Weekend Fun
Rocket sleds eh?
Looks like WinterLight is going out with a bang. It’s been a fun way to embrace our long, dark season.
Actually, looking at this weekend there are quite a few fun things happening. And you know I’m turning to ShareEdmonton to load us up with the good stuff.
Ooh, there’s the Grilled Cheese Olympics! That’s happening Sunday.
If you’ve got kids you might be checking out the Mom, Pop & Tots Fair, over at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
The circus is in Edmonton.
Edmonton gets to shine on the TED stage this Saturday, with TEDxEdmonton. It’s happening over at the TransAlta Arts Barns. Tickets were highly sought-after and are likely out of your hands, but there is an after-party. Plus, you can watch all the TEDx action online.
The 2010 Edmonton Golf Show clearly has to mean it’s almost, really spring.
If you’ve got the spirit why not check out the Alberta Cheerleading Association’s Total Spirit Championship over at West Edmonton Mall.
That dog is a better painter than me.
Our friends over at Tailz passed along an interesting event; HART’s “Pawsitively Painted,” which is a dog art auction. That’s art BY the dogs. Really.
And you’d be helping out other dogs in need. Aww…
Over at our new favourite venue, The ARTery, you’ve got Kate Maki playing Sunday.
Gee…I wonder why The ARTery would be our new favourite…could it be because we’ll be part of #yegswap next weekend? Probably.
Actually, it’s shaping up to be quite a fun night.
You will bring some cool stuff that you just got bored with, or don’t have space for, and I will do the same. We will throw it all onto a giant table and pick up some new things. So, not only are you going to get some of your spring cleaning done, you’re going to get sweet new stuff to play with, and for almost free.
Oh, and next Saturday, while you’re hanging out with some of your favourite Edmonton bloggers and podcasters, you can listen to great local music from Lyra Brown, The Mystery Ponies and The Joe.
Have a great weekend.
See you next weekend. (Wow, I’m getting pushy.)
March 12 Edmonton Headlines
It's like Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote on that dirty van. (Photo: Derjis)
Happy Friday to you, my little Edmonton.
As was widely, widely, widely expected, the Alberta government has backtracked on its royalty rate hike (though, they’ve sort of cut some slack over the last few years) and is trying to spur more oil and gas investment.
Guess what? If a company’s business is oil and gas I can pretty much guarantee they are going to be coming for your oil and gas. Especially since Alberta isn’t a dangerous, war-zone kind of place or a nationalized energy jurisdiction. Our resource eh…
I’ll just put this soapbox back in the closet and we can get on with things. There’s some opinion on this in the Journal and Sun links, below.
Oh, I should mention the big, breaking story today is happening in the west end. Stay tuned to Twitter for real-time updates on the shooting.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Cost of borrowing for City of Edmonton projects up to $46M
Edmonton mulls reserved LRT parking (I’ve about had enough of Edmonton’s newsrooms having city hall “mull” things. This is becoming overused.)
Calgary may share public transit money
Website under attack (Is Edmonton Stories a waste of your money?)
Will royalty cuts placate oilpatch?
Who’s driving the royalty bus?
Alberta economy trails national growth rate
Edmonton’s Union expands (Not an actual union, you union-busters.)
Satirical anti-grizzly campaign launched in Alberta (Who doesn’t want to throw chainsaws and ATVs at bears?)
Katz’s fortune slips: Forbes Magazine (How surreal must it be to lose $100-million and not even really have to change anything?)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Parents voice concernd over possible school closure
from Metro Edmonton:
Fighters bringing mayhem to city (This just makes me think of the movie Kickboxer. The first one, not its sub-par sequels.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Capital Region plan gets provincial approval (Now, let’s all just get along.)
Candle light vigil at the ‘Ledge
Time to test your smoke alarm (It’s Sparky!)
from CBC Edmonton:
Seniors protest MacEwan pool closure
from CTV Edmonton:
Baby Isaiah taken off life-support, passes away in Edmonton hospital (When I was putting together the headlines yesterday I saw that a court appearance about Isaiah’s life-support was canceled. Something told me his parents wouldn’t have stopped the fight without a big reason…)
The Valley Zoo has another death on its hands. This time it’s a dead addax (think Antelope) at the zoo. This is the second animal to pass this year. But since this one isn’t cute like a meerkat we don’t know if it even had a name.
Wow, today kind of had a bunch of depressing news. Sorry to be such a downer.
So, how about I try to lighten the mood with a little self-promotion.
March 11 Edmonton Headlines
These are The Mystery Ponies. They are quite good. You can see them play at yegswap March 20.
Good day to you, Edmonton.
Of course I scheduled an off-site meeting the weekday morning there’s the most news (Thursday). Sorry about that. We’ll get right to the show.
But before we get to the real news, the big news, the important news, I think we need to talk about this news: Conan O’Brien is coming to the River Cree Casino as part of his “Legally prohibited from being funny on television” tour.
That’s right, he’s on a 32-city tour and he’s coming to our neighbourhood. Stop saying we have to buy “world-class” with a new arena and Expo, baby, we just arrived.
Following up on that point, you actually become world-class by just doing what you do, and eventually others will want to be a part of your action. Sure, that will end up costing money somewhere along the way, but it’s not something you just buy with one or two big-ticket items.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Homeless in the River Valley (An audio slideshow.)
Edmonton City Council puts $17M into rainy-day fund (Interesting to note that the surplus is actually about $17-million since the rest had to go to “previous commitments.”)
Premier’s gaffe tars communications staff (The poor dears. Though, they have a big job making Ed sound on top of things.)
Alberta legislature question period reorganized after opposition complains
Edmonton’s NAIT to offer nanotechnology
Edmonton developer donates $2.5M to MacEwan
from the Edmonton Sun:
Website called waste of tax cash (No, we aren’t getting tax money to put out this fine product. But we’d take it. This is about Edmonton Stories.)
Businesses fined for fire code violations (I like that some just keep getting fined again and again.)
MLA heads to Europe to tout oilsands (At least we’re doing something about cleaning up the oilsands. We’re cleaning up its image. Don’t mention ducks, McQueen.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Companies spend $167M in Alberta land sale (Oil and gas companies, exploring for said oil and gas.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Parkdale School families gather to save school from closing (Now the Alberta Liberals are jumping on this issue, asking to examine the provincial-municipal policies that clash. Clearly you can’t be closing schools in areas where cities are trying to revamp the neighbourhood.)
City approves artificial turf for Commonwealth (Paula Simons has a few things to say about that.)
from Vue Weekly:
Sexual assault: defining assault
Lubicon rights: The right to govern (Did you know we had an internationally watched/panned land rights discussion happening here in Alberta?)
Aboriginal issues: increased role
Alberta economy, Oil and gas sector makes the rules (I guess people will make up their minds when they see the newest royalty review, today.)
from SEE Magazine:
The mystery of the vanishing home builder
Irrelevant and in your face (The Irrelevant Show is awesomely hilarious.)
from The Gateway (U of A):
Students’ Union prepares for march to legislature
Digital books seen as classroom alternative (And they might end up saving students money too.)
Stelmach’s back-paddling inane (Well, at least we know the Premier’s out of excuses for not paying attention to an international black eye.)
I’m with Coco.
I’m an idiot
This is a fail. A Samsonow fail.
I was all excited when I checked the mail yesterday. There was a stack of flyers to toss, a bill to open with fear later, and a letter to me!
But wait…that writing on the envelope sure looked familiar.
Probably because I mailed this letter…to myself.
Please don't tell me I'm the only one who's screwed up mail this bad.
Edmonton’s Headlines, now with less Corey
Good morning, Edmonton.
If you’re a child (or a teen) of the 80s then today has just a tinge of sadness. Surely we knew that Corey Haim had his troubles, but it doesn’t make it any easier to know he’s gone. And all we’ve got now are our VHS copies of The Lost Boys and License to Drive.
Oh, and Corey Feldman.
Man, there are a lot of mixed messages coming from the Alberta Health Services team. Thank goodness it’s not an important department.
At least when Ron Liepert was in charge we knew he was angry all of the time and we were probably going to see private health care options. Now, now I have no idea from one day to the next what’s up.
It’s time for a regime change! Just in energy royalties. We are Alberta and we don’t want to rush a government change or anything.
from the Edmonton Journal:
‘She was our little angel’ (Police are still investigating the death of a toddler in foster care, as a homicide.)
Tailings pond breaks law: federal officer (Someone tell the Premier, since he doesn’t look at the news.)
Student humour needs context (Scott McKeen on The Gateway controversy and other City Hall notes.)
Parkdale a victim of open boundaries (Finally, someone comes out and says what I’ve been thinking about the ability to choose whatever school you want, regardless of your own city neighbourhood.)
New iPhone app allows residents to report problems (You want to complain to the City of Edmonton? There’s an app for that.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Premier in the soup over ducks (Hey, the best part about the Premier not seeing the oily ducks is that it means he ignores all TV, newspaper and Internet news and opinion. So I could call him a dumb-dummy and he’d never see it. We should probably also do some sort of Premier Ed-Photoshop thing, as he’d also never see that…)
Edmonton eyes deal for artificial turf (Goodbye real grass, at Commonwealth.)
Residents asked to help clean up city (April 28 eh…I’m busy that day.)
Street sweepers at the ready (Yes!)
from The Canadian Press:
Minority report (Though, if “minorities” aren’t really a minority anymore, would you still call them that? Yeah, I just blew your mind.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Contract offer ‘intentionally provocative’: nurses’ union (Oh great, the team that can’t figure out which health care plan they’re using is negotiating contracts with one our most important unions…)
Heaven just got a little more Corey.
Edmonton Headlines, now cocaine-free
Look up, way up. Not that much up. Back down. Yeah, right there.
First up today, I’ve got this song from Johnny Cash stuck in my head because of all the Rahim Jaffer news.
That would be because the former Edmonton Tory MP was in court this morning, and pleaded out his charges.
This story leads me to think that something happened in the search, or other arrest procedures to force the crown to drop the drug charges. It’s not every day a judge is telling an accused how lucky they are to catch a break.
Anyway, more news to come and more Johnny Cash too.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Stephen Mandel should run again (Should he?)
Cuts to higher education a losing strategy, U of A president says (Duh.)
No ‘duck porn’ in Stelmach’s political pond (Why would he want to see what his province’s largest industry does? Meanwhile…back at the St. Albert Hall of Justice…)
Tripling of housing starts returns builders to pre-recession levels
City announces arts awards nominees
Hiring ‘climate’ still ‘mild’ (‘OK.’)
$5M project targets heart failure
Dow owners way of proposed changes to south-side off-leash area
from the Edmonton Sun:
Cop hearings set (Two cases that have raised many questions about police behavior.)
Ed calls foster child death ‘tragic’
Alberta NDP MP in Tory crosshairs (Because there’s nothing better to do with your time in politics than win, win, win. You can help people later.)
from The Canadian Press:
Magazine urges U.S. legislators to discourage oilsands development
from Metro Edmonton:
McCauley closing (Won’t closing schools in older neighbourhoods make the City’s growth plans, which call for more people in older neighbourhoods, useless? Or, what Paula Simons said.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
”Pay for performance’ incentives” idea sparks debate
from CBC Edmonton:
Kreviazuk to debut with Edmonton Symphony (The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has unveiled its 2010-2011 season!)
from CTV Edmonton:
Edmonton apartment building goes up in flames
from The Gateway (U of A):
Now onto the controversy! First, the controversy. Then, some news coverage. Finally, the response. Racist?
Research team uses nanotechnology to deliver targeted cancer treatment
President-elect discusses campaign
I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
March 8 Edmonton Headlines
I really dig these arftful boxes of sand the City is putting downtown.
Yes, there’s snow in the forecast. But in some of the sagest words to ever come from science fiction; don’t panic.
This has to be good news, what with the way our provincial government basically depends on energy money. And you didn’t help by buying all the bonds. More on the bonds from the National Post.
There are going to be more stories, I’d bet, on the Alberta foster care system in the next little while. This is because a toddler just died in care. And it’s being investigated as a homicide. So, you’ve got this, and this to start the debate. Sadly, the debate only tends to happen after such a bad incident.
Then it will be shuffled off the front pages by bikini girls, Oscar winners and Daryl Katz begging for money. Alright, one of those is just the Sun, and one actually has an impact on the future of our city, though dead kids surely impact our future in some way.
Oh, and something about this Sarah Palin headline sends a chill down my spine. This story on Rebooting Alberta only moderately helps to warm that chill. The Journal’s got more on the Alberta Party too, in a story here.
Wait, that chill is back.
from the Edmonton Journal:
School key to McCauley’s fate: parents (Good luck convincing the school board of that.)
Court goes digital for first time
Mandel plays role of reluctant politician well. And so, we wait… (Will Mayor Mandel run again?)
Conservatives fall out over Morton budget (Let’s remember he came to the post of finance after the budget had been pretty much sent to the printer.)
Let’s set the record straight on tailings ponds and elections
from the Edmonton Sun:
Pool closure doesn’t wash with swimmers
MLA proposes beauty pageant to boost tourism (Good on the Sun for asking about Carl Benito’s “foundation.”)
Grieving Edmonton woman fundraising for Canadian Avalanche Centre
from Metro Edmonton:
‘I don’t know anybody who could afford it’ (A cancer patient is raising money for treatment not covered here.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Time to book your campsite (Go. Go now. Online.)
Pandas finish fourth place in women’s volleyball
Former Taekwondo instructor given seven years in prison
from CBC Edmonton:
Alberta man’s death sentence upheld in U.S. (This is a story we’ve heard plenty about up here.)
Avatar art director studied Alberta oilsands
from CTV Edmonton:
Fox Drive closed until next week
from Global Edmonton:
Taxi Tax (Insurance surcharges, as Metro can show you, aren’t a “tax.” Add a dictionary to the animal books, Global. And the Sun says cabbies are going to ask the City to takeover their dispatch too.)
The Oilers have won two in a row. Didn’t anybody tell them to keep gunning for the first overall draft pick?
It’s the weekend so let your hair down
Oh, and I don't want to brag or anything, but you should probably put this little baby in your calendar right now. I'll see you there in 2 weeks.
Let your hair down? What?! Who event talks like that?
I’ll try and up my hipster-era lingo throughout the rest of this post.
You can haz events.
Actually there are a few cool things going down this weekend in the Y-E-G.
First things first, let’s dig into the ShareEdmonton goody bag and see what we pull out.
Ooh…an Oilers game. Do people still go to those? For fun?
ShareEdmonton’s got a lot of Edmonton Public Library events, and I keep seeing this one, about gaming for teens. It’s cool that the library isn’t just about books anymore, and kids have a place to go do something fun instead of joining a gang.
You don’t hve much time left to RSVP for the Open City Workshop, but it’s a neat idea bringing developers, city staff and other people together to talk about what kinds of government information should be open and available, and what could be done with it (like build an iPhone app, or write an in-depth news story).
MacEwan University is hosting an open house, Saturday. Just don’t ask them about the pool.
If you want to drive out to Elk Island National Park there’s a Star Party. Take in the night sky without all of the city’s light pollution.
Then, you’ve got Pre/Post, The Consonance and The Madhatters playing Saturday night at the Pawnshop.
A band you might have heard of is playing the Shaw Conference Centre Sunday.
Or perhaps you want to check out the Newfoundland Screech Comedy from the Rock Tour, at the Kingsway Ramada? Yeah, I thought you might.
March 5 Edmonton Headlines
Welcome to March 5, Edmonton.
Just waiting for the bus.
While that really means very little (unless it’s your birthday, then Happy Birthday!) it does mean it’s Friday. Boo-to-the-motherflippin’-Ya.
Before I forget to mention it, Parliament returned to “work” this week and they brought down the federal budget yesterday. Alberta Finance Minister Ted Morton likes it, so that will make up a lot of minds without even following this link to read more about it.
I caught this story via my Google Alerts, it seems those dastardly environmentalists are now paralleling the oilsands to the storyline in Avatar. Thankfully, nobody has seen Avatar and won’t know about the tale of resource plundering and destruction…wait…I’m being told at least a few people south of the border might be aware of the Avatar storyline…
And, holy crap, the city has more money than it thought! Don’t let Daryl Katz know.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Edmonton’s Eastwood parents get questions answered at round table discussion (A new format for school closure meetings, but will it mean anything different in terms of keeping schools open? Man, we talked about this a lot yesterday, and more today.)
Alcohol-fuelled sex assaults on the rise in Edmonton (Also of note here is that police say they’ll stop with the “lock your doors” mentality when there are assaults, as that tends to put the blame on victims and potential victims. This is something we’ve talked about with the Garneau Sisterhood.)
Snowfall stalled efforts to scare off birds, trial told (The Syncrude trial.)
Bland, barren Churchill Square needs a funky facelift
Alberta being hit hard by H1N1 flu again not likely, expert says (But I have all this hand sanitizer yet to be used.)
Edmonton concert to raise funds for struggling Haiti
Edmonton Transit bus crash sends driver to hospital
from the Edmonton Sun:
Big boost in LRT riders (Don’t I know it, being jammed in there every morning.)
City holding data workshop (The more government data and information available the better.)
Well-known Old Strath shop to close (Bugs ‘n berries is done.)
Edmonton’s Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe sold for $47.8M
Local pizza among world’s best
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Full-body scanners come to EIA
2010 Stollery Radiothon (They raised $1.3-million over at Corus Radio.)
Foster mom granted a new trial
from CBC Edmonton:
Size of meth seizure worries police
from Global Edmonton:
Katz group plans to rezone arena land
Grant MacEwan University to close pool (Controversy!)
from The Gateway (U of A):
Dehod newly elected SU President (Now, to not resign under unknown circumstances, like the last guy…)
PAW, U-Pass; Yes Millennium Villages No
U of A professor receives eugenics research grant
Farm workers call for better protection
Dive right in. Well, unless you’re at MacEwan.
Edmonton enters The Room
If you come across people today who are giggling to themselves, or staring off like nothing makes sense to them anymore, they may have been at Metro Cinema last night.
You might want to ask them if they were there, in case they aren’t the kind of giggling to themselves person you want to be around.
Yes, last night Edmonton was just like Los Angeles or Toronto or New York. We watched “The Room” on the big screen. That’s what I call “world class.”
What’s “The Room?” Only the greatest B-movie since ever.
It’s a terrible movie, rumoured to have cost $6-million, touted with an everlasting billboard in L.A. by the film’s lead actor/director/producer/writer, Tommy Wiseau. As we heard last night, it’s not known where Wiseau came from, how he got the money, or what his deal is.
He marketed the movie as a serious, emotional drama. It’s pure unintentional hilarity, full of re-used shots, unnecessary footage, plenty of small talk, gratuitous sex scenes (after sex scenes), atrocious acting, and football breaks.
Thanks (BIG THANKS) goes to the guys at Turkey Shoot.
Thanks to Dave and Jeff for a great Turkey Shoot. Sorry for my awful photo.
What’s Turkey Shoot you ask? Only Edmonton’s own Mystery Science Theater 3000.
What’s Mystery Science…oh, forget it here’s a link.
Having experienced The Room previously, I was a little worried the Turkey Shooters would step on too much of this masterpiece. They did not. They knew when to let that Wiseau-dialogue capture our attention. They also had fantastic zings. And the audience really got into things with comments of their own, and lots and lots and lots of laughing.
The Tommy Wiseau impersonation contest was just more icing on the cake.
Extra props to resident movie-genius Paul Matwychuck (follow him on Twitter here, download his podcast with Vue’s David Berry here) for being a part of the skewering team. And kudos, as we heard, for introducing the Turkey Shooters to the movie. Bravo!
As Sally wrote about the other day, this was also the Turkey Shoot’s first attempt at live tweeting a movie. I think it went well. They were tweeting while commenting from near the screen, I was tweeting, Sally was tweeting, people in the crowd were tweeting. Lots of people were following on Twitter. I hope #theroomyeg is but the first live tweeting Turkey Shoot does.
He loves us!
May I suggest #drmoreauyeg or simply #yegturkey for next month’s viewing of the Marlon Brando classic “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” Maybe just #yegturkey so we can use it again and again.
As one person tweeted, we should probably all return next year, to remember our evening, the night so many lives changed by viewing The Room.
While I own a copy (thanks to Brittney’s trip to Comic-Con last summer) I could only show the movie to 6 or 7 people at a time. Maybe I’ll start a list so all of Edmonton can enjoy this cinematic gem.
Oh, and the next time this is shown in Edmonton, mark my words, I’m showing up in a tuxedo. Hey, Turkey Shooters, you bring the football.
March Forth
Edmonton became part of a special club last night.
The Room club. I’ll blog about that a little later, when I’ve had more time to digest one of the western world’s greatest artistic achievements.
For now, we will talk news.
Oh, and before I forget, Adam, over at the Unknown Studio, is taking a hyper-local look at the 2010 closure of the Dawson Bridge. It’s good stuff.
Also, I like that the Edmonton Oilers are so bad…(How bad are they?)…they’re so bad, that if other teams give up goals, any goals at all, it’s seen as terrible play. *sigh* There’s always next year.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Edmonton school serving at-risk students faces closure (Pretty much every other school closure story I ask about the idea of letting students go to any school in the city, instead of just their neighbourhood school. So, I ask again, what does that serve, in the long-term? How does that build communities? Doesn’t it just enforce the big-box lifestyle of driving away from your home to get things?)
Edmonton walking device ‘has absolutely changed my life’
Syncrude noise cannons in place when inspector arrived
Oilsands image back in the tar (Syncrude, by going to trial, hurts their image more.)
Foul duck pictures may have PR benefit (Really, do you guys think this is true?)
Syphilis crisis must be recognized, fought properly
Edmonton pawnbroker attacked with hatchet from his shop (Yikes, there are a lot of “terms violated” comments removed from this story. Suffice to say, I get the feeling commentators don’t have a lot of sympathy for pawn brokers or some of their usual customers. Also, maybe don’t sell hatchets. There’s a sketchy convenience store by my house, alluded to here, that sells axes and swords. I won’t be surprised if something like this happens there.)
MacEwan to close pool in July to expand fitness centre
Report estimates Alberta has almost 700 grizzly bears
from the Edmonton Sun:
City cracks down on garden centres (You know, from the last two stories you’d think we’d have solved all of our really big problems.)
A lesson in racism? (Some thought-provoking ideas raised in the speech.)
Prof hosting dinner in the dark for research funds
Two different stories (I wish they could put the dog on the stand for a third version.)
Officials eye pub-crawling partiers
from the Edmonton Examiner:
City seeks input on public washroom design
West Edmonton Catholic school spared closure (I repeat my questions to you, from the above school closure story.)
Not too late to nominate a neighbour (Maybe all of our neighbours are jerks?)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Winnipeg’s derelict buildings bylaw looks good to Caterina (And Caterina would look good in Derelicte.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Disabled raiser human rights complaint over transit costs
from CTV Edmonton:
Vigil pays respect to Mayerthorpe’s “Fallen Four” (It was the 5th anniversary of the Mountie murders, yesterday.)
18-month-old foster child dies in Edmonton hospital
from Global Edmonton:
Making the square more user friendly (I think we all know the answer is more arena.)
from Vue Weekly:
Face the facts (How are women in Alberta doing?)
In a word (That’s a take on Israeli Apartheid week. There are events over at the U of A.)
The Urban Farmer: Concrete jungle no more (Time to get growing.)
from SEE Magazine:
Delicate pruning or hatchet job? (Just talkin’ bout the Alberta Budget.)
Hit me up with your thoughts and feelings, Edmonton.
Oh, and if you could set up a meeting for me with Leonard Asper, I’ve got a media venture he can throw money at.
Nachos!
You love nachos.
We all do.
It’s OK for you to admit it. This is a safe place.
Everyone likes nachos, because you can load them up with meat, veggies, cheese, soy-cheese, whatever. It’s a food that can bring together foodies of all walks. And don’t even get me started on the possibilities of sides and dips.
Thank goodness, Edmonton now has its own official nacho blog. Tell Katie what you think of nachos, how to make super-kick-ass nachos, where to go for nachos, what you think of what she thinks of nachos from around Edmonton, and other nacho-related information.
Katie, we are going to make you our Nacho Bureau Chief, once our Bureau Chief money comes in.
March 3 Edmonton Headlines
Holy sh*t, that coffee is free.
Look, I know it’s Roll Up The Rim time again over at Tim Hortons.
And I know I’ll end up buying a few of those flashy red cups, and winning my yearly two cookies.
But right now (until March 14 anyway) I’m giving my coffee money to McDonald’s. And by money I mean no money. And by McDonald’s I mean a fast food chain that at least understands apostrophes.
Until the 14th, McDonald’s is giving away free coffee. Free. Coffee. Every. Day.
Now, I’m always suspicious of these things, as though I’ve missed the fine print where it says I actually have to buy 18 breakfast burritos to get the coffee. But there is no fine print. And it’s all day, not just breakfast hours.
So, if you only have one fast food corporation to give $0 to for coffee in the next two weeks, make it McDonald’s.
Then stop going there. It’s way funnier if you steal their coffee for two weeks and reward them with patronage to better coffee shops.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Lawyer dismisses dying duck video (Is it totally weird to anyone else that Syncrude apologized for killing the ducks but is so vehemently fighting the charges? Oh, it’s about money…)
Stollery Hospital expansion underway (Look ma, no more tents!)
Sale of capital bonds doesn’t come close to $100M goal (Back to hoping for high oil prices.)
I can’t keep quiet about the city’s crackdown on noisy motorcycles (I have been waiting for this column from Scott McKeen.)
Climate ‘misinformation’ troubles builder (But does ‘pollution’ trouble him?)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Whitemud Park gets $3.6M for bathrooms, trailhead building
Speed babysitting finds match (Why doesn’t Edmonton just have a Babysitter’s Club?)
Edmonton investors given cash boost
from Metro Edmonton:
MacEwan kicks off 25-year-plan for new centre
Sample the best of downtown dining (Don’t mind if I do.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Lower speeds not enough, say residents (50 km/h, 40 km/h, 30 km/h…Or my proposal: 150 km/h, but we get steel walls around our houses to deflect the idiots that need to speed half-a-block to the stop sign.)
Alberta bankruptcies on the rise
EIA sidesteps trash talk with Calgary (It’s not like they are trying to keep people away from Calgary or anything…)
from CBC Edmonton:
Alberta promotion at games cost $14M (Thank goodness we’ve got money to throw around these days.)
from CTV Edmonton:
High-profile Edmonton professionals support Katz online (Oh no, the millionaires have figured out YouTube.)
Questions persist five years after RCMP murders (It was five years ago, today, that four mounties were shot near Mayerthorpe. You probably remember where you were.)
By the way, you should probably make yourself available for the evening of March 20.
March 2 Edmonton Headlines
Good morning, Edmonton. Hope things are just ducky for you.
Oh, that’s going somewhere.
First though, the New York Times is talking oilsands. I know some people in this province probably cringe when you put oilsands and New York Times in the same sentence. You’ll have to read to see if its good or bad.
Speaking of the oil patch, the Globe and Mail (Also a frightening paper to some, I’m sure.) has a story on whether we are seeing the beginnings of another labour boom that will leave us with sky-high prices.
But, back to being ducky.
The case of Syncrude and the oily ducks is finally in court. This is the story that really helped put Alberta on the map. The maps of multiple environmental and animal-rights groups.
Not an oil patch duck.
We first heard that 500 ducks died an oily death on a tailings pond, thanks to an anonymous tipster. Later, we found out it was more like 1,600. Syncrude faces some hefty fines if they are found guilty of not doing enough to protect wildlife in the area of their work.
There’s even an oilsands-duck quiz, courtesy of the Journal’s Graham Thomson. (I’ve given you a couple of answers in the previous paragraph.)
Oh, and this photo to the right is pretty much only for Global Edmonton staff. This is a duck. I know you might think it’s a tortoise or an armadillo, but it’s a duck. You guys can e-mail me anytime you run an animal story and aren’t quite sure.
Wait. Scratch that. It’s TV. They do a buttload of useless animal stories, especially involving water skis. Don’t e-mail me. Just buy some picture books for the newsroom.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Grant MacEwan University begins $20M expansion
Skip Cowtown, travellers urged (The Edmonton International Airport wants you to stop driving to Calgary for flights. Maybe, instead of creating fake picket lines, they should spend their time convincing Air Canada and West Jet to schedule flights here. The Herald’s Don Braid has something to say about this.)
Job-training cutbacks another blow to laid-off working poor (Also from the Herald, Support for job seekers, students hit as Alberta shifts spending priorities.)
Infected babies dying as syphilis rate soars
Councillors scrap proposed skateboard site
Tougher bylaws, heftier fines sought by police to muffle noisy bikers
Alberta film industry in crisis, union claims
His talent speaks volumes (Oh, it’s just another improv comedian profile and it…wait…he’s deaf?!)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Olympic heroes return (They come bearing gold.)
Heritage fest to host 64 countries
Lemurs replace mating flamingos (The lemurs aren’t new, but this does answer what happened to the sloths.)
from Metro Edmonton:
Local Chilean lends helping hand
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Housing sales soar in Edmonton (Quick, buy my condo.)
from CTV Edmonton:
The Oilers are back on the ice, so how about a couple of stories about their players?
They’ve dealt Denis Grebeshkov for a 2nd round pick, and injured goaltender Nioklai Khabilbulin is alleged to have been super-drunk while driving.
from The Gateway (U of A):
There’s more on the U of A student elections: Candidates, referenda make final arguments at Horowitz Forum
Unofficial opposition emerges against Yes side of Millennium Villages referendum (Should students be forced to pay a charity?)
Students to decide PAW centre, U-Pass
Israel Apartheid Week underway
March 20.
Golden Headlines
*contented sigh* Good morning, Edmonton. Did you sleep well?
Of course you did. Canada’s men’s hockey team won motherflippin’ gold.
No offense to the women’s team, or the curlers, or skiers, or any of our other amazing Olympic athletes, but most of the hopes and dreams were tied into the men’s hockey tournament. And Sidney’s stick ending it in overtime was about the only way it could have ended, isn’t it?
Also, since Canada won more gold medals THAN ANYONE EVER BEFORE at a Winter Olympics I say we owned that podium. To be honest, I didn’t even know that meant we were supposed to lead the medal count. I just took it to mean we had to do really well (we did) maybe have our best-ever games (we did) and show the world we’re not too shabby on the snow and ice. (Mission Accomplished.)
Oh, and speaking of golden (arches) you can get free coffee at McDonald’s for the next two weeks. These promotions are about the only time I frequent Mickey D’s.
from the Edmonton Journal:
How about we kick things off with a series of stories about public-private health care. Ok: Is Alberta ready for more private health care?
Demand draws medical brokerage to Alberta
And back to other stuff: Perhaps ducks didn’t die in vain (The Syncrude duck deaths, in court.)
Good morning class, welcome to Oilsands 101 (Satire is so good, when done well.)
New spaces relieve pressure on childcare at Edmonton Garrison
Officer’s record justifies firing — EPS
Electoral reform bill will overhaul antiquated, partisan system
How equalization harms Ontario, Alberta and B.C.
Accountants-in-training offer tax help to low-income filers
No. 1 fitness chain finally coming to town (We’ll soon have the good life. You’ll get it once you click on the story.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Digital signs seen as a distraction (Do they catch your eye, while driving?)
Union stumps for Alberta Hospital
Fugitive hunters can’t escape budget cuts (Soon, they’ll just contract it out to Dog.)
Edmonton nightclub shot up (Signs of spring: robins, club shootings.)
from Metro Edmonton:
Fans at Rexall Place revel in hockey epic
from 630CHED/iNews880:
EIA launches anti-Calgary campaign (Wouldn’t their beef actually be with carriers like Air Canada and West Jet, choosing to run flights out of Calgary?)
from CBC Edmonton:
Canadian Blood Services reaches out to ethnic donors
Albertan worries about parents in Chile (That country suffered one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Murders rob Alberta, Somali community of youth (This story’s got some depth on the many, many Somali-Canadian murders we’ve seen here in Edmonton, and Alberta.)
from Global Edmonton:
Zoo-lympics (First, very respectful of your animals, Valley Zoo. I mean, you’ve already got a date in court. Second, pretty sure that’s not a tortoise, Global.)
Bask in the golden glow, Edmonton. It will lose it’s shine once the Oilers take the sports pages back.
Let’s do it
Actually, there’s a lot of “it” we could do.
This is Hale Hale. They are good.
It will all depend on what we define as the it thing to do.
Wow, I’m getting confused.
Onto weekend fun!
The Wheat Pool is returning to the Pawnshop, as Sonic’s band of the month. That will make tonight special.
Also, a win by Team Canada would make tonight special. Where are you watching the game? I’ve got to get home and find something red to wear.
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Yes, of course, I’ve been checking ShareEdmonton for event ideas. Why wouldn’t I?
They’ve reminded me that Winefest Edmonton is this weekend.
And WinterLight continues (what a great weekend of weather we’ll have for getting outside) with The Big Winter. Sounds fun. And big.
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Now, back to my rambling selections.
Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.
Over at the Haven Social Club (A place which I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing.) Hale Hale is going to melt some faces with rock.
I will never get tired of mentioning the babysitter blues.
Go Canada!
Time for some Juggalo news
The other day we were talking about Edmonton’s new radio station, it’s umpteenth on your FM dial, and joked about Sally applying to the CRTC for all Juggalo-news radio.
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Hey, if we get to 50 radio stations do we all win free iPods? Because there’s no Nickelback on those!
Anyway…we’re trying to add some firepower to our potential on-air lineup.
Next time, the CRTC won’t so easily dismiss the idea of the Juggalo-nation having its own broadcasting power.
Oh, and if you aren’t quite sure who, or what, a juggalo is, you can catch up thanks to the wonders of the Internet. I’m pretty sure juggalos invented the Internet.
Headlines Aren’t That Scary
I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night, Edmonton.
I thought I would just drink coffee and do some sketching to stay awake...wait...what is that in the corner?
Gateway Editor-in-Chief (and damn fine trivia player) Mike Kendrick went and blogged about an Internet meme that will haunt my dreams. And probably some of my waking life.
He wrote about the Slender Man. Of course, my interest was piqued and I went and read what he had written about said Slender Man days before. Wow, big mistake.
It was a big mistake in the same way seeing The Blair Witch Project was. I let myself get into the story and it scared the crap out of me. I clearly didn’t learn my lesson, as I spent my evening catching up on the video entries in this story.
There’s some Internet history to all of this as Mike explains. The story I’ve been following is all shadows and atmosphere and shaky video with audio distortions. Scary though.
In all seriousness, what’s being done with the YouTube and Twitter accounts is a good story. It’s good because it’s genuinely creepy but it’s also a really good use of social media as a way to tell a story. It proves to me that narrative won’t disappear if paper books slip off our shelves and movie theatres go dark. We humans like telling stories and we’re going to find ways to do it.
But in this case, it’s turned my computer into a box of nightmares.
If you’re going to delve into the story of the Slender Man, I recommend you let Mike set it up, then use the “Marble Hornets” Twitter account as your guide, it adds to the story and gives you the links you need. Then you and I both will sleep with the lights on…waiting for the next entry…
Now, let’s hope some news headlines can remind me that there’s no such thing as the Slender Man.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Leibovici must tread carefully on arena issue (Interesting questions about perceived conflict of interest.)
Wheels in motion for skate park in downtown Edmonton
$3.6M makeover mulled for Edmonton park
Albertans who don’t vote should be fined, NDP says (Ah, good old negative reinforcement.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
City targets noise motorcycles (This must be music to Scott McKeen’s ears.)
Alberta wage growth slow (Except for MLAs. They boosted their own pay to sit well for a few years. This is a good time to remind you to read SEE’s story on Mill Woods Tory Carl Benito.)
City megachurches boast espresso shops, gyms (It’s almost enough to get me out of bed early on Sunday.)
from The Canadian Press:
Jim Dinning named new chairman of Canada West Foundation
from Metro Edmonton:
Doctor returns after treating Haitians with ‘great hearts’
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Edmonton Public School Board reviews 76 schools in Edmonton (So, is the EPSB just getting to the point where their only job is to close schools?)
LRT “nowhere man” lacked “a ticket to ride” (Two Beatles references in one headline? If Sally was here she’d ask that someone please tell Ed Mason he’s not writing for a classic oldies station. Oh, and I’m sure the woman pushed around by that “teenage tough guy” appreciates your musical knowledge.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Alberta gas well site still on fire (It’s been burning since the world’s been turning…oh, actually it just started the other day.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Edmonton’s Chinese community airs concerns to police chief
from Global Edmonton:
Forcing charity (Over at the U of A.)
There’s no such thing as the Slender Man…there’s no such thing as the Slender Man…
Tiny door update
A few days back I mentioned we had found a smaller-than-normal door at a parkade near the Winspear Centre.
Well…it turns out the place is full of these tiny portals, which I can only assume lead to some other world.
This one isn’t even on the ground. So that other world must have hover-technology we don’t.
I repeat my earlier comment, what is up with that door?
February 25 Headlines ya’ll
Woo…look at me…I’m a cool kid using a Mac.
Anyone else see these circular clouds last night. I blame UFOs.
Oh, I guess you can’t actually see me. Umm, I’m on a Mac this morning.
The biggest thing is the different keyboard. Don’t you hate how a different keyboard, or even a different set up from your usual typing position, totally throws everything off? So, when you try and write stuff you end up throwing in extra letters or leaving out others. Damn you, different keyboards!
I think if I had to use one of those gel, roll-out, keypads I’d never be able to write.
Shoot. Now all this talk of not being able to write properly via this keyboard has psyched me out. Now I’m typing even worse. I need to get out of my own head.
…Think about Team Canada…think about Team Canada…ahhh….sweet, sweet Team Canada…
Here are a couple of stories from the energy world, including how Syncrude is scrapping plans to upgrade that black gold here in Alberta, and how we are supposedly “hurting our golden goose.” As many, smart, people pointed out on Twitter and in the Edmonton Journal comments yesterday, the guy leading this study has more than a few connections to the good old oil industry.
Ooh, looks like Bell, Telus and Rogers can suck it.
I didn’t mean that, Telus. I love you, I love my BlackBerry. Don’t take this out on me.
And if you read just one story today (But of course you read all of these stories, every day, right?) read the one from SEE about Tory MLA Carl Benito’s “foundation.” More like The Human Fund.
from the Edmonton Journal:
City sues Gem Theatre owner (The plot thickens.)
Edmonton hospital part of pilot to reduce hospital wait times
Gov’t unimpressed with cities’ green proposals (What if they just say they’ll bury all the bad stuff underground, then can they have some money?)
Let’s act on driver distractions
City shortchanged on ridings report (Check it out from CTV, below.)
NAIT students fear fee hike (Heck, I fear fee hikes.)
Wildrose MLA pushes for spending bill
Principal’s sexual conduct betrayed sacred bond of trust
Koreans on roll to snap up more Alberta oil assets
from the Edmonton Sun:
Plea posted on Kijiji to find killer
Mill Woods Rapist stays behind bars
from the Edmonton Examiner:
Not your ordinary ball (Alright, let’s be mature and keep the “ball” jokes to a minimum in the comments.)
Clareview multiplex to house library, rec centre
from Metro Edmonton:
Officer ‘had no other option’ in shooting: Response Team
Ben Harper to headline Folk Fest fundraiser
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Councillor disappointed with Katz web message (Hey, vague generalities are what build cities, Henderson.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Massage parlour proposal dropped (Chalk up a win for the TonCat.)
Guilty plea in firebombing of Millwoods house
from CTV Edmonton:
Commission recommends four new provincial constituencies (Or you could move the boundary lines around a little and make a vote in Edmonton or Calgary count as much as one out in rural Alberta. Just sayin’.)
New study looks at cost of burying high-voltage transmission lines
Katz launches website promoting downtown arena project (I’m Daryl Katz and I love Edmonton. Now give me some candy. By candy I mean money.)
from Vue Weekly:
Municipal Development Plan: The Way We Grow Food
Government spin in the classroom (Students need to learn the facts. The facts of oil. And how amazingly awesome it is. Just ask that guy from the U of C.)
from SEE Magazine:
Whatever happened to the Benito foundation? (Maurice Tougas nails him! I bet Scott’s Tots know how the people of Edmonton-Mill Woods feel.)
The most delicate topic (Sex. It’s sex. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. There, now it doesn’t even seem like a creepy and gross word.)
from The Gateway (U of A):
It’s election time over at the University of Alberta. If you’re a student, here are your crib notes:
U of A deficit likely to increase due to provincial budget cuts
VPX candidates address provincial, national PSE issues
Board of Governors candidates seek to improve student access
Don’t pollute the system with votes
Samsonow out.
Buy! Sell! People!
What’s a tweet worth?
Well, sometimes it’s not much. But other times it could involve some valuable information.
Here's a shot of the screen used to demonstrate Empire Avenue.
And sometimes you’ve got a great Facebook profile or page, perhaps a sweet Flickr account, neat podcast, an amazing blog, and so on and so on in the social media world.
Now, Empire Avenue is trying to monetize your online value.
Hey, why not?
If the traditional media is suffering at all due to people turning to bloggers or other online sources of information, especially locally, then there has to be some value in what these online “influencers” are saying.
Certainly there are photographers who’ve landed jobs from Flickr postings, bloggers who have written for newspapers and magazines, as that online presence carries into traditional media realms. And if you notice a cute little dog to the upper right of these very words you can see there’s an advertising value in online media.
Empire Avenue wants to help you, yes you, squeeze some value out of your tweets, your Facebook, Flickr and YouTube accounts, your blog, by having other people investing in you, as if you were a stock on the open market.
Right now the people’s market is in beta, being tested by lucky nerds like me. Soon they’ll open things up to a larger audience. Then, they’ll open things up to the money.
Basically here’s what it could do, using this website as an example. (more…)
Edmonton Humpday Headlines
Let’s get this mid-week party started with some headlines. (Do I know how to party, or what?)
The University of Alberta is part of a study looking at causes of Crohn’s and Colitis, and why the bowel diseases are so prevalent here in Alberta. (Wow, this party is turning into a downer.)
I was, pleasantly, surprised to see Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette trending on Twitter last night, and not just in Canada. It was nice to see plenty of American and worldwide attention on her short-program skate. Lots of people will be cheering for her to win tomorrow night, just days after her mother died.
(Photo: Hognose.com)
In lighter news, two snakes were temporarily lost at the Calgary Zoo, and I was already preparing to hide. Though not venomous, I was worried they could eat or choke me. Turns out they’re more scared of you then you are of them. They are still giant snakes though.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Council congratulates itself on 10-year-plan, but Metis unhappy (And Councillor Don Iveson has some thoughts on the plan over at his blog.)
Historic Gem Theatre down before its time
Driver distraction caused teen’s death (Alberta is behind just about everyone on distracted-driver legislation.)
School bus crash leads to call for tighter monitoring of drivers (The Edmonton Catholic School District didn’t know how many seniors were driving for them.)
Bill aims to aid more firefighters with cancer
Alberta’s pioneer of reclamation retires
from the Edmonton Sun:
Biggest bucks by Ben (More on the councillors’ budgets here.)
Living free and clean (A drug court success story.)
University launches questionnaire for binge drinking students
No ‘rough stuff’ in police takedown of man who shot cop dog: Court
from The Canadian Press:
Edmonton Eskimos report an operating profit of $416,482 from 2009 season
from Metro Edmonton:
Hospital rewarded for care of soldiers
Mother charged in deaths of her two toddlers (This is the story everybody has.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Ludwig says well on fire near his home
Council 2009 expenses released (You can take a look for yourself here.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Alta. homicides worry Somali-Canadians
Former principal guilty of unprofessional conduct for sex with student (He’s also likely to have his teaching certificate canceled.)
from Global Edmonton:
St. Mark spared (The school does have to increase enrollment though.)
EAVB_OCASNCMJGK
Can(‘t)spell
Ouch.
I didn’t think, after last week’s near death of Gordon Lightfoot, that I’d get to use the #canwestfail hashtag on Twitter again. Then Pepe sends along this gem.
You have to spell things correctly when you’re talking about a spelling contest.
Otherwise, jerks like me will point it out.
Maybe Canwest can offer the winning spellers a job proofing their on-air text.
Oh, hi Mike Sobel.
