End of a Comics Era: Happy Harbor closing
Posted on December 20, 2018 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Lit, News, Visual Arts
Happy Harbor wasn’t “just a store that sells comics,” as owner Jay Bardyla humbly puts it. It was a cultural institution in this town – and news of its closing has hit the local comics community hard. It’s a huge loss for Edmonton. Happy Harbor didn’t just sell comics. They nurtured new readers with a […]
What happened to VUE Weekly?
Posted on November 16, 2018 By Gene Kosowan Entertainment, Front Slider, life, News, news
Stop the presses – for good. That may or may not be part of the last rites for VUE Weekly, the city’s venerable alternative newsweekly that lasted nearly a quarter-century. It drops its final issue on Nov. 29. In a city that used to support at least two rival publications until seven years ago, the […]
Justin Timberlake forced to postpone Edmonton shows
Posted on October 30, 2018 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, News
Fans of Justin Timberlake are encouraged to hang on to their tickets for the postponed shows in Edmonton this coming Sunday and Monday – because he fully expects his “bruised vocal cords” to heal up in time for make-up dates in early 2019. How do you even bruise your vocal cords, anyway? By singing too […]
Edmonton lights up with legal marijuana
Posted on October 17, 2018 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Life, life, News
So, like every media outlet in Edmonton, I go to cover the first day of cannabis being legal in Canada – and literally the first guy I run into is Ibrahim Shurie, a youth worker with the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton. He wants to know why there’s such a big line-up in a […]
Vancouver brain drain Edmonton’s gain
Posted on September 15, 2018 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, life, News
Back in the day, artists left Edmonton in droves for the literally greener pastures of Vancouver – but now some of them are coming back. Two good examples, anyway. It counts extra if they’re women, right? “Yeah, of course it counts!” says stand-up comedian Kathleen McGee (above), who after four years living in Vancouver has […]
INTERVIEW: Grandson plays the rage card
Posted on September 1, 2018 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, music, Politics
The artist who calls himself Grandson is only 24 years old – and he’s already talking about the legacy he’s going to leave behind. As if it weren’t depressing enough to hear such fatalist talk from a millennial, listen to his music. Jordan Benjamin has already made a huge impact with his hit song Blood//Water. […]
EDMONTON RADIO: Are we losing our voices?
Posted on August 30, 2018 By Mike Ross culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, News, TV and Radio
The sudden departure of Melissa Wright from K-97 after 20 years of service is not going to be another one of these Disgruntled Former Employee stories. “I don’t want to trash anybody,” she says. “I’m going to have to start looking for a job.” People in Edmonton radio get fired all the time – but […]
Does Edmonton need The Station?
Posted on June 22, 2018 By Michael Senchuk Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, music, News
Earlier this week it was announced that live music would finally be back on stage at the location of the former Needle Vinyl Tavern on Jasper Avenue, but under new owners – led by Greg Scott – and under a new brand – The Station on Jasper. Given the catastrophic and rapid demise of the […]
So a Geologist Walks Into a Creationist Museum …
Posted on June 15, 2018 By Stuart Bobbin Faith, Front Slider, Life, life, Science
Alberta is a land of opposites: Wide-open prairies set against foreboding mountains, liberal city centres and conservative countryside. Hell, even our winters and summers are like Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley. For me, as a geologist who’s worked for 10 years in Canada, the Middle East and the UK, the biggest contrast this province has […]
Edmonton Pride challenges police inclusion
Posted on June 10, 2018 By Lisa Lunney Culture, culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, Politics
The Edmonton Pride Parade on Saturday did not run without protest. The festivities on Whyte Avenue were halted for an hour due to anti-police protests – from demonstrators representing themselves as a “coalition of queer and trans people of colour.” The protesters handed out leaflets calling for the parade’s organizers to un-invite city police, RCMP […]
Cannabis Expo lights up the unenlightened
Posted on March 25, 2018 By Trent Wilkie Culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, Science
The stigma around marijuana is changing. Sure, some politicians still have no functional grasp of the subject of pot. Before voting on Canada’s Cannabis Act last week, Senator Nicole Eaton said that “five grams is about four tokes.” But the marijuana community isn’t allowing ignorance to stop them. In fact, it is emboldening them to […]
EPS poet promotes positive proactive policing
Posted on February 22, 2018 By Mike Ross Crime, culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, Lit, news
The discovery of a Twitter poet at the Edmonton Police Service opens a fascinating window into the way police can engage with the community in these modern times. Recently tweets include this ode to home security: “Cold temps got you down, heading out of town? Take proactive steps to ensure your return doesn’t leave you […]