March 26, 2004

Sound and Fury

Kingston clubbing ain’t dead … it just needs a kick in the ass. As a music critic for the Journal, I have spent many a night out on the town. I like to think this time has given me a deeper insight into what is lacking in Kingston night life. What Kingston lacks in diversity, it more than makes u…

March 26, 2004

Dance Xposed

The Queen’s Dancing Club jazzes up a Thursday night.

March 26, 2004

Silent Bob speaks on Jersey Girl

It has been 10 years since a shaggy, trench coat-clad New Jersey filmmaker in his early 20s, playing a mute drug dealer in his independent directorial debut, stood in front of the counter at Quick …

March 26, 2004

Culture Shock tackles local and global issues

The 2004 version of Culture Shock: An Anti-Racist Review had a lot to live up to, but it seems to have done the job. With a slimmed down selection of written content and a heavy emphasis on innovat…

Jack Kerouac wins the battle

March 26, 2004

The night almost started with disaster. A drunken man stumbled past our table, told us he loved us and mounted the stage. Commandeering the microphone, he slowly seemed to fade, and as he spoke he …

Damn them! Damn the writers all to hell!

July 31, 2001

Planet of the Apes Directed by Tim Burton Starring Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Estella Warren, Michael Clarke Duncan Currently playing at Capital Theatres and Gardiners Road Cin…

Record Time

July 31, 2001

Erykah Badu Mama’s Gun Motown These days, finding an R&B album that hasn’t been loaded with samples is harder than finding something on the Top 10 chart worth shelling out $20 for. Between Puff…

Flood is coming

July 31, 2001

Looking for a great band with a good message? Your prayers have just been answered. Christian rockers Flood, consisting of Matt Baetz on lead guitar, Lee Casement on bass and mandolin, and Derek Mc…

London Calling

July 31, 2001

Living in central London, working at a publishing company, attending curry buffets, and dealing with neurotic British friends—you might think my name is Bridget Jones. It’s not (see above). But the…

The Igloo: kepler

July 31, 2001

This is the first installment of a regular feature that will profile independent Canadian bands, and attempt to address their attitudes toward playing music in Canada. The Igloo will appear bimonth…

Swimmers need lessons

July 31, 2001

Daniel MacIvor is one of Canada’s most respected playwrights, and with credits including an acting role on CBC’s Twitch City and a nomination for a Governor General’s Award, his popularity is stead…

MacIvor play makes a splash

July 31, 2001

For PlayerKing Productions, the brain child of two twenty-something Kingstonians, Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor’s Never Swim Alone is no ordinary play. “This play is absolutely perfect for the…

Finally a Lopez with real talent

July 31, 2001

“I feel like a classical guitarist,” Canadian guitar-virtuoso Oscar Lopez told his Kingston audience during his opening numbers at the Grand Theatre on July 9. Alone on the stage with six strings, …

Record Time

June 26, 2001

Low & Dirty Three In The FishtankKonkurrent The formula for Konkurrent records’ In The Fishtank series is simple: find one or two respected indie bands, commission them for a spontaneous record…

Ample bosom, flat plot

June 26, 2001

Tomb Raider Directed by Simon West Starring Angelina Jolie, Iain Glen, Jon Voight Currently playing at the Capitol 7 Theatres Any doubts about Angelina Jolie’s ability to play Tomb Raider’s Lara Cr…

Diesel fuels Furious

June 26, 2001

The Fast and the FuriousDirected by Rob Cohen Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker Currently playing at the Capitol 7 Theatres ***½ Several recent Hollywood films have attempted to …

Stagnant cinema

June 26, 2001

If there’s any time of the year when people have more leisure time to go to the movies, it’s summer time. If more people go to the movies in the summer, those movies make more money at the box offi…

Opposing Players

June 26, 2001

This Hour is interminable On any given night on Princess Street, should you witness a bunch of sloppy drunk people unabashedly making fools of themselves, you would likely choose to walk away with …

Walking the path of muses

June 26, 2001

Combining art, artifact and multiple venues is the ambitious aim of Museopathy, the multi-media project that has been installed in no fewer than eleven of Kingston’s historical sites. By exchanging…

Memento mesmerizes

May 29, 2001

Memento Directed by Christopher Nolan Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantaliano. Currently playing at the Capitol 7 Theatres Memento should come with the following clauses: 1) Must see …

Record Time

May 29, 2001

Tool Lateralus For almost two decades, the term ‘progressive rock’ has become as much an insult as a category. It conjures images of self-indulgent musicians from the seventies, playing instrument…

Diversity on display

May 29, 2001

It’s the swanky Agnes Etherington Art Centre’s sophomore year of hosting the Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates’ end-of-year exhibit. Guest curator Peter Krausz, from the University of Montreal, chose…

They’ve got an amplifier

May 29, 2001

The pundits may be proclaiming that quiet is the new loud, but the old loud hasn’t gone away just yet. Witness The Constantines, an up-and-coming band from Guelph, Ontario, whose thundering, franti…

E is for ecstasy

January 19, 2001

Some of you may think this doesn’t apply to Queen’s University, or any other university for that matter. Some of you may also think that only cracked-out raver kids gnawing on soothers use such for…

Rotate this!

January 19, 2001

Mama’s Gun Erykah Badu Fans of Miss Badu have been eagerly awaiting her second album of new material ever since the success of Baduizm in 1997. Sure, she released a live album that included the sin…

Sundaze dazzles

January 19, 2001

The first annual Sundaze Screening Festival held at the Screening Room last night brought the Kingston film community together and is dedicated to the production of independent films. The films sel…

No Point to K-town radio

January 19, 2001

Prior to this installment of Entertaining the Thought, I would like to warn readers that this is a full-on rant. Kingston radio is terrible, an audio abomination, poison to my very soul. There exi…

Hawkins talks rock

January 19, 2001

“And you can leave me thinking, drinking all night… ‘cause that’s the sharpest nail…” Ron Hawkins knows his booze. Since his days as frontman for Canadian favourites The Lowest of the Low in the …

Rotate this!

September 29, 2000

Bjork Selmasongs The latest from Icelandic innovator Bjork is as much a musical ‘eclection’ as her last album, 1997’s eerie Homo-genic. Selmasongs is different, however, in that it is music from La…

Beating the birthday blues

September 29, 2000

Wake up. It’s your birthday, and in front of you is breakfast in bed and a set of keys to the silver Jetta parked outside your window. No really, wake up. It’s still your birthday, but as a univers…