Verb Issue S205 (Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2012)

chasing down a dream Hunting storms in Saskatchewan

patrick krief On making the album of his life

the woman in the fifth Reviewed

gettin’ our hands dirtywith dean brody+

New & Improved!

ISSue #205 – AuguSt 31 tO SeptembeR 6

pHOtO: cOuRteSy Of mARk mARyAnOvIcH

verbnews.comverbnews.com

2verb magazine LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutartscontents

aug 31 - sept 6

pLease recycLe aFter reading & sharing

verbnews.com@veRbSASkAtOOn fAcebOOk.cOm/veRbnewSSASkAtOOn

editorialpubLisher / pARIty publISHIngeditor in chieF / RyAn AllAnmanaging editor / JeSSIcA pAtRuccOstaFF writers / AdAm HAwbOldt + Alex J mAcpHeRSOn

art & productiondesign Lead / RObeRtA bARRIngtOndesign & production / bRIttney gRAHAmcontributing photographers / mIcHelle beRg, pAtRIck cARley + AdAm HAwbOldt

Business & operationsoFFice manager / StepHAnIe lIpSItmarketing manager / vOgeSOn pAleyFinanciaL manager / cOdy lAng

contactcomments / [email protected] / 881 8372advertise / [email protected] / 979 2253design / [email protected] / 979 8474generaL / [email protected] / 979 2253

pedal power How bike cops are changing policing in Saskatchewan. 4 / LocaL

storm chasing Greg Johnson gets up close and per-sonal with tornados. 6 / LocaL

welcome to the redesign of verBHere’s what it’s all about. 8 / editoriaL

commentsHere’s what you thought about chang-ing electoral districts. 10 / comments

Q + a with patrick kriefPatrick tells Alex about making the album of his life. 12 / Q + a

nightlife photos Patrick & Michelle visit Rock Creek and the Longbranch. 22 / nightLiFe

live music listingsLocal music listings for August 31 through September 8. 18 / Listings

the possession & thewoman in the fifth Adam reviews the latest films. 20 / FiLm

on the Bus Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 26 / comics

who could sit on that?Swiss artist Susan Clark von Saska-toon talks form and function. 13 / arts

root down cafÉ reviewAdam checks out Rood Down Worker’s Co-op Café. 16 / Food + drink

musicThe Noble Liars, A Tribe Called Red & Rural Alberta Advantage. 17 / music

cuLture entertainmentcontents

the dutiful sonJerry Sereda talks music, mothers, and moving forward. 13 / arts

on the cover: dean BrodyDean talks to Alex about perfectionism and feeling pressure. 14 / cover

game & horoscopesCanadian criss-cross puzzle & weekly horoscope readings. 27 / timeout

news + opinion

a3

verbnews.comverbnews.comLocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutartscontents

4news + opinion

aug 31 - sept 6

Continued on next page »

pedal poweredHow old tools and new ideas are shaping policing in Saskatchewan. by Alex J mAcpHeRSOn

atrick Barbar and Eric Flogan are pedaling hard, their bicycles

devouring miles of asphalt under the warm summer sun. Broad-shouldered and muscular, the pair are in peak condition. They have been riding for several hours and neither is breathing hard. This is what they do for a living.

Barbar and Flogan are members of the Saskatoon Police Service’s Community Response Unit. Beat and bike cops, in other words. Saska-toon police officers have been using mountain bikes for 20 years, but the section has profited greatly from the community-oriented views of Clive Weighill, Saskatoon’s chief of police. Barbar, who runs the unit, thinks police officers on bicycles are a vital part of the service. Flogan is new to the group but seems to share Barbar’s vision.

But what is that vision, exactly? And how does it make policing better?

“That goes back to Robert Peel,” Barbar says. Peel was twice prime minister of Great Britain, but his ac-complishments at 10 Downing Street

are overshadowed by the sweeping police reforms he spearheaded in 1829. Peel died in 1850 but his ideas live on in men like Patrick Barbar.

“One of his principles was that the police are the people and the people are the police,” Barbar ex-plains. “The police are the only ones paid to ensure the full-time protec-tion of the city, but it’s incumbent on everyone to do that. We need the pubic. That doesn’t happen when there’s no relationship.”

Barbar is talking about commu-nity policing, a philosophy based on the intrinsic value of interaction. Bicycles, he says, are one of the best

ways to build relationships with the people who live and work in the city — the people he and his colleagues rely on. “If you think back to the early days of policing, before the combustion engine, that’s how they patrolled: horseback, bicycle, foot. That pretty much died off with the car. In cars, we’re able to get any-where in the city at incredibly fast speeds. That’s important, but we’re forgetting that while we’re in the car we’re not interacting with anyone. And you have no sense of what’s go-ing on around you.”

Riding north along the river, Bar-bar and Flogan meet an endless

p saskatoon police service community response unit

16 constables

2 Sergeants

12 hour shifts

40 - 60 kilometres per shift

20 years of bikes in Saskatoon

LocaL

LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutartscontents

5news + opinion

aug 31 - sept 6

@verbsaskatoon

stream of people. Some are cy-cling, others walking, and some sim-ply enjoying the placid July evening. Almost all of them say hello, wave, or merely nod their approval.

At one point, Barbar piles on the brakes and whips his bike around. “Let’s go talk to this kid,” he says, gesturing toward a young boy and his father. Barbar and the boy chat for a few minutes before we carry on down the trail. “We don’t realize it,” he says, “but if you hand a kid a sticker or a tattoo, some of those kids grow up and remember those moments, because at the time it was a huge deal for them.”

People become police officers for a variety of reasons. Some are adrena-line junkies. Others, like Flogan, experience firsthand the restorative power of a police officer. And some are pulled into the profession by more abstract ideas.

“There’s a sense of justice that exists,” Barbar says, “of getting upset when someone gets away with some-thing or when someone is treated unfairly. It’s just a way for me to be able to influence the world we live in and to try and prevent a little of that from happening. From the age of 11 or 12, this is what I wanted to do.”

Barbar’s motivations are per-sonal. His mother and father were displaced by the Second World War; they came to Canada in the 1960s.

Barbar was the first of his siblings born on Canadian soil. He is 40 now, but he can’t forget his parents’ experiences. He refuses to take de-mocracy for granted, and regrets not serving his country as a young man.

“I feel a lot of gratitude to them having come here, and for what we have here,” he says. “I always had a part of me that wanted to, at some point, go overseas and serve on behalf of this country.”

These feelings, along with a

healthy thirst for travel, impelled him, in 2009, to sign up for a joint mission with the RCMP. The project was meant to train police forces in developing countries. Barbar, who speaks French, wanted to go to Haiti; they sent him to Afghanistan.

“I didn’t feel warm and fuzzy about that,” he admits, “[but] I felt it was an opportunity being thrown at me, and I’m going to take it and run with it.”

After three months of military training — everything in Afghanistan was done under the umbrella of the Canadian Forces — Barbar left for

Kandahar in the spring of 2010. “At one point,” he says, “the only thing that kept me going, kept me from turning around, was that I didn’t want to face people here.”

In Afghanistan, Barbar worked with a group of Canadian police officers to train members of the Afghan National Police. In addition to working at a police academy, Barbar spent time in Kandahar, teaching community policing to rookies, most of whom didn’t speak English.

“We would put the Afghan police-men front and centre, and it was as basic as saying we want you to inter-act with members of the community, because that’s just not something they did,” he explains. “These guys would retreat to a fortified check-point in the city and wait for people to come to them. We wanted them to go out to the people and meet them, just like we do.”

“You had a public that didn’t trust their police, and a police that didn’t trust their public,” Barbar says of the situation he was thrust into. “We wanted to bring them to a point where, if you get to know a person because you’ve spoken to them, you’re going to have a greater tendency to trust that person and call upon them in a time of need.”

The most important thing Barbar learned in Afghanistan was the value

of community policing. He came back energized and inspired. Even now, almost two years later, it shows. In three hours on the trail, he and Flogan meet dozens if not hundreds of people. All of them smile, presum-ably because there is something comforting about knowing that police officers aren’t all that different — they’re just guys on bikes.

“We talk about contacts in polic-ing,” Barbar tells me. “A patrol officer, unfortunately, has mainly negative contacts. In my day, I have so much positive contact with members of the community because my job is slightly

different. I’m still going to some calls, but if you bike along the trail here, people will say hi to you.”

That interaction, as short as it may be, is significant. It’s evidence that old ideas and new tools are building relationships and tearing down walls. Evidence that what Barbar is doing is

working, and that the face of modern policing may have come full circle.

@macphersona

[email protected]

feedback? text it! (306) 881 8372

sergeant patrick barbar and constable eric Flogan on patrol. pHOtO: Alex J. mAcpHeRSOn/ veRb mAgAzIne

…the police are the people and the people are the police.

SeRgeAnt pAtRIck bARbAR

verbnews.comverbnews.comLocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutartscontents

6news + opinion

aug 31 - sept 6


uly 24th, 2012 was what storm chasers call a “high risk” tornado day in Sas-

katchewan — a day that holds real expectations of seeing a twister.

In Regina, Greg Johnson and his team of storm chasers were watching their equipment intently, waiting for a monstrous tornado to brew west of the city. They’d been at work since 6am. And as the morning progressed, everything seemed to be falling into place. The air was moist and humid. A warm jet stream had arrived from the U.S, ready to collide with a cold, dry stream blasting down from the north.

“Everything was coming together nicely,” says Johnson. “By early after-noon the storm really started to develop.”

So Johnson and his fellow storm chasers jumped in the Tornado Truck and began to drive to where they needed to go — or at least, where they thought they needed to go.

“On our way out there we noticed the target storm we were following was starting to die,” says Johnson. “It was disorganized. Storms that pro-duce tornadoes are organized, this one wasn’t. It was losing its shape and intensity.”

The team was frustrated. They’d spent a lot of time forecasting this storm. It was supposed to be a guar-anteed tornado situation. But there

they were, no tornado in sight. So they turned around and began driv-ing back to Regina.

Little did they know what would happen next.

The windswept prairies of Canada are no stranger to severe weather. In winter, severe weather is a way of life. From -50 degree temperatures to blizzards and ice storms, prairie dwellers have seen it all and endured it with a frozen smile. In the summer, there’s never any shortage of thunder and lightning storms. But tornadoes? That’s a different story.

Sure, there are some every year, but it takes a few very specific, rare ingredients to create a tornado. And for the most part, these ingredients come in sparse supply around here.

Not this year, though. This year, things were different.

“The first thing you need is humidity – a moist surface layer,” explains Johnson. “Typically, that moist air comes from the Gulf of Mexico. That’s why places like Texas and Oklahoma and Arkansas get so many tornadoes. But by the time that air surges north to the prairies, it’s fairly dried out.”

Not so this year.“What happened was the last few

years we’ve had a lot of snow, a lot of run off, a lot of spring and sum-

mer rain,” explains Johnson. “So we have all this standing water sitting in southwest Manitoba and southeast Saskatchewan. So we have a moist layer of surface air that isn’t usually there.”

The other thing we have is con-stant exposure to the jet stream. A big high-pressure ridge — the same ridge responsible for all the drought in America this year — has pushed this jet stream much farther north than normal.

“For most of this summer, that jet stream has been positioned over the prairies,” says Johnson. “With those two key ingredients, it’s made for a perfect combination for tornadoes all summer.”

How perfect?“Well, last year we had three

tornadoes the whole season,” says Johnson. “This season we’ve had well over 30.”

And on July 24th, as Johnson and his disappointed team drove back to Regina, they were about to find themselves heading face-first into one of the finest tornadoes to hit Saskatchewan this summer.

“On the way back, a new storm appeared on the radar,” says Johnson. “The thing about radar is, it’s about 10 minutes behind what’s actually hap-pening. So there we were, watching this new storm develop. It looks okay, not fantastic, but we decide to check

chasing down a dream

J

Regina’s greg Johnson sold a lucrative marketing and communications business to chase storms all across north America. does he regret it? not a chance. by AdAm HAwbOldt

LocaL


7news + opinion

aug 31 - sept 6

Facebook.com/verbnewssaskatoon

@adamhawboldt

[email protected]


it out anyway.”So there they were, motoring

along with low expectations through blinding rain. Over grid roads they traversed the hilly, up-and-down landscape of western Saskatchewan.

Then all of a sudden the rain stopped.

They’d punched through to the updraft portion of the storm. The por-tion where there’s no precipitation because everything is being sucked up into the belly of the storm, like a vacuum.

The ominous clouds were hanging low. To Johnson and his team’s right, about 300 yards out, this giant tor-nado was on the ground. The second they see it, the radar picture hits the screen. It’s the perfect storm.

“We stopped and were filming this tornado when all of a sudden

it rips through a farmyard,” says Johnson. “We were streaming it live to the world — I think something like 15,000 people were watching it — and from behind this shelterbelt of trees you can see this house flying into the air, roofs being ripped off.”

Johnson begins to panic. Are people dying up there?”

When you ask Johnson how he

became a storm chaser, his answer is simple.

“My background is in photog-raphy,” he tells you. “And when I moved to Saskatchewan [from Ontario] I fell in love with all these prairie lightning storms. I was always out with my camera taking pictures whenever a storm rolled in because it was an interesting photographic subject.”

Then, what started out as a hobby for Johnson soon turned into an obsession.

“I won’t lie to you. It’s a little like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” he muses. “You know how he’s out there, building the Devil’s Tower out of mashed potatoes? Well, this [storm chasing thing] has kind of become my Devil’s Tower.”

So much so that two years ago Johnson sold a lucrative marketing and communications company he’d built from the ground up in order to become a full-time storm chaser. But he doesn’t regret it.

Sure, in the beginning there was a real and latent fear his new business venture wasn’t going to pan out. But it has. And because of that, Johnson

is doing what he loves to do — track-ing and photographing storms.

“I threw caution to the wind, took a leap of faith, all that stuff,” he says. “But it’s something I really believe in, something I try to instill in my kids: go after what you want, don’t be afraid to chase your dreams.”

Even if those dreams, at times, may seem like a nightmare.

Which is exactly what it felt like as Johnson and his team drove towards the farmyard, behind the shelterbelt, from which they’d just seen houses fly. Towards the farmyard where, conceivably, people could be breath-ing their last breaths.

Fortunately for them, the night-mare wasn’t a nightmare after all. Their eyes had deceived them. It wasn’t a house they’d seen swept up in that giant tornado, it was a patio deck, outbuildings, barns. And the people on the farm? They were

alright, too.“There was a feeling of relief,”

admits Johnson. “It was an intense, very dramatic, very violent storm. Thankfully nobody was hurt.”

Thankfully, too, that the team, close enough to the storm to have de-bris fall on their truck, had managed to capture the entire thing on video.

“It’s definitely the best tornado we’ve ever caught on video,” says Johnson. “Maybe one of the best that’s been shot in a long time.”

And in the end, it’s that shot, that moment, that chaotic brush with beauty and danger that makes everything all worthwhile for Greg Johnson. Days like that justify his obsession and the selling of his busi-ness. Days like that are what storm chasers live for.

greg Johnson gets up close and personal with storms. pHOtO: cOuRteSy Of gReg JOHnSOn

We stopped and were filming this tor-nado when all of a sudden it rips through a farmyard.

gReg JOHnSOn


8aug 31 - sept 6

LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutartscontentsnews + opinion

editoriaL

elcome, dear reader, to Verb’s all new design!

It is, without ques-tion, the best version of the maga-zine we’ve ever produced.

As soon as you open Verb you’re now greeted by a table of contents, divided into three subjects: news + opinion, culture, and entertainment.

Inside each subject are the sec-tions you know and love, covering topics like local news, arts, food, music and nightlife. These sections are repeated in a navigation bar at the bottom of each page, with the current one highlighted so you always know where you’re at. And even though they include much more information than our previ-ous headers, they take up far less space (over eighty percent less, to be exact).

That streamlining - paired with a new set of typefaces that make text easier to read and remember, along with a more efficient spacing of elements - means we now have more room for fantastic content for you to enjoy.

In fact, with extra space, we’re able to write longer stories, include larger, more dramatic photos and

add compelling new elements like infographics to our layouts.

And without space constraints, we can stop chasing the ‘big story of the week’ - like the province’s latest immigration numbers, or the mayor’s most recent comment on municipal budget proceedings - and spend our time tracking down much more exciting narratives.

We can delve deeper into explor-ing interesting local personalities, is-sues and events than we ever could before, and we’ve already got a long list of amazing stories we can’t wait to share with you.

As you flip through the maga-zine, you’ll notice that we’ve also expanded our coverage of the local arts scene by devoting more pages to visual arts, music, and performing arts. These are things we’re incred-ibly passionate about, and we’re thrilled that we can do even more to promote the local arts community with our new design.

You’ll also see, at the bottom of some of our pages, previews about articles in upcoming issues of Verb or other sections in the current issue. This allows us to give you a heads up about what’s in store for

the following week, or draw your at-tention to parts of the current issue you may have missed.

Finally, as you near the end of the publication, you’ll find a couple of surprises. First, Verb has a comic strip! We’ve partnered with talented Saskatchewan artist Elaine M. Will to bring you a unique, original comic strip every week, exclusive to Verb. Elaine is a fantastic illustrator and cartoonist, and we’re excited to see where her imaginative mind takes us.

Our other surprise has been a long time coming, and is something you’ve been asking for since we launched: Verb has a crossword puzzle! It’s not easy, but it’s not too tough either, and the answers are on the same page in case you need a little help. Since it’s got a Canadian flavour, the subject matter should be familiar to you, so if you’re a word fan be sure to give it a go.

This redesign began more than a year ago, and it’s been a long, diffi-cult and often frustrating endeavour - even with incredible and patient support from our partners, relatives and friends.

But the outcome - the magazine

you’re currently holding - reminds us of what we love about what we do, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

So thanks for reading Verb. We worked our tails off to bring you an all new design, and we hope you love it as much as we do.

w

out with the old...we worked for a year to redesign verb. let us walk you through it. by tHe veRb teAm


10aug 31 - sept 6

LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutartscontentsnews + opinion


on topic: last week we wrote that reworking Saskatchewan’s electoral districts is a good idea. here's what you had to say:

text your thoughts to881 verB8372

commentscomments

– Yes finally this needs to happen. Embarrassed it got shot down once before but this time will work. Get with it Saskatchewan.

– I don’t live in the city, and if this goes through I’ll have to go that much further just to get in touch with my new “rural” MP. This seems to work great if you’re in Regina or Saskatoon, but not so much if you live anywhere else.

– Reworking the electoral bound-aries desperately needs to happen, if Saskatchewan wants to continue being a desirable province.

– This will never happen it’ll hurt Walls party so he won’t let it go through.

– Why has this not happened sooner? Why did it get shut down the first time? U should have explained that better verb but I agree. We shouldn’t have mixed urban and rural ridings it makes no sense.

– I’m all for changing up the elec-tion areas it seems ridiculous to me that it hasn’t happened before. Doubt Wall will push it thru though

off topic

– I am from the Philippines, though our country belongs to the third world we never had a problem regarding surgical waiting time, especially when you belong to the upper family class that’s why I wonder why Canada had a long surgical wait times…. Isn’t it scary

to those patients that needs im-mediate attention especially when the case is life threatening. Canada government should accept many surgical specialist or surgeon from other countries, like ours to elimi-nate surgical backlog. Thanks

Comment in response to “Surgical Wait

Times Drop Across Province,” Local page,

#204 (August 24, 2012)

– No guns.....no liberty.......all you left wing loons should know guns don’t kill people crazy people do.

Comment in response to “Guns: way better

than words, reason,” Editorial page, #203

(August 17, 2012)

– There’s not a lot of things this government does that I like, but this art project treasure hunt sounds pretty awesome. I hope I find one!

Comment in response to “Art Project Hon-

ours Legislative Building,” Local page, #204

(August 24, 2012)

– Careful what you wish for! If people start to carry guns in canada then everyone needs to carry guns... Which then leads to common sense catastrophe!

Comment in response to “Guns: way better

than words, reason,” Editorial page, #203

(August 17, 2012)

sound-off

– There’s a very strong desire among many people employers landlords spouses gov’t types etc. to control the people around them have them do their will. This is morally wrong but more impor-tantly such power over others doesn’t really exist. Its nothing but a frustrating waste of your life to seek it.

– Today I learned of some of my cell phone provider’s capacity to track my activities interfere with the phone’s function and use it for their purposes. This will be in mind when the contract expires! I don’t need a credit rating. I’ll likely pull the battery and score another cheap cell phone sooner than that.

– I’m too texty for my car, too texty for my car too texty by far. I’m a driver and you know what I mean and I do my little turn on the sidewalk, ya on the sidewalk. I’m too texty for my car.

– Does anyone proofread these texts? The lack of spelling and grammar in the text section is so frustrating . I am furious that illiteracy is still a factor with spell check available. Before spell check I used a dictionary to save me from embarrassment. I could never go through life looking like a moron that can’t get a hold of the english language which has surrounded me for over 25 years. If your text doesn’t fit the proper criteria it has no place in this paper.

– Instead of a Political Sevitude The mayor should fix city streets and City transit gone to S**t

– We all make mistakes. Some people are just better at it than others.

– This too shall pass away.

– DONT WANNA GO BACK TO SKOOLZ I WANT SUMMER BREAK TO LAST FOREVER

– I bet the people that want to go back to school the least right now are all teachers

– To the person who texted about eating up to 12 eggs a day, I think if the average guy did that

11aug 31 - sept 6

LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutartscontents news + opinionFacebook.com/verbnewssaskatoon

without working out excessively it wouldn’t be healthy. If you’re on a intense exercise regimen, that’s one thing. But excess of ANY-THING is never a good idea.

– This year cruise weekend wasn’t too bad but it would’ve been nice to see the A & W bear walking around.

– When your girlfriend says “I’ll do anything you want!” and you ask her to do the dishes thats DOWN-town!

– In regards to motorbikes riding side by side i think thats done to increase visibility so drivers can see them better. We’ve all got to get somewhere safely so a little patience probably helps.

– Good landlords deserve good tenants. The rest deserve what they get!

– The next generation might surprise us all don’t be so hard on them they need us to guide them through. Peace & love, Nancy

– Mmmm bear arms ;D

– Annual camp trip next with the tree planting ladayz cant wait to see u chicas!

– Did anyone ever find that pump cheese im still waitin for a update

– SOFT KITTY WARM KITTY LITTLE BALL OF FURRR (knock knock txtr u know what i mean!)

– Now that there’s a little money in the province the seeds of greed which were always here finally have full opportunity to grow and blossom.

– Hey grrrrrl u no i luv u ur the best friend i could ask for MWAH Sades xx

– Participating in democracy is a privilege not a right so make sure u make ur voices heard. It doesn’t matter what you believe, u make the process better by being in a part of it. I couldn’t do that were I lived before but am shocked that people here take it for granted maybe if u had it taken away from u it would be differant but please get out there n make ur voices heard!

– LFL startin soon gonna watch for shore sports just got good

– Oh no I’ve been petting the sweaty things this whole time!

– Proud to share the road with bicyclists but please either stick to road or sidewalk jumping between the 2 makes me nervous

– The <3 wants what it wants so don’t be so hard on urself. Always luv u Kali

– I hate it when people chew with their mouth open its so gross I don’t want to see what ur eating! Went on blind date with chick who did that never called her again. Sick!

– Congrats sd & jg on jobs well done u totaly killed it!!

– U guys really like futurama I see

– Patience is a virtue but when you’re driving it’s a speedbump lol so get outta my way!

– About late middle age I thought u guys were supposed to be havin hotter sex not less this makes me :(

– Excited for the presidential elec-tion. Four more years!

– Traffic over College bridge needs to get sorted with everyone merg-ing into one lane heading east it’s a total mess. Almost a fight between this guy who wouldn’t let someone merge there has to be something better.

– Nice office pic love those comps u have to work on they’re fab!

– Any time we get started some-where new I think of u and what we had and it makes it harder to on with my life

– I like pirates.

– Harper cuts environmental inspections in SK. Suspicious

we print your texts verba-tim each week. text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories & content or just your thoughts. emails are welcome too! send with ‘comments’ in the subject line.


aug 31 - sept 6


12cuLture

Q + a

t

@macphersona

[email protected]


pHOtO: cOuRteSy Of RIcHmOnd lAm

hundred thousand piecesHow patrick krief made the album of his life. by Alex J mAcpHeRSOn

his year, Patrick Krief made the album he always wanted to

make. The album he needed to make. The album he was born to make. Hundred Thousand Pieces is an ambitious project, a collec-tion of songs that weld Krief’s ringing, tape-delayed vocals to swirling, reverb-drenched guitars. It is a symphony of rock and pop, a reflection of the sounds Krief spent the past several years listen-ing to in his head. A departure from Krief’s work with The Dears and Black Diamond Bay, Hundred Thousand Pieces was an ordeal to record. Krief, who is 32, played al-most every track himself, learning to play drums in the process. But he says that he doesn’t want to do it any other way.

Alex J MacPherson: You played ev-ery track on this record. How difficult was it?

Patrick Krief: I knew what I was getting myself into. I had done it before with my first release but this time the arrangement was so much more ambitious. There were a few

moments where I was like, this is never going to get finished — what the hell was I thinking? It was a lot of work, especially the drums.

AJM: Is it difficult, even now, to go from a band setting to making a solo record?

PK: I was kind of in a place as a musician where I didn’t feel like I had a band, really. I was asking myself should I put a band together to work on all these songs I’m writing? Or should I just do this thing where I

do all the instruments? That’s what I wanted to do in the first place. I saw an opportunity in the fact that my band at the time was dissolving. It was kind of a convenient opportunity.

AJM: This album was built around the song “Lost in Japan.” Can you tell me a bit about how that process was for you?

PK: When I heard “Lost in Japan” in my head, or however that song started forming, I was like, oh, this is the start of an album. Instantly after I had that thought, that I have an album, “Hundred Thousand Pieces” was the first song I actually demoed. I actually approached it before “Lost in Japan,” even though “Lost in Japan” got me [started].

AJM: You recorded all of these parts yourself. Can you tell me a bit about how you did it?

PK: It was really fun for me. At home

I would lay down basic structure, a synth pad just playing the chords. Then I would play that on repeat and play guitar to it like I was jamming. Improvise, improvise, improvise until, “Oh, I like this, that’s the guitar part.” Meanwhile there’s a drum machine playing. Then I’d go to my rehearsal studio, throw up a micro-phone, and play drums all day to this recording.

AJM: Hearing you talk about it, it sounds like this is the album you wanted and needed to make.

PK: Absolutely. It was brewing up in me for so long, to just be like com-pletely in control of what I’m hear-ing. I don’t know how this is going to

come off, if I’ll sound like a jerk, but every time I bend on something…maybe for an outsider the song is better in the end, but for me it will always feel wrong. So I was like this is the album where — it’s masturba-tory, for lack of a better word — I am going to execute exactly what I’m hearing. Now, I don’t know if I’ll ever turn back.

Patrick KriefSeptember 6 @ the bassment$13/18 @ tickets.saskatoonjazzsociety.com/

It was brewing up in me for so long, to just be like completely in control of what I’m hearing.

pAtRIck kRIef

aug 31 - sept 6


13cuLture

arts

@verbsaskatoon

the dutiful son Jerry Sereda talks music, mothers, and moving forward. by aLex J macpherson

who could sit on that?Swiss artist Susan clark talks form and function. by aLex J macpherson

f Jerry Sereda’s mother loved him any less, he would still

be teaching high school computer science in Winnipeg. In early 2007, shortly after Sereda hung up his hat and jettisoned his dream of becoming a working musician, his telephone started to ring.

“I got a phone call one day from my mom,” Sereda says, laughing at the memory. “She said ‘I entered you

in this talent contest.’ I told her no way I’m doing another talent contest. She said, ‘I’m your mother and you’re doing this contest.’”

Ever the dutiful son, Sereda showed up and sang his heart out. No stranger to losing singing contests, Sereda was astonished when he placed third. In retrospect, he says, it was probably because he wasn’t playing to win — he was playing to sate his mother. His good luck contin-ued when the first two acts sank out sight. Then, he says, “I started getting my name out there.”

Now, three years later, the hard work, bitter perseverance, and countless late nights are starting to pay off. Since his de facto vic-tory, Sereda has released a brace of albums and is preparing a third. His upbeat country-rock songs have won multiple awards and, more impor-tantly, built the foundation for a long career.

“It’s country music with an edge,”

Sereda says, pointing to his live performance. “The most important thing to me about live shows is really engaging the audience. It’s not your standard show, holding a guitar in your hand, standing in one place and singing songs — people can buy an album for that.”

Sereda, who takes a cue or two from his hero Garth Brooks, is a profoundly enthusiastic performer, and enjoys spending time in the crowd as much as he does onstage. It’s all about the audience, he says. “I want to leave the people thinking, ‘I don’t believe I just saw that — and I’ll definitely go see this show again.’”

And while Manitoba may not be the high citadel of country music, Sereda uses it to his advantage. “I get that question a lot,” he laughs. “If I were to go to New York and stand in the middle of Times Square and start screaming, no one would even look. No one would care. In Manitoba, if I started screaming the whole town

would know almost instantly.”

CCMA Manitoba Showcase September 7 @ Amigos cantinatickets available at the door

i

@macphersona

[email protected]


usan Clark von Saskatoon’s artwork is the intersection

of form and function, beauty and practicality.

Born from Clark’s desire to move beyond the limits imposed by con-ventional textile art, her painted silk chairs transform two dimensions into three. And by combining disciplines, Clark is able to raise questions about functionality while creating pieces that are both beautiful and usable.

“I hear people say that all the time, ‘Who could sit on a chair like this?’” she writes in an e-mail from her home in Basel, Switzerland. “Well, most people hardly sit in their living rooms anyway. Silk is an amazingly strong fabric, but that said, my pieces are more or less for display.”

Clark’s ornate chairs begin life as sketches, drawings of plants, flow-ers, and trees that are painstakingly transferred to white silk with nothing

more complicated than a pencil. Then fine lines of a cement-like adhesive called gutta are painted on; the next step is colour, which Clark achieves using a series of fabric dyes that are not unlike watercolours.

The results are staggering. Clark’s chairs are as intricate as

they are impressive. Reflecting her interest in botany, the chairs also raise questions about the relationship be-tween consumerism and the environ-ment. Clark, however, says she didn’t think about an environmental agenda; she sees gardens and the outdoors as a source of inspiration.

Her chairs are also a throwback to the golden age of furniture design, Clark explains. “They’re curvaceous and rounded, almost like a body, and they harken back to old Europe. It took me a long time to find such a chair, as it is not a traditional furniture shape in North America at all.”

Taken together, these disparate elements coalesce into a metaphor for Clark’s artistic practice and life.

Clark’s exhibition also features a number of silk paintings, forebears of her chairs. But there’s no question the chairs are the centrepiece. “You could consider it a throne for the home,” she writes.

Silk Paintings and Soft Furnishingsthrough September 23 @ Affinity gallery

s

pHOtO: cOuRteSy Of kARen lAmbeRt

pHOtO: cOuRteSy Of g. keRnAn


aug 31 - sept 6


14cuLture


dirtdean brody dishes on perfectionism, pressure, and writing the best songs he can. by Alex J mAcpHeRSOn

hat sort of person writes a country song about Bob Mar-

ley? Or a country song with Great Big Sea?

These were among the first ques-tions I asked Dean Brody, a Nova Sco-tia-based country singer whose songs are making waves across the country. As it turned out, Brody’s answers were unremarkable — not because he’s crazy, but because he’s honest. And in the music business, honesty may be the craziest thing of all.

“It’s funny,” Brody laughed, his rich baritone sounding nothing like it does onstage. “I had someone the other day go, ‘Bob Marley and coun-try music?’ I never really thought about it. I’ve just always liked the song ‘Three Little Birds.’”

I didn’t expect Brody to say this; I expected a long anecdote or perhaps an even longer justification for the song. But Brody genuinely likes Bob Marley and, in retrospect, it would be absurd for anyone to say he shouldn’t write about “Three Little Birds.” After all, Brody’s popularity is

a function of how many people iden-tify with his songs, and he must be doing something right because that number is booming. But that doesn’t mean he can’t worry about it.

“That was one of my fears,” Brody said, choosing his words carefully, “that because I write a lot of different stuff, are people just going to look at

me and go, ‘who is this guy? What is he really trying to say?’ But I think because I write the songs, I’m given a little more freedom by the listeners. They can accept two different kinds of song because it’s the same writer, the same person writing the lyric.”

This is more important than ever before. Brody’s new record, Dirt, is as

diverse and eclectic as it gets. Featur-ing the aforementioned song about Bob Marley and rollicking collabora-tion with Great Big Sea, as well as a hard-rocking anthem praising Cana-dian girls, the album was a gamble for Brody, who could easily have adopted a more traditional approach without anyone saying a word.

“This record was tough,” he said. “Trail in Life was such a big album for me. There was a lot of pressure to make this next record, the third one, as good. And I had to just forget about Trail in Life and look forward and move on and try and write and not compare everything to the last record. After awhile, I was able to do

cover

That was one of my fears, that because I write a lot of different stuff … people [are] going to … go, ‘who is this guy?’

deAn bROdy

w

aug 31 - sept 6


15cuLtureFacebook.com/verbnewssaskatoon

that, break away and write this new stuff.”

The gamble appears to have paid off. Dirt, which was released in April, was recently nominated for seven Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards. Last year, Trail in Life won four awards, and because he is scheduled to perform at the ceremony, Brody will be well-placed to collect some more hardware. But, like most country musicians, Brody is humble: “It means the world to me, to be nominated by other musicians, other people in the business,” he said. “It’s very special.”

At this point, Brody launched

into a story that went a long way to explaining his success. “I’m hard on myself,” he explained, almost sheepishly. “It’s one of the things I’ve battled with since I was a kid. I’ve al-ways been a perfectionist, and one of my first dreams was to be a punter. In ninth grade I’d go and try and punt as far as the guys in the CFL. And then

I’d get depressed if I couldn’t I carry that with me — I’m always trying to push myself.”

Perfectionism is a virtue, not a vice, and it carried him when times were tough. Brody once spent six years lugging a guitar around Nashville, playing for anyone who would listen and resting his hopes and dreams on an endless series of performances. Then, his career was derailed by a horrific waterskiing ac-cident and an acrimonious split with his label. Even today, he admits that songwriting is a struggle — and that

his perfectionism keeps him going.“It’s a weird beast,” Brody said,

laughing. “At any point in the day I can pick up my guitar and sing to somebody, but writing a song? I can sit down some days and write ter-rible stuff. And the next day, I write good stuff. It’s always been a battle for me — I love it and I hate it.”

Ultimately, Brody recognizes that honesty draws crowds and hard work retains them. “It’s a weird

beast,” Brody said, laughing. “At any point in the day I can pick up my gui-tar and sing to somebody, but writing a song? I can sit down some days and write terrible stuff. And the next day, I write good stuff. It’s always been a battle for me — I love it and I hate it.”

“It’s so important to try and be authentic,” he added, “even if it’s tough to do.”

Even if some people think you’re crazy.

The Canadian Country Music Association Awards will be broad-cast from the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon on September 9th; check out CBC for the live broadcast of the event, which begins at 8pm.

@macphersona

[email protected]


ccmas By the numBers

pHOtOS: cOuRteSy Of mARk mARyOnOvIcH

1976 – Canadian Country Music

Association was first founded, as

the Academy of Country Music

Entertainment

1982 – The Country Music Awards

ceremony was held for the first time

1987 – The association changed

its name to the Canadian Country

Music Association

2009 – Dean Brody won his first

CCMA award, for “Brothers” (Single

of the Year)

2011 – Brody followed his ‘09 win

with three awards: Songwriter of

the Year, Album of the Year and

Single of the Year


aug 31 - sept 6


16cuLture

Food + drink

let’s go drinkin’ verB’s mixology guide

the american collins

Sure we’re in Canada, but who says we can’t enjoy American-ing up a summer classic like the Tom Collins? The addition of berries brings a fresh twist to an old favourite, so kick back and enjoy the rest of summer with this tasty drink.

ingredients

1 1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin3/4 oz simple syrup1/2 oz fresh lemon juice4 bing cherries, pitted8 blueberriesclub soda1 bing cherry for garnishlemon wheel for garnish

directions

Muddle the blueberries and cherries in a tall glass with the lemon juice and simple syrup. Add the gin and ice, then top it all up with the club soda. Add your garnish, and you’re set to get sipping. Badda-boom, badda-bing!

veggie delightscool, cozy & crazy good: the Root down workers’ cooperative café offers amazing soups, salads & sandwiches. by AdAm HAwbOldt

ave you ever entered a place you’d never been before and a feeling of

comfort, of ease, of laid-back cool-ness washed over you?

You look around the place and say to yourself, “Hotdamn! I think I’m gonna like it here.”

Well, that’s precisely what hap-pened to me the other day when I first stepped foot in the Root Down Workers’ Cooperative Café.

I don’t know if it was the café’s

rustic/chic decor, or all the books on display (the café works with Turning the Tide, an alternative bookstore), or the soft, sweet sound of Ben Harper’s “Steal My Kisses” playing in the background.

But whatever it was, the Root Down certainly made one heckuva

first impression — an impression that only got better after meeting the good folks who own and run the place. Warm, friendly and profes-sional, the workers at this exquisite little cooperative are quick to smile and easy to chat with.

And while chatting here’s what I learned. Bryce, the guy I’m talking to, used to work at a co-operative in Kingston, Ontario. He digs that kind of business because of his politics, because you get to work with friends

and like-minded people, and because everybody seems to care about what they’re doing.

I also learned that Amanda, the slender girl who takes my order, doesn’t like cow’s milk.

Oh, and when all is said and done, I learned that not only does Root

Down have a really chill, relaxing at-mosphere, it also serves some damn fine food as well.

The menu is on an old-fashioned blackboard behind the counter. Scrawled in chalk are dishes with intriguing names like The Maria Luisa, Be the Hummingbird, and La Resistance. And after hemming and hawing for a while, I end up going with the third option.

Which turned out to be a delecta-ble sandwich consisting of caramel-ized onions, tapenade, goat cheese and thyme, all stacked high between two slices of savoury rosemary bread. And man, was it good.

With the sandwich, I ordered a bowl of the delicious Sweet Potato Spiced soup. Made from sweet pota-toes, fennel seeds, peanuts and more, this soup was the absolute perfect balance of sweet and spicy.

Heading into Root Down (which, by the way, is located in the building adjacent to the Farmer’s Market), that was all I’d planned to eat. But the in-stant I saw the pear and pecan salad on display that plan flew straight out the window. Not wanting to be too full while writing this article, I ordered a small one.

“Do you want it warmed,” I was asked. “Oh, and with or without goat cheese?”

Warmed and with cheese, please!And for a brief, fleeting moment

I thought, whoa, this might be a tad too much for lunch. The moment passed, though, and after I put the first bite of that sweet, crunchy, am-brosial dish in my mouth, everything was magnificent.

So whatever you’re doing today or tomorrow for lunch, cancel. And

get your butt to Root Down for some seriously good, local, made-with-love vegetarian fare. Vegen and gluten-free options also available.

Root down workers’ cooperative café200 Sonnenschein way | (306) 955 3079

h

@adamhawboldt

[email protected]


Made from sweet potatoes, fennel seeds, peanuts and more, this soup was … absolute [perfection].

AdAm HAwbOldt

photography courtesy of adam hawboldt.

aug 31 - sept 6


17cuLture@verbsaskatoon

music

pHOtOS cOuRteSy Of: lucAS ARundel / tHe ARtISt / tHe ARtISt

Coming upnext Week

the noBle liars

Consisting of Davin Burlingham (vocals/piano/guitar), Mike Nicholai-chuk (bass), Kurt Touet (drums) and Sayde Black (vocals), this band has evolved a lot since 2004. And these days, with Black’s smoky country-soul vocals pushing the band to different levels, the act formerly known as Jasper Ave. seems to be really hitting its stride. Having honed their rockin’ sound at venues across town (while also moonlighting in small towns throughout the prai-ries) this talented four-piece puts on smooth, energetic and entertaining performances. Their music offers the original, catchy, down home kind of tracks that will have you tapping your feet and bobbing your head. The Noble Liars will be performing as a part of Culture Day in the Park.

@ weStvIew HeIgHtS pARksaturday, september 8 – fRee!

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 becoming a trio, the group has been holding this thing called the Electric Pow Wow, a monthly club night in Ottawa dedicated to celebrating Native 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 Louis’ on Thursday, September 13.

a triBe called red

With indie-rock songs about hometowns and heartbreaks, about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, The Rural Alberta Advantage is a trio that knows how to capture their listeners’ atten-tion. Consisting of Paul Banwatt, Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff, this Toronto-based band has a sound that’s infectious. Their talents and energetic stage performances have been on display at SXSW, as well as at sold-out venues across the country, and they’ll be heading out on tour again this fall, this time with their friend Dan Mangan. Along the way they’re making a stop at the Odeon Events Centre in Saskatoon to play a show on November 3. Check out Ticketmaster for all your ticket information.

– by Adam Hawboldt

rural alBerta advantage

@ lOuIS’ pubthursday, september 13 – $ tbd

@ tHe OdeOn eventS centResaturday, november 3 – $34.74


aug 31 - sept 6

contents LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutarts

18entertainment


the most complete live music listings for saskatoon.

august 31 » septemBer 8

Listings

31 1

7 85 63 42

s m t w t

friday 31house dJs / 6Twelve — Funk, soul &

lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere. 9pm

/ No cover

trampled by turtles / Amigos Cantina

— This indie folk five-piece from Duluth,

Minnesota, have played Coachella,

Bonnaroo, Sasquatch and more. Also

appearing will be Erik Koskinen. 10pm /

Tickets available at the door

austen roadz / Béily’s UltraLounge —

With over 25 years of DJ experience,

Austen Roadz throws down a high-ener-

gy top 40 dance party along with DJ Ash

Money every Friday night. 9pm /

$5 cover

rippertrain / Buds on Broadway —

Simply put: this local foursome rocks.

Come check them out. 10pm / $6 cover

911 turbo / The Fez on Broadway — This

juggernaut of German techno from Sas-

katoon brings party energy and catchy

dance hits to each of their shows. 9pm /

Cover TBD

dJ eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant —

Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps

snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover

dJ sugar daddy / Jax Niteclub — Able

to rock any party, this local crowd fa-

vourite has always been known to break

the latest and greatest tracks in multiple

genres. He is sure to have you on the

dance floor in no time. 9pm / $5 cover

Fun. / The Odeon Events Centre — Last

year, this New York band’s smash single

“We Are Young” became the first rock/

alternative song to top the Billboard

Hot 100 chart since Coldplay’s “Viva la

Vida” did it in 2008. Now they’re playing

Saskatoon. 7pm / Tickets $32 (www.

ticketmaster.ca)

dJ big ayyy & dJ henchman / Outlaws

Country Rock Bar — Round up your

friends ‘cause there’s no better country

rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in

free before 11pm

neil roston / Prairie Ink — Here’s some

laid back blues/folk music for the soul.

8pm / No cover

show and dance / Royal Canadian

Legion, Nutana Branch — Come check

out a show that will feature “England”

and “Johnny Cash.” 8:30pm / Tickets $10,

advance tickets available at McNally

Robinson bookstore

mike gamboe / Somewhere Else Pub —

Come check out some sweet local music.

9pm / No cover

Jett run / Stan’s Place — This local band

plays country, country-rock and pure

rock. 9pm / 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 / $5

dJ modus / Tequila Nightclub — Prepare

for a banging night of hot music. 10pm /

Cover TBD

raya star / Victoria School’s LSS —

Hailing from Comox Valley, B.C., this

singer/songwriter is all kinds of good.

11:30pm / No cover

saturday 1house dJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs

spin deep and soulful tunes all night.

9pm / No cover

slow down, molasses / Amigos

Cantina — Consisting of a shifting cast of

talented musicians, this local band plays

a sprawling brand of indie rock that’s rife

with horns, strings, feedback-laced gui-

tars and sweeping vocal harmonies. Also

appearing will be the Young Benjamins.

10pm / Tickets available at the door

austen roadz / Béily’s UltraLounge

— With over 25 years of DJ experience,

Austen Roadz throws down a high-

energy top 40 dance party along with

DJ CTRL every Saturday night. 9pm /

$5 cover

alex runions, Jay semko, larry krause, ray whitton / The Centre

— Come out and enjoy the PotashCorp

Country Music Week mall series. 1pm /

No cover

911 turbo / The Fez on Broadway — This

juggernaut of German techno from Sas-

katoon brings party energy and catchy

dance hits to each of their shows. 9pm /

Cover TBD

dJ kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saska-

toon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover










rock party around. 8pm / $5

no hurry trio / Prairie Ink — Come

down and enjoy this trio of musicians

as they blend acoustic guitars with tight

vocal harmonies. 8pm / No cover

Mike Gamboe / Somewhere Else Pub -

Come check out some sweet local music.

9pm / No cover

Jett run / Stan’s Place — This local band

plays country, country-rock and pure

rock. 9pm / No cover




requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

10pm / $5

sunday 2saskatoon’s original industry night / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by

DJ Sugar Daddy; this crowd favourite has

always been known to break the latest

and greatest tracks in multiple genres. $4

after 9pm; no cover for industry staff


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

No cover

sunday Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The

Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution,

offering great tunes from blues to rock

and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover

monday 3metal mondays / Lydia’s Pub — If hard,

heavy awesomeness is your thing, swing

by, listen to some killer music and get in

on some concert giveaways. 9pm

tuesday 4yukon blonde / Amigos Cantina — As

far as post-indie rock bands go, these guys

have it all: shredding guitars, ethereal

vocals, wickedly catchy tunes, a sound

that spans decades, and the look of a band

that’s just crawled off a tour bus. 10pm /

Tickets $12 (www.ticketedge.ca)

dJ sugar daddy / The Double Deuce

— Able to rock any party, this crowd fa-



genres. 9:30pm / $4 cover

Verb presents open stage / Lydia’s Pub

— The open stage at Lydia’s has hosted

many of Saskatoon’s finest performers,

and is a chance for bands, solo artists and

even comedians to showcase original

material. 9pm / No cover

aug 31 - sept 6

contents LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutarts

19entertainmentFacebook.com/verbnewssaskatoon

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

get listed

[email protected]

open mic / The Somewhere Else Pub —

Come out to show your talent. 7pm /

No cover

wednesday 5hump wednesdays / 302 Lounge & Dis-

cotheque — Resident DJ Chris Knorr will

be spinning all of your favourite songs

and requests, every Wednesday night.

9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter

Charlie Major / Dakota Dunes Casino

- This Juno-winning, five-time CCMA-

winning country singer from Quebec

puts on a show you do not want to miss.

8pm / Tickets $25 (www.dakotadunesca-

sino.com)

the aVenue recording company presents open mic / The Fez on Broad-

way — Hosted by Chad Reynolds. Sign

up and play at this weekly event. 10pm

/ No cover


toon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm

/ No cover

dr. J ‘souled out’ / Lydia’s Pub — Dr. J

spins hot funk and soul every Wednes-

day night. 9pm / No cover

wild west wednesday / Outlaws

Country Rock Bar — This is Saskatoon’s

top industry night, hosted by DJ Big

Ayyy & DJ Henchman. 9pm / $4; no

cover for industry staff

paul kuzbik / Rock Creek Tap & Grill

— This local singer/songwriter blends

blues, rock and folk to create a smooth,

sweet sound. 8pm / No cover





10pm / No cover

thursday 6mahogany Frog / Amigos Cantina —

An experimental electro-rock four-piece

from Winnipeg that will blow your mind.

Also appearing will be The Switching

Yard.10pm / Tickets available at the door

roots series: patrick krieF / The

Bassment — This talented Montrealer

writes intensely personal music that will

suck you into his world. Also appearing

will be Castle River. 8pm / Cover $13/18

throwback thursdays / Earls — Come

experience the best in retro funk, soul,

reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm /

No cover

thunder riot with conky showpony / The Fez on Broadway — Come dance the

night away as this local DJ plays the kind

of music that’ll get your feet moving.

9pm / $5

dJ kade / the hose & hydrant —

Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover

dJ sugar daddy / Jax Niteclub — Local

DJ Sugar Daddy will be rocking the turnta-

bles to get you dancing on the dance floor!

Every Thursday night will be filled with

passion parties, pole dancing, shadow

dancers and much more! 8pm / $5; free

cover with student ID before 11pm

ccma songwriter’s caFe / TCU Place

— Come out for an intimate, informative

show featuring the finest Canadian coun-

try musicians. 2pm / Ticket information

at http://potashcorpcountrymusic-

week2012.com/

ccma new artist showcase / TCU

Place — Want to see the up-and-coming

stars of Canadian country music? Stop

by and check out this show. 9pm /

Tickets TBD

friday 7mahogany Frog / House DJs / 6Twelve

Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven

up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm /

No cover

keith & renee / Amigos Cantina —

Country with a twist of rock and folk,

that’s what this duo from Winnipeg will

bring to the Manitoba Country Music

Showcase. They’ll be joined by Jerry

Sereda, Del Barber and Kyla Cederwall.

10pm / Tickets available at the door

Jazz diVa series: the Jazz singers Fundraiser / The Bassment — This

two-night celebration will feature nearly

every jazz singer in town. On Friday

Michelle Auser, Jamie Donlevy, Donna

Hay, Ellen Kolenick, Heidi Munro, Alexis

Normand, Kathryn Schulz, Grant Currie,

and BJ Harris will be performing. 9pm /

$15/$20

austen roadz / Béily’s UltraLounge —

With over 25 years of DJ experience, Aus-

ten Roadz throws down a high-energy top

40 dance party along with DJ Ash Money

every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover

laVagoat / The Fez on Broadway — This

hard-thrashing local heavy metal band

is kicking off its tour right here in town.

They’ll be joined by Skull Fist and Chro-

nobot. 9pm / Tickets $10

dJ eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant —

Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps

snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover










rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in

free before 11pm

doug boomhower / Prairie Ink — Come

down and check out some smooth jazz

tunes. 8pm / No cover

rock ‘n country carbaret / Prairi-

eland Park — With a line-up featuring

Doc Walker, Deric Ruttan, Aaron Pritch-

ett, Jason Blaine, Wyatt and more, this is

a show no country fan can afford to miss.

9pm / Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at the

door (www.ticketmaster.ca)

bc read / Somewhere Else Pub — With

a whiskey-soaked voice and years of

experience, this local roots/blues musi-

cian puts on a captivating show. 9pm /

No cover




requests,from Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

10pm / $5


— Come out for an intimate, informa-

tive show featuring the finest Canadian

country musicians. 7pm / Go to http://

potashcorpcountrymusicweek2012.

com/i for ticket information

saturday 8house dJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs

spin deep and soulful tunes all night.

9pm / No cover

Jazz diVa series: the Jazz singers Fundraiser / The Bassment — This

two-night celebration will feature nearly

every jazz singer in town. On Saturday

Colleen Carr, Rebecca Griffith, Maureen

Kennedy Butler, Alexis Korchinski,

Robyn Knight, Gillian Snider, Tatrina Tai,

Neil Currie, and Graham Dyck will be

performing. 9pm / $15/$20

austen roadz / Béily’s UltraLounge

— With over 25 years of DJ experience,

Austen Roadz throws down a high-energy

top 40 dance party along with DJ CTRL

every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover

ministry oF zen / The Fez on Broadway

— Take traditional, old-school hard rock

music, splash in a bit of modern radio

rock influences and you’ll get an idea

what this five-piece from Edmonton is all

about. 9pm / Cover TBD


toon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover







liFted / Lydia’s Pub — Like good DJs?

Come to Lydia’s upstairs loft for this back

to school kick off party. 9 pm / $5 cover




rock party around. 8pm / $5

Shefindsoldpoems / Prairie Ink - Come

down for a night of folk/acoustic tunes.

8pm / No cover

ccma FanFest / Prairieland Park —

Come check out this line-up. Trust us, it’s

one that will delight any avid country

music fan. 11am / No cover

bc read / Somewhere Else Pub — With

a whiskey-soaked voice and years of

experience, this local roots/blues musi-

cian puts on a captivating show. 9pm /

No cover





10pm / $5


— Come out for an intimate, informative

show featuring the finest Canadian coun-

try musicians. 2pm / Ticket information

at http://potashcorpcountrymusic-

week2012.com/i


aug 31 - sept 6


20entertainment

FiLm

same old scaresthe possession offers up predictable thrills. by veRb StAff

he Oxford Dictionary of English defines dyb-buk thus: “(in Jewish

folklore) a malevolent wander-ing spirit that enters and possess the body of a living person until exorcised.”

One particular dybbuk is at the heart of The Possession, a new film by Ole Bornedal. Actually, “new”

might be a bit of a stretch: The Pos-session is as predictable as it is bor-ing. Horror movies are all the same in that directors have a limited number of tools with which to in-duce the thrill film-goers seek, but

this movie feels like it was cobbled together from hackneyed ideas and heard phrases.

Nevertheless, the action begins when 10-year-old Em Brenek (Na-tasha Calis) persuades her father Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to buy her a mysterious box at a yard sale. Engraved with indecipherable He-brew script and apparently sealed

shut, the box is ominous from the start.

If that wasn’t obvious enough, Bornedal chooses to show us that the box rendered its previous owner, an elderly woman, virtually

catatonic.Eventually, Em starts to behave

erratically, and there is no question that her bizarre actions result from her obsession with the box. Plainly, she is possessed.

And if you’re not convinced, the appearance of giant moths in her bedroom — a step up from normal troubled teen behavior — sort of drives the point home.

This, naturally, gives Clyde and his ex-wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedg-wick) cause for concern. Eventu-ally, they start searching for a solu-tion — including, rather bizarrely, a rabbi’s son played by reggae artist Matisyahu. More bizarrely, it later turns out that dybbuks are visible to the all-seeing MRI machine, a revelation that leads to a hospital ward exorcism.

And the predictable plot is just the beginning.

Rather than use the natural rises and falls of what may have been a decent script to build and hold and

release tension, Bornedal seems to prefer cheap thrills to memorable storytelling. Not only that, but be-cause scenes so often fade to black, there is little cohesion and less in-terest when something memorable does appear.

Even the cheap thrills, ammu-nition in Hollywood’s magazine of blockbuster selling points, are boring.

But the really staggering thing about The Possession is that it was produced by Sam Raimi, who is sort of like a god to horror fans. It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Raimi, who was plainly brought aboard for his knowledge of the genre, isn’t allowed to an-swer a single question or contribute his talent to the project.

Now, not everything about The Possession is awful. The acting is pretty good, actually.

Sedgwick is great, and once again demonstrates her capacity to be angry and frightened with the best of them.

And Calis will probably go far.

Although she does a lot of staring in this film, she’s compelling onscreen and that’s what counts.

Matisyahu, who is not known for being an actor, is workmanlike. And his facial hair is first-rate.

But unless you’re the sort of person who makes a habit of watch-ing every horror film the California sausage factory churns out, you may want to give The Possession a Pass.

Watching it feels like rewatch-ing a movie you saw while very, very drunk — vaguely predictable and forgettable.

t

FiLm

pHOtO: cOuRteSy Of lIOnSgAte

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]

the possession

DIrecTeD by Ole Bornedal

STarrIng Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean

Morgan + Kyra Sedgwick

91 MInuTeS | 14a


[The Possession] feels like it was cobbled together from hackneyed ideas…

veRb StAff

@verbsaskatoon

aug 31 - sept 6

21entertainmentcontents LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a cover Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutarts entertainment

et me preface this review by saying that I enjoyed the hell out of Pawel

Pawlikowski’s latest film, The Woman in the Fifth.

It possessed the kind of Kafka-esque strangeness that appeals to my perverse nature; the kind of Roman-Polanski-meets-David-Lynch surrealism that excites, provokes and challenges my inner movie snob.

That said, The Woman in the Fifth is not for everybody.

Of the three other people I watched the film with, one of them outright hated it, another thought the “acting was fine, but the film was boring” and the final person liked it, but was left scratching his head — wondering what in the hell he’d just witnessed.

And you can’t really blame him. See, The Woman in the Fifth is the

type of movie that raises more ques-tions than it answers. Way more.

Directed by the incredibly talented Pawlikowski (Last Resort, My Summer of Love), this movie tells the sensual, perplexing story of Tom Ricks (Ethan Hawke) — an American writer with a shady past. Tom arrives in Paris hoping to see his daughter,

and, hopefully, to make amends with his ex-wife. The problem is, she isn’t interested. In fact, as soon she sees Tom she calls the police.

Which raises the question: what happened between them back in America?

Unfortunately, we never find out. What we do find out, however, is that when Tom leaves his ex’s house he falls asleep on a bus, gets robbed, goes to a grubby café and winds

up penniless, living in a Parisian flophouse and working as a security guard. His boss, a shady, criminal-type character, has Tom guarding a mysterious locked room. What that has to do with anything, we never find out.

Falling deeper into flophouse debt and delving into despair over his daughter, Tom eventually meets an elegant, wealthy widow named Margit (Kristin Scott Thomas) who takes him to bed and helps Tom find his way back to writing.

Is this woman Tom’s savior or de-

stroyer? Is she a murderess? A ghost? A cipher? Again — you guessed it — we never find out.

And that, folks, was the crux of why most of my friends didn’t enjoy The Woman in the Fifth. There were just too many damned unanswered questions for their liking, which is certainly a fair criticism.

There are parts of the movie that still perplex me. But therein lies one of the main reasons why I dug the

film so much. In a way, The Woman in the Fifth asks you the viewer to be a detective of sorts. It’s your job to piece the puzzle together, with no help or hints from the storyteller. You just have to make your guesses and trust your intuition.

And if that sounds like a highfa-lutin’ concept of a movie, well, that’s because it is. But it’s also a movie in which the acting is terrific, the atmo-sphere is intense and the writing is sound.

No, The Woman in the Fifth is cer-tainly not for everybody. But if you’re in the mood for a good ghost story, give it a try. Or was it a detective story? Or the story of a man slowly descending into madness? That’s up to you to decide.

The Woman in the Fifth is cur-rently being screened at the Broad-way Theatre.


parisian mysterythe woman in the fifth provides few answers. by AdAm HAwbOldt

l

the woman in the fifth

DIrecTeD by Pawel Pawlikowski

STarrIng Ethan Hawke, Kristin Scott

Thomas, Joanna Kulig + Samir Guesmi

85 MInuTeS | Pg

@adamhawboldt

[email protected]

pHOtO: cOuRteSy Of mementO fIlmS

It’s your job to piece the puzzle together, with no help or hints from the storyteller.

AdAm HAwbOldt


aug 31 - sept 6


22entertainment

nightLiFewednesday, august 22 @

rock creek Rock Creek Tap & Grill1820 McOrmond Drive(306) 979 7337

music Vibe / Changes, depending on the bartender or the live showFeatured deals / $5 pints of domestic, and $3 off wings (5pm ‘til close)drink oF choice / Caesarstop eats / Hot wingssomething new / New menu items, and a new brunch menu on Sundays, from 11am to 2pm

Photography by Patrick Carley – [email protected]

aug 31 - sept 6




aug 31 - sept 6


24entertainment

Photography by Michelle Berg – [email protected]

nightLiFe

aug 31 - sept 6


25entertainment@verbsaskatoon

25

saturday, august 25 @

the longBranchThe Longbranch806 Idylwyld Drive North (306) 665 6500

music Vibe / CountryFeatured deals / $3.75 Paralyzersdrink oF choice / Rye and Coketop eats / Nachos and dry ribssomething new / First school year with a new VIP section


aug 31 - sept 6


26entertainment

comicscomicscomics

© elaine m. will | blog.e2w-illustration.com

aug 31 - sept 6

LocaL editoriaL comments Q + a Food + drink Listingsmusic FiLm nightLiFe comics timeoutarts covercontents


timeout crosswordacross1. What has happened5. Tool with an arched blade9. Lake in Manitoba10. Around the bend12. Hold lovingly in your arms13. Person who sells food15. Distinctive period of time16. Studentís exercise18. Atomic number of hydrogen19. Have a repast21. Definite article22. Part of BA23. Fit to consume25. What ice does in a warm room26. One thousand dollars27. Place for fish and ships28. Turn the corners of your mouth up31. Early35. Having no companions36. Make an engine go vroom37. Makeshift swing38. Volcanic dust39. Student at a military school

41. A Bobbsey twin42. Gun, for one44. Strong and healthy46. Street language47. Playing marble48. Otherwise49. Behind schedule

down1. Teacher who overemphasizes rules2. Recipe direction3. Mall attraction4. Bridge support5. Aquarium problem6. Fishermanís boat7. Collection of wild animals8. Concert finale9. Senate house in ancient Rome11. Woman gossip12. Surrender formally14. Be tranquil17. That girl20. Two under par22. Be ready for

24. Flower visitor25. Adjust the alarm clock27. More than two but not many28. Cabbage dish29. Ten Commandments recipient30. Fill your lungs31. Hospital unit32. 60 seconds33. Backspace over text34. Already in the mail36. Chain of mountains39. Persuades by deception40. Draped attire43. Close friend45. Black Halloween creature

Canadian Criss-Cross

© walter d. feener 2012

aries march 21–April 19

There are good weeks and there are bad weeks, Aries. And sorry, this one

looks like a doozy. Don’t worry, though, it’ll pass. Until it does, though, stay out of tall trees.

taurus April 20–may 20

Everybody is different, Tau-rus. So don’t get bent out of shape this week if people

disagree with your opinions. After all, you know what they say about opinions and belly buttons…

gemini may 21–June 20

Remember that R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People?” That’s what you

should aim to be this week, Gemini. Even if it takes every single last ounce of your strength.

cancer June 21–July 22

“Take time with a wound-ed hand, ‘cause it likes to heal.” So too do wounded

shoulders, hearts and egos. If you need time to heal this week, Cancer, take it. You deserve it.

leo July 23–August 22

Muhammad Ali once said, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I

am.” That doesn’t apply to everybody, though, Leo. Don’t let your head get too big this week.

virgo August 23–September 22

It’s all about people power this week, Virgo. Spend time with family and

friends and you’ll find stores of energy that you forgot even existed. Now you have to figure out how to use it.

liBra September 23–October 23

For the love of Pete! Make up your mind already! Chances are you’ve been waffling on

a decision lately. Stop it! Just make your choice and deal with the consequences — good or bad.

scorpio October 24–november 22

You may be feeling a bit like Dirty Harry this week — all tough and badass. If

that’s the case, use your newfound confidence wisely, lest someone gets fed up and makes your day miserable.

sagittarius november 23–december 21

Been boozing a bit lately? Not eating right? Meh. Keep at it. But make

a promise to start a new fitness regime or diet next week. Right now, though, is a time for fun.

capricorn december 22–January 19

French is the language of love, right? Wrong. The language of love is what-

ever you’re speaking this week ,you smooth operator you. Be sure to put your charm to good use.

aQuarius January 20–february 19

This is the dawning of the week of Aquarius. Enjoy it. Everything you try should

work out for you. Everything you touch will turn to gold. Not literally, but wouldn’t that be sweet?

pisces february 20–march 20

Beware of kittens over the next few days, Pisces! Cud-dling kittens, kitten videos,

kitten posters, whatever. Nothing good can come of them this week. Sure they’re cute and all, but…

horoscopes august 31 – september 6

answer key

Documents

Verb Issue S205 (Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2012)