Alice Cooper revisits Nightmare, Obama re-elected – coincidence?
Alice Cooper is one of a number of rock stars expected to be bummed out by Obama’s re-election – but at least he’s taking it in good humour. He tweeted before the election, “If I’m #elected I promise the formation of a new party A third party, the #WildParty!” And afterwards, “Did I win?” Contrast […]
BOOKS: Persistence pays off for lawyer-turned-novelist Peggy Blair
The novel written by former Edmontonian Peggy Blair was rejected 156 times before she met bestselling Scottish writer Ian Rankin in a bar. They talked briefly about her predicament and then out of the blue, he told her to use his name to contact his literary agent – a bit of good fortune that resulted […]
WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: Wintersleep comes to Wintertown
There’s a bit of a lull in the major act schedule – at least until Alice Cooper hits the Jubilee Auditorium next Wednesday – but that’s just fine. It’ll give us a chance to dig out from the winter storm that smashed into the city. The weekend’s biggest name, yet still relatively unknown, is Wintersleep, […]
The Fifth Estate looks at the uncertain future of elephants in zoos
Lucy the elephant is one enormous local media celebrity. The old girl is going national again this Friday at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV as the star of The Fifth Estate episode “The Elephant in the Room” that takes a hard look at the “bitter fight over the future of elephants in zoos.” The only thing […]
With YouTube success comes responsibility for ‘goony’ local rapper
Video killed the radio star – only to be squeezed off the airwaves by vapid reality TV programming. The music video has only grown stronger since moving from MTV to the Internet, and it’s now more crucial than ever for unsigned talent. Young local rapper Jo Thrillz, a.k.a. Joel Vaillancourt, has mastered the art of […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Wiz Khalifa show goes to pot
If not for the security and police presence at the Wiz Khalifa concert Sunday night, you wouldn’t even know it was Movember. Nary a soul in the Shaw Conference Centre crowd of 4,900 could grow more than a zit on his or her upper lip. The facial hair was limited to the pencil ’stache on […]
Oilers hero sour on Lance Armstrong memorabilia
Georges Laraque owns three limited-edition replicas of the Trek bicycles that Lance Armstrong rode during his latter Tour de France victories, two of them autographed, one even decorated with 23-karat gold frame panels – and the former Edmonton Oiler can’t even stand to look at them anymore. “I got sick to my stomach because I […]
