no one went to, so he and I would have to play for hours. It was me playing guitar and Paul playing on a super small drum kit, trying to make as much sound as possible. From there

we started playing more shows, but it got to the point where we needed someone else to fill it out — so we brought Amy in.

AJM: More importantly, though, no other three-piece sounds like the RAA.

NE: I’m glad that we kind of have our own unique sound, to a certain

degree. I think that’s something that tends to get lost with a lot of modern music. Once you hear a band, you should be able to identify … what that band is — recognize their sound. AJM: How important was that open mic night to your success today?

NE: That’s incredibly important. There are so many bands that start

up, and they’re sort of finding their feet in front of crowds of people … We played a ton of shows before anyone really cared. I feel like the open mic experience gave me a chance to discover … what worked well between Paul and myself.

AJM: One of the things I like about the RAA is how your music appeals to

so many different people. How do you describe the sound?

NE: I think, at the end of the day, we’re generally kind of a folky band that tries to convey our personal emo-tions in an intimate kind of way. And I think that’s something people have kind of latched on to. There is that im-mediacy to the music … I’ve noticed

with meeting fans … that there is a real visceral connection people have with the music — almost as much as I have to the songs we’re making. AJM: Is the rawness of your sound a big reason why people identify with it?

NE: I don’t think I’ve really consid-ered it in those terms. I totally agree: there’s something to the simplicity of our music … Because it starts with me on the guitar most of the time, a lot of the songs can be stripped down to me in a bedroom on an acoustic guitar.

There’s something people like about that. Like, ‘I can play this myself,’ … at the end of the day, someone can sing just as good as me.

The Rural Alberta Advantage November 2 @ Knox Metropolitan Church$25+ @ Globe Theatre Box Office

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[T]here is a real visceral connection people have with the music.

NILS EDENLOFF

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THE FOX WILL FLYHow a band from Winnipeg is overcoming the odds. BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

A ll that remains of John McCrae are fifteen short

lines of verse. McCrae penned them on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of a friend killed in the Second Battle of Ypres. McCrae would be dead less than three years later, tipped off the edge of the world by a bad case of pneumo-nia. But almost a century after the guns fell silent, his poem survives. “In Flanders Fields” is seared into our collective memo-ries, a fitting epitaph for those who died so young.

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful musi-cal,” says Robert Ursan of In Flanders Fields, a new production that traces the outline of McCrae’s life. “This show is the story, the life story, the things that led up to the writing of that poem — how John McCrae ended up where he was. It deals with his family. It deals with his relation-ship to a fiancée, and then how one

of his friends ended up with him at the Battle of Ypres.”

McCrae was born in Guelph, Ontario in 1872. The son of an army officer, McCrae was forced to bal-ance his artistic impulses against the expectations of not only his family, but society at large. He wanted to be a poet; his parents wanted him to be anything but. He chose to train as a physician, and served with the artillery during the Second Boer War before teaching medicine in Vermont and Montreal. Then, like so many others of his generation, he was swept up by the Great War.

Ursan, who is directing the pro-duction, is fascinated by the notion of experience. “One of the things that really attracted me to this story is the notion that some single event or some single creation in a person’s life is the culmination of their experience,” he says, pointing out that the poem, which was originally printed in Punch, was slow to gain

traction. “It may seem like it’s an in-credibly simple and simplistic poem, but the sentiment of it was good enough for it to be published along-side some of the greater writers of the last hundred years.”

In Flanders Fields adopts a stripped-down approach — three actors play all of the roles — to examine the idea of a single, time-less achievement. “It’s an incred-ibly emotional and vivid picture,” Ursan says. “Because it’s musical theatre, things are done in broad strokes, but it’s really, really lovely.” Ultimately, In Flanders Fields casts McCrae as an everyman, someone who achieved greatness in spite of the obstacles facing him. Just as his poem inspires people today, his story should serve as an inspiration — a torch to hold high.

In Flanders FieldsNovember 7-18 @ Artesian on 13th$20+ @ Artesian on 13th

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IN FLANDERS FIELDSThe untold story of John McCrae. BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

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indsey Collins is anxious. Over the last two years, he

and his bandmates in Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers have driven countless thousands of miles. They have played dozens of exhausting shows, each a raucous demonstration of how far pop mu-sic can be stretched. The pace has been grueling and now the edges are starting to fray.

“We’ve been struggling over the last two years,” says Collins, who plays bass in the Winnipeg-based

band. “We’ve had some shifting line-ups. We lost our keyboard player and our trombone player.” While working hard to get new musicians up to speed — the band’s music is neither straightforward nor easy to play — Flying Fox experienced a string of disappointing shows, sometimes playing for just a handful of people. “It’s a downer,” Collins says simply. This is surprising, because there is no good reason why any Flying Fox show should be described as a downer.

Born from a wonderfully twisted vision of operatic rock and fairy tale aesthetics, and realized as a fantasti-cal collection of symphonic stories ornamented with punchy brass and Jesse Krause’s baritone, each Flying Fox song is a rock opera in minia-ture. Their debut LP, Hans My Lion, combines driving rock instrumenta-

tion, ornate arrangements, and an unquenchable thirst for innovative pop songs. The band’s sound is as compelling as it is unusual.

“I love playing music,” Collins says. “I’m so excited about playing in this band, because these are by far the most talented people I’ve ever played with and I feel like we’ve got something unique to offer people. That’s what drives me to keep going.”

It is impossible to overstate the difficulties facing a band like Flying Fox, who rely on the record indus-try for support while existing on its fringes. But Collins is determined to press on. “Sometimes, you wonder at what point do the things piling up against you become enough that you go, ‘Alright, I guess we’ll not do that anymore?’” Collins muses. “We haven’t hit that point yet.”

The world is full of pop acts that

sound the same, but Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers sound like nothing you’ve heard before — which is why they are so much fun to listen to.

Collins may be anxious, but as long as there is an appetite for in-novative pop, the fox will continue to fly.

Flying Fox & the Hunter GatherersNovember 3 @ Happy Nun Cafe; Forget, SK.Tickets TBD

VERBNEWS.COM

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

CULTURE CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

10OCT 26 – NOV 1

y introduction to Plants and Animals came several years

ago when my cousin Aimée gave me a copy of Parc Avenue, their de-but album. Her partner owned the Montreal recording studio where Warren Spicer, Nicolas Basque, and Matthew Woodley cut the record. I listened to it obsessively, lusting over the wavering chords that open “Bye Bye Bye” and grooving to the syncopated madness of “Guru.” Months later, I had the chance to meet the band. Spicer probably doesn’t remember, but there is no reason why he should. He was a popular musician moments away from entertaining a capacity crowd; I was a skinny university student in glasses and a bad hair-cut. But Spicer made a big impres-sion. He was kind and generous with his beer, and as engaging as a musician can be seconds before the lights go down.

Since that night, I have followed Plants and Animals with not a little interest. I listened to La La Land when it came out in 2010. When their latest record, The End of That, came out a

few weeks ago, I was surprised to hear how far afield Spicer and his band-mates had taken their signature sound. Unlike Parc Avenue and La La Land, which took advantage of the novel tools available in a recording studio, The End of That was recorded live with few overdubs and minimal production. It was an attempt to capture a snapshot of the band working in 2011. “We just wanted to sound like us,” Spicer says. “I think in a lot of ways it’s the most transparent record that we’ve made. It certainly wasn’t overworked … We just recorded the songs.”

Plants and Animals demoed the record in Montreal before decamping to France, where they spent two weeks cutting the most vital tracks of their career. Today, Spicer struggles to accept the implications of working quickly. “We thought we gave ourselves a lot of time, but two weeks went by really quickly,” he says. “Part of me also felt like … I would have liked to have worked on certain things more, but … that never happened.”

Plants and Animals have been playing together for more than a

decade. Their current sound, a blend of straightforward rock and folk snatched from the sixties, offers little insight into their history. Plants and Animals did not begin life as a rock band; Plants and Animals began life as an instrumental jam band. Their first EP held a fifteen-minute song. And then Spicer started singing. Af-ter a second EP and a slew of shows in Montreal, Plants and Animals recorded Parc Avenue. The record was nominated for two Junos and the Polaris Music Prize. Their second full-length album, La La Land, was also nominated for the Polaris. It would have been easy for Spicer and his bandmates to recycle old templates for The End of That, but this would run counter to everything the band stands for.

“We’ve covered a lot of ground stylistically, and we’ve never cre-ated the right recipe and stuck with it,” he says. “I think part of making that record, The End of That, was definitely a commitment to make a record we knew wasn’t going to sound like popular music right now. We knew that it was different from what we’ve established before as

whatever Plants and Animals do.” Making The End of That was a risk, but it appears to have paid off. The new record sounds like one of the band’s renowned live performances: raw and powerful and charming. The

End of That begins with “Before,” a haunting ballad brimming with vocal harmonies and gently overdriven vacuum tubes. The title track features a searing guitar lick that fades into a laid-back groove complete with Spicer’s best Bob Dylan impres-sion. The song presents as an ode to cocaine but is more likely Spicer’s at-tempt to grapple with a period where he turned off the radio. (“Feeling like I couldn’t connect to anything,” he says.) “Lightshow” and “2010” return

to familiar territory: rock and roll country; “Control Me” feels like a nod to their jam band history — and a demonstration of just how well Spice, Basque, and Woodley can play their instruments. The intertwined

acoustic guitars, simple drumming, and vocal harmonies on “H.C.” rein-force the idea.

One thread running through the record is the notion of white space, a rarity in the age of heavily-produced studio masterpieces. The End of That is raw in the best sense of the word. Little mistakes and the idle hiss of a running amplifier add warmth and colour and soul. “That was our intention, to strip things down and not really get into a more constructed

M

THE END OF THAT A new beginning for Plants and Animals. BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

You can get sh*tty reviews … but if … your fans are happy, then you never need to be regarded by the critics.

WARREN SPICER

COVER

PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANAXOLOTI

/VERBREGINA CULTURECONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

11OCT 26 – NOV 1

PHOTO: COURTESY OF CAROLINE DESILETS

PHOTO: COURTESY OF WARREN SPICER

@MacPhersonA

amacpherson@verbnews.com

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

record,” Spicer says. “I think part of doing a record like that is accepting that you’re probably going to want to change things later on — but that’s not part of the deal. If you start re-tweaking everything and re-taking

everything, you get away from what we really wanted to do.”

Rather than spend countless hours obsessing over minuscule changes to a rimshot here and a guitar tone there, Spicer, Basque, and Woodley worked fast and loose. Ultimately, The End of That is brilliant because it feels rushed and sort of ragged, like a rock record should. It is rich and dynamic and visceral. Listening to it through a good pair of headphones feels like listening from

the control room. The simple ap-proach resulted in a big, live sound. But there is no question that The End of That is a different beast than either of its predecessors. Spicer is well aware of this. “If you are making dif-ferent records, you might lose a few fans if they wish your new record sounded more like your old record, but you’ll also pick up a bunch of new fans who didn’t necessarily con-nect to your first record,” he says. “I think our heart is in the music. I think ultimately that’s what people can relate to, more than other things.”

Today, Spicer, Basque, and Woodley are preparing for another trip across this country. It is a journey they have made many times before, but this time it’s different. Rehearsals have been much simpler. Parc Avenue and La La Land “were a little bit more about using the studio to create something that wasn’t really there without the studio,” Spicer says, adding that the songs on The End of That are “a lot easier because they were essentially recorded the way we planned to play them. In the past we had gone into

the studio and just pulled the song out of all different places, and when it came time to actually perform them we realized we would have to alter everything — or just forget about the original way we recorded them and just play the song.”

But that doesn’t mean playing the song is easy. The End of That is a rock solid record, its creators an impor-tant part of the Canadian musical landscape, but releasing records, especially innovative records, is always a gamble. Poor reviews can and do jeopardize careers. In fact, Spicer sounded mildly irritated when discussing the lacklustre reception The End of That received from some critics. However, he knows that a first-rate live performance is the best way to capture an audience.

“The only thing that really mat-ters is that people come to your shows,” he says. “You can get sh*tty reviews and you can never get put on the Polaris list your whole life, but if you go and sell out your shows and your fans are happy, then you never need to be regarded by the critics. Ultimately, the acclaim from people who actually like your music

is going to be a lot longer-lasting than critical acclaim.”

Earlier this year, Spicer stopped listening to music for awhile. “I just needed a break,” he says. “I couldn’t connect to anything.” Although he eventually started pulling records off the shelf again, it seems plain that Spicer’s return to music was inspired by the songs on The End of That. By creating a collection of honest,

genuine, authentic rock songs, Spicer inspired himself just as much as he inspired any of his fans.

Plants and AnimalsNovember 8 @ Artful Dodger$15 @ ticketedge.ca

VERBNEWS.COMCULTURE CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

12OCT 26 – NOV 1

DO SVIDANIYA

f I had a Russian grand-mother, I think the Russian Style Cafe and Deli is ex-

actly what her dining room would look like, complete with a few knickknacks here and there, and a homey, comfortable atmosphere — not to mention tons of delicious Russian food.

Guennadi Ostrikov opened the Russian Cafe a little over two years ago in order to bring Russian food and live traditional music (every Saturday) to Regina, and has created a vast menu that includes 12 kinds of perogies and a wide array of Russian dishes.

I started with a delicious and warming bowl of borscht served with

sour cream. The beautifully fragrant soup had big pieces of beets, cab-bage, potato, carrot, celery, red pep-per, and also some tender beef. This was wonderful borscht, even though it was different from what I’ve had in the past, and the thick sour cream gave it such a wonderful tang and comforting creaminess.

A stuffed pepper was next, and it was like a juicy mini meatloaf wrapped in a soft and sweet roasted red pepper. The beef, rice, and pork mixture that made up the filling was incredibly flavourful and warming — perfect for this time of year.

This was a bit similar to a meat-filled cabbage roll, but I really en-

joyed the added sweetness from the roasted pepper.

Classic Russian meat crepes were the last main I got to try, and the layers of thin crepes were stuffed with a wonderfully rich ground beef and fried onion mixture. This dish was nicely filling — very meat and potatoes with classic flavours and great textures.

Lastly I had a wonderful slice of Anechka honey cake with a cup of Russian coffee. The cake had layer upon layer of thin cake saturated with brandy and honey, which cloaked a creamy mix of sour cream, nuts, and prunes in between. The play of soft and creamy textures was just fantastic, and the aroma of honey and brandy was intoxicating. The dates and honey gave this cake such an intense sweetness that the aromatic and smooth coffee was a perfect accompaniment.

With such a friendly atmosphere and unique menu, the Russian Cafe is a must visit in Regina, especially if you

need a taste of the old country. What’s even better is that they also have a small store with freezers stocked with as many varieties of perogies as you can imagine, and shelves lined with imported Russian favourites. So sit down for some freshly cooked Russian dishes, and then pick some up to try another day.

Russian Style Cafe and Deli1640 Albert St. | 525 0505

Photography courtesy of Danielle Tocker

ISay goodbye to hunger at the Russian Style Cafe and Deli. BY JESSICA BICKFORD

[The] thin crepes were stuffed with a … ground beef and fried onion mixture.

JESSICA BICKFORD

LET’S GO DRINKIN’ VERB’S MIXOLOGY GUIDE

VODKA TONIC

Nothing could be more classic, or classier, than a vodka tonic. Simple, straightforward, cool and refreshing; this drink is full of possibilities depending on what you garnish it with.

INGREDIENTS

2 oz. vodka2-5 oz. tonic watericecucumber slices to garnish

DIRECTIONS

Put ice and cucumber slices into a highball glass, then add the vodka. Depending on how strong you like your drinks, add between two and five ounces of tonic water. Alternately garnish with lime or lemon wedges, other fruits like raspberries, or herbs such as mint or basil. Enjoy!

@TheGeekCooks

jbickford@verbnews.com

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

FOOD + DRINK

@VERBREGINA CULTURECONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

13OCT 26 – NOV 1

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST

COMING UPNEXT WEEK

BIG SUGAR

In the ‘90s and early 2000s, Big Sugar had quite a run. Their second album (Five Hundred Pounds) went gold, the next two records (Hemi-Vi-sion, Heated) were certified platinum, and their fifth studio LP went gold as well before they called it quits. But a decade later they reunited, and are currently in the middle of their cross-country Eliminate Ya! tour, visiting old favorite venues and bringing their blues/rock/reggae-tinged tunes to fans from coast to coast. Oh, and speaking of reggae, Big Sugar will be joined on tour by reggae legend Willi Williams — the guy who first wrote and performed the oft-covered “Ar-magideon Time.” Be sure to check out the show when it rolls into Regina. Tickets available at the Pump, the Tap offsale and World of Trout.

@ PUMP ROADHOUSESATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3 – $TBD

Is it just me, or is this Regina-based group getting better with age? From their first album (Going Steady) in 2008, to 2010’s Breaking Hearts and their brand new The Poet’s Dead, it seems as though the Rah Rah sound is maturing. Consisting of Marshall Burns, Erin Passmore, Kristina Hedlund, Joel Passmor, Leif Thorseth, Dan Crozier and Jeffrey Romanyk, this alt-rock/indie-pop act puts out songs that are at once both upbeat and lyrically sharp. On stage they ooze energy, swapping instruments and taking turns sing-ing — you name it. At the moment they’re playing shows in the US, but will be returning to Canada, and playing with Plants and Animals in November. Tickets available in advance at ticketedge.ca

RAH RAH

For this Oakland rapper (aka Natassia Gail Zolot), it all started with a YouTube video. Sure, in 2010 she released a mixtape called Kittys x Choppas, along with a music video for her song “Bumpin Bumpin.” But it wasn’t until she put another video on YouTube, “Gucci Gucci,” that she really got noticed. That video gener-ated millions of views and caught the attention of people at Columbia Re-cords, who gave Kreayshawn a deal to make a record. The result was an album called Somethin’ ‘Bout Kreay, which dropped in September. The LP hit #16 on U.S. rap charts and, so far, has produced two celebrated singles. She’ll be taking her act to Canada as part of a North American tour later this year. Tickets are available at www.gohard.kreayshawn.com.

– By Adam Hawboldt

KREAYSHAWN

@ THE ARTFUL DODGERTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – $15

@ THE EXCHANGEFRIDAY, DECEMBER 7 – $26 (ADVANCED)

SASK MUSIC PREVIEWSaskatchewan hip hop artist Ryan Stinson has just been awarded a MuchFACT grant to create a video for his song with Ghettosocks, “Melt.” The 28-yera-old hip hop producer has been creating beats since the late ‘90s, and is a three-time grant recipient of the Saskatchewan Arts Board. The video will be directed by Jason Levangie in Halifax..

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.orgPHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

MUSIC

VERBNEWS.COMENTERTAINMENT CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

14OCT 26 – NOV 1

The most complete live music listings for Regina.

OCTOBER 26 » NOVEMBER 3

26 27

2 331 129 3028

S M T W T

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

GET LISTED

layout@verbnews.com

LISTINGS

FRIDAY 26ASHLEY MACISAAC / Artesian — This

talent puts on a helluva show. 8pm / $33

advance, $38 door (pictatic.com)

SLIM CITY PICKERS / Artful Dodger —

This local group offers a foot-tapping

good time at their concerts. 7:30pm / $5

BOYZ II MEN / Casino Regina — This

Grammy-winning puts on a show you

can’t afford to skip.  8pm / SOLD OUT

EDEN ROHATENSKY / Creative City Cen-

tre — This local musician is releasing her

debut EP.  8pm  / Cover 10

DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This

DJ loves requests. As long as you’re danc-

ing, he’s happy. 10pm / Cover $5

MEGAN LANE / The Gaslight Sallon —

Mixing blues, soul and rock, this musi-

cian is all kinds of good. 10pm DJ Pat &

DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail

Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every

Friday. 9pm / $5 cover

ALAIN LALONDE / The Hookah Lounge

— Come check out this dope local DJ/

producer. 7pm

SLOW MOTION WALTER / McNally’s Tav-

ern — Playing hits from the ‘80s to today.

10pm / $5

ALBERT / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing

every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover

DANGEROUS CHEESE / The Sip — If the

‘80s are your thing, don’t miss his quirky

party band. 10pm / No charge if in at-

tendance before 6pm

BRANDY MOORE / Smokin’ Okies BBQ —

Live tunes in Queen City. 8pm / Cover $5

SARAH BETH KEELEY / Whiskey Saloon —

Country meets rock, with smattering of

pop. 8pm / Cover $5 

DJ LONGHORN / Whiskey Saloon —

Come check out one of Regina’s most

interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover $10

SATURDAY 27DEL BARBER / The Artful Dodger — An

alt-country/ folk singer/songwriter ooz-

ing talent and stage presence. 7:30pm /

$10 advance (ticketedge.ca); $15 door

RSO MASTERWORKS: RUSSIA’S GREAT-EST / Conexus Arts Centre — Featuring

Korea’s Zheeyoung Moon. 8pm / Tickets

$33-63 (www.reginasymphony.com)

THE EMPIRE ASSOCIATES, MEGHAN BOW-MAN, KEIFFER MCLEAN / Creative City

Centre — Three great Saskatchewan acts

on one stage. 8pm / Cover $10

DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This

DJ loves requests. 10pm / Cover $5

FEAST OF SCREAMS 2012  / The Exchange

— Featuring Threat Signal, End Program,

Fuqoured, Itchy Stitches and more! 8pm /

Tickets $10 (available at Vintage Vinyl)

MAGNETIC / The Gaslight Saloon — This

heavy metal infused rock band never

fails to entertain. 9pm / Cover TBD

DJ NOOR / The Hookah Lounge — This

talented DJ knows how to rock. 7pm / $5

SLOW MOTION WALTER / McNally’s Tav-

ern — Playing hits from the ‘80s to today.

10pm / Cover $5

BULL NORTH + MORE / O’Hanlon’s — Fun

and funky music. 9pm / No cover

DREWSKI / Pure — Doing what he does

best, every Saturday night. 10pm / $5

DANGEROUS CHEESE / The Sip — Don’t

miss this quirky party band. 10pm /No

charge if in attendance by 6pm

OPEN JAM SESSIONS / Smokin’ Okies

BBQ — Drop by for a jam or to just listen.

3pm / No cover

SARAH BETH KEELEY / Whiskey Saloon —

Country meets rock, with smattering of

pop. 8pm / Cover $5 

MONDAY 29MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ AND BLUES / Bush-

wakker Brewpub — Featuring Uptown

Jazz. 8pm / No cover

THE FUGITIVES / Casino Regina — A four-

piece polka band from Manitoba 7pm /

$10 (www.casinoregina.com)

BELLITA Y JAZZTUMBATA / The Exchange

— A night of hard-hitting Afro-Cuban-

Fusion jazz. 8pm / Tickets TBD

TUESDAY 30JORDAN KLASSEN, MIKE EDEL, DANNY GOERTZ / The Artful Dodger — Three

terrific acts in one night. 7:30pm / $5

advance (ticketedge.ca), $10 at the door

TROUBADOUR TUESDAYS / Bocados —

Live tunes from local talents every week.

8pm / No cover

MICHELLE WRIGHT / Casino Regina

— Don’t miss this Canadian Country

Music Hall of Famer. 7pm / Tickers $30+

(casinoregina.com)

THE STANFIELDS / The Exchange — This

east coast band is hella good. 8pm / $10

(ticketedge.ca)

KARAOKE TUESDAY / McNally’s Tavern —

Live music venue offers patrons a chance

to share the stage. 8pm / No cover

THE WILDMEN, THE SEAHAGS / O’Hanlon’s — Two excellent country/alt-

coutnry bands! 9pm / No cover

WEDNESDAY 31BIG JOHN BATES HALLOWEEN BASH / The Artful Dodger — This Vancouver

band has a haunting sound. 7:30pm / $5

advance (ticketedge.ca); $10 door

WEDNESDAY NIGHT FOLK / Bushwakker

Brewpub — Featuring Dr. Bird and Blue

Beat. 9pm / No cover

THE BARE ESSENTIALS HALLOWEEN SHOW / The Gaslight Saloon — Come

out to the Gaslight for a frightfully good

bash. 9pm / Cover TBD

JAM NIGHT AND OPEN STAGE / McNally’s

Tavern — Come on down and enjoy some

local talent. 9pm / No cover

THURSDAY 12 BEATS & A HAT / Artful Dodger — Pre-

sented by DJ Verbal & E-Major. 7pm / $5

WIZ KHALIFA / Brandt Centre — An

award-winning American artist. 7pm /

Tickets $48+ (www.ticketmaster.ca)

COLIN JAMES / Casino Regina — James

has blossomed into a Juno-winning, kick-

ass guitarist. $40-45 (casinoregina.com)

BRANDI DISTERHEFT / Creative City

Centre — This young jazz musician is all

kinds of good. 7:30pm / $15 advance;

$18 at the door

DECIBEL FREQUENCY / Gabbo’s Nightclub

— Dig electronic dance music? Then

come on down. 10pm / $5

PS FRESH / The Hookah Lounge — Fea-

turing DJ Ageless and DJ Drewski. 7pm

/ No cover

OPEN MIC NIGHT / King’s Head Tavern —

Come and show your stuff. 8pm / No cover

LAST DITCH, TINY / Lancaster Taphouse

— Come on out for a night of great

music. 9pm / Cover TBD

FLY POINTS + MORE / McNally’s — Come

support some great local acts. 10pm / $5

DJ LONGHORN / Whiskey Saloon — One

of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / $5

FRIDAY 2VIDEO GAMES LIVE / Conexus — An

impressive, immersive concert featuring

music from some of the greatest video

games of all time. Tickets $39.50+ (www.

admission.com)

ELENA YEUNG, KARL SOMMERFELD / Cre-

ative City Centre — An excellent night of

music. 7:30pm / $10

DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This

DJ loves requests. 10pm / Cover $5

THE LOST FINGERS / The Exchange — A

gypsy jazz group from Quebec. 8pm /

$23 (Bach & Beyond, Vintage Vinyl)

DJ PAT & DJ KIM / Habano’s — Local DJs

spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover

ALAIN LALONDE / The Hookah Lounge —

Come check out this dope local DJ. 7pm /

The Hookah Lounge

WONDERLAND / McNally’s — A night of

classic rock and more. 10pm / $5

ALBERT / Pure Ultra Lounge — Come

listen to Albert as he does his spinning

thing. 10pm / $5 cover

ABBEY POWELL / Whiskey Saloon –This

musician from Alberta puts a modern

rock spin on traditional country sound.

8pm / Cover $10

DJ LONGHORN / Whiskey Saloon —

Come check out one of Regina’s most

interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover $10

SATURDAY 3APRIL WINE / Casino Regina — A

platinum-selling band from Nova Scotia.

8pm / Tickers $35+ (casinoregina.com)

RODNEY CARRINGTON / Conexus Arts

Centre — Part country musician, part

stand-up comedian. 8pm / Tickets $62.50

(www.admission.com)

DJ JUAN LOPEZ / Envy Nightclub — This

DJ loves requests. 10pm / Cover $5

A TRIBE CALLED RED / The Exchange —

Also appearing will be Arek3xSL and

Info Red. 8pm / $15 (ticketedge.ca)

DJ NOOR / The Hookah Lounge — This

talented DJ knows how to rock. 7pm / $5

WONDERLAND / McNally’s Tavern — A

night of classic rock and one-hit-won-

ders. 10pm / $5

DREWSKI / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing

what he does best. 10pm / $5 cover

OPEN JAM SESSIONS / Smokin’ Okies

BBQ — Drop by for a jam or to just listen.

3pm / No cover

ABBEY POWELL / Whiskey Saloon –This

musician from Alberta puts a modern

rock spin on traditional country sound.

8pm / Cover $10

/VERBREGINA ENTERTAINMENTCONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

15OCT 26 – NOV 1

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19 @

THE CATHEDRALFREEHOUSEThe Cathedral Freehouse2062 Albert Street(306) 359 6631

MUSIC VIBE / Eclectic — the DJ spins everything from ‘80’s hits to hip hopFEATURED DEALS / All pizza for $12, pints of Stella for $5 and Freehouse Lemonade for $5DRINK OF CHOICE / Pints of StellaTOP EATS / Greek or roasted vegetable pizzaCOMING UP / Halloween party on October 31st

Photography by Klein Photography – feedback@verbnews.com

NIGHTLIFE

VERBNEWS.COMENTERTAINMENT CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

16OCT 26 – NOV 1

nyone who has read David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas knows its

main strength is structure.See, the British author crafted

a brilliant novel that begins in the 1800s and consists of six separate story lines. Each story is developed only halfway before it gets inter-rupted, with each tale taking place chronologically after the one that

preceded it. All except for the final/central storyline: that is told in its entirety. Then the novel turns back in on itself, moving back in time and completing each of the inter-rupted stories.

You got that? If not, think of the structure like this — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, — and you’ll get the idea.Anyway, when Cloud Atlas came out

in 2004 it flew off the shelves, was lauded for its bold and unconven-tional genius, and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

But here’s the thing about Cloud Atlas: because of the structure, it was deemed an unfilmable novel. Heck, even Mitchell thought that, telling the Wall Street Journal “I be-lieved that Cloud Atlas would never be made into a movie.”

But a scant eight years later, film-makers Lana and Andy Wachowksi (the Matrix trilogy) along with director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) did the undoable — they made Cloud Atlas into a big-budget, $100-million movie.

And to be completely honest with you, when I first I heard about this movie I was excited. After all, Cloud Atlas is one of my favourite

books of the past decade. But the more I thought about it, the more I suspected they were going to butcher the story. And sadly, my suspicions were warranted.

The first thing the filmmakers did was mangle Mitchell’s smooth, easy-flowing structure.

Sure, all the familiar storylines are there. You have 19th century lawyer Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess) returning home from the east coast of New Zealand with a chest full of gold and a slave trade contract. You have the young musician Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw) latching on to renowned composer Vyvyan Ayrs (Jim Broadbent) in the 1930s. You have reporter Luisa Rey (Halle Berry) investigating a story in 1973, present day novelist Dermot Hog-gins (Tom Hanks) killing a critic, revolutionary leader Hae-Joo Chang

(Sturgess) rescuing “fabricant” Sonmi (Doona Bae) in 2144 and you have Zachary (Hanks) in a post-apocalyptic Hawaii telling his tales.

Yessiree, all the story lines are there. But the problem is, instead of being smooth and coherent, the filmmakers fragmented the ever-loving hell out of Mitchell’s structure, then jumped around from one story to another in short, spastic bursts.

And while some of these jumps worked, more often than not they landed with a dull, sickening thud.

Kind of like the movie on whole.Now don’t get me wrong. Cloud

Atlas isn’t a terrible movie. It’s visually stunning and consistently entertaining. And, to be honest, if

you’ve never read the book and if you like movies that make you pay close attention from beginning to end, then you may very well enjoy this movie. Heck, even if you read the book, you may like the filmmak-ers’ translation of it. The characters are engaging, after all, and parts of the narrative are entrancing. But for myself, I had a hard time swallow-ing the whole thing. But maybe my expectations were too high.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

A

This adaptation of Mitchell’s terrific book is not so terrific.BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

[T]he filmmakers [mangled] Mitchell’s smooth, easy-flowing structure.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

CLOUD ATLAS

DIRECTED BY Lana Wachowski, Andy

Wachowkski + Tom Tykwer

STARRING Tom Hanks, Halle Berry,

Jim Broadbent + Jim Sturgess

164 MINUTES | 14A

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt

ahawboldt@verbnews.com

CLOUDY ATLAS

FILM

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17OCT 26 – NOV 1

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E gads! What to say about Bart Layton’s new docu-mentary, The Imposter?

The words stunning, evocative, in-tense and astonishing come to mind. So does the term Oscar-favourite.

But more on that later. For now let’s look at the nuts and bolts of Layton’s debut flick. The story begins in 1994 when Nicholas Barclay — a blond-haired, blue-eyed, 13-year-old from Texas — disappears one day.

For three torturous years, the Bar-clay family wonders what happened to their son. There was little hope that young Nicholas was alive. Then, in 1997, the family gets a call from a small town named Linares, in Spain. Authorities there had found a teen-ager huddled in a phone booth with no identification. At first the teen is hesitant to talk, but when he opens up, he says his name is Nicholas Bar-clay and that he’d been kidnapped by a child-trafficking ring in America and sent overseas to Europe.

The Barclay family is ecstatic. Nicholas’ older sister Carey flies to

Spain to get her long, lost brother. But here’s the catch: the person the authorities found isn’t Nicholas Bar-clay. It’s a 23-year-old man named Frédéric Bourdin, posing as the long lost boy.

So when Carey arrives she sees the imposter and flies home disap-pointed, right? Wrong.

Despite the fact that Bourdin is far too old to be her brother, despite the fact that he has brown eyes, a French accent and, in truth, looks abso-lutely nothing like Nicholas, Carey

embraces Bourdin as her brother and brings him back home to Texas.

Where, naturally, the family tells Carey she’s obviously crazy for mis-taking Bourdin for Nicholas, right?

Wrong again.The family also welcomes Bour-

din into their home with open arms, and is relieved to have their “son” back safe and sound.

Curious about the abduction, the FBI gets involved and interviews Bourdin, who tells them stories of having acid poured in his eyes (hence the change in eye colour) and other chilling tales of torture, rape and forced prostitution.

However, the FBI sees straight through Bourdin’s web of lies and

arrests him. Wait a minute … no they don’t. They buy his story hook, line and sinker. What happens then, I don’t want to tell you. As my grand-father would say, “It’d take the piss out of the whole thing.”

So for brevity’s sake, let’s just say the rest of the story involves a private detective and more questions about human nature than you can shake a stick at. But The Imposter does more than simply leave you guessing. It grabs you by the collar and pulls you to the edge of your seat from the start of the documentary to the finish, never once letting go.

Made up of talking-head inter-views and noirish reenactments, the twisting, turning, emotionally-explosive storyline of The Imposter is so fascinating and engaging you’ll be disappointed to see the movie end.

And speaking of disappoint-ment, I’ll be disappointed (not to

mention utterly shocked) if The Imposter doesn’t walk away with an Academy Award for best doc this year.

Yep, it’s that good.The Imposter will open at the

Regina Public Library on November 2; see reginalibrary.ca for more info.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF ENTERTIANMENT ONE FILMS

[T]he twisting, turning, emotionally-explosive storyline of The Imposter is … fascinating and engaging…

ADAM HAWBOLDT

TRUE CRIME CLASSICBart Layton’s new documentary about the Nicholas Barclay case is a marvel. BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

THE IMPOSTER

DIRECTED BY Bart Layton

STARRING Ken Appledorn,

Anna Ruben + Adam O’Brian

95 MINUTES | N/A

VERBNEWS.COMENTERTAINMENT CONTENTS LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENTS Q + A ARTS COVER FOOD + DRINK MUSIC LISTINGS NIGHTLIFE FILM COMICS TIMEOUT

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COMICS

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19OCT 26 – NOV 1

CROSSWORD CANADIAN CRISS-CROSS

HOROSCOPES OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 1

© WALTER D. FEENER 2012

SUDOKUA B

SUDOKU ANSWER KEY

A

B

TIMEOUT

CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY

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ACROSS1. Heroic tale

5. Pitcher’s plate

9. Great pain

10. Chance of being hurt

12. Utensil for shredding

cheese

13. Make up for

15. Engine need

16. Name for a dog

18. Golf teacher

19. Level of children’s

sports in Canada

21. First letter of Nova

Scotia’s postal codes

22. Feeling about to vomit

23. Mark for misconduct

25. Like a mosquito bite

26. Alfalfa

28. Brightness

31. Magazine extension

35. Handed-down stories

36. Clumsy one

37. Baby’s first word

38. Belonging to us

39. Angry dispute

41. Bit of trail mix

42. Having no shame

44. Piece of pasta

46. Unemotional

47. Long-legged bird

48. Excellent

49. One who gets things

done

DOWN1. Jewish greeting & farewell

2. ___ nouveau

3. One who attends

regularly

4. Using more oxygen

5. Bout of extravagant

indulgence

6. Suggestive smile

7. Pendulum’s path

8. Filmed account of a

person’s life

9. Repeated too often

11. Addams Family butler

12. Egg on

14. Annoyingly slow

17. Has much experience

20. Confused fight

22. Knight’s horse

24. Baseball score

25. Place to lodge

27. Well-educated, elegant,

and having good taste

28. Messy eater

29. 60-minute periods

30. List of corrections

32. Be inattentive

33. Of age

34. Behind schedule

36. About 28 grams

39. Jockey’s strap

40. Cancelled

43. Menagerie

45. Metal-bearing mineral

ARIES March 21–April 19

You know the saying “don’t believe

everything you hear?” This week,

don’t believe anything you hear. Informa-

tion coming your way may be unreliable.

TAURUS April 20–May 20

You may have the urge to exploit

someone to obtain something you

desperately want this week, Taurus. Don’t

feel bad. Manipulate away!

GEMINI May 21–June 20

It takes two to tango, Gemini. It

also takes two to argue and shave

someone’s eyebrows off in revenge. Don’t

be the second person this week.

CANCER June 21–July 22

Eminem says that “words are like

a dagger with a jagged edge.” So if

someone is bothering you, throw a dagger

at them. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

LEO July 23–August 22

You may be feeling emotional this

week, Leo. Don’t bottle it up. Let

your river of feelings flow wild and free.

It’ll do you a world of good.

VIRGO August 23–September 22

My crystal ball says the next few

days will be hazy for you, Virgo. If

you want clarity, have a drink. Just kidding.

There’s no way to find clarity this week.

LIBRA September 23–October 23

Trust underscores all good rela-

tionships, Libra. Keep this in mind.

If you find yourself mistrusting someone,

there might be a reason for it.

SCORPIO October 24–November 22

Wherever you are right now, Scor-

pio, you should probably leave.

Chances are there’s something better and

way more fun happening somewhere else.

SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21

It’s important to keep yourself open

to what the universe is trying to tell

you. You may find a clue to the message’s

meaning where you least expect it.

CAPRICORN December 22–January 19

Find a way to stimulate your mind

this week, Capricorn. Open it up

to new information — though just where

to get that info is up to you. Just do it.

AQUARIUS January 20–February 19

Happy, happy, joy, joy! This is

going to be a wonderful week for

you, Aquarius. Full of unicorns and rain-

bows. Not literally, but you get the point.

PISCES February 20–March 20

Fear can be crippling, Pisces. Fear

of failure, fear of success, fear of

kittens. Don’t let fear get the best of you

this week.