Alberta has it all. With oil, beautiful prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and a booming economy, who could complain? Apparently, you should, because a University of Calgary research facility is suffering from Alberta’s thriving economy. The Pine Creek Water Manage- ment Facility, a joint project between the U of C and the City of Calgary, is… Continue reading Bloated building costs put billion dollar project on hold
Month: June 2006
U of C at bottom of barrel
By Emily Senger
The University of Calgary upheld its predictable pattern of dismal Maclean’s magazine university rankings this week, but this time, the poor review came from U of C students, rather than Maclean’s staff. In the University Student Issue–published Mon., June 19– Maclean’s surveyed recent university graduates from across Canada, and asked them to rate their experiences.… Continue reading U of C at bottom of barrel
Denis Drops Disappointing Dud
By Emily Senger
The government of Alberta released the final results of a year-long post-secondary education review this month. In true bureaucratic fashion, the much-hyped results of the review conducted by top government officials and stakeholders amounted to a disappointingly vague 26-page report of recommendations. The report is little more than a list of possibilities, which may or… Continue reading Denis Drops Disappointing Dud
Spun: Edison Woods
New York-based Edison Woods’ third release Nest of Machines is exactly the kind of CD that you’d listen to on a rainy day. It’s incredibly gloomy, alternating between morose piano and violin, all tied together by Julia Frodahl’s haunting voice. While all the death and spiders might turn off casual listeners, given the right mood,… Continue reading Spun: Edison Woods
Spun: Gary Moore
By Ken Clarke
Virtually unknown in North America, Irish guitarist Gary Moore has been honing his chops since the late ’60s. His rock and roll roots involved many bands, most notably Skid Row and Thin Lizzy. While being an outstanding rock guitarist, over the years Moore’s kept returning to his love of the blues. Old New Ballads Blues,… Continue reading Spun: Gary Moore
Spun: High School Musical
By Kate Foote
Parental advisory warnings adorn albums that contain lyrics not suitable for children. There should also be an inverse system to designate albums for children that are so obnoxious that anyone over the age of 12 would search frantically for a chopstick to pierce their own eardrums. This label would be firmly affixed to the cover… Continue reading Spun: High School Musical
Spun: The Streets
By Kyle Francis
There’s something engaging and sincere in a low-class British accent that makes women swoon and men tremble. It could be the truncated vowel sounds, slurry phonemes or even the rhyming slang found deep in the slums of London. Just like a Guy Ritchie adaptation of Johnny Appleseed, Mike Skinner recognized this cashcrop in his own… Continue reading Spun: The Streets
An Australian Gunslinger Triumph
By Kyle Francis
Everyone thinks they’re righteous. No one, not corrupt policemen, rapists, nor killers want to believe they’re anything but the hero of their own fiction. This facet of human nature is what John Hillcoat and Nick Cave acknowledge–to huge success–in their Aussie-western epic The Proposition. Following the intertwining stories of the lawman, Morris Stanley (Ray Winstone)… Continue reading An Australian Gunslinger Triumph
Mapleleaves, Hockey and Movies
There are aspects of Canadian culture we ruefully admit to–hockey, parkas, iced brewskies, and yet we still bemoan the idea that Canada has no culture, that we’re just Americans who know how to dress in layers. Douglas Coupland has spent a good deal of his life running from his nationality, but with the release of… Continue reading Mapleleaves, Hockey and Movies
Sulphur spring hints at alien life
By Emily Senger
Rotten eggs don’t usually create a pleasant smell, but for one University of Calgary researcher, the odious odour signaled a discovery that may help NASA researchers find life on other planets. U of C Arctic Institute executive director Dr. Benoit Beauchamp first discovered the source of the noxious odour–a bacteria-containing sulphur spring on Ellesmere Island–in… Continue reading Sulphur spring hints at alien life