How’d your weekend go, Edmonton?
After the classics it was time for some jazz.
As we talked about Friday, there was plenty to do. I did end up going to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Late Night Paris and it was, as always, a good time.
Bloggers who’ve covered the ESO during the 2009-2010 season were invited out, and we met beforehand at Moriarty’s. I’ve been trying to get in there to try it so I was happy to have the chance to check out this hip, new wine bar in Rice Howard Way. I’ll be back.
I took in the show from the choir loft, which is quite a different way to enjoy the music. The music itself sounded pretty good, though it was really tough to hear the conductors when they were speaking to the audience.
But I got to quietly people-watch most of the audience from the loft, so that’s pretty neat.
The Late Night series is a little shorter than a usual night at the symphony, but then takes to the Winspear lobby for jazz and martinis.
Saturday, well, Saturday I freaked out about the snow. May 29 and it’s snowing.
Gosh!
Redemption for the evening came in the form of videogames. And a party. You could call it a videogame party.
Videogames are even more fun when you have a DJ.
Our friends over at User Created Content were celebrating two years of podcasting (Happy Birthday, guys!) and had a night of competitions over at Hitech Gaming, on Stony Plain Road.
People got to compete, for videogame prizes, in Street Fighter, Rock Band, and retro games Super Mario Brothers 3 and Bomberman. After all the fun, and pizza and cake, I got in a little classic Bomberman action in some battle royales.
Hitech itself is a pretty neat place, with multiple rooms to play X-Box games. Right now the venue is available for groups to rent out, but eventually should be open regular hours for your gaming convenience.
I spent Sunday hiding inside in case it snowed again.
Lobbyists dig deep for Conservatives
Tory gov’t pretends to ignore Wildrose while stealing their thunder
Small town values still key in big cities (Live local.)
Library a powerful draw for newcomers
Derelict hospital a project going nowhere (I blame the ghosts. Old hospitals always have ghosts. Savvy real estate ghosts.)
Discovery could help treat spinal injuries
Resource-based economy spells doom for grizzlies (Because the grizzly bears refuse to work in resource jobs.)
Leader of citizens action group steps down, ponders politics (Michael Walters lead the Greater Edmonton Alliance.)
Tour exposes industry’s hold on heartland (Aren’t we going to call areas outside of Edmonton the Industrial Heartland?)
Second-degree murder charge in Alberta foster child death
These next three stories are about Edmonton’s tech community and our big brains: Edmontonian’s app wins Montreal competition – Putting gaming advances to work – Edmonton student comes in second at National Brain Bee
Paul Tracy set to race in Edmonton
Three levels of treatment for wastewater
Political alternatives coming out of the woodwork (The Alberta Party’s Big Listen. More on this party from the Journal.)
Police tactical section needs training grounds
Indy a good deal for Edmonton (Will it stick around?)
Man charged with sexual assault at Edmonton daycare
Make the Transit Challenge an Everyday Challenge (Four councillors will ride ETS this week. Surely the rest won’t because they are already taking it…And this is also a week for you to challenge yourself while commuting.)
Young performers will take centre stage at Nextfest
High-tech way to limit gambling addictions (Scanning your eye? Futuristic problem-gambling fighting.)
‘Change your giving’ campaign begins in Callingwood (I’m a fan of this.)
City councillors try to rally support for EXPO 2017 (In Toronto.)
More pregnant women needed for study
Phillips to retire on “Classic” note (Rod Phillips is retiring and will call just a few games this coming season. Not sure who’s replacing him yet.)
Man dies after being dragged nearly 30 blocks
Street racers allegedly involved in southside crash
Maddox returns home (But he’ll head back to NYC in July for another surgery.)
Vue’s new website is ready! Go check it out and stuff. We, obviously, love the 5-image rotator on the main page. ;)
Here’s what they had last Thursday: No easy answers (about the Somali community), City with a plan (The Way We Grow) and A councillor’s dozen (Dave Thiele’s 12 years at Edmonton City Hall).
Terry Jones needs to shut his pie hole.
“The Indy 500 is a free four-hour commercial for the two Canadian stops in the series…”
You mean “free” in the sense that in order to get said “four-hour” commercial, the city has to pay an outrageous amount of money to prop up the money-losing event? Is that what you mean? Because, y’know, not to split hairs on this, but that’s not really, uhm, FREE…
I really hope Gene Dub can get going on the Camsell project…I grew up a block away from the site and it’s really sad to see it rotting like it is now. The neighbourhood is fantastic and could really use the lift that new family housing units would provide.
Derjis, if you hate the Indy you hate freedom.
Tricot, this is the kind of stuff that shows the city needs better rules, tougher rules, for older buildings and development in general. Even though Dub’s heart is in the right place things needed to be done, and I don’t know if there should be mechanisms for old buildings to be taken back by the city, or forced onto the market to spur development.