Edmontonians May09

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T H E P E R S O N A L I T Y O F B U S I N E S S I N T H E C A P I T A L R E G I O N

2 EDMONTONIANS MAY 2009

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with

he Edmonton radio market has long been respected as oneof the best in Canada, as witnessed by awards presented to localstations virtually every year at the annual Canadian Music Week.

For example, belated congrats to both The Bear (Astral) andCISN (Corus) for their recent national recognition as “best of” at CMW inToronto. Plus, Ryan Zimmerman of The Bear was named Program Directorfor the Year.

Winning industry awards like these are huge accolades for the hard work andcommitment it takes to make radio stations great. We’re up against much largercities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver for this annual event.

We’ll have four new contemporary signals launching in the nearfuture as well. No dates have been announced as that is part of the game planbut most will be on-air by year’s end. Taken individually, here’s what we haveto look forward to.

CTV owns The Bounce, very ably managed by James Stuart who will belaunching the new station Essential FM. The format is described as classicalternative, featuring Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Cure, The Clash, U2 andSoundgarden.

James explains, “The station is awaiting word from the CRTC on its proposedfrequency on 95.7 FM. Essential is going to fill a void in the market, byplaying music that is not currently heard on any Edmonton radio stations.Eighty percent of our playlist will be music that, while familiar, is notavailable. If you dug the music in the late ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s, this will bea station that fits your music tastes.”

The next newcomer is from veteran John Yerxa, with a youth-based radiostation at 107.7 on the dial. John’s family roots trace back to CFCW which wasowned and operated by his father, the late and legendary Hal Yerxa. John’sstation will be called new 107fm (check it out at www.new107fm.com),featuring new rock, hip hop, dance and alternative pop. He promises 80 percentof the music will be current—meaning from the last six months. As well, thestation will be very active in the social media scene, including Facebook andTwitter. John is quite proud—and justifiably so—that he is the only nativeEdmontonian to own and operate a radio station in our city.

Rawlco, owners of Magic 99, won the rights to launch what is described inthe industry as a “Triple A” format—Adult Album Alternative. This, generallyspeaking, is music that is not heard on commercial radio here in Edmonton, butyou may be familiar with some of the artists through airplay on CKUA: DavidGray, James Morrisson, Adele and others. The station will be managed by KurtLevens who says, “Rawlco Radio is thrilled at the prospect of running a newFM radio station in Edmonton, a sister to Smooth Jazz Magic 99, which signedon in December of 2005. You’ll eventually be able to find our new station at102.3 on the FM dial. We have been approved for an adult-hits format.

“Edmonton’s a world-class city. We love it here! And we’re excited about thechance to do even more to serve our community!”

The fourth new licence is from Harvard Broadcasting, based in Regina. It’sbeen growing quickly over the past few years with new licences in FortMcMurray and Calgary. Edmontonians may remember its president, BruceCowie, who managed CFRN/CTV here several years ago.

The format is soft adult contemporary, and the station will be called JENNFM. It will play a variety of music representing a range of artists, decades andstyles, including pop, rock, R&B, reggae, jazz, alternative and world musicfrom the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s. We’ll hear artists like Colbie Caillat, AmyWinehouse, Fiest and Arcade Fire. JENN-FM will also focus on new andemerging artists, including releases from Canadian artists.

Harvard’s news release outlines the format: “News and informationprogramming will also be balanced with the music. As part of our commitmentto keeping Edmonton listeners up to date with their city, JENN-FM will havecoverage of the topics that are of importance to Edmontonians.

“News will air twice an hour in the morning and every hour throughout theweekday and weekend. Some of the other information programming featuresthat will appeal to the JENN-FM audience will be discussions on personalfinance strategies, career and personal development.”

So, more stations… more jobs… more variety… more competition is on theway. √

Marty Forbes is the recently retired VP and general manager of The Bear,EZRock and The TEAM 1260 Sports Radio. Contact [email protected]

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EDMONTONIANS MAY 2009 3




STATIONhe City is growing and so too is the LRT. To better serve Edmontonians, construction iscurrently underway for the 7.5 kilometre South LRT Expansion. As well, there are anumber of other planning studies researching future possible LRT routes. This month’sEdmontonians’ poll focused on the LRT expansion from downtown to NAIT.

With Linda Banister

PollPoll

FOUNDERDICK MacLEAN

MAY 2009Vol. XX

Published by 399620 Alberta Ltd. on the first day of eachmonth at C-100 Park Side Tower, 8920-100th StreetEdmonton AB CA T6E 4Y8. ©All rights reserved. Nopart of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced inany form without written permission from the publisher.

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Publications Mail Agreement No. 40023292Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:Circulation DepartmentC-100 Park Side Tower, 8920-100th StreetEdmonton AB CA T6E 4Y8Email: [email protected]

SHARON MacLEANPublisher and Advertising Director

Telephone: 780.482.7000Fax: 780.488.9317

e-mail: [email protected]

INSIDEVOX POPMark Scholz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Marty Forbes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5POLL STATIONNAIT LRT/Banister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

DOORS OPEN FESTIVALSchedule of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6More than box stores/Lauber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Psychogeographic Tour/Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Philosophers Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Festival Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

CIVIC BUZZNew Hotels/Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

VISIONARIESContré/Gazin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Horner/Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Briefs/Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Social Media/Schwabe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

MEDIA MINUTEPerfect Storm/Hogle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

THE BUSINESS OF LOVEThe Wedding/Jespersen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

LIVELY LIFESTYLESMenuMagic/Berry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Absolute Bodo/Bodo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

BARB DETERSEditor

[email protected]

COLUMNISTSLinda Banister

John BerryLinda Bodo

Cheryl CroucherMarty ForbesBruce Hogle

Ryan JespersenDavid Norwood

Erin RaynerMark Scholz

Walter SchwabeNizar J. Somji

FEATURE WRITERSBarb DetersGreg GazinRick Lauber

Peter Drake McHughMarcus MillerMarg. Pullishy

PHOTOGRAPHERSTerry Bourque

Barb DetersJosh Dunford

SPECIAL PROJECTSEdmontonians Transformers

Tom BradshawLes Brost

Steffany HanlenLarry Ohlhauser

GRAPHIC PRODUCTIONRage Studios Inc.

THIS MONTH’S COVER

Miki Andrejevik at Great WestSaddlery loading dock on 104 Street

Photo by Terry Bourque

No. 5

2020YEARS

C E L E B R A T I N G

TTARE YOU AWARE OF AND INTERESTED INA DOWNTOWN TO NAIT LRT PROJECT?

To begin the survey, respondents were asked to indicate if, prior to thesurvey, they had heard of the City of Edmonton Transit Downtown toNAIT LRT project. Over three-quarters (78 percent) of respondentsstated they had, while 22 percent had not. On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1being not at all interested and 5 being very interested), they were thenasked to rate their personal level of interest in this project. Almost half(48 percent) reported they were interested (4 or 5 out of 5), while 25percent indicated a moderate interest, and 26 percent were notinterested (1 or 2 out of 5).

WHERE AND WHAT DID YOU HEARABOUT THE DOWNTOWN TO NAIT PROJECT?

Respondents that were previously aware of this project wereasked where they had heard about the Downtown to NAIT LRTproject. Respondents most frequently stated newspapers (39percent), followed by television news (36 percent), the radio (17percent) and the news (unspecified) (17 percent). When askedwhat they had heard about the project, 26 percent heard the Citywas planning to expand the LRT from downtown to NAIT.Eighteen percent heard the project was in the planning state andno decision had yet been made, while 14 percent indicated thatthey had heard there was difficulty agreeing on the route the LRTwill take, and 12 percent heard the project was too expensive.

WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSIONOF THE PROPOSED PROJECT?Next, respondents that were aware of the project were asked howthey would describe their overall impression of the Downtown toNAIT LRT project. The majority (58 percent) indicated they weresomewhat (31 percent) or very positive (27 percent), while 35percent said they were neutral toward the project, and fivepercent stated they were somewhat negative toward the project.

Respondents with a somewhat negative impression of theproject were asked why they felt that way. Reasons varied: Thecity needs more public transportation and public transportationshould serve other areas; not everyone would use it; moneyshould be put into the existing LRT and not into expansion; andthe project was poorly designed.

Respondents that had a neutral, somewhat or very positiveimpression of the Downtown to NAIT LRT project were alsoasked why they felt the way they did. Twenty-one percentthought it would be good for NAIT students; 19 percent believedthe city needs more public transportation and should also servemore areas. Thirteen percent stated it would make transportationeasier for many people, and another 13 percent thought it wouldreduce traffic. √

Monthly Poll Station Online QuestionVisit www.edmontonians.com to register your opinion

Want a question included in the Edmontonians Poll?Contact Linda at 780.451.4444 or e-mail

[email protected].

Linda Banister is a certified management consultant and the ownerof Banister Research and Consulting Inc., a full service provider ofmarket research and program evaluation services.Visit www.banister.ab.ca.

Perc

ent

Perc

ent

22%

39% 36%

17%

78%

Said they had not heard ofthe NAIT LRT project

prior to this survey

Said they had heard of theNAIT LRT project prior

to this survey

Said they becameaware of the NAIT

LRT project throughthe newspapers

Said they becameaware of the NAIT

LRT project throughthe television news

Said they becameaware of the NAITLRT project on the

radio news

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was off Planet Edmontonfor a good chunk of April.Touched down on the East Coastfor a spell and visited the nation’s

capital. That being said, I am a little thinon the goings on around here. You’redamn right Martin... On April 11th, Ihad the absolute pleasure of sitting in theWinspear Centre. The artist in town wasoutstanding singer/songwriter MartinSexton who was joined by opener ChrisTrapper. Guitarist John Mayer said thatMartin is “the best live performer I’veever seen.” The show was pretty stripped

down… both musicians had guitar andvoice. The night was simply magical. Thereason I wanted to write about this nightwas something Martin told the crowd. Hekept mentioning what a “gig” this was,meaning how great it was to play at theWinspear. Then after a while he simplysaid, “I have played Carnegie Hall andthis room is just as good but newer.”

When he added, “If I had a place likethis where I lived…I wouldn’t miss ashow,” it made me think. He is damnright. We are so lucky to have that roomin our city. I can’t wait to get back inthere for another show. I think that showcould be the Derek Trucks Band’ onJune 25th. They are playing at theEdmonton International JazzFestival. This is my not-to-be-missed recommendationfor next month. Alsoappearing at the JazzFestival are BranfordMarsalis and JohnAbercrombie.

Swing batter batter…Here is something that agroup of Edmontonians isworking on. I had a chat withDerek Schesnuk, assistantmanager of guest services atNorthlands. He told me plans areofficially underway for Chapter III ofHome Run For Life to take place fromfrom June 30th through to July 5th.Committee members have once again setforth a plan to make it into the GuinnessBook of World Records.

In the past two attempts, the eventraised just over $180,000 for the StolleryChildren’s Hospital Foundation and theCross Cancer Institute. It would beamazing to surpass the quarter-million-dollar mark, as well finally to make ourway into the book.

Consider the 2007 marathon softballgame: Team Cross and Team Stollerybattled for 108 hours and 3 minutes—694 innings… equivalent to nearly 100games. Collectively, 1480 runs werescored, with only 86 separating theexhausted teams. The score isn’t asimportant as the money raised.

The Home Run for Life 3 is happeningin Waskatenau—population 260—northeast of Edmonton. You can help outtheir cause through sponsorship ordonations by going to the website athttp://homerunforlife.synthasite.com. Bythe way, about 400 volunteers are neededto make it all happen.

5th Annual Jeans and JerseyWhat a great event. What asight. The SawmillBanquet & CateringCentre was filled withevery sports jersey youcould imagine. I saw atable of Team Canada,lots of Oilers and Esksand NY Rangers GuyLafleur. The event raisesfunds for the AlbertaDiabetes Foundation.CTV’s Josh Classen wasthe MC, I was theauctioneer, and PaulSveen was the comedian.The honorary chair was

Oiler AndrewCogliano. I havea ton of respectfor the ADF—anorganization thatdoes it right. Itwas founded bya group ofconcernedEdmontonianswho want acure for Type 1and Type 2diabetes. In a

nutshell, they raise moneyand lots of it... and that money fromgenerous donors goes to research.Cheques are welcome year round. Besure to keep the 6th annual Jeans andJersey dinner and auction in mind fornext spring.

Doors Open Edmonton... is afamily-friendly, free festival. Lots ofinteresting architectural gems are open tothe public on Saturday and Sunday, May23rd and 24th. A great opportunity tolearn more about our built heritage, pluspoetry readings, special tours anddebates. Read all about it—right here inEdmontonians. √

Mark Scholz, owner of MESCommunications Inc. offers a variety ofservices including production, creativeand entertainment. For more informationor to suggest a story idea, [email protected]



II

Josh Classen

Martin Sexton

Home Run For LifeHome Run For Life

“After a great deal of hype, the Palace Casinoopened April 4 with a poof. They managed tolose money for the first couple of days, but wereon track by the weekend, enjoying a profit.”

~Barry Pritchard Gaming—Time Out 1990

“Armin Preiksaitis needs $170 million for the OldTowne Market project… for downtown’s ailingeast side. ‘The heart of Edmonton is its oldcommercial core—the Gibson, Goodridge andBrighton Block, Kenmo Lodge and the Hub Hotel.Each tells a story and there’s a real opportunity tobring that out...’”

~Joan McCauley 1991

“The Maxwell Taylor’s Group paid $110,000 forthe dormant Trumps restaurant... Trumps willbecome McCormicks... ‘It will be an adultversion of Maxwell Taylor’s,’ said a spokes-human. McCormicks will offer GST, but noMSG.” ~Dick MacLean 1992

“Income tax knocks at the front door but othertaxes slip in unnoticed... In 1992... the averagefamily will pay income taxes of $9,106. Othertaxes (oil, motor vehicle, amusement, property)will amount to a total of $14, 431. No wonderwe’re broke.”

~Brian Champion 1993

“...no doubt this is the best time of the year forhockey fans, but with the Oilers playing golf,who is there to root for? Calgary? Spare me!Vancouver? When they start getting lots of snowand the temperature plummets to minus 30…then I’ll root for their hocky team. Maybe.”

~Jay Stewart Sports 1994

“Tony Sheppard’s family built theRossdale Brewery in 1904 and laterexpanded it to what is now-Molson’son 121 Street.”

~Edmontonians Nov 1995

“By the time you read this, the 5thAnnual Garlic Festival at theSorrentino’s seven restaurantswill be history… but the odourwill linger.”

~Muggsy ForbesFunny Pompous & Unfair 1996

“Laporte Pcl, an international chemicalcompany and industry leader, sees the potential ofEdmonton as a smart city. The company hasrecently invested $31 million to expand its RayloChemicals subsidiary in Edmonton, and is nowconstructing a new bulk pharmaceuticalmanufacturing facility.”

~Dr. James Murray Smart City 1997

“At best, plansfor Edmonton’sMunicipalAirport are stillup in the air.”

~Erica BrandaSmart City

Segues 1999

“Naming streets instead of using street andavenue coordinates started a few years ago. Ilive in Mill Woods... I still get lost here withouta map... I smile at the memory of a lightedportable sign that said: If you’re lost, you’re inBurnewood.”

~Bill PidruchneyBehind the Scenes 2000

“We can show off the grand vision of LouiseMcKinney Park... main features are a numberof concrete pavilions and a boat dock…Stunning—and for only $10 million.”

~Ken Karpoff Business of Sports 2001

“...these 20 young women and men haveaccomplished as much or more than peopleyears older. They’ve had a little help. They’veconquered risk.”

~Don McMann on the inauguralSizzling Twenty under 30 2002

“Unigroup Architecture & Interior Design Inc.expects to have Terry Vaughn’s SportsLounge, on the main floor of the historicalMcLeod Building, ready for the grandopening next month. Think modern décor forthe plus 25 crowd.”

~Linda Hall Business Buzz 2003

“What is uncontested is that Alberta, amongprovinces and throughout North America, hasa brilliant reputation for recycling that garnerswaste tourists from around the world...”

~Drake McHughThinking globally, acting locally,going portable 2004

“With (Brad) Pitt here last fall filming TheAssassination of Jesse James at historic FortEdmonton Park, paparazzi from all over theworld swooped down on the city like birds inan Alfred Hitchcock movie.”

~Barb Deters $10-million Pitt Stop 2006

“...the Garneau Theatre building... has beensold by the folks who have owned it since itwas built 61 years ago. There’s a very goodarticle by Lawrence Hertzog about the Garneaubuilding in his book, It’s Our Heritage.”

~Muggsy Forbes Funny Pompous & Unfair 2007

THAT WAS THE MAY THAT WAS

2008

2005



Saturday, May 2310:30 a.m., 12 noon, 1:30 p.m.104th Street walking tour with Jon HallFrom Jasper Avenue north to 104thAvenue, 104th Street is lined by thelargest collection of pre-WWIwarehouse buildings in Edmonton.Explore commercial life at the turn ofthe century through the architecture,uses and stories of the oldwarehouses and business buildings.Many have been converted to otheruses but the beauty and charm ofthese old brick buildings stillradiates. Enjoy the modern version ofEdmonton’s Downtown FarmersMarket which has been in operationfor over 100 years.Non-strenuous walking is required. Tourlength is 60 minutes.Meet in front of Coboco Lofts10249 - 104 Street Self-guided walking tour

12 noon -1:00 p.m.Made in Edmonton Movie Will the Real Alberta PleaseStand Up? Hosted by Michael PhairFriendly? Rednecks? Mavericks? Rich?Eco-destroyers? Optimists? Alberta isknown for strong stereotypes, butthey’re just the tip of the grain elevator.Dual Alberta is a five-minute snapshot ofthe tensions between those enduringimages and lesser-known realities aboutthe province and her people. Acompanion, one-minute film, Alberta inOne Word, features Albertans summa-rizing the essence of the province in—you guessed it—one word. DirectorGeo Takach will be in attendance. Thelong version will premier on June 12 onthe City TV network across Canada.Enterprise Square Atrium10230-Jasper Avenue

1 – 4 p.m.Visionary Bus Tour Ken Cantor of Qualico will share hisideas and personal vision for the CapitalCity—what he thinks is hot and not…and how he would like to see thingsdevelop. This is a rare opportunity toimagine your city as it might be. Enjoythe comfort of Edmonton Transit’sspecial heritage tour bus.The afternoon starts and ends at the102 Street entrance of EnterpriseSquare. Register by May 20th.

3 p.m.Philosophers’ Café Get inside the heads of some ofEdmonton’s architects and designers asthey discuss topics including adaptivereuse and historic designation inEdmonton. Moderator Peter Osborne ofStantec Architecture. Comments andquestions welcome.6th Floor of the World Trade Centre600-9990 Jasper Avenue Register by May 20th.

1 - 4 p.m. Art Gallery of Alberta Art RentalsOpen HouseThe Art Gallery of Alberta is makingits temporary home in the historicEnterprise Square. Come and seewhat’s new and get a behind-the-scenes look of Art Rentals and SalesDepartment. Enterprise Square10230 Jasper Avenue

1:45 - 3:30 p.m.Alberta Legislature Building —Behind the Scenes Tour Participants will be taken on anextended tour of the Legislature. Inaddition to usual tour route, you willvisit the Chamber and the Palm Room.Space is limited. Register by May 20th. Alberta Legislature Building10800 - 97 AvenueFor more information on the AlbertaLegislature building, visithttp://www.assembly.ab.ca

2 - 4 p.m. Garneau Block walking tourwith Todd Babiak Take a walking tour of the Garneau areawith award winning author, ToddBabiak. His second novel The GarneauBlock was long-listed for the Giller Prizeand won the City of Edmonton BookPrize. Meet in front of Sugar Bowl Café 10922-88 Avenue Register by May 20th.

12 noon - 2 p.m. Derive Edmonton: a Psychogeographicexploration of the city Meet at the Courtyard on Jasper Avenuebetween 112 and 113 Streets.Brochures available. Groups of five, ledby Kristy Trinier and her team, willexplore the Oliver community. Wearappropriate footwear and bringrecording devices: camera, tape-recorder or sketch/note pad.Maximum 40 participantsRegister by May 20th.

12 noon – 5 p.m.SNAP Gallery Open HouseView current exhibits: La Petite Mort byMarcelle Hanselaar in the main galleryand the U of A Graduating class showVarsolsa on display in the outer galleryand the Red Strap space. Get a behindthe scenes look at a Letterpress Class. SNAP Gallery10309-97 Street.

1 – 3 p.m.Freemasons HallTake a tour of the historic Masonic Hall,built in 1930. Learn about the buildingand the various rooms from Lodgemembers, and view the interesting andbeautiful architecture.Freemasons Hall10318-100 Avenue.

Sunday, May 241 - 3 p.m.Louise McKinney Park Poetry Trailwith Ted Blodgett and Linda WedmanEdmonton’s Poet Laureate Ted Blodgettwill lead participants along the LouiseMcKinney Park Trail, stopping to readhis poems below each light post.Event is rain or shine.Louise McKinney ParkGrierson Hill between 95 and 99 Street(south of Shaw Conference Centre).

1 - 3 p.m.Places of Worship-Self-guided VisitsAnsgar Lutheran Church9554-108 AvenueSt. Josaphat’s Ukrainian CatholicCathedral10825-97 StreetSacred Heart Church of First Peoples10821-96 Street

Holy Trinity Orthodox Church10902-96 StreetMcDougall United Church10025-101 StreetSaint Joachim Catholic Church9924-110 StreetBeth Shalom SynagogueJasper Avenue & 120 StreetAnglican Parish of Christ Church12116-102 AvenueRobertson-Wesley United Church 123 Street & 102 Avenue

1 - 3 p.m. Edmonton Archives:Behind the Scenes TourChief Archivist Michael Payne willtake you on an insider’s tour of thenewly renovated Armouries and theCity of Edmonton Archives “buildingwithin a building”. Space is limitedRegister by May 20th. Prince of Wales Armouries10440-108 Avenue.

2 - 3 p.m. Writers in Place Book Eventat Audreys BooksAttend a reading and conversationwith Marina Michaelides, anEdmonton-based writer and anaward-winning documentary film-maker. Her latest book RenegadeWomen of Canada— The Wild,Outrageous, Daring and Bold profilesa number of Canadian women whohave pushed the envelope. Display ofbooks with a local twist. Audreys Books 10702 Jasper Avenue

1 - 3 p.m.Francophone Quarter: PoetryReading and Historic Buildings Tour1:30 p.m. A reading by 4 voix, 4voies! Four bilingual Edmontonwomen, whose mother tongue isFrench, explore various themescommon to their heritage.Participants: Project DirectorJocelyne Verret, Maritimes; MagaliLaplane-Gibbins, France; PierretteRequier, Alberta; and JoséeThibeault, Québec.

Guest artists: Anna-Marie Sewell,Mi’gmaq – Eastern Canada; andNaomi McIlwraith, Cree—WesternCanada. Music: Marc de Montigny and ErnestChiasson.

1-3 p.m. Guided tours to St. ThomasHealth Services Centre and FrenchParish will also be provided. Meetingplace for tours is the PavillonLacerte—La Salle Historique. Campus Saint Jean8406 Marie-Anne-Gaboury Street (91Street).

12 noon – 5 p.m.SNAP Gallery Open HouseView current exhibits: La Petite Mort byMarcelle Hanselaar in the main gallery,the U of A Graduating class showVarsolsa on display in the outer gallery,and the Red Strap space. Get a behindthe scenes look at the Open Studio.SNAP Gallery10309-97 Street.

Saturday and Sunday, May 23rd and 24thNumbers correspond with sites on map, pages 10 & 11

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Edmonton FestivalEvent Registration and information, contact:

Liesel at 780 424 6512 ext. 226 or e-mail: [email protected]

For event up-dates, please check www.doorsopenalberta.com



catter a box of jigsaw puzzle pieces on the tableand you have just that: a pile of jumbled puzzlepieces. With time, creativity, patience anddiligence, they can be fitted together to create a

beautiful picture. Buildings, much like jigsaw puzzlepieces, can be pieced together to create a beautiful city;however, many of those buildings can remain puzzling topassers-by who may ask who made these buildings?When were they built? What is/was their purpose?

It is these questions that Adriana Davies, executivedirector and editor-in-chief of the Heritage CommunityFoundation and albertasource.ca (the Alberta on-lineencyclopedia) hopes to answer through the Doors OpenAlberta Festival. “I brought that concept to Alberta andhave really been the provincial coordinator of these eventsfor, probably, eight years.” Several communities areparticipating, and Doors Open Edmonton launched lastyear.

The concept originated in 1990 in Glasgow, Scotlandand grew at a phenomenal rate. In eight years, 19 millionpeople had visited some 28,000 sites throughout 44countries. Toronto was the first Canadian city to open itsdoors to the idea in 2000; residents fully embraced theidea and 130,000 had visited over 100 local buildingswithin two years.

For Davies, the connection between the Doors OpenEdmonton Festival and the Heritage CommunityFoundation is a natural. “Our mandate is to link peoplewith heritage through discovery and learning. Themajority of our work has been in the development ofthose multimedia websites that deal with the historicaland the actual, the cultural, scientific and technologicalheritage. But, we saw the potential of a festival like thisbecause it can speak to people and involve them.”

THE CONCEPT OF SPACES & PLACESDavies’ goal is increased appreciation of both spaces andplaces. “We’re talking about heritage architecture andarchitectural gems,” she says, reminding us that “heritagearchitecture can be contemporary. I think it’s important, thatwhole sensitivity to buildings and built heritage.” It’s about“…defining buildings in spatial terms but also their

aspirations. You get public buildings... places of worship…education, recreation and cultural centres—all of thosedifferent kinds of buildings that happen in a community. So,I’d like people to think in those terms… that space is apretty neutral term, whereas place is important. And placeis the human element and the natural... communities aredefined by their physical location.”

When it comes to place, many cities are defined bycertain attractions, explains Davies. “When you think ofNew York, you think of skyscrapers... Paris and you thinkof the Eiffel Tower. When you think of Edmonton, whatdo you think?” Many envision our sprawling rivervalley... some see City Hall or the Alberta Legislature...others picture West Edmonton Mall.

Recognizing that this is a growing and evolving city,Davies wants Edmontonians to be proud of their spacesand places. “Each generation is building the legacybuildings for the next generation. And, if we think aboutit in those terms, what is the legacy that we’recommunicating with the box stores and strip malls?

We need to have an “Edmonton-ness” aboutEdmonton, jokes Davies who points out that this must beour city’s personality, mind-set and character. Like a dogwith a bone, this “Edmonton-ness” must be somethingthat locals can bite onto and not let go. They mustwholeheartedly promote this; drawing others to our city.

Davies laments that the University of Alberta remainslargely ignored. “We don’t take enough pride in theuniversity... The university is over 100 years old and hasformed leaders and professionals. It has contributed toevery aspect of our lives, but are people aware of it? Dothey read the history of the university?”

She fears civic pride, as a whole, is lacking. “EveryEdmontonian should have a vision of the city... unless wedo that, we’re basically saying that we’re content withsecond-rate and with disposable architecture anddisposable buildings. So, we all have to become proactivein terms of the city that we are building—everyday, everymonth, every year.” As Alberta’s capital city, it is crucialfor Edmonton to create, and maintain, a positive firstimpression and an identity.

Doors Open Producer Miki Andrejevik, who recently

came on board, concurs with the festival’s value. “I trulybelieve that the buildings we live in and the public spaceswhere we work and congregate shape us—our lives andthe ways we live and think about our environment andour city. I believe that every building has as many storiesas people [who occupy them]… so we should think thatway and try to preserve.”

Interestingly, Andrejevik experienced an opening ofcareer doors himself. “I finished my law degree and,being young, I had ideals to change the world. I figuredout that somehow I can change the world more by goinginto arts management and producing arts events, concerts,performances, operas and festivals than being a lawyer.”

Now, after 25 years working in the arts, he has built animpressive CV. He has served as the general manager ofthe Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the executivedirector of the Writer’s Guild of Alberta and also ofAlberta’s only professional choir, Pro Coro Canada.Edmontonians with a creative bent will recognizeAndrejevik as the driving force behind Litfest,Edmonton’s International Arts Festival.

Doors Open Edmonton faces the challenge of being thenewest festival in a city known for numerous incrediblywell-staged events, many of which are performing artsoriented. So this is a different kind of festival, and Daviesadmits it’s experiencing growing pains. What DoorsOpen Edmonton requires, she says, is further support ona grander scale. “It is part of a provincial, national andinternational movement and it’s still in the embryo andgestation stage. Organizations and the city need to comeon-side… If we’re not aware of the buildings and theactivities that happen in them—how they define us andhow they pass on values from one generation to thenext—then I think we’re impoverished.”

Through the event’s international history and a person’snatural curiosity, the Doors Open Edmonton Festival hasthe bones to become another success story. Last year,more than 2100 peple participated in tours and events. Asmore doors—and minds—open to the idea of exploringspaces and places, the puzzles of our past come to light.As the character of the city emerges, so too does thevision of its future. √

SS

Edmonton’s LegacyMore than box stores and strip malls

By Rick Lauber Photo by Terry Bourque

Doors Open Producer Miki Andrejevikand Adriana Davies, executive directorand editor-in-chief of the HeritageCommunity Foundation



rchitecture… tells the history ofour City and contains the storiesof Edmontonians. We walk pastthese buildings everyday; they

become characters within the story of whatEdmonton is to us. We might not knowwhat happens inside, behind the scenes, butthey make up the streetscapes of the city wecall home,” says Peter Osborne, anassociate with Stantec Architecture, and amember of the executive committee of theAlberta chapter of the Royal ArchitecturalInstitute of Canada.

“Some buildings within this fabricbecome bright spots, and stand out from therest. These bright spotsbecome landmarks withwhich we orient ourmental maps of theCity.”

Osborne will serve asmoderator at the DoorsOpen Philosophers’ Café,where a panel of localarchitects and designerswill “have a criticaldiscussion aboutarchitecture and what wehave to start to think about.We wanted to take a lookat buildings and theadaptive reuse of heritage buildings. Do weuse our existing building stock, or renovate,or reuse them in interesting ways?”

He explains, “Preservation, however,does not mean mothballing our history orputting it into glass jars to be viewed butnot touched. It means we need to adapt itand reuse it; making it part of our livinghistory. A building like Enterprise Square ismore significant today, now that it took on anew life, than had it simply been replaced.New generations of Edmontonians now canexperience the Hudson’s Bay Building;keeping it a living, breathing and activeplace. Organizations like Doors OpenAlberta give people the opportunity to see

behind the scenes of our City’s bright spots.This helps people understand andappreciate Edmonton’s architecture and thehistory it has to offer.

Adriana Davies, provincial coordinator ofDoors Open Alberta, insists that we mustnot shut the doors on our heritagearchitecture. Instead of indiscriminatelyswinging the wrecking ball, she is adamantthat many creative options for reuse exist.She too cites the adaptive reuse of the BayBuilding as a prime example. EnterpriseSquare now serves as the downtowncampus of the University of Alberta, the

temporary home of the ArtGallery of Alberta, andhouses two media outlets.Others include the RevillonBuilding/BoardwalkMarket, an ecclectic mixof food outlets,restaurants, shops, officesand classrooms. Itsneighbours in theWarehouse District areconversions to stores,galleries, eateries, officesand condominiums.

The Philosophers’Café will be held on

Saturday, May 23rd at the World TradeCentre beginning at 3:00 pm. Depending onthe number of speakers, it could runbetween one to two hours. “I’d like to leavea little bit of time at the end... there’snothing worse than having it cut off earlydue to lack of time,” notes Osborne.Comments and questions will bewelcomed. “I hope the audience getsinvolved, that it’s participatory and we getmore of a ‘town hall’ feel rather than havinga panel of experts telling us what we shouldthink.” √

The event is free, but seating is limited.Register on-line by May 20th, 2009:[email protected].

WHAT?Psychogeographic tour?Curious, I went to Wikipediaand found out that

psychogeography was defined in 1955 byFrench artist and theoretician GuyDebord as the “the study of the preciselaws and specific effects of thegeographical environment, consciouslyorganized or not, on the emotions andbehavior of individuals.” Not much help.

So I turned to Kristy Trinier to put it inpractical terms… something everyonecould understand.

“Basically,” she explained, “it meansthat your surroundings impact the wayyou think andfeel, andconversely, theway you thinkand feelimpacts yoursurroundings.All environ-ments can beperceived tohave an aestheticvalue whichimpacts thepeople in thatspace. The builturban environments are either highlyorganized or designed… or not.Edmonton is an example of a highlydesigned grid-style city. The layout of thestreets, the design of the buildings, and allof the people and objects in the spacecomprise the environment.”

Does that mean that beauty is in the eyeof the beholder? That it doesn’t reallymatter what’s objectively out there—it alldepends on how I’m feeling, or what I’vejust eaten?

“There are many theories whichexplain how environment impactsbehaviour, for example, the ‘brokenwindow’ theory, which is used as part ofcrime prevention strategies… Graffiti,litter, garbage, and evidence of vandalismsuch as broken windows are consideredugly in the eye of the majority ofbeholders, and often lead people to feelthat they do not have to behaveresponsibly in these areas (using trashreceptacles, etc.) when they normallywould.”

As part of Doors Open Edmonton,Trinier is offering us a chance to wake upand re-discover the Oliver communityduring Derive Edmonton: APsychogeographic Exploration of the Cityon Saturday, May 23rd. She was recentlyreceived the Northlands award for anemerging artist; her solo exhibit,

otherworld, is on now at the Art Galleryof Alberta until June 7th. And, as publicart director of the Edmonton ArtsCouncil, Trinier is well qualified to re-orient our aesthetic vision of the city… tohelp us re-assess and re-value the thingswe tune out.

The random patterns generated by thepsychogeographic walks are used byartists, designers and psychologists todisengage you from how you typicallysee your neighbourhoods and cities, andto allow another perspective. It is a simpleexercise in achieving objectivity.

It is important to notice all of the visualelements together as asingle entity... wherebuildings, sidewalks,cigarette butts, garbagebags, people, shoppingcarts and power linesall merge to create animage. The point is tobegin to see the detailof the urbanlandscape... to noticecontrast, pattern, line,colour, negativespaces.

The idea is toexperience the city, not as the municipalplanners and corporate developersintended, but with fresh eyes. Often themost interesting parts of a city occur, notby dint of approved planning methodsbut, accidentally, through organic use andeven neglect. These forgotten andoverlooked sites can be real gems, butthey can’t be found through the tourismoffice. They must be discovered bylooking—differently. In other words: bystepping out of the habitual, zombie-likemode most of us assume as we go aboutour daily business, and by rebooting oursenses.

Regardless of how a person valuesugliness or beauty, it may be possible tobe fascinated or interested in the city aseither ugly or beautiful.

For now, your beauty may be myugliness. But Trinier’s psychogeographictour will put us both to the test and mayjust be the urban makeover we’ve all beenwaiting for. Certainly the price is right. √

Marcus Miller is assistant curator of theArt Gallery of Alberta, and a member ofthe Doors Open Edmonton steeringcommittee.

The event is free. Participation is limited to 40people. Register on-line by May 20th, 2009:[email protected].

“A“A

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By Rick Lauber

By Marcus Miller

CAFÉ

psychogeographic tourTake a

of Oliver

Kristy Trinier

Peter Osborne

to Edmontoniansfor their participation andsupport for Doors Open.

from

(Provider of some of the best doors in town)

EPCOR Tower at Station Landsand Golden West Business Park

www.qualicocommercial-edm.com

CONGRATULATIONS

Meet atthe Courtyardon Jasper



SATURDAY, May 23rd10:30 a.m., 12 noon, 1:30 p.m.104th Street walking tour with Jon HallMeet in front of Coboco Lofts —10249 - 104 Street 104 Street self-guided walking tours

12 noon -1:00 p.m.Made in Edmonton Movie Will the Real Alberta Please Stand Up?Enterprise Square Atrium—10230-Jasper Avenue

1 – 4 p.m.Visionary Bus Tour Board the Edmonton Transit’s special heritage tour busat the 102 Street entrance of Enterprise Square. Register by May 20th.

3 p.m.Philosophers’ Café 6th Floor of the World Trade Centre—600-9990 Jasper Avenue Register by May 20th.

1 - 4 p.m. Art Gallery of Alberta Art Rentals Open HouseEnterprise Square—10230 Jasper Avenue

1:45 - 3:30 p.m.Alberta Legislature Building — Behind the Scene Tour Register by May 20th. Alberta Legislature Building—10800 - 97 Avenue

2 - 4 p.m. Garneau Block walking tour with Todd Babiak Meet in front of Sugar Bowl Café —10922-88 Avenue Register by May 20th.

12 noon - 2 p.m. Derive Edmonton: a Psychogeographic exploration of the city Meet at the Courtyard on Jasper Avenue between 112 and 113 Streets. Maximum 40 participantsRegister by May 20th.

12 noon – 5 p.m.SNAP Gallery Open House10309-97 Street.

1 – 3 p.m.Freemasons Hall10318-100 Avenue.

Event Registration and information, contact:Liesel at 780 424 6512 ext. 226

e-mail [email protected]

SUNDAY, May 24th1 - 3 p.m.Louise McKinney Park Poetry Trail with Ted Blodgettand Linda WedmanEvent is rain or shine.Louise McKinney Park—Grierson Hill between 95 and 99 Street

(south of Shaw Conference Centre).1 - 3 p.m.Places of worship-self-guided visitsAnsgar Lutheran Church—9554-108 AvenueSt. Josaphat’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral—10825-97 StreetSacred Heart Church of First Peoples—10821-96 StreetHoly Trinity Orthodox Church—10902-96 StreetMcDougall United Church—10025-101 StreetSaint Joachim Catholic Church—9924-110 StreetBeth Shalom Synagogue—Jasper Avenue & 120 StreetAnglican Parish of Christ Church—12116-102 AvenueRobertson-Wesley United Church—123 Street & 102 Avenue

1 - 3 p.m. Edmonton Archives: Behind the Scenes TourRegister by May 20th. Prince of Wales Armories—10440-108 Avenue.

2 - 3 p.m. Writers in Place Book Event at Audreys BooksMeet author Marina MichaelidesAudreys Books—10702 Jasper Avenue

1 - 3 p.m.Francophone Quarter: Poetry Reading and Music1:30 p.m.

Guided Tours1-3 p.m.Meeting at the Pavillon Lacerte—La Salle Historique. Campus Saint Jean—8406 Marie-Anne-Gaboury Street (91 Street).

12 noon – 5 p.m.SNAP Gallery Open House10309-97 Street.





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OLD STRATHCONA FIREHALL

OLD STRATHCONA FARMERS’ MARKETCORBETT HALL

OLD ST. STEPHENS

WHYTE AVENUEATHABASCA HALL

BOYLE MCCAULEYGIBSON BLOCK

SNAP

McDOUGALL UNITEDCHURCH

HOLY TRINITYORTHODOX CHURCH

SACRED HEART CHURCHOF FIRST PEOPLE

ST. JOSAPHAT’S UKRAINIANCATHOLIC CATHEDRAL

ANSGAR LUTHERAN CHURCH104th STREET - DOWNTOWN

KELLY BLOCK - DOWNTOWN

ANGLICAN PARISHOF CHRIST CHURCH

ROBINSON-WESLEYUNITED CHURCH

CONNAUGHT ARMOURY

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BETH SHALOM SYNAGOGUE

SAINT JOACHIMCATHOLIC CHURCH

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SITES & EVENTSHERITAGE BUILDINGS OF INTEREST

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FREE& Family-

Friendly

he economic downturn/recession seems not to haveaffected Edmonton as muchas it has some other areas of

Canada, including Calgary andVancouver. Not to say that there haven’tbeen job losses; there have been,especially in energy service industries andconstruction. While some developmentshave been put on hold or slowed down,none have actually been cancelled, as theyhave in other cities, notably Vancouver.And some mentioned here previously—the Icon I and II, Quest, and others—aremoving forward. Meridian, Alta VistaSouth, the Venetian, Panache, Serenity,the first four medium-rises at CenturyPark are nearing completion.

New hotels are also sprouting inEdmonton. While we continue to awaitthe arrival of some of the major chainssuch as Hyatt or Sheraton here(preferably downtown), new hotels on theoutskirts of the city are either completedor under construction. Others havechanged brands in the last year or so.Here’s a look at some of the activity.

At the corner of Ellerslie Road andGateway Boulevard, four new hotels areunder construction. Almost complete are aHampton Inn by Hilton, a SandmanHotel, a Best Western, while a FourPoints by Sheraton is in its early stages.The Hampton Inn joins two others in theEdmonton area, one in the west end andone near the International Airport inLeduc. The Four Points joins anotherSheraton on Argyll Road at 75th Street,and one being constructed in northwestEdmonton. The new Sandman twins thatchain’s representation in Edmonton; theother is located on 178th Street just south

of Stony Plain Road. The Ellerslie RoadBest Western complements four otherBest Western hotels in the Edmontonregion.

Days Inn opened a new location nearOld Strathcona in 2008, and another onein the far west end in 2007. Two otherDays Inns are located in the Edmontonarea, one downtown and one near theInternational Airport. Days Inn is part ofthe Wyndham Hotel Group, as areWingate, Ramada, Travelodge andHoward Johnson, all of which arerepresented with one or more locations inEdmonton.

The proposed Courtyard by Marriotthotel which was to be attached to thenorth terminal of the Edmonton International Airport is effectively onpermanent hold, while Edmonton Airportsseeks another investor. The hotel projectwas a victim of the U.S. economicdownturn. The developers are based inNorth Carolina, and American banks havenot placed a priority on financing hotelprojects in recent months. Now thatconstruction costs have decreased in theEdmonton region, the possibility of ahotel attached to the airport is morefeasible than ever, and the need for onedefinitely exists.

Holiday Inn Express is about to opena new six-storey hotel just north of 23rdAvenue and Calgary Trail. It will joinseveral other Holiday Inn Express hotelsin the capital region. Holiday Inn andSuites is planning a new 300-room hoteland convention centre between CalgaryTrail and Gateway Boulevard, betweenthe Great Canadian Superstore andTravelodge. The same chain recentlyopened a new Holiday Inn and Suites on

170th Street and 113th Avenue. TheHoliday Inn–Convention Centre near theSherwood Park Freeway is completing anexpansion, taking its room count from 93to 168.

Edmonton-based Westcorp PropertiesInc. has also helped transform the city’shotel scene with three boutique-stylehotels. The first hotel to be renovated wasthe Varscona on Whyte Avenue, in theheart of Old Strathcona. It has been aconsistent hit, with Murietta’s restaurant,O’Byrne’s Irish Pub, and Second Cupcoffee shop, along with other stores. Morerecently, Westcorp transformed adistinctly unattractive, almost vacant mid-rise office building a block east of theVarscona into a sparkling, attractiveboutique hotel, Metterra. Its 98 guestrooms complement the 89 available at theVarscona. The newest Westcorp propertyis the Matrix on 106th Street and 100thAvenue, near the central business districtand the government centre. Originallybuilt in the 1960s as the Coachmen Inn,the hotel has seen a number of differentbrands, including Edmonton’s firstHoliday Inn. Westcorp totally renovatedand refurbished the hotel, opening it in2008 as a 173 room, upscale boutiquehotel. It’s good to see a local companysuccessfully create attractive properties inEdmonton.

Coast Hotels has been active in thearea, having assumed responsibility forthe 34-storey Edmonton House SuiteHotel early in 2008, while maintaining its22-floor Coast Edmonton Plaza a fewblocks away. It also operates the CoastEdmonton East hotel in SherwoodPark.It turned over operation of its CoastEdmonton South property to Radisson

Hotels in late 2008. The Radisson Hotel Edmonton South

has undergone renovations to bring theproperty into line with other Radissonsworldwide. The chain will also beopening the Radisson Suites EdmontonAirport this year. These are the firstRadisson properties in the Edmontonarea, though several years ago a seriousproposal was made to turn theCambridge building on Jasper Avenue(now condos) into a Radisson hotel.

Rumour has it that the River CreeResort and Casino, which alreadyboasts a four-star Marriott Hotel, willadd another hotel, which is likely to be aCourtyard by Marriott. There’s nodefinite word on the project yet, but thesuccess of the existing hotel and resortsuggests that another hotel is feasible.

With the downturn in the economy,fewer people are travelling, so it isunlikely that we will see a new majorhotel in the downtown core any timesoon. On the other hand, majordevelopments take time—two or threeyears at least—to bring to fruition, andthe timing may be just about right toentice another upscale hotel chain—aHyatt?—to locate in downtownEdmonton.

Many of us remain optimistic andupbeat about Edmonton’s future, andthere’s no reason to doubtthat the bust will evolveinto another boom,perhaps sooner rather thanlater. √

David Norwood is afreelance writer/editor. Contact [email protected]



ivic Buzzwith David NorwoodC

TT

100s of new hotel doorsOPEN TO VISITORS



t reads like a Hollywood screenplay. After joining the military at 17 and traveling the

globe, soft-spoken and mild mannered StephaneContré from Quebec City becomes a beat cop in

Ottawa. His hobby is tinkering with technology andcaressing computer code to help him to do his job better.One day, it will enable authorities to fight crime in a wayno one really thought possible: to predict when and where itwould happen… and to stop it before it occurs.

After three years in our nation’s capital, Contré findshimself deep in North Central Africa, in the Republic ofChad. He is many time zones away from Canada’s Houseof Parliament and even farther away from his wife Tia. Shehas returned to her hometown, Edmonton, where the couplemet when he was posted at Griesbach with the MilitaryAirborne School.

In Chad, Contré is a security advisor for EnCana Corp.on an oil and gas exploration project, mitigating securityissues. He recalls, “This is where things started topercolate… looking to see where and when things mightoccur. I was looking for more attributes within the criminalspace that would lead to better forecasting and allow us tobetter manage our security forces.”

Two years later—and before things really get off theground—he faces another challenge: His position abruptlycomes to an end.

Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. Contré is over11,000km away from his wife… it’s “a 32-hour flight”…they see each other every 35 days.

IDENTIFYING CRIME HOT SPOTSBeing home “also gave me the time I needed to work onmy models.”

And work he did: evenings and weekends and anyavailable time. Tia recalls one stretch when she barelysaw him from before Christmas until the first week ofJanuary.

Unfazed, she was fully supportive. “I’ve always knownhim to be this way. If he wasn’t doing what he’s doing,I’d wonder what was wrong with him. At least, I knowhe’s home and not at the bar.”

But Tia didn’t just sit around and watch him work. Shepartnered with him.

“She’s my sounding board,” says Contré. “Further-more, I’m a cop first and a programmer second.” And,she’s better at handling the business affairs. “My wife isfrom a family of entrepreneurs.”

“I encourage him and rein him in,” she says. He adds,“Like a manager and a boxer—you know, like Rocky.”

In 2005, Contré joined Edmonton Transit System(ETS) as a crime intelligence analyst. “It was a perfectplace to pilot this project”—one he had been working onfor years. “I had an opportunity to validate my models ina live environment.”

His vision became the Daily Crime Forecast (DCF),Windows-based software designed to assist police andsecurity agencies in deployment of patrol resources.

Contré says that agencies—depending on their method

of managing intelligence—typically will deploy tospecific locations, commonly known as ‘crime hot-spots’because there are chances of a crime occurring. Theseexist because spatially there is a clustering of incidents atthe same place. Contré takes this concept and pushes it toanother dimension.

“If you look past the crime data—data collected by anagency—you can look spatially where things happen, butalso temporally.” Temporal factors or attributes includetime of day, day of the week, day of the month, month ofthe year within incident data.

“All of these things are relevant in determining when acrime is likely to occur.” And, no, factors such as weatherand a full moon are not statistically significant, accordingto Contré’s data sets.

By applying proprietary algorithms and performingdata mining procedures, a process of extracting hiddenpatterns from data, DCF produces a threat map or crime-mapping component. “It tells the officer where and whento deploy to maximize efficiency. (Asking) ‘where can Igo right now to be sure or be most effective in terms ofdeterring crime or apprehending criminals?’”

During a special event, like a rock concert, resourceswill naturally be deployed. But, the forecast becomesinvaluable when it’s just a regular day. “Like a Saturdayin a certain area in April. If you look back, you can seedefinite trends occurring and capitalize on it.”

IIBy Greg Gazin

Continued on page 16

pays for Contrépays for Contré

Stephane Contré winsthe nova NAIT prize

lberta’s innovation framework isgetting a facelift. But it’s morethan just a nip and tuck. Bill 27 isreconstructive surgery which the

government justifies as necessary to ensureAlberta is a strong contender in the emergingnext generation of knowledge economy.

Bill 27 was introduced to the spring sittingof the legislature by Doug Horner, Minister ofAdvanced Education and Technology.

When passed, it will be known as the AlbertaResearch and Innovation Act, and it willreconfigure such icons of the province’sscientific landscape as the Alberta ResearchCouncil and the Alberta Heritage Foundation forMedical Research. Nor will recent initiatives likeAlberta Ingenuity, iCORE, and the variousresearch institutes avoid resculpturing.

According to Horner, it’s about alignment andfocus.

“When you look at the number of organizations that wehave within the province, they’ve been created in somecases out of a desire to react to a specific sector, or aspecific proposal. But, to give you an example, life sciences:The Life Sciences Institute crosses a number of differentterritories—nanotechnology, biosciences. It crosses into thehealth field. So why wouldn’t you group that under one?”

He comments as well on nanotechnologyand ICT. As enabling technologies, theycross many boundaries.

“So we’re bringing them together togive focus. What we’ve said is we needto have an institute that’s responsible foranswering questions in health. Let’shave an institute that’s responsiblefor answering questions inenergy and the environment.And let’s have aninstitute that’sresponsible for

answering questions within thebiosciences sphere. And then let’s have

one group that’s responsible for takingthose answers and turn them into acommercially viable or social goodor whatever the outcome is

supposed to be, but do it all righthere in the province.”

So how does this all play out? The intent of the proposed

legislation is to enable thegovernment to create one new

advisory body and fourprovincial corporations.

The Alberta ResearchCouncil, Alberta

Ingenuityand

By Cheryl Croucher

nother step forward in understanding what causes prion diseases like madcow is the recent discovery of the shadoo protein.

Dr. David Westaway of the Centre for Prions and Protein FoldingDiseases at the University of Alberta says shadoo is the name given to a

theoretical protein by scientists studying DNA sequences on chromosomes. Its actualexistence was confirmed by a student in Westaway’s lab. The student showed that shadoois abundant in the brain and has a lot of features similar to normal prion proteins.

As Westaway explains, “We think that they may be part of a family of molecules on thesurface of brain cells that help brain cells deal with damage. We have looked at whathappens to the shadoo protein in an animal that has a prion disease… We were verysurprised to get a very simple answer: that the shadoo protein starts to disappear. In onesense, the fact that the shadoo protein disappears when animals are replicating prions, it iswhat we call a tracer. We didn’t expect to make this discovery, but somehow when theprotein is disappearing, it’s telling you that prions are replicating.”

Dr. Westaway speculates this may be related to yet another class of proteins calledproteazes which function as a waste disposal team in the body. √ ~ Cheryl Croucher

You can learn more about the research underway at the Centre for Prions and ProteinFolding Diseases at www.prioncentre.ca.

rion researchersfrom acrossCanada as well asfrom the United

States, Asia and Europe metin Edmonton this spring todiscuss their latest findings.The conference was hostedby PrioNet Canada andthe Alberta PrionResearch Institute.

Misfolded prions are theculprits behind bovinespongiform encephalopathyor “mad cow” disease. Andwhile mad cow seems to bewell under control, it hasraised the red flag on otherprion diseases like chronicwasting disease (CWD).

The big concern now forscientists is the spread ofCWD through wild herds ofdeer, elk and possiblycaribou.

According to Dr. NeilCashman, the scientificdirector of PrioNet Canada,“It has been estimated that ahundred years in the futurethere will not be a singlecervid—deer, elk orcaribou—left in North America because of the unrelenting advance of CWD. Mycolleagues and I feel that there is a significant risk of penetration to the north, andthe northern economy’s [loss] of the caribou herd would be nothing short of adisaster of the first order for aboriginal populations.”

Scientists revealed at the conference that prions shed from infected deer linger inthe soil for decades, making containment of this disease in the wild very difficult.

PrioNet Canada belongs to the national Networks of Centres of Excellence. Thereis a great deal of collaboration between PrioNet Canada and the Alberta PrionResearch Institute. √ ~ Cheryl Croucher

www.prionetcanada.ca

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CWD concerns

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PRIONCONFERENCE

PRIONCONFERENCE

PRIONCONFERENCE

PRIONCONFERENCEadvances

Dr. Neil Cashman

Doug Horner

Dr. David Westaway

by student researcherdetected

ShadooProtein

The “dog’s breakfast of innovation”goes gourmet

related programs from Alberta’s ICT strategy would mergeto form a new organization focused on technologycommercialization.

The Alberta Energy Research Institute will become theenergy and environment corporation. A new bio-industriescorporation will be formed by the merging of the currentAlberta Agricultural Research Institute, Alberta ForestryResearch Institute, and Alberta Life Sciences Institute.

iCORE, the Informatics Circle of Research Excellence,will be integrated into the province’s funding of researchcapacity in post-secondary institutions.

As for the Alberta Heritage Foundation for MedicalResearch, it will become a new provincial corporation witha stronger focus on strategic health research.

What will happen to the billion dollar endowment fundsfor AHFMR and Alberta Ingenuity? Horner sings thepraises of these two research funding agencies, butrecognizes, “times are changing. The framework ischanging. Those endowments, the way they were operatedbefore… are they going to work better in this newframework or do we need to change the structure there?And, I think the word that came back was change some ofthe structure. Don’t change the endowment. Leave theendowment so there is still the resource there to fund and toattract and to keep those highly qualified people. But makesure it’s a part of the new framework and not outside of it.And that’s really what we’re doing.”

How did we get here? Afterall, the Alberta Research Council dates back almost

90 years. The AHFMR came to life in 1980 and its successis the envy of many countries around the world. Sosuccessful that, in 2000, the provincial government createda new scientific endowment in its image, the AlbertaHeritage Foundation for Scientific and EngineeringResearch or, as we know it, Alberta Ingenuity.

Says Horner, “We brought together about a year-and-a-half ago all of the stakeholders and representatives from allthe different places within our research and innovationsystem. There were pretty close to 200 people in the room.We put up a map of the innovation system. I called it the

dog’s breakfast of innovation in Alberta today. We justasked the question of the stakeholders of the system: is thatthe right framework for what you are doing today and whatyou are going to do in the future? And frankly, the answerwas no. Change was needed.”

What has followed over the ensuing months is a lot ofsoul searching and questioning. There have been reviews byinternational panels and many, many meetings.

“The legislation that we introduced this spring, Bill 27, isa response to what the stakeholders told us they wanted it tolook like,” explains Horner. “Remember, too, theframework is really the train tracks. Everybody else will putthose cars on the rail. Our job is to build the track and makesure it connects the right places to the right tracks. Andthat’s really what this framework is all about.”

But even as Bill 27 is discussed in the legislature, manyof the critical operational details of the new framework haveyet to be worked out. Who stays? Who goes? Whathappens to current research projects and programs?

When asked if this new framework with its focus onthree main priorities works to the detriment of basicresearch, Horner answers with an emphatic “no”.

“I don’t know how I can be much plainer than just to saythat’s BS… because that’s not what we’re doing. Whatwe’re saying is basic research is a prime component of theongoing funding that we provide to post-secondaryeducation in the Province of Alberta. The research andinnovation agenda—the extra dollars that come through—have always been project specific even to the part of theNSERC grants that have been provided through the federalgovernment. And many of the other projects that comethrough have almost always been peer reviewed. They’vealmost always been project specific. We’re never going tostep away from peer reviewed, quality research within theprovince. And basic research is a part of that.”

A fourth pillar of the new framework is a strongemphasis on commercialization or getting technology tomarket, and doing so within Alberta. To help that processalong, the province will set up a “concierge service”. Muchlike a concierge in a hotel, Horner’s service will “take and

hold that inventor by the hand, bring him through our entiresystem so that he commercializes his idea here.”

He points out, “The most successful jurisdictions incommercialization around the world talk about a clusterconcept. There’s a cluster of supports around that innovator.So if there’s a venture capitalist across the street, there’s abusiness plan guy next door, there‘s a prototype facilitydown the road. There’s Stanford University there, maybe Ican get some research done. The whole cluster is there.”

The province has already invested in a number ofinitiatives including the voucher plan for prototypedevelopment to attract venture capital to Alberta.

Horner says, “As you get the momentum going, thingsstart to happen and people start to think about what’s goingon in little old Alberta up there. And in this economicclimate right now, we’re getting a lot of attention becausewe are almost an island in this tsunami of economicmeltdown.”

Will this new framework for research and innovationwork? Only time will tell. Over its 89 years, even theAlberta Research Council has been reinvented severaltimes. The government’s purpose hasn’t really changedsince the days of Henry Marshall Tory, then president of theUniversity of Alberta. As Tory put it, the government’soverall intent in 1920 in establishing the scientific agencywas “to lay the foundations of accurate knowledge uponwhich we can build our industries with security in thefuture.” √

http://www.advancededucation.gov.ab.ca/research

To hear Cheryl’s conversation withDoug Horner, visitwww.innovationanthology.comCheryl Croucher hosts InnovationAnthology which is broadcast onCKUA Radio at 7:58 am and 4:58 pmTuesdays and Thursday. Or downloadthe podcasts atwww.innovationanthologyy.com

t the presenttime, the onlyway to confirmwhether cattle

are suffering from mad cowdisease is to test them afterthey are slaughtered.

However, the research ofDr. David Knox and hiscolleagues at the NationalMicrobiology Lab inWinnipeg may soon lead to asimple urine test for madcow disease.

Dr. Knox presented hisfindings at the recent prionconference in Edmontonwhich was hosted byPrioNet Canada and theAlberta Prion ResearchInstitute.

As Dr. Knox explains, anexamination of cattle urinewould reveal biomarkers thatindicate whether the cattleare infected, long beforeclinical symptoms appear.

“We found one marker, atleast in our small test set, thatis able to discriminate with100 percent accuracybetween control and infectedsamples. And that’s a protein called clusterin. However, it requires further validation.Does it work in all BSE infected cattle is one question. And the other question is, do yousee increased amounts in response to other types of infection as well?”

Mad cow disease has a long incubation period. The good news is that Dr. Knox hasdetected the biomarker in urine as early as eight months after infection—long beforeclinical symptoms appear in cattle. √ ~ Cheryl Croucher

www.prionetcanada.ca

Cheryl Croucher’s interviews on prion research were funded by a grant from the CanadianInstitutes for Health Research

AAMay 5 to 85th Annual World Micromachine Summit“Energy and the Environment”Host: ACAMPFairmont Hotel Macdonald www.mms09.org

May 6CIC Edmonton AGM Speaker: Nelson Fok: Bisphenol-Ain Plastic BottlesGeneral Public Invited5:30 to 8:00 pmUofA Faculty Club Papachase Room RSVP: [email protected]

May 26Business Link Small Business SeminarFinancing Your Innovatiave VenturePresenter: Wendy Lam, AVAC12:00 to 1:00 pm#100, 10237 – 104 Streetwww.canadabusiness.ca/alberta/events

May 27Business Link Small Business SeminarBuilding Your BusinessPresenter: novaNAIT1:00 to 4:00 pm#100, 10237 – 104 StreetCost $35www.canadabusiness.ca/alberta/events

May 27-29Canadian Venture Capitaland Private Equity Association2009 Conference In Calgarywww.cvca.ca/news/events/2009AnnualConference.aspx

JUNEJune 12009 ASTech AwardsNominations Deadlinewww.astech.ab.ca

On theHORIZONMAY



Dr. David Knox

URINE TESTfor mad cow means early detection



ow does a post-secondary institute open thedoor to social media for the first time?

Well, if you’re Jana Clarke,marketing manager for the MacEwan

School of Business you go big, which is exactlyhow it should be.

First item on the list is to shoot an interesting andfunny video webisode series with local acting anddirecting talent. The webisodes are entitled Mikeand Lenny—Mike played by Richard Meen ofMacEwan commercials fame and Lenny played byDonovan Workun of Atomic Improv. They tell astory about choosing a career in business and whyconsidering Management Studies at MacEwanshould be the first step. Mike and Lenny wasdirected by Jeremy Chugg of BrainstormProductions and, through this process, I’ve come tobetter appreciate how the mind of a professionaldirector works. Jeremy is a talented guy and he hasa tough job. To see his work, search Google forMike and Lenny, you’ll find all three episodesready to roll.

My team at fusedlogic worked collaborativelywith the entire marketing department at theMacEwan School of Business to plan out a greatsocial media event called BlogCamp. This wouldaccomplish a number of key objectives, not all ofwhich I can go into here. However, BlogCampdefinitely served to get students involved… afterall, they know what it’s like to struggle withchoosing a post-secondary institution. Who betterto take the MacEwan school spirit message to thesocial web than existing students? Leading up tothe event, fusedlogic provided no less than 12 hoursof on-site social media instruction, not only forstudents but also for faculty, administration andBlogCamp sponsors such as the guys from Sonic102.9FM. We covered blogging, Twitter, Facebookand numerous other tools and platforms. Amid allthe MacEwanBlogCamp.ca excitement, the daywouldn’t have been complete without a personalappearance by “Mike and Lenny,” and the guysdidn’t disappoint.

One of the difficult things about this project wasscheduling: Unfortunately, April 3rd ended up beingright in the middle of mid-term exams for much of theSchool of Business. Despite that, Joe Difabio ofMacEwan’s Commerce Club was instrumental ingetting students involved as participants and volunteers.

So we worked extra hard to get contestants who wouldbe willing to blog for nine hours straight. What weended up with was a group of talented and dedicatedbloggers who exceeded our expectations. If thesecontestants were not typing, they were on the phone tofriends for votes and support. During the event I hadthe privilege of chatting with contestants, sponsors andaudience members who were on-site and the feedbackwas positive. The gang at Segway Canada (located inWest Edmonton Mall) said they had a great time.Segways rock—I was surprised at how easy and howmuch fun they are to ride. The Ranch Roadhouse folkscame out with their fun tunnel and there was never ashortage of students who wanted a chance to grab theRanch bucks. See all the goings-on atwww.macewanblogcamp.ca

The entire MacEwan School of Business can beproud of the fact that they broke new social mediaground with BlogCamp. Until that day, a social mediaevent of this type and in this format has never beendone in Canada. Just search “blogcamp, Canada” if youdon’t believe me. √

Walter Schwabe is the Chief Evolution Officer offusedlogic inc., a social media strategy firm andAlberta company since 2000. You can learn more atwww.fusedlogic.com

HH101with Walter Schwabe

mediamediaSocial

Take, for example, Whyte Avenue: “Itgets ‘hot’ in the evening, and whenthings taper down, the ‘hot-spot’ movestoward the university… drunks goinghome and kicking garbage cans.Agencies then need to see where [they’llget] the best bang for their buck andthat’s where their officers go.”

Contré calls it using proactive deploy-ment times more efficiently—in essence,arriving before the actual event andpreventing the crime from occurring.

This underlying theme is slightlyreminiscent of Chief John Anderton ofthe pre-crime squad in Washington DC.They too used advanced technology andsuper-natural beings known as“precognitives” to prevent crime. Ofcourse, that was a Spielberg movie: TheMinority Report was set in 2054 andAnderton was played by Tom Cruise.

While The Minority Report is basedon a fictional short story, Contré’s crimeforecast is real and is being used today.To keep the information fresh, theforecast for the next 48-hour period isregenerated every day between 4 and5AM when crime is typically at a lull,taking into account any new dataintroduced in the last 24hours.

Contré tells us that the DCF has beendeployed to a live environment withinthe Edmonton Transit System wherepeace officers have willingly adopted themodel to guide their patrols. Bothmanagers and supervisors also use it toreadily identify resource allocationpriorities within the transit system.

“The software gives me reassurancethat my resources are deployed in themost efficient and effective fashionpossible,” says Ron Gabruck, director ofETS safety and security.

If a patrol is present it’s less likely anissue will occur and, if it does, it can be

dealt with before it becomes a largerissue. Gabruck calls this the “brokenwindow” theory. “We deal with—andspend a lot of our time on—a lot ofminor nuisance type crimes such asdrinking in public, swearing andhorseplay.” But ETS peace officers getthere immediately to clean it up.

“If you allow this group of individualsto be in a station, then allow them to sitthere and drink… to get drunk, the pathcould lead to crime—assaults, mischiefand perhaps even robberies.”

Gabruck stresses the positive impactof being there early, impressing thatperception of the safety in the system—especially in buses and transit centres—is relatively high; they strive to keep itthat way.

“I have extreme confidence that myresources are where they should be whenthey should be. As a manager in thesefiscal times, I’m please to be able to sayothers (transit systems) are envious.”

Gabruck acknowledges it’s a vastnetwork and the stats speak forthemselves… that, relatively speaking,crime is down. While he admits this couldbe from a number of factors, he isconvinced that the DCF model iscontributing to the reduction in crime. It “isjust one part of the ETS response system…a great complement to the overall system.”

Contré’s software has changed the waycrime is handled. Proactive calls (where anofficer already has been deployed) are up159 percent; reactive calls (where peoplecall in to complain) are down 52 percentsince implementation. The pre-emptivearrival of officers has clearly resulted infewer people calling in after the fact.

Gabruck speaks highly of Contré and hiscreation, referring to him as “a genius… anincredibly talented individual. We’re luckyto have him.”

AWARD-WINNING RECOGNITIONFor Contré, stopping crime definitely has itsrewards. Use of the daily crime forecastwithin ETS won the Canadian UrbanTransit Association Award for Innovation.And, last December, Contré and his DCFtook first place in the inaugural novaNAITTechnology Commercialization ChallengeThe grand prize: $10,000 in novaNAITservices, including business developmentassistance and mentoring.

“novaNAIT is about industry drivenapplied research,” says Dr. Sam Shaw,NAIT’s president and CEO. “StephaneContré’s software fits perfectly with thismodel; as the winner of the competition, weare going to help him commercialize thetechnology he has developed.”

Finding out about the contest was a bit ofa fluke. Contré explains, “I happened to beliving in the right place at the right time.”Living being the operative word—NAIT’sTechLife magazine was still being deliveredfor the previous occupant who hadn’t left aforwarding address.

When he noticed a picture of Dr. Shawinviting people with a good idea to competein the challenge, he decided to enter. Withinweeks, Contré received an e-mail indictinghe was one of eight finalists.

“We had to present to a board of

technology and business experts—fiveminutes to present and five for questions. Iwas able to demo the software.”

Once again the story played out to aHollywood end: 24 hours later, the directorleft a message on the answering machine.Tia delivered it to Contré, who was in theshower. “You won!” she said, with a hugegrin on her face.

“Holy cow! Ten Grand!”Contré admits that he loves his job at

ETS. He’s continually looking to find waysto make the DCF even better, hoping thatother agencies, like the police service, willlook at using DCF. He’s also investigatingthe possibilities of partnering or licensing toanother company, maybe one in the policeand security area.

Sort of like the scenario played out in theCBS drama NUMB3RS: Charlie Eppes, abrilliant math professor uses the science ofmathematics with its complex equations tohelp his brother, Don, an FBI special agent,ferret out criminals and solve bafflingcrimes. Is there a comparison to whatContré does?

“I’ve been told that before... to someextent, but that guy is waaaaaaaay smarterthan I ever will be.”

Except that Charlie Eppes is pretendsmart—Stephane Contré is real smart. √

Greg Gazin, “The Gadget Guy”, is a serialentrepreneur, freelance technologycolumnist, small business speaker, an avidPodcaster and producer ofToastcaster.com. Greg can be reached at780.424.1881, gadgetgreg.com [email protected]

You can read about the new novaNAITCentre for Applied Research and TechnologyTransfer, by Cheryl Croucher in theDecember 2008 issue, posted atedmontonians.com.

Continued from page 13

MacEwan BlogCamp–A first for Canada

Contré addresses the media



At one time. the media’s job was relativelystraightforward: Provide stimulating localcontent, do it fairly and avoid lettingpersonal bias interfere in the process.

That is getting harder to do—impossible, in some cases—as theworldwide economic turmoil sweeps upthe media. It appears to be the perfectstorm as media woes are compounded bythe accelerated onslaught of the Internet,with 1.6 billion people worldwide nowon-line. That, obviously, has drasticallyaffected revenues—especially fornewspapers, where readership hasdropped off dramatically.

Pew Research says 70 percent ofAmericans rely on TV for news, with theonce dominant newspapers reduced to 14percent. The Internet has surpassed the printmedia, coming in at 36 percent.

The situation here in Canada sees peoplewatching TV an average of 10.7 hours aweek; listening to radio nine hours a week;while reading newspapers just 4.4 hours aweek.

Some legendary American newspapershave closed. The Seattle Post Intelligencerceased being a print operation after 146years. The PI is hoping to avoid extinctionby going on-line with 20 journalists, ratherthan the 120 it previously employed.

Canadian and Albertan dailies andweeklies have not been spared. Most, likeThe Journal and Sun, have reduced staff...some have amalgamated... others, such asthe Jasper Booster, have seen theiremployees lock the doors and walk away.

The mammoth CanWest empire (theGlobalTV network and newspaper chain,including The Journal) is fighting forsurvival with its $3.9 billion dollar debt,which required an interest payment of$30.4-million last month alone. That’s whyCanWest, CTV and Quebecor weresuccessful in getting millions in rescuefunds for TV networks from the federalgovernment.

It’s also why Canadian TV stations havebeen further pressing the CRTC forassistance—their profits diminished to a

13-year low of $8-million last year, down93 percent from $112-million a year earlier.

Many Canadian TV stations no longerhave local programming outside ofnewscasts. There have also been threats ofclosing stations in smaller markets, like RedDeer and Kelowna.

While servers like Google and massmedia sites like YouTube, Facebook andMySpace are creating problems for theconventional media, they are now part andparcel of the lives of younger Canadians.But, they have yet to make a profit and arehaving major social issues. MySpace, forexample, admits it has identified andremoved 90,000 sexual offenders from itssite in the past three years.

Ryerson University Professor CharlesZamaria, who did an extensive report onCanadian daily study habits last year, foundthat Internet users, who spend more than 15hours a week online, still find newspapersmore reliable than any other source ofinformation.

UK consulting genius Paul Zwillenbergfeels newspapers—such as the Wall StreetJournal—can only survive if theyspecialize, rather than trying to serve themasses. Other examples closer to homewould be such fine niche publications as

our ethnic press, as well as Edmontonians.As a matter of fact, Edmontonians

Publisher Sharon MacLean has alreadyembraced the concept of social mediawithout compromising the hard copyedition of her publication. As you read thisissue, countless more are viewing themagazine on-line atwww.edmontonians.com, and accessingFacebook, Twitter and Linkedin to followspecific areas of interest. MacLean admitsshe and Editor Barb Deters will reach farmore readers on-line throughout this globalvillage than would ever have been possiblein print.

Tough economic times bring outingenuity in mankind. Look at AlexanderGraham Bell and thetelephone; Henry Ford andthe automobile; ThomasEdison and the light bulb.People in the media are notimmune to change…especially those who knowthat is their key to survival. √

Bruce Hogle is the former news directorat CFRN TV and recently retired head ofthe Alberta Press Council. [email protected]

edia Minutewith Bruce HogleM

Perfect StormPUMMELSM E D I A



edding Day. It’s been dreamt of for decades and planned for a year.Preceded by a popped question, the months leading up to March 22, 2009have been hashed out here in The Business of Love. My now-wife Kari(Skelton) Jespersen and I shared our stories with you as we worked

alongside some of Edmonton’s most talented service providers. From designing invitations,planning the details of a destination wedding, sticking to a fitness plan or journeying throughpre-marital counseling, it was an eventful year! Finally, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon undera sunny sky at Playa Potrero, Costa Rica, it was our turn to get down to business, so to speak...

The Businessof LoveWWWith Ryan Jespersen

Photos by Josh Dunford

hai cuisine is one of myfavourites because of its hotor spicy dishes. Thai food hasfive fundamental flavours in

each dish or the overall meal: hot (spicy),sour, sweet, salty and bitter. A welcometreat for the taste buds—somethingdifferent from the more familiar Chinese,East Indian and Vietnamese fare.

Thai food is often considered a singlecuisine, when in fact it’s made up of fourregional dishes: Northern, Northeastern(or Isan), Central and Southern. Thedifference shows in the dishes. Forexample, Southern Curries tend to containcoconut milk, whereas Northeasterndishes contain lime juice.

When it comes to spices, Thai food isknown for its abundance of fresh herbs,

spices and fish sauce.Shrimp paste, fish sauce, kaffir limeleaves, lemon grass, ginger root, turmeric,coconut milk, Thai basil, a large variety ofchillies, lime juice and coconut milk arestaples in the cuisine.

Rice is a basic component of ThaiCuisine, as it is in most Asian meals. Themuch sought after, sweet smellingJasmine rice comes from Thailand whereit is grown in the central plains. Steamedrice is served with aromatic curries andstir-fries and incorporates generousquantities of chilies, lime juice and lemongrass. The dish may be poured into therice creating khao rad gang, which is verypopular when time is of the essence.Noodles are also popular in this cuisine;however, they are often served as a singledish or in soups.

Protein—beef, chicken, pork, squid,

shrimp and many different ocean fish—rounds out the Thai plate.

Edmonton boasts many excellent Thairestaurants. Eric Wah, the owner andcreative genius behind The King and I, isperhaps the best known of all our Thairestaurateurs. His is a favourite dining spotfor the Rolling Stones when they are intown, as well as many other celebrities.The food is excellent and truly reflects theincredible taste of Thailand.

Eric has opened restaurants in Calgaryand Edmonton. After his originalrestaurant in Old Strathcona burned downin the early 1990s, he re-located to WhyteAvenue at 107th Street.

His uncle lives in Bangkok and Erictravels there once a year to source foodtrends and cuisine. He says the reasonThai Cuisine is so popular is because ofthe health benefits of the food. As hot asyou like it, but it’s often stir-fried, stewedor steamed.

According to Eric, Pan-Asian fusion istaking the world by storm. Dim Sum,Sushi... it’s all rolled into one now.

“It’s all fusion, not pure cuisineanymore, and that’s what makes itexciting.” He explains that,because everything is customerdriven, many flavours and saucesare being intertwined. And forour palates, that’s a good thing!

I asked Eric to share his recipefor spring rolls—The King and Imakes thousands every month.He obliged and explained, “Paw

Pia Thawt means deep fried rollsin Thai. Each Asian country has its ownrecipe for spring rolls which originatedfrom China. The ingredients andseasoning they put into the rolls are asdistinct as the culture they represent.Every Thai restaurant in town puts in itsown special touch or secret to make therolls stand out from the others. At TheKing & I, we use taro roots as our specialingredient. After steaming, the rootvegetables add a fragrant nutty flavour tothe ground pork; moreover, the softtexture contrasts with the chewy silvernoodle and crispy outer shell when bitinginto it.” √

For recipes, go to Edmontonians.com andvisit the Lively Lifestyles Blog.

Contact Chef John Berry [email protected]

with Chef John Berry

Magic

MEN

U

LIVELYlifestyles

TT

Eric Wah

Hoa Chung

FusionThai

Here comes my bride, arm-in-arm with the self-described“FOB,”—father of the bride—Gary Skelton. My favourite photo.

With the Pacific Ocean and beautiful PlayaPotrero as a backdrop, the bride and groomexchange vows in front of 41 friends and family.The breath-taking ceremony space was designedin conjunction with former Edmontonian LarissaBanting of Weddings Costa Rica.

Kari and her girls: Amber Ball,Cathy Huynh, Brenna Stuart, Megan Jespersen,Amy Miller and Tammy Cetiner.

Groomsmen (left to right) Andrew Jespersen, Jeff Chivers, Jonas Jespersen, Jeremi Skelton,Kyle Jespersen and Jeff Nielsen wait in line formy words of wisdom.

Spectacular sunset at Playa Potrero...our 41 weddingguests came from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton,Grande Cache, Brooks and Pasadena, California.

Officially: “the Jespersens!”

Must have been something in the water! Mybrother Jonas caught the garter... then Kari’ssister Megan snagged the bouquet.

Ryan Jespersen hosts Breakfast Television weekday mornings from 6-10 am on Citytv.E-mail Ryan at [email protected]



with Linda Bodo

y green thumbs are calling—yellingactually. They are itching to plunge intountamed territory where delicate budsunfurl as they escape the clutches of their

winter hibernation. Longer days, balmy nights, and raysof sun partnered with ample room and board ensure abounty guaranteed to keep me in fresh-cut flowers formonths. My callused hands work the soil ruthlesslyridding the terrain of unwanted rock and incessantlymassage chunks of soil until they crumble to a velvetypowder. Victories over slugs and invasive plantings areeasily forgotten in the quest of textbook deadheading andpruning. At times, the work seems endless.

And then, one day, it happens. The sweet scent ofsummer arrives, so impossibly intoxicating that I almostwant to eat it. It hovers over the garden beckoning thebirds and the bees in a breathtaking profusion ofcolour… and I realize that blisters, broken nails and anaching back were well worth it. The payback isconsiderable.

It’s so gratifying to reap the rewards of your effortswith home-grown flowers for your digs. Not to worry—you don’t need a huge inventory to make a bold floralstatement. Displaying single blooms in clever devices—designed to make each flower a statement—is a simpleproject and easily accomplished. √

Linda Bodo is author of Enjoy Life Outside. Visitwww.absolutebodo.com for upcoming appearances andproject demonstrations; view other DIY projects; or orderher book. Contact: [email protected]

Go to edmontonians.com and visit the LivelyLifestyles blog.

Test Tube

MM

Window DressingMy ‘Window Dressing’ project will spruce up anywindow with cafe style curtains detailed with smallpockets that house test tubes—perfect for singleblooms. Windows clad in these sheer accoutrements areguaranteed to make you smile with every glanceoutside. You can whip up this project for next tonothing by recycling an existing curtain and savedfloral tubes, vanilla bean tubes or cigar tubes.

√ Level: simple√ Cost: $2.00 – $10.00√ Time: 2 – 3 hours

Materials• Sheer fabric (size of window with hems + 12” for

pockets) – use a stiff organza, drapery sheers or anexisting curtain

• Test tubes/Floral tubes/Vanilla bean tubes/Cigar tubes, 3”– 5” long

• Thread • Curtain rod • Brackets

ToolsScissors Sewing MachineTape measure PinsCloth or towel Iron

Step by Steps• Cut fabric to size 1” wider and 3” longer than

window. Roll a 1/4” hem on sides and bottom andsew a 1” sleeve at top for rod. Steam press with adamp cloth to prevent scorching.

• Cut several strips of 2 1/2” fabric with the grain, andsew a 1/4” hem on the long sides. Press. Cut stripsinto 4 1/2” units, and hem top and bottom.

• Position pockets on curtain, pin in place and sew,leaving top open. Feed rod through sleeve and hangcurtain. Fill test tubes with water and flowers, andinsert in pockets

WobblersIf you are looking for a twist on the classic vase,‘Wobblers’ are vessels that weeble, but never fall over.These little delights are crafted from round wooden coastersor art plaques and incorporate tubes to accommodateflowers. Line up a series of them on a flight of steps, usethem as place-card settings, or disperse them through abookcase or end table for colour and whimsy.

√ Level: simple√ Cost: $2.00 – $3.00√ Time: 1 – 2 hours

Materials• Large test tubes/Vanilla bean tubes/Cigar tubes – approx.

6” long• Round wood coasters/wood art plaques/scrap wood 1/4”

to 3/4” thick & 3 1/2” to 4” in diameter.• Craft paint (optional)• Wax or Varathane

ToolsJigsaw Drill / drill press Paint brushPencil/tape Cloth GlovesSander & 180 grit sandpaper GogglesSpade bit of various sizes

Step by Steps• If using scraps of wood to make coasters, cut with

jigsaw 3 1/2” to 4” in diameter. • Mark center of coaster/plaque/disc and bore hole with

appropriate spade bit slightly smaller than diameter oftest tube. Slowly and patiently file out bored hole untiltest tube is a snug fit. If central hole has become toolarge for test tube, add a small dollop of hot glue oninside walls of hole and spread around perimeter tocreate a tight fit.

• Finish with two coats of paint if desired and seal withseveral light coats of Varathane or wax.

• Add test tubes, fill with water and display your favouriteblooms. √

BABIES

Visit Chef Johnʼs blogfor this monthʼs recipes• Spring rolls • Sweet & Sour Soupjohnberry.wordpress.com

Got questions or commentson Lindaʼs project? Go to her blog:

lindabodo.wordpress.com

lifestyles

Edmontonians May09

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