I Heart Edmonton

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology By Emil Tiedemann There is a large banner hanging from a pedway at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) that reads “We are essential to Alberta.” That couldn’t be more true!  Tens of thousands of part-time and full-time students from nearly 90 countries study any number of 120 credit programs essential for Alberta’s technical and knowledge-based industries, including everything from petroleum engineering and business administration to hospitality and interior design.  That’s a far cry from the very beginnings of NAIT, when 326 students graduated at the first graduation ceremony in 1965, two years after the school first opened. Over the years, NAIT (Edmonton’s equivalent to Calgary’s SAIT) has rapidly expanded, with the construction of numerous additions and extensions, and there are more plans for the near future.  In a province like Alberta, trades people are always in demand, and NAIT just so happens...

Edmonton Corn Maze By Emil Tiedemann Near the end of Stanley Kubrick ’s The Shining , an enraged Jack Torrance (played intensely by the one and only Jack Nicholson ) scours a wintery maze, axe in hand, searching for his son so that he can chop him into tiny little pieces.  Although there’s (likely) no chance of this happening to you within the corn walls of the 10-acre Edmonton Corn Maze , just west of the city in Parkland County, there’s no reason why you can’t pretend that it is! Especially during the dark evening hours around the Halloween season, when the Maze doubles as the frightening Farm of Fear!    The 2017 version of the Edmonton Corn Maze is dedicated to the locally-established BioWare. But, if you’ve got young ones, then you might want to wait until the daylight before trekking the five kms of twists and turns of one of Edmonton’s favourite family attractions. Since 2001, the Maze puts out a unique design for every season (August to October), with...

Some of the latest happenings in Edmonton (Capital Ex, A Taste of Edmonton, Honda Indy...) BY EMIL TIEDEMANN E dmonton's most anticipated annual event, Capital Ex , is nearing! From Friday, July 23rd to Sunday, August 1st the exhibition will take place at Northlands, which will host dozens of rides & games (hopefully not the Scorpion ride from the Stampede!), free concerts, food & shopping, fireworks, and 522,000 square feet of exhibits at the newly renovated Edmonton EXPO Center (including a casino, and beer & wine gardens). Amongst the impressive list of guest performers at TELUS Stage during the 10-day event are Kardinal Offishall & Karl Wolf (July 23), Colin James & Odds (July 24), George Canyon & Gord Bamford (July 25), Stereos , Down with Webster & Jhevon (July 26), Sloan & Maurice (July 27), April Wine & Shawn Hlookoff (July 28), Shane Yellowbird , Dean Brody & Hey Romeo (July 29), Metric & Hot Hot Heat (July 30), ...

It's Brittney, bitch! 'I Heart' gets to know one of Edmonton's prevalent social media darlings... BY EMIL TIEDEMANN "I NSTANT teleportation," answered Brittney Le Blanc , when The Unknown Studio asked her what "super power" she'd prefer most. "I wouldn't have to worry about parking, I'd get more sleep, I'd cover WAY more news and stories...I'd be unstoppable. Plus, I could travel more." That says a lot about Le Blanc, a local media "wonderkid" and prolific Twitterer who's lived in Edmonton all her life. She works long hours, enjoys covering the goings-on of our mutual hometown, and seems to know everyone who is anyone in it. Seriously! I've seen photos of Ms. Le Blanc posing next to software developer & fellow social media guru Mack D. Male , Olympic gold medalist Kevin Martin , and even Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach . Nice! The former NAIT student ( Radio & Television Arts ) has spent the las...

During the Olympic Games Edmonton area athletes reminded us why we're called the 'City of Champions' BY EMIL TIEDEMANN I 'VE never really watched past Olympics, Winter or Summer, and I had no intention in starting with the 2010 Games in Vancouver . But, like so many fellow Canucks, I was drawn into the spectacle that would connect a whole nation like nothing before it had. Patriotic Canadians from coast to coast revelled in every bronze, silver and gold medal victory of our hometown heroes, themselves fuelled by a united pride that caught many of us--and outsiders alike--offguard. For seventeen days, millions were glued to TV sets as we not only ended our dubious distinction of being the only country not to earn a gold medal on home turf, but went onto win a record 14, more by a single country in any previous Winter Olympics ever! By Sunday (Feb. 28) Canada had logged 26 medals in all, enough for third place, behind the U.S. (37) and Germany (30). Some of those medals ...

Local curling superstar and co. sweep the Norwegians to take the gold at the Vancouver Olympics BY EMIL TIEDEMANN P RIOR to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Canada had never won a gold medal on home turf. Last night (Feb. 27) Edmonton curler Kevin Martin led his team to our nation's 13th gold medal of these Games! This was also Martin's first trip to the top of the podium, previously taking silver in 2002. The 43-year-old Martin and his hand-picked team of Canucks' John Morris , Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert beat Norway's Thomas Ulsrud et al 6-3 on Saturday to give Canada its 25th medal for 2010. "We put this team together with the idea to get to Vancouver and we did it," Martin said. "It was a lot of hard work to try and get back in the Olympic Games and with all the hard work, we made it to the finish line." Ironically, it was Team Norway who kept Martin from taking gold at the '02 Games in Salt Lake City, though neither team made it to t...

e O LYMPIC pride was undeniable on the snowy field in the photo below, as students of Spruce Grove 's Woodhaven Middle School showed off their support for local Olympic hero Jennifer Heil yesterday (Feb. 10). Heil, who won a gold medal in freestyle skiing at the 2006 winter games in Turin, Italy, is from Spruce Grove and, in fact, attended Woodhaven School. She is going for gold again when the 2010 Olympic Games kickoff tomorrow (Feb. 12) in Vancouver. To capture this shot Global 's news helicopter, Global 1 , hovered above the junior high school, where hundreds of students formed the five celebrated rings that make up the official symbol of the Olympics, as a pair held up a sign that read "Go Jenn Go." Some of the other locals who will be competing in the Vancouver Olympics include curlers Kevin Martin & Adam Enright (of Edmonton), speed skater Tamara Oudenaarden (of St. Albert ), bobsledders Pierre Lueders & Neville Wright (of Edmonton), hockey playe...

The Oilers made it five in a row for a franchise record, and Kevin Martin heads to the Olympics BY EMIL TIEDEMANN I T was an exceptional weekend for sports in Edmonton, as the Oilers and local curler Kevin Martin reminded us why we're the "City of Champions." On Friday (December 11th) the Oilers came back from a 3-0 game against the Blues in St. Louis, to score five consecutive goals, closing the third period with a 5-3 victory. That was the team's fifth straight win on the road (same road trip), setting a new franchise record. "I think after winning five on the road, it's tough to play any better," Dustin Penner told reporters. "It's tough to play any better than that." Penner scored once during Friday night's game, in addition to three assists. Shawn Horcoff and Sam Gagner eached shared a goal as well, while Gilbert Brule made two. Unfunately, the Oilers weren't able to make it six in a row when they returned to Rexall Place ...

The Canadian Curling Trials takes place in Edmonton to determine who will head to the 2010 Olympics BY EMIL TIEDEMANN T OMORROW (Sunday, December 6) marks the kickoff of the 2009 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings (presented by Monsanto ), which serves as the Canadian Curling Trials that will determine who will head to Vancouver in February to represent Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics . Both the men's and women's teams will be crowned during the week-long (Dec. 6-13) tournament at Rexall Place . The round robin format has the 1st place teams automatically advancing to their respective finals, where they will be up against the winners of the semi-finals, which is made up of the 2nd and 3rd place teams. Confused yet? Me, too! The women's finals will take place at 6:00PM on Saturday, December 12th, and will be taped by TSN. That same network will also televise the men's finals the following afternoon (Sunday, December 13th) at 1:00PM. In addition to the TV spots, the event ...

The living dead and psychologically-challenged make for one hell of a good time at the country's best fest of its kind BY EMIL TIEDEMANN D O you enjoy watching decapitations in slow motion? How about reanimated corpses snacking on fresh " BRAINS "? Perhaps you're into gory torture scenes that test your gag reflexes? If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then you're either demented like myself or you'd be a shoe-in for Canada's premier horror film festival, DEDfest , which runs through until this evening (Sunday, Oct. 18). Friday night was Day 2 (of 4) of DEDfest, which is the reincarnation of last year's Deadmonton Film Festival , a gathering of horror movie fans that went "on hiatus" when co-founder Matt Acosta decided to pursue filmmaking on a more full-time basis. The news left me balling on my bedroom floor, screaming "Why?! Why?!" at the top of my smoke-cloaked lungs, clenching my reddened fists at the Lord...