South Park comes to Edmonton – sort of

It’s official – Edmonton is on the counterculture map….well, beyond being the home of Bioware and Christian Hansen and the Autistics: we’re a South Park reference. In this week’s episode, “Royal Pudding”  which aired Wednesday night on the Comedy Network,  the “Princess of Canada” is kidnapped at her Royal Wedding. A  secret message from the […]

First class winners from fourth graders at ATB art contest

It might be time to play a new game: Are You a Better Artist Than a Fourth Grader? From the impressive results of ATB Financial’s first annual Young Artists Competition, the short answer is “probably not.” Winners of the province-wide art contest were announced today, unveiling original, Alberta-themed artwork from 31 Grade Four students from […]

One more reason to commute? Party trains!

It was the weekend’s greatest party in Edmonton, and you missed it! On Saturday night, 54 delegates from cities across the Prairie provinces and the Yukon who were in the city for the Youth Summit on Sustainable Transportation boarded their own private LRT car outfitted with turntables and lights for a dance party that shook […]

Theatre critics have feelings, too

Are Edmonton theatre people a bunch of pussies when it comes to their critics – or is it the other way around? Just wondering. The following exploration all started with Facebook. In an effort to get fresh local arts material for GigCity.ca, I sent “friend” requests to as many Edmonton musicians, artists, writers and actors […]

PREVIEW: East Indian Vedic metal kings from Singapore

Europe has spawned many extreme metal acts who extol the virtues of their Viking forefathers. Singapore’s Rudra is taking a different angle: they’re bringing ancient Eastern philosophy into the mix. The band plays a style it refers to as Vedic metal, which fuses black metal, death metal, and Indian classical music with lyrics derived from […]

POP CULTURE: SUN TV drinking games and modern media

The call went out early, as it has with many a pop culture phenomenon, as it had with Must-See TV Thursdays, with Don Cherry broadcasts, with Samatha Taylor’s Video Hits: How can we turn SUN TV into a drinking game? That, after all, is the best thing you can do with a television set: tune […]

Shuttered landmark pub has been frozen in time for three decades

It might have been due to liquor laws that discouraged visible drinking, or perhaps it was because street-level property on Jasper was once too valuable, but there was a time when downtown Edmonton’s fanciest bars and restaurants were located in basements. Like today’s downtown restaurants, the customers were well-heeled and worked in the then newly […]

TRUE TALES OF THE ROAD: Ripped off in Cuba

If you’re trying to build a bridge between the punk rock scenes of Edmonton and Cuba – a place not known for its punk rock, where rock ‘n’ roll was actually once illegal until Fidel Castro realized John Lennon was a comrade, and which is so screwed up that the entire grassroots economy runs on […]

REALITY TV: North Saskatchewan Shore?

The Boss Life. You’ve seen this, right? I’m sure you’ve seen it, but I hadn’t until a couple of days ago, because all I do is watch William Powell movies and reruns of Masterpiece Theatre. Now, after repeated viewing, it haunts my very dreams. From what I can tell it’s a trailer from last year […]

Avert your eyes! F-bombs in story below!

WHAT THE FUCK? Since when is it acceptable to talk about a MOM I’D LIKE TO FUCK? Like seriously, I’M LAUGHING MY FUCKING ASS OFF! Oh, don’t be so shocked. We see this sort of thing in the mainstream media all the time. You probably know the above better as WTF, MILF and LMFAO. Don’t […]

EDMONTON RADIO: Yerxa’s big idea

Edmonton does not need three top-40 radio stations. One of them has to die. But I hope it isn’t Hot 107, despite an unfortunate allergic reaction I had to “the new and even more annoying Bounce” after it launched last fall. Got sick on the floor – which I later learned from J-Lo is a […]

Empress Ale House survives trial by fire

The beloved Empress Ale House has been through some trials that we’re not going to get into here – but the latest was almost the last straw: a fire that gutted the building next door on the early morning of Thursday, April 7. That the Empress only suffered “minor smoke damage” is occasion enough for […]