The Trailer Park Boys’ Mike Smith says he’s quite a bit like Bubbles

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 23, 2003 By Steve Newton In Trailer Park Boys—Showcase TV’s low-budget mockumentary series about dope-smoking, foul-mouthed lowlifes inhabiting a rundown (is there any other kind?) trailer park—it’s the little things that make you laugh. Like Julian’s (John Paul Tremblay’s) ever-present glass of rum ’n’ Coke. Whether he’s hanging … Continue reading The Trailer Park Boys’ Mike Smith says he’s quite a bit like Bubbles

Brent Butt lauds the authenticity of Corner Gas…and Trailer Park Boys too

So Brent Butt called me up last week to chat about his upcoming film, Corner Gas: The Movie–which opens in select theatres December 3—and we got to talking about his TV series Corner Gas in relation to Trailer Park Boys, another Canadian TV sitcom that flaunts its Canuck-ness while garnering chuckles aplenty. There’s a little more swearing … Continue reading Brent Butt lauds the authenticity of Corner Gas…and Trailer Park Boys too

Shocking photo: Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys offered joint by Snoop Dogg!

BREAKING: through sources that will remain nameless, the Newt has managed to aquire a photo of evil L.A. gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg trying to corrupt innocent Canadian TV character “Bubbles” with what looks like a marijuana cigarette, or “joint” as the Yankee drug fiends like to call it. The shocking incident apparently occured at … Continue reading Shocking photo: Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys offered joint by Snoop Dogg!

That time I interviewed Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys when he was still just 23-year-old Mike Smith of Sandbox

By Steve Newton Holy snappin’ arseholes, as my buddy Scotty Bad used to say back in Chilliwack. While searching through my old Georgia Straight interviews from 1996 just now I came across one that I did with Mike Smith of Sandbox. If the name Mike Smith rings a bell, it could be because he’s the … Continue reading That time I interviewed Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys when he was still just 23-year-old Mike Smith of Sandbox

Trailer Park Boys take a crazed road trip to Chuckleville in Don’t Legalize It

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 15, 2014 The first feature film to be spawned by Showcase TV’s low-budget Trailer Park Boys series, 2006’s Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, was freakin’ hilarious. The followup, 2009’s Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day, was possibly the funniest Canadian movie ever made. And now the white-trash shenanigans of petty Nova Scotia criminals … Continue reading Trailer Park Boys take a crazed road trip to Chuckleville in Don’t Legalize It

Trailer Park Boys director Mike Clattenburg revels in Canuck rock

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 4, 2006 Helix isn’t normally a band that comes to mind as one of Canada’s finest musical exports. But as director Mike Clattenburg proved in Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, its song “Heavy Metal Love” is the ideal backdrop for slow-mo footage of a skanky trailer-park chick descending from a … Continue reading Trailer Park Boys director Mike Clattenburg revels in Canuck rock

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day could be the funniest Canadian movie ever made

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 23, 2009 By Steve Newton The last film I saw that made me laugh out loud numerous times was 2006’s Trailer Park Boys: The Movie. It was freakin’ hilarious. But the new Countdown to Liquor Day left the old ribs achin’ even more. It could be the funniest Canadian movie ever made. … Continue reading Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day could be the funniest Canadian movie ever made

The Trailer Park Boys: The Movie is freakin’ hilarious

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 4, 2006 By Steve Newton When the Trailer Park Boys debuted on the Showcase channel in 2001, I couldn’t get enough of it. A mockumentary-style series about the day-to-day exploits of three pot-loving trailer-trash buddies and their assorted idiot friends and rivals, it was a raucous, taboo-blasting gas. The sight … Continue reading The Trailer Park Boys: The Movie is freakin’ hilarious

The Trailer Park Boys are back in Countdown to Liquor Day

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 23, 2009 It’s hard to know which character from Trailer Park Boys is most favoured by fans. Some folks are particularly fond of Bubbles (Mike Smith), the kitty-loving, kindhearted weirdo with the outrageous eyeglasses. Others prefer Julian (John Paul Tremblay), the musclebound dreamer whose lips only leave his rum-and-Coke long enough to … Continue reading The Trailer Park Boys are back in Countdown to Liquor Day

Trailer Park Boys lovingly pelted with chocolates and coins at white-trash chucklefest in Richmond

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JAN. 30, 2010 While we filed through the doors of the River Rock Show Theatre to see the Trailer Park Boys last night a dude in a CFOX t-shirt was handing everyone Hershey’s Kisses. He instructed us not to eat them, but hold onto them for an “important” part of the … Continue reading Trailer Park Boys lovingly pelted with chocolates and coins at white-trash chucklefest in Richmond

That time future Trailer Park Boy Mike Smith told me about his band Sandbox snubbing Bon Jovi

By Steve Newton Before he became famous for his role as googley-eyed goofball “Bubbles” on The Trailer Park Boys, Mike Smith was a member of Canadian ’90s alt-rock band Sandbox. One day back in March of 1996 I interviewed him in advance of a Sandbox show at a Vancouver bar called the Starfish Room. At … Continue reading That time future Trailer Park Boy Mike Smith told me about his band Sandbox snubbing Bon Jovi

Pimped-out La-Z-Boys, shotguns, and crackheads colour S.C.O.T.S.’ Plastic Seat Sweat

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 9, 1997 By Steve Newton Some rock musicians search high and low for inspiration, while others just find it cruising around with a tow-truck driver high on crack. That’s what happened with “40 Miles to Vegas”, one of the wildest tracks on the new Southern Culture on the … Continue reading Pimped-out La-Z-Boys, shotguns, and crackheads colour S.C.O.T.S.’ Plastic Seat Sweat

That time I asked Gary Moore if he’d ever write a song about “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland

By Steve Newton I did my one and only interview with Irish guitar legend Gary Moore on May 11, 1984. Five months earlier the Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army had exploded a car bomb outside Harrods department store in central London, killing three police officers and three civilians, and injuring 90 people. (The … Continue reading That time I asked Gary Moore if he’d ever write a song about “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland

That time I asked Long John Baldry who his favourite blues people were these days and he went with Stevie Ray Vaughan

By Steve Newton I did my one and only interview with blues legend Long John Baldry on September 8, 1985, shortly after he’d moved to Vancouver, where he would remain until his death 20 years later. Ten days earlier I’d gone to an incredible Vancouver concert by another blues legend, Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose third … Continue reading That time I asked Long John Baldry who his favourite blues people were these days and he went with Stevie Ray Vaughan

Dan Hartman flying high 12 years after taking his “Free Ride” with the Edgar Winter Group

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 18, 1985 By Steve Newton Dan Hartman likes to pull people’s legs. That’s why, for the video of his big 1984 hit “I Can Dream About You”, he had four black guys doing the song, singing and dancing and sliding around. The first impression is that one of … Continue reading Dan Hartman flying high 12 years after taking his “Free Ride” with the Edgar Winter Group

That time Sean Costello told me about recording with Susan Tedeschi at 17 and playing with Derek Trucks at 12

anthony pepitone photo By Steve Newton Sean Costello is one of those guitarists who blows you away with his amazing talent and then you look around and he’s gone. The fast-rising blues guitarist and singer-songwriter –who suffered from bipolar disorder–died of an overdose 16 months after I interviewed him in December of 2006. He was … Continue reading That time Sean Costello told me about recording with Susan Tedeschi at 17 and playing with Derek Trucks at 12

That time I asked Roger Hodgson why he left Supertramp anyway

By Steve Newton Like most kids growing up in the seventies who were into prog rock, I liked Supertramp. Probably not as much as my sisters did, though. They were crazy about Supertramp. I interviewed one of the band’s two main guys, singer-songwriter-guitarist Roger Hodgson, in March of 1998, long after he’d quit the group … Continue reading That time I asked Roger Hodgson why he left Supertramp anyway

That time Brian Blush told me about the Refreshments recording the “King of the Hill” theme song

By Steve Newton The Refreshments were a great rock band from Tempe, Arizona that was around for a few years in the mid-’90s. I interviewed lead guitarist Brian Blush in October of 1997, two weeks after the release of the band’s third and final album, The Bottle & Fresh Horses. The Refreshments are perhaps best … Continue reading That time Brian Blush told me about the Refreshments recording the “King of the Hill” theme song