A Look Back: Contributors (jeff)
Where would the edmontonian be without our many contributors, collaborators, and commenters? It wouldn’t be the edmontonian.
Sally and I never set out to make the edmontonian our blog. Sure, we had our names all over it editing submissions and authoring a majority of items, but the edmontonian was always supposed to be a community blog. Jeff and Sally could always go get their own damn vlog.
Whether it was a conversation about A Taste of Edmonton and deep-fried foods that spawned its own video, photos that made up many of our quirky looks at the city, writers that posted items here when they certainly had plenty of other good stuff going on, or collaborating with Edmonton’s online content generatOne year of thanksors, it was joining forces and cross-posting that took the edmontonian from a blog belonging to two people to a true community news source.
Some contributors wrote one post, others became synonymous with the site. Some of our same website contributors made appearances on our ShawTV show, but new friends helped on that too. And we always had a steady crew of commenters (and we consider them part of the overall Edmonton conversation).
Together, that group of people is what made the edmontonian such a good time.
(Photos are deep frying and democracy. Two things we take very seriously.)
A Look Back: #yegmusic (sally)
For the last two years, we’ve done our best to be supporters of local music.
Let’s be honest, this was partially because for part of the run of the edmontonian, I was in a band myself, and consequently knew a lot of local musicians that I thought deserved some attention. But while these stories were all around me, we didn’t cover local music because it was convenient.
We did it because when my band began playing live, I was absolutely shocked at the calibre of artists we were meeting and playing alongside. Prior to that, I had often wondered how to really follow the local music scene, and was so surprised and so psyched about what I found within it, I wanted to share some of my discoveries with you guys (FYI, if you want a primer, check out Samsonow’s painstaking list of all the music we used in the edmontonian presents. And full disclosure, we don’t make any money off the iTunes playlist).
We’ve been really thrilled to be able to feature all kinds of artists in all kinds of ways, given that there aren’t a lot of places you can go to find a regular aggregator of Edmonton music. Or, at least, there weren’t when we started. Now, we’re happy to hand the Edmonton music torch over to those young Whippersnappers at VoidTV, who are doing more than just writing about bands – they’re actually shooting interviews and performances that can be found on their website (and watch for their big launch party at Wunderbar on October 1). The fine folks at GigCity also do a lot of music coverage, and you can find local events aggregated over at yeglive.ca. And there is, of course, CJSR, including our handsome and charming pals Chad and Colin over at Makin’ Whoopee. So, I guess I’m saying, there’s plenty going on, and we’re obsolete – so let the kids take over!
Jokes about my old age aside, Jeff and I are terrifically proud of any platform we were able to give local artists, labels or performers – especially given how generous those folks have always been with their time, music and attention. Being in a band looks cool, but it’s often a thankless, pricey, difficult task that makes you wonder why the hell you’re stupid enough to be putting all this time, money and energy into it in the first place. It is for that reason that I want to say explicitly: while it may sound fancy-pants for us to say that we featured more artists on our website, in our livecasts, and during the 6 episode run of our show on ShawTV than we can count, what is TRULY remarkable is that all those folks trusted us enough to let us use their music without asking for anything in return.
Seriously, guys, what an honour.
I dare you to find a local news blog with a better soundtrack.
The video above is one I shot of our friends Brazilian Money, who were gracious enough to let us use their song Ghetto Lung as our theme for the edmontonian presents. I highly recommend downloading their newest, highly excellent release.
A look back: Southgate Mall Re-opening (sally)
(As we wind down our days at the edmontonian, we’ll be looking back at some of our favorite posts, stories, items, etc from the last 2+ years. Feel free to submit your own.)
I particularly enjoyed 2009′s Southgate Mall rebrand, because it was a triumph of the internet!
We could all get together online and make smart ass-y jokes about the big glittery August 5th signs, and then “cover” the event by getting our mall opening bureau chief (read=our friend) @egranado -who is no longer at that twitter handle, BTW – to tweet us pictures from inside the launch.
INTERNET NEWS FTW!
A Look Back: Commerce Place (sally)
(As we wind down our days at the edmontonian, We’ll be looking back at some of our favorite posts, stories, items, etc from the last 2+ years).
One of my favorite series of posts was Doorwatch ’09 – a string of posts about the broken door at downtown shopping centre Commerce Place.
Out of order for a year or better by the time I wrote about it, the posts about the Commerce Place door rank among my favorites for a few reasons: first, they gave me a means to vent my unholy fury about how much I hated the fact that no one cared enough to fix the door.
Second, I was fortunate enough to be able to find a lot of other people who had just as much of a deathwish for that door as I did. It’s a powerful thing to experience, a whole group of people saying “You are not taking crazy pills, and we feel your pain” – even if your pain is as inane as the mild inconvenience of having to walk a half-block out of your way to get to work.
When I learned that other people found Commerce Place to be just as hilariously frustrating as I did, I realized something that I hadn’t during my days working in “real news” – that stories don’t have to be big or dramatic or tragic to matter. I think it’s easy to forget, in a world with so much tabloid journalism, celebrity culture and the pervasive attitude that “if it bleeds, it leads!” – but what you do, what you experience, and who you are matters . Your story is important – even if isn’t dramatic, or glamourous or likely to be made into a W Network movie of the week (p.s. watch for Barbara Hershey in “SALLY’S DOOR: A WOMAN’S JOURNEY OUT OF COMMERCE PLACE” next fall).
There are no small stories. Thanks for teaching me that.
404 Blogger not found
Bad news, gang. Jeff is out of commission today! We spent an evening in the ER (don’t worry, he’ll be keeping all his digits. And even I lobbied hard for him to be given a few extras, to increase his BLOGGING POWER)!
He’s a-ok, but needs a day off from filling up your INTERNETS with BLOGS. You’ll find him back at the same bat time, on the same bat channel, on Wednesday morning. And in the meantime, feel free to head to the comments and guess what ailment landed him in the ER. (My hope is that we can spawn an urban legend of a man who gained superhuman strength after being bitten by a radioactive otter).
Let’s not say goodbye – let’s say…no, wait, let’s say goodbye.
Many of us know and love Whyte Avenue’s Luzzara Coffee Bar. Not only is the shop, operated by our friend Sarah Jackson, home of some of the best coffee in the City – it is also a hub for folks in the area to mix and mingle. As anyone who has been to Luzzara knows, it’s basically impossible to get a coffee there without meeting someone new.
So obviously, it was really a buzzkill when Sarah announced earlier this month that she would be closing up shop. The role both she and Luzzara have played in revitalizing East Whyte Avenue is not to be understated. Certainly, Sarah is on to bigger and better things – but until then, we want to commemorate the role of this beloved coffee shop in our community. So we’re going to do a one hour live webcast from Luzzara on its last day of operation (on our Livestream Channel, from noon-1 pm).
Here’s where we need your assistance. We’ll happily provide the livecast – but we’d like you to take a second and contribute a little something. Do you know Sarah? Did you frequent Luzzara? Will you miss it being gone? Did you always plan to go there but never get the chance? Take a second, flip on your webcam and record a message (you can send large files through YouSendIt.com) – or send a drawing, a letter, an animated gif – perhaps compose an original song, etch a piece of glass, perform a monologue, create a scrapbook or carve something from sandstone. Basically, just help us fill an hour of time, and help us thank Sarah for providing us with so much excellent coffee and conversation.
We expect this finale to rival all the greats – Lost, Cheers, So You Think You Can Dance Canada 2010 – and we can’t do it without you. Send your submissions to submit@theedmontonian.com, or come down to Luzzara at noon this Sunday to be on our show.
Give money, see dentists fall from sky?
Have you ever considered jumping out of a plane? There are plenty of reasons to do it – but here’s one of the better ones I’ve heard:
Jump or pledge..and help kids with facial differences take their leap of faith at Camp Trailblazers, a camp that provides them with life-changing experiences. The fourth annual Leap of Faith for AboutFace takes place on July 9th 2011 across Canada. Individuals, teams and corporate teams skydive and compete for fundraising dollars to bring awareness and money in support of sending kids ages 10 to 17 with facial differences to Camp Trailblazers.
The Edmonton edition of the big jump takes place tomorrow at Skydivers R Us, and it’s being heartily supported by Dental Choice, an Alberta-based group of dental professionals- a dentists’ justice league*, if you will (*totally not a dentists’ justice league).
If you’d like to donate to the the Dental Choice team, you can do so here; and if you’d just like to experience the terror live, via social media – I’m told by Dental Choice’s Media Coordinator Angela Wong that the Dental Choice folks will be updating their Facebook status throughout the day.
Local man becomes puppet, jams with aliens
Through the miracle of social networking today, we have uncovered a treasure trove of videos by Edmonton filmmaker Simon Glassman, amongst which is the above puppet video for Doug Hoyer’s killer track “Lakes of Mars” (which Doug also very generously allowed us to use for our own diabolical YouTube purposes).
Simon’s website features a lot of great content – videos he and his crew have done for a bunch of great Edmonton bands – including the above puppet masterpiece from Doug Hoyer and another one of our favorite local bands Cygnets and “Felt Up,” a series of videos that re-enact the most awkward or embarrassing moments of interviewees with puppets.
PUPPETS.
What I’m saying, friends, is go to simonglassman.com and kiss your productivity goodbye for the day. Also, don’t miss Doug Hoyer and The Joe (along with Mikey Maybe) as they kick off their big Canadian tour this weekend at Wunderbar. (via The Joe)
Colour My World
When I was like 18, my brother and I were roommates. One of the many dumb things we did, besides refer to Bruce Willis as “Spruchay Spillis” for an entire year and take photographs to document how disgustingly dirty our apartment became, was engage in a battle of outgoing voicemail message oneupmanship.
“Paul can’t come to the phone right now because he’s painting his toenails.”
“Sally can’t come to the phone right now because she’s getting a pelvic exam”
“Paul can’t come to the phone right now because he’s learning to read.”
Anyway, for some reason, the one that really sticks in my brain is the time he changed the voicemail to say that I couldn’t answer the phone because I was colouring. Because I thought to myself, is there some SHAME in colouring? It’s like drawing, but with less responsibility. Also, more colour. It is one of the few times as an adult I can use wax crayons to express myself and not be thought of as on the verge of some kind of episode. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING A COLOURING ENTHUSIAST.
Anyway, it seems the team at Edmonton Public Libraries would back me up on this. They’re offering free .pdf downloads of colouring pages created by Edmonton illustrator Crystal Driedger (who has plenty of colouring freebies on her own site as well). They are super cute, super plentiful and they are excellent for both children, and regressing adults. Enjoy!
Twin Library Gets Their Dues (ugh, sorry)
Hey kids, part five of our ShawTV series ran last night – the episode was “edmontonia.” True story, the best part about doing the show, is that despite the super long hours and the super non existent pay, we get to meet all kinds of very cool people and learn about all kinds of remarkable, well, edmontonia.
But! While it’s all well and good to be indie TV producers, one of the down sides to working all guerilla style on the edmontonian presents is that we make mistakes. Case in point, the good folks at Twin Library graciously lent us their song “Shaking Hands” for last night’s episode – and I totally forgot to credit them for it in the broadcast version of the show. :( x 1000.
This may seem like a relatively small deal (in fact, that was what Twin Library said – they were incredibly understanding about it when we emailed them to say we’d caught the mistake and it couldn’t be changed for broadcast) – but we take the fact that anybody shares their work with us very seriously. We consider it a tremendous privilege to be entrusted with so much stuff, from music to stories to contributions – so we feel like pretty giant wangbots when it gets screwed up.
So I would just like to take a moment this morning to tell you guys that Twin Library is a very classy musical organization (that’s what bands like to called, right?), and I would like to thank them for a) their song and b) their incredible graciousness over my robbing them of the celebrity of a public access TV credit. Enjoy their excellent work below.
P.S. One more thing – we’ve had a lot of compliments about the music featured in the show. While Jeff and I would love to act like giant hipsters who are on the cutting edge of all things local, the truth is we discovered the majority of the bands by searching artists tagged “edmonton” on bandcamp. If you have any interest in local music, it’s an excellent place to start.
DIYalogue
This past weekend, we were invited to be on a panel of Speed Mentors (FYI, also the name of my new deep house project) at Edmonton Next Gen’s super cool DIYalogue. Obviously a wildly flattering invite, both Jeff and I showed up to the party cleaned and fully clothed, lest someone figure out that we’re really in no position to advise anyone of anything. But it was an honour to be at an event that featured local movers and shakers like The Royal Bison, The ARTery, Solidaritees, dEdmonton, Parlour Magazine, City and Dale, Fridget Apparel and SOS Fest.
As part of our “mentoring,” we figured we’d better make a list of the upwards of four things we’ve learned from working on the edmontonian. That evolved into a handout, which we brought to share with anyone interested – and just in case you happen to be a blogger, content generator, or other interested party, we figured we’d post it here too.
Click below to download.
Click to download our "Tips for Content Generators" handout
Huck It. Chuck It. FOOTBALL!
Surely, the one thing that unites us as a species (besides our thumbs), is the desire to document that we were here! We were in the world! Remember us when we’re gone! AVENGE ME!
Anyway, people do this in any number of ways - growing long, gross curly fingernails; making cheeseburgers so big, they need to be flipped with snow shovels. And now, some members of Edmonton’s Flag Football Association aspire to do it with the longest running flag football game in history. EVER.
The event, happening the Canada Day long weekend, was dreamed up by flag footballers, Kail Schofield, Michael Dugan and Michael MacFynn.
“It came up over coffee one day, between me and Dugan,” says Kail. “We had seen that the world’s longest hockey game was going on. We thought to ourselves, what would be a good way to promote our sport?’
Organizer Kail Schofield, who insisted we use this picture
The obvious answer: by playing it for two days straight! (more…)
Headlines Will be Delayed Today
Jeff is busy making TV for us this morning, and I never learned to read, so headlines will be delayed until this afternoon.
We applaud your patience.
In the meantime, if you’ve seen any stories you’d like to discuss, or that you feel Jeff should include in his headlines, feel free to mention them in the comments of this post.
EIFF Screening Room Series Starts this Thursday
As you may know, the summer season is often referred to in the movie biz as “blockbuster season.”
But what IS blockbuster season? Why, it’s a very special time of year when people pay $38 dollars for a bucket of popcorn and a delicious beverage, and have the choice of watching either Shia LeBeouf fighting robot cars, or Vin Diesel driving robot cars*.
But this summer, you’re going to have a few new options at the box office, thanks to the crew at the Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF). Their Screening Room series will be held the third Thursday of the month – in May, June and July - and features some pretty exclusive content. (more…)
Sabzy Persian Grill
You could be eating this right now.
A few months ago, Jeff and I were having lunch at Sabzy Persian Grill (also known by many as Sabzy Cafe) on Whyte Ave., and struck up a conversation with Ahmad Sabetghadam, who owns and runs the restaurant with his family.
Ahmad is a ridiculously interesting person who totally digs talking about food and has a rather unconventional story for a restauranteur – he’s an academic (a professor at the University of Alberta, to be exact) with a background in agriculture – but when he talks about Sazby’s menu and their emphasis on food as preventative medicine, it all starts to make sense.
the edmontonian presents “firsts”
For those of you who missed it last night, here’s our first episode. Watch for 2 continuity errors in 2 different segments, e-mail us or post a comment when you see them – first person to point them out wins (more…)
Who’s the Dude with the Antlers?
Why, funny you should ask. That’s Old Ugly Recording Co.’s Tyler Butler, who is releasing his new CD, “Winter King,” at Wunderbar tonight, along with Saskatoon’s Zachary Lucky, our old friend Caity Fisher, and DoT.
I have been listening to Monsieur Butler’s new record on Bandcamp all morning and it’s pretty sweet. This is a deeply newsworthy fact, because no big deal, but I’m basically a music-listening genius, FYI. Listen for yourself below.
Anyway, show starts tonight at 8:30. Because those Old Ugly kids are nothing if not respectful of the fact that we’ve all gotta be somewhere in the morning.
New jamz: Champion Song by Cousin
Download Cousin's "Champion Song" for free at his Bandcamp site
Listen, I’m gonna spare you guys me going on at length about WINTER or SNOW or this weather basically amounting to EMOTIONAL LARCENY – because I’m pretty sure we’re all adults here, having at least a passing familiarity with the seasons. We can all see how gross it is that we’re under 3 inches of snow in the middle of April.
Instead, I am going to pretend all is well, and do what I do best, which is give things away, for free, that don’t belong to me. The above track, from local rappity-hopper Cousin, was passed on to me by our buddy – and, somewhat confusingly, Cousin’s cousin - Omar A.O.K. Mouallem (who can also be seen in the video, rocking the boom box and sporting a snappy bowtie). The song is available for free download – just click on the album art to get your copy.
I very much dig Champion Song. It’s a catchy, inspiring tune, made even more so by the video – which paints a picture of a time with sun and sky and visible pavement, long before we were trapped inside the winter of our discontent. It makes Edmonton look PRETTY SWEET, kind of like getting a professional glamour shot of the whole City.
Thanks for the pick-us-up, Cousin!
Rapid Fire Sally
FYI, I recently celebrated a landmark birthday. Yes, that’s right – a few weeks back, I officially crossed the threshold into adulthood! I’m now 79 years old!
Basically an exact representation of what my birthday looked like
Obviously, I celebrated in a bunch of ways, including, but not limited to: enjoying some fuzzy Werther’s Originals from the pocket of my winter coat, yelling at neighbourhood kids to get off my lawn, and going to McDonald’s with Derjis, strictly for coffee, where we discussed our shared skepticism about the internet and young people today and the future. All in all, it was a good day.
But what was even more remarkable about this birthday was the year leading up to it. I made it my mission in those 12 months to take on pretty much everything that I’d ever wanted to do but been too afraid to try – and leading up that parade was taking an improv class.
Now, since we’re all such good friends, I’m going to give you kids the straight bull. No, I’m not going to jive you turkeys. While I talk all big when there are a million miles of internet tubes between us, in reality, I am a complete coward, suffering paralyzing anxiety over most normal everyday, social interactions. Normal human beings in normal human being places – banks, restaurants, buses - scare the living hell out of me – so you can imagine my reaction to human beings in an audience, staring glassy-eyed at me, because I am not funny.
So no messing around; I went to the pros. (more…)
It’s not “local”, but…
…in a world where we’re all connected by the interwebs, it’s hard not to see a situation like the disaster in Japan and feel like it’s happening right around the corner. And, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably going to spend the entire day neurotically monitoring news coverage and everything coming out on Twitter, and feeling a lousy combination of terror, sympathy, survivor guilt and powerlessness because you wish you could help – but right now, there’s not much that can be done besides watch.
Days like this make me want to hire an edmontonian guidance counselor, just in case you guys need to talk about anything. :(
However! This sort of shock and awe will do little besides drive us all crazy, so if you’re as overwhelmed as I, you may want to consider (though, no pressure here, kids) donating to the Red Cross’ Japan Earthquake Fund. And it doesn’t have to be like a floppity-jillion dollars. While I know it can feel insignificant sending them $5, the reality is, were I in any kind of peril, the idea that a complete stranger on the other side of the world wanted to send me anything at all would be pretty staggering.
And I’d like to think that if we’ve learned anything here at the website, it’s that most of us just want to know that somebody sees us, somebody cares, and that we’re all in this crazy world together. So, no matter how small a gesture you may think you’re making, it really counts. I swear.
Old Ugly 2011 Concert Series
*Ahem*: From the desk of Old Ugly:
OLD UGLY, Leva Cappucino Bar, and CJSR 88.5 FM bring you
THE OLD UGLY 2011 CONCERT SERIES!!!!
Every Thursday at 8pm you can catch a different OLD UGLY artist tearing up Leva Cafe.
No Cover! All Ages! Every single Thursday! My fellow citizens, what we have here is a veritable cornucopia of local talent.
3/10 Tyler Butler & Jom Comyn
3/17 Mikey Maybe & Racoon Suit
3/24 Layne L’Heureux
3/31 Doug Hoyer
4/07 Caity Fisher
4/15 DoT & Liam Trimble
4/21 Rene Sugarglider Wilson
4/28 Travis Bretzer
5/05 Diehatzu Hijets
5/12 The Joe
So, folks, if you would like to get out on the town this evening and make the most of these springtime temperatures, head to Leva (I recommend the Margherita Pizza) to catch the latest installment of the Old Ugly concert series, featuring Jom Comyn and Tyler Butler.
If We Can Dream It, They Can Build It
Attention Hive Mind: the City needs our help. From their website:
The City of Edmonton is looking to rejuvenate one of the City’s premier sports facilities to provide a fresh new look and feel to Kinsmen Sports Centre and continue meeting Edmontonian’s recreational needs for years to come.
The City of Edmonton is looking for input from the public as we put together a plan to enhance a facility that has served Edmontonians well since it was built in 1968. Over the years, Kinsmen Sports Centre has undergone renovations and upgrades in order to continue providing for Edmontonians sports and leisure needs.
As we head into the future, the City of Edmonton is looking to define the role of the Kinsmen Sports Centre and in order to ensure we’re meeting Edmontonians needs, we want to hear from you.
Through a public survey, information will be gathered and used to craft the Kinsmen Sports Centre Master Plan. This plan, built on your input, will guide the City as it makes decisions about the future of the recreation centre.
The public can fill out the online survey or attend a public open house.
The City also gives us a few jumping off points:
- How the Kinsmen Sports Centre is used today – who uses it, and what are their sporting activities?
- What are the strengths of the facility, and
- Are there any sporting needs that cannot be met at present?
- How does the Kinsmen Sports Centre compare with the best facilities in other cities?
- How does the Kinsmen Sports Centre fit within the whole spectrum of sport and recreation facilities in Edmonton, and
- What is the best use of the facility in the years to come?
Obviously I will be filling out this survey, because having now had a pass to the Kinsmen for almost 4 days, and having been there once to look around, I’m what people in the industry (what industry?) typically call an EXPERT.
Anyway, here’s my to do list for the Kinsmen, based on things I oversaw on my recent first visit to the facility:
1) An 87% increase in the number of Senior Citizens doing step aerobics to Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s “Push It.”
2) An 87% decrease in the number of people eyeing me suspiciously for sitting in the spectator area and eating poopcorn while watching an aquasize class.
3) Construction of a new wing featuring a monster bouncy castle so I can train for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team, playing whatever the hell this is:
That’s really about it for my list. If you guys have any suggestions, leave them in the comments!
One Way State Giveaway
Do you guys remember One Way State? We met them last May; since then, they’ve put out a new record and are about to embark on their second tour – it kicks off this Thursday at Brixx.
“This is our second tour since we’ve been a band,” says lead singer Cody Mack. “After our first tour in November 2010, we were already itching to get back on the road.”
“We seriously can’t wait to hit the road again. We’d love to do this full-time, but day jobs get in the way. Nick is a supervisor in a warehouse, Charley works in television, I’m a server, and Brandon is a mechanic, which comes in handy on the road. All of us would quit everything for a chance to make a living playing music.”
Cody explains that their first tour was paid for by money from past shows and ticket and merchandise sales – and they’re hoping to do the same this time around.
Anyway, despite the fact that, as Cody explains, “Each t-shirt sold is 1/4 tank of gas, so touring bands like ours REALLY appreciate it when you buy their merch,” One Way State is giving away a t-shirt AND a pair of tickets to their tour-opening show this Thursday. To get into a draw for the t-shirt and tickets you just have to leave a comment naming a One Way State song.
“Edmonton has been very kind to us…we know that Edmontonians love live music and love supporting homegrown talent. We’ve been very fortunate to have the family, friends, and fans that we do. They’ve all been very supportive, and we are in deep appreciation if this.”
Wunderbar
(Editor’s note: We love Wunderbar. Just thought you should know that.)
A lot of things are different at Wunderbar lately; a snazzy new website, slick new bench seating, a tasty new limited-run whiskey lager from our friends at Ambers Brewing. But the big change at the Whyte Ave. drinking hole, the one at the root of Wunderbar’s current popularity, are owners Levi Christensen, Chris Janke, and Craig Martell.
The three guys worked at another popular Edmonton bar for years before deciding to venture out on their own.
“We were like ‘We have an idea,’” explains Craig. “And everybody wants to open a bar, but not everyone has an idea.”
The idea in question? To create a bar that was community-based and thoroughly accessible to all.
“When people come here,” says Craig “[We’re] making them feel comfortable – making someone who doesn’t drink feel comfortable. You can come here and not have a beer and we’re okay with that. There’s not many bars in town where someone who doesn’t drink feels comfortable.” (more…)
