The behind-the-scenes folks at Calgary’s anticipated annual book sales are devoted to reading between the lines.
Imagine opening an old book and finding a private cache of forgotten love letters from one famous Victorian poet to another—that’s the premise of A. S. Byatt’s Man Booker prize-winning novel Possession. 
more
On a recent evening at the Calgary Petroleum Club, 75 guests—top chefs and avid culinary aficionados among them—indulged in an unforgettable feast, inspired by foods born of forests and water. more
Being a mind-reader is a heck of a way to make a living—especially when you put your money where your mouth is. Mentalist The Amazing Kreskin, appearing Monday at Stage West, regularly performs a trick at the end of the show where he asks the audience to hide his cheque while he’s out of the room. When he returns, if he doesn’t find the cheque with no help from the audience, then he doesn’t get paid. He usually finds it, but one time it cost him a $50,000 payout.
Monday, May 14 at Stage West, 727 42nd Ave. S.E. , 403-243-6642.
Straight from the streets of Brazil, capoeira is a martial art that can be described as a form of dance-fighting. See it blended with samba, hip-hop, electronic music and bossa nova in Compagnie Käfig’s two-part dance performance, choreographed by Mourad Merzouki.
Saturday, May 12. At Eric Harvie Theatre, Banff Centre. $35. banffcentre.ca.
It’s no small potatoes to be hailed as “one of the great players of our time” by McCoy Tyner, who played piano for John Coltrane on A Love Supreme. Terell Stafford has earned it, though, as he’s played in groups with Tyner, Benny Golson and Jimmy Heath.
Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12 at the Beat Niq, 811 1st St. S.W. beatniq.com. Sunday, May 13 to Tuesday, May 15 at the Ironwood, 1229 9th Ave. S.E. 403-269-5581, ironwoodstage.ca.
Get your pinky in the air and wave it like you just don’t care. It’s time to throw a tea party. And while there are a lot of iced-tea options out there, this one is a tea-time game changer. Spice Market is a blend of red rooibos, spices and dried fruit. It’s caffeine-free and doesn’t require any sugar—it comes out dark and flavourful with an unbelievable sweetness. You can let it sit and it doesn’t become bitter or astringent, which makes it perfect for a long afternoon of sipping. (It also makes a fantastic G&Tea.) $10 for a 125-gram bag. At Tea Trader, 1228A 9th Ave. S.E., 403-264-0728, teatrader.com.
Mark Bellamy is poised to leave his post as Vertigo Mystery Theatre’s artistic director. But before he goes, he’s presenting Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which means his final act is poised on a razor’s edge. more
A writer’s love of Leonard Cohen can be traced to her father’s decision in 1970 to choose the album Songs from a Room over a pair of pantyhose.
It all began at a bingo game. A high-school student at the time, my father was taking part in an English-language camp organized by the British Council just outside of Krakow, Poland in the summer of 1970. As one of the camp’s extracurricular activities, the Polish students played bingo in the evenings, and as a victor one night, my father could choose one of two prizes brought in from the UK: a pair of pantyhose or a Leonard Cohen album. more
It was the name that got my attention: South Silk Road, a Chinese restaurant on the corner of 8th Avenue and 14th Street N.W. It conjured a favourite author, Eric Newby, and his wanderings, such as A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush.
I could see The Man and me taking a long walk on the South Silk Road. What we did, though, was take a short walk into South Silk Road on a recent Saturday eve. This place has been open only since the beginning of March, but it has caught fire, especially with the Chinese community. (As far as we could tell.) We were really up for a new adventure, and South Silk Road was it. more
Calling John Prine a country singer is like calling Veuve Clicquot grape juice. Here’s what you need to know to appreciate Bob Dylan’s favourite songwriter.
1. Near Miss Born and raised in Illinois, John Prine had a short career as a gymnast in high school before joining the army in the mid-’60s and serving in Germany for a couple of years. He returned to Chicago to work as a mail carrier for several years before taking the mic on a dare at the Fifth Peg folk club in the late 1960s. He quickly became a regular at the club’s open-mic night. more
C is for cookie, but that isn’t good enough for Chewie. Chewbacca the Wookie has a meat tooth, which is why these chocolate-chip cookies are accelerated to warp speed with bacon. They may not look like much, but they’ve got it where it counts. Laugh it up, fuzzballs. Join the bacon side and may the force be with you. more
Soccer fans are known to be fairly ardent in their support of the Beautiful Game, so it’s no surprise that there’s a touch of controversy at Calgary’s go-to soccer bar, the Ship & Anchor, when it comes to the pub’s wall of team scarves hailing from around the world. Fans feel slighted when their team’s scarf is not in a prominent position. “If it’s in an area that doesn’t get much viewing, or doesn’t have great sight lines, there’s always grumbling,” says the Ship’s marketing manager, Nicola Trolez. more
Writing is writing, says Kirstie McLellan Day, but the bestselling author of Playing With Fire: The Theo Fleury Story still had a lot to learn when it came to adapting her work for the stage. But, as she tells Jon Roe, she was surrounded by good help from Alberta Theatre Projects, and she learned a lot throughout the process. Day discusses her first playwriting experience and the difficulty of dealing with Fleury’s story. more
Although Tomo Mitsuno could safely serve you blowfish, he can’t in Canada. Instead, he puts his knife skills to work on an innovative Japanese-Canadian menu.
The key to cutting fugu, according to Tomo Mitsuno, is to avoid the liver—and to be careful with the skin and the ovaries. As one of the few Calgary sushi chefs licensed to cut fugu, the deadly poisonous Japanese blowfish, his advice is good with me. The liver holds most of the tetrodotoxin, the poison that paralyzes the consumer and leads to death in a few hours. more
Downtown Calgary is once again looking for fashion-forward citizens to serve as the poster men and women of its Back to Style campaign.
And while that initiative gets under way in the fall, the application deadline is fast approaching. If you or someone you know has the right combination of style, attitude and love of downtown living, you must swing into action by Monday, June 18.
For more information or to enter, click here.
here.
© 2008 - 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. Powered by WordPress.com VIP
RECENT COMMENTS