Don’t send a Brit to do an Edmontonian’s job
You can't fly too close to the sun on wings of Internet love.
The headline of this story may be a tad harsh, but it popped into my head and seemed to stick. Sorry, Ben Southall.
I don’t know if you caught this story coming out of the weekend, but it seems the British lad who won the “Best Job in the World” is taking his lumps for not blogging enough. And for not blogging about any “normal” stuff we “regular” folk would get to do if we visited the same Australian spots.
Hey, dude’s got stuff he’s told to do.
I’m not saying Edmonton’s own hopeful for this kick-ass job, Linda Hoang, would be blogging up a storm down under. But if you click on the link on her name, you’ll see she runs multiple blogs…
Also, it seems any of those problems involving a “busy schedule” and “wireless connections” have cleared up since the Internet began to turn against young Ben. He’s written a huge blog piece since Sunday.
I sort of feel bad for Ben. He was propelled to the top with love from the Internet, and after three weeks he is feeling its wrath.
This seems like a good reminder to tell you that I love you, Edmonton Internet. Don’t turn on me. Don’t you put that evil on me.
Penney Carnvail, now with more canday.
Okay, the obvious joke is that sign has spelling mistakes, har har har. But hey, we all make spelling mistakes. And let he who hasn’t made a sign with watermarked clip art stolen from google image search cast the first stone.
The reason I bring this sign up is that I’m not entirely convinced that this isn’t part of some brilliant viral marketing scheme to get me to attend this carnvail. Like if I go, I will suddenly find that this was REALLY the uber-secret launch to the revamp at Southgate Mall, and all those glittery, Sex and the City-style, August 5 signs were just a cover. And there will be models in couture gowns tromping around McIntyre Park, running all kind of penny carnival booths. Dunk the model, win a prize. Possibly some canday.
2009 Urban Design Awards Launch
City Market Affordable Housing, 2007 Urban Design Award Winner for Urban Architecture
Guess what, Edmonton – we’ve managed to fool a couple of different organizations into believing that we’re a real news outlet. Yes, that’s right, we’re starting to get added to people’s press release lists. This is great news, as it helps a bit with news gathering; but because most press conferences occur during the day, it means we can’t attend, what with our REAL JOBS. Enjoy your free coffee, jerks.
Anyway, I am going somewhere with this; today at 10:30 a.m., the City is going to hold a press conference launching their 3rd biennial Urban Design Awards. I know this because I got a press release for it. Thanks, City of Edmonton!
Today’s “launch” is actually fancy-talk for the first day of the City’s call for submissions. There are awards in six categories;
- Unimplemented urban design plans
- Implemented urban design plans
- Urban architecture
- Civic design projects
- Urban fragments
- Community improvement projects
Since I have no idea what any of those things actually mean, I went back to the 2007 site. The submission form from 2007 explains the categories in a bit more detail; though maybe don’t spend your morning poring over it (I know how you kids love architecture) because I assume that there will be a 2009 version of the form put up after the press conference.
Welcome to Edmonton! Home of your sci-fi wasteland nightmares since 2008.
Maybe instead, we can just check out some award winners from 2007. It kind of makes me laugh that the controversial-and-wicked-expensive-and-also-deeply-terrifying-welcoming pyramid won an award for unimplemented urban design plan (though in the interest of full-disclosure, it must be said that back in 2008, I lobbied hard to make this Edmonton’s new entrance sign).
Other award winners in 2007 included Enterprise Square, Bergstrom Block and the Terwilligar Drive Pederstrian Overpass.
The call for submissions will remain open until October 8. Tell your architect friends.
(You guys have no idea how hard I tried to work a “Ted Mosby: Sex Architect” joke in here somewhere.)
Good, good, whole wheat Morning Headlines
You have to eat every one of these boxes of cereal to actually have a nutritious breakfast.
It’s Tuesday, July 29, 2009.
Now, I’ll complete today’s time traveller cover-story by hitting you up with some current Edmonton news.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Alberta Taser guidelines expected to be amended this week
from the Edmonton Sun:
from 630 CHED/iNews880:
Mandel says Indy will make a profit by 2011
from CBC Edmonton:
Cleanup of storm-felled trees likely by week’s end
Let me know if I missed something. I’m up early and apt to be sleepy.
That’s hot
That ice cream is so icy.
It was so hot this weekend…
(pause for you to yell “How hot was it?”)
It was so hot, we considered buying the freezer burnt ice cream behind this sheet of ice at a certain convenience store whose name consists of rhyming numbers.
It’s also that time of the year people crank up the air conditioner.
Some people are crafty about it though. People like pam_i_am.
Not only did she concoct an air conditioning unit that includes a table fan, a cooler full of cold water and some copper tubing, she even has a shopping list for those of you looking to stay cool while testing your Tim Taylor abilities. Genius!
Letter from the Editor – Jeff – July 27/09
It's so, long.
I’ve let you down, Edmonton.
In an ongoing effort to produce all Edmonton all the time, I didn’t keep my eye on the ball.
I think I missed out on telling you about one of the biggest local stories of the year. I just hope one of the real newsrooms in the city brought this this tale to you.
While it’s not an excuse, I will present in my defense the fact I was busy preparing a grocery list of foods to be deep-fried this weekend. It’s not an excuse because it had “bad idea” written all over it.
You have no idea what I do for you, Edmonton.
Edward Monton has crabs
He has crab CAKES! Photo:EdwardMonton
The deep-fried goodness never stops around here.
First, Sally went to A Taste of Edmonton to find something to satisfy her deep-fry tooth. Disappointed there was nothing wild or crazy being dipped in hot oil (besides your mom, HI-O!), she issued a challenge.
It seems you people have no shortage of items you’d like to see deep-fried. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Anyway, our choice for the weirdest thing to deep-fry was a squeaker – it came down to supersu’s suggestion of olives, or EdwardMonton’s suggestion of Oreos. Though supersu took the title by a hair, she was out of town this weekend for the Calgary Folk Fest – so EdwardMonton wound up with the prize. And we’re very glad he did, because he has since posted on his blog about his adventures at A Taste of Edmonton, and it’s pretty hilarious. Thanks EdwardMonton!
A (Deep-Fried) Taste of Edmonton
Hey Edmonton, how was your weekend? I know there was a lot on tap; between A Taste of Edmonton, Capital Ex and the Indy, there were plenty of choices for folks looking to make the most of the face-melting heat.
Jeff and I took a pass on all of those, though, and celebrated the hottest weekend of the summer (it was, wasn’t it?) in the most obvious way possible – by standing over a pot of hot oil, in an apartment that was already like 10 degrees hotter than it was outside. But that’s okay. It was all in the name of culinary science. Some people may be tempted to call us visionaries, but that’s not necessary (I prefer passionate deep-fry enthusiast).
But I digress. You asked for it, #yeg (actually, that’s not entirely true. I suppose it’s more like we issued it to you, #yeg). But either way, here’s 4+ minutes of us deep-frying things. And if this whets your appetite/raises your cholesterol, we recommend you check out this amazing blog, recommended to us last week, by @JProssa (twitter/blog).
Sugar-coated Morning Headline-Os
Good morning, sunshine.
Good morning, sunshine.
If you didn’t melt over the weekend, welcome to Monday.
It’s certainly that rare time of the year when a daytime high on the underside of 30 degrees is seen as a welcome cool down.
Here’s something else that’s cool; morning headlines.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Alberta Mounties plan to keep their Tasers
Iranian students look to Edmonton
from the Edmonton Sun:
Time to get MADD at impaired drivers
from 630 CHED/iNews880:
Three major events wrap up in Edmonton
Brother can you spare a litre?
from CTV Edmonton:
Indy expected to keep racing through Edmonton
If I missed anything of note, I blame the heat, you can let me know in the comments. Stay cool, Edmonton.
Never Forgetting since 2009.
In case any of you forgot, Michael Jackson passed away a month ago.
In honour of the one-month-iversary of his passing, we give you the students of Mayfield Elementary, performing the Thriller dance.
(Watch the kid on the far right; at about 1:21 he sort of starts to lose interest in the group and go solo. I christen him the Robbie Williams of Mayfield School.)
this is part of a scrapbooking display at michael's in clareview.
Goodnight, sweet prince. And have a great weekend, #yeg.
What to Do: July 24 – 26
Maybe just head out to one of Alberta's great beaches this weekend.
Alright, it’s the weekend!
The scorching hot, middle of summer, good times weekend.
Yes, it’s the final weekend of Capital Ex (and Taste of Edmonton and Walking with Dinosaurs if you’re looking for a super-busy weekend of stuff to do). And there are all those race cars and assorted Indy parties.
But what if that’s not for you?
Try these on for size:
The Hurt Locker opens this weekend and looks really, really good.
The Famines play The Hydeaway with The Wicked Awesomes and The Mitts.
Speaking of music, Social Distortion is playing at Edmonton Event Centre.
River Cree Casino’s Live (cover band bar) has The Almost Hip.
Brian Mason’s pancake breakfast; because free food knows no political ideology (And the NDP has a syrup quota to fulfill).
You can get your dance on at Flamenco for Life, while helping a good cause.
On Sunday, Eskimos great Warren Moon is signing copies of his book “Never Give Up on Your Dream” at the North Town Indigo.
If you’re hungry for local food and new restaurants, check out Fork Fest.
Oh, and remember to Slip, Slop, Slap if you’re heading out into the sun.
What’s up, 112 Street?
They should just have an EPCOR station at this intersection.
Normally I hear about a water main breaking and I’m all “meh.”
But I’ve got to wonder what’s going on underneath 112 Street at, and near, Jasper Avenue. Back in the spring there was a big water main break that flooded the street and took some time to fix.
(It took months to get the sidewalk at the southeast corner up to par.)
Now there’s a water main busting loose just south of Jasper. FYI: The sidewalk is also blocked.
So, clearly I should start worrying about a monster living under the intersection, a monster that feeds on water mains.
I wonder if he can see any monsters.
Our Lady Peace at Capital Ex Last Night
What are we becoming, youtubevideosofrecentedmontonconcerts.com? Well, whatever. It’s our website. If you don’t like it, get your own.
…wait, no, don’t do that. I didn’t mean it, Edmonton. Come back; I’ll do better.
I liked this one because 4 a.m. is probably my favorite OLP song, and it makes me happy that a band that I often forget about – :( sorry, Raine Maida – can still get this many people singing along.
Did anyone go to this last night? How was it?
Clearing up the contusions… er… I mean confusion…
From the Dedmontonian
Over at www.deadmonton.net, formerly the home of the Deadmonton Horror Festival (of which I was a part), they’ve been fielding quite a few questions regarding the 2009 Deadmonton festival. Here’s their response:
“…the 2009 Film Festival has been put on a hiatus (A.K.A a very long break)…“
But don’t fear folks, because out of the ashes of Deadmonton has sprung two new festivals – dEdmonton: Canada’s Halloween Festival and DEDfest: Hellberta’s Horror Festival.
dEdmonton first came about last year when a civic minded fellow named Christian Nelson had the idea of taking back the “Deadmonton” slur by using it for – appropriately enough, a city-wide Halloween festival. We were already operating our film fest under the Deadmonton banner, so I contacted Christian and found him to be an all around great guy with a love for the city. By November 2008, myself, Christian, Darryl Plunkie of www.halloweenedmonton.com, and Kenn Bur of Connect2Edmonton joined forces under the banner of the “Council of E-ville” and begun stitching together the assorted parts of what would be dEdmonton.
What is dEdmonton? In short, we want to promote the everlasting shit out of Halloween in our city. There’s a menagerie of spooky, ooky and kooky events happening every October, and dEdmonton wants to help get the word out about them. By fall, our website www.dedmonton.com will be a repository of info on everything from family fun activities to hardcore horror events. And hopefully we can add a few of our own shindigs to the mix.
Edmonton Just Got A Whole Lot More Cars-Driving-In-A-Circle
By Derjis Sprongfeld (@Derjis/Bereits Design)
So, the Edmonton Indy rolls into town this weekend (get it? ‘rolls’? cars? you get it.). Three days of non-stop, world class racing action! Not really my thing, but I can see how other people might get into it. It’s fast. You’re outside. There’s beer. I’m not here to judge! Millions of people like NASCAR, and Indy racing is head and shoulders above NASCAR.
But holy cow, is the Indy LOUD! If you’re headed out this weekend, make sure you bring earplugs. And your butterscotch candies. And your walker. And your thermos of Ovaltine (because of how old people wear earplugs whenever they leave the house because the world today is a loud and scary place).
The cars fired up at 8 a.m.this morning, just as I was leaving for work. I live just north of downtown, maybe 10-12 blocks away from the airport, and work on Jasper Ave and 102 Street. I could still hear them by the time I made it to work. According to my trusty Google Maps, the noise traveled almost FOUR KILOMETERS. Arg. No sleeping in for me this weekend.
Are any of you headed out to the Indy? You’ll be paying for it one way or the other , so you might as well get something out of it…
That’s your Indy, Edmonton!
Eagles of Death Metal #FAIL
Last night I went to see Eagles of Death Metal at the Edmonton Events Centre with our friend, traffic wunderkind Garrette McGowan. (Thanks again, sir). It was a very good show. And I was pretty excited to, for once, be able to provide my own concert video for you guys instead of pilfering someone else’s off of youtube.
And to that end, I sort of have video. Just no … music; only earsplitting noise (I’m pretty sure Jesse’s moustache was emitting some kind of high frequency wave to prevent people like me from bootlegging their concert).
But this isn’t a wash. Here’s my plan B: go to the EODM myspace and load one of the tracks. Then turn off the audio on the above youtube clip. ZOMG, IT’S LIKE YOU WERE THERE.
not only am i a brilliant audio engineer; i'm also quite the photographer.
YOU’RE WELCOME.
Fresh fruity headlines
The healthy kind of Vitamin C, yo.
You know it’s summer when it’s 20 degrees at 8am. Gonna be a hot one out there!
Because you’re already melting, or taking cover in your air conditioned office, I won’t waste much time and we’ll get right down to business.
Business, of course, meaning a selection of morning news stories that may or may not save your life.
from the Edmonton Journal
Free flu vaccines for all Albertans
Teen aquitted of assaulting cop
from the Edmonton Sun
City’s outdoor events expected to sizzle
from 630 CHED/iNews880
Red Friday shows appreciation for Canadian troops
from CTV Edmonton
And we’ll head to the CTV story for one that everybody has: Violent sexual offender is out on city streets
What did I miss?
Opinion: Where my parks at?
This deserves a webpage.
While looking up information on Ezio Farone Park I noticed the City of Edmonton only has webpages for its major parks. You know, the Hawrelaks, Gold Bars and Coronations.
The Ezio Farones, the Dr. Wilbert McIntyres and Kildares don’t get a webpage.
I want them to get their own webpage!
OK, there’s a slight twist to them not having a webpage. There are a bunch of different pages you can slog through to find picnic sites, or sports fields, or your neighbourhood’s parks.
I’ll note with my work on the Strathcona Centre Community League, however, that people tend not to know the “official” name of their neighbourhood. The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) and Next Gen can back me up on that, since it came up at their recent event to get younger people involved in community leagues. (More on community leagues soon enough my pretties.)
To make sure I wasn’t make an outlandish request, I poked around a couple of websites from other Canadian cities.
Certainly I checked on Calgary. They are like us, and only have webpages for their big parks. The community parks, nestled nicely into your neighbourhood, don’t have much more than a name and address mention.
A city of similar size to Edmonton (though not in a similarly sized capital region), Winnipeg, also doesn’t give its medium and small parks a page of their own. Though, they do provide information on the amenities of each park, which I think is a nice touch for anyone looking around at a neighbourhood to live in, or looking for a place to schedule the weekend pick-up football games.
Toronto beats them all. It appears all of their parks have their own webpage (except skateboard parks…) and at least one has its own website. I even did a measurement check on how big an acre was, to make sure these parks weren’t only the ones with giant swaths of land.
So, I’m writing this to the world (it’s the Internet after all) but I’m going to drop a line to the City of Edmonton and ask for a little more detail on our parks on the Internet.
We need to know more about the Garneaus, Montroses and Nellie McClungs. Those are parks we can have a BBQ in or saunter down to when we want a new place to read a book.
Are you with me or am I looking for too much from our city’s website?
seinfeil gets sporty
I’m sorry, which sport are we playing?
What kind of equipment do we need? Rackets? A helmet? Does that require a BALL?
I hear the ones with the extra L cost more.
Tough times won’t stop Earth Water mission
Earth Water Ambassador Luis Figo with Earth Water Founder & CEO Kori Chilibeck, . From Earth Water's Portugal Launch in Oct. 2008. Courtesy earth-water.org
His company, “Earth Water,” asks: If you had the chance, would you change the world?
For 30-year-old CEO Kori Chilibeck, the answer is a no-brainer. In the four years since he launched Earth Water from his apartment here in Edmonton, the company has expanded around the world, and donated its substantial profits to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR, or United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).
From Earth Water’s website:
Earth Water funds projects related to the acquisition, storage, and distribution of fresh clean water, focusing on both emergency provisions and developing sustainable water sources for people living in poverty.
The company appears to be a bit of a Cinderella story from the outside, and I’m anxious to mine the entrepreneur for details of how he managed to grow his operation so vastly in such a short period of time.
But the most surprising thing I learn from Chilibeck is probably the thing he’s least interested in talking about.
Indy Themed BBQ!
Before all you Harrison Ford fans get too amped up, I mean the EDMONTON INDY. The one with cars. Not the one with Shia LeBeouf.
And before all you EDMONTON INDY fans get too amped up, this barbeque, located at Jasper and 103 St., is meant for tenants of the Canadian Western Bank building. I think. 
Am I going to mention that from an outsider’s perspective, there appeared to be no system of checks and balances to ensure that all of the people getting food originated from the Canadian Western Bank building? No, I’m not. What do you think this is, “Corporate Landlord-Tenant Appreciation Barbeque Crashers?” Do I look like Vince Vaughn?
I’m just here to report the facts. I’m pretty much the Walter Cronkite of Free Food (R.I.P).
Social Networking for the Rest of Us
(I always struggle with whether or not to post something like this, because I don’t want to mock anybody. I actually think it’s very sweet that guys would place an ad to meet a new friend. And much like our other internetter-buddy who was seeking out the Robert Urich movie, I’m sort of captivated by the backstory that these ads imply. But if I’m being a jerkstore, you guys need to tell me.)
Are you one of those people who just doesn’t “get” twitter? Are you convinced that facebook is going to sell your important personal knowledge to the F.B.I. (for their file on people who take the quiz that reveals which Golden Girl you are, obviously)? Fear not! There’s another option, and it comes via craigslist: the strictly platonic section. I think this is kind of quaint (and yes, I photoshopped it to get it to fit in our page, but I didn’t make it up)
But remember kids, never meet anyone from the internet alone. Safety first. Then teamwork.
Morning Headlines, now with more fibre
News stories, like muffins, are a delicious way to start the day.
It’s Thursday and we are that much closer to the weekend, Edmonton.
Looks like it’s going to be a scorcher, too.
My personal headline of the morning is “half-price coffee.” If you’re in the neighbourhood of Whyte Avenue and 106 Street, and you dig lattes, I suggest you buy one for half the price.
I don’t endorse Second Cup. But I endorse saving you money.
from the Edmonton Journal
Council doubles wards to a dozen
‘Huge hit to electrical system’
from the Edmonton Sun
Bug alert issued on downed trees
Citizen panel wants beefed-up transit
from 630 CHED/iNews880
Airport Authority charging fee for Indy
Serious charges laid against vendor in 2008 Capital Ex
from CTV Edmonton
Province to address lengthy surgery wait times
from SEE Magazine:
from Vue Weekly:
If you think we’ve overlooked anything, feel free to leave a link in the comments.
Two Things I Learned from my E-mail This Morning
1) That I missed the first wave of Fork Fest.
2) That I almost missed the pre-sale for the Starlite Room’s 5th Anniversary Party with Bedouin Soundclash. Five years, eh? I remember when it was the Rev.
God, I’m old.
Oh, and 3) I really need to check my e-mail in a more timely fashion.
