River City Writer

I’m in favour of closing the City Centre Airport. While I haven’t blogged about it until now, I’ve made my opinion fairly well known on Twitter and in discussions around the barroom table with friends and family.

My reasons for wanting to close the airport have been expressed by a number of other people who are more eloquent than I am, so I’ll keep it simple: we need to close the airport because doing so will benefit the majority of Edmontonians.

Leaving the airport open only benefits a very small group of people, many of whom aren’t even Edmontonians (sorry Northerners, but this is our city first; we appreciate your business and all, but Edmonton has to do what’s best for Edmontonians). Essentially, leaving the airport open would leave the majority of city residents subsidizing a convenient landing strip for the private jets of a very small minority of business people. (Yes, I’m over-simplifying, but the point stands.)

Far more people will benefit from the closure of the airport than from leaving it open. It’s as simple as that.

For others who’ve expressed my opinion more eloquently, check out the links below:

• In favour of closing YXD – Adam Rozenhart
• Muni is not ‘my’ airport – Lorne Gunter
• Not My Airport – Mack D. Male

Just an update for everyone wondering about Gilbert Bouchard’s memorial service. The service will be held at 2pm on Saturday, June 27 at the Unitarian Church of Edmonton (10804 119 Street NW).

If you’re on Facebook, view the event page for more information.

I’ve never really thought of Edmonton as a hipster enclave. Sure, we’ve got kids who wear thrift store cardigans and Buddy Holly glasses when they head out to the indie rock show, but what city doesn’t?

When I think of really hardcore hipsters (if such a thing is possible), I tend to think of places like New York or L.A., Toronto or Vancouver. Those are the cities were you find these fucking hipsters.

Yesterday, though, I encountered the ultimate hipster (female variety). Perhaps she isn’t the world’s ultimate hipster. She is, however, one of the ultimate hipsters in Edmonton.

I was driving at the time, so I wasn’t able to snap a picture. But, let me describe the scene for you.

She was riding down 104 Avenue on her fixed gear bicycle, wearing a miniskirt and ironic cowboy boots. Of course, that’s not enough to make her the ultimate hipster. She also wore a sock monkey toque, a tweed blazer, and (of course) thick-rimmed glasses. She was probably listening to music on her iPod Touch, too.

I wish I had a picture. She was the ultimate hipster.

As you have likely heard by now, Gilbert Bouchard has passed away. His body was found in the North Saskatchewan River on the weekend. It’s a sad thing to report, and it’s a sad day for the many communities that Gilbert was a part of—the arts community, the local media, the Unitarian Church of Edmonton—and it is, of course, very sad for his family and friends.

The only solace for them, I suppose, is that at least now they know for sure. There will be no doubt in their mind. They’ll be able to move on, eventually, instead of being stuck with the faint hope that, maybe, he’s still out there somewhere. That is something to be grateful for, I guess.

There will be a memorial for Gilbert held at the Unitarian Church of Edmonton, on Saturday, June 27. I don’t know the exact time yet, but I’m sure it will be announced on the Facebook group dedicated to Gilbert’s memory, as well as at the Unitarian Church (where I am a member, so I will report back if I hear anything).

I will report more details as I hear about them, so that those who want to celebrate and remeber Gilbert Bouchard’s life will be able to do so.

If you’re a frequent reader of the Best of Craigslist, you’re probably already familiar with the girl who wanted to have sex while playing World of Warcraft. If you’re not, I suggest you go and read that ad—authentic or not, it’s pretty funny stuff.

Well, now Edmonton has its very own version of that ad. Except, in our version, it’s a dude who wants to have sex with a woman while she plays Super Mario Bros. It’s probably fake, but it’s hilarious. And, it caught the eye of the perverts over at Fleshbot (NSFW).

That’s right, Edmonton is now Internet Famous because some dude has a fantasy about having sex while playing classic NES games.

UPDATE: The ad has been removed from Craigslist, but the Fleshbot post contains the entire text of the ad (it’s also not remotely safe for work, so don’t click it unless you’re at home).

I’ve noticed that I’m updating this blog less and less often. There are a variety of reasons for this, that I’m not going to get into; I mention this only because it’s caused me to question the future of this blog. I may or may not continue with it.

I do blog elsewhere on the web, though, so if you enjoy my writing but are frustrated that I don’t update this blog very often, you can also find me at:

• AdamSnider.com – my personal blog, wherein I write about whatever catches my fancy. There is no central theme, but I like to think that it’s an interesting read; and
• Exploring the Spirit – a blog about my personal spirituality. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re interested in spirituality without dogma or a defined creed, feel free to check it out.

I got this email last night, but wasn’t able to post it until now. Hopefully, by reposting it here, the search can be expanded and Gilbert will turn up safe and sound very soon.

Dear Members and Friends of UCE,

A serious situation has arisen concerning UCE member Gilbert Bouchard. If you don’t know him from church, you may recognize his name from his role as visual arts reporter for the Edmonton Journal and CBC Radio.

Gilbert has not been seen since late Monday night. He has been declared a missing person by the Edmonton Police Service and the family is asking all of his communities for assistance.

Gilbert has been suffering from depression and is off his medications. His disappearance is highly unusual behaviour for him. If you see him or have helpful information, please contact his family at 780-761-4156 or call the church.

I am sure we all are hoping and praying for his safe return.

Brian Kiely

There has apparently been no activity on his bank account since he’s been missing, either, which makes this even more concerning. If you have any information, please give his family a call or call the EPS at 780-423-4567.

I’ve included a physical description, a link to Gilbert’s Facebook profile, and a picture of him below.

• Description: Gilbert is a white male, stands about 5′10″ and weighs 250 lbs with brown hair and blue eyes.
• Gilbert’s Facebook profile

On Thursday, April 16, I was invited—along with several other local bloggers and twitterers—to attend a performance by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. In addition to live tweeting the event (check the #eso hashtag for those tweets) and being interviewed about the role that social media plays in promoting the arts (those videos should be up on the ESO blog in the near future), we were asked if we would blog about the concert.

I’m not a music critic, so I’m not going to give you a review of the concert, other than to say that it was excellent (I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ESO concert that I didn’t enjoy) and that you need to hear the giant pipe organ at the Winspear if you ever get the chance. That thing is amazingly powerful and the sound is great—it almost drowns out the rest of the orchestra!

Instead, I’m going to take a suggestion offered by ESO new media guy, Philip Paschke, and write about the importance of sharing cultural events—and the symphony in particular—with a friend.

Why take a friend to the ESO? Well, aside from the fact that I got a pair of free tickets, cultural events are always better if you have someone to share the experience with. Movies aren’t even half as good if you’ve got no one to talk discuss them with afterward. The same goes for the symphony.

Unlike a lot of popular music, orchestral music tends to fall into the realm of “high art.” Now, I don’t like to draw a distinction between the highbrow and the lowbrow—especially since so much of art manages to successfully combine the two—but let’s be honest here. As much as I love a good rap song, if you strip away the lyrics the music is pretty boring most of the time. Rarely is the music particularly thought provoking sans lyrics.

With classical and orchestral music, however, the music stands alone. Rarely is there a vocal component to voice the story that the composer is trying to tell. The music must do this on it’s own. Because of this, it can sometimes be hard to decide what sort of story is being told. Is this song about love and heartbreak, or is it about the horrors of war? Is this song a tribute to the composer’s god, or is it meant to conjure up images of the glory of nature?

With the variety of possiblities out there, having someone to discuss the concert with is all the more important. Not only can you talk about how good the music sounded, or how entertaining the conductor’s jokes were (I’m looking at you, Mr. Eddins). You can also discuss what the music was trying to say. Interpreting music—or any art, for that matter—is much more interesting when you have a companion to bounce ideas off of (or to debate ideas with, depending on what your idea of fun is).

The same is true of any sort of art. Whether you’re going to a horror movie or a performance by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (which I highly recommend), bring a friend. You’ll get much more out of the show because of it.

I’m sure that many of you have been waiting for the Raving Poets to begin the 10th year of their infamous open stage reading series. Well, it’s started, and this year’s spring season has been dubbed Sofa King.

Raving Poets: Sofa King
April 1st to May 27th, 2009
The Kasbar Lounge below Yianni’s Taverna
10444 – Whyte Ave. Edmonton

I believe that emcee Michael Gravel has decided to take the year off, and that some-time host Jadon Rempel will step in to fill his rather large shoes. Jadon has always done a kick-ass job filling in for Mike in the past, so I have no doubt that he’ll slip into the role of full-time emcee with ease.

Other than that, the format that has become standard in the past few years is going to be in place this year, as well, as far as I know:

• Sign-up at 7:30pm; show at 8pm.
• 16 readers will be randomly draw from those who put their name in the hat; there is no special requirement to read (beyond signing-up).
• Give the band directions and they’ll improvise a soundtrack for your poem; keep the poem under 5 minutes or die.

That’s pretty much it. If you’ve never come down before, I highly recommend it. And, of course, you don’t have to be a poet hoping to read in order to enjoy the show.

Come out and see some of the best poets in Edmonton rock the stage every Wednesday from April through to the end of May.

Edmonton is home to at least 3 2 microbreweries: Alley Kat, Amber’s Brewing, and Prairie Boy Brewing. At least 2 of these breweries—Alley Kat and Amber’s—make really good beer.

Prairie Boy’s Fort Garry and Two Rivers lines may well be excellent beers, but I’ve never tried them. I have, however, tried their Ridin’ Dirty Malt Liquor and I have to be honest: it’s fucking awful. There’s really no other way to describe it. It’s just terrible.

Having said that, I will reiterate: Prairie Boy Brewing may make some damn fine beer, but Ridin’ Dirty ain’t it.

My Favourite Local Beers

Before we get to the results of the Twitter poll I ran on Friday afternoon, I figured I would share my favourite Edmonton-brewed beers with you. I didn’t mention them on Twitter, because I didn’t want to bias the results too much (I did mention my least favourite, though), but here they are now:

• Alley Kat Charlie Flint’s Lager is exactly what it sounds like, a simple lager named after the grandfather of Alberta brewing, Charlie Flint. It’s a bit more malty than most Canadian lagers—perhaps borrowing it’s style more from European beer than from the North American industry—but it’s still crisp and clean. Excellent for drinking on a hot day.
• Alley Kat Full Moon Pale Ale is one of the better pale ales I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but it’s definitely the best in Edmonton. That said, it was a close race between Full Moon and Amber’s Pale Ale. Both are brews that are worth picking up.
• Amber’s Australian Mountain Pepper Berry Lager is a unique lager that is quite unassuming at first. However, after a couple of sips the subtle fruit flavours will start to turn up on your palette. Shortly after, the pepper flavour will begin to assert itself and you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised. I must advise tasting this one while you’re still relatively sober, though. The flavours are quite subtle and it risks tasting like an unremarkable lager if your senses have been dulled by more than 1 or 2 drinks prior to tasting it.

The beers listed above are not the only good brews being crafted in Edmonton these days, they’re just my personal favourites. I’ve tried most of the beers being brewed at both Alley Kat and Amber’s and I enjoy almost all of them. There are, however, a couple that I don’t like.

• Amber’s Sap Vampire Maple Lager is a maple-flavoured beer that is way too sweet for my liking. However, as you’ll see later, one of the people who answered my Twitter poll claimed that it’s a great breakfast beer. While I’ve never tried drinking it with breakfast (I’m not that much of a drunk), I will concede that it probably does go really well with bacon & eggs.
• Alley Kat’s Aprikat is an apricot-flavoured beer cooler. Like the Sap Vampire, I find it too sweet. I’m not opposed to fruit-flavoured beer—I really enjoy a nice raspberry beer on a hot day, for example—but Aprikat is one that I just can’t stand. That said, I know a lot of people who enjoy it, so try it for yourself…you just might like it.

Your Favourite Local Beers

Now that I’ve told you about my favourite locally-brewed beers, let’s get to the results of that Twitter poll, shall we?

The question I asked was: E-town folk: do you drink locally brewed beer? Why/why not? What is your favourite/least favourite local brew? #yeg

I followed that up with: To answer my own question: Yes, I drink local beer. Hard to pick a favourite, but my least favourite is Amber’s Sap Vampire Maple Lager #yeg

With those 2 tweets in mind, you should be able to make sense of the answers that followed:

DougKyle@ink_slinger I really liked Maverick, but I could only find it on tap at the Metro, and they’ve stopped carrying it . Any recommends? #yeg

lsfloyd@ink_slinger Amber’s Sap Vampire Maple Lager… That sounds like a beer I would avoid.

selenized@ink_slinger Other than beer brewed in brewsters I generally don’t drink local beer. Mostly because I haven’t found one I like. #yeg

BrockSky@ink_slinger I agree wholeheartedly with you on the Vampire Maple Lager dislike. It nearly ruined a lovely evening at Ric’s Grill for me.

rafaldyrda@ink_slinger I drink Alley Cat. Love darker beer and for now that’s my favourite. Well, besides Guinness #yeg

mijustin@ink_slinger @BrockSky @lsfloyd No way… Vampire Maple Sap by Amber’s is a great beer… for breakfast!

BrockSky@ink_slinger I really like the Flying Frog lager from Brewsters. I know that is not completely local but it is good.

GregWalker@ink_slinger I do Kokanee. I have since high school cause thats what the older kids drank so I did to fit in. Peer Pressure FTW!!!

DougKyle@ink_slinger cool, have never tried any of the Amber’s. May make a beer run seeing as my afternoon attempt at being productive isn’t working

apotheos@ink_slinger I don’t drink beer regularly enough to support an unpreserved microbrew. Too many calories.

It seems like local beers haven’t developed a very large following, at least among people I follow on Twitter. It’s a shame, really. Some of the best beer I’ve ever tasted is from right here in Edmonton.

For those wondering about Maverick (mentioned by @DougKyle), and why I didn’t mention it at the start of this post, it is unfortunately no longer being brewed.

Maverick Brewing Company was a brewery located in downtown Edmonton. They folded a few years ago (in 2007, I believe) due to financing and distribution issues. It’s a shame, because I really enjoyed their beer. It was a European-style lager that put macro-brewed lagers like Molson and Labatt to shame.

I’d love for someone to buy the recipe and begin brewing Maverick again. I think, with the right marketing, it could succeed in the local market and eventually expand across Alberta (and the rest of Canada). Unfortunately, there is little chance of this actually occurring.

Do you drink local beers? What are your favourites and/or least favourites? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.