All the Plans Starsailor Most of the songs on the latest album from this long-running British pop band are love songs, but not the cheesy, sentimental type. Starsailor manages to craft love songs that capture all the big emotions without coming off disingenuous like so many other artists do. “Tell Me It’s Not Over” and “Hurts So Much” are derivative sounding titles but the songs themselves are very moving. The album’s stand-out song isn’t a love song though. The ninth track on the album, “Stars and Stripes” is a very powerful song. It’s a very stunning criticism of everything that’s wrong with America, and manages to not take a side as to who the good guys and bad guys are. It’s a way of looking at America that could probably only come from someone who lives so far away from it, and as someone who’s used to listening to Americans take on their own country, it really gives things a different perspective. —Mark Fisher Band of Brothers HBO DVD Band of Brothers, the tremendous HBO show that is now on DVD, is one of the best television shows you'll ever see. Taking place during World War II, Band of Brothers is based on real events and takes place over ten brilliant episodes. It is one of the most powerful, moving and realistic war epics of all time. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Band of Brothers is action packed, incredibly accurate, historically speaking, and one of the most compelling dramas in years. Every episode feels like a mini- movie and will have you racing to put on the next one. The DVD box set is jammed with terrific extras including detailed maps and battle plans used in the combat zones presented throughout the shows. At the beginning of each episode, the veterans whom the series is based on give accounts of what life during World War II was really like. I can’t say enough about Band of Brothers, it’s an absolute classic. —Garth McLennan ‘Pind. Kombucha Wonder Drink It’s strange, it’s fizzy, it tastes a little bit like cough-syrup, but regardless it works! Found in the wacky grocery stores of Commercial Drive, the “Kombucha Wonder Drink” is an all- natural energy drink that despite its tart taste delivers on its promise of being an energy-enhancing beverage. Trying to avoid energy drinks such as Red Bull and Rockstar which do “the trick” but are full of unhealthy chemicals, I instead tried this all-natural syrupy tea-based drink boasting to be full of antioxidants. Maybe it was the placebo effect or the combination of natural sugars in the drink and running to catch my bus, but to my surprise the “Kombucha Wonder Drink” worked! My energy picked up immediately and I felt ready to dance the night away. I highly recommend this strange so- called Himalayan concoction, if not for any other reason, than its crazy name and the suspicion it gave me that there might be something other than just tea in this weirdly wonderful drink. —Ashley Whillans ie ~ Leet ee = a + bE WAR g CHILD eee : HEROES War Child Presents: Heroes Various Artists Benefit concerts and CDs have come a long way since ‘80s rockers were singing epic ballads in the name of bringing down the Berlin Wall or feeding the hungry in Africa. Though the causes may be similar today, the artists featured on the newest War Child CD feel a bit detached from the cause. The concept of the album is pretty sound: you get 15 stalwarts of today’s indie scene covering 15 songs by rock legends through the decades. The combos are pretty interesting, with the likes of Franz Ferdinand covering Blondie’s “Call Me” and TV on the Radio doing David Bowie’s “Heroes.” The Kooks doing “Victoria” by the Kinks is by far the most genuine track on the album. You can tell the album is supposed to span generations in its appeal, closing the gap, making it a good buy for both mom and child. I’d recommend it but more as a way of donating to charity than reaping any kind of musical breakthrough. —Nikalas Kryzanowski Toronto, Mississippi a huge success By Ashley Whillans, Arts Editor n March 5", Toronto, Mississippi, O the Playhouse Theatre production of Joan MacLeod’s award winning play, opened at the Vancouver Playhouse. Charming, witty and well executed, this play delivers what all theatre productions strive for: it was educational, uplifting and an all-around good time! MacLeod is one of Canada’s most prolific playwrights and has written the award winning plays, The Hope Slide, Little Sister and Shape of a Girl about the murder of Victoria teenager Reena Virk. In typical MacLeod fashion, Toronto, Mississippi is a warm, humorous and simultaneously devastating play about the day-to-day life of a family living with a mentally challenged child, as well as the struggle the child herself goes through as she comes up against her own limitations. In fact, all the characters in the play come face to face with personal limitations, and strive together to overcome them: Jhana (played by Meg Roe) is faced with a debilitating mental illness which keeps her in a “job” she hates; King, an Elvis impersonator who is her absentee father (played by Bill MacDonald) is sick and tired of his “old song and dance” and wants his family back; Bill (Alessandro Juliani), her mother’s roommate and resident morbid poet is faced with the truth about Maddie, Jhana’s mother (Colleen Wheeler) who doesn’t actually love him, but keeps him in the house to take care of Jhana, and together the four of them redefine what family means, and what love and family can look like. Jhana is an average, but not so average teenager. She fantasizes about boys, likes to drink wine and loves listening to music (Elvis in particular). However, she is different, not like the other girls her own age: she is developmentally challenged. Despite some of her autistic characteristics such as flapping her arms, repeating words and her sometimes sporadic behaviour she is the heart and life blood of the entire production and it is her character that keeps the play going full speed ahead. Bill, a poet and Maggie’s friend, is witty and hilarious as the Atwood-loving, feminist professor and doting “dad-type” to Jhana while Maggie is an absolute powerhouse as a mother trying to balance the needs of her whiny-roommate-poet, her daughter and her ex-husband, who makes an unexpected guest appearance. Jhana is also phenomenal. It is not an easy task to play a developmentally handicapped character, and Roe did so effortlessly, gracefully and joyfully. She captivated the audience with her Elvis Prestly moves, her heartbreak for both her dead best friend—her dog—and her deadbeat daddy, and her hilarious and devastating fantasies about making out and going on first dates with her workshop boss Peter. Theatre legend Dean Paul Gibson directs Toronto, Mississippi and keeps the show upbeat and light-hearted, despite its complex subject matter, and all of the actors seemed to have been enjoying themselves immensely — particularly Jhana (Roe) and Bill (Juliani) who had several pseudo dance numbers and make-believe scenes which made even them break out in giggle fits. The camaraderie between the cast was impressive and the musical score featuring the Beatles and tons of Elvis could be nostalgic, upbeat, morose or full of life and spirit when the situation required it. My one issue with this play, however, was its opening and the Elvis Presley interludes. Maybe it was opening night jitters, but it seemed to me that King’s on stage persona was “‘on the fence” so to speak. It was hard to tell whether he was supposed to be a good impersonator, or a bad impersonator, and his lip-synching to differentiate between acts often slowed down the show—he never really seemed that into the songs, but you really couldn’t be sure—his choices and opinions about the other characters also seemed quite murky, which could very well have been the point. Later on, however, King redeems himself, coming out in full Elvis regalia with a fake guitar and all. Metaphoric, perhaps? Maybe this lack of clarity will be resolved over the course of the run, and will help to breathe a little more life and a little more depth into this otherwise wonderful, heart-warming and crowd-pleasing show! 19