Astounding CKUA changes: No one gets fired!
Posted on February 7, 2014 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, news, TV and Radio
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For more proof that the CKUA Radio Network is unlike almost any other radio network on Earth, look no further than the station’s impending “shake-up” that takes effect Feb. 18. They didn’t fire anybody! What’s a “change in direction” if they don’t ambush and heave overboard at least one notable radio personality? It happens all […]
Young Frankenstein the Musical a no brainer
Posted on February 4, 2014 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Theatre
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Can anything be made into a musical? The short answer is yes. The more difficult question is why. You don’t have to dig far to see that musical theatre has wormed its way into all orifices of popular culture. When rock stars and the guys from South Park and Family Guy and Disney start getting […]
REVIEW: Free Candy sweet outside, bitter within
Posted on February 3, 2014 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, music
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No amount of sexy name, boppy songs, marching band costumes, tooting horns, fuzzy bass and bloopy old Farfisa organs can hide the fact that the Wet Secrets is a damned dark band. Their new album Free Candy might give sensitive listeners the urge to slit their wrists – if it weren’t for all the delicious […]
Heart returns to Edmonton in a mighty second wind
Posted on February 3, 2014 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music
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It is so gratifying to see a once-forgotten classic rock band enjoy a new life. Hey, it happens, from time to time. This time, it couldn’t have happened to a more worthy band than Heart. With the first rate soul sista rock chicks Nancy and Ann Wilson in fine form into their 60s, the band […]
Calgary bar steals ‘Sidetrack’ mojo – Edmontonians irked
Posted on January 31, 2014 By Mike Ross culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, News, news
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Some Edmonton music scene-sters are crying foul over the sudden appearance of the “Sidetrack Stage and Grill” in Calgary – but managers insist that this is not a crass attempt to cash in on Edmonton’s famous sadly defunct music venue. “No disrespect is intended,” says Darcy Clendenning, promotions manager for the Sidetrack Stage and Grill […]
Open data use doubles, ‘Citizen Dashboard’ pickup slow
Posted on January 30, 2014 By Jeremy Loome Culture, Front Slider, News
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Use of the City of Edmonton’s “open data” website exploded in 2013, doubling to more than 1.6 million page views from the year prior. But the city’s attempt to simplify all of that data into meaningful performance targets the public can easily check hasn’t done so well: Edmonton’s ‘Citizen Dashboard’ isn’t getting much traffic. […]
RIP: David Finkelman pursued path less taken
Posted on January 30, 2014 By Jared Majeski Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, music, News
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Dave Finkelman, an immensely popular musician, CJSR DJ, friend, brother and son, tragically passed away on Jan. 27 after being struck by a car while he was walking in a marked crosswalk on Whyte Avenue. A short distance away from the Wunderbar – a venue the 27-year-old musician and his band Energetic Action performed at […]
Edmonton indie game developers find success par for the corpse
Posted on January 30, 2014 By Jeremy Loome Comedy, culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, Visual Arts
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Pity poor Sir Reginald the Obtuse. He is brave, adroit, fleet of foot. But if you want to get across that spike pit, you’re going to have to bounce off poor Sir Reginald’s spike-riddled carcass to do it. The video game platformer Life Goes On is the most twisted little piece of black comedic […]
City hackathon touts open data, shuns footbags
Posted on January 29, 2014 By Jeremy Loome Crime, Front Slider, News, Science
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Who says government can’t be responsive to its citizens? Cynics be damned and code monkeys take note: the Open-Data Day Hackathon is officially on. The venue for this clash of intelligent people, obsessive-compulsive code nitpicking and social responsibility is, appropriately, the Edmonton Public Library’s new “Makerspace”, which it describes as “a creative digital hub that […]
Motley Crue to hit Edmonton on farewell tour
Posted on January 28, 2014 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music
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Start the waterworks. Motley Crue, the most bad-assed badass rock band of all time, is going away – and they won’t be coming back! Announced yesterday at a press conference, the band will play one final tour and that will be it: 70 dates across North America, including Tuesday, Nov. 18 at Rexall Place in […]