May 31 Headlines
How’d your weekend go, Edmonton?
After the classics it was time for some jazz.
As we talked about Friday, there was plenty to do. I did end up going to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Late Night Paris and it was, as always, a good time.
Bloggers who’ve covered the ESO during the 2009-2010 season were invited out, and we met beforehand at Moriarty’s. I’ve been trying to get in there to try it so I was happy to have the chance to check out this hip, new wine bar in Rice Howard Way. I’ll be back.
I took in the show from the choir loft, which is quite a different way to enjoy the music. The music itself sounded pretty good, though it was really tough to hear the conductors when they were speaking to the audience.
But I got to quietly people-watch most of the audience from the loft, so that’s pretty neat.
The Late Night series is a little shorter than a usual night at the symphony, but then takes to the Winspear lobby for jazz and martinis.
Saturday, well, Saturday I freaked out about the snow. May 29 and it’s snowing.
Gosh!
Redemption for the evening came in the form of videogames. And a party. You could call it a videogame party.
Videogames are even more fun when you have a DJ.
Our friends over at User Created Content were celebrating two years of podcasting (Happy Birthday, guys!) and had a night of competitions over at Hitech Gaming, on Stony Plain Road.
People got to compete, for videogame prizes, in Street Fighter, Rock Band, and retro games Super Mario Brothers 3 and Bomberman. After all the fun, and pizza and cake, I got in a little classic Bomberman action in some battle royales.
Hitech itself is a pretty neat place, with multiple rooms to play X-Box games. Right now the venue is available for groups to rent out, but eventually should be open regular hours for your gaming convenience.
I spent Sunday hiding inside in case it snowed again.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Lobbyists dig deep for Conservatives
Tory gov’t pretends to ignore Wildrose while stealing their thunder
Small town values still key in big cities (Live local.)
Library a powerful draw for newcomers
Derelict hospital a project going nowhere (I blame the ghosts. Old hospitals always have ghosts. Savvy real estate ghosts.)
Discovery could help treat spinal injuries
Resource-based economy spells doom for grizzlies (Because the grizzly bears refuse to work in resource jobs.)
Leader of citizens action group steps down, ponders politics (Michael Walters lead the Greater Edmonton Alliance.)
Tour exposes industry’s hold on heartland (Aren’t we going to call areas outside of Edmonton the Industrial Heartland?)
Second-degree murder charge in Alberta foster child death
These next three stories are about Edmonton’s tech community and our big brains: Edmontonian’s app wins Montreal competition – Putting gaming advances to work – Edmonton student comes in second at National Brain Bee
Paul Tracy set to race in Edmonton
from the Edmonton Sun:
Three levels of treatment for wastewater
Political alternatives coming out of the woodwork (The Alberta Party’s Big Listen. More on this party from the Journal.)
Police tactical section needs training grounds
Indy a good deal for Edmonton (Will it stick around?)
Man charged with sexual assault at Edmonton daycare
from Metro Edmonton:
Make the Transit Challenge an Everyday Challenge (Four councillors will ride ETS this week. Surely the rest won’t because they are already taking it…And this is also a week for you to challenge yourself while commuting.)
Young performers will take centre stage at Nextfest
from The Canadian Press:
High-tech way to limit gambling addictions (Scanning your eye? Futuristic problem-gambling fighting.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
‘Change your giving’ campaign begins in Callingwood (I’m a fan of this.)
City councillors try to rally support for EXPO 2017 (In Toronto.)
More pregnant women needed for study
Phillips to retire on “Classic” note (Rod Phillips is retiring and will call just a few games this coming season. Not sure who’s replacing him yet.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Man dies after being dragged nearly 30 blocks
Street racers allegedly involved in southside crash
Maddox returns home (But he’ll head back to NYC in July for another surgery.)
from Vue Weekly:
Vue’s new website is ready! Go check it out and stuff. We, obviously, love the 5-image rotator on the main page. ;)
Here’s what they had last Thursday: No easy answers (about the Somali community), City with a plan (The Way We Grow) and A councillor’s dozen (Dave Thiele’s 12 years at Edmonton City Hall).
Oh, the things you’ll do
I’m not messing around when I say there is a lot of stuff to do in Edmonton over the next three days.
There is A LOT of stuff to do in Edmonton over the next three days.
Tonight, I’m making it about music. And you could too.
I’ll be at the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (9:30), taking in a “Late Night” performance. Tonight is Late Night Paris. After the performance there’s live jazz in the Winspear.
(There’s more Parisien Charm Sunday afternoon.)
The Late Night series is another way the ESO is trying to reach new audiences. They’ve got the Symphony Under the Sky in Hawrelak Park for the Labour Day weekend, matinees, pops, Broadway, kids’ shows, and the classics. A performance at 9:30 on a Friday night makes it feel like a real night on the town.
As the season winds down (it’s over in mid-June) I applaud the ESO for their versatile lineup and can’t wait for 2010-2011 to kick-off in the park.
If you don’t want to spend the evening at the Winspear Centre you can still make tonight about music.
We mentioned earlier that One Way State is playing Friday night with Maurice. Too Slim and the Taildraggers are still at Blues on Whyte too.
Our old pal Jerrold Dubyk is playing this weekend. He’s got a show tonight, at 6:30, at Victoria School. Then The Jerrold Dubyk Quartet takes to the Haven Social Club stage Saturday night with Althea Cunningham and Dawn in the City.
Dance!
Back to Friday music…You could see The Neil Young Trunk Show over at Metro Cinema. Or catch punk legends The Buzzcocks at New City. The U of A’s Convocation Hall has Classic Broadway via Opera Nuova.
And Disney’s Beauty and the Beast finishes its Edmonton run this weekend.
Now…what about the rest of this busy weekend?
Did somebody ask for a Dance-a-Thon? Good. Because Mile Zero Dance is doing just that, Saturday night. It starts at 7:30 and while it says it ends at 1:30 am, I hope it goes until the last dancer drops.
It could be a weekend of shopping for new things. You can swing by Make-It Edmonton! and buy some cool, handmade goods. If you quickly find yourself with buyer’s remorse you can get over to the Winspear and trade that stuff away at the Over the Top Swap, which also happens to be a spa for the day.
You can celebrate videogames with local podcast User Created Content. They’re throwing a 2nd birthday party Saturday. It starts at HiTech Gaming (15219 Stony Plain Road) and finishes at Union Hall (Argyll and 99 Street).
If you’re still in the gaming mood, Sunday sees the monthly GamePub over at Original Joe’s Varsity.
Edmonton’s own Ann Vriend is playing the Myer Horowitz Theatre Saturday night. She’s kind of a big deal.
We are in the midst of summer movie blockbuster season. I think Sally is trying to drag Gregg Beever to Sex and the City 2. I feel bad for him.
Our event-loving friends over at Share Edmonton have something to say about the next few days too. Share has also teamed up with YEG Live.ca to keep us all updated on live music!
They’ve got details on all the running around you could be doing at the Little Big Run and the Subway Coronation Triathalon. I wonder if everyone eats a giant sub after the race?
Saturday sees a Highlands Street Festival over on 112 Avenue.
And don’t forget the Edmonton Energy play at the Butterdome tonight, they’re hosting the Bellingham Slam.
Don’t tell me you can’t find something to do.
Oh what a night!
This is the #YegSwap debrief and recap. So, if you were there (thanks for coming) let me know if I forget to mention something, please tell us your own thoughts about the night, and let me know if there are blog posts/photos/video out there I haven’t linked to. Also, tell us if you still love your new stuff or if you’ve already got swapper’s remorse.
Also, before I forget, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to our volunteers (We love you!), our musicians, The ARTery (which we need to talk about more at a future date), and thanks from me to the other organizers.
I want it all! (Photo: Mack D. Male)
I’m going to say, even though it was said a bunch of times (including when Scott and Adam introduced our final act of the night, The Joe), that the 1st annual #YegSwap was a success.
This was an event put on by The League of Extraordinary Media, which (right now) includes this blog, the podcasts The Unknown Studio and User Created Content, and TrueBritl.com, a blog by iNews880′s Twitter star, Brittney Le Blanc. To quickly sum up what The League is all about: our blogs and podcasts have joined forces to take our Edmonton-related musings into the real world. Mayhaps there will be cross-posting of content too. Hey, we’ve got to compete with the “real” media, you know.
the edmontonian‘s co-founder, Sally, and Brittney thought a swap meet would be a good time. That this idea came about after an afternoon of home shopping channel viewing is somehow relevant.
I was, of course, on board right away. Not only could it be fun, it could be a way to join together some of Edmonton’s online “newsrooms.” And pay homage to a local community cable show so enjoyed by myself in my Toronto days.
We were fortunate enough to land some amazing musical talent for the night. I do not know where a lineup like this will be heard for a mere $2. (more…)
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.
