Entertainment

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An interesting modern adapted version of Cyrano De Bergerac worked at the Stanley Theatre on Granville & 12th. The lead actor had unbelievable dialogue to digest and reproduce.I could easily see the reviews being mixed about the play itself, as much tongue and cheek may have distracted an audience that didn't connect with a Shakespeare-type playfulness on occasion. Whatever the case, the set and the performances were excellent. The play runs into January and makes for a memorable night. 

I've been watching reruns of Seinfeld with my family and I can't believe how good it is. So much subtle humor. My favorite episodes are Kenny Rogers Fried Chicken, Man Hands, Paul O'Neill Homerun and NJ Devils playoff face painting. I like all main characters equally (maybe Michael Richards physical comedy is the best) and Jackie childs is a pretty funny peripheral character, as is Mr. Peterman and Newman.

Sally Field does an awesome job as the somewhat overprotective Mother on Brothers and Sisters. Everything she does turns to gold as an actress...

Transiberian is a suspense film about an American couple who travel from Beijeng to Moscow by train and become entangled in a drug running scheme, by accident. Many turns and twists keep you on the edge of your seat for 120 minutes... 7.5/10...Rentable!...

Your self-titled album has been quite successful. Do you feel you’ve incorporated all that you wanted into it?

Logan: I think so. I don’t know if we had a plan, which could be good and bad. At the end of the day the record was definitely something we’re very proud of. It felt like we gave it everything we had.

Ben: We wrote like ten of the best songs that were good. The thing is, it goes beyond that too. We built the studio and we produced the record so it’s more than songwriting and a band. We learned so much even before we started writing. We accomplished everything and more, I think. [Where’d you build it?] In Logan’s basement and we just built a studio.

Your tour with Hedley is about to start and a tour with Sum 41 will follow that. How are you coping with your growing popularity amongst bands and fan alike?

B: Personally me, I’m actually pretty scared because I know the guys like to prank. We’re a pretty timid band. I’m just going to try to not be the victim of the pranks. [Watch your back at all times?] Hide and stay in the shadows.

L: I’m pretty excited. We’ve definitely heard the prank side of Hedley and I’m sure it’s there and I’m sure it’s all in good fun. But as far as you know, we just feel really fortunate we get to tour with Hedley and State of Shock – also good friends of ours and Vancouver natives. So especially playing in Vancouver with both bands, we’re very excited. Same with the Sum tour, we just feel really fortunate and we’re really pumped to hang out with great Canadian bands and be able to share our music with their fans.

What do you feel has been the greatest accomplishment in your career so far?

B: I would say the whole last recording process – making the CD. We built the tour bus as well…[From scratch?]

L: We totally welded the frame, got the tires – yes, from scratch. Not quite the bus frame.

On tour, when you’re not on-stage, what are you doing?

L: Depending on where we are, probably most the time everybody tries to soak it up – take in whatever scenery you can, take in what city you’re in. Catch up with people there. We’re pretty casual, no one has any particularly overwhelming hobbies or video game addictions or anything. We just kinda – we go out to play music so the truth is we work really @#$%! tour and when we have off days, we tend to rest. That may be the lamest story in rock but it’s true.

M: I agree.

Do you have a specific routine you do before you go on-stage?

B: I know that some people have little pep talks or something like that. We don’t really do anything. We’re just like ‘Okay, we go on in like two minutes’ and we make sure our monitors are working and we just go on and play. We don’t even do anything after. We walk off the stage with towels and like ‘It was good.’

L: Probably the ritual is just some quiet time before the show. We don’t really pump it up and get everyone we know in the same room. We basically kinda settle into the vibe. Of course, the light switches as soon as you step onto the stage. But prior to it you just want to get everything ready. [Calm before the storm?] Calm before the storm, that’s it.

Where is your favorite city to play in?

L: Our hometown is – probably for most bands too. We fortunately get to say that – it’s the best town. But other than our hometown, we’d say Winnipeg and London, Ontario. Hopefully soon we’ll have other countries to mention cities about. But so far, just Canada so Winnipeg and London.

B: Every city is fun to play in. But as far as walking around, I really like Halifax. It’ really awesome. We usually get up at 6am and walk by the harbor when the sun is coming up.

What is the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you on-stage?

B: Last tour, we were in Windsor, Ontario and we were touring with a band called Hunter Valentine and they were all girls. The last show, me and our tour manager decided to take their drum kit apart while they were playing. So they decided to get us back. They all whip creamed us.

L: It was pretty embarrassing.

B: There’s still whip cream on our instruments, we’re too lazy to clean them.

L: And I had grown the biggest beard I’d ever had. I definitely sport a beard these days but this had been a tour of like six weeks so it was really off the charts. Anyways, they definitely rubbed cookie crumbs into my beard and it was pretty gross. It was embarrassing but you know, in good fun.

If you can create a tour with any band, which would it be and why?

B: I would love to tour with the Foo Fighters. Just because Dave Grohl – he’s the be all end all of Rock n’ Roll right now. Everything he touches is awesome.

L: I think that’s probably a band consensus at this point. He’s such a great rock icon. The Foo Fighters just does these wonderful things they’ve been working for so long – so many years – and Dave even before that. The band makes rock…yeah, they’re just iconic…be cool to go out and just hang out with that kind of an audience and that kind of a band.

What was the first band you were ever obsessed about?

B: When I was growing up, probably Motley Crue. Tommy Lee is the reason I started drums – it was Motley Crue everything. I wanted to get tattoos like Tommy Lee, I wanted to grow my hair long like Tommy Lee, and I set my drums up like Tommy Lee. [Do you still set your drums like that?] I did for a point in time but evolved into my own little set-up.

L: Alice in Chains was the band that probably changed my life. It wasn’t like an image or anything like that for me. That band was the must at the time and it certainly was the first musical thing. I never really got rock until I heard that band; I’m not sure why I connected at that time but I did and yeah, it changed my life. Great tunes – I bought every album [Still have them?] yeah, I think so. In various conditions.

In high school, what stereotyped group did you belong in?

L: Yeah, lame. I don’t know, we were just like…in high school we weren’t playing Ben at the time, but we sort of knew him at that period; he was doing his own thing. As far as a band, Travis and I have been playing ever since high school. We were just the guys who played music when everybody else did everything else that was probably a lot cooler. We would always seriously spend our nights up until quite late, rockin’ out and just catch the last hour of a party. And after school, we weren’t being terribly scholastic; we were just rockin’. That’s all we did all the time. [No studying?]

B: I tried to study but I just wasn’t very good at school. I sort of tried but I didn’t really have a lot of fun in high school. I didn’t go to parties or anything like that. I just started playing drums and the more I got into drums the less I went to school. I still graduated and stuff but after that I went to music school and started playing in a band.

What was your most memorable experience in high school?

L: A moment that has scarred me for life in high school? Nah. You mean like musically – connected to music? [Sure, yeah] Well, we played a lot of shows in high school, every opportunity. We played at talent shows and coffee houses and parties. High school for me was pretty cool – casual.

B: I remember I started playing shows when I was in high school. I’d always miss the first couple classes the next day. I remember my guidance councilor said ‘What do you want to do when you graduate?’ I said ‘I want to play drums in a band.’ She really didn’t give me as much support as I would’ve expected and made me pick something from this list. I just ticked my way through it – I really didn’t get any support from her, but I got support from where it matters.

L: I think the thing about it is, I mean, everybody graduated high school and nobody brushed it off really. We all worked really hard, we took it seriously but we knew what we were going to do.

B: I graduated with more credits then I needed, I don’t know how that happened. [Ever took band?] I was in band, yeah. [Just drums?] Well, “percussions”.

L: I was more of a computer guy.

B: I know way more now and I wish I could go back to high school and be like ‘look what I can do.’ [You can visit your high school] that’s what Facebook is for – spying on high school people. [That’s why I don’t go on Facebook].

L: Classic!

If you can nominate one person to led the country, who would it be and why?

L: Wow…that’s a great question [Thank you]

B: Does he have to be political? [It can be anyone]

L: Jon Bon Jovi of course!

B: Does he have to be Canadian? [It can be anyone, it could be Chewbacca *my friend was wearing a Chewbacca shirt*]

L: I don’t know if Chewbacca would pull it off [You’d have to learn his language] Alright, I’m going to say Johnny Depp. I’m a big fan. He’s probably the only one, a figure worth idolizing to a degree just for certain characteristics, integrity and so on. It’d be interesting what the country would be run like if he was at the head of it.

B: I would have to say…I know a lot of people want Don Cherry to be Prime Minister. But I think Hockey Night in Canada; it should have to be Done Cherry AND Ron MacLean. One doesn’t work without the other. It should be 50/50. That’d be great. They could have a weekly TV show and everyone would watch.

If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing right now?

L: I’ve never really thought about it. Sometimes you’d think ‘Hm, is there anything else?’ But there’s never anything else that makes sense. You know what, if I wasn’t making music, I can honestly say I’d be a beach bum. That’s what I’d do I’d just waste away in Mexico.

B: I don’t know what I’d do. I’ve never really thought about anything else like even in high school since grade 10 or 11. I’m sure if I had to make a choice I’d make one, but I don’t have to so I won’t worry about it.

L: It’s usually how it goes. Unless you’re forced to make a decision…the only thing I’d do – I was very fortunate I got to produce the record so I’d like to do more of that. So years down the line, that’s something I’d like to do.

After the tours, can the fans expect some new music?

L: As far as new music being released, no idea. Indefinite. But we’re definitely working on it.

Do you have any advice for bands just starting out?

L: The same advice that’s always come to us and no one wants to hear it but there’s no simple answer to how to be in a band you just gotta play all the time. Write music all the time, play all the time and just get better. That’s what you do. That’s really the only answer there is. That’s what I’d say: just play. Take every chance they get if they’re a new band get on a stage and play. And become comfortable with that because that’s what they’re setting up to do.

B: I agree.

The only way to become a famous music artist is to start at the age of six on the @#$%!ey Mouse Club and work your way up from there. This is what anyone will quickly discover after watching a large amount of pop culture television. However, in this day and age, that statement couldn’t be farther from the truth.

The music world has left the “child stars turned pop stars” behind with the twentieth century. Take a look at the great musical talent of today: Lily Allen, Kate Nash, The Arctic Monkeys, My Chemical Romance, Sean Kingston. When they were six, they were in school where they belonged. The key to their success is something much more accessible. All anyone really needs is a microphone, Internet connection, and let’s not forget the key ingredient, talent. Hopeful musicians and music lovers alike are googling “MySpace Music”, with the possible promise of fame and fortune and the guarantee that you will find some sort of music that doesn’t make you cry out in agony.

Whether their goal is to become popular “mainstream” or if their music is more “avant-garde”, MySpace musicians have often found what they are looking for. Signing up for a MySpace account costs no money, and the site allows artists to display pictures, biographies, and even post songs and videos.

Probably one of the most anticipated and talked about movies of the year thrashed its competition in the box office, raking in 16.9 million on opening day in North America and 41 million the first week. Cloverfield is a monster/horror film directed by Matt Reeves. If you took “Godzilla” and “The Blair Witch Project” and stuck them together, you would end up with this. An overrated and over publicized film with shaky camera work but intense special effects.

The movie follows six New Yorkers after their party is abruptly stopped by an unexpected monster attack. The main characters in the movie are:
Rob Hawkins: the one that the party is for
Beth McIntyre: Rob’s ex-girlfriend
Hud Plat: the cameraman, and Rob’s best friend
Jason, Hawkins: Rob’s brother
Lily Ford: Jason’s Girlfriend
Marlena Diamond: Lily’s friend, and Hud’s crush

The whole movie films their brave attempts to get out of the city before it is destroyed by either the monster or the US Army.

Overall I thought the movie was OK. It could have been better with a more known cast. Also I thought the movie was way too short. Just when the movie got good, it ended. The ending was horrible in my opinion. I don't want to give anything away, but it was REALLY corny. There are rumors of a sequel flying around and I think it’s a great idea. The whole movie is filmed by an amateur (Hud) and I think that the idea that not just one film was made that day is a great idea. I give this movie 3 1⁄2 stars out of 5.

While Lindsay and Paris manage to stay afloat, the water just keeps seeping into Britney’s boat. It’s been over a year since the infamous starlets Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears were photographed giggling inside a car during a night of boozing and hard partying. Since then, stints in rehab, jail time, and custody battles have plagued all three young women as they struggle to survive in Young Hollywood. While two have emerged as seemingly “better persons”, Britney just seems to keep on the path to self-destruction as time drags on.

After the year of head shaving, divorce, and numerous questionings of her abilities as a mother, the New Year seemed to be a gateway to a new beginning. That ended rather quickly. Just a few days into 2008, Britney was taken away from her home in an ambulance and placed under a 72 hour lockdown in a nearby medical center where she underwent mental assessments by doctors (including TV icon Dr Phil). Not long after, she was released and seen out and about in- her old wedding dress. Upon speculation of bi-polar or multiple personality disorder, several times Britney was seen (and heard) with an English accent as she gallivanted about town donning a pink wig and sunglasses. Amongst all of this mumbo-jumbo, Spears still was (and is) in the midst of a bitter custody battle with ex Kevin Federline. After many court hearings, Spears’ kids had been taken away from her, and more recently she had to give a “gut- wrenching” deposition, one which did not change the fact that she was still denied visitation rights with her two sons. Not long after, Britney experienced yet another meltdown as she was spotted crying on the curb near her Summit home, where the paparazzi ruthlessly hounded her until she hopped into the car of a paparazzo and sped off.

It’s quite evident that Britney’s life is on a down spiral. With the turbulence and tumultuous events circling her, it’s no wonder she’s in her current state. We’d hoped that the day she’d hit rock bottom was the day she’d shaved her head. When that went to the dogs, it became the time when she was thrown into the “loony bin”. It looks like that’s gone down the drain as well. Apparently there’s a hard place below “rock bottom” and Britney’s stuck right in the middle. Still, we have to pray that at some point she’ll at last seek and stick to treatment for her issues, and that one-day she’ll reemerge into the spotlight and be able to reflect upon her past… in one of those 20/20 specials. You know, the ones where we see people like Robert Downey Jr. or Fergie talking about their past habits and how they’ve become better people. As of now, Britney’s boat may be sinking, but she hasn’t drowned - yet.

Set in the segregated South, Black Like Me documents one man’s journey to go above and beyond to “get the story”. John Howard Griffin was a privileged white journalist who wanted to discover what it was like to live in the deep south as an African American. Using medication to darken his skin, he set off to Louisiana to discover and experience the truth.

What he found and came in contact with was shocking. His raw descriptions and strong sense of justice brought out a powerful message that will surely move any reader. The things he witnessed and faced were remarkable and makes you dig really deep into the repulsion of man’s anger and hate. His writing style was vivid and intense, many times chilling to think about. Throughout the book, we discover and learn more about humanity and race and things that prevent others from even a simple act of kindness.

Although the book was describing hatred between blacks and whites in America, the documentary as a whole was explaining more about society in general. The book could've been set in another country; it wouldn’t have made a difference. Only the minor details would’ve been altered. It was about the hunted and the detested, about man’s ignorance and fight for what should be “theirs”.

After reading Black Like Me it moved and penetrated through to make me really think about a lot of my actions. It was a light penetrating to man’s fall but also shining through to the right path. This book is a definite essential to the better understanding of yourself and the world around us.