River City Writer

The 2nd portion of the concert starts off with an arrangement of several swing classics, arranged by Jeff Tyzik. Big Band music seems perfectly placed in the park today, for some reason. I sometimes feel that swing shouldn’t be played in a concert hall, as it’s dance music, and if people can’t dance it’s out of place. But, here in the park, it seems like the perfect kind of music for a semi-casual concert.

Oh, did I say people can’t dance? I take it back, children were dancing throughout the audience. Oh, to be young and uninhibited again…

Next up: a piece composed by Roydon Tse, who is taking part in the Young Composers Project. This is the debut performance of the piece, “Remembrances.” While it was a bit too nostalgic for my personal tastes it was, nonetheless, a very well put together composition, and had I not been told that Tse was to start 12th Grade tomorrow, I would never have realized that it was composed by someone so young.

Following Tse’s piece, PJ Perry returns to the stage, sans jacket and cap, for a meldy of Charlie Parker tunes. And, once again, I’ve got to take a few minutes and just listen.

Shall we start with PJ Perry’s brown suit again? His wife hates it, he loves it, the audience has…mixed feelings. Personally, I loved it…on him. But I would never wear it myself.

Now, though, it’s time for the “Hockey Night in Canada Theme.” Hearing HNIC with a full orchestra is pretty awesome. Obviously, it’s recognizable—it’s probably the most recognizable song in Canada—but it still sounds different and more powerful when arranged for a full orchestra. Regardless, all I need now is for a puck to drop and a game to start.

And now conducting his entry into the CBC HNIC “new theme” contest, we have Jon (John?) Estazio (I couldn’t quite hear his name, and I’ve almost certainly spelt it incorrectly, so I apologize in advance) wearing an Oilers jersey to conduct his entry: “The Power Play Fanfare.” It was a great piece, which drew a standing ovation from most of the audience (ah…the power of hockey in Canada). I liked it. i actually really liked it. Even though I haven’t heard many of the other entries, I could really see this as the new HNIC theme song.

It’s got everything you need to make a great sports theme song: a build-up of energy, something that can pump up the crowd, and a big finish that demands the audience begin to cheer (either for the song, or for their hockey team).

And, with that, we come to the end of the first half of this afternoon’s performance.

It’s a cool day, but sunny, for the final day of the ESO’s Symphony Under the Sky at the Heritage Ampitheatre in William Harwelak Park. In a few moments, things will be getting under way with the national anthem and “God Save the Queen.”

The program has, for various reasons, been thrown out the window for this afternoon’s performance, which means we’re in for a random but entertaining show.

Things started off Checkovsky March (???)…a number which, apparently, requires audience participation. Clap along!

The next piece is “Belle of the Ball,” a piece by Leroy Anderson. Thouhg I didn’t recognize the name of the piece, I do recognize the music, which is often the case with symphony music and I. I enjoy the music, and Ienjoy learning more about it, but if you were to ask me to name a tune, I’d be at a loss for anything other than the most commonly recognized songs: Beethovin’s 9th, the “1812 Overture,” etc.

“Phantom Regiment” is the next piece, also by Leroy Anderson. This is apparently a relatively obscure piece, which makes me less embarassed to not recognize it. It was a quite charming piece, which the audience seemed to enjoy. Of course, I am continuely impressed by our ESO, and never fail to be both entertained and enlightened by them…as difficult as it made be with ignorant people talking throught the enitre show behind me.

A little medly being called “Saint Bailey’s Rag” goes by, and we’re into the first song with tonight’s guest artist PJ Perry on the sax. I believe that this will be a medly of ’20s jazz numbers…

Watching Perry rock out in his brown suit and baseball cap is an enjoyable experience. Seeing him lean into the music and give it all that he has to give it is beyond enjoyable, it’s…well, frankly, it makes me want to put down the computer for a few minutes to just sit and take it all in. And so I shall.

In case you didn’t read my first quickie Fringe review post, the basic idea is that I write a review of a play I’ve seen at this year’s Fringe in 140 characters or less. Why only 140 characters? Because I’m writing these reviews as Twitter updates.

THE MOLE – Worth watching, but felt like something was missing. Flubbed a few lines, but good acting. Story was lacking something, though.

It’s Fringe time in Edmonton, and so I figured that it would be a good idea to add some reviews of plays that I’ve seen. I wrote some quickie reviews on Twitter earlier today, and thought that I’d share them here, as well.

Because Twitter updates are limited to 140 characters, these reviews are ultra-short. I’ve tried to get to the core of each piece (or at least, the core of my opinion on each piece). I’ll likely post more throughout the duration of the festival.

Here’s what I have so far:

THE SHAKESPEARE STORY – Very funny & entertaining, even if you know next to nothing about Shakespeare. Best show I’ves seen so far.

WHISKY, GIN & PINTS OF BEER – You’ve seen this story told dozens of times before, usually with better accents. Not bad, but not great.

DIE NASTY – Too many inside jokes this year. Not as funny, as a result. Fringe insiders will love it, others should get drunk before hand.

In my previous post, I stated that The Works festival ended this past weekend. In fact, the festival ends on July 6, 2008 (this coming Friday). I apologize for the error.

There are a lot of things going on in the city right now (as there will be all summer), so I figured the easiest way to share the information would be in a single round-up post.

• The Edmonton International Jazz Festival and The Works Art & Design Festival both wrap up this weekend. If you have the chance, check them outbefore they’re over.
• “Bash’d” the gay rap opera by Edmonton theatre alumni Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow is being performed as an off-Broadway production in New York City right now. The New York Times gave them a good write-up recently.
• The Freewill Shakespeare Festival (formerly the River City Shakespeare Festival) began this week, and continues everyday (excluding Mondays) until July 20. This year’s productions are “As You Like It” and “Richard III.” I’ve seen both already and they’re both good, though I have to admit that the performances don’t seem quite as strong as in past years. If you’re only able to make it out to one of the plays this year, I’d suggest going for the comedy, “As You Like It.”
• The Feats Festival of Dance begins tomorrow. I honestly didn’t even know that Edmonton had a dance festival until I started checking out the upcoming festivals at FestivalCity.ca. It looks like the festival includes a wide range of dance types, so there should be something for just about everyone.

Friends, Edmontonians, Countrymen…

I have been neglegent and left this blog to rot far longer than I should have. Likely, I have lost many readers and/or subscribers. Luckily, I never got around to setting up Google Analytics for this blog, so I am unaware of the stats.

Regardless, I am back, and I’m telling you about the Edmonton International Jazz Festival. Last night, June 20, was the first night of this year’s festival and I, the River City Writer, was present at one of the shows.

I checked out the Four Corners Quartet, who were part of the Club Series, at hulbert’s. They played a mix of originals and standards, with an emphasis on the standards. Though not a huge jazz cat, I recognized a good number of the standards.

There was a lot of Charlie Parker, and some Miles Davis, which is to be expected when the leader of the band is a sax player. Oddly, I think there were a few Thelonious Monk songs in the mix, which is odd, given that there was not a piano in sight. Of course, like I said, I’m not a jazz expert, so I could be wrong about the Monk bits.

I didn’t get a chance to speak to them, but I believe the Four Corners Quartet is from Edmonton, so if you see them around town, I recommend that you check them out. In the meantime, be sure to check out the rest of the Festival.

The Edmonton International Jazz Festival runs until June 29, 2008. For a full schedule of events check out the 2008 Jazz Festival Calendar.

I’m not normally a person who talks about reasons why people should leave Edmonton. After all, I love this city, and the entire point of this blog is to promote the good things about Edmonton. Still, River City isn’t perfect. The haters out there occasionally have some legitimate complaints.

So, this week, I’m going to talk about some of the biggest reasons why moving away from Edmonton might be a good idea. But, because this is a blog focusing on River City’s positive qualities, rather than it’s negatives, I’ll also suggest ways to “solve” the problems without leaving the city.

The first, and perhaps the main reason why people might want to leave Edmonton is simple: the winter.

Edmonton winters are long, cold, and miserable

Edmonton is one of the most northerly major cities in the world. Because of our location, we have long, cold winters. Global warming is slowly changing this (which is not a good thing, despite how nice it may be to have fewer -20 Celsius days in the winter), but the fact is, it gets cold in River City during the winter.

On top of the cold, our winters are very long. Winter-like temperatures can last as long as 6 months in Edmonton and, because of our latitude, it gets dark very early in the winter.

For most Edmontonians, winter means waking up and driving to work before the sunrises, and not leaving work until the sun has already set. For people like me, who don’t have a window in their office, this can mean getting almost no natural light during the winter months.

The lack of sunlight and the cold can lead to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Even those who don’t suffer from true SAD can find themselves suffering from a general sense of malaise during an Edmonton winter.

I don’t blame people for wanting to leave Edmonton after they’ve experienced and River City winter. Hell, sometimes even I want to leave during the winter.

Despite that, I think there are ways that Edmontonians can make winter work in our favour. Rather than dreading winter, we should embrace it.

An Edmonton Winter Festival

The main solution to the Edmonton winter blues, in my opinion, would be to launch a winter festival, similar to La fête des Neiges de Montréal or Carnaval de Québec (the Quebec Winter Festival). Instead of hiding ourselves away in our homes and malls for 5 or 6 months a year, we should be out and enjoying our city during the winter.

Perhaps an Edmonton winter festival could be focused on Churchill Square, to take advantage of the skating rink in front of City Hall. Surely, something could be done on the river, as well. If the ice is thick enough, we could create a natural skating rink to rival the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.

Like the Rideau Skateway, kiosks could be setup along the river (and in Churchill Square) to sell hot food to keep revelers warm. Coffee, hot chocolate, and warm pastries would sell like crazy in such a situation.

A new Edmonton winter festival could take advantage of the very few winter events that already occur in Edmonton, such as the Ice on Whyte ice sculpting competition, incorporating them into the new festival. Perhaps the festival could kickoff on January 1st at midnight, using the New Year’s Eve Downtown celebration as a way to launch both the New Year, and the festival. (This would be especially symbolic during the festival’s inaugural year).

That’s my suggested solution to the Edmonton winter blues: an Edmonton winter festival. I’ve given a brief illustration of what I think such a festival could and should look like, but I’d like to hear your ideas.

After all, for something like this to ever become a reality, the festival organizers would undoubtedly need input from the community. Let’s get a jump on the game and start brainstorming ideas here.

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be live twittering all night from the Roar. If, for some reason, you can’t make it out to the Festival, you can still keep track of what’s happening by following my Twitter stream, either on the side bar of my personal blog, on my Facebook profile, or my Twitter page.

If you have a Twitter account and a cell phone, you can set it up so that you get messages sent directly to your phone.

Facebook and the blog seem to be the best places to keep track of the messages. I’ve noticed that messages sent from my cell phone sometimes don’t appear on my Twitter page, but still show up on the blog and on Facebook.

If you can’t make it to the Roar, be sure to keep up to speed by watching my Twitter feed.