I Heart Edmonton

Before the one, the only MBF put on a stellar-as-usual showcase of how to do music right, the mellow musician gave us a look-see into the backstages of his daily life...past, present 'n future... BY EMIL TIEDEMANN Myself (far left) with MBF and my cohorts Lonnie & Samantha! I MAY have been shaking my head, but I still had a smirk on my face when some chick ran up on stage at the Starlite Room when MBF (that's Michael Bernard Fitzgerald , for those of you who unfortunately don't know) broke into his earnest take on Bruce Springsteen 's classic " Dancing in the Dark ." Somebody had to do it, I guess. MBF took it in stride though, insisting the girl share a kiss with his newly-single drummer Andrew Ball . Lucky her. That's the sorta shit-nizzle I've come to expect out of an MBF show, and at this point I'd consider myself a veteran. An MBF journeyman perhaps, soliciting his melodic sounds to my friends and acquaintances alike, all of wh...

Mars & Venus' "Shades of White" (2011) BY EMIL TIEDEMANN You can also check out Mars & Venus' "Connor" video here . T HREE months after five friends formed Mars & Venus in sexy Edmonton, Alberta, the "band who could never do it the easy way" ventured down south, playing probably mostly holes in the wall in the States and even Mexico. This five-week stretch took them to places they'd never been to before, headlining shows in joints as foreign as 3,000km! That takes balls, blaring their eclectic rock vocal graffiti for Tijuanans just days after launching their premiere EP, Stray Bullets Make Brave Hearts . That was 2009. Carlos "Los Pipes" Calleja (vocals), Nathan "the Drama" Lafrance (guitar), Matthew "Whitey Furious" Brougeault (bass), Jordan "Twreck" Tworek (drums), and newbie Craig "the Craig" Sartor (guitar) are "ready to take on the world" now, easily and...

The 30th annual GVFF will screen some of the year's most socially relevant documentaries from around the world, over four days BY EMIL TIEDEMANN The 30th annual GVFF is March 1-4. C ANADA'S longest-running documentary film festival, Global Visions , is celebrating its 30th year! Not too shabby for a small-time event that started up 29 years ago at the Edmonton Learners Centre , as the Third World Film Festival, "dedicated to presenting socially relevant films from around the world exploring issues of social, economic, and environmental development. "Our mandate is to promote film and video as catalysts for reflection, discussion, and responsible action," claims the GVFF, which runs this year from March 1-4 at various venues throughout the city. "We operate from the understanding that the world is getting smaller, and that all people are diverse, interconnected, interdependent citizens of the global village." The 4-day event will showcase fe...

Hollywood finds a (used) vehicle for Washington and Reynolds, but nobody said it was going to be any good BY EMIL TIEDEMANN The nearly 2-hour 'Safe House' was penned by David Guggenheim, who's only other credit was a 2011 TV movie called 'Exit Strategy,' starring Washinton's 'Training Day' co-star Ethan Hawke. G UN shots, government conspiracies, corporate betrayal, car chases. Repeat. If you've seen one, you've seen 'em all-type shit here. The only difference here is it's now fresh-faced Ryan Reynolds who at one point actually mutters the words, " Who do you work for? " at the guy he's pinned to the ground at gunpoint, right after I said in my head, "please don't don't tell me he's going to say, 'Who do you work for'." Come on! Safe House was the first American venture for Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espinosa ( Easy Money ), who probably grew up glued to the TV set watching movies th...

At it again, Edmonton's Trevor Anderson is basking in the glory of winning an international honour for his short film BY EMIL TIEDEMANN L AST weekend a local filmmaker took home the coveted DAAD Short Film Prize at The Berlinale 2012, in Berlin. Fresh off the success of his 2010 short The High Level Bridge   (see below), Edmonton's own Trevor Anderson was in prime company at the 11-day, 62nd annual Berlinale--also known as the Berlin International Film Festival--where his 25-minute musical documentary, The Man That Got Away , received rave reviews. Edmonton filmmaker Trevor Anderson at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival. Photo taken by Fish Griwkowsky , who also worked on the film, 'The Man That Got Away,' which won the DAAD Short Film Prize there. "A musical. A life. My family almost forgot to tell me about my great-uncle Jimmy," Anderson describes his eccentric film. "True story, or so I'm told. Jimmy grew up on a farm, on the ...

The Edmonton Arts Council has just announced an inaugural cash prize for an eligible local filmmaker, worth $10,000! BY EMIL TIEDEMANN The Edmonton Arts Council, in partnership with the Edmonton Film Commission, is awarding $10,000 to a local filmmaker this fall! A RE you from Edmonton? Do you like to make movies? (Not those kinds of movies, you perv!). Could you use $10,000? If you answered "hell yeah" to all three of those questions, then listen up, because the EAC ( Edmonton Arts Council ) is looking to acknowledge a local filmmaker in the form of the inaugural Edmonton Film Prize , and will be accepting submissions until Friday, March 30 . "Awards for excellence are an important part of investment in arts and artists," said John Mahon , the EAC's Executive Director. "' The Art of Living ,' Edmonton's 10-year cultural plan for the City, identifies civic awards in the arts as a strategic move." Mahon says that there will be an ...

The ultimate hungry man's burger looks like something out've a meat lover's fairytale, but does 'The Goon' actually stack up? BY EMIL TIEDEMANN In 2009 Randy Ferbey , an Edmonton-born world renowned curling champion, opened the doors to his own sports bar in St. Albert, featuring pool, free wi-fi, and screens! M Y brother and I finished a full game of pool before he had to walk into the kitchen to fetch our waitress, or anybody for that matter. We were the only ones in Randy Ferbey's The Rink Sports Bar & Grill ( 367 St. Albert Trail. 780-569-5050 ), in nearby St. Albert , other than the elusive waitress--who happened to be washing dishes in the back--and some guy sitting at a desk in the far back room, behind the bar. The cook, maybe? She barely apologized and then finally took our orders, which allowed me to tend to kicking my brother's ass at another game on their one pool table. She let us play for a flat fee ($5), as oppose to the hourly ...

You might be an Edmontonian if... BY EMIL TIEDEMANN I T was only weeks ago that my buddy Adam posted a YouTube video on my Facebook feed, called " Shit Nobody Says ." It's been viewed something like 7 million times in the last month, which doesn't come as a surprise if you've seen it. And that's why there's about 83 trillion copycat clips that have popped up since it went viral, although itself was inspired by the even more popular " Shit Girls Say ." Dozens of niche videos have clogged up YouTube since, including shit " Asian Girls Say ," " Gay Guys Say ," " People Say on Facebook ," or Gay Asian Girls Say on Facebook." Okay, so I made up that last one. And now, there's "Shit Edmontonians Say," a soon-to-be-on-your-Facebook-feed mockathon penned by Colin Priestner , and featuring special appearances by Jordan Eberle , Ryan Nugent-Hopkins , Gene Principe , Dan Tencer , and other locals. C...

Some of the latest happenings in and around Edmonton (Family Day, Silver Skate, Winefest...) BY EMIL TIEDEMANN 'Cinderella' runs at the Jubilee for only 2 days (Feb. 17-18).  F AMILY Day is just around the corner (Monday, in case you didn't know), and so the EPL (Edmonton Public Library) is hosting its " Free Family Day Fun " event at every location in Edmonton (excluding the U of A locale). From 1-5PM the EPL will offer puppet shows by Kaybridge Productions, storytelling by TALES, digital photo & video demonstrations (bring your USB stick to store images), Aboriginal dancing by Edmonton's own Adrian LaChance , and the " Shrek -cellent" Family Day Movie Event. All for free! The latter event will take place at the Stanley A. Milner Library Theatre (downtown) at 2PM. Today ( Feb. 17 ) is the kick-off of the 22nd annual Silver Skate Festival & Winter Celebration in Hawrelak Park , which'll run up until Monday the 20th . Edmonton...