River City Writer

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.

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

Contrary to popular belief, Mingus Tourette reproduces asexually.

Via Warren Ellis.

I will be revamping this site in the very near future. The focus of the city will be changing a bit, but it will still be about Edmonton, so don’t worry. I think you’ll like the changes. I don’t want to say much more until everything is ready to go. It will likely be about 2 weeks, since I am going on vacation soon and won’t be able to work on the site while I’m gone. Please be patient, and you’ll soon see a new and improved River City Writer.

In the meantime, expect some weirdness as I will probably be doing some work before I leave on vacation.

I haven’t been posting much here recently. Partly, this is because of my own laziness. I have no good excuse for this. I will do my best to start posting regularly again, soon. However, I am wondering if people would like to write guest posts for River City Writer.

This is a blog about Edmonton, but it’s really only about my experience of Edmonton. I’d like it to be a blog about how other people experience Edmonton, as well.

If you’re interested in writing a guest post here, either as a one-off thing, or as a regular column, let me know.

I am a bad, bad blogger. I have not been posting nearly as often as I should be. I will try to remedy this. In the meantime, check out some of the Alberta/Edmonton blogs on the list fellow Edmonton-based blogger, Aaron Braaten, has put together.

I just wanted to leave a quick note for all of my readers to let you know that I will soon be switching my RSS feed to a Feedburner feed. If you’re feed reader stops giving you updates in the next day or 2, it’s not because I haven’t been writing. It’s because the feed location has changed, so you’ll need to update your subscription.

Check back soon for the new feed location.

Update 03-12-2008: The new feed location is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/river-city-writer.