Edmonton Events
Boring headline aside, this weekend has the potential to blow your mind.
Sometimes all you need is a good beer, a place to be, and a phone. The phone is in case you need to find a better party.
East meets West is this weekend, which is where you get the best of Edmonton’s Chinatown and Little Italy. And this year kicks off with Karibuni Afrikafest (happening now!). Three days, three cultures, three times the fun.
Good thing I check ShareEdmonton for events. I’d have never heard about the Outdoor Nite Market otherwise. That’s tonight (Friday), on 107 Avenue, and it’s got a little of everything. The best item it has is a reason for people to be out on the street at night, which encourages good things.
This weekend, Hawrelak Park has the first-ever Open Sky Music Festival. It’s all about surf rock, island rock and reggae. The weather may not say summer, but that music sure does. (If the festival’s website isn’t working for you, there are details at ShareEdmonton’s event page.)
Telus Field will be hosting a music event Saturday too. Rock The River hits our city.
Saturday night I’ll likely be checking out Bohemia for the first time. N.N., Touch it and you will say ow, and The Mystery Ponies are playing.
Eamon McGrath is at New City. That’s Saturday too.
Lady Gaga is still here. If she’s still in Edmonton this weekend I’m going to start getting worried we won’t be able to get rid of her. And I’m going to borrow her wardrobe.
Since it looks like we might have already tapped out the good weather you can always head inside to see a movie.
FC Edmonton gets its final kicks at its warm-up season Saturday. The team is hosting Miami FC. I wonder if they’re playing for the right to have FC in their name? There can be only one!
The Eskimos are home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Shouldn’t we be going to the games this season, so as to not appear as bandwagon jumpers if they get good again?
Over at the River Cree Casino there’s also the All-In for Diabetes Poker Tournament. Buy-in is $250 and you can claim $100 for knocking out bounties, such as CTV’s Daryl McIntyre. If you bring a bag of clothing as a donation you can get extra chips too.
Take yourself out to the ballgame
Just because the Edmonton Capitals had to find a new manager doesn’t mean they don’t still deserve our support.
The whole team isn’t prone to homophobic outbursts, and they’re doing pretty well in this year’s Golden Baseball League sesason. So head down to Telus Field and let the players know you still like what they do.
You can also tell the team, and management, that you’re looking for more diversity training. Perhaps come up with some kind of rallying chant for that.
And speaking of the Edmonton Capitals, you can bring your dog to the game this Sunday, to support the Edmonton Humane Society. Yes you can bring your actual dog, this isn’t some odd reference to hot dogs.
Tonight is pretty busy
I had a little note here to mention that Improvaganza started tonight.
Then I found out our new soccer team, FC Edmonton, has its first exhibition game over at Foote Field.
The Edmonton Capitals are playing too.
So, tonight is the opening gala of the tenth (10!) year of our improv festival. That’s a pretty unique festival. I dig that.
I do know enough soccer to know that FC usually means "Football Club."
That new soccer team, FC Edmonton, hits the field (Foote Field that is) to take on the Montreal Impact. This summer’s series of games are all exhibition, friendlies and practice for the team. It’s first season in the North American Soccer League (NASL) is next year. But, if you’re like me, you have World Cup fever right now and a little footie is just what you need.
They call it footie, right?
And the Capitals play Victoria at 7pm at Telus Field.
I hope you like to party
Edmonton, get your party pants on because you’re going to need them this weekend.
We’ve got the Pride Parade Saturday, which helps kicks off Pride Week, and that is followed by an all-day party. Saturday also just so happens to be the second Al Fresco Block Party on 104 Street, with a used book sale too. That’s two parties on the same day!
And, I see, the Pride fun start tonight with a dance-a-thon.
There’s lots of good stuff for Bike Month. The Bikeology team is joining the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters for a 24-hour bike repair-a-thon. Bring in your bike, donate your old bikes, but make sure you run it through me so I can get Strathcona Centre points in the big Edmonton Community Challenge. Let me know if you have a bike in need of a tune-up or a new home. That runs Saturday and Sunday.
On Sunday there’s the Critical Lass ride around the southside of Edmonton. It ends with cupcakes. As all good bike rides should.
There’s still Nextfest to be had. As noted, this is your chance to see Edmonton’s next generation of artistic talent. For the kids, Sprouts is over at the Stanley A. Milner library this weekend.
Music? You want music? You got a great weekend of music ahead.
The Born Ruffians are playing tonight, ZZ Top and Wide Mouth Mason play the Jubilee, The Misfits rock the Starlite, An Horse and Hot Panda will blow apart Brixx tonight, The City Streets return home to Edmonton for a show Saturday, there’s a big 30th anniversary gala over at the University of Alberta’s Timms Centre and The Joe is having a crazy, big rap-fest Saturday night, with lots of artists, at The ARTery.
Saturday sees track and field athletes competing for cash money (and world rankings) at the 2010 Edmonton International Track Classic, over at Foote Field. Which is at the South Campus LRT stop.
And the National Portrait Gallery begins its run at Latitude 53. It’s not the “real” national gallery, since the federal government didn’t end up putting that anywhere.
The Edmonton Capitals play. Baseball. At Telus Field. You should go sometime.
Oh, and there’s this little soccer tournament going on. I think it’s called the World Cup?
You could also see a movie. I think this is the 80s weekend, with The Karate Kid and A-Team reborn!
And thanks for ShareEdmonton for reminding me about the Creative Age Festival (as Angela talked about earlier this week) and the ESO’s Landmarks Masters series, with Marc-Andre Hamelin playing Shostakovich.
Now get out there and party!
Homerun Headlines
It was indeed a great day for a ball game.
I was happy to have been one of the three-to-four thousand people to take in the home opener of your Edmonton Capitals last night, at Telus Field.
It did get a little chilly by the end of the game, but it ended with edge of your seat stuff so it doesn’t matter.
Edmonton actually kind of, sort of, does like baseball.
Telus Field is a nice ballpark to take in a game of minor league baseball. And the neat thing about a league like the Golden Baseball League (of which the Capitals find themself in the North division) is that you never know when you’ll spot a former major leaguer. Like Caps starting pitcher Lou Pote.
Now, old Lou may lost a little since his days with the World Series champion Anaheim Angels (2002) but he started the game strong enough. He did give up three runs in the fourth to give Maui the lead. But the bullpen finished out the game with a “W.”
Homeruns are always a great part of seeing basbeball live. And the Capitals didn’t disappoint in their first appearance in Edmonton this season. Matt Rogelstad blasted a two-run shot to close the gap to 3-2 in that same fourth inning.
Maui put up another run in the fifth and things quietly coasted, with Edmonton catching up with a run in the sixth (another dinger! from Matt Collaro), then tying it in the seventh.
The sun had gone down, the park lights were shining brightly, that chill was in the air, but the Capitals started putting players on the bases in the bottom of the ninth.
Even with two-outs, you get excited about the potential for an end of the game victory.
Third baseman Cliff Brumbaugh didn’t let us down. The crowd’s energy picked up and Brumbaugh smacked the ball far enough to get him to first and Steve Brown to come sliding into home. The ball had also made its way home but Brown was just a little faster. The crowd cheered, the Capitals players ran onto the field and the first game of the 2010 home season was a win!
Now, if they can keep winning and make this 4-10 start to the season a distant memory… They’ve got more chances this week against Maui, and the Capitals continue their homestand through the first half of June.
And I’d be a poor friend to you if I didn’t mention that Thursday night’s game against Maui is Bryan Hall Luau night. If you wear a Hawaiian shirt you have a chance at winning tickets to see Edmonton take on Maui in Hawaii. Or Bryan Hall roasts you a pig, or something.
While we’re talking sports (of the non-Eskimos, non-Oilers nature) FC Edmonton announced some of the teams it will be taking on in its exhibition season. That’s right, we’ve got a soccer team too.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Election of Alberta school boards challenged (Perhaps they won’t be run by elected trustees in the near future.)
Province’s controls on teen access to tobacco ‘second class’
Edmonton housing market ‘relaxed’ (Look, it’s just put its feet up for a while. It can’t work all of the time, get off it’s back.)
Sticking with places to live: Affordable housing for whom? and Gas leak forces out families
Downtown library needs a new jacket
Sense of pride, stricter enforcement behind city initiative to clean up yards
Alberta maintains triple-A rating (This is about borrowing power of the provincial government, not baseball.)
PBS fans protest as Shaw cable pulls Detroit off analogue
Massive new Hole’s garden complex not for green thumbs only
from the Edmonton Sun:
Bar fined for fire-code infractions
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Expressions of hunger at City Hall
Rally supports Gaza Freedom Flotilla
from CBC Edmonton:
Armed sheriffs guard Alberta upgrader hearing (Because you know who the most dangerous people are? People who are engaged in regulatory debates.)
Alberta gets keys to 18 new schools
Police officer suspended for 2005 fight
Victory in Leduc, Alta. elevator saga (If you run a building, make sure the elevators work.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Province looks to reduce the use of plastic bags
Cyclists, skateboarders ticketed in sidewalk campaign (The sidewalks on Whyte and Jasper Avenues are for feet only. Meanwhile…police are also trying to encourage us to be safer on our feet.)
Locals believe they have a plan to clean up the oil spill
from Global Edmonton:
Grey Cup tickets (Both of these items are hot tickets.)
Telus Revenge: Best Served with mustard and relish
By: Colin MacIntyre
Show of hands; how many of you hate Telus?
3…17…63…576….6,192….1,093,833….464,837,272,828….. hmmm…I guess ALL of you hate Telus.
No, there isn’t much love for Canada’s favourite western-based telecommunication company. Oh sure, they have cute commercials starring baby ducks, monkeys and hippopotamuses, often set to catchy music. Unfortunately, that seems be where people’s enjoyment with Telus comes to a sudden, screeching, car rolling into the ditch, kind of halt.
I’ll confess, I haven’t been a Telus customer since waaaay back in the days when I owned one o’ them landline telephones (remember those?), so I don’t have much experience to draw upon. However every person I’ve talked to that is a Telus customer has a story to tell; nay, stories to tell.
From receiving bills for services not even used, to waiting two months for services to be installed, to that ohhhh so expensive fine print, which is fine, but also written upside down, backwards and in Ferengi. That’s just from people I’ve talked too! A quick Internet search reveals pages and pages of angry people. Heck, the Internet Search Page even asked me if I wanted to specify or narrow my search from ‘Telus Complaints’ to ‘Telus Complaints 2010′ or ‘Telus Complaints last 24 freakin hours’. I even found a blog where people can submit their own horror stories.
Unfortunately, if you are one of this misbegotten customers, there isn’t much you can do when Telus decides to play with you like cat plays with a blind mouse. Sure you move to a different telecommunications company, but seeing as how there ain’t that much to choose from in Canada, switching Tel-co’s is a bit like being stood in front of a row of half a dozen Ninjas, and being told you get to pick which one gets to kick you in the forehead. Writing letters and angry phone calls to customer service will only take you so far, and even the most hardened whiner will come to realize that their bleating is falling on deaf ears. It would seem that when it comes to having a lousy Telus experience, there is no way of extracting any measure of justice.
Until Today. (more…)
GO LONG!
My attempt at mixing our pending long weekend and football catch phrases aside, we do have a three-day weekend ahead of us. That means lots of stuff to do in the city we call Edmonton.
We wrote about it this morning, but it’s worth mentioning again; the Sobey’s Symphony Under the Sky happens Friday, Saturday, Sunday AND Monday. Every day has different concerts. That’s a lot of symphony! (Follow all the action on Twitter if you’re not going to be in Hawrelak Park.)
Did you miss the big Blues Festival in Hawrelak? Well, blues fans, you are in luck. The Beaumont Blues Festival is on this weekend. I had no idea Edmonton was such a hotbed of blues before coming here.
Our Weird Canada friends are presenting The Wicked Awesomes!’s LP release party at Bonnie Doon Bowling Lanes. They sell it best: “Music and bowling.”
He will be 18 ’til he dies, questioning if he’s ever really loved a woman. Bryan Adams plays Telus Field TONIGHT.
The Shaw Conference Centre is hosting the Metropolis Electronic Music Festival. Not usually my scene, but I recognize MSTRKRFT as a big deal.
British rock-blues group Band of Skulls plays Brixx Saturday night. Could be a good time indeed.
Speaking of music, radio station Sonic 102.9 and The Union present SONiC Boom; a modern rock festival up at Northlands with such guests as Franz Ferdinand, Metric, Billy Talent and Edmonton’s own The Wet Secrets. Get your rock on.
The Citadel Theatre begins its season this weekend. Its first show is The Drowsey Chaperone.
The Labour Day long weekend also means summer is coming to a close. Have you tried to get lost in the Corn Maze yet? For the long weekend, you can save $1 off the admission price with a donation for the Edmonton Food Bank.
