TV PERSONALITY: Gord Steinke, REAL Anchorman
Gord Steinke is a huge fan of Ron Burgundy, Anchorman – the moronic empty ego with perfect hair and teeth played by the hilarious Will Ferrell, starring with much advance hype in The Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, opening Dec. 20 in theatres everywhere. Ron Burgundy is not an accurate depiction of a real anchorman. […]
Does public art improve life for Edmonton’s homeless?
Answering a simple question – what do homeless people think of public art? – was fraught with difficult and humbling emotions. I recently interviewed a number of Edmonton street people who turned out to be so sharp that the question should’ve been: Why in God’s name are you homeless?! The stories vary: Poverty, alcoholism, mental […]
TV PERSONALITY: Ryan Jespersen and the Lake of Fire
Talk turns to gay rights within the first two minutes of a recent interview with Ryan Jespersen. Raised Christian in Calgary, the chatty Breakfast Television host got his journalism training at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., a Christian college that required its students to sign abstinence pledges that included a specific clause pertaining to […]
Foreign Musician Fee Fracas: It’s not the end of the world
What’s a guy gotta do to get an LMO exemption around here?! There’s a good pick up line next time you’re in your favourite local bar or coffee shop – where you probably be seeing a lot more true blue Canadian live music now that sneaky government fees on foreign workers have been imposed. Employers […]
COMMENT: Why Mayor Kerry Diotte would be good for Edmonton
That Kerry Diotte is running for mayor of Edmonton is exceedingly good news. He threw his hat into the ring for the Oct. 21 civic election at hastily assembled press conference Thursday. Full disclosure: I know the guy. I worked with him for more than 15 years at the Edmonton Sun, where he was one […]
Don’t cry for New City, Edmonton, it’s the cycle of life
If you go back about 25 years to remember Edmonton’s best live music bars, the landscape is unrecognizable: People’s Pub, the Grinder, Boiler Lounge, Sidetrack Café – all gone, their very names meaningless to younger folk perhaps more familiar with places like the Starlite Room or the Pawn Shop. Point being that the recent closing […]
King Ralph had it in for Edmonton – for our own good!
I only met Ralph Klein once, back in 1992, before he was on the verge of grabbing the Conservative leadership title away from Tory Golden Girl Nancy Betkowski. It was a wintery night at the K-97-CJCA radio studios, where I was working late as a special projects coordinator for K-97, and as I left through […]
Meet the new boss of the Edmonton Arts Council!
It’s a no-brainer that Paul Moulton has been chosen to be the new executive director of the Edmonton Arts Council – he was the volunteer chairman of the organization when it started in 1996. “There’s something circular about this,” he says. You said it, buddy. There always is in this town. Locals in the arts […]
Make Something Edmonton made in Edmonton – so far, so good
Here’s a small sign you might doing something right in your town: When the Mayor forms a task force based on your idea. So it is with local writer and neo-marketing guru Todd Babiak, whose “Make Something Edmonton” project will turn into an $800,000 campaign to help Edmontonians develop a better attitude towards Edmonton. The […]
Who killed the friendly neighbourhood mall?
Capilano area blades remain dull because no one at the local mall sharpens knives anymore. The coffee shop is long gone, so is the hobby store, plus the shoe store. The funky little curio shoppe run by the guy with the messed up face is a distant memory. Capilano Mall is the saddest mall in […]
MARIJUANA: Canada unlikely to react to U.S. legalized states, say experts
If you’re hoping to fire one up at a marijuana café near you any time soon, don’t get your hopes up: experts in Canada’s marijuana trade say legalizing the drug in a pair of U.S. states won’t lead to significant policy changes in Canada this year. They expect the federal government will stick with its […]
In Alberta, a government-approved disaster monthly
If you just looked at the numbers, you might think Alberta is one of the most dangerous places on the planet: after all, the number of natural disasters declared here has increased seventeen-fold in the last 12 years. Floods, fires, hail storms, acts of God that crippled entire industries. We’ve got it all. But critics […]
