Live from Luzzara
Come on down to Luzzara and meet this blue fish. Yes, it's wearing a tiara.
You know, it’s been some time since we tried out the whole live on the Internet thing. You never know when we’ll actually need to use those “skills” for something important, so it’s time for some live Internetin’.
This morning I’m taking a page out of Sally’s book e-book and broadcasting live from a coffee shop while doing stuff. Lucky for me (and probably you) I’m at Luzzara, which is a great little shop on Whyte Avenue, with the always-bubbly, super coffee-knowledgeable Sarah Jackson. Luzzara’s a hub of east Whyte and you don’t know who will stop in…
Also, I’ll be putting together today’s Headlines while broadcasting, providing you with spectacular video of me typing and copying links. Yeah, I know what you like.
You should be able to watch the “show” at the top of this post in an embedded video player (try refreshing the page if it’s not there) or at our livestream.com page. Drop us a comment, tweet at us, or join the livestream chat and I’ll do my best to talk with you while this all goes down.
Not Lyve anymore
This is Edmonton's One Way State rocking Lyve on Whyte back in October.
The first indication I had that something was up at Lyve on Whyte was when The Joe (Joe Gurba) was talking about moving his album release. It was going to be at Lyve on Whyte in January. Now it’s at the Haven Social Club.
Then, last night I saw the sign outside of Lyve say it was “closed for business.” Yup, Lyve on Whyte is no more.
Today we hear the owners pulled the plug because they just weren’t packing in the people needed to keep things afloat. Has Jasper Avenue siphoned off too much of the drinking and partying business? (If you’re keeping score, that’s two of the larger bars in Old Strathcona to close in a week.)
I hope this doesn’t kill the live music vibe Whyte Avenue has quietly been building on since SOS Fest. Edmonton needs live music venues!
July 2010 - November 2010
Update: I totally forgot that Savoy closed at the start of the month too.
The results are in: web-based show in top 3
Edmonton — Monday, October 18 Edmontonians chose their new city council and school boards. Monday night they chose a new way to watch election results.
With only CTV and Shaw dedicating primetime television hours to Edmonton’s 2010 election, Edmontonians tuned into “the edmontonian celebrates democracy.” A production of theedmontonian.com, the web-based show featured a mix of election results and analysis with the insight and comedic talents of many of the city’s brightest online, and independent journalists.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the show,” said Jeff Samsonow, Editor-in-Chief of the edmontonian.
“The show had been planned for months, but we had no idea Global, CBC, CityTV, and Access would stick with their regular programming on the city’s biggest local news night.”
“We are proud to have been there on election night. Without any dancing celebrities,” Samsonow continued, in an obvious reference to CTV’s one-hour show which made way for the popular “Dancing with the Stars.”
In the 8-9pm hour “the edmontonian celebrates democracy” was the city’s third highest-rated election show. 9-10 it was the second most popular, as CTV went back to regular programming.
“This was a big day for Edmonton,” said show producer Sally Poulsen. “This election showed Edmonton was ready to keep building LRT, redevelop the City Centre Airport, and become a city that can embrace its urban, creative side.”
“Since 100 Edmontonians chose our show over Hollywood programming we have another reason to celebrate October 18, “Poulsen continued.
Those behind “the edmontonian celebrates democracy” also thanked the City of Edmonton for providing polling data as it became available. ShareEdmonton.ca put the data into easy-to-understand results and was the key to ongoing updates during the show.
“Because the results were available to all, people don’t just need us to tell them who’s winning. Anyone can read you stats all night. We wanted to provide election and political information with large doses of humour,” said the Editor-in-Chief.
The good vibes have the crew behind the online show in a great mood the day after but Samsonow is left wondering what it will lead to.
“Do you think we can borrow one of those local television frequencies if Edmonton stations aren’t using them for Edmonton programming?”
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For more information:
Jeff Samsonow
Editor-in-Chief
the edmontonian
Fakey McFakerson
Fake Press Releases
fake@fakepressreleases.com
Time to celebrate democracy
The 2010 Edmonton municipal and school board elections are upon us. In mere hours we shall have a new city council, public school board, and Catholic school board. And it’s all thanks to you.
Well, it’s thanks to you if you vote. Which you better do.
Once the polls close, tonight at 8pm, we should all put our feet up, grab a drink, and toast this amazing, democratic process. Whether your candidates win or lose, it’s a great day to be able to safely walk into a polling station and select a group of people you want to run your city. And great days deserve celebrations.
So, at 8pm, as the votes are being tallied, we ask that you join us here at our website as the edmontonian celebrates democracy.
We’ll be joined by many friends, including Saturday Night with Samsonow band leader Pepe Duenas, Unknown Studio ruffian Adam Rozenhart, CJSR’s Makin Whoopee co-host Colin MacIntyre, Mostly Water Theatre’s Trent Wilkie, blog contributors Gregg Beever, Paul Poulsen and Deja Sprinfield, Edmonton’s Twitter King, Mack D. Male, plus *Hollywood celebrities, and local candidates. And we’ll be fueled by delicious Eva Sweet Waffles, with a great soundtrack of Edmonton bands.
We’ll talk election, politics, Spaceports, voting, whatever’s on Pepe’s mind, and we will be updating live results as they come in, and roaming around campaign parties and headquarters.
We’re also pleased to report we’ll be one of only 3 live “TV” shows you can watch Monday night. (The quotation marks are for our web-based show, as CTV and Shaw are actual television stations.) We guarantee, however, to be funnier than the other 2. …and we’ll probably be the only ones broadcasting to your computer, so you can still PVR all your favourite Monday shows.
See you at 8pm!
*Hollywood celebrities may not be as advertised
Election events
Alright, so the election itself isn’t until Monday, and you’ve got no excuse not to vote so I’m hammering on the election.
Advance polls are open at City Hall today and tomorrow. You can also vote at polling stations in your actual ward Saturday. Find out where.
To celebrate all of this democracy you can Rock the Vote, Sunday, at the Pawn Shop. Sunday night’s lineup of local talent should show that Edmonton’s younger voters can get energized.
The Taboo Sex Show…naughty but nice…is back at Northlands. If you’re going, stop by The Traveling Tickle Trunk booth and say “Hi” to that great crew.
LitFest is here! That’s Edmonton’s non-fiction festival.
Saturday is the second annual Timeraiser. That’s where you bid on auction items with your volunteer hours.
If you like beer, and your kidneys, you should check out Sha-Bam, which is an event of beer, arts, and The Kidney Foundation of Canada – Northern Alberta chapter.
Wunderbar’s got a couple of good shows this weekend. Tonight it’s Warning to Avoid and The Mystery Ponies. Tomorrow night it’s The Party Martyrs. All good times.
If you’re in the mood for something bluesier, try Bombchan at The Common. That’s not to be confused with The Edmonton Commons. The Journal really hates it when you try to play shows in their lobby.
October is the scariest of months…as detailed in Gregg’s latest movie previews…But it also means Scarecrow Festivals, Howl-O-Wiener Roasts and the Boo at the Zoo. And it’s not even Hallowe’en weekend yet.
There’s also an Olde Time Fair at Churchill Square and Handmade Mafia at the Orange Hall.
And, since I really want to annoy you with talk of the election (Monday, October 18, vote, vote, vote) we’ll be doing a live show once the polls close.
So, at 8pm, curl up with your laptop, throw the Macbook on the bar for all to see, and let us entertain you for an hour or so, with one of Edmonton’s few live election night shows. More details to come…I’m just lazy…
An election alliance
It has come to our attention that Edmonton television stations Global, CBC, CityTV, and ACCESS will not be providing a live election show, Monday, October 18.
They may have screen-crawls and the odd update in a commercial break.
So, since we here at the edmontonian plan to be live on the web when polls close at 8pm, we saw two choices.
We could make fun of Global, CBC, and the gang of local broadcasters for not doing a show on what is about the biggest night of Edmonton news, for the next three years. Or we could offer our services to what is clearly a collection of cash-strapped television stations.
In this age of collaboration, where traditional news providers are struggling to make their way in the digital world, we extend our hand to Edmonton’s beleaguered news broadcasters.
We’ll be live, at 8pm, Monday night. We’ll have live election results, analysis, reports from the field, and Pepe. And since some local TV stations can’t find a way to bring news of the election to the people, as it’s happening, we’re offering our program, “the edmontonian celebrates democracy,” to them.
If you know anyone at Global, CBC, CityTV, or ACCESS let them know they can broadcast our show through their airwaves. It might just save local TV.
p.s. I’m really quite serious. If you’re at Global, CBC, CityTV, or ACCESS, and have been losing sleep because you just couldn’t think of a way to put together a live election night show, e-mail me and we’ll see if we can partner up.
Saturday Night with Samsonow: Sept. 25
It’s Saturday night, and we know what you want, Edmonton.
Feel free to make yourself a delicious Samsonowich and enjoy the show.
You want a live talk show, broadcast over the Internet, from the comfort of my living room.
At 9pm, if you click that video above, you are going to get exactly what you want. You’re welcome.
Tonight’s guest is Sarah Hoffman, Ward G Edmonton Public School Board trustee candidate. And we’ve got a special report on the Dawson Bridge from Adam Rozenhart. Plus, Pepe is here.
Saturday Night with Samsonow
Because we never give ourselves enough work to do we’re attempting a live talk show.
Tonight. 9pm.
Come right back here. You might have to refresh this page (or the main page if that’s what you’re on) to get the live stream to kick in.
Tonight’s guest is local social media darling Adam Rozenhart. Plus, we’ve got Pepe Duenes as our band. We’ll also be crank-calling an actual local media celebritity. And eating the long-rumoured Samsonowich.
See you then!
(Although, we won’t be able to see you.)
If the website is hiccuping at all, you can try watching at our livestream.com account too.
#Yeg Swap is on the air
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(Media box above should be streaming you all the #Yeg Swap fun. If not, try refreshing your browser.)
It’s too bad you haven’t made your way down to The ARTery for #Yeg Swap yet. We’re going until about 11 tonight.
We’ve got lots of swapping going on.
Not that kind of swapping.
And as you should be able to see above (it might just need a refresh of your browser) we’re showing you what you’re missing.
It’s also a chance for us to test live streaming. Because we never know when we might need it.
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#Yeg Swap
@ The ARTery (9535 Jasper Avenue)
7 – 11 pm
Bring your swappable items. Books, CDs, shoes, bomber jackets, Simon and Garfunkel albums, snowboards, whatever.
Music by Lyra Brown, The Mystery Ponies and The Joe.
