Week of February 4, 2010, Issue #746
COVER
Identity upgrade
When it came time for Kevin Kerr to fulfil his commission as Lee Playwright in Residence at the University of Alberta this spring, he dusted off an idea that had already been in the works for years with his friends at RealWheels Theatre in Vancouver—James Sanders' theatre company, which produces works encouraging understanding of the disability experience, had already accepted a separate commission for this year's Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver. The original pitch, Sanders describes, was for something resembling a re-telling of the Frankenstein story. read more...
FRONT
Vuepoint: Canada refuses to take lead
Earlier this week Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, made what could be taken as a positive step toward improving Canada's action on climate change, if you didn't read his next two statements. Prentice stated that Canada needed to improve environmental regulations regarding the tar sands as it was an issue of Canada's "reputation on an international stage". Unfortunately, he wasn't referring to actually cleaning up the tar sands. Prentice was more concerned with the image the international community had with Canada's tar sands. And it got worse. Prentice went on to say he was not willing to implement any stringent regulations not implemented in the US. read more...
Vue Readers
Iran's democratic evolutions - Siavash Saffari / ssaffari@vueweekly.com
Dyer Straight: Secession is the answer
Sudan's only solution may be separation - Gwynne Dyer / gwynne@vueweekly.com
Media Links: Olympics and new media
Vancouver's Olympics a coming out for independent media - Steve Anderson / steve@democraticmedia.ca
Zeit Geist: Canada's Internet success
NFB's Screening Room a hit on the Internet - Michael Geist / mgeist@vueweekly.com
Well, well, well: Worth another look
One factor rarely causes a disease, and writing off co-factors is potentially dangerous - Connie Howard / health@vueweekly.com
Dave Young / inthebox@vueweekly.com
Queermonton: Horny is irrelevant
Rape culture in the queer community - Ted Kerr / ted@vueweekly.com
DISH
Ruth's Chris Steak House: Worth every penny
Simply stated, Ruth's Chris Steak House is one of the finest dining establishments in Edmonton. That said, my buddy, Graham, and I decided to give it a try. I'd have taken my wife, except she's not a real fan of beef, and I knew Graham would better appreciate the experience. read more...
Healthy food and a big dose of national pride fills Sabzy - Kelsey stroeder / kelsey@vueweekly.com
To the pint: What you smokin'?
For Les Trois Mousquetaires, the answer is beer - Jason Foster / tothepint@vueweekly.com
PROVENANCE: History of the Caesar
Bryan Birtles / bryan@vueweekly.com
SNOW ZONE
Mt. Elsewhere
Medals and misses, economic gains or losses, whether Canada or British Columbia will even benefit from hosting the games—the Olympics are wrought with speculation. Since learning Whistler would host the bobsled, luge, skiing and snowboarding events, other British Columbian ski resorts have been doing their own speculating. read more...
Hart Golbeck / hart@vueweekly.com
ARTS
NEW WORKS FESTIVAL: The kids are all right
Change is almost constant when something is young. Without the weight or ties of history to bind, things will stop and start in any number of directions, run out on worthy branches only to hop off to something that looks more promising halfway down. And as a festival devoted to rooting out the new and different in the U of A's drama department, it's only fitting that the 10-year-old New Works Festival has not only changed its direction some, but handed over its reigns to the young up-and-comers that the festival is all about promoting. read more...
BOOK DESIGN IN CANADA: Judge this book by its cover
Book Design in Canada awards showcases the highlights of literary designs - Amy Fung / amy@vueweekly.com
L'HOMME DU HAZARD: So that's my motivation
L'homme du hazard reveals its characters' inner thoughts - Paul Blinov / paul@vueweekly.com
JANET CARDIFF & GEORGE BURES MILLER: Seven year itch
A pair of world-acclaimed artists return to Edmonton - Amy Fung / amy@vueweekly.com
BOOK, JACKET & JOURNAL SHOW: Off limits
FAB show intrigues, but hands-off set-up makes it difficult to appreciate - Adam Waldron-Blain / adamwb@vueweekly.com
PIRATES OF PENZANCE: Pirates of the North Saskatchewan
Gilbert and Sullivan return to Edmonton Opera with Pirates of Penzance - Bryan Saunders / bryansaunders@vueweekly.com
FILM
Dear John: Long-distance love
Boy meets girl during two weeks of R&R away from the army. Boy and girl fall in love and promise to keep in touch while she goes back to school and he returns to military duty. But as their time apart grows, the realities of life spent at a distance set in and boy and girl's simple romance get complicated. Dear John, based on romance king Nicholas Spark's novel of the same name, follows the bumpy, war-torn path that endangers the love of the eponymous John and sweetheart Savannah. read more...
DVD DETECTIVE: PARIS, TEXAS - There's no place like no place
The mystery of Paris, Texas reveals lonely American lives and landscapes - Josef Braun / dvddetective@vueweekly.com
THE COCA-COLA CASE: A bitter aftertaste
The Coca-Cola Case shows how hard it is to take on a huge corporation - David Berry / david@vueweekly.com
Paul Blinov / paul@vueweekly.com
Jonathan Busch / jonathan@vueweekly.com
Josef Braun / josef@vueweekly.com
SideVue: Fountain-Headed (Online Exclusive)
Brian Gibson / brian@vueweekly.com
MUSIC
Rae Spoon: In-between places
Get right down to it and there are really only two kinds of songs: those about Home, and those about Elsewhere. Even when it's not an explicit trope, like in the travelling songs of the bluesman, groupie-loving arena rocker, itinerant folkie or meditative cowboy, larger notions of Home and Elsewhere are tucked into all musical expression. What is love if not a home for your heart, a cottage in another's ribcage under the sheltering eaves of familiar arms? All love songs, then, become songs about Home, and those about unabashed carousing, joyous searching, painful longing or the bereavement of separation are songs of Elsewhere. Anthems are by nature intensely preoccupied with Home, literally ("Oh Canada") or declaratively tribal ("I Wanna Rock"), and entire genres—rap, roots, country, big 'F' Folk music—are devoted to limning the authenticity of origins. Bach's Passions and shamanic drumming posit a homecoming to an eternal divine after the rift of mortality, while music's evolutionary ancestry appears in our primate cousins' vocalizations used to declare territory and cement social relations—physical and emotional homes mapped by sound. read more...
Dan Mangan talks about the making of his latest album - Eden Munro / eden@vueweekly.com
A new megamerger could be bad news for smaller promoters - Steven Sandor / steven@vueweekly.com
Carolyn Nikodym / carolyn@vueweekly.com
Duo flies high with one precious cello - Maria Kotovych / maria@vueweekly.com
Elvis Costello: Nothing funny here
Just a few reasons to see Elvis Costello live - Mike Angus / mikeangus@vueweekly.com
Trio of singers hit the road together - Ashley Kascak / ashley@vueweekly.com
Rapper's career is spotted with highlights - David Berry / david@vueweekly.com
MICHAEL BERNARD FITZGERALD: Loud and crazy
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald brings a 30-person choir to town - Bryan Birtles / bryan@vueweekly.com
Calgary band takes success as it comes - Mike Angus / mikeangus@vueweekly.com
The Classical Score: Dimitri Illarionov
Classical guitarist brings Russian and Bulgarian folk songs to Edmonton - Maria Kotovych / classical@vueweekly.com
Gravy
Gravy
ALBUM REVIEWS
New Sounds: Beach House
One thing the recently departed J.D. Salinger really understood about teenagers was that nothing just sort of happens to them: it'd probably be a bit flippant to call them melodramatic, but the fact they haven't built up adult scar tissue has a way of making them take every nick and bump as a mortal wound. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Teen Dream finds the always dreamy but usually reserved Beach House embracing the full weight of the members' joys and sorrows, plumbing depths of emotion that were always there but never quite as fully realized as they are here. read more...
New Sounds: Daniel, Fred and Julie
David Berry / david@vueweekly.com
David Berry / david@vueweekly.com
Jim Dean / jim@vueweekly.com
Paul Blinov / paul@vueweekly.com
Mike Garth / michael@vueweekly.com
Eden Munro / eden@vueweekly.com
Eden Munro / eden@vueweekly.com
Whitey Houston / quickspins@vueweekly.com