The (Cult)ure Youtube picks have been updated.

 Be sure to check out the "Other People's Misery" edition of the picks!

The Capital Cupcake Camp is coming to Ottawa on March 29th! Check out the link: http://cupcakecamp.ca/about/

Holly Hutchings, writer for (Cult)ure's food section will be at this event promoting L'OVEN.  L'OVEN will be signed up as bakers and how cool would it be to have you come out for a fun day as a taster (only $5 for the day!) and supporter :)  Register here: http://cupcakecamp.ca/taster-registration/

 To tempt you to join L'OVEN on March 29th, here is the list of cupcakes
they'll be making for the event - c'mon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The latest issue of The New Yorker (don't read the movie review!) has a long article by D.T. Max about David Foster Wallace's life and work, focusing on his attempt to follow up on Infinite Jest (published in 1996) with a third novel. There's also an excerpt of a manuscript recovered from Wallace's garage after his death last September, which is apparently to be edited and published as that third novel, entitled "The Pale King," in the next year or two.

I haven't got around to reading the excerpt yet, but I've read most of Max's article. It repeats a lot of what was in the Rolling Stone piece published last year, about Wallace's bio, but also goes more into Wallace's theories about what made art, specifically novels, good and important. Max writes that Wallace's goal "had been to show readers how to live a fulfilled, meaningful life. 'Fiction's about what it is to be a fucking human being,' he once said. Good writing should help readers to 'become less alone inside.'"  

As I'm approaching the end of IJ (only 40 pages to go!), I can say that Wallace definitely achieved his goal of writing "morally passionate, passionately moral fiction" in writing that work.  He also achieved another goal he said novels should set out to do, which is to teach people things in a fun way - in this case, about junior tennis, proscriptive grammar, recreational drug use, what it's like to attend AA and NA meetings in and around Boston, and a lot more.

This Friday brings this year's first big opening weekend with Watchmen. Maybe you've heard of it? If you didn't go see it last night and want to save yourself from the fanboy rush, you can head over to the Bytowne for Cadillac Records about the heyday of Chess Records when the likes of Etta James, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters were recording there or One Week, where Joshua Jackson gets movie cancer* and decides to ride his motorcycle (picture: and a horse?) across Canada. It sounds pretty mushy, but Jackson's a careful and talented actor capable of grounding far fetched material in real human emotion (he's probably the reason I watched Dawson's Creek as long as I did, which is to say: too long), so I have hope.

Tomorrow night, hit Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington St.) for the CFI screening of the restored print of Guy Maddin's Archangel at 7 p.m. "A weird and wild melodrama of obsessive love, Archangel is set in the northernmost tip of old imperial Russia in the winter of 1919. The Great War has been over for three months, but no one has remembered to tell those who remain in the town of Archangel. Maddin's powerful black and white cinematography and memorably stylized set design make this a film quite unlike any other." It's $10 without a membership and $6 with membership.

The trio 'Trilium' is performing Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. at St. Luke's Church (760 Somerset St. West). The trio consists of flute, cello, and piano and will be performing works by Martineu, Piazzolla, and Ottawa composer Margrit Cattell. Admission by donation. 

 If that's not your thing, hit the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (1233 Wellington Street at Holland) for the CBC Radio 2 "Canada Live" recording session with Jim Bryson and Meredith Luce thanks to the GCTC and the Ottawa Folk Festival. Tickets are $20.

 

12:30: You can meet Michael Harrington at 12:30 this afternoon if you happen by the Ottawa Art Gallery (2 Daly Ave). It's part of the exhibit Mannish, which runs until March 29. Admission is free for this artist guided tour. 

Bank St: Terrorism, Democracy and Leisure opens tonight at 7 p.m. at Gallery 101 (301 1/2 Bank St between Somerset and Maclaren). Artist Afshin Matlabi will be on hand to discuss his work starting at 7:30. Admission is free. 

MaryAnn Camps and Anita Utas have a joint exhibition, Ebb and Flow, on right now at Johnny Farina (216 Elgin St.). When you go, do yourself a favour and order the Warm Goat Cheese and Strawberry Salad or Portebello & Chicken wood oven pizza. If you're into the non-alcoholic vibe, grab a Limoncello while you are at it. Oh, goodness. I love that place.

Watchman is many things, but it is primarily a mystery. Who murdered The Comedian? Who's behind the international events pushing the world closer and closer towards armageddon?

Well, if you want the answer to these questions, but don't feel like reading the book or seeing the movie, just read Anthony Lane's scathing review of Watchman in The New Yorker. By the third paragraph of the review, Lane has revealed the film's climax and completely spoiled the twist ending.

As (Cult)ure has reiterated before, the world needs film critics. What the world doesn't need are film critics who dislike a film so intensely that they become intent on spoiling it for everyone else before they even get a chance to see it.

I just read this Rolling Stone piece, which appeared a month after David Foster Wallace committed suicide last year. It's very sad and disturbing to read, but also explains a lot about where the themes and the style of Infinite Jest come from - particularly the focus on depression and substance abuse. However, the sheer breadth of Wallace's interest in absolutely everything - especially people - is inspiring.

 

 

Okay, forget what I just wrote. My love of robots and things that go ker-blooey has been instantly superseded by my love of Joseph-Gordon Levitt. The trailer for 500 Days of Summer is finally available!

 

There's a new Terminator: Salvation trailer making the rounds, which gives away slightly more plot than we've seen in the past and even cooler robots, explosions, and motorcycle chases. I don't care what Christian Bale does at this point: this thing looks awesome, and he can't take that away from me. 

 

Technically it's on Saturday, but you can kick off your celebrations tonight by heading down to Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington St.) for a short film, a debate, and Ottawa's first ever "femmy" awards.

The title of this poster reminds of a fantastic article by Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, "I'm not a feminist, but . . ." I really wish I could find it online for you, so you could all read it. I think it's from an issue of Fireweed. 

Every Wednesday (Cult)ure shares with you one of the internet's best webcomics.  

What's better than a consistently funny webcomic? A consistently funny webcomic that is updated daily!

Filled with delicious black humour, Zach Weiner's long running single panel gag strip Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is the perfect way to start each and every day!

Every Tuesday (Cult)ure shares with you a delicious and easy recipe.

I learned this recipe watching Chef Michael Smith on my absolutely favourite cooking show Chef at Home.  The show's mantra, "simple is better" is sure on display in this recipe.  This blueberry crisp is easy to make and totally delicious.

For filling:

Karen Grenier and Bozica Radjenovi each have a show on the Centre d'exposition l'Imagier (9 Front Street, Gatineau). Grenier's exhibit, ‘‘Entretiens particuliers,'' presents a series of original works reifying the often exclusive to women ancestral practice, quilt making, while Radjenovi's works, "About Diligence," presents the portrait and the writings of ten women which influenced strongly the art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Both are on until April 22.

This Friday sees the release of the much anticipated superhero epic Watchman. For those of you who just can't wait until Friday to see the most acclaimed comic book series of all time adapted to the big screen, the AMC Kanata and the Silver City Gloucester are having midnight screenings Thursday night. (Take note: the film is nearly three hours long; meaning you'll be crawling into bed only a handful of hours before it's time to get up and head to work.)

I've been to several midnight screenings of films of this sort, and the experience has been mixed. Watching Brian Singer's original X-Men film at the stroke of midnight in the theatre full of geeks clutching to their chests the free comic books handed out beforehand was a blast. But watching this summer's X-Files: I Want to Believe in a three-quarter empty theatre on a cold, rainy night was nearly as dismal as the film itself.

Still... everyone deserves to see a midnight movie at some point in their lives, and I think Watchmen is going to surprise a lot of people. With Ironman, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II, the Dark Knight, and now Watchmen all being released this year, we're undeniably in the golden age of superhero cinema. Let's celebrate while it lasts!

I've been reading David Foster Wallace's behemoth Infinite Jest for two months now. I'm on page 825 out of 981 (plus over 100 pages of footnotes, many of them containing key plot points). Amazingly, it never drags. It's got hilarious dialogue, vividly drawn characters, and a lot to say about the connections between addiction, entertainment, depression, and a whole lot else. It's also a rich source for potential new catch-phrases: "the howling fantods," "eat cheese," "obliterate his/her map..."

Good news, gentle readers. We're updating the (Cult)ure YouTube picks every Monday from now on. If you go there now, you can see the latest all Flight of the Conchords edition. Really, is there anything better than Bret and Jemaine?

It's opening tonight, March 2, from 4:30 to 7:30 at Gallery 115 (a.k.a. U of O's visual arts gallery, a.k.a. something that I did know exists). This "ensemble of heroic video vignettes" features a new installation by Edward Janzen and runs until Friday. 

 

Art: There is a free screening of recent works by Wyn Geleynse tonight at Club SAW, Arts Court Building, 67 Nicholas Street. It starts at 7:30 p.m., and it's part of the exhibition Mannish, which is on the Ottawa Art Gallery until March 29. After that, head down to La Petit Mort Gallery (306 Cumberland) between 7 and 10 p.m. for a One Night Stand with new works by Kara Williams.

Cinema: If you really hate yourself, I assume you're going to see Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. Otherwise you're catching up on Oscar fare or hitting the Bytowne to see either Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life) or Che: Part One. 

Music/Spoken word: Tonight's also the inaugural edition of the capital's newest annual multi-arts showcase, Scribology. It's an annual spoken word/music concert series, and it's on at Library and Archives Canada Auditorium, 395 Wellington St at 7 p.m. Doors open at six. Tickets cost money (don't ask me, they only listed the advance price, and clearly you're not buying in advance now). If you're into the Young Griot Collective, the Kalumnity Vibe Collective, or The Fugitives, this would be your chance to see them.