By Jesse Keith
Like a shadow cartel or happenstance league of justice, they formed to mark the turning of the millennium. Five years ago, David Ferney and other theatre artists from Pender Island, British Columbia merged their talents with Illuminated Fools of Oregon and the Green Fools troupe from here in Calgary to form the puppet troupe Three… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Giant puppets judge humanity
By Jesse Keith
Towering stilt walkers and thirteen foot beasts lumber through Bankers Hall behind a procession of dancing lanterns. Imps from the Czech Republic soar through the Epcor Centre, while John Cusak’s puppet from Being John Malkovich twists free of his bounds in his display case at the Stride Gallery. This gathering of unique and surreal forms… Continue reading Theatre Preview: The puppets have arrived
By Jesse Keith
Punk bands, past and present, have never shied away from making overt political statements. Bands like NOFX or Propagandhi devote entire albums or even careers to presenting a bold political front. So, it wouldn’t be outlandish to expect a band named The Million Dollar Marxists to come on stage wearing Red Army gear and waving… Continue reading Music Interview: The Million Dollar Marxists’ manifesto
By Jesse Keith
Success in the literary world comes with great prestige, but the prizes and acclaim sought by writers are subject to ardent competition. A trip to the top of the literary ranks requires a lifetime of work and devotion. A story often cited is of Canadian author Margaret Atwood deciding at the age of ten or… Continue reading BOOK INTERVIEW: Alistair MacLeod’s Mischief
By Jesse Keith
People don’t use the same scales to measure success. For some, a major record deal and critical acclaim might be enough. After the success of her 2002 album Night Bugs, though, Canadian musician Sarah Slean found herself feeling empty and unproductive. The stress and attention that comes with budding fame often takes its toll on… Continue reading Music Interview: Sarah Slean’s heartfelt honesty
By Jesse Keith
Certain stories stick with us. There are tales we hear in our minds, time and time again. Maybe it’s a favorite movie or book, or maybe it’s a story from a friend, but this story has imprinted itself on your brain. About twenty years ago Canadian author Greg Hollingshead read the mental case study of… Continue reading Book Interview: Hollingshead talks
By Jesse Keith
Calgary’s literary scene has begun to show some life in recent years. With the annual Wordfest, regular readings at bookstores, journals such as dANDelion and Filling Station, and a small, but strong community of writers, Cow Town isn’t looking so backwater anymore. Regardless of all the positive growth, Calgary is still far from being a… Continue reading Markin writers Finley and Caple
By Jesse Keith
The Calgary Folk Fest is an event I look forward to every year. It’s certainly one of the annual highlight of being a Calgarian. It was this year when my poor eating and sleeping habits caught up to me–Two days before the kick off of the festival, I was slapped with a case of the… Continue reading Porta-Potties wow at this year’s Folk Fest
By Jesse Keith
¡Bomba! may have formed in Edmonton, but its roots spread across the world, with members from Chile, Brazil, Cuba, and Edmonton, ¡Bomba! melds Latin and Canadian styles for a uniquely Albertan take on Latin music. Branching across salsa, songo, rumba, funk and jazz, ¡Bomba! throws a little bit of everything into the mix. Mario Allende,… Continue reading ¡Bomba! ready to blow up
By Jesse Keith
In my mind, one of the main functions of art is to open up other worlds for the beholder. Movies, music, literature and drama have always been my passport to other places, my peephole into hidden lives. Through these mediums I have experience and felt, however imperfectly, childhoods in Victorian England, the jungles of Africa… Continue reading Fairy Tales more than gay