DOC AS A GAME: Fort McMoney oiling up for Round 2

DOC AS A GAME: Fort McMoney oiling up for Round 2

The future of the Sim City version of Fort McMurray depicted in Fort McMoney – half documentary, half interactive video game – did not turn out very well. Changes suggested by 309,000 viewer-gamers between Nov. 25 and Dec. 22, 2013 may have reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the Northern Alberta boomtown by 58%, but the […]

Young Drunk Punk has Edmonton roots

Young Drunk Punk has Edmonton roots

Before Bruce McCulloch became a dad who wears pyjamas in the daytime and lives in the Hollywood Hills, before he became a comedy star in Kids in the Hall, he was a young drunk punk in Edmonton. There’s the perfect title of the one-man show he’s bringing to the Arden Theatre on Jan. 27: Young […]

The Book of Mormon comes to Edmonton

The Book of Mormon comes to Edmonton

The Book of Mormon – the musical  – is coming to Edmonton, but fans of the popular Broadway show written and produced by the creators of South Park will have to wait more than year to see it. Part of Broadway Across Canada’s next touring season announced this week, the Book of Mormon will play […]

Is EPS domestic violence ad too shocking?

Is EPS domestic violence ad too shocking?

There’s a disturbing television commercial you may have seen over the holidays: Close-ups of weeping women whose faces are covered in cuts and bruises, their mouths sealed with duct tape. Sinister music and panicked voices on the telephone are heard in the background. The women are actors. The message is real: “Speak out. They need […]

REVIEW: Timberlake goes for soul overkill

REVIEW: Timberlake goes for soul overkill

Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience was more than just a pop concert. It was soul overkill. Any possibility of subtlety or spontaneity was mercilessly crushed under a relentless barrage of pure bombast, over-arranged, over-played, overwrought. Timberlake may want to be like Prince, but he is the Meat Loaf of R&B. You can’t blame the guy. […]

MUSIC: Mixtape Club launches with Vonnegut tribute

MUSIC: Mixtape Club launches with Vonnegut tribute

It didn’t take Jesse Northey long to become ensconced in Edmonton’s music scene. He’s only been here two months. The University of Lethbridge recording program grad quickly landed jobs mixing sound at the Artery, one of our coolest music venues, and as an engineer at Riverdale Recorders, whose clients include some of Edmonton’s coolest bands. […]

Cheech and Chong and Gaye Delorme

Cheech and Chong and Gaye Delorme

Fans and friends remember Gaye Delorme as an incredible guitarist with a wicked sense of humour. He died of a heart attack in the summer of 2011 at the age of 64. He was frail and almost blind from diabetes in the last few years of his life, yet still capable of orchestrating the absurdity […]

WIN: Tickets, posters to CBGB, The Movie

WIN: Tickets, posters to CBGB, The Movie

Now that we’re all getting back to normal after holiday horror, it’s time to turn our attention to swag! Or schwag, if you prefer. That means free stuff no matter how you smell it. Today, we have a pair of tickets for the Edmonton screening of CBGB, The Movie, playing Jan. 3-9 at the Metro […]

FILM: Joy of discovery in CBGB

FILM: Joy of discovery in CBGB

There are some spine-tingling moments in CBGB, The Movie. It’s the vicarious joy of discovery: Like seeing an unknown band called the Talking Heads play “Psycho Killer” for six pool-playing bikers in the most famous punk rock dive of all time. Or the Police. Or the Ramones. Patti Smith. Blondie. Iggy Pop. The Dead Boys. […]

RADIO: Nothing to lose in flip to CRUZ

RADIO: Nothing to lose in flip to CRUZ

From being almost dead last in the ratings, Edmonton’s 95.7 FM radio literally has nothing to lose in its boxing week flip to 95.7 CRUZ FM. The good news is that there’s going to be more rock on local radio now. Classic rock. As is customary in the industry before such a radical change in […]

Greenpeace activist wins Edmontonian of the Year poll

Greenpeace activist wins Edmontonian of the Year poll

In another stunning outcome for Edmontonian of the Year, local environmental activist Mike Hudema has won the top title for 2013 – right behind Mayor Don Iveson, who was handed the No. 1 spot without the bother of a vote. Unwisely, some said, but too late now. “I always wanted to be Number Two,” Hudema […]

A noggy take on an old Christmas poem

A noggy take on an old Christmas poem

‘Twas the night before wombat and all through the snerse, Not a weeful was starping, not even a cherse, The weppels were hung by the stabbage with hair, In the clam that snat eelix would carter the snare. And nox in her keppitch, and meal in my lap, Was flopping and keeling like mice in […]