Week of July 3, 2008, Issue #663
COVER
Bestest 2008
Here we go again, Edmonton! For the sixth year in a row we’ve called on our band of intrepid Vue writers (and our legions of Vue readers) to put pen to paper in celebration of the quirky, the quaint and the qualities that make our little city on the river the bestest it can be. read more...
FRONT
As Taft rides off into the sunset, what’s next for the Liberals?
In a move that had been widely anticipated ever since the Stelmach Conservatives cruised to an overwhelming 72 seats in the Mar 3 provincial election, Alberta Liberal leader Kevin Taft announced on Jun 26 that he is stepping down as party leader. read more...
Vuepoint - Morgentaler deserves honour
SCOTT HARRIS / scott@vueweekly.com
Vue Readers
CYCC National Youth Climate Summit
Young people fucking (with the tar sands) - SCOTT HARRIS / scott@vueweekly.com
Dyer Straight - You’re either with us or you’re with the Democrats
GWYNNE DYER / gwynne@vueweekly.com
Issues - New ERCB directive on toxic tailings is a huge step in the wrong direction
RICARDO ACUÑA / ualberta.ca/parkland
Well, Well, Well - Dance your cares away
CONNIE HOWARD / health@vueweekly.com
Queermonton - Intolerance in words
TAMARA GORZALKA / tam@vueweekly.com
DISH
Carla Alexander
When I hear the words “soup kitchen,” I immediately think of Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi. Bossy, intimidating, fear-provoking, and just plain nasty would be some of the kinder, gentler, descriptions that come to mind. But that particular tyrant made such amazing, awe-inspiring and addictive soups that people were willing to put up with almost anything just for the honour of filling their tummies from his canteens. read more...
DeVine’s Canadian Wine Festival
There’s more to Canada than beer - ERIN MIKALUK / erin@vueweekly.com
Great Head - Pedigree only counts so much
JASON FOSTER / greathead@vueweekly.com
Vue Readers
... but she does make a mean soup - JAN HOSTYN / jan@vueweekly.com
ARTS
Face the Nation, Red Tile, Drawn From the Past
The history of the Americas isn’t simple, and in our country, as elsewhere, the sins of colonialism endure, muddying the present with grievously uncorrected errors and injustices of the past. Academic sources estimate 90 per cent of some Aboriginal populations were lost in the slaughter that followed waves of conquerors, corporate representatives and settlers sweeping across lands already known but seen through European eyes as “virgin.” Some perished entirely; others, displaced from traditional homelands, usurped yet another people’s territory. read more...
The elephant in the abstraction room - AMY FUNG / amy@vueweekly.com
I like it just the way it is, actually - PAUL BLINOV / blinov@vueweekly.com
Edmonton International Street Performers Festival
Mid-air panhandling: street performers return - PAUL BLINOV / blinov@vueweekly.com
A glorious summer for Richard III - MATTHEW HALLIDAY / matthew@vueweekly.com
FILM
The DIY Generation
It’s somewhat indicative of the genre’s DIY leanings that there isn’t a great consensus on exactly what to call it. “Mumblecore” is the tag most frequently thrown around, and it’s useful, suggesting the muted, mundane aesthetic that most of the filmmakers employ; The DIY Generation is what the curators of the collection of films coming to Metro this weekend have christened it, and it also has some use, though it’s far too vague on the actual content of the films, most of which are miles away from the work of preceding indie-film auteurs who got by on their own. “Slackavetes” (clever, but missing the point) and “Bedhead cinema” (just stupid) also get tossed around occasionally. read more...
Quirk almost overwhelms - JOSEF BRAUN / josef@vueweekly.com
DVDetective - Men behaving adly
BRIAN GIBSON / dvdetective@vueweekly.com
OMAR MOUALLEM / omar@vueweekly.com
Film Capsules - Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
OMAR MOUALLEM / omar@vueweekly.com
Film Capsules - Terminator Retrospective
JOSEF BRAUN / josef@vueweekly.com
BRIAN GIBSON / brian@vueweekly.com
JONATHAN BUSCH / jonathan@vueweekly.com
MUSIC
Colleen Brown & Darren Frank
Realistically, it was probably only a matter of time before Colleen Brown and Darren Frank ended up on stage together. Though they occupy slightly different points on the spectrum—Brown is more of a confessional chanteuse, of the kind Canada seems to have the market cornered on, whereas Frank is more of a pop observationist, a songwriter who puts his ear to the ground before putting pen to paper—they both trade in a very lyrical, expansive folk-pop, wrapping a wry, earnest sensibility in easy to digest melodies. And, of course, there’s the small fact that the pair has been an extra-musical duo for almost three years now, making their collaboration not so much an establishing of a relationship as an extending of it. read more...
CAROLYN NIKODYM / carolyn@vueweekly.com
Backlash Blues - A social microcosm as the ultimate party
ROLAND PEMBERTON / roland@vueweekly.com
Eric’s Trip is on a whole new journey - CAROLYN NIKODYM / carolyn@vueweekly.com
Sloan keeps it real - BRYAN BIRTLES / bryan@vueweekly.com
Metal goes around the world in an hour and a half - EDEN MUNRO / eden@vueweekly.com
GEN HANDLEY / gen@vueweekly.com
ALYSSA NOEL / alyssa@vueweekly.com
EDEN MUNRO / eden@vueweekly.com
EDEN MUNRO / eden@vueweekly.com
New Sounds - Ariane Mahrÿke Lemire
MARIA KOTOVYCH / maria@vueweekly.com
SCOTT HARRIS / scott@vueweekly.com
BRYAN BIRTLES / bryan@vueweekly.com
Enter Sandor - Mix tapes are the bestest
STEVEN SANDOR / steven@vueweekly.com
WHITEY and TB PLAYER / quickspins@vueweekly.com
Forest City Lovers is all heart and craft - MARY CHRISTA O'KEEFE / marychrista@vueweekly.com
BESTEST
Bestest 2008 - Part One
Bestest Contributors read more...
Vue Staff
Vue Staff
Survey Said... - Vue Readers