Caffeine-fuelled Binge of Creativity
On the 2014 24 Hour Playwriting Competition! Discover insights and experiences from past participants and winners, without any bitterness.
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Have I lost It?
This was actually the second time in less than a month that I had lost my passport. It had also gone astray on the flight south.
I Lost It. Am I Losing It?
It was a Tuesday evening, and we were en route from beautiful Cusco in south-central Peru, to the capital city, Lima. “Hola señor. ¿Es este
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The Vibe Of The Room: Miles Black at the YAC
Vancouver’s Miles Black Trio will be On the Wing at YAC on March 2 Every audience is so different. You become attenuated to the vibe
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A Little Off The Top: I Admit: I Was So, So Wrong
Once a skeptic, now a believer! Ken shares his reflections on What’s Up Yukon’s growth from an uncertain startup to a community staple.
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A Country Girl’s Rite Of Passage
Rachel Fenlon’s concert features Schubert’s Winterreise and Daniel Janke’s modern song cycle. A blend of classical and contemporary music.
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Jocelyn Gould debut in the Yukon
Juno-winning jazz artist Jocelyn Gould debuts in Yukon, bringing soulful music and a wish to glimpse the Northern Lights.
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Freedom. And Healing
The beauty of the self-titled record was that I really had no expectations at all. I think I take things pretty lightly.
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Getting Back to the Garden
“It’s like Cirque du Soleil, cabaret, & vaudeville. But in terms of scale, it’s nothing like Cirque du Soleil. We will recover financially,”
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“It Came Up Tails” Sam Holloway
Sam Holloway’s move to the Yukon 50 years ago was a matter of chance. ‘Heads, I’m going to Yellowknife. Tails, I’m going to the Yukon.’
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Really Trying To Sound Like Me
Laura Anglade is influenced by such disparate women singers as Carmen MacRae, Blossom Dearie, Amy Winehouse and Barbra Streisand.
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All in the family
The Jennifer Scott Quintet will bring an electric jazz program to the Yukon this weekend In one sense, Jennifer Scott’s newest CD, due to be
Earshot
A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest” One of the advantages of being both hard-of-hearing and slightly daffy is the
Even if you don’t like the tune, fess up and pay the piper
I was only six in 1949 when South Pacific, the musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (with help from Joshua Logan), was the hottest ticket on Broadway.
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Hand washing and hand wringing have much in common
In my nearly 77 years, I’ve never spent an extended period of time in prison. Neither have I been marooned on a desert island with
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Reaching out for that long-distance feeling
I just finished a long-distance chat with my nephew. Really long-distance; he lives in Hong Kong. The line was clear, and the conversation lasted nearly an hour. The cost to each of us? Not a single penny.
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Somebody, please turn out the lights and rescue me
I’ve lost all control of my indoor-growing habit. No sooner has one batch of oregano or rosemary emerged shyly from its earthy grave than I’ve planted three more to keep it company.
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Love, loss and creation
You’re seated comfortably in the Yukon Arts Centre, absorbed in the live streaming of a multi-layered interpretation of a Gothic horror/sci-fi story you’ve known for
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Anger and innocence
Claire Ness was only six (or maybe seven) when she first saw the dark Canadian comedy called The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine. Still, it left a lasting impression, in part, because that Nakai Theatre production in the early 1990s starred her father, Roy Ness, and fellow Whitehorse actor/musician Trish Barclay in the title roles.
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Tenor of his times
The Sam Taylor Trio will present an evening of jazz standards at the Yukon Arts Centre on Sunday, Jan. 26, as part of the Jazz on the Wing series. Besides Taylor, personnel will include Aaron Seeber on drums and Neal Miner on upright bass.
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What should we think when decades and centuries turn?
On the cusp of 1999/2000, I was gainfully employed as cabinet communications advisor to the Yukon government. As such, I inhabited the inner circle of the territory’s premier, whom we still called Government Leader back then.
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Trolls and ogresses for Christmas
Christmas promises to be white as a Bing Crosby croons. As we Canadians hunker down for the Yuletide to come, let us raise a wassail bowl to the fact we don’t live in Iceland.
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It’s beginning to look a lot like shopping
Let’s face it, some folks get really ramped up about the season of festive excess that descends upon us every December. For many of them (even
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Shakespeare in hiding
The magic of Shakespeare at The Guild through the lens of Stoppard’s comedic genius and impactful stories.
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Swing like a beast
One person’s trash is another’s treasure. When Larry Fuller’s older brother brought home an upright piano a cousin was discarding, the “little kid” from Toledo discovered
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In the right sauce, mine could be a corpus delicious
Ken starts talking about pushing up… mushrooms Never, in any previous column, have I considered the need to provide a trigger warning. Regular visitors to
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In praise of those who actually know what they’re doing
This morning, Kyle showed up with his bulging leather tool belt, his cordless shop vacuum, and a clutch of 16x25x1 furnace filters. It’s one of
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Taking flibberties with the (Widdle) English language
How do you solve a problem like “flibbertigibbet?” Unless you had a grandmother like mine, that’s a word you’d probably never heard before Oscar Hammerstein II used
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Lawyered up and ready
Without question, Phil Dwyer was the only first-year law student at the University of New Brunswick in 2014 sporting an Order of Canada pin in
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Something’s missing, but I don’t know what
I love my cellphone. Let me rephrase that. I am addicted to my cellphone. I’m enslaved by it. In its absence, I feel abandoned, disoriented,
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Literacy is one of the best gifts you can give
Walking past the library on a recent Friday evening, we passed a young woman pushing a stroller with a very young occupant. The baby was
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Subversive and sexy
After an absence of two decades, eight low-rent vaudevillians trying to evade the secret police in their homeland have returned to Whitehorse. The Guild Theatre opens
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Another opening, et cetera
Ken is back producing a performance on the stage of big dreams Six hours after I email this column to Danny Macdonald, and long before
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It may be ugly, but someday I might call it home
I recently wrote about my new vocation as a DIY coffin maker. OK, strictly speaking it’s not a coffin. It’s a casket. On a draped
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Summer in Geezerville is anything but dead
Ken goes on a mission to find some beat up wood panel on the cheap for art Things sometimes turn on a dime. Recently, with
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Spread the word: free peanuts on Park Street
They say the fastest land mammal of all is the cheetah, capable of running as fast as 120 km/h without breaking a sweat. But “they”
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This is what I think about that – Just saying
Opinions are like belly buttons. Everybody has one. Except Adam and Eve, reportedly. Even a casual glance at Facebook, Twitter, or similar social media platforms
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P and Q can make for some perky Saturday hookups
The last entry in this space provided a platform for a more-or-less true tale of undeserved punishment recalled (and still resented) from the mists of
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As Granny said, mind your ascenders and descenders
“Kehheth” had some problems with his ascenders when learning to write as a child, leaving evidence on the wall. Anyone who has ever worked in
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A long time ago, in a lake far away
I was 12 years old in 1955 when my oldest brother, Robin, went away to university. As siblings in a close-knit family, we had shared
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Spirit of the times
The German term zeitgeist is generally rendered in English as the spirit of a given time, as shown in prevailing thought or customs. (Think, perhaps, how
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Musical time travel
With the stage still in darkness, a disembodied voice expresses the speaker’s dislike for plays that require theatre-goers to interact with performers who break the
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So long, smug Victoria. Welcome to Canada
The allure of even a well-crafted, lightweight shovel begins to pale after days upon numberless days of snow upon snow upon snow. There is wisdom
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Enjoyment is the whole point
Vocalist-bass player Katie Thiroux brings her jazz trio to Whitehorse for a Jazz on the Wing concert
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Focus on the funny folk
Tokyo-born comedian Aiko Tanaka is one of the visiting performers featured in this year’s Yukon Comedy Festival, in both Whitehorse and Haines Junction Ricard Eden
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Diving in, doing the work
Fawn Fritzen hasn’t always considered herself a feminist. The Whitehorse jazz singer/songwriter wasn’t using that term in 2013 when her first CD, Bedroom Voice, came out.
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The anarchy element
At the age of nine, Tomáš Kubínek gave his first performance before a group of experienced magicians. Four years later, he had an agent. He would soon make his circus debut with a duo of Brazilian clowns.
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Seed dreams are made of these
Here, as elsewhere, we’re on the January/February cusp. For all practical purposes, that means gardening season is still a few months off.
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Gluing it together
Lonnie Powell’s passion for percussion dates back to a childhood night in B.C.’s Kootenay region, when he attended a wedding reception with his mother and watched a “really animated” drummer strut his stuff.
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Music is a birthright
By her own admission, Jodi Proznick, an award-winning bassist and member of Triology, has enjoyed an “incredible performing career, and had opportunities really beyond anything I could have imagined for myself at the beginning of this journey.”
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Unexpected Paths
When the Guild Theatre’s artistic director, Brian Fidler, invited her to direct Durang’s wildly successful 2012 comedy, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, McLean leapt at the opportunity.
Shine those Shoes
At this year’s Ride For Dad, Callieou will share the three-night bill with the bilingual Seguin, one of Canada’s hottest comedy commodities.
At least I’m not a giraffe’s backside this time
The time-honoured English tradition of the Christmas pantomime (known affectionately as just “panto”) was not part of my childhood. For the benefit of those of us who weren’t weaned on this particular theatrical fare, it’s important to bear in mind various traditions, tropes, and stereotypes of an English-style panto.
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Like porcupine courtship, timing is everything
Every now and then, a fella happens to hit the sweet spot, even if it is more by good luck than good management. I rest
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Swinging Hard
After more than two decades as a jazz guitarist, Sheryl Bailey still invokes the name of a player who first inspired her love of the
Searching for a way out
Genevieve Fleming is counting on Whitehorse audiences to take in the upcoming Guild Theatre production, even if just to indulge in some cold-weather Schadenfreude. In
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It’s time for Mr. Green Jeans to hang it all up
It’s official. Apart from a few hardy species that relish cold weather for some absurd reason, backyard garden 2018 has now been decommissioned. Several less-hardy
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Brandon Isaak: Spiritual Undertones
After two acoustic solo albums, Bluesman’s Plea (2011) & Here on Earth (2014), Brandon Isaak’s Spiritual Undertones marks a departure.
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I concur: contrition may be consolatory
It’s confession time in Geezerville. I recently spent my allotted 450 words in this space musing about some of the beguiling delights to be found
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Fiery energy and spirit
Fate has a habit of steering flute and saxophone player Jane Bunnett in unexpected directions. If tendinitis hadn’t forced a break from her intense piano
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Let be whatever may befall
To be, or not to be. For advocates of plain writing, Shakespeare’s most famous monologue is a touchstone. Its opening sentence consists of nine one-syllable
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Gwaandak Theatre Bystander
Gwaandak Theatre’s Bystander. Powerful themes on atrocities and Holocaust awareness in this compelling production.
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Overloaded by motherhood – Motherload at YAC
Motherload brings together laughter and pain. Discover the unique story of motherhood and personal loss on the YASC stage.
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Sometimes language smacks you in the microphone
I’ve already mentioned how easy it was to provoke calls on my radio open-line show in Charlottetown in the 1970s, by inviting listeners to share
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Lawrence and Holloman: Downfall of a Salesman
Lawrence and Holloman at The Guild, a humorous two-hander that explores optimism and political incorrectness.
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Amsterdam to Tucson to Yukon
Cory Weeds credits the influential jazz label, Criss Cross Jazz, for his initial introduction to long-time friend and musical collaborator, David Hazeltine. In the mid-’90s,
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Advice to the unwise: I have the questions, if you have the answers
One of the more interesting jobs I’ve ever held was hosting an open-line show (we secretly called it “open-mouth”) on a private radio station in
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Spelling it out
Mary Sloan was only vaguely aware of the 2005 smash Broadway musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, when she learned that the Guild Theatre’s artistic director, Brian Fidler, had picked it as this year’s season finale.
Am I really ready to face off against this change of life?
At risk of being considered treasonous, I have never once worn skates while also carrying a hockey stick.
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Taking Cues
When a band calls itself Peripheral Vision, you might be excused for thinking it’s a rock group, or possibly a folk/roots, or even bluegrass ensemble. But you’d be wrong.
Turning a new (gold) leaf for Valentine’s Day
I need a little help here, folks. Valentine’s Day has already come and gone, but it’s left me in a bit of a quandary.
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No Sour Grapes
Kevin Kane (left) and Bryan Potvin on a break during a Northern Pikes recording session in Calgary earlier this month. Kane & Potvin will perform
Whatever happened to the artful riposte?
In days past, we had people like Sir Winston Churchill, a world-class orator and master of the insult We all know nostalgia ain’t what it
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Big, driving quarter notes
Jen Hodge had just spent five hectic days in Asheville, North Carolina, rehearsing every day and performing late into every night as part of the
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Hand to God
Lust, grief, denial and repression (not to mention demonic possession) in the bible-belt town of Cypress, Texas. Oh, yes. Don’t forget the puppets. These are
The humiliation of having a 5-cent timepiece
In the hyper-sensitive world of childhood, an ill-chosen word can sometimes have a devastating impact, even if no harm is intended. I’m not talking about the
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Calling both the pot and the kettle black
No matter how you wish to phrase it – “act in haste, repent in leisure” or “what goes around comes around” – the piper will eventually show up to demand payment. My wallet is considerably lighter this week because of one such lesson.
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Chance or choice?
Is it character, circumstance, or the choices we make that determines our lot in life?
This is the conundrum that lies at the heart of Good People.
Vulnerability and shared space
Discover Kim Beggs’ unique approach to the death theme in her lyrics, showcased during her tour across Canada.
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Tradition and values
The email said Jeremy Pelt was between engagements in Europe and China, with just a “sliver of time” of time for a phone interview from
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Three little words on the same little page
Just for the heck of it, let’s take a look at three English words that, on the surface of things, appear to have a lot in common.
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Making it last
Cathy Stubington doesn’t mind being in the shadows when she does a show. In fact, she prefers it.
No earbuds aboard
Have you heard the one about the farmer’s daughter, the music teacher, the composer and the jazz singer? It’s not a joke. They’re all the same
From Bonanza to Bucharest
With the exception of sports figures, Max Fraser contends, Canadian heroes seldom get the respect they deserve. The Whitehorse filmmaker and military history buff wants
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Watching for things that go snap in the night
The first week of September, the mice fled the fields and snuck indoors, as mice are wont to do. It happened in the quiet hours
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What was that?
They met as teenagers at an improv comedy club called Lucifer’s in Calgary, Alberta. Now, more than two decades later, they’ve just launched their seventh
Flying High
To hear Hugh Kitchen tell it, operating a Northern aviation business seems a lot like trying to romance a porcupine. Besides needing opportunity, courage and
Goodnight Desdemona at the Guild
Discover the relevance of Goodnight Desdemona at the Guild, tackling themes of identity and gender with humor.
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It seems we can’t always tell what comes first
It’s the age-old debate about the chicken and the egg. Sometimes, we simply don’t know what is cause and what is effect. This is especially
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Tel Aviv to L.A.
Tamir Hendelman’s list of players who have inspired him as a performer and composer includes unsurprising names such Evans, Davis, Corea, Hancock and Peterson. But
Heed the Lore When You’re on the Move
Until very recently, I had never heard the expression “hitchhiker’s thumb”. Oh sure, there was that weird guy in Grade 9 named Pete Moss, who
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Thoughts of Hitchhiking Sometimes Follow Strange Trails
One of my favourite pastimes is exploring the origins and meanings of common English words and expressions. Our language is such a hodge-podge (dare one
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Return to the Yukon
It’s been 30 years, or thereabouts, since I first ran into the iconic Canadian folksinger-songwriter-poet who goes by the simple – but exotic-sounding – name
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Very Old, Very New
Not many art forms can trace their origins back to a single year. But according to Toshi Aoyagi, program officer for the Japan Foundation, Toronto,
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On Market Day, Everything Old is New Again
The way some people talk, you’d think farmers’ markets were a recent invention by eco-conscious millennials spurred to action by reading a book about the
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I Love the Smell of Perfume in the Morning
Those of us who relish a good outdoor music festival – especially of the grassrootsand-granola variety – have learned to endure any number of indignities
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There’s No Escaping: Family Is as Family Does
As family reunions go, the event I attended in Ontario’s Georgian Bay district on a recent weekend was a fairly small-scale affair. At its peak,
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Too Curious George
He was a foundling on the streets of Edmonton – a golden cocker spaniel whose hair was so matted with burrs that much of it
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Every Dog Has Its Day, Apparently
It was a strange encounter that still has my brain abuzz. I was walking home from the grocery store in my current city of residence
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Those Were the Days. They Still Are
The emptying-out of Yukon’s schools signals the official start of that much-anticipated annual ritual: the Summer Holiday. We all know the narrative arc of that
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