You know what?

But, then, we remembered there was a reason we spent an hour on YouTube looking at confetti cannon videos.

(READY THE CONFETTI CANNONS!)

Two-years-old. Now we get to be all cranky and agitated and you just have to deal with it. Ha!

Yup, two years ago, on this very day, Sally wrote the post that launched a blog. I quickly followed that with a post of my own (Stop upstaging me, Poulsen!) and we kicked off an Edmonton conversation that’s still going. It’s neat to look back at those first two posts and see that most of the goals and aspirations we had for the edmontonian actually happened, and are still being worked on today.

It’s also crazy to think about actually being around for two years. I’ve had couches that didn’t last that long.

This isn’t mine and Sally’s website though, it’s only here because people want it to be here. Without contributors, commentors, and an Edmonton conversation I don’t think we stick around this long.

The list of everyone that’s helped us, including writers, photographers, sponsors and advertisers, designers, video producers, and those involved in the edmontonian celebrates democracy (our election show), Saturday Night with Samsonow (basically a vehicle for Pepe) and the edmontonian presents (our new show on ShawTV), are way, way too numerous to thank. (You can also poke around the Guest Blogger, Feature, and opinion categories for a quick snapshot.) I’d totally leave people out and feel awful. I hope some of them pop into the comments so you can thank them personally. (And lots of them are on Twitter too.)

Edmonton is a great city. It’s not the world’s best, the largest, or the most nougat-filled, but it’s a great place to live. There are amazing people, fantastic businesses, fun activities, plenty of sports, tremendous music and art scenes, gorgeous geography, and passion. Sure, there are bad things, but every city has those too.

We are proud to have discovered Edmonton’s best and creative sides, and we are prouder to be able to share that with Edmontonians, Albertans, Canadians, and moon people.

(FIRE THE CONFETTI CANNONS!)

By Amanda Bennett

The Black Dog and AXIOMATIK, together on Whyte Avenue for a rockin’ Saturday afternoon…

It was a barkingly cold day, again, in frozen Edmonton, but the cold didn’t dampen the spirits of the local crowd out for a pint and a little musical entertainment Saturday afternoon at Whyte Avenue’s Black Dog Freehouse. Typical Euro-pub decor is evident in the mirrored beer ads proclaiming: “Original Burton Ale” and “It’s a lovely day for a Guinness,” along with a collection of bottles, posters, a few Royal Family souvenirs and, of course, archival photos of dogs.

Tamara Cullen, the general manager for “The Dog”  had booked this gig for her pub, and was looking forward to be serenaded in birthday style, by one of her favourite local bands, AXIOMATIK.  True to their name, they delivered!  Their talent is apparent the minute the band strikes the first note. Shawn Lamble (lead guitar, keyboard and vocals), Greg Kolodychuk (bass and vocals), and Jayson Freeman (drummer and vocals) sang, played, strummed and rocked their hearts out for all to enjoy, the songs melodiously wafting amongst the crowd.

Lori Ann, a fan and high-school friend of Shawn’s for over twenty years sat next to me and told me some of her thoughts on the band. Shawn taught her how to play guitar and she told me: “Watching him play gives me goosebumps!”

Shawn is in his element singing, playing his guitar, picking out a tune on a Yamaha grand or an electronic keyboard, and chatting with the audience. He is an amazingly talented and gifted musician who speaks of himself as a “Rock and Roll Messenger.” Just to listen to some of his emotive lyrics is truly food for the mind.

Lori Ann was also responsible for introducing Greg to Shawn. They both worked in the same office and she thought that the two would get on famously. She was right! Greg is currently studying music at MacEwan, and his passion for his bass guitar can be seen and felt as he performs with long, lithe fingers on his gleaming frets. You just need to watch his face – lit up from the music.

Jayson is a young man who loves music, and ANY opportunity to play his drums. He is an accomplished jazz guitarist but prefers to accompany the band on the drums these days. He totally gets lost in his Zildjian cymbals and array of drums as he sets the pace for the rest of AXIOMATIK. The air around him vibrates as he puts his sticks to the skins and works his magic. He is married, with a young son who just may have the makings of a future musician… The little guy has been to a gig or two, dances to the music, and likes to watch his dad perform.

But he’s got some growing to do yet before he can reach the drum set.

AXIOMATIK had the place hummin’ to their rendition of the Everly Brothers’ “All I have to do is dream,” and the pub joined the band in the singing of the classic Happy Birthday, to Tamara. We raised our glasses in a toast and the band wound down the afternoon by performing a couple more numbers.

I had the chance to talk to Wayne Lamble, Shawn’s dad, and a dedicated fan (one of many who came out for this venue). He and his wife Emily attend almost all of the AXIOMATIK shows. As the band played “Forever and Always,” the elder Lamble arrived and Shawn shouted out a “Hey Dad!” while playing on. Wayne is a musician himself and has many stories of gigs of yesteryear, which allows him to fit right in with a younger crowd.

AXIOMATIK’S albums can be found at Sound Connection, also on Whyte Avenue. AXIOMATIK; synonymous with lyrical, enchanting and modern!

The Black Dog Freehouse, by the way, always has free shows on Saturday afternoon (look for The Hair of the Dog schedule), frequently with Edmonton musicians.

Hey, our fore fathers didn’t fight for our right to party so we could sit at home watching people who think they can dance.

Heck, no.

They’d have wanted you to head down to Whyte Avenue’s Wunderbar for 7pm this evening to enjoy some local entertainment, local cake, and beer from all over.

A blog (and podcast) only get to turn 1 once.

We’d love to you see you tonight, so come say “Hi.”

You don’t even have to bring presents. (Though they are accepted.)

Nope. We’ve just added a handy “click here for e-mails when there’s a new comment,” kind of thing to our posts. Now you can comment, click to be notified of any other comments, and really be part of a conversation.

Plus, it’s really nice to be notified by e-mail of comments on something you’ve commented on because you can be lazy and not have to check back.

But I know you check back here. Like 10 times a day. Right?

RIGHT?!

Ahem. Thanks for being part of the Edmonton conversation.

I believe this image shows what I'm talking about.

—–

Hey, while I’ve got you here, let me be the first to officially invite you to the 1st birthday of the edmontonian and The Unknown Studio. It’s going to be Monday, August 23.

So don’t go balls-out crazy the last weekend of the Fringe. You’ll nee energy to party with us. And eat cake.

Don’t forget to help us pay for the greatest birthday gift of all. And if you come to the party you’ll get to see the gift as it happens.

We don’t know if you know this, but our pals, Scott and Adam, over at The Unknown Studio, are HUGE Star Trek fans.

HUGE.

Like, they will have important and interesting guests on their show and spend precious podcast seconds, minutes even, talking about Star Trek. They love it that much.

So, they’re celebrating one year of podcasting in our fair city and we here at the edmontonian wanted to buy them something for their birthday. But what could we get them? What could say that we’re good friends and we pay attention when they talk?

Something Star Trek, of course.

But not just anything. No. Something awesome. Something great.

A live phone call from Marina Sirtis, the actress who starred as Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation (Adam’s favourite of the Treks) for seven years.

But it’s $300.

That’s why we’re asking you to help us out, Edmonton. Chip in a few bucks by clicking that PayPal button below and help us buy a fantastic present for two of the city’s biggest Star Trek fans. We’ll get Ms. Sirtis to call Scott and Adam at a big birthday party, later this summer.

Donate to the Unknown Studio Star Trek phone call fund now, donate often! (We’ll be sure to write your name in the birthday card.)

If we don’t make it to $300 we’ll just get them a Happy Birthday greeting from Mr. Belding.