Sci-fi-fantasy fans get another kick at the Con at PureSpec

Sci-fi-fantasy fans get another kick at the Con at PureSpec

It’s a month after Edmonton Expo and a couple weeks after Halloween -and you still want to get more mileage outta that Commander Shepherd costume you worked on for a year? Fear not, sci-fi-fantasy lover, because Pure Speculation 2012 is coming your way this weekend at the MacEwan Robbins Health Centre (City Centre Campus, 104 […]

WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: Canada loves the Metric system!

WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: Canada loves the Metric system!

For a band tagged as “modern rock,” Metric’s extraordinary popularity soars across age ranges, across income levels, across, well, across everything – as we shall see when the band plays Rexall Place Thursday night, its first time in the Big Building. Half the nation’s men are probably in love with vocalist Emily Haines, but the […]

On thin ice: play looks at global warming

On thin ice: play looks at global warming

One of the most disturbing things about global warming is hearing people’s reactions on how it’s going to affect their “lifestyle.” Another example comes in a play called “6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won” – a funny yet poignant tale of champion figure skaters trying to stage a comeback in […]

Nelly Furtado returns to Edmonton in January with new album, new sound

Nelly Furtado returns to Edmonton in January with new album, new sound

You know who we haven’t seen around these parts for a while? Nelly Furtado. She’s coming back to Edmonton, first time since 2007, to play the Jubilee Auditorium on Tuesday, January 15, touring behind her new album, The Spirit Indestructible and the new hit single therein, Big Hoops (The Bigger the Better). Tickets go on […]

Alice Cooper revisits Nightmare, Obama re-elected – coincidence?

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

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 […]

The Fifth Estate looks at the uncertain future of elephants in zoos

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 […]

From play to movie back to play, Jack Goes Boating proves its stamina

It’s quite a challenge to do play that’s been made into a movie. Everyone’s going to make comparisons, many of them unfair. Good example: Kurt Vonnegut – great novelist, lousy playwright. Fortunately for the cast of Jack Goes Boating – opening Thursday at the Varscona Theatre – the 2010 movie of the same name isn’t […]

With YouTube success comes responsibility for ‘goony’ local rapper

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 […]

REVIEW: Rock of Ages succeeds despite, or maybe because of, cheesy music

Going into Rock of Ages, the latest Broadway Across Canada production to set up shop at the Jubilee Auditorium, I had a real fear that this was going to be one of those shows that I would be tempted to leave at the intermission (I quit halfway through Cats; I don’t care how popular that […]

FIGURES ON DISPLAY: Is Edmonton ready to see the nudes?

FIGURES ON DISPLAY: Is Edmonton ready to see the nudes?

Rachel Kwiatkowski – the new owner of the Front Gallery –  hopes that Edmonton is finally ready for some public nudity. The previous owner received more than a few complaints over an exhibition of nudes and semi-dressed females – including a prominently displayed naked woman in the gallery’s Jasper Avenue window. Patrons even threatened to […]

Randy Bachman to bring songs, stories about songs, to Winspear Centre

It looks like they just missed another accidental Guess Who reunion. Randy Bachman is coming to town, playing Tuesday, April 9 the Winspear Centre – the same building his compatriot Burton Cummings will be performing on Dec. 1. Tickets for the Bachman show go on sale Friday. Is there no stopping these guys? Bachman will […]