Arts

Normally heading over to a stranger’s house is not encouraged.

But as I recently discovered, there are exceptions to the rule.

After wandering around Ottawa’s suburbia in vain, I finally, albeit with some help, entered the warm confines of a home to the sound of a piano playing.

That evening, through Westboro House Concerts, Nicole Colbeck was hosting a gig by Toronto folk artist Jory Nash.

Wait a second. . . . A formal, paid concert in a living room?

A Christmas Carol
Robert Zemeckis
Walt Disney Pictures

4/5 stars

A Christmas Carol centres on the visitation of three spirits to the bitterly petulant, penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge.  The spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come convince him through various visions to live his life to the fullest and become an amiable patriarch.

“Jingle All the Way . . . because a movie with Sinbad and Schwarzenegger has to be good.” -Alex Sirois

Before a gallery-goer hangs a black and white print of a penguin with a human penis.

“Polar Night of the Ordinary Penguin” is one of the many pieces in the three exhibits currently on display at Carleton University’s Art Gallery (CUAG) that are far from ordinary.

Edward Burtynsky: China Photographs, “Inuit Piqutingit/What Belongs to the Inuit”: Videos and Films by Igloolik Isuma Productions, and Revolutionary Acts: Fifty years of Printmaking in Cuba are on display at CUAG until Feb 7.

The Great Misdirect
Between the Buried and Me
Victory Records

4/5 stars

I am by no means a metalhead. I’ll listen to the odd song a friend shows me, but it’s a rarity to find me headbanging alone. For this reason I review Between the Buried and Me’s new record with a grain of salt.