You like words don’t you?

Then is there an event for you, tonight!

Words with Friends (known as #yegwords on Twitter) is happening Thursday night at Bohemia (which is a cool little arts bar in the Oliver area). Put on by Wufniks magazine’s Jason Lee Norman and poet Kasia Gawluk it will be an evening of words, drinks, new and old friends, and more words (these may come in the way of poetry and short stories).

Head on out if you’re looking for some words. Or wordy-friends. Or beer.

You know, it feels like Edmonton’s starting to embrace its writing scene.

This event says that to me. The monthly Story Slam gaining more attention says that (the latest one happening last night at the Haven Social Club. And our pals at the Unknown Studio have been recording Story Slam for their podcast. The Edmonton Public Library’s newest Writer in Residence, Marty Chan, has an ongoing presence online and around the city, which will raise the profile of writing in general.

If we’re not careful we’re going to start churning out more award-winning writers in Edmonton.

To the right, stories that will make you laugh, cry, think. To the left, pizza.

I don’t think we’ve talked about Edmonton Story Slam before. So let’s talk about Edmonton Story Slam.

It’s a monthly event put on by the Edmonton Story Slam Society. They claim it as the world’s third regular story slam competition. (You may be familiar with the idea from The Moth, storytelling out of New York City.)

Basically, 10 speakers get five minutes to tell the audience at Haven Social Club a story. It can be a real story or something totally made-up. It’s all in the storytelling.

Some of the slam winners in the last year include folks you’ll see pop up at LitFest, in local magazines, Omar “A.O.K.” Mouallem, and some people you may never have heard of. You just don’t know who’s got a good story in them.

Maybe you’ve got a story to tell. Story Slam might be the place to do that.

*****

Our pals over at The Unknown Studio stopped by a recent slam (the year’s “slam-off” actually) so you can take a listen in episode 17 of this season.

If you’ll check last week’s episode of The Unknown Studio you’ll hear me successfully predict this year’s best pictures winner as The King’s Speech; without seeing the film, even! It takes a hefty set of balls to choose the heavy favourite; I have those balls…and they are hefty.

While talking to Adam and Scott, I also predicted the Oscars to be wildly boring and unfunny. 100% correct there. As the major body which judges the quality of show biz talent, cannot the Academy find writers who can craft a funny joke? About the funniest bit was Kirk Douglas’ turn at presenting an award, but I suspect his best jokes were unscripted, and thus unintentional.

I flipped back and forth between the Oilers game and the Oscars, each becoming a larger and larger source of irritation. With the Oilers down (again) and Anne Hathaway about to sing, I wondered briefly if bludgeoning myself with the empty dinner plate laying on my coffee table might provide adequate relief.

A Look Back

While we’re on the subject of predictions, last month I wrote February would be a vacuous hole devoid of entertaining films. Let’s take a look at the Rotten Tomatoes ratings for major releases last month, shall we?

The Roommate: 6%

Sanctum: 31%

The Eagle: 36%

Gnomeo and Juliet: 54%

Just Go with It: 18%

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never: 65%

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son: 6%

I am Number Four: 31%

Unknown: 55%

Drive Angry: 47%

Hall Pass: 36%

That’s right, the most critically acclaimed movie in the month of February starred Justin Bieber. Some of you may see this as a sign of a coming pop-culture apocalypse, but it isn’t entirely surprising given last month included yet another mediocre helping of Adam Sandler and Nic Cage.

Anyway, point is I was 100% right. Just making sure you are all aware.

I should make a quick note that Justin Bieber: Never Say Never director Jon Chu was given the reins this month to helm the G.I. Joe sequel. Yay? Mr. Chu also directed Step Up 2 and Step Up 3D, so I can’t wait to see the Duke and Cobra Commander break-dance fight.

Baseball Analogies

For all of February’s failures, there is some relief coming. Typically, summer blockbuster season is considered to start on Memorial Day in May. This year, however, the heavy hitters are coming out early, swinging hardest this weekend with Gore Verbinski’s first animated feature Rango (starring the voice talents of Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher), another 80′s comedy, Take Me Home Tonight (starring Topher Grace and Anna Faris), and The Adjustment Bureau (starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt), based on the Philip K. Dick short story “Adjustment Team.”

Other strong offerings in March include Battle: Los Angeles, Red Riding Hood, Paul, and Skateland. I don’t actually think Red Riding Hood will be a strong film, I only mention it because it will likely have the emphatic monetary support of the teenage girl.

Sucker Punched

March 25th is the opening date for the fantasy/sci-fi epic Sucker Punch, a film I’ve been excited about for some time, from Watchmen director Zach Snyder. I’ve watched multiple trailers for Sucker Punch and I am still not entirely sure what it is about.  But it sure is pretty.

Word has it Sucker Punch tested poorly in screenings and the suits at Warner Bros. are not happy. Perhaps they have every reason to be concerned; Snyder is, afterall, in the big chair for Warner Brothers’ next super hero tent-pole and a lot of potential revenue rests on his shoulders.

But perhaps it isn’t entirely surprising Sucker Punch is not testing well. Fantasy and Sci-Fi seems to be a tough sell with the general audience. Extremely nerdy projects, while having extremely competent directors, often fall flat. We could talk about films like Scott Pilgrim or The Watchmen, which garnered much hype and heavy advertising budgets but fell well short of expectations. We can even go further back to films like Joss Whedon’s Serenity or perhaps Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie; geeky films don’t often bring home the box office bacon.

What’s interesting is that all four of the films I mentioned were well executed, and are among my personal favourites. There is just no accounting for taste. General audiences simply don’t see eye-to-eye with us geeks and nerds, which is why studios give us David O. Russell directing Uncharted with Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake.

I fully expect to enjoy Sucker Punch, while it makes next to no money and leaves theaters in short order.

Oh yeah, and…

If you’re looking for a documentary with which to expand your mind, the Garneau and Princess theatres will be running Waste Land, a feel-good film that follows a Brooklyn artist who used trash from the world’s largest garbage dump in Brazil to create works of art he could sell, returning the profits to an impoverished Brazilian community.

That’s all for me this month. Until next time, keep that theatre popcorn…umm… ‘a poppin’? Jesus, I need to work on my sign-off lines.

That’s all folks! There’s still time to donate to needy Christmas charities, but our extra push is coming to an end.

Thanks to you, generous Edmontonians, some of the fears that those charities would fall very, very short of their holiday goals is being alleviated. We just wanted to remind everyone that your help, whether it’s $10 or a small toy, really does go a long way.

Before we announce the winners, we want to thank the businesses, individuals, and organizations that donated a prize to help us help others make the season a little brighter for those less fortunate.

• We’ve got a $25 Chapters/Indigo/Coles card, a $25 iTunes card, a $25 Empire Theatres card, and a $25 Zellers/HBC card thanks to Paul “Uncle Pauly” Poulsen, InvestInEdmonton, Edmonton’s BEST Landlord and Five by Five Creative.
• 2 mugs, and buttons courtesy of The Unknown Studio.
• Marilyn Kontz crafted two coffee sleeves (I keep referring to them as coffee cozies) and Transcend Coffee is giving one donor a 6-month subscription of coffee.
• The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was immediately helpful, offering two tickets to the first performance of the new year, Saint-Saens’s Second Piano Concerto.
• One lucky Edmontonian will be receiving the Viking Weekly Review delivered to their home, as well as a toque and scarf, thanks to Lorraine Poulsen, editor.
• We’ve got a treasure chest of goodies, literally a little treasure chest, thanks to the Katz Group.
• Gord Lacey has offered up Season 1 DVDs of The Cleveland Show and Cougar Town.
• And we have a $100 Future Shop gift card thanks to Richard at Global Analyzer System.

I assure you the draw was random and I couldn’t see the names I was choosing, until placed beside the prizes. On top of those warm, fuzzy feelings they got for donating to worthy charities at Christmas the following people will be enjoying something extra thanks to Uncle Pauly.

Greg gets to eat at great Edmonton restaurants with his Original Fare gift card (the edmontonian donated that prize). Jill will have a little extra to spend at Chapters, Empire Theatres, iTunes, and HBC stores. John will be sipping his lattes from Unknown Studio mugs, well regarded in the mug world. Sarah will be sipping new and exotic coffees from Transcend, while keeping her hands burn-free with coffee sleeves by Marilyn. Chris will be attending the first ESO concert of the new year. Joseph gets to stay warm in a new toque and scarf from the Viking Weekly Review, a newspaper he’ll become familiar with in 2011. Karen gets golf balls, chocolate, and other goodies I couldn’t identify in a treasure chest. Joanna will be watching the first seasons of The Cleveland Show and Cougar Town again and again. And Deja will be buying electronics at Future Shop.

We’ll be contacting the winners soon.

Thanks to Paul for coming up with the idea. Thanks to everyone that sent us a photo, to everyone who donated because of our contest, and to everyone who donates time, money, and stuff, to charities and non-profits the whole year through.

Your kindness made our heart grow three sizes, Edmonton.

When Paul heard about Christmas charities struggling to feed people this December, when he heard kids would go without a toy, he had to do something.

So, Paul said to us, “Hey, let’s give people a chance at prizes for their donations.”

All you have to do for a chance at our Christmas goodies is send us a photo of you donating to a charity this holiday season. We already told you that you could win a $100 Original Fare gift card and Unknown Studio mugs and buttons.

But we really want you to kick up those Christmas donations (remember, nothing crazy, $10 or a $10-ish toy). So, let’s up the ante.

How about we throw $100 in gift cards into the prize pile?

We’ll make that a $25 Chapters/Indigo/Coles card, a $25 iTunes card, a $25 Empire Theatres card, and a $25 Zellers/HBC card. Those are thanks to Paul “Uncle Pauly” Poulsen, InvestInEdmonton, Edmonton’s BEST Landlord and Five by Five Creative. (Look at all the new friends you’re making.)

I can see you making your way to one of those mall toy donation boxes now. Oh, look, you’re almost putting a crisp, purple $10 bill into the donation jar.

But, how do I make you snap a photo of your kindness and send our way for the prize draw? By sweetening the deal even more.

Yes, you could also win a new scarf from the Viking Weekly Review, Viking, Alberta’s newspaper. And you can have that fine publication delivered to your home for one year. We know you Viking ex-pats are going to be all over this.

So, come on Edmonton, donate away and we’ll draw names for the prizes.

And I happen to know we’ve got more coming your way…

E-mail us now for your chance to win a reward for all your good deeds.