I was recently given the novel A Spot of Bother. It was written by Mark Haddon, who also penned one of my favourite books of the last few years, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. While 'The Curious Inciden...' is written from the perspective of an autistic teen, 'A Spot of Bother' parachutes us into the late mid-life crisis of George, a recently retired Englishman whose wife is having an affair, whose daughter is about to marry a most 'unsuitable' man, and whose gay son is about to 'come out' to the family's friends and neighbours.

Twilight (2005) is the NY Times best seller by Stephanie Meyers; it is the first in a series of the same characters.

Capacity Crowd (1,200) - sold out

Twenty-nine years after his Look Sharp debut, Joe Jackson is still actively touring the world, basking in the consistently warm reception of his fans. The stage at the Chan Centre contained an trio of instruments usually found at a jazz show: an electric bass guitar, an elaborate drum kit, and a full-size grand piano.

At 8:40 the musicians took the stage; Graham Maby playing bass, Dave Houghton on drums, and Joe on piano. The tour is to promote his latest album, Rain (also known as Volume V, it being the fifth album the original members have recorded together).

Jackson, dapper in a charcoal grey jacket, matching striped pants, and a white shirt, appeared amused by the polite, Canadian audience. He remarked several times on how clean and nice the audience and venue was, and joked modestly that he didn’t really deserve the Chan Centre.

The Chan Centre is an acoustically wondrous oblong soft seat venue, more often used for string quartets, visiting sopranos, or jazz offerings. There is no dance floor, and the audience for Joe Jackson was much older than for the shows we usually attend.

Then too, so is he. Joe Jackson's music began as witty New Wave pop songs, but then very quickly matured into sophisticated fusions of jazz, Caribbean, and world music, all with an appealing urban flavour. He's a musician's musician, and has developed a trademark style, instantly identifiable as a Joe Jackson song. This style is rich in percussion, with Joe's piano playing many roles, and, of course, his distinct voice.

The set list offered up six songs from Rain, interspersed with some oldies, some hits, and a few covers. The trio performed well, and Joe played his piano as a rhythm instrument, as a lead instrument, and as a percussion instrument - sometimes simultaneously. There's only so much a trio can do, though, and there were spells where some more instruments would have been welcomed. The occasionally abrupt and strained mix would have been softened and extended beautifully by a horn or two, and the absence of a guitarist was noticeable in places. Mr. Houghton's battery was occasionally a bit hyperactive, but this is not uncommon in trios.

Those quibbles aside (and the adoring crowd certainly did not appear to care), the show was a success. He made us wait until the encore before he played Is She Really Going Out With Him, but he also delighted us with a cover of Duke Ellington's Don't Get Around Much Anymore, and finished with his own A Slow Song.

Joe Jackson is as valuable as he is unclassifiable. A guy who started by making New Wave singles, and who then went on to win a Grammy for a symphony, is still experimenting, still proving his musical diversity, and still writing really good songs.

- challenger's name

- smiling headshot of the challenger

- challenger's slogan in a pleasing and easy to read font

1) Add screen crosshairs. You know in a spy flick, when a sniper looks through his eyepiece, and it shows you what he's seeing with the crosshairs superimposed? Do that, but superimpose the crosshairs over the WHOLE MOVIE, even if it's not a spy flick. Especially if it's not a spy flick. This will give the audience a feeling of constant anticipation, like, "When's he gonna shoot these people?". But, since it's the audience who are peering down through the crosshairs, this technique may also add an existential element to the picture, like, "When are WE gonna shoot these people?". That's way more interesting.

2) Add a CG ghost of a deceased person. Not as a character, and not as a part of the plot or narrative; just have them kind of float by at random intervals. Maybe howling and rattling chains if you're feeling dramatic. The trick to making this method work is absolute denial. When people/the press come up to you after a screening and say, "Man, that CG ghost of John Candy was weird", hit them with a confused look and claim that you have no idea what they're talking about. Maybe imply that they're crazy if you're feeling dramatic. After doing this a few times the public will pick up on it and conclude that your film must be haunted. And if I learned anything at Bible Camp, it's that haunted = interesting.

3) Try smoking some weed. And throw some boobs in there.