interviews

One of "I Heart Edmonton's" favourite things to do is discover a few things we didn't know about some of the most interesting (and well-known) locals. In November 2009 we asked Edmonton radio host Rhubarb Jones if he would participate in the inaugural "A Few Minutes With..." post, and since then we've continued to learn a lil' about some of our city's other outstanding citizens. Now, let's spend a few minutes with...
- Murray Billett (LGBTQ+ activist) (August 2015)
 
Murray Billett


- Jesse Beyer (Global Edmonton meteorologist) (July 2015)

Jesse Beyer

- Mickey Wilson (transgender advocate & educator)
(July 2015)

Mickey Wilson

- Marni Panas (transgender advocate & educator) (June 2015)

Marni Panas

 - Dr. Kristopher Wells (LGBTQ+ advocate & educator) (June 2015)

Kris Wells

 - Mark Drelich (radio host on NOW! Radio) (May 2015)

Mark Drelich


- Dana Giesbrecht (host/producer of 'Go! Edmonton!') (January 2014)

Dana Giesbrecht
- Michael Phair (gay advocate, former politician) (December 2013)

Michael Phair

 - Roman Danylo (comedian, actor) (November 2012)

Roman Danylo

 - Nolan Crouse (Mayor of St. Albert, 2007-) (June 2012)
Nolan Crouse

- Jason Zerbin (singer, songwriter) (June 2012)

(Jason) Zerbin

 - Michael Bernard Fitzgerald (singer, songwriter) (April 2012)
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald

- Stephen Mandel (Mayor of Edmonton, 2004-2013) (January 2012)
Stephen Mandel

 - Christian Hansen (singer, musician, actor) (May 2011)
Christian Hansen

- Shad (Juno-winning rapper) (May 2011)

Shad

 - Garner Andrews (radio personality, painter) (January 2011)
Garner Andrews

- Daryl Bonar (2010 mayoral candidate) (November 2010)

Daryl Bonar

 - Mat Simpson (actor, student) (August 2010)
Mat Simpson

- Ryan Parker (actor, The BeArthurs member) (June 2010)

Ryan Parker

 - Colin Close (singer, songwriter) (May 2010)
Colin Close

- Ryan Jespersen (Breakfast Television host) (April 2010)

Ryan Jespersen

- Brittney Le Blanc (iNews880 web editor, blogger) (April 2010)
Brittney Le Blanc

- Mack Male (software developer, blogger) (February 2010)

Mack Male

 - Simon-Marc de Freitas (pianist, instructor) (January 2010)
Simon-Marc de Freitas

- Michele McDougall (Breakfast Television meteorologist) (December 2009)

Michele McDougall

 - Don Iveson (Ward 5 city councillor, blogger) (November 2009)
Don Iveson

- Rhubarb Jones (Joe FM radio personality) (November 2009)
Rhubarb Jones (left), with Charlie Daniels

Popular Posts

Reason #65 of '101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton'

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The Fringe

By Emil Tiedemann

When the middle of August rolls around, some Edmontonians instinctively begin to panic. It means that summer is coming to a close, and the nippy seasons are just around the corner. Others look forward to mid-August all year round, because it means that their favourite season has arrived...Fringe season! 

Unless you count K-Days, the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival is Edmonton’s most attended and sought-after festival of them all, and one of the oldest ones too, and that means something in a town rightfully known as “Festival City.” 



There’s something about the Fringe that enlivens Edmonton, bringing out locals who appreciate authentic and often experimental live theatre at its best, incorporating all forms of performing arts, including music, dance, spoken word, comedy, improv, cabaret, burlesque, puppetry, poetry, circus, and even magic. 

Some 120,000 tickets are sold for more than 200 shows and 1,600 performances at the 11-day event, making it …
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Reason #63 of '101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton'

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Northlands

By Emil Tiedemann

I’ll admit it, I choked up singing along to “No One Needs to Know” at the 2015 Shania Twain concert at Northlands’ Rexall Place. Judge me all you want, I don’t care! I couldn’t help it, after all...I had some sort of weird gay crush on Shania when she was one of the world’s superstars back in the ‘90s. 

I knew all of her songs by heart and I knew everything there was to know about the Canadian icon, and now there I was, singing her lyrics right alongside her to a glowing audience tipsy on expensive booze and the sounds of their high school days. 


But that certainly wasn’t the only time I stood in the aisles of Rexall belting out to the songs of one of my favourite singers or bands. Nope, it all stemmed back to when I was 12 years old and went to the Paula Abdul concert with my buddy Peter. Again, judge me all you want, it doesn’t phase me! It was one of the fondest memories I have of growing up. 

Since then, I’ve had the chance to see everyone from Jay-Z and Ti…
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Reason #61 of '101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton'

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Our Neighbours

By Emil Tiedemann

We couldn’t have asked for better next-door neighbours than the likes of St. Albert, Sherwood Park (Strathcona County), Fort Saskatchewan, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Leduc, Nisku, Devon, and Beaumont! 

These nearby communities that surround our city limits offer that small-town mentality on those days when you just need to get away from the hustle and bustle of a large metro like Edmonton. The Capital Region, as it is often referred to, is really just one large community at heart, each offering their own special personalities and attributes. 


St. Albert, for example, is one of Canada’s “best-kept secrets,” according to MoneySense magazine, which consistently ranks the small city of about 64,000 as one of the best places to live in the whole country, even reaching #1 on the list as recent as 2014. 

That says a lot about the people who live in St. Albert, practically and almost literally a hop, skip, and a jump from Edmonton’s northwest. In fact, it’s quite c…
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Reason #66 of '101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton'

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10 Year Plan to End Homelessness

By Emil Tiedemann

For most Edmontonians, downtown is a place for weekend drinks and dancing, for dinner at high-end restaurants, coffee at trendy cafes, gleaming office and condo towers, or markets with fresh produce and locally-made crafts. 

For others, downtown is despair and discouragement. It means sleeping on park benches and in alleyways, dragging their things around in abandoned shopping carts, belittled by passersby and threatened by others who are also so far below the poverty line that we couldn’t possibly imagine putting ourselves in their worn-out shoes. 


Many of the people who we see on the streets in these conditions have or have had problems with drugs, alcohol, gambling, or all three, though not everyone who is considered “homeless” in Edmonton has substance abuse issues. 

Some are folks who have recently moved to the city and couldn’t find or hold onto a job; some are youth who were not welcome at home anymore because they came out of the c…
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Reason #58 of '101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton'

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Winter Activities

By Emil Tiedemann

Let’s face it, we’re a winter city, plain and simple. Sure, we’ve got distinctive and glorious springs and summers and autumns, but winter just seems to last the longest, and it can get pretty nasty at times. 

But, that’s okay, because Edmontonians - unlike many other Canadians - have learned to embrace and even appreciate our snowy season.


Every city in Canada deals with winter conditions, there’s just no way around it (unless global warming kicks in sooner than we anticipate), so you might as well use it to your advantage, right?! 

Edmonton is surrounded by some of the best places in the world for skiers and snowboarders (Banff, Jasper), but you don’t even have to leave town to get in on the slopes, because there are several options right at our doorsteps! 

Between the months of November and March, locals are able to take to the hills of the Edmonton Ski Club, the Snow Valley Ski Club, the Rabbit Hill Snow Resort, and the Sunridge Ski Area, all within t…
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